SSC
The present Agra Fort, built of red sandstone on the site of an older fort (Badalgarh), was constructed in the 16th century by:
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Answer: Option D — Akbar
Detailed Solution
The present Agra Fort was built by the Mughal emperor Akbar between 1565 and 1573, on the site of an older brick fort called Badalgarh, on the bank of the Yamuna river.
About the construction:
- Akbar made Agra his capital and decided to rebuild the old fort.
- The work was supervised by Qasim Khan Mir Barr-o-Bahr.
- It was built of red sandstone from the quarries near Agra.
- According to Abul Fazl, about 4,000 builders worked on it every day for eight years.
- Abul Fazl mentions that the fort contained more than 500 buildings in the Bengali and Gujarati styles.
Features:
- It is crescent-shaped, with a long side along the river.
- Its walls are about 2.5 km long and about 20 metres high, with a double wall and a moat.
- It has two main gates: the Delhi Gate and the Amar Singh Gate (Lahore Gate).
- The Jahangiri Mahal: built by Akbar, one of the few surviving buildings of his time inside the fort.
Later additions:
- Shah Jahan demolished many of Akbar's buildings and built white marble structures, such as the Diwan-i-Aam, the Diwan-i-Khas, the Khas Mahal and the Musamman Burj.
- Shah Jahan spent his last years (1658-1666) as a prisoner in the fort, under the orders of his son Aurangzeb, and is said to have gazed at the Taj Mahal from the Musamman Burj.
Historical events:
Shivaji visited Aurangzeb at the Agra Fort in 1666, and was placed under house arrest, but escaped.
UNESCO status:
The Agra Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Other forts built by Akbar:
Lahore Fort (rebuilt), Allahabad Fort, Ajmer Fort, Attock Fort.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Babur, Sher Shah Suri and Sikandar Lodi did not build the present fort.
Quick tip
Remember: Agra Fort = built by Akbar (1565-1573; red sandstone; on the site of Badalgarh); Shah Jahan added marble buildings; Shah Jahan imprisoned there by Aurangzeb.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.