HAUZ KHAS
Historically Known As: Hauz-i-'Sla'i
Important Monument: Feroze Shah's Tomb
A road branching off the Delhi-Mehrauli road (named now Sri Aurobindo
Road) south of the Green Park terminates at Hauz-Khas. 'Ala-ud-Din Khalji
excavated a large tank here for the use for the inhabitants of Siri, the
second city of Delhi founded by him. It was then known
as Hauz-i-'Sla'i.
Feroze Shah Tughluq desilted it and put it in repairs, and built several
buildings on its southern and eastern banks, which are now known as
Hauz-Khas, and are enclosed partly within modern walls.
Feroze Shah's Tomb And Other Attractions
Feroze Shah tomb, a rubble-built but plastered square chamber with high
but slightly battered walls and a lofty dome, is the most prominent among
these buildings. The monotonous austere look of its exterior is broken by
a string-course of red sandstone and marble and by carved battlements.
The tomb is entered through a door on the south, with a courtyard
enclosed within stone railings outside it. The intrados and ceiling of the
dome and squinch-pendentives are decorated with plaster-work, including
incised Koranic inscriptions in Naskh characters and painting.
The inscription over the southern doorway was incised in 913 A.H. (1507)
during Sikandar Lodi's reign, when he undertook some repairs to the tomb.
The doorway spanned by a lintel and the stone-railings outside it are
features of early Indian construction, which have been pleasantly mingled
with characteristics of Islamic architecture. Among the four graves inside
the chamber, the central one is believed to be that of Feroze Shah and two
others of his son and grandson.
Contiguous with the tomb to its west and north rise from the bank of the
tank in two storeys a series of halls and chambers, which were built by
Feroze Shah in about 1352 as a madrasa or college for religious training.
At their northern extremity is a mosque. These
buildings are sited on an L-shaped plan. With their latticed windows,
medallions in stucco, lotus-motif, paintings on ceilings, balconied
windows and deep niches, possibly as the principal's residence.
One of the old entrances to the area is from the west, now closed. There
are several staircases leading down to the tank from the upper storeys of
the madrasa. Disposed all over the area, including the neighbourhood of
the tank, are several tombs of different designs, but the persons buried
in them are not known, although some of these could be the teachers of the
college.In 1398, after defeating Mahmud Tughluq, Timur Lane encamped at
the tank and his historian Sharfu'd-DinYazdi was highly impressed by its
large size. He, however, wrongly ascribed the construction of the tank of
Feroze Shah Tughluq.
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