Book Description

This is comprehensive study (with illustrations: Persian Inscriptions, figures and plates) of the Tomb of Akbar, the Great (1556-1605 A.D.), who created the Imperial Mughal Empire in India, extending from Kabul to Assam and Kashmir to Ahmednagar, situated at Sikandara Agra. Its a vast chār-bāgh (four-quartered) plan, the four quarters separated by extremely wide causeways, and monumental gates in the middle of the four sides, that on the southern side being the Main Gateway. The Tomb, with a unique design, is cited in the centre of this plan. Though finished entirely in red sandstone, white marble as an alternative building material has been marvelously introduced here and the whole uppermost (fifth) storey of the main Tomb and the four minarets of the Main Gateway have been built of white marble. Almost all motifs and designs such as animate, geometrical, arabesques, stalactites and naturalistic and stylized florals have been used here in stone-carving, jali-art and colour schemes (mural painting, stucco, glazed-tiling, mosaic and inlay) which were then known in the Orient. Yet the effect of the Tomb, as a whole is architectonic and it represents the majestic and dignified personality of Akbar. Akbar began its construction himself (in 1605) and it was finished by his son Jehangir (in 1612). It is noteworthy that the Tomb of Humayun, Akbar's father, situated at Delhi, was built a little earlier, during Akbar's reign (c. 1560-1570 A.D.). While it is recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site, the tomb of Akbar the Great, at Agra, has not so far been marked as such, though it is much more spacious, architecturally much more ingeniously laid-out and planned, and much more gorgeously finished than Humayun's Tomb, and, in fact, it much more deserves this global recognition. Perhaps, the decision-makers have not yet seen it. Contents-2List of Persian Inscriptions-4-6List of Illustrations (Satellite Images, Figures and Plates)Bibliographical Abbreviations -7Preface-8Chapters (1). Akbar, the Great -9-13(2).History of the Tomb -14-18(3).Garden and Water-Devices -19-23(4).East and West Ornamental Gates -24-27(5).The South (Main) Gateway -28-30(6).The Minarets -31-32(7).Persian Inscriptions of the South Gateway-33-42(8).The Main Tomb -43-59(9).The Epilogue -60-61References -62-63PLATES-64-115