Gallery
Description
Property Name: Hiran Minar
Inventory No: 91-5619-6
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2009-06-11
Country (State party): India
Province: Uttar Pradesh
Town: Fatehpur Sikri
Geographic coordinates: 27° 5′ 55.19″ N
77° 39′ 45.34″ E
Historic Period: 16th century, 2nd half
Year of Construction:
Style: Mughal
Original Use: Tower
Current Use: Touristic
Architect: Unknown
Significance
The Hiran Minar, or the Deer Tower, probably dates from Jahangir’s time who had established a deer park in the open area. The tower is 21 meter high and was used for watching matches or elephant fights. The tower has an octagonal lower part, a circular middle part and the higher part with a balcony that is supported by stone corbels, covered with an octagonal chatri. The circular middle part is spiked with stone projections that resemble elephant trunks and Akbar’s favorite elephant is buried here. It is thought to be a measuring point for a chain of mileage markers.
Selection Criteria
iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
–
References
Rizvi, Saiyid AA and JA Vincent Flynn. 1975. Fatehpur Sikri, Taraporevala.
Asher, Catherine. 1992. The New Cambridge History of India: Architecture of Mughal India. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
R. Nath: Fatehpur Sikri: Forms, Techniques & Concepts (Jaipur, 1988)
Ed. Zeenut Ziad Foreword by Milo Cleveland Beach, The Magnificient Mughals, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002