ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE OF KASHMIR UNDER SULTANS: STUDY TOMB OF SULTAN ZAIN-UL- ABIDIN'S MOTHER

sultans of Kashmir were great builders, as is attested by a few remnants of their
constructive buildings, visible in the valley of Kashmir. This period was witnessed the
development of a new religious philosophy of Sufism, but the monotheistic philosophy of Islam
also gave new dimensions to various forms of art and architecture in the Kashmir valley. The
sultans of Kashmir choose different types of style, such as idiom, building material and
decoration for their architecture as compared to earlier Hindu and Buddhist architecture. The
plinth and the enclosure wall of the tomb are of an ancient Hindu temple, in the form of a
hemisphere resting on a cylindrical drum, the first of its kind in India. The most notable
development in brick architecture under sultans was however, the introduction of double dome
by sultan Zainul abidins quite successfully in his mother’s tomb. A peculiar feature of the brick
buildings of this period is that they are studded with glazed, moulded or enameled bricks or
tiles like the Timurid monuments of Samarkand and Bukhara.