Chinese porcelain was valued by the Timurids who created a room called Chini-Khana to house these treasures. The first to make a ‘Chinese Room’ to house chinese porcelain was Ulugh Beg.
According to a paper by Mehreen Chida-Razvi, these were adopted by the Safavids and the Mughals.
A series of highly decorated niches were created which can be seen in Itmadud daula’s tomb and in the living areas of the Red fort in India and in the Ali Qapu palace in isfahan.
These chini-khana niches were used for showcasing precious porcelain or other wares or just as an aesthetic decorative item in themselves.
The niches in Red Fort and Itmadud daula’s tomb and Sarai nur Mahal have enough surface decorto not need any precious ware to be displayed on it.
aA century ago houses in North India had these niches called taaq where not only decorative items were kept, but also prayer books.
Image 1: Red Fort bedchamber
image 2&3: Ali Qapu palace
image 4: tomb of Itmadud daula
image 5: Sarai Nur Mahal
