Mughal CAPITALS

Capitals of Mughals

The capital cities of the Mughals frequently shifted duringthe sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Babur took over the Lodi capital of Agra, thoughduring the four years of his reign the court was frequently on the move. 

In 1560s Akbar had the fort of Agraconstructed with red sandstone quarried from the adjoining regions.

In the 1570s he decided to build a new capital, Fatehpur Sikri. One of the reasons prompting this may have been that Sikri was located on the direct road to Ajmer, where the dargah of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti had become an important pilgrimage centre.

The Mughal emperors entered into a close relationship with sufis of the Chishti silsila. Akbar commissioned the construction of a white marble tomb for Shaikh Salim Chishti next to the majestic Friday mosque at Sikri.

The enormous arched gateway (Buland Darwaza) was meant to remind visitors of the Mughal victory in Gujarat.

In 1585 the capital was transferred to Lahore to bring the north-west under greater control and Akbar closely watched the frontier for thirteen years.

Shah Jahan is known for his passion for buildings. In 1648 the court, army and household moved from Agra to the newly completed imperial capital, Shahjahanabad.

It was a new addition to the old residential city of Delhi, with the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, a tree-lined path with bazaars (Chandni Chowk) and spacious homes for the nobility. Shah Jahan’s new city was appropriate to a more formal vision of a grand monarchy