Describe the new architectural features added by successive Sultans' in the construction of Tombs in India.

Answer:

Tomb building was an entirely new architectural form in India, introduced by the Turks and developed steadily through the Sultanate period. Each dynasty added distinctive features, so that the tomb evolved from a plain square chamber into the monumental garden mausoleum the Mughals would perfect.

The Slave dynasty: beginnings

• Iltutmish's tomb at Delhi is a plain square chamber, its dome now fallen.
• The interior carries rich Islamic calligraphy and arabesque in the Indian carving tradition.
• Balban's tomb is historically decisive as the first true arch on the squinch in India.
• It marks the transition from the corbelled Indian technique to genuine arcuate construction.

The Khaljis and Tughlaqs

• Alauddin Khalji's period saw the true dome and the horseshoe arch established.
• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq's tomb at Tughlaqabad introduced sloping (batter) walls of great strength.
• It stands within its own fortified enclosure, giving the tomb a martial character.
• Red sandstone with marble facing produced a deliberate colour contrast.
• Firoz Shah's tomb at Hauz Khas was attached to a madrasa, linking tomb with institution.

The Sayyids and Lodis

• The octagonal tomb, surrounded by a verandah with a low dome, became a distinct type.
• Mubarak Shah's and Muhammad Shah's tombs at Delhi exemplify the form.
• The square tomb without verandah was reserved for nobles.
• The double dome appeared, notably at Sikandar Lodi's tomb, improving external proportion.
• Tombs were increasingly placed within formal garden enclosures.
• Guldasta finials, chhatris and coloured tile decoration enriched the exterior.

The legacy

• Sher Shah's tomb at Sasaram brought the type to monumental grandeur on a lake terrace.
• Humayun's tomb combined the double dome, garden setting and central plan into the Mughal charbagh mausoleum.
• This line of development culminates in the Taj Mahal.

Sultanate tomb architecture thus progressed through cumulative experiment, from Iltutmish's simple chamber to the octagonal, double-domed, garden-set mausoleum of the Lodis. As Percy Brown observed, each dynasty contributed a structural or aesthetic device, and their combined achievement supplied the vocabulary from which Mughal funerary architecture was created.