QUES . Discuss about the decorative art in Islamic buildings that was introduced in the sub continent for the first time in medieval India period.

HINTS:

New architectural forms and styles were introduced in India during the medieval period. The arch and dome were new architectural additions of the period. The use of lime-mortar in the construction of buildings and houses altered the building techniques.

An important feature of the art of this period was the decorative art in Islamic buildings that was introduced in the sub continent for the first time. Decorative art in the Islamic buildings served the purpose of concealing the structure behind motifs rather than revealing it.

Since the depiction of living beings was generally frowned upon, the elements of decoration were, in
most cases, limited to calligraphy, geometrical figures and foliation.

Calligraphy is an important element of the decorative art in the buildings of this period. The Quranic sayings are inscribed on buildings in an angular, sober and monumental script, known as kufi.They may be found in any part of the building-frames of the doors, ceilings, wall panels, niches etc., and in variety of
materials- stone, stucco and painting.

Geometric shapes in abstract form are used in these buildings in a bewildering variety of combinations. The motifs indicate incorporation of visual principles : repetition, symmetry, and generation of continuous patterns. The generating source of these geometric designs was the circle, which could be developed into a square, a triangle or a polygon. These forms are then elaborated by multiplication and subdivision, by rotation and by symmetrical arrangements.

Of the foliations, the dominant form of decoration employed in the sultanate buildings was the arabesque. It was characterized by a continuous stem that split regularly, producing a series of leafy secondary stems which split again to reintegrate into the main stem. The repetition of this pattern produces a beautifully balanced design with a three dimensional effect.

Apart from calligraphy, geometrical figures and foliation other forms of decoration included designing on plaster through incision or stucco. The designs were either left plain or covered with colours.

Motifs were also painted on or carved in stone. These motifs included varieties of flowers, both from the sub-continent and places outside, particularly Iran. The lotus bud fringe was used to great advantage in the inner curves of the arches.

Walls were also decorated with cypress, chinar and other trees as also with flower vases. Many complex designs of flower motifs decorating the ceilings were also to be found on textiles and carpets.

In the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries tiles were also used to surface the walls and the domes. Popular colours were blue, turquoise, green and yellow.

Subsequently the techniques of tessellation (mosaic designs) and pietra dura were made use of for surface decoration particularly in the dado panels of the walls.

At times lapis lazuli was used in the interior walls or on canopies.

Decorations also included high and low relief carving and a profuse use of jalis. The high relief carving
has a three- dimensional look.

The arches were plain and squat and sometimes high and pointed. From the sixteenth century onwards arches were designed with trefoil or multiple foliations. Spandrels of the arches were decorated with medallions or bosses.

The roof was a mix of the central dome and other smaller domes, chatris and tiny minarets. The central dome was topped with an inverted lotus flower motif and a metal or stone pinnacle.