Your session has expired

Your progress and purchases are safe. Log in again to continue.

Log in again
Aspirant Academy
ENHI

RAS question

The Jaunpur architectural style, represented by the Atala Masjid, is characterized by which distinctive feature not found in the mainstream Delhi Sultanate style?

Correct answer: (B) A massive screen wall (pylon) that masks the central arch, creating a sloping/battered appearance.

The Atala Masjid represents the Jaunpur style through its massive central screen wall or pylon. Its sloping sides dominate the composition and conceal the central prayer arch from view.

  1. (A)

    Use of five-bay prayer hall with double aisles

  2. (B)

    A massive screen wall (pylon) that masks the central arch, creating a sloping/battered appearance

  3. (C)

    Incorporation of Bengali curved (bangla) roof forms

  4. (D)

    Extensive use of blue Iznik tiles on the facade

Explanation

The Atala Masjid, dated 1408 CE, is a major example of the Sharqi Sultanate's Jaunpur style. Its defining feature is the imposing pylon or screen wall in front of the prayer hall, not merely a general element of mosque planning. At the centre of the facade is a tall pylon with a majestic arch. Its battered walls rise above the central prayer arch and mask it from view. This combination of the central pylon, grand arch and inclined walls is a hallmark of the surviving mosques of Jaunpur. Option B is therefore the best answer because it identifies the feature that visually distinguishes Jaunpur architecture from the mainstream Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal styles.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) A five-bay prayer hall with double aisles is a broad planning feature of Indo-Islamic mosque architecture, not the distinctive Jaunpur marker at the Atala Masjid. That distinction comes from the central pylon and its inclined walls.
  • (C) Bengali curved or bangla roof forms belong to the Bengal provincial tradition and later Mughal pavilion vocabulary. They are not the central-pylon-and-screen-wall feature of the Atala Masjid's Jaunpur style.
  • (D) Blue Iznik tiles are associated with Ottoman Turkish architecture. The Jaunpur feature here is not ceramic tilework but the pylon-like facade wall with inclined sides.

Concept

This question tests provincial Indo-Islamic architecture, especially how regional Sultanate styles adapted the mosque facade and prayer-hall composition in their own ways. RAS repeats such questions because monuments like the Atala Masjid help distinguish regional styles from the mainstream Delhi Sultanate form.

Source

Related questions