14TH CENTURY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION-HAUZ KHAS



HAUZ- E- ALAI now HAUZ- KHAS

Hauz Khas is better known today as a posh colony in South Delhi. It falls on the road leading towards Qutab Minar from AIIMS. As one goes from Aurobindo Market towards the deer park, one sees a whole lot of little structures like tombs. Almost all of them have names, have been properly restored, and have beautiful red boards with their names written neatly. These boards let us know something about the building, and are not just  blue boards of the Archeological Survey of India declaring that it is a "Protected Monument" without any description whatsoever.

WELL MAINTAINED WALKWAYS

So one fine evening I went for this walk to Hauz Khas. The village complex itself is a designer shopper’s paradise. The shops have exotic names, exotic stuff and exotic prices! We walked through this actual urbanized village and walked into the ancient Hauz Khas complex.

THE HAUZ ANOTHER VIEW

The complex is well maintained, there are nice pathways, and it was a pleasure to see a lot of people enjoying the cool breeze on a summer's evening here.

This Hauz or tank was made by Allaudin Khilji (1296 - 1316). The Khiljis came after the Mamluk or Slave dynasty.  Allaudin Khilji had established the city of Siri. That’s right, the Siri Fort complex and its neighbourhood is the location of Allaudin’s Siri.  “Siri” means head and it is said that this fort was built on the heads of  about 8000 Mongol soldiers killed by the Khiljis when the Mongols invaded. The Tank was called "Hauz- e- Alai" to begin with. After Feroze Shah Tughlak (1351-1388) re- excavated the tank and beautified the surrounding area by laying out a huge garden with lots of trees, he renamed the tank as “Hauz -  Khas”.

 

 



FEROZE SHAH'S TOMB

Feroze Shah Tughlak did not expand his territory much during his reign but  invested a lot in building madrasas, as well as  hunting palaces, a tomb for himself, repaired and got a storey added to the Qutab minar, and built the city of Ferozabad, which is presently called Feroze Shah Kotla. He also brought Ashoka's pillars to Delhi from Meerut and Topara in Ambala District

  The Madrasa at Hauz Khas was established in 1352 and was in a double storeyed building where the class rooms were on the top floor and the tutors had their living quarters on the ground floor. The madrasa was constructed in an L shape and at the vertex was the tomb of Feroze Shah Tughlak. The class rooms were open on the side of the lake and therefore the students could get a refreshing view of the lake . This madrasa was a  leading institution of Islamic learning in the Delhi Sultanate.The madrasa also had beautiful jharokhas in the style of those found in Rajasthan.

JHAROKHAS

I saw a number of people sitting in these jharokhas. Reminded me of my own days of yore, when I too had sat in these jharokhas and whiled away many a pleasant evening. The jharokhas are at a height, there are a lot of trees around, the area around the lake is almost like a forest and the hauz infront with plenty of water makes the place very beautiful, cool, refreshing and peaceful.

Sadly, most of the buildings are in ruins now. Later day rulers usually removed material from older structures to build their new buildings and forts.The material used at Hauz Khas Madarasa is grey quartzite stone which was very hard and therefore one does not find much design on the walls.

ROOF AND WALL OF FEROZE SHAH TUGHLAK'S TOMB

Feroze Shah's tomb too is quite austere. The dome on top does have certain stucco work with painted geometric patterns. The colours used are red and blue. Blue denotes the sky and red denotes wealth. The carvings are in plaster, carved and then painted. The doors of Tughlak's tomb have Hindu architecture. It is also surrounded by a boundary wall which looks like the walls normally found around  Buddhist stupas



THE BUDDHIST STUPA BOUNDARY



There are 6 smaller buildings in the gardens near the tomb and madrasa, which were perhaps tombs of the tutors of the Madrasa. There is a Masjid at the eastern side of the Madrasa. Strangely the western side in the Mosque does not have a closed wall with a mehrab(a niche facing Qibla or direction of Kaaba) as is common in most mosques.

DOMES ARE ELONGATED

The domes of the Tughlak era Hauz Khas monuments have domes which are slightly elongated at the top, they are not very round. Further around the dome midway there are  patterns like battlements

 



BATTLEMENT ON THE DOME LIKE KANGURA



The place is lovely, peaceful, calm and quiet. A lot of people sitting, chatting, gazing at the water added to the beauty of the place. A lot of groups of people simply having fun, and sending out sounds of laughter made the place feel vibrant and joyful. It was altogether a feel good place. A place to surely visit and feel the youthfulness of all the students of the 14th century and later, who spent their time here studying and surely having fun as people with the future ahead of them normally have.





TRANQUIL AND HAPPY PLACE FACING HAUZ

We left this area and went to the Deer park area. Here we saw a couple more tombs. One was quite a large one called "Bagh- e- alam- ka- gumbad". This is of the Lodi era.When we reached this tomb it had already become quite dark. We quickly looked around and noticed that inside it was pitch dark. My husband took a photo and strangely a flash of light appeared in the photograph. Hmmmm, definitely haunted, we said and ran as fast as we could.



GHOSTLY LIGHT!


This place is supposed to be a deer park, so surely deer must inhabit the place. Sadly we couldn’t spot even one. There was a place where drummers were playing their drums. It was quite jarring as this did not feel the right place for drummers. Surely no wild life would feel comfortable and safe in the loud sounds of the drums. They need peace and quiet. 

Energy, tranquility, happiness is what I was filled with after my walk at the Hauz Khas and I was also filled with concern at our interfering with the peace and tranquility needed by wild life which we are trying to preserve in the middle of a huge metropolis.

A COOL PLACE IN DELHI - THE LODI GARDENS

MOHD SHAH'S TOMB WITH GULDASTA

Summer in Delhi is hot, and nothing but hot. The evenings also are unpleasant, as even after sundown the heat wave seems to continue undisturbed.

To get some respite from the desert like dusty Delhi, I ventured into the Lodi Gardens with the Delhi Heritage Walk, one fine evening! The walk was lovely, cool and green.

The gardens are spread in 90 acres, with lovely paths, huge shady trees, a whole lot of birds inhabiting the place, and the tombs of the Sayyed and Lodi dynasty spread around. I felt as if I had arrived in paradise! These gardens were restored by the British, therefore the pattern is not like what it would have been originally during the Sultanate times, when gardens were laid out as Char baghs(four squares) with water flowing through.

I had been to these gardens on many occasions for picnics. In those days the ruins never attracted me. Those were just spots which were usually fixed as a meeting point.

As I walked this evening, I found that I could not name a single Ruler from the Sayyed dynasty!  In fact Delhi-ites learn a lot of History from the names of the Roads in the city. I could not remember any road with the name of the Sayyeds!

THE MASJID & A SUNSET

Delhi, the city which never ceased to be the Capital, except for short intervals, was established eight times they say. The Sayyed Dynasty was the fourth in the series of rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. The first was the Slave Dynasty( 1206 - 1290), then Khiljis (1290 -1320), the Tughlaks( 1320 - 1414), and then the Sayyeds( 1414 -1451). Sayyeds ruled only for 37 years. They claimed to be descendants of Prophet Mohammed.

Timur of Uzbekistan had invaded Delhi a number of times during the reign of the Tughlaks. He finally succeeded in 1398, and deputed Khizr Khan  to be Governor of Multan, but the attraction of Delhi made Khizr Khan move to Delhi. After him his son Mubarak Khan ruled. Kotla Mubarakpur near South Extension is named after this Sultan, as his tomb is located at Kotla Mubarakpur.

After the short rule of the Sayyeds, Bahlul Khan Lodi became the Sultan in 1451, and the Lodi Dynasty started. The next in line were the Mughals, followed by the British.

THE MASJID

There are three main tombs in the Gardens. The first as one enters from the gate opposite the Meteorological Office is the Tomb of Mohammad Shah, not to be mistaken with Mohd. Shah "Rangeele" of the Mughal dynasty. The Mughal Badshah lies buried in the Nizamuddin dargah premises.

This tomb is very elaborate and was built in 1444.  It has a big dome in the middle which is surrounded by eight chatris which reminds one of Rajasthani Chatris. These look like  a flower arrangement or bouquet- and are called a “guldasta”! The beauty of this tomb lies in its symmetry, the crowning lotus and decoration on the domes. It is a distinctive octagonal tomb with the central chamber encircled by a verandah which has three arched openings on each side. There are stone lintels along the arches of the verandah with the sloping buttresses at the corner. The pattern of the lotus flower is used extensively. There are eight graves inside the tomb, of which the central one is said to be the grave of Muhammad Shah, the third ruler of the Sayyed dynasty.

BADA GUMBAD...NO TOMB INSIDE

As we move further North one sees a huge structure like a tomb, but inside one finds no grave! On both sides of this Bada Gumbad are two structures. One is a mosque which is very beautiful with carvings, Persian inscription and tiles. This faces the West towards Mecca. The other side has a plain structure which was most probably used as a madrasa or perhaps a resting place for visitors. We went up this structure and were witness to a beautiful sunset! Yes indeed, in this busy City with tall buildings around there are still such sanctuaries where one can enjoy the sunset.

SHEESH GUMBAD SEEN FROM BADA GUMBAD

Nearby is the Sheesh Gumbad. This Gumbad had glazed tiles on its Gumbad and was built during the reign of Sikandar Lodi. The glazed tiles shone and therefore the name “Sheesh Gumbad”. It is not known who are buried in this tomb. The Bada Gumbad and the Sheesh Gumbad are square structures.

SIKANDAR LODI'S TOMB

As we walk further up we reach a fort like wall. Inside this is the tomb of Sikandar Lodi. This too has a big dome but the chatris are missing, therefore there is no guldasta! This tomb too is octagonal like the tomb of Mohd. Shah, and every side has three arches and a verandah around the tomb.

Although both the tombs of Sikandar Lodi and Mohd. Shah are octagonal and have covered verandas all around, I liked the tomb of Mohd. Shah more, perhaps because it is at a height and the guldasta makes the dome look very pretty. There is a certain majesty about this tomb of Mohd. Shah as it stands alone on top of a little hillock. There is a lot of work on the doorways which seem to have been borrowed from the style of structures in Rajasthan.

HINDU ART ON MOHD. SHAH'S TOMB

During the days of the Delhi Sultanate there was a cultural renaissance of sorts as there was fusion of culture of Muslim and Hindu styles in art, architecture, language and dress. In fact Hindi and Urdu too were introduced as common languages during these times.

ATHPULA

Near this tomb is a lake which was connected to the  Yamuna river. This water body led us to the “athpula bridge” (Eight pier  bridge) This was built during Akbar's time. There were beautiful water birds like ducks in the pond. We walked across the bridge and arrived at a watch tower.

Our round had been completed. The birds were chirping away noisily. It seemed as if every bird was trying to tell its own story of the day to their fellow bird members. In this cacophony of sounds I wonder who could listen to anything!

SUNSET & CACOPHONY OF BIRDS

 The majestic trees filled with chirping birds, a long line of evening walkers, a lot of children playing in the park, senior citizens sitting on benches after their walk, was a nice peaceful sight.

 Cool, Lodi Gardens, taught me a few lessons of History. Forgotten dynasties, unknown tombs, and majestic places for respite from the hot summer days of my lovely Delhi! I felt there is peace all around and all is well with the world!