What the Special in Agra Fort?

Agra Fort also appears on the pages of Sherlock Holmes stories. In “The Sign of the Four” episode, you can’t miss this fort.

This is one of the marbled rooms where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son. Can you see the precious stones embedded in here? They’re everywhere in this room but visitors are not really allowed to touch or go near them. There’s a fence.

Agra fort, as the name implies, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It is about 2.5 kilometre distant to Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world.

Sikandar Lodhi was the first Delhi Sultan who shifted his headquarters to Agra Fort and ruled from there. He gave it a magnitude of “second capital”.

Ibrahim Lodhi lost the fort in Battle of Panipat (1517-1526)-> Babur took over after defeating Ibrahim and also built a baoli there. (1526-1530)-> Humayun (1530-1540)-> Sher Shah Suri captured the fort and it remained under the Suri Dynasty until 1555 when Humayun recaptured it->Hemu (1555-1556)-> Akbar defeated Hemu in second battle of Panipat and captured Agra.

When Akbar came to Agra in 1558, his historian, Abul Fazal told him that the ruined palace was known as ‘Badalgarh’. Akbar rebuilt it with red sandstones from Rajasthan.

Shah Jahan had a knack of building things with white marble. He rebuilt some of the structures in Agra Fort too. Hence, this is how the modern Agra Fort acquires its beauty.

The fort was the site of a battle during the Indian rebellion of 1857, which was the cause of the end of the British East India Company’s rule and led to a century of direct rule of India by Britishers.