AKBAR PERIOD ARCHITECTURE

building style that developed in India under the patronage of the Mughal emperor Akbar (reigned 15561605). The style is best exemplified by the fort at Agra (built 156574) and the magnificent city of Fatehpur Sikri (156974), but fine examples are also found in the gateway to the 'Arab Sara'i, Delhi (c. 1560), the Ajmer fort (156473), the Lahore fort with its outstanding decoration (15861618), and the Allahabad fort (158384), now largely dismantled. The architecture of the Akbar period is characterized by a strength made elegant and graceful by the rich decorative work. Many elements from the Hindu tradition were absorbed in the decorative work. The fortress-palace of Agra is impressive for the massive enclosure wall, its entire length of 1 1/2 miles (2 1/2 kilometres) faced with dressed stone. The main entranceway, which is known as the Delhi gate, is attractively decorated with white marble inlay against the warm red sandstone. The capital city of Fatehpur Sikri is one of the most notable achievements of Islamic architecture in India. The city, which was deserted only a few years after it was built, is a great complex of palaces and lesser residences and religious and official buildings, all erected on top of a rocky ridge 26 miles (42 kilometres) west of Agra. The so-called Divan-e Khass (Hall of Private Audience) is arresting in its interior arrangement, which has a single massive column encircled by brackets supporting a stone throne platform, from which radiate four railed balconies. The Jodha Bai palace and the residence of the emperor's friend, Birbal, again showin their niches and bracketsfeatures adopted from the religious and secular architecture of the Hindus. The most imposing of the buildings at Fatehpur Sikri is the great mosque, the Jami' Masjid, which served as a model for later congregational mosques built by the Mughals. The massive gateway, the Buland Darwazah (Victory Gate), gives a feeling of immense strength and height, an impression emphasized by the steepness of the flight of steps by which it is approached.