Akbar's tomb

It is located at Sikandra, in the suburbs of Agra, on the Mathura road (NH2), 8 km west-northwest of the city center. About 1 km away from the tomb, lies, Tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani, his favourite wife,[1] who after the death of Akbar laid a large garden around his tomb[2] and was later buried there by her son, Jahangir.

Akbar's cenotaph inside the mausoleum, the real grave as per traditions lies below it

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.[3] Mariam-uz-Zamani, after the death of her husband, Akbar, laid a large garden around his tomb.[2]

During the reign of Aurangzeb, Jats rose in rebellion under the leadership of Raja Ram Jat. Mughal prestige suffered a blow when Jats ransacked Akbar's tomb, plundering and looting the gold, jewels, silver, and carpets.[4] The grave was opened and the late king's bones were burned.[5][6]

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.[7]

Sideway of Akbar's tomb

The south gate is the largest, with four white marble chhatri-topped minarets, which are similar to (and pre-date) those of the Taj Mahal, 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.[8] The buildings are constructed mainly from a deep red sandstone, 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.[9][10]

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  An unknown Lodi tomb in Akbar's tomb complex
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  Barrel vault
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  Front façade
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  Circumferential gallery around the cenotaph
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  View of South Gate from interior
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  The Tomb of Akbar, c. 1905
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  Main entrance of Akbar's tomb complex from inside
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  Tomb ceiling details, Tomb of Akbar, Sikandra
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  Inlay panels on the South Gate
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  Calligraphy over the entrance to the main burial chamber
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  True Tomb of Akbar, at the basement of the tomb
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  Kanch Mahal, built by Jehangir, as a harem quarter later used as a hunting lodge
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  Inside work of Akbar's tomb
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  Entrance Arch (inside details) of main Cenotaph
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  Akbar's tomb at basement

• Akbar
• Akbarnama
• Tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani, tomb of the chief queen consort of Akbar
• Tomb of Jahangir, tomb of Akbar's successor
• Humayun's Tomb, tomb of Akbar's father
• Bagh-e Babur, tomb of Akbar's grandfather

• Keene, Henry George (1899). "Sikandra". A Handbook for Visitors to Agra and Its Neighbourhood (6 ed.). Thacker, Spink & Co. p. 43.
• Havell, Ernest Binfield (1904). "Sikandra". A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri, and the Neighbourhood. Longmans, Green & Co., London.

Media related to Akbar's Tomb at Wikimedia Commons

• ASI's page on Akbar's tomb
• A painting of the tomb by William Purser, engraved by J Rolph, as an illustration to The Zenana., a poem by Letitia Elizabeth Landon.

27°13′13.7″N 77°57′1.7″E