Akbar Carpet Architecture
Akbar ruled India for about 50 years. During this period his kingdom had expanded considerably and the income of the Mughal Sultanate had increased greatly. That's why he got buildings constructed in many cities of India. Akbar's reign was a period of fusion and coordination of Hindu-Muslim culture in every sphere of governance.
Due to this, there was a new beginning of blending in architecture and building construction in his time. Iranian and Indian elements are visible in the buildings built by Akbar, but in them the predominance is of Indian elements. Some scholars believe that the beginning of Mughal art should be considered from Akbar itself.
Abul Fazl has said- 'The emperor plans beautiful buildings and gives the form of stone and mortar to the thoughts of his mind and heart.'
Akbar understood the subtlety of the then styles and gave new ideas to his craftsmen to make buildings. The new style of architecture that developed during Akbar's period was actually a synthesis of Hindu-Muslim styles.
Some of the main features of Akbar's architecture were as follows-
(1.) Mostly red sandstone has been used in building construction, in some places white marble has been used.
(2.) In Akbari architectural style, mehrabi and purlin styles have been used in equal proportion.
(3.) Initially the dome continued to be made in the Lodi style, which was hollow from the inside, but it was not a double dome from the technical point of view.
(4.) The front of the pillar was multifaceted and had brackets or ledges at the top.
(5.) Buildings were often decorated with carvings or mosaics and were filled with bright colours.
The development of Akbari architecture took place in two phases. In the first phase, the architecture before Fatehpur Sikri is kept, which includes the forts of Agra, Allahabad and Lahore. The second phase is the construction of Fatehpur Sikri.
Buildings constructed in Delhi: Humayun's Tomb (AD1562) is the most prominent among the major buildings built in Delhi during Akbar's time. The Charbagh style of this tomb was used for the first time in India. On its imitation, later the Taj Mahal and the gardens around it were built. According to contemporary historian Abd-al-Qadir Badayuni, the main architect of this building was Mirak Mirza Ghiyas who was specially summoned from Herat city of Afghanistan to build this tomb.
He built many buildings in Herat. Mirak Mirza Ghiyas died before the construction of the tomb was completed. Therefore, the rest of the work was completed by his son Sayyid Muhammad ibn Mirak Ghiyathuddin. The main building of the tomb was completed in AD 1571. This was the first building of the Mughal Sultanate in which red sandstone was used on such a large scale.
In this complex there are tombs of Emperor Humayun and members of the royal family, including Humayun's Begum Hamida Bano, Humayun's Choti Begum, Shah Jahan's eldest son Darashikoh, Mughal emperor Jahandarshah, Farrukhshir, Badshah Rafiuddarjat, Rafi-ud-Daula and Alamgir (II) Contains graves.
This style of tomb construction was based on the tomb of the earlier Mongol ruler Timur Lang in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) and this tomb later became the inspiration for the tombs of Mughal architecture in India. With the construction of the Taj Mahal, this architectural style of tomb construction reached its peak.
In the south-east corner of Humayun's tomb, there is the dome of the royal barber, built in AD 1590. This tomb is built on a high platform, to reach which there are seven steps from the southern side. It is square and has a double dome on top of its single chamber. Quranic verses are engraved on the two tombs located inside. One of these tombs is marked with 999, which means Hijri AD 999 i.e. AD 1590-91.
'Buhlima's Tomb' is major. Its architecture is in the form of a rectangular simple house, on which there are no dome, minaret, bastion, iwan, arch etc. Persian structures. This house is built from local quartzite stones. 'Arab Sarai' near the Tomb of Buhlima It was built by Humayun's widow Hamida Begum for 300 artisans from Arabia.
The main of this inn is built in the form of a large iwan in which two huge arches have been built. Upon entering through this, the main part of the inn appears to be divided into two parts, with similar vaulted chambers and are now in a ruined state. It is also called Mehndi Bazaar which is believed to have been built by Mihar Banu, the chief heinjade of Jahangir.
Afsar Wala Tomb and Afsarwali Mosque are built on a platform near Arab Sarai and both the buildings are made of local quartzite stone. The outer walls of both the buildings are decorated with red sandstone. The red sandstone is carved with white marble.
The interior of these buildings is based on the Persian style and is simple. Both buildings are now in dilapidated condition. Main Hall of the Mosque 'Three Bay' made up. Beach Key 'Bay' There are arches around it, on which a dome is situated.
There is a whole panel of paintings in the interior of the dome. The 'Trihra Iwan' of the mosque Built in Persian style. Within the Afsarwala tomb, there is only one chamber in which there are marble tombs, one of which has the nine hundred and seventy-fourth verse of the Qur'an written on it, which probably refers to Hijri 974. There are two domes above the officer's tomb. This tomb is octagonal from outside.
Of these, the four side walls have four arched gateways which open directly into the tomb room. The arches are decorated with red sandstone ornaments. There is an inverted lotus on top of the dome which forms the base for the Kalash. A Mangal-Kalash is kept on this base. This type of lotus and Kalash is rarely seen in Akbar's building.
Akbar built a tomb in Delhi for Adam Khan or (Adham Khan), the son of his deputy Maham Anga. This tomb is built on a platform built on the wall of Lalkot in South Delhi. The dome of this octagonal building is built in the style of buildings built during the Sayyid and Lodi reigns of the 15-16th century. There are arched verandahs all around the tomb. Each verandah has three doors.
Buildings to be constructed in Agra: Agra Fort was an ancient Hindu fort in which the Lodi rulers had some constructions done. Babur had also built a stepwell in this fort. Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan also built some palaces in this fort and renovated the old palaces. Abul Fazl has written- 'This fort was built of bricks and was known as Badalgarh. Here about five hundred beautiful buildings were built in Bengali and Gujarati style.'
This fort was in a very dilapidated condition, so Akbar got this fort renovated. He ordered red stone from Karauli near Dholpur and got it mounted on the brick walls and got almost the entire fort rebuilt. For 8 years, about 4,000 artisans and workers kept on renovating this fort. In AD 1573, this fort was rebuilt and Akbar started living in it with his family. The main gate of the fort i.e. Delhi Darwaza and Jahangiri Mahal are built during the time of Akbar.
The Delhi Darwaza of Agra Fort, built in AD 1566, represents the architectural features of the early period of Akbar. This fort has been constructed from sculpted red sandstone. The arches of these buildings, octagonal walls sloping on both sides, arched roofs, pavilions, kangoors, white stone ornamentation on red sandstone are prominent. The architectural style of Akbari Mahal is less artistic than the architecture of Jahangiri Mahal and looks ugly. The Akbari Mahal has Bengali style turrets and this palace is in dilapidated condition.
Buildings constructed in Allahabad Fort: The fort of Prayagraj (Allahabad) was originally built by a Hindu king, which was rebuilt by Akbar. Due to the erosion of the river, the geographical position here was not stable, its map was prepared in an irregular manner. Its biggest feature is to build a fort on an irregular map. The fort has Jahangir Mahal, three large galleries and high minarets. The Mughals made many changes in the fort.
Buildings constructed in Ajmer fort: Akbar was not used to living in a hill fort. He preferred to live in the plains of Agra, Lahore, Allahabad and Fatahpur Sikri where large gardens could be built. That's why he got an ancient Hindu fort in Ajmer renovated by molding it in Muslim style. Within this, Akbar built a palace for himself. This fort is a replica of the palace of Fatahpur Sikri and is in a huge quadrangular shape. It has octagonal minarets at its four corners. Its gate is facing towards the city. A huge meeting has been built in the central part. There is a tower in each of the four corners of the fort. It has a beautiful door on the western side and a building is built in the middle of it. The door of this fort is 84 feet high and 43 feet wide.
Architecture of Fatahpur Sikri: Fatehpur Sikri is situated on a sloping hill, 23 miles south-west of Agra. The city had walls on three sides and an artificial lake on one side. This city started to be built in AD 1571 and was completed in AD 1580. The buildings of Fatehpur Sikri can be divided into three categories-
(1.) Religious Buildings- Jama Masjid, Sheikh Salim Chishti's Dargah, Buland Darwaza, Ibadatkhana (Central Hall or Deewane Mango) etc.
(2.) Residential Buildings- Khwabgah, Jodha Bai Mahal, Birbal Mahal (Zenana Mahal), Bibi Mariam Mahal, Turki Sultana Mahal, Abul Fazal and Faizi's palace etc.
(3.) Office Buildings- Treasure, Deewane Mango, Deewane Khas (Khas Mahal) etc.
Is Fatehpur Sikri's style the national architectural style?
All the Akbar-era buildings of Fatehpur Sikri are of Hindu-Muslim mixed architectural style. Hindu architecture predominates among them. Some of these decorations, such as the broken pillars in Deewane Khas, the bells and chains installed in Panchmahal and Jodha Bai's palace, and the pictures of animals and birds carved out of stone in Mariam's palace, etc. are similar to those of Hindu and Jain temples. There are imitations.
Built of marble and sandstone, the Buland Darwaza is a masterpiece of architecture. Dr. Ashirdilal Srivastava has written- "The architectural style of Fatehpur Sikri presents Akbar's policy of integrating and mixing various elements of ancient Indian culture in stone form. em>
Dr. Srivastava has called this coordinated architectural style of Akbar as the national architectural style. The new style of architecture that Akbar developed had an impact on the whole country and on the Rajput kings of Rajasthan. The influence of Mughal art is clearly visible on the palaces built during Akbar's reign at Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Amber, Orchha and Datia.
Even Hindu temples could not escape the influence of this style. Percy Brown has written about the palaces of Hindu kings- 'Seeing the Rajput buildings one can imagine that they had early Mughal art, such as vaulted arches, glass mosaics, darikhanas, plaster painting. How were Hindus adopted to fulfill the needs of the kings.'
These historians have found elements of Hindu-Muslim unity in the Akbar-era buildings, while the fact should not be forgotten that most of the palaces of Fatehpur Sikri were built by the Sikarwar Rajputs, Akbar only changed their appearance. English historians, writers and archaeologists could not understand this, so they saw Hindu-Muslim mixed style in Mughal buildings.
Later Indian writers also accepted his writings as true. Many Indian writers followed European writers without seeing these buildings with their own eyes. Even some historians have declared the buildings of Fatehpur Sikri as the national architectural style. Neither the style of Fatahpur Sikri is different nor the architecture of Fatahpur Sikri was followed in any part of the country, so it cannot be called a national architectural style.