{"id":5253,"date":"2021-03-26T14:28:25","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T14:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/?p=5253"},"modified":"2021-03-30T10:38:17","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T09:38:17","slug":"he-keepeth-a-great-court-fatehpur-sikri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/he-keepeth-a-great-court-fatehpur-sikri\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He keepeth a great court’: Fatehpur Sikri"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is something about a tale of a deserted city that tugs at the imagination. Here on this rocky ridge near Agra in Uttar Pradesh, the third Mughal emperor Akbar built a new capital: the walled city of Fatehpur Sikri, the \u2018City of Victory\u2019. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The king hath in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri 100 elephants, 30,000 horses, 1,400 tame deer, 800 concubines and such a store of leopard, tiger, buffaloes, cocks and hawks, that it is very strange to see. He keepeth a great court. Agra and Fatehpur are very great cities, either of them much greater than London.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>Ralph Finch, an English visitor to the court<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But soon after its completion he abandoned his great city due to a lack of water at the site. Much of what remains is today in ruins; but Akbar\u2019s palace and some other buildings still stand, testament to Akbar\u2019s ambition and his love of architecture and the arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here among the remnants of Akbar\u2019s glory you can still discover riches. The colours of deep red sandstone and blue sky, dotted with the bright saris of visitors; the ornately detailed carvings; the sense of a world that existed only briefly and is long gone.<\/p>\n\n\n