A trip to Sultan Ghari

 

Entrance to Sultan Ghari

 

A barely visible turn on the road leads me to this rich architectural area in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. This is Sultan Ghani, now in ruins. It is the first tomb to be built as a monument in the Delhi region. Built by the Turkish General, Iltutmish of the Mamluk or the Slave dynasty in 1231 for his eldest son, Nasiruddin Mahmud. Interestingly, Nasiruddin is also worshipped as a peer (Saint) and people offer prayers till today.

From the entrance, Sultan Ghari gives the appearance of a fortress with its entrance doorway, the domed bastions at the corners and the colonnades. As we entered the courtyard and climbed on the top of the entrance wall, the view all around gave an idea of the sprawling town it must once have been. I could see ruins all around. But right below me, in the centre of the courtyard was a raised octagonal structure which was the roof of the tomb of Nasiruddin Mahmud which lay in the crypt below. It is because of this crypt that this place got the name ghari. 

There is an entrance into this crypt from the southern side. It is dark and the stairs are narrow and steep. Our mobile phones helped light up the area. But there are four graves in the tomb. The highest one is assumed to be Nasiruddin’s, while the rest are unaccounted for. Thursdays are important days here when worshippers throng the place to offer prayers to the peer.

The Octagonal raised roof of the tomb (ghari) & marbelled prayer niche on the western wall in the background

Tomb of Ruknuddin Firuz Shah or Muizzuddin Shah, sons of Iltutmish (only one tomb stands)

A Corbelled arch before the true arch came more than 50 years later