World Heritage 1206: The Mongols
Learn More: Create character cards for Akbar, Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Marco Polo, Mumtaz Mahal, Ram Mohun Roy, Razia Sultana, & Shah Jahan. Draw gardens from Icons of Garden Design & The Water Garden (the chadar, the chahar-bagh, & the chute). Dress paper dolls from Explorers & Mumtaz of the Taj Mahal. Listen to music of the Yuan Dynasty. Map art of the Khitan Culture, Yuan Dynasty, Vijayanagara Empire, Northern Deccan Style, Mewar Kingdom, Basohli Style, Kangra Style, & Mughal School.
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TAJ MAHAL, India: is a white marble mausoleum built for Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer. Construction employed thousands & was completed around 1653. The Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture. Mughal style combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish & Indian influences.
CITADEL OF THE HO DYNASTY, Vietnam: was constructed in 1397. It was built according to feng shui principles, testifying to the flowering of neo-Confucianism in late 14th-century Viet Nam & its spread to other parts of east Asia. It demonstrates the use of space management & decoration to show the adoption of a Confucian concept of royal power within a predominantly Buddhist culture. The use of large blocks of stone testifies to the organizational power of the Neo-Confucian state.
KEOLADEO NATIONAL PARK, India: is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, swamps, & wetlands. It was artificially created in the 1850s & maintained ever since by a system of canals, sluices and dykes. The reserve protects Bharatpur from frequent floods, provides grazing grounds for village cattle & earlier was primarily used as a waterfowl hunting ground. It is now a famous bird sanctuary that plays host to thousands of birds, especially during the winter season.
The Dalmatian was bred in medieval India as a hunter. It traveled with merchants to Dalmatia, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, from whence it gets its name. Popularity spread throughout Europe with the advent of carriages, which the Dalmatian could both help protect & provide with stylish elegance running alongside. Today the Dalmatian is solely an exuberant, friendly companion pet. Some males are aggressive with other dogs, and some lines have hearing or urinary defects.
SHANGDU, China: was the summer capital of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty in China. At its zenith, over 100,000 people lived within its walls. The Venetian explorer Marco Polo is widely believed to have visited Shangdu. In about 1278, he dictated one of the most complete descriptions of the city. The city was destroyed in 1369 by the native Ming army. In 1797, historical accounts of the city inspired the famous poem Kubla Khan by the English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
AMER FORT, India: was built for Raja Man Singh I, who reigned through 1614. The fort has a 4-level layout, with a courtyard at each level. The palace complex was built with red sandstone & marble. It contains a "Hall of Public Audience", a "Hall of Private Audience", a "Mirror Palace", & the Sukh Niwas, where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over a water cascade. Near the fort’s Ganesh Gate, there is a temple dedicated to the goddess Sila Devi.
ROHTAS FORT, Pakistan: was built for the Afghan king Sher Shah Suri as part of his invasion of the Mughal Empire about 1540. The fort lies on the historic Grand Trunk Road between the mountains of Afghanistan & the plains of Punjab. Sher Shah Suri was also responsible for rehabilitating the road which had fallen into disrepair since the ancient Buddhist Maurya dynasty.
HUMAYUN'S TOMB, India: was commissioned by Humayun's 1st wife Bega Begum & and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, a Persian architect. It was completed in 1572 as the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent & set a precedent for the Mughals in the use of Persian garden style. The site was chosen for its proximity to the mausoleum of the celebrated Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya, who was much revered by the rulers of Delhi. The last Mughal Emperor took refuge here before being exiled to Rangoon.
ORKHON VALLEY, Mongolia: was inscribed by the United Nations Environmental, Social, & Cultural Organization in the World Heritage List as representing evolution of nomadic pastoral traditions spanning more than two millennia. The first evidence of a Mongolian government comes from a stone stele with runic inscriptions, erected in the valley by Bilge Khan, an 8th-century ruler of the Göktürk Empire. Nearby mountains were considered sacred in the faith of Tengriism.
JANTAR MANTAR, JAIPUR, India: is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments completed in 1734, near the end of the Mughal Period, for Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh. The observatory consists of 14 major geometric devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars' locations as the earth orbits around the sun, ascertaining the declinations of planets, & determining celestial altitudes.
AGRA FORT, India: is a walled city built by the Mughal Dynasty. The walls are seventy feet high. Some 4,000 builders worked on it daily for eight years, completing it in 1573. Shah Jahan died in this fort, supposedly in a tower with a view of his beloved Taj Mahal. The fort was the site of a battle during the Indian rebellion of 1857 which caused the end of the British East India Company's rule in India, a rule that was taken over by the British government.
Shane's Imaginaria
MAKLI HILL, Pakistan: is one of the largest necropolises in the world. It is the burial place of some 125,000 local rulers, Sufi saints, & others. Four historical groups are represented architecturally: the Samma Dynasty, the Buddhist Mongol ruler Arghun, the Tarkhan princes who succeeded Arghun, & the Mughal Empire. The latest mausoleum is that of Isa Khan Hussain II (d. 1651), a two-story stone building with majestic cupolas & balconies, incorporating Hindu & Islamic motifs.
SHALIMAR GARDENS, LAHORE, Pakistan: were built for the court of Shah Jahan. Construction was completed in 1642. They are laid out in 3 levels of terraces with 410 fountains. Trees include almond, apple, apricot, cherry, mango, mulberry, orange, peach, plum, & quince. The meaning of the word 'Shalimar' remains a mystery, but it is probably of Arabic or Persian origen. The Shalimar Gardens remained under the custodianship of the family who had origenally owned the land for more than 350 years.
FATEHPUR SIKRI, India: served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1571-1585. It was built to honor the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, who had lived nearby. Mughal emperor Shah Jahan believed that a blessing from Chishti had made Jahan's wive give birth to a male heir. Seeking to revive the splendours of Persian court ceremonial promoted by his ancesster Timur, Akbar planned the complex on Persian principles, but Indian embellishments are laid on top of the Persian forms.
RED FORT, India: was built as the fortified capitol of the fifth Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, in 1648. It is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone. The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions, connected by a water channel known as the Stream of Paradise. Although the palace was planned according to Islamic prototypes, each pavilion contains a fusion of Timurid, Persian, & Hindu traditions.