Red
Fort
So called because of the red stone with which it is built, the Red Fort is one
of the most magnificent palaces in the world. India's history is also closely
linked with this fort. It was frorth here ht the British deposed the last Mughal
ruler, Bhadur Shah Zafar, marking the end of the three century long Mughal rule.
It was also fromits ramparts that the first prime. Minister of India, pandit
Jawharlal Nehru, announced to the nation that India was free form colonial rule.
The mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, after ruling from Agra for eleven years, decided
to shift to Delhi and laid the foundation stone of the Red Fort in 1618. For
its inauguration in 1647, the main halls of the palace were draped in rich tapestry
and covered with silk from china and velvet from Turkey. With a circumference
of almost one and a half miles, the fort is an irregular octagon and has two
entrances, the Lahore and Delhi Gates.
Form the Lahore Gate, a visitor has access to the Chatta Chowk (vaulted arcade
) which as once a royal market and housed court jewelers, miniature painters
carpet manufacturers, workers in enamel, silk weavers and families of specialized
craftsmen. The road from the royal market leads to the Nawabarkhana (band house)
where the royal band played five times a day. The band house also marks the
entry into the main palace and all visitors, except royalty had to dismount
here.
The Mughal emperors would hold court here and meet dignitaries and foreign emissaries.
The most imposing feature of the Diwqani-I-Am is the alcove in the back wall
where the emperor sat in state on a richly carved and inlaid marble platform.
In the recess behind the platform are fine examples of Italian pietra-dura work.
The Diwani-I-Am is the Red Fort's hall of public audience. Built of sandstone
covered with shell plaster polished to look like ivory, the 80 x 40 feet hall
is sub-divided by columns.
The piece de resistance of the fort, the Diwan-I-Khas was the hall of private
audience. The most highly ornamented of all Shah Jahan's buildings, the 90 x
67 feet Diwani-I-Khas is a pavilion of white marble supported by intricately
carved pillars. So enamoured was the emperor by the beauty of this pavilion
that he engraved on it the following words: If there is paradise on the face
of this earth, it is this, it is this."
Richly decorated with flowers of inlaid mosaic work of cornelian and other stones,
the Diwan-I-Khas once housed the famous Peacock Throne, which when it was plundered
by Nadir Shah in 1739, was valued at six million sterling.
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