Uttar Pradesh

Agra Fort

It is one of the most important and robustly built stronghold of the Mughals, embellished with number of richly decorated buildings encompassing the imposing Mughal style of art and architecture. It was constructed by the third Mughal emperor Akbar on the remains of an ancient site known as Badalgarh. Sikandar Lodi (1487-1517) was the first Sultan of Delhi to shift his capital from Delhi to Agra.

After Sikandar Lodi who died in 1517, his son Ibrahim Lodi held the fort for 9 years until he was defeated and killed in the battle of Panipat in 1526. Several palaces, wells and a mosque were built in the fort during the Lodi period.

Akbar's Tomb

It is one of the most important and robustly built stronghold of the Mughals, embellished with number of richly decorated buildings encompassing the imposing Mughal style of art and architecture. It was constructed by the third Mughal emperor Akbar on the remains of an ancient site known as Badalgarh.

Sikandar Lodi (1487-1517) was the first Sultan of Delhi to shift his capital from Delhi to Agra. After Sikandar Lodi who died in 1517, his son Ibrahim Lodi held the fort for 9 years until he was defeated and killed in the battle of Panipat in 1526. Several palaces, wells and a mosque were built in the fort during the Lodi period.

Fort of Kalinjar

This invincible fort is attributed to Chandravarman, the traditional founder of Chandella dynasty, though the antiquity of the fort can be traced to much earlier period i.e. to the beginning of the Christian era. It is a place of great religious and strategic importance and finds mention in the epics & Puranas. Kalinjar and its strategic fort were so famous that many dynasties specially the Chandellas took pride in associating themselves with the place. The fort withstood the army of Mahmmud of Ghazni and also held out against Sher Shah who was mortally wounded A.D. 1812.

Group of Monuments, Fatehpur

Akbar (1556-1605), grandson of Babur, shifted his residence and court from Agra to Sikri, for a period of 13 years, from 1572 to 1585 to honour the Sufi Saint Sheikh Salim Chishti, who resided here (in a cavern on . the ridge).

Akbar revered him very much as the Saint had blessed him with a son who was named Salim in 1569. Akbar gave it the name of Fathabad and which in later days came to be known as "Fathpur Sikri".

Jhansi Fort

The construction of the fort is ascribed to the Bundela Chief Raja Bir Singh Deo of Orchha in 1613. For twenty five years it was one of the strongholds of the Bundelas till it passed into the hands of the Mughals for the next hundred years and subsequently came under the possession of the Marathas for another hundred years. The Maratha Chief Naru Shankar enlarged the Shankargarh area of the fort. From the Marathas during the period of 1857. It passed into the hands of the British, who defeated Rani Lakshmi Bai and took possession of the fort. The fort is thus associated with the first War of Independence.

Residency Building

The Residency complex was set up on the bank of river Gomti in 1775 by Nawab Asaf-ud-daula (A.D. 1775-1795) for the British resident, after the shifting of capital from Faizabad to Lucknow. The main Residency building was three storeyed having a Tah-Khana (undergound chamber) under its main block, it was constructed during the reign of Nawab Saadat Ali Khan (A.D. 1798-1814) which was used by the Resident and the Chief Commissioner of Awadh till 1857. The ruins of the Residency remind of the hostoric seize of the British stronghold by the Awadh forces in 1857 under the leadership of Begum Hazrat Mahal (Wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah), Maulvi Ahmad-ulla Shah and several Taluqadars with the full co-operation of the people of Awadh.

Site of Sahet - Mahet

Sravasti on the bank of Rapti was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kosala. During the days of Buddha its prosperity reached the peak under the powerful ruler of Prasenaji. In the Mahaparinibnana-Sutta Sravasti is mentioned as one of the six important cities where Buddha had a large followers. Now, the remains of famous Jetavana lie within an irregular enclosure wall at Sahet.

Site, Stupa & Monastery of the Sakyas

Piprahwa, identified as ancient Kapilavastu, situated in the district of Siddharth Nagar of Uttar Pradesh is one of the most important sacred places of Buddhism being native place of Lord Buddha. After excavations at the site the remains of one of the earliest Buddhist Stupa have been recovered. Inscribed relic casket encountered by William C. Pepe in 1898, in Brahmi script, is supposed to be Pre-Mauryan. The text of the inscription indicates that the stupa was originally built by the Sakya relatives of the Buddha.

Taj Mahal, Agra

Taj Mahal, the pinnacle of Mughal architecture, was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658), grandson of Akbar the great, in the memory of his queen Arjumand Bano Begum, entitled 'Mumtaz Mahal'.

Mumtaz Mahal was a niece of empress Nur Jahan and granddaughter of Mirza Ghias Beg I'timad-ud-Daula, wazir of emperor Jehangir. She was born in 1593 and died in 1631, during the birth of her fourteenth child at Burhanpur. Her mortal remains were temporarily buried in the Zainabad garden.

Six months later, her body was transferred to Agra to be finally enshrined in the crypt of the main tomb of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is the mausoleum of both Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan.

Source: Must See Indian Heritage