Heritage Walk in Hauz Khas by Delhi Heritage Walks January 16, 2010

Hauz Khas in Delhi is a composite site which consists of a tank and several monuments like mosque, madrasa and tomb. Hauz-i-Alai was a tank, built by Emperor Ala-ud-din Khilji in 1300, so that rainwater could be preserved in the tank and distributed across the city of Siri which served as the capital of Khilji dynasty.

History of Hauz Khas in Delhi says that after Khilji’s death in 1316, the tank gradually dried up and remains unused under bushes and shrubs because the Khilji empire met an abrupt end and the city of Siri was deserted. It was much later when Firoz Shah Tughlaq of Tughlaq reign, learnt about the existence of the tank. If you probe into the history of Hauz Khas in Delhi, you will realize that Feroz Shah’s empire was facing a severe scarcity of water during that time as a result of which he was planning to shift his capital from Tughlaqabad to Firozabad.

Feroz Shah immediately took of the project of refurbishing the tank by laying it with concrete walls. He got the tank unearthed, cleaned and filled with water once again. It is learnt that the common men were highly benefited from the water supplied by this tank. He also constructed a number of monuments including tomb, mosque and a madrasa (college) on the southern and eastern banks ofthe tank. Finally, the site became popular as Hauz Khas which means royal tank.

Though the structures around the tank are in dilapidated state today, the entire site and nearby attractions of Hauz Khas, continue to attract tourists from across the country.

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