Pixelated Memories: Maham Anga

Showing posts with label Maham Anga. Show all posts

September 10, 2015

Adham Khan's Tomb and Mehrauli PHC, Delhi

“Through me the way is to the city dolent; Through me the way is to the eternal dole;

Through me the way among the people lost;

Justice incited my sublime Creator; Created me divine Omnipotence,

the highest Wisdom and the primal Love;

Before me there were no created things, Only eterne, and I eternal last.
All hope abandon, ye who enter!”

– Dante Alighieri, 13th-century Italian poet, “Inferno”

Regarded as the oldest continuously inhabited area in the entire city, Mehrauli can be unquestionably considered as an unbelievable visual confluence of unimaginably desolate medieval monuments and a rapid groundswell of burgeoning urbanization and shimmering modernization engaged in a mighty clash so extraordinarily slow progressed that compared to the rest of the cityscape this entire area literally appears to have been transformed into a photographic frame struck in time eons ago allowing viewers a brief, uninterrupted glimpse into the idyllic life that was without any pretensions of relentless concrete and cement development, obnoxious pollution and miserable deforestation.

Behold enormity! - The mausoleum of Maham Anga and Adham Khan

Scattered around the area are hundreds of monuments – some exceedingly beautifully ornamented, some painstakingly perched upon high near-unpassable eyries, some quite humiliatingly submerged underneath an onslaught of years of accumulated stinking sludge and everyday excreta, some unassuming edifices relatively well-maintained either by the government or a religious organization as a ruin of heritage importance or a sacred shrine or a commemorative edifice, and lastly, a few depressingly decrepit monuments taken over by the local community which, like the dedicated memory of ancient days, continue to function as community centers where locals would everyday converge and share gossip of daily business and happenings occurring in the neighborhood. In this part of the country, opposite Mehrauli bus terminal, different facets of everyday life, the different modes, the different professions can be discerned in the very streets – anticipating business and cursing the sweltering summer heat or the biting winter cold, there are the fruit and vegetable sellers, the flowers and garland sellers, the plumbers, laborers, electricians, masons, the cigarette and betel leave sellers, the beggars, the eunuchs, the rickshaw drivers, the street cleaners, the garbage collectors, the prostitutes, the pimps, the policemen and the pickpockets, the unemployed, the old and the disabled, the ear cleaners, the car washers, the laundrymen and the newspaper men – one can see each of them, attired and arrayed in the bustling, perennially crowded marketplace.

Painted perfection!

Magnificently protruding from the ground like a massive towering overlord, overlooking this continuous flow of people and professions for the past half a millennium, is the visually prominent enormous cream-white mausoleum of Mirza Adham Khan, a foster brother of the Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Akbar (reign AD 1556-1605), whose life seems so incorrigibly entwined with that of numerous other protagonists interred in different parts of the graceful city that his tale, despite its emotionally disturbing and barbaric overtones, is unarguably one of the most frequently heard. Adham Khan and Quli Khan (also buried nearby, refer Pixelated Memories - Quli Khan's Tomb) were the adored sons of Maham Anga, the favored foster mother of the Emperor. Much to Maham Anga's undisguised chagrin, the Emperor immensely respected Shamshuddin Atgah Khan, the husband of his other foster mother Jiji Anga, sought his opinion in all important decisions and in AD 1562 raised him to the coveted position of “Wakil” (“Chief Minister”) thereby allowing him to investigate and document the military excesses and financial embezzlement perpetrated by Adham as an army General – infuriated, the latter brutally murdered Atgah Khan in cold blood and then, blinded alike with fury and fear of the consequences of his unsavory actions, burst upon the bewildered Emperor with his sword unsheathed, prompting the infuriated Emperor to immediately have him arrested and thrown down the ramparts of his fortress in Agra, twice for good measure – several historians argue that the incensed Emperor, thus provoked and yet grievously confused since Adham was his own esteemed milk-brother, himself threw him down to ensure his immediate demise.

Sigh! When will this city ever learn?

This however wasn’t the first time that the uncontrollable Adham had got into administrative and disciplinary troubles with the Emperor – legend has it that it that when the Emperor’s armies led by his valiant generals were furthering his expansionist policies and annexing small kingdoms in different parts of the country, Adham would capture a territory for him and enslave all the women in the captured land to add them to his own harem – such was his terror that women in the conquered kingdoms preferred to commit suicide rather than face him. Predictably, he invaded the kingdom of Malwa in central India under the Emperor’s banner, massacred its armies and killed the king Baz Bahadur (literally “Brave Hawk”) – however, before he could touch their Queen Roopmati with whom he had fallen in love, she committed suicide (“Jauhar”) by jumping into the pyre lit for her husband’s cremation – furious and desirous of vengeance, Adham unleashed a vicious pogrom and killed hundreds of innocent inhabitants of Malwa until the Emperor was forced to himself march to Malwa with a large army led by Azim Khan, another of his numerous mighty Generals (also buried nearby, refer Pixelated Memories - Azim Khan's Tomb), to subdue Adham who was then defeated, ordered not to lead any military campaigns in the near future and his territorial and executive powers curtailed for a period of time. Killing Atgah Khan however was to be the last indiscretion on the part of Adham – neither filial love nor the unmatched influence of his ambitious mother could save him from the Emperor’s wrath.

Dominating Delhi's skyline - Qutb Minar

Bereaved beyond measure and consolation despite putting up a brave front (she notably exclaimed to the Emperor “You have done well” when he recounted to her the events leading to Adham’s gruesome execution), Maham Anga, whose health was already failing for the past several months, too died mere forty days later pining for her treasured son and the guilt-ridden Emperor was therefore prompted to order the construction of the enormous mausoleum that was to entomb both mother and son. Atgah Khan, of course, was posthumously bestowed with the title of “martyr” and interred in a delicately beautiful mausoleum close to the Dargah of the 14th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and the breathtaking magnificent mausoleum of Emperor Humayun (refer Pixelated Memories - Atgah Khan's Tomb, Pixelated Memories - Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and Pixelated Memories - Humayun's Tomb complex). Adham however was labelled an unfaithful traitor and buried in far-flung Mehrauli in an octagonal mausoleum reminiscent of the architectural style of the numerous dynasties of Delhi Sultanate who preceded the nearly uninterrupted 330-year Mughal reign – the close proximity to the Dargah of the 13th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki was to be his lone concession (refer Pixelated Memories - Hazrat Bakhtiyar Kaki's Dargah).

A touch of ornamentation

The whole structure rises from an immense plinth delineated at the corners by octagonal bastions with enough space within them for several people to stand in shoulder-to-shoulder. The fortified walls of the thick-set plinth and the bastions bear traces of exquisite ornamentation, primarily strips of red sandstone sculpted into scrolls of floral patterns and flourishes which have somehow survived the ravages of time and nature. The octagonal mausoleum, vertically exceedingly prominent relative to its architecturally similar predecessors, is externally very minimally ornamented with just the bare minimum of traces of adornment – plasterwork medallions composed of inscribed calligraphy and floral decorations, unaesthetically thick tapering turrets protruding from the corners of each of the sides of the octagonal structure as well as the sixteen-sided drum (base) of the colossal dome, decorative “kangura” patterns (battlement-like leaf motif ornamentation) and an unusually pointed, highly polished glittering red sandstone finial crowning the apex. The cream-white thick walls, plastered over in tatters wretchedly revealing the layers of red-grey bricks underneath (despite being very recently conserved and restored (re-plastered) on the occasion of the 19th Commonwealth Games (CWG XIX 2010)), are buttressed for structural stability and surrounded on every side by an exceptionally wide colonnaded passageway that visually lends the entire structure a discernibly squat appearance despite its perpendicular towering existence. The interiors are unbelievably straightforward – a single, unprepossessing narrow gravestone, positioned thus sometime in the last century itself (on the orders of the Viceroy Lord Curzon who initiated restoration and conservation of numerous monuments throughout the country during his viceregal reign (1899-1905)), marks the location of Adham’s mortal remains, nothing however indicates that Maham Anga too was buried here – overhead, an ethereally beautiful painted medallion in blues, reds and blacks scatters an otherworldly artistic luminescence.

Symmetrically ungainly! So unlike the other Mughal edifices!

In every other direction, the local vandals have resorted to beautifying the mausoleum by inscribing it with nonsensical chalk pattern designs and heartfelt love letters. From past the limitless sea composed of the crowns and tresses of hundreds of thousands of vibrant green trees comprising the ridge forest extending immediately beyond the mausoleum’s peripheries, the richly illustrated towering Qutb Minar (refer Pixelated Memories - Qutb Minar) sternly overlooks the cruel desecration of the punitive sepulcher of the equally ferocious General. Legend goes that before her demise, Queen Roopmati had thus cursed Adham Khan that never a woman shall visit his grave or risk being harshly rendered devoid of conjugal happiness throughout her life – the mausoleum is however conspicuously distinguished today as a fascinating exemplar of a local community center regularly frequented by hordes of schoolchildren lolling their time after school, near-continuously chattering girls gossiping in rapid-fire Hindi amongst themselves, old men and women dressed in flawless white mumbling to themselves and the occasional camera-toting tourists – the curse and the numerous assertions of the monument being terrifyingly haunted seem to have been irreversibly forgotten, remembered only in folktales and contemporaneous historical accounts – perhaps a consequence of the burial of the doting Maham Anga with her cherished, although often wayward, son? Locals nonetheless do warn visitors to not stay overnight inside the mausoleum.

Serving the dead and the living - Mehrauli Primary Health Center

In vernacular parlance, the mausoleum is referred to as a “Bhool Bhulaiyya” (“Impenetrable Maze”) – some say it’s because its thick walls possess unfathomably convoluted passages amongst themselves, especially along the first floor, others say it’s because members of a marriage retinue explicably lost their way in the forest beyond its extremities never to be found again – though somehow I seem to have missed witnessing these passages, I’m nonetheless more inclined to side with the second opinion since the first seems too unbelievably far-fetched and also one has to take into consideration that at one point in its history, early 19th-century to be exact, the mausoleum was desecrated and converted into a country residence by Major Blake of the Bengal (British) Civil Services who had, enchanted by the subdued magnificence and unperturbed by the macabre stories pertaining to the personalities interred within, demolished the graves and installed comfortable beds and dining tables in their place. Incredibly afterwards, the structure bewilderingly served in the unusual capacities of an army guesthouse, a police station and a post office! Of course, Major Blake wouldn’t have chosen to reside in a labyrinthine maze, nor could have been a guesthouse/police station/post office run from such perplexing a premises.

Interestingly enough, this was not the only monumental edifice thus violated and recycled for worldly purposes inherently different from those that it was originally conceived to serve – couple of meters from the mausoleum exist two small monuments – a miserably crumbling pink-red mosque possessing a very finely-proportioned onion dome and a curious yellow mausoleum that from its distinctive appearance is discernible to belong to the short-lived Lodi Dynasty reign (AD 1451-1526) – while the former, wretchedly decrepit and thoroughly ruined, has been converted to a residence, the latter officially functions since the early 1930s in the governmental capacity of Mehrauli Primary Health Center (PHC) managed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)!

Commemorating forgotten history?

Additional chambers have been constructed around the original structure of the PHC and drenched in coats of blindingly brilliant yellow paint; verandahs shielded from the elements by wide corrugated iron sheet eaves (“chajja”) and lined with stone benches for patients and their relatives to sit on run around it and its exterior walls have been faced with grotesque white bathroom tiles – in its entirety, the picture of a shameful transformation and more significantly an unabashed contempt for architectural heritage and landmarks. Like the medieval monument, the desolate walls encompassing it were also once painted sunshine yellow like the structures they enclose, but presently reveal almost a rainbow spectrum of multicolored flourishes – yellowish-orange where the paint is still retained albeit discolored and darkened over time, green-grey where it has been entirely obliterated and compelled to reveal the layers of cement underneath, brown-red where the bricks peep through and bluish black-green where strands of moss have colonized the surface. A marble memorial tablet embedded in the wall notes –

“From the Zails of Mehrauli and Badarpur, 1261 men went to The Great War (1914-1919). Of these, 92 gave up their lives.”

(Zail – A revenue unit employed to demarcate areas during the British reign (AD 1857-1947))

So unsettlingly ironic is the British concept of historicity and commemorative remembrance that they had the temerity to inscribe an epigraph to themselves and their wars on the walls of a monument they unflinchingly overtook and mutated thus. This then is perhaps the “Kali Yuga” (“Age of Decay and Obliteration”) the Hindus refer to!

Squalor and decay!

Location: Immediately opposite Mehrauli bus terminal
Nearest metro station: Both Qutb Minar station and Saket station are equidistant.
Nearest Bus stop: Mehrauli
How to reach: Take a bus from the either of the metro stations to Mehrauli. Adham Khan's tomb is opposite the bus terminal and the PHC monument is barely couple of meters away.
Open: All days, sunrise to sunset
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Relevant Links -
Edifices in Delhi associated with Adham Khan and his family -

Pixelated Memories - Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque (built by Maham Anga)
Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Azim Khan (who defeated Adham Khan at Malwa)
Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Quli Khan (Adham Khan's brother)

Edifices in Delhi associated with Atgah Khan and his family -

Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Atgah Khan
Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan (Atgah Khan's son-in-law)
Pixelated Memories - Tomb of Mirza Aziz Kokaltash (Atgah Khan's son)

Other monuments located in the immediate vicinity of Adham Khan's Tomb -

Suggested reading -

May 31, 2013

Quli Khan's Tomb, New Delhi

History is a strange subject – it deals with myriads of personalities, millions of events & thousands of ifs. Shades of grey intersperse its extremes time & again – there is no such thing as a good or bad person, the only thing that matters to history is perspective & outcome. Such is the fickle nature of history & historians that often a powerful character is lost in the reams of pages, other times even a minor character is exposed to the scrutiny of the future generations due to the flick of a single action or event. There is perhaps not an iota of doubt that Mohammad Quli Khan, the subject of this article, perhaps never did anything that warranted his exclusion from the layers of history – he was not your ordinary guy next door, but a powerful general in the army of the Mughal emperor Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (ruled AD 1556-1605), at one time his powers must have been vast considering he was the foster brother of the emperor himself. & yet, nobody knows who our hero was, what his capabilities & achievements were, if he ever fought in any major battle to win territories for the emperor, if he ever vanquished the enemies of the land or if he was a beloved of the people. On the outset of this article, one can also debate if he passed on to the dark side & was corrupted by power, if the people disliked him & wanted him dislodged from his position of authority. We do not know that either. Did he fall out with the emperor & the latter had him killed?? After all, history does remember his blood brother Adham Khan, that powerful general whose very name brought terror to the hearts of his enemies, who brought rape & plunder to the territories he was asked to subdue,& who was finally brought to his end by the orders of the very emperor he had grown up with & pledged his unflinching loyalty to.

Growing up as a child, Akbar did not stay much with his father Emperor Humayun (ruled AD 1530-40 & 1555-56). Humayun was defeated by the armies led by the Afghan warlord & Governor of Bihar Sher Shah Suri in AD 1540. As a precaution against future complications, Sher Shah chased Humayun out of the country & the latter was forced to seek asylum with Shah Tahmasp, the Sultan of Persia. During this period, Akbar was raised by his wet nurses Jiji Anga & Maham Anga – the two brought him up like their own child, Jiji’s husband Atgah Khan became a second father to the young prince, Maham Anga’s sons Adham & Quli became Akbar’s playmates & brothers. In 1555, Humayun returned to India assisted by the Persian forces & displaced Sikandar Suri, the last of the Sur Dynasty rulers & the then emperor of India. Humayun passed away a year later as a result of injuries suffered in a fall & the young prince was crowned emperor at the tender age of 14. He elevated Quli Khan, Adham Khan & Atgah Khan to the position of army generals & they rose further on account of their unflinching loyalty to the empire & battle worthiness.

Mohammad Quli Khan's Tomb

Sadly, there are no records to tell us anything about Mohammad Quli Khan. His mere existence would have been lost to the tricks of history were it not for one single structure that refuses to cease to exist almost 400 years after his death – his tomb, built somewhere in early 17th century. The structure, relegated to a pristine, forgotten corner of Mehrauli Archaeological Park, is one of the most stunning tombs in the entire city of Delhi. Its magnificence is matched only by its seclusion, its brilliant stucco work & vibrantly-colored tiles that could have been the treat of the city hide their secrets well. The tomb, part of a larger complex, is built in a splendid manner with great effort having been taken for landscaping – it stands on a high plinth while the entire complex is built in a multi-layered manner, the lowest level being that of the Archaeological Park where it shares space with scores of other tombs & mosques, including that of the mighty emperor Ghiyasuddin Balban & the mystic Sufis Jamali & Kamali. It is not known who built the tomb – it could have been commissioned by Quli Khan himself, or emperor Akbar (provided Quli died before Akbar’s demise in AD 1605) or his successor Jahangir (ruled AD 1605-28), or even by his mother Maham Anga who possessed great power & command on account of being a second mother to the emperor.

As one follows the trail within the Archaeological Park & traces one’s steps towards Quli Khan’s tomb, one reaches the first level of the complex which is defined by a raised path snaking its way through dense vegetation, the stone margins that flank it interrupted b hexagonal bastions at regular intervals. One comes across a small irregular structure, built in such a manner that it looks as if several rectangular boxes of different sizes are stacked against each other – this is the entrance to the tomb complex that was added by Sir Thomas Metcalfe, a British officer of Scottish descent who acted as the British Agent (negotiator) at the court of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah “Zafar” II from 1835-53 & had bought the entire complex from the emperor, had it remodeled & converted into his country estate for use during the monsoon season & christened “Dilkhusha” (“Delighter of the heart”). It has often been claimed that Metcalfe removed Quli’s sarcophagus from the tomb & had it replaced by a billiards table, but it can be dismissed as a myth & an exaggeration of the amount of change that Metcalfe wreaked on the tomb complex – in all probability, Quli was buried deep underneath his tomb’s central chamber. Metcalfe did of course make several additions to the octagonal tomb & its surroundings – large cells (annexes) were built on two of its sides to accommodate him & his guests (it is said that he rented the place to honeymooning British & Anglo-Indian couples, what did they feel like sharing their “honeymoon suite” with a dead general??), he had canals dug around the complex & a Lodi-era dove coat near the above mentioned entrance to the estate was converted into a boat house, servants were hired for the upkeep of the place, a large stable was built close to a large rubble wall that is said to be the original boundary of Lal Kot/Qila Rai Pithora (the original citadel of Delhi) on the other side of the tomb. & then there are the most impressive additions that Metcalfe did to Mehrauli landscape – his quintessential ziggurats (stepped pyramids) & chattris (large hemispherical domes surmounted on thin pillars) where he would sit for hours & adore the towering Qutb Minar in the background. The reason usually given to explain Metcalfe’s refurbishing this tomb is not so exciting & romantic however – he wanted to keep an eye on Zafar when he visited his summer palace Zafar Mahal nearby. I have previously written posts about another of Metcalfe’s chattris that graces a small hillock opposite the Jamali – Kamali Complex & his ziggurats which you can access from here – Pixelated Memories - Metcalfe's Chattri & Pixelated Memories - Metcalfe's Ziggurats.

Metcalfe's Chattri (foreground), Quli Khan's Tomb & Azim Khan's Tomb (right side, background)

The entrance Metcalfe built now opens up to a large compound so thickly covered with vegetation that you almost expect a dinosaur to jump out from amongst the trees, little blue flowers sparkle with the rain drops that just fell, green grass beckons a visitor to come lie in its soft embrace, a few puppies loiter around with not a care for the world. The places is beautiful, so are the ladybugs that come flying out of nowhere & land suddenly on dead logs waiting to decay & mix with the dark wet soil, & so too are the white flowers that have sprung up in the bosom of shadows & in the thick of decay to prove that life always finds a way. The boat house is medium-sized & composed of two concentric cylindrical structures – the outer one is slightly shorter in height & consists of several arched entrances & small square holes on its inside surface to house pigeons, the inner cylinder has square entrances & square alcoves built into its walls – the only thing common to the two is the scribbling that they have been subjected to, apparently some youngsters decided to celebrate the birthday of the singer Bohemia & release of Akon’s new album here. It’s a pity that a singer today has become more important than our country’s architectural heritage dating back several centuries. The streams & canals that Metcalfe built are gone now, buried under layers of earth & overgrown with vegetation. In fact, it comes as a surprise now that this boat house was used for the purpose of keeping boats & swimming – the area is totally landlocked & it is a bit difficult to imagine that at one point in time, someone could have swum here!!

The first level & the abundant vegetation around it

Up the staircase that leads to the tomb, the strikingly peaceful & enchanting tomb comes as a surprise, it stands in a sprawling open ground, once a garden but now covered with dry grass & wild bushes. College kids were practicing a play they are supposed to enact in their college’s drama event next to the tomb’s entrance, on the expanse next to the tomb another group of local kids were busy at a game of cricket with stone blocks as wickets. The tomb stands on a high plinth & its yellowish walls seem inviting enough. Each side of the tomb is inset with an arched niche, alternate sides have an entrance built into the niche. Exquisite bands of calligraphy border the niche, the medallions are either inscribed with Quranic calligraphy or floral patterns, the entrances are surrounded by a profuse tile work in blue & yellow, while the non-entrance niches are surrounded by intricate stucco work mirroring complex floral patterns. Both the roof of the tomb & the drum (base) of the dome is ornamented with a row of kanguras (leaf-motif supposed to look like battlements but purely for ornamental purpose). The dome is topped by a lotus finial which is surmounted by a lightning conductor that looks more like a cracker rocket & lends a unique character to the entire structure. The tomb has been recently restored as part of the run up to Commonwealth Games 2010 which were hosted in Delhi, it is stunning enough to blow one away, its seclusion & quiet charm guarantees to impress one into believing that this is one of the most charming, if not the most charming, tomb in Delhi. In fact, this is one of those few structures where words failed me in describing the wonderful monument that now stood in front of me. As part of the tomb’s restoration, most of the additions made by Metcalfe were removed, ruins of a single arched chamber stands next to the structure now, perhaps to give an estimate of what the tomb looked like with the additions. Metcalfe was so impressed with the structure & the surroundings that he wanted his daughter Emily to come stay with him here & had built a room for her too. It is said that one of the extensions was furnished with cupboards & housed Metcalfe’s personal library. During the 40 years he spent in Delhi (“Dehlie” as he would have called the city), he preferred to spend most of his time here. Sadly, most of the treasures housed here were either moved to other places following Metcalfe’s death in 1853 (apparently as a result of being poisoned by Zafar’s senior queen Zeenat Mahal) or were lost in the revolt of 1857 (were Metcalfe alive in 1857, he would have been heartbroken at the plight of his beloved city). After the British takeover of Delhi, Mehrauli was relegated to the background & this whole area, teeming with medieval tombs, mosques & baolis (stepped wells), was reclaimed by nature & dense vegetation & only a monument or two that would bob up from amidst the tree cover were spared the ignonimous fate of being lost & forgotten. It is only recently that the presence of so many of these structures came to light, & as the present condition of the park illustrates – most of the structures are still in different stages of excavation & conservation. Quli Khan’s Tomb is no exception. From close to the ruins of Metcalfe’s additions, one can climb down a flight of stairs to reach the lower levels where a few chambers exist, but these have been barred & locked with iron grilles, rightly so to keep out vandals & inebriated fellows in this mostly lawless park complex.

The tomb & the ruins of Metcalfe's annexes - View from Metcalfe's stable

Towards the top on the inside, the corners of the octagonal structure are lopped off to convert it into a sixteen-sided structure on which the dome rests. The base of the dome is marked by arched niches, all decorated in brilliant blue & red paint work that guarantees to dazzle visitors. Similar art work is used to embellish the arched windows, the recessed corners & the roof too, though much of the central artwork on the dome is now gone & only the medallions remain. Pigeons flutter about in the place, the whole structure resonating with their coos which are magnified several times by the silence the place affords.

The profuse paint work inside the tomb

A quick run around the complex promises to yield even more treasures, photographing the chattri against the tomb or the Qutb Minar that never seems to take its eyes off you is exhilarating. So is chasing butterflies in the large complex in a bid to photograph them. Through the vegetation, one can see Azim Khan’s Tomb peeping down from the high hill it sits upon (refer Pixelated Memories - Azim Khan's Tomb). Azim was apparently the guy who helped Akbar defeat & subdue Quli’s brother Adham after the latter went on a rampage in Malwa, the kingdom in central India that he besieged & conquered on Akbar’s orders. Sadly, contemporary documents are also silent on Azim’s history & credentials – why is that Adham, who was corrupted by power still finds mention in history books, but the (apparently) good guys Quli & Azim are forgotten?? That’s a question that would always haunt visitors to the tomb of Quli Khan.

Once a Lodhi dove coat, then Metcalfe's boat house, now its just another set of graffiti-covered ruin

Next I headed to the stable where Metcalfe housed his prized horses, a large rectangular structure complete with arched entrances & divided into inner & outer chambers. There is a small tank towards the back which too was once perhaps used for swimming purposes, given the presence of stairs leading down near one of its corners. Another set of stairs close by (beware of the cobwebs) lead up to the upper levels of the stable from where one can have an unhindered view of Quli’s Tomb as well as look at visitors going past Smith’s cupola or the small wall mosque in the Qutb Complex next door that is separated by just a rubble wall. The Alai Darwaza appears quashed from this point, the Qutb Minar seems even thicker & mightier, one begins to appreciate the proportions & design of the wall mosque. From here, you can also see the tank behind the stable which was perhaps once filled by Metcalfe’s retinue of servants for his horses. They must have thought their boss (“Matka” as they pronounced his name) was mad to live next to ruins & tombs while his spatial mansion in Old Delhi’s Civil Lines area gathered dust (The city house is now under the auspices of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) & remains out of bounds for visitors).

Metcalfe's stable

After the more famous structures, you can have a peek at the Lal Kot wall & be amazed by the fact that it has been standing here for more than a thousand years, watching dynasties come & go, contemplating upon the development of newer & finer techniques of art & architecture, observing humans at close & feeling them betray their kindness & barbarianism by turns. A small gap in the corner where the wall comes in contact with the enclosing wall of the Qutb Complex (built recently, but made to look like the older wall) is from where you can cross over to the outside of the Archaeological Park & observe modern settlements coming up close by. One wonders if these settlements too would encroach upon these lands & destroy these wall fragments & tombs like it has been done elsewhere in Delhi, most notably the destruction of the fortress of Siri to make way for newer cities to come up (refer Pixelated Memories - Siri Fort Remains). Close by, another gap in the complex wall leads one out on a cemented road that is flanked by a small dump yard. There are a few structures standing here too – a bastion that could be an addition to the original Lal Kot wall at a much later stage, a large trapezoid gateway with thick tapering walls & arched openings on all its sides, thick lamp posts that were definitely added by Metcalfe given their odd shapes & apparently ornamental function. Trucks & tractors make a beeline for this extended compound, dumping & carrying away debris & construction material at regular intervals, the juice cartons, polythene bags, water bottles & potato chips wrappers come as a bit of a shock since very few tourists, if any, would come in this corner of the complex. Does this mean that the Govt. agencies in-charge of the adjoining Qutb Complex, a World Heritage Site, are responsible for this mess (refer Pixelated Memories - Qutb Complex)?? Thankfully, residents of the area around the park have taken it upon themselves to keep the park clean & free from encroachments – a daunting task given that the complex is almost 100 acres with numerous entry & exit points, an open drain running through it & the amount of waste that is being generated & dumped here is humongous. But then they say, a spark is all that is needed!!

An ornamental lamp post, in all probability built by Metcalfe

In case you are interested, you can pay a visit to the tomb where Quli Khan’s brother Adham Khan & mother Maham Anga were laid to rest by emperor Akbar. It stands close to the bus terminus, in another part of Mehrauli but very close to the Archaeological Park & can be reached by flagging down a bus or an auto going to the bus terminus & asking your way to Bhool Bhulaiya (as it is locally called). Adham’s Tomb is not as eye-opening as Quli’s Tomb considering the emperor was pissed at him for having murdered Atgah Khan in a fit of rage & jealousy & had him thrown off the ramparts of his fortress in Agra. One can also visit the Old Fort of Delhi which was the citadel of Akbar’s father Humayun & where Maham Anga commissioned one of the most magnificent mosques of Delhi, Khair-ul-Manazil (refer Pixelated Memories - Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque). The whole family’s history could be traced through the streets of Delhi, wish the books were not so silent on Quli’s life & times!!

Fluttering around

Location: Mehrauli Archaeological Park
Open: All days, Sunrise to Sunset
Nearest Metro Station: Saket
Entrance Fee: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
How to Reach: After getting down at Saket Station, one can walk to Lado Serai Bus Stop. Buses are available from different parts of the city for Mehrauli & one can alight from the bus at Lado Serai stop itself. The Lado Serai stop is situated at a crossroad & at one side, one can see a large domed-structure seated on a high hill (Azim Khan’s Tomb) rising high behind the trees & the traffic. Walking towards this structure, one comes to a recreational park called Ahinsa Sthal (“Abode of Non-Violence”), marked with a large signboard (or simply ask for Ahinsa Sthal from the locals & shopkeepers, check if they are aware of its location - they weren’t when I visited the area in December 2012). The unmarked entrance to Mehrauli Archaeological Park is through an iron gate opposite the Ahinsa Sthal, a few metres back in the direction of the bus stop.
Time required for sightseeing: About 1 hr
Note – There are no facilities (toilets, food & drinking water) available within the Archaeological Park. While you can avail food & refreshments at one of the restaurants at Lado Serai, you can only find toilets at the shopping malls close to Saket Metro Station, almost a kilometer away.
Relevant Links -

December 21, 2011

Khair-ul-Manazil Mosque, New Delhi

Literally translating to “the most auspicious of edifices”, the ruined yet splendid Khair-ul-Manazil was established by Maham Anga, Emperor Akbar’s (ruled AD 1556-1605) wet nurse, to serve as a madrasa (Islamic seminary) with an associated majestic mosque. It is hard to believe that in those days a wet nurse could accumulate this much social and financial power and commission such magnificent public works – but then Maham Anga was no ordinary lady – assertive and ambitious, she strived to establish control over the Emperor’s psyche and the affairs of the country and for many years reduced the young and inexperienced Emperor to a mere puppet enforcing all her commands. The madrasa complex would have been conceived to exist, both physically and structurally, in continuation with the massive citadel “Dinpanah” (“Refuge of the faithful”, now simply referred to as Delhi’s Old Fort, documented here – Pixelated Memories - Old Fort complex) that Maham Anga’s employer and Emperor Akbar’s father Emperor Nasiruddin Humayun (ruled AD 1530-40 and 1555-56) had constructed as his capital – now however, urbanization and construction of highways have metamorphosed the entire area and the two are separated by the arterial Mathura Road which bears such a heavy flow of traffic that very few visitors and tourists ever venture from the Old Fort–Delhi zoo combine to visit this poor, decrepit, rubble-built structure – of course, many of them do wonder if this too is part of the Old Fort complex or is an individual structure, but rarely does anyone bother to know its name or history, and its massive, well maintained exterior walls and red sandstone gateway are forgotten sooner than it took to drive past them or glimpse them from Old Fort’s gateways. And that’s a pity because the structure is in reality an inconceivably beautiful jewel disguising itself as a mere pauper! But as the Hindi adage goes – only the jeweler can distinguish jewels from stones – in this case too, only the few who venture within are rewarded with spellbinding sights and unparalleled artworks (sadly, very nearly lost now due to the vagaries of time and nature and the pitiable ignorance offered by conservation and maintenance authorities).

Remains of grandeur - Masjid Khair-ul-Manazil

Entered via an imposing, double-storied red sandstone gateway that is very minimally decorated with floral medallions and skillfully carved, slender, ornamental pillars and yet appears very elegant, the structure was commissioned in AD 1561-62, shortly before Maham Anga’s demise – interestingly enough, by this time Emperor Akbar had decided to transfer his administration from Delhi to the province of Agra and the only major activity undergoing in the city was the construction of the unparalleled mausoleum of Emperor Humayun nearby. Nonetheless, several administrators, nobles and military generals – including Maham Anga’s two sons Adham Khan and Quli Khan, the Emperor’s other foster-mother Jiji Anga, her powerful husband Shamshuddin Atgah Khan and their valiant son Mirza Aziz Kokaltash and the mighty and learned generals Azim Khan and Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan – decided to continue calling Delhi their home and commission outstanding mosques and mausoleums here. Standing opposite Khair-ul-Manazil’s majestic gateway, one doesn’t really feel thrilled or overawed by its size and grandeur, but once one stands immediately in front of it and repeatedly fails to photograph its vertical expanse (this has more to do with the limited area available to photograph the facade – the heavy traffic curtails freedom of movement and anyway the iron gate and boundary walls surrounding the structure renders stepping too far useless!) and observes the polished nature of the sandstone and the exquisiteness of the ornamentation, one feels struck by wide-eyed amazement and an uninhibited urge to venture in and explore this gorgeous architectural specimen further. The interiors, sadly, do not live up to the expectations – the enormous mosque, at the end of the vast rectangular courtyard, appears dejectedly ruined while the double-storied chambers that line the two longer sides of the courtyard have fallen apart in their entirety and can only be distinguished by the remains of their walls. The madrasa was designed according to traditional Islamic architecture that is fairly uniform in India as well as Central Asia – there are a total of nine fairly-sized chambers on each of the two floors on either side of the courtyard while smaller boarding rooms punched within larger arched cavities flank each side of the handsome gateway; along the corners on either side of the towering gateway, where the rows of chambers emanating along the longer sides of the courtyard should have overlapped with the chambers along the shorter side in which the gateway is embedded, the extremities of the rectangular courtyard are provided with small, irregularly-shaped, enclosed extensions.

First impressions - The neatly cut red sandstone gateway of the madrasa-mosque complex

In the center of the courtyard exists a deep octagonal tank where, since the mosque’s construction, the devotees perform “wazu” (ritualistic ablutions before offering prayers at a mosque). A large well, still functioning, is also located, slightly offset from the center towards the right, near the entrance gateway. Before heading towards the decrepit mosque, turn around and observe the intricate stucco patterns and medallions etched on the surface of the side of the gateway facing the mosque – it is rare to witness such excellent plasterwork patterns adorning a mere gateway and certainly testimony the immense influence and economic means that Maham Anga must have possessed. A set of semi-destroyed staircases on either side of the gateway which must have once lead to the upper levels now ends midway which is still high enough to yield a panoramic view (and photographs) of the expansive complex, but the bearded caretaker, who must at least be an octogenarian, gets inexplicably worked up when one climbs upstairs and furiously orders the descent (Edit November, 2014: The staircases do not exist anymore! I cannot fathom what happened to them – were they dismantled in their entirety (seems highly unlikely) or incorporated as part of one of the restored and grilled small chambers along the sides of the gateway? The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) guard on duty has not the slightest clue but territorially (and idiotically!) informs me that photography is not allowed and I shouldn’t disturb the men offering the prayers, only to hear the retort inquiry if he was even aware that the mosque still is under the aegis and protection of ASI for whom he works or have they given him along with the mosque to the Waqf board (in-charge of maintenance of active mosques and burial grounds in the country)? I again encountered the self-appointed caretaker dressed in white kurta-pyjama, the same old man with a short, irregular tuft for beard – strangely, he once again mistook me for an Afghan and began lamenting the poor condition of the mosque and the lack of sensitivity on the part of Government authorities and affluent Muslims, eventually winding the long monologue with a demand for ten rupees so he could light the oil lamps within since the mosque lacks electricity – imagine that, unconcealed woe at the denial of electricity connection to an over 450-year old heritage structure!).

Nearly lost - The colossal gateway and ruins of chambers on either side, as seen from the mosque

The rectangular mosque, slightly better preserved than the madrasa that has very nearly disappeared, is said to have been built without a foundation, a rarity in such massive constructions even today. Internally possessing five interconnected prayer chambers (bays), it has only three arched entrances while the portion where the corner-most of the five entrances would have been had they existed has been subsumed within the last of the madrasa rooms – except for this minor difference in the number of entrances and the existence of the large madrasa adjacent, it is structurally identical to the inconceivably exemplary Qila-i-Kuhna mosque (built either by Emperor Humayun or his vanquisher, the Afghan warlord Sher Shah Suri (ruled AD 1540-45)) gracing the Old Fort complex opposite. The central of the three arched entrances is slightly larger than the other two and embedded within a rectangular embossment that protrudes from the mosque’s front face both vertically and spatially; surmounting the central prayer chamber is an enormous hemispherical dome, slightly flattened towards the top and itself crowned by a perfectly well-formed lotus finial. An inscription set above the central entrance reads –

“In the time of Jalal-ud-din Muhammad who is the greatest (Akbar) of just kings, when Maham Beg, the protection of chastity, erected this building for the virtuous,

Shihabuddin Ahmad Khan, the generous, assisted in the erection of this good house. How blessed is this good building that its chronogram is “best of houses”.

Its construction was accomplished by Niyaz Baksh under the supervision of Darwesh Hussain.”

Shihabuddin Khan was a relative of Maham Anga and also a powerful, though very arrogant and cunning, courtier. The name “Khair-ul-Manazil” when written in Persian script yields the number 969 Hijri (AD 1561-62), the year of its construction, and thus is a chronogram.

Exemplar! - Tile work patterns adorning the mosque exteriors

Flanked on either side by a tapering octagonal pillar that culminates into a rounded conical turret slightly above the roof level, the aforementioned rectangular embossment retains signs of unsurpassable embellishment in the form of vibrantly colorful, enameled tile work and plasterwork bands of Quranic inscriptions. The rich, multi-hued tile work, exceedingly fine and extraordinarily spectacular, proves to be a spellbinding visual treat although much of it has deteriorated and disappeared against the unremitting onslaught of time and vagaries of nature. The gorgeous facade, ignored and forgotten, thus bears a blackened appearance further aggravated by the loss of its architectural features and artistic decoration – the medallions, except for those adorning the flanks of the side entrances, have disappeared in their entirety and so has the row of wide eaves (“chajja”) that would have once run along the entire front face of the mosque except along the protruding rectangular projection; thankfully the skillfully sculpted brackets which would once have supported the eave still survive. The very decorative “kanguras” (battlement-like ornamentation) adorning the roof are also still intact in their ornate existence, albeit in a considerably blackened state. It isn’t difficult to imagine that originally the enviable mosque would have been the treat of the eyes of the locals and would have offered stiff competition to the equally embellished Qila-i-Kuhna mosque which has been adorned not with vividly flamboyant tile work but expensive and graceful tessellation (stone inlay work). And not surprisingly, it is said that the resourceful Maham Anga, leaving no stone unturned in the ornamentation of her magnum, ensured that no two tiles adorning the facade were of the same design – a pattern that also finds resonance in the commendably variegated stucco artwork along the inner surface of the complex’s regal gateway. Each stucco medallion, be they on the mosque’s surface or on the gateway’s, reads the Islamic motto –

“La Allah illah Allah, Muhammad rasool Allah”

(“There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”)

"The most auspicious of edifices" - Mosque interiors

Stepping within the mosque one comes face to face with a picture of erstwhile grandeur clashed against present-day deplorable conditions – the mihrab (alcoves in the western wall of a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca; faced by Muslims while offering prayers) retain remnants of very fine and vibrantly painted enameled tile work arranged in numerous geometric and floral patterns in several colors – red, violet, yellow, green, orange and cream, but the rest of the structure is unadorned and exceedingly simplistic. The shorter sides of the rectangular prayer chamber boast of arched side entrances and windows but the same have been grilled and locked to prevent visitors/vandals from entering from these sides. The restoration work which began in anticipation of the Commonwealth Games 2010 (CWG XIX) that Delhi hosted seems to never have been completed and the walls continue to bear the numerous flourishes left behind by painters and masons employed for the conservation-restoration work. The plain interiors, mirroring the limited nature of decoration on the exteriors, appear like the poorer cousin of the better preserved Qila-i-Kuhna mosque whose interiors too unabashedly display excellent tessellation, honeycomb brackets and brilliant paint work in the form of medallions and alcove decoration. But then, unlike the latter, this mosque is still alive, especially on Fridays, with devotees and faithful, though negligible in numbers, who come to offer prayers, clean and sweep the premises and leave behind corn and rice to feed the hundreds of pigeon who call the structure their home. ASI tried to prohibit the practice in 1992 after considering the ruined condition of the structure which was deemed dangerously vulnerable to subsidence, but this step brought it in conflict with the “Masjid Basao Committee” which endeavors for a revival of monumental and abandoned mosques, usually under the aegis of conservation authorities like ASI, for the purposes of prayers and religious ceremonies – the case still continues in the court, but meanwhile prayers are allowed in the premises. The status quo is, in my humble opinion, an ideal solution involving all parties concerned – devotees can be allowed to offer prayers provided they keep vandals out and maintain the structure and its religious sanctity without altering its appearance or constitution in any way (say, paint jobs or modern construction/obstruction), while the restoration-conservation work and hiring/training of guards for the overall protection can be undertaken by ASI – in any case, ASI has already failed for this many years to properly conserve the gorgeous facade and prevent the collapse of some of the chambers.

Such multi-hued vibrancy! - Tile and paint patterns, central of the five mihrabs within the mosque

Along the rubble-built back of the prayer chamber runs a row of alcoves whose high roof is accessible by means of a staircase on either side. A projection in the immediate center of the back wall marks where the rectangular embossment exists along the front face and two tapering pillars in continuation with it reflect the pillars along the latter. The corners culminate into double-storied octagonal towers, the lower levels of which mirror, by means of deep set niches, the long arched windows of the upper levels; four ornamental brackets, identical to those along the front facade that supported the eaves, exist along each side of the towers.

A popular legend associated with the mosque states that once Emperor Akbar, while returning from a hunting expedition, decided to visit and offer prayers at the dargah (mausoleum) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya located nearby. A disenchanted slave let loose an arrow within the mosque precincts to kill the Emperor while he halted for a short rest here, but it missed him on account of his short height and injured a royal guard instead. I doubt we need delve into what must have happened afterwards to that slave! The structure’s dilapidated octagonal wazu tank is said to have been repaired by Amir Habibullah, the Shah of Afghanistan, in the first decade of 20th century when he visited India for a meeting with the Viceroy. Given the historicity of the structure and its association with such notable personalities, it is highly imperative that it be conserved and the excellent artwork it boasts of, currently threatened nearly to the verge of extinction, both by environmental effects and the lacunae that plagues the heritage authorities, be restored and preserved for future generations. At present, it is only because of the hundreds of pigeons who call this dilapidated structure their haunt that this largely unnoticed and forgotten mosque-seminary located at such a busy traffic intersection opposite one of the most visited tourist sites of Delhi displays signs of life. One can only hope that perhaps someday tourists and history enthusiasts too will visit it in hundreds to bask in its erstwhile grandeur and marvel at the unsurpassed skill of the artists and architects whose efforts went into its construction. Then the courtyard that once reverberated with the sounds of students reciting Islamic scriptures and learning geometry, algebra and jurisprudence would once again resound with human voices, only this time they'll be the sounds of children’s laughter and visitor’s exclamations of adoring amazement. Amen.

The other side - The mosque, as seen from the expansive lawns surrounding the ruined Lal Darwaza adjacent

Location: Immediately opposite Old Fort (Purana Qila) (Coordinates: 28°36'27.1"N 77°14'23.7"E)

Open: Everyday, sunrise to sunset

Nearest Metro station: Pragati Maidan

How to reach: Buses and autos are available from different parts of the city for Old Fort complex. The metro station is exactly 2 kilometers away and one can walk or avail a bus/auto from there.
Entrance fees: Nil

Photography/Video charges: Nil

Suggestion: It is advisable, especially for women, to be dressed modestly since the mosque is a place of worship. Also one has to remove the footwear before entering the prayer chamber.

Other monuments in the neighborhood -

Quli Khan, one of Maham Anga's sons, is buried in a beautiful mausoleum in Mehrauli Archaeological Park in another part of Delhi. Refer Pixelated Memories - Quli Khan's Tomb.