Pierced, carved, latticed screens of wood or stone typically following Islamic design principles, and particularly developed in Moghul India to cover or become the windows of palaces and grand houses.
The function was two-fold, to shield from sun and breeze, and to shield courtesans would once sit behind jali screens to watch street processions and ceremonies – to see without being seen.
Sometimes inlaid with marble and semi-precious stones, these beautiful screens can be used as room dividers or decorative panels, to line corridors and passageways, and to cover windows instead of blinds as fixed or moveable shades and shields.