Anangpal Tomar Built Lal Qila ? No, Misleading Claim Viral As He Established Lal Kot Which Is 23 Km Away From Red Fort
|Shah Jahan built the Lal Qila or Red Fort in 1648; hence the claim by users that Anangpal Tomar built it 300 years before Shahjahan is fake and misleading, as Tomar built Lal-Kot (Qila Rai Pithora), not the Lal Qila or Red Fort.
A post around the construction of the Red Fort is going viral on social media. In the viral post, an image of the red fort can be seen in the background along with the text which reads in Hindi, "क्या आप जानते हैं दिल्ली का लाल किला किसने बनवाया था? वास्तविक निर्माता पृथ्वीराज चौहान के नाना क्षत्रिय सम्राट अनंगपाल तोमर जी ने बनवाया था जो कि हमें इतिहास में नहीं पढ़ाया गया" [English Translation: Do you know who built the Red Fort of Delhi? It was originally built by Prithviraj Chauhan's maternal grandfather Kshatriya Emperor Anangpal Tomar ji, which was not taught to us in history.] While sharing this post, people on social media claimed that Emperor Anangpal Tomar built the famous 'Red Fort' in Delhi, not Mughal emperor Shahjahan.
Many Twitter users had shared the same claim in the past as well.
Right-leaning page KreatleyMedia which is known for peddling fake news, also shared this claim in the past.
This post is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Claim:
Emperor Anangpal Tomar built the famous 'Red Fort' in Delhi.
Fact Check-
The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the claim and found it false as Anangpal Tomar built Lal-Kot (Qila Rai Pithora), not the Lal Qila or Red Fort.
We began by searching the information on the central government's Archaeological Survey of India website. According to it, the construction of Lal-Qila or the Red Fort began in 1639 by Shah Jahan and was completed after nine years.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks mention that every year, the Prime Minister of India addresses the country on Independence Day from this monument in Delhi.
We looked for Lal-Kot or Quila Rai Pithora and found an archived press release at the central government's Press Information Bureau (PIB). According to it, the construction of Lal-Kot began in 1052 by Anangpal of the Tomar Dynasty.
The Delhi Tourism website mentions that, later, it was captured by Prithviraj Chauhan in the 12th century, who expanded his city as Quila Rai Pithora, known as the first city of Delhi. The remains of the walls of Lal-Kot are found all over South Delhi, seen in Mehrauli, Sanjay Wan, Kishan Ghar and Vasant Kunj areas.
The Lal-Kot is also situated in present-day Delhi; it has nothing to do with the Red Fort built by Mughal ruler Shahjahan in the 17th century. The distance between both the monuments is nearly 23 kilometres.
We also found a BBC News Hindi article that verified the information mentioned above. According to the report, in political terms, Delhi gained fame under the rule of Anangpal, who established Lalkot in Delhi, traces of which can still be seen in Mehrauli. It was later known as Qila Rai Pithora and became the first city of the Mughals Delhi Empire.
Further, we found another article by The Hindu, which stated that Lal-Kot, built by Anangpal Tomar, is called the original Red Fort and the first Red Fort. It added that Delhi's first city, Lal Kot or Quila Rai Pithora, is located in Mehrauli. Also, the seventh city, Shahjahanabad, is home to the Lal Qila or Red Fort, which is 23 kilometres away from Lal-Kot.
Therefore, it can be concluded that Shah Jahan built the Lal Qila or Red Fort in 1648; hence the claim by social media users that Anangpal Tomar built it 300 years before Shahjahan is false as Tomar built Lal-Kot (Qila Rai Pithora) not the Lal Qila or Red Fort.
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