MONUMENTS

Arpita Das on Zafar Mahal in Mehrauli

The Mehrauli settlement began as a medieval Hindu citadel in the twelfth century A.D. It was then the seat of the Delhi Sultanate. It was in the late Mughal period that an extremely important monument was built at the heart of the Mehrauli settlement. This was Zafar Mahal. The construction was begun by Akbar Shah II (1803-36d). The structure was later expanded by Bahadur Shah Zafar (1837-57). Around the royal residence lay havelis, mosques, gardens, stables and orchards.

The main palace is an imposing three-storeyed structure made conspicuous by its lofty gateway which was built by Bahadur Shah Zafar in red sandstone and marble. Typical Shahjahani curved arches and pillars, and arcades flanked by rooms like the Chatta Chowk in the Red Fort characterise this building.

Behind the Mahal is a small courtyard containing the screen tombs of Bahadur Shah I, Shah Alam II, Akbar Shah II and Mirza Fakhru (heir apparent to the Mughal throne after Bahadur Shah Zafar). These graves, lying clustered together in the backyard of the royal residence, are an important indication to a declining empire.

Other monuments in the vicinity of the Zafar Mahal which once formed a part of the royal complex are the havelis of Mirza Babar and Mirza Salim (son of BahadurShah Zafar), and the 'Jharna' which Dargah Quli Khan calls 'Birka' in his celebrated seventeenth century work'Muraqqa-i-Dilli'. This pleasure garden consisting of a colonnaded dalan, a water-fall and a tank was built in 1712 by Nawab Ghaziuddin Khan Feroz Jung. Additions werelater made by Akbar Shah II and Bahadur Shah Zafar. Today, the once picturesque Jharna has become an overgrown garden the vandalised dalan occupied by a refugee family and the tank painted a garish blue by the MCD are a dismal sight - as is the rest of the Zafar Mahal complex. Although the palace is a protected monument, only a portion of it stands today as many structures within it have been demolished.

The upper floor of the gateway is gradually disintegrating. The staircase which leads to the uppermost level of the gateway has collapsed at certain places. Roofsof dalans have disappeared; parts of the mahal are even being used a s a public toilet. Another part has become a rubbish dump.

The Haveli of Mirza Babar is now called 'Babar Building'. Refugee families shacked in here, after partition. Important parts of the haveli have been demolished in recent years. Parts of Mirza Salim's Haveli which lies off the Kasai Wali Gali are now being used as shops. The screen tombs of the three Mughal emperors behind the Mahal lie in total obscurity and neglect. The marble screens around the graves are disappearing rapidly. Children from the Mehrauli village have made the tomb enclosure their playground. The tombstones themselves are in a state of ruin.

The state in which the Zafar Mahal complex lies today may largely be attributed to general official antipathy. In the ASI handbook on Delhi and its neighbourhood, Zafar Mahal is not even mentioned as an independent monument. Only a couple of lines are dedicated to it under the write-up on the Dargah of Qutub Sahib. The two official programmes - the Delhi Master Plan in 1962 and the Village Development Plan in 1984 made no improvement in the condition of the Mahal complex.

Although suggestions continue to be made about the restoration of this monument and others lying around it, perhaps, the most important remedial measure would be to inform more inhabitants of our city about this splendid Mughal residence, which witnessed the decline of a magnificent empire, where Bahadur Shah Zafar spent manya contemplative monsoon evenings and where lie four of the last Mughals.