Universität Wien

080017 VO The Taj Mahal in the Indian and Islamic Architectural Tradition (2013W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 8 - Kunstgeschichte und Europäische Ethnologie
Moodle

Details

Language: German

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 08.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 15.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 22.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 29.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 05.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 12.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 19.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 26.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 03.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 10.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 17.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 07.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 14.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 21.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03
  • Tuesday 28.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C1 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-O1-03

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The memory of mankind is short, and outside of South Asia it has been largely forgotten that the Mughals were once a superpower of Asia and of the Islamic world. In India the Mughals were fully conscious of ruling as a Muslim elite over a vast territory of peoples of different creeds and cultures. In their best moments they were concerned to dissolve this antagonism in a syncretistic universalism and thus created one of the most successful composite cultures in world history, by bringing their Central Asian Timurid heritage to the ancient traditions of India while remaining sensitive to Persianate cultural norms and developing a new awareness of Europe. In this way the Mughals are ideal subjects for the intercultural interests of our times.
What has always impressed those who studied the Mughals is their talent to express their ideas and ideologies in the arts. The Mughals drew inspiration from the diversity of their sources in order to develop a stylistic, iconographic and allegorical “multilingualism”, as a means to address the widest possible audience in a cosmopolitan discourse and, in consequence, to legitimate themselves as ideal and universal kings. From the discussions of the lectures the Taj Mahal will emerge as a quintessential platform to deal with these issues.
The lectures begin with an introduction to the Mughal dynasty, the patron Shah Jahan and his emotional involvement with his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal for whom he conceived the mausoleum. Then comes a reconstruction of the riverfront gardens of the capital of the Mughal empire Agra which form the urban context of the mausoleum. The following lectures discuss the history of the construction, the problems of building tombs in the Indian and Islamic tradition, and then offer an analysis of the planning of the Taj Mahal complex, its building types and their function, architectural forms as well as ornament and symbolism. In conclusion we look at the reception of the mausoleum until the present day.

Assessment and permitted materials

Multiple Choice Test , first date soon after the end of the lectures

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

To convey comprehensive understanding of the creation, architecture, symbolism and reception of the most famous building of India, one of the new digitally elected wonders of the world which was built by Shah Jahan , the 5th emperor of the Mughal dynasty 1632-43/48.

Examination topics

The lectures will move along the lines of the special methodology adopted by Ebba Koch. Art history's technique of formal analysis is combined with a reading of textual sources, and in considering elements of the aesthetics of art, an architectural form, building type, garden and urban design an understanding of the Mughal period will be formed. This approach will uncover aspects of Mughal culture which were never recorded, but expressed only in architecture and the arts. Thus art and architecture emerge as a means of communication, through a topos of symbols and like language and literature represent vital clues in the study of the cultural, religious and political history of the Mughal empire.
The formal analysis is based on the first survey of the entire Taj Mahal complex and its urban context ever undertaken by Ebba Koch with the Indian architect Richard A. Barraud (1995-2005). It includes a reconstruction of the not preserved parts. Film documentaries will complete the picture.

Reading list

Ebba Koch, The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra (London: Thames& Hudson 2006, paperback 2012) with further literature.
--------, "Taj Mahal: Architecture, Symbolism and Urban Significance", in Muqarnas 22 (2005): 128-49.
---------, Mughal Architecture: An Outline of Its History and Development (New Delhi: Oxford University Press 2002).
Schimmel, Annemarie, The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:31