The Kashmiri Gate heritage walk ‘brings alive’ many famous British characters associated with the First War of Independence or the Revolt of 1857. The first is Brigadier General John Nicholson, who is buried in a quiet corner of the Nicholson Cemetery. He is best known for being merciless while meting out punishment to the revolting sepoys. Another important grave in the cemetery is that of Master Ramchandra or Yasudas Ramchandra, a brilliant mathematician and Urdu journalist, who converted to Christianity in 1852 and lived to see the rebellion in Delhi. The next stop is the Kashmiri Gate, a mute witness to the explosion that ripped apart its wooden doors and allowed the British army an entry point to the rebellious city of Delhi on 14^th September 1857. The Kashmiri Gate area, once a fashionable promenade and commercial centre for the British, lost its glory to New Delhi when the latter was built in the 1930s. However, it still retains its old-world charm, in its architecture and old buildings. One monument that has withstood the test of times is St. James Church, built by Colonel James Skinner in 1836. Skinner himself is buried near the altar in the church. Continue Reading This Post

The walk of the month for January was themed on 1857 uprising and its landmarks on the northern ridge.  The ridge is an exciting place to explore any time of the year. And this Sunday morning was a perfect day to plan the walk. We started at the Flagstaff Tower, near Delhi University VC’s office. British residents from cantonment of Delhi assembled here after the rebellion broke out in Delhi. They waited for help but none came their way and they fled to Punjab. Nearby is an enclosure which was the burial place of four British officers commanding native infantry stationed in Delhi, and were killed by the rebels. The graves do not exist anymore but the enclosure stands. From here we entered the narrow walking trails within the ridge and reached the Khooni Jheel. This water body is named so because bodies of British killed by the rebels and then then the rebels killed by the British were dumped here. Continue Reading This Post

Yet another foggy December morning and 12 of us assembled outside Nicholson’s cemetery to take a heritage walk down the memory lane! Nicholson was strong a British general, considered a demi-God by his Pathani and Punjabi soldiers. At the same time he has a reputation of being rude & arrogant towards the Indians. The cemetery gets its name from Nicholson, who is buried here. All around there are other small and beautifully carved sandstone and marble graves dating to the 19^th century. Our next stop on this walk is the Kashmiri gate; one of the remaining gates of the walled city of Delhi! Once on its rooftop one can see the cross of St. James’ Church and if living back in 1857 one could imagine – watching the British troops coming down from the ridge to the north of walled city! In the neighbourhood is the Lal Masjid built from the red sand stone on the upper storey of a local market built by Lala Sultan Singh. Lal masjid or Fakhr-ul-masajid was built by Begum Fatima in memory of her husband Shujaat Khan in 1729. The old Hindu College and the old St. Stephen’s buildings which came up here are now being use for MCD and Election Commission’s offices! St. James’ Church is clearly the most striking building around the neighbourhood of Kashmiri gate. Continue Reading This Post

Pics by Aparna Goyal