Agra City Origins
Sikandar Lodhi was the second ruler of the Afghan Lodhi Dynasty, who reigned over Sultanate of Delhi from 1489 to 1517.
He was the son of Sultan Bahlul Khan Lodhi and Bibi Ambha, the daughter of a Hindu goldsmith of Sirhind .
In 1503, he commissioned the building of the present-day city of Agra
The Battle of Khanua
Khanwa (also spelt Khanua) is the name of a village lying about 60 km west of the city of Agra in India.
and a few miles from Fatehpur Sikri.
The Battle of Khanua was fought on March 16, (1527), between Babur, and Rajput army led by Rana Sanga, ruler of
Mewar. It was the second of the series of three major battles, victories in which gave Babur overlordship over
north India. The First Battle of Panipat was the first of the series, the Battle of Ghaghra was the last.
Arrest of Shivaji in Agra and his Escape
In 1666, Aurangzeb invited Shivaji to Agra, along with his nine-year-old son Sambhaji.
In the court, on 12 May 1666, Aurangzeb made Shivaji stand behind mansabdars (military commanders) of
his court.Shivaji took offense and stormed out of court, and was promptly placed under house arrest
under the watch of Faulad Khan, Kotwal of Agra.
Shivaji's spies informed him that Aurangzeb planned to possibly kill him so Shivaji planned his escape.
Shivaji feigned severe illness and requested to send most of his contingent back to the Deccan, thereby
ensuring the safety of his army and deceiving Aurangzeb. Thereafter, on his request, he was allowed to send
daily shipments of sweets and gifts to saints, fakirs, and temples in Agra as offerings for his health.
After several days of sending out boxes containing sweets, Shivaji and Sambhaji hid themselves
in two of the boxes escaped on 22 July 1666.
Agra Gharana
Agra is also the birthplace of the famous Hindustani style of classical music, the Agra gharana.
The patronage given to musicians in the Mughal court must have played a vital role in nurturing the Agra gharana
Its origin perhaps dates to the thirteenth century, to Haji Sujaan Khan, who is believed to have been a
contemporary of Tansen's and one of Akbar's durbar musicians, or to Ghagge Khudabaksh, who also came to
Agra from Gwalior about 150 years ago. His great great grandson, Fayyaz Khan (1886-1950) remains the most
outstanding exponent of this gharana and is known as Aftab-I-mausiqui.
The Agra Summit
The Agra summit was a landmark summit between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee.The summit (14-16 july 2001, Agra) started amid high hopes of resolving various disputes
between the two countries including the decades old Kashmir issue. It was organized with the aim of resolving
long-standing issues between India and Pakistan.
Till date this summit marks the best effort put together by both countries' leaders to come to a peaceful proximity.
However, the summit collapsed after two days and no formal agreement could be attained. The two sides remained
inflexible on the core issue of Kashmir, despite five long and arduous one-to-one rounds between the two leaders
and hours of discussion between the two delegations. Despite the failure of the talks, General Pervez Musharraf
joined Vajpayee to call on the two countries to bury their past. He also invited the Indian Prime Minister to
visit Pakistan as he felt that the issues between Pakistan and India were much more complicated and could not
be resolved in a short time.
Shair, the oldest Urdu language literary magazine
Shair is the oldest Urdu language literary magazine, based in Mumbai, India.
It was first launched in Agra in 1930 by the famous poet Seemab Akbarabadi
Shair was founded on February 14, 1930 in Agra, India by Iftikhar Imam Siddiqui's
grandfather Seemab Akbarabadi. The purpose of launching this magazine was to provide
the guidance and platform where new poets can be assisted and published.After the partition of India,
Seemab Akbarabadi migrated to Pakistan in 1948, and he never returned.
