| | | | Agra Fort | 
 |
| Red Fort - Lal Quila - Lal Qila
UNESCO World Heritage Site : 1983
Agrâ (India)
| | | | Agra Fort : Virtual tour |  | 14 sections and 2 items |
|
Agra Fort : Outdoor Architecture (14)
|  | Amar Singh Gate
The wall has 2 gates, the Delhi Gate and the Amar Singh Gate. The entrance to the fort is only through the Amar Singh Gate. Public access is limited to the southern part of the fort which includes nearly all the buildings of tourist interest.
|
|  | Khas Mahal (2)
Khwabgah
Khass Mahal
between 1631 and 1640
Situated in between the golden pavilions is the Khaas Mahal. Built entirely of marble by Shah Jahan, the palace demonstrates distinctive Islamic-Persian features. These are well blended with a striking range of Hindu features such as chhatries. It is considered to be emperor's sleeping room or "Aramgah".
|
|  | Musamman Burj
Musammanburj
On the left of the Khaas Mahal is the Musamman Burj built by Shah Jahan for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is a beautiful octagonal tower with an open pavilion.
|
|  | Sheesh Mahal
Shish Mahal
Opposite to the Mussaman Burj and just below the Diwan-e-Khas hall, at the northeastern end of the Khas Mahal courtyard is the Sheesh Mahal or the Glass Palace.
|
|  | Diwan-i-Khas
Hall of private audience
between 1636 and 1637
The Diwan-i-Khas built by Shahjahan was used to receive kings, dignitaries and ambassadors. It is a three sided pavilion with a terrace of fine proportions.
|
|  | Macchhi Bhawan
Macchhibhwan
Opposite to the Diwan-i-Khaas is the Macchhi Bhawan, the Fish Enclosure meant for harem functions. The emperor sat on the white marble platform of the Diwani-i-Khas facing this courtyard.
|
|  | Takht-i-Jahangir
Throne of Jahangir
1602
The throne was built in 1602 in Allahabad and kept at the Allahabad Fort. Even after Jahangir became king when his father, emperor Akbar died in 1605, the throne remained there.
|
|  | Nagina Masjid
Gem Mosque
near 1635
The mosque was designed for the ladies of the court, featuring the Zenana Mina Bazaar (Ladies Bazaar) right next to the balcony, where only female merchants sold wares.
|
|  | Anguri Bagh
These formal, 85m square, geometric gardens lie to the left of the fort. During Shah Jahan's time the beauty of the gardens was considerably enhanced by decorative flower beds.
|
|  | Diwan-i-Am
Hall of Public audience
between 1627 and 1634
The Hall of Public Audiences, made of red sandstone, was constructed by Shahjahan. It is here the emperor met officials and commoners and listened to the petitioners.
|
|  | Golden Pavilions
The curved chala roofs of the small pavilions by the Khaas Mahal are based on the roof shape of Bengali village huts constructed out of curved bamboo, designed to keep off heavy rain.
|
|  | Jahangiri Mahal
This is the first notable building that the visitor sees on his right hand side at the end of a spacious lawn, as one enters through the Amar Singh Gate and emerges out of the passage. Situated north of the gate at the end of a spacious lawn, the Jehangir's palace was built by Akbar as women's quarters and is the only building that survives among his original palace buildings.
|
| | |
| | Agra Fort : Description | |
|
Agra Fort is located in Agra, India. The important 16th-century Mughal monument is also known as Lal Qila, Fort Rouge and Red Fort of Agra. It is about 2.5 km northwest of its much more famous sister monument, the Taj Mahal. The fort can be more accurately described as a walled palatial city. This powerful fortress of red sandstone encompasses, within its 2.5 km long enclosure walls, the imperial city of the Mughal rulers. It comprises many fairy-tale palaces, such as the Jahangir Palace and the Khas Mahal, built by Shah Jahan; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas; and two very beautiful mosques.
Layout
The entire site is crescent shaped, with 21 meter high walls, surrounded by a moat, facing out towards the Yamuna River. The perimeter of the site measures out to about 2.4 kilometers of towering red sandstone walls.
The walls have two gates, the "Delhi Gate" and the "Lahore Gate" (sometimes called Amar Singh Gate).The Delhi Gate is considered the grandest of the gates and leads into an inner gate called the Hathi Pol (Elephant Gate). Due to the fact that the Indian military (the Parachute Brigade in particular) is still using the northern portion of the Agra Fort, the Delhi Gate cannot be used by the public. Tourists enter via the Lahore Gate. Lahore Gate is named so because it faces Lahore, now in Pakistan.
The site is very important in terms of architectural history. Some of the most historically interesting mixing of Hindu and Islamic architecture reside there. In fact, some of the decorations are Islamic and yet feature dragons, elephants and birds, instead of the patterns and calligraphy, very much unheard of.
Notable sites and structures within Agra Fort
- Anguri Bagh : 85 square, geometrically arranged gardens
- Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience) : was used to speak to the people and listen to petitioners and once housed the Peacock Throne
- Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience) : was used to receive kings and dignitary, features black throne of Jehangir
- Golden Pavilions : beautiful pavilions with roofs shaped like the roofs of Bengali huts
- Jehangiri Mahal : built by Akbar for his son Jehangir
- Khas Mahal : white marble palace, one of the best examples of painting on marble
- Macchi Bhawan (Fish Enclosure) : grand enclosure for harem functions, once had pools and fountains
- Mina Masjid (Heavenly Mosque : a tiny mosque; closed to the public
- Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) : a private mosque of Shah Jahan
- Musamman Burj : a large, octagonal tower with a balcony facing the Taj Mahal
- Nagina Masjid (Gem Mosque) : mosque designed for the ladies of the court, featuring the Zenana Mina Bazaar (Ladies Bazaar) right next to the balcony, where only female merchants sold wares
- Naubat Khana (Drum House) : a place where the king's musicians played
- Rang Mahal : where the king's wives and mistresses lived
- Shahi Burj : Shah Jahan's private work area
- Sheesh Mahal (Glass Palace) or Shish Mahal : royal dressing room featuring tiny mirror-like glass-mosaic decorations on the walls
Other notable facts
Agra Fort should not be confused with the much smaller Red Fort at Delhi. The Mughals never referred the Red Fort as a fort; rather, it was referred as the 'Lal Haveli', or the Red Bungalow. The Prime Minister of India addresses the nation from Delhi's Red Fort on August 15, India's Independence Day.
UNESCO designated the Fort a World Heritage Site in 1983.
The Agra Fort was featured in the music video for Habibi Da, a hit song of Egyptian pop star Hisham Abbas. | | Agra Fort : History | |
|
By most estimates, the fort was taken over from the Lodis by the Mughals in the late 16th century, by Akbar the Great. During his reign, he shifted the government of his empire from Delhi to Agra. Because of this, much of Agra flourished and the site of the old Lodis fort began changing into more of a royal estate. Akbar tended to build from red sandstone, often inlaid with white marble and intricate decorations.
It was only during the reign of Akbar's grandson, Shah Jahan, that the site finally took on its current state. Legend fortells that Shah Jahan built the beautiful Taj Mahal for his wife. Unlike his grandfather, Shah Jahan tended to have buildings made from white marble, often inlaid with gold or semi-precious gems. He destroyed some of the earlier buildings inside the fort in order to make his own.
At the end of his life, Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb, in the fort, a punishment which might not seem so harsh, considering the luxury of the fort. It is rumored that Shah Jahan died in Muasamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony with an excellent view of the Taj Mahal.
This was also a site of one of the battles during the Indian rebellion of 1857, which caused the end of the British East India Company's rule in India, and led to a century of direct rule of India by Britain. | | Agra Fort : More pictures | |
| | | | Related article(s) | |
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire, which was also the self-designation of the Timurids in Central Asia and Khorasan, was an empire that at its greatest territorial extent ruled most of the Indian subcontinent, then known as Hindustan.
|
| | |
|
