Paper Presented: SouthEast Chapter of the Society of Architectural History Annual Conference, October 2-4, 1997, Atlanta, U.S.A.

By: Samia Rab, Ph.D.

The fundamentals of the legal mechanism by which traditional kingship prevailed in most Islamic monarchies, ever since the death of the Prophet Mohammed, had not really been questioned by the first and the second Mughal Emporers, Babur and Hummayun. Both retained the separation between the Peshwa (the administrative leader of the state) and the Mujtahid (spiritual leader of the state). What sets the third Mughal Emporer, Jalaudin Akbar, apart from his predecessors is that he attempted to bridge the gap between the civic affairs and the religious affairs of ("realm and religion") of his state. This paper argues that the architecture of Diwan-i-Khas, Akbar's private audience hall at Fatehpur Sikri, represents his attempt to bridge the gap between the realm of the state and that of religion. This building, appearing as two stories, is actually a single space. A massive octagonal column, elaborately carved, is uniquely suspended between the lower hall and the upper gallery; it is in effect the throne of the Shahinshah. Historians have argued that Akbar occupied this central space, while a minister stood at each corner of the room awaiting his orders. In a private audience hall, direct visual contact was usually maintained, as we can see in almost all the fortress-palaces constructed by Mughal Shahinshahs across India. In the Diwan-i-Khas the lower section of the hall was meant for dignitaries and scholars of the court who could not directly observe the Shahinshah but could feel his presence. This was Akbar's way of insuring that scholars could debate issues related to the affairs of the state and argue amongst each other without direct visual contact with the Shahinshah. By suspending the throne in the middle of the space, the architect seems to have created a metaphorical link between the realm of the kingdom on earth and the roof of the heaven above. These two realms are linked by the mediating body of the Shahinshah, who is now the Peshwa of the kingdom, on matters of state, as well as, of religion.

Bridging the gap between "realm and religion" was one of the key issues that concerned Akbar throughout his life. The simultaneous, and sometimes metaphorical, discussion of "realm and religion" appears frequently in the writings of his court biographer, Abu Fazl, and his court historian, Badauni. During the period 1556-1669, Akbar was busy expanding the territories of the empire along with experimenting with various ways to provide a workable revenue system and an administrative framework for the portions of the empire. The resulting standard, or "regulations", have been regarded by many economic theorists as well ahead of their time. Some of these standards were even retained by the British while they ruled India and still form the basis for the provincial division of India and Pakistan. Akbar started to transform the legal mechanism of the Empire that he had inherited from his forefathers. This transformation finally resulted in Akbar's historic attempt to merge the "true" principles of all religions practiced in his empire into a form of a Divine Monotheism, the Din-i-Ilahi.

There could have been several influences on Akbar's quest for bridging the gap between "realm and religion". This paper touches upon four major influences: 1) The dialectic of religion in his life; 2) Akbar's early learning of the Sufi order; 3) His literary exposure to the reign of Ashoka; 4) His contacts with the Portuguese Ambassador and the Jesuit missions.

The influence of these thoughts and practices on the architecture of Akbar's reign can not be fully explored within this paper. Therefore, I have chosen one building which has raised several historical interpretations, in terms of its meaning. The Diwan-i-Khas being the Shahinshah's private audience chamber was meant for private meetings between the Emperor and his ministers and other affiliates who assisted him in running the affairs of his Empire's "realm and religion."