A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c18.112

c18.112

The long and unhappy reign of Aurangzēb Ālamgīr (1659–1707)¹ was marked by a rapid decline in art, including architecture. The emperor was more eager to throw down Hindu temples than to construct great edifices of his own. Some few buildings of his time, however, are not without merit; for instance, the tall minarets of the mosque which he caused to be erected at Benares on the site of the holiest temple are graceful objects well known to all travellers in India. The principal mosque at Lahore (1674), almost a copy of the great mosque at Delhi, but inferior to that noble building, is described by Fergusson as being 'the latest specimen of the Mughal architectural style'. The emperor's own tomb at Aurangabad in the Deccan is insignificant. The buildings in Persian style of Aurangzēb's age, being merely examples of growing deterioration, are not worth detailed study or illustration. The tomb of Nawāb Safdar Jang of Oudh near Delhi (1756), a passable copy of the mausoleum of Humāyūn, is marred by wretched plaster decoration in the interior. The shoddy buildings of the Nawāb Vazīrs at Lucknow are pretentious abominations. I am not acquainted with any recent effort of Muhammadan architecture in India deserving of mention, except the buildings of composite style, usually on a modest scale, described in the following paragraph.