Colonial architecture is the architectural concept of marking their own territory to the world, from England, France, Italy, and India every country has its own architectural style, during the mid-16th century colonialism was introduced to the world and it created an impact on various things from trades to architecture.
India became a hotspot for colonialism by the end of the 17th century and witnessed many colonial architectures spread across the country, from British to Portuguese lot of countries owned lands in India, and marked their territory with the architecture style.
Goa, Pondicherry(South India), and Calicut(Kerala) became some parts of the country where even today we can witness the various colonial architectural styles, each of the countries had its own colonial architectural style and presented its trademark in the architectural style.
Colonialism is to create a uniform structure in a place more of cities, from Chennai to Mumbai lot of metro cities across India still have the colonial architecture more of official buildings(govt buildings), France, Portuguese, and Dutch played an important role in influencing the colonial architecture in India, we can witness various colonial style from fort St. George in madras to Victoria memorial in Kolkata.
French Colonial Style
India and France have a long relationship which goes way back to the 17th century from travelers to physicians traveling between India and France, at the end of the mighty Mughal empire in India, India faced a lot of struggles from various countries and became a prey to few countries, France influenced the coastal towns of India like Pondicherry, Malabar coastal areas and Chandannagar in West Bengal.
France had its own space in the world of architecture and it played a very important role in changing the experience of Indian towns, Pondicherry is one of the major French colonial architecture cities, even today it has the scent of France and its peaceful architecture around the city.
Portuguese Colonial style
Portuguese had its roots in India in the 15th century when Vasco de Gama landed in Calicut, the coastal city of Kerala, Portuguese colonial architecture influenced Goa and Calicut and other such major cities of India, Portuguese have more sense in the exterior, and the catholic architecture, the widespread of catholic churches still reflects the Portuguese colonial architecture in India.
Dutch Colonial Style
Like France and the Portuguese, the Dutch had its place in the land of India, Dutch-influenced more in the southern part of India from madras, Kanyakumari, and Kochi, Dutch is a bit different when compared to the other colonial architecture of India, to mark their own territory in India they had their own architectural style, Udhayagiri fort, and Bolgatty palace are few Dutch architectures to look at.
Victoria Memorial and Fort St. George are some of the British colonial architecture in India, as the British dominated India, its architecture did the same way by creating its architectural style and imprinting it in every major city in India from Mumbai to Chennai and Kolkata, most of the official buildings of India are of British style for its mighty and strong architectural concept and longevity.
