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AKBAR'S
TOMB, SIKANDARA
(1605-12 A.D.)
THIS
IS THE TOMB OF JALAUDDIN MUHAMMAD AKBAR,
 SON OF HUMAYUN AND
GRANDSON OF BABUR, WHO WAS THE GREATEST KING OF THE MUGHAL
DYNASTY. HE RULED FROM 1556 TO 1605. HE FOUNDED A VAST EMPIRE
WHICH EXTENDED FROM KABUL TO ASSAM, AND FROM KASHMIR TO AHMEDNAGAR.
HIS STATE FUNCTIONED ON THE SOUND PRINCIPLE OF PEACEFUL
CO-EXISTENCE WITH HIS NON-BELIEVING SUBJECTS AND WAS BASED ON SUCH
SECULAR INSTITUTIONS AS THE MANSABDARI. HE UNITED THE COUNTRY
UNDER A UNIFORM CULTURAL, POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM. HE
PLANTED HIS KINGSHIP, IN THE INDIAN SOIL AND MADE IT AN INDIAN
THING, THUS EARNING THE HONORIFIC EPITHET 'CHAKRAVARTIN'. HE MADE
A NATION OUT OF A MOB, WHICH IS WHY HE IS STYLED: 'AKBAR THE
GREAT'.
HE WAS ALSO A GREAT BUILDER AND RAISED A SERIES OF FORTS
THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE. HE FOUNDED FATEHPUR SIKRI, AND BUILT ITS
BEAUTIFUL PALACES IN THE COMPOSITE STYLE. HE REBUILT AGRA FORT AND
RAISED NUMEROUS PALATIAL MANSIONS IN IT. HE ALSO PLANNED HIS OWN
TOMB AND SELECTED A SITE FOR IT, NEAR THE JAMUNA RIVER, AT SIKANDARA WHICH WAS RENAMED 'BIHISHTABAD' (THE HEAVENLY ABODE). HE
DIED IN 1605 WHEN ITS CONSTRUCTION HAD JUST BEGUN. IT WAS
COMPLETED BY HIS SON JEHANGIR IN 1612, ON THE ORIGINAL DESIGN OF
AKBAR.
THE TOMB IS PLANNED IN THE CENTRE OF A VAST GARDEN ENCLOSED BY
HIGH WALLS ON ALL SIDES, WITH A MONUMENTAL, BUILDING IN THE MIDDLE
OF EACH ONE, THAT ON THE SOUTH SIDE BEING THE GATEWAY. THE GARDEN
IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR EQUAL QUARTERS, ON THE CHAR-BAGH PLAN, EACH
QUARTER SEPARATED BY A HIGH TERRACE OR CAUSEWAY OF STONE MASONRY
OF 75 FEET WIDTH WITH A SMALL WATER CHANNEL RUNNING IN ITS CENTRE
AND RAISED WALK-WAYS ON THE SIDES. THEIR BEAUTIFUL JALI RAILINGS
(BALUSTRADES) HAVE ALL BEEN PLUNDERED AND, WITHOUT THEM, THESE
WALK-WAYS LOOK BARREN AND DIFICIENT. THEY ARE DISTINCTLY RAISED FROM
THE GARDEN, FROM WHICH THEY ARE APPROACHED BY STAIRCASES WITH
CASCADES AND LILY-PONDS. THERE ARE NO CYPRESS AVENUES OR FLOWER
BEDS RISING ABOVE THE CHANNELS ON THE CAUSEWAYS. THUS, THOUGH THE
TOMB STRUCTURE HAS BEEN PRESENTED IN A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN-SETTING,
IT HAS A CHARACTER FULL OF DIGNITY, SOBRIETY, THOUGHTFULNESS AND
QUIETITUDE, RATHER THAN OF DELICACY, GAIETY OR SPLENDOUR, IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE PERSONALITY OF AKBAR. IT HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO
BE AN ELEGY, RATHER THAN A LYRIC.
THE GATEWAY ON THE SOUTH SIDE IS TWO-STOREYED. IT HAS AN
 IWAN-PORTAL,
61 FEET IN HEIGHT, EACH ON ITS NORTH AND SOUTH SIDES, FLANKED BY
DOUBLE ALCOVES. THE WHOLE EXTERIOR HAS BEEN GORGEOUSLY FINISHED IN
MOSAIC AND INLAY OF COLOUR STONES IN VARIOUS DESIGNS. THE MOST
IMPORTANT FEATURE OF THIS GATEWAY IS THE SET OF FOUR CIRCULAR,
TAPERING MINARS OF WHITE MARBLE WHICH RISE FROM THE CORNERS OF ITS
ROOF, WHERE NORMALLY CHHATRIS WOULD HAVE BEEN PLACED. EACH MINAR
IS IN THREE STOREYS SEPARATED BY BALCONIES AND IS CROWNED BY A
CHHATRI. THIS NOVEL FEATURE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY THE
MINARETS OF THE CHAR-MINAR OF HYDERABAD, BUILT BY MUHAMMAD QULI
QUTB SHAH, c.1591. THIS GATE HAS PERSIAN INSCRIPTIONS, CARVED IN
RELIEF, ON THE SOUTH AND NORTH IWANS AND INSIDE THE HALL. THE
SOUTH ONE IS A LONG PANEGYRIC IN PRAISE OF JEHANGIR. IT MENTIONS
'ABDUL HAQ SHIRAZI, THE CALLIGRAPHER, AND THE DATE 1021 A.H. (1612
A.D) OF ITS COMPLETION. TWELVE PERSIAN COUPLETS ARE INSCRIBED IN
ORNAMENTAL CARTOUCHES INSIDE THE HALL. THEY EULOGISE AKBAR. THE
INSCRIPTION ON THE NORTHERN IWAN IS ALSO EULOGICAL AND PRAISES
AKBAR AND HIS TOMB. IT ALSO REFLECTS HIS PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS. TWO
COUPLETS INSCRIBED ABOVE THE NORTHERN ENTRANCE DOORWAY INTRODUCE
THE TOMB. AS A WHOLE, THIS GATEWAY IS A FULL MONUMENT AND CAN
STAND INDEPENDENTLY ANYWHERE ELSE.
THE MAIN TOMB HAS A UNIQUE DESIGN. IT IS SQUARE IN PLAN AND IS IN
FIVE RECEDING STOREYS. THE GROUND FLOOR HAS SPACIOUS DALANS, WITH
AN IWAN PORTAL IN THE MIDDLE ON EACH SIDE. EACH PORTAL IS
SURMOUNTED BY AN OBLONG 8-PILLARED CHHAPRAKHAT OF WHITE MARBLE.
THE SOUTH PORTAL HAS A VESTIBULE LEADING INTO THE GRAVE CHAMBER.
IT HAS QURANIC VERSES IN STUCCO AND PAINTING. AN OCTAGONAL TOWER,
SUPERIMPOSED BY AN EIGHT-PILLARED CHHATRI, IS ATTACHED TO EACH
CORNER OF THIS STOREY WHICH IS, TECHNICALLY, JUST A PLINTH OF THE
TOMB WHICH RESTS ON IT IN FOUR RECEDING STOREYS. THE LOWER THREE
ARE COMPOSED OF ARCHED DALANS SUPPORTED ON PILLARS, AND CHHATRIS
ATTACHED TO THEM. THE TOPMOST STOREY, BUILT ENTIRELY OF WHITE
MARBLE, HAS AN OPEN SQUARE COURT, 70 FEET SIDE, SURROUNDED BY 9
FEET WIDE ARCHED DALANS ON THE FOUR SIDES. A CENOTAPH IS PLACED ON
THE PLATFORM IN THE COURT. ALL EXTERNAL ARCHES ARE CLOSED BY JALI
PANELS. A BEAUTIFUL PANEGYRIC, IN 36 PERSIAN COUPLETS, IN PRAISE
OF AKBAR, IS CARVED ON THE ARCHES FACING THE COURT. THEY BOLDLY
INSCRIBE AKBAR'S PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS. THERE IS NO DOME OR
BARAHDARI, AND THE SUPERSTRUCTURE IS VACANT. IN FACT, IT MARKS THE
BEGINNING OF A DISTINCT CLASS OF DOMELESS TOMBS OF THE MUGHAL
PERIOD. THOUGH IT IS BUILT OF RED SANDSTONE, JEHANGIR HAS USED
WHITE MARLBE ON THE GATE MINARETS, IWAN - CHHAPARKHATS AND THE
TOPMOST STOREY.
ONE OF THE FINEST MASTERPIECES OF THE GREAT MUGHALS, THIS TOMB IS
A BEFITTING MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF A GREAT KING OF THE STATUS
OF AKBAR. IT WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED IN 18TH CENTURY AND THE
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA RESTORED IT BETWEEN 1902 AND 1911.
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