Akbar's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was built in 1605–1613 by his son, Jahangir and is situated on 119 acres of grounds in Sikandra, a sub of

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Location

It is located at Sikandra, in the suburbs of Agra, on the

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

road (NH2), 8 km west-northwest of the city center. About 1 km away from the tomb, lies,

Tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani The Tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani or Mariam's Tomb is the mausoleum of Mariam-uz-Zamani, commonly known as Jodha bai, the favorite wife of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. The tomb was built by her son Jahangir, in her memory between years 1623-1627 and ...

, his favourite wife,

Mariam-uz-Zamani Mariam-uz-Zamani (); ( – 19 May 1623), commonly known by the misnomer ' Jodha Bai', was the chief consort and principal Rajput empress consort as well as the favourite wife of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. She was also the longest-servin ...

, who after the death of Akbar laid a large garden around his tomb and was later buried there by her son, Jahangir.

History

After Akbar's death, his son Jahangir planned and completed the construction of his father's tomb in 1605–1613. It cost 1,500,000 rupees to build and took 3 or 4 years to complete.

, after the death of her husband, Akbar, laid a large garden around his tomb. During the reign of Aurangzeb,

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

s rose in rebellion under the leadership of Raja Ram Jat. Mughal prestige suffered a blow when

s ransacked Akbar's tomb, plundering and looting the gold, jewels, silver, and carpets.Catherine Blanshard Asher, Catherine Ella Blanshard Asher, 1992
"Architecture of Mughal India - Part 1"
Cambridge University Press, Volume 4, Page 108. The grave was opened and the late king's bones were burned.Edward James Rap; son, Sir Wolseley Haig and Sir Richard, 1937
"The Cambridge History of India"
Cambridge University Press, Volume 4, pp.305.Waldemar Hansen, 1986
"The Peacock Throne: The Drama of Mogul India"
Page 454. As Viceroy of India, George Curzon directed extensive repairs and restoration of Akbar's mausoleum, which were completed in 1905. Curzon discussed the restoration of the mausoleum and other historical buildings in Agra in connection with the passage of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act in 1904 when he described the project as "an offering of reverence to the past and a gift of recovered beauty to the future". This preservation project may have discouraged veneration of the mausoleum by pilgrims and people living nearby.

Architecture

The south gate is the largest, with four white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

chhatri ''Chhatri'' are elevated, dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indo-Islamic architecture and Indian architecture. Originating as a canopy above tombs, they serve as decorative elements. The earliest example of chhatri being used in the ...

-topped minarets which are similar to (and pre-date) those of the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

, and is the normal point of entry to the tomb. The tomb itself is surrounded by a walled enclosure 105 m square. The tomb building is a four-tiered pyramid, surmounted by a marble pavilion containing the false tomb. The true tomb, as in other mausoleums, is in the basement. The buildings are constructed mainly from a deep red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, enriched with features in white marble. Decorated inlaid panels of these materials and a black slate adorn the tomb and the main gatehouse. Panel designs are geometric, floral and calligraphic, and prefigure the more complex and subtle designs later incorporated in Itmad-ud-Daulah's Tomb.Akbar's Tomb
''Architecture of Mughal India, Part 1, Volume 4'', by Catherine Ella Blanshard Asher.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, 1992. . ''p. 107''.

Gallery

File:Unknowntomb.JPG, An unknown Lodi tomb in Akbar's Tomb complex File:Tumba de Akbar el Grande-Sikandra-India07.JPG, Barrel vault File:Sikandra 066.JPG, Front Façade File:Sikandra 036.JPG, Circumferential Gallery around the

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

File:Sikandra 093.JPG, View of South Gate from Interior File:The Tomb of Akbar at Sikandra.jpg, The Tomb of Akbar, c. 1905 File:Main entrance of Akbar's Tomb complex from inside.jpg, Main entrance of Akbar's Tomb complex from inside. File:Tomb ceiling detail, Tomb of Akbar the Great, Sikandra, Agra.jpg, Tomb ceiling details, Tomb of Akbar, Sikandra Image:LDAkbarTombInlay1.jpg, Inlay panels on the South Gate File:Calligraphy over the entrance to the main burial chamber at Akbar's tomb.jpg, Calligraphy over the entrance to the main burial chamber. File:The true tomb of Akbar, at the basement of the tomb, Sikandra.jpg, True tomb of Akbar, at the basement of the tomb. File:Kanch Mahal, Sikandara, Agra.JPG, Kanch Mahal, built by Jehangir, as a harem quarter later used as a hunting lodge. File:Inside work of Akbar's tomb.jpg, Inside work of Akbar's tomb File:Entrance Arch (inside details) of main Cenotaph.jpg, Entrance Arch (inside details) of main Cenotaph File:Akbar's Tomb 2.jpg, Akbar's Tomb at basement

References

External links

ASI's page on Akbar's tomb
{{coord, 27, 13, 13.7, N, 77, 57, 1.7, E, region:IN_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1613 Buildings and structures in Agra Mughal tombs Mausoleums in Uttar Pradesh Persian gardens in India Tourist attractions in Agra Akbar 1613 establishments in the Mughal Empire Sandstone buildings in India