History of Agra Before Mughals

The evidence suggests that that the city of Agra is much older than it is supposed to be. Khwaja Masud bid s'ad bin Salman mentions Agra and its fort in his 'Diwan, a collection of poems. He wrote that after a tough fight with Jaipal, the Amir of Agra, Mahmud Shah who was the governor of Hind invaded the Fort of Agra in 1080-81. Undoubtedly, the fort must have been built sometime earlier than the mentioned time frame. There are other records that confirm the existence of this old brick fort on the bank of River Yamuna, which was in ruins at the time of Akbar. Akbar found it in ruins and rebuilt in red sandstone, which stands to this date and is known as Agra Fort. This reconstruction activity has found its mention in the memoirs of Jehangir and the three eminent historians of those times including Sheikh Abul Fazal, Mulla Abdul Qadar Badaoni, and Khwaja Nizamuddin.