When his father, Humayun, died in 1556, Akbar became padshah ("ruler of the empire") at the age of thirteen. Under the guidance of Bairam Khan, who had been instrumental in Humayun's reconquests of Panipat, Dehli, and Agra, Akbar instantly began seizing more territory throughout Hindustan. Bairam Khan fell from power in 1560, but Akbar continued his conquest of India and Afghanistan. By the time he died in 1605 (his reign, 1556 to 1605, corresponds almost exactly to that of Elizabeth I of England), his Empire was greater than that of Babur and included almost all of northern India.
The Mausoleum of Akbar the Great is situated about 10 km from Agra, in Sikandra. Akbar started the construction but it was completed by his son Jahangir in 1605. It is built partially in red sandstone and in marble, with a mixture of Hindu and Moslem design elements. It can be seen as a transition between the older architectural style, based on red sandstone and the new, with marble as the main element and finer ornaments and carvings.
The complex consists of two buildings, one being the mausoleum and the other a gigantic gate, connected to each other via a wide paved walkway.The gate, known as Buland Darwaza (gateway of magnificence) itself consists of a huge archway and 4 marble minarets. It is more impressive than the mausoleum itself, which is wider but not as overwhelming. The architecture of the mausoleum is very interesting as is it a good example of the mixture of the use of sandstone together with marble.
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