Agra Fort monument visits with Licensed Guide

The imperial capital, until it wasn't

Agra Fort was the main residence of the Mughal emperors until 1638, when Shah Jahan moved the capital to Delhi and built the Red Fort there. Everything that happened in the empire's first century happened inside these walls.

Two hours with a licensed guide, which is the right length for one building done properly.

What Akbar built

He began it in 1565, replacing an older brick fort, in the red sandstone that became the signature of his reign: two and a half kilometres of wall, a double moat, and an entrance at the Amar Singh Gate angled and doubled so war elephants could not charge it in a straight line.

Jahangiri Mahal is the surviving piece of his residential work — carved brackets and beams rather than arches, Hindu and Central Asian forms used openly, built for his Rajput wives.

What Shah Jahan rebuilt

His grandson pulled much of it down and replaced it in white marble, which is the change from a working fortress to a palace.

The Diwan-i-Am, where the emperor heard public petitions from a raised alcove. The Diwan-i-Khas for private audience. The Khas Mahal with its gilded pavilions. The Sheesh Mahal bath house, set with thousands of mirror fragments.

Musamman Burj

The octagonal marble tower on the river wall, and the reason this fort holds people.

In 1658 Aurangzeb deposed his father and imprisoned him here. Shah Jahan spent the last eight years of his life in these rooms, looking downriver at the Taj Mahal he had built for his wife. He died in the tower in 1666 and was carried across the water to be buried beside her.

Practical

Two hours. Open every day, including Friday when the Taj is closed — which makes it the right thing to book that day.

Entry is ₹650 for foreign nationals, paid at the gate. About a quarter of the fort is open; the rest is still with the Indian Army.

Transport is not included.