A Khilji era well in Delhi, 1949.

 

*Edited post - As a result of a helpful comment on instagram, I have edited this post as this well/gumbad still exists but within the premises of a school!

A striking photograph from 1949, taken by a French visitor to Delhi, captures a well dating back to the Khilji period, located in what is today known as the ‘Siri Fort’ area. At the time, this well would have served the nearby village of Shahpur Jat, a long-standing historic settlement nestled within the remains of Alauddin Khilji’s 14th-century fortified ‘city’. 

Curiously, archaeological guides like those of Maulvi Zafar Hasan, whose pioneering work produced the most comprehensive catalogue of Delhi’s architectural heritage between 1916-22 (and whose list is still used by the Archaeological Survey of India), did not include the well in the Siri Fort area.

 

 

References:

Maulvi Zafar Hasan et al. ‘Monuments of Delhi: Lasting Splendour of the Great Mughals and Others’ (Mehrauli Zail Vol. 3 and Badarpur Zail-Shahdara Zail) pp.168-72

 

Photo: Unknown, ‘Well in the countryside’, Delhi, 1949.

The 'Ancient Guardian', circa 1920-1930s.

 

Here’s a grainy photograph titled “The Ancient Guardian of the Ancient Temple,” found online. It dates back to the early 20th century and was taken by visitors to the Qutub complex in Mehrauli. Despite the grand title, the ‘guardian’ pictured here was likely not a mutawalli (a custodian of Muslim charitable endowments), but rather a caretaker appointed by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Images like this are rare and are a window into Delhi’s layered social history. One can imagine that, along with his striking presence, the caretaker may have had many stories to share—tales of the local neighbourhood and the long, storied past of the Qutub itself. 

A short post from me this week. I’ll be back next Friday with more from Delhi.

The Times of India’s S.C. Kala on changes in Delhi, 1956.

 

Wikimedia Commons - ITO crossroads in Delhi, 1950s

In 1956, The Times of India featured an op-ed by S.C. Kala titled “Changing New Delhi.” Kala’s article offered a sardonic take on the social and political shifts Delhi had undergone since independence. He argued that change was everywhere in New Delhi—so pervasive, in fact, that its "citizens find it difficult to adjust themselves to the new climate."

While the piece provides historians with valuable insights into how the city was transforming, its caustic tone and sharp observations also make it an entertaining read. For instance, describing the new localities designed to socially stratify and accommodate the post-independence bureaucracy, Kala wrote:

“The names of the four new colonies built for government servants show which way the wind of change is blowing. The top officials of the Secretariat (Sachivalaya) live in Shan Nagar (city of pomp and splendour), middling officials in Man Nagar (city for the respectable), clerks in Vinaya Nagar (city of the humble) and chaprassis in Sewa Nagar (city for those who serve their masters). Who says class distinctions have hardened since 1947? Do not all Government servants, irrespective of their different pay scales and special allowances, live in the newly-constructed Nagars (cities)? What does it matter if some live in one-room tenements and others in luxury bungalows, with outhouses and servants’ quarters?”

Kala’s commentary serves as both a critique and a chronicle, revealing how class and power underpinned the postcolonial transformation of Delhi.

  

Note: Some of these areas were re-named as part of a 'politics of naming'. So, Shan and Man Nagar were eventually changed to Bharti Nagar and Ravindra Nagar. Vinaya Nagar was also subsequently re-christened as Sarojini Nagar.

The birth of a refugee colony: Patel Nagar, 1949.

 

The snippet above is a cut-out from The Times of India newspaper in 1949, capturing the formation of refugee colonies in Delhi, which were named after heads of state and prominent Indian nationalists in the aftermath of independence and the Partition of India.

As seen in the article, the foundation stone for Patel Nagar, named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was laid by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President of the Constituent Assembly of India, in November 1949. (Dr. Prasad was not yet the first President of India, as the office was established only after the Constitution was adopted in 1950.)

Interestingly, it was during this period that the term "colony" became commonplace in local parlance, referring to areas designated for the resettlement of refugees from Pakistan. Although health centres and maternity homes were included in the housing plans, the use of the word "colony" implies that refugee resettlement was viewed as an imposed, unnatural process foisted upon the newly-formed nation-state, much like a form of colonisation. Perhaps, this marked the beginning of the turbulent relationship between the nation state and its urban colonies?

More on this another day, see you next Friday.