The British Empire gave the world railways, civil service systems, and a common language.
But their greatest creative contribution might be something unexpected: Indo-Saracenic architecture.
A bold fusion of East and West! 🧵
In the late 1800s, British architects in the Indian subcontinent faced a dilemma.
Neoclassical and Gothic buildings felt foreign in tropical cities with rich local traditions.
So they began blending Islamic, Hindu, and Victorian styles into something new.
Thus, Indo-Saracenic was born.
This style wasn’t just cosmetic.
It was a political gesture — an attempt to legitimize British rule by visually aligning it with South Asia’s imperial past: the Mughals, the Marathas, the Rajputs.
Domes, minarets, chhatris, jalis — all reimagined in modern stone and steel.