Page 96 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

94  DELHI & THE NOR TH

century lends its name to this
little village in South Delhi.
The mosque has a fortress-like
appearance, broken by rows of
arched windows, which give the
mosque its name. Its innovative
design was not repeated again
as its many pillared divisions
were found impractical for
large congregations.
Further down is Satpula, the
seven-arched stone weir built
by Muhammad bin Tughluq in
1326. It formed part of a reservoir
used for irrigation, and also made
up a portion of the fortified wall
enclosing Jahanpanah.
Visitors walking by the lake at Hauz Khas
k Hauz Khas star-shaped shadows. East of
Hauz Khas, off Aurobindo Marg,
W of Aurobindo Marg. q Hauz Khas. is a small tapering structure
Monuments: Open daily.
called Chor Minar (“Tower of
Beyond the boutiques, art Thieves”) dating back to the
galleries and restaurants that 14th- century Khilji period. Its
have taken over the village of walls, pockmarked with holes,
Hauz Khas, are the medieval are said to have held the severed
monuments from Feroze Shah heads of thieves, intended to
Tughluq’s reign. In 1352, the deter others from crime.
sultan erected a number of Close by, to the northwest, is
buildings on the banks of Hauz the Nili Masjid (“Blue Mosque”).
Khas, the large tank that was Named after the blue tiles above An arched window with a carved stone jali,
excavated by Alauddin Khilji its eaves, it was built in 1505 by Khirkee Mosque
for his city of Siri. The tank, a certain Kasumbhil, nurse to
which shares its name with the governor of Delhi’s son.
the surrounding village, was z Jahanpanah
revived in 2004 after being S of Panchsheel Park. q Hauz Khas.
dry for many years. l Khirkee Monuments: Open daily.
Contemporary accounts N of Press Enclave Marg. q Malviya
claim that Feroze Shah was a Nagar. Monuments: Open daily. In the heart of Jahanpanah,
prolific builder, and during his Muhammad bin Tughluq’s
37-year reign he constructed The unusual two-storeyed capital, stands Begumpuri
an astounding 40 mosques, Khirkee (“Windows”) Mosque, Mosque, also built by Khan-i-
200 towns, 100 public baths built by Feroze Shah Tughluq’s Jahan Junan Shah. (Ask speci-
and about 30 reservoirs. prime minister, Khan-i-Jahan fically for the old mosque, as a
Among the buildings around Junan Shah, in the mid-14th new one is located nearby.)
Hauz Khas are a madrasa, Feroze The mosque is remarkable for
Shah’s tomb and the ruins of a its 44 domes that surmount the
small mosque. The madrasa, cloisters surrounding the central
close to the edge of the tank, courtyard. It is said that in times
contains plaster carvings and of need, this mosque also
niches for books. The chhatris functioned as a treasury,
(open pavilions) in the entrance a granary and a general
forecourt are said to cover the meeting place.
teachers’ burial mounds. At To the north is the palace
one end of the madrasa lies of Bijay Mandal, from where,
the austere tomb of Feroze according to the 14th-century
Shah. Wine-red painted plaster Arab traveller Ibn Batuta,
calligraphy decorates its interior. Muhammad bin Tughluq
The complex is best viewed reviewed his troops. The upper
in the afternoon, when sunlight platform offers a grand view
filters through the jalis to cover of Delhi, extending from the
the graves of the sultan, his sons The imposing fortress-like Qutb Minar to Humayun’s
and grandson with delicate Khirkee Mosque Tomb and beyond.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p694 and pp706–707

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