Art and Architecture under Akbar Reign

Mughal architecture first developed and flourished during the reign of Akbar the Great (r. 1556 - 1605), who commissioned palaces, mosques, gardens and mausoleums. The architecture was a synthesis of Persian, Turkic, Timurid Iranian, Central Asian, and Indian Hindu and Muslim styles.

Akbari architecture is also remarkable for its large-scale use of sandstone, evident both in the construction of Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's royal city, and Akbar's own tomb in Sikandra. The mosque at Fatehpur Sikri boasts the Buland Darwaza, the largest gateway of its kind in India. Early Mughal mosques had massive enclosed courtyards and domed shallow prayer halls.

One of the most stellar accomplishments of Mughal architecture under Akbar is the tomb of his father Humayun, situated in Delhi, India. Commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum in 1562, and designed by a Persian architect, Humayun's Tomb is the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent and first structure to use red sandstone on such a large scale. It is also the first Indian building to use the Persian double dome, with an outer layer supporting a white marble exterior - a material not seen in earlier Mughal architecture - and the inner layer giving shape to the cavernous interior volume. The use of indigenous Rajasthan decorative elements is particularly striking, including the small canopies or chhatris surrounding the central dome. It boasts the use of the pietra dura technique, with marble and even stone inlay ornamentation in geometrical and arabesque patterns on the facade of the mausoleum, and jail or latticed stone carving decoration. This style of decorative facade was an important addition to Mughal architecture and flourished in later Mughal mausoleum, including the Taj Mahal..