DELHI The City That Would Not Die: Dinpanah and Shergarh

The story of Delhi, the capital of India, is not just the story of one city, but of at least eight (recorded and recognised) capital cities that shifted locations through the ages, finally settling down at the current location as the ninth capital of India. It has been the site of a succession of seats of empires, whose remains can still be seen in the current city of Delhi.

Dinpanah and Shergarh. Illustrated by Riya Kumari: Visual Storyteller at ThisDay

Bahlul Khan Lodi took over Delhi Sultanate in 1451, establishing the Lodi dynasty, the last dynasty of the sultanate. During his reign, Sultan Bahlul Lodi annexed the Jaunpur Sultanate and also extended his holdings over Gwalior and upper Uttar Pradesh. Like his predecessors, he retained Delhi as his capital. Bahlul died in 1489, naming his second son Sikandar as his successor.

Bahlul Lodi’s tomb is situated in the alleys of modern-day Chirag Dilli close to the shrine of Sufi saint Nasiruddin Mahmud Roshan Chiragh-e-Dilli. The simple octagonal tomb with Quranic verses inscribed over its arched walls, reflecting the Sultan’s humble demeanour, was built by Sikandar Lodi.

Sikandar was a capable ruler and encouraged trade across his kingdom, expanding his rule to Bihar. He was a reputed poet and also a patron of learning, getting Sanskrit works of medicine translated into Persian. In 1503, the Sultan commissioned the building of the present-day city of Agra and moved his capital there in 1504.

Sultan Sikandar Lodi died in 1517, leaving his eldest son Ibrahim to rule the sultanate. Ibrahim built his father’s tomb in Khairpur, the well-known Lodi Gardens of present day Delhi. Sikandar Lodi’s tomb, built in Indo-Islamic style, is enclosed in a fortified garden complex.

Ibrahim Lodi was the last Lodi Sultan of Delhi. He was a good warrior but lacked the ruling capability. He displeased the nobility when he replaced old and senior commanders with younger ones. The Afghan nobility eventually invited Babur, the king of Kabulistan (Kabul, present-day Afghanistan) to invade India. In 1526, the Mughal forces of Babur defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipat, thus commencing the era of Mughal rule for the next 331 years.

Sultan Ibrahim Lodi’s simple rectangular tomb is in Panipat, close to the shrine of Sufi saint Bu Ali Shah Qalandar.

A descendent of Timur and Genghis Khan, Babur sent his son Humayun to the Lodi capital Agra, and chose Delhi as his own capital. It took him four years to establish the extensive empire across northern and parts of central India. At the time of his death in 1530, the 47-year-old Mughal emperor’s empire extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal and southward to the Rajput deserts and forts of Ranthambore, Gwalior, and Chanderi. An acclaimed writer, with a profound love for books that he always carried with him, Babur left behind a rich literary heritage, most notable being his memoir Baburnama.

Mughal emperor Babur travelled a lot in order to expand his rule, and hence mostly lived in elaborate tents or pre-existing buildings. He had no time to build any Mughal structures. It was his son Humayun who built the first Mughal fort, remnants of which still stand tall today as Purana Qila or Old Fort on Mathura Road in Delhi. Completed in 1534, the fort was originally the inner citadel of Dinpanah, Humayun’s capital in Delhi.

The Lodis had chosen Agra as their capital, but when Humayun ascended the throne as the second Mughal emperor, he returned to Delhi and restored its status as an imperial city. And what better way of doing this than to build a new city!

Humayun had heard about Indraprastha, the glorious capital of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. While searching for a location for his new city, he was told about the probable site of Indraprastha being on a hilly plain. His choice was made and he laid the foundation of Dinpanah in 1533. Protected by the Aravalli mountain range on one side and six-mile wide Yamuna river on the other, the site was ideal for a new city.

Dinpanah in Persian means ‘refuge of the faithful’, and true to its name, it was a cosmopolitan centre for the learned, wise, and holy men of every religion to gather and dwell in harmony.

Unfortunately, Humayun was too busy handling external and internal threats to his kingdom, to actually enjoy his new capital. Eventually, he was driven out of his kingdom by Sher Shah Suri, another Afghan, the founder of the Sur empire with its capital in Sasaram in present day Bihar.

Emperor Sher Shah took over Dinpanah in 1540, rebuilt and expanded it, and established his own capital Dilli-Sher-Shahi with Shergarh as its citadel. So, Purana Qila has been the citadel of two cities of Delhi: Dinpanah and Shergarh.

The remains of the imposing walls of Purana Qila extend for 1.5 km with three arched gateways still surviving. The Bara Darwaza (“The Big Gate”) or the main entrance faces west, Humayun Darwaza (Humayun Gate) faces south, and Talaqui Darwaza (“The Forbidden Gate”) faces north. The interior of the fort is mostly tall trees and lawns, with three structures worth visiting.

Qila-i-Kohna Masjid, built by Sher Shah in 1541, is one of finest mosques in Delhi with beautiful, elaborate carvings. Sher Mandal, a red sandstone, double-storeyed, octagonal tower, was meant to be a personal observatory of Sher Shah, but could not be completed by him. Eventually Humayun completed it and used it as a library and an observatory to see the astronomical sights in the night sky. The third structure is a baoli or stepwell, which is still functioning and is used for watering the lawns inside the complex.

Sher Shah died in 1545 in a battle in Kalinjar, in present-day Uttar Pradesh. His red sandstone mausoleum stands on a square stone plinth in the centre of a manmade lake in Sasaram, Bihar.

Sher Shah’s son Salim Shah succeeded him and added Salimgarh fort to Dilli-Sher-Shahi. Salim died in 1553. By 1555, four kings had ascended the throne, three were alive and fighting amongst themselves. Humayun seized this opportunity and recovered his lost kingdom, reoccupying Dinpanah, bringing Mughal rule back in 1555.

It was not uncommon in those days for emperors to have their own mausoleum planned in their own lifetime. Humayun chose a tranquil site near river Yamuna for his. One year later, in 1556, the Mughal emperor died an unfortunate death, accidentally tripping and falling down the stairs of Sher Mandal, and was initially buried close by. His first and chief wife Bega Begum took charge of building the mausoleum, which was completed in 1572, wherein Humayun could be rested finally. Humayun’s Tomb is one of the most striking monuments of Delhi, and considered a precursor to the Taj Mahal of Agra.

This is a very brief account of the seventh city of Delhi. You can discover much more by walking through the above mentioned areas leisurely.