The new features brought by the Turkish conquerors were:
- The dome
- The lofty towers
- The true arch unsupported by beam
- The vault.
- They also brought with them a thorough understanding of how to use concrete and mortar, which had previously been scarcely employed in India.
- The Adhaidin ka Jhonpra in Ajmer boasts an excellently carved Mehrab made of white marble as well as a magnificent arch screen.
- The mausoleum of Ghiyasuddin Balban at Mehrauli (Delhi), is said to be the first example of a real or voussoired arch. The use of the voussoired arch and dome was established for all time during the Khilji era. One of the most well-known examples is Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia’s mausoleum in Delhi.
- The austere simplicity and sobriety of the Tughlag structures likely reflect a lack of financial resources as well as puritanical standards. The structures are marked by their dark look and sloping walls. The fort of Tughlaquabad, the tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, which marked a new phase in Indo-Islamic architecture by serving as a model for later tombs, and the fort of Adilabad are some notable Tughlaq monuments.
- The Sayyid period was too brief to permit the construction of elaborate buildings.
- The main characteristic of Lodhi architecture was the construction of double domes. The Moth ki Masjid, constructed by Sikandar Lodhi’s prime minister, is one notable structure.
