The Controversial Side Of Fatehpur Sikri

Whenever you read a book about Fatehpur Sikri or watch a documentary, you are told about the fascinating story of 3rd Mughal Akbar and his endeavors, fancy story of a saint and grand structures built by Akbar during his stay here and afterwards as well. But today we will learn about an old controversy associated with this place. I am sure that you will be surprised to know a few facts and evidences which will change your perspective towards this historical monument.

                            Fatehpur Sikri is about 35 km from Agra city near the border of Rajasthan. It was the capital of the Mughal Sultanate from 1571 to 1585. Here Mughal emperor Akbar built many palaces. Built the lofty door. Along with this, a red stone dargah of Muslim saint Sheikh Salim Chishti was built. It was later made of white marble by Mughal emperor Jahangir. Fatehpur Sikri is a tourist town. Every day, thousands of tourists, both domestic and foreign, visit the Fatehpur Sikri Memorial, Buland Darwaza and the Dargah (shrine) of Sheikh Salim Chisti to pay obeisance. The Archaeological Survey of India is responsible for its maintenance. 

Salim Chishti Tomb taken by Samuel Bourne in 1865.
Buland Darwaza, source: Internet

Salim was born in the forest of Sikri: Senior historian says that in my book ‘Yeh Kaisa Itihas’ it is written that the first two sons of the Mughal emperor died at a young age. Akbar was very hurt by this. He started taking blessings from saints and mahatmas. When Akbar heard about Sheikh Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, he made a vow that if a son was born, he would go to Ajmer on foot. I met Sheikh Salim Chishti, a Muslim saint living in the forest of Sikri, far from Agra. Sheikh Salim Chishti said that there will be three sons. On this, Akbar said, “I will give away my son in your service.”

An illustration of Akbar praying Salim Chishti.

When Akbar’s queen Harka Bai aka Jodha (a popular name) became pregnant, Akbar sent the queen to Sheikh Salim Chishti in the last time of pregnancy. There he had a son. They named him Salim. This Salim later became Jahangir. On this, Akbar built the dargah of Sheikh Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri.

When Akbar’s queen Harka Bai aka Jodha (a popular name) became pregnant, Akbar sent the queen to Sheikh Salim Chishti in the last time of pregnancy. There he had a son. They named him Salim. This Salim later became Jahangir. On this, Akbar built the dargah of Sheikh Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri.

Senior historian says that the battle between Mughal dynasty founder Babur and Maharaja Rana Sanga of Mewar took place in Khanwa near Fatehpur Sikri

( Read More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khanwa).

Rajput king Rana Sanga was defeated in this war. Only after this, the foundation of the Mughal dynasty was laid in India. The Mughal emperor considered Sikri auspicious for himself. Therefore, he shifted from Agra to Fatehpur in 1571. However, due to the water crisis, Akbar had to shift his capital from Fatehpur Sikri.

Controversy

A controversy has emerged over the dargah of Muslim saint Sheikh Salim Chishti located in Fatehpur Sikri. The Kshatriya Shaktipeeth (Temple dedicated to one or the other incarnation of Goddess Durga) Development Trust has approached the court regarding this. The trust has claimed that the place where the dargah of Sheikh Salim Chishti is located, there was a Kamakhya temple earlier. Sikri was the first capital of the Sikarwar Rajput kings. It was not built by Akbar. Akbar made only Fatehpur Sikri his capital.

In this, historians revealed that this area was earlier surrounded by the hills of Aravalli. Talking about the post-Paleolithic period, there were primitive humans in the caves of these hills. When did Sikri become a refuge for humans, how it got its name Fatehpur Sikri, read the details.

Senior historian Raj Kishore ‘Raje’ explains that in the post-Paleolithic period, this area was surrounded by forest and Aravalli hills. There was a big lake between the hills. Primitive humans lived in caves in the caves of the Aravalli hills. My book ‘Tawarikh-e-Agra’ traces the 7,000-year-old history of Agra and its surroundings. Due to mining, all the hills of Aravalli were destroyed. There are still some hills left in village Patsal, village Rasulpur, Madanpura and Jajali. In which there are rock shelters or caves of primitive humans. They were discovered by archaeologist Dr. Girraj Kumar, secretary of the Rock Art Society of India. Even today, there are frescoes made by primitive humans in the caves of these remaining hills. They are plants, animals, groups, dances, weapons. These are now being preserved by the ASI.

Rock paintings near Fatehpur Sikri

Senior historian Rajkishore ‘Raje’ explains that the ancient name of Fatehpur Sikri is written in many books. Senior historian PN Oak in his book ‘Bhartiya Itihas Ki Bhayankar Bhoolen’ (Terrible Blunders of Indian History) writes that the word Sikri is derived from the Sanskrit root word sikta i.e. sand. Such a place in the sandy Rajasthani section is called Sikar. Sikar’s feminine word is Sikri. Another such writer in his book mentions Fatehpur Sikri in the Mahabharata as Saic. Sack means one who is surrounded by water from all sides. When ASI excavated between 1999 and 2000, all the idols of Jainism were found here. Statues of Buddhism were also found.

Sruti Devi Jaina Saraswati (1010 A.D.) – Fatehpur Sikri Archaeological Museum
Ambika (7th – 8th century A.D.) – Fatehpur Sikri Archaeological Museum
Monkey figure (2nd century B.C. – 2nd century A.D.) – Fatehpur Sikri Archaeological Museum

According to the senior historian, there is a lot to know about what was at this place before this tomb. Along with this, there is also a need for excavation. A suit has been filed in the court. The truth of the claim can be ascertained by research and excavation.

God Ram sculpture on one of the pillars od Mariam Zamani palace
Jain Temple Sculpture on one of the brackets

Advocate Ajay Pratap Singh of Kshatriya Shaktipeeth Vikas Trust said that Mata Kamakhya, Asthan Mata Kamakhya, Arya Sanskriti Preservation Trust, Yogeshwar Sri Krishna Cultural Research Institute Trust, Kshatriya Shaktipeeth Development Trust have filed a suit in the court. In this, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, Management Committee Dargah Salim Chishti, Management Committee Jama Masjid have been made respondents. We have claimed in the suit that the temple of Kamakhya Mata was earlier located in place of the dargah of Salim Chishti in Fatehpur Sikri. Many evidences were found in the excavation of ASI.

Former ASI officer DB Sharma has described the construction of the suit property from the remains of Hindu and Jain temples on page number 86 of his book ‘Archaeology of Fatehpur Sikri – New Discoveries’. DB Sharma had excavated the ‘Bir Chhabili’ mound of Fatehpur Sikri during his tenure. Maa Saraswati and Jain idols were found in it. Their period was said to be around 1000 AD. Along with this, British officer EB Havells has described the pillars and roof of the suit property as Hindu sculpture. They have denied it is a mosque. In this case, the court has issued notice to the respondents and the matter is sub judice.

Books referred here:

https://garudabooks.com/archaeology-of-fatehpur-sikri-new-discoveries

I hope you have found this blog informative and if so please share this to your history buff friends and relatives. This will boost my zeal to write more blogs like this.

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Taj Mahal: A monument beyond love story Part-2

Hello everyone,

hope you enjoyed reading my last blog which was about the extraordinary foundation of the Taj mahal.

Today in this blog you will get to know another interesting thing about this fabulous architectural marvel and it is about it’s beautiful minarets.

The Taj Mahal looks unique because of it’s beautifully built minarets built around it. But do you know that this also has an interesting story behind.

in this context you will have to see a few pictures of few monuments, such as Tomb of Itimad ud daula or the Royal gate of the Taj Mahal or even both the adjacent structures. for your reference please these pictures below

The Tomb Of Itimad Ud Daula aka Baby Taj
Royal gate
Mosque of the Taj Mahal( Western Building)

You must have noticed that all these referred building have four minarets attached to them, which was an architectural compulsion. So this was supposed to be applied at the Taj mahal too.

Emperor Shahjahan who was the builder of the Taj Mahal wanted to build the Taj mahal bigger then any other previous mausoleums i.e. Akbar’s mausoleum in Agra and Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi.

But the foundation of the Taj mahal had its limitations. So the team of architects after long discourse, they came to a conclusion that if the can not make the Taj mahal desirably big at least they can make it look bigger.

This brought the Idea of separating it’s minarets away and build it a distance from the main mausoleum.

But again, this too was not so easy as if they would have built these minarets in usual pattern, the Taj mahal would have not been this beautiful because a normal tower or minaret is constructed with a wide base and tapering upper construction with narrow top. Isn’t it ? see the picture below for reference

If the Taj mahal had all it’s tower/minarets built in same technique, it would have looked as if it is tapering or squeezing at the top. so to counter this architectural issue they built all the towers around the Taj mahal in a way that the outer walls of all the towers become straight and parallel to the corner walls of the Taj Mahal and this is why the inner walls (wall facing the Taj mahal) of these towers look leaning away from the Taj Mahal( due to tapering reason).

And this makes the Taj mahal look perfectly straight from all it’s sides and make a World Heritage Monument look absolutely wonderful.

for reference see this picture below

I hope it was interesting information for you. If you like it please show your appreciation by sharing it with your family and friends. for more interesting stories keep looking at this page.

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Tajmahal: A monument beyond love story.

Hello evryone,

Its not new to talk about the great love story of The 5th Moughal Shahjahan and his beloved empress Mumtaj but here you would see something different.

Would you believe that this magnificent structure stands on a very uncommon foundation. Yes, it is.

As when the King ordered his chief architect to build it at the present site of construction, the man knew that it won’t last long if it is built over normal foundation as the geological properties of the land in Agra are very sandy very soft. Plus the river next to it could be a cause of sever damage due to heavy floods which occurs almost every monsoon.

So he gathered all his knowledge and people to come to a conclusion to build it over pillers. For which the huge man power was used to secure river bed area and dry it to make huge piles of about 30 ft depth. Walls of piles were tiled with Saal wood and the hollow was filled completely with rocks and limestone.

almost 142 pillers were made to raise arches over them to make strong enough to lay red sandstone platform over it.

then the structured the Tajmahal over it right at the centre to distribute it’s weight over foundation equally.

So why Saal wood? Because it when absorbs moisture it becomes flexible and it’s life increases. And limestone with moisture does not age it rather grows younger.

Hope you liked this blog, if so please share and keep looking here for more such interesting information.

Thankyou.

Picture Courtesy: The Constructer