There is more to Bharatpur than the national park although this is the biggest claim of fame. It was closely linked with the ancient kingdom of Matsya Desh, which is mentioned in the Mahabharata. It was also a thriving city during the second century BC (late Mauryan era). Sculpture and fragments of pottery belonging to that period were found in nearby Noh, on the Agra road. Bharatpur fort was the citadel of Cape Jat, Raja Surajmal, who earned a place in history by sacking the Taj Mahal and Red Fort in the sunset years of Mughal rule. He built this fort as a point of resistance against the British. Besieging in 1805, Lord Lake hung gloomily for four months, but had to retreat in front of the heavy loses he ever suffered from the British until then.
