Salim Chishti

One of the shaykhs of the Chishtiyya in Mughal India; the source gives his full name as Shaykh Salim b. Baha al-Din Chishti. His name is linked with the birth of Jahangir, son of Akbar, and with the founding of the city of Fatehpur Sikri. There is no separate TDV article on him; what follows is the information given about him in the articles on the city, the mosque and the emperor.

He lived in a cave near the village of Sikri, south-west of Agra.

When Akbar visited him (1569), the shaykh gave the sultan, who had no son, the good news that a son would soon be born to him. Akbar thereupon had a palace built there. His son was born at Sikri on 30 August 1569, and Akbar gave him the name of the shaykh he loved dearly, Salim. At court the prince was called Shaykhu Baba; he would later ascend the throne as Jahangir.

After the prince's birth Akbar ordered further buildings around the palace and founded a city there, which he named Fatehpur on returning victorious from the Gujarat campaign in 1574. According to the article on Akbar, Salim Chishti played a large part in the emperor's turn towards a mystical outlook.

These articles do not give the date of his death; his grave is at Fatehpur Sikri.

His Tomb and Complex — The Great Mosque of Fatehpur Sikri, one of the city's most important buildings, completed in 979 (1571-72), stands near Akbar's palace and the hospice of Salim Chishti. On the western side of the mosque's courtyard are two tombs, of Salim Chishti and of his grandson Islam Khan. Salim Chishti's tomb, entirely of white marble, is remarkable for the carved marble lattice screens with geometric patterns that enclose its veranda and windows.