Shahjahanabad havelis in a state of neglect

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi, February 16

The two-storeyed Haksar Haveli, located in Sitaram Bazaar, which was once known as Shahjahanabad, is now a heap of rubble. It is also the place where India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamala Nehru married.

Former diplomat and author Pavan K Varma said havelis were centres of culture, which first received a severe jolt in 1857, when the British recaptured Delhi. These havelis even later remained in a state of neglect. He was speaking at the Urdu literary festival, ‘Meer ki Dilli, Shahjahanabad: The Evolving City’ at the India International Centre.

“After the British recaptured Delhi, they used bayonets to pluck precious stones from the Diwan-i-Khas (Red Fort). In 1863, the British had cleared a large swathe of the city that lay within the firing range of the walls of the Red Fort,” he said.

Varma said that the British used to seize and auction properties of people who were suspected to have played a role in the 1857 mutiny.

“The havelis of Delhi received a great setback during this period and many owners left the city. In 1860, the railway lines also cut through Shahjahanabad (old Delhi). The Nawabs left Delhi and the city was commercialised,” he added.

The electrical market of the Bhagirath Palace is one of the most famous bazaars in Chandni Chowk. Also known as Begum Samru’s Palace, it was destroyed by the British after 1857.

During the course of the research for his book, Mansions at Dusk: The Havelis Of Old Delhi, Varma felt that until people take pride in their culture, the government would not step ahead to save the havelis.

“I had to request the former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, to save Ghalib ki Haveli. She allotted a separate budget and evicted the encroachers from the haveli. Only then we could save the prestigious heritage structure. Till then several people were not aware that Ghalib’s haveli was situated in Ballimaran,” he stated.

“In order to commemorate Ghalib’s birth anniversary, I and Gulzar used to take out candle light marches every year. We wanted to raise awareness about the urgent need to protect the residence of the 18th century poet,” he said. He said laws should be framed to protect havelis.

Ashok Mathur, who conducts a tour of Old Delhi and stays in 120-year-old haveli at Chandni Chowk said, “We never protected our heritage. Shahjahanabad is in a very sorry state today, it’s not a liveable anymore. My heaven has been penetrated by hell. After 1984, the decay of old Delhi began as commercialisation of areas began.”

Prof: Youngsters in Delhi unaware of its history

Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, lived from 1615 to 1659. He wrote five books, but one of his major contributions was overseeing the translation of the Upanishads from Sanskrit to Persian at Nigambodh in Delhi.

Historian Irfan Habib said though this was the first cultural step in Shahjahanabad (old Delhi), Upanishads were misrepresented in Shikoh’s translation in Persian as he presented them as a monotheistic text.

“He introduced the Upanishads to the world and made it an international text. He enlisted the help of pandits from Benaras for this work. After its translation into the Persian language, the Upanishads were further translated into Latin,” said Habib at the ‘Meer ki Dilli, Shahjahanabad: The Evolving City’ festival at India International Centre (IIC).

Old Delhi was founded as Shahjahanabad by Shah Jahan in 1639 and remained the capital of the Mughals until the end of the Mughal dynasty. Habib highlighted that Shahjahanabad witnessed scientific developments, citing the construction of Jantar Mantar by Maharaja Jai Singh II as an example.

Pointing to the contribution of Tek Chand Bahar, a non-Muslim poet born in Shahjahanabad in 1687, Habib mentioned Bahar-e-Ajam, a dictionary containing a compilation of Persian words and idioms used in Persian poetry, compiled by Bahar in 1743.

“If you look at 100 years of the history of Shahjahanabad, one would see that Farsi or Persian was not a language limited to one religion. Bahar is an example of it,” added Habib.

Professor of history of medieval India at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Ali Nadeem Rezavi, expressed sadness over the fact that many youngsters in Delhi are unaware of its history.

Rezavi also noted that while Mughal emperor Akbar is often credited with employing a non-Muslim, it was actually a ruler from the Khilji dynasty, Alauddin Khilji, who had already employed a non-Muslim, Thakkar Pheru, as his finance minister. “This occurred long before Shahjahanabad was founded,” he added.

“It is believed that Krishna and Arjun founded the city of Indraprastha by clearing a forest at the banks of the Yamuna. In 1950, the Archaeological Survey of India conducted excavations at Purana Qila and discovered a type of pottery identified as painted grey ware, which suggests Vedic culture,” Rezavi explained.