This chapter discusses how the cities of early modern South Asia were transformed by new dynasties in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The leaders in these developments were two Muslim emperors and members of the third great Islamic dynasty of their day: Akbar (ruled 1556–1605) and his grandson Shah Jahan (ruled 1628–58). Akbar was the most enlightened intellectual and effective ruler of all the Mughals while Shah Jahan was the dynasty’s greatest patron of the arts. Shah Jahan built palaces, called Red Forts, in Lahore, Agra, and Delhi. The first mosque in northern India was built in Delhi and successive Islamic dynasties left their mark there. Shah Jahan also built the Taj Mahal in Agra between 1632 and 1643 in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Early Modern South Asia In Architecture since 1400. University of Minnesota Press, 2014.↧