Fatehpur Sikri - A Search For The Truth Part 1

At Sunset, the red sandstone buildings of Fatehpur Sikri a town about 43 Kms from the city of Agra, look grand but, there is an air of mystery which surrounds the buildings. We are greeted by eerie silence. The air feels dense. The long shadows cast by the setting sun seems to mirror the gloomy past witnessed by the walls of this fort city.  The Buland Darwaza, the main entrance to this ancient fort, looks foreboding. Its gates look daunting, unyielding of the ancient secret housed within its walls! Centuries of secrets about war, treachery, incest and royal politics are contained within its massive doors. It seems unnerving to tackle the doors. We abandon our resolve to force open the doors at dusk and return to the fort in the morning.

The ancient fort sits on a rocky ledge. It covers an area of 3 Sq Kms and is enclosed within 6 Kms of massive wall on three sides and by a lake on the fourth side. It is said to have been built between 1569 and 1585; a massive ancient city, completed in just 16 years! A nagging doubt arises in our mind. How was a city, spread over 3 sq Kms developed in just 16 years? The West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in North America is sprawled over 0.5 Sq Kms. It is just 1/6^th of the area of Fatehpur Sikri but, it took nearly 30 years to near construction. The mall was built in 3 phases with each phase nearing completion in a decade. The suburban area of Evergreen in the City of Calgary in Canada covers an area of 4.6 Sq Km; construction was completed in two sections. Just for the older section, the completion took 19 years from 1980 to 1999. If construction of residential and commercial complexes take over 16 years in modern times with the help of computers and power tools, it should have taken more than 16 years to complete Fatehpur Sikri which, was constructed with the help of ancient manual tools. To complicate matters, many European travelers who visited the city during this period, did not notice construction on a massive scale. The travelers should have come across large work camps, excavation and storage zones and yet, they only remark that the city seems to have been developed overnight as if by magic! Where did the construction crew with their work animals stay? Where was the area cordoned off to store raw materials? What did they do with the excavated earth? Will this ancient city reveal the answers to our questions? We are sure that the clue must be contained within its walls. We proceed with the tour with eyes searching for any possible clues.

As we walk through the fort observing the buildings, it is hard to miss the similarity they share with other forts known to have been constructed by the Rajput kings. The buildings and the great tank, look more Hindu than Islamic. It almost feels as if the tank should have been part of a temple.  

The great hallway part of the Jama Masjid reminds us of hallways in Hindu temples. We wonder why anyone would use such tightly placed columns in a mosque.

 

The walls of the buildings are further adorned with swastika symbols. When we raise this question, the guides pour forth the well-rehearsed answer. “The city was founded in 1569 by the Mughal emperor Akbar, and served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585.The planned construction of the city took 16 years. Akbar planned the architecture of the city by fusing together Persian style with traditional Indian architecture. Thus, he created a style which was unique and was his own design. The emperor known as”Akbar the great”,  was the greatest emperor during the Mughal period. He is known to have fostered religious tolerance to foster communal harmony between the Hindus and the Muslims. “ The era of his rule is quite often portrayed as the golden age of peace and prosperity.

Intrigued by the facts we have just learnt about the great Mughal emperor, we proceed to the library for some research. Here, we come across a biography about the emperor titled “Akbar Nama” written by Abul Fazl., the vizier of the emperor. Hailing from a family which faced hardship, Fazl quickly rose to great heights within Akbar’s ministry on account of his sharp mind.

The very first thing we learn about the emperor from Fazl’s biography is that, he wasn’t an Indian. More than his citizenship, his ancestry shocks us!

Continued On: http://theforgottenempiresofindia.blogspot.ca/2015/10/fatehpur-sikri-search-for-truth-part-2.html