Jahaz Mahal

Jahaz Mahal  or the Ship Palace is located next to Hauz-i-Shamsi in Mehrauli.








It is inferred to have been built during the Lodi period (1452-1526) as a pleasure resort or a sarai.

  

  

It was so named, since its reflection (illusion) in the surrounding reservoir looked like a ship floating on a lake. 

   

Zafar Mahal

Zafar Mahal is in Mehrauli.


The Mahal or the palace was built first by Akbar Shah II in the 18th century and the entrance gate that was reconstructed in the 19th century by Bahadur Shah Zafar II, popularly known as “Zafar” .


Bahadur Shah Zafar who wished to be buried at a selected burial ground in the precincts of the Zafar Mahal (palace) , was deported by the British to Rangoon after the 1857 first war of Indian Independence, where he died of old age without any honour.

 

  

  

The graves of  Bahadur Shah I, Shah Alam II and his son Akbar Shah II are in the palace. Also buried here is Mirza Fakruddin son of the last emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Tomb of Isa Khan

Isa Khan Niazi was an Afghan noble in the court of Sher Shah Suri.

Isa Khan's tomb was built during his lifetime ca 1547-48 AD and is situated in the Humayun's Tomb complex.

Across this tomb standing at the edge of the complex, lies a mosque, built along with the tomb, known as Isa Khan's mosque.

Qila Rai Pithora

The Chauhan prince of Sakambhari, Vigraharaja IV captured Delhi from the Tomar Rajputs in the latter half of the 12th century. The grandson of Vigraharaja IV, Prithviraja Chauhan III, built Qila Rai Pithora, the first city of Delhi, by extending the  Lal Kot.


The city derived its name from the title of Prithviraja Chauhan and thus came to be known as Qila Rai Pithora, with Lal Kot as its southwestern base.



At present the ruins of Qila Rai Pithora have been conserved in a 20-acre DDA Conservation Park at Mehrauli.

The ruins of Qila Rai Pithora can be reached by taking the IIT-Mehrauli road just past the Adhchini village. The ruins of the ramparts of the extended city are rubble-built and are 5 to 6 meters in thickness, with a height of 18 meters on some sides and are surrounded by a wide moat from the outside.

Out of the 13 gates, 3 gates remain. The Badaun Gate, Hauz-Rani and Barka gates.

Azim Khan's Tomb, Ladoo Sarai

The 17th century tomb of Azim Khan, situated on top of a hill on Mehrauli-Gurgaon road.

Some historians believe it is Azim Khan while others say it is Akbar Khan. Haven't still figured out who was Azim Khan, was this Azim Khan the governor of Punjab under Aurangzeb? Or was this the foster brother of Emperor Akbar?

Jantar Mantar

The Yantra Mantra (literally the instrument and formula) is often called the Jantar Mantar.

It consists of 13 architectural astronomy instruments, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, from 1724 onwards.

It is one of five built by him.

Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah gave him the task of revising the calendar and astronomical tables. 

There was plaque fixed on one of the structures in the Jantar Mantar observatory in 1910 mistakenly dating the construction of the complex to the year 1710. 

Later research, though, suggests 1724 as the actual year of construction.

 

Hindu Rao House

Hindu Rao House  was built in the early 19th century   as the residence of a dynamic British officer, William Fraser.

In 1835 A.D., Shams-ud-Din Khan, Nawab of Ferozepore, murdered Fraser. 

The house was then bought by Hindu Rao, a Maratha nobleman and brother-in-law of Maharaja Daulat Rao Scindia of Gwalior.

Since then the building came to be known by the name of Hindu Rao, even though the owner of the house soon changed when a British family bought it after the death of Hindu Rao. 

Later, the house became the headquarters of British forces in 1857 during the First War of Indian Independence. 

In the early 20th century, the house was converted into a hospital for English nationals. It has continued to function as a hospital after India gained independence, and till date, it serves the needs of the people of Delhi.

It is now called the Bara Hindu Rao Hospital.