Mughal architecture during the later Mughals is one of a dwindling and pathetic story of culmination and massive downfall and curtain call to one of the most influencing and powerful and respected dynasty in world history, Indeed, as is known from historical records, Mughal Empire, grounded in India by Babur in 1526 A.D., had reached its pinnacle and unprecedented heights and the position was continued unchallenged for several generations down the line, until the death of Aurangzeb. Mughal architecture during the later Mughals and their continuous struggle for authority and their successor states, truly has belittled their regal and imposing ancestors, the binding chains of which were so well established by the once `Mughal Empire`. The historical background to the series of mishaps that had passed through in the interim period, which had resulted in such a dismal state of affairs, will help one understand better regarding the architectural attempts of the later Mughals and their contribution to the illustrious line-up of `Mughal architecture`.

Emperor Aurangzeb had breathed his last in 1707, but the Mughal Empire endured, at least officially, for another 150 years. It lasted until the British exiled and imprisoned the last Mughal ruler after the historic uprising of Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I had succeeded Aurangzeb in 1707. As the empire weakened the nawabs of Murshidabad, Awadh and Hyderabad established their own successor states, whereas, Sikh, Jat, Maratha and other Hindu rulers asserted their independence; carving out numerous little kingdoms from what once had been a single empire. And herein itself comes the domain of the so-called Mughal architecture during the later Mughals and the difference that they owned with their predecessors and the likeness they were to bear with these independent small `princely states`. The architecture sponsored by the rulers and inhabitants of these new domains was heavily dependent on the Mughal style established during Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, yet in each case new formal interpretations and meaning are given to older forms. The results were often highly creative expressions, reflecting these houses` political allegiance and religious affiliation. And a strict `Mughal-ish` architecture under later Mughal rulers, as can be comprehended, was endeavoured to be begun in the still regaining majestic Delhi of Akbar or Shah Jahan; Delhi always had played significant roles during the Mughal Empire, which was much later transformed into a British Delhi of present times.

From the time Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I had succeeded Aurangzeb, he never entered Delhi. He did, however, commission the construction of a mosque and his own simple screened yet roofless tomb in the dargah of Bakhtiyar Kaki, just behind the historic and gigantic 13th century Qutb Minar. The continued importance of this dargah is attested by buildings provided there by some of Bahadur Shah I`s successors and the fact that the last Mughal resided in a mansion attached to the dargah. Qutb Sahib Bakhtiyar Kaki, a follower of the Chishti order, had been a 14th century saint. His dargah was a venerated shrine even before his demise, though never as popular as the dargah of Shaikh Nizam ud-Din, also in Delhi.

Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I`s mosque, adjacent to his tomb at the shrine of Bakhtiyar Kaki, is acknowledged today as the Moti mosque. Probably built several years before Bahadur Shah I`s death in 1712, the marble mosque is situated in a walled enclosure to the west of the saint`s grave. Unlike the double-aisled Moti masjid in the Shahjahanabad fort (Red Fort), this is a single-aisled structure. Shah Alam`s Moti masjid is surmounted by three bulbous domes on constricted necks. On each corner of the east central bay can be witnessed a slender engaged baluster-like column, a feature by now used in religious architecture.

Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I`s successor, Farrukh Siyar (r. 1713-19), further had embellished the dargah by building a screened marble enclosure around Bakhtiyar Kaki`s grave and two marble entrance gates leading to the grave site. He also had rebuilt in white marble the dargah`s original stucco mosque situated to the east of the saint`s tomb. The marble gates are inscribed with inlaid black marble characters, thus drawing upon forms and materials, first introduced by Shah Jahan at the Ajmer Chishti shrine. The one closest to the tomb, dated 1717-18, is characterised by rounded cusped arches in whose spandrels are large floral medallions and arabesque creepers. Beyond Farrukh Siyar`s gates the devotee goes through a series of passages from the first entrance to the grave. This Mughal architectural complexity under the later Mughal works emphasise the saint`s importance. Since dargahs have inherent authority, the later Mughals, as a result of their patronage, drew upon that authority.

Farrukh Siyar`s additions radically had changed the shrine`s appearance. Visually the Chishti dargah of Bakhtiyar Kaki now more closely resembled the premier Chishti shrine of Muin ud-Din in Ajmer, where during Shah Jahan`s reign, many of the major structures had been built by the royal family. But the shrine in Ajmer had received no new support from the late Mughals due to unfavourable political conditions. Instead Bakhtiyar Kaki`s shrine was revitalised by the later Mughals in white marble and building types that evoked a glorious Mughal past. This again brings to surface the dwindling political and economical condition of the later Mughal Dynasty, the result of which was a terribly painful suffering of Mughal architecture. Mughal architecture during and under the later Mughals was such that they could not move much beyond Delhi, owing to such financial and hostile instability of their reign.

Muhammad Shah had assumed the throne during late 1719, reigning twenty-nine years, until his death in 1748. He was the third monarch to rule after Farrukh Siyar; his two predecessors did not survive even a full year. Muhammad Shah is credited with constructing a wall around Dargah Chiraq-i Delhi in 1729 and the construction of a wooden mosque inside the Shahjahanabad palace. He also had erected his own tomb inside the shrine of Nizam ud-Din in Delhi. This white marble screened tomb is modelled closely on the nearby tomb of Jahan Ara Begum, although this tomb-type long had become standard. Muhammad Shah`s enclosure reveals more profuse floral ornamentation and highly carved surfaces, for instance, along the screen`s base.

It is only commencing with Muhammad Shah`s reign that considerable building activity is witnessed again within the walled city of Shahjahanabad, an interim of respite for Mughal architecture during later Mughals indeed! Significant construction occurred both before and after the invasion of Delhi by the Iranian Nadir Shah in 1739, suggesting that his attack had less devastating long-term effects than is commonly believed. Among the structures erected before Nadir Shah`s invasions is the Sunahri or Golden mosque built in 1721-22 by Raushan ud-Daula, who had provided lavish celebrations at the Urs ceremony of Bakhtiyar Kaki. This three-bayed single-aisled mosque is situated next to the Mughal police station (still in use today) in Chandni Chowk, then across from Jahan Ara`s momumental serai. The mosque was provided at the beginning of Raushan ud-Daula`s rise to power. The location alone, close to the principal entryway of the Shahjahanabad palace, indicates his close ties to the emperor. An inscription over the structure`s east facade indicates that the mosque was erected to honour Shah Bhik, his spiritual mentor, who had died two years earlier.

Reached by a flight of narrow steps, the structure is elevated above the ground. The Sunahri mosque`s slender minarets that rise above the roof line and the gilt metal-plated bulbous domes resting on constricted drums, had instilled a delicate air to Shahjahanabad`s skyline. The emphasis during this time was on delicacy and refinement, not just on the sense of awesome height that had been a major factor in late 17th century Mughal taste. Muhammad Shah`s reign was truly like a breath of fresh air for Mughal architecture under later Mughals, which at times possessed its distinctiveness, as can be noted.

Although Raushan ud-Daula had provided more buildings than any other noble during Muhammad Shah`s reign, his was not the finest in Delhi. That superb building is the Fakhr al-Masjid, or `Pride of the Mosques`, provided by a noblewoman. The mosque was built in 1728-29 by Kaniz-i Fatima, entitled Fakhr-i Jahan (Pride of the World), to commemorate her deceased husband, Shujaat Khan, a high-ranking noble under Aurangzeb. Situated on an elevated plinth, not far from Delhi`s Kashmir Gate, it is one of the few stone mosques built in Delhi during the 18th and 19th centuries. This red sandstone mosque, faced with white marble, is clearly modelled on the major mosques of the city erected during the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Most of those mosques, too, had been provided by the court ladies. Fakhr-i Jahan, by erecting this mosque, merely had continued an earlier tradition. While the emphasis on the mosque`s height due to its tall minarets is archetypal of the period, the delicate inlay and carved niches of its interior recall the uncluttered aesthetic of Shah Jahan`s earlier religious architecture. Mughal architecture under the supremacy of the later Mughals was thus, in very many occasions, supremely endorsed by noblemen and women, most of whom possessed intimate associations with the once shining Mughal throne.

Other notable mosques of Muhammad Shah`s reign built inside Delhi before Nadir Shah`s invasion display the continued vitality of the evolving Mughal architectural style under later Mughals, one that persisted even in the absence of strong central leadership. These include the mosque and school of Nawab Sharaf ud-Daula, dated 1722-23 and the Muhtasib`s mosque provided in 1723-24 by Abu Said, the hereditary inquisitor (muhtasib) of Delhi. Both of these are single-aisled three-bayed mosques, entered through openings with cusped arches and surmounted by bulbous ribbed domes. These domes recall those on the Moti mosque at Bakhtiyar Kaki`s dargah and are similar to many during this period. Nawab Sharaf ud-Daula`s mosque is situated on an elevated plinth with chambers beneath, that may have served as the school. The mosque of Abu Said rather unusually for this time, is not however placed atop a high plinth. Unlike Sharaf ud-Daula`s solid appearing edifice, the latter bears delicate stucco ornament, similar to that on Raushan ud-Daula`s mosque built only two years earlier.

Religious structures appear to dominate the later Mughal architecture of Delhi. That is because mostly sacred buildings remain, although serais, gardens and markets continued to be erected. The surviving ones are outside the city wall. For instance, an extensive bazaar recognised today as the Tripolia with a massive triple-arched entrance gate at either end was built in 1728-29, north of the walled city along the major highway leading to Lahore. This compound was built by Nazir Mahaldar Khan, superintendent of the women`s quarter in the palace of Muhammad Shah.

At Muhammad Shah`s request, the raja of Jaipur, Sawai Jai Singh Kachhwaha (1699-1743), had provided Delhi with an extraordinary observatory acknowledged as the historic Jantar Mantar. This able statesman and astrologer had constructed the observatory in approximately 1725 in an area to the south of the walled city, known as Jaisinghpura. Subsequently, Sawai Jai Singh had built similar observatories with comparable sophisticated structural instruments in Jaipur, Benaras, Mathura and Ujjain. Constructed of brick and plaster, the juxtaposed circular and angular shapes of these enormous instruments produce an effect unlike that of any other Mughal architecture of the period under the later Mughals. Their forms as well as their scientific sophistication remain appealing to 20th century sensibilities. Muhammad Shah`s desire for such an observatory speaks highly of his interest in promoting scientific knowledge, not simply the literary arts for which he is well known. It might also have been due to Muhammad Shah`s endeavours that his still later successors had strove to instill some beautification into the farther places from Delhi, like in Rajasthan or in Bihar. As such, architecture of Rajasthan during later Mughals, architecture of Agra during later Mughals, architecture of Varanasi during later Mughals and, architecture of Bihar during later Mughals, had been victorious to enlist their names in the domain of Mughal Indian history.