The Rumi Darwaza (sometimes known as the Turkish Gate), in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, Uttar Pradesh, India, is a gateway which was built by Nawab Asaf-Ud-Daula in 1784. It is an example of

Awadhi architecture The Lucknow School of Architecture was an experiment by the resurgent Nawabs of Awadh. It was an attempt to preserve the Mughal school of architecture by experimenting with different materials and innovating new concepts. Among the extant archi ...

. The Rumi Darwaza is sixty feet tall and was modeled after the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. It is adjacent to the Asafi Imambara,

Teele Wali Masjid Teele is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Arthur Teele (1946–2005), American lawyer and politician * Jack Teele Jack Earl Teele (June 17, 1930 – September 14, 2017) was an American football executive and sportswriter. He ...

and used to mark the entrance to Old Lucknow. When the city grew and expanded, it was used as an entrance to a palace which was later demolished by the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

following the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

Etymology

The gate was modelled after a historical gate in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. Rumi refers to

Rûm Rūm ( , collective; singulative: ''Rūmī'' ; plural: ''Arwām'' ; ''Rum'' or ''Rumiyān'', singular ''Rumi''; ), ultimately derived from Greek Ῥωμαῖοι ('' Rhomaioi'', literally 'Romans'), is the endonym of the pre-Islamic inhabi ...

, the historical name used by the Islamic world to denote the region roughly corresponding to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, or the dominion of the former

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

. "Rumi Darwaza" in Hindustani translates to "Turkish Gate" in English.

Design

The darwaza is distinct from

Mughal architecture Mughal architecture is the style of architecture developed in the Mughal Empire in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in the Indian subcontinent. It developed from the architectural styles of ea ...

in terms of style and materials used. The design consists of a big arch and on top of that, there is a half-spherical dome resting on half-octagonal plan. The gate is built using thin burnt clay bricks and lime-crushed brick aggregate mortar (Lakhori and Surkhi respectively, which was prevalent during the rule of Nawabs in the 18th century). The gate boasts of intricate carvings of flowers.

Location

The gate is between

Bara Imambara The Bara Imambara (), also known as the Asafi Imambara, is a significant imambara and mosque complex located in Lucknow, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Built by Asaf-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh, in 1784, it is the world's second larges ...

and Chota Imambara.

Gallery

File:Roomi gate.jpg, Darwaza viewed from the front File:Imambara darwaja in Lucknow.jpg, Darwaza viewed from the back File:Rumi darwaza night.jpg, Darwaza viewed at night File:Roomi Darwaza 03.JPG File:Roomi Darwaza 04.JPG File:Roomi Darwaza 05.JPG File:Roomi Gate.JPG File:Rumi Darwaza view from Bara Imambara , Lucknow.jpg, Rumi Darwaza viewed from Bara Imambara File:Rumi Darwaza Lucknow.jpg File:Rumi Darwaza Trails.jpg, A long exposure photograph of the gate at night File:Rumi Darwaza bnw.jpg, alt=

References

External links