Red Fort on UNESCO World Heritage List
The World Heritage Committee inscribed the Red Fort
Complex in New Delhi on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 28 June 2007.
The Red Fort Complex was built as the palace fort of
Shahjahanabad -- the new capital of the fifth Mughal Emperor of India,
Shahjahan (1628-58). It gets its name from its massive enclosing walls of red
sandstone. It is adjacent to an older fort, the Salimgarh, built by Islam Shah
Sur in 1546, with which it forms the Red Fort Complex. The private apartments
consist of a row of pavilions connected by a continuous water channel, known as
the Nahr-i-Behisht, or the Stream of Paradise. The palace was designed
as an imitation of paradise as described in the Koran;
a couplet inscribed in the palace reads: If there be a paradise on earth, it
is here, it is here.
The Red Fort is considered to represent the zenith of
Mughal creativity which, under Emperor
Shahjahan, was brought to a new level of refinement. The planning of the fort is based on Islamic prototypes, but each pavilion
reveals architectural elements typical of Mughal building, reflecting a fusion
of Persian, Timurid and Hindu traditions.
The Red Fort's innovative planning and architectural
style, including its garden design, strongly influenced later buildings and
gardens in Rajasthan, Delhi, Agra and further afield.
The monument's significance is further enhanced by the importance of events
that happened. Through its fabric, the complex reflects all phases of Indian
history from the Mughal period to independence.
