Fatehpur Sikri India. The mystery of Fatehpur Sikri - a ghost town and the capital of the Great Mughals

Fatehpur Sikri is an abandoned city. It is located only 40 kilometers from Agra (Taj Mahal), but for some reason most tourists bypass it. My father advised me to go there, judging sensibly: “You definitely can’t go there on purpose, and since you’re already planning to go to Agra, 40 kilometers is not a detour.” And there’s a lot to see here; it’s not for nothing that in 1986 UNESCO added the city to the list of World Heritage Sites.

Fatehpur Sikri is a unique city. It was built as the capital of the Mughal Empire by Emperor Akbar I at the end of the 16th century. Construction took 12 years, but the city remained the capital for only 4 years. After that, it was abandoned and has been empty for 400 years.

Why the emperor abandoned Fatehpur Sikri and moved the capital to Agra is not known for certain; the main version is a lack of water:

The city is divided into two parts. The first Fatehpur is the actual palace complex of the emperor and his wives, of whom Akbar I had three - a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Christian. The second part of Sikri is the tomb of Sufi Salim Chishti (more on him later).

Upon entering the complex, visitors are greeted by an audience hall in which the emperor greeted especially important guests of the city:

Entering Fatehpur, you really feel that the city is abandoned; to put it mildly, there are not many people:

Here, as in any other historical monument in India, perfect order reigns, despite the fact that there is a garbage dump all around:

The tallest building of the complex is the Panch Mahal, or in Russian a five-story palace:

In one of the buildings a panel with images of animals has been preserved. The reason for the absence of heads on animals and birds is interesting - the emperor who replaced Akbar I was particularly scrupulous in matters of the purity of Islam, which prohibits the depiction of animals and people. Therefore, without thinking twice, he ordered the heads of all living creatures on the panel to be chopped off, despite the fact that the city was already uninhabited by that time:

On the territory of the complex, each of the three wives had their own palace, but the palace of the Muslim wife is amazing (I filmed the perimeter, standing in the center of the courtyard):

There is an excess of living space, given that she only had one child:

There is nothing else interesting in Fatehpur, let's move on to Sikri. Sikri is the name of the city in which Salim Chishti, the prophet who predicted the birth of a son to the childless Akbar I, lived. Surprisingly, the prediction came true in the shortest possible time, for which Akbar, distraught with happiness, gave his wife the palace described above, and Salim Chishti a posthumous necropolis. This is the input:

This is the courtyard. The entire space is considered a temple, and upon entering you must take off your shoes:

Reconstruction is underway inside - the tiles are being changed. Even the workers are wearing shoe covers:

Salim Chishti is highly respected by the people, so there are clearly more visitors to Sikri than to Fatehpur. Everyone comes to bow to him:

Childless women are said to pray on their knees at his tomb to conceive a child. But kneeling on the concrete floor in such frost, you would rather freeze your reproductive organs than interrogate a child from Saint Salim, which is why I have not seen such women:

Next to the tomb is a cemetery where Salim Chishti's relatives and friends are buried. I accidentally stepped on one of the tombstones with my foot, the guide was very upset and asked the grave for forgiveness for me for a long time, folding his hands and muttering something quickly:

Here is the tomb itself, you need to go into it, walk around Salim’s coffin and cover it with a silk blanket to fulfill requests:

The bedspreads themselves are sold right next to the mausoleum for “whatever you don’t mind paying,” but they flatly refuse to take less than 30 bucks, i.e. no matter how much you mind, but at least 30 green ones.

In general, the trip to Fatehpur Sikri was very spoiled by the molesters. I have never seen such brazen and unceremonious attempts to take money from a white man anywhere else, not only in India, but throughout the entire planet Earth. I put up with being asked to pay 3 bucks for a 100-meter ride on a small hole from the parking lot to the entrance to the complex, and agreed to pay 7 bucks to the guide because I knew nothing about this place. Paid $5 to enter. He fought off all attempts to pester me to sell me unnecessary crap, but when they tried to force me to buy a blanket for 30 bucks, which after 2 minutes should be left in the crypt for subsequent resale, and on the way out they demanded money for guarding the boots, which I left at the entrance and did not ask to be guarded , excuse me, I lost my temper and cursed at the entire Indian brethren with the strongest known sentences. It didn’t come to the point of a massacre, but it was close to it. The guide intervened and was told that if the conflict was not resolved, he would be left without a fee.

But now, six months after the trip, there is no disappointment from visiting Fatehpur Sikri. Where else can you see so much empty history:

The next article is a story about where the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort are located.

Fatehpur Sikri is a city near Agra in northern India, which was briefly the capital of the Mughal Empire in the second half of the 16th century, when it was ruled by its most famous emperor, Akbar the Great.

Fatehpur Sikri was the capital for only 14 years, and then the emperor, along with his retinue, officials and servants, left this city and deprived it of such a high status due to the lack of water sources in it (according to some historians).

Fatehpur Sikri means the City of Victory. It received this name after Emperor Babur won a great battle with the Indians near Agra. So the Muslims conquered the north of India from the Hindus.

After the departure of the emperor, the city gradually began to decline, and its beautiful palaces, fortresses and mosques began to collapse. However, people live near Fatehpur Sikri today; there is an ordinary municipal settlement.

At the end of the eighties of the last century, this city was included in the famous UNESCO list as a cultural and historical monument; today it is one of the main attractions of Agra and is under state protection.

Architecture

Fatehpur Sikri has many buildings that combine the architectural styles of Mughals, Persians and Indians. Architects from different schools from different parts of India were involved in their construction.

Here, elements of the architecture of religious buildings of various religious beliefs to which Indian tribes and peoples of that time were committed were closely intertwined: Islam, Jainism, Hinduism. Most of the buildings are made of red sandstone.

Tourists can see here the famous House of Drums (Naubat Khana), the Divan Hall where the Emperor's guests were received, the five-story Panch Mahal Palace, the Jama Masjil mosque built in the Hindu style, etc.

Excursions

Millions of tourists come here every year for excursions. They have guides at their service, and it is quite easy to find a Russian-speaking guide. His participation in the excursion is important so that you can learn in more detail the history, culture and architecture of this unique city.

The city is a municipal area in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. During the reign of Akbar I in the 16th century, it was the capital of the Mughal Empire; later, due to unfavorable natural conditions (lack of water resources), it lost this status. In the 20th century (1986), the abandoned city became part of the city.

Fatehpur Sikri, history of construction

Shah Jellal Eddin Muhammad, the great-grandson of Tamerlane, known as Akbar (i.e. “The Great”), ruled India for about 50 years - from 1556 to 1605. During this long time, Akbar managed to try himself in different roles - he was poet and philosopher, builder and military leader, politician and religious reformer. He tried to create a new unified religion for the country, supporting the idea of ​​the philosopher Kabir to merge Islam with Hinduism and include the teachings of Jainism and Christianity in the new faith.

However, in practice this resulted in an ordinary personality cult of Akbar himself, who declared himself the “last prophet” of a certain “divine faith.” According to the instructions of the “prophet”, it was not allowed to eat beef, kill cows, fast during the month of Ramadan and make a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was forbidden to shave beards, bury the dead with their heads to the side, and give children the name Muhammad. It was also forbidden to build new mosques, and one could only pray in those temples that Akbar himself had established.

Having no other basis than the dreams of a weak person. obsessed with painful pride, this artificial “divine faith” melted away like smoke after the death of Akbar, leaving behind not the slightest trace. The only monument of this era was the dead city of Fatehpur Sikri - the former capital of Shah Akbar, located 36 km west of.

Akbar spent a long time choosing a place to build a new capital. The former centers - Delhi, Agra - did not suit him due to the presence of a powerful opposition: the overwhelming majority of both Muslims and Hindus looked at the exercises of the newly-minted “prophet” with bewilderment and disapproval. As a result, Akbar ordered the construction of a new capital in a completely deserted place, on the shores of a small lake.

The city was built according to a single project. The most skilled craftsmen were brought here from various regions and countries of the world, but their skill was largely negated by Akbar’s focus on the construction of gigantic cyclopean structures, reminiscent of Bronze Age buildings in their archaism.

The main work fell on the shoulders of 20 thousand slaves and captives, who, by order of Akbar, carried huge monoliths of red sandstone, from which the walls and towers of the city were built without the use of a fastening mortar. Due to the color of these stones, Fatehpur Sikri is often called " Red city».

The fate of Akbar's capital, which he pompously named Fatehpur - "City of Victory", was tragicomic. 14 years have passed since the city was built at the cost of incredible efforts, and quite suddenly the lake, which was the only source of water for the entire area, went underground.

In India, such phenomena have happened and are happening quite often. Akbar’s opponents openly laughed: after all, the “all-knowing prophet” so carefully chose the place for his capital! The people were convinced that it was the gods of India who punished Akbar for his exorbitant pride. The followers of Islam said the same thing, only they naturally attributed the punishment sent down to Fatehpur to Allah.

For three hundred years, the city of Fatehpur Sikri remained abandoned. Palaces and houses were overgrown with thick vines and thistles. People avoided the dead city like a cursed place, afraid to approach it. Wild animals roamed the streets of the former Shah's residence; there were countless snakes and vultures.

And only at the end of the 19th century the buildings of Akbar’s capital were cleared of thickets. Later, a small village grew nearby - Sikri. Water is still brought here only by car...

Fatehpur Sikri, architecture and attractions

The city, in which practically no one lived, was preserved in the same form as during Akbar’s lifetime. A multi-step, seemingly endless staircase leads to the high plateau, where its walls and palaces rise, above which rise the ruins of 27-meter high Gate of Victory (“Bulvand Darvaza”), which once marked the main entrance to the Fatehpur mosque. This is one of the largest and most beautiful mosques in India.

All its buildings are built of dark red sandstone and decorated with openwork decor made of white and black marble. The area of ​​the mosque's courtyard is 181x158 m. The white marble mausoleum of Sheikh Selim Chishti, Akbar's confessor and adviser, has been preserved here.

You can also see the mausoleum of Islam Khan here.

The southern entrance to the mosque is decorated with the luxurious “Gate of Splendor” (43x20 m).

Akbar's residence consists of several large and small courtyards connected to each other, surrounded by residential and outbuildings, premises for the harem, etc. In the center of the entire ensemble is a palace with a throne room - Mahal-i-Khaz. Its dimensions are 90x130 m.

The graceful summer palace is rightfully considered the most beautiful building in Fatehpur. Panch Mahal, consisting of five tiers of open terraces, which offer beautiful views of the surrounding city. On three sides, the Shah's residence is surrounded by a fortress wall 2.4 m thick and 9.6 m high with four gates decorated with six-pointed stars and oriented to the four cardinal directions.

The entire complex of Akbar's palace corresponds to the atmosphere that reigned at the court of the eccentric tyrant. Here, for example, is a strange playground in the center of one of the courtyards, marked out like a chessboard. This is really a chessboard - pachchisi, a type of Indian chess, was played here. The only figures in the game were living people dressed up accordingly. They walked along this board as ordinary chess pieces walk, obeying the orders of the check and his opponents in the game.

Here is another structure, reminiscent of a hut on chicken legs or the home of the Nightingale the Robber: a mighty column, on top of which there is a carved wooden gazebo. It rises in the center of a round hall, along the top of which there is an open gallery. This is the meeting room of the State Council ("Divan-i-Khaz").

On the day of the meetings, the Shah and his closest advisers moved from the gallery to the gazebo on special walkways, which were then removed for greater secrecy. Sitting in this nest on top of a pillar, the Shah and his entourage discussed and decided the most important matters of the empire.

In the farthest corner of Akbar's residence is the Elephant Court, surrounded on all sides by high towers. They served as a kind of theatrical boxes, from where the Shah and his large retinue could watch the brood of elephants or various wild animals.

Horrible executions were carried out here, which were personally invented by the cruel and insidious “prophet”. Those condemned to death were driven into this square courtyard, from where there was no way to escape. The gates opened, a wild elephant was released from them, and the Shah could observe the obvious outcome of the duel between an unarmed victim and an enraged animal. However, sometimes the elephant turned out to be more humane than the Shah and refused to pursue the convict - then he was considered acquitted and released.

In general, Akbar had a great love for elephants, which obviously captured the imagination of this descendant of the sons of the Mongolian steppes. From the walls of the fortress one can clearly see the deserted valley where the lake once splashed, which so insidiously destroyed the capital of Akbar. There is a tower on its shore Hiran Minar, built by the Shah in honor of his beloved elephant, who died while hunting.

Leaving Fatehpur, the traveler experiences a double feeling: the grandeur and fantastic whimsicality of this structure - a creation of human hands, built on the blood and bones of a thousands-strong army of slaves - is undoubtedly surprising.

At the same time, here you can see with your own eyes what the two-hundred-year rule of the Mughals really meant for the Indian people. Akbar’s monstrous and at the same time bewitching brainchild is a clear evidence of innumerable human misfortunes and suffering.

Tonight the train will take us to one of the most beautiful places in the world - Khajuraho, but for now we have the whole day at our disposal. The room was vacated, and the things were left here, in the so-called “Luggage room” - a room without a lock, with some ironing boards :-) We hope everything will be fine, this is India :-)

We plan to visit another attraction of India - the city Fatehpur Sikri. The hotel charged 1,200 rupees for a car, and we decided (thanks to the guidebook and accumulated experience) to go by “public” transport. The rickshaw took us to the bus station (Bus Stand Idgah), from which a bus leaves every half hour to the place we need. The ticket was purchased at the box office and cost about 30 rupees.

There are two types of buses in India - government and private. Government buses are mainly used by the poorer sections of Indian society. Comfort in many of them is, to put it mildly, conditional. As a rule, the bus crew consists of two people: the driver and the conductor. There is a barker working at the bus station. The entire process of boarding and disembarking passengers occurs very quickly and theatrically. The bus hasn’t stopped yet, but people are already getting off and jumping on, the barker is yelling about the destination of the route, the driver is playing the horn.

The conductor has a working tool - a whistle. One whistle whistled - stop, twice - let's move on. Moreover, it is completely unclear why he whistles in a half-empty bus, sitting next to the driver :-) At the most dangerous turns, everyone tries to overtake, sending intense horns ahead, in the hope that they will go around the ledge and reach the oncoming cars. There is also no need to say what a stir the “white monkeys” (i.e. us) caused among the passengers. Everyone turned to look at us, and a boy of about sixteen sitting in front rode with his head turned back the whole way :-)

The distance to Fatehpur Sikri is about 40 km, and we drove for more than an hour. From the windows of the bus we observed a noisy, festive column. Holidays are common in India. After all, there are as many gods as there are holidays. Driving through the countryside, we saw with our own eyes cow dung cakes laid out to dry in the sun. Dried manure is one of the main sources of heat and energy in Indian villages.

The small bus station we arrived at was located inside a huge bazaar. Squeezing through a crowd of people, cows, motorcycles, waving off annoying sellers, we finally found the desired entrance to the old city.

Historical reference

Fatehpur Sikri is an amazing, today “dead” city with a rich history and unique monuments. During the reign of Akbar the Great, the capital of his empire was located here.
The history of the city's creation can be read like a fairy tale. According to legend, having already lost hope of conceiving a son, Emperor Akbar came here in search of the famous Sufi mystic Sheikh Salim Chishti, from whom he wanted to ask for blessings and help. The prayers were answered, and soon the emperor had a son. Akbar named the prince Salim, after the saint, and vowed to build a new city.

Construction began in 1569 and lasted about ten years. Workers and architects from all over India created countless houses and palaces. Grilles, windows and even roof beams are all made of stone. The masters managed to combine two opposing principles - the figurative architecture of India and the geometric Islamic architecture - and became a single whole. In this city, everything speaks of the power of ancient Indian builders - after all, in just a few years, a deserted place was turned into a real fairy-tale city with luxurious gardens and stunning buildings. The city was built strictly according to a single plan; each building in it is unique and has a deep individuality.

We go up the steps to High gates, which are also called Gate of Victory. They rise sixty meters above the ground. This is the entrance to one of the main buildings - Jama Masjid mosque.
Erected on the highest point, it towers above all later buildings. Although it is a Muslim shrine, its entrance resembles a Hindu temple as it is decorated with graceful carved arches.

First of all, we find ourselves on a huge square, which is the heart of the entire palace complex. It must be said that it is lined with red stone. The stone became hot in the sun, and given that we took off our shoes at the entrance, with one single desire - not to get burned, we rushed towards the white marble building. Here, to the tomb of the great Sheikh Salim Chishti - a white marble pantheon in the middle of the courtyard Imperial Mosque, thousands of pilgrims come to lay flowers, tie a rag on a lattice panel and pray for the birth of a son. We were amazed at the fanaticism with which Hindus perform this ritual.

Luckily for us, in other places of the “abandoned city” we were wearing shoes and could leisurely contemplate this amazing ghost town. Actually, the architecture of Fatehpur Sikri was conceived and implemented in the form of wide terraces of natural origin, around the courtyards there are palace pavilions made of red sandstone. There are no streets here. The buildings are connected to each other by winding passages, staircases and squares.

Here, like nowhere else, you feel the energy of time. It’s like you’re transported from the twenty-first century to the sixteenth. If you turn on your imagination, it’s easy to imagine a city filled with men in white clothes and women in bright saris. Someone carries water in clay jugs, someone argues, someone repairs the fence. This medieval India is not so far from modern India!

One of the most amazing structures - Divan-i-Khas. It was designed as a hall in which the emperor held his private audiences. On a column in the middle of the hall there is a capital of impressive size; the platform on the capital is connected to the galleries running along the perimeter of the wall by four bridges. Here, sitting on the throne, Akbar could watch the chess game, for which the maids acted as pieces. The chessboard is clearly drawn in the square in front of the Diwan-i-Khas. Akbar's sleeping quarters are located south of the audience hall.

For 16 short but memorable years, the city was a wonder that delighted visitors from all over the world. But after living in this magnificent city for only 10 years, Akbar the Great became convinced of its extremely inconvenient location, far from water sources, which forced the ruler to return back to Agra.

Today Fatehpur Sikri is an empty ghost town. However, the internal fortress was completely unaffected by the ravages of time. Its walls, palaces, baths, royal mint, squares and parks still remind of the great seer and builder.

We spent about three hours in this place. Of course, they were not deprived of the attention of the local population. It seems that Indians purposefully come on excursions in order to meet and take pictures with a white man, thereby improving their karma :-)

I can’t help but tell you about a case that shocked me. Having already left the city territory and heading towards the bass stand, we were surrounded by a crowd of annoying black beggar children. For this occasion, we always have sweets in our backpack. Andryusha had the backpack behind his back, and as soon as I opened it, the kids started snatching everything with their hands. The bag of candy was simply thrown to the ground by me. It’s very unpleasant, it’s not for nothing that everyone writes on the forums that the best way to get rid of beggars is to simply not pay attention to them.

We left on the same old, broken down bus. The driver rushed along the roads at such a speed that any racing driver would envy him. At the same time, he still managed to shout something loudly to the drivers who were “interfering” with him. But if you think this is scary, you are mistaken. The only question is your attitude to everything.

Returning to the hotel, before leaving for the railway station, we whiled away the time in a cafe - had lunch, drank Coca-Cola, studied the footage and just relaxed. Our train to Khajuraho left Agra Cantt station at 11:20 pm. Having kindly said goodbye to the hotel administration and taken our belongings safe and sound, we took a rickshaw for 70 rupees to the station. Agra Cantt, the central station in Agra, pleasantly surprised me with its cleanliness and relative order.

The train, as usual, was an hour late. We had seats in a 3rd class carriage, and since it was already late, we quietly took our seats and fell into a sweet sleep.

Fatehpur Sikri from A to Z: map, hotels, attractions, restaurants, entertainment. Shopping, shops. Photos, videos and reviews about Fatehpur Sikri.

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Fatehpur Sikri, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, was the capital of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Akbar I, but due to lack of water the capital was forced to move to Agra. Since 1986, the city has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Today Fatehpur Sikri is considered a “ghost town”, although more than 250 thousand people live in it.

Fatehpur Sikri is also famous for its sweets - Non Khatai.

Maps of Fatehpur Sikri

How to get there

The nearest airport is Agra, which is 39 km from Fatehpur Sikri. The railway station is located 1 km from the city center.

Tourist buses stop at Fatehpur Sikri for an hour and a half, which is not enough to explore the city. Alternatively, you can take a bus from Agra (fare 40 INR, travel time about 1 hour). Buses run every 30 minutes between 7:00 and 19:00. The last bus to Agra leaves from the city bazaar at 19:00.

An auto rickshaw between Agra and Fatehpur Sikri will cost 800 INR, or you can catch a taxi for 1600 INR.

From Fatehpur Sikri, there are regular buses to Bharatpur (35 INR, 20 minutes) and Jaipur (140 INR, 4 hours 30 minutes). The bus stop is located near the city bazaar.

Prices on the page are for April 2019.

Search for air tickets to Delhi (closest airport to Fatehpur Sikri)

Entertainment and attractions of Fatehpur Sikri

The appearance of Fatehpur Sikri mixed several architectural styles - elements of Hinduism and Jainism, which were closely intertwined with Islamic trends, were used during construction, and the main material for construction was red sandstone.

From a historical point of view, several important structures can be distinguished in the city: Buland Darwaza, is a gateway, one of the largest in the world, also known as the “Gate of Splendor”. An example of early Mughal architecture with simple ornamentation, carvings of Quranic sayings and high arches.

Fatehpur Sikri

The royal palace complex, on the territory of which there are several beautiful objects - Ankh Michauli, the former treasury building. The walls of the building are decorated with mythical sea creatures that act as a talisman. Another building located nearby is Jodh Bai’s Palace, which combines Hindu and Muslim styles. Nearby there is another palace - Hawa Mahal or the Palace of the Wind, which is a structure made of stone lattices.

Naubat Khana is a house of drums used during ceremonies to announce the arrival of the emperor.

Also interesting are the five-story Birbal Bhavan Palace; Panch Mahal Palace - a five-story building with columns, from the roof of which a beautiful view of the surrounding area opens; the house of Raja Birbal (Birbal’s House), the grand vizier who served at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar, as well as the Karawan Serai palace and the 21 m high Hiran Minar tower.

The complex houses one of the best examples of Mughal architecture in India, the Jama Masjid mosque, which was built in 1580-1581. In front of the entrance to the mosque is the marble tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti with carved grilles and intricate patterns.

The palace complex is open from dawn to dusk and the ticket costs 485 INR.