Overview
Agra Fort (Lal Qila) rises on the right bank of the Yamuna River in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, forming a crescent-shaped walled complex roughly 2.5 kilometres in circumference. Akbar the Great ordered its reconstruction in red sandstone beginning about 1565 on the site of an earlier fort; successive emperors added marble palaces, audience halls, and gardens. Shah Jahan's white-marble Musamman Burj tower — where he was imprisoned by Aurangzeb — offers the famous view toward the Taj Mahal.
The fort combines military architecture (double ramparts, moat, angled bastions) with refined residential courts: the Jahangir Mahal, Khas Mahal, Diwan-i-Am, and Diwan-i-Khas. Pietra dura, carved brackets, and inlaid marble reflect the same workshops that later built the Taj. After the Mughal decline the fort passed through Maratha and British control; much of the interior was adapted for barracks and administration.
The Archaeological Survey of India now manages the monument. UNESCO listed Agra Fort in 1983 alongside the Taj Mahal as a defining Mughal ensemble of the Yamuna corridor.