For centuries Delhi has been the Centre of struggle for power. People believed that to rule India, one must conquer Delhi. Delhi has seen it all. There are almost 174 monuments in Delhi which narrate tales of romance, literature, betrayal, blood bath, valor and war.
Some monuments are well known while there are others who silently wait to tell their story. One such monument is the Old Fort of Delhi. Though Old Fort is lesser known than the red fort, it has seen a history spanning thousands of years.
In fact, this fort has seen three timelines. One is during Mahabharata period; another is during Mughal period and then in 1947 during partition.
As the story goes, Humayun constructed this fort and the city inside, which was called “Dine Panah” which means “defender of faith”.
Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun and took over the fort. He built the ramparts and present-day structure during his stay here from 1538 -45.
After Sher Shah’s death Humayun came back to reclaim this fort in 1555 and it was in 1556 that he died here after slipping off the stairs.
As you enter the fort you observe two sights. One is a larger crowd of people gathering at neighboring zoo and another is lush greenery inside the fort.
As you enter the fort, you observe fort walls housing rooms along its periphery. They may have been barracks for soldiers protecting and/or the staff.
This is how the main entrance looks from inside. This entrance is called “Bada Darwaja”
Not many structures are visible inside the fort. It seems that with passage of time many living quarters and structures have been damaged or demolished.
This temple is believed to be from the mythological era of Mahabharata. Kunti was the mother of Pandavas, and it is believed that the village of Indra Prath (Indraprastha as we know it commonly) was in this location.
Historians estimate the period when Mahabharata happened to be 2500 B.C to 3000 B.C. which means around 5000 years ago.
As it happens that new civilizations come up over old civilizations, archeologists are digging to find out if Indraprastha was really at this site. It was not unusual for abandoned towns to get buried under sand and gravel over centuries and then later new structures get built over them on same site.
This is the covered site where digging is being done.
And they do are finding old structures buried inside. As the story goes, Pandavas built the city of Indraprastha as their capital of the small kingdom that they sought from the kingdom of Kuru which had its capital at Hastinapur ( presently Meerut).
As we walk inside, we see a magnificent structure boldly standing in the middle of the fort area.
This is the back side of the mosque.
The entrance leads to a prayer hall. the walls are carved with exquisite designs and shapes.
The prayer hall is 51 meters in length x 15 meters in width x16.5 meters in height in the Centre at its highest point.
This mosque was built by Sher Shah in 1541. He called it “Qila – E – Kuhna” which literally means Mosque of the old fort.
short walk away is this beautiful structure called “Sher Mandal”.
Sher Shah built it as pleasure place and Humayun used it as his library. It was here when coming down from upper Storey of this library that he slipped and died 3 days later.
As you walk around to the opposite end of the fort from the main gate, there is another gate called “Humayun Darwaja.”
The exposed stones of the ruins look so mesmerizing.
Old Fort has 3 gates. One is the main gate, another is the Bada Darwaja that we have just seen above, and the third gate is called “Talaqi Darwaja”
How the name “Talaqi Darwaja” has come we don’t know. When kings used to go out of fort for war etc., they emotionally cut themselves from everyone they left behind. Perhaps that is the connection.
I noticed that both the gates have two levels. The fort used to be surrounded by moat which was connected to river Yamuna. Maybe the lower level was to connect with moat and upper level had draw bridge to take people across.
The third timeline when this fort saw a lot of activity was during the India- Pakistan partition in 1947. The refugees going to Pakistan were kept here before being led to trains. It is said that around 70000 to 80000 people were crammed in pitiable conditions on the fort grounds.
Universe is all about energy flow and vibrations. When you visit a monument with a rich history, you feel as if structures are trying to tell a story. They have seen hundreds of years of drama within their walls.
One way is to be in the company of someone who knows these stories. I was not with one but three wonderful people.
Manu Kaushal ji, Ira Puranik and Alok Puranik ji kept us captivated for the entire duration of over 2 hours with their anecdotes. Their narration mixed with heritage, literature, poems, stories and lesser-known facts on history made the trip an experience to remember. Manu ji being a theatre artist even enacted a character “Mantu” out of history.
There was this fable about Humayun who believed in astrology so much that the days decided his actions and the color of his clothes. Interesting was to hear how Sher Shah rapidly expanded his empire and fortune by marrying widows with lot of inheritance.
Then there were stories of partition when an elephant on Indian side was to go to Pakistan. The Mahout (elephant’s driver so to say) was to stay in India. So, by the time Mahout from Pakistan came it was already a year gone. An invoice of Rs 1900.00 was raised by Indian side for elephant’s upkeep. Pakistan side raised a bill for similar amount for the rent of elephant for a year.
These stories regaled us but also made us realize in seriousness the situation in the days of partition.
There were other 50-odd friends with similar tastes for history and literature which made the fort walk more enjoyable.
And some moments of silence too when we just looked in awe, 500 years of history in front of us.
All said and done, why do we need to know history? How does it matter what happened in a distant past?
When we study history, we learn how we got where we are, and why we live the way we do. It’s the study of us—of humans and our place in an ever-changing world. Without it, we wouldn’t understand all of our triumphs and failures, and we would continually repeat patterns without building forward to something better.
The past creates the present. Our modern world exists because of events that happened long before our time. Only by understanding those events can we know how we got here, and where to go next.
After this soul satisfying walk, it was time to satiate hunger.
Delhi is a foodie’s delight. How can a visit not end with the street food that the old Delhi is famous for. Not so old is the famous Bengali Market where Bengali sweets is famous for its Golgappas (water balls – crispy hollow balls made of refined flour and semolina, filled with tangy mixture, topped with sweet and spicy water) and Chole Bhature (refined flour bread with spicy chickpeas)
what else would one want after this – a good rest for remaining part of the day – a day well spent.
Wonderful narration . Never knew this was so interesting 👍🏻
Very well explained the history and the photos are very well captured. Very beautiful