Delhi- City of Tombs
I happen to ask a Delhiite, where is Qila-i-kuhna Mosque.... He saw towards me as if i had asked me something related to London!!.... My next question was to a gentleman in Safdarjung Tomb, what is charbagh? The answers startled me with the ignorance we have about the city we live in. Delhi has more than 1300 monuments (big and small) which are managed by Archeological Survey of India. We will not discuss the answers of my other questions to Delhiites.... beacuse that may embarrass them more... Now lets move on to the topic of tombs in Delhi...
Delhi has number of tombs dating back to Delhi Sultanate till last Mughal rulers. The most important however is Humayun's Tomb and Safdarjung Tomb. Along with number of tombs of King, we also find tombs of various nobles, their wives, even barbers too!!! Najaf Khan was a noble during Muhammed Shah's rule. His tomb is located near the Safdarjung tomb. The story of tombs is so interesting that one would love to see these monuments once in a life. Moreover, these tombs are good source of the information about wealth and misery of the rulers too!!
For example, the tomb of Safdarjung which was constructed by his son, Shuja-Ud-Daulah used some of the stones from Khan-i-Khanam's tomb. Though it looks very absurd, but it shows the condition of later Mughals and their nobles too!
Within Islamic architecture too, we find certain differences between the Mughal and Delhi Sultanate period. As we move from Delhi Sultanate period to Mughal period, the art and architecture too changed. The most remarkable is the Qila-i-Kuhna Moque in Purana Qila. It shows signs of both Mughal as well as Sultanate period. It has Kalash design in Mehrab(Hindu influence), the dome shape(Sultanate period) and use of marbles (Mughal period). The design of Mehrab is such a beauty of the mosque that even great art historian Percy Brown could not stop praising it.
We will start our journey of Delhi in coming posts... Keep following our blogs on History....
Dr. Rohit Singh
I happen to ask a Delhiite, where is Qila-i-kuhna Mosque.... He saw towards me as if i had asked me something related to London!!.... My next question was to a gentleman in Safdarjung Tomb, what is charbagh? The answers startled me with the ignorance we have about the city we live in. Delhi has more than 1300 monuments (big and small) which are managed by Archeological Survey of India. We will not discuss the answers of my other questions to Delhiites.... beacuse that may embarrass them more... Now lets move on to the topic of tombs in Delhi...
Delhi has number of tombs dating back to Delhi Sultanate till last Mughal rulers. The most important however is Humayun's Tomb and Safdarjung Tomb. Along with number of tombs of King, we also find tombs of various nobles, their wives, even barbers too!!! Najaf Khan was a noble during Muhammed Shah's rule. His tomb is located near the Safdarjung tomb. The story of tombs is so interesting that one would love to see these monuments once in a life. Moreover, these tombs are good source of the information about wealth and misery of the rulers too!!
For example, the tomb of Safdarjung which was constructed by his son, Shuja-Ud-Daulah used some of the stones from Khan-i-Khanam's tomb. Though it looks very absurd, but it shows the condition of later Mughals and their nobles too!
Within Islamic architecture too, we find certain differences between the Mughal and Delhi Sultanate period. As we move from Delhi Sultanate period to Mughal period, the art and architecture too changed. The most remarkable is the Qila-i-Kuhna Moque in Purana Qila. It shows signs of both Mughal as well as Sultanate period. It has Kalash design in Mehrab(Hindu influence), the dome shape(Sultanate period) and use of marbles (Mughal period). The design of Mehrab is such a beauty of the mosque that even great art historian Percy Brown could not stop praising it.
We will start our journey of Delhi in coming posts... Keep following our blogs on History....
Dr. Rohit Singh
