Agra

Under the Moghul emperor Akbar (1542-1605) and his successors Jahangir (1605-1627) and Shah Jahan (1628-1658), Agra flourished. However, after the reign of Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb (1658-1707), and the gradual disintegration of the empire, the city passed from one invader to another before the British took charge early in the 19th century. The British, particularly Governor General Lord Curzon (in office 1898-1905), did much to halt and repair the damage inflicted on Agra's forts and palaces by raiders and vandals.

Agra today is crowded and dirty. Although some of the Moghul buildings are irrevocably scarred, the government has taken steps to protect the city's most important site from pollution, closing the streets around the Taj Mahal to gas-fueled vehicles (visitors are ferried from a remote parking lot by battery-powered buses) and relocating small factories and fire-burning shops away from the area. Still, Agra's monuments remain strewn like pearls in ashes, evoking that glorious period in Indian history when Agra was the center of the Moghul empire, and the empire itself was the focus of political, cultural, and artistic evolution.

Opening hours change constantly; inquire in advance at your hotel or the Uttar Pradesh State Tourist Office.