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UPPCS Medieval History Gap Sheet: Architecture, Painting and Literature.
UPPCS has asked 39 of these. 1 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
Monuments combine patron, place and building technique. Distinguish arches and domes from beam-based construction, and read Mughal architecture as an evolving use of gardens, sandstone, marble and inlay.
Court histories, memoirs and translations serve different purposes. Pair books with authors and language, while paintings are identified by patronage and subjects rather than by architecture.
✅ Already asked (39)
Sultanate buildings and books
- Qutb Minar patron sequence · Aibak began it, Iltutmish added storeys, and Firoz Shah repaired and extended its upper part.
- Quwwat-ul-Islam, Delhi · Aibak began this mosque in Delhi; it is not the Ajmer mosque.
- Adhai Din ka Jhonpra, Ajmer · The mosque is associated with Aibak's patronage at Ajmer.
- Sultan Ghari tomb · Iltutmish built it for his son Nasiruddin Mahmud.
- Balban's true arch · Balban's tomb in Delhi contains an early surviving true arch.
- Alai Darwaza, 1311 · Alauddin Khalji built the gateway at the Qutb complex.
- Taj-ul-Maasir · Hasan Nizami wrote this early Sultanate history.
- Tabaqat-i-Nasiri · Minhaj-i-Siraj composed this history.
- Barani's historical and political works · Barani wrote Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi and Fatawa-i-Jahandari.
- Afif's Firoz Shahi history · Shams-i-Siraj Afif wrote a separate account focused on Firoz Shah Tughlaq's reign.
- Tughlaqnama · Amir Khusrau wrote this work associated with the rise of the Tughlaqs.
- Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi · Firoz Shah Tughlaq recorded his acts in this autobiographical work.
- Nakhshabi's Tutinama · Ziauddin Nakhshabi adapted the Sanskrit Shuka Saptati into Persian.
- Mulla Daud's Chandayan · Mulla Daud wrote the Awadhi romance Chandayan, associated with Dalmau in present Rae Bareli.
Mughal monuments and painting
- Humayun's garden tomb · Haji Begum commissioned the Delhi tomb with its charbagh plan.
- Delhi Red Fort · Shah Jahan built the Red Fort as part of Shahjahanabad.
- Delhi Jama Masjid · Shah Jahan commissioned this major congregational mosque.
- Delhi Moti Masjid · Aurangzeb built the small marble mosque inside Delhi's Red Fort.
- Pietra dura inlay · Cut coloured stones were fitted into marble to form decorative designs.
- Persian painters under Humayun · Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad helped establish the Mughal painting workshop.
- Hamzanama illustrated manuscript · Akbar's workshop produced a major illustrated Hamzanama series.
- Mansur's nature studies · Jahangir's painter Mansur was noted for birds and animals.
- Abul Hasan's Nadir-uz-Zaman title · Jahangir gave this title to the painter Abul Hasan.
Mughal texts and translations
- Baburnama in Chagatai Turkish · Babur wrote his memoirs in Chagatai Turkish; Tuzuk-i-Babri is another name.
- Gulbadan's Humayunnama · Gulbadan Begum wrote a Persian account of Humayun and the Mughal family.
- Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari · Abul Fazl wrote Akbarnama; its third volume, Ain-i-Akbari, describes institutions and resources.
- Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri · Jahangir's memoirs were written in Persian.
- Razmnama translation · The Persian Mahabharata was prepared under Akbar by a team of scholars.
- Sirr-i-Akbar · Dara Shikoh oversaw the Persian translation of the Upanishads.
- Majma-ul-Bahrain · Dara Shikoh compared Hindu and Islamic mystical ideas in this work.
- Maasir-i-Alamgiri · Saqi Mustaid Khan compiled a history of Aurangzeb's reign.
UP monuments and writing
- Atala Mosque, Jaunpur · Ibrahim Shah Sharqi completed the Atala Mosque in 1408.
- Buland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri · Akbar's gateway is associated with commemoration of the Gujarat victory.
- Agra Fort and Jahangiri Mahal · Akbar rebuilt Agra Fort; Jahangiri Mahal belongs to his building programme.
- Taj Mahal, Agra · Shah Jahan built the mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal by the Yamuna.
- Itmad-ud-Daulah's tomb, Agra · Nur Jahan commissioned the marble tomb for her father, Mirza Ghiyas Beg.
- Agra Moti Masjid · Shah Jahan built this marble mosque inside Agra Fort.
- Amir Khusrau's Patiyali birthplace · Amir Khusrau, called Tuti-e-Hind, was born at Patiyali in present Kasganj district.
- Lucknow Imambara and Rumi Darwaza · Asaf-ud-Daulah commissioned the Bara Imambara and Rumi Darwaza in Lucknow in 1784.
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Mughal monuments and painting: 1
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⚠️ Agra’s Moti Masjid is Shah Jahan’s; Delhi’s Moti Masjid is Aurangzeb’s. Barani and Shams-i-Siraj Afif both wrote works called Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi.
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