Delhiwale: Nizamuddin East’s vanished five

Nizamuddin East, Delhi, home to affluent residents, hides the remains of five vanished monuments, including the tomb of poet Rahim's son, Darab Khan.

Delhi city’s Nizamuddin East colony is home to the rich and celebrated, including a filmmaker whose son is likely to become New York City’s next mayor. Her tiptop terrace has a view of Humayun’s Tomb as well as Rahim’s Tomb. Indeed, almost every upper-story apartment in Nizamuddin East has a view of at least one of these two historical tombs (see photo). Some houses show both these tombs. A few show one more--the so-called Barber’s Tomb. A very few show all the three--plus the Neela Gumbad tomb!

Nearly every upper-floor apartment in Nizamuddin East overlooks at least one of these two historic tombs (as seen in the photo). (HT Photo)

Not many people however are aware—not even “Niz East” wale!— that Nizamuddin East itself stands on the site of vanished monuments. This is a truth confirmed by Ratish Nanda of Aga Khan Trust for Culture, that has been actively involved with restoration projects in the much larger Hazrat Nizamuddin area. This afternoon, at his office in Sunder Nursery garden, he takes out his worn copy of Maulvi Zafar Hasan’s Monuments of Delhi: Lasting Splendours of the Great Mughals and Others. Published in 1916, the book lists hundreds of monument, some of which has now vanished. Ratish Nanda points out five disappeared monuments that stood where Nizamuddin East is.

First vanished monument

The square-shaped tomb stood on a stone platform. Each side had a doorway, topped by a latticed window. The identity of the grave was a mystery.

Second vanished monument

It too was a tomb, its identity too a mystery. The dome had collapsed by the time the book was written. The grave too was gone.

Third vanished monument

It was the stone gateway to a walled garden. The garden was named after a man called Fazil Khan.

Fourth vanished monument

This stone gateway marked either the entry to an extinct tomb, or to an extinct garden. It too has gone unsung.

Fifth vanished monument

This was a major monument, and stood on a hillock. It was the tomb of Darab Khan, a son of poet Rahim—the same Rahim whose grand tomb continues to grace Nizamuddin East. By the time the book was written, the central dome of Darab Khan’s makbara had already collapsed, the debris choking up parts of the edifice. That said, the monument’s total erasure is a profound loss. (While Darab Khan was lucky to have his own tomb, nobody would want his fate. The poor man was beheaded by a Mughal general, who wrapped the severed head in a cloth and sent it to his father, Rahim, as “the present of a melon.”)