How heritage walks are reviving interest in Delhi’s Muslim history

It’s a bright and sunny Sunday morning in India’s capital city Delhi, and a group of people walk across a sprawling mosque complex in Mehrauli village, just behind the 13th-century minaret Qutab Minar – a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Spread over nearly 200 acres and with some 100 stone ruins and mausoleums, Mehrauli is one of the seven cities that form modern-day Delhi.

The oldest of them is dotted with stepwells, shrines, and pavilions and is overgrown with trees.

Thanks to social media and a growing interest in Delhi’s past, especially among the young, heritage walks by amateur and professional historians and history blogs are becoming increasingly popular, even as the right-wing government and its policies polarise the country on religious lines.

Historians believe that this growing interest is a result of the growth of Hindu nationalism, attempts to erase Muslim history in textbooks and the mistreatment of the Muslim minority in the country in recent times, which has led people to explore the country’s complex history.

From Jama Masjid, one of India’s largest mosques, to the sprawling Lodhi Gardens and the iconic tomb of the second Mughal emperor Humayun Shah, from stepwells to ancient bazaars, every corner of Delhi whispers history.

Delhi has an architecture that spans many centuries and empires – from the Tughlaqs and Mughals to the British in modern times.

From the 13th to the 16th century, the Delhi Sultanate was ruled by five dynasties – Mamluk, Khilji, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodi – who left behind a host of splendid buildings.

It also had a prosperous trading and banking community – dominated by the Jain community – who built magnificent temples in the same period.

At one end of the city lies the sprawling old city of Shahjahanabad, or Old Delhi – a maze of narrow alleys, houses, eateries, tiny shops, and the sprawling Mughal-era Red Fort and the Jama Masjid.

The top Indian government body that looks after historical monuments – the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) – recognises only 174 monuments in the city, but there are more than 2,000-odd of them scattered across the city.

Present tense

Since the rise of the right wing, capped by the electoral successes of the Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been witnessing a concerted effort to vilify and erase the Muslim past as a dark period of “subjugation” by foreign invaders.

Many states have trimmed or deleted chapters on Muslim kings and emperors in school textbooks, names of places and streets with Mughal links have been changed, and social media is awash with tales of terror unleashed by Muslim kings.

It is these false narratives that the history walks are trying to change.

Mohammad Anas Khan of Unzip Delhi is an anthropologist who grew up in Old Delhi. Now, he takes people deep into the city’s heritage and culture.

Since 2018, he has been offering heritage walks in and around historical sites at Shahjahanabad in Old Delhi, at the shrine of Sufi saint Nizamuddin, the ruins of Mehrauli, Shah Humayun’s tomb, Red Fort and other areas.

He focuses on unravelling Delhi’s soul as a model of tolerance and unity. On his Instagram account, he captures the city's Muslim heritage– from an Iftar evening at Jama Masjid to the tomb of the third Mamluk king Iltutmish.

“Delhi was the cause of many a great and historic battle. Destruction is in its foundations, and blood is in its soil. It has seen the fall of many a glorious kingdom and listened to the groans of birth. Treacherous games have been played under its skies. But still, it is the jewel of the eye of the world, still it is the centre of attraction,” he says on his Instagram page.

Abu Sufiyan, 28, lives near Jama Masjid and is a media consultant.

He also runs a popular Instagram page - Puraani Dilli Waalon ki Baatein, which loosely translates to ‘Stories of residents of Old Delhi’, where he documents the deteriorating edifices of old buildings and the stories behind them.

“In 2016, we started heritage walks with different themes after I attended some walks where I saw false narratives being propagated about how unsafe Old Delhi was or how the Mughal emperors were all cruel people. Some Mughal emperors patronised arts and even built temples,” Sufiyan tells TRT World.

“In our walks, we get local experts related to the theme, such as chefs in a food walk, a calligrapher or a historian. We don’t focus on any particular history, like the Muslim past…the framework of the city was always secular, with churches, gurudwaras, temples and mosques found in the same area,” he says.

Historian Sam Dalrymple also points to the cosmopolitan character of Delhi of yore, where Mughal-era Jain and Hindu temples still stand side by side in Old Delhi, considered a Muslim area.

“Delhi is one of the most extraordinary cities in the world, like Athens and Rome, with layers and layers of history found in every alley. The good thing about these walks and social media is that they are reviving the stories of this great city,” he tells TRT World.

Over the past few years, these heritage walks have grown in popularity, with more and more history enthusiasts joining the leisurely strolls down the lanes of history and discovering the city’s glorious past.

“I discover surprising facets of my city on every walk and realise how blessed I am to live in a city with such an exalted history. I only wish we took better care of our heritage,” says Suresh Jain, an IT professional who takes heritage walks regularly.

History on fingertips

For most history enthusiasts, social media has played a big role in spreading the word.

“Instagram has become my preferred social media platform for sharing my stories on heritage: tangible and intangible,” Rana Safvi, eminent historian and author, tells TRT World. It also helps her learn from other posts on history.

“It has a wide and mainly young audience and contributors who pack in a lot of information in 800 words,” she says. “At a time when Mughal history is being removed from the curriculum, this platform becomes very useful.”

For Umair Shah, the transition from a coin collector to a heritage walk guide was not that hard. The man behind an Instagram page called Sikkawala, or coin collector, Shah’s passion for history led him to heritage buildings.

Now, he leads heritage walks that explore different parts of the city and does it through story-telling and anecdotes rather than just plain facts.

“Most of my audience is young and very interested in the city’s history. I try an approach which engages them rather than just throwing facts and figures at them. Many people on my walks have lived next to monuments all their lives and never known their stories,” he tells TRT world.

He feels that social media has made exploring history “cool”, and “that’s a good trend”.

Karwaan heritage founded by Eshan Sharma in 2019, is one of India’s leading student-led history initiatives to make people aware of the importance of history and heritage.

“I wanted to expose students to history that is not dealt with inside classrooms, and this interest grew during the pandemic,” Sharma tells TRT World.

From a special walk that explores the lives of courtesans of Chawri Bazaar in Old Delhi during the Mughal era and walks around the iconic Red Fort led by eminent historians like Sohail Hashmi, the idea behind the collective is to bridge the gap between the academia and the public and make history more inclusive.

“Though we associate Old Delhi with Muslims, Chandni Chowk has Sufi shrines, Jain temples, mosques, gurudwaras and even a Baptist Church. We also try to correct misconceptions…a lot of people believe that the iconic Qutub Minar was originally a Hindu structure,” says Sharma.

The Delhi tourism department recently started ‘haunted heritage walks’ at the 14th-century Tughlaq-era hunting lodge Malcha Mahal.

Subz Burj, one of the unique double-domed architectural gems in the national capital, has also been restored to its Mughal-era beauty after three years of efforts by the private Aga Khan Trust.

In Delhi, history is a work in progress. And thanks to social media, historians and heritage walks, the past is coming alive again despite an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust against Muslims.

For people like Sufiyan, however, the walks have more meaning than just a way to reconnect to the past.

“What I want to do with our walks is counter the hate narrative prevalent in recent times and make people aware of the positive contributions of each empire and dynasty that ruled this ancient city,” Sufiyan says.