|
|
Jahanpanah is the name of the fourth city of Delhi, built by
Muhammad Bin Tughluq (1325-51) by enclosing the then inhabited area
between Qila Rai Pithora and Siri, the first two cities of Delhi.
The stone-built walls of the city have now been removed over long
stretches by the needs of the expanding suburban town-ships of Delhi. The
walls cross the Delhi-Mehrauli road about 14.5-km from Delhi, and can be
seen at several points, such as to the north of the Indian Institute of
Technology, to the north of Begampuri and south of
Khirki mosques, to the
north of Chiragh-Delhi, at Satpula and close to the Hauz-Rani Gate of Qila
Rai Pithora.
In a small-scale excavation carried out in 1964-65 a portion of the walls
of Jahanpanah near its junction with the eastern wall of Qila Rai Pithora
was exposed. The excavation revealed three stages of construction and
additions, with rough and small stones in the foundations and a neat
ashlar face on the exterior in the wall above the ground.