AGRA 57 



Before going to Agra, you must learn something 

 of the ancient Mogul kings who built and beautified 

 it, for then, besides the keen aesthetic pleasure you 

 will have merely in beholding the works of archi- 

 tecture which they have handed down to posterity, 

 you will know a little of the romances which in- 

 spired these works, and will more thoroughly ap- 

 preciate the delicacy and matchless charm of their 

 conception. For the mosques and tombs of Agra 

 are undeniably the most beautiful monuments ever 

 erected by man. It has well been said that the 

 Moguls designed Titans and finished like jewellers; 

 but they did more ; they embodied in their works 

 the delicacy, refinement, and effeminacy of the 

 women who in almost every instance inspired their 

 efforts, and whom in many cases their monuments 

 were to commemorate. 



The high-water mark of the Mogul dynasty lasted 

 through the reigns of three great kings, Akbar 

 the Great, Jehanghir, and Shah Jehan, and it 

 was during these reigns that the Indian architecture 

 reached its perfection and that the palaces, mosques, 

 and tombs of Agra were built. Akbar's works were 

 inspired by a woman, and his son Jehanghir's reign 

 was a success only through his devotion to the 

 beautiful and brilliant Nur Jehan. Shah Jehan, 

 Jehanghir's successor, had many wives, but one 



