Life and times of Akbar

Arindam Sarkar

The intricately carved, beautiful mausoleum made of white marble screens and cenotaph, bustled with people in the afternoon, as Hindus and Muslims in complete silence circled the tomb of Sufi saint Salim Chisti. They laid chadars and showered flowers on the tomb and paid obeisance to the saint who gave the Mughal dynasty a successor. This is the Dargah of Salim Chisti at Fatehpur Sikri, Agra.

Muhammad Jalaluddin Akbar prayed here. “This is a symbol of Indian secularism. Here Hindus and Muslims pray for each other’s well being. This is the place where Mughal history took a new turn,” said mausoleum caretaker, Malkhan. People know Emperor Akbar came here with Jodhabai to pray for a male progeny.

A secular emperor, when his three wives failed to give him a male child, Akbar did not marry again. He went to Salim Chisti and prayed for a successor. Akbar’s prayers were answered and Jodhabai delivered a boy: Salim, who became Emperor Jahangir. It was not a Muslim wife but a Hindu Rajput princess, who gave the great Mughals an heir to their legacy.

Situated 37 km from Agra, Sikri was an innocuous village known as the dwelling place of the Sufi, when Akbar made a halt while returning from his Gujarat conquest. Subsequently, after being blessed with a son, Akbar decided to build his capital there and named it Fatehpur Sikri. Founded in 1569, the magnificent, sprawling, red stone fort – now in the world heritage list – was completed in 1574. Akbar ruled from Fatehpur Sikri from 1575 to 1586. “Salim Chisti’s death and scarcity of water forced him to shift to Agra fort,” said a tourist guide, Mansukh Alam.

The Naubat Khana, Diwan-e-Aam, Diwan-e-Khas, Pancha Mahal, Hawa Mahal, Khas Mahal and Char Charman all show the architectural splendour in red stone. In hey days, these stones were ornamented with gold and beautiful paintings. The brilliant craftsmanship on stones reached its excellence under Akbar. The unique blend of various religious symbols carved on red stones show despite being a Mughal, the emperor was secular to the core and respected all religions of the land he ruled.

“It is here that he tried to establish Din-e-Elahi. The universal religion: one God for all. He abolished the religious tax jizyah on the Hindus. Akbar’s secularism is a lesson to our contemporary rulers,” said an old Muslim man. As Akbar left Fatehpur Sikri, Agra became the nerve-centre of the Mughals. They ruled India from here and left behind some of the best architectural heritages of the world.

Agra was initially ruled by the Rajputs. In 1022, Mahmud Gaznavi ruined Agra. In 1504, it became the capital of the Afghan king Sikandar Lodi. “Before Lodi made Agra his capital, it was not in the historical map of India. From 1504, Agrabecame the seat of the Mughals,” says historian Dr AL Srivastava. Babur lived in Agra for four years before his death. Humayun fled to Kabul and then died in Delhi. Akbar reached Agra in 1558 and the rest is history.

A district of Uttar Pradesh, Agra is a busy town now. Congested and over-populated, it is trying hard to meet the people’s aspirations by erecting shopping malls, housing complexes, hotels and restaurants. But Agra primarily is India’s tourist destination. Taj Mahal, Sikandra and Agra Fort attract huge domestic and foreign footfalls annually.

Akbar began to construct Agra Fort in 1565 and it was completed by Jahangir and Shahjahan. Situated on the banks of Yamuna, the fort surrounded by two big ditches has 70 feet inner wall. An estimated Rs 35 lakh was spent to complete the fort. According to Abul Fazl, there were more than 500 stone buildings, but only a few survive now. Shahjahan ruled from his peacock throne in this fort and it is here he was kept under house-arrest by Aurangzeb.

The Amar Singh Gate, Jahangir’s Palace, Grape Garden, Khas Mahal, Diwan-i-Khas, Sheesh Mahal, Diwan-e-Aam, Nageena and Meena Masjid, Ladies Bazaar and Delhi Gate are testimony to the times of the great Mughals. The intricate craftsmanship is blended with strategic necessities in this fort. The walls are strong and the artistry is limited to the palaces and the court of the emperors.

“Taj Mahal continues to be the principal tourist attraction. People throng to see the mausoleum of eternal love. Taj in moonlit night is a special attraction,” said a tourist driver, Mohammad Faslu.

One of the Seven Wonders of the World, Taj Mahal situated on the banks of the Yamuna is a dream in marble. Built in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, Shahjahan collected the best of the artisans and materials in Agra. Result: the grandest white marble mausoleum built between 1631 and 1648.

Twenty thousand labourers worked for 22 years to complete the Taj Mahal. Shahjahan was buried beside his wife Mumtaz here. For Taj, Shahjahan got white marble from Markana, red stone from Dholpur and Fatehpur Sikri, yellow from Narbad and black stone from Charkoh. Taj cost around Rs 5 crore to build.

What began with Akbar also ends with Mohammad Jalaluddin Akbar. Sikandra, the grand Mughal architecture is the mausoleum of the emperor. Situated 7 km from Agra, Akbar selected this place for his burial and started construction in 1602. Akbar was buried here and the structure was completed by Jahangir in 1613. The original mausoleum is made out of a single block of marble with an inscription of Allah-o-Akbar (God is Great) inscribed on the northern side of cenotaph and Jatt-e-Jalal Hoo (Great is his Glory) on the south. And in the centre lies Akbar the Great.