Shahjahan had been very passionate about architecture from a very
young age and loved designing buildings. When he got the Mughal throne, he
started ruling from Agra. But, the congested lanes of the city didn’t appeal to
him. He needed a capital that was better planned and spacious, that could house
his dream…
His quest ended with Shahjahanabad where he shifted the Mughal
capital in 1648. He wanted to make his fort twice as big as the one in Agra. He
chose red sandstone for the high, strong walls and marble for the buildings
inside. He built a moat also around his palace also in which many alligators
lived to protect him from enemies.
Here, he had his living quarters, his courtroom, his hamaam, offices for his staff, stable
for all his horses and a market only for him and his family. It was a very
impressive and well planned work of architecture.
Dev
Verma
Form
4
All my childhood, I have been thinking that
besides the beauty and the architecture of the Red Fort, what else could be fun
to know. My question was answered in a very interesting and exciting way today.
We went to the Red Fort with the organization called Itihaas who gave us a long
exciting and unique study tour. We went back in history where we could imagine
how the Red Fort looked 364 years ago. Actually 364 years ago the Red Fort was
called Lucky Fort because Shahjahan thought that it was lucky for him. The Fort
was actually white and not red. Shahjahan had a stylish personality, so that’s
why he told his people to make the Fort with Red sand stone and put a layer of
Limestone on it so that it looks white and shines.
That time Persia (Iran) had a rule that no one
could put human and animal figures on the walls of their palaces. So as
Shahjahan was a Mughal emperor, he decided that all his masterpieces will have
flowers and plants instead of human and animal figures. Every single flower had
a gemstone. A great example is the Taj Mahal made by Shahjahan. Inside Taj Mahal,
there are only flowers and plants on the walls made out of gemstones like
emeralds and rubies. The Red Fort is not only a wall, its Shahjahan’s paradise.
Shahjahan used to say that “If there is paradise on Earth, It’s here, it’s
here, and it’s here”.
Shahjahan was a very wealthy man and that’s
why his palace also had a spa. After Shahjahan got married, he had 14 children.
One of Shahjahan’s favorite son was Darashikoh. Shahjahan wanted to give
Darashikoh the kingdom. But Aurangzeb who was one of his sons wanted the kingdom
too. So Aurangzeb thought that he could kill Darashikoh and send his father
(Shahjahan) to jail. Shahjahan was in jail for 9 years and one day when the
servants got his lunch, they found him dead. He died because he felt very
lonely and sad.
Back to the trip now. We didn’t learn all this
in a boring way; we had lots of things to see. Our note pads were all full with
information. We also had lots of questions popping in our minds. Shahjahan was
a great man. If he had been alive then he could have seen that all his
creativity has become a very famous tourist attraction. We will always remember
him.
Thanks Itihaas
Neha Gupta
Form 5
