"The art of building was carried to highest degree of perfection under Shahjahan". Illustrate by giving architectural details of two of his most celebrated buildings.

Answer:

Shah Jahan's reign is universally regarded as the climax of Mughal architecture. His preference for white marble, his mastery of proportion and his exquisite ornament produced buildings of unrivalled refinement, of which the Taj Mahal and the Jama Masjid at Delhi are the supreme illustrations.

The character of his style

• White marble replaced Akbar's red sandstone as the principal medium.
• Pietra dura (parchin kari) inlay of semi-precious stones became the hallmark ornament.
• The bulbous dome on a constricted neck gave a new elegance to the skyline.
• Foliated and cusped arches replaced the plainer earlier forms.
• Perfect bilateral symmetry and careful proportion governed every plan.

The Taj Mahal

• Built at Agra between 1632 and 1648 for Mumtaz Mahal, chiefly by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.
• It stands on a raised marble plinth with four detached minarets, tilted slightly outward for safety.
• The great bulbous dome rises about fifty-eight metres above the terrace.
• Calligraphy of black marble inlay is graded in size so as to appear uniform from below.
• Delicate jali screens surround the cenotaphs, and floral pietra dura covers the surfaces.
• Its charbagh, placed with the tomb at the end rather than the centre, is a deliberate innovation.

The Jama Masjid, Delhi

• Built between 1650 and 1656, it is the largest mosque in India.
• Red sandstone with white marble striping gives a bold two-colour composition.
• Three great bulbous domes crown the prayer hall, flanked by two tall minarets.
• It stands on a lofty plinth reached by broad flights of steps, dominating the city.
• The vast courtyard was designed to hold some twenty-five thousand worshippers.

These two buildings amply justify the claim. As Percy Brown observed, Shah Jahan combined structural confidence with a jeweller's delicacy of finish, and in the Taj Mahal and the Jama Masjid Mughal architecture achieved a balance of grandeur and refinement that neither his predecessors nor his successors equalled.