The ruins in Hauz Khas village are among the most fascinating in Delhi. The neighbourhood gets its name from the reservoir, ‘Hauz i Alai’ built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji in early 14^th century, for his capital city of Siri. About 50 year after Khalji, Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq restored the silted up tank, built a madrasa along its edge and called it the ‘Hauz Khas’. The massive madrasa complex along the lake was among the most important in the Islamic world in the 14^th century. Continue Reading This Post

The neighbourhood of Hauz Khas gets its name from a 13th century reservoir: ‘hauz’ is a tank & ‘khas’ is important or special. Now part of a DDA park, the tank was originally called Hauz i Alai, built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji. He also built his capital city of Siri, today the area around Asiad village & Khel Gaon marg. The tank served the needs of this capital city. After 50 years after Alauddin, another Delhi sultan, Firuz Shah Tughluq found the tank silted up & people growing crops on it. He removed the ‘encroachments’, re-dug the tank & built a madrasa & his own tomb along its edge.  Continue Reading This Post

Photographs of heritage walk at Hauz Khas covering the monuments in Hauz Khas village & Deer Park. The monument is a madrasa built by Firuz Shah Tughluq & includes his own tomb. It is built on the edge of the Hauz I Alai, the tank created by Alauddin Khalji for his capital city of Siri. Firuz Shah renamed it Hauz Khas. Continue Reading This Post

The ruins in Hauz Khas are one of the most amazing sites in Delhi. Tucked away behind the numerous shops in Hauz Khas village, this magnificent monument reveals itself slowly to us as we approach it. The ruins around of are that of the madrasa founded by Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq in the 14^th century. It is built on the edge of the tank, which supplied water to the capital city of Siri. It was built by Alauddin Khalji, the ruler of Siri, who called it Hauz i Alai. Later, Firuz Shah repaired it and called it the Hauz Khas. The madrasa is a double storeyed structure, the colonnaded halls probably being lecture halls. At the junction of the two wings of the madrasa is Firuz Shah’s tomb. It has been recently repaired; however, one of the graves in the chamber was badly damaged yet again. Continue Reading This Post

‘Among the gifts which God bestowed upon me, was a desire to erect public buildings. So I built many mosques and madrasas and khanqahs, that the learned and the elders, the devout and the holy, might worship God in these edifices and aid the kind builder with their prayers.’

These words of Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq bring to life the magnificent ruins of Hauz Khas, the madrasa complex built by him in the 14^th century. Our heritage walk this Sunday covered the Hauz Khas complex and monuments in Deer Park. The complex stands on the edge of a reservoir, which was originally built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji for his capital city of Siri. Continue Reading This Post