Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Walls and Gates

Fatehpur Sikri. Plan of Jodh Bai's Palace





AGRA

Historical Introduction

Agra has two histories: one of the ancient city on the east, or left,
bank of the river Jumna, going back so far as to be lost in the legends
of Krishna and of the heroes of the Mâhabhârata; the other of the
modern city, founded by Akbar in A.D. 1558, on the right bank of the
river, and among Muhammadans still retaining its name of Akbarabad,
which is intimately associated with the romance of the Great Moguls,
and known throughout the world as the city of the Taj.

Of ancient Agra little now remains except a few traces of the
foundations. It was a place of importance under various Hindu
dynasties previous to the Muhammadan invasions of India, but its
chequered fortunes down to the beginning of the sixteenth century
are the usual tale of siege and capture by Hindu or Mussulman, and
possess little historical interest.

In A.D. 1505 Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the last but one of the
Afghan dynasty at Delhi, rebuilt Agra and made it the seat of