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Feb 26, 2024 16 tweets 4 min read Read on X
The absence of constructing beautiful new buildings is not exclusive to the West!

Indo-Saracenic architecture, a blend of Islamic, Mughal, Gothic, and Neo-Classical styles, beautified 19th-century South Asia.

Let’s explore some examples in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. 🧵 Top Left: Khalsa College, Amritsar (By Joe mon bkk - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38445839) Top Middle: Chennai (Madras) High Court (By Yoga Balaji - From a Digital Camera (Nikon), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11200059) Top Right: Multan Clock Tower (By Junaidahmadj - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30327400)  Bottom Left: Darbar Mahal, Bahawulpur (By Tahsin Shah - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51850351) Bottom Right: Chhatrapati Shivaji ...
1. Puthia Rajbari, Bangladesh By Khalidrahman - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51304744
2. Ahsan Manzil in Dhaka, Bangladesh Credit: By Aymash at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16972174
3. Tajhat Palace in Rangpur, Bangladesh By Moheen Reeyad, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48774518
4. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus formerly Victoria Terminus in Mumbai, India. Credit: By Joe Ravi, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12847960
5. Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore, India incorporates elements of Indo-Saracenic and Dravidian styles. It was constructed 1951–1956. Image
6. The Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, India has very discreet Indo-Saracenic touches. Credit: By Subhrajyoti07 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62003286
7. Mysore Palace, India Credit: By Muhammad Mahdi Karim - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36123357
8. Lucknow Charbagh Railway Station Credit: By Azharkhan077 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55300135
9. Kowdiar Palace in Kerala, India By Manu rocks at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7265120
10. Lahore Museum in Lahore, Pakistan Credit: By Guilhem Vellut - Lahore MuseumUploaded by Ekabhishek, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10642621
11. King Edward Medical University in Lahore, Pakistan Credit: By Mustafa - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35791708
12. University of Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan Credit: By Lime.adeel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35778840
13. Darbar Mahal in Bahawalpur, Pakistan Credit: By Tahsin Shah - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51850351
14. Multan Clock Tower in Multan, Pakistan Image
15. Frere Hall in Karachi, Pakistan Credit: By Asim Iftikhar Nagi - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62761549

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More from @CultureExploreX

Jul 6
Most people think of mausoleums as tombs.

But the best of them are something more, Cathedrals of memory, ambition, and love carved in stone.

Here are 22 that left the world in awe and one that hides a deadly secret. 🧵 Baldacchino by Gian Lorenzo Bernini was erected over Saint Peter's tomb, it was designed at the request of Pope Urban VIII around 1624 AD.  Credit: @histories_arch on X  St.Peter's Basilica contains the tombs of many Popes also.
1. Basilica of Saint-Denis – France

Where the French kings go to sleep.

Gothic architecture was born here. Stained glass blazing like fire, tombs of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI beneath your feet. Image
2. Taj Mahal – Agra

Shah Jahan built it for love.
The world never forgot.

Symmetrical gardens, flawless white marble, and haunting beauty.

But don’t miss the tragic twist: he was buried next to her, off-center, breaking perfect symmetry. Credit: @The_Earth______
Read 25 tweets
Jul 5
Most people visit Rome for the Colosseum or the Vatican.

But Rome is a city of cathedrals.

And these 18 churches aren’t just places of worship, they’re where architecture, power, and beauty collided to shape Western civilization.

You won’t believe #3 and #4. 🧵 Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore, Roma, Italia. Credit: juans83
1. Sant’Agnese in Agone

Francesco Borromini’s boldest move.

He took geometry, crushed it, and turned it into emotion.
Step inside and you’ll feel space bend. Image
2. Santa Maria Maddalena

Baroque at its most unhinged.
Designed by Carlo Fontana and Giuseppe Sardi who curved the façade like it was dancing.

Don’t blink. The walls almost move.
Read 21 tweets
Jul 5
They say ancient epics ignored women. But what if that’s wrong?

What if the most powerful minds in early literature weren’t warriors but women?

Let’s talk about the forgotten heroines of East and West: The Shahnameh and The Odyssey. 🧵👇 Penelope and the Suitors 1900 tapestry by Victor John Robertson
One is Persian.
The other Greek.

One written by Ferdowsi. 120,000 lines.
The other by Homer. 12,000 lines.

Different worlds. Same question:
What role did women play in shaping the epic imagination? Image
Western scholars often claimed Persian women were passive. One even wrote:
“Such figures as Penelope… cannot be found in the Persian epic.”

But we are going to put that theory to the test. Atusa Shahbanu Credit: Hedayat Bazafkan
Read 18 tweets
Jul 3
Tomorrow is July 4th. Independence Day.

We’ll hear about Lexington. Muskets. War. But remember this:

The American Revolution didn’t begin with a gunshot; it began with a boycott.

Before the first shot fired, ordinary Americans had already overthrown British rule. 🧵 Detail from Washington Crossing the Delaware, an 1851 portrait by Emanuel Leutze depicting Washington and Continental Army troops crossing the river prior to the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776.
From 1765 to 1775, colonists ran a full-blown civil resistance campaign.

They shut down courts.
Refused to import goods.
Built parallel governments.

It wasn’t protest for show. It was rebellion in plain sight. Spirit of '76 by Archibald Willard
Britain passed the Stamp Act in 1765.

Americans didn’t riot.
They simply refused to comply.

Printers ran papers without stamps.
Lawyers stopped using courts.
Ports either closed or defied British orders. Burning of Stamp Act, Boston. 1 photomechanical print (postcard) : color.
Read 22 tweets
Jul 2
Latin America holds some of the most stunning architecture in the world.

Most of it was built by Europeans on top of Indigenous empires.

These 20 buildings reveal a continent shaped by beauty and conquest.

And the first three will leave you speechless. 🧵 Templo de Santo Domingo - Oaxaca, Mexico Credit: @kobe_sylvester
1. Las Lajas Cathedral – Colombia

It’s not built on a canyon.
It’s part of it.

Bridging cliffs like a miracle frozen in stone.

Built after a woman claimed the Virgin Mary appeared inside the gorge. Image
2. Church of San Francisco – Quito, Ecuador

500 years old.
Baroque on the outside.
Moorish on the inside.

And built by the hands of indigenous artisans during Spanish rule. Image
Read 23 tweets
Jul 1
We talk about globalization like it’s new.

But 2,000 years ago, merchants were already trading silk, spices, and stories from China to Italy.

Not through the internet.
Through deserts, mountains, and war zones.

Here are the 16 cities that shaped the Silk Road. 🧵 The Ark of Bukhara Credit: @fopminui on X
It began in Xi’an, China.

Not just the home of the Terracotta Army but the launchpad of the world’s most ambitious trade route.

Silk, porcelain, and even Buddhist monks left from here.

Every empire west of here would feel it. Credit: @archeohistories
Next stop: Lanzhou.

Sitting on the Yellow River, this city wasn’t just scenic, it was strategic.

If you controlled Lanzhou, you controlled the gateway west.

And everyone wanted it. Image
Read 19 tweets

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