Farrukhnagar – The city of Salt Trade.

Farrukhnagar is a town 25 kilometers away from the city of Gurgaon, once one of the most important city for salt trade now lies in ruins with its dilapidated Monuments.

Established in 1732 by Faujdar Khan, the first Nawab of Farrukhnagar and a governor of Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1732, Farrukhnagar flourished due to its salt trade till the late 19th century and was abandoned in the early 20th century, during the British Raj.  Sultanpur was the center of salt production for use in Delhi and provinces of Oudh and Agra. till the late 19th century exporting annually 680,000 maunds or 18,350 tons over the Rajputana-Malwa Railway. Salt was produced by extracting brine from about 40 wells using bullocks and drying in open plots. Since salt was one of the major sources of government’s revenue, the office of the Salt Superintendent at Sultanpur supervised the levy of Rs.2 per maund. With the levy of the heavy salt tax by the government, the Sultanpur salt became uneconomical and by 1903-04 the salt industry was struggling for survival with salt export having fallen to 65,000 maunds or 1,750 tons leading to the severe setback to the economy of Sultanpur area. Finally, in 1923 the British shut down the office of the salt superintendent at Sultanpur had all the mounds of salt thrown back into the wells and shut down the salt industry leading to considerable economic misery to the people.

Farrukhnagar houses numerous monuments which needed serious government attention.

Few monuments which I came across during my visit were

The Delhi Gate (Dilli Darwaza) used to be the gateway to Farrukhnagar is a huge structure but unfortunately, it is in utter neglect and some of the side walls and roof is falling down. The huge wooden spiked gates may crumble down any time. Shopkeepers have encroached upon the place inside the gate and I saw several small shops operational here.

Sheesh Mahal is the one of an oldest historical building in Farrukhnagar. Sheesh Mahal was built by nawab Farrukh Shah in about 1793. It is a double-story structure in red sandstone, Mughal bricks. That time it was built for the queen of Farrukh Shah. The queen used to visit the baoli for taking bath from Sheesh Mahal through a tunnel, which has since been closed. It opens on to a large courtyard with a water channel in the center. 
I couldn’t go inside the monument because it was closed on Sunday

Jama Masjid, built by Faujdar Khan in red sandstone is now painted with white and saffron borders and metamorphosed into a Ram-seeta Mandir. Two slabs of Red Sandstone on the southern wall bears Arabic inscription to the period of Balban (1200-1287). The slabs are slated to have been brought from an ancient mosque in Sultanpur. 
No one knows when this Mosque was converted, but as per assumption after Nawab Ahmed Ali Khan of Farukhnagar was executed for the uprising of 1857 against Britishers the mosque came in the hands of Hindu authorities. 
Btw this confusing structure also has a board which says it is also a Gurudwara.
I was not able to capture any good images because the gates of the Mandir were closed and clicking the picture of this monument was too suspicious for the localites.

Getting there & around

The driving time from Delhi to Farukhnagar is up to two hours, depending on traffic. Private taxis charge approximately Rs 2,000 for a round trip from Gurgaon. Regular bus services are available from the Gurgaon bus stand in Sector 14, and tickets cost Rs 18-20. Using your own car or hiring a taxi is most convenient as the only means of transport within Farrukhnagar are communal autorickshaws that ply on fixed routes.

Zafar Mahal : The unfulfilled dream..

Grave of Akbar Shah II and Shah Alam  II and Shah Alam bahadur inside the Marble enclosure

Kitna hai badnaseeb Zafar dafn ke liye

Do gaz zameen bhi na mili ku e yaar mein.

(O how unfortunate Zafar is, for his burial he could not even get place in the street of the beloved.)

Yes, this is the palace where Bahadur Shah Zafar, The last emperor of India desired to be buried after his death.

Zafar is Arabic for ‘victory’ but there is nothing victorious left in the Zafar Mahal, at Delhi’s congested Mehrauli area. Bahadur Shah II could barely scrape together the funds to make himself a palace away from the crowded Shahjahanabad. Shortage of funds led Bahadur Shah to simply add on to the existing palace built by his predecessor Akbar II. The palace, which is the Last Mughal palace used as a summer retreat.

Haathi Darwaza (Elephant Gate), was a later addition to the palace, by the emperor-poet Bahadur Shah Zafar II,Members of the ruling family used to pass through the gate on elephants – hence the name.

Situated about a hundred yards away from the western entrance (known as Ajmeri Gate) of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki‟s dargah is the lesser known Zafar Mahal, a later Mughal residential palace and summer retreat or the residence of Mughals during phool waaloon ki sair also known as pankha Mela at the time of the urs of Hazrat Kaki.

The Palace Complex developed over the entire eastern partof the present day
settlement around the dargah, was patterned on the late Mughal configuration of spaces, with a sequence of dalans (verandahs) and compartments around court.. It is a lofty, three storied structure built of brick and grey stone and decorated with plaster, red sandstone, and marble. Zafar Mahal also comprised of bits and pieces built over a long period of time. From the pre Sultanate to later Mughal architecture, the place has layers of history. The site already had sultanate buildings in the enclosure, including Alauddin Masud Shah’s tomb and a big Chhatri. The complex site has superimposed structures which indicate the continuous additions of structures at the same place

The palace has a enclosed Mosque, It was built in AD 1709 by Bahadur Shah I, popularly known as Moti Masjid. It consists of three bay arched entrances and is a single aisled
structure. It is made of white marble and is adorned with three bulbous domes with vertical flutings ofblack marble

The last, and most tragic, piece of this tale lies inside a marble enclosure next to the Moti Masjid. In this small area there are four graves belonging to Mughal emperors and a prince: Emperors Akbar Shah II and Shah Alam II, and Zafar’s son Prince Mirza Fakhruddin. The fourth one, darker grave, supposedly belongs to Bahadur Shah I.

Right next to Shah Alam II’s grave is a green patch. The sardgah, or the vacant burial place, is supposed to be where Zafar wished to be buried. Instead, the emperor lies far away in Myanmar, where he was exiled by the British following the demise of the Mughal Empire.

Graves of Royal Ladies including Shah Abadi

Alauddin Masud Shah‟s tomb

Upper story of the Gate

Clive House- History in ruins..

According to the British civil servant Lewis O’Malley, writing in 1911, “the name Dum Dum is a corruption of Damdama, meaning a raised mound or battery. It appears to have first applied to an old house standing on a raised mound”. The house is non another than the   “Clive House”

Although encroached by box like apartment buildings, the house still stands on the mound and dominates the urban landscape.

Clive House predates the man, who helped to establish the British rule in India.

A plaque at the entrance (no longer approachable) says Lord Clive’s Country House, 1757 – 1760, 1756 – 1767. Indicating that Lord Clive did stay here and hence the name Clive House.Clive also introduced some changes in the building’s architectural pattern and added the upper storey. He also laid the extensive gardens and the walks.The origin of the Clive House, also known as Burra Kothi, still remains a mystery. Some believe it to be a Portuguese or a Dutch Factory.

According to local legend, the mound on which the Clive House stands was built in a single night. Locals believe that the grounds and the house are haunted.

O’Malley in Gazetteer of 24 Parganas quotes “It appears to have been originally a one-storeyed blockhouse, so constructed as to secure a flank fire along each side, in underground chambers or cellars. The walls were of great thickness… further strengthened by huge buttresses, between which the walls were loop-holed for musketry. No authentic account of the origin of this building can be found… The native tradition is that the mound on which it stands was thrown up by a spirit in a single night and to this day the house and the grounds have the reputation of being haunted.”

After Clive, the house changed hands several times. It served as a private residence of notable Englishmen and in 1890s, it served as a head quarters of Presidency Volunteer Reserve Battalion.

After independence, about 20 – 25 refugee families from East Pakistan occupied the rooms and the peripheries of Clive House and few families continue to live in the peripheries,  even after the Clive House was taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2003.

In 2001, a decorated shred of pottery taken from the mound, attracted the attention of ASI. This led to extensive excavation of the portion of the mound, North of Clive House. The excavation revealed remnants of  civilization dating back far beyond the days of Christ. The findings are all set to revolutionise the history of South Bengal.

Excavation also led to the conservation and restoration of the Clive House, the first systematic attempt to conserve the oldest building of Kolkata (Calcutta).

Today, the Clive House is a protected monument and a blue board of ASI, at the entrance, provide the brief history. The main entrance is cordoned off, making entry impossible. The back entrance has fencing, only up to the waist level. The brave hearted and the physically fit can easily jump across it, braving the official ASI warning and ignoring chunk of masonries that can fall from the roof, only to find the main courtyard entrance sealed to the top. But the adventure activity will provide a view of the roof less courtyard of Kolkata’s (Calcutta’s) oldest building.

Hanseswari Temple and Ananta Basudev Temple

The history of Bansberia dates back to the days of Shah Jahan. In 1656, the Mughal emperor appointed Raghab Dattaroy of Patuli as the zamindar of an area that includes the present-day Bansberia. Legend has it that Raghab’s son Rameshwar cleared a bamboo grove to build a fort, inspiring the name Bansberia.

After the Mughal conquest of Bengal in the mid-16th century, the city started to decline due to the loss of royal patronage, but some areas such as Bansberia continued to prosper up to the 19th century, sponsored by semi-independent zamindars who built severaltemples in the area.

Among these is the Hanseswari Temple built in 1814. It was constructed by the wife of Nrisinghadeb, the grandson of Rameshwar.

Nrisinghadeb was a follower of a Tantric cult and had spent his last seven years (1792-99) in Varanasi practicing its rites. The temple was constructed after his death by his wife Sankari, as a tribute to him.

Even the deity has been designed and installed following the concept of Yoga and Pranayam. The word “Hong” is pronounced at the time of breathing out whereas the word “S-a-a” is uttered at the time of breathing in. “Hong” manifests “Shiva” and “S-a-a” represents “Mother Shakti.”

Next to the Hanseswari Temple is the Ananta Basudev Temple (also called Ananta Basudeva Temple). It was constructed by Rameshwar Datta in 1679.

The Ananta Basudev Temple follows the typical eek – ratna style of Bengal Temple Architecture, where the temple is crowned with a single pinnacle. The pinnacle of the Ananta Basudev Temple is octagonal.

Three sides of the temple along with the pinnacle is covered with finest terracotta. Terracotta so intricate that it inspired the great poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Moved by the art, the poet had asked Nandalal Bose to document the panels on the temple walls.

The terracotta panels of Anata Basudev Temple contains an interesting mix, covering religious figures like Kali, Durga and Krishna along with panels of boats & ships, dancing girls, scenes from war and last but not least scenes from daily life.

The Datta Roy mansion stands next to the temple complex. The mansion is more or less intact but its a private propert and tourist and pilgrims are not allowed inside the complex.

 

The Tomb of Safdarjung

This “last flicker in the lamp of Mughal architecture” is the final resting place of the erstwhile Nawab of Awadh, Mirza Muqim Abul Mansur Khan, also known as Safdarjung, whose exceptional service to emperor Ahmad Shah elevated him to Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) in 1748, and whose excessive ambition cost him that privilege in 175

The prominent and ornamental gate frames the monument, that at first glance holds a strong resemblance to the mausoleum of emperor Humayun. It is similar in colour and follows the charbagh (quadrilateral walled garden) style of construction divided by water channels.

As you walk in however, you notice the marked absence of refinement. The skewed proportions, the elongated facade, the bulbous dome and its mismatched stone cladding mark a disappointing epilogue to the grand legacy of Mughal architecture in India. In many ways it is said to be a reflection of its times. Of the degenerate lifestyles of lesser emperors and the decline of a great empire. whose famed coffers had been cleaned out by a daring Persian raid.

For the lack of funds and unavailability of marbles and sandstones, the builders were forced to strip the nearby Abdul Rahim Khan – i – Khanan’s Tomb and use the marble and sandstone.

It seems that halfway through the construction, the marble ran out and the builders were forced to patch up the white marble with pink sandstone, resulting into patches of pink sandstone intruding into the glistening of the white marble dome.

Set in the heart of Delhi, the tomb, little known and seldom remembered, is a tribute both to the influence that Safdarjung wielded in the rapidly disintegrating empire as well as to the spirit of mankind to rise against all setbacks and discriminations to achieve a position of superiority as Safdarjung and Saadat Khan did.  Lending its name to an airport, an arterial road, an entire residential and commercial enclave and to one of the foremost hospitals in the capital, the tomb epitomizes Safdarjung’s capabilities as well as the turbulent period that the Indian subcontinent was experiencing, best summed in William Dalrymple’s own words –

“Safdarjung’s life encapsulates perfectly the intriguing but cataclysmic half century that linked the Mughal high noon with the decay and disintegration of the twilight fifty years later.”