Situated on the bank of the Yamuna River, the city of Agra stands as one of India’s most glorified ancient capitals and is home to the country’s most iconic landmark — The Taj Mahal. It lies at the southern end of India’s golden triangle — the triangular tourist route between the cities of Agra, Jaipur, and Delhi. Agra has been at the center of the Mughal Empire for much of the 15th and 16th centuries. All three major monuments from that era — the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Fatehpur Sikri — are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Today the city is small in comparison to the country’s booming metropolises which makes it an easily navigated, laid back destination, full of beauty and culture.
I really enjoyed my time here. The people I met were lovely and very proud of their city. The monuments, although crowded, were unexplainably alluring and timeless. The food, especially the street food, and the home cooked thali meals prepared by the owners of my bed and breakfast, were phenomenal. I left Agra feeling satisfied after wandering through the relics of its glorious history, eating my way through dozens of food vendors and home kitchens, and getting to know a few generous locals who opened up to me about their hometown.
A Brief History
History in this part of the world is, for lack of a better term, complex. The first written record of Agra dates back to the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata where it was described as the land of ‘Agraban’ — ‘ban’ meaning forest — which hints that little else existed here during that time. What we do know for certain is that the city was founded as the capital of Sultan Sikandar’s Delhi sultanate during the Lodī dynasty in the early 16th century. The Lodi Dynasty would come to an end when Babur, the first Mughal emperor, took the city and established the Mughal Empire in 1526, making Agra his capital.
The Islamic empire’s expansion and prosperity came with a price. When Babur died, he was succeeded by his son, Humayun. The city was then besieged and taken by the Afgan Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan ruler, who brought military and social reforms to India, including the rupee currency. Suri’s rule would usher in the 16 year Suri empire which eventually was overcome by the Mughals with Humayun once again serving as their leader. Humayan’s son Akbar succeeded the throne in 1558, ushering in the golden age of Mughal architecture in India.
During Akbar’s reign much of the city’s structures were rebuilt to become some of India’s most impenetrable defenses. Akbar ruled the Mughal empire for over four decades during which he built a new city, Fatehpur Sikri, 40k away from Agra before returning the capital to the fertile banks of the Yumana river following severe water shortages.
The most famous of Agra’s emperors was Shah Jahan. A renowned military commander, he became better known for his contribution to Indian architecture than his political prowess. The use of white marble and glazed tiles became synonymous with his emperor’s grandest structures. His love of building came to a pinnacle when he built a mausoleum dedicated to his late wife Mumtaz Mahal. This mausoleum would become known as the Taj Mahal and would become one of the 7-wonders-of-the-world. Shah Jahan would eventually fall seriously ill and his son Aurangzeb emerged victorious in a battle for succession. When Shah Jahan miraculously recovered he was sentenced to solitary confinement by his son, living his last days in Agra’s Red Fort, peering out from a small window towards his late wife’s beautiful white marble tomb down river.
After the Mughal capital was moved from Agra to Delhi and later to Akbarabād, Agra became caught in a power vacuum. The 18th century saw several conflicts which led to changes in the ruling parties and the decline of Agra’s significance in the region. The Jats, the Marathas, the Gwalior, and eventually the British in 1803 took control of the city. During the British Raj It was the capital of Agra and North-Western province from 1833 to 1868.
Agra had a pivotal role in the Indian Mutiny (1857–58) in which after a series of successful rebellions native Indian factions were able to force the British to retreat behind the Red Fort. After the rebels took the city they moved their army to Delhi and the British once again took control of the city. The rebellion led to many reforms and the abolition of the East India Company for direct rule by the British government.
India gained its independence from Britain in 1947 and was divided into two nations, India and Pakistan — with Bangladesh forming shortly afterwards in the East. Within independent India seven states were formed and Agra became part of Uttar Pradesh. Agra’s economy slowly grew in part to industrial growth and tourism. Pietra dura, the old European craft of interlacing gemstones into marble, developed into Agra’s most famous local art-form. Today handcrafted marble work, much like the ones found in Agra’s historical monuments, can be bought around the city. As for shopping, the Kinari Bazaar, much like the one in Delhi, is a center for purchasing any item you can imagine. Obviously you should come to haggle, and haggle well.
Agra’s Food Scene
In all of India’s cities street-food is king. Agra, the former capital of an expansive empire, is no exception. Culinary traditions from all over the empire and beyond have mixed with local cuisine to create many of the Indian dishes whose popularity has spread throughout the globe. Rich buttery gravies and skewered meats, sweet snacks flavored with botanicals, and deep fried pockets of spicy goodness — all products of the city’s imperial cosmopolitan past.
The sweet chunks of sometimes gooey, sometimes hard candy, known as Petha, is a staple dessert in Agra’s long list of traditional foods. Petha is made from a type of gourd known as the ash gourd which is similar to a small cylindrical melon. The candies are full of sugars and often mixed with nuts and other ingredients leading to the unique flavor. Petha is said to have originated in the imperial kitchen of Shah Jahan, a treat for the nobility which soon became synonymous with Agra’s culinary traditions.
When you wake up in Agra there are a few street foods that are best savored in the early morning hours at small street stands packed with locals getting a quick bite before work. Bedai is a small puffy fried bread, similar to kachori, served in a bowl of spicy green gravy and topped with generous chunks of potato and yogurt. The sweet and spicy flavor combination harmonizes perfectly and is cheap and easy to find everywhere in the city.
When the heat of the day starts creeping in and your appetite is ready for something wholesome and traditional look no further than the savory snacks known as chaats. These various small dishes are cheap and easy to eat; their stalls are plentiful throughout India and especially in Agra. Nothing was more satisfying to me than the fried mashed potato balls soaked in spicy gravy and covered in chutney known in Agra as Bhalla. If these don’t stymie your hunger and satisfy your soul then try the various samosas, and gol gappas.
Centuries of Mughal rule indelibly imbued its rich traditions in Indian cuisine, leaving us many of the classic dishes synonymous with the subcontinents cooking. Mughal cuisine, known as Moglai cuisine, is a rich amalgamation of Persian, Turkik, and Indian flavors that is well represented in Agra. The empire is considered a hybridized Indo-Persian culture and the traditions of its vast territories shine through its food.
Richly spiced, buttery gravies, skewered kebabs, Tandoori chicken, Seekh kebab, pilafs, and the ubiquitous street food Samosas all can be traced back to the Mughal palets. There are several restaurants in Agra specializing in Moglai cuisine, many new on the scene, some overly expensive and touristy, others local and lacking the comforts of places geared towards appeasing western expectations. It’s best to do some research and as always pick places that are busy and packed with locals.
Taj Mahal
Love can inspire miraculous feats of engineering, especially in death, as one of the world’s most iconic monuments fetchingly demonstrates. The Taj Mahal is a breathtaking structure; the life’s work of the broken hearted Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, built to honor his late wife and preserve her legacy for eternity.
Shah Jahan married Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal (“Chosen One of the Palace”) in 1612. She became his favorite out of his three queens as described in poems and written stories of the time. When she died from giving birth to their 14th child in 1631 the heartbroken emperor became enlivened to build his love the greatest palace in India. Already known for commissioning some of India’s most impressive structures, commanded its construction on the banks of the Yamuna river.
The architect was Ustad Ahmad Lahouri, who would later design Delhi’s Red Fort, and earn his place as one of history’s most acclaimed architects. More than 20,000 workers using thousands of elephants labored for almost two decades building it, amassing an unmeasurable financial cost to the empire. When Shah Jahan died in 1666 he was laid to rest next to his wife.
The Taj became a marvel of design that was designated as one of the 7 wonders of the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The entire building is composed of White Marble with impressive inscriptions on the walls in Persian and Arabic. The pearl white walls are inlaid with semi-precious stones like amethyst, jade, various crystals, and turquoise, forming interwoven designs of color; a technique known as pietra dura.
As with many Mughal Mausoleums the most prominent feature of the Taj is its central dome which towers 73m above its base. Four smaller domes and four minarets stand at its corners (slightly leaning outwards to protect the Taj if they collapse). Inside of the mausoleum is Mumtaz Mahal’s octogonal cenotaph and lying below it is her actual sarcophagus.
Standing in the periphery of the Taj are its massive red sandstone gates which have little to do with defense. In order to give balance and depth to the main structures these gates work as frames for the main image, making it pop out to the viewer. Another imaging trick employed by the architects was to create a garden divided into quarters by long pools of water. This created a breathtakingly beautiful reflective surface for the viewer.
Next to the Taj stands two large red sandstone buildings facing each other with the Taj standing in between. The western building is a mosque and the other its exact replica — a mirror image of the mosque known as a jawab. Both structures seem to accentuate the Taj’s beautiful exterior.
After the Mughal empire collapsed Shah Jahan’s masterpiece faded into obscurity and dereliction and was left abandoned for almost two centuries. It wasn’t until the British viceroy of India Lord Curzon and his team, feeling the monument was a significant world landmark, had the Taj restored to its present glory. Since then millions of people per year visit India’s most cherished landmark.
Mehtab Bagh
On the opposite bank of the Yamuna River stands the large garden complex known for having the best views of the Taj Mahal. The 300m x 300m garden complex was planned to be the natural accompaniment to the Taj. At the end of his life Shah Jahan started to build his tomb here, a would be exact replica of his wife’s but instead made of black stone. With the ground tiles already laid emperor Shah Jahan was locked in confinement. His tomb to be built across the river from his beloved wife’s now an impossible and unfinished dream. A sad reminder of the harshness of existence, unbiased between emperors and peasants.
Agra Fort
Standing under the powerful 70m high red sandstone walls stretching several kilometers around a massive complex of military buildings and palaces you start to really grasp the scale of the Mughal empire’s power. This is one of the largest and most impressive forts in India. The war-minded emperor Akber began the forts construction in 1565, employing almost 5000 workers in its construction. Initially built as a military structure it soon became home to palaces and ornate structures which compete with any in India for their detailed carvings and fine structures.
Akbar reconstructed the Agra Fort from a mud-walled structure of the Lodi empire into the colossal red sandstone bastion which stands today. Four gates protect the fort from invaders with the Delhi gate and Lahore gate being the most impenetrable. The Delhi gate is still used today by the Indian Military stationed in the northern end of the fort. Entering the outer gates you walk upon the smooth sloped pathway leading to the inner gate. Holes line the walls where soldiers would have poured hot oil to create an impenetrably slippery surface for any invading army.
Once inside there are several palaces and gardens that make up the spacious interior. The main palaces include the Macchi Bhavan, Khas Mahal, and Shah Jahani Mahal. Each palace contains a beautiful menagerie of carvings, white marble and red sandstone walls, and Persian engravings — reminders of the affluent Mughals who ruled from here. Along with the palaces there are several other structures including beautiful white marble mosques inside the fort.
The Muthamman Burj is a white marbled semi-octagonal tower where the Emperor would stand and greet his subjects. Emperor Shah Jahan spent the last years of his life under house arrest inside the fort and is said that he would sit in the Muthamman Burj and gaze across the river at the Taj Mahal. Today you too can sit at the window as he once did and look upon his creation.
The Shish Mahal, located on the western end of the Muthamman Burj, is one of Agra Fort’s most cherished buildings. Built between 1631-1640 AD, it was one of the many architectural wonders created by Shah Jahan. It is said to have mainly served as the imperial bath of the Emperor and his harem. The thick walls are said to have kept it cool during the intense heat of the day. The most striking characteristics of the Shish Mahal are the glass mosaic tiles decorating the walls and ceiling. When illuminated by candlelight the entire inside sparkles like stars in the night sky, a visual treat for anybody inside. It’s said that the glass was imported from Syria and used by Shah Jahan for this purpose.
Jahangir’s Hauz was a massive bathing tank that was discovered near Akbar’s courtyard. It is thought to have been a mobile bathing tank presented to emperor Jahangir’s wife as a marriage gift. Now the massive tank is positioned outside the courtyard. It stands about five feet high and is inscribed with the Persian inscription ‘Hauz-e-Jahangir’.
The Grapes Garden or Anguri Bagh, was once the private garden for the women of court. Grapes were said to grow in abundance and supposedly used to make wine for the emperor who likely believed that wine was not part of the forbidden intoxicants listed in the Quran. Pursuing pleasure was a common theme for the Mughal rulers.
The Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah
Beautiful gardens surround the small tomb located on the banks of the Yamuna River. Often called the “Baby Taj,” it resembles its larger neighbor. The tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah is one of my favorite places in Agra. The tomb was built in the early 17th century, before the Taj Mahal, during the second phase of Mughal architecture, when white marble and pietra dura inlay came into common use.
The Baby Taj is often overlooked by visitors, making it the perfect place to enjoy the Mughal architecture without all the crowds associated with the more notable monuments nearby. Unlike most Mughal structures which are built by emperors this one was built by Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, for her father.
The inside and outside I found to be more intricately designed than the Taj — or at least that’s how my untrained eye perceived it. The beautiful inlays and carved Quranic verses pop out and visually surround you as you stand in the tomb’s interior. Sound vibrates off the white marble walls as the occasional visitor makes their way into the chamber, talking loudly as they’re mesmerized by the beauty surrounding them.
Fetehpur Sikri
Just 40k away from Agra on a dusty road lined with wild hemp and farms lies the Mughal empire’s short lived capital city of Fetehpur Sikri. For 14 years the complex served as the capital under the rule of emperor Akbar until water shortages created the need to move to Agra. The site was chosen as Akbar’s capital when, according to legend, the Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chisht instructed Akhbar that an heir to his throne would be born. After the saint’s words became reality Akbar spontaneously built his capital here including three palaces for each of his wives and a grand central mosque, still in use today.
Central to any Mughal capital is a grand mosque, and Fetehpur Sikri is no exception. Persian and traditional Indian architectural styles collide in the 16th century Jama Masjid which influenced many structures to come. Detailed carvings and murals adorn its towering walls, stretching over 160 meters in length.
Inside the mosque complex are the Buland Darwaza, the “Door of victory,” which was built in 1601 to commemorate Akbar’s victory over Gujarat. The towering structure is said to be one of the world’s highest gateways, a feat of engineering and design so astonishing it could still easily dwarf many modern office buildings. Walking up the steep stairs you can look up above to a massive archway with several verses from the Holy Quran as well as a verse in Persian inscribed. Honeycombs and massive bee colonies also adorned it when I visited which added to the beauty.
Also inside the complex is the Tomb of Salim Chishti, one of the finest and most intricately carved buildings from the Mughal period. It houses the remains of the Sufi saint Salim Chisti, who called Fetehpur Sikri home before it was made the capital of Akbar’s empire. It is said that Christi blessed Emperor Akbar and predicted his heir’s birth in the same village. Because of this popular legend many people to this day visit the tomb in hopes of getting a blessing in fertility.
The mosque is still in use today and you can enter the huge halls along with hundreds of pilgrims and devotees eager to spend time praying and looking up in astonishment at the wondrous architecture surrounding you.
Akbar’s Tomb
The final resting place of the Mughal Emperor Akbar is located just a few kilometers from central Agra. Built between 1605–1613 by his son Jahangir, it is one of Agra’s most impressive monuments from the Mughal period. The mausoleum is characterized by the four white marble chhatri-topped minarets which share a resemblance to the Taj Mahal. The gardens, main gate, and tomb are perfect places for a quiet stroll.
In Closing
Leaving a good place is always difficult. Agra’s sights and sounds left an undeniably permanent mark on me. For some reason one of India’s most crowded tourist spots became a favorite place of mine. The world is full of beautiful gems and this is one of them. I hope I can come back and spend more time lounging next to the Yamuna river, watching women carry bundles of straw on their heads, water buffalo plowing through fields of rice, cranes dancing in the sand, all within eyesight of the astral white marble structure romanticised the world over.