Renaissance · South Asia · Culture

1569

Akbar Begins Building Fatehpur Sikri

1569

To honor the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, who had predicted the birth of his son Prince Salim, Akbar began constructing a new red sandstone capital at Fatehpur Sikri. The city would rise rapidly and be abandoned within fifteen years for lack of water, becoming one of history's most elegant ghost towns.