5 – Power, Politics and Architecture: Palaces and Gardens in Mughal South Asia
Online
Course 5 – Summer School online
Monday 16 to Friday 20 June 2025
Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi
£395
Course description
How does architecture reflect power? This fundamental question is the theme running through this course, exploring the great palaces and gardens built by the emperors and courtly elite in South Asia during the Mughal era. The Mughals were the dynastic rulers of much of the region from 1526-1858 and were originally of Central Asian origin. Examining form, layout, decoration and spatial conceptualisation, we ask what these architectural commissions say about the representation of their political power in the region. What were the ceremonial activities which took place within these spaces? How did rulers’ ritual activities dictate the creation of their built space? How can decoration and style be used to present imperial ideology? Can the form of a building express political or dynastic importance?
It will be seen that palace and garden architecture became symbolic of Mughal imperial power, and that the concepts of these spaces were then copied and emulated by other nobles and local rulers within South Asia, including, for example, the Rajput ruling elite. Their adoption and adaptation of Mughal imperial spaces exemplifies the symbolic resonance of architecture as an expression of power.
The course will examine architectural spaces produced in the period from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, including Mughal palaces in Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi; Mughal gardens in Delhi, Agra and Kashmir; and Rajput palaces and gardens in Jaipur, Orchha and Gwalior.
How to book
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Lecturer's biography
Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi is an expert in the art, architecture, and material culture of Mughal South Asia. She has published extensively on Mughal art and architecture and regularly shares her expertise with public audiences. She has consulted for documentaries on the Taj Mahal, has contributed to programmes on BBC World Service Radio, BBC2 and BBC4, and to podcasts, has participated in the Lahore Literary Festivals, and has been an expert lecturer on cultural tours.
Dr Chida-Razvi is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Islamic Architecture, and regularly lectures on Islamic and Indo-Islamic art in London at SOAS and the Victoria & Albert Museum, and for The Courtauld’s Summer School. She previously worked for the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art.