Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

AGRA

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 382 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

AGRA , an See also:

ancient See also:city of See also:India, which gives its name to a See also:district and See also:division in the See also:United Provinces. It is famous for containing the most perfect specimens of See also:Mogul See also:architecture. Agra, like See also:Delhi, owes much of its importance in both See also:historical and See also:modern times to the commercial and strategical advantages of its position. The See also:river See also:Jumna, which washes the walls of its fort, was the natural See also:highway for the See also:traffic of the See also:rich See also:delta of See also:Bengal to the See also:heart of India, and it formed, moreover, from very ancient times, the frontier See also:defence of the See also:Aryan stock settled in the See also:plain between the See also:Ganges and the Jumna against their western neighbours, hereditary freebooters who occupied the See also:highlands of Central India. No See also:place was better fitted for both an See also:emporium and a frontier fortress. The river formed an unfordable barrier and also a useful means of communication. Jehangir tells us in his autobiography that before his See also:father See also:Akbar built the See also:present fort, the See also:town was defended by a citadel of See also:great antiquity. For three See also:hundred years the Afghans and other tribes came down from the See also:north and founded kingdoms; and their See also:power radiated from Delhi and Agra. It was Sikandar, of the See also:house of See also:Lodi (A.D. 1500), the last of the Afghan dynasties, who realized the strategic importance of Agra as a point for keeping in check his rebellious vassals to the, See also:south. He removed his See also:court there, and Agra from being " a See also:mere See also:village of old See also:standing," says a See also:Persian chronicler, became the See also:capital of a See also:kingdom. In 1526 the city was captured by the See also:emperor See also:Baber, the famous Koh-i-noor See also:diamond being See also:part of the See also:loot; and it was here that Baber announced that his invasion was to be a permanent See also:conquest, and not a mere temporary inroad.

It was Baber's See also:

grandson Akbar that built the present fort, whose strong and lofty walls of red See also:sandstone are a mile and a.See also:half in circumference. The See also:building was completed in 1665, when See also:Charles II. was on the See also:throne of See also:England and the See also:plague was devastating See also:London. Another building of much the same date is the red See also:stone See also:palace generally attributed to Akbar, but probably of an earlier See also:time, which is the finest example of pure See also:Hindu architecture; while the Moti Masjid, or See also:Pearl See also:Mosque, is an equally perfect example of the See also:Mahommedan See also:style. But the See also:glory of Agra, the most splendidly poetic building in the See also:world, is the Taj Mahal, the See also:mausoleum built (A.D. 1632) by Tai the emperor Shah Jahan for the remains of his Mahal. favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, in which he himself also . lies buried. The building is built of See also:white See also:marble throughout, crowned with a great white See also:dome in the centre, and with a smaller dome at each of its four corners. From the marble See also:terrace which surrounds it rise four tall minarets of the same material, one at each corner. The Taj has been modelled and painted more frequently than any other building in the world, and the word pictures of it are numberless. But. it can only be described as a See also:dream in marble. It amply justifies the saying that the Moguls designed like See also:Titans and finished like jewellers. In regard to See also:colour and See also:design the Taj ranks first in the world for purely decorative workmanship; while the perfect symmetry of its exterior once seen can never be forgotten, nor the aerial See also:grace of its domes, rising like marble bubbles into the See also:azure See also:sky. In his See also:History of Architecture, See also:Fergusson says of it: " This building is an See also:early example of that See also:system of See also:inlaying with See also:precious stones which became the great characteristic of the style of the MoghaIs after the See also:death of Akbar.

All the spandrils of the Taj, all the angles and more important architectural details, are heightened by being inlaid with precious stones such as agates, bloodstones, jaspers and the like. These are combined in wreaths, scrolls and frets, as exquisite in design as they are beautiful in colour, and relieved by the pure white marble in which they are inlaid, they See also:

form the most beautiful and precious style of See also:ornament ever adopted in architecture. It is lavishly bestowed on the tombs themselves and the screens which surround them, but more sparingly introduced on the mosque that forms one wing of the Taj, and on the fountains and surrounding buildings. The See also:judgment, indeed, with which this style of ornament is apportioned to the various parts, is almost as remarkable as the ornament itself, and conveys a high See also:idea of the See also:taste and skill of the architects of this See also:age." Of the Taj as a whole See also:Lord See also:Roberts says in his See also:Forty-one Years in India: " Neither words nor See also:pencil could give to the most imaginative reader the slightest idea of the all-satisfying beauty and purity of this glorious conception. To those who have not already seen it I would say, ' Go to India. The Taj alone is well See also:worth the See also:journey.' " The Taj was designed by Ustad Isa, variously described as a See also:Byzantine Turk and a native of See also:Shiraz in See also:Persia. The pietra dura See also:work belongs to the Persian school; and the See also:common belief that it was designed by See also:Austin de See also:Bordeaux, a See also:French architect in the service of Shah Jahan, is probably incorrect. Agra was formerly the capital of the North-See also:West Provinces, but after the See also:Mutiny the seat of See also:government was removed to See also:Allahabad. Situated 841 m. from See also:Calcutta it is now an important railway centre, whence two See also:main lines diverge southwards towards Bombay. In 1901 the See also:population was 188,022, showing an increase of 12 % during the See also:decade. The city contains See also:cotton See also:mills, factories for ginning and pressing cotton, a tannery and See also:boot factory and See also:flour See also:mill. There are also two missionary colleges.

The DISTRICT OF AGRA has an See also:

area of 1856 sq. m. Its See also:general See also:appearance is that common to the See also:Doab, a level plain intersected by watercourses and ravines. Its general See also:elevation is estima,ted at from 65o to 700 ft. above the level of the See also:sea. The district is intersected by the Jumna, and is also watered by the Agra See also:canal. The See also:principal crops are millets, pulses, See also:barley, See also:wheat, cotton and a little See also:indigo. The population in Igor was 1,060,528, showing an increase of 6 % during the decade. . The DIVISION OF AGRA has an area of 10,154 sq. m. In190I the population was 5,249,542, showing an increase of 10 % during the decade, attributed to the See also:extension of See also:irrigation from canals. It comprises the six districts of See also:Muttra, Agra, See also:Farukhabad, See also:Mainpuri, See also:Etawah and See also:Etah. For an See also:account of the architecture of Agra see Fergusson's History a Architecture; Cities of India (1903), by G. W. See also:Forrest; Enchanted India (1899), by See also:Prince Bojidar Karageorgevitch; and E.

B. Havell, Handbook to Agra and the Taj (1904). (C.

End of Article: AGRA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
AGOUTI 		[next]
AGRA CANAL

Site © 2006 - Net Industries