Akbar Church in Agra

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comments 5

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  mirza rashed nawaz

  :: 02 June 2018 09:26:30

  The city of Agra on the banks of the Yamuna in northern India is considered by many to be the quintessential Mughal city. Once the imperial capital, the city remains home to a host of Mughal monuments, including the great Agra Fort, the ethereal tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah, and of course, the crowning achievement of Mughal architecture itself: the Taj Mahal. Yet, nestled away in a city dominated by Muslim monuments, lies a church that bears testament to the pluralist vision of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great. He wrote to the Portuguese authorities in Goa in 1579, expressing his interest in Christianity, and asked them to send learned men to his court “with the chief books of the Law and the Gospel”. The first mission of three Jesuits met Akbar in February 1580. Although Akbar never converted, the priests were treated with great respect and allowed to preach. The Christian, i.e. Roman Catholic, population of Agra grew after this meeting as merchants and travellers from the West flocked to the imperial capital. Many local converts also joined their ranks. Almost two decades after his first meeting with the missionaries, Emperor Akbar granted the Jesuits land in Agra, near an existing Armenian neighbourhood, to build a church. Thus in 1598, the first Christian church was built in Agra. It came to be known as “Akbar’s Church”, after its imperial benefactor. Both Akbar and his heir, Jahangir, would pay regular visits to this church, particularly on Christmas. Finding the church built by his father to be small, Jahangir would contribute more funds for a larger and more ornate church. The church’s fortunes would face a reversal in 1632, when relations between the Portuguese and the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, deteriorated to the point of war. The Portuguese were defeated, and the Jesuits were imprisoned. They were released on condition that their church would be demolished, which they did in 1635. However, Shah Jahan would have a change of mind the following year, and allowed the Jesuits to rebuild their church. The first mass was said in the reconstructed church on 8 September 1636. In 1758, the church was ransacked by invading forces under Ahmad Shah Abdali, founder of the 18th century Durrani Empire. The church would be completely rebuilt a decade later, in 1769, by a Jesuit Father Wendel, with the aid of Walter Reinhardt, then commander of Agra Fort. Bishop Antonio Pezzoni, Apostolic Vicar of Tibet-Hindustan, would commission the westward expansion of the church in 1835. It served as the cathedral of Agra until 1848. The only Catholic monarch in Indian history, Begum Samru, ruler of Sardhana, was baptised in this very church. The church today is otherwise very European, but pays homage to its past in having exotic late Mughal panels fixed on the nave walls.

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  Vishal Gupta

  :: 28 February 2018 21:15:29

  Built by Akbar in the 16th century...

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  Jeevan Rex

  :: 03 January 2018 18:55:27

  Very Old church

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  Alexy Pallan

  :: 21 November 2017 14:09:36

  Oldest Catholic Church in Agra build by the Mugal Emperor Akbar

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  Samson Makwana

  :: 19 November 2017 21:51:23

  A Holy place...