The Faridkot State was one of the Sikh States created in Malwa region of the Punjab during the later half of the eighteenth century. It came into its own under Raja Pahar Singh (1827-49) when the British extinguished the neighbouring mighty kingdom of Lahore. During the next one century, it prospered under Raja Wazir Singh (1849-74), Raja Bikram Singh (1874-98), Raja Balbir Singh (1898-1906), the Council of Regency (1906-16), Raja Brij Indar Singh (1916-18), the Council of Administration (1918-34), and Raja Har Indar Singh (1934-48). Throughout this period, the rulers and aristocracy built a vast variety of buildings which included forts, palaces, havelis, administrative buildings, educational buildings, hospitals, bazaars, gurdwaras, mosques, temples etc. Collectively, these buildings represent the style of architecture that flourished during the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century in the Sikh States of Punjab, which has not been studied so far. The book in hand is a pioneering effort in this direction. The book comprises eight chapters. The first chapter delineates the geographical and historical background of the region comprising the erstwhile Faridkot State. An analysis of the salient architectural features of the monuments is contained in the second chapter. The remaining six chapters document the monuments of the State on typological basis. The third chapter covers forts and royal palaces. The buildings for state machinery are recorded in the fourth chapter. The next chapter contains the survey of public secular buildings. The residential buildings form the subject matter of the sixth chapter. The seventh chapter covers memorials and the last chapter comprises a study of public religious buildings. These chapters are followed by an epilogue, an appendix, a glossary and a bibliography. The text is illustrated with 9 maps, 131 drawings, 35 colour and 196 monochrome plates. The book thus tries to capture the architectural heritage of Faridkot in all its rich splendour. It will prove to be an invaluable asset not only to the academicans, architects and libraries but also to the lay reader.



Author Bio: Subhash Parihar was born on 12 August 1953 at Kot Kapura, East Punjab where he still lives. He is M.A. (History of Art), M.A.(History), M. Phil., Ph.D. As an art historian, he has done pioneer work on the Indo-Muslim architecture of the North-Western India and the architecture of the Sikh States of the Punjab. He is author of Mughal Monuments in the Punjab and Haryana (Delhi, 1985) (Honoured with Dr. W.G. Archer Award by the Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi); Muslim Inscriptions in the Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (Delhi, 1985); Some Aspects of Indo-Islamic Architecture (Delhi, 1999); History and Architectural Remains of Sirhind (Delhi, 2006); Land Transport in Mughal India: Agra-Lahore Mughal Highway and its Architectural Remains (Delhi, 2008), and more than two score of research papers published in international journals like Oriental Art (London); Journal of Royal Asiatic Society (London); Iran (London); East & West (Rome); Muqarnas (Leiden); Journal of Pakistan Historical Society (Karachi); Islamic Studies (Islamabad); Marg (Mumbai) etc. He has also contributed to The Dictionary of Art (34 vols.) published by Macmillan (London) and Encyclopaedia of Persian Language, Literature and Culture in the Sub-Continent (to be published in Iran). He was awarded Homi Bhabha Fellowship (1994-96). He undertook a Photographic Survey of Architectural Heritage of Haryana under Senior Fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India (2001-03). His research on Agra-Lahore Mughal Highway was partially financed by The Barakat Trust (London). Dr. Parihar is also an artist himself. He has been actively participating in art exhibitions since 1977. He was awarded by Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi in 1979 for the best collage. In the field of photography too, he has bagged about two dozen prizes including the Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Award (1997). To deepen his understanding of cinema, he attended Film Appreciation Course at Film and Television Institute of India at Pune, in 2008. He is working as Head, Department of History at Government Brijindra College, Faridkot, Punjab.