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Khas Mahal (Agra Fort)

residence of the ladies of the harem at Agra Fort

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ140043530 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Khas Mahal (also known as the Aramgah-I-Muqaddas) is a palace in the Agra Fort. The complex contained the apartments of the women of the harem.

History

It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan around 1631 and was the residence of the princesses Jahanara Begum and Roshanara Begum. It is believed that Jahanara lived in the northern palace of the two.

Architecture

The Khas Mahal comprises open terraces and a hall flanked by pavilions on both sides serving as partitions. It stands on an elevated platform paved with pristine marble. The palace includes elegant fountains, tanks, and a waterfall surrounded by chambers with courts and verandahs.

The interior of the palace contains beautifully adorned ceilings and alcoves in the walls around, with iron rings hung up high where lanterns once hung. The walls are decorated with intricate golden frescoes. In front of the Khas Mahal complex is the Anguri Bagh, a grape garden built in 1637.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Khas Mahal (Agra Fort)” is residence of the ladies of the harem at Agra Fort. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Khas, Mahal and Agra, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1631, 1637—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Khas, Mahal and Agra is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “residence of the ladies of the harem at Agra Fort” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q140043530. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1631 and 1637.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Khas Mahal (Agra Fort)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Khas Mahal (Agra Fort) primary sources, Khas Mahal (Agra Fort) archive and Khas research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Khas Mahal (Agra Fort)”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Khas Mahal (Agra Fort)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.