Architecture: 1200 to 1900: South, Central, and West Asia

Rui Oliveira Lopes

Architecture always had a major role in the political, social, cultural, and religious organization of Asia. The construction of palaces, royal houses, or magnificent tombs and memorials are symbols of sovereignty and governance. Religious architecture has also been at the core of social structure and worship. In the early 13th century, many political and social changes occurred in west, central, and south Asia that influenced the architecture of these regions. During the first decades of the 13th century, Genghis Khan of the Mongol Empire defeated the Kara Khitai (1124–18) and the Sultanate of Khwarezm (1077–1231) in west and central Asia. At the same time, in south Asia, Turks and Afghans from the Ghurid dynasty (1148–1215) invaded northern India and established the Delhi Sultanate over the former Rajput capital. The expansion of the Mongol Empire in west and central Asia after the unification of the Mongols and the Turkish nomads gave ...

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