Henry Irwin and the Indo Saracenic Movement Reconsidered

Book excerpt: The book focuses on Henry Irwin, a man who began his life in India as a PWD engineer and subsequently rose to the position of consulting architect to the government of Madras succeeding Robert Fellowes Chisholm, his predecessor in that office. Many of Irwin's creations continue to dominate the Madras skyline and are held in high esteem by local denizens. However, the blatant hybridity of some of these monuments, coupled with the fact that they failed to reflect the attempt to legitimize colonial rule, also accounted for their transience as an architectural movement. Parallels drawn with the colonial architecture of Calcutta and Bombay, not to speak of the impact of Indo-Saracenic architecture on some of India's princely states, draw attention to the movement. Likewise, its authenticity has been questioned against the backdrop of the architectural legacy of the home country during the same period.