Braving the summer heat, a group of heritage enthusiasts got together to explore the landmarks of the revolt of 1857 in Delhi. We covered sites located in the neighbourhood of Kashmiri Gate which falls within the old city, the former Mughal capital of Shahjahanabad. The starting point was Nicholson’s cemetery, named after Brigadier General John Nicholson who died fighting the rebels in 1857. He was fatally shot during the storming of Lahori gate, during recapture of Delhi by the British in September 1857. Another important person who is buried here is Master Ramachandra, professor of Mathematics in the then Delhi College. Across the road from Nicholson’s cemetery are remains of the city walls and the Kashmiri gate. The road roughly marks the demarcation between rebels inside the city and where the British were camped on the Ridge. The Kashmiri gate is one of the four surviving gates of the boundary of Shahjahanabad. The others which still stand are Ajmeri gate, Turkman gate & Dilli gate. Kashmiri gate still bears the damaged done to it by the British cannons while storming the city. There is also a memorial to the dead of the British army at this gate. Continue Reading This Post

What we call purani dilli or old Delhi today was the capital city of Shajahanabad in the middle of 17^th century. The Mughal Emperor built the Red Fort as his palace complex and the city as his capital. For them, the Mehrauli area would have been ‘old Delhi’. This heritage walk starts from the Digambar Jain Lal Mandir, opposite Red Fort. It is the oldest Jain temple in the city and a charitable bird hospital functions in its premises. The shrine is contemporary to Shahjahan’s time but the building we see now is mostly from middle of 19^th century. Adjacent to it is the Gauri Shankar temple, a large white building. It is an early 18^th century temple built by a Maratha nobleman. Walking along the Chandni Chowk we passed the State Bank of India building, one of the better surviving colonial buildings and the Central Baptish Church, a church built just after 1857. This entire stretch would have been the estate of a lady popularly known as Begum Samroo. She is one of the characters in Indian history who have many romantic or otherwise stories associated with her. Continue Reading This Post

One of the oldest inhabited neighbourhoods in Delhi region, Mehrauli is a minefield of stories. It has the earliest capital cities of Delhi and has been continuously inhabited for almost a thousand years now. This heritage walk starts at the entrance to the Mehrauli Archaeological Park. The first group of monuments one comes across is a gateway and a recently excavated area which has a courtyard and rooms built around it. Balban’s tomb stands out amongst these ruins. This 13^th century royal tomb is the earliest building in India use the true arch as an element of architecture. Balban is known to be a ruthless king. To his credit, he managed to rule for up to 40 years (first as a vice regent and then as Sultan), a remarkable feat for times marked by frequent change of rulers. Continue Reading This Post

As the heritage enthusiasts met at the gate of Deer Park in Hauz Khas village, we formed an interesting group of professional/amateur photographers, architects, journalists, IT and management professionals and of course an historian..I started the walk with an introduction of the structures constructed by different dynasties that take us to Delhi of 13th/14th century. first structure of our walk was the Hauz Khas, a water tank constructed under the royal command of Alauddin Khilji in early 14th century,it was probably intended to supply water to the gardens and fields around Siri Fort and also way of collecting rain water.However after Alauddin’s death the hauz was not maintained, it was then restored and brought back to use by Firuz Shah Tughluq in mid 14th century..when he came to throne ,was a middle aged man and understood the need of creating public utility works, (a lesson from history for our elected leaders). Continue Reading This Post

This heritage walk covers the modern neighbourhood of Kashmiri Gate near the ISBT. Most of the sites here relate to first half of 18^th century and some specific events associated with the revolt of 1857. In the 17^th century this area was part of the Mughal capital of Shahjahanabad, what is today old Delhi. Kashmiri gate has mansions of some important personalities associated with the Mughal court like, Ali Mardan Khan, the noble who was instrumental in building canals which brought water to the city and Dara Shukoh, Shahjahan’s son. Later, the British started living in this neighbourhood. It is their buildings which mostly survive now.

We started the heritage walk from Nicholson’s cemetery. John Nicholson was a British general, instrumental in breaching the defenses of rebels who were controlling Delhi, and in the process lost his life. The cemetery is named after him, but there are other important people buried here as well. Continue Reading This Post