 Akbar was intensely aware of making history

 Writers and painters were richly rewarded in Mughal court

 Akbar began showing unconventional interests in his subjects and their beliefs
 Mingled unrecognised with bazaar folk and villagers lifelong enquiry into matters spiritual
and religious
 Unlike other rulers Akbar was born in India in fact in an Indian village under Hindu
protection, (umarkot a rahput fort)
 To Akbar Indians were not the uncultured mass of infidels they were his countrymen.

It was his duty not to oppress him’

He would make it a point of celebrating the Hindu festivals of Divali and Dushhera

In 1562 Akbar married the daughter of the Kacchwaha Rajput raja of amber

The marriage being a reward for the family’s loyalty to Humayun and Akbar .The raja his son and
grandson were all induced into the Mughal hierarchy as Amirs (nobles)

In 1567 Akbar extended his mission resulting in Jauhar of Rajput women.

 Meanwhile Akbar was also founding a new capital. the earlier court was based in Agra were
walls of red fort were completed by 1562. there were other fortified complexes in Lahore,
Allahabad and Ajmer
 Akbar made a pilgrimage for his win in Chitor by visiting shrine of Muin-ud-din Chisti.
 Akbar sought intercession of a living member of the Chisti community, Shaikh Salim Chisti of
Sikri near Agra. the emperor now 26 was concerned about his succession
 The Shaikh fore told that he would have three sons
 Akbar’s Rajput bride Jodha gave to first while she was lying in at Sikri in 1569 . the child was
therefore named Salim after the sheikh,
 The sheikh was heaped with honours and Sikri – renamed Fatehpur sikri was deemed perfect
for a new capital.
 Akbar’s wildest extravagance began in 1571 the same year humayuns tomb was completed.
 Bulbous hemisphere typical of Timurid Samarkhand, and Safavid iran

 Fatehpur sikri involved extravagant Persian planning but in its detail reads ore like a
textbook of existing Indian styles and motifs. Derive a lot from Hindu and Jain temple
especially from Gujrat.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 From patronising a few Hindu practices, he launched into thorough investigation of the
whole gamut of existing religions.
 Installed a veritable bazaar of disputing divines and presided over their heated debates.
  Sunni shia ismaili , sufi Bhakti fevour of Saiva and Vaishnavite tradions , naked Jains,
Portuguese priests Welcome were new creeds like disciples of Kabir and Guru Nanak.
Equality of all believers.
 Akbar’s quest for spiritual enlightment was undoubtably sincere but it was not disinterested
. he sought a faith which would satisfy the needs of his realm as well as those of his
conscience one based on irrefutable logic , composed of the finest elements in existing
practice ad endowed with a universal appeal, something monumental and sublime which
would transcend all sectarian differences and unite his chronically desperate elements
 It was something which the theologists couldn’t full fill.
 With the naivety and self-reliance of the unlettered genius Akbar improvised an ideology
based on the only element in which he had complete confidence, his imperial perso.
 THE RESULTANT DIN ILLAHI (DEVINE FAITH) was never clearly formulated but was centred on
himself but whether as god or his representative is not certain.
 He graded his disciples according to the degree to which they could supposedly perceive his
divine distinction, the

Abu l fazl. Akbar nama

Starts with Allah Akbar: god is great, coincidence that it could also be read as Akbar is god,

Assuming religious prerogatives including doctrinal authority “divine era”

 To the orthodox it looked as if Islam was under threat. senior Islamic officials open inly
condemned the new directives
 Issuing fatwa and supporting his half-brother Hakkim , governor of Kabul.
 Akbar’s reforms of both administration and the military had created a nobility deeply
interested in his survival. Man sigh kept hakim at bay during invasion. Akbar himself entered
Kabul.
 4 years later Akbar for sook Fatehpursikri as court and government shifted to Lahore,
conquest of Gujrat, Rajasthan, Bengal secured Akbar’s gaze shifted back to north west,
Kashmir , Sind

Uncertainty in water supply.

Humayuns tomb .

 the white marble dome avoids the traditional and elaborte kalasa and the apex is merked
instead by a simple metal finial.
 clothed in dressed local red sandstone contrasted with the white marble. recessed marble
inlay
 chajja and domed canopies over the parapet (indian origin)
 the platform is inspired from the tomb of sher shah suri in srama which follows indian
temple tradition
 marble and white sandstone casing continuation of delhi sultanate.
 kiosks result of earlier hindu muslim amalgamation
 substantial and chunky ,massiveness of entire structure solid unlike Persian counterparts in
glazed tiles.
 richness of architectural form and profiles of arches, the parapets and minars
 highlighted by complementary taut and rigid bands of inlaid white marble
 absence of chajjas brackets and balconies allow vast embroidered surface stands out with
vitality
 two traditions: indian and Persian /
 the merger imbibed more and more Indian it developed into highly mature style culminating
in taj mahal.
Mughals shift to Agra :

tomb of atgah khan minster of akbar in delhi known as khan khanans tomb

akbar the king of builders (1561-1605)

 launched by laying out a garden palace seven miles south of Agar near the village called
Kakrali.
 nagarchain, town of peace : no remains exists.
 extensive repairs of ancient Hindu and lodi fort of badalgargh on banks of yamuna within
Agra fort from1561 build 500 buildings of masonry after : nothing survives
 shah jahan razed most of them to build marble pavillions
 what remins delhi gate of agra fort and a palace inside all built in loocal red sandstone.
jahangiri Mhal built by akbar for his son.

akbars all India Architecure:

 Description in Ain i Akbari :Akbars vision empire and city plannin
 employment of cunning artists of form from bengal gujrat and other parts of India, free hand
to artists to exploit native genius to fullest
 Exclusively using local red sandstone as material: a sense of austirity and moderation
 he himself minster of public works
 personal control: regulating price of building materials , wages of craftsman , and collection
of data for estimates .
 Child of a Sunni father and Shia mother, born in Hindustan , the land of Sufism at the house
of a Hindu.
 obsessed with one aspect of his minimal formal education: from the great lineral : Mir
Abdul Latif : imbibed principles of 'sulh-i-kul or religious tolrence,
 architecture rarely adhered to a single religion
 directives on freedom of expression to his Indian builders. extensive travel in Hindustan by
the time he started building by himself. :gwalior, mandu , Gujrat , Rajasthan
 observed the building proficiency and diversity of building talent
 had envisaged an all India empire no inclination of promoting a regional style.
 under his liberal patronage all best traditions were well activated
 the only limitation placed was economy
 by this restraint avoided display of vulgar extravagance
 an air of informal grandeur rather than monumental oppressiveness
The Jahan giri Mahal

 in Agra fort . modelled on man mandir at Gwalior: as it highlighted the best Hindu and
Islamic of architecture ,
 Use of coloured glazed tiles, and Domed canopies on the exterior were of Persian origin
interior arrangements Hindu
 Jahangiri Mahal a configuration of rooms and chapels freely dispersed around two courts
that are aligned along a central axis court overlooking the Yamuna : private zenana court
near the entrance was reception court, two storied front faced of the building,
 composed of central arched opening and deep horizontal chajjas over a wall of blind arches
flaked by octagonal domed turrets
 interior courts and halls evoke the spirit of Hindu prototype
 Jaina Toranas sprung across trabeate openings , richly carved stone piers and brackets and
inclined struts supporting chajjas and roofs : evocative of palace of man singh.
 plan configuturation is similar : courtlife of mughals and hindu rajput chieftains approximate
each other

FATEHPUR SIKRI : Akbar decides to build sikri

 Rajput princesses whom Akbar had wedded brought to his court and adjusted easily to new
environmentin desire for heir .Akbar visited many Muslim saints
 finally
 kisri important as babur had waged a crucial war in the plains and built a mosque "shukri" to
celebrate his victory
 Sheikh Salim Chisti established a hermitage on sikri hill predicted birth of three sons to Akbar
eldest Salim born to Jodha akbar
 akbar i 1570s convinced the occurrence of these combined events that the place was
auspicious site for new capital,
 existing remains of palace of sikriwal rajputs: potential of site .
 Akbar 28 set about the planning and building of his city with determined zest that within a
decade built
 New capital city for the Mughals: had a population of 2 lakh was larger than contemprary
rome and london.
 buildings of desperate nature schematically and convincingly knit together into unified
dynamic complex.
 Akbars architect planed buildings as part of carefully built up visual and spatial sequence
SIKRIS ENCHANTING HOUR

 great complex of palatial, residential, official and religious buildings so designed and
executed as to form one of the most spectacular structural productions
 a city containing no streets but arrangement of broad terraces and stately courtyards
around which grouped numerous palaces and pavilions.
 the magic of sikri was but the petrification of a passing mood in Akbar’s strange nature
began and finished in lightning speed while the mood lasted
 city a true reflection of Akbar’s personality and not merely the apparent waywardness an
extremely shrewd and practical mind at work
 Design philosophy an extension of the spirit that animated Akbar’s administration and
politics
 political dream of al India empire could not be achieved through sheer subjugation of the
numerous feudal rulers,
 Myriads of Rajput and other rulers has to be own through a mixed policy of power of
accommodation

The politics of Architecture:

 Reflection of its politics

 Artisans architects and builders from all parts of country given freedom to express
themselves in their designs under overall control of sympathetic guiding hand city put
together quickly put together by on the spot decisions in many buildings built
simultaneously

 location determined not by a rigid preordained plan but by pragmatic solutions of different
problems,
 Function, orientation, topography, security and aesthetics guidelines laid out by Akbar
himself.
 interior function easily determined by its plan.
 overall function naturally determined its location in the layout plan: flexible document
ordaining some BROAD ZOINING CONCEPT

Service areas , sucha s waterworks , serais , and guard quarters loacted in outskirts

Public areas like courts : Diwan i Am , jami masjod formed a ring around the private audience
chambers of the King and Queens residences located at the heart astride top of the ridge,

Orientation adhered to all important structures locatd along the cardinal axis.
jami masjid erected around east west axis.

Visual Unity in Sandstone:

 undulating topography least disturbed for economy and considerations of environmental
control
 existing natural level of land maintained . care to link adjoining apartments by means of
ramps platforms and staircases
 building aesthetics: left to individual group of craftsmen, in each structure,
 Overall Visual Unity ensured with simple strategies.
 Use of material: for floors roofs, lintels , beams , et a.
 rich red hue of stone offset suing white marble or at times by blue glazed tiles.
 aesthetics and embellishments left to interior decorators of individual occupants.
 covered floors with rich carpets elaborate silken bolsters and filled alcoves with coloured
bottles, of perfumes,
 buidling technique followed was quickest
 sandstone cut to shape in form of lintels columns , brackets and roofing tiles used much like
precast concrete beams
 sandstone cut in large stonecutter factories and assembled. often dry without mortar.
appear to be "wooden houses made of stone"

SYMMETRY AROUND MUTIPLE AXES

 immense desire for speed, overall aesthetics of urban design well handled,
 exact position of building determined in measurable geometric relationship to adjoining
structures or prominent features,
 Seemingly free layout of the city
 subtle cunning system of multiple axes at right angles from each other
 dual policy of containing completely symmetrically designed structures and compositions
with free flowing composition
 the free flowing composition doesn’t fall into amorphous bits , nor do the grand structures
become arid or oppressive symmetrical compositions'
INSTANT TOWN PLANNING

 first locating major monuments at strategic intersections of the main axis.

 the main axis in turn defines the courts and platforms built symmetrically
 other individual buildings, pavilions, verandas and colonnades located according to need and
minor axes
 buildings were movable fittings adorning open spaces.
 was possible at any time to add a pavilion or hall of prefabricated pillars or to make
alternations to suit new needs without in any way detracting architectural environment
 these ad hoc additions added to stone tent halls atmosphere to the city
 two storeyed pavilions built around akbars Khwab Gah improvised hurriedly to facilitate
holding of large audiences attending royal music festivals. at the water quadrangle,
 seemly different elements of design of individual structures fall into understandable
patterns

THE DIWAN-I-AM and DIWAN-I-KHAS

 the location of public entrances

 breaks canons of symmetry
 meaning from point of view of security and function. late comers don’t disturb proceedings
emperor could not be hit from either of the entrance points
 simple treated surfaces of unpretentious, modestly planned cubed volume.
 give no clue of astonishing interior
 from centre of the chamber rises a carved pillar which mushrooms into a gigantic made up
of series of Jaina vaulted brackets supporting a circular stone platform.
 from central platform four aerial bridges radiate along each diagonal of the hall connecting
the hanging balconies which communicate with the ground by staircases built within the
outer wall thickness
 the emperor like a god in the cup of a lotus flower sat at the centre of a corbelled capital ,
minsters occupied each of the angles
 Akbar familiar with indian mythology : inspired by familar bhuddist and Hindu imagery of
divine figure seated on a column with a lotus capital.: a motif commonly found in Bhuddist
caves of Khaneri
 Diwan i Khas or a hall of theological discussions that resulted in the birth of his new religion
, the Din - I Ilahi
 Poetic realisation of a will of poe and responsibility
 builders free to draw inspiration and revive forms in heritage of country ,
PANCH MAHAL
 Pavilion of five storeys, rectangular ground floor being built over eighty-four columns each in
different detail,
 storeys diminish gradually from northern and western sides
 Eastern and southern facades rise vertically up to culminate in Domed canopy. supported
over four pillars,
 receding storeys inspired by multi storey Buddhist Viharas , like ones in Nalanda and other
Buddhist centres in India.
 also called Palace of Winds designed for the more than 300 wives of Akbar to enjoy their
leisure hours during the long hot months of summer

ROYAL VILLAS OF SIKRI

JODHA BAHIS MAHAL

 largest residential structure
 conventional arrangement of series of places and rooms in two floors arranged around a
central open courtyard. with the summer and winter palaces located on the northern and
southern ends
 each of other smaller places display its on original and practical innovation almost modern in
basic concepts

BIRBALS HOUSE
 Consists of four conjoined rooms attached porticos on the ground while only two rooms are
built over on first floor
 flat roofs of other two open and airy attached terraces.
 every square niche of red sandstone surface covered with Hindu inspired brackets, Chajjas
and intricate carvings
MARYAM SULTANAS PALACE:
 voluminous rectangular double height living roomat one ned, two floors of bedrooms, upper
ones overlooking double height living hall

residences of Sikriare down to earth utilitarian and modest royal villas, specifically modulated to suit
a refined style of living

AKBARS own bedroom: THE KHWAB GAH or HOUSE OF DREAMS: a large platform over which he
spread his bed.

along the floors arrangements for watering the room to cool it in summers,

Photograph of the Diwan-i-Khas at Fatehpur Sikri, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections, taken by
Edmund William Smith in 1893. The Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience) is situated in the palace city of Fatehpur
Sikri, built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605) from 1571 to 1585. The entire complex is built of locally
quarried red sandstone, known as Sikri sandstone. The Diwan-i-Khas is a plain square building with four chhatris on
the roof. The interior is unusual; in the centre there is a large carved pillar whose sixteen-sided serpentine brackets
support a circular platform which is connected to each corner of the building by four stone walkways. The central pillar
has a square base with an octagonal central shaft, both carved with bands of geometric and floral designs.

The center pillar of Diwan-i-khas has a square base and an octagonal shaft, both carved with bands of
geometric and floral designs, further its thirty-six serpentine brackets support a circular platform for Akbar,
which is connected to each corner of the building on the first floor, by four stone walkways. It is here that
Akbar had representatives of different religions discuss their faiths and gave private audience.

JAMI MASJID

 only building with conventional Islamic style,

 massive 515 x 432 (157m by 132m): largest mosque in india .
 conventional Islamic configuration, builders faltered and produced a liwan facade that is
rather confused and weak.
 consists of central arched fronton which dwarfs the dome behind in the old tughlaq traditon.
 central framed arch is completely out of proportion with low slung side wings
 the side wings formulated out of vaguely organised arches of as many as three different
spans and heights shaded by timely small sloping chajja ,
 the interior with cenrral dome decorated on the inside to give appearance of a stone version
of timber ribbed dome, evokes the spirit of rest of Sikri
 the parapets of the cloisters and liwan are marked by a row of domed chattris : which held
lighted torches during festival nights
 tomb of one Islam Khan at north eastern corner of courtyard, Salim chisti wlaos buried here
later in marble cenotaph. built later by jahangir

 after seizing Rnathambor Fort , Akbar decided to commemorate his conquest by adding
massive gateway
Buland darwaza the souther wall of the mosque.

 style of gateway indicates that akbar must have entrusted this to craftsman who had built
Humayuns tomb in Delhi

BULAND DARWAZA
 Unique design solution for a common problem of ceremonial gateways : not merely
impressing the viewer with its gigantic size but at the same time evoke in him sensations of
momentary shelter as passes beneath it
 almost large enough for elephants to march
 the problem lies in meaningfully installing an opening of modest size with a frame of
intentionally immense proportions, yet maintain a fluid relationship between the crescendo
of the great alcove above and the diminuendo of the man height at the base

 there’s is no portal beckoning of pilgrim from far in arc de triomphe or gopurams in temples
or gothic
 in Buland darwaza two seemingly contrary visual requirements are reconciled ,
 15.3m and 30.5m high arch backed by a scalloped semi domed portal that guides ones vision
fluidly down the modest two storeyed rows of arches and balconies, set in sent pentagonal

fasion at the base

 the central one of these small arches leads one on to the courtyard of the mosque through a
domed passage with attendants’ rooms on either side
 transition from awesome monumentality to a humble and sheltered passageway
 from wide open spaces to the sequester courtyard is smooth

 ingenuity of builders in relating man to architectural power of the gateway. they had o
hesitation in highlighting massiveness
 platform over which building rises itself an elavation 12.8 m from ground below. approached
by a grand flight od steps that spread out as they descend
 wide base for the lofty precipice like structure
 central framed arch flanked by soaring minnarets and chamfered back broad surfaces that
accentuate verticality of 40.8m high portal.
 merloned parapets and domed kiosks without
 rear of gateway is a plain pile of stemmed sown masonary . quitely merges into the cloisters
of the courtyard without disturbing spatial balance of mosque courtyard

AKBAR DESERTS SIKRI

 hustleand bustle of the city after 1585
 Akbar deserted it forever
 it was here he established the style of life and culture which would last his family for a
century.
 massive fort in Allahabad and set up camps for long periods in the city of Lahore.