Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri is a deserted city on a rocky ridge about forty kilometres southwest of Agra, commissioned by the third Mughal emperor Akbar in 1571 and substantially abandoned by 1585. Built to commemorate the birth of the emperor’s long-awaited heir, the future Jahangir, and to serve as the new imperial capital of the Mughal Empire, the city housed the imperial court for roughly fourteen years before water supply problems and the strategic requirements of the empire forced its abandonment. The surviving complex, including the imperial palace buildings, the great Friday mosque with its Buland Darwaza, the tomb of the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, and the associated residential and service quarters, represents one of the finest surviving examples of the Mughal architecture of the Akbar period and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.
Historical Background and Commission
The decision to build a new capital at Fatehpur Sikri was the result of the convergence of several political, religious, and personal factors. Akbar, who had acceded to the throne in 1556 and consolidated his authority through a series of military campaigns, had been resident at Agra since the early 1560s. The emperor had long been childless, and the birth of a son in 1569 was attributed to the blessings of the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, whose tomb at Sikri had been a site of pilgrimage for several years. The construction of the new city was, in part, an act of personal devotion to the saint and a recognition of the spiritual significance of the site.
The political and strategic context of the move is also significant. The location of Fatehpur Sikri, on the direct route between Agra and the Rajput kingdoms of the west, allowed Akbar to maintain a military presence in the region while also providing a more secure base for the administration of the newly conquered territories. The site was also conveniently located for the hunting grounds and the mineral resources of the region, and the proximity of the quarries at Fatehpur Sikri, which produced a high-quality red sandstone, made the construction of an extensive new complex a practical possibility.
The construction of the city began in 1571, and the principal buildings, including the imperial palace, the Friday mosque, and the great gateway, were completed in stages over the next decade. The work was carried out rapidly, and the quality of the construction suggests a substantial investment of imperial resources. The architect of the city Traditional accounts credit a number of architects, including Tuhir Deshan, a Mughal architect of possible Persian origin, and Qasim Khan, an engineer associated with the design of the city’s water supply. The more recent scholarship has emphasised the collective nature of the imperial workshop and has argued that the design of the city was the product of the imperial atelier as a whole, with the various master craftsmen contributing to the overall programme.
The Imperial Palace Complex
The palace complex of Fatehpur Sikri occupies a rocky platform to the north of the Friday mosque, and it consists of a series of buildings arranged around a number of courts and terraces. The buildings are constructed primarily of red sandstone, with selective use of white marble for particular features, and the construction techniques include both trabeate and corbelled methods, with the carved and inlaid ornament characteristic of the Akbar period. The complex is approached through a number of gates, of which the Buland Darwaza is the most famous, and the layout of the complex follows a relatively informal arrangement that distinguishes it from the more rigorously axial plans of later Mughal buildings.
The Diwan-i-Aam
The Diwan-i-Aam, or public audience hall, is the first major building of the palace complex. The structure consists of a raised platform surrounded by a colonnade of carved sandstone columns, with the throne of the emperor placed at the centre of the northern wall. The hall is roofed with a flat stone ceiling supported on a forest of columns, and the carved details of the columns and brackets include both Islamic and Hindu motifs. The Diwan-i-Aam was the venue for the daily public audience, when the emperor received petitions, heard complaints, and transacted the routine business of the empire.
The Diwan-i-Khas
The Diwan-i-Khas, or private audience hall, is one of the most architecturally unusual buildings of the Mughal tradition. The structure consists of a single square chamber, with a massive central pillar that supports the beams of the roof and that carries brackets at four levels, each connected to the corners of the building by stone walkways. The central pillar is richly carved with representations of animals, including dragons, elephants, and other creatures, and the structure has been the subject of considerable scholarly speculation about its function.
The most commonly accepted interpretation is that the central pillar supported the imperial throne and that the four walkways allowed the emperor to descend to each corner of the chamber in order to consult with the four principal ministers of the realm, the diwan of the empire. The pillar has also been associated with Buddhist and Hindu prototypes, and the carved representations of animals and the unusual form of the structure have been read as evidence of Akbar’s interest in religious experimentation. Whatever the precise symbolism, the Diwan-i-Khas is buildings of the Mughal tradition and one of the most frequently reproduced.
The Panch Mahal
The Panch Mahal, or palace of five storeys, is a tall pavilion of unusual design. The structure consists of a ground floor of eighty-four columns arranged in a regular grid, with each successive storey reduced in size as the building rises, and with the topmost storey crowned by a single chhatri. The columns vary in design and decoration, with no two columns identical, and the overall effect is of a richly articulated but airy structure that was apparently used for informal gatherings and for the enjoyment of the views over the surrounding landscape.
The Panch Mahal is one of the most photographed buildings of the Fatehpur Sikri complex, and the play of light and shadow through the multiple layers of columns has made it a particular favourite of photographers. The structure has been associated with the Persian tradition of the tahkt-i-suleimani, the throne of Solomon, and the five storeys have been read as a representation of the cosmic hierarchy.
The Private Residences
The residential portion of the palace complex includes a number of buildings associated with the women of the imperial household and with the principal ladies of the court. The most notable of these is the Mariam-uz-Zamani Palace (popularly known as the Jodha Bai Palace, although the identification rests on shaky ground — the contemporary Mughal sources do not record this name for Akbar’s Hindu wife), a striking example of the incorporation of Hindu architectural motifs into the imperial vocabulary. The building follows a trabeate plan with a central courtyard, and the carved brackets, the chhatris, and the carved details of the columns all draw on the Hindu and Jain architectural traditions of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The Turkish Sultana’s House is a smaller structure of unusual plan, with a central room of hexagonal shape and richly carved decoration. The building is traditionally associated with one of the Turkish wives of Akbar, although the attribution is uncertain. The Mariam’s House, named for the Christian wife of Akbar, follows a similar plan and provides further evidence of the cultural diversity of the imperial household. The Birbal’s House, named for the famous Hindu minister Birbal, follows the same trabeate plan and decorative vocabulary, and the building is associated with a number of legends about the literary and intellectual exchanges of the Akbar period.
Anup Talao
The Anup Talao, or “Peerless Pool,” is a small ornamental water tank in the centre of the palace complex. The tank, originally lined with carved stone, was used as a stage for musical performances, and a number of contemporary accounts describe the emperor listening to music and poetry while seated on a marble platform at the edge of the pool. The Anup Talao is associated with the story of the musician Tansen, the famous singer of Akbar’s court, although the more sensational legends about Tansen, including the story of his lighting a lamp with his singing, are not supported by contemporary evidence.
The Jama Masjid and the Buland Darwaza
The Friday mosque of Fatehpur Sikri, known as the Jama Masjid, is one of the largest congregational mosques of the Mughal tradition. The mosque occupies a large rectangular courtyard to the south of the palace complex, and the prayer hall, located on the eastern side of the courtyard, consists of a central iwan flanked by two smaller iwans and crowned by a series of domes. The courtyard of the mosque is enclosed on its three sides by a continuous arcaded cloister, and the floor of the courtyard is paved with stone, with the pattern of the paving traditionally associated with the religious symbolism of the building.
The principal entrance to the mosque, the Buland Darwaza or “Gate of Magnificence,” is one of the most monumental gateways in the history of Islamic architecture. Standing about forty metres high, the gateway is approached by a flight of forty-two steps, and the structure is built of red sandstone with extensive use of white marble for the decorative elements. The gateway is crowned by a series of chhatris and small domes, and the central arch is decorated with carved inscriptions from the Quran. The Buland Darwaza was completed in 1601, in commemoration of Akbar’s conquest of Gujarat, although the structure forms an integral part of the original design of the mosque.
The Tomb of Salim Chishti
The tomb of the Sufi saint Salim Chishti is located within the courtyard of the Friday mosque, in a position of considerable prominence. The saint, who died in 1572, had been resident at Sikri for several years before the construction of the city, and his tomb had been a site of pilgrimage for some time before the imperial project began. The tomb building, constructed of white marble in striking contrast to the red sandstone of the surrounding mosque, consists of a square chamber with a single central arch, a marble screen around the grave, and a delicate marble dome. The carved details of the marble screen are among the finest examples of the jali or pierced marble technique in the Mughal tradition.
The tomb of Salim Chishti remained a site of pilgrimage after the abandonment of the city, and the site has been continuously maintained by the descendants of the saint and by the local community. The structure was extensively restored during the Mughal period and again under British colonial rule, and the surviving ornament represents a layering of contributions from several periods.
The “Hawai Jahaz” and Other Mysteries
The complex of Fatehpur Sikri includes a number of features that have given rise to popular legends and to a certain amount of historical speculation. The most famous of these is the so-called Hawai Jahaz or “stone ship,” a stone structure of unusual form located on a terrace in the palace complex. The structure consists of a square tank or platform with a carved prow-like extension, and its appearance has been read by some commentators as a representation of a ship or a boat. The actual function of the structure is not well understood, and various explanations have been proposed, including a representation of Akbar’s interest in maritime exploration, a stage for aquatic performances, and a fountain or water feature.
The acoustic properties of several of the buildings, including the Panch Mahal and the Diwan-i-Khas, are also notable. The transmission of sound across the complex has been the subject of speculation, and the structures have been cited in popular accounts as evidence of the technological sophistication of the Mughal builders. The actual acoustic design of the buildings, if any, is not well understood, and the more sensational claims about the complex being a model of an acoustic instrument are not supported by serious research.
Religious Pluralism and the Architectural Programme
The architectural programme of Fatehpur Sikri is often cited as evidence of Akbar’s policy of religious pluralism and his interest in syncretic religion. The complex includes a mosque, the tomb of a Muslim Sufi saint, buildings associated with Hindu and possibly Christian wives of the emperor, and structures with architectural features drawn from Hindu, Jain, and Islamic traditions. The Ibadat Khana, the house of worship where Akbar conducted his famous religious discussions, was located in the complex, although the surviving structure is in poor condition and its precise form is not well understood.
The interpretation of the religious programme of Fatehpur Sikri Some historians have read the complex as a deliberate expression of Akbar’s syncretic religious vision, in which the emperor sought to reconcile the various religious traditions of the empire in a single architectural programme. Others have emphasised the practical and political dimensions of the design, including the need to accommodate the diverse religious identities of the imperial household and the symbolic value of incorporating Hindu motifs into a Muslim imperial vocabulary. Whatever the precise interpretation, the complex represents attempts to construct an architectural programme that engaged with the religious plurality of the empire.
Abandonment and Preservation
The abandonment of Fatehpur Sikri The traditional explanation emphasises the water supply problem: the site is located on a rocky ridge with limited water resources, and the population of the city is said to have outstripped the available water supply by the 1580s. Contemporary accounts also suggest that the strategic requirements of the empire, including the need to campaign in the northwest and the Deccan, made the relatively remote location of Fatehpur Sikri less convenient than Agra, and the emperor is generally understood to have moved back to Agra in the mid-1580s.
The abandonment of the city was apparently not accompanied by any destruction, and the buildings of the complex were substantially preserved. The site was used intermittently for the next two centuries, and the tomb of Salim Chishti continued to attract pilgrims, but the imperial buildings gradually fell into a state of partial ruin. The British colonial authorities undertook a series of conservation projects in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the Archaeological Survey of India has been responsible for the management of the site since Independence. The complex was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, and it is now one of the most frequently visited monuments in northern India.
For the broader context of the imperial building tradition, the Mughal architecture overview pillar offers a synthetic account. The cluster pages on the Mughal palaces tradition, the Mughal tombs, and the Taj Mahal treat the related themes in greater depth. The biographical and political context of the building is treated in the Akbar cluster, and the broader history overview provides the dynastic context.
Sources
- R. Nath, History of Mughal Architecture, vol. I, Fatehpur Sikri (Abhinav Publications, 1982).
- Catherine B. Asher, Architecture of Mughal India (1992), pp. 50–78.