Architecture in the Muslim world exhibits a range of commonalities across time and space. Against this underpinning of recognisably Islamic motifs, significant variations have also emerged, reflecting the use of local materials, regional traditions, imperial imagery, and religious affiliations. 1. History, geography, and themes of Islamic architecture Islamic architecture generally refers to the religious and palatial architecture built under various Muslim dynasties between the first/seventh and early thirteenth/nineteenth centuries. Geographically, the domain of Islamic architecture extends, west to east, from the Iberian Peninsula to China and, north to