One does not have to go far to see the Old Fort (Purana Qila) standing stoically amidst wild greenery. Built on the site of the most ancient of the numerous cities of Delhi. Indraprastha, Purana Quila is roughly rectangular having a circuit of nearly two kilometers.
Purana Qila is the inner citadel of the city of Dina-panah. Old Fort was founded by the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun in 1533 and completed five years later. Purana Qila and its environs flourished as the sixth city of Delhi.
Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun in 1540. He renamed the fort as Shergarh, and also added several more structures in the complex, during his reign that lasted for the next five years until he died in 1545.
Subsequently, Islam Shah took over the reins of North India from this fort but later shifted his capital to Gwalior. People believed it to be a safer capital in that period. After Islam Shah died in 1553, Adil Shah took charge of North India, and this fort remained neglected. Adil Shah shifted his capital further east to Chunar in present-day Uttar Pradesh. Humayun, who was based in Kabul got an opportunity to re-capture the citadel and the seat of Delhi in 1555. Fifteen years after he had to leave it, though his reign didn’t last long. He died only a year later in January 1556, due to a tragic accident, within the fort complex at Sher Mandal.
Hearing about the re-capture of Delhi by Humanyun, Hemu, the Hindu Prime Minister – cum – Chief of the Army of Adil Shah Suri rushed towards Delhi from Bengal. Where he had just quelled a rebellion, defeating and killing Muhhamad Shah, the ruler of Bengal. After capturing Agra, Itawah, and Kanpur easily, the battle for Delhi took place in the Tuglaqabad area on 6th Oct. 1556, and Hemu had won 22 battles spanning the entire north India. He defeated the forces of Akbar which were led by Tardi Beg Khan. Hemu celebrated his ‘Rajyabhishake’ or Coronation at Purana Quila on 7th October 1556. They declared ‘Hindu Raj’ in North India and bestowed the title of Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya. An enemy soldier slew and killed Hemu at the Second Battle of Panipat in November 1556. Hemu had his torso hung outside this fort to create terror among Hindus.
Today, it is also the venue of daily sound and light shows after sunset, entailing the history of seven cities of Delhi, from Indraprastha to New Delhi.
History
Old Fort (Purana Qila), stands proudly on the banks of the Yamuna River, a testament to Delhi’s rich historical tapestry. Initially constructed by the Mughal emperor Humayun, it served as the site of his capital, Din Panah. Later, under the reign of the first Afghan emperor of India, Sher Shah Suri, it was renovated and renamed Shergarh.
Notably, the fort witnessed the coronation of Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, also known as Hemu. After his victory over Akbar’s forces in Delhi in 1556. However, rulers who operated from here seemed to face ill fate as both Humayun and Sher Shah Suri had short tenures of rule.
Interestingly, Edwin Lutyens aligned the central vista, now known as Rajpath, with Purana Qila during the design phase of New Delhi in the 1920s. However, the fort’s significance extended beyond architecture and history during the Partition of India in 1947. It served as a refuge camp for Muslim migrants, including government employees and over 150,000 refugees, until early 1948.
In the 1970s, the ramparts of Old Fort became the backdrop for theatre productions, including notable works like Tughlaq, Andha Yug, and Sultan Razia, directed by Ebrahim Alkazi. Over the years, it has evolved into a cultural hub, hosting various theatre productions, cultural events, and concerts.
Today, Old Fort remains a vibrant cultural center. It offers daily sound and light shows after sunset that narrates the history of Delhi’s seven cities. Delhi’s seven cities from ancient Indraprastha to the establishment of New Delhi. It stands as a living testament to the city’s enduring legacy and continues to captivate visitors with its historical significance and cultural offerings.
Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque
Sher Shah built the single-domed Qila-i-Kuna Mosque in 1541. It is an excellent example of a pre-Mughal design. Its five doorways with ‘true’ horseshoe-shaped arches provide an early example of the extensive use of the pointed arch in the region. It was designed as a Jami Mosque, or Friday mosque for the Sultan and his courtiers. The prayer hall inside, the single-aisled mosque, measures 51.20m by 14.90m and has five elegant arched prayer niches or mihrabs set in its western wall. Artisans used marble in shades of red, white, and slate to create the calligraphic inscriptions on the central iwan, marking a transition from Lodhi to Mughal architecture. At one time, the courtyard had a shallow tank, with a fountain.
Female courtiers could access a second storey from the prayer hall through staircases, with a narrow passage running along the rectangular hall. A marble slab within the mosque bears the inscription, “As long as there are people on the earth, may this edifice be frequented and people be happy and cheerful in it.” Today, it remains the best-preserved building in the Purana Qila.
Sher Mandal
The Sher Mandal, located south of the mosque, is a double-storeyed octagonal tower of red sandstone. Sher Shah built it, but his untimely death halted its construction, which was intended to be higher. After recapturing the fort, Humayun used it as a personal observatory and library. The tower features an octagonal chhatri supported by eight pillars and adorned with white marble. Inside, decorative plasterwork and stone shelving suggest where the emperor’s books were placed. On 24 January 1556, Humayun tragically fell from the second floor while hurrying to evening prayers, having been stargazing. He died of his injuries two days later. The Sher Mandal is one of Delhi’s first observatories; in the 14th century, Firoz Shah Tughlaq built an earlier one at Pir Gharib on the Ridge.