Branfoot, Crispin

English

SOAS Research Online

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studieshttp://journals.cambridge.org/BSOAdditional services for Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies:Email alerts: Click hereSubscriptions: Click hereCommercial reprints: Click hereTerms of use : Click hereJohn Burton­Page (ed. George Michell): Indian Islamic Architecture: Forms and Typologies, Sites and Monuments. (Handbook of Oriental Studies.) xxiv, 196 pp. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008. €99. ISBN 978 90 04 16339 3.Crispin BranfootBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies / Volume 72 / Issue 01 / February 2009, pp 191 ­ 192DOI: 10.1017/S0041977X09000275, Published online: 26 February 2009Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0041977X09000275How to cite this article:Crispin Branfoot (2009). Review of John Burton­Page, and George Michell 'Indian Islamic Architecture: Forms and Typologies, Sites and Monuments' Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 72, pp 191­192 doi:10.1017/S0041977X09000275Request Permissions : Click hereDownloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/BSO, IP address: 212.219.238.14 on 21 Jun 2013century is effectively conveyed by Mike Ware who emphasizes the pioneering roleof Greenlaw in developing the calotype process invented by Henry Talbot in 1840for the particularly challenging circumstances of the Indian climate. The book con-cludes with a useful catalogue of the photographs included, a glossary of terms andan introductory bibliography.This is fine book, a good introduction both to one of South Asia’s monumentalhistorical sites and to the history of nineteenth-century architectural photography. Itis very well produced and an admirable testament to some of the pioneering photo-graphers of southern India.Crispin BranfootJOHN BURTON-PAGE (ed. GEORGE MICHELL):Indian Islamic Architecture: Forms and Typologies, Sites andMonuments.(Handbook of Oriental Studies.) xxiv, 196 pp. Leiden and Boston: Brill,2008. E99. ISBN 978 90 04 16339 3.doi:10.1017/S0041977X09000275Scholars of South Asian art have been investigating the architecture of the“Indo-Islamic” period from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries in increasingnumbers in the past decades, moving on from the earlier emphasis on the best-known Mughal monuments to include the earlier sultanate sites and more peripheralregions. John Burton-Page was a lecturer at SOAS for over thirty years until hisretirement in 1982, inspiring a generation of historians of the art of South Asia.Himself a prolific reviewer for this journal, Burton-Page’s fascination withIndo-Islamic history, culture and especially architecture resulted in numerous entriesfor the Encyclopaedia of Islam published between 1960 and 1995. His ambition toauthor a comprehensive survey of Indo-Islamic architecture was never realized. Oneof his former students, George Michell, has thus done scholars of South Asian art agreat service – and indeed honours his considerable scholarship – by introducingand editing a broad selection of Burton-Page’s pioneering writings onIndo-Islamic architecture into this accessible volume. George Michell is himselfwell known for his dedicated research and fieldwork across the region, and his pro-lific output of valuable books on many aspects of South Asian art, especiallyarchitecture.Most of the entries in this book were previously published as short entries in theEncyclopaedia of Islam over several decades. But a long chapter on the architecturalhistory of Ahmadabad in Gujarat from a study of the city (G. Michell and S. Shah(eds), Ahmadabad, Bombay, 1988) is also included. The book is divided into threesections: the first includes surveys of Sultanate architecture, Mughal architecture andIslamic inscriptions; the second examines the historical development of a number ofIndo-Islamic building forms and typologies; and the final section is a succinct seriesof entries on key Indo-Islamic sites. The surveys in the first section are admirablyconcise introductions to each topic, providing the reader with a firm historical frame-work and knowledge of the key sites and architectural developments for furtherenquiry. The second section is perhaps more original in approach to the subject,examining the typology both of building forms, including the mosque, tomb,canal and tower, and building elements, such as the minbar and minaret. Theseare admirable condensations of a wealth of data into a clearly expressed typologicalR E V I E W S 191development, demonstrating John Burton-Page’s commanding knowledge of thesubject.This expertise is similarly evident in his accounts of thirty-two key sites for thestudy of Indo-Islamic architecture, based on thorough research into available writtensources and direct acquaintance with the monuments in the field, for which there isno substitute. Many of these sites across northern, western and eastern India and theDeccan, such as Delhi, Ahmadabad and Bijapur, are well known and studied. Butmany sites included here have rarely been visited by scholars and have not todate been thoroughly studied: examples include Maner in Bihar, the hill-fort atNarnala or the tombs at Thalner, both in Maharashtra. Since writing these encyclo-paedia entries, some of these sites have been subject to sustained study – Nagaur inRajasthan or Vijayanagara (Hampi) in Karnataka are good examples – but theaccounts still include valuable data and interpretation for scholars interested inIndo-Islamic architecture. Architectural histories rarely offer sustained accounts ofthe history and monuments at a single site that you might wish to read whilstthere. Guidebooks, by contrast, rarely have critically academic accounts of justthose aspects of sites. There remains a need for publications on the sites and monu-ments of South Asia that are academically informed but accessible and engaging –not merely descriptive – to interested visitors on the ground.The bibliographies that were originally included with each entry have been com-piled into a single one, and the editor has updated this with some of the key publi-cations from the past two decades that have been published since John Burton-Pagewrote his accounts. Footnotes would have been helpful, particularly for the refer-ences to architectural inscriptions. Few of the original encyclopaedia entries wereillustrated. Michell has compensated for this by including in a separate section sixty-three monochrome illustrations – sadly not John Burton-Page’s own – of key monu-ments, though these are not referenced in the text. It is unfortunate that these couldnot be placed alongside the text to aid the reader’s comprehension of Burton-Page’sdiscussion. The omission of maps, plans, sections and other drawings are anotherreason for the reader to consult this book alongside other accessible publicationsin this field. The cost of this book will not make it as widely read as it deservesto be, but Michell is to be credited with gathering together these valuable articleson an important aspect of South Asian art into a more accessible form. In sum,this book is a useful addition to more recent literature on the Islamic architectureof South Asia, and as an introductory reference to the subject for students, and tothe major sites that demand further research by interested scholars.Crispin BranfootCRISPIN BRANFOOT:Gods on the Move: Architecture and Ritual in the South Indian Temple.xvi, 272 pp. London: The Society for South Asian Studies, The BritishAcademy, 2007. £30. ISBN 978 0 9553924 1 2.doi:10.1017/S0041977X09000287The “late” period of religious architecture and art of South India, especially ofTamilnadu, has until recently been a much neglected subject. While there is noshortage of studies on Pallava and Chola temples and sculptures (sixth–thirteenthcenturies), for example, the Vijayanagara and Nāyaka eras (fourteenth–seventeenthcenturies) have not attracted serious attention from art historians. The appearance of192 R E V I E W S

Indian Islamic Architecture: Forms and Typologies, Sites and Monuments by John Burton-Page, edited by George Michell (2008)

https://soas-repository.worktribe.com/file/360531/1/S0041977X09000275a.pdf

Indian Islamic Architecture: Forms and Typologies, Sites and Monuments by John Burton-Page, edited by George Michell (2008)

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

SOAS Research Online