Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar - VCUQ, Doha - Gallery news: VCUQatar Presents ‘Islamic Architecture of Conquest: Mosques and Tombs in India’

VCUQatar Presents ‘Islamic Architecture of Conquest: Mosques and Tombs in India’ (9.3.2009)

Jami Masjid of Gulbarga

VCUQatar Presents ‘Islamic Architecture of Conquest: Mosques and Tombs in India’

Doha, Qatar – Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar presents a lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Schotten Merklinger entitled ‘Islamic Architecture of Conquest: Mosques and Tombs in India’ on 11, March 2009 at 7:30 PM in the Atrium in VCUQatar. The lecture is open to the public.

The Mughals ruled a united north India for over three centuries, but the roots of the glorious monuments they built are found in earlier provincial or sultanate styles of architecture. During the pre-Mughal centuries several provincial styles of architecture developed, some of great importance and originality such as Gujarat and Mandu. Many factors influenced these regional styles the most important of which being the indigenous arts prevailing in the region prior to Islam. Dr. Merklinger’s lecture will look at Islamic architecture in India falling into three broad phases.

To the first belong the monuments erected by the five Muslims dynasties which ruled Delhi from the assumption of power by Qutb al-Din Aybak 1206 until the Mughal conquest. New cities built in the Tughluq period like Daulatabad, Hissar and Jaunpur, spread the Delhi Sultanate style beyond the capital. The new Muslim provinces declared their independence and formed the second phase known as provincial or sultanate architecture. To the third phase belong the monuments of the Mughal emperors, who, by the end of the sixteenth century had united northern India, finally conquering the last independent provincial sultanates, Bijapur and Golkonda in the Deccan in 1686-1687.

Each provincial style is a synthesis between the opposing spiritual and aesthetic concepts faced by the early Muslims in India. Nowhere else in the Islamic world was the clash of values more pronounced. But it is precisely these counteracting forces which released the enormous energy that resulted in the construction of the splendid monuments of the Mughal age.

Dr. Merklinger is an art and architectural historian and a frequent university and museum lecturer. She has taught at a number of universities in North America and Europe and has been a broadcaster and producer of radio documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She has also been a curator at the National Gallery of Canada and has conducted research at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. In addition to lecturing and writing, she has been working on cultural and development projects for organizations such as the World Bank and Canadian International Development Agency in a number of countries in the Caucasus, Asia and Central America. Dr. Merklinger holds BA and MA degrees from Cambridge University (UK) and a PhD in History and Architectural History from Delhi University, India. She is the author of a number of scholarly publications including two books on Islamic architecture, Sultanate Architecture of Pre-Mughal India (2005) and Indian Islamic Architecture: The Deccan (1981).

About Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar:
Established in the US in 1838 and in Qatar in 1998 Virginia Commonwealth University offers students from all over the world the opportunity to earn Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in fashion, graphic and interior design. A team of highly skilled professors provide rigorous curricula that prepare students to assume leadership roles in the professional design field of their choice. VCUQatar regularly organizes and hosts exhibitions, gallery events, world-class conferences and holds an annual fashion show. VCUQatar is supported and funded by the Qatar Foundation. For more information please visit www.qatar.vcu.edu or call +974 492 7245.

About Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development
Founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, and chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, Qatar Foundation is a private, non-profit organization committed to the principle that a nation's greatest natural resource is its people. The headquarters of Qatar Foundation are located within its flagship project, Education City, a fourteen million square-meter campus which hosts numerous progressive learning institutions and centers of research, including branch campuses of six of the world's leading universities, plus a cutting-edge research and development center. Qatar Foundation also works to enhance the quality of life in Qatar by investing in community health and development.
For more information please visit: www.qf.org.qa

"Islamic Architecture of Conquest: Mosques and Tombs in India" Press Release as pdf-File 132 KB

"Islamic Architecture of Conquest: Mosques and Tombs in India" Press Release as pdf-File 93,9 KB in Arabic language