Review Overview
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Summary : Once one of the largest and richest of the Indian Princely States
Government of India Tourist Office, 191 The Mall (tel 72377) is open 9 am to 5.30 pm Monday-Friday, 9 am to 1 pm Saturday, closed Sunday. It’s a small, helpful office with plenty of printed information in five languages. You can hire a guide here (Rs100 per day, one to four persons) or book one of the conducted sightseeing tours (half-day tour of Fatehpur Sikri or full-day, continuing on to Agra Fort and Taj Mahal). Tours start from the tourist office at 9 am, then go to rail station to collect people off the Ta Express. It’s best to join tours here—they only leave the station at 10.10 am.
GPO and poste restante, opposite the tourist office, is open 9 am to 7 pm weekdays, 9 am to 3 pm Saturday, closed Sunday. Indian Airlines, Air India and (good) TCI travel agency all have desks at Clarks Shiraz hotel. Best bookshop is Modern Book Depot, on the Mall.
trategically important fort at Gwalior dominates the city and for centuries ailed one of the major routes between north and south India. Its history goes baLk 2000 years, with rock inscriptions from the 5th century still to be found. the 12th century control of the fort and surrounding area passed through a ssion of Muslim, Tomar Rajput, Afghan, Mughal and finally Maratha rulers. during the 12th century Qutb-ud-din-Aibak was the first Muslim ruler to hold it eventually the Tomars took possession. Perhaps the most famous was Man h who came to power in 1487. It was during this period that many of the great battlements and interior palaces were built. After a short period of control he Lodhis (Afghans), the first Mughal Emperor Babur took the fort, and gibed it as ‘the pearl among the fortresses of Hind’. During the slow collapse Moughfal emtpihre thee Scindia line of Marathas conquered the area in 1754. At es during the Maratha wars the British took control of the fort. They held it 30 years after capturing the Rani of Jhansi within its walls in 1858, thus aging to a close the Indian Mutiny.
Once one of the largest and richest of the Indian Princely States, Gwalior is the in tcowitny of a rich agricultural region with an expanding industrial base. The new , Lashkar, is south of the fort; the very smart railway station, to the south-east.
ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE
Air Gwalior is not connected by air to Agra but has daily flights (IC433/434) linking it ith Delhi (Rs738), Bhopal (Rs773), Indore (Rs1083).
Rail Gwalior is on the main line between Delhi and most of the important centres in entral and south India. The Sliatabdi Express leaves New Delhi at 7.15 am and Agra Cantonment Station at 8.15 am reaching Gwalior at 9.30 am, and the Tnj Express leaves Delhi at 7 am and Agra at 10 am arriving at 11.50 am. The return journeys to Agra and New Delhi leave at 7 pm and 5pm, respectively. Tariffs, p.109.
Road There are regular buses from the ISBT in Delhi (Rs150), Idgah bus-station in Agra, and services to and from Jhansi and Bhopal.
