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The polychrome tilework on the tomb of Sultan Alauddin Ahmad Shah, Bidar, India

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Abstract

Twelve fragments of glazed tiles from the fifteenth century tomb of Alauddin Ahmad Shah in Bidar, India, were investigated by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry and optical microscopy. Ten of these fragments were of polychrome tiles, and two of monochrome yellow-coloured tiles. All the samples are characterised by the stonepaste type of bodies associated with fritware. The glazes show indigenous features in their chemical compositions, suggesting local production. Microstructural and chemical characteristics indicate that the polychrome tiles were underglaze-decorated and provided with a single transparent alkali glaze. Colorants used include copper, cobalt, and manganese oxides, all of which were applied by painting over a white slip/body. The yellow glazes of the monochrome tiles were coloured by lead–tin yellow. The findings highlight the unusual use of stonepaste underglaze-painted polychrome tiles as a source of architectural decoration in fifteenth century southern India.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks the Archaeological Survey of India for providing the necessary permissions for the work, and Sarath Chandra and his team of Heritage Matters for their kind help to access the site.

Funding

This research was supported by funding awarded to MSG by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, under the Senior Fellowship to Outstanding Persons in the Field of Culture Scheme. The fellowship grant (CCRT/SF-3/267/2018) was administered by the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT).

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  1. Art Conservation Solutions, Noida, India

    Maninder Singh Gill

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  1. Maninder Singh Gill
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MSG has prepared, read, and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Maninder Singh Gill.

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Permissions for the research were secured from the Archaeological Survey of India. The tile fragments analysed were provided by their local office at Bidar. No samples were taken from the monuments.

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Appendix

Appendix

Tables 3 and 4

Table 3 Average reduced chemical compositions of the tile glazes in terms of their base glass forming oxides. All results are in wt%, and normalised to 100%
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Table 4 Results of spot analyses of lead–tin yellow particles in the yellow glazes in wt%, normalised to 100%. Minor impurities have been excluded from the results presented
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Gill, M.S. The polychrome tilework on the tomb of Sultan Alauddin Ahmad Shah, Bidar, India. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 15, 12 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01711-2

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