Akbari Fort in Ajmer

Akbar commissioned, in the year 1570 CE, a palace in Ajmer to stay in when he visited the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. I had really wanted to stand in this palace even before I knew this, because something with more import happened here later. Akbar’s son Salim took up residence here. After he was crowned emperor with the regnant name Jahangir he continued to use the palace. An English envoy, Thomas Roe, had met the emperor in his capital of Agra and accompanied him to Ajmer on occassion, petitioning him for a permit to allow the British East India Company to start trading in India. The imperial order allowing the company to trade with India was proclaimed in the year 1619 CE in the Akbari fort.

We reached late in the morning and paid a pittance to enter the historic Mughal palace. Typical Mughal palaces are much more ornate and elaborate. This was more of a field encampment built in stone. I could see why the locals call it a fort rather than a palace. The layout is a square, bounded by high walls into which rooms are built (photo below). This looks into a garden, at the center of which is a house built to a square plan (photo above). Clearly the central block was meant for the emperor, and the surrounding rooms for the court and guards. The entrance was elaborate. An outer gate which looked into the street was set into massive walls and was placed a little off-center. From there you entered a small first quadrangle and saw the view that you see in the featured photo.

The fort is now given over to the Archaeological Survey of India for maintenance. The ASI has housed its Rajputana Museum in the rooms in the outer walls. Everywhere in the country, the ASI does a very good job of maintaining gardens. This was no exception. We sat on the steps of the emperor’s private quarters, next to the lovely jalis, and enjoyed the breeze. It was a humid day. The garden was full of birds and I walked around spotting them, while The Family listened to their calls.