ren of his
Rajput wife, Mariam Zamani, had recently died, and he was anxious
for an heir. He consulted the holy man, who advised him to come and
live at Sikri. The Emperor did so, and nine months afterwards Mariam,
who was taken to Chishti's cell for her confinement, gave birth to a
son, afterwards the Emperor Jahangir. He was called Sultan Salim in
honour of the saint. Jahangir, who describes all these circumstances
in his memoirs, adds: "My revered father, regarding the village of
Sikri, my birthplace, as fortunate to himself, made it his capital,
and in the course of fourteen or fifteen years the hills and deserts,
which abounded in beasts of prey, became converted into a magnificent
city, comprising numerous gardens, elegant edifices and pavilions,
and other places of great attraction and beauty. After the conquest
of Gujarat, the village was named Fatehpur (the town of victory)."

The glory of Fatehpur Sikri was short-lived. Akbar held his court
there for seventeen years, and then removed it to Agra; some say on
account of the badness of the water supply, others that the saint,
disturbed in his devotions by the bustle and gaieties of the great
city, declared that either he or Akbar must go. "Then," replied the
Emperor, "let it be your servant, I pray." The entire city was given
up to the beasts of the surrounding jungle. Finch, who visited it in
the early part of the next reign, describes it: "Ruin all; lying like a
waste desert, and very dangerous to pass through in the night." This,
however, was an exaggeration, for the principal buildings are still
in a good state of preservation, probably owing to the remoteness of
the place from any great highway or large town.

The city, which was some six miles in circuit, was surrounded on three
sides by high battlemented walls, which had nine gateways. The fourth
side was formed by a great artificial lake, now dry. The principal
buildings are on the summit of the high ridge which runs throughout
the length of the city.

THE AGRA GATE.--The visitor usually enters by the Agra Gate,
concerning which an amusing story is told. One night Akbar, attended
by some of his ministers, was inspecting the ramparts near this
gate, when he observed a highway robbery being committed close by
the walls. Turning severely to those responsible for the peace of
the city, he demanded why such an outrage was permitted in the very
presence of the Emperor. "It is always darkest directly under th