Day 72 of 111. Agra, India

Not very far from the Taj Mahal is the Agra Fort, the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal Dynasty until 1638. We heard of the Fort at Agra in the Sherlock Holmes story, The Sign of Four. This fort (better described as a walled city) is where the Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal was imprisoned by his third son after the son took over the throne. The father spent the last eight years of his life in the Fort. I was surprised that his imprisonment was in a marble palace inside the fort. He had a view that allowed him to see the Taj Mahal, the burial place of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It was very interesting visiting the Agra Fort. It was much more extensive that I thought it would be, especially since it housed the royal wives and concubines. As with several other places we have visited, there were monkeys. Again, I enjoyed the carvings and inlaid designs in the walls. Much of the structure is from red sandstone, but Shah Jahan loved building in marble. India is the source of very strong marble.