The Mughals in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri

Uttar Pradesh holds three of India's most famous UNESCO World Heritage Sites within a few kilometres of each other: the Agra Fort, the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri. All three are Mughal. For much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Agra was the capital of an empire that stretched from Kabul to the Deccan — and its monuments still define the image of India for much of the world.

Babur and the foundation

Babur made Agra his base; he laid out a garden there (the Ram Bagh, traditionally linked to him).

Humayun and Sher Shah

• Humayun lost the empire to Sher Shah Suri at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540, in UP), and regained it only in 1555.

Akbar and Agra

Agra Fort

• Akbar rebuilt the Agra Fort in red sandstone (from about 1565).
• Later rulers added palaces — Jahangiri Mahal (Akbar's time), and Shah Jahan's white marble Diwan-i-Khas, Khas Mahal and Musamman Burj (where Shah Jahan was confined by Aurangzeb and died, looking at the Taj).
• UNESCO World Heritage Site (1983).

Fatehpur Sikri

• Built from 1571 at Sikri, the home of the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti, whose blessing Akbar believed led to the birth of his son Salim (Jahangir).
• Served as the capital for about 14 years (roughly 1571–1585); then abandoned, possibly because of water shortage and political needs in the north-west.
• UNESCO World Heritage Site (1986).

Allahabad

• Akbar built the Allahabad Fort (1583) at the confluence and renamed the city Ilahabas (later Allahabad; now Prayagraj).

Jahangir and Nur Jahan

• Sikandra — Akbar's tomb, completed under Jahangir (around 1613), combining Hindu and Islamic elements.
• Itmad-ud-Daulah's tomb — built by Nur Jahan for her father (completed around 1628); the first Mughal building faced entirely in white marble with pietra dura (inlay of semi-precious stones) — often called the "Baby Taj".

Shah Jahan and the Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan later moved his capital to Shahjahanabad (Delhi), but Agra remained important.

Mughal administration in UP

• UP's territory was divided among the subahs of Agra, Allahabad and Awadh (with parts of Delhi subah).
• Todar Mal's land revenue system (zabt) was applied.
• Towns such as Agra, Lucknow, Varanasi and Allahabad flourished.

Culture

• Mughal painting flourished in the imperial workshops at Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.
• Persian literature; translations of Sanskrit works.
• Music — Tansen at Akbar's court.
• A composite culture in language, dress and food.

Why the Mughal heritage matters for UP

• Tourism — Agra is among India's most visited destinations.
• Conservation challenges — pollution affecting the Taj's marble (the Taj Trapezium Zone, set up following Supreme Court orders in the M. C. Mehta case, restricts polluting industries).
• Heritage and identity.

Practice

Prelims-style:

1. When did Akbar begin building Fatehpur Sikri?
2. What does the Buland Darwaza commemorate?
3. Which tomb is called the "Baby Taj", and who built it?
4. Where is Akbar's tomb?
5. What is the Taj Trapezium Zone?

Mains-style:

• "Mughal architecture in Agra represents a synthesis of Persian and Indian traditions." Discuss.
• Examine the challenges of conserving Agra's Mughal monuments.