Delhi Its History and Monuments

DELHI
Its Monuments and History
By T. G. P. SPEAR
FORD t1NIVERSlTY PRESS

Re 1·8
DELHI
ITS. MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
By
T. G. P •. SPEAR, PH.D.
~
. ~ ~-·
. IH814N 8RANCN
HUl\fi'HllEY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

OXFORD UNiVERSITY PREsS
AMEN HousE, -LoNDoN, E.C. 4
Edinburgh Glasgow New York
. Toronto . Melbourne Capetown
Bombay . Calcutta Madras
HUMPHREY MILFORD
PuBLtsHE!I. 'l"O 'l'HII
. UNxvtmSlTY
First published i.s43
PRINTED BY V. V. BAMBARDEitAR AT THE INDIA PBINTING

WORKS, FORT, BOMBAY AND .PUBLISHED BY HUMPHREY
IIILFOBD; ·-OXFORD· VMlVERSlTY' ·PRESS, FORT, BOMBAY
HOW TO READ THIS BOOK
Tms book is not meant to' be ·read .all at once, like a
novel. Nor is it meant to be learnt by heart, like a
textbook: But I do want yo~ to read it, and this is the
way you should do so.
You should read the book a chapter at a time. When
you have a lesson on the.Tughlaks, read the chapter on
T~hlakabad. When reading about Firoz Shah, read
the chapter on Firoz Shah Kotla and Hauz Khas. When
you read about Humayun and Sher Shah look up the
chapter on the Purana Kila; when Shah Jehan is the
subject, look up the chapter on the Fort, When you
have done this, try to go and see the places you have
read about. You need not wait for· your teacher to
organize parties. If you have a bicycle you can go to
many places in an afternoon with your friends.
Another way to read the book is this. Whenever you
visit a monument-with your friends, your family or your
school-fellows-read, on your return, .the chapter about
. it in the book. When, for instance, you go to the Qutb
or the Lodi Park, look up the book afterwards and see
what it says about· them. Read the chapter on archi-
tecture in little bits. When you visit Hindu buildings,
see what the book says about Hindu architecture, and
when you visit a Mogul monument, see what it says
about .the Mogul style, and so on.
The book is not meant to worry you but to help you
tollll1derstand history and to enjoy the great and beautiful
monuments which lie all around you ,in Delhi.
In St Paul's Cathedral, London, there is a tablet to
the architect, Sir Christopher Wren. Underneath it
there is an inscription in Latin which says, ' If you seek
his monument, look around you'. Similarly, if you seek
the monuments of history in Delhi, look around you.
T.G.P.S.
CONTENTS
PART I-THE CITY
r. THE FoRT
2.. THE MosQUES oF ·DELHI
/
3· THE CITY
4· THE CIVIL LINES •
PART 11-AROOND THE CITY
5· FIRoz SHAH KoTLA . 19-
6. PuRANA Kn.A 2,3.
7· HuMAYUN's ToMB · 26
8. NIZAM-UD-DIN 30.
9· THE Lour ToMBS 34
IO. THE MoTH-KI-MASJID ·• '36
II. SAFDAR }uNa's ToMB 39·
PART III-THE QUTB DISTRICT
12.. THE GREAT · MosQUE 1 43.
13- THE QuTB MINAR 46·
'4· THB LAL KoT (MAHRAuu) so·
'5· SrRI 53.
r6. THE BlJAY MANDAL 57
'7· HAUZ KHAs • 6o-
r8. TuaHLAKABAD 64
I9- SuRAJ KuND '67·
\
PART IV-NEW DELHI
2.0. THE }ANTAR 'MANTAR 72'
2.I. NEw DELHI 79•
PART V-ARCHITECTURE OF DELHI
22. THE ARcHITECTURE OF DELHI 84
PART I-THE CITY
x. THE FORT
WE will start our study of Delhi by visiting the most
famous non-religious monument of the city, the palace
of Shah Jehan. The people have always called it
the Lal Kila or Red Fort. But Shah Jehan called
it the Urdu-i-Mu'alla. In the time of Akbar Shah II ·
and Bahadur Shah it was called the Kila-i-Mu'alla or the
Fort of Exalted Dignity.
Shah Jehan's is the most famous of all Indian royal
palaces. It is a model of all the others. First let
us understand the different parts of a royal palace.
Every palace had at its entrance a Naqqar Khana or
Naubat Khana. There the imperial band played several
times a day, and the great royal drums were kept.
None but royalty might use them. Next comes the
· .Hall of Public Audience or Diwan-i-Amm. This is
where the emperor sat in public Durbar. He received
ambassadors, reviewed troops, and transacted public
business. Then comes the Diwan-i-Khas or Hall of
Private Audience. Here the emperor received private
. visitors and his counsellors of state. Admission to the
Diwan-i-Khas was a great privilege like membership of-
the Cabinet today. Besides this the emperor had his
private rooms where he entertained · his friends. A
Mogul palace always had some magnificent baths or
hammam, and a mosque for the emperor's private
prayers. Then there was the zenana. There was always
in the zenana a special palace which belonged to the
Padshah Begum, or <;hie£ lady of the Court.
2 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
The first thing to notice in Shah Jehan's palace is the
great wall or curtain which stands in front of the Lahore
Gate. This was built by Aurangzeb, and its object was
to save the nobles the trouble of walking the whole .
length of the Chandni Chowk. Everyone had to walk
in the presence of the emperor. Before this wall was
built the emperor, when he sat in the Diwan-i-Arrim~
could see right down the Chowk;
Inside the Lahore Gate is the .Chattar Chowk, or
covered bazaar. This covered bazaar is unique in Mogul
architecture. Here the merchants of Delhi sold their
goods to the nobles of the Court.
Passing through the Chattar Chowk we come to the
Naqqar Khana. Here the imperial· band played six
times a day. The musicians sat upstairs, where there is
now a war museum. This was the entrance to the
palace proper. 'The Emperor. Ahmad Shah, was
murdered in this building in 1754.' Between the Naqqar
K.hana and the Fort wall was a space. occupied by the
quarters of the troops on guard at the palace gates. It
was a great privilege to guard the palace and was much
sought after. The Rajputs were often on duty.
Inside the Naqqar K.hana is the Diwan-i-Amm.. The
hedges mark the positions of the old walls. The
Diwan-i-Amm was covered .with white plaster or
chunam. Within the pavilion the nobles stood in rows
facing each other according to their rank. The royal
princes stood next to the throne, and the Wazir sat
on the marble takht below .it. The emperor sat above
and you can see the door by which he entered. Shah
Jehan and Aurangzeb sat here twice a day on most
days of the week. The lesser nobles stood outside the
Hall. There was a special railing to separate them from
the rest of the crowd. Behind the emperor's throne
THE FORT 3
there is some mosaic work done by a French artist. · The
Moguls were p~oud of their foreign artists and employed
. as many as possible. One of the pictures is of a man
playing a violin. This represents Orphe1,1s, the Greek
god of music. These stones were taken away at the
Mutiny (1857), but :Lord Curzon discovered them in
London and put them back here. In the hot weather
great red curtains were hung round t4e Hall to keep
off the sun. You can still see the rings to which they
were fixed. •
To the left of the Diwa,n-i-A= is a path which leads
out of the court. Here was 11 gateway called the Lal
Purdah, because a red curtain hung there. It was a great
privilege to enter this gate. Only the emperor's special
favourites did so. They were called La! Purdaris.
Next we come to the Diwan-i-Khas. The throne in
the Hall is the one which took the place of the Peacock
Throne which Nadir Shah carried away to Persia. Here
Nadir Shah, sat when he gave the empire back to.
Moha=ad Shah. It was much used by the late
emperors. Here Ghulam Khadir blinded Shah Alam,
and here Shah. Alam received Lord Lake, the British
General; in 1803. King George V held· a Durbar here
in 19u, and the Prince of Wales another in 1921.
Turn left and you c;;ome to the r~yal baths. Close to
these is the mosque or private royal chapel. On state
occasions the emperor went to .the Jama Masjid, but
otherwise he prayed in this mosque. Aurangzeb built
this mosque and often prayed here. Now we enter the
palace garden. It is a .fine example of a Mogul garden
and was called the Hayat Baksh garden. Part of it is
covered · by the barracks. Beyond this garden was
another, called the Moonlight Garden or Mehtab Bagh
because it contained flowers which blossomed by moon-
4 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND· HISTORY
light. You can see where the water ran down stone
waterfalls. At the end of the terrace is the £bah Burj,
where the emperor. held secret meetings with his
ministers. From this tower Prince Jehandar Bakht,
eldest son of Shah Alam, was let down by a rope when
he fled from Delhi in 1787. The little pavilion half-way
along the te!race was built by Akbar Shah II. He and
Bahadur Shah often s~t there. The flower-beds show
the. course of the stream which ran right through the
palace. It was called the Nahr-i-Behist or Stream of
Paradise, and it was fed by an aqueduct from the canal
which ran through the Chandni Chowk. .
Now we will return to the Diwan-i-Khas. On the
other side of the Hall are the private apartments of the
emperor. One of these is furnished in Mogul style and
you should look at it very carefully. Notice the scales of
justice carved in the marble .of the Bhaitak (sitting
room). Here the emperor entertained his friends. The
jharoka or balcony is the place where the emperors sat
to show themselves to the crowds. The people gathered
on the plain below and the emperors sat there once
every{ day.
Beyond the private apartments is the Rang Mahal or
Palace of Colour. This was the palace of the Padshah
Begum. It was much damaged in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. · But it was once very beautiful
indeed. Beyond this is another building which is now
the museum. It is full of interesting things which your
teachers will explain to you. Notice specially the Mogul
costumes and the pictures. You must come here many
times before you can see everything. The rest of the
zenana was pulled down to make room for the barracks.
'THE FORT 5
ADDITIONAL NOTES
THE Archaeological _Department has published an excellent
guide. to the palace (price, Re I). It has a picture of_ the
· palace as it used to be. You should study this carefully and
it will tell you all you want to know about the palace. There
is a separate guide and catalogue to the Museum. Thfs you
should also have (so that you can explain it to your pupils).
The following points may be mentioned :
( i) The swivel guns in the verandahs. These were placed
on camels. Nadir Shah used them with great effect at the
battle of Karnal.
(ii) The Mogul paintings inside the museum.
(iii) The Mogul costumes, including dresses of Zinat Mahal
Begum and Bahadur Shah. On the wall near them is a
photograph of Bahadur Shah, taken after the Mutiny.
(iv) The various ornaments (chessmen, etc.) in the glass
cases.
The Mogul ceremonial is described by the Frenchman
Bernier in his Travels. Lane Poole in his Mediaeval India quotes
from him.' -
Notice as you walk round how the different parts of the
Palace fit together. Then read the inscription in the Diwan-i-
Khas.
You may wonder why the Moguls built their halls with only
pillars but no walls. The reason is that they came from central
Asia where they always lived in tents. The kings held their
Durbars in great tents or shamianas. When the Moguls came to
India and were rich they built in stone, but they still thought of
their tents. The Diwan-i-Amm is a shamiana in stone.
A branch of the Jumna used to flow between the Salimgarh
and the Fort. It then joined the main river which ran roughly-
where the modern road now is. There was thus a space where
crowds could gather and animal-fights (of, which the Moguls
were very fond) could take place. ·
2. THE MOSQUES OF DELHI

THE best and biggest mosque of India is the Jama
Masjid of Delhi. There are very few mosques in the
world that are bigger. You can yourself go and see this
mosque. When you enter the mosque stand in the
courtyard and look at its beautiful proportions, its shapely
domes and the Arabic inscriptions ;lgainst a background
of white marble. Then climb up one of the minarets/
and look at t'he view around you. You will notice that
the mosque. is situated on a rock and that there is no
place higher than this in the city. The Red Fort also is
lower. A great emperor like Shah Jehan chose the
highest and best site for this house of worship. .
The Jama Masjid was built by Shah Jehan. · The
architect was Ustad Khalil. You should respect the
architect as much as the emperor, because such architects
are not born very frequently in this world. If either
the architect or the emperor had not existed we should
not have possessed such a magnificent building. The
greatest quality of this building is that from whatever
point or in whatever light you look at it, it still retains
. its beauty. Whether it is· sunrise or sunset, night or
day, moonlight or broad daylight, its charm is always
the same. Looked at from any angle its grandeur remains
the same. Whenever you pass by it look. at it carefully,
and you will yourself recognize the truth of this state-
ment. The present imam is ·the descendant of the imam
appointed by Shah Jehan himself ; thus there is a link
with the Mogul period in Delhi even now. The Jama
Masjid is the best of all Mogul mosques, therefore ·
you should study its characteristics closely. Two
of the special features of Mogul mosques are their
domes and their minar.ets. Before the time of the Moguls
THE MOS·QUE.S OF DELHI 7
separate minarets were not added to mosques in Delhi. A
mosque with minarets which are detached from the main
building in Delhi is always one built in the Mogul period.
The other special feature is their domes. The early
sultans only built half-domes-that is a dome which is
a quarter of a circle only. The
Moguls introduced full domes.
These are domes which are a full
semicircle. You can see this kind
of dome in Humayun's Tomb. But
then the Moguls went further.
They made the domes more than a
semicircle, so that it c u r v e d
inwards at the bottom; like this.
The band· at the bottom before
the dome starts is called the drum
(because it is shaped like one). .
This form of dome is called bulbous, because it
looks something like a 'bulb. The Moguls used marble
for their domes whenever they
could. But they added little
strips of black marble in the
white like this. You can see
· them in the Jama Masjid and in
the other Mogul mosques of
Delhi.
After the Jama Masjid, the
most important mosque in
Delhi is the Fatehpuri Masjid
at the end of the Chandni
C how k. It was built by
F a t e h p u r i Begum, a wife
of Shah Jehan. The materials and work of the
mosque are very good but the whole building is not as.
fine· as the Jama Masjid. The reason for- this is that
the proportions of the building are not so good. · In
particular the domes do not seem to fit the mosque as
well as they do on the Jama Masjid. When the parts
of a building fit together so that the whole building looks
beautiful, we say that the building is well proportioned.
When they do not fit together we say that the building
is not well proportioned. Sometimes the diflerent parts
are each of them good but the whole effect is not
pleasing. This is what has happened to the Fatehpuri
Masjid. Like the Jama Masjid, this has been a centre
of worship ever since the reign of Shah Jehan, but unlike
the Jama Masjid, it still has a lot of property and endow-
ments. Some of this is used to help poor students.
There is a fine mosque in Daryaganj which many
people know very little about. But it is one of the largest
in Delhi. It is called the Zinilt-ul-Masajid (Ornament of
Mosques). It was built by Zinat-un-Nissa, one of
Aurangzeb's daughters. She was a very pious woman
and was also a good Persian poet. She was the Padshah
Begum of Aurangzeb's court for some time. The propor-
tions of the mosque are better than those of the Fatehpuri,
but they are not as gooa as those of the Jama Masjid.
. There is one more mosque of -special interest in the
city. That is the Sonehri Masjid. There are in fact two
Sonehri Masjids. One is in the Chandni Chowk, close
to the Kotwali, and has three gilt domes. The other
stands by itself on the maidan in front of the fort. on
the Daryaganj side. This one is very small and has
no gilt on its domes. It was on the roof of the mosque
by the Kotwali that Nadir Shah sat when he ordered the
massacre of D.elhi citizens on 22 Mars;h 1739· These
mosques were both built in the eighteenth century.
That in the Chandni Chowk was built by Roshan-ad-
THE MOSQUES OF DELHI 9
Daulah, the favourite Minister 'of Mohammad Shah.
He was killed at the battle of Karnal and is buried at
Nizamud-din.
· There is one more mosque which you must visit. It
is the Kalan Masjid near the Turkoman Gate. It is a
relic of Firoz Shah's city of Firozabad and was built by
his Wazir, Khan Jehan. Khan Jehan built several
mosques, and all of them are very much alike. The
best ones are the Kalan Masjid, the Khirki Masjid (near
the Qutb) and a mosque at Nizam-ud-din. The Kalan
Masjid is a typical example of a Tughlak mosque, and
like all Tughlak buildings, it has very little ornament.
But its proportions are very good indeed.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
THE special points of the Mogul style are dealt with in the
section on architecture. There is one thing which is useful to
remember. It is that the later the date of a mosque the more
bulbous is" the shape of its dome. Also, the later the date, the
larger are the blacked stripes on the dome. Compare the thin
stripes of the Jama Masjid with those of the" Zinat-ul-Masajid,
which was built fifty years later. Later mosques have thicker
stripes still. The later mpsques also do not have such good
workmanship. This is a rough guide to the dates of Mogul"
mosques.
You can visit the "Mogul mosques in connexion with your
lessons on the Mogul emperors. You can read any inscriptions
they contain, and lind out when they were built and who built
them. The Kalan Masjid can be visited when you are reading
about Firoz Shah.
3· THE ·ciTY
THE city of Delhi is full of every kind of historical
monument. There are mosques, palaces, houses, serais,
streets and gardens. Some" of the "greatest and most
IO DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
exciting events in. India have happened here. ·You can·
walk ·aU over the city for yourself, and here we shall
only mention some of the more important places.
Shah Jehan's streets. Shah Jehan built three great
streets in Shahjehanabad. He did this so that there
might be sufficient space for the great state processions.
The streets of Agra were very narrow and this was one
of the reasons why Shah. Jehan came to Delhi. These
three great streets were the Chandni Chowk, a road from
the Delhi Gate of the Fort to the Jama Masjid, and a
road from the Delhi Gate of the :Fort to the Delhi Gate
of the city. Part of this road is now the Faiz Bazaar.
The road to the Jama Masjid and its bazaar was destroyed
after the Mutiny when all the houses on the present
maidan were taken away. This road was used by the
emperors when they went in state to the Jama Masjid.
The Chandni Chowk was the chief road for processions.
Here Shah Jehan. and Aurangzeb passed ·in pomp ;
here Dara Shikoh ·was led· a prisoner through the
sorrowful Delhi crowds ; here Nadir Shah and Ahmad
Shah Abdali rode in triumph: Here came Madho Rao
Sindhia, the Maratha, and Ghulam Kadir, the
Rohilla. The last state procession. was ·in 1912 when
Lord Hardinge entered Delhi, for the first time. The
Chandni Chowk is one of the most historic streets in the
world. In Mogul times a canal ran down the centre.
This was restored in 1820 when Ali Mardan's canal was
repaired. But about 1910 it was · covered in and now
runs underground. The present Queen's Gardens once
contained the royal serai for travellers and it was then
known as the Begum Serai.
The walls. The walls were built by. Shah Jehan and
repaired by the British. A walk round them is very
interesting. The distance is about four and a half miles.
THE CITY II
Where the wall has· been taken away a road follows the
line of the wall. · The towers which you find at intervals
are called bastions. :The big square ones were added by
the British. The stretches of wall in between are called
'curtains'. Cannons were placed in the bastions which
could shoot anyone trying to climb the curtains. The
bastions were said to command the curtain ·walls. At
intervals you will find round towers detached from the
walls. These were also built by the British. They are
called Martello towers after an engineer called Martello,
who invented them. Their purpose was the same as
the bastions. You can tell the parts of the wall built
by Shah Jehan and the parts built by the British by
the stones they used. Shah Jehan used a thin red brick,
the British, square blocks of Delhi stone. As you go
round count up the gate's and make a list of them. Then
see which ones have now been taken away. All the
fighting in the Mutiny took place on the north side from
the Kashmir to the Lahore Gates. When the Marathas
attacked Delhi in x8o4 the fighting was on the south
·side, from the Delhi to the Ajmer Gate.
The Anglo-Arabic College. This is the only Mogul
madrasa which is still a place of education. It was
founded by the father of the first Nizam, Ghazi-ud-din .
Khan, who died in 1710, and himself lies buried there.
It has been in turn an Arabic madrasa, an oriental college,
a police station, a high school, and it is now a college
again. The plan of the college is a model for other
colleges in India, with its mosque and beautiful courtyard.
The grave of Sultan Raziya. Sultan Raziya was the .
only empress of India in Muslim times. She reigned
from 1236-40 and was then deposed by the nobles. Her
grave is near the· Turkoman Gate, in Muhulla Bulbuli
Khan. ·
.
12 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS··AND HISTORY
Nineteenth-century buildings. Though the buildings
of the nineteenth century are not of great value' from
the artistic point of view, they have historical associations
and we should not despise them. They serve to remind
us of famous characters in the immediate past.
. First let us visit Lloyd's Bank off the Chandni Chowk.
You turn down a laiJ.e close to the Imperial Bank, and
you will see it in front of you. It was. the Delhi palace
of the Begum Samru of Sardhana. It was built a
hundred and twenty years ago and is designed in the.
classical or Greek style which the British brought with
them to India. The hall of the Bank is the old Durbar
Hall.
Next we will go to Kashmir Gate. As soon as you
pass under the Lothian Bridge yoti see some old build-
i."lgs. The inscription tells you that this was the gateway
of the magazine which was blown up in the Mutipy.
Then we come to the Government High School. This
was first the palace of Dara Shikoh. Its grounds extended
right to Kashmir Gate. In 1803 it became the British
Residency. Lord Metcalfe and Sir David Ochterloney
lived there. Bishop Heber, the famous traveller, stayed
there. The British added the pillars and verandah which
you now see. A little further on you come to St James
Church. This was built by the famous Colonel James
Skinner. He first served Daulat Rao Sindhia. But when
Sindhia was going to fight the British he was dismissed.
He joined the British and raised a regiment known as
Skinner's Horse. Once when he was in Sindhia's army
he was left wounded on the battlefield. He vowed that
if he escaped he would build a church to the glory of
God. This is the church which he built. It was said
to be an imitation of St Paul's Cathedral in London but
is actually modelled on a church in Venice. Skinner
THE CITY l3
is buried in the Church and his friend William Fraser,
who was murdered in 1835, is buried in the compound.
You will see a Ball and a Cross in the compound.- This
is the one which the mutineers shot at during the Mutiny.
Opposite the church stands the Hindu College. This
was Colonel Skinner's Delhi house. His son lived on
there until the Mutiny. It is a good example of the kind
of houses which people built before the Mutiny all over
north India. You will notice a small mosque just oppo-
site the church. Some people say thilt Skinner built ·
this mosque. This is wrong. There is. an inscription
in Persian which you can read for yourself. It was built
by Fakr-ud-din Khan in 1717.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
THERE are many old houses in the city which once belonged
to famous men. It will be interesting to inquire about these
and to find out if there are any in the neighbourhood of your
school or home. Many houses between the Chandni Chowk
and the Fort were swept away after the Mutiny, and many
more were destroyed when the railway was built. Just, outside
the city are the Rosbanara Gardens which the Princess Roshanara .
built and where she lies buried. They are well worth a visit,
but remember that the garden is not now arranged as Roshanara
planned it. It is larger than it used to be and .is arranged
according to the English style instead of the Mogul.
The Begum Samru's palace. A very pleasant trip in the cold
weather is to Sardhana, which is twelve miles from Meerut. ·
You can go there by bus. The Begum built two palaces there
and a large church. It contains a very fine marble monument
to the Begum, which was carved by an Italian artist•
. :Sadar Bazaar Road. The road which runs from the Sadar
Bazaar to the Lady Reading Health School was built by Sir
Charles Trevelyan. It was part of his plan for a model suburb of
Dellii in t83o. Trevelyan married the great Macaulay's sister
and was the grandfather of Professor G. M. Trevelyan, the
2
. Regius Professor of History in Cambridge, and tbe author of
· tbe best history of England whic\J. has yet been written.
The Government High SchooL This was tbe Residency
before tbe Mutiny. Then it was used by tbe Delhi College,
which was very famous· ip its day. After it closed St Stephen's
College was opened to ·take its place and for a long time it
was tbe only college in Delhi. There is very little now left
of Dara Shikoh's building, but in some of tbe classrooms you
· can see traces of Mogul carving.
Salimgarh. Salimgarh was built by Salim Shah Suri, the
son of Sher Shah. Its purpose ·was to guard tbe ford of
tbe Jumna._ There is nothing now left of it except tbe walls.
In Mogul times it was used as a state prison. Dara ,Shikoh
and others were confined tbere. Where the bridge now is
tbere used to be a Bridge of Boats,
4· THE CIVIL LINES

THERE are many more historical monuments to the south .
of Delhi than to the north. But in the Civil Lines there
are some very interesting ones, boi:h British and pre-
British. '
. Before the Mogul period the Ridge was a place 'for
hunting, as we shall see when we go there. Under the
Moguls all this area was covered with gardens. The
gardens and pavilions· of the Moguls lined the river right
up to W azirabad. Behind the ridge they extended near
the canal right to Azadpur. All this area was the West ·
End, both of Mogul and of British Delhi.
We will leave the city by the Kashmir Gate and first
walk to the Qudsia Gardens. Part of this -is the old
Qudsia Bagh built by Qudsia Begum, the wife of
Mohammad Shah and the mother of Ahmad Shah. She
was a great Mogul lady of the first half of the eighteenth
century. You can still see the entrance gateway, the
mosque and the two pavilions. They are now the
THE CIVIL. LINES 15
Garden Superintendent's house and the Masonic Hall.
respectively. There was once a fine stone terrace, which
is now a green banlc The river ran just below along
the Bela road. There were many other gardens like this
along the river and you can still see the old stones and
bricks lying about. ·
Next we will go to the Ridge. The first thing to see
is a small pillar near the Hindu Rao Hospital. This is
part of an Asoka pillar and was set up here by Firoz
Shah. He brought it from Meerut, where he found it,
because! he liked old monuments. There is another Asoka
Column at Firoz Shah Kotla, which is complete. These
pillars were of solid stone, and on them Asoka carved
his famous Edicts. . They were made about 250 B.c. and
are the oldest monuments in Delhi.
A little further along the road is a tall stone building
and further on still an old mosque. These buildings
· belong to a palace which Firoz Shah Tughlak built here
about 136o_. He came here to hunt and so built himself
a hunting lodge or shikargarh. · It was called the Khush-
ki-shikar and now is known as the Pir Ghaib. There
is another like it near the great tanks on the Ridge
behind New Delhi. From the palace an underground
passage ran. to the plain. below. It is now blocked up
because it has become unsafe. It is just about here that
Mallu Khan attacked Tirnur in 1398. Look over the
Jumna and if the day is clear you will see in the distance
a village on a small hill. This is Loni, where Tirnur's
army encamped before he crossed the Jumna. It was
then a flourishing town but is now only a village. You
can reach it by the light railway from Shahdara. Look
up the river and you will see the chimney of the pumping
station at W azirabad. That is where Timur crossed the
Jumna with his army when he came to attack Delhi.
I6 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HiSTORY
We will now look at some of the British monuments.
Close by is Hindu Rao's house, now a hospital. It was
built by Sir Edward Colebrooke, the Resident of Delhi.
Then William Fraser lived in it. He was murdered
when he was returning to this house from a party in
I835· The man who discovered the murderer was John
Lawrence. He was then a young man stationtd ·at
Panipat. After that Hindu Rao lived in the House for a
long time. He was the brother of Byza Bhai the famous.
Rani of Gwalior. When her young son died in I835 she
had to leave Gwalior State. Hindu Rao went tClO, and
he settled in Delhi and lived in this house. He lived in
Delhi many years and was a very well-known character.
From the Ridge you can also see a large house close to
the river. This is the mansion built by Sir Thomas
Metcalfe, which he lived in for many years. He was
· Commissioner of Delhi for eighteen years. He was the
brother of Lord Metcalfe. He was a great admirer of
. Napoleon and had many books about him. He sent
books to Napoleon when he was in exile at St Helena.
Napoleon sent hitn back presents including his portrait.
But the house and all its treasures were destroyed during
the Mutiny by the Gujars. Before New Delhi was built
Metcalfe House was used for the Council of State. Now
it is the headquarters of the Public Services Commission.
Perhaps you will sit for· your I.C.S. examination in its
han· one day.
The long white building with. two towers is the old
temporary secretariat. The Legislative Assembly used
to sit there and many famous men like Pt Motilal Nehru,
Pt Malaviya, and Mr Jinnah have sat and spoken there.
On the othet side of the Ridge you can see the Delhi
University building. This was the Viceregal Lodge
before the Viceroy's House was built in New Delhi. Lord
THE CIVIL LINES 17
Hardinge, Lord Chelmsford, Lord Reading and Lord
Irwin (now Lord Halifax) have all lived there. Not
far off is the house in which Mahatma Gandhi fasted ·
fo,r three weeks in 1924 because of communal rioting in
Delhi. .
The British Army occupied the Ridge during the
Mutiny through thehot weather and rains. Their camp
was on the University grounds. There was much fighting
in Subsimundi because Subsimundi was the suburb of
Delhi .nearest to the Ridge.
Now we will go along Alipur Road. At Timarpur ·
we turn off. and go to the river. Here there is a fine
·bridge built by Firoz Shah, and a mosque where Shah
Alam, a Muslim saint, is buried.
Coming back to Alipur Road we will drive on until
we reach the main road at Azadpur. A mile further on .
is Badli-ki-serai. You· can see the gateway of the old
serai. This was a half stage from Delhi and travellers
used to .rest here on the . first day of their journey to
the north. Leave the road on the left, walk between
the serai and Badli village, cross the railway and you
will see, half a mile away, a grove of trees. This is the
famous Shalimar Garden of Delhi, which Shah Jehan
built. It is now a fruit garden, but you can walk about.
it, and find the central pavilion. There is also a lotus
pond and an old waterfall. Aurangzeb stayed here when
he was pursuing Dara Shikoh i~ r658, and here he
crow!)ed himself Emperor of India. When the' British
came to Delhi the Resident Sir David Ochterloney and
Lord Metcalfe used it as a country house. Once this
garden was as fine as the Shalimar Garden at Lahore.
18 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS ANI) HISTORY
ADDITIONAL NOTES
VERY little has been said about the Mutiny in this chapter.
·1 This is beca~e all the facts are easily accessible in many
books.
The British Army marched along the Grand Trunk road
from Karnal. They defeated the mutineers at Badli-ki-serai,
and then occupied the Ridge. Their camp was on th.e University
site b~hind. It was protected by pickets oil the little hills which
are now bein!f removed by the Improvement Trust. Their rear
was protected by the Najafgarh drain. On the other side there
was a post on the mound near Metcalfe house. . The sites of
the batteries for the final bombardment are marked by inscrip-
tions. You can get more details from Sharp's Delhi or Newell's
Three Days in Delhi. A very good account of the siege is
to be found in Fanshawe's Delhi Past and Present (available in
the Hardinge Library). It is written by Lt (later Field-Marshal)
Norman, who was present at the siege. One of the best eye-
witness accounts is. by Lord Roberts.
Flagstaff Tower was built by the British. It was here that
the English survivors waited on I I May for the troops from
Meerut who never ·came. The old magazine is still standing
close to the river bank near Shah Alam's mosque at Wazirabad.
This contained great stores of ammunition and it was not blown
up like the magazine in the. city. It kept the mutineers supplied
throughout the siege. The< mutineers came from down country
(Oudh~ and were not Delhi men. They were called Poorbeahs
because they came from the east. All the evidence shows that
they wera heartily disliked and feared by the people of Delhi,
and even by the emperor himself. The citizens of Delhi suffered
very much from both sides. In wartime it is always the peace-
ful citizens who suffer most.
There is a new life ,of Charles. Lord Metcalfe, which tells us
much about Delhi. It is by Edward Thompson. You should
read it in your school library. There is another book by C. F.
Andrews, called' Maulvi Zakaullah of Delhi. It tells us much
about the city before the Mutiny and you should read that
also in your school library.
PART II-AROUND THE CITY
5· FIROZ SHAH KOTLA

Fmoz SHAH was the last of the great Tughlak kings
who ruled Hindustan in the fourteenth century (1351-
88). The first of them was Ghiyas-ud-din, who built
. Tughlakabad. The second was Mohammad Shah, who
built the palace near the Qutb, nowadays called the Bijay
Mandai. Mohammad Shah was a cruel and eccentric
king who made all the citizens of Delhi move to
Daulatabad in the Deccan and drove many others to
revolt. Firoz Shah was his cousin. He succeeded to
the throne when Mohammad died, while besieging the
fortress of Thatta (near Karachi)'in Sind. Firoz Shah
led his army back to Delhi and then began to settle his
kingdom. Firoz was a prudent and wise king, whG
thought of the good of his people. He was learned and
pious. He loved peace and spent his revenues on public
~orks instead of on waging more wars. On the whole
the people were happier under his rule than they had
been for a long time. One of the best things that Firoz
Shah did was to dig the canal which no..yadays we call
the Western Jumna Canal., It started from the Jumna
near Kamal and one branch came to Delhi and .one
branch went to Hissar and Sirsa. The canal used to be
broader than it is now. If you go along the Western
Jumna Canal from Delhi for a few miles you will see
one of the banks which Firoz built, running parallel to
the present canal banks. This canal brought water for
the peasants so that their ·crops grew even if the monsoon
failed. Later on the canal was damaged and the W!lter
20 J>ELHI-ITS MONUMENTS ANI> HISTORY
~eased t~ run until Shah Jehan repaired it again. The
officer who did this was Ali Mardan Khan and so the.
~anal. came to be called Ali Mardan's Canal. When
Ahmad Shah Abdali took Delhi the canal was ruined
again, but in 1820 the British repaired it and ever since
the water has flowed freely. So Firoz Shah was a great
benefactor of the people. ·
Firoz Shah Kotla. Firoz Shah was very fond of
building, so when he had settled his affairs, he decided
to build a new palace. There were already three royal .
palaces, one at Siri, one at Bijay Mandai, and one at the
Qutb. But Firoz Shah decided to build another by the
banks of the Jumna, where he could feel the cool breezes
from the mountains and the river. So he built Firoz
Shah Kotla and called it Firozabad. When you enter
the gate today, the big open space on the left, which is
now a green lawn, was the public part of the palace.
On the right are the halls of public and private audience.·
On the .left of the big lawn is a deep baoli, where the
king used to cool himself in the hot weather. Near
here Alamgir II was murdered in 1759 by the order of
his minister Imad-ul-mulk.
Asoka's pillar. On the other side of the palace is a
great mosque which was the Jama Masjid of Firoz Shah's
time. It has no fine ornament now, but look at its fine
and noble proportions. Close to the mosque is a building
with a pillar on top of it. This building was part of
the private apartments of the king, and the pillar is
Asoka's pillar. The pillar was originally erected by Asoka
near Ambala in 250 B.c. Firoz Shah found it when
hunting, and as he liked old monuments, he transported
it to Delhi on a great carriage with forty-two ·wheels.
Hundreds of men were employed to drag it. It used to
have a small golden dome on the top of it, but that
FIR~Z SHAH KOTLA 21
<lisappeared when the Marathas and Jats plundered Delhi
in the eighteenth century. On the pillar there is an
. inscription which nobody could read until a hundred
years ago, because it is written in Pali, the sacred language
Qf the Buddhists. This language is still the sacred
language of· Ceylon where many people are .still
Buddhists. Pali is a language something like Sanskrit,
.and all the books of the Buddhists are written in it. The
inscription contains various Edicts of the great Emperor
_Asoka, the first of which is an order not to kill certain
animals. When you stand beside the pillar, look for the
Jumna and you will find that it is quite a long way off.
In Firoz Shah's time it ran close to the palace wall, but
~ince then it has receded.
Firoz Shah loved repairing old buildings as well as
building new ones. Therefore he is called the royal
archaeologist. He repaired the Qutb Minar, which had
been damaged by an earthquake, and the two top stories
(in white stone) were built by him. He also repaired
the Hauz Khas, a great tank near the Qutb, and built his
tomb on one corner of it. Close to his tomb he built a
great madrasa or college for the study of Arabic .. Today
we should call it .a university. Firoz Shah was very
fond of hunting so he built a hunting lodge on the Ridge.
You can still see its remains close to the Hindu Rao
Hospital. ·
Firozabad. Around the palace Qf Firoz Shah there
grew up a great city, which spread out as far as the
railway to Muttra, and over the Press Quarters of New
Delhi and part of the present city of Shahjehanabad. The
Kalan Masjid in the city is one of the mosques of Firoz
Shah's city and there is another mosque close to the
Irwin Hospital. This city continued to exist right down
to the eighteenth century, but people then abandoned it
22. DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
because it had no wall and gave no protection against
dacoits and looters. People took all the stones of the
houses away so that now only the palace and the mosques
are left, Firoz Shah died in 1388, at the age of 90.
Except for Aurangzeb, he was the oldest of all the Kings
of Delhi. Ten years later Timur came and destroyed
the 'Tughlak empire.
ADDITIONAL Jl.IOTES
THE style of the Tughlak period has certain very distiqctive
features which enable it to be very easily distinguished,
(i) It is very heavy and massive. The w~lls of the buildings
often slope outwards 'l!)d remind one of the buildings of ancient
Egypt. This gives the impression of great strength. Examples :
Tughlakabad. Tomb of Ghlyas-ud-din Tughlak. ·
( ii) The material used is the plain local stone. This was
covered with plaster, but often the plaster has peeled off and
only the stone is left without any ornament. The only impor-
tant Tughlak building with red stone and white marble is the
·tomb of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak at Tughlakabad. We do not
know the reason for this for certain, but we may suggest two
possibilities.
(a) The whole revenue of the empire was used in repressing
the constant rebellions and the Deccan campaigns.
(b) After Mohammad Tughlak removed the inhabitants of
Delhi to Daulatabad skilled stonemasons were lacking.
Both before and after this time red stone and marble
were used, so this is a good indication.
Example: Firoz Shah Kotla.
(iii) All Tughlak buildings employ the true arch with a key-
stone (explained elsewhere). Example: Tughlakabad.
(iv) The Tughlaks built pillars in their arches and verandahs
in the Hindu style, i.e. one slab of stone is laid horizontally
across two upright slabs to form the door or pillar.
( v) The proportions of the buildings are always firie for all
their stern~s. Exa,.ple : Mosque at Firoz Shah Kotla.
In general, any building which is ·rough and heavy but well
proportioned and which uses pillars for its doors and verandahs,
FIROZ SHAH KOTLA 23
is likely to be a Tughlak building. These indications will
enable you to tell for certain. Remember these points and as
you go about try to identify the different styles.
Examples of the Tughlak period. worth visiting: Firoz Shah
Kotla, Kalan Masjid, Khirki Masjid (two miles from the Qutb),
Hauz Khas, Bijay Mandai, Tughlakabad . and the tomb of
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak,
6. PURANA KILA
THE Purana Kila stands on the site of the city of
Indraprastha. Indraprastha is the first city of Delhi and
was the capital of the Pandavas in the great war of the
Mahabharata. The Purana Kila was probably the palace
or citadel of Indraprastha and the houses of the city
extended over the plain between the Purana Kila and
Humayun's tomb. We do not know for certain that this
is so, but it is quite likely. All the other cities of the
Pandavas-Baghpat, Tilpat, Sonepat. and Panipat-are
known, and Indraprastha is quite near to them. We do
not know for certain because there are no buildings left
from those times. The reason for this is ·that in those
days men built their houses of mud and their palaces
of wood, which have all been burnt or carried away by
later people. You can imagine King Yadhisthira holding
his court in the Purana Kila, and all the busy life of a
great city going on aFound. You can imagine the heroes
riding in o.n their horses, or driving out to battle in their
chariots. Perhaps they drove over the ground where the
War Memorial Arch now is when they went out to
the great battle of Kurukshetra.
Remember that there is nothing now left of ancient
Indraprastha. The walls you now see were built long
after and we know nothing about what happened here
in all the time between. The present Purana Kila was
begun by the Emperor Huinayun in 1530 A.D. He wan'ted
to build a new capital for the Mogul dynasty. So when
his father Babur died, he came to Delhi and chose this
site. The nver Jumna flowed close by in those days..:..
where the station of Nizam-ud-din is now.. So Humayun
could enjoy the breezes from the river in the hot weather.
Humayun built a great city as well. One of the gates
of the city is still left. It stands opposite the gaol and
is called the Khuni Darwaza. You can, see it as you
drive out of the Delhi gate. ·
But Humayun did not finish his new city. In 1540
Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan, defeated him on the Ganges
and· he· fled away to Persia. Sher Shah became the
Emperor of Hindus,tan and he ·reigned for five years.
He finished both the Pur::tna Kila and the city and lived
there during his reign. That is why the buildings inside
the Purana Kila are called after Sher Shah.
Now we will go inside the Purana Kila. Enter by
the gate which faces the Muttra road and walk along
the path inside. First you will see, in the middle of the
Kila, a· very deep well. This was built by Humayun in
order that the fort should .always have water. It is a
very deep well because the Fort stands on a hill. Beyond
the well you will see on your left hand a mosque. This
is Sher Shah's mosque. This is one of the most beautiful
mosques built in Delhi before the time of the Moguls.
Notice the carving and the arches, the roof and the Arabic
texts. Notice also the different kinds of stone which
are used, and their different colours. They are red and
white and grey and black, and they make the mosque
very beautiful. Lord Curzon repaired this mosque and
the Amir Habibullah of Afghanistan repaired the tank
in the courtyard.
The other building inside the Purana Kila is the Sher
PURANA K1LA 25
Mandai. It is an octagonal (eight-sided) building, and
bas very steep steps leading up to the roof. ·This building
was built by Sher Shah like the mosque. But after Sher
Shah had died, Humayun came back to India .and
recovered his empire in 1555. He marched to Delhi and
maae it his capital once ·more. Humayun loved art
and learning and philosophy and hi: liked to discuss these
things with poets and learned men. So he used this
building as a library in which to keep his books, and
you can still see some of the shelves in which he kept
them. One day in January 1556, Humayun was sitting
ori the roof of the Sher Mandai, enjoying the afternoon
sun. · He heard the call to prayer and hurried down the
steep stone steps. On one of these he slipped and hurt
himself so badly that he died soon after. You can still
see one step which is broken,, and it is said that it was
on this step that Humayun slipped. Akbar succeeded ·
his .father Humayun as emperor and lived in Delhi for
a few years. Then he decided to build a city of his own
and went away to Agra. ·
Between the Sher Mandai and Sher Shah's mosque
are some low brick buildings. These are the remains of ·
the hammam or royal baths.
· Notice, as you go outside, the beautiful carving of the.
gateways of the Purana Kila. Just as in Sher Shah's
mosque, so in the gateway, different kinds of stone are
.used with different colours. The colours blend or mix
together, ai}d give a beautiful effect. .
Outside the Purana Kila and on the other side of the
road is a mosque and college or madrasa. This was
built by Maham Anaga, the foster-mother of Akbar,
who ruled the empire for some time when Akbar was
a boy.
26 D'ELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
ADDITIONAL NOTES
THE mistake which is commonly made with regard to the
Purana Kila is "to think that the walls are those of the ancient
lndraprastha. This is impossible because the people of those
times only used wood for their important buildings. We do
know, however, that the site is a very ancient one. Archaeo-
logists have found remains of the Gupta period (4th century
A.D.) and it is quite possible that some day, if excavation is
carried deep enough, traces of the Indus valley culture will be
discovered.
Sher Shah's mosque is, with the Moth-ki-masjid near the Qutb
road, the finest building of the pre-Mogul Lodi style of archi-
tecture. Note specially : ·
(i) How the different kinds of stone, Delhi stone, red sand-
stone, black and white marble are combined so as to
make a beautiful colour scheme.
(ii) How the pointed arch (a Muslim feature) is combined
· with Hindu brackets and ornaments and the horizontal
arch.
(iii) The perfect proportions of the buildings.
The Lodi style represents, as Sir John Marshall says, a perfect
union of the characteristic features of the Hindu ·and Muslim
styles. It is a permanent symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity.
The building next to Maham ADaga's mosque is a bazaar
belonging to Sher Shah's city. The Khuni Darwaza (opposite
the gaol) gets its name from the fact that executions took place
there at the time of the Mutiny.
7· HU.MAYUN'S TOMB
HuMAYUN's tomb is one of the most beautiful Mogul
monuments. There are many other interesting buildings
all round it. In the days of the great Moguls, Humayun's ·
tomb was in a suburb of the city. Near it was the
shrine of Nizam-ud-din to which people went, as they
do today. Probably for this reason many nobles built
their tombs here.· Humayun's widow and the mother
HUMAYU~STOMB ~
of Akbar, Hamid a Banu Begum, built this ·tomb in
1565 A.D. Humayun's tomb is six miles from Shahjeha-
nabad, which is a half-day's march. So many people,
when they set out on a journey along Akbar's .Grand
Trunk Road to Agra, stayed here for the first night,
instead of going a full stage' the first day.
When you go to Humayun's tomb today you will first
<:orne to a tomb with a blue dome. The road makes a
<:ircle round it. The dome is made of tiles from Persia.
The people of Delhi did not know about these hlue tiles
until the Moguls came to India. They brought the tiles
with them and started a new fashion.
When you turn in to Humayun's tomb, you will sec
on the right an enclosure with a tomb and a mosque.
This is the tomb and the mosque of Isa Khan. Isa Khan
was ·one of the nobles of Sher Shah, and died a few
· years before Humayun came back· to Delhi. The tomb ·
is very beautiful but you will see that it is very different
from Humayun's tomb.
Now we will come to Humayun's tomb itself. First
we go through im archway and along a path to another
gateway. This archway is not the real entrance to
Humayun's tomb. It is a part of a garden which belonged
to a Mogul noble, but which has now disappeared. · As
you walk along the path to the real gate of Humayun's
tomb, you will see on your right atl()ther large archway.
This is the entrance to a great serai, where people used
to rest on their way from Delhi. It is called the Arab
serai, and was built by Hamida Banu Begum in 156o-1
for 300 Arabs she had brought back with her from
· Mecca. Inside th& gateway yoti will see· a lot of ruins
and also many graves.
Now we come to the gateway of Humayun's tomb.
When we go inside we see that we are in a large square
enclosure. In the centre is Humayun's tomb itself. It
stands on a great stone platform. From the tomb in the
middle of each side run stone channels. These channels
were filled with water, which kept the garden green and
fresh. In between the water-channels there are trees
and grass. The Mogul gaideners built little canals all
over these sp'\ces, as the malis do today in our gardens.
Along the big stone canals they planted flowers. Some
of the flowers !?loomed by day like the roses, some
bloomed by night like the jasmine, so that whenever
anyone came to the garden there were beautiful flowers.
to look at. In between the big cana:ls were planted small
trees. Some of them were fruit trees like pomegranates,
and some of them were flowering trees like the gold
mohur and the amaltas. So, whether it was hot or cold
weather, day or night, there were always beautiful trees
. and flowers to look at. The Moguls loved gardens and
always made them wherever they went. They loved
gardens so much that whenever they built a tomb they
always built a garden as well. The noblemen who built
the tomb used it as a pleasure pavilion for his family
as long as he liv~d. ·
Now we come to the tomb itself. You will see that
it is built on a great stone platform.. ·This was a new ·
idea of the Moguls and all their tombs are built like this.
Then notice the stone. It is red sandstone with a white
marble dome. These stones were very expensive, but .
the Moguls could use them because they were richer
than the previous kings. We will go. up to.the roof and
there we shall find little houses or pavilions around the
dome. These were used by the students of a college or
madrasa who learnt Arabic here. From the roof you
can see the Jumna, the Jama Masjid, the Qutb Minar
.
and all the great buildings of Delhi. Akbar, Shah Jehan,
.
HUMA YUN'S TOMB 29
and all the great men of the empire must often have
come up here to admire· the view and enjoy the cool
breezes. In the vaults below the platform you will see
many graves. They all belong to the Mogul family but
we ,do not know their names because they have no inscrip-
tions. One of them belongs to Dara Shikoh. There
are so many of them that Humayun's tomb is called 'The
Dormitory of the House of Timur '.
If you 'look .back from the roof you will see a tomb
with a blue dome between the enclosure and the railway.
This is called the Barber's tomb, because it is said that
it was built by the Emperor Babur for his favourite
barber. All around you can see ruined tombs which
belonged to various nobles. .
When Bahadur Shah fled from Delhi in 1857 he took
refuge in Humayun's tomb. It was here that . he
surrendered to . the British and returned with· them to
the city. .
ADDITIONAL NOTES
HuMAYUN's tomb is the first great example of Mogul architeC.
ture and it stands second only to the Taj in merit. You should
notice specially some of its principal features.
(i) Notice that the tomb is placed on a large stone platform.
This is quite a new idea and makes the tomb more imposing. .
(ii) The materials (red sandstone and marble) are richer than
those of previous buildings. This .is because the Moguls were
far richer than the Lodis or the Suris.
(iii) The dome is what is called a full dome. That is, it
is a complete semicircle. All Mogul ·domes were full domes,
and . all ·previous domes were half-domes, or only half a semi-
circle. On the top of the dome there is just a crescent, but
no lotus. This is because the architect was a Persian. The
later Mogul domes (e.g. the Taj) have the lotus. .
(iv) Notice the carved texts and inlaid work on the marble
on the walls. It is very beautiful.
3
(v) Notice also the jali or trellis work in red sandstone .. This
is a special Mogul feature and reaches its greatest perfection
in the time of Shah Jehan.
8. NIZAM-UD-DIN
EVERYONE knows Nizam-ud-din. Very likely you have
been there already. Perhaps you went to a mela there.
Perhaps you went to see the saint's tomb. Or perhaps
you have seen it from a distance. You have all heard
of Kh. Hasan Nizami. He claims to be· the direct
descendant of Sheikh Nizam-ud-din Chishti and lives
close to the shrine. Nizam-ud-din's tomb is not only a
holy place where the saint lies buried. It is also a famous
place where many famous people are also buried. Famous
men liked to be buried there because they wanted to
"lie near to so famous a saint..
When you enter the shrine of Nizam-ud-din you come
first to a tank. Nizam-ud-din himself built this tank in
the reign of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak. He quarrelled with
Ghiyas about it. Ghiyas-ud-din was building Tughlaka-
·bad · and wanted all the w0 rkmen for' the great walls.
'But they preferred to work for the saint and defied the
great king. Ghiyas was in Bengalwhen he heard the
news, and vowed that he would punish the saint when
he returned. Nizam-ud-din's friends asked. him to flee
away before the king returned. But always the saint
replied 'Delhi hanuz dur ast '. At last Ghiyas came to
Afghanapur, one day's march from Delhi. But there
.a pavilion fell on him and killed him, so Nizam~ud-din
escaped his vengeance. _
.• When you enter the gateway of Nizam-ud-din's shrine
.you come first· to a. tank .. Passing .by the tank ·you come
into a courtyard where stands the tomb of Nizam-ud-din.
NIZAM·UD·Dl N 31
The grave itself· was built at the saint's death but the
rest of the building is later. Shah Jehan added the marble
arches which surround the grave;, and which are very
beautiful; and Akbar II built the dome. On one
side of the tomb is a very beautiful mosque called the
Jama'at Khana, built in the time of Ala-ud-din Khilji,
and it was perhaps on account of this mosque that Nizam
chose this spot for his tank and his residence. Around
the courtyard of the tomb is a marble screen or jali which
Shah Jehan built. You should look at it carefully because
the work is very fine. It is just like the marble work
in Delhi palace and in Shah Jehan's palace at Agra.
Arolind the shrine of Nizam-ud-din are so many tombs
and buildings that it would take all day to see them.
So I shall only tell you of some of the most important
and interesting ones.
L The grave of Jahanara
Princess Jahanara lies in a little marble enclosure on
one side of Nizam's courtyard. She has a marble head-
stone and nothing b\lt the green grass upon her grave.
She was the best of the Mogul priricesses and her grave
is the most simple and beautiful of them all. For many
years she was the Padshah Begum of Shah Jehan's court.
When Aurangzeb imprisoned his father, Shah Jehan, at
Agra she voluntarily shared his captivity for eight years
until he died. Before she died she wrote her own epitaph
which you can read in Persian on her tombstone :
Let nought but the green grass cover the grave of Jahanara
For grass is the fittest covering for the tomb of the lowly.
As she wrote, so it was ; and the green grass still grows

upon her grave.
·32 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS. AND HISTORY
IT. The tomb of Amir Khusrau .
Amir Khusrau w"as the greatest of all the poets of
Delhi. He lived ih the reign of Ala-ud-din and was a.
great friend of his artistic son Khizr Khan.· He wrote
about Khizr Khan's exploits. But Ala-ud-din grew ·
jealous of his son and at last imprisoned him.. But his
evil deed lived after him. Soon he died, his foolish son .
. Mubarak was murdered, and his dynasty was overthrown.
Amir Khusrau's tomb is just beyond Jahanara's, and
stands within· an enclosure crowded with the tombs of
. princes and nobles.
Ill. The tomb of Ghalib
Just outside the gate of Nizam-ud-din's shrine is a
little cemetery with a few simple graves.. One of these
is that of the poet Ghalib. He has an inscription in
Persian which you can read for yourself. Not all great
men have mighty tombs, and this plain stone covers the
remains of one of the greatest of Delhi's sons. Ghalib
was the greatest Urdu poet of the nineteenth century..
He was a friend of Bahadur Shah and was the rival of
the Court poet ZOuk. Stand with reverence before this
. stone, for here lies the Urdu Shakespeare.
IV. The tomb of Atgah Khan
Close to the grave of Ghalib stands the tomb of Atgah
Khan. It is built of red stone and has a fine ·marble
dome. Atgah Khan was a foster-father of Akbar. When
he grew ·up he was a great friend of Akbar. ·But
Adham Khan, the son of Maham Anaga, Akbar's foster-.
mother, who ruled the empire for Akbar, became jealous
of him. One day they quarrelled; and Adham Khan
killed Atgah. He rushed into. Akbar's private apart-
ments with the blood on his hands. Akbar jumped up
NIZAM-UD-DIN 33
in a rage, seized Adham, carried. him across the terrace
and threw him over with his own hands. From that
day Akbar deposed Maham Anaga· and ruled himself.
V. The Chausath Kharnha
This is a marble hall with sixty-four pillars. It stands
a little way off quite near the Muttra road. It is the
tomb of Mirza Aziz Kokaltash, the son of Atgah Khan,
and it is so beautiful that you should go and see it.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
'
WHEN you go to Nizam-ud-din visit the places mentioned, and
then try to read for yourself the inscriptions on the buildings.
Besides those mentioned there are many others which have
inscriptions which you can read for ·yourself.
. The Shrine itself is' .an epitome of architectural style.· The
arches were built by Shah Jehan. The little arches and pinnacles
above are late Mogul, 'and the dome was built in the nineteenth
century. Notice how the work gets poorer stage by stage.
The ·mosque close to the tomb is called the Jama'at Khana
Mosque. · It is a fine example of the Khilji style. Notice the
low flat or half dome; and compare this with the full· or semi-
circular dome of Atgah Khan's tomb. Atgah. Khan's tomb is
an excellent example of the early Mogul style. It was probably
built by Akbar himself. at about. the same time as his mother
built Humayun's tomb.
· If· you have time, you ~n ·go inio the village of Nizam-ud-
.
din, where is the tomb of Khan Jehan, the great ·minister of
Firoz Shah Tughlak,. and also a mosque which he built.
' . . .
Refermces: Amir Khusrau, by Mohd Habibh. A Guide to
Nizam-ud-din, by Maulvi Zafar Hasan (Archaeological Dept
• Memoirs).
34 DELHI-I,TS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
9· THE LODI 'TOMBS

THE Lodi Tombs stand near Safdar Jung's tomb. They
are now in the Willingdon Park in New Delhi, and are
close to Prithvi Raj Road. The best way to reach' them
i~ by bus to Safdar J1,1ng from the Ajmer Gate, or by
tonga from the Delhi Gate along the Hardinge Avenue
and Prithvi Raj Road. A turning to the left called South
End Road leads you to the main gate of the park in
Rattendone Road.
If you enter the Willingdon Park by the main entrance
in Rattendone Road you come first to the tomb of
Sikandar Shah Lodi. This tomb stands inside a large
walled enclosure, and it has recently been repaired by
the Government. Sikandar Lodi was the second of the
Lodi kings aJ).d under him the empire of Delhi recovered
some of its former glory. He lived mostly at Agra and
built a city there which he called Sikandarabad. Nowa-
days it is a village which is famous because Akbar's tomb
was built there.
The next building you come to is a mosque. Close
to the mosque is a great square building with a big dome
which looks like a tomb. But it is really the gateway
to the mosque. Because it is so large it is called the
Bara Gumbad. It was built by Abu Amjad, a Mogul
noble in the service of Sikandar Lodi (in 1494). Look
at the gateway fr<lm a distance and see what fine propor-
tions it has. It is the first example in Delhi of what is
called the full dome, that is, a dome which is a complete
semicircle. Near the Bara Gumbad is another tomb very .
much like the tomb of Sikandar. Some people call this
the tomb of Bahlol Lodi. But as it has no inscription
we- do not know for certain. Probably it is the tomb
of one of Sikandar's nobles. In Chiragh Delhi is a
THE LODI TOMBS 35.
tomb which scholars believe to be the tomb of Bahlol
Lodi.
'
Sorrie distance away, near the road which runs from
Nizam-ud-din to Safdar Jung, is another tomb. It is:
like Sikandat Lodi's tomb and is the tomb of Mubarak
Shah Sayyid. He was the first of the Sayyid kings and
his tomb is the oldest of the Lodi tombs.
Now all these tombs are very much alike. They form
a separate style of their own. Some people call this the
Pathan style, but the best name for it is the Lodi style;
for the Lodis were not frontier Pathans, but Afghans.
This style grew up in the fifteenth century after the
invasion of Timur, and it lasted until the time of the
Moguls.
Here are a few things to notice about these buildings.
They will enable you to distinguish them from the
buildings of the Moguls and the earlier kings.
Tombs. You will see that the tombs are not square.
They are octagonal (eight-sided). Around the tombs
are verandahs, which are supported by strong square stone
piJlars. The domes are low or half domes. Around the
domes are a number of little ckattris. Each chattri has
a little dome, so that t\le little domes gather round the
big ones like chickens round a hen.'
Mosques. The mosques have a special feature· which
no other mosques in India have. If you go to the back
(or,west wall) of the mosque you will see at each corner
a round tower or minaret. The tower is fat at the
bottom and becomes thin at the top. The tower is
divided into five stories or stages. What does this remind-
you of ? Look at it again and you wiJI see that it is
a little copy of the Qutb Minar. The builders of these
mosques used the Qutb Minar as a model for their mina-·
rets. They did this nowhere else in India.
36 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HI}TOR;Y.
The domes of these buildings are now grey and dirty.
But when they were new they were covered with white
plaster, and they shone in the sun· as the dome of Huma-
yun's tomb does today.
Beyond the Government nursery garden towards the
Qutb are some more tombs of this period. You can
see them when you visit the Moth-ki-Masjid. We believe
that they were built by the Sayyid kings of Delhi. But
we do not know for certain because they have no
inscriptions.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
The Lodi Style. See the special· architectural section. In the
group of tombs note specially : . .
(i) The walled enclosure of Sikandar Lodi's tomb. This
was to prevent the tomb from being plundered, and is an
evidence of ti)e insecurity of the times.
(ii) The Bara Gumbad, which is the finest gateway of the
fifteenth century in Delhi. You should stand at a distance,
in order that you may see its good proportions.
(iii) The tomb of Mubarak Shah Sayyid. This tomb is quite
complete, and only lacks the original plaster. Remember
· that much of the ornamentation of the plaster was coloured
and you can imagine what the tombs originally looked
,like. ·
Both the Lodi and Sayyid tombs are built of stone and plaster.
Marble was not used because both dynasties were poor and
needed their money for wars.
10. THE MOTH-KI-MASJID

You can visit the Moth-ki-Masjid in the cold weather.
It is a long way out of Delhi and for that reason very ·
few people visit it. There are two ways of reaching the
Moth-ki-Masjid. Firstly you can take a tonga and drive
along the Qutb road and past Safdar Jung's tomb and
THE MOTH·KI-MASJID· 37
the aerodrome. About ~ mile further; on. the left hand
side of the road, is a sign"post to the Moth-ki-Masjid.
From this sign-post a kachcha road leads straight to the
rnasjid, which is in the village of Masjid-Moth.' It is
<:~bout one mile from the main Qutb. road. Secondly,
you can, if you like, walk from Safdar Jung's tomb. · If
you go this way you take a path across the fields. It
leaves the Qutb road near the Aliganj enclosure and just
··opposite the Willingdon Airport. The country is quite
open and you will see a group of large tombs in the
·distance. These are· called the Sayyid tombs and you
should walk straight towards them. From these tombs
there is a path to Masjid7Moth. The whole distance is
about two miles. Moth-ki-Masjid is on one side of the
village Masjid-Moth. It was built by Mian Buhwa, the
Wazir of Sikandar Shah Lodi. It is said that one day the
Wazir went with the king to a mosque to pray. Just
before prayer a bird dropped a seed of the moth plant, so
that theking knelt on. it. When he rose up the Wazir
saw the moth seed. He picked it up and said to himself,
' A seed so honoured by His Majesty must not be thrown
away. It must be used in the service of God.' So he
took the moth seed and planted it. ·The seed that came
up he planted again, and he did this again and again.
At last he was able to sell the moth for a great sum. He
sowed the seed and sold the grain until he had enough
money to build a mosque. Then he built the mosque
which ·you now see, and he called it Moth-ki-Masjid in
honour of the grain of the moth which Sikandar Shah
had knelt upon.
The Moth-ki-Masjid is one of the two most beautiful
mosques in Delhi built between the invasion of Timur
and the coming of the Moguls. The other one is in
the Purana Kila and is called Sher Shah's mosque.
You enter the mosque from the village street by a very
beautiful gateway. Notice the different colours of the
stones in the gateway, red, blue,
black and white. They make
a beautiful pattern. Then look
at the arch carefully. You will
see that there is a Hindu arch
like Fig. r, inside a Muslim arch
like Fig. 2. So the whole arch '- _
looks like Fig. 3· This shows Fm. 1
that Hindus as well as Muslims
helped to build this mosque. It shows how Hindus and
Muslims worked together in Delhi in those days to build
beautiful buildings to the glory of God.
Fla. 2 Fla. 3
From the roof of the mosque you have a fine view

of all the Delhis. On one side is the Qutb Minar, Siri,
the Bijay Mandai and Chiragh Delhi. On the horizon
you can see the walls of Tughlakabad. Look from the
mosque roof over the village and you will see Humayun's
tomb, the Purana Kila and the Khan Khanan's tomb.
SAFDAR JUNG's TOMB 39
Look again towards New Delhi and you will see Safdar
Jung's tomb, the Lodi tombs and the Jama Masjid in
the distance. In no other city can you see so many
historical monuments in one place.
As you return to Safdar Jung's tomb you willsee that
the whole plain shows signs of ruins of. all sorts. The
reason of this is that from the time of Firoz Shah to
the time of Shah Jehan the city of Delhi was centred
round, first Firoz Shah's Kotla and then round the
Purana Kila. This land was on the outskirts of the city,
and so it was a convenient place for nobles and kings
to build their tombs and gardens. ·
II. SAFDAR JUNG'S TOMB

ToDAY we shall take a tonga and drive to Safdar Jurig's
tomb. Safdar Jung's tomb is the last of the great Mogul
tombs. It is as large as Humayun's tomb, but it is not
so beautifuh Have you ever thought of the reason ?.
There are two reasons. The first reason is that the
materials used are not so good as in Humayun's tomb.
Instead of a rich red stone the builders used a light brown
stone which looks like a flower which has faded. Look
at the dome and you will see that the marble has dirty
yellow patches. That is because the marble is not so
good as that of Humayun's tomb. The builders of those
days used these materials because they were poor and
could not afford the best stone or marble:· The second
reason that the tomb is not so beautiful as Humayun's
is that the shape is not so good. The builders of thos'e
days were not so skilful as in the time of Humayun.
Very few people could afford fine buildings in those days
and so the builders had less practice in building. Safdar
Jung was the last of the great Mogul nobles who builr
40 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY .•
a great tomb. He was the second Nawab of Oudh; and
succeeded his uncle Saadat Khan in 1739. Saadat Ali
took poison when Nadir Shah took Delhi and insulted
him there: For several years Safdar Jung was Wazir
of the empire. He was dismissed by Ahmad Shah in
favour of Ghazi-ud-din, Imad-ul-Mulk, in I752. For six
months Safdar Jung and Imad-ul-Mulk waged a civil
war in Delhi. Imad-ul-Mulk with the Emperor Ahmad
Shah held Shahjehanabad. Safdar Jung held the Purana
Kila and Firozabad, and all the suburbs which lay
between them. In those days these suburbs were called
'Old Delhi' and Shahjehanabad was 'New Delhi'.
Safdar Jung was not a good soldier. At last he was
defeated and retired to his subah of Oudh. His son Shuja-
ud-daula fought against the English and made a treaty
with Clive. He was the founder of the state of Oudh,
which was annexed by Dalhousie. The Nawabs of Oudh
maintained 'the tomb until the· Mutiny and it was one ·
of the sights of Delhi. On each of three sides of the
garden you will see pavilions. These were u·sed by the
Nawab's family when they came to Delhi on visits.
Now Safdar Jung's tomb is again important because
it is a landmark for aeroplanes coming to Delhi. Every
night the dome is lit up by a red light, so that the
aeroplanes can see the right place to land in safety.
A little ·way along the Qutb road, on the left-hand
side of the road, you will see a low stone platform. This
i~ the tomb of Mirza Naja£ Khan. For ten years he
was the chief minister of Shah Alam (1772-82). He was
a great soldier and statesman and restored to Delhi ·some
of its former glory. At his death he had 6o,ooo troops
under his own command. Shah Alam found no worthy
successor to Mirza Naja£ Khan, and soon after fell under
the dominion of the Maratha, Madho Rao. Sindhia. The
SAFDAR JUNo's TOMB 41
town of Najafgarh was the centre of his jagir and is
named after him. The police station there is his old
mansion. After his death Shah Alam's kingdom became
so small that men repe11ted the rhyme.
Az .Delhi to Palam
Badshahi Shah Alam.
From Delhi to Palam
Is the realm of Shah Alam.
Now we will walk to the Willingdon Airport. You see

that all around you is a great plain. This is the place
where a great battle was fought between Timur and the
Emperor of Delhi, Mahmud Tughlak and his general
·Mallu Khan. Just like Nadir Shah, Timur marched to
Delhi without opposition because the Delhi nobles were
quarrelling amongst themselves. Disunity has always
meant disaster for India. Tirnur encamped near Loni
(near Shahdara) with Ioo,ooo captives. He crossed the
Jumna near Metcalfe House and rode to the Ridge.
There Mahmud attacked him, but was repulsed. The ..
prisoners were so pleased when they heard the battle
that on his return Tirnur ordered them all to be executed.
After this Timur crossed with his whole army. He
marched along the Ridge and over the present city until
he reached the aerodrome. Mahmud Tughlak collected ·
his army from Jahanpannah (near Mahrauli) and
marched out to meet him .. Mahmud had many elephants
·whom the Moguls feared, but Timur had very good
horsemen. The Moguls charged the Indian cavalry and
defeated them. Then die elephants ran back on their
own men and completed the defeat. The Indian army
fought bravely but Timur was too strong for them.
Tirnur stayed a fortnight in Delhi. .Then he crossed
the Jumna at the ford by the railway bridge, and marched
to Meerut. · Timur chose this place for the battle because
it was flat and open. There were no hills or houses and
~o the Mogul cavalry could easily charge.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
'
I. Safdar Jung's tomb.. For the special features of the late.
Mogul style, see the architectural section.
Notice the poorness of the materials used in the buildings..
Notice also how the garden with its pavilions was used as
a residence after Safdar Jung himself died. The tomb itself was
only used as a residence during the lifetime of the founder.
The rooms round the tomb were used lor entertainment after- .
wards, but not for residence. That is why the side pavilions
were built. ·
2. Mirza Naja£ Khan. · You will lind an account of this man
in H. G. Keene's Fall of the Mogul Empire or Francklin's
History of the ~eign of Shah A/am. The latter is the best, but.
it is very old .. There is a copy in the Hardinge Library. li'here
is also Syed Ghul~m Hussain's Seir-u/-Mutaqherin •. There is an
English translation which ought to be in your library. It is
·also in the Hardinge Library. Naja£ Khan was a great man,
though he ·is almost forgotten today.
3· You can trace for yourselves, on a map of Delhi district,
Timor's movements before the battle with Mahmud Lodi.
Remember that the Moguls of Timur were very different to
the Moguls of Babur. The Moguls of Chinghiz Khan and of
· Timur were very fierce and slew all who crossed their path,
· Hindu or Muslim. Remember what Amir Khusru says about
them. But Babur was a highly cultured man and so were most
. of his nobles. They had been relined by a hundred years of
Persian culture. ·
PART III-THE QUTB DISTRICT
12. THE GREAT MOSQUE
(Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid)
THERE are so many interesting things to see at Mahrauli,
that ·you must make up your mind to visit them on~
by one. If you run about from one building to another
.you will not remember much about any of the buildings.
Think of a marriage feast. If you run about from room
to room and court to court instead of sitting down in
the right place,. you will not get anything to eat. In
the same way if you run from building to building you ·
will not take anything away with you. Today we will
visit first the great mosque close to the Qutb Minar, called
the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque.
we will go first to the dak bungalow close to the
Qutb Minar; From the dak bungalow you go up some
steps into the great .enClosure of the mosque. The mosque ·
is in three parts and we will go straight along the path
which leads to th~ gateway of the oldest portio'n. Now
we are inside, in a courtyard of stone pillars. In front
of us is the Iron· Pillar, and just beyond, the ruins of
three great arches.
This mosque was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibek . in
II9I A.D. Qutb-ud-din had no masons with him, so he
made the Hindu masons of Prithvi Raj's La! Kot build
the mosque for him. He took the square stone pillars
which you see round the court from some Hindu temples.
But at the western end of the mosque he wanted pointed
arches, like the mosques of Ghor in Afghanistan. But
the Hindu workmen did not know about pointed arches
and keystones. (The note on architecture at the end
of this book explains what a keystone is.) So they built.
arches without keystones. Arches which have no key-
stone are very weak and will not carry any weight. Next
they had to decorate the arches. The Hindu workmen
wanted to carve beautiful figures, but the king would
not allow this. The king wanted texts from the Koran
in Arabic, 'but the workmen did not know much about
these.. So in the end they carved a beautiful plant grow-
ing up 'the arch and put Arabic texts in between the
leaves.
In the centre of the courtyard is the Iron Pillar. This
was erected by a .Hindu king calledi Chandra about
500 A.D. It has ali inscription which tells .of his victories.
This pillar is famous because it is of almost pure iron.
It is very difficult to make bars of pure iron, and so this
pillar proves that the Hindu workmen were very skilful
i.n working. metals. ·
This mosque was t~e Jama Masjid of the Sultans of
Delhi for .thirty years. Then Sultan Altamsh decided
that he would make it bigger. So he built six more great
arches, three on each side of the first mosque. Some of
these arches are still complete. By this time workmen
had· come from Ghor and Persia, and they brought their
own knowledge with them. So you will find that the
carving on Altamsh's arches is quite different to that
on Qutb.ud.din's arches. Instead of flowers and plants
there are little circles and triangles and other shapes.
This is called geometrical design because it is like the
figures you study in geqmetry.
Altamsh built his own tomb at one corner of his new
mosque. It is of red stone and is covered with carving
just like the carving on the arches of his mosque.
Altamsh's mosque was the -Jama Masjid of Delhi ,for
THE GREAT MOSQUE 45
nearly a hundred years. Then Ala-ud-din Khilji, who
had conquered the south of India and brought its treasure
back to Delhi, decided to build a still bigger mosque.
He began to build six inore great arches, starting from
the tomb of Altamsh. He built the beautiful gateway
close to the Qutb · Minar and he meant to build two
more like it. This gateway is called the Alai Darwaza
after him. It has the same sort of carving as Altamsh's
tomb, and it is the finest gateway at Mahrauli. But
before Ala-ud-din had finished this mosque he died, and
his son never troubled to complete it. Firoz Shah built
a new Jama Masjid in the city of Firozabad in 1360.
Timur visited the Qutb mosque when he took Delhi
in 13g8 and after this time the great mosque fell into
decay along with the old city of Delhi. Thus . it
remained until Lord Dalhousie ordered the repair of the
arches at the request of Sir Thomas Metcalfe's daughter.
In 1904 Lord Curzon visited the Qutb. He founded the
Archaeological Department which now carefully pre-
serves all that is left of this great mosque.
Just behind the arches of Qutb-ud-din and Altamsh
and near the Minar are some more buildings. They
were built by Ala-ud-din as a -madrasa or college.' You
can still trace the rooms in which the students used to
live while . they learnt Arabic and studied the Koran.
It is probable that Ala-ud-din was himself buried there.
ADDlTIONAL NOTES
THE temple pillars which were used in Qutb-ud-din's mosque
belonged to the style known as the Jain style of Rajputana and
Gujerat. The best examples of this style arc the marble Jain
temples at Mount Abu. Qutb-ud-din built a mosque at Ajme.t;
in just the same way as he did at Delhi. It is called the
Arhai-din-ki-jhampra, because it is said to have been built iii
two-and-a-half days.
4
. When you visit the Qutb mosque, first examine the carving
done by Hindu workmen on the arches of Qutb-ud-din's mosque,
and then look at. Altamsh's arches and tomb. Then you will
easily see the difference between the, two styles. The former is
called 'naturalistic ' because it imitates nature and follows its
· lines and curves ; the latter is called 'geometrical', or 'formal',
because it consists of straight lines and circles like those used .
in geometry. ·
The use of the arch in Delhi buildings and the importance
of the keystone are explained in the architectural section. You
should read this section before visiting the Qutb. Draw the
diagrams given there for yourself, and then you will understand
the points mentioned very easily.
You will notice that the tomb of Altamsh has no roof.
Experts believe that it never had a dome. It seems strange
that such a tomb should have no covering ; perhaps it h.ad
a plain roof made of beams of timber. Altamsh's tomb is one
of the oldest Muslim tombs in India. The oldest known tomb
is that of his eldest son Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, who died before
him in 1228-9. It is about two :miles fxom Mahrauli, and
makes a good walk in the cold weather. It is called locally
the tomb of Sultan Ghari. The garden close to the dak bungalow
was built in the eighteenth oentury and is a good example of
a late Mogul pleasure garden.
The two Minars are dealt with in a separate chapter.
13. THE QUTB MINAR

WHEN you look up at the Qutb Minar, there is a question
which you will ask at once. What was the reason for
building it? Was it just a monument built by a king
to please himself or was it built for a special purpose ?
Some people think that it was meant to be a minaret
for giving the ~all to prayer. But see how tall it is. A
man standing on the top can hardly be heard below.
Then look at the position of the Minar. It is not joined
to·
9n either side Qutb-ud-din's mosque, or to Altamsh's
·mosque. We do not know for certain.what'its purpose
THE QUTB MINAR 47
was, but it was probably built. as a: Tower of Victory.
There are towers of victory something like it at Ghazni
.and Ghor. We know that kings built towers to celebrate
their victories. Probably Qutb-ud-din started the Minar
to celebrate his victory~
The Qutb Minar is one of the most famous towers in
.the world. It is 234 feet high and the highest single
.tower. in the world. The other famous towers are the
Leaning Tower of Pisa (in Italy) and the Great Pagoda
in Pekin (China), but they are not so high as the Qutb
Minar.
Some people think that the Minar was comnienced by
Prithvi Raj or his uncle Vigraharaja who conquered
.Delhi from the Tomar Rajputs. We do not know for
certain, but if either of them started it, Qutb-ud-din and
Altamsh finished it. The Minar was finished about
1220 A.D. ·and it has stood, like a sentinel on watch over
.Del.IU, ever since. When Ala-ud-din returned from his
wars in the Deccan he thought he would build another
Tower of Victory to celebrate his victories. It was to be
twice as high as the Qutb Minar. You can see the ruins
.of this great tower on the other side of the Qutb-ud-din's
mosque. But Ala-ud-din died when it was only just
:begun, and no one has ever finished it.
In the reig~ of Firoz Shah an earthquake damaged
the two top storeys. Firoz Shah repaired the Minar and
added a little pavilion at the top. It was repaired again
'by Sikandar Lodi in 1505. Later, in 1794, the Minar
was damaged again. Major Smith, an engineer, repaired
it, and instead of Firoz Shah's pavilion he placed a:
pavilion of his own on the top. In 1848 Lord Hardinge
removed this· and it now stands in the garden between
the dak bungalow and the Minar. You can see the two
:storeys· which Firoz Shah built ·because they are built
of white marble and are quite smooth. The lower three
storeys are the ones which Qutb-ud-din and Altamsh
built. They are built of red stone and have ribs of stone
which run up the Minar. ·
If you look at the Qutb Minar very carefully from a
distance you will see that the Minar is not quite perpendi-
cular that is, it leans a little to one side. That is the
result of the various earthquakes which have shaken it_
Nowadays it is very carefully looked after by the Archaeo-
logical Department, and they fill up any cracks in the
walls as soon as they appear.
Now let us look at the Minar more closely. In the
lower storeys there is beautiful carving like that on the
tomb of Altamsh. Round the tower are inscriptions.
These record that Altamsh completed the tower.
The walls are sloping in order to make the tower stronger.
If you jumped from the top you would never reach the
ground. You would hit the side of the Minar because
the walls slope outwards so much. Even if you were a
very good jumper you would do this.
We will mount the stairs to the top. Count them as-
you go up and see if you get the right total. There are
378. From the top of the Minar there is the finest view
of all the Delhis. Look just below and trace out the walls
of Lal Kot. Look along the road to. Delhi and you will
see on the left hand the Hauz Khas and on the right
hand the walls of Jahanpannah and Siri. From here
the Khilji and Tughlak kings watched the wild Mogul
hordes when they threatened Delhi. From here Mahmud
Tughlak watched Timur's army camped on the Willing-
don Airport. . Further off you will see on one side the
walls of Tughlakabad. On another side you see
Humayun's Tomb ;md the Purana Kila. Then come
Firoz Shah's Kotla -and the domes of the Jama Masjid.
T!PI QUTB MINAR 49
On another side is Safdar Jung's tomb and New Delhi.
On the last side is the rocky ground to the south west.
On this. side is the tomb of Sultan Ghari among the
rocks. Notice how the roads are marked by the avenues
of trees. When the land is dry they look like green
snakes wriggling across the country. Except for Rome,
there is no finer view of historical buildings in the world.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
THERE is a learned controversy as to the origin of the Minar.
The case !or the Hindu origin of the Minar is given by Rai
Bahadur Kanwar Sain in an article in the Punjab University
Historical Sot!iety Journal, Vol. III, Part II, No. 6 (December
1934). Rai Babadur Sain thinks it was started by Vigraharaja,
Prithvi Raj's uncle and predecessor. In any case it was finished
by Qutb-ud-din and Altamsh.
The chattri which Major Smith placed on the top of the
Minar was removed by Lord Hardinge in 1848 because its style
was quite different to that of the rest of the Minar. Note
that this Lord Hardinge was the Governor-General of 1844·8,
and not the recent Viceroy from I9IO.to 1916. .
If you look at the bottom of the Minar carefully, you will
see a number of little glass plates held in position by eoncrete
bands. These glass plates have been put there by the Archaeo-
logical Department. If there is the slightest movement of the
Minar, or the smallest crack in the stone, the glass will break.
You will very likely see one or two of them cracked. The
engineers then fill up the cracks with liquid cement, and so keep
the Minar strong and safe. At the time of the Bihar earthquake
a number of these glasses cracked. A very careful watch is
kept on the Minar by the engineers.
The Archaeological Department have published an excellent
handbook on the Qutb Minar and Mosque. You should read
this in your school library.
50 DELHI~ITS MONUMENTS AND liiSTORY
.14. THE LAL KOT (MAHRAULI)

WE will spend today visiting some of the other interesting
places at Mahrauli. Remember that Mahrauli was the
cap~tal_of the Indian Empire for two centuries and during
thaf time it was one of the largest cities in the world,
So do not think that when· you have seen the Mosque
and the Minar you have seen the whole city !
When you drive to Mahrauli you will notice that you
go up· a hill just before you ilrrive. Nearly at the top
of this hill you will see some earth and stones dug out
on either side of the road. We will stop ,the bus and
get down to look at it. You will see that these stones
are part of a wall. This wall is a piece of the city wall
of the Hindu city of Delhi. The archaeologists have
recently excavated it, so that we can see what it is like.
You will notice that the wall is very thick and strong.
The· archaeologists have only .excavated a small portion:
of the wall. But a mound of eatth covers the rest of it.
If you stand on the Qutb Minar you can trace the whole
circuit of ·the wall and see just how big the old city·
of Delhi was. You will see that it was not very latge.
Now we come to the entrance of the Qutb Mosque.
Here the road forks. The right hand fork goes to
Mahrauli town : the left hand to Tughlakabad. We will
take the left.fork first. Just pastthe dak bungalow }'OU
will see an old tomb. This is interesting because it was
once used by Sir Thomas Metcalfe. He used to come
here during. the rains as a change from his great house
at Delhi. Half a mile further we come to a mound by
the side of the road with a notice saying that it is the
Budaon Gate. In the days of the Sultans, Budaon was
a great city, · and this was the gate that people who
wanted to go there passed through. You can imagine a
THE LAL KOT (MAHRA,ULI) : 5t.
great concourse of people here. ·camels and ·mules ·
brought merchandise, soldiers on horseback pushed
through the crowd, noblemen on elephants and their
ladies in palanquins went by in stately procession. Their
servants cleared the way with loud cries. Great. was
the shouting, the bustle, the excitement and the
.confusion.
Now we will retrace our steps to the fork of the roads.· .
This time we will take the right-hand fork and walk
into Mahrauli. On the right you will see a very large
tomb. This is the tomb of Adham Khan. He was one
of Akbar's nobles and was the son of Maham Anaga and
his foster-brother. You yvill remember Atgah Khan's
tomb at Nizam-ud-din. Adham Khan was the man who
killed Atgah Khan and was himself killed by Akbar.
His mother built this large tomb for him. Once this
oomb was. used as a dak bungalow, and then as a police
. station. But whell Lord Curzon visited the Qutb he
saw this tomb and ordered that it should be properly
cared for.
A little further on a path leads off to the left to the
famous jumping well or Gandak ki Baoli. This was
built in Altamsh's reign. Ever since every visitor to
Delhi· has admired the skill of the men who dive into
the well.
We now come to the Mahrauli bazaar. In the middle
of the bazaar a lane turns off to the left which leads to
the Dargah of Qutb Sahib. Anyone in the bazaar will
tell you the· right turning. Qutb Sahib was a famous
pir who lived under Altamsh and died in i236. He was
such a holy man that many people wanted to be buried
near him just as they wanted to be buried near Nizam-
. ud-din Chishti. The grave of Qutb Sahib himself is of
plain earth, but it is surrounded by a marble ·enclosure:
52 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS A"ND HISTORY
Near it· are the marble graves of some of the late Mogul
emperors. There is the tomb of Bahadur Shah I, the son
of Aurangzeb, who reigned from 1707 to I7I2. He was
an old man when he came to the throne, but he did his
best to revive the empire during his short reign. He
made peace with the Marathas and the Rajputs and
restored order in the Punjab. He travelled from north
to south and south to north incessantly and never actually
stayed in Delhi at all. He was a very generous man and
, gave away many lands. For this reason he was called
Be-khabar or the Heedless King. Near him also lies
Shah Alam who reigned from 1759 to I8o6. He began
his reign as a fugitive in Bihar, and ended it as a pl!nsioner
of the British Government. He came back to Delhi in
1772 and for a time was successful with the help of his
minister Mirza ·Naja£ Khan. But after Naja£ Khan's
death his nobles quarrelled and he was blinded by the
Rohilla chief Ghulam Kadir Khan. · Madho Rao Sindhia
rescued him but after that he only enjoyed a nominal
authority. Shah Alam was a poet and wrote a touching
poem about ,his blindness. Between his grave and
Bahadur Shah I's grave is a space reserved for Bahadur
Shah II. Next to Shah Alam lies Akbar Shah II, who
reigned from r8o6 to r837.
Close to the Dargah is the palace of Bahadur Shah II,
the last Emperor. You can still see the gateway, but
the rest of the palace is in ruins. Bahadur Shah came
here in the rains every year. He used to hunt in the
country round, and he always went out in procession
at the festival of Punkahs in August. Bahadur Shah is
buried in Rangoon.
· If you walk through the bazaar you will come to a
fine tank with red pavilions round it. This was built
by Altamsli in the- thirteenth century (1229-30). There
THE LA L K 0 T ( M A H R A U L I) 53
are many more interesting monuments in Mahrauli, but
these we must visit another time.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Metcalfe's house. Near the tomb which Metcalfe used as
a house there is a tower on a stony ridge. This is locally known
as Metcalfe's Battery. But it is not a battery. It is a tower
built by Metcalfe in order that he might have something to
look at as he sat on the verandah of his house in the evening.
The tomb was that of Mohammad Quli Khan, brother of Adham
Khan, whose descen.dants sold it to Metcalfe. He did not
disturb the grave or ·use the burial chamber.
Adham Khan's tomb. This was also used as a house by
Me Blake. He was the assistant to the Resident at Jaipur and
was murdered there in 1827. .
The Jumping Well. This has no historical associations, but
it is interesting to visit. .
In Mogul times, after the new city of Shahjehanabad had
been built, Mahrauli became a country town. Many nobles
had country houses here because the hilly country round was
very good for sport. Many Delhi families still have houses
here which they visit in the rains.
15. SIRI
WE will choose a day in the cold weather for this
expedition for we shall have a lot of walking to do. We
can drive out along the Qutb road as far as the turning
to the Hauz Khas. A little way beyond this a new road
turns off to the left and there is a signpost marked
To Snu. Walk about half a mile along this road and you
wiii come to the walls of Siri. You can see the walls quite
clearly from the Qutb road before you start to walk.
The walls 'in some places are quite complete and you
can walk right round them. There are a number of
towers and gates. They are about a mile and a half
round. Inside there is today nothing but fields and
54 DELHI_;ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
crops. But once there was the great palace of Ala-ud-din
Khilji. Soon after Ala-ud-din came ,to the throne in
12!)6 the Moguls invaded India and marched right to
Delhi. They were then very fierce and uncivilized.
Ala-ud-din was not strong enough to fight them in the
open, so he retired to the Qutb. The Moguls occupied and
plundered all the suburbs of Delhi, and all the gardens
and palaces of the nobles. At last the Moguls retreated
because they were not strong enough to storm the walls
of Delhi and they did nc;>t like the hot weather. Ala-ud-
din determined that they should never plunder the
suburbs and gardens again. So he built the fort of Siri
to protect them. No on<! could plunder the suburbs
unless they first took the fort of Siri. Inside the fort
Ala-ud-din built a palace. In it was a hall which was
famous throughout India and was called the Hall of a
Thousand Pillars. We know' that this Hall was in Siri,
but we do not yet know its exact site. One day, perhaps,
the archaeologists will find it for us with their spades.
Ala-ud-din was a great warrior and did not have time
to live very much in Delhi. He it was who defeated the
Rajputs and took Ranthambor and Chitor in 1303. But
he is most famous for his campaign in the sofith. · He
conquered the Deccan and added it to the Delhi empire.
To celebrate this victory, he began a Minar which was
to be twice as high as the .Qutb Minar, but he did not
live to finish it. He also wanted to build a great mosque.
But Siri was not large· enough for a great mosque as
well as a palace. For this reason Ala-ud-din decided to
enlarge the mosque at the Qutb as we have already seen.
His monument there is the Alai Darwaza. In his time
Delhi bec~me the capital, not oril¥ of Hindustari, but
of all India. · ·· ·
Beyond Siri you ~ill see the walls of a large enclosure.
SIR! 55
This is Chiragh Delhi, where there is a saint's shrine.
The walls were built in the eighteenth century by a
nobleman and the. villagers took shelter there for safety.
There is a tomb in Chiragh ·Delhi which is probably thai
of Bahlol Lodi (died .1489). ·
Now we must retrace our steps back to the Qutb road.
As we come near the road there are two buildings of
interest. The first is a small tower which is known as
the Chor Minar. Its present name is due·to the fact that
it is said that thieves .used to be hung from it. It was
probably built in the reign of Ala-ud-din. Near here
there lived a colony of Moguls ..yho had .settled down in
Delhi. When the Mogul army came· to Delhi they were
tempted to join their brothers. Ala-ud-din thought they
were a danger to the city. ·He was a fierce and ruthless
king and so he killed them all. It was said that their
heads were stuck on spikes fixed to this tower' as a
warning to traitors.
The other building is quite near to the Chor Minar.
From a distance it looks just like a long wall. But when
you come up to it, you will find that it is an Idgah
mosque. There is an inscription on the wall, dated
1404 A.D. This was six years after Timur had come to
India and taken Delhi. It records the building of the
mosque and mentions the desolation of the city caused
by him. Compare this Idgah mosque with the present
Idgah near Delhi city, and you will realize that the people
who built it were very poor. • This was the best that
they ·could build after Timur had plundered Delhi:
All .around .you will see stones .and walls which teli
of the greatness of the city which stood here.. They are
the remains of the houses and palaces of the city. .When
you get back. to the Qutb ·road you are on the:outskirts
of the City. The cotintry· all around and 'specially on the
S6 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
other side of the road, was covered with gardens and
palaces and tanks. .
Just here, close to the main road, are some old
buildings. Close by is a little mosque which is called
the Nili Masjid or Blue Mosque. It was built in the
time of the Lodis and it still has some beautiful blue
tiles on its dome. These tiles came from Persia at the
end of the ISth century and were put on the domes of
buildings. When the Moguls came and had plenty of
money, they used marble instead.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
AN excursion to Siri s~ows the reality of the Mogul menace
to India in several ways. First it shows how the fortress of
Siri was built to repel the Moguls and how it was necessary
to protect the suburbs of Delhi. · Then the Chor Minar and
its story shows the terror which the Mogul invaders inspired.
If you read Persian poetry you can realize this still better from
the poems of Amir Khusrau, who once was taken prisoner by
them. ·Thirdly, the Wall Mosque shows to what poverty Delhi
was reduced when the ·Moguls under Timur at last took Delhi
in 1398. The· great work of the Slave, Khilji and Tughlak
dynasties was to save India from the Mogul terror which at that
time devastated Persia. Though many of these kings were hard
and ruthless men, in that respect they did a great service to
India. Remember that the. Moguls of Chinghiz Khan were wild
horsemen from Central Asia who despised cities and destroyed
all that they came across. It was in the fifteenth century that
they adopted the culture ·of Persia. Babur was a descendant
of Timur, but he was a cultured, honourable and tolerant man.
His arrival in India was on -the whole a blessing. The conquest
of India by Chinghiz Khan and his immediate successors would
have been an unmixed evil.
Siri. Ala-ud-din got the idea of a Hall of a Thousand Pillars
from the south. When he captured Madura, he found such
a hall there, and, as he always wanted to have the best of
everything, he determined to build a hall like it in Delhi. Later
as you will see, Mohammad Tughlak built another for his palace.
THE BI1AY MANDAL 57
16. THE BIJAY MANDAL
THE Bijay Mandai is about a mile from tbe Qutb near
the Delhi road. In order to get to it you should drive
along the Qutb road until you have passed the turning
to the Hauz Khas. A little way beyond this you will
see on tbe left-hand side of the road a large square-
looking tower with a building joined to it. This is the
Bijay Mandai and you will soon come to a little kachcha
·road with a notice To THE BIJAY MANDAL.
What is the Bijay Mandai ? It is all that is left of
the Palace of Mohammad Tughlak. You will remember
that Mohammad Tughlak succeeded his father Ghiyas-
ud-din in 1325. He did not like his father's city of
Tughlakabad, so he decided to return to the old city
of Delhi. But tbat city. had grown too big for the
walls of Lal Kot. Ala-ud-din had built the fort of Siri
and in between Siri and Mahrauli were houses and ·
gardens and shops. But tbey were unfortified and
unpootected from the Mogul raids. Mohammad Shah
decided that he would make tbis place his capital. So
he built a great wall from Siri to Lal Kot and made
three cities into one. He called this city Jahanpannah
(' the refuge of the world ') and in tbe middle he built
his palace and mosque.
You can still see one of the city walls if you walk
to the village of Khirki. You can do tbis either from
the Bijay Mandai or the Qutb. The path.is across fields,
and villagers will direct you. In tbe wall you will notice
sluices or gates for water. The reaso1;1 for these water-
gates is that Mohammad Shah made a great lake or
tank between his city of Jahanpannah and Tughlakabad.
These gates let the water in. and out; ·The lake must
have been very beautiful. Today you can see that the
s8 DJlLHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
land is very flat and easy to flood. Now it is very fertile ..
Now we will look at; the Bijay Mandai itself. Close
to the building on the Qutb road side are some founda-
tions which have been excavated. These are the remains
of the royal baths or hammam and the zenana. Next
we will mount the tower. From it you get a fine view
of the countryside. .Itis said that Mohammad Shah used
to sit on this roof and review his troops who marched
about below.·. In those days the tower had a pavilion
on the top of it.
You will find that the building which joins the tower
has a large platform or chabutra. You can see the places
where the pillars stood. This was the Diwan-i-Khas or
Hall of Private Audience, where Mohammad Shah
consulted his counsellors. Many matters of state were
discussed here. On one side of the platform you can
see the remains of a sloping path which ran up from
the· ground to the platform. It is steep, but has no steps.
That was to enable the royal elephants to bring the
king up to his private apartments. Behind the platform
are the remains of rooms which were the .private apart-
ments of the king. In these rooms are two stone vaults
or holes in the ground. These were treasure chambers.
When the archaeologists opened them a few years ago
they found at the bottom some gold coins of south
India. Probably Ala-ud-di!l brought them back with
him from his campaigns in the south.
If you go through these rooms to the other side you
will see that there is a level space on the ground with
. holes in regular lines. This is all that remains of the.
Diwan-i-Amm or Hall of Public Audience. Until it
was excavated a few years ago we h.ew nothing about.
it. This hall was called the Hall of a Thousand Pillars.
Ala-ud-din built a Hall of a Thousarid Pillars in his
THE BIJAY MANDAL 59
palace at Siri a few years before. Mohammad Tughlak
was determined .that his palace should be as fine as
Ala-ud-din's, so he built a Hall of a Thousand Pillars
also. It was a. very large hall. We caimot se.e all. of it
today because part of it is now covered by a cemetery.
Close to the Bija.y Manda! is a village and close to
the village is a large mosque. This was .the Jama Masjid
Clf Jahanpannah and here Mohammad Shah went in
state to pray. In those days the walls were covered with
plaster and decorated with texts and paint. Today. all
these things have gone, but we can still admire the great
courtyard and the fine proportions of the mosque. Until
a few years ago the mosque was occupied by the village
which is called Begumpur. The Archaeological Depa.rt-
ment moved the villagers out and gave them new houses
just outside.
Mohammad Shah was a very cle~er and brave king,
but he was also cruel and changeable. It was he who
moved the capital to Daulatabad in the Dec;can and took
all the inhabitants of Delhi with him. A few years later
he grew tired of Daulatabad and moved all the people
- back to Delhi. Ibn Batuta, the great Arab traveller, was
the Kazi of Delhi for some years under Mohammad
Shah. He thu& describes the king :
'This king is of all men the fondest of making gifts
and shedding blood. His gate is never without some
poor man enriched or some living man executed, and
stories are current amongst the people of his generosity
and courage and of his cruelty and violence towards
criminals.'
ADDITIONAL NOTES
The Bijay Mandai. The tomb standing close to one corner
of the Bijay Mandai has nothing to do with Mohammad Shah's
palace. It was built later.
The Hall of a Thousand Pillars had two storeys, and the
pillars were of wood. That is why they have disappeared,
and you can now only see the sockets into which they were
fixed. If you count the lines of sockets and allow for the
portion covered by the cemetery you will find that there were
very nearly 500 pillars on each floor. For the origin of Halls
of a Thousand Pillars see under Siri.
There are some excavations between the Mandai and the
mosque. These are thought to have been part of the royal
stables. ·
The mosque. Many large mosques near Delhi and elsewhere
were occupied by villagers in the eighteenth century. The
reason was the insecurity of those times. If there was any stone
enclosure large enough .the villagers moved into it for protection.
If there was none they built mud walls round their villages.
They could then defy looters, and would bargain with revenue
officers about their land-tax from behind their walls. Soldiers
spent much of their time going round the country collecting
revenue, because the villagers would not pay unless force was
used, and they saw that it was useless to resist.
17. HAUZ KHAS

ToDAY we shall go to another well-known place near
Delhi. You can go either by bus or tonga, for there is
a good road all the way. Between two and three miles
from Safdar Jung's tomb on the Qutb road there is a
group of tombs, and here the road to Hauz Khas turns.
off on the right. It is plainly marked with a signpost.
The Hauz Khas is at the end of this road, about a mile
from· the main 'road. You enter the enclosure by a
gateway and immediately find yourself in a garden, well
cared for by the Archaeological Department.
· H AU Z K H AS 6I
First we will look at the Hauz Khas itself. It is a
great space nearly square. Two sides are nearly half
a mile long and the other two nearly three furlongs.
You can trace all the banks of the tank quite easily. In
the centre is an island with the ruins of a pavilion on
it. If you go there after the winter rains or in the
monsdon you will· see water in the corner nearest to
you : otherwise the tank will probably be dry. This
tank was filled by rain-water which drained o.ff the ridge
about a mile away. Behind that ridge there is now
the new cantonments. If you walk round the tank
(which I hope you will do) ·you will find a gap ih the
bank on the side opposite to the main buildings (and
nearest to the ridge). This is probably where the water
came in. In the old days the tank was filled during the
rains and it must then have been a very fine sheet of
water. We have nothing like it in Delhi today. In the
hot weather Ferishta says that it dried up round the
banks and then it was sown with sugarcanes, cucumbers;
green melons and pumpkins. When Timur had defeated
Mahmud Tughlak and Mallu Khan he encamped on
the banks of the .Hauz Khas before entering the city
of Delhi. He says that it was so large ' that a man
cannot shoot an arrow across it'. Probably the Hauz
Khas was neglected in the troubles after Timur's invasion,
It. has never been used since. The tank is very fertile,
and if you visit it during the cold weather you will see
the floor of the tank waving with crops of various kinds.
The Hauz Khas was built by Ala-ud-din and was the
private or royal tank of the king. That· is why it is
called the Hauz Khas. Firoz Shah Tughlak repaired it.
He must have loved it very much, -for he built a madras:i
on its banks and his own tomb in oni: corner. · The
madrasa forms the two ranges of buildings at the corner
5
fi2 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
of the tank. · You will notice that on top of the chief
buildings are halls of pillars. Underneath there are rows
of rooms with a verandah' in front. In some places the
verandah has fallen down, but in others it is still standing.
The pillared halls were lecture rooms, where the students
sat with the maulvis, and the rooms below were the
seats of the students. You can count· up these rooms
for yourself, and see how many students the madrasa
could hold. Very likely there were two students to
each room. At one end of the building was a mosque
which no doubt the students used. This madrasa was
a college for the study of Arabic. It was founded by ,
Firoz Shah and was the largest and best !:Ollege of its
time. This college also was ruined by Timur's invasion.
In those days Delhi was a far greater seat of learning
than it is today.
At the corner of the college stands the tomb of Firoz
Shah himself. It is a ·square, strong-looking building,
but most of its decoration has disappeared. Inside is
the grave of the king, and beside him lie two of his
family. He was nearly ninety years old when he died
in 1388. In the garden outside the college are a nu~ber
of little domes supported by pillars, or chattris. We do
not know exactly what they were, but some of· them
are probably tombs. There is also quite a large pillared
hall. It was perhaps a mailis khana or assembly hall
for the college.
As you walk round the tank you will see a number
of large tombs. These were tombs of noblemen of the
Tughlak period. Most of the_m have no inscription and
so we do not know exactly who were' buried in them.
Near the Qutb road there is another group of tombs.
They were built later, in the fifteenth century, arid they
are also nameless.
HAUZ KHAS
ADDITIONAL NOTES
WHEN you VISit the Hauz Khas, you should explore for your-
self the ~iffereilt _parts of the madrasa-the lecture rooms,
assembly halls, students' rooms and mosque. This will make
it easier for you to imagine what a great madrasa was like.
During the Sultanate Delhi was a great seat of learning.
Altamsh was the first great patron of learning and most of
the later kings also encouraged scholars. Scholars were rewarded
by pensions and royal gifts. Colleges were supported by the
grant of rent-free lands. Mter Timor's invasion many scholars
fled or were killed ; the lands were seized by others and so
the college revenue ceased, and then the colleges were deserted.
Delhi· became a seat of learning again .under Shah Jehan and
Aurangzeb, but in the troubles of the eighteenth century the
<:olleges lost their endowments again. While visiting the Hauz
Khas yo11 can picture to yourself what college education was
like in medieval India. The madrasas, like the one at Hauz
Khas, were the universities of the time. Here Arabic was
studied, and then the Koran, and Muslim theology and philo-
~ophy and law. From these colleges came the mau/vis and
kazis. of the empire. Persian was studied by the nobles. But
they usually had private tutors and did not go to colleges. The
<:ommercial classes (merchants, shopkeepers, etc.) learnt reading
and writing in their vernacular (Hindi or Urdu) and had their
<>wn schools. There were no great Sanskrit colleges in Delhi
and the Hindus who wanted to study Sanskrit seriously went
to Benares.
The buildings at Hauz Khas are typical examples of the
Tughlak style. Note the strong square pillars, the few arches,
the absence of ornament. Note also the sloping walls of Firoz
Shah's tomb.
A word of caution I There is a big drop from the madrasa
to the tank below; Be careful that in your excitement you
.do not fall over I
18. TUGHLAKABAD
You can see Tughlakabad in the distance as you go
along in the train towards Agra, or in a bus along the
Muttra road, or from the Qutb Minar. .But it is not so
easy to get to it. Yet it is one of the best places to yisit
near Delhi in the cold weather. There are three ways
of reaching it. Firstly, you can go by train to Tugh-
lakabad station (Badarpur village) and walk about two
miles to Tughlakabad. · Secondly, you can go by road
along the Muttra road to Badarpur, and then turn sharp
right to Tughlakabad. Thirdly, you can go to the Qutb
and there turn left to Tughlakabad. The most interesting
thing is to make a round trip by road-that is to go
one way and return the other. This is what we will do.
We will start along the Muttra road: After you have
passed Nizam-ud-din you should keep a look-out on the
left-hand side of the road. You will see a lot of brick-
fields and if you are sharp you will also see some towers
about twenty feet high shaped like this :
They stand in fields at intervals of about two
miles and are Kos-minars or mile-stones.
They were placed by Akbar along the Grand
Trunk Road .all the way from Agra to
Ambala.
At Badarpur we turn right, cross the B. B. & C. L
railway, and soon come to Tughlakabad. We wilL
drive right on until · we come to a tomb wi~h a
marble donie and a wall round it on the left-hand side of
the road. Now look around you. Close by you are the·
walls of the citadel or Fort of Tughlakabad. There is a
gateway, and if you go inside you will see the ground
strewn with ruins of every sort. You can climb up into
the fort and sit on the battlements and. look at the view~
TUGHLAKABAD ~
Here the founder, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak, often sat and
looked over the plains of Pelhi. See how high and
strong the walls are, See how grim and stern they look I
See too, that the walls do not stand straight up, but
are sloping. This was to make them stronger still.
Now we will look at the marble tomb. We walk
along a little causeway of stone and enter a fortified
enclosure. Inside this stands a tomb of red stone with
a white marble dome. You can see this dome from the .
Qutb ·Minar. This tomb is tl;lat of Ghiyas-ud-din
Tughlak, the founder of the Tughlak dynasty. Beside
him lies his wife Makh Dumai Jehan, and his son
Mohammad Tughlak, who built the Bijay Mandai and the
Begum pur mosque, and died at Thatta in Sind in 1351.
Now why is the tomb fortified and why is there a
causeway to it ? Look round carefully, and you will
see that the land is very flat and that the road is raised
some feet above it. On one side is the city and on
another are stony hills. In this space between the city
and the hills .was a lake or tank, and Ghiyas-ud-din's
tomb was in the middle of this lake. The causeway
was necessary to reach the tomb. The wall round the
tomb was built to protect it from Mogul raiders who ·
might loot ·it. Look again, and you will see that .a
stream runs into the plain from the city. This supplied
the lake with water. Besides this there was the monsoon
rain which came down from the hills. At the end of
this level plain 'towards Badarpur there is a bund which
kept the water in on that side. On the hill opposite is
a small fort, called Adilabad. It was meant to protect
the lake on that side.
If you are feeling very energetic you can walk right
round the city of Tughlakabad. It is about three-and-a-
half miles round.
Ghiyas-ud-dm Tughlak was one of the · Maliks o£
Ala-ud-din Khilji. He was Governor of Samana undei:
his son. When Khusru Khan, 'the sweeper king', seized
the throne, he marched to Delhi, and defeated and killed
him in 1321. In those days the Moguls were very fierce
and destructive, and every one feared them very much.
Ghiyas decided to build a fortress which would be too
strong for them to take. So he built Tughlakabad in
these stony hills and finished it in less than four years.
Because there was little water there he made the lake
·which I have just described.
Ghiyas-ud-din was a great soldier a11d a stern ruler.
He restored order in Hindustan and repulsed the
Moguls. Then he marched to Bengal and put down a
rebellion there. :At this time he quarrelled with Nizam-
ud-din, as related in Chapter 8. On his return his son
Mohammad went out to meet him at Afghanpur. Ghiyas
sat under a pavilion and reviewed his troops. After some
time Mohammad retired and elephants . were brought
before the king. One of them knocked against a wooden
pillar and the whole pavilion fell on the king and killed
him. Mohammad said it was an accident, but many
people thought he had arranged it all on purpose.
Nizam-ud-din prophesied that Tughlakabad would be
the abode of jackals and Gujars, and so it turned out:
Mohammad Shah did not like Tughlakabad and built
Jahanpannah. The city was deserted and today there
is only a little village there-of Gujars.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
WHEN you go on this expedition, read in your books about
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak. He was a fine and strong ·character,
for he did not seek the throne and only marched to Delhi
when his mast~r's son had been murdered .:ind the empire .was
SURAJ KUND fYJ
in confwion. He restored order and saved India for a time
from the Mogul invasions.
There .was one great defect about Tughlakabad, that was
lack of water. Ghiyas made the· lake in order to remedy this
defect. But the wells of Tughlakabad only had bitter. (or
brackish) water, and there must have been much sickness. This
lack of good water was probably one of the chief reasons why
Mohammad Tughlak abandoned Tughlakabad.
In the city wall near to the bund which enclosed the lake
on the Badarpur side there is a gateway. All the upper stone-
work has fallen away and just the arch is left. You can see
the keystone of this arch very clearly. It is an excellent example ·
of the true arch with a keystone. It also illustrates the strength
of the true arch, because though all the building above it has
fallen this arch still stands.
The buildings of Tughlakabad are remarkable for their
strength and solidity and for their sloping walls. Their effect
has been compared to that of ancient Egyptian architecture,
which is equally strong and solid, and also has sloping walls:
They reflect the whole spirit of the Tughlak dynasty and the
character of its founder, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak.
The walls of Badarpur were built in the early eighteenth
century as a serai. The villagers moved into the enclosure, as
in so. many other places, when the time of troubles began.
Badarpur marked the first full stage from Delhi to Agra along
the Grand Trunk road. Badarpur is eleven miles from the
Delhi gate.
19. SURAJ KUND

THIS is the longest excursion which we shall take from
Delhi. You have to walk some distance and most of
the country is bare of trees and rocky. So.it is best to
go to Suraj Kund in December or January when the
weather is cold. ·
There are two ways of reaching· Suraj Kund. The
first is to go to Tughlakabad station by the B. B. & C. I ..
railway.· Or else you can go to Badarpur along the
·68 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
Muttra road. From there you must walk for about two
miles across open country. There is a village about half-
way where they will direct you. Towards the end· you
-come to rocky country, and then suddenly you will come
to a small valley with a bund across it. On the other
side is a charming jhil. Over the hill on the rightchand
side of the valley is the tank of Suraj Kund. The other
way. is this. You go by road to Tughlakabad. On the
side nearest Badarpur is a little temple and dharmsala
in a hollow•. Here you will see a large signpost-
To. SuRAJ KuND. A path leads for about two miles
straight to the great tank. This is now well marked out so
that you need no guide. There are always some country
people at the temple if you want help of ·any sort.
What are we going to see ? Suraj Kund is the site
of the oldest city of Delhi of which. there are any visible
remains. This city was built by Anang Pal, a Tomar
Rajput, in the early years of the eleventh century (about
1020 A.D.). It was probably occupied for about a century
when the city was moved to the Qutb. We have no
records of this time; and so we can only guess at the
reason for the choice of this site. You will see that
all the country round is very rocky and barren, and very
hot in the summer. There is little water. But it is also
very defensible. Now think· what was happening in
India about I020. It . was the time of Mahmud of
Ghazni's invasions. He spread terror over all northern
India. Very likely Anang Pal chose this site because it
was very strong and out-of-the-way, and so he hoped
that he would be safe from Mahmud of Ghazni.
Now we will start our walk-choosing the path from
Badarpur. This brings us to a small rocky vaJiey, with
the bund and ~he jhil. The stream which runs down
this vaJiey is very small. But the city .depended on it
SURA J KUND 69
for water. So the bund was built to keep the water in.
First we climb the hill on the right-hand side of the
bund. When you reach tlie top you will see just below
you the great tarik of Suraj Kund. It is a great semi-
circle of masonry. There are steps all round the
semicircle. In the middle of the straight side are the
steps of a large building. This
was a temple to Surya, which gives
its name to the tank. You will
see that at one corner th~re is a
gap in the masonry. This is where
·water flowed into the tank.
There is still a sinall spring there.
Further round there is a gap in the steps and a stone
road runs down to the water. This was for the elephants
when they came down to the water to bathe. There is
always water in the tank unless the season is very dry.
Suraj Kund is the largest and finest Hindu monument
in all Delhi. ·
From Suraj Kund we will go back to the bund and
the jhil. Climb the hill on the othe'r side. At once
you will come across the remains of a city. There. are
stones and walls and pillars. There is also one well. I
have never found another. What does this show ? It
shows that the city was very short of water. It explains
why the king made tanks and lakes to keep the water in.
Next we go back to the bund and the jhil in the
valley. But it is not yet time to return, for there is
more to see. We must walk up the valley and follow
the stream. The. valley is very pretty, with palm trees
and crops. It is about a mile long. After a time the
valley enters a gorge, where the rocks on either side
are quite high. Here 'there is a Gujar village. Just
beyond the village there is a wall across the valley.
70 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND _HISTORY
Anang Pal built this too.. It is easy to climb up this bund
and walk upon it. If you look carefully you will see
that there is a gateway (or sluice) in the bund. . This
· gate could be opened or shut, and so the flow of water
was regulated. On the rocks above the bund is a chattri.
I expect Anang Pal used to sit there and enjoy the
cool breeze~.
As you stand on the bund, look at the country around.
The narrow valley opens out and forms a circular plain
or basin in the hills. It is very fertile and green with
crops. You can see the villagers working at thejr wells
and in the fields. In the middle of the plain is a group·
of trees. This is the village of Anandpur. It is named
2fter Anang Pal. It shows how the memory of great
men continues in the countryside long after other people
have forgotten all about them. All this smiling plain
was a great lake in the time of Anang Pal. The big
bund was built to keep the water in. It was this lake
which supplied the ·city with water during the hot
weather.
These ruins show us two things. First, that the time
was one of great danger and insecurity, and secondly,
that Anang Pal was a great and energetic king. ·
ADDITIONAL NOTES
WHEN you visit Suraj Kund think of Mahmud of· Ghazni, as
it illustrates the fear which he inspired. Mahmud took and·
sacked Meerut, but he did not come to Delhi. So he was very
near to Delhi. Perhaps Suraj Kund was too strong for him.
There are certain practical points to notice about. a visit to
Suraj Kund. It is the most difficult of all the excursions, but
it is one of the most worth while. You should visit it if. you
possibly can. The trip requires a whole day. ·If you go from
the temple at Tughlakabad be sure that you do not stray from
the path· on the way. The rocks are so confusing that you
SU.RAJ KUND 71
can easily get lost. Before the path was clearly marked it was
necessary to !'Ike_ a guipe.. Once you. hav:e _reacil.ed the great
tank the rest -is easy. --You have only to follow the valley from
the little jhil and bund. When you are looking at the ruins
of the city, yo11 should take_ care you do .t!ot wander away too far.
The other route, from Badarpur, is over easier country, but
it is a mile' longer. · · · . -.. · ·- · : ·
·. You will need some food arrangements. A Hinclu party might
arrange to cook food at the temple dharmsala. You ,-hould
take your supplies with· you, though there is a baza_ar, i1,1_ Badar;
pur where any_ party could arrange for foOd. ' ' .
PART IV-NEW DELHI
20. THE JANTAR MANTAR
THE Jantar Mantar or Delhi Observatory is in Parliament
Street on the left-hand side as you go from Connaught ·
Place to the Council House. It stand~ in a well-kept
enclosure and is maintained by the Jaipur State, to which
it belongs. You will usually see the Jaipur .flag flying
there.
The Observat~ry was built by Maharaja Jai Singh of
Jaipur in 1710 A.D. when Delhi was still the capital of
:; flourishing Mogul empire. Jai Singh was a keen astro-
nomer who studied Hindu, Muslim and European
astronomical works. He found that the astronomical
tables then being used by the pandits were defective, so
that the actual times of eclipses, etc., were different from
the times stated in the tables. He thought that this was
due to the fact that the existing instruments were small
and faulty. He therefore built these large instruments
of his own invention. They were so solid that they
could not shake, and so large that there could not be
any error of calculation. Then he· took observations of
the stars for seven years in order to prepare a new
catalogue of stars. But still Jai Singh was not quite
satisfied. So he. built similar observatories at Jaipur,
Ujjain, Benares and Mathura (Muttra). Then he took
observations at these places also and found that the
observations in all these places fully agreed. So you see
Jai Singh was a very thorough and a very patient scholar.
As a result of his work the tables used by the pandits to
predict the movements of the stars were corrected. These
tables have been used ever since.
THE JANTAR MANTAR 73
The Observatory contains six instruments. They are :
(i) The Samrat Yantra (The Supreme Instrument).
(ii) The Jai Prakash (Invention of Jai)-two comple-
.mentary concave curved buildings, just to the
south of the Samrat Yantra.
(iii) The Ram Y antra-two large circular buildings
. together forming a circle, to the south of the Jai
Prakash. ·
(iv) The Misra Yantra (Mixed Instrument)-to the
north-west of the Samrat Yantra.
(v) A measuring platform to the south ofthe Misra
Yantra.
(vi) Two pillars to the south-west of the Misra Yantra;
ot
The Samrat Yantra is the largest all the instruments.
It is a huge sundial. It is what astronomers call a gnomon
or a right-angled triangle standing vertically upon the
earth. The hypotenuse, or sloping edge, is inclined at
the same angle as the latitude of Delhi (28° 3i) and so
it always points towards the north pole and is parallel
to the earth's axis. A staircase runs up this slope, so
that you can easily climb up and read the figures marked
on the edge. On either side of the sundial are two
large brick quadrants, or quarters of a circle. It is on
these quadrants that the shadow of the sundial falls,
giving us the solar or sun time. You can read the time
for yourselves on these quadrants. The marks on the
northern edge of a quadrant show hours, minutes and
seconds ; and on the southern edge gharis, pals and
vipals. On any day you can watch the shadow moving
round this great sundial and so see how the earth moves
endlessly round the sun. ·
The Jai Prakash is a complicated instrument which Jai
Singh himself invented. The two halves of the building
74 DELHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND 'HISTORY
form two hollows or cups which together represent the
heavenly sphere. Important points and circles are drawn
on it, and in the centre there is an iron pole, with four
hooks on it facing North, South, East and West. Near
the bottom of the wall facing the south side of the
Eastern hemisphere is a hole. The sun shines througli
this hole only on one day in each year, 21 March, or the
vernal equinox. The figures on the wall opposite show
the sun's position in the heavens at the time of the
equinox.
South of the Jai Prakash stands the Ram Yantra. It
consists of two large circular buildings open at the top.
Each building is a circular wall with a pillar in the
middle. One building would have been sufficiep.t, but
two were built in order that spaces might be left for the
observer to come in and out. Each of the two buildings
is therefqre not quite complete, but taken together they
form one complete instrument. The purpose of the
Ram Yantra is to read altitude and azimuth1 of the stars.
This corresponds to latitude and longitude on the earth.
On the walls and floors are the figures for doing this.
About 50 yards north-west of the Prakash Yantra is
the Misra Yantra or Mixed Instrument. It is called the
mixed instrument because · one building contains five
separate instruments. One of these is the Niyat Chakra _
Yantra. It is a sundial like the Samrat Yantra. On each
side of it are two graduated semicircles. These circles
represent the meridians of Greenwich (England), Zurich
(Switzerland), Notkey (Japan) and Serichew (Pic Island
in the Pacific). They enable us to tell the time at these
places when it is noon in Delhi, and the time at Delhi
when it is noon in these places. The other_ instruments
1 ' Azimuth' literally means 'vertical arc of .sky from zenith
to horizon. Angular distance of thJs from the meridian '.
THE JANTAR MANTAR 75
are for various purposes, Your teachers will explain
them to you.
The two pillars to the south-west of the Misra Yantra
are built in order to determine the shortest and longest
days of the year (21 December and 21 June). In
December one pillar casts its shadow completely over
the other pillar. In June it does not cast any shadow
at all upon it.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
I. THE elements of the Observatory are :
Latitude 28° 37" 35" N.
Longitude 77° I3' 5" E. of Greenwich.
Height above sea-level, 695 feet.
Local time 2I minutes, 7·7 seconds after standard time.
2. The Samrat Yantra (or Supreme Instrument) is the central
building of the observatory. It is built into a quadrangular
excavation about IS feet deep, 125 feet from east to }Vest, and
I20 feet from north to south. The foundation and some portion
of it are below the ground level, the height now visible being
60.3 feet. It is in principle one of the simplest ' equal hour'
sundials. It consists of a huge gnomon in the form of a right-
angled triangle and two quadrants of a circle attached to it, one
to the east and the other to the west. The triangle stands in
the ·plane of the meridian, i.e. exacdy in north-south direction.
The larger side containing the right-angle measures II3-5 feet
and is on the level ground while the shorter side is vertical and
6o. 3 feet ·high. The hypotenuse or the inclined edge of the
gnomon is I28 feet long and is inclined to the horizontal at an
angle of 28° 3i which; is nearly equal to the latitude of Delhi,
so that the hypotenuse points towards the north pole and is
parallel to the Earth's axis.
In order to enable an observer to read graduations on the
inclined edge, the gnomon is duplicated and stairs are provided
between the two inclined edges.· The quadrants are. arcs of
circles whose planes are perpendicular to the edges of the gnomon
and hence parallel to the plane of the Equator, so that th"
shadow cast on the quadrant by the gnomon meets the edges
of the quadrant at right-angles. The graduations on the
inclined edges give declination (namely, the distance north or
south of the plane of the celestial Equator). The portions of
the quadrants near the points where they intersect the gnomon
are now submerged under the ground, and hence the local times
when the sun is near the meridian on either side of it cannot
be read. The width of a quadrant is 7 feet 7! inches. The
graduations on the northern edge of a quadrant show hours.
minutes and seconds while those on the southern edge show
gharis, pals and vipals. .
On the top of the gnomon' there is a small circular vertical
pillar on which is mounted a horizontal sundial of the European
type which was probably constructed in 1910. (N.B.-The style
·of this European dial is now b~oken and so the dial has become
useless.)
In the mass of masonry work that supports the east quadrant
there is a chamber which contains the Shashthamsa Yantra (the
Sextant). This js a large graduated arc 6o 0 in length built
on a wall in the plane of the meridian. There is a small orifice
near the top of the quadrant, and through it the sun, as it crosses
the ineridian, shines on the arc and indicates its meridian
altitude (i.e. altitude when it is on the meridian). (N.B.-The
orifice is still there but the arc of 6o 0 is obliterated and so
the Shashthamsa Yantra is now out of order.)
3· The Jai Prakash is situated immediately south of the Samrat
Yantra and consists of two complementary concave hemispheres.
The diameter of each hemisphere is 27 feet 5 inches. The
circle forming the rim of each hemisphere is the horizon and
is divided into degrees and minutes. The lowermost point in
the .centre represents the zenith. The two hemispheres are so
constructed that some parts have been left out in each with
a view to providing access to the different parts of the instru-
ment for reading graduations, the vacant parts of one cor-
responding with the built parts qf the other, so that the two
hemispheres taken together show the complete surface of the
celestial sphere and are a represeotation of it with the important
points and, circles drawn on it. Originally cross-wires were
stretched across. each hemisphere north .to south and east to
west,. at the point of intersection of which. there was a circular
piece of metal with a hole in the centre. The image of the.
THE.·J A.NTAR. MAN TAR 77
sun passing through. ~his hole on the concave surface indicated
the position. of the sun. The cross-wires are no longer there,
but. in the . centre of . th~ he~isphere there is now a vertical
circular iron pole of about 2 inches in diameter equal in height to
the radius of the hemisphere and at its top fo11r hooks facing
north, east, south and west are fixed.
Near the bottom of the wall facing the south side of the
eastern hemisphere· there is a hole through which rays of the
sun shine on a graduated arc on an inside wall of the supported
chamber at one moment only in the year, namely, at the vernal
equinox which occurs each year on 21 March. The graduations
on the arc indicate the sun's position in the heavens at the
vernal equinox. ·
4· The Ram Yantra is situated south of the Jai Prakash and
consists of two large circular buildings open at the top. Each
building consists of a circular wall and a circular pillar at the
centre.. The inside radius measured from the circumference of
the central pillar to the wall is 24 feet 6! inches and the same
is the height of the walls and pillar. The diameter of the central
pillar is 5 feet .3! inches. The walls and floor. are graduated
to read azimuth and altitude. The horizontal floor is ·cut up
into 30 sectors at. spaces of 6 degrees. The graduated sectors
are supported on pillars 3 feet high so that the observer can
place his eye at any point on the scale.. The walls also are
broken up in such a manner that one pillar of the wall is
joined to one sector. At the sides of each opening ·of the walls
there are. notches for placing sighting bars, though there are no
such. bars now. The central pillar is graduated by vertical
stripes each 6° in width. The two buildings could have been
made only .one by having the circular floor and walls continuous
without leaving vacant spaces in; them, ,but to provide room for
the access of the observer to all parts of the instrument, the
circular floor has been divided into sectors and only alternate
sectors are drawn in on<1 building while those left out are built
in the other building. Thus the .vacant spaces in one correspond
witb the se~tors in the other and vice versa. The same is the
case with the pillars of the circular walls. The two buildings
are thus complementary, i.e. part of one and the same instrument.
The use of this instrument is to find altitude and azimuth of
heavenly bodies.
6
5· The Misra Yantra (or Mixed Instrument) is situated to
the north-west of Samrat Yantra at a distance of 140 feet from
it. It is called the Mixed Instrument because it combines in
one building five separate instrumentS, viz :-
(i) The Niyat Chakra Yantra.
(ii) The Samrat Yantra.
(iii). The Agra Yantra.
(iv) The Dakshinovritti Yantra.
( v) The Karkarasi Valaya.
(i) The Niyat Chakra Yantra occupies the middle of the
building and consists of a gnomon with two graduated semi-
circles on either side, ending at the central gnomon.· The centres
of the semi..:ircles lie on the gnomon, and· at' these centres there
are holes to hold a rod or stick. The semi-<:ircles are so con-
structed as to represent the meridians of Greenwich, . Zurich;
Notkey (a village in Japan) and Serichew (a town in Pic Island
in the Pacific Ocean, east of Russia). ·We can therefore find the
declinations of the sun at those tim!" ar ·Peihi. which correspond
to the noon at these ·four places, .and cari· also find the times
when ir is noon at these places. ·
(ii) On either side of the Niyat Chakra· and joined to it is
half of an equinoctial dial built on: the same principle as the
large Samrat Yantra. · The half-instrument to the west gives
time and declination before noon and· the other half-instrument
to the east gives time and declination after noon. .
(iii) The Agra Yantra (or amplitude instrument) is the
second quadrant on the west side of the building.- ·The purpose
for which this was constructed is not definitely known. •
(iv) The Dakshinovritti (meridian circle) is It~ graduated semi-
circle on the eastern wall of the building and is made exactly
in the North and South line, starting from o" in the North
and South to 90° in the centre. At the centre of this ·arc is
a hole in which a peg can be fixed.. It 'corresponds to the
modern transit circle. Its use is to observe the altitude of a
heavenly body when it is passing the meridian. '
(v) The Karkarasi Valaya, or 'circle of the sign of Cancer',
is a graduated semi-<:ircle engraved in plaster on the northern
wall of the building. It is made in the east-west line, starting
from 0° in the east to x8o 0 in the west with 90° at the
NEW DELHI 79
bottom. At the centre a peg is fixed which projects outwa,rds
from the wall towards the north. The inclination of the
northern wall to the vertical is about 5°. The sun, therefore,
shines over the north wall for a short period and the shadow
of the centre peg falls on the graduated circle,. showing the.
sign of the Zodiac in which the sun is passing. ..
6. The two pillars to the south-west of the Misra Yantra
distant 17 feet with the line joining their centres pointing 35°
east of north determine the shortest and the longest days of
the year, which occur on 21 December and 21 June respectively.
In one case the southern pillar casts a full shadow on the other
pillar, while in the other case it does not cast any shadow at all
on it.
N.B.-To the west of the Samrat Yantra is a small building
(a chowkidar's house) and on it is fixed the Jaipur Flag. ·
21. NEW DELHI

YouR knowledge of Delhi will not be complete without
a visit to New Delhi.
New Delhi was planned by two architects-Sir Edwin
Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker. Sir Edwin Lutyens is
now President of the Royal Academy, which is the great
artistic body of England. He. designed the Viceroy's
House, which is the best building in New Delhi. The
style of the principal buildings is what we call Classical
or Greek. There are pillars and domes, but very few ·
arches. When you find any arches you will see that
they are round and not pointed. The reason why "the
Classical or Greek style is used in Delhi is that this
style is suited to northern India. .Ancient Greece was
a hot and dry country. The climate was rather like the
climate of northern India. In ·sum men it was not quite
so hot, and the cold weather was a little colder. But
in Greece the. air is clear, the sky is blue and the sun
usually shines. ·
8
But while the style is Classical or Greek the details
of the buildings are Indian. For example, in the Secre-
tariat and the Viceroy's House you will see that the
columns (or pillars) are like those used at Sarnath by
Asoka. There are stone and marble screens or jalis, etc.
All this work was done by Indian masons. Some of
them came from Agra and were the descendants of the
men who built Akbar's Palace and the Taj. Some came
from Jaipur and some from other parts of Rajputana
and India.
There is one other thing to notice about New Delhi,
that is, the planning of the city, or the arrangement of
the. streets. The architects have arranged that all the
main streets shall have beautiful vistas or views at the
end of them. Thus Kingsway has the Viceroy's House
at one end and the Purana Kila at the other. Parliament
Street has a view of the Jama Masjid, and so on. You
should look out for these vistas as you drive about
New Delhi.
Many of the streets have been given the names of
historical characters in the ·history of India.' Look at
the names of the streets and see if you know anything
about the names given.
Now we will take a drive through New Delhi, starting
from the Ajmer Gate. First we will cross the great
new bridge to New Delhi station. Just beyond this you
will see the Lady Hardinge Serai. This is one of the
few buildings built in the Mogul style. J'hen we pass
Connaught Place and the Lady Hardinge Medical College,
and drive up Parliament Street. The big ro\md building
is the Council Chamber.. Outside it is a great stone fence
or railli)g. This is interesting because it is a copy of the
stone railings built by Asoka at the great stupa of Sanchi,
near Bhopal. If the Assembly is not sitting you can go
NEW DELHI 81
inside and see the Assembly Chambe.r, the Council of
State and the Chamber of Princes. The internal deco-
ration -is very fine. Notice the stone lamp-posts outside
.the building.. These are copies of Mogul lamps at Agra.
Next we come to the great open space outside the
Secretariat. On the Secretariat buildings you will see
<:hattris in the Mogul style. There are also carved
elephants and bell ornaments, which are copied from
Hindu architecture. In the space between the two
Secretariat buildings are columns which have gilt ships
on the tops. These represent· the different Dominions
of the British Empire. You should walk through the
corridors of the Secretariat and see the courtyards inside.
The Secretariat was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
In front of you is now the Viceroy's House. It is the
best proportioned building in New Delhi. The ·dome
is specially fine. In front is the column presented by
the Maharaja of Jaipur. On the top of it is the Star of
India. Behind the house is a beautiful Mogul garden.
From the Viceroy's House we will drive back to
·Connaught Place. Turn left by the Regal Cinema and
drive right round the Willingdon Crescent. At first the
road goes straight. Near the end of the straight is the
Talkatora Garden. You will see that part of this is a
Mogul garden. Just here the Marathas fought a battle
with the Moguls in 1738. Two Mogul armies were near
Agra, but the Marathas stepped between them, rode 120
miles in two days and plundered the fair at Kalka Devi
near Okhla. The young nobles went out to meet them.
But they were defeated at Talkatora. This is the first
time that the Marathas came to Delhi.
The Willingdon Crescent goes right round the Viceroy's
House. You have a fine view of the house all the way.
When we have got right round we co.me to the
Commander-in-Chief's House. Outside it is the War
Memorial to the Indian Army. Then we will drive
down Aurangzeh Road till it joins Prithvi Raj Road.
This leads us to the great War Memorial Arch. Round
this space the Princes are building their palaces. The
chief ones are those of Hyderabad, Baroda, Bikaner,
Jaipur and Patiala. A little way along Curzon Road is
the Travancore Palace. It is not very large, hut is one
of the most beautiful.
We will return along Hardinge Avenue and under
the railway bridge. Just beyond on the right is the
mosque and tomb of Sheikh Ahdun Nahi. He was one
of Akbar's orthodox opponents. He went to Mecca, and
while there he heard of the rebellion of Akbar's brother,
Mohammad Hakim. He was so pleased that he returned
at. once to join in it. But when he arrived in Sind the
rebellion was ·fini,.shed and he was taken ·prisoner by
Akbar. Soon after a mob burst into his prison and
killed him. So even this old building has an exciting
history.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
The Assembly. A visit to the Legislative Assembly when
it is in session will be interesting and instructive. Your teacher
can get tickets from any member of the Assembly. Notice the
. President in his wig, like the Speaker of the House of Commons,
and also how the Government members sit on his right hand
and the Opposition on the left. Y,ou should go early because the
public galleries are usually crowded.
The Viceroy's House. Permission to. visit the Viceroy's House
can sometimes be obtained when the Viceroy is not in residence.
The best parts of the House are :
I. The circulan Throne Room, where Investitures and·
Durbars take place.
2. The Ballroom. Notice specially the ceilings. The painting.
NEW DELHI
in the centre is of Fateh Ali Shah of Persia, and the
style decoration is by Italian artists.
3· The Banqueting HalL . Here is the Viceregal gold and
silver plate. Round the walls arc pictures of many of the
Governors-General and Viceroys. It will make people feel more
real to you if you can see their pictures. .
The Museum. This is in" Queensway just beyond the point
wh~re it crosses Kingsway. It is worth a visit by itself. Here
you will find a wonderful collection of paintings brought back
by Sir Aurel Stein from the buried cities in Central Asia. They
date from the 1st to the 6th century A.D. and they show how
Indian influence had spread with Buddhism right into Central
Asia. The Curator will be very glad to show you round and
to explain everything.
In the Record Office nearby is another part of the Museum
where there is a fine collection of Tibetan banners and other
objects. The full name of this. Museum is the Museum of
Central Asian Antiquities.
PART V-THE ARCHITECTURE OF DELHI
'
22. THE ARCHITECTURE OF DELHI
I. ffiNDU ARCHITECTURE
BEFORE the Muslims came to Delhi the Hindus built
tl).eir temples in· what we now call the Jain style of
northern India. The finest temples of this style which
still exist are the Jain temples at Mount Abu in Raj-
putana. They are all built of marble and are very
beautiful indeed. You can see all that survives of this
style in Delhi in the cm:rrt of the great Qutb mosque.
The pillars of this court were ·taken from temples by
Qutb-ud-din Aibek and used for his new mosque.
The special thing to notice is that the Hindus of those
days did not use the arch. They used square pillars to
support the roofs of their build-
ings. They did not build domes
either. Instead they laid· one
stone over another . until they
met in the.middle as Fig. r. On
the pillars . they carved t h e
figures of gods. They a I s o
carved various ornaments, such
F!o. 1
as temple bells, · flowers and
trees. The <:arving of flowers and trees is called
naturalistic because it is an imitation of nature.
This is what the Muslims found when they captured
Delhi in II92 A.D.
Il. THE SLAVE IqNGS
When' Qutb-ud-din Aibek came to Delhi, the first
thing he wanted. to . do was to build a mosque.. And
THE ARCHITECTURE OF DELHI 85
of course he wanted to build 'the same sort of mosque
th.at he knew in his own land of Ghor (modern Afghan-
is~an). Now the architects of Ghor liked pointed arches
and domes and they wanted to have them in Delhi. But
the Hindu workmen had never used arches and their
own builders were .far away.
The Arch
. Let us understand the principle and use of the arch.
The arch consists of a number of stones so cut and
arranged that they form the
circumference of a circle whose
centre is the centre of the arch. .
Thus the centre stone of the
Fie. 2 arch is called the keystone,
because it is .that stone which
holds the arch together. It does not matter whether
the arch is pointed or round, the principle is the same.
The · use of. the arch is that it
will i:arry much · bigger weights
than· pilJars supporting horizontal
slabs like Fig. 3· In the piJJar
system the weight presses down-
wards, and if it gets very heavy
the stone slab on top wiJJ break. ~L..
~ut the weight on an arch presses
the stones more firmly together Fie. 3 •
instead of breaking them apart. . So the arch is much.
stronger than the pillar and will bear much heavier
weights. In this respect the pointed arch is even better
than the round arch.
The Romans liked the round arch, but the Arabs liked·
the pointed arch. The first Arab building with pointed
arches was the mosque of Samarra in Iraq, built in
752 A.D. After that all Muslims used the pointed arch
and also the Europeans. in the Middle Ages. The Euro-
. pean. style of pointed arches is called the Gothic style.
~·
Fro. 4 Fro. 5
So we have in Delhi kings who wanted arches and

builders who did not know about them. The result' is
the style of the Slave Kings.
In this style you will find that pillars are used for
the niain mosque building and at the west end are large
sham arches. W c call these arches sham because they
do not possess a keystone. They are just cut to look like
arches. You can tell a true from a sham arch in this
way. A true arch is one whose stones are cut so that
they would meet in the centre of
the arch. A sham arch is one
whose stones are cut quite straight
and point to the ground like
FIG. 6
Fig. 6.
,Examples:
The arches of the great Qutb mosque.
Sultan Ghari's tomb.
Arhai-din ki Jhampra mosque, Ajmer.
The next thing to notice is that the Muslims did not
allow any representation of living things on their build-
ings. But the Hindu workmen ~ere still allowed to .
carve flowers and trees. You will see this naturalistic ·
carving on the pillars of the arches of the Qutb mosque.
The Arabic texts are almost smothered by this carving.
Altamsh brought craftsmen from Ghor, who intro-
duced the decorative patterns of the Muslim world.
These are called geometrical or formal, because they are
like the figures of geometry and have no resemblance
to living nature. Examples : The first' is on the arches
of Altamsh's extension of the Qutb mosque. The next
is on Altamsh's tomb close by.
The Khiijis
As time went on more workmen came and introduced
the knowledge of the true arch. This is the special
feature of the buildings of Ala-ud-din Khilji. He used
the true arch and he used the geometrical pattern. He
also used a dome. The principle of the dome is that
of the true arch applied to a roof. So now we have the
. first Muslim style complete. Its marks are : (i) the
arch instead of the pillar ; (ii) the dome instead of a
flat roof or the shikara ; (iii) geometrical instead of
naturalistic designs for carving.
There is no trace of Hindu architecture left.
Examples:
The Alai Darwaza at the Qutb.
The Jama'at Khana Mosque at Nizam-ud-din.
Both these buildings are very fine.
III. THE TUGHLAKS
We have seen how the Slave and Khilji kings gradually
got rid of all the specially Hindu features in their build-
ings. Now we shall see how they were brought back
again, and used to form a truly Indian style of
architecture. The Tughlak kings had a very special style
of their own. Firstly, it was very simple an!i had very
little ornamentation. The materials they used were plain
stone covered with plaster instead of the rich red stone
of the Khiljis and the Moguls. For the reason ~f this
see Chapter 5· Secondly, their buildings were very
strong and solid. They often had sloping walls, and
remind us of the great buildings of Egypt. They all
make us think of fortresses, even if it is a mosque or
a college at which we are looking. In this they reflect
the spirit of the times, because Hindustan was through
all these years threatened by the wild Moguls who had
destroyed the civilization of Iran. Thirdly, the Tughlak
buildings ·a:re all very well proportioned. They give us
the impression that their shape is just right, neither too
much nor too little. Fourthly, they use in their buildings
Hindu features. One of these is the square pillar sup-
porting a roof or sometimes a doorway. Another is the
lotus ornament. There are many Tughlak buildings in
Delhi. Here are some examples of each of these four
points :
(i) Firoz Shah Kotla, Firoz Shah's tomb at the
Hauz Khas.
(ii) Tughlakabad, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak's tomb.
(iii) Any of the Tughlak buildings illustrate this, but
note specially Ghiyas-ud-din's tomb, Firoz Shah's
tomb and the mosque at Firoz. Shah Kotla.
(iv) The madrasa at the Hauz Khas.
IV. THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
Sayyids and Lodis

The style ot" the fifteenth century is a continuation of
the previous Tughlak style. There was still a shortage
of money, so that the ·expensive materials of the Khiljis
and the Moguls could not be used.. But there was deve-
lopment in design <\Ild li).creasing fusion of Hindu and
Muslim elements to form a genuine Indian style. This
process reached its furthest point in the buildings of
Sher Shah. Let us now notice the chief of these
developments.
The Tomb
The earlier tomb was a square building with a dome
on the top. In the fifteenth century, however, the
square became an octagon. Round the tomb was built
a verandah. This verandah was
supported by square pillars in the
.Hindu style. · The dome was
now placed on a drum, or circular
FIG. ·7 piece of. masonry like Fig. 7·
The domes were at first fiat or
half-domes, but later in the century, as the builders became
more skilled, they became larger, until they became com-
plete semi-circles, or full domes. The first full pome
in Delhi is that of the Bara Gumbad in the Willingdon
Park.· The top of the dome was always surmounted by
the lotus. There was a space ·round the. dome, on the
roof of the verandah. This space was filled up by
chattris, one on each of the eight sides of the dome.
These chattris also had r.J;indu pillars. The purpose of
these chattris was to hide the drum from view, and the
purpose of the drum was to make the dome higher.
The impression we receive is that of a cluster of domes
around the great central dome. Inside, th\! walls were
plastered, decorated with Arabic texts and painted in
various colours.
90 DELHI-ITS MONUME~TS AND HISTORY
Examples:
The tombs of Mubarak Shah Sayyid and Sikandar
Lodi in the Willingdon Park.
The nameless tomb at Khairpur near the Moth-ki-
Masjid.
Isa Khan's tomb near Humayun's tomb.
The finest of all these tombs is Sher Shah's tomb at
Sasseram, near Gaya, Bihar.
The Mosque
The mosques had no minarets. The call to pray<::r
was given from the roof. But at the back corners of
the mosque were placed little towers. These have
sloping, rounded sides and are in five stages. Look at
them carefully and you will see that they are models
of the Qutb Minar. This feature is peculiar to Delhi
.and to the fifteenth century. An example of this is the
Bara Gumbad mosque in the Willingdon Park.
The finest buildings of this period are those of Sher

Shah. They are the finest,' firstly, because they have the
best proportions ; secondly, because in them are blended
different coloured stones which form a beautiful colour
scheme, and thirdly, because the Hindu and Muslim
features are now mixed together in perfect harmony.
You will not realize that these different features exist
unless you specially look for them.
Examples:
Sher Shah's mosque in the Purana Kila.
The Moth-ki-Masjid.
The gateway of the Purana Kila.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF DELHI ~
V. THE MOGULS
The Mogul style really began· with the return of
Humayun to Delhi in I555· The first thing which
strikes us is that their buildings are much more magni-
ficent than the previous ones. They are much larger,
and red stone and marble are freely used. This is because
the Mogul emperors were far more powerfui and richer
than the Sayyids and Lodis. They had fewer enemies
than the Tughlaks or Khiljis, and so had more money
to spend on buildings. Most of the Mogul emperors
were men of great taste and judgement. So they chose
their architects or ustads well, with the idea of enriching
with peauty not only India, but the whole world.
'
The Garden
The Moguls brought some new ideas from Iran. One
of these was the use of beautiful blue tiles on their
domes. You can see some of these on .the tomb in
the middle of the" main road opposite Humayun's tomb.
Another was the formal or geometrical garden. In Iran,
which is hilly, these gardens were arranged in seven
terraces, representing the seven stages of Patadise. Water
ran down the centre of these gardens. The Moguls
loved running water, because in Afghanistan and Iran
water and rain are scarce, and you can only have a
. garden where there is a spring of water. Sometimes
they built pleasure gardens only. The Shalimar gardens
at Lahore and Srinagar are still in working order. They
also always enclosed their tombs in gardens. The tomb
was a pleasure house until the death of the 'owner, and
then. his descendants used pavilions at the side of the
garden. You can see how a tomb garden was laid out
at Humayun's tomb and Safdar Jung's tomb. At Safdar
92 DE.LHI-ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY
Jung's tomb you can see the pavilions used by visitors
after his death.
The Tomb
· The Mogul tomb differed from the previous ones in
several ways. It was square instead of octagonal; and
it had no verandahs. Above all, it was placed on a large
stone platform. The dome was· a complete sime-circle
.and was placed on a high drum. At first the dome had
no lotus on it, only a metal crescent (as in Humayun's
tomb), but later they went back to the lotus.. At each .
corner of the tomb was a chattri. The drum was hidden
by a great darwaza or doorway on each side of the tomb.
You can see all these things for yourself when you visit
Humayun's tomb. The dome was of white marble and
the building of red stone.
As time went on the dome became more than a semi-
circle, that is to say, bulbous, like
Fig. 8. You can tell the date of
a Mogul tomb roughly by two
tests. The later the date of the
tomb, the more bulbous is the
· dome, and the poorer is the
material employed. Compare in
this respect Humayun's tomb
with Safdar Jung's tomb.
Sometimes the Moguls added Fxa. s
m i n a r e t s to their tombs.
You can see how this developed in Akbar's tomb at
Sikandra, Agra, .in Jehangir's tomb at Lahore, and in
the Taj Mahal. ~ut most of the tombs had no minarets.
T'HE ARCHITECTURE OF DELHI 93
Examples:
Humayun's tomb.
Abdur Rahman Khan Khanan's tomb.
Atgah Khan's tomb.
Safdar Jung's tomb.
The 'Mosque
The Moguls of course followed the usual plan of all
mosques. But they added some special features of their
own. The first was the minaret. The minaret was
borrowed from Persia, and there were usually two of
them. The Jama Masjjd has two, but none of the earlier
Jama Masjids had any. Remember that the Qutb Minar
was probably a Tower of Victory, not an ordinary
minaret.
The second. development was in the domes. These
were placed on drums and were bulbous in shape. The
later the date of the mosque, the more bulbous the dome.
The domes were of white marble. But they also had
thin strips· of black marble running down them. The
later the date the thicker are these strips. Compare the
. dome of the Jama Masjid with those of the Zinat-ul-
Masajid, Daryaganj, which was built sixty years later.
As with the tombs, in later days (from 1700 onwards) .
the mosques deteriorated. The domes became more
bulbous. The strips in the domes became larger, and
the proportions of the buildings were not so good. Above
all the materials used were inferior. This was because
there was less money. The many wars prc;vented much
building and so good architects were not encouraged
and took up other occupations. Compare the Jama
Masjid with the Sonehri. Masjid outside the Fort (I754)
or with the mosque at Safdar Jung's Tomb.
Examples: ·
The Jama Masjid.
The Fatehpuri Masjid.
The Zinat-ul-Masajid
The Arabic College mosque.
OXFORD
PICTORIAL ATLAS
OF INDIAN HISTORY
By
K. S. Kini & U. B. S. Rao
Pp. 75 Re 1-6
Fourth Revised Editio"
This book covers the history of

India from the earliest times to the
present day. There are 35 maps with
explanatory text, tim-e charts and
illustrations. The three appendices
give a concise history of the
Marathas, a tabular summary of
Indian administration and a tabular
statement of connected events in the
histories of India and England.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

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DELHI

Its Monuments and History

FORD t1NIVERSlTY PRESS

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

First published i.s43

PRINTED BY V. V. BAMBARDEitAR AT THE INDIA PBINTING

2. THE MOSQUES OF DELHI

4· THE CIVIL LINES

5· FIROZ SHAH KOTLA

As she wrote, so it was ; and the green grass still grows

9· THE LODI 'TOMBS

10. THE MOTH-KI-MASJID

From the roof of the mosque you have a fine view

II. SAFDAR JUNG'S TOMB

Now we will walk to the Willingdon Airport. You see

13. THE QUTB MINAR

.14. THE LAL KOT (MAHRAULI)

17. HAUZ KHAS

19. SURAJ KUND

21. NEW DELHI

So we have in Delhi kings who wanted arches and

IV. THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

Sayyids and Lodis

The finest buildings of this period are those of Sher

Fourth Revised Editio"

This book covers the history of

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

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