Red Fort, Delhi

The Red Fort was constructed by the Emperor Shah Jahan in 1639 A.D.

It was originally referred to as "Qila-i-Mubarak" (the blessed fort), because it was the residence of the royal family. The layout of the Red Fort was organised to retain and integrate this site with the Salimgarh Fort. The fortress palace is an important focal point of the medieval city of Shahjahanabad. The significant phases of development were under Aurangzeb and later Mughal rulers. Important physical changes were carried out in the overall settings of the site after the First War of Independence during British Rule in 1857. After Independence, the site experienced a few changes in terms of addition/alteration to the structures. During the British period the Fort was mainly used as a cantonment and even after Independence, a significant part of the Fort remained under the control of the Army until the year 2003.

The Red Fort was the palace for Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's new capital, Shahjahanabad, the seventh Muslim city in the Delhi site. He moved his capital from Agra in a move designed to bring prestige to his reign, and to provide ample opportunity to apply his ambitious building schemes and interests.

The fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the moats that surround most of the wall. The wall at its north-eastern corner is adjacent to an older fort, the Salimgarh Fort, a defense built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546.The construction of the Red Fort began in 1638 and was completed by 1648.

The Red Fort reflected the might of the Mughals in the past and is now symbolic of India's independence. In fact it is a witness to the diverse yet glorious history of India. It was from here that the British deposed the last Mughal ruler, Bhadur Shah Zafar, marking the end of the three century long Mughal rule. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime Minister of India, unfurled the Indian tricolor on the ramparts of this magnificent fort on 15 August 1947 marking the end of the British colonial rule. Since then, every year on Independence Day of India (15th of August), a grand function is held at Red Fort, where the prime minister of India unfurls the Indian tricolor and makes a speech from its ramparts.

The Red Fort is a good example of Mughal military architecture. The tall ramparts, heavily fortified gateways, a moat surrounding the fort, etc., reflect the architectural skills of the Mughal rulers. Though much has changed now because of large-scale demolitions during the British occupation of the fort, its important structures have survived.The Red Fort gets its name from the use of red sandstone in its construction. The walls of this fort extend for 2 km and vary in height. The height of the walls is 18 m on the riverside, while it is 33 m on the city side. The fort has two important gateways-Lahori Gate and Delhi Gate. The Lahori Gate is the main entrance to the Red Fort. The gate faces the direction to Lahore (now in Pakistan), hence the name Lahori Gate. The gate forms a part of a massive stone fortification and is made up of dull pink sandstone. The grassy area above this massive gateway and below the tall ramparts of the fort is the place from where the prime minister of India addresses and leads the nation in celebrating the Independence Day.

There are a number of important and interesting buildings within the Red Fort. As soon as one enters the Lahori Gate, one finds himself in a vaulted arcade-the Chatta Chowk-that is full of shops selling souvenirs and gift articles. During the time of the Mughals, the shopkeepers used to sell silk items, jewelry, and gold. This arcade of shops was then known as the Meena Bazaar. The arcade leads to the Naubat Khana (drum house), where musicians played for the emperor and announced the arrival of the royalty and important dignitaries.Passing the Naubat Khana, one comes face to face with the Diwan-I-Aam (hall of public audience). It was in this flat-roof hall, having rows of cusped arches, that the emperor met his subjects. The emperor sat on a lavish marble-paneled throne set within an inlaid and painted alcove, built into the back wall of the hall. The throne was also studded with precious stones. A platform is located below the throne where the announcer read out royal farmans (royal edict) and list of gifts to be handed out to important people.The Diwan-I-Aam served as a screen that protected the royal quarters behind it from the prying eyes of outsiders. The private quarters of the royalty consisted of a number of buildings. The Diwan-I-Khas (hall of private audience), made out of white marble, is a luxurious chamber where the emperor held private meetings with important people or with other members of the royal family. The roof and walls of this hall were painted and decorated with inlay work (pietra dura). Though precious stones from the inlay work have gone, the original splendor remains. The centerpiece of this hall was the magnificent Peacock Throne. It is said that the throne was built out of solid gold and had figures of peacocks standing behind it. However, presently, one can only see the marble pedestal on which the throne used to rest. Nadir Shaha took away that. The other important feature of this hall was that it had a ceiling made out of silver. Inscribed on the walls of the Diwan-I-Khas is the famous Persian couplet: "Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin asto" (If there is a paradise on the face of the earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.).Next to the Diwan-I-Khas are the hammams or royal baths; these consist of three rooms topped by domes, with a fountain in the center. These rooms have floors and walls made of marble and inlaid with precious stones. Near the hammams is a three-story octagonal structure called the Shahi Burj (royal tower), which was emperor Shahjahan's private working area. The waterworks from this tower on the northeastern part of the fort go to the Rang Mahal (palace of the chief queen) in the south. To the west of the royal baths is the Moti Masjid (pearl mosque) built in AD 1659 by Aurangzeb (Shahjahan's son) for his personal use.The Khas Mahal (special palace), to the south of the Diwan-I-Khas, was the emperor's private palace. It is divided into rooms for sleeping, living, and worship. Like the Diwan-I-Khas, the Khas Mahal has splendid cusped arches set in white marble. It is profusely decorated with inlay work and the apartment has windows with finely patterned trelliswork overlooking the river. The Rang Mahal (recreation palace) is to the south of the Khas Mahal. The rooms in this palace have exquisite archways, trellises, channels, and fountains for cooling the interiors. The marble lotus, a fountain in the center of Rang Mahal, carved out of a single slab, is a piece of sheer beauty. In its sculptured grandeur, the lotus is matched only by the trellis wall under the scales of justice in the Khwab Gah. Water flowing from the Shahi Burj used to end up here. The Rang Mahal was the residence of the chief queen. The Mumtaz Mahal (the palace of Mumtaz, the chief queen of Shahjahan) has now been converted into a museum and contains artifacts belonging to the Mughal era.

On 11 March 1783, Sikhs briefly entered Red Fort in Delhi and occupied the Diwan-i-Am. The city was essentially surrendered by the Mughal wazir in cahoots with his Sikh Allies. This task was carried out under the command of the Sardar Baghel Singh Dhaliwal of the Karor Singhia misl.

The last Mughal emperor to occupy the fort was Bahadur Shah II "Zafar". After the failure of the 1857 rebellion, Zafar left the fort on 17th September. He returned to Red Fort as a prisoner of the British. Zafar was tried on in a trail starting on 27th January 1858, and was exiled on 7 October.

Red Fort showcases the very high level of art form and ornamental work. The art work in the Fort is a synthesis of Persian, European and Indian art which resulted in the development of unique Shahjahani style which is very rich in form, expression and colour. Red Fort, Delhi is one of the important building complexes of India which encapsulates a long period of Indian history and its arts. Its significance has transcended time and space. It is relevant as a symbol of architectural brilliance and power. Even before its notification as a monument of national importance in the year 1913, efforts were made to preserve and conserve the Red Fort, for posterity.

The walls of the fort are smoothly dressed, articulated by heavy string-courses along the upper section. They open at two major gates, the Delhi and the Lahore gates. The Lahore Gate is the main entrance; it leads to a long covered bazar street, the Chatta Chowk, whose walls are lined with stalls for shops. The Chatta Chowk leads to a large open space where it crosses the large north-south street that was originally the division between the fort's military functions, to its west, and the palaces, to its east. The southern end of this street is the Delhi Gate.

Important Buildings In Fort

Naqqar Khana
On axis with the Lahore gate and the Chatta Chowk, on the eastern side of the open space, is the Naqqar Khana ("drum house"), the main gate for the palace, named for the musicians' gallery above it.

Diwan-i-Aam
Beyond this gate is another, larger open space, which originally served as the courtyard of the Diwan-i-Aam, the large pavilion for public imperial audiences. An ornate throne-balcony (jharokha) for the emperor.

Nahr-i-Behisht
The imperial private apartments lie behind the throne. The apartments consist of a row of pavilions that sits on a raised platform along the eastern edge of the fort, looking out onto the river Yamuna. The pavilions are connected by a continuous water channel, known as the Nahr-i-Behisht, or the "Stream of Paradise", that runs through the center of each pavilion. The water is drawn from the river Yamuna, from a tower, the Shah Burj, at the northeastern corner of the fort. The palace is designed as an imitation of paradise as it is described in the Koran; a couplet repeatedly inscribed in the palace reads, "If there be a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here". The planning of the palace is based on Islamic prototypes, but each pavilion reveals in its architectural elements the Hindu influences typical of Mughal building. The palace complex of the Red Fort is counted among the best examples of the Mughal style.

Zenana
The two southernmost pavilions of the palace are zenanas, or women's quarters: the Mumtaz Mahal (now a museum), and the larger, lavish Rang Mahal, which has been famous for its gilded, decorated ceiling and marble pool, fed by the Nahr-i-Behisht.

Khas Mahal
The third pavilion from the south, the Khas Mahal, contains the imperial chambers. These include a suite of bedrooms, prayer rooms, a veranda, and the Mussaman Burj, a tower built against the fortress walls, from which the emperor would show himself to the people in a daily ceremony.

Diwan-i-Khas
The next pavilion is the Diwan-i-Khas, the lavishly decorated hall of private audience, used for ministerial and court gatherings. This finest of the pavilions is ornamented with floral pietra dura patterns on the columns, with precious stones and gilding. A painted wooden ceiling has replaced the original one, of silver inlaid with gold.

The next pavilion contains the hammam, or baths, in the Turkish style, with Mughal ornamentation in marble and colored stones.

Moti Masjid
To the west of the hammam is the Moti Masjid, the Pearl Mosque. This was a later addition, built in 1659 as a private mosque for Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan's successor. It is a small, three-domed mosque in carved white marble, with a three-arched screen which steps down to the courtyard.

Hayat Bakhsh Bagh
To its north lies a large formal garden, the Hayat Bakhsh Bagh, or "Life-Bestowing Garden", which is cut through by two bisecting channels of water. A pavilion stands at either end of the north-south channel, and a third, built in 1842 by the last emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, stands at the center of the pool where the two channels meet.

The Fort Now
After the mutiny of 1857, the fort was captured by Britain and the residential palaces destroyed. It was made the headquarters of the British Indian Army.

Immediately after the mutiny, Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried at the Red Fort. It was also here in November 1945, that the most famous courts-martial of three officers of the Indian National Army were held. After India gained independence in 1947, the Indian Army took control over the fort.

In December 2003, the Indian Army handed the fort over to the Indian tourist authorities.