What's the first thing you do when you arrive in Agra after an overnight train from Varanasi? You sleep. Then, you go to Agra Fort. (Because word on the street is that The Taj is better in the morning and who wants to do that sleepy eyed? No one.) Agra Fort is only a little over two kilometers from The Taj Mahal and is known as a walled city as well as a 'fort.'
It was captured by Mughals (Did you know the Mughals were Muslim direct descendants of Ghengis Khan?) in 1526. So there were a few different battles, but the biggest one was in 1556 when this dude, Akbar (a Mughal) defeated the Hindu King Hemu. Akbar was the one to rebuild the fort with red sandstone, and was also the grandfather of Shah Jahan. During Shah Jahan's reign, the white marble inner city of the fort was built, and later it was him who had The Taj Mahal built.
Visiting the inside of this walled in white marble city is a little like visiting Versailles. It just reeks of opulence. And knowing how long ago it was built exaggerates that feeling. We wandered through and were often requested to take photos with Indian visitors. Not as often with Andrew, but more often with me, for reasons completely unknown. We think, maybe, it's my light hair, but one can't be so sure. We also speculated that not many young western tourists were around. After being sick, and not showering after an overnight Indian train, you'd think they would not be interested in taking photos with either of us though!
Back to Agra Fort: So later, after Shah Jahan built The Taj Mahal (which can be seen from the fort), his son, Aurangzeb (the sixth child of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal) not only overthrew his father, but put him under house arrest inside Agra Fort. So for the last seven years of his life, Shah Jahan remained enclosed (but it is said not treated poorly) inside the walled in city, looking out over The Taj Mahal. Sad, right? After a few more pictures with tourists, I realized I hadn't eaten anything in the past 48 hours or so, we headed out for dinner, and then to bed to get up early to see The Taj Mahal.
On our way to dinner, we walked past four children sitting and giggling about something on a front stoop. When I turned towards them with my camera, they went B-A-N-A-N-A-S! They started laughing and dancing and moving all around. It was hilarious, but it didn't make for as good of a shot as it would have been if one didn't run away and the others stayed in one place!
We ate dinner on a rooftop and admired this view. When a woman climbed up to her rooftop, I was in awe of her in her surroundings. She was just brushing her hair, you know, with The Taj Mahal in the background.
