Agra

History of Agra

Agra's recorded history as a capital begins in 1504–05, when Sultan Sikandar Lodi made it his seat of government. The Mughals took it in 1526 and for much of the next 130 years ruled their empire from here: Akbar rebuilt the Fort, Jahangir's court raised what is considered the first Mughal tomb built entirely of white marble, Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal. Then came a century of sieges, British rule from 1803, and the city of monuments, leather and petha that stands on the Yamuna today.

Before the Mughals

The Uttar Pradesh tourism department's official Taj site traces the earliest mention of Agra to the Mahabharata, which calls it Agravana, and credits the second-century geographer Ptolemy with the first use of the modern name.

The city's rise as a capital is firmer ground. According to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Sikandar Lodi (1487–1517) was the first Sultan of Delhi to move his capital to Agra, and the Fort was later built on the remains of an older site called Badalgarh. His son Ibrahim Lodi held Agra until he was defeated and killed by Babur at Panipat in 1526.

The Mughal capital

Babur (1526–1530) took Agra after Panipat; his son Humayun seized the Fort and its treasure. Babur laid out Aram Bagh, today's Ram Bagh, around 1528: the first formal Mughal garden in India.
Humayun was crowned in the Fort in 1530 and lost it to Sher Shah Sur in 1540. Akbar won the region back in 1556.
Akbar arrived in 1558 and rebuilt the Fort in red sandstone from 1565 to 1573, with some 4,000 builders a day, according to the ASI. He also built a new capital at Fatehpur Sikri, which served as the Mughal capital for only about ten years. Around 1599, curious about the faith of the Jesuits he had invited from Goa, he ordered the first Roman Catholic church of the Mughal empire, Akbar's Church.
Jahangir completed Akbar's tomb at Sikandra in 1613, and in 1623–28 Empress Nur Jahan built the tomb of her father, Itimad-ud-Daulah, considered the first Mughal building made entirely of white marble.
Shah Jahan lost his wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1631 and built the Taj Mahal for her: UNESCO dates the mausoleum to 1631–1648; the mosque, guest house, main gateway and outer courtyard were completed by 1653. Inside the Fort he raised white-marble palaces and three marble mosques, and in 1648 his daughter Jahanara built the Jama Masjid. In 1638 he formally moved his capital to Delhi, though he went on living in Agra.
Aurangzeb seized power in 1658 and kept his father confined in the Fort for eight years, until Shah Jahan died in 1666 and was buried in the Taj.

Jats, Marathas and the British

The ASI sums up the Fort's 18th century as a saga of sieges and plunder. The Jats of Bharatpur took Agra in 1761 and held it until 1774; the Marathas took it in 1785, and the British captured it from them in 1803. That same year Colonel John Hessing, a Dutch commander of the Fort in the Maratha years, was buried under a small red-sandstone copy of the Taj, still standing in the old Catholic cemetery.

Under the British, Agra was briefly the capital of its own Presidency (1834–36) and then of the North-Western Provinces until 1858, when the seat moved to Allahabad. In the rebellion of 1857 some 6,000 Europeans and others took refuge inside the Fort. The official Taj site records that during the same period British soldiers and officials chiselled precious stones out of the Taj's walls; a large restoration under Viceroy Lord Curzon, completed in 1908, also gave the gardens their present lawns.

The Taj Mahal and the Fort became UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1983, Fatehpur Sikri in 1986.

Legends and stories

Some of these are history, some are only told as history.

The prisoner who watched the Taj

Fact: the ASI records that Aurangzeb kept Shah Jahan confined in the Fort for eight years. Legend: that the old emperor spent them gazing at the Taj across the river from a tower of the Fort.

The black Taj

Legend, traced to the 17th-century traveller Tavernier, says Shah Jahan planned a second, black Taj for himself at Mehtab Bagh, on the far bank; historians treat it as a myth. What is known: the garden is aligned with the Taj, and an ASI excavation there revealed a large octagonal tank.

Emperor for half a day

The ASI tells of Nizam (the ASI spells it Nazam), a water-carrier who saved Humayun from drowning and was crowned emperor in the Fort for half a day in reward.

Twenty thousand workers

The official Taj site puts the labour force at about twenty thousand workers recruited from across northern India. The land, the ASI notes, was acquired from the Kachhwaha rajas in exchange for four havelis (mansions).

The four guardians

Hindu Agra has its own map: four Shiva temples at the four corners are said to guard the city, with Mankameshwar by the Fort tied by tradition to Krishna's era.

Where to see this history

Beyond the Fort and the Taj: Chini ka Rauza and Ram Bagh on the east bank, and the tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani at Sikandra. The three World Heritage Sites are on UNESCO sites of Agra; guided walks are on walking tours in Agra.

FAQ

In which Indian state is Agra located?

Uttar Pradesh. Agra stands on the Yamuna in the west of the state, about 230 km south-east of Delhi.

Who founded Agra?

The site is old, but Agra became a capital under Sultan Sikandar Lodi in 1504–05; the official Taj site calls him the founder of modern Agra. Akbar later rebuilt the city and its Fort on the right bank of the Yamuna.

When was Agra the Mughal capital?

From Babur's conquest in 1526 until Shah Jahan moved the capital to Delhi (formally in 1638, per the ASI), with a break under Sher Shah Sur in 1540–1556 and Akbar's years at Fatehpur Sikri. Aurangzeb moved the whole court to Delhi in 1658.

Where is the Taj Mahal located?

In Agra, on the right bank of the Yamuna at the point where the river takes a sharp turn, a couple of kilometres from the Fort.

Who built Agra Fort?

Akbar rebuilt it in red sandstone in 1565–1573 on the remains of an older fort, Badalgarh. Shah Jahan later added the white-marble palaces and mosques.

Sources (11)

Facts checked: 15 October 2026. Prices and hours are approximate; check locally.

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