"Taj Mahal not Agra’s only sight, India says." This headline on a travel story caught my eye. It was a story about Fatehpur Sikri, a ghost town that was once the capital of the Mughal Empire, which in the 1500s covered almost the entire Indian subcontinent. To celebrate his achievements, Emperor Akbar as the seat of his government chose this spot, naming it Fatehpur Sikri, the City of Victory.
The story reminded me of my visit to this World Heritage site many years ago when it was difficult to reach. I was in my sixth week riding the trains around India, sharing space with 24 English travelers in a "bogy," or a train car with minimal living quarters. The tour was only partly organized; the arrangements left room for us to travel on our own. I was the only one who wanted to see this particular attraction. Some notes from my journal will give the setting:
"I’m surprised at how light I’m learning to travel - the clothes on my back, razor, toothbrush, soap, towel, sheet, camera and medicine, a small water jug and this notebook. I didn’t need the sheet or the towel on this trip - so one can travel here for four or five days with just the stuff in your pocket."
I took a bus from Agra for 37 kilometers to the area and then hiked over a dusty road the last three kilometers to the mesa on which this ghost city stands. Being almost out of rupees, I went looking for a bank in the ramshackle town at the foot of the mesa. Cashing even a small traveler’s check was always an occasion because five people had to process it before I was handed the rupees. The added complexity was a way of ensuring as many people as possible had a job.
As I sat waiting for my check to make it way through the system, I watched a rat run back and forth between holes, stopping occasionally to play with an empty pack of cigarettes. At the time it seemed the most natural thing in the world. Later it struck me that I’d made some kind of adjustment to cultural differences.
Fatehpur Sikri is a special attraction because every building is made of red sandstone with an occasional one being faced with marble. There were courtyards, stables, living quarters, palace buildings, a mosque and a tomb.
Although I generally avoided anyone trying to sell me anything, I hired a personal tour guide whose selling point was that I had paid thousands of rupees to be here: "Don’t let a few more prevent you from getting full value from your trip."
The Mughal Emperor Akbar had a harem for his 500 wives at Fatehpur Sikri.
The Mughal Emperor Akbar had been childless. He built the city because of a prophecy that he would have three sons made by the saint, Shaikh Salim, who lived here. After Akbar’s first son was born, he constructed a tomb for Salim that continues to be visited by childless women who believe that, like the emperor, their wish will be granted.
The protracted childlessness didn’t make sense to me after my guide informed me that the palace was a harem for Akbar’s 500 wives. Many of those wives, by the way, were from royal Hindu families; the marriages were a political move to forge alliances with neighboring princes.
He built it because of a prophecy by a saint who lived there that the Mughal would have three sons.
The location of the city was a really poor choice. Not only was it in the middle of nowhere, but there was no water in the area; it had to be carted from a long distance. After 15 years, Akbar gave up and moved the capital to Lahore. The dry air and lack of rain have kept the buildings in a remarkably good state of repair.
Outside the walls of the complex is a tall monument with protruding elephant tusks in remembrance of Akbar’s favorite elephant that was also the chief executioner. An offender was punished by putting his head on a block and having the elephant step on it.
I suspect hotels will be now be built in the area, and a sound and light show put into play. With the added publicity about the existence of this ghost city, many of the 2½ million people who visit the Taj Mahal each year will also take time to add this remarkable city to their agenda.
