Birbal’s Palace

Birbal’s Palace
To the north west of the Jodha Bai’s Palace is the 2 storeyed palace occupied by Akbar’s two senior queens- ruqnayya begum and salima sultan begum. It has two storeys-four rooms and two porches with pyramidical roofs below and two rooms with cupolas and screened terraces above. The building combines hindu and muslim atyles of srchitecture.

Dargah of Sheikh Salim Chisti
To the North of the Mosque is the Dargah of Sheikh Salim Chishti. This Dargah was built in 1570. Here, childless women come for blessings of the saint. Even Akbar was blessed with three sons, when he came here. The lattice work in the Dargah is among the finest to be found any where in India.

Jama Masjid
Jama MasjidOne of the largest mosques in India, Jami Masjid was built in 1571 AD. Inside, there is a vast congregational coutyard. To the right, at the corner, is the Jammat Khana Hall and next ot this is the tomb of the royal ladies. To the left of the Jami Masjid is the Stone Cutters’ mosque, the oldest place of worship at Fateh Pur Sikri. It is entered through the eastern entrance known as the Buland Darwaza.


Buland Darwaza
This gate can be approached from the outside by a 13-metre flight of steps which adds to its grandeur. The gate erected in 1602 AD to commemorate Akbar’s victory over Deccan is the highest and grandest gateway in India and ranks among the biggest in the world.

How to Reach Fatehpur

By Air: Though a domestic airport, the Agra airport has an efficient network system as it is well connected to several Indian cities and also provides it’s commuters with special shuttle systems which travel between the cities of Agra, Khajuraho, Varanasi and back. The nearest International Airport to the city is at Delhi, which is located at a distance of around 40 minutes from Agra.

By Rail: Reaching Fatehpur Sikri by rail is also a good option for travelers traveling to this ancient land mark. The main railway station of the region is the one at the Agra Cantonment which is well connected to all the major railway stations of India including cities like Delhi, Varanasi as well as a number of the cities in Rajasthan. Besides these, the city is also connected to the neighboring cities by luxury trains like Palace on Wheels, Shatabdi, Rajdhani as well as the Taj Express.


By Road: Reaching Fatehpur Sikri by road can also be a suitable option since the region is well connected to all the major cities of the region by a well maintained and an efficient network of roads.

Turkish Sultana's House
Turkish Sultana's House, AgraThough some people suggest that this building near Anup Talao was the home of two turkish queens of Akbar called Salima Sultan Begum and Ruqayya Begum, Turkish Sultana's House is too small for being a residential building. It is more probably the 'Hujra-I-Anup Talao, mentioned by Badauni, a pleasure pavilion attached to the pond and might have been used by the Turkish queens for this purpose. The pavilion has square piers. It is connected to the ground floor of the Khwabgah complex through a colonnaded verandah and has a portico in the west. Both the verandah and portico has a stone screen with latticework.

Intricately carved like wood, this building is also known as 'superb jewel casket'and each of its stone slab has a different design such as arabesque designs on the pillars of verandah and bell shaped, floral and herring-bone carvings on the brackets supporting the roof. The dado panels depict scenes of forests and gardens. There are animal motifs and swastik patterns too.


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Fatehpur Sikri tourist attractions

Fatehpur Sikri was Akbar's capital for approximately 12 years. Akbar selected Sikri as the seat of his government believing it to be auspicious for himself. He experimented both with architecture and art and built a city expressing his ideals and vision. Today, Fatehpur Sikri is a deserted, phantom city. But the inner citadel is immaculately preserved. The finest monuments within this area are the Diwan-i-Am, Diwan-i-Khas, Panch Mahal, Buland Darwaza and the tomb of Saint Sheikh Salim Chishti, and the Jama Masjid (one of the largest mosques In India).

Tourist Information

Open on all weekdays from sunrise to sunset. Entry fee for those above 12 years - Rs. 5.00. Free entry on Fridays.

Best time to visit

From November to February. Access Agra is connected to Delhi by air. One can also use the Taj Express or the Shatabdi to get there. One can even drive or travel by bus (204 km from Delhi).


Where to Stay
Agra has a wide range of hotels and rest houses. UPSTDC's tourist complex, Taj Khema near the Taj Mahal offers accommodation in tents and deluxe rooms.There is a UPSTDC Tourist Bungalow as well. Hotels and restaurants offer Indian, Continental and Chinese food. Mughlai cuisine is Agra's specialty. There is an ITDC restaurant near the Taj.

Places To Visit
Jama Masjid or the Friday Mosque : Also known as the Dargah Mosque, this is said to be a copy of the main mosque at Mecca. Its noted for its design which has persian and Hindu elements.

The monumental 54 m high Buland Darwaza, the Gate of Victory, is the main entrance. It was constructed to commemorate Akbar's victory in Gujarat. A koranic inscription upon it read, "The world is a bridge, pass over it but built no house upon it. He who hopes for an hour, hopes for Eternity, for the world is but an hour". Just outside the gateway is a deep well wherein local daredevils leap from the top of the entrance into the water. The Shahi Darwaza is the official entrance, where licensed guides can be hired.

Tomb of Shaikh Salim Chisti : The tomb visited by many seeking ful filment of their wishes was built in 1570. The carved marble lattice screens (jalis) are simply remarkable. Within the courtyard is the another tomb of Islam Khan, the saint's garden.


Place of Jodha Bai : This was the principal harem wing for Akbar's Hindu wives, over which Jodha Bai, mother of Salim (emperor Jehangir) presided imperiously from her spacious purdah - screened salon. The architecture of the building is a blend of styles with Hindu columns and Muslim cupolas The walls of the Hawa Mahal or Palace of the winds are made entirely of stone latticework.


Birbal Bhawan : This casket like palace belonged to Raja Birbal, Akbar's brilliant Brahimin prime minister, one of the "None Jewels of Akbar's Court". The palace fronts onto the Lower Haramsara, which was once believed to be an enormous stable with nearly two hundred enclosures for elephants, horses and camels.

Karawan Serai and Hiran Minar : The Karawan Sarai was a large courtyard used by visiting merchants. The Hiran or Deer Minar is said to have been erected over the grave of Akbar's favourite elephant.

Palace of the Christian Wife : There was a reperate abode for Akbar's Christian wife from Goa, Maryam, located close to the Jodha Bai Palace. At one time it was gilded throughout, earning the name the Golden Facade.


Panch Mahal : A five storied architectural marvel and Akbar's personal citadel of pleasure, where he would spend his evenings with the ladies of the harem. Nearby is the Astrologer's seat, an ornamented pavilion where the resident astrologer played an important role in day to day court life.


Diwan-i-Khas : Fatehpur Sikri's architectural gem, this structure is unique for its interior decoration. This single vaulted chamber is dominated by its massive central Lotus Throne Pillar that supported Akbar's throne. This stone column support a flat topped dome which is 6 m high.


Diwan-i-Aam : This hall of public audience was designed for large public gatherings. Nearby is Pachisi courtyard, where akbar and his courtiers used slave girls attired in brilliant dress as piece of pachisi (a game similar to ludo), moving when ordered on a giant marble board.


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the piety of Akbar

Itmad-ud-daula's Tomb, Chini-ka-rauza, Ram Bagh, and Fatehpur Sikri.

Fatehpur Sikri bears exceptional testimony to the Mughal civilization at the end of the 16th century. It offers a unique example of architectural ensembles of very high quality constructed between 1571 and 1585. Its form and layout strongly influenced the evolution of Indian town planning, notably at Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi).

The 'City of Victory' had only an ephemeral existence as the capital of the Mughal empire. The Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) decided to construct it in 1571, on the same site where the birth of his son, the future Jahangir, was predicted by the wise Shaikh Salim Chisti (1480-1572). The work, supervised by the great Mughal himself, was completed in 1573. In 1585, however, Akbar abandoned Fatehpur Sikri to fight against the Afghan tribes and choose a new capital, Lahore. Fatehpur Sikri was to be the seat of the great Mughal court only once more for three months in 1619, when Jahangir sought refuge there from the plague that devastated Agra. The site was then finally abandoned, until its archaeological exploration in 1892.

This capital without a future, some 40 km from Agra was, however, considerably more than the fancy of a sovereign during the 14 years of its existence. The city, which the English traveller Ralph Fitch considered in 1585 as 'considerably larger than London and more populous', comprised a series of palaces, public buildings and mosques, as well as living areas for the court, the army, servants of the king and for an entire population whose history has not been recorded.

Only one tiny part of the city (where the large buildings are concentrated) has been until now, studied, visited and relatively well preserved. Fatehpur Sikri, constructed on a rocky plateau, south-east of an artificial lake, created for the occasion and today partially dried up, is bounded on three sides by a 6 km wall, fortified by towers and pierced by seven gates (the best preserved is the Gate of Agra, the second from the north). This spacious enclosure defines the limits of the new foundation rather than assuring its defence.

The majority of the important monuments are found to the north of the road from Gaza to Agra; constructed of red sandstone, they form a homogeneous group, even if the eclecticism of their style is evident and is based on borrowings from Hindu, Persian and Indo-Muslim traditions. Among the numerous palaces, gazebos, pavilions, etc., may be cited in particular:

Diwan-i-Am, the Hall of Public Audience, is encircled by a series of porticos which are broken up by the insertion of the imperial box where Akbar, surrounded by his ministers and officers meted out justice. This box communicates directly with Daulat Khana (Imperial Palace), flanked to the north by Diwan-i-Kas (Hall of Private Audience), called the 'Jewel House', a monument known for its central plan, which comprises an extraordinary capital surmounted by a circular balcony: the 'throne'.

Other monuments of exceptional quality are the Ranch Mahal, whose elevation of four recessed storeys recalls certain Buddhist temples, the pavilion of Anup Talao, or the Turkish Sultana, the palace of Jodh Bai, the palace of Birbal, the caravanserai and the problematic 'stables'.

Owing to the piety of Akbar, many religious and votive monuments were constructed at Fatehpur Sikri. The great mosque (Jama Masjid), one of the most spacious in India (165 m by 133 m) could accommodate some 10,000 faithful; it was completed in 1571-72 and according to the dedicatory inscription deserves no less respect than Mecca. It incorporates, in the centre of the court, the tomb of Shaikh Salim, an extraordinary Christian masterpiece of sculpted decoration, further embellished under the reign of Jahangir.

To the south of the court, the Buland Damaza, completed in 1575, commemorating the victories (the taking of Gujarat in 1572) to which the city, their monumental symbol, owes its existence and its name.


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The Diwan-I-Am
journey to the royal palace begins with Diwan-I-Am or the Hall Of Public Audience. This hall was also used for celebrations and public prayers. It has cloisters on three sides of a rectangular courtyard. To the west is a pavilion with the Emperor’s throne. Beautiful jali screen on either sides separated the ladies attending the court.

Diwan-Khana-I-Khaas
To the right is an apparently looking two storeyed building, with corner kiosks, known as diwan-khana-I-khaas or Hall Of Private Audience. On entering it, one finds only a single vaulted chamber. In the centre stands a profusely carved column supporting a collosal-bracketed capital. Four narrow causeways project from the centre and run to each corner of the chamber. It is believed that Akbar’s throne occupied the circular space over the capital and the corners were assigned to the four ministers.

Turkish Sultana’s House
To the left of the Pachisi Board is the Turkish Sultana’s house. The house, as its location at the corner of Anup Talao shows, was a pavilion for repose, attached to the pool. The geometrical pattern on the ceiling is reminiscent of Central Asian carvings in wood.


Daulat Khana-I-Khas
Located in the corner to the left is the emperor’s private chamber. It has two main rooms on the ground floor. One housed Akbar’s library while the larger room was his resting area. On the first floor is the Khwabgah or the bed-chamber. It was connected with the Turkish Sultana’s house, the Panch Mahal, Mariam’s House and the Jodha Bai’s palace by corridors.


Palace of Jodha Bai
To the left of the Sunehra Makan is the largest and the most important building in the royal palace, named after Akbar’s Rajput wife, Jodha Bai. This spacious palace was assured of privacy and security by high walls and a 9 metre guarded gate to the east. The architecture is a blend of styles with Hindu columns and Muslim cupolas.

Hawa Mahal & Nagina Masjid
To the right of Jodha Bai’s palace is Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Winds. This small-screened wind tower faces the garden and is attached to the palace. The garden is laid out in the Char Bagh style with straight walls intersecting at right angles and divided by shallow channels.


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FATEH PUR SIKRI

Fatehpur Sikri is built by the akbar in the year 1571-1585 in Agra uttar Pradesh. It is 37 km far away from agra. The small city is built with red sandstone. Akbar was planned to made the capital of this city but due to the scarcity of water it was abandoned. Now a days this city has a 30,000 populations. This deserted city has many important and old structures. It is one of the excellent and finest example of Mughal art and architecture. Your agra tour is incomplete with the excursion of Fatehpur Sikri.

Buland Darwaza
This get is approached by 13 meter flight of steps from the outside. This is built by Akbar in the memory of his victory over Deccan in 1602 AD. This is the highest and grandest gate of India and also the biggest gate of the world.

Dargah of Sheikh Salim Chishti
The Dargah was built in 1570. Akbar was blessed with three sons by the grace of a saint named Khawaja Salim Chishti. The Dargah is finest example of lattice work.

The Jami Masjid
Jami Masjid is the one of the largest mosque in India. It is built in 1571 Ad. In the Jami Masjid there is a wide congregational courtyard. To the right there is a Jammat Khana Hall at the corner. There is a tomb of royal ladies. To the left of it is a stone cutters masjid, that is the oldest masjid of Fatehpur Sikri. It is entered through a vast and very tall gate called buland darwaza.

Panch Mahal
This is the five storyed pavilion, called the Panch Mahal. The upward storyed goes smaller than the downward, and it rises to a single domed kiosk on top which is supported by the 4 columns. This looked very magnificent and provide a unique view of the city and its surroundings.

The other Excursions are the Hawa Mahal, Nagina Masjid, Birbals Mahal, Sunehra makan, Daulat Khan -i-khas, Palace of Jodha Bai, Turkish Sultana's House, Diwan -i- am and Diwan -i- khas.


Fatehpur Sikri was also the political capital of the Mughal Empire between 1571 and 1585. The dynasty’s treasure, arsenal and other precious belongings were kept in Fatehpur Sikri. Spread over a total area of two miles, Fatehpur Sikri took fifteen long years to be built. Today, this huge monument is one of the architectural marvels of our country with some of the best monuments within its premises. This huge architectural wonder is a major place of tourist interest which reflects a beautiful blend of Hindu and Muslim architectural styles. Fatehpur Sikri is one of the best examples of Mughal architecture. Work on the extensive project – featuring grand palaces, formal courtyards, pools, harems, tombs and a great mosque – began in 1571. A large number of skilled masons and craftsmen worked to their bones on an area that was over two miles long and a mile wide. The main material used for construction was red sandstone, which is available locally. Palace of Five Storeys, and the Buland Darwaza, a massive gate which provides entrance to the complex, it is numbered among the finest specimens of Mughal architecture. It is even arguable that Fatehpur Sikri is the greatest accomplishment of Mughal architecture, surpassed only in reputation.

 

City Map

 Fatehpur Sikri - Uttar PradeshMughal Emperor Akbar known for his interest in architecture built the royal city Fatehpur Sikri in 16th century ,situated 26 miles west of Agra. One of the world Heritage Sites of India, Fatehpur Sikri is also known as the “City of Victory”. There is a legend behind the construction of this splendid city. Din-e-Ilahi, Akbar was without a heir for a long time, so he made a pilgrimage to the renowned Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti, to seek his blessings. finally when a son was born to him (later known as Jehangir) Akbar built the new capital to mark his birth and named it after the saint as a mark of his gratitude.


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