Fatehpur Sikri

This guide to Fatehpur Sikri follows Emperor Akbar's search for an heir, his visit to the Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti in the 1560s, and the birth of a son that led him to move his entire capital onto this ridge. It traces the thousands of craftsmen who raised a city of red sandstone around the saint's cave, and the fourteen years it stood as the center of Mughal power. Look for the red cotton threads still tied to the saint's tomb by pilgrims making the same wish.