Introduction
The largest monument of Old Delhi's isLal Quilaor Red Fort whose thick red sandstone walls, bulging with turrets and bastions, have withstood the vagaries of time and nature. The Lal Quila rises above a wide dry moat in the northeast corner of the original city of Shahjahanabad. Its walls extend from two kilometers and vary in height from 18 metres on the river side to 33 metres on the city side.
Mughal Emperor Shahjahanstarted construction of the massive fort in 1638 and work was completed in 1648. The fort contains all the expected trappings of the centre of Mughal government: halls of public and private audience, domed and arched marble palaces, plush private apartments, a mosque and elaborately designed gardens. Even today, the fort remains an impressive testimony to Mughal grandeur, despite being attacked by the Persian Emperor Nadir Shah in 1739 and by the British soldiers during the war of independence in 1857.
Entrance to the fort is through the imposing Lahore Gate, which takes its name from the fact that it faces Lahore, now in Pakistan. This gate has a special significance for India since the first war of independence and important speeches have been made here by freedom fighters and national leaders of India.
The main entrance opens on to theChatta Chowk,a covered street flanked with arched cells that used to house Delhi's most talented jewellers, carpet makers, weavers and goldsmiths. This arcade was also known as the Meena Bazaar, the shopping centre for the ladies of the court. Just beyond the Chhata Chowk is the heart of the fort called Naubat Khana or the Drum House. The musicians used to play for the emperor from the Naubat Khana and the arrival of princes and royalty was heralded from here.
The Fort also houses the Diwan-i-Am or the Hall of Public Audiences where the Emperor would sit and hear complaints of the common folks. His alcove in the wall was marble-paneled and was set with precious stones, many of which were looted after the mutiny of 1857. The Diwan-i-Khas is the hall of private audiences where the Emperor held private meetings. This hall is made of marble and its centre-piece used to be the Peacock Throne, which was carried away to Iran by Nadir Shah in 1739. Today, the Diwan-i-Khas is only a pale shadow of its original glory, yet the famous Persian couplet inscribed on its wall remind us of its former magnificence:"If on Earth be an Eden of bliss, it is this, it is this, none but this."
The other attractions within this monument are the Royal Baths or hammams, the Shahi Burj, which used to be Shahjahan's private working area and the Moti Masjid or the Pearl Mosque, built by Aurangzeb for his personal use. The Rang Mahal or the"Palace of Colours" housed the Emperor's wives and mistresses. This palace was crowned with gilded turrets, delicately painted and decorated with an intricate mosaic of mirrors, and a ceiling overlaid with gold and silver that was reflected in a central pool in the marble floor.
Even today, the Lal Quila is an eloquent reminder of the glory of the Mughal era and its magnificence leaves many wonder-struck and breathless. It is still a calm haven of peace which helps one to break away from the frantic pace of life outside the walls of the Fort and transports the visitor to another era of time.
Sound& Light Show
The eventful history Red Fort has been witness to is brought out as a sound and light show every evening on the ramparts of the Red Fort. For those desirous of delving into Delhi's glorious and tumultuous past, Delhi Tourism puts on a spectacular sound and light show at thePurana Qilabringing 5,000 years old history of the city come alive. Special effects combine with the unique ambience to make this show a hauntingly unforgettable experience. The eternal Jamuna bears witness to the glorious and tumultuous history of Delhi. It throws light on a history, which begins with the creation of Indraprastha by the Pandavas and the transformation of this barren gift of the Kauravas into an idyllic haven. This show unfolds the history of Delhi. One is transported centuries back in time to witness Draupadi being reduced to a dasi of Hastinapur, the gallant Prithviraj Chauhan gallooping away with Samyogita, Sher Shah Suri being blown to bits by misfired cannon, the legendary Razia Sultan, Humanyun tragically tumbling down the steps of his library, Bahadur Shah Zafar surrendering to the British. This is the story of the city of cities - Delhi; where a great empire rose and fell before the dawn of history; citadels of emperors appeared and disappeared. But, combined and integrated into one, these new cities have always been called Delhi and Delhi has always been intrinsically identified with power and imperial sway. These and many more such episodes out of Delhi’s old saga can be relived during this evocative 62 minutes son et lumiere. Advanced technology has made it possible to add special effects, combining with the unique ambiance to make this show a hauntingly unforgettable experience. Shrouded in antiquity, the lofty walls of the Purana Quila, rise on the sire of the ancient city of Indraprastha. It is believed to be the site of the first city of Delhi. The high-rise walls and imposing entrances to the Quila are credited to emperor Sher Shah Suri. Purana Quila, now the site for the sound and light show, has seen centuries of history unfold before it. The show, inaugurated on 2nd October 1996, is perhaps the biggest of its kind in India. The show each in Hindi and English is held after sunset except on days when it rains. The shows, through skillful use of light and sound, bring to life bygone days of Delhi's history from the Mughal period.
History
It first occurred to the omniscient mind that he should select on the banks of the aforesaid river some pleasant site, distinguished by its genial climate, where he might found a splendid fort and delightful edifices, agreeably to the promptings of his generous heart, through which streams of water should be made to flow, and the terraces of which should overlook the river.'Muhammad Tahir, Inayat Khan Shahjahan-nama, 1657-58.
Such worthy thoughts, according to the royal librarian, prompted the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to found a fresh city at Delhi in the mid-seventeenth century. He called it Shahjahanabad, meaning City of Shah Jahan. At its centre stood theRed Fort, a vast walled complex of beautiful palaces and meeting halls from which the Emperor ruled with unmatched public pomp and ceremony. Today, the surviving Fort buildings stand silently amid the still bustling city, now called Old Delhi.
The Red Fort's success was instant. It represented the pinnacle of Mughal palace-fort building, and symbolized political and economic power. It was also perhaps the most extravagant and sophisticated theatre ever built for daily performances of one of the world's most dazzlingly grand courts. But its glory was short-lived; as the Mughal Empire waned, so did the Fort. Later Emperors abused the fine buildings, raiders snatched its treasures, marauders wrecked its buildings and finally the British, blind to its qualities, pulled down the greater part. Even this century, what remains has been largely ignored, unappreciated and uncared for. But, despite the ravages of time and human action, the extraordinary achievement of the Red Fort in plan and fine architecture is still visible today, although it is unjustly ignored. It is time to set the record straight, to look again at the surviving buildings and to bring the Fort alive through the personality of its creator, Shah Jahan, and his Court.
The Red Fort and its surrounding city constitute the only large-scale Mughal city planned and built from scratch to survive as a living city. Built in just over nine years, it burst into life in 1648 and, although the palace buildings are peopled only by ghosts, the city it supported still thrives today and the inhabitants of its tiny lanes are often descendants of merchants and craftsmen who served Shah Jahan and his Court, still practising the same trades in the same areas. Here they live and work, shop in the markets and celebrate their festivals in the streets. And a few old families who a generation ago deserted the lanes for spacious, air-conditioned comfort in the New Delhi suburbs keep the family haveli (courtyard mansion) in Old Delhi and speak proudly of the city they come from, even if they have never slept a night in it.
The key to the Red Fort's success was firstly that it was designed not merely for Court pleasure. It may have contained glittering palaces, but it was also the power-base for the whole Empire, for internal government and external foreign affairs. It was built for defence, too, although this role would later prove its Achilles' Heel. The Red Fort was also a complete community, a city-within-a-city, with its own bazaars (the coveredChatta Chowkis a token survivor), gardens and mansions for favoured courtiers. Every detail of layout and every building reflected Mughal greatness, using the finest materials to realise the most mature Mughal designs.
Secondly, the supporting city was an essential part of the original plan. It had its own protective walls; its great mosque, theJama Masjid(Friday Mosque), stands on the only hillock so all can see it; and its host of specialist bazaars, which supplied the vast Court with everything it needed from silk slippers to fresh Kabul melons. The city gained enough momentum to survive, albeit less glamorously, when the Mughal Empire waned and, more importantly, when the British built New Delhi and its competing shopping centre at nearby Connaught Place.
Thirdly, the whole of Shahjahanabad, both Red Fort and city, was a thoroughly royal undertaking. The city outside the Emperor's palace-fort was an extension of it in design, patronage and function. Indeed, Fort and city sustained one another, living in symbiosis. The Jama Masjid encapsulates the idea, for it was planned as the mosque for both the city and the royal Red Fort, which had no internal place of prayer. The city's main market street, Chandni Chowk, was laid out by one princess; additional markets, sarais (inns), Hammams (baths), mosques and gardens were given by other members of the royal family; and grand havelis (mansions) were built by favoured princes and courtiers. The havelis have mostly gone, but those markets and places of worship are still focuses of Old Delhi. Conversely, the public had access to the daily public meetings held in the Diwan-i-Am (Public Audience Hall) in the Fort itself, a fundamental element of Mughal rule.
As a royal undertaking, the Emperor's personal interest and vast finances were behind the project. With a stable empire and a huge income from taxes paid by his
subjects, Shah Jahan could indulge his obsession, building a new and magnificent capital whose centrepiece would become a legend in his lifetime and whose magnificent planning and buildings would survive, in part, to be admired by posterity. Shah Jahan seems to have taken an active part in the design, direction and encouragement of the whole project. He was involved in the general plan and in the detailed designs for the marble palaces, the Chatta Chowk, the Jama Masjid and probably more. As one recorder noted, perhaps with an overdose of loyalty:'Occasionally His Majesty supervised the work of goldsmiths, jewellers and sculptors. Thereupon specialists commissioned to design new buildings would submit their plans to His Majesty, who discussed them with expert persons ... Various monuments, which even the best-versed architect could not have devised, were drawn up by His Majesty personally. His advice or his objections were regarded as binding.'
Forthly, the Red Fort and its city are an inspired triumph of urban planning. Within the Fort, the core of the design is T-shaped, the cross-bar consisting of a string of palaces facing the Yamuna's cool river breezes on the east side of the Fort. To the west, they face the main axis of the Fort and city: a procession of increasingly less private and less royal buildings which leads to a giant gateway, out of the seat of power and into the city's principal thoroughfare, Chandni Chowk.
Finally, each building in the Red Fort displays the hallmark of perfect taste and elegance. Built at the height of one of the most cultured courts the world has known, this is Mughal palace architecture at its most ambitious and sophisticated. Imagined in its original completeness, it would have easily outshone its contemporary European rival, Louis xiv's palace at Versailles, and it covered twice the area of the largest European palace, the Escorial. Of the surviving structures, each one perfectly fulfils its function. At the same time, each is visually satisfying, relates happily to its neighbours and fits snugly into the overall plan. Lines are simple, proportions human in scale, detailing restrained and both materials and workmanship of the highest quality. Architectural historian Percy Brown judged it in 1942 as'the last and finest of those great citadels, representative of the Moslem power in India, the culmination of the experience in building such imperial retreats which had been developing for several centuries.' Thus the Red Fort symbolizes the apex of Mughal cultural refinement