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The city of Agra is in Uttar Pradesh, a state in the northern part of India. It is located within about 200 kilometers from New Delhi, the capital city of India. Agra is a world renowned tourist destination, and if you ask anyone about an Indian tourist destination, the most likely answer you may expect is Agra. History of Agra is quite fascinating. The rich cultural, tradition and religious aspects of the city make it a very interesting place to know about. In the Mughal era, Agra was the capital city of the dynasties. The city of Agra has been referred as Agravana in the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit epic. If we go back to the period when the Aryans dwelled in the Indian sub-continent, Agra finds a mention as Arya Griha. Ptolemy, the Greek philosopher was the first to refer Agra by its present name. The modern city of Agra was founded way back in the 16th century by Sikandar Lodhi, who was a king of the Lodhi dynasty. The heritage and history of Agra is closely related to the Mughal dynasty. But the city has also been under the rulings of various other dynasties. Each of the dynasties has left their influences and imprints of their cultures and traditions. Babar, the founder emperor of the great Mughal dynasty had stayed in the city for a short span of time. Babar was the one to introduce the concept of Persian-styled square gardens in Agra. There are three UNESCO World Heritage sites in the city. These world heritages are the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort. The last two were built by Emperor Akbar. For about fifteen years, Fatehpur Sikri was the capital city around which the governance of Akbar's kingdom was operational. Mughal emperor Jahangir decorated Agra with beautiful gardens and palaces. After the demise of wife Mumtaz, emperor Shahjahan built the Taj Mahal in Agra. He shifted his capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad. But Agra regained the status of a Mughal capital in 1658, when son Aurangzeb dethroned his father and restored the capital in Agra.
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