Fatehpur Sikri

Timeline

1. 1571–1572Sikri ridge · Fatehpur SikriAkbar built palaces, offices, a mosque, and the urban district at Sikri according to plan, with unified red sandstone facades. The Jama Mosque was completed first on the ridge around 1571–1572, marking the religious and ceremonial axis of the new city.
2. 1573–1575Fatehpur Sikri palace-city district · Agra DistrictAfter the victory in Gujarat the new city was named 'Fatehpur.' Public and private audience halls, the Panch Mahal, and residential courtyards took shape in the mid-1570s; the Buland Darwaza was completed in 1575 to commemorate the victory, and the capital's administrative functions operated in full.
3. 1575–1582Ibadat Khana, Fatehpur Sikri · Fatehpur SikriAkbar established a hall of worship in the capital, convening debates among ulama, Hindu scholars, Jains, Zoroastrians, and Jesuits, providing space for the court's syncretic religious experiments around 1582 and making the city a testing ground for imperial thought.
4. 1585Fatehpur Sikri · Agra DistrictAkbar moved the court to Lahore because of warfare in the northwest, ending the capital's administration. The water-shortage explanation is widely circulated, but the westward shift of the military-political center was equally crucial. Salim Chishti's tomb continued to be embellished under Jahangir, and the site became a commemorative city.