Humayun-
The Mughal Emperor Costructed The Fort
When the second Mughal emperor Humayun decided to
make a city of his own he decided on the site of the
ancient city of Indraprastha. Humayun was quite a
scholar with a fine grasp on such matters and so it
is certain that the site was chosen deliberately.
When his Sher Shah Suri overthrew him, he destroyed
most of Dinpanah (refuge of the faithful) as the city
of Humayun was called to make way for his own Dilli
Sher Shahi or Shergarh. Incidentally, Humayun was
probably the only emperor in history who built a city
in Delhi and did not give it his own name – this was
typical of Humayun's rather sophisticated and dreamy
character. The Layout of The Massive Colossal
In plan the Old fort, now simply called Purana Qila
by Delhites, is irregularly orbital. The walls of
the immense Qila tower down on the road that takes
one to Pragati Maidan from the height of 18m, and
run on for about 2km. It has three main gates – the
Humayun darwaza, Talaqi darwaza and Bara darwaza (which
one uses to enter the fort today). The double-storeyed
gates are quite huge and are built with red sandstone.
of all the gates entry was forbidden from Talaqi (forbidden)
darwaza, the northern gate. It is not clear why this
was so. Other Attractions of The Fort
Sher Shah Suri and his successor could not complete
the city, and when Humayun defeated Sher Shah's son
to take back his city, he did not deal with Dilli
Sher shahi as the latter had done with Dinpanah. In
fact the Mughal emperor very handsomely completed
the city and even used several of the buildings like
the Sher Mandal, a rather pretty two-storeyed octagonal
building. Humayun used this as his library and, then
tripped to his death from its steps.
Excavation of Grey Ware Pottery
Several excavations have taken place in the Purana
Qila in an attempt to prove, or disprove as the case
may be, whether it is indeed the site of Indraprastha
or not. Diggings have yielded Painted Grey Ware pottery
which has been dated to 1000BC. Similar stuff has
been noticed in other sites associated with the epic
Mahabharata as well, which seem to conclusively prove
that this indeed was the place where Indraprastha
once flourished. These excavation have also thrown
up material, like coins, associated with the Gupta
(about 4-5th century AD) and post-Gupta ages (700-800AD)
of Indian history as well.
Qila-i-kuhna Masjid
One of the most fascinating buildings, and also one
of the few that still survive, in the Purana Qila
is the Qila-i-kuhna masjid. Sher Shah Suri built it
in 1541 (also see History) and he was obviously out
to make a definite style statement. The mosque is
quite a place; its prayer hall measures 51.20m by
14.90m and has five doorways with the 'true' horseshoe-shaped
arches. Apparently the idea was the build the whole
mosque in marble, but the supply ran out and red sandstone
had to be used instead. But the builder used the material
at hand very skillfully and the result is quite spectacular
– the red sandstone and the marble contrast beautifully
with each other to give the mosque a very distinctive
air. The mihrabs (prayer niches) inside the mosque
are richly decorated with concentric arches. From
the prayer hall, staircases lead you to the second
storey where a narrow passage runs along the rectangular
hall. The central alcove is topped by a beautifully
worked dome. In the courtyard at one time there was
a shallow tank, which had a fountain. The mosque has
an inscription which says 'As long as there are people
on this earth, may this edifice be frequented, and
people be happy in it.' A noble thought – amen to
it.
