Between Walls and Words

This thesis looks at how architecture appears in Mughal miniature paintings from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, focusing on the ways space and structure were imagined within the art of the imperial court. It studies a group of paintings that show palaces, gardens, mosques, and ceremonial settings, and places them alongside actual Mughal buildings in Agra, Delhi, and Fatehpur Sikri. The goal is to understand whether the paintings reflect real buildings, idealized spaces, or a mix of both. Through direct visual observation and field visits, the work identifies common features such as domes, iwans, garden layouts, and balconies, which serve as familiar forms within the painted scenes. These details are not simply decorative, but help to shape how space is understood. Instead of using Western rules of perspective, Mughal painters relied on vertical layering, repeated forms, and careful framing to show depth and order. These choices reveal a visual language that expresses ideas of power, ceremony, and hierarchy. A method of comparison brings together paintings, buildings, and literary references to highlight shared ideas about space and meaning. Texts and poetry from the period help place these images in a wider cultural setting. Rather than treating painting and architecture as separate arts, the study shows how closely they are linked. The miniature is seen not just as a record of architecture but as a way of thinking about space in its own right. The buildings in these paintings may be small and stylized, but they carry real weight in how they shape ideas of rule, devotion, and beauty. This study offers a new way to look at Mughal painting, one that sees it as an important part of architectural imagination in early modern South Asia.