page_title: Agra
section_title: Taj Mahal
hierarchical_section_title: Agra / Monumental Mughal legacy / Taj Mahal
caption_attribution_description: English: The Taj Mahal, seen from the Red Fort in Agra
context_page_description: Agra is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is 206 kilometres south of the national capital New Delhi. Agra is the fourth-most populous city in Uttar Pradesh and 24th in India.
  The 11th-century Persian poet Mas'ūd Sa'd Salmān writes of an assault on the fortress of Agra, then held by King Jaypal, by Mahmud of Ghazni. Despite his surrender, Mahmud sacked the place. A 17th century chronicle called Agra before Sikandar Lodī's time as an old settlement which was merely a village, owing to its destruction by Mahmud of Ghazni. Sikandar was the first sultan to move his capital from Delhi to Agra in 1504, its administration having previously been under Bayana. He governed the country from here and Agra assumed the importance of the second capital. He died in 1517 and his son, Ibrāhīm Lodī, remained in power there for nine more years. Several palaces, wells, and a mosque were built by him in the fort during his period. He was defeated at the Battle of Panipat in 1526. Between 1540 and 1556, Afghans, beginning with Sher Shah Suri, ruled the area. It was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1648.
context_section_description: The Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world, the mausoleum of Shah Jahan's favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is one of the New Seven Wonders of the world, and one of the three World Heritage Sites in Agra. Agra is commonly identified as the "City of Taj".
  Completed in 1653, the Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal king Shah Jahan as the final resting place for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Finished in marble, it is one of India's many beautiful monuments and is set amidst landscaped gardens. Built by the Persian architect, Ustād 'Īsā, the Taj Mahal is on the south bank of the Yamuna River. It can be observed from Agra Fort from where Emperor Shāh Jahān gazed at it for the last eight years of his life, a prisoner of his son Aurangzeb. Verses of the Quran are inscribed on it and at the top of the gate are 22 small domes, signifying the number of years the monument took to build. The Taj Mahal was built on a marble platform that stands above a sandstone one. The most elegant dome of the Taj Mahal has a diameter of 60 feet (18 m), and has a height of 80 feet (24 m); directly under this dome is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahān's tomb was erected next to hers by his son Aurangzeb. The interiors are decorated with fine inlay work, incorporating semi-precious stones.
caption: Taj Mahal from Agra fort
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