Looking at its design and layout, it would not be wrong to describe it as a small, walled regal city; as it also was the home of largest treasury and mint. During the reign of the Mughal Empire, it was the royal residence and center of governance of Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb. Not only this, but the foreign ambassadors, visitors, and the celebrities, who were famous in the past during the British rule, also have marveled at this fort.

History

Initially, a brick fort taken over by the Sikarwar Rajputs, its name first was taken in 1080 A.D. Let’s take a look at the main events of this fort.

• 1487-1517
  The first Sultan of Delhi, Sikandar Lodi, lived in this fort to rule the country from here and made Agra its second capital. He died in 1517.
• 1517-1526
  Lodi’s son, Ibrahim Lodi then lived in the fort. During his reign, many palaces, wells, and a mosque were constructed. He was killed in the battle of Panipat in 1526. Soon, Mughals took over the fort, among which Babur was the next to stay in the palace of Ibrahim. Babur built a baoli, a step well, in the fort.
• 1530
  Humayun replaced Babur, but was defeated in 1530 in Bilgram. The next Mughal to rule was the Sher Shah who lived for five years.
• 1558
  Akbar arrived in this fort and made Agra its Empire’s capital. According to his historian, the fort was known as Badalgarh. However, until now, the fort was in a bad shape.
• 1565
  Akbar ordered to reconstruct the fort with bricks for the inner area and with red sandstone for the external surfaces.
• 1573
  The construction work was completed with the help of 1,444,000 builders.

After Akbar, his grandson, Shah Jahan, lived in the fort and it was in the same state as we have it today. He was the one to built the Taj Mahal for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. However, he destroyed some ancient buildings in the Agra Fort to make new ones of marble and gold or semi-precious stones. Sadly Aurangzeb, the son of Shah Jahan, house arrested his father and locked him in the fort.

The Agra Fort was a place where the battles during the Indian rebellion of 1857 took place.

Honorable Facts

• In 2004, the fort has been given the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
• In November 2004, the country issued a Stamp to mark this award.
• The fort was shooted in the video of an Egyptian pop star’s hit song.
• In 1666, Aurangzeb put Shivaji into Jai Sing’s quarters from where he escaped smartly. Due to this event, a brave statue of Shivaji is built in the exterior of the fort.

Architecture

The fort has a semi-circular layout with parallelism to the river Yamuna and walls being at a height of 70 feet. Double walls or defenses consist of huge circular bastions.

On the four sides of the fort, lie the four famous gates among which the Khizri gate is the one that opens the way to the river. The other two gates are the Delhi Gate and the Lahore Gate also known as the Amar Singh Gate.

The Delhi Gate is an architectural artwork of the Akbar’s reign facing the city and decorated with white marble. From the main land, one needs to pass the wooden drawbridge to reach the Delhi Gate and further an inner gateway named Hathi Pol meaning the Elephant Gate withstanding two stone elephants with their riders is there to challenge you to enter the fort. Such an arrangement was intentionally made for the attackers making the entry impenetrable.

Lahore Gate is named so because it is in the direction of the Lahore city in Pakistan. It is this gate that is opened to public, not the Delhi Gate. This is because the Indian military are using the northern part of the fort.

Akbar’s historian Abul Fazal revealed that 500 buildings carved with Bengal and Gujarat architectural styles were constructed in the fort. However, Shah Jahan destructed some of these buildings for making white marble palaces, while British demolished some more in the 19th century for raising the battalions. Today the situation is such that only around 30 Mughal buildings are in the southeast facing the river.

Tourists’ Attractions

• Muasamman Burj
  Is an octagonal huge tower that is believed to be the Shah Jahan’s death place and that it has a marble balcony from where one can view the Taj Mahal.

• Anguri Bagh (Grape Garden)
  Is a cluster of gardens.
• Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience)
  Is a hall wherein speech was given to the people. It is at this place where there was the Peacock Throne.
• Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience)
  Is a hall wherein kings and dignitaries were greeted. The black throne of Jehangir existed here.
• Golden Pavilions
  Are the attractive pavilions whose roofs look similar to the roofs seen on the Bengali huts.
• Jahangiri Mahal
  Is a Jehangir’s palace made by Akbar.
• Akbari Mahal
  Is a palace of Akbar. Both Jahangiri and Akbari Mahals together previously were known as the Bengali Mahal.
• Khas Mahal
  Is a white marble p class=”article”alace wherein the worth seeing is painting on the marble.

• Macchi Bhawan (Fish Enclosure)
  Was an area of pools and fountains, now a huge space for harem functions.
• Mina Masjid (Heavenly Mosque)
  Is a private mosque.
• Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque)
  Is a mosque for the members of imperial kingdom
• Nagina Masjid (Gem Mosque)
  Is a mosque for the ladies of the kingdom
• Naubat Khana (Drum House)
  Is a house of playing musical instruments for the king’s musicians.
• Rang Mahal
  Is a palace where the king’s wives resided.
• Shahi Burj
  Is the private work region of Shah Jahan.
• Shah Jahani Mahal
  Is the palace that was first built by Shah Jahan.
• Sheesh Mahal or Shish Mahal (Mirror Palace)
  Is an imperial dressing room that contains miniature mirror-like glass-mosaic patterns on the walls.
• Zenana Mina Bazaar (Ladies Bazaar)
  Is a place where there are only female merchants selling things and is near the balcony.

There are nominal entrance charges and the fort is open from sunrise to sunset.