In 16th Century, childless and desperate for a heir, The Great Mughal Emperor Akbar undertook a pilgrimage on foot to the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer. On the way he visited Sheikh Salim Chisti – a great Sufi Saint of that time. Sheikh Salim correctly prophesied that he would have three sons. Soon after, when Maharani Jodhabai was pregnant, she was sent to Sikri and gave birth to Akbar’s first son in saint’s cave. The grateful king named his first son, Salim(who later became Emperor Jahangir), after the Sufi saint and moved his capital to Sheikh’s village of Sikri to give Mughal grandeur to this spiritual abode. He created a city, away from crowd and congestion of Agra, that perfectly reflected his imperial power and artistic interests. This magnificent fortified city, built between 1565-1585, was the capital of Mughal Empire for around 15 yrs during Akbar’s reign.
Sikri was the first planned city of the Mughals. Akbar chose to construct this capital on the natural feature of the terrain. Terraces on receding level were used for three main complexes: The mosque complex at the highest level – comprising of Jami Masjid, Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chisti and Buland Darwajah. Royal complex on the lower level comprising of Raniwas, Mahal-I-ilaahi, Shahi Bazaar, Meena Bazaar, Baithak and gardens. And the public complex at the lowest level comprised of Panch Mahal, Khawabghah, Shahi kutub khana, Ibaadat khana, deewaan-i-aam.
The city did not last long as the capital; it was abandoned around 1600, according to some, the meager water supply that proved incapable of sustaining the population was the cause for it and according to others it was because Akbar shifted to Punjab owing to political reasons. Now deserted it is perfectly preserved, a masterpiece in sandstone, glowing in subtly changing shades of pink and red as day progresses & light fades.
7th Nov. 2007 – We decided to drive to Fatehpur Sikri. The route we took was Delhi-Faridabad-Palwal-Mathura-Bharatpur-Fatehpur Sikri. We started at 8:30 am and with a small lunch break reached Fatehpur Sikri at around 2:30 pm.
I am always fascinated by sight of a temple on a hilltop or distant ruins sometimes standing in perfect solitude. They make me wonder about the stories behind those constructions – who, why and how constructed them and left them to be forgotten. For me Fatehpur was a real treasure with so many stories of by gone era enveloped in its red stone. When we reached Fatehpur the silhouette of the fortified ghost city was looking very impressive.
As we reached Fatehpur, we were gheraoed by a number of touts/guides/agents even before we could park our car. The most difficult part of visiting Fatehpur Sikri is to get rid of these irritatingly persistent guides/touts. We were told numerous lies like – we would not be allowed to enter the complex without a guide. The Auto-wallah would charge the same amount as the CNG bus going to the fort. The “Tanga” (Horse cart) would not go as close to the fort as the Auto would go. After persuasions (that we didn’t need guide), strict warning (that they are wasting their time and we would not take them at any cost) and finally totally neglecting them, we board the CNG bus and reached at the entrance. We were not charged a single penny for that though I don’t know it was a mistake or the bus was free for tourists.
We bought the ticket to enter inside and were about to enter that a tout got hold of me and suggested us to visit the mosque complex first (which is free) and then to enter the main complex. My Brother-In-Law resisted it and we entered from the paid part of the complex. That was a very good decision.
The first courtyard in the complex was “Deewan-i-aam”. That was the place where major festivals were celebrated by the Emperor with the public and also the one where common man could put-forth his problems/petitions (Fariyaad) to the king. To the right of the path that leads into the Deewan-i-aam is a great stone ring embedded into the earth. It is believed that at that place the condemned were crushed to death by an elephant in full view of the emperor and his court.
The first impression of the complex was very nice, very well maintained lawns suiting the grandeur of this Mughal fort.
From “Deewan-i-aam “ we entered into “Deewan-i-Khaas”or “Ibadat khana”. Akbar was a philosopher and a connoisseur of religions. In his pursuit of the truth behind religions he encouraged debates on religious subjects. Initially these debates were only open to Sunnis but later on multi religious environment of India attracted him. He started listening discourses from all the major religions of that time – Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Jesuits and Judaism.
The centerpiece of that room was a highly decorated pillar – Throne pillar, from which four bridges were radiating. Akbar’s throne was placed on the circular platform over the central pillar. Akbar, seated on his throne, listened to the discussions/debates among representatives/gurus of all the major religions of that time .
I felt that the design of that room was very symbolic – bridges signified that the various religions were the various ways to reach the GOD, Pillar signified that there is only one GOD and the choice of King’s throne on central pillar was to signify his closeness to the GOD.
In the later years of his life Akbar founded a new religion – Deen-i-elaahi. At the time when in Europe people were burnt on the charges of heresy and blasphemy by churches for their philosophies and scientific discoveries, there was a powerful Mughal Emperor trying to synthesize the best practices of all Indian religions into one. Isn’t this amazing? More significant was that even after proposing new religion he never forced his subjects to follow that. In-fact that religion was only embraced by very few nobles, most notable among them was Birbal – Akbar’s close friend and famous for his wits among Akbar’s “nauratna” – The nine Jewels.
My mind counter argued, Deen-i-elaahi was proposed to put Emperor as Supreme authority. It may be out of Akbar’s need to counter, sharp criticism of Ulemmas for marrying more than four women. He never forced this religion, as he was very shrewd. He knew it very well that the religious tolerance was the only way to expand his empire. Akbar built and strengthened Mughal Empire through his religious tolerance and the same empire crumbled three generations later due to religious intolerance of Aurangzeb .
View from the window in Deewaane-Khaas.
From Deewane-Khaas we entered Treasury or Aankh-Michauli.
The Treasury or Aankh Michauli was composed of three rooms. Current thinking suggests that that building was used as the imperial treasury of gold and silver coins. Its brackets had mythological sea creatures carved on it signifying the guardians of the treasures of the deep sea – indicating its usage as treasury. But the popular belief is that Akbar used it for playing “Aankh Michauli” (hide and seek) with the ladies of his harem. I personally felt that it was a perfect place to play “Aankh Michauli” than being a treasury. Rachit and Shashwat (My Brother-in-law’s kid) immediately started running around,
and we started to wonder that how the kings used to used to guard the enormous treasure they had at their disposal. Did the common practice of hiding the gold in the walls, floors was followed only by common man or kings also used to do the same? Did they use to hide a part of it for their difficult time? In short, can there be gold buried in the complex or around. Am I inciting a sort of Gold rush :)?
From Treasury we came to the courtyard “Pachisi Court” that was separating Deewane-khaas and the opposite side of the complex (Daulatkhana / Khawabgah). There was the most conspicuous and beautiful structure of the whole complex – The Panchmahal on our right hand side. There are five-storeys that taper to single kiosks at the top. It was like a house of cards where each of the five storeys was stepped back from the previous one. Akbar enjoyed beautiful evenings, the full-moon nights and the cool breeze sitting in the top kiosk. This Mahal was connected with haram on the third floor from where his wives could join him. All the storeys originally had stone jaalis on their sides – these walls are now removed. There are in total around 176 columns in it none of which are similar to each other.
In Pachisi court there was a giant stone board of the game “Chausar”. It is believed that Akbar used to play this game using slave girls as live pieces. According to Abul Fazal – Another jewel of Akbar’s Nauratna- at a time there were about 200-300 people playing the game with Akbar and they were not allowed to go home till the Emperor had played 16 rounds of this game. If those playing with Akbar ever become restless, they were served cupfuls of alcohol.
At this point I stopped and analyzed, there are still many things I would like to share, in-fact my post is not yet half done. There was a continuous debate in my mind that praising the patience would help readers to continue ;) or I should post the rest of the story in second part. I realized I am not Akbar and I don’t offer my readers even a glass of beer, so sanity demands that I stop here and post the second part later.
CHEERS!
Deewan-I-khaas as viewed from Pachisi court.
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