LAL QUILA/RED FORT COMPLEX

Red Fort, popularly known as Lal Qila, was constructed

by Shah Jahan in the 17th Century.
• The fort complex served as the residence of Mughal
Emperors for nearly 200 years, until 1857.
• It was designed by architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri and
Ustad Hamid.
• The fort lies along the Yamuna River.
• Its construction began in the sacred month of
Muharram, on 13 May 1638, and was completed in
1648.
• It has a perimeter of 2.41km.
•The fort is built using red sandstone and has an oblong
octagonal plan.
• It has 2 principal gates – Lahore Drawaza and Delhi
Darwaza along its western and southern sides
respectively.
 Key Features
•The fortress is in the shape of a rectangle 900m by
550m.
• The rampart is about 34m high.
• A moat surrounds the rampart.
• Two of five gateways of the fort are three – storeyed
structures flanked by octagonal towers.
• These are the Lahori Gate and the Delhi Gate.
• Figures of two huge elephants flank the Delhi Gate.
• The main entrance to the fort is through the Lahori
Gate.
• A covered passage with shops on either side leads to
the places inside the fort. Rampart - a defensive wall
of a castle or walled city, having a broad top with a
walkway and typically a stone parapet.
•The Red Fort's boundary
walls are asymmetrical to
contain the older
Salimgarh Fort.
• The fortress-palace was a
focal point of the
medieval city of
Shahjahanabad, which is
present-day Old Delhi.
• Its planning and
aesthetics represent the
zenith of Mughal
creativity prevailing
during Shah Jahan's
reign.
• The Red Fort has an area of 254.67 acres (103.06 ha) enclosed
by 2.41 kilometres (1.50 mi) of defensive walls, punctuated by
turrets and bastions and varying in height from 18 metres (59
ft) on the river side to 33 metres (108 ft) on the city side.
• The fort is octagonal, with the north-south axis longer than
the east-west axis.
• The marble, floral decorations and double domes in the fort's
buildings exemplify later Mughal architecture. Turret - a small
tower on top of a larger tower or at the corner of a building
or wall, typically of a castle
• It showcases a high level of ornamentation, and the
Kohinoor diamond was reportedly part of the
furnishings.
• The fort's artwork synthesises Persian, European and
Indian art, resulting in a unique Shahjahani style rich in
form, expression and colour.
• Red Fort is one of the building complexes of India
encapsulating a long period of history and its arts.
• Even before its 1913 commemoration as a monument
of national importance, efforts were made to preserve
it for posterity.
• The Lahori and Delhi Gates were used by the public, and
the Khizrabad Gate was for the emperor.
• The Lahore Gate is the main entrance, leading to a
domed shopping area known as the Chatta Chowk
(covered bazaar).
 Arrow slits Damaaga
• This helmet-like structure, which is
often seen alternating with arrow
slits, also forms part of the
defensive architecture of the fort.
• It’s known as a damaaga (a
‘damaaga’ is a ‘nostril’; the name
is probably because of the
similarity in shape).
• Damaagas were used as outlets
to pour burning pitch on enemies
trying to scale the wall.
• This odd-looking architectural
element, typically positioned
high up on the outer walls of the
fort.
• The vertical slits in the walls are
known as arrow slits or loopholes
- because they allowed soldiers
inside the fort to shoot arrows at
an external enemy from the
shelter of the wall.
• Another architectural element that had been in use long before the
Mughal period was the pishtaq, or niche.
• At its most basic, this is a quadrilateral shelf - like niche let into a wall.
• These started off (like the kanguras and damaagas) as a practical element
of architecture: pishtaqs could be used as a shelf, to store items, and to
hold lamps to illuminate a chamber.
• Unlike kanguras or damaagas, however, pishtaqs retained their
functionality, especially as a receptacle for lamps. In pre-Mughal Delhi,
for example, pishtaqs were very common as a form of decoration in
mosques.
 Chadar
• Garden pavilions also
often incorporated
another important
feature of Mughal
architecture, the chadar.
• A chadar is a stone slope
which acts as the bed for
a water channel when it
descends from a higher
level to a lower one.
• The chadar is lightly
carved with a pattern of
shallow scallops or similar
repetitive patterns.
• Water flowing over these
ripples pleasingly.
• The Lahori Gate is the main
gate to the Red Fort,
named for its orientation
towards the city of
Lahore.
• During Aurangzeb's reign,
the beauty of the gate
was spoiled by the
addition of bastions,
Shahjahan described this
as "a veil drawn across
the face of a beautiful
woman".
• Every Indian Independence
Day since 1947, the
national flag has flown
and the Prime Minister
has made a speech from
its ramparts.
•
 Delhi gate

The Delhi Gate is the

southern public
entrance and in layout
and appearance similar
to the Lahori Gate.
• Two life-size stone
elephants on either side
of the gate face each
other. These were
renewed by Lord Curzon
in 1903 after their
earlier demolition by
Aurangzeb.
• Adjacent to the Lahori Gate is the Chatta Chowk,
where silk, jewellery and other items for the imperial
household were sold during the Mughal period.
• The bazaar leads to an open outer court, where it
crosses the large north-south street which originally
divided the fort's military functions (to the west) from
the palaces (to the east).
 In the east wall of
the court stands the
now- isolated Naubat
Khana (also known as
Nakkar Khana), the
drum house. Music
was played at
scheduled times daily
next to a large gate,
where everyone
except royalty was
required to dismount.
• The inner main court to which the Nakkar Khana led was 540 feet (160 m)
wide and 420 feet (130 m) deep, surrounded by guarded galleries. On
the far side is the Diwan-i-Aam, the Public Audience Hall.
• The hall's columns and engrailed arches exhibit fine craftsmanship, and
the hall was originally decorated with white chunam stucco. In the back
in the raised recess the emperor gave his audience in the marble
balcony (jharokha).
• The Diwan-i-Aam was also used for state functions.The courtyard
(mardana) behind it leads to the imperial apartments.
• The imperial apartments consist of a row of
pavilions on a raised platform along the eastern
edge of the fort, overlooking the Yamuna.
• The pavilions are connected by a canal, known as
the Nahr-i- Behisht ("Stream of Paradise"), running
through the centre of each pavilion.
• Water is drawn from the Yamuna via a tower, the
Shahi Burj, at the northeast corner of the fort. The
palace is designed to emulate paradise as described
in the Quran.
• In the riverbed below the imperial apartments and
connected buildings was a space known as zer-
jharokha ("beneath the latticework").
•
The two southernmost pavilions of the palace are
zenanas (women's quarters), consisting of the
Mumtaz Mahal and the larger Rang Mahal. The
Mumtaz Mahal houses the Red Fort Archaeological
Museum.
• The Rang Mahal housed the emperor's wives and
mistresses. Its name means "Palace of Colours",
since it was brightly painted and decorated with a
mosaic of mirrors. The central marble pool is fed
by the Nahr-i-Behisht.
The Khas Mahal was the emperor's apartment. Connected to it is the
Muthamman Burj, an octagonal tower where he appeared before the people
waiting on the riverbank.This was done mostly by all the kings present at that
time.
• A gate on the north side of
the Diwan-i-Aam leads to
the innermost court of the
palace (Jalau Khana) and the
Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private
Audience). It is constructed
of white marble, inlaid with
precious stones. The once-
silver ceiling has been
restored in wood. François
Bernier described seeing the
jewelled Peacock Throne
here during the 17th
century. At either end of the
hall, over the two outer
arches, is an inscription by
Persian poet Amir Khusrow:
If heaven can be on the face
of the earth, It is this, it is
this, it is this.
• The hammam were the imperial baths, consisting of three
domed rooms floored with white marble.
• The baoli (step-well) at the
Red Fort, Delhi The baoli or
step-well, believed to pre-
date Red Fort, is one of the
few monuments that were
not demolished by the
British after the Indian
Rebellion of 1857. The
chambers within the baoli
were converted into prison.
During the Indian National
Army Trials or Red Fort
Trials in 1945-46, it housed
Indian National Army
officers Colonel Shah
Nawaz Khan, Colonel Prem
Kumar Sahgal and Colonel
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon.
Red Fort Baoli is uniquely
designed with two sets of
staircases leading down to
the well.[48]
•West of the hammam is the Moti Masjid, the Pearl Mosque.
A later addition, it was built in 1659 as a private mosque
for Aurangzeb. It is a small, three-domed mosque carved
in white marble, with a three- arched screen leading down
to the courtyard. The Hira Mahal is a pavilion on the
southern edge of the fort, built under Bahadur Shah II and
at the end of the Hayat Baksh garden. The Moti Mahal on
the northern edge, a twin building, was destroyed during
(or after) the 1857 rebellion.
• The Shahi Burj was the emperor's main study of the;
its name means "Emperor's Tower", and it originally
had a chhatri on top. Heavily damaged, the tower is
undergoing reconstruction. In front of it is a marble
pavilion added by Aurangzeb.
• The Hayat Bakhsh Bagh is the "Life-Bestowing Garden" in the northeast part
of the complex. It features a reservoir (now dry) and channels, and at each
end is a white marble pavilion (Savon and Bhadon). In the centre of the
reservoir is the red-sandstone Zafar Mahal, added about 1842 under
Bahadur Shah II.
• Smaller gardens (such as the Mehtab Bagh or Moonlight Garden) existed
west of it, but were destroyed when the British barracks were built. There
are plans to restore the gardens. Beyond these, the road to the north leads
to an arched bridge and the Salimgarh Fort.
• North of the Hayat Bakhsh Bagh and the Shahi Burj is the
quarter of the imperial princes.
• This was used by member of the Mughal royal family and was
largely destroyed by the British forces after the rebellion.
• One of the palaces was converted into a tea house for the
soldiers.
•Also called as Swatantrata Sangram Sangrahalaya
•Considering the role the Red Fort has played in the freedom
struggle Swatantrata Sangram Sanghralaya was set up in one of
the double storeyed army barracks in 1995. The museum
provides a glimpse of major phases of India's struggle for
freedom, from the First War of Independence of 1857 to
India's Independence in 1947.
•In the museum, the history of the freedom struggle is depicted
through photographs, documents, paintings, lithographs and
objects like guns, pistols, swords, shields, badges, medals,
dioramas, sculptures etc.