PuranaQila

Refuge of the faithful

Purana Quila, the fort was built between 1538 and 1545 by the Mughal emperor Humanyun. The fort originally lay on the bank of the river Yamuna before the river changed its course. The Purana Quila was built by Humayun in an attempt to build a city of his own. But characteristically, the Old Fort did not bear the name of its creator unlike the other emperors erecting such structure. When Sher Shah defeated Humayun most of the structures inside the old fort were demolished and was renamed as ‘Shergarh’ . But once again as Humayun recaptured his city from Sher Shah’s son he took the task of completing the city and rebuilding its old glory.
The walls of Purana Quila have three gates (the Humayun Darwaza, Talaqi Darwaza and Bara Darwaza) and are surrounded by a moat, which was fed by river Yamuna. The double-storied gates of the Purana Quila are quite massive and are built with red sandstone. The walls of the old fort are said to be built by Humayun while the buildings in the old fort are attributed to Sher Shar, the Sur ruler. Of all the surviving buildings in the old fort complex, the Sher Mandal and the Quila-i-kunha Mosque are notable.
The Sher Mandal was built by Humayun. It is a two storied octagonal tower, used by Humayun as his library. The Quila-I-kunha Mosque is an example of Indo Islamic architecture. The unique features of Indo-Islamic architecture like molding, bracketed openings, marble inlay, carving etc are very prominent in the structure. The prayer hall of the Quila-i-Kunha mosque measures 51.20m by 14.90m and has five doorways with the ‘true’ horseshoe-shaped arches. The mehrabs (prayer niches) inside the Quila-i-Kunha mosque are richly ornamented with concentric arches. The mosque has an inscription which says ‘As long as there are people on this earth, may this edifice be frequented, and people be happy in it.’
Excavations have revealed that the Purana Quila or the old fort stands at the site of Indraprasta, the capital of the Pandavas. Excavations near the eastern wall of the fort show that the site had been occupied since 1000 B.C. The PGW (Painted Gray Pottery) recovered from the site date back to the Mahabharata period.

When the abode of Godly city became a Mughal City!

The city of Dinpanah, was founded by Humayun, four years, after his father had founded the Empire. On the banks of the river Yamuna, the city was constructed unknowingly, that there was another ancient city which existed at the same area. It was called as ‘Indraprastha’ which translates as the ‘city of the God Indra’. While going through the fort complex, you get to witness the Mughal magnificence as well the remains of the ancient city scattered around, in the form of pottery and other materials. But one very significant thing which the fort city reflects is the material remains that have been left by Sher Shah Suri. An Afghan ruler who had overthrown Humayun, wreaked havoc in the Mughal city, built the new capital city called Sher Shahi, which is now known as Purana Qila. After successfully defeating Humayun in 1540, Suri demolished all that remained from the existing fort city of Dinpanah, re-used the materials from it, as well as from Feroz Shah Kotla and Siri, to make his new city SherGarh which translates as ‘the abode of Lions’. While the fort city was enclosed with three gates which were referred to as Bada Darwaza, Talaqi Darwaza and Humayun Darwaza, the outer walls, right in the front was demarcated with few more gates, such as the Lal Darwaza and the Kabuli Darwaza.
Humayun was often known in history as a moderate Mughal ruler between his charismatic father Babur and his legendary son Akbar. Humayun a superstitious man that he was, must have chosen the particular location of Indraprastha, not far from Nizamuddin Auliya’s shrine. It seems a little awkward that although the gates and outer wall can be proved to be of Humayun’s time, there is not a single other structure of his time.
The gates and the outer walls prove to be of Humayun’s time, but not more than this can be called as pertaining to Humayun’s time. A decent look inside the fort will reveal how scantily the monuments are scattered around the whole area. The main attractions of the whole place might be either the Sher Mandal, and The Qila-e-Kuhna Mosque. The exquisite design of the mosque can be credited to Sher shah, but it doesn’t look like Pathan architecture. A look at the octagonal dome makes it look more like a ‘Lodhi-era’ construction. However, the mosque is the best preserved part of the complex as its horse-shoe shaped doorways is one of the most beautiful example of symmetry, two on the left are ‘sawaal’ and two on the right are ‘jawaab’.

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