7 - Architecture and the struggle for authority under the later Mughals and their successor states

Summary

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Aurangzeb died in 1707, but the Mughal empire endured, at least officially, for another 150 years. It lasted until the British exiled and imprisoned the last Mughal ruler after the uprising in 1858. Shah 'Alam Bahadur Shah succeeded Aurangzeb in 1707. Continuous political turmoil prevented him, however, from entering the long-standing Mughal capital, Delhi, after his coronation. Delhi again became the imperial residence in 1712, but the empire continued to suffer seriously from financial problems, political intrigue, inadequately prepared rulers, and invasions. Moreover, Delhi experienced difficulties that reflected on the entire state. In 1739 the city was sacked by the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah and again in the 1750s by Afghans who entered India four times. In fact, as Delhi became increasingly vulnerable, it also became virtually all that was left of the Mughal empire. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, two Delhis emerged – the older Mughal city where the king still resided in Shah Jahan's fort, and British Delhi which increasingly encroached upon and transformed the older city.

As the empire weakened, the nawabs of Murshidabad, Awadh and Hyderabad established their own successor states, while Sikh, Jat, Maratha and other Hindu rulers asserted their independence, carving out numerous little kingdoms from what once had been a single empire. The architecture sponsored by the rulers and inhabitants of these new domains is heavily dependent on the Mughal style established under Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, yet in each case new formal interpretations and meaning are given to older forms. The results are often highly creative expressions, reflecting these houses' political allegiance and religious affiliation.