(i) Muslim Sultans and padshahs did not claim to be incarnations of God.
(ii) Persian court chronicles described the Sultan as the "Shadow of God".
(iii) An inscription in the Delhi mosque depicted that God choose Alauddin as a king because he had the qualities of Moses and Solomon who were the great law-givers of the past.
(iv) The greatest justice provider and architect was God Himself.
(v) He created the world out of chaos and introduced order and symmetry everywhere.

The Massive temples were constructed by the kings. In a temple made by Rajarajadeva, worship of one God Rajarajeshvaram honoured another- Rajarajadeva,
The other lesser known deities were the gods and goddesses of the allies and subordinates of the ruler. The temples were the miniature model of the world rules by the king and his allies. As they worshipped the deities together in the temple, it seemed as if the rule of the gods is present on Earth.

Humayun's main tomb was built in between 1562 and 1571.
Its main features are:
(i) The central towering tomb and the tall gateway was known as pishtaq became first visible in Humayun's tomb and there after became important aspect of Mughal architecture.
(ii) The tomb was placed in the centre of a huge formal chahar bagh and built in tradition known as 'eight paradises' or hasht Bihisht-a central hall surrounded by eight rooms.

There were various important architectural innovations witnessed during Akbar's reign :
(i) Akbar's architects turned to the tombs of his Central Asian ancestor, Timur.
(ii) The central towering dome and the tall gateway (pishtaq) became important aspects of Mughal architecture, firstly visible in Humayun's tomb.
(iii) It was situated in the centre of a huge formal Chahar bagh and built in the tradition known as "eight paradises" or hasht bihisht - a central hall surrounded by eight rooms.
(iv) The building was constructed with red sandstone. It was edged with white marble.

The Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur had the tallest shikhara amongst temples of its time. It was built in early 11th century.
Constructing of this temple was not easy because there were no cranes in those days and the 90 tonnes stone for the top of the shikhara was too heavy to lift manually. To solve this problem the architects built an inclined path to the top of the temple, placed the boulder on rollers and rolled it all the way to the top.
The path started more than four kilometers away so that it would not be too steep. This was dismantled after the temple was constructed.

Shahjahanabad was constructed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1639. It remained capital of the Mughals until the end of the Mughal dynasty.
This city was approximately shaped like a quarter circle with the Red Fort as its focal point and surrounded by a wall with 14 gates (Nighmbodh gate, Kashmiri gate, Mori gate, Lahori Gate, Ajmeri gate) etc.
Garden palaces of the nobles were placed on both banks of the Yamuna. Only specially favoured nobles like Shahjahan's eldest son Dara Shukoh were given access to the river. All others had to construct their homes in the city away from the river Yamuna.

The architectural styles of the Mughal palaces at Fatehpur Sikri and temples at Vrindavan are very similar. The interior of temple Govind Deva at Vrindavan consists of intersecting arches that made the high ceiling roof. Similar roofs can be seen in the monument of Fatehpur Sikri.
This style of architecture is from North-West Iran (Khurasan). Apart from architecture, some temples of Vrindavan and monuments of Fatehpur Sikri are made of red sandstone.

Humayun's tomb was built between 1562 and 1571. Its main features are as follows
(i) The central towering dome and the tall gateway known as pishtaq became remarkable about Mughal architecture. This tomb architecture was visible for the first time in Humayun's tomb.
(ii) The tomb was placed in the centre of a huge formal Chahar Bagh and built in the tradition known as 'eight paradises' or hasht bihisht - a central hall surrounded by eight rooms.
(iii) Red sandstone, edge with white marble was used in the construction.

King Rajendra I looted the temples of the defeated rulers and seized prized statues from them. He used these statues in the decoration of the Shiva temple, that he built in his capital in the early 11th century.
Whereas Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a contemporary of Rajendra I. He destroyed and looted the wealth and the idols of the temples of defeated kings in order to win credit as a great hero of Islam. Thus, king Rajendra, I constructed temples while Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed them. He took all the riches to his place outside the Indian subcontinent.

The rich and powerful construct large houses today. But these houses are not the same as those of the kings and their courtiers in the past. The houses of the Icings and their courtiers were big structures with the big courtyard, thick walls, domed roofs, huge pillars, big gardens and well-decorated halls. Houses of today's have no courryards, nor garden, nor thick walls nor doomed roofs. Each house is different from that of others.

The river Yamuna had a very significant role in the layout of the new Mughal city at Shahjahanabad. Shah Jahan preferred the riverfront garden in the layout of the Taj Mahal.
He developed the same architectural form as a means to control the access that the nobles had to the river. In the new city of Shahjahanabad, the imperial palace also commanded the riverfront. Only the most favored nobles like his son Dara Sukoh were given access to the river. Other than those had to construct their homes in the city away from the river Yamuna.

The Diwan-i-am of the Mughal court suggested that justice was made for all in an equal way. The construction of Shah Jahan's audience hall was designed to communicate that the Icing'sjustice was equal for the high and the low. Its aim was to create a world where all could live together in harmony. There was no difference between the rich and poor in the Emperor's court.

Pietra-dura or Parchin Kari in South Asia is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished coloured stone to create images. It is considered a decorative art.

Shikhara is the top most pointed portion of a temple.

Trabeate principle of architecture is different from the arcuate principle in the following ways
(i) In trabeate principle a horizontal beam is placed across two vertical columns and roofs, doors and windows are made.
(ii) In the arcuate principle, the bricks are joined in an arch shape on a wooden plank put on two vertical columns, doors, windows and roofs are made arch-shaped. The weight of the doors and windows is carried by arches. The keystone of the arch transfers the weight on the bases of the arch.