AGRA, a city in the British n.w. provinces in India, is situated in the district of the same name on the right bank of the Jumna, 139 m. s.c. from Delhi, and 783 n.w. from Calcutta. The ancient walls of the city embrace an area of about 11 sq.m., of which about one half is at present occupied. The houses are for the most built of the red sandstone of the neighboring hills. The principal street, running n.w. from the fort, is very spacious, but the rest are generally narrow and irregular, though clean. Some of the public buildings, monuments of the house of Timour, are on a scale of striking mag nificence. Among these are the fortress built by Akbar, within the walls of which are the palace and audience-hall of Shah Jehan, and the Moti Masjid or Pearl Mosque, so called for its surpassing architectural beauty. Still more celebrated is the'Taj Mahal, situated without the city, about a mile to the e. of the fort. This extraordinary and beautiful mausoleum was built by the emperor Shah Jehan for himself and his favorite wife, Arjimand Banoo (surnamed Mumtaz Mahal). 20.000 men, says Tavernier, who saw the work in progress, were employed incessantly on it for 22 years. The principal parts of the building are constructed or overlaid outside and in with white marble; and the mosaic work of the sepulchral apartment and dome is described by various travelers in terms of glowing admiration. It is composed of twelve kinds of stones, of which lapis-lazuli is the most frequent, as well as the most valuable. Of British edifices in and near the city the principal are the government house, the college (for the education of natives), the Metcalfe testimonial, the English church and the barracks. The climate at A., during the hot and rainy seasons (April to September), is very injurious to Euro peans; but on the whole, the average health of the city is equal to that of any other sta tion in the n.w. provinces. A. is fortified and has a garrison; there is a military station in the neighborhood of the city. As administrative Center of its district, and of the late " division" to which it gives name, A. is a place of great importance. The pop., according to the census of 1872, is 149,008. The principal articles of trade are cotton and salt, which are conveyed in large quantities down the Janina to the lower provinces.
This city is held in great veneration by the Ilindoos, as the scene of the incarnation of Vishnu under the name of Parasu Rama. It first rose to importance in the beginning of the 16th c., and from 1526 to 1658, it was the capital of the Mogul sovereigns. In that year, Aurungzebe removed to Delhi; henceforth A. declined. It was taken in 1784 by Scindia, and surrendered in 1803 to lord Lake, after a bombardment of a few hours. Among the spoils on that occasion was a cannon of 23 in. calibre, 11-i in. metal at the muzzle; length, 14 ft. 2 in.; weight, 96,000 lbs. The balls, of cast-iron, weighed 1500 lbs. This stupendous piece of ordnance is said to have been wantonly reduced to fragments late by blasting by some artillery officers in 1833 (Thornton's Gazetteer of India). During the mutiny, A. was one of the places in which the Europeans were shut up. At the outbreak the garrison consisted of the 44th and 67th regiments of B. N. infantry, the 3d European fusiliers and a few artillery. The native regiments were disarmed iu June, 1857, and the defense of this important city devolved upon the Europeans. The ladies resorted at night to places of refuge appointed by the governor, while the gentlemen patrolled the streets; but matters growing worse both in the city and country, it was resolved, after a battle with the mutineers, to abandon the city and retire to the fort or residency. It was time; for some thousands of prisoners getting loose, began to fire all the European buildings in the city. Hardly a house escaped destruction; numbers of traders were ruined, and had to endure the misery of beholding their ruin from the fort. As the fort was both large and strongly defended, fugitives flocked in from all parts of the country, and the numbers soon swelled to 5846. Heroic sallies were occasionally made. Major Montgomery's march to Al lygurh, and his defeat of the rebels, though twenty times as numerous, was a feat worthy of Havelock. When Delhi fell, its rabble of defenders hurried off in the direction of A., which place was seriously threatened by them, but was relieved by the rapid and bril liant march of col. Greathed, who discomfited the enemy, and despoiled them of nearly all their baggage.