Agra is a medieval city situated on the banks of the river Yamuna, founded it in the year 1504 by a Sultan. He and his son ruled their Sultanate from Agra until 1526.
The golden age of the city began with the Mughals. It was known then as Akbarabad and remained the capital of the Mughals Empire.
Since Akbarabad was one of the most important cities in India under the Mughals, it witnessed a lot of building activity. Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty laid out the first formal Persian garden on the banks of river Yamuna. The garden is called the Aram Bagh or the Garden of Relaxation. His grandson Akbar raised the towering ramparts of the Great Red Fort besides making Agra a center for learning arts, commerce and religion. (Remeber that Akbar was the same guy who build Fatephur Sikri)
His son, Jahangir, had a love of gardens and flora and fauna and laid many gardens inside the Red Fort or Laal Kila.
His other son, Shah Jahan, known for his keen interest in architecture gave Akbarabad its most prized monument, the Taj Mahal, built in loving memory of his wife.
The mausoleum was completed in 1648.
Shah Jahan later shifted the capital to Delhi during his reign, but this son Aurangzeb shifted the capital back to Akbarabad and had his father imprisoned in the Fort there. Akbarabad remained capital of India during the rule of Aurangzeb until he shifted it to Aurangabad in the Deccan in 1653. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the city came under the influence of Marathas and Jats and was called Agra, before falling into the hands of the British Raj in 1803.
Places of Interest:
- Taj Mahal: This is is one of the most famous buildings in the world. It is one of the new 7
Wonders of the world, and one of three 'World Heritage Sites' in Agra, the others being Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.
Completed in 1653 A.D., the Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the final resting place for his favourite Queen, Mumtaz. Finished in marble, it is perhaps India's most fascinating and beautiful monument. This perfectly symmetrical monument took 22 years (1630-1652) of hard labour and 20,000 workers, masons and jewellers to build and is set amidst landscaped gardens. Built by the Persian architect, Ustad Isa, the Taj Mahal is on the bank of the Yamuna River. It can be observed like a mirage from the Agra Fort from where Emperor Shah Jahan stared at it, for the last eight years his life as a prisoner of his son Aurangzeb. It is a masterpiece of symmetry, seeming to be floating in the air from a distance, and each revealed as an illusion experienced as one enters through the main gate. -
the impressive Agra Fort. The fort is built alongside the Yamuna river and stretches almost 2.5 km. It consists of a wall built in red sandstone and several buildings inside. The wall has 2 gates, the Delhi Gate and the Amar Singh Gate. You can only enter the fort via the Amar Singh Gate. Part of the fort is still in use by the Indian Army and are not accessible to the public, but there's still enough left to get an insight on the way the Mughals lived in the 16th century. After going through the Amar Singh Gate you walk over a ramp and enter the Great Courtyard. On the right hand sight, there's the many pillared Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience). It was built by Shah Janan in 1628. Furthermore you find the Royal Pavilions. It contains beautiful mosques. Several of the buildings are made of pure marble with beautiful carvings. To cool off the rooms in the marble pavilions, the walls were hollow and filled with running water. From the balconies in the pavilions, you have a nice view on the Yamuna river and the Taj. Legend has it that Shah Jahan desired to construct another Taj Mahal in black marble on the other side of the river Yamuna and connect the two by a bridge. This structure was intended to be his own tomb. To avoid this, his son imprisoned him in the Agra Fort where he had a view on the building erected for his deceased wife. Shah Jahan is said to have died in the Musamman Burj, a tower with a beautiful marble balcony. From there you probably have the best view on the Taj.
