Petha is also called the sweet of Mughals, but there is no concrete evidence for this.
Petha of Agra is today counted among the most recognized sweets of North India. It is not as famous as Taj Mahal but not less than that. From railway stations to highway dhabas and every old market of the city, petha shops have become the identity of the city. But one popular question comes up again and again. Is Petha of Agra a sweet of the Mughals or is it their gift? Who first created it, and how did it spread across India?
The most common claim found in folklore and shop stories about Petha is that it was developed in the Mughal court. During the construction of Taj Mahal, Shahjahan's cooks searched for a light, durable and nutritious sweet for the workers, and then Petha was created. Some stories also say that an attempt was made to keep its appearance like the marble of Taj Mahal. Since Agra was the capital of the Mughals, people also believe in this story.
There is hardly any direct, authentic mention of Petha from the Mughal court in historical sources. There is no clear reference to the name Petha of Agra in medieval Persian official literature or detailed lists of food dishes of the Mughal court. This does not mean that it was not made during the Mughal period. It is likely that pumpkin-based sweets may have been made locally, but there is little concrete, contemporary documentation supporting claims that petha was a Mughal court invention.
Therefore, a more balanced conclusion is that petha may have been present in the food scene in and around Agra during the Mughal period, but the claim of its being officially invented by the Mughal court appears to be more of a folklore. The urban-cultural environment of Agra, where there was a combination of Mughal administration, craftsmanship, trade and different communities, definitely provided a favorable environment for an item like petha to flourish.
Due to Taj Mahal, Petha became very famous among the tourists coming here.
Petha is made from white pumpkin. The pumpkin is peeled, seeds removed and cut into pieces. The pieces are prepared by soaking them in lime water or alum water to give them a hard and transparent texture. Then the pieces are boiled and cooked in sugar syrup, so that there is sweetness and slight transparency inside. Finally they are dried and made storable. This process makes the sweets relatively long lasting. This is a very useful sweet for travelling, business and gifting.
Mughal emperor Shahjahan.
The question of who made Agra's petha for the first time is often linked to the name of a single-person or a single-shop. Many reputed old shops have their own claims that their ancestors gave a refined look to petha. But, the nature of food history is such that most traditional dishes are the result of community innovation. A recipe becomes stable through long-term experiments by local farmers, confectioners, cooks and traders. Therefore, the more realistic answer is that petha is not a one-time invention of any one person, but is the result of the gradual development of pumpkin-based sweets in the Agra region. Over time, confectioners worked on the syrup layer, lime-water treatment, boiling-drying ratio, and flavor variations, resulting in today's standard petha.
Agra was a major center in the Mughal period and later Subedari and Nawabi administration. Due to traffic and trade here, Petha became associated with the identity of the city. With the expansion of railways and roads, the supply of petha became easier from Agra to many cities of North India in the 19th-20th century. Station-kiosks and travel culture made it the dessert of travel. After independence, the demand for petha increased with Taj Mahal becoming a global tourist centre. Foreign tourists also started taking it as a local specialty. Packaging, vacuum-sealing, standardization of sugar syrup and various flavors made it easy to market.
In India, there has been a trend of coming and going from far away places for kinship functions. People traveling to and from Agra have been taking Petha with them. This led to word-of-mouth publicity. Sweet shops located on national highways started keeping stock by writing 'Petha of Agra'. In the era of newspapers, TV shows, food blogging and social media, Agra has come to mean Taj Mahal and Petha. Online reviews and e-commerce took it to India and abroad. In many cities, local confectioners also started producing petha, sometimes in Agra style and sometimes with their own twist – this filled the supply gap and made the sweet reach the masses.
Petha is made from white pumpkin.
Petha is a pure sugar-syrup based sweet, hence it has high sugar content. Nowadays, many brands also offer sugar-free or low-sugar options, which are usually made with artificial sweeteners or alternative sweeteners. If you are mindful of calories or sugar, consume it in limited quantities. Choose pieces that are transparent, fresh, with light crystallization and no artificial colors for purity. Pay attention to the quality of aromatic elements in flavored pethas (paan, saffron, angoori).
On the scale of history, calling Petha a Mughal sweet falls in the category of an attractive but unproven claim. What is more likely is that in the multicultural food landscape of Agra, from the Mughal period to the colonial era and the modern tourism era, petha continued to evolve and become popular. Instead of calling it the invention of one person or one moment, it is more appropriate to consider it as the result of the combined influence of regional knowledge, confectioners' craftsmanship, business acumen and travel culture.
Today, Petha of Agra is not just a sweet, but a cultural symbol, which has become a sweet representative of the local tradition, urban identity and travel culture of India that flourished in the shadow of the Taj Mahal. Whether you prefer the classic white petha or new flavors like paan and saffron – every bite brings the same old charm of Agra and the taste honed over time.
