Mughal City Fatehpur Sikri

Mughal city Fatehpur Sikri lies 40 km from Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1986 it is included by UNESCO in the list of World cultural heritage. An old legend reports the origin of the "city of the victory" in the second half of the 16th century: the childless great Mughal Emperor Akbar prayed the famous Sufi saint Salim Chisti for the birth of a son. The holy prophet predicted him three sons. After few months, Akbar's Hindu wife gave birth to a healthy child, who later succeeded the throne as Emperor Jehangir. Akbar was very satisfied and erected at this place, nearby the residence of the holy man out of gratitude an entire city known as Fatehpur Sikri. In few years, the new residence was ready. Akbar shifted his capital from Agra to Fatehpur Sikri and reigned North India from this place between 1571 and 1585. However, due to scarcity of water he abandoned the city and shifted his capital to Lahore (now in Pakistan) and later back to Agra.

Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri entirely out of red sandstone and equipped with all the conveniences. Today one can wander, entirely like four hundred years ago, through this intact Mughal city having multi-storeyed and richly decorated palaces, gardens and a market place, water reservoirs, mosques, innumerable roofed corridors, stairways and terraces. These constructions witness the architectural masterly performance of Akbar. The huge metropolis of Fatehpur Sikri unites two contrasts: the figurative architecture of the Hindus and the geometric of Islam. After some years, Jehangir, son of Akbar, built a mosque in white marble in memory of the Sufi saint Salim Chisti in the courtyard of the Jama mosque. It is a pilgrimage city for childless people. Yet today women pilgrims come here from all over India to pray for male descendants.