Dr. Parthajeet Das (Partha or Das) is a self-confessed, engaged and addicted lover of Delhi and it’s history, story, architecture and poetry. He currently works as a Director at a not-for-profit foundation working towards improving school education in India. He has worked with top management and government consulting firms in the past. Parthajeet believes this to be his joyous duty to educate the tourists, passers-by and more importantly the inhabitants of the city about the rich history, architecture and heritage of Delhi. He has been conducting walks in and around Delhi since 2016, mixing a bit of history, storytelling and drama leveraging his research, storytelling and theatre skills. He is also a traveler and writer who has a few publications such as Slient Horizons (a collection of English poems), Tum Main aur Ye Wadi (a collection of 51 urdu nazms) many short-stories, travelogues and plays (in both English and Hindi) to his name.
Join us on a curated history walk across modern-day Malviya Nagar, Beghampur in South Delhi as we explore the life and times of the different rulers of the Delhi Sultanate across 13th-14th century Medieval India.
Over the duration of 2 hours we will explore the less-explored monuments built by the master builders of Delhi – the Tughlaqs; hear stories of curses of sufi saints, wars, shifting of capitals, demonetisation, patricide, fratricide and palace intrigues. The walk will end with a theatrical performance by Parthajeet as the maverick monarch Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq!
Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq is an enigma in Indian medieval history; he is a genius who was far ahead of his times, a self-obsessed power-hungry sultan accused of murdering his own father and brother for the throne of Delhi, a devout Muslim who forced his religion with all his force on his citizens, a spiritual seeker who sought enlightenment all his life, a scholar par excellence and a madman who changed his capital twice and inflicted woes and tortures on his subjects which would shock the brutality of barbarians.
Will the real Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq stand up?
Well, he will. Come and join us to find out.
I will be waiting for you at the Hauz Khas Metro Station Exit # 3 (exit to Mayfair Gardens), next to the metro station parking, on the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Marg, next to Lakshman Public School (not on the Outer ring road!) I will be wearing a DelhiStoryWalks black cap and with an tote bag in hand.
We start at this point as many people can choose to come via the Delhi Metro (Yellow Line) and get down at Hauz Khas, it also has good parking spaces for cars on the road.
We start by story of cities of Delhi narrated at this point which looks like a mini-qutub minar but broken and has an interesting story behind it.
We walk or drive a bit and cross over the busy Outer ring road to the Sarvapriya Vihar side in front of the Sarvapriya Vihar club stands the Thousand Pillared palace of Muhammad-bin-Tughalaq which some locals refer as Ibn-Batutta (the moroccan traveler) fort or likes. Most of the story-telling about the life and times of Tughlaqs happens inside this place which has a sufi shrine also.
The other name of the palace is Bijai Mandal which literally translates into Victory Circle or alike. There are many places not only in Delhi but all over India that are referred to as Bijai/Vijay Mandal which is usually a place where a tower or monument would have been erected to commemorate a battle victory or two.
Our walk ends at this impressive and expansive mosque which might have been simply called Jama Masjid (again a generic name of the mosque where the royal family and others offerred their namaz). Here we talk about elements and myths of the islamic architecture. The walk ends with a improvisation performance by our walk leader as Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.
Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).