Abstract

This paper investigates the enduring presence and formal development of the small, repeated brick dome in the mosques of Bengal from the Sultanate period to the Mughal era, proposing that its persistence was a deliberate architectural choice that transcended regional boundaries and historical phases. The evolution of dome architectural forms is examined chronologically as a continuous design process aimed at achieving more spatially efficient interiors, reflecting systematic architectural experimentation to increase internal capacity within the brick construction paradigm as well as within a contextualization of climatic factors and community’s needs. The study also focuses on the Chala roof tradition, one of the most deeply rooted indigenous architectural systems in Bengal. Rather than acting as a separate roofing alternative, the Chala developed into an essential formal language that coexisted with domes, shaping the visual identity of mosques. This research emphasizes that the interplay between the dome and the Chala vocabulary was not ornamental, but part of a broader architectural strategy that synthesized spatial ambition, environmental adaptation, and regional architectural memory, producing one of the most recognizable Islamic bricks roofscapes in South Asia. The paper also explores how Bengali mosque architecture demonstrated a remarkable ability to absorb external architectural prototypes, without direct replication, transforming them instead through a localized interpretive process. Imported architectural principles influenced dome proportional thinking and spatial configuration. Through a comparative chronological reading supported by material assessment of bricks in the specific and architectural analysis at large, the study concludes that the repeated adoption of small domes reflects a regional architectural mandate. The morphological evolution and integration with the Chala idiom reveal a conscious architectural discourse of spatial optimization, and practical sense that was crystallized into a distinct architectural identity shaped by society, climatic factors and adaptation.