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RESEARCH ESSAY:

“The sharp trend in the use of floral and vegetal designs in jalis under Shah Jahan period

in contrast to the earlier geometric stone traceries”

HIST 214: Lahore Architecture

2013-10-0148

BILAL SHAHID

INSTRUCTOR: NADHRA SHAHBAZ

DATE: 04.05.12

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Mughal architecture has been adorned with a number of decorative motifs, elements and

other members of surface and structural ornamentation. Each aspect of the patronage by Mughal

emperors is worth an appreciation and the form they gave to the local indigenous art and

architecture appeared in the buildings they built and those later constructed by their successors

who ruled the Indian Subcontinent. The use of local Indian elements and symbols was

widespread in Mughal era, including the use of Gujrati, Bengali and other local techniques of

embellishments and the elements themselves. One of the widespread features in Mughal

architecture is the use of perforated screens or jalis. Even within the Mughal regime, there

appears to be a strong evidence of the use of the same element with different variations in terms

of the way it was designed with geometric and other patterns and the way it was employed in the

buildings. However, it was only until Shah Jahan that jalis appeared with an entirely different

outlook. There is a sharp trend in the way geometric patterns in jali work were replaced by floral

and vegetal motifs in Shah Jahan’s period.

Traditionally, jalis had been used widely in India to allow the daylight and cool breeze

flow in through the perforations while preventing onlookers from viewing the indoors of private

and some public buildings. Another reason why jalis were constructed was for the “royal ladies

to watch public events without breaking their purdah” or veil (Brown 295).

This architectural practice of carving stone screens existed in both Islamic and Indian

architecture. In Islamic architecture, it was readily adopted because it lacked “representation and

iconography” and allowed viewers, especially women, to look outward “without being observed”

(Harris 143). However, in India, jalis originated in the region of Jaisalmar, Rajasthan and had

been in vogue since the 7th century B.C. According to Rajasthan State Gazetteer, jali work or

tracery is an “ancient craft common all over Rajasthan” (Rajasthan State Gazetteer).

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Apart from Rajasthan, Ahmadabad also has always been famous for its jali brass and

copper work. The “delicately cut-brass, lace-like screens” of Shah Alam’s tomb offer an exciting

work that might have attracted Shah Jahan’s attention and helped him make way for his unique

architectural style and although there is no evidence, but it is quite possible that later he might

have adopted this Gujrati element to stand out from his ancestors (Caine 58).

Another excellent work of jali exists in the window of a 16th century Sidi Sa’id Mosque

at Ahmadabad. In the qibla wall or the wall facing Mecca, there are window screens forming the

image of a tree in the stone tracery. The tree seems “figural in its strong centralizing posture”

with a trunk and its radiating branches spreading out as winding and inter-twining stems in an

arabesque design (Harris 143). It can be speculated that Shah Jahan probably derived the use of

floral and stylized stems from this motif. The fact that Shah Jahan also preferred individual

flower motif, sometimes naturalistic and sometimes made artistic, can also be seen in the way the

individual tree is replicated during Shah Jahan’s time as a single lily flower carved in a waxy

style in the panels in his palatial buildings at Delhi and Agra.

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Exterior View of Jali Screen with Tree Motif at Sidi Saiyad Mosque

Jalis have also been used chiefly for saints’ tombs and for decorating holy shrines. Even

so, some historians mention that only stone screens and formal gardens define any kind of

commemorative space (Brand 332). The tomb of Sheikh Ahmad Khattu at Sarkhej, outside

Ahmadabad with its brass panels as latticed screens on the façade became a forerunner for the

construction of Shaikh Salim’s tomb at Fatehpur Sikri (Asher 10). The fine perforated white

marble screens which complete the marble casing and form an enclosure to the interior square

compartment of Shaikh Salim’s tomb also offer a passageway to allow for “circumambulation of

the grave”, a tradition practiced commonly at holy shrines (Ziad 192). Catherine Asher mentions

in her book “Architecture of Mughal India” that the exquisitely carved brackets and jalis belong

to the “Indo-Islamic architectural traditions of Gujrat” and that Gujrati trained artisans were

brought to Fatehpur Sikri to work on the tomb (56). This clearly shows that the fact that it

employed similar techniques and bears close resemblance to the earlier tomb at Sarkhej makes us

believe that the Mughals used the best local craftsmen from the region where stone carving of

monolithic jalis could have possibly originated.

The tomb of Nizam-uddin Auliya in Delhi also seems to present a reflection of the saint’s

teachings on “astrological and mystical ideas” carved in the screens (Schimmel 291). Historians

have also highlighted the use of geometrical patterns in jalis as being associated with particular

patrons. For example, Humayun’s interest in astrology and astronomy is evident in his favoured

use of star patterns in inlaid marble panels and in the spandrel areas of arches.

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Tillotson suggests that along the same lines as Shaikh Salim’s tomb a slightly earlier

example of similar extensive and exquisite jali-work is the tomb in Gwalior of Muhammad

Ghaus. In Rajput architecture, perforated screens were introduced primarily to ensure the

“seclusion of women”, but their use in Mughal building is more spreadout: in the palatial

buildings and residential quarters they are used as an “ornamental motif” in the mardana or male

apartments. On the contrary, in the zenana chambers or the female buildings, and in tombs they

create a fitting and calm environment in the porch, providing both shade and air at the same time

(Tillotson 121-3). Here, it is also worth noting that Tansen, the famous musician at Akabr’s

court, was a “devotee of Muhammad Ghaus”, and it may well be that his Mausoleum of

Muhammad Ghaus in Gwalior built in 1562, with its intricate marble lattice work, was

“sponsored by Tansen” (Ziad 65). So, this and all other links take us to the point where we can

explain the closeness of Shaikh Salim’s shrine to the tomb of Ghaus and the reason why it bears

so much similarity to it and the resemblance in jalis.

Earlier, as seen in Akbar’s period the use of jalis was a key feature used only to embellish

saint’s tombs, but later the Mughals started using it in their palatial buildings and the use of

geometrical patterns was mostly in terms of six and eight pointed stars, hexagons in a

honeycomb and stellar designs and other patterns formed in all possible polygonal shapes that

could be pierced in the red sandstone or marble slabs. The significance of the tessellations and

repetitions of geometric designs indicate the belief that there is “unity in multiplicity” and

therefore perforated screens remained an Islamic speciality (Nici 180).

This genre of architecture reached extreme levels of sophistication and attained its

“zenith” in Shah Jahan’s period (Lerner 156). The unique feature of Taj Mahal in Mughal history

is its use of jalis formed of “organic plant arabesques rather than geometric forms” and the

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Indian jali tradition is here brought to one of its highest points (Koch 163).  Truly, the exquisite

jali screens surrounding the cenotaphs in the Taj Mahal are more restrained and display “an

intricate system of floral decoration” than anything seen before in Mughal architecture (Lerner

156). The two cenotaphs are enclosed by the octagonal mahjar-i-mushabbak, the perforated

ornamental marble screen which was originally made of gold (Tillotson 75). It was set up in

1643 to replace the original one of enameled gold made by the goldsmith and poet Bibadal Khan

on the occasion of Mumtaz’s second anniversary. The present screen was prepared in ten years

and cost Rs. 50,000. The screen is topped with ornamental merlons or kanguras, consisting of

vase shaped elements alternating with openwork formed of volutes of acanthus leaves, crowned

at their juncture by small vase element The post and beam of the screen are embellished with

inlaid semi-precious stones featuring beautiful flower motifs and plants and Tillotson goes on to

appreciate the “fine craftsmanship and subtle design” as having been so beautiful that it would be

admired over centuries (75).

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Interior View of Jali Screen with at Taj Mahal

The perforated white marble screen or mahjar-i-mushabbak, Taj Mahal

The tomb of Jahanara built before 1681 in Delhi has marble screens in floral designs that

protect the simple slab tomb without a superstructure (Ruggles 115). This was also found in Bibi

ka Maqbara and since this was a later period building by Aurangzeb the use of the same idiom

introduced by Shah Jahan by a later ruler presents the fact that it was adopted in similar fashion.

However, it must also be noted that the use of geometrical patterns still remained a common

feature and has been in use to date.

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Finally, it can be analysed that in the Mughal era, the use of jalis was widespread and it

was particularly an Indian feature found commonly in Rajasthan and Gujrat which the Mughals

adopted. The jalis had geometric patterns throughout the Mughal period only until Shah Jahan

who introduced the innovation of floral and vegetal designs in the pierced screens. The sharp

trend can be easily justified through the work of Shah Jahan being entirely different from other

Mughal emperors but it was possibly based on its earlier precedents in Gujrat architecture.

This sandstone facade of a Jaisalmer town house or haveli is typical of the house-fronts of the

wealthy Rajput nobles and merchants. The havelis of Jaisalmer are particularly noted for the

ornate carving on their jalis and facades. Source: Asian Art Department, AGNSW, 1998.

(1873 words)

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Works Cited

Asher, B. Catherine. “Architecture of Mughal India”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

2001. Print.

Asher, B. Catherine, and Talbot, Cynthia. India before Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press. 2006. Print.

Brown, Lindsay, and Thomas, Amelia. “Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra”. China: Lonely Planet

Publications, 2008. Print.

Caine, W. S. Picturesque India: A Handbook for European Travelers (1891). Kessinger

Publishing. 2010. Print.

Collins, Sheldon. Image: Exterior View of Jali Screen with Tree Motif at Sidi Saiyad Mosque.

1984. Ahmadabad, India. < http://www.corbisimages.com>

Harris, F. Dianne, Ruggles, F. Sites Unseen: Landscape and Vision. Pittsburg: University of

Pittsburg Press, 2008. Print.

Interior Decoration. Department of Tourism, Government of UP, Uttar Pradesh.

URL: <http://www.tajmahal.gov.in>

Koch, Ebba. The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra. India: Bookwise Pvt.

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Ltd., 2006. Print.

Lerner, Martin. The Flame and the Lotus: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Kronos

Collections. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1984. Print.

Nici, John. Barron's AP Art History. USA: Barron’s Educational Series. 2008. Print.

Rajasthan State Gazetteer: History and culture. Gazetteer of India Volume 2 of Rajasthan State

Gazetteer,Rajasthan. India: Directorate District Gazetteers. 2008. Print.

Ruggles, F. Islamic Gardens and Landscape. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania

Press, 2008. Print.

Schimmel, Annemarie. “The Empire of the Great Mughals”. Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications,

2004. Print.

Tillotson, G. “Architectural Guides for Travellers Mughal India”. London: Penguin Group,

1990. Print.

Ziad, Zeenut. “The Magnificent Mughals”. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print.