Why is the Red Fort still popular?

Over the course of the next nine chapters, Mukherji provides rich details about the history of the fort – why Delhi was chosen as its seat, the motivations for its architectural planning, how the city inside it lived and persisted, its imperial motifs, the assault and destruction of the fort, the problems in the way it has been conserved, and, finally, what accounts for the sustenance of its grandeur. In the process, she urges the reader to think beyond the aesthetics of the arches and pillars in the fort and reflect closely upon the people and the politics of the time.

The Red Fort of Shahjahanabad: An Architectural History
Anisha Shekhar Mukherji
Westland
Rs 1299
372 pages

For instance, what prompted Shah Jahan to make use of the concept of pavilions as palaces more extensively than any other Mughal ruler? He, in fact, patronised the development of imperial mosques as single-storey pavilions. This, as Mukherji argues, was not simply an aesthetic choice but well-rooted in the emperor’s political vision. Similarly, as the emperor replaced Akbar’s Din-i-ilahi religion with Sunni ascendency in everyday affairs of the state, the choice and form of architecture patronised by him was quickly reflexive of this shift.

The highlight of Mukherji’s writing is her ability to successfully blend technical details on architecture with lucid, nuanced history writing. She weaves in important information on issues around conservation and the condition of the fort as it exists today and provides interesting anecdotes, making the Fort come alive both in its past and in its present. Although she points out the scarcity of historical sources available to fully understand the 400-plus years of the Fort’s history, she makes a praiseworthy effort of joining the dots from available textual and visual material to paint a vibrant picture of court rituals, everyday imperial affairs, the life of the commoners and more.

Although, structurally and narratively, Mukherji has retained much of what she wrote in the 2003 first edition, she has added information on the nature of the Red Fort’s present state and its surroundings. While the Fort’s location has remained the same, Delhi has grown exponentially in the last 20 years, both in terms of the scale of urbanisation as well as population and traffic, making it increasingly difficult for people to access and engage with the fort. Further, the Fort is now under the tutelage of a private organisation. All of these factors have been woven into the second edition to provide an updated interpretation of the Lal Qila.