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Shokoohy, Natalie Honoria (2005) Auhadi and Lodi architecture of Bayana, Rajasthan (1400-1526). Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitan University.
Between Timur's (Tamerlane's) invasion of Delhi in 1398 terminating the empire of the Delhi sultanate, and the rise of the Mughal empire in the mid-sixteenth century, India was divided into small independent sultanate states or autonomous principalities. In architecture, the Delhi style which had dominated most of the northern regions was transformed during this period, and in many areas regional styles developed, some of which - such as those of the Deccan, Malwa and Gujarat - have been studied in some detail. A key player among these states was Bayana in the south-west of Rajasthan, controlled in the fifteenth century by the Auhadi family, with a formidable fort as their power base. At the time Agra, later the splendid Mughal capital, and Fathpur Sikri, the seat of the Emperor Akbar, were merely small villages under Bayana. The Auhadis bore the title of Khan and while not claiming to be sultans, ruled independently from Delhi and occasionally took sides with the Sharqi sultans of Jaunpur. Yet in spite of the many historical references to the region, epigraphic records and numerous archaeological and architectural remains, some on a grand scale, there has been virtually no serious study of the region and its history. The thesis is based on extensive site surveys with detailed measured drawings and photographs of over a hundred monuments. The aim is to present the history, architecture and urban planning of the region and provide a first-hand record of Bayana and its monuments, which in spite of their importance have been neglected and are becoming increasingly vulnerable to dilapidation or destruction. The larger picture which emerges from the study sheds light on the social affairs and even the domestic life of the period, as Bayana is exceptional in that it preserves a large number of fifteenth and early sixteenth-century domestic buildings. The analysis of the development of its built environment also demonstrates both in terms of planning and in decorative forms the extent to which early Mughal architecture was rooted in the traditions of Bayana.
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