The Golden Age of Mughal Art: Shāh Jahān Period

Mughals adapted an ever-growing and self-renewing conception in art and architecture. Shāh Jahān’s (d. 1076/1666) period includes an important era when architectural activities of Mughals were intense and the classical age of art and architecture was experienced. Mughal architecture underwent a tremendous change and developed into a structural renaissance. The subject of the research includes the change and improvement parameters of the art of Shāh Jahān period. Mughal art, which began to flourish with effective and solid foundations during the reign of Akbar Shah (d. 1014/1605), began to experience its golden age with aesthetic and elegant accents during the Shah Jahan period. In this regard, there is a perceivable and instant transition from the effective and strong early Mughal style of Akbar Shāh to Shāh Jahān’s aesthetic and elegant late period of Mughal style. The main material of red sandstone in Akbar Shāh’s constructions left its place to white marble, and the decorations created by inlay technique with precious and semi-precious gemstones on marble became the seal of Shāh Jahān period. Monumentalism in buildings, huge domes, multi-foil arches, double columns (Shāh Jahān column), symmetry and proportion became the characteristic architectural features of Shāh Jahān period. Change and development in art were exhibited in a distinctive way under the interaction of Turkish culture with local and surrounding cultures. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to reveal the difference between the art of Shāh Jahān and that of the other Mughal period. For this research, literature review was conducted using primary sources and current releases, the works of the period were viewed by on-site field study, and it was tried to deduce about the art style of the period through these studies. In this study, the question why Shāh Jahān period is called “golden age” in Mughal art is tried to be answered through the general characteristics of Shāh Jahān period architecture, innovations observed in many fields of the art and improvements that stroke the period.