Catherine B. Asher
(Associate Professor, Department of Art History, University of Minnesota)
“Building Authority : Architectural Programs and Changing Royal Ideology
in Late Sultanate and Mughal India”
Building Authority: Architectural Programs and Changing Royal Ideology in Late Sultanate and Mughal India
Catherine B. Asher
Professor Ara's 1982 essay in Acta Asiatica entitled, "The Lodhi Rulers
and the Construction of Tomb buildings in Delhi," discussed a link between
architecture under the Lodis and changing royal ideology. His insights
suggesting the large increase in the number of tombs during this period was
a direct result of the unique concept of kingship found in the Afghan based
Lodi period proved invaluable to my work on the architectural patronage of
the following three patrons : Sher Shah Sur who ruled in the mid-16th
century; Raja Man Singh, who was the Mughal Akbar's highest ranking noble;
Sawai Jai Singh, the 18th century founder of Jaipur, who was one of the most
influential nobles in the Mughal military. This paper will probe their use
of a large scale architectural programs as an agent of legitimacy.
Sher Shah's massive building campaign across Sur domain which stretched
from modern Bangladesh to Pakistan was aimed at constructing an image of an
ideal Islamic ruler, just in nature and descended from high birth. Man
Singh's patronage, while extensive, appears less like a massive campaign
with a single agenda. Rather his appears to have evolved over time and
served two agendas, his own and the Mughal state, often the line between
them blurred. Sawai Jai Singh, a descendant of Raja Man Singh, too, became
a great patron of architecture, however, the interests his building campaign
favored again reflected changing concepts of imperial ideology. His pattern
of patronage continues a process began by his predecessor, Man Singh. But
unlike Man Singh's patronage which is found wherever he served the Mughal
state as well as in his ancestral lands, Sawai Jai Singh's patronage is
limited to his own territory. However, its scale, the construction of a
whole new planned city, was monumental; moreover, like the 16th century
Mughal emperor, Akbar, and less like his contemporary Mughal masters, Sawai
Jai Singh was concerned with the rights of all subjects. This is reflected
in his new city, Jaipur, which while commonly today regarded as a Hindu
city, was in fact, intended as a universal city to promote harmony among all
subjects.