AGRA, the capital of the preceding province, is situated on the south-west side of the Jumna, from the banks of which it extends upward in a vast semicircle. It is a large, old, and ruinous city, with little to attract attention beyond that picturesque confusion of houses, balconies, and projecting roofs, common to all Indian towns. The houses consist of several stories, and the streets are so narrow as scarcely to admit a palanquin. The greater part of this once flourishing city is now a heap of ruins, and uninhabited. It is still, however, estimated to contain 60,000 inhabitants; and as its commerce improves, which it is likely to do, from the facilities which it affords to the trade of
western Hindostan, its population is likely to increase also. Since 1818, indeed, in consequence of the tranquillity of the neighbouring province of Rajpootana or Ajmeer, the produce of the customs has continued progressively to increase. It has a fort, which is very large and ancient, and is surrounded with high walls and towers of red stone, of the hardness and colour of jasper, which command some noble views of the city, its neighbourhood, and the windings of the Jumna. The fort has a ditch of great depth, and a double rampart, the inner one being of an enormous height, with bastions at regular distances. Agra is famed for some beautiful edifices, the most remarkable of which is the Jage-mahal, a tomb erected by the emperor Shah Jehan, to the memory of Begum Noor-jehan, his beloved wife. Bishop Heber mentions, that after all he had heard of this celebrated mausoleum, its beauty rather exceeded than fell short of his expectations. It is of white marble, and is placed on an elevated terrace of white and yellow marble, with four tall minarets of the same material rising at each of its angles. The interior, containing a central hall, in which are the tombs of the emperor and his wife, is remarkable for its exquisite finish; the pavement being laid with alternate squares of marble, and the walls, screens, and tombs, crowned with flowers and inscriptions executed in beautiful Mosaic of cornelian, lapis lazuli, and jasper. The general effect of the whole is solemn and impressive rather than gaudy. There is a tomb erected to another of the emperors, now used as a court of justice, which is a splendid edifice. Agra contains, besides, a beautiful mosque of white marble, carved with exquisite simplicity and elegance, and the palace, built by Acbar chiefly of the same material, and now used as warehouses, offices, and lodging-rooms for the garrison. At Secundra, a ruinous village about six miles from Agra, is the magnificent tomb of the emperor Acbar, which, Bishop Heber remarks, is the most splendid building in its way that he had seen in India.
Agra was greatly enlarged and embellished by Acbar, who made it his capital. The city, which was under the rule of Scindia, surrendered to the British army under Lord Lake in 1803. It was soon after made the seat of the civil establishment for the collection of the revenue and the administration of justice. The fortifications have been lately strengthened and improved. 137 miles travelling distance from Delhi. Long. 77. 53. E. Lat. 27. 11. N. (Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India, from Calcutta to Bombay, 1824, 1825; by Reginald Heber, D. D. Bishop of Calcutta.—A Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Description of Hindostan and the adjacent Countries; by Walter Hamilton, Esq. 1820.)