To be honest, I was not intending to go here. I was doing a series of college visits around Delhi, and was at the Ambedkar university in Old Delhi. This is just South of the Kashmir gate, walking distance from the metro station with the same name, off Lothian road.
Having gone there, we first went to the management building, which struck me to be very much like a British social building. It was a stone, white building, with a very low ceiling. The college was supposed to have moved there very recently.
We then began to look around. And right behind the management building was a massive structure, older than the previous building, with pillars, large doorways and steps leading to an inside veranda with madras terrace roofing. To the left, the room expanded out, and there were shelves at the back, with a glass display to a side - housing a skeleton. There were curved archways(now sealed) leading into a large room at the back. However, repair work was going on then.
This was the library of Dara Shukoh. Currently housing the state archaeology department, I presumed that the front room and entrance-way were a British addition. The ASI stone plaque provides the various uses of the building. But first, a little bit on Dara and his library.
Dara Shukoh was the eldest, and the chosen son of Sha Jahan. Being heir designate, he lived in Delhi with his father, while his brothers were governors of various parts of the kingdom. Dara was given to philosophy. He would interact regularly with Sufi saints, and Hindus.He is supposed to have commissioned a Persian translation of Upanishads(Sirr E Akbar)as well as commissioning Persian works to Sanskrit. However, Dara had little skill on the battlefield, and that was his downfall. When Aurangazebs armies marched up to Agra in 1658, he, in the middle of battle, dismounted and got onto a horse, from an elephant. Seeing the empty Howdah, his soldiers panicked and ran.
Dara himself fled, but a few months later, lost in an encounter with Aurangazebs men. Fleeing, he was betrayed by a nobleman who offered him protection, and jailed by Aurangazeb. While in jail, a group of assailants killed him and his son.
The library was constructed in 1637, and is said to have housed over 2 lakh books. However, popular legend has it that after Daras defeat in 1658,Aurangazeb had the books in the library burnt. Another version goes that subsequent inhabitors destroyed sections of the library. But at this point of time, there are no books in the library.
Aurangazeb gave the library as a residence to Ali Mardan Khan, the governor of the Punjab.
It was purchased from the family of Juliana, a Portuguese tutor to the royal children, by Safdarjang, when he was in Delhi (aroud 1751 )
Then, when a Residency was established in Delhi, David Ochterlony, the first British Resident of Delhi used it as his quarters in 1803. Later, in 1844, the Delhi college was established here. It was ransacked in 1857.
Later, the State Archeology Department used it as an office, and it still belongs to them, with a defunct museum and shelves, apart from a few artefacts still lying around there.
“Most of the artifacts confiscated by the Customs Depart-ment are kept here. They belong to different eras, and have nothing to do with Dara Shikoh or Delhi,” said an official overlooking civic work at the library.(Indian Express, May 12, 2017)
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/Battling-time-Dara-Shikoh%E2%80%99s-Library-cries-out-for-help/article17205937.ece
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/dara-shukohs-library-to-get-fresh-lease-of-life/articleshow/57980576.cms
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/dara-shikoh-library-embodying-the-citys-history-a-library-and-a-church-pulled-out-of-ruins-4651895/
https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/the-hidden-gem-dara-shikoh-s-library/story-iGW58Dg19VUSXvgwabhS0J.html
Audrey Truschke's book Aurangazeb is another good source for material on Dara's end, as well as City of Djinn's by William Dalrymple
Having gone there, we first went to the management building, which struck me to be very much like a British social building. It was a stone, white building, with a very low ceiling. The college was supposed to have moved there very recently.
We then began to look around. And right behind the management building was a massive structure, older than the previous building, with pillars, large doorways and steps leading to an inside veranda with madras terrace roofing. To the left, the room expanded out, and there were shelves at the back, with a glass display to a side - housing a skeleton. There were curved archways(now sealed) leading into a large room at the back. However, repair work was going on then.
This was the library of Dara Shukoh. Currently housing the state archaeology department, I presumed that the front room and entrance-way were a British addition. The ASI stone plaque provides the various uses of the building. But first, a little bit on Dara and his library.
Dara Shukoh was the eldest, and the chosen son of Sha Jahan. Being heir designate, he lived in Delhi with his father, while his brothers were governors of various parts of the kingdom. Dara was given to philosophy. He would interact regularly with Sufi saints, and Hindus.He is supposed to have commissioned a Persian translation of Upanishads(Sirr E Akbar)as well as commissioning Persian works to Sanskrit. However, Dara had little skill on the battlefield, and that was his downfall. When Aurangazebs armies marched up to Agra in 1658, he, in the middle of battle, dismounted and got onto a horse, from an elephant. Seeing the empty Howdah, his soldiers panicked and ran.
Dara himself fled, but a few months later, lost in an encounter with Aurangazebs men. Fleeing, he was betrayed by a nobleman who offered him protection, and jailed by Aurangazeb. While in jail, a group of assailants killed him and his son.
The library was constructed in 1637, and is said to have housed over 2 lakh books. However, popular legend has it that after Daras defeat in 1658,Aurangazeb had the books in the library burnt. Another version goes that subsequent inhabitors destroyed sections of the library. But at this point of time, there are no books in the library.
Aurangazeb gave the library as a residence to Ali Mardan Khan, the governor of the Punjab.
It was purchased from the family of Juliana, a Portuguese tutor to the royal children, by Safdarjang, when he was in Delhi (aroud 1751 )
Then, when a Residency was established in Delhi, David Ochterlony, the first British Resident of Delhi used it as his quarters in 1803. Later, in 1844, the Delhi college was established here. It was ransacked in 1857.
Later, the State Archeology Department used it as an office, and it still belongs to them, with a defunct museum and shelves, apart from a few artefacts still lying around there.
“Most of the artifacts confiscated by the Customs Depart-ment are kept here. They belong to different eras, and have nothing to do with Dara Shikoh or Delhi,” said an official overlooking civic work at the library.(Indian Express, May 12, 2017)
Location: Dara Shukohs library
Looking around, in the middle of this calm, electric campus, I hoped this fascinating building will become a museum of Delhi artefacts soon, and not be left to crumble.
Some articles from recent years:https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/Battling-time-Dara-Shikoh%E2%80%99s-Library-cries-out-for-help/article17205937.ece
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/dara-shukohs-library-to-get-fresh-lease-of-life/articleshow/57980576.cms
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/dara-shikoh-library-embodying-the-citys-history-a-library-and-a-church-pulled-out-of-ruins-4651895/
https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/the-hidden-gem-dara-shikoh-s-library/story-iGW58Dg19VUSXvgwabhS0J.html
Audrey Truschke's book Aurangazeb is another good source for material on Dara's end, as well as City of Djinn's by William Dalrymple
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