Скачать или смотреть Hauz Khas Ruins: New Delhi

The Hauz Khas ruins in New Delhi, India, trace their origins to the early 14th century under Sultan Alauddin Khalji. Around 1296–1316, he commissioned the vast reservoir known as the Hauz-i-Alai to supply water to his fortified city of Siri. This enormous tank was a feat of engineering, providing a lifeline to the growing population of the Sultanate’s capital.

Several decades later, in the mid-14th century, Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351–1388) restored and enlarged the reservoir after it had fallen into neglect. To complement it, he constructed an impressive architectural complex around its edges. At the centre stood his own tomb, a square structure of grey stone and red sandstone, crowned with a modest dome that exemplified the austere style of Tughlaq architecture.

Beside the tomb rose the madrasa, one of the earliest Islamic colleges in India, where scholars studied theology, philosophy, and science in long arcaded halls that opened towards the reservoir. The site also included a mosque and a series of domed pavilions, blending practical, religious, and scholarly functions within a single monumental space.

By setting the reservoir of Alauddin Khalji alongside the madrasa and tomb of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, the Hauz Khas complex became both a centre of learning and a symbol of Delhi’s medieval power. Today, though weathered, the ruins preserve the layered history of two dynasties whose vision shaped the city in the 14th century.

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