-ud-daulah's Tomb, Agra

Plate IX. Interior of the Upper Pavilion, Itmad-ud-daulah's Tomb

Plate X. Marble Sarcophagus on the Upper Story of Akbar's Tomb,
Sikandra

Plate XI. Interior of The Diwan-i-Khas, Fatehpur Sikri

Plate XII. Rajah Birbal's Daughter's House, Fatehpur Sikri

Plate XIII. The Baland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri

Plans

Agra Fort. Plan of the Palaces

Fatehpur Sikri. Plan Showing the Position of the Buildings

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 Mahabharata; 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
government. Sikandra, the burial-place of Akbar, is named after him,
and there he built a garden-house which subsequently became the tomb
of Mariam Zamani, one of Akbar's wives. The son of Sultan Sikandar,
Ibrahim Lodi, was defeated and slain by Babar at Panipat, near Delhi,
in 1526, and from that time Agra became one of the principal cities
of the Mogul Empire which Babar founded.

The Great Moguls.--I. Babar.

Though very few memorials of Babar's short but brilliant reign still
exist at Agra, the life of this remarkable man is so important a
part of the Mogul dynasty that it must not be passed over by the
intelligent tourist or student of Mogul art. It was Babar's sunny
disposition, and the love of nature characteristic of his race, that
brought back into Indian art the note of joyousness which it had not
known since the days of Buddhism. Babar is one of the most striking
figures in Eastern history. He was desc