Short answers, pulled from the story.
Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the Red Fort on the 12th of May 1639. Construction began on the 13th of May 1638 and was completed on the 6th of April 1648. The architect was Ustad Ahmad Lahori, who also designed the Taj Mahal.
Nadir Shah, the Persian emperor, defeated the Mughal army in 1739 and plundered the Red Fort, seizing its treasures including the legendary Peacock Throne. He remained in the city for three months before returning to Persia, leaving Delhi severely damaged and the Mughal Empire significantly weakened.
Following the suppression of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, British authorities demolished 80% of the fort's structures. The harem apartments, servants' quarters, gardens, and the stone screen along the river-facing facade were destroyed, and stone barracks were built in their place. Only the marble buildings on the east side of the imperial enclosure survived.
On the 15th of August 1947, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru raised the national flag above the Lahori Gate. Every year since, on Independence Day, the Prime Minister hoists the national tricolour at the Red Fort's main gate and delivers a speech broadcast nationwide from its ramparts.
The Red Fort Complex was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. The World Heritage Convention characterised the fort as embodying the zenith of Mughal creativity, noting its synthesis of Islamic, Persian, and Timurid architectural traditions.
Since the late 20th century, environmental pollution has formed tarry black crusts on the fort's red sandstone walls. According to Italo-Indian studies published in September 2025, pollutants including particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and toxic metals such as lead, copper, and zinc are responsible.