RED FORT, DELHI

SUBMITTED BY-
GORESH SAINI (1999005)
JAYA VERMA (1999009)
 INTRODUCTION
- Red Fort, popularly known as Lal Qila
was constructed by Shah Jahan in the
17th century.
- The fort lies along the Yamuna river in
Delhi, India.
- It was designed by Ustad Ahmad Lahori
and Ustad Hamid.
- Its construction began in the sacred
month of Muharram in 1638 and was
completed in 1648.
- The fort complex served as the
residence of Mughal emperors for nearly
200 years, until 1857.

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 KEY FEATURES
SITE PLAN
• The Red Fort covers an area of
about 254.67 acres enclosed by
2.41km defensive walls.

• The boundary walls are

assymetrical to contain the older
Salimgarh fort.

• The fortress palace was the focal

point of the medieval city of
Shahjahanabad, Old Delhi.

• The Red Fort complex involves

many significant structures.

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MAJOR STRUCTURES
 KEY FEATURES
• The Lahori Gate is the main gate to
the Red Fort, named for its
LAHORI GATE orientation towards the city of Lahore.

• The gateway consists of three

stories, each decorated with square,
rectangular and cursed arched
panels.
• These are flanked by semi-octagonal
towers crowned by two open
octagonal pavilions.

• The whole gate is clad in red

sandstone, except the roofs of the
pavilions, where white stone is used.

• The gate was provided with a 10.5

high metre barbican by Aurangzeb
with its entrance to the west.

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 DELHI GATE KEY FEATURES
• The Delhi Gate is the southern public
entrance and is similar in layout and
appearance to the Lahori Gate.

• The gate was constructed under

Shah Jahan.

• Two life-size stone elephants on

either side of the gate face each
other.

• Beyond the southern glacis of the

fort, on which a cross marks the site
of the old cemetery, are the gardens
and cantonment of Darya-ganj.

• The latter is bounded on the west by

the Faiz Bazar leading to the Delhi
Gate.

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 CHHATTA CHOWK KEY FEATURES
• Adjacent to the Lahori Gate is
the Chhatta Chowk (or Meena
Bazaar), where silk, jewellery and
other items for the imperial household
were sold during the Mughal period.

• This market was earlier known

as Bazaar-i-Musaqqaf or Chatta-
bazaar.

• Lahori Gate, the entrance portal of

the Red Fort, leads into an open
outer court, where it crosses the large
north–south street.

• The southern end of the street is the

Delhi Gate.

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 NAUBAT KHANA KEY FEATURES
• The vaulted arcade of the Chhatta
Chowk ends in the centre of the outer
court, which measured 540 by 360 feet
(160 m × 110 m).
• The side arcades and central tank were
demolished after the 1857 rebellion.

• In the east wall of the court stands the

now-isolated Naubat Khana ("Waiting
Hall"), also known as Nakkar
Khana (drum house).

• Later Mughal kings Jahandar Shah

(1712–13) and Farrukhsiyar (1713–19)
are said to have been murdered here.

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 • The inner main court to which
DIWAN-I-AAM KEY FEATURES
the Nakkar Khana led was 540 feet
(160 m) wide and 420 feet (130 m)
deep, surrounded by guarded galleries.

• On the far side is the Diwan-i-aam, the

Public Audience Hall.
• This was a place for the official affairs
of commoners who sought after legal
matters such as tax issues & hereditary
complications.

• The hall's columns and engrailed

arches exhibit fine craftsmanship, and
the hall was originally decorated with
white chunam stucco.

• The Diwan-i-Aam was also used for

state functions.

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 • The imperial apartments consist of a
row of pavilions on a raised platform
NAHR-I-BIHISHT KEY FEATURES
along the eastern edge of the fort,
overlooking the Yamuna river.

• The pavilions are connected by a

canal, known as the Nahr-i-
Bihisht ("Stream of Paradise"), running
through the center of each pavilion.

• Water is drawn from the Yamuna via a

tower, the Shahi Burj, at the northeast
corner of the fort.

• The palace is designed to emulate

paradise as described in the Quran.

• In the riverbed below the imperial

apartments and connected buildings
was a space known as zer-jharokha.

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 • The two southernmost pavilions of the
MUMTAZ MAHAL KEY FEATURES
palace are zenanas (women's
quarters), consisting of the Mumtaz
Mahal built for Arjumand Banu Begum
(Mumtaz Mahal) wife of the Mughal
emperor Shah Jahan and the
larger Rang Mahal a resort for royal
women.

• The Mumtaz Mahal houses the Red

fort archaeological museum consisting
largely of exhibits of the Mughal period.

• The building was constructed with

white marble in the lower half of its
walls and pillars.

• It consists of six apartments divided by

arched piers and was originally painted
with floral decorations on the interior.

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 RANG MAHAL KEY FEATURES
• The Rang mahal or Palace of Colour is
located in the Red fort, Delhi.

• It originally served as a part of the

imperial harem and was known as the
Palace of Distinction (Imtiaz Mahal) during
the rule of Shah Jahan.

• After the British occupied the fort in 1857,

Rang Mahal was used as a mess hall for
a brief time.

• Some apartments of this building are

called Shish Mahal due to tiny pieces of
mirrors that cover the ceilings.
• Through the center of the marble palace,
a shallow canal called the Stream of
Paradise (Nahr-i-Bihist) flowed into a
marble basin carved into the floor.

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 KHAS MAHAL KEY FEATURES
• The Khas Mahal served as the Mughal
emperor’s private residence in Delhi.

• It consists of three parts: the Chamber of

Telling Beads (Viz-tasbih-khana), the
sleeping chamber, (khwabgah) and the
wardrobe (tosha-khana) or sitting room
(baithak).
• The interior is decorated with carved white
marble painted with colourful floral
decorations. The ceiling was also partially
gilded..

• The marble screen was carved with the

scale of justice (Mizan-i-adal), and above
it is a particularly important item of
Mughal art.

• The projecting tower to the east of the

Khas Mahal is called the Octagonal
Tower.

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 DIWAN-I-KHAS KEY FEATURES
• The Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private
Audience) was a building for the official
affairs and requests of the novelty and
royal family.

• A gate on the north side of the Diwan-i-

aam leads to the innermost court of the
palace (Jalau Khana) and the Diwan-i-
Khas.

• It is constructed of white marble, inlaid

with precious stones. The once-silver
ceiling has been restored in wood.

• At either end of the hall, over the two

outer arches, is an inscription by Persian
poet

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 • The hammam were the imperial baths,
HAMMAM KEY FEATURES
consisting of three domed rooms with
white marble patterned floors.
• It consists of three apartments separated
by corridors and crowned with domes.
The apartments are illuminated by a
colored glass skylight.
• The two rooms to either side of the
present entrance are believed to have
been used by the royal children for
bathing.
• The eastern apartment, containing three
fountain basins, was used primarily as a
dressing room.
• In the center of each room stood a
fountain, and one of the rooms contained
a marble reservoir built into the wall.
• The western apartment was used for hot
or vapor baths, and the heating
arrangement was being fixed in its
western wall.

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 • The baoli or step-wells are wells or ponds
BAOLI KEY FEATURES
in which the water is reached by
descending a set of steps to the water
level.

• It is one of the few monuments that were

not demolished by the British after the
Indian Rebellion of 1857.

• The chambers within the baoli were

converted into a prison.

• During the Indian national army trials(Red

fort trials) in 1945–46, it housed Indian
National Army officers.

• The Red Fort Baoli is uniquely designed

with two sets of staircases leading down
to the well.

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 • West of the hammam is the Moti Masjid,
MOTI MASJID KEY FEATURES
the Pearl Mosque.

• A later addition, it was built in 1659 as a

private mosque for Emperor Aurangzeb.

• It is a small, three-domed mosque carved

in white marble, with a three-arched
screen leading down to the courtyard.

• It is surmounted with three bulbous

domes, which were originally covered in
gilded copper.

• The eastern door is provided with copper-

plated leaves.

• In the middle of the courtyard (40 x 35

feet) is a small, square ablution fountain.

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 HIRA MAHAL KEY FEATURES
• The Hira Mahal is a pavilion in the Red
Fort in Delhi.

• It is located on the eastern wall of the fort,

located north of the Moti Masjid.

• This four-sided pavilion of white marble

was built in 1842, during the reign of
Bahadur Shah-II.

• It stands at the end of a southern axis of

the Hayat Baksh Bagh, overlooking it.

• It is simply decorated, with reliefs but no

inlay work. The arches are carved and the
pavilion is overhung with Chajja,
overhanging eave.

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 • The Hayat Baksh Bagh is located in
HAYAT BAKSH BAGH KEY FEATURES
the northeastern part of the
complex.

• It features a reservoir, which is now

dry, and channels through which the
Nahr-i-bihisht flows.

• At each end is a white marble

pavilion called the Sawan and
Bhadon Pavilions.

• In the centre of the reservoir is the

red-sandstone Zafar Mahal, added
in around 1842 by Bahadur Shah
Zafar, and named after him.

• Smaller gardens (such as

the Mehtab Bagh or Moonlight
Garden) existed west of it, but were
demolished.

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 PRINCES’ QUARTER KEY FEATURES
• To the north of the Hayat Bakhsh
Bagh and the Shahi Burj is the
quarter of the imperial princes.

• This was used by member of the

Mughal royal family and was largely
demolished by the British forces
after the 1857 rebellion.

• The structure was the first palace

built in north Delhi that was
constructed for the princes, and
served as a home to many members
of the Mughal royal family.

• One of the palaces was converted

into a tea house for the soldiers.

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- The fort was built using red sandstone and has an ARCHITECTURAL
oblong octagonal plan.
FEATURES
- It was constructed within a perimeter of around
2.41km.

- The defensive walls, punctuated with turrets and

bastions and varying in height from 18m on the river
side to 33m on the city side.

- It is octagonal with its north-south axis longer than

the east-west axis.

- The marble, floral decorations and double domes in

the fort’s buildings exemplify later Mughal
architecture.

- It showcases a high level of ornamentation, and the

Kohinoor diamond was part of the furnishings.
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 ARCHITECTURAL
- The vertical slits in the walls are known as arrow FEATURES
slits. They allowed the soldiers to shoot arrows from
inside the fort at an external enemy from the shelter
of wall.

- Damaaga is often seen alternating with arrow slits

which also forms part of the defensive architecture
of the fort. It were used as outlets to pour burning
pitch on enemies trying to scale the wall.

- Pishtaq, another architectural element that had

been in use long befor the Mughal period as niches.

- Chadar is a sloped stone which acts a bed for a

water channel.

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 THANK YOU

GORESH SAINI (1999005)

JAYA VERMA (1999009)