Salimgarh Fort's Gruesome History

Delhi's dark history, with tales of persecution, punishment, incarceration and execution, has been lived out over the centuries within the confines of Salimgarh Fort in Delhi, lying adjacent to the Red Fort built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the builder of Taj Mahal in Agra.

Built by Jalal Khan who ascended the Sur throne in 1545 with the title of Islam Shah after the death of his father and founder of the Sur dynasty Sher Shah Suri, the fort he built in Delhi is known as Salimgarh Fort. This is because Islam Shah was popularly known as Salim Shah.

The Salimgarh Fort was first used as a prison by the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to imprison his brother Murad Baksh who sided with the former in the deadly war of succession as soon as the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan fell ill in September, 1657. Murad was later removed to the Gwalior Fort and was executed on the 4th December, 1661 on the charge of murdering Ali Naqi who was Murad’s one time Divan.

In 1788 Rohilla chief, Ghulam Qadir blinded the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II (r.1759-1806) who was left languishing in the Salimgarh Fort until the Maratha leader Mahadaji Shinde defeated and executed Ghulam Qadir in 1789.

Many people have lost their lives in Salimgarh Fort. The INA prisoners were incarcerated in the fort by the British from 1945 till Independence of India from British rule on 15 August 1947. Many had lost their lives during their incarceration in the fort.

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