ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE OF KASHMIR UNDER SULTANS: STUDY TOMB OF SULTAN ZAIN-UL- ABIDIN’S MOTHER

Abstract

the sultans of Kashmir were great builders, as is attested by a few remnants of their constructive buildings, visible in the valley of Kashmir. This period was witnessed the development of a new religious philosophy of Sufism, but the monotheistic philosophy of Islam also gave new dimensions to various forms of art and architecture in the Kashmir valley. The sultans of Kashmir choose different types of style, such as idiom, building material and decoration for their architecture as compared to earlier Hindu and Buddhist architecture. The plinth and the enclosure wall of the tomb are of an ancient Hindu temple, in the form of a hemisphere resting on a cylindrical drum, the first of its kind in India. The most notable development in brick architecture under sultans was however, the introduction of double dome by sultan Zainul abidins quite successfully in his mother’s tomb. A peculiar feature of the brick buildings of this period is that they are studded with glazed, moulded or enameled bricks or tiles like the Timurid monuments of Samarkand and Bukhara.