Shah Jahan moved his capital from Agra to Delhi and built this to receive it — a walled city within a city, finished in 1648, its red sandstone ramparts running more than two kilometres along what was then the Yamuna's bank. For the next two hundred years the subcontinent was governed from inside these walls.
What survives is the private half. The Diwan-i-Khas still carries Amir Khusrau's couplet inlaid above its arches — if there be a paradise on earth, it is this — and the marble pavilions beyond it, Khas Mahal and Rang Mahal, keep their pietra duraPietra duraThe inlay of cut and polished coloured stones into marble to form a design.Read in the glossary and their water channels. The Peacock Throne that once stood here left with Nadir Shah in 1739 and never came back.
Visiting Well
- Closed on Mondays; the first hour after opening is the only quiet one.
- Enter at Lahori Gate and walk the covered Chatta Chowk bazaar — it was built as the imperial market and still trades.
- The marble pavilions along the eastern wall repay slow looking; most visitors reach them already tired from the approach.
How Elevated India Arranges It
We arrive at opening with a historian guide, take the private apartments along the eastern wall before the crowds work their way back, and pair the morning with Jama Masjid and a rickshaw through Chandni Chowk so Shahjahanabad reads as the single planned city it was.
Questions, Answered
Is the Red Fort worth visiting?
Yes — for the marble pavilions along the eastern wall rather than the outer courts, which are large and largely empty. Arrive at opening, take a guide who can read the inlay and the inscriptions, and allow two hours.
When is the Red Fort closed?
Mondays, and on Independence Day (15 August) when the Prime Minister addresses the nation from the ramparts. October to March is the comfortable season.
Journeys That Take You There
Explore the destination guide: Delhi, North India ↗