INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Modernity and Princely India: Mosques as Modern Heritage

Speaker: Dr. Jyoti Pandey Sharma, Professor in Architecture, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science & Technology, Murthal, Haryana

 

Chair: Professor A.G.K. Menon

 

This presentation examines two mosque building endeavours by rulers of the princelystates of Bhopal and Kapurthala that were undertaken in the early decades of the 20thcentury. The Bhopal mosque drew high praise from Gordon Sanderson (who undertook a survey on behalf of the ASI to identify types of Modern Indian Buildings along with the craftsmen employed in their creation) as a specimen of architectural modernity, while the Kapurthala mosque did not form part of the survey. Both mosques demonstrated a high degree of internationalism, inspired by the vision of their respective patrons, who were champions of progress in their respective states. Both mosques, having remained relatively obscure both in scholarship and as places of interest with heritage worth, deserve a place in the repertoire of early modern, pre-independence Indian architecture