Fatehpur Sikri Fort

Summary

Fatehpur Sikri Fort, the red sandstone capital of Mughal emperor, Akbar sits on top of a ridge in Fatehpur Sikri. The principal buildings of the imperial palace complex, clustered on a series of terraces along the sandstone ridge, formed the core of Akbar’s city.

Fatehpur Sikri Fort

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Fatehpur Sikri Fort, the red sandstone capital of Mughal emperor, Akbar sits on top of a ridge in Fatehpur Sikri. Perfectly preserved, the royal palaces, the Jama Masjid mosque and the ruins scattered around this area are the highlights of this abandoned city.

The principal buildings of the imperial palace complex, clustered on a series of terraces along the sandstone ridge, formed the core of the Fatehpur Sikri fort. Stylistically, they marked the absorption of Gujarat into the Mughal Empire, and reveal a successful synthesis of pre-Islamic, Hindu and Jain architecture (as in the curved brackets) with the elegant domes and arches of Islamic buildings.

The concentric terraces clearly separate the public spaces from the private royal quarters. The buildings are mostly in Akbar’s favourite red sandstone, which was quarried from the ridge on which they stand.

 

The Entrance

The straight road from Agra to Fatehpur Sikri was laid out in Akbar’s time. If approaching from Bharatpur you will pass the site of a large lake, which provided a defensive barrier. On the other side was a massive defensive wall with nine gates (clockwise): Delhi, Lal, Agra, Bir or Suraj (Sun), Chandar (Moon), Gwaliori, Tehra (Crooked), Chor (Thief’s) and Ajmeri.

Entry to Fatehpur Sikri is through the Agra Gate. From here you pass the sandstone Tansen’s Baradari on your right and go through the triple-arched Chahar Suq with a gallery and two chhattris above which may have been a Nakkar Khana (Drum House) where the emperor’s entry used to be announced by a roll of drums. The road inside the main city wall leading to the entrance would have been lined with bazaars. Next on your right is the square, a shallow-domed Mint with artisans’ workshops or animal shelters around a courtyard. Workmen still chip away at blocks of stone in the dimly lit interior.

Fatehpur Sikri’s royal complex contains the private and public spaces of Akbar’s court, which included the harem and the treasury. The star attractions are the Turkish Sultana’s House, Panch Mahal and Diwan-i-Khas.

 

Royal Palaces & Pavilions

 

Diwan-i-Am

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Leading off from the Chahar Suq, is the western entrance to the imperial palace complex which opens into the spacious cloistered courtyard of the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience), a large courtyard (which is now a garden) where Akbar dispensed justice by orchestrating public executions, said to have been carried out by elephants trampling the convicted criminals to death. It was also used for celebrations and public prayers. This large courtyard with an elaborate pavilion was originally draped with rich tapestries and was used for public hearings and celebrations. It has cloisters on three sides of a rectangular courtyard and to the west, a pavilion with the emperor’s throne, with jali screens on either side separating the court ladies. Some scholars suggest that the west orientation may have had the added significance of Akbar’s vision of himself playing a semi-divine role.

A passage behind the Diwan-i-Am leads into the “inner courtyard” which contains the Diwan-i-Khas, Khwabgah and Anoop Talao, along with the treasuries and the Abdar Khana where water and fruit for the royal household were stored. In the centre of the courtyard behind the throne is the Pachisi Courtyard or Chaupar where Akbar is said to have played the game pachisi (an ancient version of ludo). It is said that Akbar had slave girls from the harem dressed in yellow, blue and red, moved around as ‘pieces’! It is said that Akbar learned much about the personalities of his court and enemies by watching how they played, won, and lost.

 

 

Turkish Sultana’s House

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The Turkish Sultana’s House or Anup Talao Pavilion is directly opposite, beyond the Pachisi Courtyard. The most intricately carved structure in the whole complex, this tiny, but elegant palace was built for Akbar’s Turkish Muslim wife, Sultana Ruqayya Begum who was also Akbar’s favourite wife. Her ‘house’, an ornate sandstone pavilion with a balcony on each side, is exquisitely carved with Islamic decorations. The fine dado panels and delicately sculpted walls of this ornate sandstone pavilion make the stone seem like wood. The geometrical pattern on the ceiling is reminiscent of Central Asian carvings in wood while the walls may have been set originally with reflecting glass to create a Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace). It is topped with an unusual stone roof of imitation clay tiles. Scholars suggest this may have been a pleasure pavilion.

 

 

Diwan-i-Khas

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The Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience), found at the northern end of the Pachisi Courtyard (to your right), is a two-storey building with corner kiosks. It is a single room with a unique circular throne platform. A debating chamber, Akbar would spend long hours here in discussion with Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Hindus and Parsis. They would sit along the walls of the balcony connected to the Throne Pillar by screened ‘bridges’, while courtiers could listen to the discussions from the ground floor.

It looks nothing special from the outside, but the interior is dominated by a magnificently carved stone central column. This pillar flares to create a flat-topped plinth linked to the four corners of the room by narrow stone bridges. From this plinth Akbar is believed to have debated with scholars and ministers who stood at the ends of the four bridges.

The hall is a unique fusion of different architectural styles and religious motifs – the pillar is lotus shaped (a Hindu and Buddhist motif), the Royal Umbrella ( chhattri) is Hindu, and the Tree of Life, Islamic. The bottom of the pillar is carved in four tiers; Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Buddhist designs. The Throne Pillar can be approached by steps from the outside although there is no access to the upper floor. The design of the Hall deliberately followed the archaic universal pattern of establishing a hallowed spot from which spiritual influence could radiate. In his later years, Akbar developed a mystical cult around himself that saw him as being semi-divine.

An Archaeological Survey of India team recently discovered an ‘air-conditioned palace’, built for Akbar, while digging up steps leading down to a water tank set in the middle of the main palace complex. The subterranean chambers were found under the small quadrangle in sandstone, set in the middle of a water tank and connected on all four sides by narrow corridors. It’s not yet open to the public.

 

 

Treasury

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Next to Diwan-i-Khas is the Treasury in the northwest corner of the courtyard which houses secret stone safes in some corners (one has been left with its stone lid open for visitors to see). is the Ankh Michauli (Blind Man’s Buff), possibly used for playing the game, comprising three rooms each protected by a narrow corridor with guards. The makaras carved on the stone brackets are mythical guardian beasts who were there to protect the fabulous wealth once stored here.

Just in front of the Treasury is the Astrologer’s Seat, a small kiosk with elaborate roof supports carved in a serpentine Jain style which may have been used by the court astrologer or treasurer.

 

 

Ornamental Pool

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In the centre of this smaller south courtyard is the four-quartered Ornamental Pool or Anup Talao where the Emperor may have sat on the platform, surrounded by perfumed water. It is also believed that singers and musicians would perform on the platform above the water while Akbar watched from the pavilion in his private quarters. Anoop Taloo is also associated with Akbar’s renowned court musician Tansen who, as legend says, could light oil lamps with his magical singing. The Akbarnama mentions the emperor’s show of charity when he filled the Talao with copper, silver and gold coins and distributed them over three years.

 

Emperor’s Private Chambers

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Daulat Khana (Abode of Fortune), the emperor’s private chambers, are next to the rose-water fountain in the corner. There are two main rooms on the ground floor. One housed his library – the recesses in the walls were for manuscripts. Although unable to read or write himself, Akbar enjoyed having books read to him. Wherever he went, his library of 50,000 manuscripts accompanied him. The larger room behind was his resting area.

On the first floor is the Khwabgah (Palace of Dreams), the emperor’s private sleeping quarters, with an ingenuous ventilating shaft near his huge stone bunk bed. Nowadays the only sleeping done here is by bats, hanging from the ceiling. The small room in the far corner is full of them! This room would have been lavishly decorated with rich carpets, hangings and cushions. This too was decorated with gold and ultramarine paintings. The southern window (Jharokha Darshan) was where the emperor showed himself to his people every morning.

 

Maryam’s House

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Leaving the Daulat Khana you enter another courtyard which contained the Ladies’ garden for the zenana or women’s quarters, and the Sunahra Makan or the Christian wife, Maryam’s House. This was used by Akbar’s Goan wife Mariam, who gave birth to Jehangir here in 1569. Like many of the buildings in the palace complex, it contains elements of different religions, as befitted Akbar’s tolerant religious beliefs. This is a two-storeyed palace which was embellished with golden murals in the Persian style. The domed ceiling is Islamic in style, while remnants of a wall painting of the Hindu god Shiva can also be found. The inscriptions on the beams are verses by Fazl, Akbar’s poet laureate, one of the ‘Navaratna’ (Nine Jewels) of the Court.

 

 

Panch Mahal

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Just north of this overlooking the Pachisi Court is the impressive Panch Mahal, an elegant, airy five-storeyed open sandstone pavilion, each floor smaller than the one below, rising to a single domed kiosk on top. The horizontal line of this terraced building is emphasized by wide overhanging eaves (for providing shade), parapets broken by the supporting pillars of which there are 84 on the ground floor (the magic number of seven planets multiplied by 12 signs of the zodiac). The 56 carved columns on the second floor are all different and show Hindu influence. This is where Akbar’s queens and their attendants could watch the games and savour the cool evening breezes without being seen. Originally dampened scented khuss (grass screens) were hung in the open spaces, which provided protection from the heat and sun, as well as privacy for the women who used the pavilion. Its decorative screens were probably stolen after the city was abandoned.

 

 

Palace of Jodh Bai

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The Haram Sara, or harem complex, was a maze of interconnected buildings beyond Maryam’s House or Sunehra Makan (“Golden House”), named after its rich frescoes and gilding. The massive and austere exterior of the harem leads to the largest palace in the complex, the Palace of Jodh Bai, the one-time home of Akbar’s Hindu wife, said to be his favourite. Jodh Bai, the daughter of the Maharaja of Amber, lived in Raniwas. The spacious palace in the centre, assured of privacy and security by high walls and a 9-m-high guarded gate to the east. Set around an enormous courtyard, it blends traditional Indian columns, Islamic cupolas and turquoise-blue Persian roof tiles.

A screened viaduct, presumably for privacy, connected the palace to the ‘hanging mahal’ Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds) with beautiful jali screens facing the small formal zenana garden which was once enclosed, and the bridge (a later addition) led to the Hathipol. Through the arch is the small Nagina Masjid, the private mosque for the ladies of the court. The hammams (baths) are to the south of the palace.

The centre of the building is a quadrangle around which were the harem quarters, each section self-contained with roof terraces. The style, a blend of Hindu and Muslim (the lotus, chain and bell designs being Hindu, the black domes Muslim), is strongly reminiscent of Gujarati temples, possibly owing to the craftsmen brought in. The upper pavilions north and south have interesting ceiling structure (imitating the bamboo and thatch roof of huts), here covered with blue glazed tiles, adding colour to the buildings of red sandstone favoured by Akbar. Jodh Bai’s vegetarian kitchen opposite the palace has attractive chevron patterns.

 

 

Birbal’s Palace

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Raja Birbal’s Palace is a highly ornamented house to the northwest of Jodh Bai’s Palace. It has two storeys – four rooms and two porches with pyramidal roofs below, and two rooms with cupolas and screened terraces above. This palace is thought to be the living quarters of Birbal, Akbar’s Hindu prime minister, who was the brightest of Akbar’s ‘Nine Jewels’. It has an unusual layout and fine carvings on its exterior and interior. Again the building combines Hindu and Islamic elements (note the brackets, eaves, jarokhas). Of particular interest is the insulating effect of the double-domed structure of the roofs and cupolas which kept the rooms cool, and the diagonal positioning of the upper rooms which ensured a shady terrace. Some scholars believe that this building, Mahal-i-Ilahi, was not for Birbal, but for Akbar’s senior queens.

South of the Raja’s house is the Lower Haramsara, a large colonnaded enclosure surrounded by cells, probably meant for the servants of the harem, and the royal stables. It is a long courtyard surrounded by cells which probably housed zenana servants rather than the emperor’s camels and horses, although the rings suggest animals may have been tied there.

 

 

 

Outside the Royal Palace

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Plenty of ruins are scattered behind the whole complex which are worth an inspection. Between the Royal Palace and the Jami Masjid, a paved pathway to the northwest leads to the Hathi Pol (Elephant Gate). This was the ceremonial entrance to the palace quarters, guarded by stone elephants, with its Nakkar Khana and Bazar alongside. The outer periphery of the palace complex was laid out in concentric circles around the inner citadel and is made up of ancillary structures, such as the caravanserais, the domed hamams (baths), and waterworks. Nearby are the waterworks, with a deep well which had an ingenious mechanism for raising water to the aqueducts above ridge height. The Caravanserai around a large courtyard fits on the ridge side, and was probably one of a series built to accommodate travellers, tradesmen and guards.

 

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Down a ramp immediately beyond is the Hiran Minar, an unusual 21-m-tall tower studded with hundreds of stone representations of elephant tusks, thought to commemorate Akbar’s favourite elephant, Hiran. However, it was probably an Akash Deep (“heavenly light”) with lamps suspended from the stone tusks to guide visitors. You can climb up the spiral staircase inside it but take care as the top has no guard rail. This part of Fatehpur Sikri is off the main tourist track, and though less well preserved it is worth the detour to get the ‘lost city’ feeling, away from the crowds.

Badly defaced carvings of elephants still guard Hathi Pol (Elephant Gate), while the remains of the small Stonecutters’ Mosque and a hammam (bath) are also a short stroll away. Other unnamed ruins can be explored north of what is known as the Mint but is thought to have in fact been stables, including some in the interesting village of Sikri to the north.