Fatehpur Sikri A marvelous example of designing on contours. Sonakshi Sharma B. Arch IIIrd Year DAY
INTRODUCTION
SITE SELECTION
The fortified city of Fatehpur Sikri was a short-lived capital of the third Mughal Emperor Akbar between 1571 and 1585 AD. Located about 40 kms southwest from the former capital of Agra (in present day Uttar Pradesh), Fatehpur Sikri is an Indo-Islamic masterpiece planned meticulously on the vast contours of the Sikri Hill.
For Akbar, Sikri had great significance. It was here that Akbar’s grandfather, the first Mughal Emperor Babur, in 1527 to commemorate the victory against Mewar’s Rana Sangam, had constructed the “Victory Palace” which included a few chahar bagh (gardens) and baolis (step-wells) among other buildings.
Often described as a Utopian City, Akbar wanted to create a physical manifestation of his ambitions of a society and religion based on his understanding of all the major world religions, which could be achieved by constructing this city.
Moreover to add to the site’s significance, the village of Sikri was the abode of the Sufi saint Salim Chisti. On an earlier visit to the village, the saint had predicted the birth of Akbar’s son Jahangir. Hence to further sanctify the site and to honour the Sufi saint, a citadel was constructed.
Despite the zeal with which Fatehpur Sikri was constructed, it was abandoned only fifteen years later in 1585. Reasons such as water shortage and the shift of Akbar’s political landscape towards Afghanistan are the reasons often cited for the city’s desertion.
Strategically speaking, the city set atop the Sikri hill, provided Akbar with the gateway towards Gujarat for potential expansion. The only major drawback of the site was the scarcity of water. The absence of a perennial source of water and only few seasonal showers of
Figure 01: Panoramic view of Fatehpur Sikri Source: http://images.mid-day.com/
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