Agra Fort, the red city of three emperors

A fort older than the Mughals

• The great diamond: here Babur's son Humayun received the stone tradition identifies with the Koh-i-Noor, given by the family of the Raja of Gwalior.
• Lost and won: Humayun lost Agra to Sher Shah Suri in 1540. In 1556 the Hindu general Hemu briefly held it before his defeat at the second battle of Panipat.
• Akbar's capital: the young emperor made Agra his capital in 1558 and found the old brick fort in ruins.
• Rebuilt in red: from 1565 he rebuilt it in red sandstone. The work took about eight years, and the chroniclers say some four thousand labourers worked each day.
• A little bit ours: the stone came from Barauli in Dholpur, on Rajasthan's eastern edge. Like the marble of the Taj, the walls carry Rajasthan inside them.
• Hundreds of buildings: Akbar's historian Abul Fazl wrote that the fort held hundreds, in the styles of Bengal and Gujarat. Only a handful of Akbar's survive.
• The court moves and returns: Akbar left for Fatehpur Sikri in 1571, but the court came back.
• Jahangir's chain of justice: he lived here and hung a golden chain from the walls, which any petitioner could pull to be heard.
• Shah Jahan's marble: born in Lahore but raised partly in these palaces, he pulled down many of his grandfather's sandstone halls from 1628 and replaced them with white marble.
• The capital leaves: in 1638 he moved it to Shahjahanabad in Delhi, with its own Red Fort, and Agra Fort was never quite the centre again.
• The saddest chapter: in 1658 Aurangzeb won the war of succession and confined his father here. Shah Jahan died a prisoner in January 1666, cared for by his daughter Jahanara.
• Hand to hand: the Jats of Bharatpur took the fort in 1761, the Marathas in 1785 and the British in 1803.
• A British garrison: the British sheltered here during the uprising of 1857 and demolished many Mughal buildings to make room for barracks.
• Only half open: the northern part is still held by the Indian Army, so visitors see only the southern half.
• World Heritage: inscribed by UNESCO in 1983, alongside the Taj Mahal.

The walls and the gates

• Akbar's grand gate: the Delhi Gate, on the western side, finished around 1568.
• The Hathi Pol: the elephant gate inside it, once guarded by two life-size stone elephants with riders.
• Seen only from the road: the Delhi Gate is in the army's part of the fort and closed to visitors. Ask your driver to pass it slowly.
• The Amar Singh Gate: the outer gate was added in the seventeenth century. Its passage turns and doubles back, so attackers lost speed under fire from above.
• Its name: Amar Singh Rathore, a prince of Marwar. The popular story says that in 1644 he killed a Mughal noble in open court after an insult, and was himself cut down.
• The leaping horse: Agra guides add that his horse leapt the wall here. We tell it as a story, not as history, but it shows how deeply Rajput honour runs through this place.

Through the fort, palace by palace

Three emperors in one building

• Jahangir built less here: his passions were gardens and painting, and his finest work is in Kashmir, Lahore and the tomb at Sikandra he finished for his father.
• Marble takes over: under Jahangir, through his empress Nur Jahan, marble and inlay began to dominate, as you see at Itimad-ud-Daulah.
• Shah Jahan's style: white marble, slender paired columns, scalloped arches, inlaid flowers and pierced screens.
• His taste: symmetry, refinement and light, and he did not mind pulling down his grandfather's buildings to make room for it.
• Where the contrast is sharpest: in the river-facing palaces, where red sandstone walls meet white pavilions.
• Learn the words: our guide to architecture explains the terms, from the jharokha window to the bangla roof.
• One window, two traditions: our note on what a jharokha is traces it from Rajput palaces into Mughal ones and back again.

Shivaji, a Kachwaha prince and the escape from Agra

• The prince who held him: Jai Singh's son, Kunwar Ram Singh, a young prince of Amber, was made responsible for the prisoner.
• Three months: Shivaji was held in Agra until August 1666, when he escaped.
• The baskets: the famous story says he and his son were carried out in large baskets of sweets and fruit he had been sending as gifts to holy men.
• Home in disguise: he made his way back to the Deccan. Ram Singh fell under suspicion and out of the emperor's favour for a time.
• Complicated for us: our ancestors were loyal servants of the Mughal throne, and Jai Singh's honour was bound up in his promise. Marathi tellings remember Ram Singh with some sympathy.
• Your own mind: standing in the Diwan-i-Khas, we let guests decide. Our long read on Mughal and Rajput history gives the wider background.

Eight years in a marble tower

• The favourite: the eldest, Dara Shikoh, was a scholar who had translated the Upanishads into Persian.
• The general: the third son, Aurangzeb, defeated Dara at Samugarh, a few kilometres from Agra, in June 1658, then besieged the fort.
• Water decided it: the fort drew its water from the river. When that supply was cut, the old emperor had little choice but to open the gates.
• Kept, not harmed: Shah Jahan was never tried. He lived in comfort and isolation in the river palaces he had built.
• Two daughters, two sides: Jahanara chose to share his captivity and nursed him to the end. Roshanara had sided with Aurangzeb.
• Dara's end: captured, paraded through Delhi and executed in 1659.
• Letters: some bitter, some formal, passed between father and ruling son. Shah Jahan died in January 1666, in his seventies.

When to come, and how long to stay

• The hot months: from April to June, come as early as the gates allow and leave before noon.
• The photographer's choice: late afternoon. Low sun turns the sandstone almost crimson, and the Taj is softly lit downstream from the Musamman Burj.
• Fridays: the fort stays open, so it is the obvious centre of a Friday in Agra, when the Taj is closed.
• Two hours: enough for a good visit with a guide.
• Three hours: lets you sit in the Anguri Bagh, linger at the Musamman Burj and return to the Jahangiri Mahal for a second look.
• Children: they usually love the ramps, the moat and the stories of escapes and prisoners.
• Sound and light: an evening show is staged on many nights. It is old-fashioned, but some families enjoy it. We check whether it is running for your dates.

How to visit well

• Shoes with grip: there are ramps, uneven stone floors and steps between levels, and the polished marble in Shah Jahan's pavilions can be slippery.
• Limited mobility: the ramp and several palaces involve slopes and steps. The Diwan-i-Am, the Khas Mahal and the Anguri Bagh are manageable with care. Tell us and we plan the route.
• Photography: welcome throughout.
• Light inside and out: the river pavilions face east, so mornings give soft light inside the Khas Mahal. The outer walls are best in the late afternoon. Our photography tips have more.
• Water and a hat: carry both in the warmer months. Much of the fort is open courtyard with little shade.

Small things worth stopping for

What to pair with the fort, and where to stay