RED FORT

The Red Fort by Night

This massive fort is the most magnificent of all Indian royal palaces. It is a red sandstone building with mighty walls surmounted by fine towers. The fort was built by the most famous Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan at the right bank of river Yamuna on the eastern side of the city and near Chandni Chowk.

The foundation stone of the fort was laid in 1639 A.D. when Shah Jahan decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. The construction was completed in 1648 A.D. after 9 years and 3 months.

The fort is an irregular octagonal, with its two long sides on the east and west, and six smaller sides on the north and south. Its circumference is about one and a half miles, the length from north to south being 3,200 feet and the breadth from east to west being 1,800 feet. On the river front the walls are 90 feet high. The ditch around it is 75 feet wide and 30 feet deep, which was filled with water during war time.

Red Fort is indeed a very plain and an unassuming name, but during its good old days of departed glory, it bore great names. Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb called it 'Qila-e-Mubarak' or the fortunate citadel. In the times of Akbar Shah and Bahadur Shah it was named as 'Qila-e-Mullah' or the fort of exalted dignity.