Rulers And Buildings: Class 7 History NCERT Chapter 5
Key Features of NCERT Material for Class 7 History Chapter 5 – Rulers and Buildings
In the last chapter 4, you learned about the mughal empire. In this chapter, you all will get to know about Rulers And Buildings.
Quick revision notes
In medieval period rulers built private and public buildings like forts, castles, tombs, temples, mosques, tanks, and so forth
Engineering Skills and Construction
Landmarks provide an insight into the technologies utilized for construction.
Between the seventh and tenth centuries, architects began adding more rooms, doors and windows to buildings.
Rooftops, doors and windows were made by placing a horizontal beam across two vertical sections, a style of architecture called ‘trabeate’ or ‘corbelled’.
Two technological and stylistic advancements from the twelfth century are ‘arcuate architectural’ form and utilization of limestone mixed with stone chips that prompted quicker construction.
Amalgamation of Indian style with Persian style of architecture was famous.
Buildings, Temples, Mosques and Tanks
Temples and mosques were beautifully built on the grounds that they were spots of worship and intended to show the influence, riches and devotion of the benefactor.
The biggest temples were completely built by kings. The other, lesser deities in the temples were divine beings and goddesses of the allies and subordinates of the ruler.
Muslim Sultans and Padshahs did not claim to be incarnations of God yet Persian court chronicles described the Sultan as the ‘Shadow of God’.
As each new tradition came to control, kings needed to emphasize their moral right to be rulers.
It was widely believed that the standard of a simply king would be a period of bounty when the sky would not withhold rain.
Why Were Temples Destroyed?
Since kings built temples to exhibit their devotion to God and their influence and riches, they assaulted and focused on these buildings when they assaulted each other’s kingdoms.
In the mid eleventh century, when the Chola king Rajendra I built a Shiva sanctuary in his capital he filled it with prized sculptures seized from vanquished rulers.
Nurseries, Tombs and Forts
Under the Mughals, architecture became more mind boggling. Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan were by and by interested in literature, craftsmanship and architecture.
Babur got gardens called Chahar Bagh (four nurseries) built in Kabul. They were additionally built in Kashmir, Agra and Delhi by Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan.
Akbar’s architecture is visible in his dad, Humayun’s burial chamber.
Under Shah Jahan, Mughal architecture was melded in a terrific harmonious synthesis.
The ceremonial corridors of the public and private audience (diwan-i-Khas; diwan-i-am) were deliberately arranged.
Shah Jahan adjusted the Chahar Bagh technique in the design of the Taj Mahal, the most fantastic architectural accomplishment of his reign.
Region and Empire
As construction activity increased between the eighth and eighteenth centuries, there was likewise a considerable sharing of ideas across regions.
In Vijayanagar, for example, the elephant corrals of the rulers were firmly influenced by the style of architecture found in the adjoining Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda.
In Vrindavan, close Mathura, temples were built in architectural styles that were fundamentally the same as the Mughal royal residences in Fatehpur Sikri.
The creation of huge empires that brought different regions under their standard aided in this cross¬fertilisation of artistic forms and architectural styles.
The Mughals received the ‘Bangla dome’ in their architecture.
Between the eighth and the eighteenth centuries, kings and their officers built two kinds of structures, that included the first as forts, castles, garden residences and tombs and the second as structures implied for public activity including temples, mosques, tanks, bazaars, and so forth.
Dealers and others likewise carried out construction activity. They built temples, mosques and wells.
The technologies utilized in the landmarks are unique. It requires sophisticated skills in making an enormous stay with an elaborate superstructure.
Between the seventh and tenth centuries, architects began adding more rooms, doors and windows to building.
Between the eighth and thirteenth centuries, the trabeate style (a style of architecture in which rooftops, doors and window were made by placing a horizontal beam across two vertical segments) was utilized in building temples, mosques, and so forth.
The mid eleventh century temples were decorated with elaborately cut sculptures. The temples had shikhara as well.
From the twelfth century, two technological and stylistic advancements came to notice – the weight of the decor over the doors and window was sometimes carried by curves. This architectural form was known as ‘arcuate’, besides, limestone concrete was increasingly utilized in construction.
Temples and mosques were built to show the influence, riches and devotion of the benefactor.
According to an inscription the Rajarajeshvara sanctuary was built by King Rajarajadeva for the worship of his god, Rajarajeshvaram. Here, it is worth mentioning that the name of the ruler and the god are fundamentally the same as. The king took the god’s name since it was auspicious and he needed to seem like a divine being.
Be that as it may, Muslim Sultans and Padshahs did not claim to be incarnations of god. Notwithstanding, Persian court chronicles described the Sultan as the ‘Shadow of God’.
Rulers offered support to the scholarly and pious individuals.
Rulers likewise built tanks and reservoirs and got praise. Ruler lltutmish won universal regard for constructing an enormous reservoir simply outside Delhi-i Kuhna. It was known as the Hanzi Sultani or the king’s Reservoir.
Kings built temples yet they regularly plundered them while attacking each other’s kingdoms.
In the mid eleventh century when the Chola King Rajendra I built a Shiva sanctuary in his capital he filled it with prised sculptures seized from crushed rulers.
King Mahmud of Ghazni assaulted the temples of crushed kings and plundered their riches and idols.
Under the Mughal rulers, nurseries, tombs and forts were built.
Babur was interested in planning and laying out formal nurseries, put within rectangular walled fenced in areas and divided into four quarters by artificial channels. These nurseries were called Chahar Bagh, four nurseries, in view of their symmetrical division into quarters.
During Akbar’s reign, burial place architecture became important. His architecture was put to the tombs of his focal Asian ancestors, Timur. The focal towering dome and the tall entryway (pishtaq) were important parts of Mughal architecture, first visible in Humayun’s burial place.
During Shah Jahan’s reign, colossal construction activity was carried on in Agra and Delhi.
Shah Jahan’s audience lobbies were specially built to take after a mosque.
He adjusted the river-front nursery in the format of the Taj Mahal. Here, the white marble sepulcher was put on a patio by the edge of the river and the nursery was to its south. Shah Jahan built up this architectural form as a way to control the entrance that aristocrats had to the river.
In the new city of Shahjahanabad that he developed in Delhi, the imperial royal residence instructed the river-front. Just especially favored aristocrats were given access to the river.
The Mughal rulers were famous for adapting regional architectural styles in the construction of their own buildings.
In Bengal, the neighborhood rulers had built up a rooftop that was designed to look like a covered cabin. The Mughals liked this ‘Bangla dome’.
In Akbar’s capital at Fatehpur Sikri, a significant number of the buildings show the influence of the architectural styles of Gujarat and Malwa.
Superstructure: It alludes to the piece of a building over the ground floor.
Baolis: They were enormous ventured wells.
Shikhara: The top-most point of the sanctuary.
Arcuate: An architectural form in which the weight of the superstructure over the doors and windows was sometimes carried by curves.
Chahar Bagh: Four nurseries.
Pishtaq: The tall door.
Pietra dura: Colored, hard stones set in depressions cut into marble or sandstone creating beautiful ornate examples.
Diwan-i Khas or am: The ceremonial corridors of public and private audience.
Hasht bihisht or Eight paradises: A focal corridor encompassed by eight rooms.