Agra (English pronunciation: /r/; Hindi: , Urdu: ) aka Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the

he northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located at the banks of river Yamuna, 363 kilometres (226 mi) west of state capital, Lucknow and 200 kilometres (124 mi) south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 (2010 est.), it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most populous in India.[1] Because 80 percent of the city's sewage flows into Yamuna River, it is 20th most polluted city in India.[2] Agra can also refer to the administrative district that has its headquarters in Agra city. The city finds mention in the epic Mahbhrata where it was called Agrevaa, or 'the border of the forest'.[3] Legend ascribes the founding of the city to Rj Badal Singh a Sikarwar Rajput king (around 1475), whose fort, Badalgarh, stood on or near the site of the present Fort. However, the 11th century Persian poet Mas'd Sa'd Salmn writes of a desperate assault on the fortress of Agra, then held by the Shh King Jayapala, by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni.[4] Sultan Sikandar Lod was the first to move his capital from Delhi to Agra in the year 1506; he died in 1517 and his son Ibrhm Lod remained in power there for nine more years, finally being defeated at the Battle of Panipat in 1526.[5] It achieved fame as the capital of the Mughal emperors from 1526 to 1658 and remains a major tourist destination because of its many splendid Mughal-era buildings, most notably the Tj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpr Sikr, all three of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Climate
Main article: Climate of Agra Agra features a semiarid climate that borders on a humid subtropical climate. The city features mild winters, hot and dry summers and a monsoon season. However the monsoons, though substantial in Agra, are not quite as heavy as the monsoon in other parts of India. This is a primary factor in Agra featuring a semiarid climate as opposed to a humid subtropical climate.

Demographics
According to the 2011 India census,[6] Agra has a population of 3,575,134, while the population of Agra cantonment is 50,968 and that of Agra district is 3,620,436. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Agra district population grew by 31% in the decade 19912001. Roughly 57% of the population of Agra district lives in urban areas. Agra has an average literacy rate of 81%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 86% males literate. Literacy rate of males is considerably higher than that of women. Agra district literacy rate is 62.56% Hinduism, Islam, and Jainism are three major religions in Agra district with 89.6%, 8.93%, and 0.51% of the population following them. Jatavs, Baniyas and Jats are most numerous castes in Agra. Agra is also considered as dalit capital because Jatavs form a large section of the population and maintains a substantial middle class in society. Some Scheduled Tribes like the Bhotia and Jaunsari have marginal presence (about 0.02% of the population).

52.5% of Agra's population is in the 1559 years age category. Around 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. Hindi is the most widely spoken language in Agra. Urdu and Punjabi is also spoken.

History
Though Agra's history is largely recognised with Mughal Kingdom, but the place was established much before it and has linkages since Mahabharat period and Mahirshi Angira in 1000 BC. It is generally accepted that Sultan Sikandar Lod, the Ruler of the Delhi Sultanate founded Agra in the year 1504. After the Sultan's death the city passed on to his son Sultan Ibrhm Lod. He ruled his Sultanate from Agra until he fell fighting to Bbar in the First battle of Panipat fought in 1526. In the year 1556, the great Hindu warrior Hemu Vikramaditya, also known as Samrat Hem Chander Vikramaditya, won Agra as the Prime Minister cum Chief of Army of Adil Shah of the Afghan Sr Dynasty. The commander of Humyn / Akbar's forces in Agra, Tardi Beg Khan, was so scared of Hemu that he retreated from the city without a fight. This was Hemu's 21st continuous win since 1554, and he later went on to conquer Delhi, having his coronation at Purn Qil'a in Delhi on 7 October 1556 and re-established the Hindu Kingdom and the Vikramaditya Dynasty in North India. The golden age of the city began with the Mughals. It was known then as Akbarabd and remained the capital of the Mughal Empire under the Emperors Akbar, Jahngr and Shh Jahn. Shh Jahn later shifted his capital to Shhjahnabd in the year 1649. Since Akbarabd was one of the most important cities in India under the Mughals, it witnessed a lot of building activity. Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, laid out the first formal Persian garden on the banks of river Yamuna. The garden is called the Arm Bgh or the Garden of Relaxation. His grandson Akbar raised the towering ramparts of the Great Red Fort, besides making Agra a center for learning, arts, commerce and religion. Akbar also built a new city on the outskirts of Akbarabd called Fatehpr Sikr. This city was built in the form of a Mughal military camp in stone. His son Jahngr had a love of gardens and flora and fauna and laid many gardens inside the Red Fort or Ll Qil'a. Shh Jahn, known for his keen interest in architecture, gave Akbarabd its most prized monument, the Tj Mahal. Built in loving memory of his wife Mumtz Mahal, the mausoleum was completed in 1653. Shh Jahn later shifted the capital to Delhi during his reign, but his son Aurangzeb moved the capital back to Akbarabd, usurping his father and imprisoning him in the Fort there. Akbarabd remained the capital of India during the rule of Aurangzeb until he shifted it to Aurangabad in the Deccan in 1653. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the city came under the influence of Marathas and Jats and was called Agra, before falling into the hands of the British Raj in 1803. In 1835 when the Presidency of Agra was established by the British, the city became the seat of government, and just two year later it was the witness to the Agra famine of 183738. During the

Indian rebellion of 1857 British rule across India was threatened, news of the rebellion had reached Agra on 11 May and on 30 May two companies of native infantry, the 44th and 67th regiments, rebelled and marched to Delhi. The next morning native Indian troops in Agra were forced to disarm, on 15 June Gwalior (which lies south of Agra) rebelled. By 3 July the British were forced to withdraw into the fort. Two days later a small British force at Sucheta were defeated and forced to withdraw, this led to a mob sacking the city. However, the rebels moved onto Delhi which allowed the British to restore order by 8 July. Delhi fell to the British in September, the following month rebels who had fled Delhi along with rebels from Central India marched on Agra but were defeated. After this British rule was again secured over the city until the independence of India in 1947.[7] Agra is the birth place of the religion known as Dn-i Ilh, which flourished during the reign of Akbar and also of the Radhaswami Faith, which has around two million followers worldwide. Agra has historic linkages with Shauripur of Jainism and Runukta of Hinduism, of 1000 BC. Tj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpr Sikr, all three of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Air

Agra Airport is about 12.5 km from city center

Rail Main article: Railways in Agra

Agra is on the central train line between Delhi (Station Code: NDLS) and Mumbai (Bombay) (Station Code: CSTM) and between Delhi and Chennai (Station Code: MAS) and many trains like Bhopal Shatabdi, Bhopal Express, Malwa Express, Gondwana Express, Jabalpur Jammutawi Express, Shreedham Express, Garib Rath, Tamil Nadu Express, Chennai Rajdhni etc. connect Agra with all major Indian cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Bhopal, Indore, Kochi, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram etc. every day. Some east-bound trains from Delhi also travel via Agra, so direct connections to points in Eastern India (including Kolkata) (Calcutta) are also available. There are close to 20 trains to New Delhi and Gwalior Junction every day, and at least three or four to Bhopal, Indore, Nagpur, Mumbai and Chennai. There are three main railway stations in Agra:

Agra Cantt. Railway Station

Agra Cantt (Station Code: AGC) is the main railway station and lies southwest of the Taj and Agra Fort, both of which are a short ride from the station by car, auto-rickshaw, or cycle rickshaw. Agra Fort Railway Station (Station Code: AF) near Agra Fort, is infrequently serviced by the interstate express trains, it is one of the oldest railway station in the country. The station serves trains to the east (Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Kolkata, Guwahati) and central India Ratlam, Nagda, Kota (Haldighati Express). Some of these trains also stop at Agra Cantt. Raja Ki Mandi (Station Code: RKM) is a small station. Some of the trains which stop at Agra Cantt also stop here. Other stations are Idgah, Billochpura, Agra City, Yamuna Bridge.

The luxury trains the Palace on Wheels, and the Royal Rajasthan On Wheels also stop at Agra on their eight day round trip of tourist destinations in Rajasthan and Agra. The Buddhist Special Train also visits Agra.
Road

Idgah Bus Stand, Taj Depot, Ford depot and Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) are the major Bus Stands in Agra and is connected to most of the bigger cities in North India.

From Delhi: NH2, a modern divided highway, connects the 200 km distance from Delhi to Agra. The drive is about 4 hours. The primary access to the highway is along Mathura Road in Delhi but, if coming from South Delhi or Delhi Airport, it is easier to take Aurobindo Marg (Mehrauli Road) and then work up to NH2 via Tughlakabad. From Jaipur: National Highway 11, a Four lane divided highway, connects Agra with Jaipur via the bird sanctuary town of Bharatpur. The distance of around 255 km can be covered in around 34 hours. From Gwalior A distance of around 120 km, takes around 1.5 hours on the National highway 3, also known as the Agra Mumbai Highway. From Lucknow / Kanpur NH2, the divided modern highway, continues on to Kanpur (285 km, 5 hours) and from there to points East ending in Kolkata. From Kanpur, NH25 heads for the city of Lucknow (90 km, 2 hours).

The Mahatma Gandhi(MG) Road which runs through the city connects it from one end to the other. In March 2010, the Uttar Pradesh government, through an open bidding process, chose Jaypee Associates to develop an Inner Ring Road to connect NH2/Yamuna Expressway in the north to NH3 in the south in a 30 month timeframe.[8][9] In September 2010, Gifford was chosen to design the road.
Taxi

Agra's Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world, the mausoleum of Shah Jahan's favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is one of the New Seven Wonders of the world, and one of three World Heritage Sites in Agra.

Completed in 1653, the Tj Mahal was built by the Mughal king Shh Jahn as the final resting place for his beloved wife, Mumtz Mahal. Finished in marble, it is perhaps India's most fascinating and beautiful monument. This perfectly symmetrical monument took 22 years (1630 1652) of labour and 20,000 workers, masons and jewellers to build and is set amidst landscaped gardens. Built by the Persian architect, Ustd 's, the Tj Mahal is on the bank of the Yamuna River. It can be observed from Agra Fort from where Emperor Shh Jahn gazed at it, for the last eight years of his life, a prisoner of his son Aurangzeb. It is an acknowledged masterpiece of symmetry. Verses of the Koran are inscribed on it and at the top of the gate are twenty-two small domes, signifying the number of years the monument took to build. The Tj Mahal was built on a marble platform that stands above a sandstone one. The most elegant dome of the Tj Mahal has a diameter of 60 feet (18 m), and rises to a height of 80 feet (24 m); directly under this dome is the tomb of Mumtz Mahal. Shah Jahn's tomb was erected next to hers by his son Aurangzeb. The interiors are decorated by fine inlay work, incorporating semi-precious stones.