New Delhi: Shams ud-Din Iltutmish, Sultan of Delhi, had a profound dream. Prophet Muhammad appeared in his vision and showed him the precise spot where the reservoir was to be dug by leaving a mark with the hoof of his majestic horse. The next morning, a frantic Iltutmish met the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki who said that he had a similar vision.
It was the 13th century and the population of Delhi was rising and the city needed more water. When the Sultan and the saint reached the spot they had seen in their dreams, there was a hoof print and a spring emerging out of it.
The Sultan of the Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty in 1230 CE named it Hauz-i-Shamsi (the sunny water tank) in Mehrauli, one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Delhi.
Historian, author and heritage conservator Swapna Liddle took the audience on a tour of Delhi’s ‘water history’ underlining how humans were intimately tied to water through culture, beliefs and utility. Liddle’s session marked the inauguration of a series of lectures titled History of Water in Delhi: Politics, Prosperity, Culture and Belief that will see historians, experts and researchers take the stage in the coming weeks.
The lecture drew nearly a hundred fellow researchers, academicians, and students from different universities in Delhi to the India International Centre’s conference room. The room was packed, with several forced to stand, but they all paid rapt attention as Liddle discussed how water served as a civilisational feature in history – often overlooked and rarely talked about.
“That hoof print got preserved in a block of stone, and a reservoir was built at the spot. There was a cultural component associated with this important reservoir which not only had a utilitarian purpose but was also used for recreation and got connected to the belief because of the vision,” said Liddle.
She added that in a city like Delhi, this relationship with water has manifested itself at many levels.
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‘Water and women’
In the one-hour lecture, Liddle solely focused on the history of water and did not delve into alternate themes related to it. She repeatedly mentioned that the upcoming lectures would address different themes related to water, leaving the audience who sought a more comprehensive understanding disappointed.
Her lecture was followed by a question-answer session where the audience asked about drainage, gender and technology but Liddle politely explained that these subjects were outside her expertise.
A Delhi University researcher asked Liddle about the relationship between water and women and how water became a source of freedom and forbidden love for them. The historian said that while she had not researched this particular aspect, she had briefly encountered mentions of recreational activities among royal women during her research on water history.
It was the 18th century when Nawab Ghaziuddin Khan Feroze Jung, a nobleman at the court of Aurangzeb built a waterfall from Hauz-i-Shamsi along with an enclosed garden with lots of pavilions. Women, particularly, young girls of the royal families would slide down the stone which was in the water and have their moment of freedom—aloof, chatting and gossiping.
“But you can see how today the stream that originally came from the Hauz-i-Shamsi and ran through what is today the Mehrauli Archaeological Park has become a drain which carries wastewater from the Mehrauli village,” Liddle said.
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The connecting force
Over centuries, water has connected people and narrated their living patterns. From Tomars to the Mughals, there has been evidence of an early move towards the rivers and water bodies while making cities. Transportation was one such aspect.
“Yamuna along with overland routes has played a very important role in securing or ensuring the importance of Delhi as a centre of trade and commerce,” said Liddle as she pointed to the maps on the screen behind her.
History underlines how water also became a source of conflict and assertion. When the Tughlaqabad fort was being built, Nizamuddin Auliya, the Sufi scholar, was creating a Baoli (reservoir). Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq saw it “as a challenge to his authority”. The Sultan didn’t want the scholar to build the Baoli and he wanted every labourer to work for him.
Liddle said that the emperor forbade the sale of oil to the people in Dargah so that the workers couldn’t light lamps at night to build the Baoli. Since workers were working on the fort during the day and had only nighttime left for the Baoli.
“It is said that Nizamuddin Auliya blessed the waters of the Baoli and those then could be used in the lamps instead of oil. So, a major miracle of the saint is linked with this miracle surrounding the water of the well and later, a belief was associated that the water had curative powers,” said Liddle.
The anecdotes kept the audience engaged and a few were even noting down the references mentioned. But not everyone was as interested. Some senior researchers were even seen taking a nap, only waking up when the pen they were taking notes with hit the floor, regaining attention with an embarrassed smile.
Then came up something that has more contemporary relevance—Yamuna.
In 1820, Britishers revived the dried-up Ali Mardan Khan canal built during Shah Jahan’s reign to transfer water from Yamuna to the Red Fort. When water came to the city, people stood outside their houses to welcome it. They threw sweets, and flowers to greet the water. Royal ladies bathed their children in it.
“People have responded through belief, through culture, apart from the obvious utilitarian functions of water. So, there is a control over water which important rulers exercise by building big waterworks,” said Liddle.
To a question by a scientist from Lucknow who wanted to know about the drainage system during the Tomar and Mughal dynasties, Liddle said, “All the waste went to Yamuna downstream.”
The scientist laughed, saying, “So, the problem of pollution dates back to those times.”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)