Book Description
Entitled as it is, this is devoted to the study of the Architecture of Fatehpur Sikri, the township of Akbar, the Great, and its forms, techniques and concepts. The first chapter deals with Babur's Jal-Mahal which has been identified for the first time. The second chapter is on the formative process whereby a cosmopolitan style is formed by the assimilation of disparate building traditions, in respect of Mughal Architecture (which was, originally, a part of the paper for the XXVI International Congress of the History of Art, Washington D.C. 11-18 August 1986).The third chapter studies architecture of Fatehpur Sikri in respect of the sources and determinants of its forms; its town-planning; plan and design of its buildings; and façade and superstructure (in its original form, it was read in the International Symposium on Fatehpur Sikri held at the Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts, U.S.A. on 17-19 October 1985).Such distinctive features of its architecture as 'khaprel' roof, 'chhappar' and 'ladāo' ceilings, 'tibārā' 'duchhattī' and 'jālī' have been studied in separate chapters, in full details, in order to elucidate their significance in the formation of this style. The Hiran-Mīnār and the Panch-Mahal, two representative buildings of Fatehpur Sikri, have similarly been studied in separate chapters, the former in respect of its Meaning and Purpose, and the latter in respect of its Architectural Derivation and Raison d'etre. The problem of 'nomenclature' of medieval monuments which has largely confused their history, has been discussed in the chapter on 'Todarmal's Bārahdarī', which too bears this misnomer a little too heavily, and attempt has been made to identify it architecturally. An introductory chapter on Masons'-Marks has also been given.Amazingly, there is nothing experimental, and Fatehpur Sikri's is a fully developed, 16th century A.D., Native Style of India, with minimal true-arched, true-vaulted and true-domed forms! It is, essentially, STONE-WORK, and even large ceilings have been built, in a wide variety with stone beams-and-slabs, stone ribs-and-panels and stone brackets-chhajjā -an h ols. Its art is a faithful reflection of Akbar's personality, in the right earnest, and his reign (1556-1605 A.D.), which is the most important phase of the Medieval period, cannot be historically comprehensive without study of Fatehpur Sikri.
