The Persian Crescent

Ideological Sovereignty, Architectural Genealogies and Regional Divergence in South Asia

Abstract

The idea that India is a homogenous country of Buddhism and Hinduism was disproved by my trip across Gujarat under the KINNE program. Rather, I found myself in a place where the body and space are governed by rigid Islamic laws. In Gujarat, women are still unable to access the architectural interiority of mosques, and the need for head coverings (turbans or hijabs) indicates a deep "spatial hierarchy" that serves as a social infrastructure. Women were frequently seen in supporting roles, keeping a guarded distance, whereas men—from middle school children to adults—engaged with me with interest and openness. This encounter raised an important question: how did Persian urban logic and "Arab City" culture spread throughout Northern India, and why is this influence still so strong there while it is waning in the South? This dissertation examines the development of Indo-Islamic architecture as an instrument of sovereignty, ideology, and regional diversity by contrasting the modern, English-speaking openness of Chennai with the strict religious intensity of Gujarat and Agra.