Nawabs of Awadh sponsored the construction of architectural masterpieces such as Bara Imambara, Rumi Darwaza, Chota Imambara, Sikandar Bagh and Ghantaghar in Lucknow, as well as Gulab Bari and Bahu Begum ka Maqbara in Faizabad. In Hyderabad, the Asaf Jahi dynasty became exceedingly wealthy and were one of the richest royal families in the world by the mid-20th century. The Nizam commissioned construction of various public works and buildings in their state (often in Indo-Saracenic and Mughal style) such as the Telangana High Court, City College, Public Gardens, (formerly Bagh-e-Aaam), Jubilee Hall, Asafia Library, The Assembly building, Niloufer Hospital, the Osmania Arts College and Osmania Medical College, as well as palaces like Hyderabad House and Chowmahalla Palace. The so-called Indo-Saracenic architecture, beginning in the late 18th century, but mainly developing from the 1840s until independence a century later, was mostly designed by British or other European architects, and adopted Islamic or specifically Indian features, usually as a decorative skin on buildings whose essential forms reflected contemporary Western types and uses, whether as office buildings, palaces, courts of justice, railway stations or hotels. The style, which is very variable, thus became one of a number of revival architecture styles that were available to the Victorian architect. The usual type of Indian architecture borrowed from was Mughal architecture, or its Rajput palace version. See also Architecture of India Pakistani architecture Architecture of Bangladesh History of domes in South Asia Notes References "Banglapedia": "Architecture" in Banglapedia Blair, Sheila, and Bloom, Jonathan M., The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800, 1995, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, Brown, Percy, Indian Architecture (The Islamic Period), 2013 (reprint, 1940 1st edn.), Read Books, , google books Harle, J.C., The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, Hasan, Perween, Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh, 2007, I.B.Tauris, , 9781845113810, google books "Yale":Richard Ettinghausen, Oleg Grabar and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, 2001, Islamic Art and Architecture: 650-1250'', Yale University Press, Further reading External links Characteristics of Indo-Islamic architecture at Archaeological Survey of India Islamic Architecture in India in the Introduction to Islamic Architecture Indian architectural styles Architecture in Pakistan Islamic architecture Architectural styles Islam in India Islam in Pakistan