Clouded in mystery
(first published in Open Sesame, Deccan Herald, May 18, 2007)
Swapna Dutta takes us to an island in Seychelles, said to have been the haunt of pirates and the hiding place of their treasure!
Many of you must have read Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and Enid Blyton’s adventure stories that centre round islands— The Island of Adventure, Five on a Treasure Island and so on. Did you know that there is an island in the Indian Ocean that looks like it is straight out of an adventure story? It looks grim, remote, forbidding and its peak is perpetually covered in clouds. The only way to get there is by boat. It used to be a shelter for pirates long ago, many of whom are said to have buried their treasure there. What might interest you most is the fact that people still go there to dig for treasure!
I am talking about Silhouette, the third largest island in the Seychelles. When I saw it first from the Beau Vallon Beach in Mahe, I thought it was called Silhouette because of its shadowy outline etched against the bright blue sky. It looked like a lost world from a Conan Doyle novel, the emerald hills covered in a cloak of clouds. But actually the island was named after an 18th Century French officer. Although it is just 19 km away from Mahe, the largest and most important island of the Seychelles archipelago, it seems to belong to another time and place!
Silhouette has one of the thickest virgin forests in the Indian Ocean. An important reason for its isolation is the fact that for a long time no boat could get near it because of the coral reef that surrounds it. There is a long pier now which makes landing much easier. But even then the boat cannot reach it directly. There are rubber dinghies which ferry visitors from the boat to the pier. The island is three miles long and three miles wide and is the home of around two hundred people.
As you alight from the boat, the mountains peer down somewhat forbiddingly. The peak, Mount Dauban, is 780 meters high. Marshes overgrown with prickly pears and creepers loom up all around. If you look carefully you can make out some strange looking graves among them. They are said to belong to very early Arab traders who sought shelter here. They knew the place long before the Europeans who first arrived in 1910.
Hodoul, the famous pirate, made Silhouette his home at some point of time and buried all his treasure here. The islanders firmly believe that it is still here, as do many others. Silhouette seems to have been the favourite resort of other pirates as well, especially those who were driven out of the Caribbean at the beginning of the 18th century.
They used the place as a base from which to operate and loot the traders sailing between the prosperous colonies of the Indies to Europe. I was told that many come to look for buried treasure in Silhouette even now! Also among the marsh is a mausoleum with marble columns. It belongs to the Dauban family who once owned this island. It holds the graves of many members of the family.
Like other islands in the Seychelles, Silhouette is full of coconut palm and cinnamon trees. Copra is the main industry here and the main livelihood of the people. People here also grow coffee, avocados, cinnamon and tobacco. Another typical product of the island is bigarades, a tiny fruit which tastes like a bitter orange. It is used for making marmalade. Close to the pier landing is La Passe’s main square, shaded by takamaka and breadfruit trees.
It might interest you to know that since no grains grow in the sandy islands of the Seychelles, breadfruit forms an important part of their diet and is sometimes eaten as you would eat potatoes. I asked one of the locals who told me that it is boiled or baked first and then either mashed or fried like potatoes. People also make a kind of bread with the dough of the mashed fruit.
Silhouette is a place for nature lovers and for those who love adventure. Two tracks join the island from north to south. There are no proper roads, no cars, no post office and no police station! And of course no mobile phones or iPods! You come across hushed silence everywhere and feel as if you should speak in whispers! There is a rough track through the equatorial forest but it is unsafe to venture there without a local guide. That is because in places the forest is so dense that you need to clear the way with an axe.
Most people come to Silhouette in the morning and return (to Mahe or elsewhere) well before sundown. But people who want to see ‘moutia’ danced to the accompaniment of the ‘tam-tam’ around bonfires at night stay in Silhouette Lodge, the only hotel in the island.
It has log cabins built among the lush greenery and flowering shrubs. The view of the bay and the lonely beach is beautiful. Sea bathing is said to be safe and the hotel makes provision for snorkelling as well as water sports. But what makes Silhouette special is its eerie and unshakable air of mystery. The kind of stuff dreams are made of!
FACT FILE
*Silhouette Island lies 20 km northwest of Mahé in the Seychelles.
*It is the third largest island in the Seychelles.
*The island is mountainous with five peaks over 500 meters high; Mont Dauban, Mont-Pot-a-Eau, Gratte Fesse, Mont Corgat and Mont Cocos Marrons.
Friday, December 28, 2007
The Way to School
The way to school
Tinku peered out of the drawing room window and frowned. It had stopped raining at last but the sky still looked as black as an old umbrella - mouldy black, faded in streaks. It felt as though it might start pouring again at any moment! Not the kind of steady drip-drip you had in Delhi. Rains which came and went with everything looking more or less the same afterwards. Out here it felt like someone overturning huge buckets in the sky in a nonstop relay race! Ugh! Tinku didn't like rain even in Delhi. It meant horrid puddles in the roads, shoes getting wet, clothes feeling clammy and uncalled for traffic jams. But here, in this out of the way, back-of-nowhere hilly wilderness it was downright unbearable!
Tinku's dad was a professor in Delhi. He was writing a book about some rare plants which grew in these hills. They were of great importance to medical research. Tinku's father had discovered them here at Duliatal during a trekking trip. But it was necessary to live here so that he might be able to study them properly. So he had taken this little house for a whole year. And brought Tinku and her mother along with him. Tinku's mother loved visiting out of the way places.
Duliatal was truly and literally out of the way! For one, it was perched on a part of the Kumaon range which was quite difficult to reach. It hardly had any proper roads and just a few buses passing by. There was a small cluster of cottages and houses around the oval lake from which the place got its name. It had the bare basic facilities, of course. There was a hospital, a post office, two or three schools and several small churches set up by the missionaries when Duliatal had been part of a cantonment, a cinema house, a club house and quite a few shops, among other things. But there had been a kind of 'division' right from the beginning, with the 'Whites' living on one side of the lake and the 'locals' living on the other. The main reason why Duliatal hadn't 'grown' was because other tourist spots nearby were so much easier to go to. And were, therefore, far more popular. Tourists always passed it by in favour of Nainital, Bheemtal, Almora or Ranikhet.
People who had landed up at Duliatal from other parts of the country, mostly tradespeople and government officers on transfer, were those who had to for some reason. They now stayed in the colony once set up by the British. Of course there were no British people now except for one or two who had chosen to stay behind even after Independence. The Hilltop School, set up by one of them, was said to be good. So Tinku's parents felt that she could very well study there for a year at least, since she was just nine years old. But Tinku, suddenly uprooted from Delhi and her friends, felt very differently! She felt both indignant and miserable. Grown-ups were so unfair! Why couldn't they have asked her if she wanted to come or not? She would have certainly stayed back in Delhi!
'Tinku, aren't you ready yet? It's time for school' said mummy coming into the room. 'Good heavens, you haven't even got your shoes on as yet! Here are your gumboots. Get into your raincoat. Quick!'
'It's not raining now' said Tinku frowning, 'And I hate gumboots. They look so clumsy.'
'Don't be silly, you'll need them if it starts raining again. It's bound to, just look at the sky! Remember, there's no school bus here. You'll have to walk up to your school.'
'I wish I were back at Delhi with all my friends, waiting for our lovely green school bus at the corner of the road.....'
'You'll like it here after a while, dear. See if you don't' said mummy hushing her up, 'It's such a lovely place .... when the sun is shining.'
There was an impatient knock on the door. It was Ram Vilas, the gardener. He was to take Tinku to school which was about half a kilometre away on a higher shelf. There was no real need to do it because a crowd of children went to school by the same path. But mummy had said that Ram Vilas should also go and keep an eye on her, just in case she found the climb difficult at first.
There was a short cut to school by the narrow track along the hill and most of the children took it. It had a wall of solid rocks and boulders on one side and a steep drop to a lower shelf on the other. 'It's lucky I'm not scared of heights' said Tinku as she buttoned up her raincoat, 'But I hate the slush and the puddles. It's so slippery!'
'Mind your steps and be careful' said mummy.
A small crowd of children stood outside the low wicket gate. All of them were in their raincoats and gumboots, carrying waterproof school bags.
'Hurry up' said Ritu, the oldest of the crowd. Her dad was a police officer and lived right at the top of the hill.
'Your raincoat looks quite nifty' said Mona, 'Better pull on your hood, though. The rain comes on quite suddenly sometimes. You wouldn't like to go to school with dripping hair!'
'Got any newspapers?' asked Ricky.
'Newspaper?' asked Tinku amazed, 'What for?'
'You'll see' said Mona looking mysterious.
Everyone burst out laughing. Tinku shrugged. She wasn't interested in their silly secrets. She didn't like them. She didn't like anything about this horrid rainy place. Nothing at all.
'Why do you frown all the time?' asked Ashish, 'Got a tummy-ache?'
'Of course not! Don't be rude' said Tinku, 'I just don't like it raining day in and day out.'
'Why not?' asked Ricky, 'Not made of sugar, are you?'
There was a trill of laughter.
'Tinku is afraid she will melt' cried Mona and Ashish together.
'Oh look!' cried Bablu who had rushed ahead, 'Just look at our stream! It has become a regular water-fall!'
Tinku looked curiously. Just in front of them was a break between the boulders. A thin trickle of water which flew silently along the track at other times was a regular torrent now, falling through the break in the boulders on the slope down below. 'Where's the newspaper?' asked Ritu, 'Give Tinku a sheet'.The others were already making paper boats - single ones and boats with sails. Bablu's and Ricky's had double sails. Everyone put theirs in the stream. The boats rushed along the water, falling down... down.... down! The boats were in line now, moving forward, one after the other. Everyone clapped. Tinku was the only one who didn't know how to make a paper boat.
'Don't you know how to make boats?' asked Ricky surprised. Tinku shook her head. She really wished she did. It was fun floating them in the water and see them rush away.
'Here, take mine' said Ashish giving her one with double sails. Tinku took it and threw it on the gushing stream. Whoosh! It fell down the break in the boulder along with the others. Perhaps some little wood fairy would ride it! Tinku fell a thrill down her spine. Of course there were no fairies these days! .... But what if there were? And if one of them really rode Tinku's boat?
'Hurry up, folks' shouted Ritu, 'The bell will ring in a minute and I don't want to be late.'
'I'll teach you how to make boats' said Mona falling in step beside Tinku, 'We could float them on our way back.'
'I'd like that' said Tinku smiling at her.
'Look behind you' said Bablu, 'There, just where the water's falling down'.
Tinku turned. A streak of sunlight was struggling through the clouds and along the spray of water was a little rainbow.
'How beautiful!' cried Tinku. She had never seen anything like it in Delhi. Nor had she ever floated paper boats before.
They were in front of the school gate now. My new school, thought Tinku, feeling interested despite herself. She looked at the sloping roof made of red tiles with wild roses climbing all over it. The garden rose in a gradual slope round the school building. Tinku also saw the wild riot of colour against the velvet green grass. All the flowers seemed to be in bloom. She had never seen such vivid colours before. As she stepped inside the gate with the rest Tinku told herself that the new school might not be quite so bad after all!
Those who are interesed in reading more about Tinku may get the book"Tinku at Duliatal" directly from www.orientlongman.com
Tinku peered out of the drawing room window and frowned. It had stopped raining at last but the sky still looked as black as an old umbrella - mouldy black, faded in streaks. It felt as though it might start pouring again at any moment! Not the kind of steady drip-drip you had in Delhi. Rains which came and went with everything looking more or less the same afterwards. Out here it felt like someone overturning huge buckets in the sky in a nonstop relay race! Ugh! Tinku didn't like rain even in Delhi. It meant horrid puddles in the roads, shoes getting wet, clothes feeling clammy and uncalled for traffic jams. But here, in this out of the way, back-of-nowhere hilly wilderness it was downright unbearable!
Tinku's dad was a professor in Delhi. He was writing a book about some rare plants which grew in these hills. They were of great importance to medical research. Tinku's father had discovered them here at Duliatal during a trekking trip. But it was necessary to live here so that he might be able to study them properly. So he had taken this little house for a whole year. And brought Tinku and her mother along with him. Tinku's mother loved visiting out of the way places.
Duliatal was truly and literally out of the way! For one, it was perched on a part of the Kumaon range which was quite difficult to reach. It hardly had any proper roads and just a few buses passing by. There was a small cluster of cottages and houses around the oval lake from which the place got its name. It had the bare basic facilities, of course. There was a hospital, a post office, two or three schools and several small churches set up by the missionaries when Duliatal had been part of a cantonment, a cinema house, a club house and quite a few shops, among other things. But there had been a kind of 'division' right from the beginning, with the 'Whites' living on one side of the lake and the 'locals' living on the other. The main reason why Duliatal hadn't 'grown' was because other tourist spots nearby were so much easier to go to. And were, therefore, far more popular. Tourists always passed it by in favour of Nainital, Bheemtal, Almora or Ranikhet.
People who had landed up at Duliatal from other parts of the country, mostly tradespeople and government officers on transfer, were those who had to for some reason. They now stayed in the colony once set up by the British. Of course there were no British people now except for one or two who had chosen to stay behind even after Independence. The Hilltop School, set up by one of them, was said to be good. So Tinku's parents felt that she could very well study there for a year at least, since she was just nine years old. But Tinku, suddenly uprooted from Delhi and her friends, felt very differently! She felt both indignant and miserable. Grown-ups were so unfair! Why couldn't they have asked her if she wanted to come or not? She would have certainly stayed back in Delhi!
'Tinku, aren't you ready yet? It's time for school' said mummy coming into the room. 'Good heavens, you haven't even got your shoes on as yet! Here are your gumboots. Get into your raincoat. Quick!'
'It's not raining now' said Tinku frowning, 'And I hate gumboots. They look so clumsy.'
'Don't be silly, you'll need them if it starts raining again. It's bound to, just look at the sky! Remember, there's no school bus here. You'll have to walk up to your school.'
'I wish I were back at Delhi with all my friends, waiting for our lovely green school bus at the corner of the road.....'
'You'll like it here after a while, dear. See if you don't' said mummy hushing her up, 'It's such a lovely place .... when the sun is shining.'
There was an impatient knock on the door. It was Ram Vilas, the gardener. He was to take Tinku to school which was about half a kilometre away on a higher shelf. There was no real need to do it because a crowd of children went to school by the same path. But mummy had said that Ram Vilas should also go and keep an eye on her, just in case she found the climb difficult at first.
There was a short cut to school by the narrow track along the hill and most of the children took it. It had a wall of solid rocks and boulders on one side and a steep drop to a lower shelf on the other. 'It's lucky I'm not scared of heights' said Tinku as she buttoned up her raincoat, 'But I hate the slush and the puddles. It's so slippery!'
'Mind your steps and be careful' said mummy.
A small crowd of children stood outside the low wicket gate. All of them were in their raincoats and gumboots, carrying waterproof school bags.
'Hurry up' said Ritu, the oldest of the crowd. Her dad was a police officer and lived right at the top of the hill.
'Your raincoat looks quite nifty' said Mona, 'Better pull on your hood, though. The rain comes on quite suddenly sometimes. You wouldn't like to go to school with dripping hair!'
'Got any newspapers?' asked Ricky.
'Newspaper?' asked Tinku amazed, 'What for?'
'You'll see' said Mona looking mysterious.
Everyone burst out laughing. Tinku shrugged. She wasn't interested in their silly secrets. She didn't like them. She didn't like anything about this horrid rainy place. Nothing at all.
'Why do you frown all the time?' asked Ashish, 'Got a tummy-ache?'
'Of course not! Don't be rude' said Tinku, 'I just don't like it raining day in and day out.'
'Why not?' asked Ricky, 'Not made of sugar, are you?'
There was a trill of laughter.
'Tinku is afraid she will melt' cried Mona and Ashish together.
'Oh look!' cried Bablu who had rushed ahead, 'Just look at our stream! It has become a regular water-fall!'
Tinku looked curiously. Just in front of them was a break between the boulders. A thin trickle of water which flew silently along the track at other times was a regular torrent now, falling through the break in the boulders on the slope down below. 'Where's the newspaper?' asked Ritu, 'Give Tinku a sheet'.The others were already making paper boats - single ones and boats with sails. Bablu's and Ricky's had double sails. Everyone put theirs in the stream. The boats rushed along the water, falling down... down.... down! The boats were in line now, moving forward, one after the other. Everyone clapped. Tinku was the only one who didn't know how to make a paper boat.
'Don't you know how to make boats?' asked Ricky surprised. Tinku shook her head. She really wished she did. It was fun floating them in the water and see them rush away.
'Here, take mine' said Ashish giving her one with double sails. Tinku took it and threw it on the gushing stream. Whoosh! It fell down the break in the boulder along with the others. Perhaps some little wood fairy would ride it! Tinku fell a thrill down her spine. Of course there were no fairies these days! .... But what if there were? And if one of them really rode Tinku's boat?
'Hurry up, folks' shouted Ritu, 'The bell will ring in a minute and I don't want to be late.'
'I'll teach you how to make boats' said Mona falling in step beside Tinku, 'We could float them on our way back.'
'I'd like that' said Tinku smiling at her.
'Look behind you' said Bablu, 'There, just where the water's falling down'.
Tinku turned. A streak of sunlight was struggling through the clouds and along the spray of water was a little rainbow.
'How beautiful!' cried Tinku. She had never seen anything like it in Delhi. Nor had she ever floated paper boats before.
They were in front of the school gate now. My new school, thought Tinku, feeling interested despite herself. She looked at the sloping roof made of red tiles with wild roses climbing all over it. The garden rose in a gradual slope round the school building. Tinku also saw the wild riot of colour against the velvet green grass. All the flowers seemed to be in bloom. She had never seen such vivid colours before. As she stepped inside the gate with the rest Tinku told herself that the new school might not be quite so bad after all!
Those who are interesed in reading more about Tinku may get the book"Tinku at Duliatal" directly from www.orientlongman.com
The Story of Red Fort (Chapter -2)
Chapter 2
After ruling from Agra for eleven years Shah Jahan decided to move his capital to Delhi. It could be due to many reasons. Many historians think that it was because he found the streets of Agra too narrow and congested for his grand state processions. And also because he found the climate of Agra too humid and oppressive for his liking. Or it could have been because he wanted to escape from the memories of his beloved Mumtaz Mahal. But the most important reason may have been because the artist and builder in him craved to create more. Percival Spear writes in his History of India, Volume ll. –“ Shah Jahan was a man of great executive ability to which he added a love for the magnificent and a refined artistic sense, specially for architecture. He was in a special sense the architectural director of his day”.
And this time he wanted to create. not just a beautiful mausoleum but an entire city.
Shah Jahan decided to build his new capital at Delhi, complete with citadel and a royal residential complex. "Delhi has been the capital of Hindustan from time immemorial," he wrote in his memoir as he finalized his plan, "It shall again be the seat of the Mughal Empire. Here I shall raise a mighty fort which will be the envy of our friends and the despair of our foes.”
Din-e-panah, the sixth city of Delhi, remained a painful reminder of Humayun's tragic death. So he decided to build his new city and fortress somewhere else. But he wanted a new site that would also have a pretty landscape.
So Shah Jahan sent his Mir-i-Imarat (supervisor of buildings) to Delhi to select the site of the new city. After looking around carefully he finally chose the area around what we now know as Talkatora and Raisina Hill. But when Shah Jahan sent Ustad Hira and Ustad Hamid, two of his most expert masons, to take a look at the selected site, they turned it down at once. They told the king that the soil was too full of minerals, especially saltpeter, which would damage the buildings. They selected an open space on the right bank of the river Yamuna, close to the Salimgarh fortress that had been built by Islam Shah Suri. They said that the soil there did not have any minerals and was just right for building. The Mir-i-lmarat agreed with them. And Shah Jahan gave his final approval.
He sent architects and labourers from all over the empire. Stones for building the fort were brought from a place near Agra and carried to Delhi in enormous carts. The carts jammed the roads (something like the traffic jams you now find in Delhi!) and made things difficult for the ordinary traders who had to wait for ages to reach their ware. Sometimes it led to utter chaos and confusion and the entire neighbourhood suffered as a result. Even the English factories at Agra could not move their goods to the coast! But the people had to put up with it. After all no one could fight against the Emperor's orders!
The foundation stone of the new city was laid in 1638. The construction started under the supervision of Izzat Khan, Alah Vardi Khan and Makramat Khan, with Ustad Hamid and Ustad Hira at the helm. Mir Baqr Ali Khan, one of the best known story-tellers of the time, gives us an interesting account of what happened after the work began in earnest. According to his story, both Hira and Hamid disappeared as soon as the foundation was laid. No one could find any trace of the two. The news reached the Emperor who was frantic with worry. And he was very, very angry with both of them.
In fact, he was about to order that they should be arrested and put to death immediately when they turned up as suddenly as they had disappeared. And they explained why they had run away. They said that it was because they wanted the foundation to remain open to the elements for a certain number of days. This would help the soil get properly seasoned to support an everlasting building. They were both sure that this time gap was something the supervisors would never allow. Because they were so very keen to complete the city as fast as possible! The Emperor, who had great knowledge about buildings, saw their point at once. So he forgave them for playing truant.
Gradually the fort began to take shape. First of all there rose the battlements, one and-a-half mile long, over sixty feet in height and octagonal in shape. Next came the royal apartments. There was the Nakkar Khana or the music room that marked the entrance to the royal enclosure. It is here that the musicians played different kinds of music (using many kinds of instruments) five times a day. A wide open space led to the Diwan-i-A m, which was the hall of public audience. The pillars and ceilings of this hall had rich ornaments of gilded stucco. It was covered with heavy brocades. Beautiful carpets covered the entire floor. There was no furniture as people sat on the carpets. The Emperor's throne was placed on a richly carved marble platform that was inlaid with semi-precious stones.
The six main palaces were built just behind the Diwan-i-Am. Only five of these palaces remain now. The first is the Mumtaz Mahal. The building is now the Delhi Museum of Archaeology, which is known for its rare Mughal exhibits. Those of you who have been to the Red Fort must have seen it already. The Rang Mahal or the palace of colours has six apartments including the glass-studded Shish Mahal. The Khas Mahal, which once consisted of the king's main living quarters, included the Tasbih Khana. This was his private room of prayers. He prayed here with the help of beads (tasbih). It also included the Khwabgah (the chamber of dreams) which was his bedroom, and the Baithak, his drawing room. The Khas Mahal has a beautiful marble lattice screen portraying the scale of justice. It was from here that the Emperor and his queens watched the elephant fights on the bank of the river. In case you are wondering which river I’m talking about, I must tell you that the river Yamuna actually flowed by the Red Fort in those days, though it changed its course subsequently and moved far away!
Diwan-i-Khas was the hall of special audience. The Emperor used it for meetings with specially chosen courtiers and visitors. It is here that the famous Peacock throne stood.
Then there were the Hammams or the royal baths. These are in fairly good condition even now. The floors are covered with “stone embroidery” which are really beautiful. Visitors are not allowed inside but you can peep through the window panes and catch a glimpse of the baths. Finally came the towers - Musamman Burj (the octagonal tower) and the Shah Burj (the Royal Tower) - followed by two monsoon pavilions, Sawan and Bhadon.
The fort was finally completed in 1648. Shah Jahan rewarded the masons by giving them pieces of land. You can find many of the lanes named after them. The are all around the Jama Masjid. Ustad Ahmed Lahori, another famous architect associated with the fort was given the title of Nadir-ul-Asr (wonder of the age).
Moti Masjid (The Pearl Mosque) was added later by Aurangzeb, the third son of Shah Jahan. Hira Manzil - the last addition to the fort proper - was built by Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last of the Mughal Emperors. There were other additions too. But they were less significant.
Emperor Akbar had built the Fatehpur Sikri in red stone. Shah Jahan himself had built the Taj in white marble. When building the seventh city of Delhi, he turned to the red stone once again. The lofty ramparts, the tall gateways, the music hall and Diwan-i-Am were all built with red stone. But the major royal apartments had white marble as well. The fort also included office buildings, cantonments, markets and the living quarters of the people who worked in the palace.
After ruling from Agra for eleven years Shah Jahan decided to move his capital to Delhi. It could be due to many reasons. Many historians think that it was because he found the streets of Agra too narrow and congested for his grand state processions. And also because he found the climate of Agra too humid and oppressive for his liking. Or it could have been because he wanted to escape from the memories of his beloved Mumtaz Mahal. But the most important reason may have been because the artist and builder in him craved to create more. Percival Spear writes in his History of India, Volume ll. –“ Shah Jahan was a man of great executive ability to which he added a love for the magnificent and a refined artistic sense, specially for architecture. He was in a special sense the architectural director of his day”.
And this time he wanted to create. not just a beautiful mausoleum but an entire city.
Shah Jahan decided to build his new capital at Delhi, complete with citadel and a royal residential complex. "Delhi has been the capital of Hindustan from time immemorial," he wrote in his memoir as he finalized his plan, "It shall again be the seat of the Mughal Empire. Here I shall raise a mighty fort which will be the envy of our friends and the despair of our foes.”
Din-e-panah, the sixth city of Delhi, remained a painful reminder of Humayun's tragic death. So he decided to build his new city and fortress somewhere else. But he wanted a new site that would also have a pretty landscape.
So Shah Jahan sent his Mir-i-Imarat (supervisor of buildings) to Delhi to select the site of the new city. After looking around carefully he finally chose the area around what we now know as Talkatora and Raisina Hill. But when Shah Jahan sent Ustad Hira and Ustad Hamid, two of his most expert masons, to take a look at the selected site, they turned it down at once. They told the king that the soil was too full of minerals, especially saltpeter, which would damage the buildings. They selected an open space on the right bank of the river Yamuna, close to the Salimgarh fortress that had been built by Islam Shah Suri. They said that the soil there did not have any minerals and was just right for building. The Mir-i-lmarat agreed with them. And Shah Jahan gave his final approval.
He sent architects and labourers from all over the empire. Stones for building the fort were brought from a place near Agra and carried to Delhi in enormous carts. The carts jammed the roads (something like the traffic jams you now find in Delhi!) and made things difficult for the ordinary traders who had to wait for ages to reach their ware. Sometimes it led to utter chaos and confusion and the entire neighbourhood suffered as a result. Even the English factories at Agra could not move their goods to the coast! But the people had to put up with it. After all no one could fight against the Emperor's orders!
The foundation stone of the new city was laid in 1638. The construction started under the supervision of Izzat Khan, Alah Vardi Khan and Makramat Khan, with Ustad Hamid and Ustad Hira at the helm. Mir Baqr Ali Khan, one of the best known story-tellers of the time, gives us an interesting account of what happened after the work began in earnest. According to his story, both Hira and Hamid disappeared as soon as the foundation was laid. No one could find any trace of the two. The news reached the Emperor who was frantic with worry. And he was very, very angry with both of them.
In fact, he was about to order that they should be arrested and put to death immediately when they turned up as suddenly as they had disappeared. And they explained why they had run away. They said that it was because they wanted the foundation to remain open to the elements for a certain number of days. This would help the soil get properly seasoned to support an everlasting building. They were both sure that this time gap was something the supervisors would never allow. Because they were so very keen to complete the city as fast as possible! The Emperor, who had great knowledge about buildings, saw their point at once. So he forgave them for playing truant.
Gradually the fort began to take shape. First of all there rose the battlements, one and-a-half mile long, over sixty feet in height and octagonal in shape. Next came the royal apartments. There was the Nakkar Khana or the music room that marked the entrance to the royal enclosure. It is here that the musicians played different kinds of music (using many kinds of instruments) five times a day. A wide open space led to the Diwan-i-A m, which was the hall of public audience. The pillars and ceilings of this hall had rich ornaments of gilded stucco. It was covered with heavy brocades. Beautiful carpets covered the entire floor. There was no furniture as people sat on the carpets. The Emperor's throne was placed on a richly carved marble platform that was inlaid with semi-precious stones.
The six main palaces were built just behind the Diwan-i-Am. Only five of these palaces remain now. The first is the Mumtaz Mahal. The building is now the Delhi Museum of Archaeology, which is known for its rare Mughal exhibits. Those of you who have been to the Red Fort must have seen it already. The Rang Mahal or the palace of colours has six apartments including the glass-studded Shish Mahal. The Khas Mahal, which once consisted of the king's main living quarters, included the Tasbih Khana. This was his private room of prayers. He prayed here with the help of beads (tasbih). It also included the Khwabgah (the chamber of dreams) which was his bedroom, and the Baithak, his drawing room. The Khas Mahal has a beautiful marble lattice screen portraying the scale of justice. It was from here that the Emperor and his queens watched the elephant fights on the bank of the river. In case you are wondering which river I’m talking about, I must tell you that the river Yamuna actually flowed by the Red Fort in those days, though it changed its course subsequently and moved far away!
Diwan-i-Khas was the hall of special audience. The Emperor used it for meetings with specially chosen courtiers and visitors. It is here that the famous Peacock throne stood.
Then there were the Hammams or the royal baths. These are in fairly good condition even now. The floors are covered with “stone embroidery” which are really beautiful. Visitors are not allowed inside but you can peep through the window panes and catch a glimpse of the baths. Finally came the towers - Musamman Burj (the octagonal tower) and the Shah Burj (the Royal Tower) - followed by two monsoon pavilions, Sawan and Bhadon.
The fort was finally completed in 1648. Shah Jahan rewarded the masons by giving them pieces of land. You can find many of the lanes named after them. The are all around the Jama Masjid. Ustad Ahmed Lahori, another famous architect associated with the fort was given the title of Nadir-ul-Asr (wonder of the age).
Moti Masjid (The Pearl Mosque) was added later by Aurangzeb, the third son of Shah Jahan. Hira Manzil - the last addition to the fort proper - was built by Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last of the Mughal Emperors. There were other additions too. But they were less significant.
Emperor Akbar had built the Fatehpur Sikri in red stone. Shah Jahan himself had built the Taj in white marble. When building the seventh city of Delhi, he turned to the red stone once again. The lofty ramparts, the tall gateways, the music hall and Diwan-i-Am were all built with red stone. But the major royal apartments had white marble as well. The fort also included office buildings, cantonments, markets and the living quarters of the people who worked in the palace.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
about myself
hi!
I'm happy to join the bloggers' group at last.
I'm a writer.... and I hope to post samples of my writings.
Pieces that have been published already and also stories/chapters from books that are now out of print. Anyone who wants to read stuff written by me can do so on this page and are most welcome to send me their comments or if they'd like me to write anything specific.
Bye for now and looking forward to hearing from you!
I'm happy to join the bloggers' group at last.
I'm a writer.... and I hope to post samples of my writings.
Pieces that have been published already and also stories/chapters from books that are now out of print. Anyone who wants to read stuff written by me can do so on this page and are most welcome to send me their comments or if they'd like me to write anything specific.
Bye for now and looking forward to hearing from you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)