Delhi's qutb

Delhi’s Qutb Complex The Minar, Mosque and Mehrauli Catherine B. Asher

HAUZ-I SHAMSI 1230; Shamsuddin Iltutmish Slave Dynasty

JAHAZ MAHAL 15th century Lodi Dynasty

END BAZAAR 19th–20th centuries

delhi's qutb complex

ZAFAR MAHAL COMPLEX 19th century; Akbar Shah II & Bahadur Shah II Late Mughal

12

JHARNA 1712; Feroz Jang, Akbar Shah & Bahadur Shah Late Mughal

RAJON KI BAOLI 1506; reign of Sikandar Lodi Lodi Dynasty

MADHI MASJID Lodi or early Mughal times

I.2 Map of Mehrauli. Courtesy INTACH.

ADHAM KHAN’S TOMB circa 1562; Maham Anga reign of Akbar

BEGIN

QUTB COMPLEX late 12th–14th centuries; Qutb al-Din Aibak, Iltutmish & Ala al-Din Khalji

LALKOT circa 1050–60; Anangpal Tomar Tomar Rajputs

DILKUSHA

JAMALI KAMALI MOSQUE & TOMB 1528–29; Sheikh Fazl al-Allah reign of Humayun

introduction

19th century; Sir Thomas Metcalfe Colonial

13

Chapter 1

Growth of a Complex

E

ntering the site protected by the ASI, today’s visitor to the Qutb complex is confronted with an array of structures that initially seem to make little sense (figures 1.2 and 1.3). A gateway with elegant cusped arches serves as the ticketed entrance.

To its right is the base of an enormous minaret, while to the left is an impressive towering minaret 72.5 metres in height, known today as the Qutb Minar. Veering toward the left, the visitor sees a partially ruined gallery of columns and then a low stone-built facade with a seeming arched entrance. Passing through the entrance, the visitor notes an open courtyard surrounded by a continuous gallery on the north, east and south, each of these three sides fronted by mismatched ornate pillars, and to the west a splendidly carved stone screen in front of which is an iron pillar. To either side on the east are more stonearched screens. As one continues to explore the site, even more buildings constructed in a variety of styles appear. In a short walk around, the visitor will have observed structures which, for the most part, were built between the late 12th and early 14th centuries, but some even date to the 18th and 19th centuries. What motivated the Ghurids and their successors to build at this site? Why are there so many structures that were clearly built at different times? This chapter will probe the origins of the earliest of these buildings, their patrons and their ambitions.

1.1 Corbelled-arch entrance to Aibak’s mosque, Qutb complex.

When Qutb al-Din Aibak, commander of the Ghurid army, defeated Prithviraj Chauhan at the battle of Tarain in 1192, he was able to take Ajmer and by 1193, Delhi came under his authority. Once in Delhi he needed a mosque, for in the Islamic tradition to legitimize a new ruler’s authority his name must be read aloud in the Friday prayer. Following longestablished Islamic practice the first mosque of a new area was usually quickly built, partially of spolia—that is, previously used materials. This was seen for example in the 8th-century phase of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain. The spolia are visible on the exterior but particularly in the interior of this Delhi mosque’s first phase. Since the 19th century, writers, both scholarly and popular, have been almost obsessively concerned with this use of spolia and what it meant to the patrons and users. The Ghurids’ earlier contact with Indic visual traditions as well helps explain the use of spolia on this mosque.

There is strong evidence indicating that Indian stonemasons had worked on Ghaznavid and Ghurid monuments in several places in Afghanistan, among them Ghazni, the capital of Mahmud of Ghazni and later of Mu’izz al-Din.1 For example, several cenotaphs in Ghazni depict lotus chains, half-lotuses and cusped arched niches similar to those found in 10th- through 12th-century Indian sculpture and architecture.2 The carved frieze with a woman discussed in the Introduction (figure I.7) is another likely example of work by an Indian sculptor in Afghanistan. An entire stone-constructed edifice, possibly a tomb but locally termed a mosque, at remotely situated Larvand, within Ghurid territory, is an oft-cited example of Indian workmanship (figure 1.4).3 Not only does the use of stone, common in India but not in this region where brick is the predominant medium, point toward Indian craftsmanship, but other features indicate this as well. These include

growth of a complex

Aibak’s Congregational Mosque: The Initial Phases

23

delhi's qutb complex

24

corbelled domes and corbelled vaults, rare in Islamic construction but common in Indic architecture, carvings similar to those on cenotaphs in Ghazni, and the use of an amalaka, a stone disc surmounting temple superstructures. This means that the visual landscape of Hindu and Jain India was nowhere as alien to the Ghaznavids as usually believed.

While Indic traditions were by no means unfamiliar to the Ghaznavids, all historical information regarding the Qutb mosque was recorded in the Ghaznavid courtly language, Persian. According to one Persian inscription on the Qutb mosque’s interior east wall, the mosque was commenced in 1191/92, well before Delhi became part of the Ghurid enterprise, but this inscription is almost surely not original, rather added later.

According to some, it is an early 13th-century product, while recent work based on the style of the calligraphy suggests that it dates to the late 14th century.4 Not only is the script different in style from others on the mosque, but also it is inserted into a larger stone panel, suggesting that it probably replaces an earlier inscription or a decorative panel. Today this inscription is barely noticeable, but it probably was once painted to highlight the Persian text. Another inscription over the north entrance into the mosque, this one original and dated 1196−97, indicates that Qutb al-Din Aibak built this mosque at the behest of his Ghurid overlord, Mu’izz al-Din.5 This inscription today is easy to see, but if the upper portion of the door, once sheltering the text, were still intact, it too probably would have needed paint to enhance its visibility.

Following one common mosque type found in the Persianate world, this buff-coloured stone structure was built as a rectangle, measuring 49 by 12 metres, with entrances on three sides leading to a large open courtyard. A continuous pillared gallery formed the east, north and south sides with the west side comprising the wall of the qibla or prayer chamber that by Quranic mandate must face Mecca. Today the north and east sides are relatively intact, but the west zone is particularly damaged, and the wall that faced Mecca is largely missing.

1.2 Isometric view of the Qutb complex. Courtesy ASI.

28

delhi's qutb complex

29

growth of a complex

1.33 Mihrabs in Iltutmish’s tomb, Qutb complex.

arrival of the Ghurids, the setting was transformed with a mosque built in several phases and a towering minaret—the Qutb Minar—that was even taller than its prototype in Jam that had been built under the Ghurids. In fact, it remains the tallest minaret built in the pre-modern world. This minaret served not only as a symbol of religious and political authority but also as a watchtower that met the needs of future sultans, who increasingly would be threatened by Mongol invasions from the north. The mosque and minaret were building types new to the Delhi region and so too was the introduction of structural tombs. These edifices are simply permanent memorials of new religious sects and ideologies that entered north India, but it would be incorrect to think of them effacing all earlier Indic practice and cultural systems, for many were retained or simply reused in a way that suited previously existing religious and secular ways of life.

growth of a complex

1.32 Interior view of Iltutmish’s tomb, Qutb complex.

55

delhi's qutb complex

3.10 Rajon ki Baoli, Mehrauli, 1506.

84

red-sandstone panel. Unfortunately the patron’s full name was on the damaged portion, making it difficult to identify him more specifically. The name Daulat Khan is clear, as is another name, Khwaja Muhammad, but because the inscription is now incomplete, it is uncertain how and if they are linked. Carr Stephen, writing in 1876, appears to have seen the intact inscription, and states that it is Daulat Khan, son of Khwaja Muhammad, although he only provides a translation, not the original Persian.30 Daulat Khan was the title of an important noble active in the Lodi period who served under both Sikandar and Ibrahim Lodi. At some point he became disillusioned with Lodi rule, and sided with Babur even before his conquest of India at the battle of Panipat in 1526. Later Daulat

3.11 Mosque and tomb of Daulat Khan, Rajon ki Baoli, Mehrauli, 1506.

just before the mughals

Khan regretted this move and died while imprisoned by Babur.31 If this is the same Daulat Khan, then he built this mosque, baoli and tomb complex many years before his death in 1526, the very year of Babur’s victory.

This attractive baoli must have served as a major source of water for those residing in the area. In the 19th century, 66 steps leading to the water level were visible, but today because it is no longer replenished with groundwater and has been filled with earth, many fewer steps are seen. Recently, however, the ASI has made efforts to clear the well. The three levels of galleries that form the three sides of the stepwell have spacious chambers. Given the religious nature of the lengthy inscription on the chhattri’s interior, which repeatedly asks God to confer blessings on his prophet, Muhammad, as well as the many Quranic inscriptions on the interior of the stepwell’s mosque, it would appear that this complex, with its multiple chambers, was used as a madrasa, a trend we have seen previously in the Sultanate period. But it also would have served as an early 16th-century air-conditioned space, for the subterranean rooms, already cooler than those buildings above ground, would be further cooled by the water below.

Today the complex retains only a limited sense of colour and hardly suggests Delhi’s revival as desired by Sikandar Lodi. Few traces of pigment and blue tiles remain on the complex’s stucco-covered surfaces, but even today structures that are nearly contemporary with those at the Rajon ki Baoli and decorated with stucco, still bear traces of vibrant polychrome—for example, the 1494 mosque and some of the octagonal tombs in Lodhi Gardens. This suggests that the interior of the mosque at Rajon ki Baoli, profusely covered with stucco ornament and calligraphy, was once brightly coloured (figure 3.12). So too the tomb’s stucco dome, embellished with panels in the shape of downward-pointing lotus petals, was also painted. Today the chhattri’s parapet, with its white marble panels trimmed with red sandstone and a few blue tiles, is all the colour that remains. But in its original state, this complex would have stood out as a superb example of Delhi’s revival after a century of decline.

Immediately across from the Rajon ki Baoli complex is a large plinth, about 2.5 metres in height, atop which is a domed pavilion supported on 12 pillars (figure 3.13).32 Its dome is rendered in the form of a downward-pointing lotus and originally probably

85

Mehrauli Today Mehrauli today is essentially a town within larger Delhi. It is a cross between a modern urban centre and an old-style village. It boasts upscale restaurants and extremely expensive designer boutiques wedged between Sultanate and Mughal buildings.

New middle-class housing abounds as well, some of it boxing in monuments such as Chaumachi Khan’s tomb, while temporary huts and converted tombs and mosques serve as residences for Mehrauli’s poor. The area’s streets are filled with every kind of conveyance from donkeys to ox-carts and autos, bikes, motorcycles, cars and buses.

Boutiques, ordinary shops and open-air vendors line the same streets. Mehrauli has a diverse population. Some people can be identified as Hindu, Sikh, Christian or Muslim by

war of independence to independence

The ASI also protects and maintains monuments in the Archaeological Park just to the south of the Qutb complex. The park was established in 1997 by the joint efforts of several agencies including the Delhi State Archaeology Department, Delhi Development Authority and INTACH. The park contains many structures under the auspices of the ASI, including the Jamali mosque and tomb, the Rajon ki Baoli and Balban’s tomb, while others are protected by the Delhi State Archaeology Department. Recently INTACH and the ASI, along with the Delhi State Archaeology Department, have combined resources to beautifully restore the so-called tomb of Muhammad Quli Khan that Thomas Metcalfe had transformed into his Dilkusha. A major focus of this restoration was removing white paint that had been placed over its original interior blue-painted stucco-work (figure 4.4).

Helpful signage in the park has been provided by INTACH working with the New Delhi Municipal Council. In addition to directional signage, a number of structures recently restored by INTACH have posted boards with information about the structures, including ground plans of the buildings. In the Archaeological Park this includes the Metcalfe residence and several recently restored tombs that have no names. Just outside the park, the ASI maintains a number of major monuments including the Jahaz Mahal, Adham Khan’s tomb, the Gandhak ki Baoli (access to which was closed to the public in early 2016 because of a suicide) and the Zafar Mahal, while the Delhi Department of Archaeology has restored the late-Mughal jharna and garden, and provided it with excellent signage.

INTACH and private parties have introduced heritage walks that have helped to popularize the Mehrauli area with Delhiites and tourists alike.

While many of the monuments in the Mehrauli area are relatively easy to locate, thanks in part to the activities of INTACH, the ASI and others, three major sites are extremely difficult to find. These are the walls of Lalkot and their extension known as Qila Rai Pithora, two of Delhi’s fortified cities, and their major water source, Anangtal.

The significance of these walls and the excavated areas have been discussed in Chapter 1. The walls of Lalkot and Qila Rai Pithora are marked on INTACH maps of the Mehrauli area, but for a novice to find them is challenging. Even harder to identify is the location of Anangtal, situated within Lalkot’s walls. Yet the ASI spent six seasons between 1964–65 and 1994–95 excavating Anangtal, Lalkot and Qila Rai Pithora.35 The important findings of the excavations have been published in the relevant issues of Indian Archaeology: A Review (and are available online), but today there are no indications of the physical areas excavated, nor is there public access to the material remains that were excavated. Besides the extensive excavations done at these sites since Independence, earlier ones yielding significant findings had been carried out under British rule. Why is there no museum displaying the remains of Delhi’s first cities?

137

delhi's qutb complex

clothing or ornament, but most dress in a manner that makes religious identity difficult to determine.

Mehrauli’s diversity is reflected in modern buildings for worship. In addition to the many mosques discussed throughout this text, some of which had been abandoned and now have been placed again into active use (for example, the Baghichi ki Masjid), others are newly constructed. St John’s Church is a centre for Christians of the Church of North India living in and near Mehrauli. There are also two gurdwaras in Mehrauli: Gurdwara Shahidi Asthaan Banda Singh Bahadur built on the site where the Sikh military commander who had fought against the Mughals was martyred, and Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha nearby. At least one major Jain Shvetambara temple, the dadabari, has been established at the place where the 12th-century Jain spiritual teacher, Acharya Jinchandra Suri, attained samadhi, the highest state of meditation. The site is about 850 years old, but the current temple is a relatively recent structure. It is a particularly beautiful site with fine landscaping and white marble shrines dedicated to the saint’s memory. The main shrine contains an image of Jinchandra Suri and his footprints, marking the site of his cremation (figure 5.9). The marble footprints are encased in a silver repousse basin around which is an abundance of floral designs all rendered in silver. Above this area are spectacularly rendered white marble lintels, known as toranas (figure 5.10), that are inspired by those seen in well-known Jain temples, for example, those at Dilwara and Ranakpur built between the 12th and 15th centuries.

On the east side of Anuvrat Marg, picturesquely situated immediately adjacent to the 17th-century tomb of Akbar Khan/Azim Khan is another Jain complex, this one Digambara. This is the Ahinsa Sthal (Place of Non-Violence or Peace) built in the 1980s.

Websites claim that it was founded to counter the aggressive nature of Aibak’s military actions in the name of the Ghurids destroying Hindu and Jain temples of this area in the late 12th century.36 More significantly, the Jain monument to non-violence is situated on the very hillock that once housed Sir Thomas Metcalfe’s favourite folly, a castle known as the Battery, a place for the installation of guns and military equipment. Replacing the Battery associated with military actions is a huge 4-metre stone image of seated Mahavir, the 24th and last Jina (figure 5.11). Jinas are ascetics who have transcended the world,

138

5.9 Marble carved footprints of Acharya Jinchandra Suri in the Jain dadabari, Mehrauli, 20th century.

marble inscriptional panels, and carved marble screens over each arched doorway.

The calligraphy, rendered in the same style as the 13th-century script on Iltutmish’s Delhi tomb, was designed by the master calligrapher, Hafiz Muhammad Yousad Sadidi (1927−86), who is well known in Pakistan. The highest art form among the visual arts in the Islamic world is calligraphy, so the tomb is not just a structure honouring the man who is commonly considered the first Muslim ruler of South Asia, but it is also a repository of calligraphic splendour. Over the inscriptional panels at Aibak’s Lahore tomb are bands of abstracted floral arabesques also derived from those on Iltutmish’s screen at the Qutb

war of independence to independence

5.13 Qutb al-Din Aibak’s tomb, Lahore, rebuilt in 1971.

143

delhi's qutb complex

complex. On the tomb’s exterior, there is no dome, only a flattened drum, although there is an interior dome. The corbelled dome has long fallen from Iltutmish’s tomb and this is probably the reason for the lack of one at the Lahore structure. The marble cenotaph inside the tomb has also been modelled on the one at Iltutmish’s Delhi tomb, for both bear a continuous panel of similarly carved merlons.55 While the tomb’s designers clearly were referencing somewhat subtle imagery found at the Qutb complex, the average Pakistani, who has never been to Delhi, would almost surely miss these allusions. So to make the message clear the interior boundary walls are lined with images rendered in high relief of the Qutb Minar, a known reference in Pakistan (figure 5.14). However it is also possible that those viewers with little sense of chronology could see these projecting forms in the enclosure wall as a reference to Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan rather than Delhi’s Qutb Minar.

Why though would Pakistan’s Department of Archaeology be so interested in rebuilding at considerable expense a decayed tomb of a long deceased military leader?

Saleema Waraich has argued that once Pakistan came into existence, it was difficult to find Pakistan-specific symbols since the historical ties of India and Pakistan are so intertwined.56 While both nations claimed Sultanate and Mughal monuments, the Mughal ones in general are more famous and better known in both Pakistan and India.

Waraich suggests that the history of Pakistan’s monuments is a history of destruction and neglect by non-Muslims. Thus the decay of Aibak’s tomb in a former Hindu/Sikh neighbourhood fits into this category. And while the tomb’s designers chose to use visual symbols associated with Delhi’s late 12th- and 13th-century past, most of these would be missed by their Pakistani viewers except for the multiple references to the Qutb Minar, which in Pakistan could easily be viewed through the lens of the nearby Minar-e Pakistan.

There is one other reason why it is possible to read Aibak’s tomb as a structure meant to commemorate the Islamic nature of Pakistan. The tomb’s doors are carved wood.

While Lahore is famous for its woodcarving, superb examples of which are seen in the Lahore Museum, these doors do not resemble those examples but recall in a general manner the stellate patterns on the wooden doors most likely from the tomb of Mahmud of Ghazni.57 Here Aibak’s tomb’s visual references shift it away from the Indian east and

144

5.14 Relief images of the Qutb Minar on the compound wall of Aibak’s tomb, Lahore.

Khwarazam Shahs 42, 44, 47 Koch, Ebba 9, 96, 105 Karatay Madrasa, Turkey 60, 63 Kufic script 48, 53 Kumar, Sunil 21 Lahore, Pakistan 9, 18, 19, 43, 101, 131, 142–44, 143, 144 Lake, Lord Gerard 107, 115 Lalkot, Delhi (see also Qila Rai Pithora) 14–16, 15, 16, 49, 53, 59, 64–67, 65, 68, 98, 137, 141 Anangtal 14, 15, 16, 35, 53, 137, 141 Larvand, Afghanistan 23, 25, 26, 34 Lashkari Bazaar, Afghanistan 17 Lelyveld, David 9, 21 Lodhi Gardens (Bagh-i Jud), Delhi 79, 79, 81, 81, 83, 85, 87, 88, 97 Bara Gumbad complex 79, 80, 81, 83, 88 Shish Gumbad 79 Loharu, nawabs of 114, 114, 115

delhi's qutb complex

Madhi Mosque, Mehrauli 81, 88, 88, 116 Maham Anga 98, 99 Mahmud of Ghazni 16, 18, 23, 64, 67, 144 Makhdum Sama al-Din, mosque and tomb of, Mehrauli 82, 83, 83, 87, 90, 92 Madrasa Khadim al-Islam 83 Mani, B.R. 16 Marathas 107, 112, 114, 120 Masjid-i Sangi, Afghanistan 26 Mecca 24, 35, 67, 93, 105 Mehrauli, Delhi 13 Archaeological Park 11, 81, 83, 87, 122, 137 Metcalfe, Emily 123, 124 Metcalfe, Sir Thomas 103, 118, 121, 123–25, 137, 138 Mihr Chand 114 Minar-e Pakistan, Lahore 142, 144 Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani 44 Mirza Ahmed Bakhsh Khan 115 Mirza Fakhr al-Din 121 Mirza Husayn Baqura 93 Mirza Ilahe Bakhsh 127 Mirza Jahangir 119 Mongols 15, 44, 47, 51, 55, 57–60 Moth ki Masjid, Delhi 90, 97 Mughals 61, 73, 77, 80, 87, 90, 96–99, 101, 107– 14, 109, 116, 118–22, 124, 125, 127, 138, 144 Muhammad bin Tughluq 64, 73, 76 Muhammad Quli Khan, tomb of, Mehrauli (see also Dilkusha) 102–05, 103, 104, 137 Muhammad Shah 79, 110, 111, 116 Mu’in al-Din Chishti, dargah of, Ajmer 41, 67, 97, 106, 108 Mu’izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam 15–20, 23, 24, 35, 39, 41–43, 77, 142 Multan, Pakistan 16, 18, 53, 63, 64, 64 Mumtaz, Kamal Khan 142 Mumtaz Mahal Begum 119

160

Page, J.A. 130 Pakistan 16, 18, 69, 133, 134, 142–45 Panipat, battle of 79, 84 Patel, Sardar Vallabhbhai 133 Pernau, Margrit 9, 119 Persian 20, 21, 24, 25, 39–42, 44, 57, 59, 62, 77, 83, 84, 90, 92–94, 96, 106, 115, 125 Phulwalon ki Sair 69, 116, 118, 119, 125, 131, 140, 141 Polier, Antoine 114 Prachin Rashtriya Shakti Peeth Mandir, Mehrauli 141 Prachin Siddha Shri Hanuman Mandir, Mehrauli 141 Prithviraj Chauhan 15, 18, 19, 21, 23, 49, 67 public library, Mehrauli 133, 134 Purana Qila (see also Din-Panah and Shergarh) 90, 97, 98, 99, 101, 134 Qadriyyas 92, 105 Qila Rai Pithora 15, 137 Quran 17, 21, 24, 25, 32, 36, 39, 40, 42, 48, 51–53, 59, 62, 79, 85, 105, 108 Qutb al-Din Aibak 15, 16, 19, 20, 23–25, 33, 35, 38, 40, 41, 43, 47, 49, 51, 53, 76, 77, 142 Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki (Qutb Sahib) 11, 41, 57, 67–69, 82, 93, 96, 97, 99, 101, 106–10, 112, 116, 132, 133, 145 Qutb al-Din Mubarak Khalji, mosque of, Daulatabad 73, 73 Qutb complex, Mehrauli 24 Aibak’s screen 9, 23, 25, 27, 34–43, 36–38, 45, 49, 66, 74 Aibak’s mosque 23–25, 23, 26, 27, 30, 32–35, 32–35, 40, 41, 43, 45, 48, 53, 73, 95 Alai Darwaza 59–62, 60, 61, 77, 90, 95, 96, 97, 116, 135 Gupta iron pillar 9, 14, 23, 25, 27, 49, 51, 74, 95, 128, 136, 136 Iltutmish’s tomb 51, 52, 52, 55, 63, 116, 142, 144 Imam Muhammad Ali (Imam Zamin, tomb of ) 95, 96, 96, 116 Qutb Minar 11, 11, 17, 20, 23, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 49, 51, 55, 59, 62, 73, 74, 76, 77, 79, 79, 81, 88, 90, 96, 99, 103, 103, 105, 111, 112, 112, 120, 122, 123, 128, 128, 135, 141, 142, 144, 144, 145 Quwwat al-Islam 8, 21, 32, 141 Sanderson memorial sundial (see also Sanderson, Gordon) 130, 130 Qutb Sahib Dargah, Mehrauli 11, 15, 21, 41, 57, 66–69, 69, 80–83, 87, 88, 92, 96, 97, 97, 99, 101, 106–13, 106–10, 113, 114, 119, 122, 125, 127, 133–35, 133, 145, 145 Mu’tamad Khan, mosque and tomb of 106, 106, 107, 107, 134 Moti Masjid 108, 108, 109, 113, 121, 134

Samanids 52, 53 Sanderson, Gordon 130 Sayyids 79, 98, 109 Shah Alam Bahadur Shah I 108, 108, 109, 111– 13, 112, 121 Shah Alam II 112–14 Shah Jahan 92, 99, 101, 103, 105, 106, 111, 113 Shah-i Madrasa, Afghanistan 18 Shahjahanabad, Delhi 101, 105, 106, 108, 110, 116, 119–22, 125, 127, 128 Jami Mosque 121, 122 Red Fort 101, 120, 125, 127, 128, 131 Shaikh Abd al-Haqq Muhaddis Dehlvi 105 Shaikh Gadai 90 Shaikh Khalil (Shaikh Khalil al-Haq) 96, 97, 97 Shams al-Din Iltutmish 20, 33, 35, 40, 41, 43–45, 45, 47–49, 47, 48, 51–53, 52, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 66–68, 66, 73, 74, 74, 76, 77, 88, 116, 118, 121, 142–44 Shamsher Bahadur, grave of, Mehrauli 114 Sharqis 79, 80 Sher Shah Sur, tomb of, Sasaram, Bihar 65, 90, 94, 96–99, 98 Shergarh, Delhi 97 Qila-i Kuhna 97, 98 Shias 39, 42 Shuja al-Daula 114 Sikandar Lodi 75–77, 79–82, 79, 84, 85, 87, 88, 90, 96–99 Sikhs 109, 110, 112, 135, 137, 138, 144 Sindh 16 Siri, Delhi 15, 59, 76 Smith, Robert 116, 120, 121, 122, 128, 130 Sohan Burj, Mehrauli 82, 82, 83 Sohan Burj Jami Mosque 82, 82 St John’s Church, Mehrauli 131, 132, 138 Sufis 18, 41, 53, 57, 67–69, 82, 90, 92–94, 96, 99, 101, 105, 106, 113, 119, 133 Suhrawardiyyas 82, 90, 92, 96, 101 Sultan Ghari (Nasir al-Din Mahmud, tomb of ), Delhi 33, 51, 53, 63, 63, 64, 134 Sunnis 17, 39, 57 Suraj Kund, Haryana 11, 14 Taj al-Din Hasan Nizami 34 Taj Mahal, Agra 11, 53, 142 Talbot, Cynthia 9, 15 Tarain, battle of 18, 19, 23 Timur 76, 77, 96, 124 Timurid 93, 96 Tomars 11, 14, 15, 49, 53, 67, 119 Triveda, D.S. 141, 142 Tughra (Naskh) script 48, 53 Umayyad 16 UNESCO World Heritage Site 11, 18 Urdu 21, 71, 83, 94, 111, 115, 125, 131 Vishnu 6, 15

Nadir Shah 111 Nasir al-Din Chirag-i Delhi 41 Nazir ka Bagh, Mehrauli 116, 116, 140 Nehru, Jawaharlal 119, 140, 141 Neminatha Temple, Kumbhariya 38, 39 New Delhi Municipal Council 137 Nizam al-Din Auliya, dargah of, Delhi 41, 67, 69, 98, 99, 101 Nizam al-Mulk Asaf Jah I 111 Nur al-Din Kurlani 41

Radhe Shyam Mandir, Mehrauli 141 Rahmani, Hafiz Jafar 133 Rajon ki Baoli, Mehrauli 83–85, 84, 85, 87, 87, 137 Rajputs 11, 15, 42 Ram, Sita 95, 95 Randhawa, M.S. 133, 135 Rangoon, Burma 107, 113 Raushan al-Daulat Zafar Khan 110 Raziyya Sultana 57 Ribat of Ali bin Karmakh, Multan 63, 64, 64, 67 Ruz Afzun Nazir 116

Oak, P.N. 142

Sadidi, Hafiz Muhammad Yousad 143

Wagoner, Phillip 73 Waraich, Saleema 144, 145 Yamuna river 14 Yogmaya Temple, Mehrauli 11, 14, 119, 119, 125, 140, 140, 141 Zabita Khan, grave of, Mehrauli 113, 114, 115, 134 Zafar Mahal, Mehrauli 108, 121–25, 123, 127, 131, 132, 134, 137, 141 Zinat Mahal 125