Red Fort (Agra)

Red Fort in Agra ; लाल क़िला ; لال قلعہ
UNESCO world heritage
	Entrance gate of the Red Fort in Agra
National territory:	India
Type:	Culture
Criteria :	(iii)
Reference No .:	251
UNESCO region :	Asia and Pacific
	History of enrollment
Enrollment:	1983 (session 7)

The brick walls of the Red Fort in Agra are covered entirely with red sandstone slabs from Rajasthan .

The Red Fort in the north Indian city of Agra is a fortress and palace complex from the era of the Mughal emperors and served with interruptions as the residence of the Mughals in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Red Fort was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Part of the site is used for military purposes today and is not accessible to the public.

location

Plan of the fort from Murray's Handbooks for Travelers 1911

The Red Fort of Agra is located on a partly natural (embankment), partly man-made hill on the banks of the Yamuna River and is only about 2.5 kilometers from the Taj Mahal .

history

The construction of the fort began in 1565 under Akbar the Great , who had the capital moved here from Delhi, and expanded under his successors, especially under Shah Jahan , in the first half of the 17th century. The walling was completed in 1571. Palace buildings were not built, however, as Akbar founded a new capital a short time later (1572) in Fatehpur Sikri , which he soon gave up to reside in Lahore . While Akbar mainly had red Barauli sandstone from the Dholpur region in what is now Rajasthan built, Shah Jahan preferred white marble with decorations of glass and semi-precious stones as the building material. In 1648 the capital was relocated back to Delhi, which also made the Red Fort less important. After he came to power in 1658, Aurangzeb put his father Shah Jahan under house arrest in the Red Fort of Agra, where he also died in 1666.

In 1803 it was captured by British troops. During the Indian uprising of 1857 , the Red Fort was one of the sites of armed conflict.

architecture

The entire fort has a crescent-shaped floor plan and is surrounded by a wall that is up to 21 meters high and 2.4 kilometers in circumference. The core of the wall, like most of the enclosed buildings, is made of brick and is clad with red sandstone slabs. The fort's name derives from these red sandstone slabs. Only two main gates, the Delhi Gate and the Lahore Gate, allow access to the huge area. Inside there are representative palace buildings from the time of Shah Jahan as well as mosques and gardens. The architectural style harmoniously combines elements of Islamic and Hindu architecture. The palace buildings inside the fort, built by Shah Jahan in the 17th century, are completely clad in white marble and adorned with stone or glass inlays. The small wall niches are reminiscent of Persian models.

Picture gallery

On the extensive grounds of the Red Fort
Plan of the fort on a screen of the fort, 2008
Outside area of the Diwan-i-Am or Hall of Public Audience
Inside the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience)
Agra Fort Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience)
Jahangir palace
Diwan-e-Khas
Delhi Gate, by Seeta Ram, 1814-15
inside the Red Fort
Decorated pillars
inside the Red Fort
Ceiling decorations
Weeks Edwin Gate of the Fort
Red Fort, exterior view

literature

Beate Szerelmy, Andrea Wurth u. a .: India . Baedeker-Verlag, Ostfildern 1997, p. 153f ISBN 3-89525-139-9
Bamber Gascoigne: The Mughals - splendor and greatness of Mohammedan princes in India . Prisma-Verlag, Gütersloh 1987 ISBN 3-570-09930-X