IndoSaracenic

Indo-Saracenic, also called Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, is a style that emerged in British India in the late 19th century. It blended Indian architectural forms inspired by Mughal and Rajput traditions with European styles such as Gothic Revival, Neoclassical, and Renaissance-inspired, creating a hybrid idiom used for public buildings, railway stations, museums, and universities. The aim was to express imperial authority while referencing Indian aesthetic cues.

The movement developed from broad modernist eclecticism in colonial architecture. It gained prominence from the 1870s into the early 20th century and waned after independence as tastes shifted toward nationalist and modernist vocabularies. Architects associated with the style were primarily European and Anglo-Indian; they incorporated local ornament, domes, minarets, chhatris (circular pavilions), jaalis (screenwork), pointed arches, and bulbous domes alongside European structural concepts.

Key figures and examples commonly cited include Robert Chisholm, who shaped Madras (Chennai) buildings such as the Senate House; Swinton Jacob, who contributed to Indo-Saracenic designs in western India; Henry Irwin, active in Madras and other presidencies; and William Emerson, associated with prominent Calcutta projects like the Victoria Memorial. Notable examples of the style include the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai (formerly Victoria Terminus), the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, and the University of Madras Senate House.

The Indo-Saracenic style is regarded as a defining phase of late colonial architecture in India—an eclectic blend intended to mirror imperial power and local architectural legacies, leaving a lasting heritage of monumental, ceremonially oriented buildings.