Agra is best known as the city of the Taj Mahal, the world's most famous monument of love. Once the imperial capital of the Mughals, it is situated along the banks of the River Yamuna and attracts
thousands of tourists every day from all over the world. The Taj, one of the wonders of the world and a World Heritage Monument, is only one of the innumerable edifices the Mughals endowed this city
with. The Agra Fort, the Jama Masjid, the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula, Fathepur Sikri and Akbar's tomb at Sikandra are some better-known examples. An important cantonment town under the British, Agra
also has some good examples of Indo-Saracenic architecture in the cantonment area.
Agra, with its laid -back lifestyle and its immense wealth of architecture, handicrafts and jewellery, is amongst the most remarkable city of the world. In terms of ambience it is still associated with
its Mughal period led by Babur, who arrived in 1526. Agra grew in prominence as almost all of India came under the rule of Mughal empire but Agra reached its zenith under the rule of Akbar, Shah Jehan
and Jehangir. It was under the rule of Akbar that Agra become a leading centre of art, science, commerce and culture.
The city of Taj, Agra was established in 1475 by Badal Singh. Agra finds mention in the Mahabharata as Agraban. This city in those days was considered to be the sister city of Mathura which was more
prominent than Agraban. |
