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Colonial Indian Architecture reveals the progressive involvement of the British in India spanning about 400 years. Military engineers provided the first secure compounds for the [[East India Company|East India Company’s ]] trading posts in [[Madras ]], [[Bombay]], and [[Calcutta ]]. As colonial influence spread so did their architecture.

Early buildings in fortified encampments were simple and functional; decoratively crenellations adorned parapets like battlements. As colonial aspirations changed from purely trading to empire, prominent buildings expressed power. This came not just from the British dominance but from their stylistic choice of Neo-Classicism to represent their cultural authority. Porticos and Doric columns were repeatedly used c for 300 years. Palladian refinement reflected social aspirations for the English elite in India. More numerous were the modest cottages and bungalows, for the many of the middle classes, that borrowed stylistically from Bengali ‘bangla’ village huts. Church architecture differed by following the prevailing English trend - from the clean lines of Christopher Wren’s English Renaissance churches to the verticality of Pugin’s Victorian Neo-Gothic piles –they represented pure Christian values in a pagan land.

Unlike [[French ]] or [[Portuguese ]] Colonialists, whose architecture was accustomed to Mediterranean needs, British designs rapidly altered adding arcades and deep verandahs to deal with the needs to shelter from sun and monsoon. Italianate designs often better suited the climatic needs, compared to pattern book English designs. Neo-Gothic variety often the choice of Venetian Gothic for in civic buildings in preference to High Gothic.

Against the dominant style of the Aesthetic Imperialists (represented by the [[Public Works Department ]] who commissioned and regulated the colonial architectural design of most colonial buildings) there were the Native RevivalistRevivalists. They thought that civic architecture should represent the people, something with a connection to the land and the past, which in later Victorian times was mirrored by William Morris’ Arts and Craft’s view - of returning to an architecture using craftsmanship and traditional methods. Many Bombay was more liberal, so many of the later universities and law courts opted for Indo-Saracenic architecture (a mixture of Hindu, Islamic and Western elements applied to Western buildings). James Fergusson a Morris supporter, argued that copying Indian styles to be a crime, and backed the expressive use of Indian forms in architectural expression. The issue was that it was not a fusion of east and west design. Architects working in the [[Princely States ]] managed this. Indigenous methods prevailed in [[Hill station|hill stations ]] where informal residential designs that used the best of both traditions. .

Most of the designers throughout the Raj were [[British Army ]] Engineers instructed in military engineering; architectural design was self learnt from practical experience, aided by architectural reference books and copy book designs. By 1870 regional differences are were obvious with Bombay Public Works employing professional officers trained in architecture, while Calcutta continued to use amateur military engineers. Later, consultant architects invited from Europe included Lutyens in [[New Delhi]], and Modernist Le Corbusier in post-colonial [[Chandrigarh]]

The quality of local craftsmen and raw material made a difference. Bombay’s stone carvers were able to work with better grade stone than others– naturally their work was more detailed.The continued prevalence in other areas of the more simply decorated Neo-classical buildings demanded less intricate carving than was needed for the richly decorated Gothic style.

Frequently colonial buildings were criticized about not responding to local conditionsThe rise of the Indian Middle Classes with their patronage of the Arts and Architecture encouraged the marriage of indigenous and European designs. Their architectural commissions represented their affluence, civic pride, or being built in traditional proven local methodsand Indian heritage. The London look was achieved by stucco render over brickIn contrast, and sadly many Raj buildings are falling into disrepair as English industrial progress evidenced with widespread use of imported corrugated iron (from the stucco peels away1840's) offered construction simplification, but tended to dumb down architectural advances.

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Lutyens Edwin Lutyens 1869-1944] Wikipedia - - British Architect notable for the planning of New Delhi**[http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/11/21/how-two-friends-built-a-city-and-fell-out How Two Friends Built a City and Fell Out] by Margherita Stancati November 21, 2011, blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime. Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker were commissioned to build New Delhi.**[http://www.heathershimmin.com/viceroy-house-new-delhi The story behind Lutyens' sketch of Viceroy House] heathershimmin.com

==Other external links==*[http://www.archive.org/stream/indiaindianengin00medlrich#page/76/mode/2up ''India and Indian engineering''] Three lectures delivered at the Royal engineer institute, Chatham, in July, 1872. JG Megley lecture. Considers building comfort design issues, giving examples of comfortable bungalows, and stuffy churches - where services were held outside under the early morning shadow of the church.*[http://www.bolojiarchive.comorg/stream/indianarchitectu00haveuoft#page/n443/architecturemode/index.htm 2up ''Indian Architecture''] by EV Havel, a good description of the [[Public Works Department]] This is an excellent Indian site reviewing architects and architectural style, including a readable critique of Colonial Architecturein late Victorian times – asking it this the right approach?*[http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofmoderns04ferguoft#page/470/mode/2up ''History of Modern Architecture''] by James Fergusson mentioned above.*''History of Indian and Eastern Architecture'' by James Fergusson Archive.org [https://archive.org/details/historyindianan00tadggoog 1891 edition]. 1899 editions: [https://archive.org/details/historyindianan01ferggoog Volume I], [httphttps://sesarchive.libraryorg/details/historyindianan02ferggoog Volume II].usyd1910 editions: [https://archive.eduorg/details/historyofindiane01ferguoft Volume I], [https://archive.auorg/details/historyofindiane02ferguoft Volume II]*[http:/handle/2123books.google.com/495 books?id=SJ4EAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover ''Deccan QueenThe Bombay Builder: A Spatial Analysis an illustrated journal of engineering architecture, science & art Volume 1''] 1865 Google Books*''Jeypore Portfolio of Poona in the Nineteenth Architectural Details parts VII and VIII: VII, String and Band Patterns; VIII, Wall and Early Twentieth CenturiesSurface Decorations''by Samuel Swinton Jacob, 1894. [https://katalogbeta.slub-dresden.de/id/0015244231/#detail Catalogue details] by Wayne Thomas Mullen. Sydney University [http://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/150701/1/0/ Digital Theses 26file] digital.slub-dresden.de. Left hand side of webpage, under Inhaltsverzeichnis, then click on title, shows links to both parts. Thumbnails at foot of webpage show illustrations. Downloads available. Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB) Dresden: The various parts of ''Jeypore Portfolio'': I. Copings and plinths.--II. Pillars--Caps and bases.--III. Carved doors.--IV. Brackets.--V. Arches.--VI. Balustrades.-Mar-2006VII. String and band patterns. A thesis which is “structured around --VIII. Wall and surface decorations.--IX. Dados: with a note on the analysis process of a model that describes fresco paintings in Jeypore.--X. Parapets.--XI. Chatris and domed roofs.--XII. Jharokas or balcony windows.:*[https://disegnarecon.unibo.it/article/viewFile/2079/1466 "Samuel Swinton Jacob and the Jeypore Portfolio: issues in Architectural Recording"] by Vanicka Arora. Disegnarecon dicembre 2010. disegnarecon.unibo.it*''India. Photographs and Drawings Of Historical Buildings :100 Plates; From the Collection in the Cantonmentlate Office of Curator of Ancient Monuments in India''. London, the Civil Lines1896. [https://katalogbeta.slub-dresden.de/id/0015229001/#detail Catalogue details] [http://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/178347/1/ Digital file] digital.slub-dresden.de. With thumbnails, the Sadr Bazar and part so illustrations are easily found. Download available. Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB) Dresden *[https://archive.org/details/CInCsResidencesIndia ''Reminiscences of the Native City Residencies of the Western Indian settlement of Poona Commanders-In-Chief in India in the late nineteenth Simla, Old and early twentieth centuriesNew Delhi''] by Field- Marshal Sir W R Birdwood 1930 Archive.org*[https://archive.org/details/NewDelhiByRobertByron "New Delhi"] by Robert Byron. ''The Architectural Review'' January 1931. Archive.org*[https://archive.org/details/OLDBungalowsInBangaloreJanetPott ''Old Bungalows in Bangalore, South India''] by Janet Pott 1977 Archive.org*[https://archive.org/details/MonkeyTops ''Monkey Tops: Old Buildings in Bangalore Cantonment''] by Elizabeth Staley 1981 Archive.org === Others ===*[http://www.boloji.com/architecture/index.” Contains htm Indian Architecture] This is an excellent Indian site for a more detailed over view , it includes sections on architectureColonial Indian Architecture.