Agra was one of the establishments of the Aryan race some 4500 years ago that time it was known as Arya grah, arya means the Aryans and grah means abode hence the abode of Aryans It became very popular during the mughal period. The third emperor Akbar built a very massive fort but he had to shift his capital from here to Fatehursikri when he came in contact with a saint Shekh Salim Chisti of Fatehpursikri to be blessed with a son to continue with his dynasty. There he built a huge fort and ruled from there for almost 16 years. But due to the shortage of water there and an advice from the same saint that a saint and an emperor should not live together he resifted his capital to Agra. He died here in 1605 and buried in Sikandra. Later on his grand son Shahjehan built beautiful Tajmahar in the memory of his beloved wife who died giving birth to her 14th child. Shahjehan later on changed his capital to Delhi Thus he built the red fort there but he was incarcerated in the Agra fort by his son
Emperor Aurangezeb. According to him his father was misusing the money in making expensive buildings, which have no importance. During British raj Agra became an important place for the freedom fighter. Now the descendents of the craftsmen who built and decorated Tajmahal with inlay carving and latticed work make beautiful objects in marble using exactly the same style and tools They are traditionally not educated in order to keep there forefathers' art alive