Trip to old Delhi

Our tour started from the Delhi Gate. This gate has its name because it faces Delhi. Similarly there is Ajmeri Gate, Turkman Gate and Kashmiri Gate. We walked to Ghala Masjid. Enroute we saw an old wall. It was a part of the wall of the Shahjahanabad city which was walled from all sides. Only a few remains are present today. Ghala Mosque was built by Zeenat Ul Misha, Aurangzeb's daughter in 1717 AD. After the revolt of 1857, the Britishers captured this mosque and converted it into a bakery. It even worked for five years. The Britishers captured more than 50 mosques after 1857.

The Kalan Masjid, built by Firoz Shah Tughluq's Minister

We continued walking after we saw the mosque. We crossed pataudi's house and haveli Azam khan to reach Kalan Masjid. Kalan Masjid was built by Firoz Shah Tughlaq's Minister. He built seven such mosques all around Delhi. After taking a walk around the mosque, we walked through 4 feet wide lanes to reach Raziya Sultan's tomb. Raziya Sultan was Iltutmish's daughter. After Iltutmish died, Raziya Sultan became the ruler. Her father had more faith in her than he did in his sons. Raziya Sultan became the first female ruler in Indian history. Her brother was jealous of her and after a reign of 4 years she was killed by her own brother who succeeded her.

The most popular mode of transport in the walled city

After that we took a Rickshaw to the Fatehpuri Masjid. It was built by Shah Jahan's wife, Fatihpuri Begum in 1650. We didn't go inside the mosque due to lack of time. We continued our Rickshaw ride and stopped at Arif Bhaiya's (our guide) friends house. He stayed in a colony called Farash Khana. This colony was given to 4 brothers who had come from Bukhara to build the floors (farsh) of Jama Masjid and Red Fort. Their families still stay there. Their family now has over 3000 people!

After talking to Arif Bhaiya's friend about Farash Khana, we walked to Mirza Ghalib's house. He was the best Urdu poet and one of the best Indian poets. His haveli was turned into a museum. We looked around and found many of his belongings and writings. We finally left his haveli and took a Rickshaw to Delhi Gate. We ate local food and butter milk. It was amazing! On that note, we ended this tour to old Delhi.