Mahal, amounting in value, according to various reports, to two or
three crores of rupees. There was in particular the sheet of pearls
which Shah Jahan had caused to be made for the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal,
of the value of several lakhs of rupees, which was spread over it
on the anniversary and on Friday nights. There was the ewer of Nur
Jahan and her cushion of woven gold and rich pearls, with a border
of valuable garnets and emeralds." (Elliott.)

In 1739 Nadir, Shah of Persia, sacked Delhi, carried off Shah Jahan's
famous peacock throne, and laid Agra also under contribution. The
Mahrattas next appeared on the scene. In 1764 the Jâts of Bharatpur,
under Suraj Mal, captured Agra, looted the Taj, and played havoc
with the palaces in the Fort. They were joined by Walter Reinhardt,
an adventurer, half French and half German, who sold his services
for any work of infamy, and had only recently assisted in the murder
of the British Resident and other Europeans at Patna. He afterwards
entered the Mogul service, and was rewarded by a grant of a tract of
country near Meerut, which remained in the possession of his family
until recent times. He died at Agra in 1778, and was buried in the
Catholic cemetery.

For the next thirty-nine years Agra was occupied by Mahrattas and
by Mogul imperialists in turn. John Hessing, a Dutch officer in the
employ of the Mahrattas, was Governor of Agra in 1794, and died there
in 1802. The next year it was captured by the British under General,
afterwards Lord, Lake, and from that time until 1857 its history
was uneventful.