Architecture of India    
Fatehpur Sikri 
The City of Victory

After his victories over the Rajputs, Akbar commemorated his achievement by the building of a new capital. The city was called Fatehpur Sikri and was close to the imperial fort of Agra. Here, within six kilometres of defensive wall, Akbar built palaces, courts of audience, hunting lodges, mosques and triumphal portals.

The city was abandoned soon after its construction, and the reason for this was the lack of any reliable water supply for its inhabitants. Its disuse as a city during the Mughal period is the reason why its buildings have come down to us almost intact, without the changes effected by later emperors on other imperial sites such as Agra, Allahabad and Delhi.

This means that Akbar’s genius at building can be seen fully here, as also his finely developed aesthetic sense. Both formally and in their detailing, the buildings at Sikri are a fine blend of Timurid planning and aesthetics and Rajput art and architecture.

Site Plan : Fatehpur Sikri

Apart from its outer wall, Fatehpur Sikri was not really designed for a sustained defence, that role being assigned to the fort of Agra close by. The city is situated on a hilltop, and beyond the walls was the old town, of which little survives today. The highest point of the ridge is occupied by the main mosque and Sheikh Salim’s dargah.  The palace itself, placed across the ridge, is divided into four principal parts – the daulat khana or treasury in the centre, the haram sara or queen’s chambers, a princes’ palace and ammunition stocks. The palace is entered ceremoniously from the Hathi Pol or elephant gate facing the lake (now dry!)

Fatehpur Sikri : Palaces

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