In which of the following palace built by Akbar in Fatehpur Sikri the Buddhist architecture was followed ?

Correct — option (3), Panch Mahal.

The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. XII (1908), describing Akbar's palace buildings at Fatehpur Sikri, says: 'The Panch Mahal consists of five galleries, one above another, and appears to have been copied from a Buddhist model.'

The Gazetteer describes the other three buildings in other terms. Shaikh Salim Chishti's tomb is a carved marble building with a lattice screen, inside the great quadrangle of the mosque; the Buland Darwaza is the lofty gate to that quadrangle.

The Turkish Sultana's palace, it says, is of sandstone, richly carved with geometrical patterns and hunting scenes.

The building linked with a Buddhist model is option (3), Panch Mahal.

The idea to remember: Panch Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri: five galleries stacked one above another, which the Imperial Gazetteer says appear copied from a Buddhist model.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Shaikh Salim Chisti’s Tomb — The Imperial Gazetteer describes the tomb as a marble building with elaborately carved walls, its sarcophagus enclosed by a lattice screen and a canopy inlaid with mother-of-pearl. UNESCO says it stands within the Jama Masjid and was completed in 1580–81.

  Shaikh Salim Chisti’s Tomb answers a question on the saint's marble tomb within Fatehpur Sikri's Jama Masjid.

• (2)
  Buland Darwaja — The Buland Darwaza is a gateway, not a Buddhist-style palace. UNESCO says this 40-metre gate, to the south of the mosque's court, was completed in 1575 to commemorate the victory of Gujarat in 1572.

  Buland Darwaja answers a question on the gateway built to commemorate Akbar's Gujarat victory.

• (4)
  Turki Sultana’s palace — The Imperial Gazetteer places the palace of the Turkish Sultana in the southern half of a great courtyard, with Akbar's private apartments, and describes it as sandstone richly carved with geometrical patterns and hunting scenes.

  Turki Sultana’s palace answers a question on the Fatehpur Sikri pavilion carved with hunting scenes.

Fatehpur Sikri grew around the ridge where, the Imperial Gazetteer says, the saint Salim Chishti lived and foretold to Akbar the birth of a son. It dates the start of building to 1569; UNESCO dates the city's construction to 1571–73.

The Gazetteer describes the palace block starting on its west side: the Jodh Bai palace, then, beyond the houses of Birbal and Miriam, a great courtyard whose southern half holds Akbar's private apartments and the Turkish Sultana's palace, and whose northern portion holds the Panch Mahal and Diwan-i-Khas.

UNESCO calls the buildings an amalgamation of indigenous and Persian styles, built mostly of red sandstone.

Key facts

• Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908): the Panch Mahal has five galleries, one above another, and appears copied from a Buddhist model.
• UNESCO describes the Panch Mahal as an entirely columnar five-storey structure on the pattern of a Persian badgir, or wind-catcher tower.
• UNESCO: the Buland Darwaza, 40 m high, was completed in 1575 to commemorate the victory of Gujarat in 1572.
• UNESCO: Shaikh Salim Chishti's tomb, within the Jama Masjid, was completed in 1580–81 and further embellished under Jahangir in 1606.
• The Imperial Gazetteer says Akbar began building Fatehpur in 1569; UNESCO dates the city's construction to 1571–73.

Common traps

• Treating the Buddhist model as the only reading: UNESCO likens the Panch Mahal to a Persian badgir, or wind-catcher tower.
• Tying the Buland Darwaza to the city's founding: UNESCO says it was completed in 1575 to mark the Gujarat victory of 1572.
• Mixing the religious buildings: Salim Chishti's tomb stands within the Jama Masjid, and the Buland Darwaza lies to the south of its court.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to UNESCO, the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri was completed to commemorate which victory?

  • (a)The victory of Gujarat
  • (b)The conquest of Chittor
  • (c)The victory at Panipat
  • (d)The conquest of Kashmir
  Answer(1) — UNESCO says the Buland Darwaza was completed in 1575 to commemorate the victory of Gujarat in 1572. Options (2), (3) and (4) are not the victory UNESCO names.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908), which building at Fatehpur Sikri is richly carved with geometrical patterns and hunting scenes?

  • (a)Panch Mahal
  • (b)Palace of the Turkish Sultana
  • (c)Diwan-i-Khas
  • (d)Buland Darwaza
  Answer(2) — The Gazetteer describes the Turkish Sultana's palace as sandstone richly carved with geometrical patterns and hunting scenes. It describes option (1) as five stacked galleries, option (3) as a hall with an enormous octagonal pillar, and option (4) as the lofty gate to the mosque's quadrangle.