- Agra Fort is located on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the city of Agra, India.
- It is one of the most important and robustly built stronghold of the Mughals.
- Many Mughals kings like Babur, Ahbar, Shah jahan, Aurangzeb had lived here.
- The Mughal kings lived nearly 100 years over here.
This Fort is richly decorated buildings encompassing the imposing Mughal style of art and architecture.
It was constructed by the third Mughal emperor Akbar on the remains of an ancient site known as Badalgarh.
Agra Fort History :
- Sikandar Lodi (1487-1517) was the first Sultan of Delhi to shift his capital from Delhi to Agra.
- After he died his son Ibrahim Lodi held the fort for 9 years until he was defeated and killed in the battle of Panipat in 1526.
- Several palaces, wells and a mosque were built in the fort during the Lodi period.
- Babur sent his son Humayun to Agra, he captured the fort and seized a vast treasure,.
- The treasure included the world famous ‘Koh-i-noor’ diamond as well.
Babur built a baoli (step-wall) here.
In 1556 The Hindu king Hem Chandra Vikramaditya defeated Humayun and captured Agra and he tried to capture Akbar place at Delhi.
The Great Akbar defeated him in 1556.
Akbar Realizing the importance of Agra’s central situation, Akbar made it his capital and arrived in Agra in 1558 from Delhi.
After he arrived in Agra in 1558. He ordered to renovate the fort with red sandstone.
Akbar used nearly 1,444,000 builders (Est.) worked on it for 8 years (1565-1573).
The fort, semi-circular on plan, is surrounded by a 21.4 m high fortification wall.
Double ramparts have been provided here with broad massive circular bastions at regular intervals.
There are four gates on its four sides, one of the gates was called “khizri-gate” (the water gate) which opens to the river front, where ghats (quays) were provided .The fort has survived through the onslaught of time, nature and men.
The fort spreads over an area of about 94 acres of land. At present, there exist more than two dozens of monuments in the Fort.
- Two of the fort’s gates are notable: the “Delhi Gate” and the “Lahore Gate.” The Lahore Gate is also popularly also known as the “Amar Singh Gate,”
- Agra Fort is located 3 km from The Great world’s famous heritage place Tajmahal.
- Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb for eight years in the octagonal tower (known as ‘Mussaman Burj’) of Agra Fort.
- The Yamuna River originally flowed along the straight eastern edge of the fort, and the emperors had their own bathing ghats here.
- The Agra Fort served as a model for Red Fort in Delhi built by Shah Jahan.
- Hall of private audience (Diwan-i-Khas) – Entirely covered with designs of marbles.
Due to importance and extraordinary architectural designs of Agra fort, UNESCO listed the Agra fort in the World Heritage Site.
