The architectural documentation revealed glazed tiles on the 3 monuments - Tomb of Ibrahim Quli, Tomb of Mohammad Qutb V, Tomb of Abdullah. This needed further documentation and analysis of the tiles.
Action Taken
- Each of the Tombs has been extensively documented with the tile work being traced and measured along with condition assessment.
- Sample of glazed tiles have been collected from the monuments and have been sent for testing to Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at Oxford University to understand the tile composition and tile making process.
Next Steps
- Based on the laboratory test results confirming the composition of the tiles, these tiles would be manufactured in the Humayun’s Tomb Complex, New Delhi where AKTC has already engaged in making tiles for the monuments.
Impact
- Tomb of Abdullah showed signs of glazed tiles of 5 different colours i.e. orange, blue, white, green and yellow on the top columns on the corners of the upper storey, as well as around the flower bands on the first storey.
- On the Tomb of Mohd. Qutb V, tiles, revealed below the current plaster layer, once covered the entire dome as well as exterior bands and merlons below the dome. The colours found are Blue, Turquoise, Green, Yellow and White. The dome also revealed the use of nails for pegging of tiles, which may have caused further deterioration of the tiles.
- Tomb of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah has clear evidences showing tiles in the upper bays on the south side and traces in the east and north side showing complex geometrical and floral patterns with glazed tiles of Green, Orange, Blue, Turquoise, White and yellow.
Petrographic characterisation of seven glazed tiles from the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art (RLAHA), Oxford University
A petrographic study was made of seven glazed tiles from the site of Quli Qutb Shahi Heritage Park with the aim of:
- To determine the type of clay used for the tile body
- To comment on the firing temperature and kiln atmosphere
- To determine the glaze type (lead, alkali etc)
- To determine the glaze colourant
- To determine the microstructure of the body-glaze interface to comment on the length of firing and whether the tile was fired once or twice.
The tile samples were first observed using a simple low-power binocular microscope to record their macro characteristics. Detailed compositional and microstructural analyses were then performed using a Jeol 5910 scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an Oxford Instruments Inca 300 energy dispersive X - Ray analyser (EDA).
