Krishnakumarsinhji Gohil at 14:08, 2 November 2025

2025-11-02T14:08:19Z

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{{Short description|Type of brick}}
{{multiple image
| perrow = 2/1
| total_width = 300
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| image1 = Kos minar,tirawadi,karnal.JPG
| caption1 = [[Kos Minar]], built with lakhori bricks hidden underneath [[lime mortar]], along [[Grand Trunk Road]] at [[Taraori]] in [[Karnal district]] of [[Haryana, India]]
| image2 = By-ibneazhar-aik-kos-monument-lahore-pakistan-1 15978367131 o 20.jpg
| caption2 = Kos Minar, built with lakhori bricks, near the [[Tomb of Ali Mardan Khan]] at [[Lahore]] in present-day [[Pakistan]]
| image3 = commonindianbrick.jpg
| caption3 = Contemporary 9 × 4¼ × 2¾ inches [[Brick#Optimal dimensions.2C characteristics.2C and strength|bricks]] are similar in dimension to Ghumma bricks introduced by [[British Raj]] in early 20th century to replace lakhorie bricks that were less than 3/4 in every dimension.
}}
'''Lakhori bricks''' (also '''Badshahi bricks''', '''Kakaiya bricks''', '''Lakhauri bricks''') are flat, thin, red burnt-clay bricks, originating from the [[Indian subcontinent]] that became increasingly popular element of [[Mughal architecture]] during [[Shah Jahan]], and remained so till early 20th century when lakhori bricks and similar [[Nanak Shahi bricks]] were replaced by the larger standard 9" × 4" × 3" bricks called '''Ghumma bricks''' that were introduced by the colonial [[British India]].<ref name=bri3>[https://www.sahapedia.org/the-architectures-of-shahjahanabad The Architectures of Shahjahanabad.]</ref><ref name=bri2>[https://www.wmf.org/sites/default/files/article/pdfs/Lodi%20Garden%20and%20the%20Golf%20Club.pdf "6. Wall gate and golf club."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052047/https://www.wmf.org/sites/default/files/article/pdfs/Lodi%20Garden%20and%20the%20Golf%20Club.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }}, Lodhi garden and golf club.</ref><ref name=bri1>[http://www.tornosindia.com/top-5-features-of-lucknow-architecture-that-make-it-unique/ Top 5 features of Lucknow architecture that make it unique.]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref><ref name=bri8>Feisal Alkazi, 2014, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5nlsBQAAQBAJ&dq=lakhori+brick+mosque&pg=PT111 Srinagar: An Architectural Legacy]</ref>

Several still surviving famous 17th to 19th century structures of Mughal India, characterized by [[jharokha]]s, [[jali]]s, [[Fluting (architecture)|fluted]] [[sandstone]] [[column]]s, ornamental gateways and grand [[Multifoil arch|cusped-arch]] entrances are made of lakhori bricks, including fort palaces (such as [[Red Fort]]), protective bastions and pavilions (as seen in [[Bawana Fortress of Jat Zail|Bawana Zail Fortess]]), havelis (such as [[Bagore-ki-Haveli]], [[Chunnamal Haveli]], [[Ghalib ki Haveli]], [[Dharampura Haveli]] and [[Hemu's Samadhi Sthal|Hemu's Haveli]]), temples and [[gurudwara]]s (such as in [[Patiala#Bahadurgarh Fort|Maharaja Patiala's Bahadurgarh Fort]]), mosques and tombs (such as [[Mehram Serai]], [[Teele Wali Masjid]]), water wells and [[baoli]] stepwells (such as [[Maham#Shahjahan ki Baoli|Choro Ki Baoli]]), bridges (such as [[Karnal#Karnal Mughal Bridge|Mughal bridge at Karnal]]), [[Kos Minar|Kos minar]] road-side milestones (such as at [[Palwal]] along [[Grand Trunk Road]]) and other notable structures.<ref name=bri4>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Haveli-to-speak-of-a-history-lost-in-time/articleshow/50259881.cms "Haveli to speak of a history lost in time."], ''[[Times of India]]'', 21 Dec 2015.</ref><ref name=bri6>[https://www.wmf.org/sites/default/files/article/pdfs/South%20Shahjahanabad.pdf 5. Havelis of Kucha pati Ram, in South Shahjahanabad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523222552/https://www.wmf.org/sites/default/files/article/pdfs/South%20Shahjahanabad.pdf |date=2024-05-23 }}, World Monument fund.</ref><ref name=bri7>[http://in.news.yahoo.com/revival-hemu-haveli-cards-000000408.html Revival of Hemu's Haveli on the cards], Yahoo News India, 6 Aug 2015.</ref><ref name=bri9>[http://www.hindustantimes.com/photos/india-news/a-jail-a-school-and-an-orphanage-bawana-s-fortress-gets-another-makeover/photo-MnALg5tq9GtOs1MadSf5aM.html A Zail, school and orphanage: Bawana's fortress gets another makeover."], [[Hindustan Times]].</ref><ref name=bri11>[http://youngintach.org/heritage-alerts-oct14.asp Seeking brides, family restores old haveli] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044536/http://youngintach.org/heritage-alerts-oct14.asp |date=2017-12-01 }}, ''[[Times of India]]'' in [[INTACH]] newsletter, 21 Oct 2014.</ref>

== Origin ==
The exact origin of lakhori bricks is not confirmed, especially if they existed, or not, prior to becoming more prevalent in use during the Mughal India. Prior to the rise in frequent use of lakhori bricks during Mughal India, [[Architecture of India|Indian architecture]] primarily used trabeated [[Post and lintel|prop and lintel]] (point and slot) gravity-based technique of shaping large stones to fit into each other that required no mortar.<ref name=bri3/> The reason lakhori bricks became more popular during the Mughal period, starting from Shah Jahan's reign, is mainly because lakhori bricks that were used to construct structures with the typical elements of [[Mughal architecture]] such as [[arch]]es, [[jali]]s, [[jharoka]]s, [[Molding (decorative)|moulding]]s, [[cornice]]s, [[Cladding (construction)|cladding]], etc. were easy to create intricate patterns due to the small shape and slim size of lakhori bricks.<ref name=bri5>Madhulika Liddle, 2015, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9QSQCgAAQBAJ&dq=haveli+were+built+with+lakhori+bricks&pg=PT42 Crimson City]</ref>

==Regional, socio-strata and dimensional variations==
The slim and compact Lakhorie bricks became popular across pan-[[Indian subcontinent]]al [[Mughal Empire]], specially in [[North India]],<ref name=bri3/> resulting in several variations in their dimensions as well as due to the use of lower strength local soil by poor people and higher strength clay by affluent people. Restoration architect author [[Anil Laul]] reasons that poor people used local soil to bake slimmer bricks using locally available cheaper [[dung cakes]] as fuel and richer people used higher-end thicker and bigger bricks made of higher strength clay baked in [[kiln]]s using not so easily locally available more expensive coal, both methods yielded bricks of similar strength but different proportions at different economic levels of strata.<ref name=bri12/>

{{Quote
|text = The lower the caste, the slimmer and smaller the brick, the higher the caste, the bigger the brick. It was not that they practiced or propagated the [[Caste system in India|caste system]]. All that needs to be understood is that a poor person could use the local soil to burn slimmer and better bricks, using lesser fuel, to get a home that would withstand the vagaries of the elements and resist erosion and corrosion alike. In doing so, he could use even cow dung cakes as fuel for burning which would give him the desired brick. The rationale was obvious. The slimmer the brick- the lesser energy required to bake it. The higher caste could afford blending of clays and superior forms of fuel and transport produce over distances.
|author = Restoration architect author Anil Laul
|title = Green is Red
|source = Urban red herrings: excerpts from the "Green is Red"<ref name=bri12/>
}}

=== Lakhori bricks versus Nanakshahi bricks ===
{{Further information|Nanakshahi bricks}}<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
Mughal1700.png|[[Mughal Empire]] at its largest spread during the late 17th to early 18th centuries; where lakhori bricks became popular since [[Shah Jahan]]'s reign.
Sikh_Empire_tri-lingual.jpg|[[Sikh Empire]] at its largest spread in the north-west Indian subcontinent during 1839 CE; where usage of [[Nanak Shahi bricks]] became more popular.
</gallery>
Due to the lack of understanding, sometimes contemporary writers confuse the lakhori bricks with other similar but distinct regional variants. For example, some writers use "Lakhori bricks and Nanak Shahi bricks" implying two different things, and others use "Lakhori bricks or Nanak Shahi bricks" inadvertently implying either same or two different things, leading to confusion as if they are same, especially if these words are casually mentioned interchangeably.

Lakhori bricks were used by Mughal Empire that spanned across the Indian subcontinent,<ref name=bri3/> whereas Nanak Shahi bricks were used mainly across the [[Sikh Empire]],<ref name=bri10/> that was spread across [[Punjab region]] in north-west Indian subcontinent,<ref name=bri13>{{cite web|url=http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDE822/ |title=Ranjit Singh: A Secular Sikh Sovereign by K.S. Duggal. ''(Date:1989. ISBN 8170172446'') |publisher=Exoticindiaart.com |date=3 September 2015 |access-date=2009-08-09}}</ref> when Sikhs were in conflict with Mughal Empire due to the [[Islam and Sikhism#History|religious persecution of Sikhs by Mughal Muslims]].<ref name=bri14>{{harvnb|Markovits|2004|page=98}}</ref><ref name=bri15>{{cite book |last=Melton |first=J. Gordon |date=Jan 15, 2014 |title=Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bI9_AwAAQBAJ&dq=khusrau+mirza+died&pg=PA1163 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=1163 |isbn=9781610690263 |access-date=Nov 3, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=bri16>{{harvnb|Jestice|2004|pages=345–346}}</ref> Coins struck by Sikh rulers between 1764 CE to 1777 CE were called '''"Gobind Shahi"''' coins (bearing inscription in the name of [[Guru Gobind Singh]]), and coins struck from 1777 onward were called '''"Nanak Shahi"''' coins (bearing inscription in the name of [[Guru Nanak]]).<ref name=bri17>Charles J. Rodgers, 1894, "Coin Collection in Northern India".</ref><ref name=bri18>Sun, Sohan Lal, 1885-89, "Umdat-ut-Twarikh", Lahore.</ref>

A similar concept applies to the Nanak Shahi bricks of Sikh Empire, i.e. Lakhori and Nanak Shahi bricks being two similar, but a different type of bricks due to the regional variations as well as political reasons. Closely related similar things may be considered separate, and on the other hand considerably different things might be considered the same, in both cases due to the social-political-religious contextual reasons, for example closely related mutually intelligible Sanskritised-Hindustani language [[Hindi]] versus Arabised-Hindustani language [[Urdu]] being favored as separate languages by [[Hindu]]s and [[Muslims]] respectively as seen in the context of [[Hindu–Islamic relations|Hindu-Muslim conflict]] that resulted in [[Partition of India]], whereas mutually unintelligible speech varieties that differ considerably in structure such as [[Moroccan Darija|Moroccan Arabic]], [[Judeo-Yemeni Arabic|Yemeni Arabic]] and [[Lebanese Arabic]] are considered the same language due to the [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamism religious movement]].<ref name=SameSameDiff1>Yaron Matras, 2010, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Lh6rBgAAQBAJ&dq=urdu+and+arabic+are+mutually+inintelligible&pg=PA5 Romani in Britain: The Afterlife of a Language: The Afterlife of a Language], [[Edinburgh University]] Press, p.5]</ref><ref name=SameSameDiff2>Julie Tetel Andresen, Phillip M. Carter, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uolxBgAAQBAJ&dq=urdu+and+arabic+are+mutually+inintelligible&pg=PA7 Languages in the world: how history culture and politics shape language], p.7-8]</ref><ref name=SameSameDiff3>Jacob Benesty, M. Mohan Sondhi and Yiteng Huang, 2008, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Slg10ekZBkAC&dq=urdu+and+arabic+are+mutually+inintelligible&pg=PA798 separate language versus dialect] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=Slg10ekZBkAC&dq=urdu+and+arabic+are+mutually+inintelligible&pg=PA798 Springer handbook of speech processing], [[Springer Science+Business Media]], p.798-.</ref>

Mughal-era lakhorie bricks predate the Nanak Shahi bricks as seen in [[Patiala#Bahadurgarh Fort|Bahadurgarh Fort of Patiala]] that was built by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] Nawab Saif Khan in 1658 CE using earlier-era lakhori bricks, and nearly 80 years later it was renovated using later-era Nanak Shahi bricks and renamed in the honor of Guru Teg Bahadur (where [[Guru Teg Bahadur]] stayed at this fort for three months and nine days before leaving for Delhi when he was executed by [[Aurangzeb]] in 1675 CE) by [[Maharaja of Patiala|Maharaja of Patiala Karam Singh]] in 1837 CE.<ref name=bri10>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Patialas-Mughal-era-fort-to-get-Rs-4-3cr-facelift/articleshow/45714787.cms Patiala's Mughal era fort to get Rs 4.3cr facelift], ''[[Times of India]]'', 1 Jan 2015.</ref><ref name=bri19>{{cite book|author=H.R. Gupta|isbn=9788121502764|title=History of the Sikhs: The Sikh Gurus, 1469-1708|year=1994|volume=1}}</ref><ref name=bri20>{{cite book|author=Pashaura Singh and Louis Fenech|title=The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 | pages=236–445, Quote:"this second martyrdom helped to make 'human rights and freedom of conscience' central to its identity." Quote:"This is the reputed place where several Kashmiri Pandits came seeking protection from Auranzeb's army."}}</ref><ref name=bri22>{{cite web|last1=Chandra|first1=Satish|title=Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom|url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2001/10/16/stories/05162524.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020228135707/http://thehindu.com/thehindu/2001/10/16/stories/05162524.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 February 2002|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=2001-10-16|access-date=20 October 2016}}</ref> Since the timeline of both Mughal Empire and Sikh Empire overlapped, both Lakhori bricks and Nanak Shahi bricks were used around the same time in their respective dominions. Restoration architect author [[Anil Laul]] clarifies ''"We, therefore, had slim bricks known as the Lakhori and Nanakshahi bricks in India and the slim Roman bricks or their equivalents for many other parts of the world."''<ref name=bri12>Anil Laul, [https://www.zingyhomes.com/latest-trends/human-settlement-planning-design-sustainability/ Urban Red Herrings - an extract from the book "Green in Red"], 20 Aug 2015.</ref>

==Mortar recipe==
They were used to construct structures with crushed bricks and [[lime mortar]], and walls were usually plastered with lime mortar.<ref name=bri3/> The concrete mixture of that era was a preparation of [[Lime (material)|lime]], [[trass|surki]] (trass), [[jaggery]] and [[Aegle marmelos#CITEREF2009|bael fruit]] (wood apple) pulp where some recipe used as much as 23 ingredients including [[Vigna mungo|urad ki daal]] (paste of vigna mungo pulse).<ref>[http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/bawana-s-19th-century-fortress-gets-a-makeover/story-wYj33O1MZVUs9kDyEawKIN.html "Bawana’s 19th-century fortress gets a makeover."], [[Hindustan Times]], 20 Feb 2017.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{citation |last=Markovits |first=Claude |title=A history of modern India, 1480-1950 |year=2004 |publisher=Anthem Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-84331-152-2}}
* {{citation |last=Jestice |first=Phyllis G. |title=Holy people of the world: a cross-cultural encyclopedia, Volume 3 |year=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-355-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&q=guru+har+gobind+jahangir&pg=PA345}}{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.hindustantimes.com/rf/image_size_960x540/HT/p2/2017/02/19/Pictures/zail-bawana_adcb749a-f6ca-11e6-bee8-7b74d3637aa8.jpg Lakhori brick rampart] of Bavana Fortress of Zail (administrative unit) of [[Jat people|Jat]] chiefs
*[http://www.havelidharampura.com/about-haveli/ Haveli Dharampura] built with lakhori bricks has a restaurant named "lakhori"

{{Architecture of India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahori bricks}}
[[Category:Rajput architecture|Rajput architecture]]
[[Category:Indian architectural history]]
[[Category:Mughal architecture elements]]
[[Category:Building materials]]

Lakhori bricks - Revision history

Krishnakumarsinhji Gohil at 14:08, 2 November 2025