AGRA FORT,AGRA TOURS

 

Interesting & Fun Facts about Agra Fort 

• Agra Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The fort is also known as 'Lal Qila', Fort Rouge and Red Fort of Agra.
• Agra fort was originally a brick fort and the Chauhan Rajputs held it. It was mentioned for the first time in 1080 AD when a Ghaznavide force captured it.
• Sikandar Lodi was the first Sultan of Delhi, who shifted to Agra and lived in the fort.
• The great Mughal Emperors, Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb lived here and the country was governed from here.
• According to Abul Fazl, a historian during Akbar's reign, this brick fort was in a ruined condition and was known as Badalgarh.
• Akbar had it rebuilt with red sandstone. Some 1,444,000 builders worked on it for eight years, completing it in 1573.
• It contained the largest state treasury and mint. It was visited by foreign ambassadors, travelers and the highest dignitaries, who are an integral part of the history of India.
• The fort can be more accurately described as a walled palatial city.
• The fort has a semi-circular plan, its chord lying parallel to the Yamuna River and stretches for almost 2.5 km.
• The walls of the Fort are seventy feet high.
• It consists of a wall built in red sandstone and several buildings inside. It has 4 gates on four sides, two of which are known as the Delhi Gate and the Amar Singh Gate. You can only enter the fort via the Amar Singh Gate.
• Some of the most historically interesting mix of Hindu and Islamic architecture can be seen here. The Islamic decorations here feature forbidden images of living creatures - dragons, elephants and birds, instead of the usual patterns and calligraphy seen in Islamic surface decoration.
• The Agra Fort plays a key role in the Sherlock Holmes mystery, 'The Sign of the Four' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
• The Agra Fort has won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in the year 2004 and Indian Post issued a stamp to commemorate this prestigious award on 28 November, 2004.
• The Agra Fort was featured in the music video for Habibi Da, a hit song of Egyptian pop star Hisham Abbas.