Through the forgotten lanes

03/6/2014

Like every other field trip to a Historical site, this one seemed no different when we began our journey at 8 am the other day. The venue was the Archaeological Park of Mehrauli in Delhi. Mehrauli Archaeological Park is an archaeological area housing over 100 historic structures spread over 200 acres adjacent to the Qutub Minar World Heritage site.

Lead by Jaya Aiyar of Delhi by Foot, we first arrived at the Tomb of Balban. Sitting in the shade of a monument nearly 800 years old, we began our first attempt at understanding the history of this very place.

Rock by rock, the geography of Delhi was laid out on the hard earth before us. And the surprise began to flow soon. For example, how many of us really knew that Mehrauli is actually part of the Aravalli FootHills, the mountains that shape part of Rajasthan, Gujarat and also Haryana? Not only are the Aravalli a defining feature of Delhi since ancient times, they crucially determined the selection of this area as the Capital City of the entire subcontinent of India, the Heart of then Hindustan. Shaped like a semicircular arc around the mighty Yamuna, the Aravallis form the 'D' of 'Delhi', providing a natural fortress since time immemorial.

However, the water needs of the city were primarily met by the 17 rivulets that flowed out from the Aravallis to the Yamuna. When the Tomars of Rajputana arrived at the scene in around 700CE (it is important to remember here that Rajasthan is a scarce-water state), they immediately set upon building a system of harvesting water in this new capital city.

With the subsequent Tughlaqs, Mamluks (Slave Dynasty), Lodhis, Khiljis, Rajputs spanning the next couple of centuries, water always assumed a dominant role in shaping the history of Delhi. The Capital was moved away and back by Mohammed-bin Tughlaq for want of more water which later turned brackish. Sister cities of Tughlaqabad, Mehrauli and Delhi were consolidated into one fortress with ample supply of water canals by Feroz Shah Tughlaq. And so on, the empires emerged one after the other, each contributing in one way or the other.

Moving on with the field trip, another beautiful attraction in the Archeological Complex is the tombs of Jamali-Kamali, popular saints during the reign of the Lodhis. The beautiful arches and perfect domes take you back to the era of the 1500s, when these forms of architecture were being perfected without modern means of construction and technology. The arch apparently originated close to Istanbul and spread all over the world as the dominant form of architecture in the coming years. The 'keystone' has since become a symbolic reference for all forms of systems existing today.

Close to the tomb is Rajon ki Baoli, a stepped well. Imagine a time when this well was not just a place to gather water, but also a huge public place for socializing! Sitting there gave a sense of peace and tranquility even today. Observing it from a sociological point of view, such beautiful structures cease to exist in today's privatized and prioritized world, where the rich socialize in malls and restaurants, while the poor have no place to go to. 500 years ago, Delhi was probably just as much cosmopolitan, with Turks, Mongols, Rajputs, tribals, Central Asian tribes, Abyssinian slaves, Mughals, Tibetans, etc. Yet, they lived together in one city without a national code of conduct of the likes we have today. How exactly? It wouldn't be going too far to assume that these public places provided a great opportunity to socialize democratically, combining religions, social status and opinions in one single place.

By the end of the trek, I think that a large part of the group was successful in breaking down many misconceptions and prejudices about the Delhi's past, a perpetually haunted City of Ghosts! It made us unlearn a majority of what we were spoon-fed for a long time, and we underwent a huge perception shift in our approach towards history, merging the different living and breathing layers of our very own capital city!