Official Goverment of India Guide to Fatehpur Sikri

Folks,

There seems to be a lot of curiosity here about Fatehpur Sikri, the city built by Akbar near Agra between 1571 and 1586 (or so!), and abandoned very soon thereafter due to the water supply running out.

The Ekta version shown last night , accompanied, be it noted, by a SECOND disclaimer over and above the daily, 30 second infliction at the beginning of each telecast ( which all of us undoubtedly try to blank out), is pure fiction.

However, I thought at least some of you might be interested in the authorised official guide to Fatehpur Sikri brought out by the Govt. of India Press, which can be accessed in its entirety at

https://www.archive.org/stream/guidetofatehpurs035312mbp#page/n21/mode/2up.

It has 78 pages and 12 plates, and it meticulously lists every single building in the complex. I visited Fatehpur Sikri last in 1992, but this book is obviously far, far more accurate than my memory, so I would refer all of you to it rather than to me. It is factual and objective, besides being modest and accessible, all admirable qualities in any piece of writing.

So do make the effort needed to go thru it. It has an excellent index, which itself gives a very good idea of all that is there.

Shyamala B.Cowsik

thanks a million shyamala🤗..will try to read it all😊

thank you thank you so much aunty..:-):-):-)

Thank you Auntie I love you for this and cant thank you enough. I love Akbar he is my role model and would love to read about him.

Originally posted by: brownprincess25

Thank you Auntie I love you for this and cant thank you enough. I love Akbar he is my role model and would love to read about him.

Hugs and kisses to you for Valentines

i love akbar too🤗

tfs fr the great information 👍🏼

Pretty much exhaustive content, it is a great read giving the required insight into FS.

Dear Preeti,

Your points are all well taken.

The last is the worst scourge that can possibly affect ancient monuments these days. This is not India-specific, I have seen names carved into the trunks of 3500 years old giant sequoia trees in the King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in the US.

Lord William Bentinck, then the Governor General of India, had almost sold the Taj Mahal for its marble, to be carved up and used, but a timely uproar, both here and in London, stopped him just in time. British artists interested in Egyptian art had panels hacked out of the great temples of Luxor and Karnak and other smaller ones along the Nile, They used to sit in river boats, sketch whatever was on the panel and then drop it into the river!!

Most recently, in the 1970s, the exquisite Patwon ki Haveli and 2 other havelis in Jaisalmer had been sold by their owners to American collectors who wanted to dismantle them and ship them to the US. It was PM Indira Gandhi who personally intervened, cancelled the sale and had all the 3 havelis acquired by the Govt. of India.

Shyamala B.Cowsik

Originally posted by: preeti.r

Pretty much exhaustive content, it is a great read giving the required insight into FS.

Thank you so much for the link shyamala ji.

Couple of points I wanted to mention here after reading it

1 Jodh bai palace isn't Akbars Jodha's palace it is his DIL's (unlike what is commonly believed and told by guides)

2 Akbar's Jodha had the MUZ palace , MUZ kitchen and also the rang mahal where salim was born

3 Akbar considered Shikri / shukri ( as it was named by Babur ) auspicious as his sons Salim and Murad were born there

4 Sikri was named Fathepur ( city of victory) after the conquest of Gujarat in 1672.

so I guess we will now see the MUZ palace being built 😊... It also mentions Krishna painting in her palace.

Although they haven't been preserved well .

to add to it we have wise ppl who try to put their name in history by defacing the walls with their Love stories 😡

But the MUZ palace isn't going to come soon, only after she gives birth which will be towards the end of the show!