Part 6 (1/2)
The great mosque of Fatehpur is worthy of its founder's lofty ideals and n.o.bility of soul. It is one of the most magnificent of all Akbar's buildings; the historic a.s.sociations connected with it combine with its architectural splendour to make it one of the most impressive of its kind in the world. It is said to be copied from one at Mecca; but this cannot be altogether true, because, though the plan and general design follow Muhammadan precedent, many of the details show Akbar's Hindu proclivities.
Within the great mosque, Akbar frequently held religious discussions with the learned doctors of Islam; and here, also, after the chief Mullahs had signed the famous doc.u.ment which declared Akbar to be Head of the Church, the Emperor mounted the pulpit, and stood before the congregation as the expounder of ”the Divine Faith.” He commenced to read a _Khutbah_, or litany, which Faizi, Abul Fazl's brother, had composed for the occasion--
”The Lord, who gave to us dominion, Wisdom, and heart and strength, Who guided us in truth and right, And cleansed our mind from all but right, None can describe His power or state, Allahu Akbar--G.o.d is Great.”
But before he could finish three lines of it, the sense of the tremendous responsibility he had undertaken overpowered him. He descended the pulpit trembling with emotion, and left the Imam of the mosque to continue the service.
There are two entrances, approached by broad flights of steps. The one on the east side is the Emperor's Gate, by which Akbar entered the mosque from the palace, and the other, the majestic Baland Darwaza, or High Gate, which towers above everything on the south side, and even dwarfs the mosque itself with its giant proportions. The latter gate, however, was not a part of the original design, but was added many years after the completion of the mosque, to celebrate Akbar's victorious campaign in the Deccan.
The mosque itself was built in honour of the Saint of Fatehpur, Sheikh Salim Chishti, whose tomb, enclosed in a shrine of white marble, carved with the delicacy of ivory-work, glitters like silver on the right of the quadrangle. Barren women, both Hindu and Muhammadan, tie bits of string or shreds of cloth to the marble trellis-work as tokens that if blessed with a son they will present an offering to the shrine. Close by is a plainer, but much larger mausoleum, for his grandson, Nawab Islam Khan, who was made Governor of Bengal by Jahangir. This also contains the remains of many other of the Sheikh's male descendants. A separate vault, called the Zanana Rauza, for the women of his family is formed by enclosing a portion of the adjoining cloisters.
The mosque proper contains three chapels, crowned by domes. The princ.i.p.al one, in the centre, is screened by the facade of the entrance, the doorway being recessed, in the usual style of Saracenic buildings, in a great porch or semi-dome. An inscription over the main archway gives the date of the completion of the mosque as A.D. 1571. The chapels are connected with each other by n.o.ble colonnades of a decidedly Hindu or Jain character. The Saracenic arches combine most happily with the Hindu construction, and the view down the ”long-drawn aisles” is singularly impressive. Much of the charm of the interior is due to the quiet reserve and dignity of the decoration, which is nearly all in the style of Arabian mosques, and may account for the statement on the central arch, that ”this mosque is a duplicate of the Holy Place” (at Mecca).
At each end of the mosque there is a set of five rooms for the mullahs who conducted the service; above them are galleries for the ladies of the zanana. s.p.a.cious cloisters surround three sides of the quadrangle; these are divided into numerous cells for the _maulvis_ and their pupils.
The triumphal gateway, called the BALAND DARWAZA (Plate XIII.), is really a building in itself. It must be seen from the outside of the quadrangle, for, magnificent as it is there, it certainly does not harmonize with the mosque viewed from the quadrangle. This mighty portal, 176 feet in height from the roadway, is a landmark for miles around. From the top of it the Taj, twenty-five miles away, and the distant Fort of Bharatpur are visible.
There are three doors recessed in the immense alcove on the front of the gate. One is the horseshoe door, so called from the numerous votive offerings of owners of sick horses, donkeys, and bullocks, which were nailed on in the hope of obtaining the favour of the saint. The doorway on the right of this has the following inscription carved over it in Arabic:--
”His Majesty, King of kings, Heaven of the Court, Shadow of G.o.d, Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, Emperor. He conquered the kingdom of the South and Dandes, which was formerly called Khandes, in the 46th Divine year [_i.e._ of his reign] corresponding to the Hijira year, 1010 [A.D. 1602]. Having reached Fatehpur, he proceeded to Agra. Said Jesus, on whom be peace! The world is a bridge, pa.s.s over it, but build no house there. He who hopeth for an hour, may hope for eternity; the world is but an hour, spend it in devotion; the rest is worth nothing,”
Over the left doorway is the following:--
”He that standeth up in prayer, and his heart is not in it, does not draw nigh to G.o.d, but remaineth far from Him. Thy best possession is what thou givest in the name of G.o.d; thy best traffic is selling this world for the next.”
Akbar himself died four years after this great sermon in stone was written.
The Stone-Cutters' Mosque.
At the back of the great mosque is a graveyard containing the tomb of an infant son of Sheikh Salim. The legend concerning him is, that at the age of six months he addressed his father, telling him that all of Akbar's children must die in infancy, unless some child died for them. He therefore had resolved to sacrifice himself for the Emperor's sake, and immediately after this miraculous speech he died. Jahangir was born nine months afterwards. Sceptics have suggested that he was really a son of the Sheikh, subst.i.tuted for a still-born child of Mariam Zamani.
Some distance beyond this tomb there is a small mosque, built in honour of the saint by the quarrymen of Fatehpur, before he had attracted the notice of the great Emperor. It is called the Stone-Cutters'
Mosque, and is supposed to have been erected on the site of the cave where he lived the life of a hermit It is an unpretending little building; the brackets which support the cornice are the only noticeable architectural features. They are direct imitations of wooden construction, and are copied, with greater elaboration of carving, in the marble shrine inside the Jami Masjid. The cell where the saint is said to have lived is on the right-hand corner of the mosque.
The birthplace of Jahangir is pointed out in a dilapidated palace not far from this mosque. It is occupied by a lineal descendant of Salim Chishti, and is only rarely shown to visitors.
The Houses of Abul Fazl and Faizi.
The houses where these two famous brothers, the friends of Akbar, lived, are close under the north wall of the great mosque. Their father, Sheikh Mubarak, was one of the most learned men of the age, and the sons were as distinguished as the father. Faizi was the Persian Poet Laureate, and tutor to the Royal Princes. He was also employed on many diplomatic missions. Abul Fazl was the author of the celebrated ”Akbarnama,” a history of the Mogul Emperors down to the forty-seventh year of Akbar's reign. He was for a long time Akbar's Prime Minister; he took a prominent part in the religious discussions inaugurated by the Emperor, and often discomfited the orthodox followers of Islam with his arguments. Sheikh Mubarak drew up the famous doc.u.ment declaring Akbar to be the Head of the Church, and both his sons subscribed to it. Abul Fazl declares that the doc.u.ment ”was productive of excellent results: (1) The Court became the resort of the learned men and sages of all creeds and nationalities; (2) Peace was given to all, and perfect tolerance prevailed; (3) the disinterested motives of the Emperor, whose labours were directed to a search after truth, were rendered clear, and the pretenders to learning and scholars.h.i.+p were put to shame.”
Notwithstanding his high character and generous disposition, Abul Fazl had many enemies at Court. He was at last a.s.sa.s.sinated at the instigation of Jahangir, who believed him to be responsible for a misunderstanding between himself and his father.
There is nothing architecturally interesting about the two houses, which have been for some time used as a Zillah school.
Bharatpur and Other Places In the Vicinity of Agra.