Indo Saracenic Architecture.pdf

History of Architecture (AP313) | Term Paper | 2013

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Indo Sarasenic Architecture in Chandni Chowk

Term Paper for History of Architecture (AP131)

Prashansa Sachdeva

Roll Number: 04216901611

Sushant School of Art and Architecture

ABSTRACT

Indo saracenic

“Indo Saracenic architecture was a post 1857 effort by many administrators and

architects to show that their work belonged to India. Major government owned

institutional buildings such as administrative and collector‟s offices, law courts,


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municipal headquarters, railway stations and universities were built in this style. It

was employed particularly widely in Chennai but there are also important examples

in Mumbai and Vadodara. Kolkata remained largely faithful to the classical until well

after Independence.” (1)

Despite of the fact that major Indo Saracenic work happened in Chennai, Mumbai

and Vadodara, changes were planned to Delhi.

Figure 1 Old Chandni Chowk

Ref: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Chandni_Chowk%2C_Delhi%2C_1863-67.jpg

Why chandni chowk?

“Delhi had held a special meaning for them since they first took it in 1804. The

spectacle of those crumbled strongholds of the past powerfully appealed to their

imaginations, especially a their own immediate predecessors, the Mughals, had

ended up as shadow monarchs in the Red Fort there.” (2)

A commission was sanctioned to add new government blocks (secretariats) in the

region near Chandni Chowk. Along with this, some buildings were added to

Chandni chowk too.


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“The original intention was to make the new capital an organic partner to the

existing walled city of the Mughal, Shahjahanabad- „one city‟, said Lord Hardinge,

„not two‟. Actually this was already more racially integrated than most such Indian

cities: the Red Fort was a British barracks, and there were many Anglo- Indian

institutions within its walls.” (2)

“Four months after the start of the 1857 uprising against the colonial presence in

India, the British gained control of Delhi city. Following the siege, substantial

properties to the north of Chandni chowk were destroyed, or confiscated….Lands

belonging to the Mughal royalty such as the sarai at Chandni chowk and the

gardens came under British proprietorship.” (3)

Today, though the region has a mixed heritage, the British buildings of the old

times still persists.

Methodology

The aim of the paper is not only to study the landmark buildings(ex: Old Town hall)

but also to study the immediate fabric, which might not mark as important

buildings but exhibit the Indo Saracenic features. Examples of buildings lying in

the near by areas (ex: old British Embassy, Anglo Indian schools, etc) will be

mentioned. Beginning with a time before Indo Saracenic it will be followed with the

early inventions leading to the changes in the common fabric.


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PAPER

Delhi has been home to many dynasties. The British being the last, when India got

its democracy. The British rule, affected Indians in many ways. The paper focuses

the affects of the British Raj on Delhi and majorly it‟s affect on people of Chandni

Chowk, the economic spine of the city through ages.

The Indian Saracenic: Mughal, Gothic, Victorian

Indian Saracenic, is a term coined by the British upon a mixed architecture, of

Mughal and their own. “The British indiscriminately called all architecture of

„Muslim‟ countries, from Moorish Spain where Europeans first encountered an

Islamic society to Mughal India, „Saracenic‟.” (4)

“The architectural period beginning in the 1870s and lasting, despite competing

revivalist ideologies, until Independence in 1947 – and thereafter, in attitude if not

in name – was the Indo Saracenic era. In the nineteenth century, British architects

used the term to describe buildings that visually amalgamated elements of Indian

architecture with fairly standard generic British buildings. Indo Saracenic

architecture was a post 1857 effort by many administrators and architects to show

that their work belonged to India. In this sense it was similar to Indo-classical

architecture but Indo-Saracenic buildings combined diverse architectural features of

Mughal antecedents with Gothic and Victorian elements and spatial planning.” (5)

“„Indo- Saracenic‟ was inexplicably the favourite generic name for these

combinations, but the Hindu Gothic, the Renaissance-Mogul, the Saracenic-Gothic,

even the Swiss- Saracenic, were all identified at some time or another as

architectural types.” (2)

“The Indo Saracenic style had diverse manifestations, but has generally been

described as a hybrid idiom of free-style Indic ornamentation and structural forms


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elaborated upon the generic plans of modern of modern European building types

such as colleges, hospitals and courthouses. Modeled, in some of its more

sophisticated examples, on the actual Indo-Islamic synthesis that had developed in

northern India under the patronage of the former Mughal Empire, the style came to

be regarded as a particularly apposite means of displaying the evolving policy of the

British imperial regime to outwardly assimilate its forms and its rituals to the tastes

and sensibilities of its indidenous subjects.” (6)

“Major government owned institutional buildings such as administrative and

collector‟s offices, law courts, municipal headquarters, railway stations and

universities were built in this style.” (5)

“…From this perspective, ‟Indo Saracenic‟ architecture resembles the then British-

Victorian romantic-picturesque imagination of an Indian past encapsulated within

the Britisher‟s own buildings” (4)

Indo Saracenic Delhi: Why Delhi?

From the ancient times, Delhi had been a traditional seat of power. There is a

saying –“He who rules Delhi, rules India.” The influence of Delhi has dominated over

other regions.

“The European connections with Delhi had been very old. As back as 327 B.C.,

Alexander the Great invaded India and left social and cultural traces which are even

visible today. However after the presence of the East India Company in 1714 in

Delhi, the English influence became pronounced.” (7)

“Delhi had held a special meaning for them since they first took it in 1804. The

spectacle of those crumbled strongholds of the past powerfully appealed to their

imaginations, especially their own immediate predecessors, the Mughals, had ended

up as shadow monarchs in the Red Fort there.” (2)


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“However, the city underwent drastic transformations after the war of 1857. One

third of the city was razed to rubble in 1858. The East India Company transferred

the rule to the British Crown. Throughout the late 17th and 18th centuries, European

style buildings started coming up, which intercepted the façade of Mughal and

Indian architecture. Besides, quite a few townhouses, bungalows, churches and

cemeteries were built in European style. Even the narrow streets of the walled city

were visible with the imported architecture.” (7)

Why Chandini Chowk?

Throughout history, Chandni Chowk has remained an important part of Delhi, being

the economic spine.

The Grand Street, Chandni Chowk was laid out by Jahanara Begum in the year 1600

AD and she built sarai and garden in it called as Queen‟s Garden...The canal

entered the city near the Kabuli Gate and flowed with very little variation in its

course through the city and the citadel and then emptied itself into the river. The

houses around Chandni Chowk were of the same height and were ornamented with

arched doors and painted varandas…There were total 36 mohallas and houses of

merchants were along river. In the course of the time the entire street was called as

Chandni Chowk. (8)


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Figure 2 Chandni Chowk from Lahore Gate

Ref: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/addorimss/t/largeimage55228.html

Thus, when the British came to India, their interest was also in the economic spine,

the great bazaar.

“In the early years, the British and their troops settled within the walled city, around

the Red Fort and Kashmere Gate. They improved and partly reconstructed the Old

City Wall and developed a residential colony named Mubarak Bagh. To provide

drinking water to the old city, Ali Mardan Canal was lined and reopened.” (7)

“The structure of the walled city was conceived with a network of landmarks, focal

points, linear markets and a spatial subdivision. The Red Fort, the Royal palace was

a climax and a focal point for the fashionable Chandini Chowk. …The proximity of

the house to the palace determined the status of a person. Two commercial

centres, Chandini Chowk and Faiz Bazaar were created, of which Chandini Chowk

was developed as a dominant central axis of the city.” (7)


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“By 1858…The heavily built up area surrounding the Red Fort was completely

cleared. Almost the entire population of the walled city was ejected….Red Fort and

Jama Masjid were used as military camps. ..Lahore gate and Delhi gates of the Red

Fort were renamed as Victoria and Alexandra Gates and a Town Hall was built in

Chandini Chowk.” (7)

Indo Saracenic Chandni Chowk : Impacts of the British Raj

“On conquering Delhi, the British chose the largest, most frequently traversed, and

beautiful of squares on the Chandini Chowk as the site of a new civic center. The

idea that „a municipality represents the advance of mankind from primitive anarchy

to civilized order‟ motivated colonial administrators to establish the Delhi Municipal

Committee in 1863. One of the earliest building project of the imperial government

in Delhi was the construction of a civic square defined by public buildings and

reflecting the new municipal resolve.” (3)

A commission was sanctioned to add new government blocks (secretariats) in the

region near Chandni Chowk. Along with this, some buildings were added to

Chandni chowk too.

“The original intention was to make the new capital an organic partner to the

existing walled city of the Mughal, Shahjahanabad- „one city‟, said Lord Hardinge,

„not two‟. Actually this was already more racially integrated than most such Indian

cities: the Red Fort was a British barracks, and there were many Anglo- Indian

institutions within its walls.” (2)

The Town Hall and Queen‟s Garden


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“In the middle of Chandni Chowk, in the main square and on the site of the serai,

municipal funds and subscriptions from wealthy citizens financed a civic

monument: the Delhi Institute Building, later to become known as the Town Hall.

The edifice was intended to beautify the city; British architects, Messrs Mandreth

and Cooper, prepared the design. At a time and a place when British military

engineers were responsible for much building design in India, the hiring of

professional architects of repute from the metropole itself indicated the importance

of the building. In addition to the offices of the recently established Delhi Municipal

Committee, the Town Hall consisted of a college, a museum, a library and reading

room, a hall of trade, a „Darbar‟ room for senior British administrators to hold

public audience, and a „pleasant suite of rooms used for dances and other social

reunions of the English residents‟. Mandreth and cooper redesigned the paradise

gardens of Jehanara Begum which were renamed Queen‟s Gardens.” (3)

“The Town hall was designed as a two storied brick and plaster building. The

rectilinear masses were simply proportioned with neoclassical symmetry to create a

horizontal and substandial presence on the swuare, the design echoed, in some

ways, town hall facades prevalent in England at this time. Rectangular windows

punctured the walls and jack arches and pediments accentuated the openings; a

classical portico adorned the entrance area. Ornamentation was limited to

rustication in the plaster in the lower parts of the buildings in Delhi, the structure

was remarkable for its lack of stone and carving. The building was set back from

the square and the surrounding buildings. Rather than enclosing the public space,

the building created a visual focus. The use of gabled roofs, cornices, porticos, and

false pediments over the windows made refernces to Greek and Roman classicism

and were unlike local architecture. The formal, symmetrical entrance of the building


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framed a statue of Queen Victoria to the north, symbolizing the political change of

guard.” (3)

Figure 3 Town Hall Present

Ref : Http://sarsonkekhet.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/chandni-04-01-01.jpg

The Clock Tower

“At the centre of the square the Victoria Clock Tower superseded the bells and

drums in the naqqarkhana of the king‟s palace and the muezzin‟s call of prayers

from the mosques in marking time…With the clock tower, the physical and symbolic

reconstruction of the central urban space of the city was complete. The stated

intention was to design the structure in what the British charecterized as the

prevailing „mohammedan‟ style of architecture while still being distinctly modern in

construction.” (3)


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Figure 4 Pediment Town Hall

Ref: Self

Figure 5 Semi Circular Arches; Columns

Ref: Self


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Figure 6 The Viceregal Procession passing the Clock Tower and Delhi Institute in Chandni

Chowk, 1877

Ref: http://www.dadinani.com/images/img/stories/rohatgi/procession1877resized.jpg

Figure 7 Chandni Chowk 1880s –the same location as the 1877 procession photo

Ref: http://www.dadinani.com/images/img/stories/rohatgi/deendayal1880resized.jpg


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Figure 8 Chandni Chowk 1910

Ref: http://www.dadinani.com/images/img/stories/rohatgi/cchowk1910resized.jpg

The Railway Station

“The old Delhi Railway Station was built in 1890 was opened to public around 1903.

The architecture is of Gothic style but made with sense of complimentary to

Chandni Chowk and other surrounding Mughal architecture.” (9)


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Figure 9 Interiors of Railway Station

Ref: http://www.sodelhi.com/churches/372-st-stephens-church.

St. Stephens Church

“The British colonial era left a lasting impression on Delhi‟s character by way of its

unique architecture which was manifested in the buildings & complexes that were

built during those times. It was most evident in the churches built during the British

period, a showcase of their devotion & also a vital instrument in spreading the

message of God. The church lies in a wide bustling street in Old Delhi, near other

colonial era buildings such as the Old Delhi Railway Station & the Town Hall. The

church has been built in typical Gothic style which was the prevalent style of that

era. The interiors of the church feature arched windows, ornate columns, walls

adorned with intricate motifs & carvings and stained rose glass windows, which is a

unique feature of this church amongst all others built here during the same time.

The exterior of the church is painted in blood-red paint, which signifies the


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bloodshed & martyrdom of St. Stephen. The church, in keeping with the baroque

style also has a bell hanging on a high tower.” (10)

The common Fabric

The British built many important landmark public buildings for people of Delhi, so

they did for those in Chandni Chowk. Imposing their power, and giving a sense of

their culture in their buildings, they developed the Indo Saracenic style. Which was,

indeed, a representation of their earlier rulers, the Greek and the Romans. The

public buildings, the town halls and stations all represented typical Greek and

Roman features. Pediments, colums, varandas, no inner courtyard to name some.

(Refer to sections above)

During the 1900s, when India got its India got its independence, major changes

happened in the society of Chandni Chowk.

“Through the entire planning process(of New Delhi), the integration of the existing

old city was conspicuously neglected. Old Delhi was still the commercial hub of

Delhi, where most of the „common folk‟ continued to reside; however, the

separation of its inhabitants from the world of the higher classes was physically

reflected in the spatial isolation of the old city, with its poor connectivity to the new

heart of the city. Thus, the royal city of the Mughals which once excluded the lower

classes from residing within its walled paradise became a peripheral zone to the

glory of New Delhi….. Delhi received the largest number of refugees for a single

city- the population of Delhi grew from under 1 million to a little less than 2 million

in the period 1941-1951, the majority of which increase can be attributed to the

Partition… And Chandni Chowk, without an option of expanding growth, grew

denser. The residential neighbourhoods left vacant by the fleeing Muslim families


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were overrun with the thousands of refugees flooding in from what had become

Pakistan.” (11)

“Street vendors began to line both sides of Chandni Chowk, and the street became

so crowded that the trams had to be discontinued.” (12)

“In same time, in New Delhi where Lutyen had left streets for construction of new

bungalows, the argument of traditional Indian or Indo Saracenic was on. By then,

Indo Saracenic was also moreover equivalent to Delhi‟s vernacular architecture.

However, the new bungalows were made more to reflect the British education to the

Indian fabric. „The roots of the bungalow in India lie in the early attempts of British

military engineers in the eighteenth century to design a standardised and

permanent dwelling based on indigenous domestic structures for the East India

Company when the British were still traders in the subcontinent. In its later version,

the archetypal bungalow in the nineteenth century consisted of a low, one-storey,

spacious building, internally divided, having a symmetrical layout with a veranda all

around, situated in a large compound. This basic model was also adopted with

modifications almost everywhere British imperial rule existed at that time.” (5)

A similar thought process can be analysed about the people living in Chandni

Chowk. The buildings near to the main civic centre built by the British (town hall)

show a clear adaptation over the year.

Ref: https://maps.google.co.in/maps?hl=en&tab=wl [ONLINE]

STREET A

STREET B


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Figure 10 Street A

Figure 11 Street B

Figure 12 Old Cinema


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Figure 13 Eaves and Segmented Arches

Figure 14 Segmented arches and bands


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Figure 15 Adjacent to cinema

Figure 16 Pilasters and small balconies ; Patterns of Art Deco seen

Figure 17 Eaves seen repeted in nearby buildings


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Figure 18 State Bank's Building

Figure 19 Semi circular arches; keystone


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Figure 20 Flat arches and Bands on walls

Figure 21 Eaves (shading device) on the side walls

Figure 22 Flat arch Windows


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Figure 23 Balcony Railings

Figure 24 Central Bank


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Figure 25 Corbelled Brick Arches

Figure 26 Semi Circular Arches- Light Windows


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Figure 27 Gothic Arches - Surrounding Buildings

Figure 28 Punjab National Bank- Semi Circular Arches, Columns and orders followed


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Figure 29 Allahbad Bank- Gothic Arches; Carved Balconies

Figure 30 Gothic Arches; Surrounding Buildings


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Figure 31 Surrounding Fabric - Semi Circular Arches and Pilasters

Towards Art Deco

“At the beginning of the twentieth century the classical inheritance was clear and

continued in modified form, particularly in New Delhi until the 1950s…The

classical and the Indo Saracenic styles were, however, paralleled in time by the

Carpenter Gothic style – also a residue of the nineteenth century. They both gave

way to Art Deco and later to Modernist designs.” (5)


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Figure 32 Repeated Patterns over Parapets

Figure 33 Rounding Of Corner Buildings

Over the years, Chandni Chowk saw many changes, and its story of development

and improvement of styles and typologies carry on.

Ref Figures 10-33 : Self


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Bibliography

1. Madhavi Desai, Miki Desai, Jon Lang. The Bungalow in Twentieth Century India.

Farnham : Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-4094-2738-4.

2. Morris, Jan. Stones of Empire: The Buildings of the Raj. s.l. : Oxford University

Press USA, 1983. ISBN 978- 0192805967.

3. hosagrahar, Jyoti. Indigenous Modernities: Negotiating Architecture and

Urbanism. Abingdon : Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0-203-02273-4.

4. Carey A Watt ; Michael Mann. Civilizing Missions in Colonial and Postcolonial

South Asia. London : Anthem Press, 2011. ISBN- 10:1 84331 864 4.

5. Desai, Madhavi, Desai, Miki and Lang, Jon. The Bunglow in Twentieth Century

India. Farnham : Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-4094-2738-4.

6. P. Scriver; V. Prakash. Colonial Modernities: Building, Dwelling and Architecture in

British India and Ceylon. Abingdon : Routledge, 2007. ISBN 0-203-96426-8.

7. Jain, A K. The Cities of Delhi. New Delhi : Management Publishing Co., 1994. ISBN

: 81-86034-00-5.

8. Mohan, I. Environmental Issues and Urban Development of the Walled Cities. New

Delhi : Mittal Publications, 1992. ISBN 81-7099-319-9.

9. Bheda, Jayesh. Waiting room, Old Delhi Railway Station. Panoramio. [Online] 15

June 2011. [Cited: 9 October 2013.] http://www.panoramio.com/photo/54239981.

10. St Stephens Church. So Delhi. [Online] [Cited: 10 october 2013.]

http://www.sodelhi.com/churches/372-st-stephens-church.


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11. Kanuri, Chaitanya and Ganesh, Jayesh. Resilience through urban flexibility. The

case of Chandni Chowk, Shahjahanabad. Paris : Essais des étudiants des masters

urbains de Sciences Po, 22013.

12. ROHATGI, VIJAY. Memories of Chandni Chowk and India‟s First Independence

Day, India of the Past. Dadi Nani Foundation. [Online] 2011. [Cited: 10 October

2013.] http://www.dadinani.com/capture-memories/read-contributions/life-back-

then/230-memories-of-chandni-chowk-and-indias-first-independence-day-by-

vijay-rohatgi.

13. Corbusier, Le. Towards a New Architecture. reprint. s.l. : CreateSpace

Independent Publishing Platform, 2011. ISBN: 1466216395, 9781466216396.

14. Cumming, Elizabeth and Kaplan, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts Movement.

London : Thames and Hudson, 1991. ISBN 0-500-20248-6.

15. Duncan, Alastair. Art Nouveau. London : Thames and Hudson, 1999. ISBN 0-

500-20273-7.

16. Frampton, Kenneth. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. s.l. : Thames &

Hudson, 2007. ISBN 0500203954, 9780500203958.

17. Marshall, P. J. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire. s.l. :

Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN: 0521002540, 9780521002547.


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Figure 1 Old Chandni Chowk Ref:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Chandni_Chowk%2C_Delhi%

2C_1863-67.jpg [online] ......................................................................................... 2

Figure 2 Chandni Chowk from Lahore Gate Ref:

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/addorimss/t/largeimage55228.html

[ONLINE] ................................................................................................................. 7

Figure 3 Town Hall Present Ref :

Http://sarsonkekhet.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/chandni-04-01-01.jpg

[ONLINE] ............................................................................................................... 10

Figure 4 Pediment Town Hall Ref: Self ................................................................... 11

Figure 5 Semi Circular Arches; Columns Ref: Self................................................... 11

Figure 6 The Viceregal Procession passing the Clock Tower and Delhi Institute in

Chandni Chowk, 1877 Ref:

http://www.dadinani.com/images/img/stories/rohatgi/procession1877resized.jpg[

ONLINE] ................................................................................................................ 12

Figure 7 Chandni Chowk 1880s –the same location as the 1877 procession photo

Ref:

http://www.dadinani.com/images/img/stories/rohatgi/deendayal1880resized.jpg[

ONLINE] ................................................................................................................ 12

Figure 8 Chandni Chowk 1910 Ref:

http://www.dadinani.com/images/img/stories/rohatgi/cchowk1910resized.jpg[ON

LINE] ..................................................................................................................... 13

Figure 9 Interiors of Railway Station Ref: http://www.sodelhi.com/churches/372-st-

stephens-church.[ONLINE] .................................................................................... 14

Figure 10 Street A ................................................................................................. 17

Figure 11 Street B.................................................................................................. 17

Figure 12 Old Cinema ........................................................................................... 17


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Figure 13 Eaves and Segmented Arches ................................................................. 18

Figure 14 Segmented arches and bands ................................................................ 18

Figure 15 Adjacent to cinema ................................................................................ 19

Figure 16 Pilasters and small balconies ; Patterns of Art Deco seen ....................... 19

Figure 17 Eaves seen repeted in nearby buildings ................................................. 19

Figure 18 State Bank's Building.............................................................................. 20

Figure 19 Semi circular arches; keystone ............................................................... 20

Figure 20 Flat arches and Bands on walls .............................................................. 21

Figure 21 Eaves (shading device) on the side walls ................................................ 21

Figure 22 Flat arch Windows.................................................................................. 21

Figure 23 Balcony Railings ..................................................................................... 22

Figure 24 Central Bank .......................................................................................... 22

Figure 25 Corbelled Brick Arches ........................................................................... 23

Figure 26 Semi Circular Arches- Light Windows .................................................... 23

Figure 27 Gothic Arches - Surrounding Buildings .................................................. 24

Figure 28 Punjab National Bank- Semi Circular Arches, Columns and orders

followed ................................................................................................................ 24

Figure 29 Allahbad Bank- Gothic Arches; Carved Balconies ................................... 25

Figure 30 Gothic Arches; Surrounding Buildings .................................................... 25

Figure 31 Surrounding Fabric - Semi Circular Arches and Pilasters ....................... 26

Figure 32 Repeated Patterns over Parapets ............................................................ 27

Figure 33 Rounding Of Corner Buildings ............................................................... 27


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