Architecture of India    
Fatehpur Sikri 
The City of Victory – 2

The palace complex itself is dominated by a central court (b) with water bodies and fountains, in the centre of which is a pavilion for music. Of the buildings clustered around the court, the diwan-i-am (hall of public audience) (a), the diwan-i-khas (hall for private audience) (b), Jodha Bai’s palace (c), Birbal’s palace (d), the Nagina mosque (f) and the five-storeyed Panch Mahal (g) are noteworthy. All are disposed around the central court in such a manner as to recall Gujarati cluster planning.

The haram sara is connected to emperor’s private chambers by a screened viaduct. This building consists of queens’ apartments around a central court. The scheme resembles in planning the Raj Mahal at Orchha. Its introverted form with a single gate was well suited for the days when women were still screened from public view. The Nagina Masjid to the north of the haram sara served as the queens’ private place of worship.            

Fatehpur Sikri is also known for two more buildings – the gem of a dargah of Sheikh Salim Chisti, and the Buland Darwaza.

The Buland Darwaza is a massive gate mounted on steps, which faces the old town. It was built to commemorate Akbar’s military victory over Gujarat. This great triumphal portal leads into the mosque court, one corner of which is occupied by Sheikh Chisti’s dargah. This tomb with its filigree screens and exquisite carving was originally planned in red sandstone, but was finally made entirely of marble at the beginning of Jahangir’s reign.

Fatehpur Sikri itself grants Akbar pride of place as a builder in the history of India. But there was still more to come – tombs, mosques, palaces and civil structures. As a remarkable man who not only won and consolidated political and military power but also patronized the arts and sciences, Akbar has rightly won the sobriquet of ‘the Great’.  

– Ashish Nangia
April 19, 2003

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See Also : A True Monarch : Akbar The Great

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