Download - Delhi Heritage City

Medieval And Colonial Capital Cities Of DelhiDESCRIPTIONTrunk road, connecting Delhi to the north of the country, much before Shahjahanabad was founded. In the mid‐19 th century the railway added a new dimension to this connectivity, and led to the development of relatedinsfrastructure, such as hotels and dharamshalas, in this part of the city. Though the gate was destroyed after theRevolt of 1857 along with the sections of the wall leading from it, there are a number of interesting buildings inthe area, some that even pre‐date the founding of Shahjahanabad.o Old Delhi Railway Station Just off the busy S. P. Mukherjee Marg is one of the oldest railway stations builtby the British in India, constructed in 1867. A fairly substantial edifice, it has many gothic featuresincluding tower‐ like bastions that form the corners of the projecting porches, giving the building itsimposing façade. There are deep verandahs on both floors. The building is painted a brick red colour, withwhite paint used to highlight certain architectural features.o Sarhindi Masjid At the end of this street, just outside where the Lahori Gate must have been, stands theSarhindi Masjid, a small mosque built by Sarhindi Begum, one of Shahjahan’s wives. This is a three baymosque is topped by three bulbous domes that dominate the skyline as you approach it from outside.Although most of the mosque structure is original, the courtyard has been built over and is surrounded bymany new buildings.o St Stephen’s Church is an Anglican church built in 1867.South ShahjahanabadThis was prominent even centuries before the founding of Shahjahanabad; as is evident in the several olderstructures in this area. Even the street pattern follows a logic that is distinct from the two main north‐south andeast‐west streets of the city. Here, the major street connecting Turkman Gate and Lahori Gate, and the severalparallel streets, follow a diagonal orientation that originally formed a part of the Grand Trunk Road, the majortrade and communication artery connecting Punjab in the north to the Gangetic Plain in the South.The oldest structures of the city – the dargah of Shah Turkman, Kalan Masjid, the grave of Razia Sultan, HauzwaliMasjid and others lie on either side of the main diagonal street which is called Sitaram Bazar in its southernsection, and Lal Kuan Bazar in its northern part. At Hauz Qazi chowk it intersects with another important street,one that connects Jama Masjid to Ajmeri Gate. At its Jama Masjid end this street is known as Chawri bazar and ishome to the wholesale paper trade. After Hauz Qazi Chowk it is known simply as Ajmeri Gate bazar. These twostreets are important commercial spines, as is the Hauz Qazi chowk, which also has a metro station. Anotherstreet system that follows the diagonal pattern from north‐west to south‐east, consists of the streets known asNai Sarak, Ballimaran, and Churiwalan.There are several narrower lanes leading off from the broad streets, and usually designated ‘gali’ or ‘kucha’.These too often have shops as well as entrances to havelis. Bazar Sitaram and Kucha Pati Ram have particularlywell‐preserved havelis. There is a further network of very narrow lanes leading from these, which are usuallyresidential, though some have small workshops. Compared to the area north of Chandni Chowk, southShahjahanabad was spared the wholesale destruction of the city’s fabric after the revolt of 1857. It thereforeretains much of its original layout, with the exception of Nai Sarak, which was laid in the mid‐19 th century.Another important commercial street lies along the southern perimeter of the city. A continuous row of Delhi’searly Art Deco buildings on Aruna Asaf Ali Marg stand where the city wall was once located. Most of them arecommercial in nature.Some key heritage structures in the area:31‐07‐2012 INTACH, Delhi Chapter 10