India GOSheikh Salim Chishti and his marble tomb at Fatehpur Sikri
شیخ سلیم چشتی
The Sufi of Sikri who foretold Akbar an heir; the emperor named the prince Salim and built his new capital around the saint's hermitage.
Sheikh Salim Chishti (1478–1572) was a Sufi of the Chishti order, a descendant of Baba Farid, who lived in a cavern on the ridge at Sikri, about 40 km from Agra. His dargah is the white marble tomb in the red sandstone courtyard of Fatehpur Sikri’s great mosque: a shrine still visited by pilgrims in a capital Akbar left long ago.
Story
Akbar, childless at twenty-six, walked out to the hermit on the ridge at Sikri; the sheikh promised three sons, and when the first was born in his house the emperor named the boy Salim and moved the whole court to the ridge. Fatehpur Sikri, the city of red sandstone that rose around the hermitage, was abandoned within fifteen years (the water, they say, ran out), but the tomb in the mosque courtyard has never been empty. Women hoping for a child tie a thread to the marble lattice, and return to untie it.
“Jesus, son of Mary, said: the world is a bridge — pass over it, but build no house upon it.”
Saying of Isa (Jesus) inscribed on the Buland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri
Places linked to them
Fatehpur Sikri · AgraThe prophecy and the city
The prince born in 1569, after the sheikh’s promise, was named Salim in his honour and grew up to be the emperor Jahangir. Akbar answered with a city. Fatehpur Sikri was laid out around the saint’s hermitage: palaces, a mosque and, later, the Buland Darwaza, the victory gate whose arch carries the saying about the world as a bridge quoted above. Akbar held court here for about 13 years, until 1585 by the ASI’s count, and the city was fully abandoned by 1610. The reason usually given is the failing water supply, though the emperor’s campaign in Punjab and loss of interest are also cited. Today the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1986 together with the mosque and the tomb.
The saint died in 1572, before most of the city was finished. Akbar built the tomb in 1580–1581, and it is the reason the mosque courtyard is never quiet.
Inside the tomb
The tomb is white marble set in the red sandstone courtyard of the Jama Masjid. Its walls are jali, carved stone latticework, looking out into the mosque quadrangle. An ebony enclosure surrounds the marble cenotaph, usually covered with a green cloth, and over it stretches a wooden canopy inlaid with mother-of-pearl; the door to the main chamber carries Quranic inscriptions.
The custom most visitors notice is the thread. By custom people, above all women hoping for a child, tie a thread to the marble lattice with a wish and come back to untie it when the wish is granted.
Visiting Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri is about 37–40 km from Agra, and the official Agra tourism site says it needs at least half a day; it combines easily with the road to or from Jaipur. The monument is open from sunrise to sunset and is ticketed by the ASI: about ₹50 for Indian citizens and visitors from SAARC and BIMSTEC countries and about ₹610 for other foreign nationals, free under 15 (tajmahal.gov.in, checked October 2026). The official sites do not say whether the ticket is needed for the Jama Masjid courtyard with the tomb; agra.nic.in notes that the dargah stays open longer than the monument. The tomb is a working shrine, so dress modestly and keep quiet near the cenotaph.
❓ FAQ
What did Akbar do for Salim Chishti?
After the sheikh foretold the birth of his heir, Akbar named the prince Salim, built his new capital, Fatehpur Sikri, around the saint’s hermitage and, after his death, raised the marble tomb in 1580–1581.
Who built the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti?
The emperor Akbar, in 1580–1581, in the courtyard of the Jama Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri.
Is there a dargah in Fatehpur Sikri?
Yes: the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti is a working dargah inside the courtyard of the Jama Masjid, still visited by pilgrims.
What miracle is Salim Chishti known for?
By tradition he promised the childless Akbar three sons, and the first, Salim, the future Jahangir, was born in 1569, by the same tradition in the sheikh’s own house. That is why people still come to his tomb to pray for children.
Why do people tie threads at the tomb?
Each thread is a wish; when it comes true, the person returns to untie it and give thanks.