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Diwan-i-Am (Red Fort)
The ''Diwan-i-Am'', or Hall of Audience, is a room in the Red Fort of Delhi where the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1665) and his successors received members of the general public and heard their grievances. The inner main court to which the ''Nakkarkhana'' led was 540 feet broad, 420 feet deep, and surrounded by arcade galleries, where chieftains (''umaras'') on duty were posted. On the further side of it is the ''Diwan-i-Am''. The ''Diwan-i-Am'' consists of a front hall, open on three sides and backed by a set of rooms faced in red sandstone. The hall is 100 ft x 60 ft and divided into 27 square bays on a system of columns which support the arches. The roof is spanned by sandstone beams. The proportions of this hall, of its columns, and of the engraved arches show high aesthetics and fine craftsmanship. With an impressive façade of nine engraved arch openings, the hall was ornamented with gilded and white shell lime '' chunam'' plaster work. Its ceiling and colu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diwan-i-Am - Western Facade - Red Fort - Delhi 2014-05-13 3194
A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental council of a state", comes from Turkish ''divan'', from Arabic ''diwan''. It is first attested in Middle Persian spelled as ''dpywʾn'' and ''dywʾn'', itself hearkening back, via Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian, ultimately to Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet. The word was borrowed into Armenian as well as ''divan''; on linguistic grounds this is placed after the 3rd century, which helps establish the original Middle Persian (and eventually New Persian) form was ''dīvān'', not ''dēvān'', despite later legends that traced the origin of the word to the latter form. The variant pronunciation ''dēvān'' however did exist, and is the form surviving to this day in Tajiki Persian. In Arabic, the term was first used for the army ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Fort
The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. Originally red and white, its design is credited to architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori, who also constructed the Taj Mahal. The fort represents the peak in Mughal architecture under Shah Jahan, and combines Persianate palace architecture with Indian traditions. The fort was plundered of its artwork and jewels during Nadir Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire in 1739. Most of the fort's marble structures were subsequently demolished by the British following the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The fort's defensive walls were largely undamaged, and the fortress was subsequently used as a garrison. On 15 August 1947, the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, raised the Indian flag above the Lahori Gate. Eve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mughal Emperor
The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled themselves as "padishah", a title usually translated from Persian as "emperor". They began to rule parts of India from 1526, and by 1707 ruled most of the sub-continent. After that they declined rapidly, but nominally ruled territories until the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The Mughals were a branch of the Timurid dynasty of Turco-Mongol origin from Central Asia. Their founder Babur, a Timurid prince from the Fergana Valley (modern-day Uzbekistan), was a direct descendant of Timur (generally known in western nations as Tamerlane) and also affiliated with Genghis Khan through Timur's marriage to a Genghisid princess. Many of the later Mughal emperors had significant Indian Rajput and Persian ancestry through marriage alliances as emperors w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeological Survey Of India
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General. History ASI was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General. The first systematic research into the subcontinent's history was conducted by the Asiatic Society, which was founded by the British Indologist William Jones on 15 January 1784. Based in Calcutta, the society promoted the study of ancient Sanskrit and Persian texts and published an annual journal titled ''Asiatic Researches''. Notable among its early members was Charles Wilkins who published the first English translation of the '' Bhagavad Gita'' in 1785 with the patronage of the then Governor-General of Bengal, Warren Hastings. However, the most important of the society's achieveme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chunam
Lime plaster is a type of plaster composed of sand, water, and lime, usually non-hydraulic hydrated lime (also known as slaked lime, high calcium lime or air lime). Ancient lime plaster often contained horse hair for reinforcement and pozzolan additives to reduce the working time. Traditional non-hydraulic hydrated lime only sets through carbonatation when the plaster is kept moist and access of CO2 from the air is possible. It will not set when submersed in water. When a very thick layer or several layers are applied, the lime can remain soft for weeks. The curing time of lime plaster can be shortened by using (natural) hydraulic lime or adding pozzolan additives, transforming it into artificially hydraulic lime. In ancient times, Roman lime plaster incorporated pozzolanic volcanic ash; in modern times, fly ash is preferred. Non-hydraulic lime plaster can also be made to set faster by adding gypsum. Lime production for use in plastering home-made cisterns (in making them imper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jharokha
The Jharokha is a stone window projecting from the wall face of a building, in an upper story, overlooking a street, market, court or any other open space. A common feature in classical Indian architecture, most prominent in Rajasthan. It is supported on two or more brackets or corbelling, has two pillars or pilasters, balustrade and a cupola or pyramidal roof; technically closed by ''jali'' but generally partly open for the inmates to peep out to see passing processions. The ''jharokha'' is more formal and ornamental than English or French oriel window, and is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the façade in medieval Indian architecture until the 19th century. ''Jharokha Darshan'' The ''jharokha darshan'' of rulers was a structure for displaying the ruler to his court or people rather than allowing inhabitants of the palace to look out unseen. It was therefore more open, and not necessarily built projecting out from its wall. See also *Matroneum A trif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jharokha Darshan
''Jharokha Darshan'' ( fa, جهروکه درشن) ( Hindi: झरोखा दर्शन) was a daily practice of addressing the public audience ('' darshan'') at the balcony ('' jharokha'') at the forts and palaces of medieval kings in India. It was an essential and direct way of communicating face-to-face with the public, and was a practice which was adopted by the Mughal emperors. The balcony appearance in the name of ''Jharokha Darshan'' also spelled ''jharokha-i darshan'' was adopted by the 16th-century Mughal Emperor Akbar, even though it was contrary to Islamic injunctions. Earlier, Akbar's father Emperor Humayun had also adopted this Hindu practice of appearing before his subjects at the ''jharokha'' to hear their public grievances. '' Darshan'' is a Sanskrit word which means "sight" and "beholding" (also means: "the viewing of an idol or a saint") which was adopted by Mughals for their daily appearance before their subjects. This also showed a Hindu influence, It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pietra Dura
''Pietra dura'' () or ''pietre dure'' () ( see below), called parchin kari or parchinkari ( fa, ) in the Indian Subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. It is considered a decorative art. The stonework, after the work is assembled loosely, is glued stone-by-stone to a substrate after having previously been "sliced and cut in different shape sections; and then assembled together so precisely that the contact between each section was practically invisible". Stability was achieved by grooving the undersides of the stones so that they interlocked, rather like a jigsaw puzzle, with everything held tautly in place by an encircling 'frame'. Many different colored stones, particularly marbles, were used, along with semiprecious, and even precious stones. It first appeared in Rome in the 16th century, reaching its full maturity in Florence. Pietra dura items are generally crafted on green, white or blac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austin De Bordeaux
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city in the United States, the fourth-most-populous city in Texas, the second-most-populous state capital city, and the most populous state capital that is not also the most populous city in its state. It has been one of the fastest growing large cities in the United States since 2010. Downtown Austin and Downtown San Antonio are approximately apart, and both fall along the Interstate 35 corridor. Some observers believe that the two regions may some day form a new "metroplex" similar to Dallas and Fort Worth. Austin is the southernmost state capital in the contiguous United States and is considered a " Beta −" global city as categorized by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. As of 2021, Austin had an estimated population ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant traveling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 leagues in making six voyages to Persia and India between the years 1630 and 1668. In 1675, Tavernier, at the behest of his patron Louis XIV, published ''Les Six Voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier'' (''Six Voyages'', 1676). Tavernier was born in Paris of a French or Flemish Huguenot family that had emigrated to Antwerp, to escape persecution, and which subsequently returned to Paris after the publication of the Edict of Nantes, which promised protection for French Protestants. Both his father Gabriel and his brother Melchior Tavernier were cartographers. Though it is clear from the accuracy of his drawings that Tavernier received some instruction in the art of cartography/engraving, he was possessed of a wanderlust. While still a teenager, he traveled extensively through Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghulam Ali Khan
Ghulam Ali Khan was a nineteenth century Indian painter in Delhi. His painting career took place over the course of more than four decades, from 1817 to 1852. He was the last royal Mughal painter, and also painted in the Company style for British patrons. Early life Ghulam Ali Khan was born in the late eighteenth century. At this time, Shah Alam II presided over the Mughal Empire, but in 1803 the British occupied Delhi. Khan grew up and worked in a society that included Mughal and British cultures. He was the nephew of noted Mughal painter, Ghulam Murtaza Khan. Career Ghulam Ali Khan was the court painter of Mughal emperors Akbar II (reigned 1806–1837 CE) and Bahadur Shah II (reigned 1837–1858 CE) in Delhi. As well as working for the royal Mughal court, Ghulam Ali Khan received commissions from British officers in the East India Company -- particularly Colonel James Skinner and officer William Fraser -- and from regional courts, such as the court of Jhajjar and Alw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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