Fatehpur Sikri - A city an emperor forgot

After just fourteen years of life, the palaces of Akbar's great City of Victory fell silent. Its echoing corridors still seem to wait for the king to return.

The hill-top city lies 37 kms from Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh. This deserted city has two distinct complexes. The first comprises the royal enclosure of the palaces, the harem and official buildings and the second is the dargah of a Sufi saint, with a mosque and a lofty gateway.

To wander among the red sandstone courtyards of Fatehpur Sikri is to travel back in time to when the Mughal emperor Akbar rode through its gateway after a triumphant campaign, to be welcomed by his delighted subjects and the royal court.

In need of an heir

By 1568, Akbar, the third monarch of the Mughal dynasty had built himself an impressive empire. His kingdom spanned north India and there was no king who could challenge him. There was peace in the land and the royal treasury overflowed with tribute. His only grief was that, at he age of twenty-six and after twelve years of rule, he had no heir. None of his sons had survived infancy.

Salim Chishti's prediction

When Akbar prayed before the Sufi saint, Sheikh Salim Chishti, he predicted that the king would have three sons. Chishti lived in a scheduled hill-top shack in a village called Sikri, a little removed from Agra. In 1569, one of Akbar's Rajput queens, who later came to be known as Maryam Zamani or Mary of the Age, gave birth to a son.

The city of victory

He was named Salim after the saint. And, as predicted, two other sons were born within the next few years. The emperor gave thanks with extravagant grandeur. In 1571, Akbar began building a mosque and then a palace complex at Sikri. Gradually the royal court shifted from Agra to the new city. The nobility built their mansions further down the hill and shops lined the road to Agra. To commemorate his conquest of Gujarat, Akbar named his new capital Fatehpur Sikri or the City of Victory.

The mystery is that after fourteen years of occupation, Akbar moved away from Sikri in 1585 and never returned. He first moved court o Lahore and then chose to return to Agra. Fatehpur Sikri was never again the capital of the Mughal empire.

Scholars have speculated about this sudden departure. One theory is that the water supply gave out, but it is hard to believe that Akbar's planners and engineers would have created a city without ensuring something so essential.

The simplest explanation is probably that it was never a conscious decision. Akbar moved north to Lahore to handle a threat to his empire and so on to other capital cities. It was, as historian G.H.R. Tillotson calls it, 'a typical exercise in Mughal prodigality'.

Akbar was the first Mughal king with means and the opportunity to build extensively. His predecessors had ruled in uncertain times with Humayun even losing his kingdom for a while. It was Akbar who laid the foundations of an empire and he planned this city as a symbol of his power.

The structures here include palaces and courtyards, as well as official buildings like audience halls, the treasury, the harem, soldier's barracks and kitchens. The attached complex comprises the main mosque, the shrine of Sheikh Salim Chishti and a lofty gateway.

With Akbar begins a distinct style of architecture that blends a Islamic and Hindu elements to create something unique. The Islamic architecture of Afghanistan and Persia was marked by precise plans and subdued ornamentation in the form of geometric motifs. The Hindu and Buddhist style were more florid. The Akbari style which fused the two was born of he king's personal preferences and from his use of Hindu craftsman, primarily from Gujarat.

The building material of Akbar's time was the robust red sandstone. The next great Mughal builder, Akbar's grandson Shahjahan, showed an increasing preference for the opulent extravagance of marble, culminating in the sublime Taj Mahal.

Fatehpur Sikri reflects the many faceted character of the man who inspired it. The ruthless empire builder who enjoyed all the trappings of power and also the liberal, enlightened man who took a passionate interest in every aspect of life, be it religion, literature or the painting of miniatures.