This Sunday evening, our heritage trail was planned at Hauz Khas village, a shopper’s paradise & the Deer Park nearby. Walking together to the complex towards our first stop was the high parapet which overlooks the Hauz or Tank. Hauz Khas complex contains a water tank, madarsa, several tombs and graves, mosques and pavilions etc. Hauz Khas is an urban village now surrounded by fashionable boutiques and restaurants. As early as 13^th century, it was a plain battlefield where important battles were fought especially the one between Mongols and Alauddin Khalji and Timur and Tughlaqs.

At the end of the 13^th century, Alauddin Khalji decided to construct a large water reservoir to cater to the needs of growing population in and around his fortified city and new capital, Siri, which lies to the east of Hauz Khas. The tank was named Hauz-e- Alai which means ‘the tank of Alauddin’, & it was spread over some 28 hectares.  To explain the extent of the tank, it was necessary to talk about a structure, Munda Gumbad or a bald domed structure which once formed the centre of the tank and was built during Khalji period when the tank was first dug up. Sadly, after the decline of Khalji dynasty, the focus shifted from Siri to other capitals and the tank fell into disuse and the water got silted. (more…)

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

Among the many cities in Delhi one counts, our heritage walk this Sunday explored one of the lesser known of all these. The Tughluq king, Firuz Shah built a new capital city for himself, along the banks of the Yamuna and called it Firuzabad. This is present day area around ITO and Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. It is believed to have been almost twice the size of Shahjahanabad (Shahjahan’s capital, the old Delhi of today) extending from Pir Ghaib in the northern Ridge to Hauz Khas in the south. Today only the inner citadel of this massive city survives, known by the name Kotla Firuz Shah. 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