The Architecture of British India Represented and Promoted a Civilizing Influence upon India - Essay Example

hе Аrсhitесturе of British Indiа Rерrеsеntеd and Рrоmоtеd А ‘Civilizing’ Influеnсе Uроn Indiа Student’s Name Date Тhе Аrсhitесturе of British Indiа Rерrеsеntеd and Рrоmоtеd А ‘Civilizing’ Influеnсе Uроn Indiа Introduction It is evidently correct to suppose that colonization came with varying influence to cultural social and m economic aspects of a given locality (Volwahsen 2004). In one way or the other, these important aspects were affected. British were among the European colonizers who had the greatest share in most of the regions across the world. One of these regions is India. Architectural elements were therefore highly influenced due to the colonization. It is important to note that the Portuguese merchants first introduced European architectural design to India in the 16th century. It was after more than one hundred years that British and French came in and introduced their way of building ad constructions of structures in India (Prakash et al 2007). The following essay intends to discuss the impact of British architecture in the civilization of the Indian community. Many scholars have agreed that British architecture influenced the establishment of the ‘civilized’ India. This aspect will be discussed by looking at various ways in which the British architecture touched on the cultural aspect on the India community. The British influence on Indian early Architecture Europeans who came to India first because of trade. However, they later started settling at various places. It is through these settlements that they started building not only factories but also their own houses for stay. These structures were built using the European style of construction. As their strength became eminent, they began to build more durable structures such as fortresses as well as introduction of other facilities such as churches and clubs. Although forts had none any architectural significance, at Goa, Portuguese used Iberian style of construction to build churches (Metcalf 2002). On the other side, British constructed churches that resembled the village churches in Britain. It was after the above unfolding that an architectural style of constructing building started to emerge. However, the Victorian style of construction was not strong enough to establish what would have been the Indian–British style of architecture (Thapar et al 2012). In an attempt to come up with durable structures, the Victorian architects copied the oriental style of construction, which many considered it a mistake since it weakened the Victorian way of construction. There were big buildings, which were supported by iron, and being in doomed shaped, which was the worst representation of the Victorian style. This meant that the English style of architecture of the 190th century was not well manifested compared to the previous style. It is good to understand that the Palladian style of architecture had been sought to be introduced by some British officer in India by 18th century (Chopra 2011). A good example of this style is the Constantia, which is a building that was erected by General Martin at Lucknow. A big tower that rises from the terraced roofed of this building depicts the characteristic of this style. In the half of the 19th century, there were many efforts by the British architects to combine the architectural elements of both India and British. Thus was being pioneered by a civil servant, F S Growse. Because of these efforts, the moor market, which is in Madras and the museum at Jaipur are example of this style architectural mixture. In addition, the Victorian gothic revival style has well been represented by the victoria terminus station in Mumbai (Sengupta 2006). This structure has mainly been blended with architectural elements from the Indian tradition. The building became the symbol of international mercantile of Indian port. The British architects had to work closely with their Indian counterparts where Indian idioms were included in the structure. Other features included are the stone dome, pointed arches, turrets and the eccentric ground plan that illustrated the rich Indian architecture. It was after the Victorian era that India entered the era of movement and national awakening. The architectural design included the needs of the imperialists as well as the national urges. A good example is where the British wanted to construct a memorial hall structure in India to remember queen victoria. The British made the style oriental enough so that they could satisfy the minds of Indians. The style was known as the Indo-Saracenic, which was being pioneered by British architects in the late 19th century (Singh 2009). The style involved the integration of the indigenous indo-Islamic architecture, Gothic revival as well as the neo-classic architecture that was being favored in the Victorian England. All structures that were being built using this style especially in India and England used the British architectural standards of early 1800s. Some of the features in this style included pointed arches, overhanging eaves, scalloped arches, domed kiosks, cusped arches, vaulted roofs, towers, pinnacles, open pavilions, domed chhatris and miniature domes among other features (Metcalf 2002). Later, an opportunity came for the British architects when the capital was declared to be moved from Calcutta to Delhi. The British architects first introduced the roman style of architecture but it was later withdrawn since it was appropriate for Indian background (Metcalf 2002). This meant that these architects had to first study the Buddhist, Islamic and Hindu features in order to come up with the design for the new capital. It was after sometimes that the city emerged with many buildings showing both Hindu ornamentation as well as the Islamic symmetry(Chopra 2011). According to architects, the blend of both Indian and English architecture was compromised in the name of beauty and structural majesty. The above reality meant that the style did not revive the traditional Indian architecture nor brought the new style that would be edified in the architectural industry. In addition, most of the structure appeared to be massive, strong and heavy (Metcalf 2002). At the same time, they seemed congested as well as being medieval in nature. However, some garden designs were to be done to revive the Mughal style. This gave life to these structures. It must be remembered that it was in the early 20th century that many Indian educational institutes were established due the call by Mahatma Gandhi that the locals should boycott the British schools. In order to ensure that the Indian architectural design was revived, a German architect was appointed to head this project (Singh 2009). He was instructed to ensure that the British and Mughal elements were not integrated in the structures. This was as well intended to ensure that Jamia standards were maintained and that the country be against the British imperialism. Characteristic of Early Architecture in India It is crucial to point out that in most of the early Indian structures; there was an emphasis of power, wealthy and authority. However, apart from the political symbolism of these structures, cultural aspects were also emphasized, especially through carvings and drawings on pillars and walls of structures. Indian early architecture is one of the styles that and various characteristics. One of these is the inclusion of the mixture of both Indian and Iranian style, which were Hindu and Muslim designs respectively (Singh 2009). It is important to note the sultan of Delhi mostly wanted to construct their structures using the Iranian style as well as that of central Asia. However, they were not copying the exact designs of these styles. Therefore, they had to involve the indie artisans who had their own form and skills of construction. Therefore, although Muslim architects designed the buildings, Indian artisans who were among the best artists in the world built them (Chopra 2011). It is for this reason that these early buildings had the indo-Islamic architectural design. In addition, most of the early buildings in India were being constructed using materials from the temple. These are materials, which had been destroyed by Muslim rulers in India. Further, early structures had pointed arches especially in the Muslim buildings. However, as far as the Hindu buildings were concerned, their buildings consisted of square pillars, which were being used to support the temple roof. On the other side, domes were used over the buildings and the minarets were erected on the sides. The use of arches and domes provided charm to the Muslim buildings while at the same time enabling them to dispense as well as having several pillars to support the roofing. Additionally, most of the Hindu buildings consisted of carvings, which were done on walls, pillars and ceilings. They were mostly representative of Hindu gods and goddesses(Singh 2009). However, other ornamental carvings were done including flowers, temple bells, garlands among others. It should be noted that Muslims did not like any representation of living things in their structures. Therefore, Hindu craftsmen that were skill din decorations were only allowed to carve flowers as well as trees on the Muslim buildings. The geometric designs were also used in this period. Early constructions also involved the use of stones and lime, which were of different colors (Chopra 2011). These included yellow, light black, marble and red stones for construction. The quality of stone used determined the durability and strength of the buildings. The Influence of British Architecture to India As noted above there are various ways in which the introduction of British architecture influenced the life of Indians during and after colonization. However, the most conspicuous aspect is the urbanization of towns through architecture (Singh 2009). It must be agreed that even though British supremacy in India may not have changed the forward trend of its urbanization, it is critical to contend that British supremacy brought new alignments as well as priorities due to the fact that the controlling power was different. During colonization period, a number of new suburbs as well as new towns were constructed to house the British. This led to the change in the pattern of designing these structures. It should be remembered that this particular time, India was still being divided through administrative districts, which were under Mughals. Further, those towns that were acting as the district headquarters were mostly affected by the new architectural changes. As a result, both the urban designs and planning policies were prioritized by the British administration. these policies followed several principles which were based on the British perceptions of how the India city would look like, the aspect of fear of any revolt in the lines of the Mutiny of 1857, the Paris plan by Haussmann , which , in Europe had become popular(Singh 2009). This plan emphasized the demolition of old structures to pave way for new ones including the boulevards. The principles also, included the techniques of British planning which were being used in the industrialization process. It must be appreciated that the above efforts were being carried out to ensure that there was both social and physical separation of Europeans from the Indian community. A good example is the famous ‘black and white’ towns of Madras. It was also viewed that such measures were expected to improve the sanitary and development activities in India and more so in the old towns. However, the reality is that there less regard on the Indian’s traditional way of life, which made the process have little impact on the community (Singh 2009). In most parts of the country, the old designs and structures were lost to the new British designs because of demolitions. A good number of such cases would be found in Delhi and Lucknow, which were being the centers of the 1857 Mutiny. The 19th century economic boom led to the increased building activities in British India (Chopra 2011). As a result, the use of the new guideline of urban designs led to the unified character, where the old settlement of British in India still possesses. These aspects of the urban designs could not however fail to be felt by the precedents in Britain (Ninian 2002). These included the Quadrant in Regent’s Park, the Royal Crescent at Bath by John Wood who were extremely influential and which later was translated into Elphinstone Circle that is currently known as the Horniman Circle in Bombay. The pressure on space continued to grow, which forced the British architecture to also grow and progress from a single buildings that were set in open surroundings to the more densely populated urban centers such the cities of Bombay and Calcutta. Further, as it was the case with the increased schemes of urban designs, there are also the cantonments and the civil lines, which have remained until today as major evidences of the presence of the British in the 19th century (Becker 2014). This in turn has affected the middle class development of housing in the modern India. This has been contributed by the perceptions of them being the colonies of the elites in the world. the civil lines and the cantonments were both basically laid out as gridiron planned communities which were having the central thoroughfares , mostly called the ‘Mall Roads’. These were having tree-lined streets, which were mostly divided buildings of plots and bungalows, considered as the main type of housing (Anthony,1990)However, these would later be followed by the construction of churches, clubs, cemeteries, golf and racecourses as well as other trappings suitable for an easy and civil life. It is critical to point out that cantonments played a great role in furthering the idea of civilizing the Indian community by the British (Chopra 2011). Cantonments were British military settlements that were intended to spread in the entire country or any part of the country that British were being found. However, even though initially they were meant to only house British military, they later came to be used by civilians who were offering services to the military. This led to the development of full-fledged mini cities in various parts of India. It was in the middle of the 19th century that this program was complete. In the early 20th century, the total number of people in the Bangalore cantonment had reached more than 100,000. These facilities included offices, shops, churches, parks and schools (Singh 2009). They were considered as entities separate from big cities. An example was that the traffic between the two cantonments was to pat tollgate as well as the entry tax. It thus evident that those cantonments grew into being European towns, which were having bungalows as the main house type. The bungalows, which are currently being seen in India, evolved over a century ago. However, the actual model and design of these bungalows remains to be controversial but it is believed to heave two main origins. One is the from the house which is detached in a rural Bengal settings, from the world Bangla (Singh 2009). The second is from the villa of British suburban. It is believed that it was from these two fusions of origins that would later become the symbol of the Raj in India. It is admittedly correct that the first type of bungalows, which were inhabited by the East India Company Agents, were similar to the local ones known as kutcha. However, they would later be outstripped off their origin so that they could reflect the accurate hierarchy among the English community. This included ensuring that a typical bungalow illustrating wealth in the society was being located a distance from the road and having a wall to surround its compound (Singh 2009). In addition, the amount of land that was being enclosed in the compound was to show a sign of wealth for the occupants. it would be seen that 15:1 ratio of land was good enough for the senior officer while for the starting rank it would be a ratio of 1:1. This system was being used to illustrate the hierarchical nature with which the British ascribed to even in the India’s complex caste. However, the early bungalows were being constructed with long and low classical lines including detailing. There were massive changes in the design of bungalows where there was an importation of Gothic revival from England (Chopra 2011). Bungalows would later be constructed with pitched roofs and fixed with details which were richly carpentered with the inclusion of features such as Bangalore’s ‘monkey tops’. A good example is the Classical bungalow with Doric and Tuscan orders in the New Delhi (Singh 2009). These structures became not only as the British and European heritage but also as symbols of Britain’s political might. Conclusion Based on the above observation, it is true that the presence of British architecture can still be felt in India today. It is through the British settlements that they started building not only factories but also their own houses for stay. Many scholars have agreed that British architecture influenced the establishment of the ‘civilized’ India . Bungalows continue to elicit such presence. The chronological events especially the importation of the architectural designs by the British transformed the entire traditional architecture of India. At the same time, it is evidently correct that the British and their European counterparts changed the traditional Indian architecture and tried to suit their preferred designs. This was in an effort to make Indians ‘civilized’. it can then be said that the аrсhitесturе of British Indiа rерrеsеntеd and рrоmоtеd а ‘civilizing’ influеnсе uроn indiа. Bibliography Anthony King (1990): Тhе Аrсhitесturе of British Indiа Rерrеsеntеd and Рrоmоtеd А ‘Civilizing’ Influеnсе Uроn Indiа:The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 964- 967: Association for Asian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2058307 Accessed: 22-05-2015 . Becker Tobius. 2014 . Entertaining the empire: theatrical touring companies and amateur dramatics in colonial India. The Historical Journal . Volume 57 (03 ) pp. 699-725. Chopra, Preeti. 2011. 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