Nostalgic feeling is often deep and shaking for historian swhenever they are either asked to write something or pay a visit even to nearly destroyed monuments which lay scattered in almost all parts of India. whether prominent or obscure they still evoke an oveerawed admiration from their visitors. Even in poorest of shapes as time has had an edge over them, they would remind us of their forceful existence a bunch of hundred year back. the effervescence of Mughal rule, in India covering a span of almost two centuries, had been eventfl both politically and culturally. The Mughals had not only been great conquerors and administrators but also men of refined tastes with deep interest in various branches of find arts: painting, poetry, music, dance and architecture. They have left many glowing prints on the places they conquered. It was during this period that some of the finest works of architecture had been created and they are so many in number that even great works of history could not possibly include all of them, specially those which are relatively less prominent. But even those, considered relatively obscure reflect much of the great Mughal architectural spirit and it is primarily to cover the so called 'obscure ones' found in abundance in the Punjab and Haryana that the present work has been undertaken.
Nowhere else in India such exquisite specimens of Mughal Sarais can be seen as we come across in the said states. Besides, there are remarkable specimens of gardens, mosques, tombs, madrasas, baolis, bridges, Kos-minars and fragmented pieces of palaces also. But unfortunately the fifty odd Moghul monuments recorded in this volume are fast crumbling and so it is always wise to bring them in a written record before they go with the wind, so that posterity does not miss them. |
