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A narrow road branching off west from the Delhi-Karnal road
about 10-km from Delhi, just beyond
Badli Sarai , leads to the
village having the Shalimar garden, where Aurangzeb crowned himself on the
31st July 1658.
Originally,
it consisted of an enclosure with a palace in the centre, called
Shish-Mahal, now surviving in parts with patches of painting. There were
also some other buildings, but they have all disappeared.
Originally, the garden was known as 'Aizzabad-Bagh. It was perhaps built
by Shah Jahan and named after his mistress 'Aizzu'n-Nisa Begam. Aurangzeb
used it as his country-house.
It has been mentioned by European travellers like Bernier and Cotrou that
Sir David Ochterlony, British Resident at Delhi, used it as his summer
retreat and contracted fever, from which he ultimately died.