History islamic art - Term Paper Example

In this paper we will discuss the history of Islamic architecture and different styles of Islamic architecture like Persian, Azerbaijani, Turkistan, Ottoman architecture etc. Islamic architecture began to spread soon after the advent of Islam. Initially mosques were required form Muslims to pray and from that the earliest form of Islamic architecture emerged. The oldest piece of Islamic architecture is The Dome of Rock, which is a shrine in the Old City of Jerusalem built in 691. The Dome of Rock is inspired by influence of Byzantine.

When Muslim rulers invaded Spain Islamic architecture expanded to all corners of the world. The main reason for expansion of Islamic architecture was building of mosques. Muslim rulers built mosque wherever they went in order to pray and these mosques became the symbols of Islamic Architecture. Muslim rulers hired local engineers to build their mosques so shades of local art styles can also be seen in Islamic architecture. Islamic architecture therefore sprang through the union of existing art forms and Islamic culture.

Calligraphy was also very famous in ancient Islamic times. The use of calligraphy can be seen on walls of mosques and forts that were built by Islamic rulers. Muslims used to write Quranic scripture in different forms and from that sprang the art of calligraphy in Islamic culture. Many famous buildings, forts and mosques have Quranic verses written on walls in beautiful styles. Umayyads were the first to officially introduce religious architecture in their time. They started to introduce new concepts of architecture through the help of existing buildings.

The courtyard and other important buildings, for purpose of governance, served as an official start to Islamic architecture. In buildings of this time functionality seems to be an important aspect which tells that buildings were not built for artistic reasons rather they were made for performing services of the