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Distance : 40 kmfrom Agra
¤ The City At A Glance
Sikri was a decrepit little village till the Mughal
Emperor Akbar came visiting in 1568. Despite marrying
the Amber princess Jodhabai in 1562, and having over 300
concubines at his beck and call, the monarch was
childless.
Desperate for an heir, Akbar visited the saint, Shaikh
Salim who was encamping here and who predicted that
Akbar would have a son within 3 years. As fate had
willed it, Jodhabai bore him a son the next year. The
emperor named him after the mystic.
Not only that, he decided to move lock stock and barrel
to the place and named it Fatehpur, or the ‘City of
Victory’. His military conquest of Gujarat might also
have persuaded him to shift base as must have the local
abundance of red sandstone. In fact, apart from the
marble-white mausoleum of Salim, nestling in one corner
of the Jami Masjid – the city is entirely built out of
red sandstone.
¤ The Main Attractions
Diwani-i-Am
The Diwani-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience) is where the
monarch sat and lent a patient ear to all the petitions
he received. A paved courtyard called the Pachisi was
where the monarch played chaubar, a game that closely
resembles chess– using slave girls as pieces.
Diwani-i-Khas
TheDiwani-i-Khas nearby housed theIbadat Khana or the
‘House of Worship’ where the emperor debated various
systems with noted theologians.
Although semi-literate, Akbar was the most liberal of
the Mughal emperors, and in 1579, he was declared the
highest authority in matters of religion by the famous
‘infallibility decree’. Three years later, the emperor
founded Din-a-Ilahi or the ‘Religion of God’ which was
an amalgam of all the major religions of the world.
Decried by religious zealots from his own community as
an apostate, Din-a-Ilahi disappeared as a faith after
Akbar’s death in 1605.
Ankh Michauli
As you enter the Ankh Michauli (Closed Eyes) pavilion,
you realise that Akbar could be as flippant as he was
profound. Here the Mughal played ‘blind man’s buff’ and
indulged in frivolous pranks in the company of his
harem.
Jodhabai’s Palace
Jodhabai’s Palace is befittingly the grandest of all
palaces in Fatehpur Sikri – as she was his most favoured
wife and the mother of the crown prince. Other notable
palaces at Fatehpur Sikri are the five-storeyed Panch
Mahal and the Hawa Mahal.
Friday Mosque
Begun in 1571 and completed four years later, the Friday
Mosque was the largest of its kind in India at the time,
measuring 168 metres by 144, with a huge inner
courtyard.
The Buland Darwaza or ‘Sublime Gateway’ was added later
to commemorate Akbar’s military conquest of Gujarat.
The gateway, which rises to a height of 45 metres,
presents an awesome spectacle of isolation, and has
exquisite Persian calligraphy inscribed on it.
It says, “ The world is a bridge. Pass over it but build
no house upon it, for whoever hopes for one hour, hopes
for all eternity. The world is one hour. Spend it in
prayer, for the rest is unseen”. No more eloquent
epitaph to the Mughal Empire – or any other empire can
be written.
 Salim
Chisti’s Mausoleum
and a trip to Fatehpur Sikri would be incomplete without
visiting Salim Chisti’s Mausoleum – the sage who played
an important role in Akbar’s life. Issueless parents
visit his shrine in droves to pray for sons as Akbar did
over four centuries ago. They tie little cords and paper
wishes to the screens and any other object they can
find.
The Everlasting Glory of Fatehpur Sikri
By 1585, Akbar wearied of the dry, hot climate of the
city and moved to the cooler climes of Lahore. Within a
few years, the pomp and pageantry of the city vanished –
but the sandstone monuments endure to this day. Such
were the construction methods employed, that there is
not a single derelict monument in the city. The Mughal
Empire has long since vanished from the firmament but
the greatest of the Mughal emperors, Akbar etched his
name forever in the sands of time by building the
Fatehpur Sikri.
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