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Treasures of Islam
Artistic Glories of the Muslim World By Bernard O’Kane, Duncan Baird Publishers, London
Sterling Pound 25, pages 224
Treasures of Islam is a sumptuous compendium of evolution and development of Islamic art and architecture through the last 14 centuries alongside the rise and fall of empires and dynasties. Islam arose in the Arabian peninsula in 571 AD and began to conquer hearts and lands all across the then known world.
Islam’s simple doctrine accompanied with frugal rituals looked less likely to spawn something as flowery as the future centuries unveiled all across Asia, Africa and Europe. Take for instance the azan, the sonic ritual for call to prayers to the faithful. The benefit of tall towers for this purpose, both to aid the dispersal of the call and to advertise the presence of mosque soon led to minarets becoming standard features of larger mosques. Since ritualistic purity was mandatory, ablution areas became the essential adjuncts of the mosques. They graduated into cisterns, pools and tanks, lending the serenity and grace to Islamic edifices. Hajj ensured the mobility of the crafts persons and exchange of ideas. Persian poetry and Sufism were inextricably linked in Iran, and the works of some of the finest poets were often illustrated. The intricate symbolism in these texts led one to expect a similar iconography in the visual arts in the Islamic world.
Qur’an, the divine revelation on the Prophet became the cornerstone of Islamic literature and thereby the calligraphic art. It came to be written in various styles, each more luxuriant than the other and was often gilded for royal courts. Figures were conspicuous by their absence in the early Islamic art, owing to strict prohibition. But interaction grew with other cultures, art began to copy their motifs and occasionally figures made their foray into the Islamic murals.
Umayyads were the pioneers in Islamic architecture. They began by combining Basilical elements with nascent features of mosque as necessitated by the utilitarian urges. Umayyad Mosque in Damascus was the first monumental structure of Islam followed by the Dome of the Rock and the Masjid Al-Aqsa. Soon the Abbasids took over and glory shifted to Baghdad. It heralded the era of Sasanid impact on the architecture even as stone was replaced with brick as the main building material and stucco (carved plaster) for ornamentation. Some of the Samarra’s architectural features were copied in monuments of Egypt where Ibne Toulun set up a new dynasty.
Fatimids (909-1171 AD), who originated from Syria, attained their zenith in Cairo. They set up the first Shiite state. Perhaps the strict prohibition against raising mausoleums was relaxed because the buildings commemorated martyrs who died spreading the faith. Fatimid art even incorporated figural images. This is readily seen in Fatimid lustre ceramics, production of which seems to have started in the second half of the 10th century, just when manufacture in Abbasid Basra ceased. A wide variety of figural subjects is found on these wares, from mounted dandies hunting in their finery to genre scenes of wrestling and cock fights. Ayyubid era known Crusades, saw development of defense architecture in Egypt and the Levant. They were followed by Memluks who were great builders. Most of the pre-modern monuments of Cairo today belong to the era. By this time hospitals and khanqah (sufi shrines) too had come to occupy centrality in complexes built by the sultans, of whom Sultan Hasan’s complex is most notable. Alongside buildings, Egypt witnessed significant advancements in metal inlaying work, carpentry, and carpet weaving.
The Andalusian era of Islam portrayed fusion and coexistence in ample measures. Iberian peninsula had been conquered by Abdur Rahman, an Umayyad prince who had escaped from the Abbasid pursuers from Damascus. Observes O’Kane: Islam’s tolerance of religious minorities was especially notable in Iberia a striking contrast to the Christian treatment of Jews and Muslims after the conquest of the peninsula was completed in 1492. The zenith was attained in Madinat al Zahra in Cordoba, a caliphal city begun in 936 AD by Abdur Rahman III. It had a population of 14,000 people, a mint, a zoo, a prison, textile factories, and ateliers, in addition to magnificent reception halls and living quarters. Alhambra Palace quickly became a byword for luxury. It rivaled Ritz or Odeon for movie theatres in the West. This reputation is deserved as it epitomizes the culmination of Islamic architecture in the West. Nothing produced or constructed later matches its exuberance.
Almoravids (Al-Murabituns) and Al-Mohad (Al-Muwahhiduns) dynasties brought to Morocco the vaulting systems of muqaranas. Belonging to Maliki schools of fiqh, their buildings are without mausoleums. Their asceticism extended to architecture and they theorized that excessive ornamentation led to distraction in prayers. Simple interlacing bands characterized their ornamentation rather than with elaborate arabesques and inscriptions.
Iran under Seljuks (1040-1194) came to innovate a new style of architecture where Arab hypostyle mosque adapted a dome near the qibla with insertion of four iwans (chambers) around the courtyard. It is best represented by Isfahan’s Great Mosque.
By the turn of the 14th century AD, it was the turn of the Turks to enrich the Islamic architecture. Their new energy gave rise to the Ottoman empire. Architecture is the most visible manifestation of Ottoman artistic genius; its legacy transformed not only Turkey but also major Arab cities such as Aleppo, Damascus, and Cairo. Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (1568-74) is arguably the culmination of Ottoman architecture, its vast dome crowning the city of Edirne and the legacy of its great architect, Sinan. Around the turn of the last millennium, imperial Islam entered the Indian subcontinent and began to shape a composite culture. Refinement peaked in Taj Mahal in Agra. Diversity of Islamic rule in India has been dealt rather very briefly. As Islam penetrated deep into China, Central Asia and littoral South East Asia, interaction with cultures and climates led to induction of sloping roofs, minarets that doubled up for lighthouses and wide use of wood.
O’Kane has done a marvelous job of compressing a wide panorama into the book. Superbly illustrated, the volume is as much a feast for the eye as is a treat for the mind.
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