Page 13 - IIUM Press Rights Catalogue 2020

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Architecture as a Celebration of Multi-Culturalism
Shaukat Mahmood, Zuraini Denan & Shireen Jahnkassim
ISBN 978-967-418-336-3
Pages : 105
Price : RM 35.00 / € 10.00
Year : 2014

Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, India, a UNESCO World
Heritage site, has been the subject of various
scholarly articles and books in the past. This book
represents a revisit to this famous complex as
a constant reminder of a multi-cultural and multi-
faith stance of the Mughal civilisation in general,
and a hallmark of Akhbar’s reign and philosophy
of leadership in particular. One is constantly
reminded of the possibilities of human and cultural co-existence – unity
within multiplicity-where traditions from different religious, world views
and backgrounds come together. It is this distinctive balance and
equipoise between different worlds and cultures that embodies Fatehpur
Sikri.

This ethos is reflected in the many aspect of the architecture of this
complex – from its unique and innovative style from diverse religious
and cultures - to its ingenious planning, layout and exquisite architectural
details. There is a powerful synthesis of various regional schools of
architectural craftsmanship such as Gujarat and Bengal, Hindu and Jain
architecture and traditional Islamic elements. According to contemporary
historians, seeking to have the best of worlds, including to retain the
memory of his past heritage and yet to celebrate the present, Akhbar
sought and managed to combine strands from his ancestor’s Persian style
with the influence of Indian traditions which is celebrated amongst others
in the typically Indian ornamentation based on the pattern and forms
derived from Arab-Islamic and central Asian traditions. In its entirety, the
monuments at Fatehpur Sikri celebrate the notion of the co-existence of
man-kind and cultures. The assimilation of diverse regional architectural
influences and the all-embracing ethos of the Mughal civilisation of its
time is brought to light in an analysis of this complex.