Agra Fort

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Agra Fort in Agra built during the reign of Akbar's grandson, Shah Jahan the Agra fort is also known as Lal Qila of Agra (Red Fort of Agra) or Fort Rouge. It is located 2.5 km away northwest of its much more renowned sister monument, the Taj Mahal. The Red Fort Agra can be more perfectly described as a walled splendid city. Agra Fort History:- The construction of this fort was initiated by the Moghuls in the late 16th century, by Akbar the Great. During his supremacy, he shifted the government of his realm from Delhi to Agra. Because of this, much of Agra boomed and the site of the old Lodis fort began changing into more of a regal estate. Akbar took initiative to build this fort from red sandstone, often inlaid with white marble and intricate decorations. Ultimately the site finally took on its current state.

History says as an anecdote 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.

The whole site of fort is semi-circular shaped, with 21 meter high walls, surrounded by a moat, facing out towards the Yamuna River. The edge 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' (also known as 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). Tourists go into via the Lahore Gate. Lahore Gate is named so because it faces Lahore, now in Pakistan.

A very interesting historical fact about the fort is that –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 believed that Shah Jahan died in Muasamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony with an outstanding view of the Taj Mahal. The site was also used during the Indian revolt 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.