The Red Fort is an iconic and complex piece of construction
that has undergone both natural and forced transformations. It has been the
subject of inquiry and research by many writers, and contains layers of
information that can be discussed at multiple levels, with much that we need to
appreciate, understand and apply in our present times. Debasish Das’s Red Fort, Remembering the Magnificent Mughals
(BecomeShakespeare.com 2019) is a presentation of his journey in travelling
within the spaces of the Fort and trying to comprehend them.
Das also writes a blog through which he has been sharing his
explorations of the city of Delhi and its past. The book is a continuation of
his exploration and is a personal interpretation guided by interactions with
popular writers and scholars and heritage walkers. The book ties in various
figures who have peopled Delhi’s historic and physical landscape, beginning
from Babur. It is organised in a
sequence that moves from the city to the Fort, and is divided into short
chapters, some as brief as two pages. These move between a variety of themes,
dipping into aspects of the Fort’s architecture as well as ‘Perfumes and Oils’,
’Games and Pastimes’ and ‘Hooqah, Wine and Opium’, among others.
There's much to commend in the book. It is written with sympathy and feeling. The fact that the chapters are short and organised into themes covering popular events,
anecdotes and figures, will help those who are new to the Fort and are looking
for a quick overview. The author's focus, as he writes in the introduction, is on the
stories behind the Fort; and his objective is to bring these alive, which he
manages to do even with limited images.
Inevitably, the information in the book is influenced by the
more popular narratives, reinforcing some conventional notions about the Fort.
More specialised interpretations leading from rigorous primary analysis, which
may not have perhaps been easy to access, do not form part of the source-base.
Nonetheless, it is an extremely encouraging sign when history is no longer
confined just to the domain of the professional. Histories are shared, and all
of us need to dialogue with what our histories have left us with - and in the
process dialogue with each other. Place-histories are a tangible way of conducting
such a dialogue to connect us with the past and present of the places we
inhabit. That more and more people are sincerely trying to be a part of their
place-histories bodes well for our future.
