AGRA, the most extensive province, or soubah, iii Hindustan; hounded on the north by Delhi, on the east by Oik., on the south by Malwa, end on the west by Agim•re. It contains thirteen circars, or counties, which again arc subdivided into 203 pergunnalis, or hun dreds. Agra yields a rev enue of 16,156,257 rupees; and possesses a military force of 50,600 cavalry, 577,570 infantry, and 221 elephants. Its indigo, which is gathered at Blanes, about two leagues distant from the town of Agra, is esteemed the most valuable in the East Indies; and it produces, besides, lemons, oranges, rice, and cot ton. White cloth, silken stuffs, silver and gold lace, arc its staple manufactures.
This province contains forty large towns, and 340 villages. Agra, its capital, stands on the river Jumnah, about 50 miles above its confluence with the Tchamu, and 300 miles cast of Surat. It was once an inconsidera ble town, with a small castle of earth, till it was enlarged and by the emperor Akbar, who made it the seat of his court and empire, In the course of his long reign, and that of his son, it became the first city in In dia for wealth and magnificence, and still displays many striking monuments of its former splendour. This city is very long, but by no means broad ; built in the form of a crescent, and surrounded by a wall of red stone and a ditch a hundred feet wide. The streets are in general narrow and irregular, the houses are and mean ; but the space within the wall is laid out in gardens and palaces, which give it a grand and beautiful appearance.
The castle and palace are structures cf amazing extort and grvirleur. The walls or the castle consist Of brick and stone, terrassed in several places, and 200 cubits high. An ample lawn extends iron' the castle to the rites, %, he re the troops are exercised, and various amusements are exhibited in the emperor's view. The palace, which is said to have occupied 1000 workmen fur years, and to have cost three millions of rupees, stands within the castle, and contains three courts en compassed with porticoes and galleries, all painted and gilt. Agra contains more than 60 caravanseras, 800 public baths, and a great number of mosques and mag nificent sepulchres. Among these is the mausoleum of Akbar; and one erected by Shah -jehan to his empress Mand-alia, or Taje-mehallc, which cost 60 lacks of rupees, equivalent to 7500001. sterling.
From Agra to Lahore, in the Panjab, a distance of .100 miles, the road is shaded on both sides by rows of lofty trees, lorrning a kind of grove, which, for extent, beauty, and utility in that burning climate, is altogether unequalled. N. Lat. 27° 13'. E. Long. 78' 29'. A com plete account of the splendid mausoleum of Taje-mehal le may be seen in Bernier's Voyage to Surat, &c. or in Osborne's Voyages, vol. ii. p. 194, 195. (4)