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

Firuz Shah was a Tughluq king who ruled in second half of the 14^th century. His reign is remarkable for its architectural projects. Delhi in particular is full of buildings commissioned and repaired by him. Our heritage walk this Sunday evening was around one such complex. Known as the Hauz Khas village now, it contains the remarkable ruins of Firuz Shah’s madrasa, built around a reservoir. The latter was built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji for this capital city of Siri, but it fell into disrepair, after his death. Firuz Shah not only re-excavated the tank, but also built this impressive madrasa and his own tomb along the edge of the tank. The complex as is stands today, is completely ruined, only a bare skeleton of its original grandeur, and the tank is much reduced in size. However, together they still impress the visitor.

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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. A contemporary poet wrote in its praise:

The courtyard was soul-animating, and its expanse was life-giving. Its dusk was musk-scented, and its fragrance possessed the odour of amber…Nightingales, so to say, were singing their melodious songs everywhere. It appeared, as if they had guitars in their talons and flutes in their beaks.

Today, the view is equally grand. Continue Reading This Post

This year’s ample monsoon has added a new element of joy to our heritage walks. It is a treat to walk around imposing ruins of medieval cities, lush green parks dotted with peacocks, pleasant breeze and soft drizzle adding to the charm. This is how one would sum up this heritage walk at Hauz Khas village and Deer Park. The monuments in Hauz Khas are one of the most impressive in Delhi. The reservoir, Hauz I Alai was built by Alauddin Khalji for his capital city of Siri. A few decades later, Firuz Shah Tughluq found it ‘encroached upon’. The tank was silted up and people were selling of water from wells dug for their own private use. Firuz Shah has decided to fill it with water again, called it the Hauz Khas and built a madrasa along its edge. His own tomb stands at the junction of the two wings of the madrasa. In the 14^th century, the madrasa was one of the most prominent centers of learning in the Islamic East. Timur who camped here during his invasion in Delhi, was impressed by the scale and grandeur of the madarsa. Today, what we see is the bare structure which has survived over centuries. It is impressive none the less. Continue Reading This Post