Mohabbat Maqabara : a story of imperialism, colonialism and architecture
IMAGINARIUM: An Alternate History of Art
Welcome to Imaginarium: an alternate history of art. A podcast where we delve in to the most obscure parts of art history.
Hello dear listeners, I’m your host Nadjah, and in this podcast, we try to shed light on less studied parts of the history of art and visual culture. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about indo-gothic architecture, also known as indo-saracenic architecture, an architectural movement during the end of the 19th century, that will be the bridge between the british gothic-revival movement of the mid-19th century and of the indo-islamic architecture, to create a visual combination that can be both beautiful and striking. I hope this will be an interesting episode for you, and i admit i do love getting back to researching the subject of architectural history, because before ending up with a lovely degree in art history, I started by studying architectural design, so this particular subject is definitely an interesting throwback for me. On this, let’s dive right in.
I always think that the historical context behind a subject, in our case, this indo-gothic architectural movement, is always very important to properly place and understand what we’re talking about before someone even attempts to dive deeper into the subject, but it’s just even more so important in this case, when we think abt issues of colonialism and imperialism. It is so important to talk about the historical context surrounding it. There’s really no going around the cruel and terrible history of british colonialism and imperialism in India. (And also like. half the planet huh) because somehow white people during the 18th and 19th century decided that the planet was only but a huge game of chess and conquering, all in the name of « exploring » and that the territories inhabited by non-white people were simply there for the taking, with no care or concern for the people who already lived there.
When it comes to the historical context in India during that period, so during the 19th century, it was definitely at the height of british imperialism, which started in 1858 and ended in 1947, a colonisation that is still very much part of recent history. Even though some white people would love nothing more than to tell you that colonialism was such a long time ago, it is no longer relevant, why are you even still talking about this, unfortunately this could not be further from the truth. As Edward Said says in Culture and Imperialism, in 1914, Europe was owning 85% of the land on earth. These numbers are terrifying and atrocious to think about and for a good reason.
Colonialism and Imperialism have affected a lot more of the global heritage than we might think, both for the colonized countries and also for the colonizers, shaping cultures and mindsets in a way that is very difficult to unravel, even today. Most of the countries under western occupation have gone through their independence during the first half of the 20th century until the 1960s and 1970s. And to this day, the consequences of decades, and sometimes centuries, of colonization, imperialism and the oppression of marginalized communities can definitely still be felt to this day. The fallout from these events and continued oppression on non-white people by white nations has been disastrous on so many levels.
Even if the length of the british rule over its indian colonies was officially 89 years long, it is worth noting that the british presence in the indian subcontinent had started much earlier, much much earlier. And we cannot discuss this, without mentioning specifically the existence of the East India Company, a british trading company funded in 1600, whose goal was to trade in spices, and then stuff like cotton, silk tea, hmmmm opium and hmmmmmmmm slaves. So like. You Know.
It is with this trading that was one of the main ways in which the British gained so much power in the indian peninsula. This trading company ended up gaining so much power financially and politically, with their monopoly over the international trades, that they managed to get the control of territories in India, South-East Asia as well as Hong Kong and some colonies in the persian gulf. Which is absolutely messed up when you think about it, this is a literal company. But it is probably a good line of thought to follow when it comes to modern imperialism, because as much as people would like you to believe that imperialism and colonialism is long dead, it is definitely not the case, it simply has changed forms. It is difficult to look at how cheap labor is mostly in poorer countries of the Global South, how climate change will also mainly affect these countries as well, how white people will go in these countries « because it’s cheap » and easy to live there, while completely ignoring the native people of that country, only using them as a backdrop for how exotic it all is. How the covid vaccines have been given to western countries first, and how these countries are now opposing giving the chance to cheaply produce covid vaccines. All of these are simply a few examples of a new sort of imperialism, a new colonialism that might have morphed through the years but still is very much present and so damaging.
But back to the East India Company, their… role when it comes to colonisation and imperialism is…. very prominent, and frankly disgusting. I mean all imperialism is, but to be able to afford the export of chinese tea back to the Imperialist Head Quarters, they sold illegal opium and drugs to China, which resulted in the Opium Wars of 1832-1842. There’s way more to be said about this subject, so I simply invite you to research this particular subject if you want to know more about it, but I thought it was worth mentioning just so as to draw a more complete portrait of the dealings of the East India Company and their actions when it came to continuing and strengthening the imperialist power of the British Empire. It is only after the Indian Mutiny of 1857, that the british government took over their role when it came to having the control of the territories of India, and with that officially began the colonisation. But as we have seen, it had been going on for much longer than that.
When it comes to british imperialism, the Empire, was an omnipresent reality in the british life and culture and was something that they were desperately trying to keep. The power they held over all of their colonies, and the financial benefits that they reaped from this. It is something that they clung onto because it give them the power to keep living the way they lived and without having to really think about the realities of the atrocities of the Empire. Because, weren’t they civilized people and weren’t they only trying to help the poor ignorant people by showing them how a true polite society works. I am being sarcastic, by the way, just in case people have not caught on.
The effect of colonialism are so pervasive, but I’m an art historian by trade, and not a Historian historian, and thus, it is through the lense of looking at visual art history that we’ll truly comprehend, at least a little bit, the effect of colonialism.Because while I do not feel that confident about diving deep about the specific events of the british colonization of india, I think I do feel confident about discussing this particular architectural movement within the lense of the post-colonialism, so … let’s go ?
ARCHITECTURE 101
First of all, before being able to discuss indo-gothic architecture, we need to define both architectural styles in their own rights, and understand, if at least on a general and basic level, what these two styles are about, and what their main attributes are, and then it will be possible to truly understand what indo-gothic is truly about, both on a aesthetic and visual level, but also on a conceptual and intellectual level.
When it comes to indo-islamic architecture, there’s a very distinct aesthetic that is dominant in the visuals of the buildings taht were were constructed through the centuries since the beginning of the islamic influence in the Indian subcontinent. It is a very specifically indian type of islamic architecture that ended up emerging, even tho the basic components of islamic architecture are roughly the same everywhere, indeed there are elements that will come back everywhere, the minarets, the domes, but it is always very interesting how these will be declined in different geographical settings. The islamic architecture in the middle east will not be the same as the one in India, Malaysia, North Africa or in Andalusia, the south of spain, to name only a few examples, and this is what makes it a rich and vibrant architectural style, and more complex than people usually think it so.
When it comes to visual characteristics of the indo-islamic, it is almost immediately always recognizable, with its rounded domes that dominate the first sight of the building, to the numerous arches both inside and outside of the edifice. I will not do to also forget the towering minarets when it comes to the religious islamic buildings, the minaret is a tower connected to the building from which the call to prayer is generally done, usually to the number of four, there’s one at each corner of the building.
The mathematical symmetry of the layout and decoration is another significant attribute of indo-islamic architecture, as mathematics were a core tenet of the broader islamic culture, complex geometries were incorporated in the way their constructions were organized but also in the ceramics and that were utilized in the decoration. The tiling. with its elaborate and complex geometrical shapes to embellish the interior and exterior of the islamic style edifice is also a very representative quality of this movement. The importance of beautiful and fine calligraphy was also a main characteristic of the style. As Islam does not favor the use of figurative representation, so we’re talking about art or drawings of people, it can be easy to conclude that it is for that reason that the geometrical shapes and figures, calligraphy and decorative elements are so prevalent in the design choices when it comes to this architectural movement, but also in all of the artistic output that comes from muslim countries and cultures.
There are a lot of buildings built in this style in the indian sub-continent, from mosques to mausoleums to palaces and houses, but probably none is as well known as the Taj Mahal when it comes to this particular architectural movement. That gorgeous and magnificent white mausoleum is part of the Unesco World Heritage List and for a good reason. It was built in Agra by Shah Jahan from 1631 to 1648, for his beloved and cherished wife Mumtaz Mahal. With its white marble, its gigantic domes and elegant minarets , it is a staple of indo-islamic architecture, and simply, architecturally speaking it is simply beautiful and marvelous to look at. The all white color of this building tricks you into thinking it is a simple and elegant construction. And while it is definitely very very elegant, it is not simple. The decorations are all extremely complex and intricate. If you so desire, you can even virtually « visit » the Taj Mahal with the use of google arts and culture, and while a trip to india is probably out of reach for most of us as im currently recording this episode, this is still an option that is available, and is definitely worth taking in my opinion.
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When it comes to the neo-gothic style, or the gothic revival, it is important to understand first of all that the 19th century was architecturally speaking a century of innovation, new techniques, ideas and new concepts that would emerge very rapidly, especially with the new technologies and new methods of fashioning and artificially manipulating and creating the spaces we live in. With the new industrial power, new architectural possibilities opened up to the engineers and architects, which brought new experimentations and genres.
Notably, the 19th century brought a new type of gothic architecture, or, more aptly said, gothic inspired architecture. I have already spoken about the gothic of the 19th century in art and literature in episode 03 of this podcast : gothic romance illustration, and if you haven’t listened to that episode, please do so if you want to know more about the gothic in general, and specifically within the world of visual art . But now it is time to dive deep into the particular gothic revival of the 19th century, which was very popular in the UK from roughly 1830-1860.
While gothic architecture was mainly french, and used in christian buildings such as churches, cathedrals and what not, the gothic revival is definitely an english architectural style, something that will be important to remember when it comes to discussing the movement of indo-gothic architecture. Because the british had their empire and so did the french, and so they quote unquote exported their cultural particularities to their colonies, as a way to assert their imperialist power. Also please know, im trying really hard not to describe France and England as the dynamic duo of colonization and imperialism rn but please know im thinking it really hard.
When it comes to the 19th century neo-gothic architecture, conceptually speaking, it wanted to bring the style of gothic architecture further. That new movement has a desire to take the core principles of the gothic architecture and expand on them, using the new technologies and materials. Before I explain a bit more about the neo-gothic architecture, I feel like i should just give a basic explanation of the gothic architecture, this style that is the one that is present in so much of the huge medieval buildings between the 12th and 15th century. From flying buttresses, pointed arches and stained glass windows, these buildings are gloomy but in a very charming way somehow. Please picture Notre-Dame de Paris or The Abbey of Westminster, and you will probably have a good visual picture of what the medieval gothic movement looked like.
The gothic revival uses these kind of structure, but instead of using heavy stone, it will use iron and metal to construct those arches, will have metal structures instead. This new gothic revival will boast an industrialized design, a modern take on the old, that took the gothic architecture and simplified it to its core. With its slimmer and simpler columns, made of metal, with the use of glass and intricate metal structures, there is a desire to convey lightness and weightlessness, especially when put in opposition with the very heavy and weighted stone of the gothic. It is a way to fit a new modern and industrialized world, in updating an old architectural movement with the use of materials such as iron and glass instead of the traditional stone, now that the technology made it possible to attempt this sort of architectural experimentation.
One of the representative examples of that particular architectural movement is The crystal palace that was built in 1851 for the first World Exposition that were in London that year. The World Exposition, or more simply, the World Expo, was an event that gave the opportunity to showcase the industrial and technical capabilities of different countries across the world, even tho this first edition only had 24 countries, most of which were european or western countries, which like. it is not the world but you know. It is inside the Crystal Palace that the exhibit happened. The crystal palace is a huge structure of glass and iron, that really showcases all of this new progress when it comes to the industrialization. With its prefabricated parts and its walls of glass held up by an iron structure, it was a new feat of architecture, and an example new kind of architecture that was now possible, a moment where the british have been able to showcase their architectural and technological prowess. Also, as we are looking at this with our pretty and little post-colonialist lense, it is possible to see that this world expo, that had mostly western countries, and mostly with this celebration of the british empire’s feat and accomplishments, was also simply another way to assert their cultural power and supremacy, and put itself at the forefront of progress and advancement, and thus establishing themselves as a positive and leading entity that would simply lead others into « civilization »
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indo-gothic architecture
So now we have finally arrived to Indo -gothic architecture, after a lot of winding turns but necessary ones in my opinion. This genre of indo-gothic architecture, at its core is simply an a melding of these two architectural movements, the traditional indo-islamic, and this newer neo-gothic revival that was happening during the mid 19th century. There’s a fair few of this type of buildings in India, where the genres have been mixed to various degrees of success, in my very humble opinion. While some buildings are simply …. plain ugly and boring, I will say, other ones, tho, are beautiful, mesmerizing, and fantastical, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves a tiny bit….
Even though I still think it can be hugely beautiful, the discovery that most of his sort of buildings in this indo-gothic architecture were made by white and English architects ….kind of definitely soured my appreciation of the concept a tiny bit. I do still think that on a purely aesthetic, visual and conceptual level, it can be very lovely. The idea of mixing these two genres that seem at odd, with nothing in common, and yet, when done well…..wow is it beautiful. I will have to admit tho, that I think that most buildings that came out of this movement and that were constructed by white british architects are hideous. That’s just my own personal opinion, I think they’re simply not pretty, the melding of the genres was done badly. But most importantly, it is impossible to mention this architectural movement without diving into the deeply colonial implications of what it means that these are white british architects designing buildings in India, where they take the characteristics of typical british buildings, here mostly the gothic revival architecture, and slapping these features to the archetypal indian constructions.
The architecture here has a goal, it is about reshaping the past and remodeling the present, to take India’s cultural heritage and to somehow meld it as something that is British™️, to really maintain the presence of the british empire in India. As Edward Said says in Culture and Imperialism, the goal is to continue to solidify and assert the influence and power of the british presence in their colonies, and one way to do so is to shape the culture of India as to sustain its dominance over it. With buildings such as the New Palace in Kolhapur or the Victorial Memorial in Kolkata, weird buildings that seem british and yet have some minimal indo-islamic details, they seem so out of place in the midst of the rest of the architectural landscape of India, but it rly just another tool of colonialism. It is an imposition of a specific style and british way of life in the colonies, to assimilate and gradually integrate the indigenous architecture of the indian territories, to give the characteristics of western architecture to the buildings in order to give a new value and the « superiority » of western architecture. It rly is a way to construct a cultural cohesion to the whole empire, to preserve the cultural hegemony of the British Empire to its colonies.
And this is imperialism baby.
the Mohabbat maqbara
But when it comes to Indo-gothic architecture. first of all i feel like i have to explain, this episode idea started, because a while back, truly a long time ago, i saw the pictures of a building in india called mohabbat maqbara, a mausoleum in the city of Junagadh. It is a beautiful BEAUTIFUL building in the indo-gothic style, with the very recognizable shape of the indo-islamic building, and stylized with very neo-gothic ornaments and detailing I thought it was so fascinating to see this sort of building, it shouldn’t have worked and yet, the result of was stirking, elegant and stayed in my mind for so long. There’s no secret of my love of The Gothic™️ and the sight of this building inspired me immediately and I desperately wanted to know more about it.
This building is one of the architectural building i deeply want to see if i ever visit India, along with the Jaipur Wind Palace, also known as Hawa Mahal, which is a beautifully complex pink building with dozens and dozens of windows. And frankly just Everything because indian architecture is m a rv e l o u s and so so impressive on so many levels. One of my personal gripes with the way art history is being taught in the west, and I know I do keep going back to this subject, but it really does center western art and architecture at its center, which I find ludicrous, and a huge lacking point when it comes to the teaching of Art History at the higher level of education. Due to my personal path that took me from architectural design to art history, I have had so many classes on the history of architecture in my education, and yet none of them ever talked about non-western architecture in depth, if it was ever mentioned, it was only ever in passing.
This building was built from 1878 to 1892, as the mausoleum of Wazir Bahaduddinbhai Hasainbhai and is a lovely example of how you can mix traditional indian architecture with the gothic renewal architecture that was happening in Britain during that era. Mohabbat maqbara means « the grave of mohabbat » as this masoloeum was constructed by Nawab Mahabat Khan II of Junagadh. It has the classical elements of indo-islamic, with the domes and the basic structure of a secular muslim building. But you can see the spiraling stairs outside of the four minarets minarets, the french windows and arches, the visibly gothic and neo-gothic elements that are incorporated to the structure in a very detailed way. It is beautiful and fascinating. All of the elements from these different architectural movements are connected to create a beautiful blend of genres.
Unlike the previously mentioned buildings within the indo-gothic architecture movement, where the white british architects simply slapped a few indo-islamic looking elements onto a solidly classically english looking structure, the architects of this mausoleum were indian, and understood intrinsically the components of the architectures they were working with. And it is with this understanding that they managed to create this beautifully and well-crafted architectural wonder. In a context where the british imperialism makes it so that it is the dominant cultural influence, and yet you can see with this particular use of the indo-gothic, it is a re-appropriation of these ideas by the oppressed people within this oppressive imperialist regime, and this is what makes it actually compelling and worthwhile.
Before we go, I put a bunch of relevant resources on today’s subject in the show notes, you have some books as well as some theses and articles that you can read if you maybe want to further your knowledge and read more on the subject. As always, all the relevant images will also be on all of our social platforms @ imaginarium_pod on instagram as well as on twitter. This podcast was written, narrated and produced, by yours truly, Nadjah, If you want to support this podcast, you can do so on patreon.com-nadjah , n a d j a h . I want to take this opportunity to thank my patrons : may leigh, vilja sala, Trung-Le Nguyen Cappecci, Jak, Muq, Sam Hirst as well as Jenny, thank you so much for supporting this podcast.
Today’s Recommendation of the day is the 2002 movie DEVDAS. It is very much a classic of indian cinema but I do think it's a very good introductory movie to Bollywood. it is a very long movie and i think you might need to watch it in two parts, but the cinematography, the acting and the story are very much worth the time, you also have the marvelous trio of leading actors including Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai as well as the beautiful Madhuri Dixit, who are all A-List indian actors, if i remember correctly, and please do not quote me on that, I think shahrukh khan might be the most well paid actor in film.. but yes, it is a marvelous movie so please do give it a shot !
On this, I wish you all a very lovely day, evening or night, and I hope to see you again very soon.
RECHERCHE:
https://www.hisour.com/indo-saracenic-revival-architecture-30506/
http://www.madrasmusings.com/vol-28-no-6/rethinking-indo-saracenic-architecture/
https://acadpubl.eu/hub/2018-118-22/articles/22c/32.pdf
https://issuu.com/sakthi.damodaran/docs/print_final_final
https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/kefa108.pdf
https://onartandaesthetics.com/2016/04/23/indo-gothic/
https://neostencil.com/modern-architecture-india
http://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2020/02/indo-saraceni-styled-buildings-built-in.html