NCERT Class 7 History Rulers And Buildings

RULERS AND BUILDINGS

Figure 1 shows the first balcony of the Qutb Minar. Qutbuddin Aybak had this constructed around 1199. Notice the pattern created under the balcony by the small arches and geometrical designs. Can you find two bands of inscriptions under the balcony? These are in Arabic. Notice that the surface of the minar is curved and angular. Placing an inscription on such a surface required great precision. Only the most skilled craftsperson could perform this task.

Remember that very few buildings were made of stone or brick 800 years ago. What would have been the impact of a building like the Qutb Minar on observers in the thirteenth century?Between the eighth and the eighteenth centuries kings and their officers built two kinds of structures: the first were forts, palaces and tombs – safe, protected and grandiose places of rest in this world and the next; the second were structures meant for public activity including temples, mosques, tanks, wells, caravan serais and bazaars. Kings were expected to care for their subjects, and by making structures for their use and comfort, rulers hoped to win their praise. Construction activity was also carried out by others, including merchants. They built temples, mosques and wells. However, domestic architecture – large mansions (havelis) of merchants – has survived only from the eighteenth century.

Engineering Skills and Construction Monuments provide an insight into the technologies used for construction. Take something like a roof for example. We can make this by placing wooden beams or a slab of stone across four walls. But the task becomes difficult if we want to make a large room with an elaborate superstructure. This requires more sophisticated skills.

Between the seventh and tenth centuries architects started adding more rooms, doors and windows to buildings. Roofs, doors and windows were still made by placing a horizontal beam across two vertical columns, a style of architecture called “trabeate” or “corbelled”. Between the eighth and thirteenth centuries the trabeate style was used in the construction of temples, mosques, tombs and in buildings attached to large stepped-wells (baolis).

Let’s recall

1. How is the “trabeate” principle of architecture different from “arcuate”?

2. What is a shikhara?

3. What is pietra-dura?

4. What are the elements of a Mughal chahar bagh garden?

Let’s understand

5. How did a temple communicate the importance of a king?

6. An inscription in Shah Jahan’s diwan-i khas in Delhi stated: “If there is Paradise on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.” How was this image created?

7. How did the Mughal court suggest that everyone – therich and the poor, the powerful and the weak – received justice equally from the emperor?

8. What role did the Yamuna play in the layout of the new Mughal city at Shahjahanabad?

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 7 History Rulers And Buildings