About

The Red Fort was built over a 10 year period ending in 1648, by Emperor Shah Jahan when he shifted his capital from Agra to Delhi. The Red Fort's boundary walls are asymmetric, to accommodate the older Salimgarh fort within it. The Yaminua river runs along the eastern wall of the fort. One can see the blending of Indo-Islamic, Timurid, Hindu, and Persian forms of architecture in several facets of the Red Fort. It’s made up of red sandstone and houses several other smaller buildings such as the private pavilions, the Diwan-i-aam, the Diwan-i-Khas. The Red Fort also contains the Moti Masjid, a mosque made primarily of Marble. The Moti Masjid is one of the few buildings to have been attributed to Aurangzeb. As the Mughal Empire declined, the fort was ransacked several times - Nadir Shah in 1739, the Marathas, Sikhs, and the British. It is a protected monument maintained by the ASI, with one part sectioned off for use as a garrison by the Indian Army. Independent India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, raised the Indian flag atop the Lahori Gate on the occasion of India's independence on 15th August, 1947. Since then, the incumbent Prime Minister has raised the Indian tricolor at the Red Fort on every 15th of August, and delivered a speech to the nation.