About Agra During Modern Period:
In the times of Mughals, Agra was one of largest Subas out of the 12 provinces of their empire and encompassed Gwalior, Kalpi, Kannauj, Koil (Modern Aligarh), Narnaul and Alwar. Abul Fazl, the court historian of Akbar, describes Agra as a large city with a healthy climate, situated in the bank of River Yamuna. He has also mentioned the villas, gardens and red sandstone fort built by Akbar. Badaoni and Nizamuddin, the other two contemporary historians also describe the grandeur and splendor of the Mughal Agra. A church, an orphanage, a Christian cemetery and a college were built by a Jesuit father at Agra. In 1585, Ralph Fitch noted that Agra had much more population and larger dimensions than London, while Jehangir boasted in his memoirs that the number of the buildings here were equal to several cities of Iraq, Khurasan and Mawar-un-Nahr put together. Agra attracted English and Dutch, who established their factories here. The capital of Moghul India for nearly a century, it sports beautiful palaces and splendid royal mausoleums and tombs. Today, the city is more famous for Taj, the white-marble tribute of Shah Jahan to his beloved queen Mumtaz mahal. The other places worth visiting here speaking volumes about the splendor of thise days are Itmad-ud-Daulah’s tomb enshrining graves of Nur Jehan’s parents and Moti Masjid. However, if we take the monuments away, the city has lost it all.
General Information about Agra:
Location: Agra
State: Uttar Pradesh
Capital: Lucknow
Language: Hindi, English
Temperature: Max 42˚C, Min 27˚C (summer), Max 26˚C, Min 14˚C (winter)
Best Season: October to February
How to Reach Agra:
By Air:
Agra airport is 7 km from the city centre and 3 km from Idgah bus stand and is connected by domestic flights from major Indian cities. There are daily round trip flights from Delhi to Agra, Khajuraho, and Varanasi, with a return to Delhi. It takes only about 40 minutes from Delhi to Agra.
By Road:
Agra is about 204 km from Delhi, the capital of India. There is an excellent national highway connecting Delhi and Agra and it is only a 4 hours drive from Delhi. There are many luxury taxis and buses that drive to Agra everyday. Idgah and Agra Fort are the main bus stands of Agra from where anybody can catch buses to and from or Delhi, Jaipur, Mathura and Fatehpur-Sikri.
By Rail:
Agra is well connected by rail to Delhi, Varanasi and cities of Rajasthan. The main railway station is the Agra Cantonment station. There are many trains connecting Delhi and Agra like Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Taj Express and luxury trains like the Palace on Wheels.