Chandni Chowk ‘face lift’ plan and the story of the construction of this square

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There is a boom in Agra Fort. The crowning of the new emperor Khurram is taking place on 14 February 1628. Arjumand Ara is busy preparing for the occasion, but Roshan Ara has fallen asleep.

The remaining children Dara, Shuja and Aurangzeb have gone out to practice archery. Where Ara has no work and she approaches the mosque in the corner of the palace, in which only the women of the harem go.

In the mosque, where a woman is seen offering prayers to Ara. Without disturbing her prayers, she is thinking about the palace where she used to live six years ago and then came back only a week after spending the life of Jilavatani in Mandu, Burhanpur, Udaipur and Nashik in the Deccan for six years.

The woman completes her prayers and is surprised to see Ara alone in the mosque on a full afternoon. Where Ara recognizes them. She is Fatehpuri Begum, where Aara’s stepmother. Both things start happening. Fatehpuri Begum looks at the deserted bear and says, “One day I too will build a mosque. Now Khurram has become a emperor, so maybe he should give me money for it.”

Jahan Ara said in a dream-like manner, “I will also design a mosque whose domes will be of dark white in a wavy pattern with high bottom.”

These are no ordinary women, but one is Fatehpuri Begum, the wife of the newly crowned Mughal emperor of India, Shahabuddin Mohammad Shah Jahan, and the second wife Arjumand Begum, the eldest daughter of Shah Jahan born from the belly of Mumtaz Mahal, where Ara is the only mosque of Agra. He had also dreamed of constructing Chandni Chowk in Delhi and his reality is in front of us today.

At the same time, Chandni Chowk, which is the heart of Old Delhi, located in the capital of India, which used to be the heart of Shah Jahan King’s inhabited city Shahjahanabad. Chandni Chowk has been a witness to India’s historical ups and downs since last 370 years.

Now the Delhi Government has taken the initiative to establish the old Raunak of Chandni Chowk. From Fatehpuri Masjid to the Red Fort grounds, this market spread over about one and a quarter kilometer is being done today.

According to the government, it is being made a ‘car free’ zone and it is being said to decorate it in its old decoration style. This area will be opened to the common people by November.

New city and new capital

Actually, the idea of ​​face lift of Chandni Chowk was first conceived in 2004. After that, in 2008, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, who was a woman herself, established the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation but could not implement them till 2018.

These days, due to the corona virus epidemic, the roads are empty and Chandni Chowk is devastated. Can its old charm be returned? Let us find answers to the architecture of Ara and the answers related to Chandni Chowk.

When Shah Jahan became the emperor of India, he felt the need for a new city and a new capital to fulfill his dreams and express his grandeur. So he chose a place around the old historic city of Delhi and drew a map of a city surrounded by walls with a fort. Work started on this in 1639, which came to the fore in 1649 after ten years of hard work and spending money wildly.

As far as the Chandni Chowk market is concerned, it was ready a year after that, in 1650. When the emperor visited this market, he praised the choice of his daughter and Begum Jahan Ara.

Shehzadi had visited Agra market and also shop there with her mother, but the narrow streets of Agra did not attract her like father Shah Jahan. Therefore, in the marketplace where he prepared the map, the two-way swinging trees, the canal flowing in the middle of the road and the long broad side of the road, the straight road going far seemed to be a sample of royal pride and grandeur in itself.

After the death of Mumtaz Begum, the mother of Shehzadi Jahan Ara (1614-1681), the Mughal harem was burdened by the 17-year-old Kamsin shoulders, but the skill she performed was her own example.

Shah Jahan and Jahan Ara are interested in architecture

Where Ara started writing a diary at the age of 12. The mention of architecture in that diary comes at a time when Shah Jahan gets sick and returns to Burhanpur.

Once they all go to the Jama Masjid there to offer prayers, Shah Jahan stumbles at the door, then inspects the mosque after the prayers and asks Imam Saheb “when was the last time it was repaired and Will they allow them to repair it. Imam saheb was very grateful.

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Jahan Ara writes that: “Father is most happy when he is building something. He likes nothing more than to sit with planets of buildings and interact with the architects who carve the marble, They paint and decide their color and polish. After wandering in Agra’s palace, they used to plan how they would build and change.

Now-a-days, he sits with the experts of architecture and architecture daily and ponders on the decoration and patterns of the dome, minaret and satun. They want to cover the dome of the mosque with marble and the pattern of white and black marble in the minarets. He likes to use marble in his buildings. Sometimes he himself Let’s design. Yesterday evening, he was sitting on his table, drawing the blooming lilies and flying clouds, which wanted to emerge on the lawn. Roshan Ara and we were watching them.

Roshan Ara asked, “Abbu where did you learn this?” Abbu replied that when we were children we used to sit in his room with painters. They taught me to draw. “I said that once I and Dara went

there with Dada Jahangir, he loved painting, didn’t he? Abbu replied yes and I used to go there with my grandfather Akbar. He also loved painting but He liked to build buildings more. And I am like him … He built such beautiful palaces in Fatehpur Sikri. He taught me how to design a city, palaces are built and big- Big gates are made. “

Chandni Chowk Layout

Where these pages of Ara’s diary tell how Shah Jahan laid the foundation of Delhi, the ‘favorite world’ after becoming the emperor, how many palaces were built and how many gates were built, which have traces till date.

M. Wasim Raja, Associate Professor of History at Aligarh Muslim University, describes how Ara went ahead and fulfilled his dream in Shah Jahan’s city of Delhi.

He told that at that time there were about sixteen seventeen construction projects going on in Delhi i.e. Shahjahanabad, which were being constructed under the supervision of women and half a dozen of them were being constructed under the supervision of Ara, including Chandni Chowk, the palace garden. And Begum’s inn is important.

Dr Rahima Javed Rashid, Assistant Professor in the History and Cultural Department of Jamia Millia Islamia Delhi, spoke to the BBC on Jahan Ara’s knowledge, devotion to Sufis, his generosity, his strategy in the court and his attachment to gardens and architecture: “Wherever the Mughal emperors were leaving their mark, there were places where Ara too was leaving its mark.”

He added “Although we still know this (Old Delhi) city by the name of Shah Jahan, but the heart of it is Chandni Chowk because all the main economic activities or whatever cultural and social activities are there, the center is Chandni Chowk. Used to be.

He told that buildings convey a message and architecture is a reflection of empires, sultans and personalities. Women are not mentioned in Mughal architecture in the way that they were entitled to, but the inscription on the main door in the Jama Masjid of Agra and the mention of Ara where it shows their high position.

Regarding Chandni Chowk, Dr. Rahima said, “Everyone knows why it was named Chandni Chowk. In the middle of it there was a pond in which water came from the canal ‘Swarga Canal’ which came out of the Yamuna. At night when the light of the moon If falling in that water, the light would spread all around.

Another historian says that water from another canal flowed in Chandni Chowk and that canal also passed through the palace and Chandni Chowk through Fatehpuri Mosque.

Dr. Rahima says of the construction of Chandni Chowk, “where Ara felt that there should be a market in Shahjahanabad and for this he invested his money and built a market where there were shops on both sides of the street. The 18th century Joe Persian sources are among them, we see all the financial and cultural activities of Delhi happening in and around Chandni Chowk.

Dargah Quli Khan Salar Jung, a tourist from Deccan, has mentioned Chandni Chowk in his book ‘Maraka Delhi’. He used to keep coming to Delhi. His Persian work was translated into Urdu by

Persian Professor Nurul Hasan Ansari at the University of Delhi and was published from the university itself.

Chandni Chowk mentioned in historical books

Dargah Quli Khan writes about Chandni Chowk, “Chandni Chowk is more colorful than other squares and more decorated than other markets. Picnic enthusiasts visit here and those who are fond of entertainment enjoy watching the scene here. All kinds of beautiful clothes are found on the way and many things from all over the world are available for sale here. Some or the other rare item appears in every corner, a beautiful thing fascinates the mind in every corner. The path of this market is as wide as a lucky person’s forehead and Daywan’s arms. ”

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” The fountain of heaven flows in the canal. Every store has a treasure house of lal and gauhar (pearls) and every factory has a pile of pearls… There are tea shops right at the square where poets gather and gather there every day. Big people also come to see Chandni Chowk in spite of their prestigious positions and opinions. There are so many antiquities and bizarre things to be seen here every day that even if the treasury comes to hand, it will not be enough.

Dr. Rahima says that if you have come out with one lakh rupees, then you can spend it in Chandni Chowk in a few hours. The best goods were sold around the world.

Dargah Quli Khan writes, “A young Amirzade wished to visit this chowk. Her mother, while grieving over the helplessness, gave her a lakh rupees from her father’s inheritance and said that although this money is beautiful and beautiful in Chandni Chowk Rare things cannot be bought, but because your heart wants to go there, this small amount of money requires something of your choice  Buying things. “

Doctor Rahima says that while the purpose of the inn that Ara had built was to stay for big businessmen, there was also a place for travelers to stop from the Islamic point of view.

Similarly, today’s famous novelist Ali Akbar Natik has mentioned the fort and the Paradise Canal in ‘Maraka Delhi’, while also drawing a layout of Chandni Chowk. Whatever be its historical status, but the view of Chandni Chowk is enchanting.

He writes, “When the Red Fort was built, the canal was released further into Chandni Chowk Bazar. This canal was brought along the outer wall of the fort from Yamuna and entered the city from the north side. From the edges to the edges was made entirely of red stones. In fact, the existence of Shahjahanabad was formed by interlocking with this canal …. This is the same market of Chandni Chowk, which was built by Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahan Ara. The situation is that there is a square equal to this ground before the city limits start, except for the field of 480 yards in front of the fort. , The rides of the big people of the city swing, the nobility’s palanquins rise, the common people walk on camel carts and the pedestrians walk.

Similarly, between the fort and the queen’s garden in the new capital, where Ara built a very large inn, traces are no longer there, but her mention suggests that it was no less than a five-star hotel. It would be and it was also connected to Chandni Chowk.

Zia-ud-din Burney, referring to the Italian tourist Manucci, writes, “This prince ordered to build an inn in the grounds between the city and the fort with the intention of establishing his memorial. It is a very beautiful inn across India The rooms above are decorated with beautiful workmanship and also have beautiful gardens with fountains. This inn houses no one but the big Mughal and Iranian traders. Ala Hazrat came to inspect the building which was his Pyari was getting ready for Begum. And she praised the generosity and righteousness of the princess. “

Speaking to the BBC, Dr. M. Wasim Raja told, “This caravan inn was east of the road to Chandni Chowk. He quoted Herbert Charles Fishaway that he had mentioned this inn in 1909 and wrote that Chandni After crossing several shops on the way to the Chowk, Shahzadi is where Ara Begum’s caravan inn.

He quoted Bernier, a well-known historian of his time, as saying that he called the inn the best building in Delhi and compared it to the Palace Royal of France, which was built at the same time and is still the best in France today. Counts in the building.

Dr. M. Wasim Raja reported that later, “that inn was converted into a town hall and its intersection was converted into Ghanta Ghar”.

Chandni Chowk also witnessed the invasion of Nadir Shah before this, exactly one hundred years after the foundation of Shahjahanabad, i.e. in 1739, during the reign of Mohammad Shah Rangeela, Nadir Shah entered Delhi in the style of victory and near Chandni Chowk. Sitting on a tirade, he issued an order for the slaughtering mango which lasted for several days.

At Chandni Chowk, the rides and processions of the emperors passed. Dr. Rahima says that the establishment of Shahjahanabad was actually Shah Jahan’s dream, which could not be fulfilled in the narrow streets of Agra. He wanted a grand procession and it was organized from Chandni Chowk to Lal Quila of Delhi for a long time. However, Chandni Chowk was devastated in Ghadar.

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Hence, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, a famous Urdu poet and witness to the war of 1857, wrote about the devastation of Delhi, writing, “Bhai kya ask ho kya liqoon Delhi’s celebrity was based on many furore. Lal Qila, Chandni Chowk, Everyday Jama Gathering at the mosque, visiting the bridge of the jumna every week, the fair flowers every year. Now these five things are no more, say where is Delhi?

Shortly before Ghadar, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan referred to Chandni Chowk in ‘Asarussnadid’ as “the open and long wide market beyond the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort and was once called Lahori Bazaar where Aara was built. There is a square of 80 square yards at 480 yards from the Lahori gate of the fort. This square has a Kotwali platform. There is another square 400 yards ahead of this square. This square is called Chandni Chowk. The market is 460 yards long and a canal flows through it. At the end of this market is a golden mosque. “

Delhi resumed after Gadar

After the desolation of the Gadar, Delhi was slowly restored again as the city was destroyed and settled several times. In 1911, when the British made Delhi their capital instead of Calcutta, then New Delhi started to be built in Delhi, but Delhi surrounded by boundary walls was part of all the activities.

Earlier, in 1908, trams started running at the place of canal in Chandni Chowk. It was at its peak in 1921 when an open tram ran in a 15-kilometer distance. Which used to connect Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, Chawdi Bazaar, Katra, Lal Kuan and Fatehpuri with Sabzi Mandi, Sadar Bazaar, Pahar Ganj and Ajmeri Gate. The tram was also removed from Delhi in 1963, but Chandni Chowk remained the center of Delhi.

The road from Chandni Chowk which used to go from Lahori Gate to Fatehpuri had many roads and markets coming out of it Just like where Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib is today, there used to be an Urdu market there. Johri Bazaar was spread between Kotwali Chowk to Chandni Chowk. Now there is neither town hall nor hour house.

Similarly, Fatehpuri Bazaar was spread from Chandni Chowk to Fatehpuri Mosque. Apart from this, there were couches, catches and havelis around it and some of them are still there, no matter how decaying they may be. A path from Chandni Chowk also leads to Ghalib’s Haveli. While a path leads to the mansion of Haksar where India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was married to Kamala Nehru on February 8, 1916, that is, Nehru’s procession passed through Chandni Chowk.

Chandni Chowk is still Delhi’s busiest market and people still like to go there for shopping of marriage because the kind of things found there are not found anywhere else.

Salma, an assistant archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India, says that despite the vicissitudes of time, the glow of Chandni Chowk still stands. Just like earlier it used to be very easy to spend one lakh rupees in a short time, in the same way today things entice those going through that path.

Along with the face lift of Chandni Chowk, the Delhi government had once planned to run a tram there, which may be a kind of fusion, but now the way the map is being prepared, there is less scope for the tram. Only appears.

The Delhi government has prepared a big plan of Rs 90 crore and a roadmap to restore the old glory of Chandni Chowk. It was to be ready in January of 2020, but it got delayed. Even this was further delayed by the Corona epidemic.

When Assistant Archaeologist Salma was asked whether the old Chandni Chowk can be returned, he said that this is not possible, but the government’s effort is commendable. He said, “The Mughal construction has been repaired before, but when the repair cannot be done properly, then it is unthinkable to restore anything missing in the pages of history.”

Giving an example, he said, “The Taj Mahal is the building that takes care of the most. The marble that has been replaced on the ground cannot replace the old marble because even if the old marble walks barefoot in summer, the feet do not burn. Whereas it is not so with all the marbles that are installed later. “

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