Red Fort and Chandni Chowk

Shah Jahan moved his court from Agra to Delhi and built the fort as the palace of his new capital, Shahjahanabad. India's Ministry of Tourism dates its construction to 1638 to 1648 and credits the architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori; the walls run for about 2.4 km. UNESCO notes that the private apartments were linked by a continuous water channel, the Nahr-i-Behisht, and that the adjoining Salimgarh Fort, built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546, forms part of the complex.

The fort remained the Mughal residence until 1857, after which British forces occupied it and demolished many of its buildings. UNESCO, which lists the Red Fort Complex as a World Heritage Site, records it as the place where Indian independence was first celebrated. Chandni Chowk was designed in 1650 by Shah Jahan's daughter, Princess Jahanara Begum, as a market street with a canal and a pool in which the moonlight was said to shine, giving it its name.

Chandni Chowk is a living, working market that has served Delhi's traders for more than 350 years. Shops are often run by the same families for generations, and the street brings together a Jain temple, a Sikh gurdwara, Hindu temples and mosques within a short walk. Mornings belong to wholesale trade and deliveries, while evenings and festival seasons such as Diwali and Eid draw shoppers in huge numbers. Halal Mughlai food is easy to find, especially towards the Jama Masjid.