History of Agra
Agra
was once the capital of the Mughal empire and even today it seems to linger in
the past . Not surprising , for the Mughal emperors with their passion for building,
endowed the city with some of the finest structures in the world . It is very
easy to slip away here through the centuries into the grandeur and intrigues of
the Mughal court .
Agra is an old city and it is said that its name was derived from Agrabana,
a forest that finds mention in the epic Mahabharata. In more recent times Agra
came into prominence when Sikandar Lordi made it his capital city in 1501 . The
Lodi rule was to end very soon and Agra passed into the possession of the Mughals
.
It was during the time of the third emperor Akbar that Agra came into
its own . He embarked on the construction of the massive Agra Fort in 1565. Though
Akbar was diverted into bilding a new capital at Fatehpur sikri not far away.
Agra continued to retain its importance and shah jehan, Akbar's garndson ornamented
the city with that masterpiece of Mughal architecture - the Taj Mahal and built
several other beautiful buildings within the Agra fort .
