PURANA QILA
"A citadel tinged with cultural diversity"
In the early 16th century, Humayun was responsible for the care of the citadel and after his defeat to the Suri emperor – Sher Shah Suri – the control of the fort was regained by the emperor who later on went on adding numerous structures inside the complex. What adds to the flair of this fort is the fact of its consideration while Edwin Lutyens designed Delhi, the new capital of the British East India Company. The city was designed in such a way that the central vista, the Rajpath, was directly aligned with the Purana Qila. In addition, the Old Fort, with the Humayun’s Tomb, was a safe haven where millions of Muslims took refuge to migrate to Pakistan during the dreaded time of the partition of India and Pakistan.
The fort is surrounded by three gates – Bara Darwaza (literally meaning the Big Gate) which is still functioning, Humayun Gate (its nomenclature is because of it being built by Humayun and its alignment towards his tomb), and lastly the Talaqi Gate, also known as the 'Forbidden Gate'. These sandstone structures have beautiful white marble inlays and blue tiles and is guarded with two bastions each. The fort is complete with meticulous balconies called Jharokhas and one can truly witness a reverberation of the Rajasthani style of architecture with the topping chattris. The entire citadel lacks boasting an array of internal structures like the later Lal Qila (Red Fort) and just houses mere two major structures and a few insignificant ones like a Baoli (stepped-well) and Hammam (Common bath). In addition, the entire fort complex covers such a humungous area that these structures are scattered comparatively quite far from each other. But what the Purana Qila beautifully boasts is an elaborate and beautifully maintained garden with a myriad of various kinds of flowers.
Purana Qila is the oldest known structure of any type in Delhi and is considered to be ‘the first city of Delhi’
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Sher Mandal
This structure commissioned by Babur, as a library and an observatory for his son Humayun, is named after Farid Sher Shah, the person who tried to complete its construction. Albeit he also failed in his mission and it was completed only after the fort was recaptured by the Mughals. The building was initially planned to be taller than its present state. The Sher Mandal is unfortunate to be the cause of the death of the person for whom it was built. The story goes with Humayun, who had an insatiable desire and passion for star grazing, was on 24th January, 1556, standing in the top floor admiring the stars, from where he fell to his death while hasting to the prayers.
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Qila-e-Kuhna Mosque
It is one of the prominent structures inside the complex and a representative of the transition from Lodhi to Mughal architecture. It is claimed to be the epitome of pre-Mughal architecture with five horseshoe shaped archways and a single dome. Once there used to inhabit a shallow tank in front of this grand mosque with a fountain in it. In fact, the Purana Qila had an intricate water system, a canal per se, that surrounded the fort like the one that is there in the Red Fort too, but now what is left is a barren land where a mini wild forest has dwelled.
What the fort is, is an idealization of the amalgamation of an array of cultures and that too surprisingly at such an early age when the initial foundation of a controlling empire was being set after a succession of myriad dynasties forming and crumbling, all trying to achieve the eternal title of the great ruler of the subcontinent, leaving their legacies and distinct tastes behind. In an excavation done under the supervision of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) a 12th-century idol of Lord Vishnu was discovered along with pottery of the Kushnan and Gupta period. In addition, they found copper coins and terracotta seals from the Mauryan era. This find I must say is quite interesting as in my whole research I have not come across anything where an excavation has unearthed an array of items from various dynasties and generations in one place.
The Fort housed the capital city, Indraprastha, of the Pandavas - the victors in the great Bharat war Mahabharata​
