Not many would know that women of the royal family of Mughals were instrumental in building of the city of Shahjahanabad. Today it is old Delhi for us, know for the Red Fort & Jama Masjid & all credit goes to Shahjahan.  But patronage of architecture seemed to run in the family. There are many historic buildings in old Delhi built by women of the family & our heritage walk in Chandni Chowk highlighted some of these. Our heritage trail begins are the Digamber Jain Lal Mandir, the famous Jain temple opposite Red Fort. The temple shrine is as old as the city itself & now it is the best known landmark in the old city, know also for the charitable bird hospital in its premises. (more…)

There are many landmarks of 1857 rebellion in Delhi. Delhi was one of the centres of the revolt & after the rebellion was suppressed, India officially became a British colony. By all accounts this was the greatest revolt faced by the British empire, even though they have stuck to the calling it the ‘mutiny’. There are many stories, diaries, histories, documentation of 1857 rebellion by the British which indicate the its impact on their lives & the empire. Naturally, many memorials were built to commemorate the dead on the winning side. (more…)

This heritage walk covers the modern neighbourhood of Kashmiri Gate near ISBT. Most of the sites here relate to first half of 19^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. (more…)

This heritage trail covers sites associated with late-Mughal period and landmarks of the uprising of 1857. We began at Nicholson’s cemetery and spent some time sauntering around, looking at the interesting gravestones. Some are indeed beautifully carved. The cemetery is named after Brigadier Gen. John Nicholson who is one of the heroes of the 1857 rebellion for the British. He was fatally injured when the British forces were trying to enter the walled city of Shahjahanabad (where the rebels had set up base). The cemetery also has Master Ramachandra’s grave. 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