Varsha' Travelogue of Purani Dilli

Tomb of Ghazi-Ud-Din (Circa 1710)

I love traveling and in the course of my travels if I can go across centuries then my travel is fructified. Recently I did just that, I boarded  a Metro train to New Delhi in the 21st century and when I got out from gate no 3 facing Kamla Market, I found that I was in the 17th century. Well, as I sat under a tree at 7 in the morning, I felt the cool breeze of the tree and felt that I had somehow got transported back  to the times when Aurangzeb was the Badshah of Shahjahanabad. He had been entrusted with conquest of the South by his father Shahjehan and therefore even after becoming Badshah himself, he spent most of his time in the Deccan-Dakhin-Dakshin. 

I was taking part in a walk where I met unknown people from Delhi as well as from different countries who had got together to learn something about Old Delhi and the crafts and businesses that flourished there in olden times.

AJMERI GATE

Our first stop was the Anglo Arabic School which is situated bang opposite the Ajmeri Gate. Shahjahanabad was established by Shah Jehan the Mughal emperor in 1648 AD. The Red Fort which is at the centre of this new city had a surrounding wall which had 14 gates. Ajmeri Gate is one of the gates that still stands. At one time it stood tall but now looks dwarfed by the many multi storied buildings which have come up around it. This school was located outside the walls of Shahjahanabad.

ANGLO ARABIC COLLEGE

 This School was established by Ghazi-ud-din Khan, Feroze Jung I(1649- 1710), who was Commander and Chief of the Mughal army at the siege of Golconda Fort in 1686 when Aurangzeb conquered the fort and took the last Sultan Abul Hasan Qutab Shah of Golconda prisoner. Ghazi-ud-din was later made Subahdar of Gujarat Province by Bahadur Shah I the next Mughal Emperor after Aurangzeb. When he died in 1710 in Gujarat, his body was brought back to Delhi and buried in the tomb that he had built for himself in the premises of this School. 

TOMB OF GHAZI UD DIN

Ghaziuddin was the father of Asaf Jah who went on to become the First Nizam of Hyderabad and began the Asaf-jahi dynasty of Hyderabad.

In 1790 the school closed down but the affluent people of Shahjahanabad funded the system and in 1792 the Delhi College was started at the same premises teaching literature, science and art. The East India Company became virtual rulers of India in 1757. After establishing themselves politically, in 1828, they turned their attention towards education and in this magnificent building they reorganised it as the Anglo Arabic College. For the first time English language and Literature were introduced in the curriculum of this educational institution. At that time Rev.Jennings started secret Bible classes  at this secular College and in July 1852,  Dr. Chamanlal who was a personal physician of Bahadur Shah Zafar and his friend Master Ramchandra a Lecturer of Mathematics at Delhi College converted and became Christians. Master Ramchandra was the author of "Treatise on problems of Maxima and Minima" which was published at his own cost at Calcutta but later on Augustus De Morgan the famous Mathematician got it re-published in London. Prof Ramchandra taught at Delhi College and then at Thomson Civil Engineering College, Roorkee(IIT Roorkee).

THE COLLEGE

The premises of this college are quite large, there are many rooms on two floors, there is a mosque and the tomb of Ghazi-ud-din on the west of the compound. The tomb is open to the sky but all along it, there are very intricately carved screens.

From this quiet, clean and magnificent educational premises, we stepped out into the crowded area of Ajmeri Gate. This area houses the whole sale market of sanitary ware. From behind GB Road now called Swami Shraddhanand Marg we entered a small gali which was the place where the gwalas or people who supplied milk to Shahjahanabad resided. Today no cattle can be found here as they were removed from the city and re established in Gazipur on the outskirts of Delhi.

 As we moved further on, we entered a street full of small eateries where fresh poories were being fried and served with aloo ki sabzi. The halwa was very sweet but was needed to compensate for the teekhi potato curry. A cup of tea which we got for Rs. 10 was very delicious. This area was basically a Muslim area but the aloo pooriewala was a sole Hindu in that area and his sales were quite good. Further on there was a person frying kachories. One could get 4 kachories for Rs. 10.

FAST FOOD-FRESH FOOD

Further on there was a little corner shop selling chicken biryani and another one selling Nihari. In old Delhi traditionally people would eat aloo poori and jalebi with milk or  halwa with small sooji poories. Fast food, street food, fresh food, you have it all here.

As we moved on we found a tonga stand on the main Hauz Qazi road. There were a few dilapidated tongas with a very thin horse standing in the shed. Once upon a time tongas were the main means of transport for the local people. The tonga would be clean, comfortable and a delight to travel on. The trot of the horse, the fast moving wheels and the tongawalla calling out to the pedestrians to make way, made the journey quite pleasant, comfortable and fast. Till about twenty years back tongas used to ply on the State Entry Road going to the Railway station from Connaught Place. There are any number of beautiful songs picturised on the tonga in Hindi movies.

In earlier days there used to be an annual Tonga race held between Ajmeri Gate  and Mehrauli. That used to be a very colourful event, now with too much traffic on the roads and the extremely fast paced life these tonga races do not take place with much fanfare. As I told you earlier, I felt I had reached the 17th century, because when you walk on the streets and alleys of Old Delhi, one can see life going by at a leisurely pace, one does not feel any rush  or anxiety. 

THE METRO STATION 

On Hauz Qazi road is a monstrosity of modernity. The Metro station stands out like a sore thumb. They could have maintained the outside facade to gel with the kind of shops that exist on that road to maintain a continuity.

Behind the Chawdi bazar Metro station stands a huge building. In its hey day it must have been magnificent. Some portions of it are maintained well and some portions are absolutely dilapidated. Obviously the property must have been split between inheritors. Those who could, have maintained it while some others have allowed it to disintegrate.

Moving on from observing  food business and transport business, we moved further on to see a gate which led into the area where people who dealt in salt lived. In fact it is interesting to note that Delhi was the hub of the spice trade in North India. Khari Baoli is the market near Fatehpuri Mosque at the end of Chandni Chowk where all the wholesalers of spices and dry fruits are located. 

We then walked down Sitaram Bazaar which is the area where aristocrats of yore lived. They have palatial houses in huge compounds. On the facade would be a beautiful door, beyond which one entered a world of peace, old world charm, style and space. The walls were thick, there were many open spaces called dalaan and aangan. At the entrance usually one would find space for people to sit on both sides of the door. There would be ornate work on top of the door. Often the name of the owner would be written in Hindi, English and in Persian. Persian was the official language of the Mughal empire and even after the end of the Mughal rule it continued to be used by the aristocrats.

HOUSE OF KAMLA NEHRU

As we walked down Sitaram Bazaar, I observed that we reached a lane which was inhabited mainly by Kashmiris. One prominent house was of the Kaul family which was called "Atal House". The daughter of this house Kamla was married to Jawaharlal Nehru the son of Motilal Nehru a prominent Barrister of Allahabad High Court. Almost the entire who's who of Allahabad had been invited to this wedding so the Kauls requested Mr. Haksar who lived close by and had a huge mansion to accommodate the baraat. The wedding therefore took place in this sophisticated and aristocratic area of Purani Dilli on 08.02.1916. Mr. Sapru of Sapru House fame also lived on the same lane. Most probably affluent and educated Kashmiris even then left Kashmir for the purpose of employment with the Mughal rulers. The Kaul haveli is now in the hands of some other owners who have Dhiman Market written at the gate. The Haksar Haveli has only a gate standing there. The Sapru property now has flats.

KALAN MASJID

We went past the 84(Chaurasi) ghanta temple and walked towards Turkman Gate, where we saw the 13th century Kalan Mosque built by the Prime Minister of Feroze Shah Tughlaq. The name of the prime minister was Khan-e-Jehan Junan Shah Telangi who was from present day Telangana. This gentleman got seven mosques constructed across Dilli. Kalan mosque is still in use and therefore maintained up to date. It has been painted green outside although at one time it was also called Kali masjid. The steps leading to the mosque are original-seven hundred years old and are quite uneven. If one looks at old time pictures of the mosque one can see how majestic it must have once looked. 

COOKS AND FOOD

Mughals were connoisseurs of good food. Their legacy continues to this day and we find that there are some cooks occupying an area near Turkman gate within a compound. They have huge cauldrons, and chulhas(stoves) where they cook food on order. One can take raw mutton to them and they will cook it with their secret ingredients and spices and give you the delicious finished product. Their secret ingredients remain secret and secure. 

There is something about Purani Dilli that is fascinating. One does not get put off by all the filth lying around. There is some sort of community living, togetherness and a feeling of belonging to the place. The chaiwalla, the pooriewalla serve you as if you are their guest and not a customer. 

Purani Dilli makes me want to return again to see what was and how magnificent times were one hundred years ago, actually even fifty years ago. Times are changing, landscape is changing and what was once standing majestically may just remain so only in pictures.