Essay example --

Jahanpanah – literally, ‘Refuge of the World’ –is often known as the fourth city of Delhi. The walls of Jahanpanah were constructed by Muhammad Tughlak in 1328 A.D. It is believed that the sultan (a megalomaniac) desired to unify the scattered urban settlements in the area : the old city of Lal Kot, the military cantonment of Siri, and the citadel of Tughlaqabad into one city by enclosing them within a single walled area. After building a part of it, he gave up the rest due to the huge expenses needed for construction. Jahanpanah was created by linking the older cities of Siri and Lal Kot by a set of two extensive walled sections with a total of thirteen gates. The western wall had six gates while the eastern had seven. But only the name of Maidan Gate on the west, near an old idgah, survives. Sher Shah removed the walls of this city. Historians believe that the fortified city was for the residence of the sultan and his royal household so must have contained the citadel with the sultan’s palace complex and the main mosque for the use of the royal family and others. The majority of city’s population lived within the walls of Lal Kot. It is also possible that large parts of Jahanpanah continued to be rural or forested during and long after Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s reign. Today, the fortifications have survived in small sections, mostly parts of the wall that connected Siri to Lal Kot from the south. Due to the expansion of urban India, Jahanpanah has been engulfed by modern residential neighbourhoods while large parts of the walls were demolished to lay modern infrastructure like roads. Other than the parts of the original wall, very little survives of what can be dated to Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s reign with certainty. Khirki... ...s. Below ground is a three feet wide cell and is almost filled up with soil. It is declared to be Kabir-ud-din Aulia’s abode below by day and above by night. The group of buildings includes ruins of several wall mosques, grave platforms, and gateways. On the roof, a low octagonal drum carries a conical dome. It is said that the dome was originally surmounted with a gold finial which was stolen at some point. The roof level is edged by carved sandstone battlement decorations. a tall pointed entrance arch with lotus bud fringe design contains a carved corbelled gateway surrounded by a band of white marble. Above the gateway is another arch, within which is set a red sandstone jali (screen with ornamental patterns). Similar patterns exist on the north and south except that the gateway is blocked by a jali of red sandstone. The solid western wall contains the mihrab.