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.
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.
On a curated walk conducted by a passionate Delhi, history, monuments, architecture, poetry, story, theatre lover – Parthajeet, who works as International Education consultant, the story of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq will be brought alive. Through facts, stories, visualisation and physical presence and touch of the remnants of the fort Parthajeet will take us to the time and lives of Tughlaq. The walk will cover the ruined fort of Tughlaquabad, the tomb of Ghiasuddin Tughlaq (Muhammad’s father and sponsor of the fort and the third city of Delhi) and culminate in a special theatrical improvisation where we will listen to the mumblings of the maverick sultan – Tughlaq played by Parthajeet.
I will be waiting for you at the Tughlaqabad Fort parking area/ticket counter which is on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road (junction of MB road and Surajkund road). Using a car or tuk-tuk is recommended. Happy if you use google maps, the internet, and common sense to reach the place by your own. There is only one ticket counter and parking space. Be there. I will be having a DelhiStoryWalks black cap on and a tote bag in hand.
This is the meeting-starting point - a ticker counter is there next to the parking area. There is a small fee of 20-40 Rs for entry (carry an ID card); better if you pay it in advance at the ASI website to save you the hassle. Link: https://asi.payumoney.com/
The intersection of Mehrauli-Badarpur road and Surjarkund road is the place where the two important monuments - the tomb of Ghiasuddin and the fort he built can be seen on both sides. We talk about the importance of the road as well.
We walk up to the beautiful tomb of Ghiasuddin Tughlaq - the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty that ruled Delhi. The fort is a magnificent and important piece of work which leaves it's impact on future monuments built by the rest of the sultans of Delhi Sultanate and further by the Mughals.
We enter the massive fort with huge pillars of which only a few remain today. We walk inside the fort and explore the architecture of the place and try to imagine and recreate the different sections.
This is Optional. This is a fort a bit further away from the main Tughlaqabad fort. This was built by Muhammad, Ghiasuddin's son and can be accessed easily by cars but not advisable to walk up to - can be tiring. If we have enough number of cars, private vehicles we can drive up to the fort but the walk will officially end at the tughlaqabad fort.
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).