Agra
Agra is the city of Taj Mahal, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in Northern India. It is about 200 KMs from Capital of India. Agra has 3 sites declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort in the city and Fatehpur Sikri at 40 KMs. There are also many other buildings and tombs from the glory days of Agra as the capital of the Mughal Empire. Below I share most important information about 2nd UNESCO world heritage site in Agra. Next we discussed about inside view of Agra Fort.
About Agra Fort
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Agra Fort View[/caption]
Agra Fort is a Fort in the city of Agra which was built by the Mughals. It was a place of residence of most of the emperor of the Mughal Dynasty. Mughal rulers left over there and made it the residence until the year 1638. The capital city was then shifted to Delhi. It is 2.5 km wide and it is very close to the Taj Mahal. The other name given to the Agra Fort is walled City. Agra Fort is also called as Badalgarh. If you are on the same day tour to agra by car from delhi, you can visit the Agra fort easily and it is really advisable to visit all the historic monuments which are located inside the Agra Fort.
Historic Sites Inside Agra Fort
There are beautiful historic sites in the Agra Fort. Those historic sites are Jahangir Hauz, shahjahani Mahal, Ghazni Gate, Jahangir chain of Justice, the Muthamman Burj and Jharokha and the Sheesh Mahal.
Jahangir's Hauz
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Agra Fort Views[/caption]
Jahangir's Hauz is basically a Monolithic tank and the purpose of this tank was bathing. In general, it is not a big deal, but we are talking about the tank which is used for bathing by the ancient Kings. It was a royal tank of bathing. It is 5 feet in height, 25 feet in circumference and 8 feet in diameter. There is a beautiful inscription in Persian which mentions that it belongs to Jahangir. Please be reminded that Jahangir was the son of Akbar. It is written on the external side of the rim that the tank belongs to Jahangir in the words 'Hauz-e-Jahangir'. It is a good way to know how royal the rules were.
Shahjahani Mahal
Shahjahani Mahal is located between Khas Mahal, which is made up of white marble and Jahangir Mahal. Jahangiri Mahal is made up of red sandstone. Shahjahani Mahal was the first building which was made by Shah Jahan in red sandstone. Shah Jahan made the Agra Fort also in the red sandstone. There are a large hall and many rooms with an octagonal tower on the river side of the Shahjahani Mahal. Try to visualize it. It looks perfectly systematic.
Ghazni Gate
It is the gate which is in the Tomb of Mahmud Ghaznavi and Ghazni. It originally belonged to this place only. It was brought from Ghajini by the British in the year 1842. It was brought by a Governor General. The Governor journal claimed that this gate was made up of sandalwood and it was originally the Sandalwood gates of Somnath. This Gate was taken by Mahmud Ghaznavi to Ghazni in 1025. It was a time when there was British rule and therefore the governor general had to take avenge of this insult after 800 years. People say that it was the false story and it was just created to build a soft corner in the hearts of the Indians. The gate is made up of normal deodar wood and it is not made up of sandalwood. There is one more piece of evidence that proves that this Gate belongs to Ghajini only because it has something written in Arabic inscription.
Jahangir Chain of Justice
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Agra Fort Inside View[/caption]
Jahangir was the beloved son of Akbar. He commissioned the chain which was named as the chain of Justice. This change symbolizes that every decision was taken by him and the court has to be justice oriented. This chain was made up of gold. If there was any problem with any person with respect to the conduct of any of the courtyard, he needed to come and pull the chain of Justice as a gesture to attract the attention of the other courtiers and the ruler. There are 16 beds in the chain and the weight of the chain is 1 quintal. It is very long. There were two ends of the chain. The first end was tied to the battlements of Shah Burj and the other end of the chain was fastened to a stone post on the bank of the river. Jahangir was considered as a good king and he did not make any kind of distinction based on caste of the people or the status of the people. He treated everyone without discrimination.
The Muthamman Burj Asha Burj and Jharokha
This was a very stunning Palace and it covered a large area in the fort. The Shah Burj was meant for or looking out of the window. The window is called as Jharokha. This can also be connected to the chain of justice mentioned in the previous paragraph. If anyone 14 the bank of the river, where is the other end of the chain was tied, tries to move the chain it would definitely ring the bell in Shah Burj at the other end of the chain was tied over here. With the help of the Jharokha or the window, it was possible for the king Jahangir to see outside and have an idea of the situation. Isn't it an interesting and creative initiative to solve the problems of the masses!
The Sheesh Mahal
The Sheesh Mahal was also built by one of the ultimate creators among the Mughal rulers, Shah Jahan. The Sheesh Mahal was built as a part of the summer palace. It was a piece of glass work all over the walls and ceiling. These glasses were mirrored of wonderful quality. This glass used to glitter and Twinkle in multiple ways. One only needed to maintain the semi-dark interior. This particular kind of glass which gave these features was actually imported from Heleb of Syria. There are Sheesh Mahal palaces in Lahore and Delhi also, but the best one can we see it the on same day tour to agra by train from delhi over here.
