Fatehpur Sikri

Mughal · India

Field notes

civilizations

Mughal

types

City · Palace

built

1,571 CE — 1,585 CE

occupied

1,571 CE — 1,610 CE

country

India

The site

The red-sandstone capital that emperor Akbar began building in 1571 as a new seat of the Mughal court, and abandoned barely a generation later — most likely for want of water. Palaces, audience halls, the vast Jama Masjid and the triumphal Buland Darwaza gate survive almost intact, blending Hindu and Islamic forms in Akbar's spirit of religious synthesis. Its emptiness makes it one of the best-preserved Mughal ensembles, frozen as on the day the court departed.

Nearby sites

~39 km

Taj Mahal

~279 km

Rakhigarhi

~337 km

Khajuraho Group of Monuments

~402 km

Sanchi