Red Fort of ((Delhi)), the national capital of Inida, is known by this name because of the red stone with which it is built. This is more popularly known as The Lal Quila (Lal ie. red and Quila ie.fort). It stands strong on the banks of the river Yamuna as an irregular octagon. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan laid the foundation stone of the Red Fort in 1618. It was inaugurated in 1647. After ruling from Agra for eleven years, Shah Jahan had decided to shift to Delhi. The fort was completed in 1648, nine years after the king shifted to this city. With a circumference of almost one and a half miles (about 2.4 Kilometers in circumferance), the fort is an irregular octagon and has two entrances, the Lahori and Delhi Gates. Form the Lahori Gate, a visitor has access to the Chatta Chowk (vaulted arcade ) which was once a royal market. The road from the royal market leads to the Nawabarkhana (band house) where the royal band played five times a day. The band house also marks the entry into the main palace and all visitors, except royalty had to dismount here. The Diwan-e-Aam is the Red Fort's hall of public audience. Built of sandstone covered with shell plaster polished to look like ivory, the 80 x 40 feet hall is sub-divided by columns. The Mughal emperors would hold court here and meet dignitaries and foreign emissaries. The most imposing feature of the Diwan-e-Aam is the alcove in the back wall where the emperor sat in state on a richly carved and inlaid marble platform. In the recess behind the platform are fine examples of Italian pietra-dura work. The piece de resistance of the fort, the Diwan-e-Khas was the hall of private audience. The most highly ornamented of all Shah Jahan's buildings, the 90 x 67 feet Diwan-e-Khas is a pavilion of white marble supported by intricately carved pillars. So enamoured was the emperor by the beauty of this pavilion that he engraved on it the following words: If there is paradise on the face of this earth, it is this, it is this." Richly decorated with flowers of inlaid mosaic work of cornelian and other stones, the Diwan-e-Khas once housed the famous Peacock Throne, which when it was plundered by Nadir Shah in 1739, was valued at six million sterling. It was from here that the British deposed the last Mughal ruler, Bhadur Shah Zafar, marking the end of the three century long Mughal rule. It was also from its ramparts that the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawharlal Nehru, announced to the nation that India was free form colonial rule.