Ruins of pavilion near Mahram nagar or IGI Airport

Mehram ki Serai is a 17th-century

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

listed as a protected monument by the ASI, located on the land owned by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in the north-east corner of

IGI airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving New Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of ,

."17th century inn lies in ruin as Delhi govt, defence ministry squabble."

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

, 23 Nov 2017. It was built by Mehram Khan, a eunuch and keeper of

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

's harem.

Etymology

The name can be translated as ''"Inn of Mehram"''. The term

Mahram In Islam, a () is a family member with whom marriage would be considered permanently unlawful (''haram''). A woman does not need to wear hijab around her mahram or spouse, and an adult male mahram or husband may escort a woman on a journey, a ...

itself means unmarriageable kin with whom marriage or sexual intercourse would be considered haram (illegal in Islam) or people from whom purdah is not obligatory or legal escorts of a woman during journey longer than a day and night (24 hours). In this context Mehram meant the eunuch named "Mehram Khan", a close escort and confidant who can freely talk and meet with women in king's harem.

History

According to the convener of

INTACH The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with the ...

Delhi, Swapna Liddle, the Mehram Ki Serai caravanserai for the comfort of travelers and

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

Mehram Bazaar were built by a eunuch, Mehram Khan, who was an incharge of mughal harem during the reign of

.Francis Gladwin, 1788
"The History of Hindostan, during the reigns of Jehángir, Sháhjehán, and Aurungzebe."
It was built at a distance of 7

kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

(22.4 km) from the mughal city. Mehram nagar village, that later came up near it, has a double-storey pointed-arch vaulted gateway with large wooden door. In 1622 CE

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

(known as prince Khurram at that time) raised an army with the support of

Mahabat Khan Mahabat Khan () (full title ''Mahabat Khan Khan-e-Khanan Sipah-Salar Zamana Beg Kabuli)'', born Zamana Beg (died October 1634), was a prominent Mughal general and statesman, perhaps best known for his coup against the Mughal Emperor Jahangir i ...

and marched against his own father emperor Jahangir and mother

Nur Jahan Nur Jahan (; 31 May 1577 – 18 December 1645), born Mehr-un-Nissa was the twentieth wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir. More decisive and proactive than her husband, Nur Jahan is considered by certain historians to have be ...

. Mehram Khan, Fidai Khan, Motamid Khan (official court chronicler)Qazwini. fol. 233a translated by Begley and Desai (1984), page 14.* , page 18. and Kheleel Beg, were apprehended based on the evidence of Mirza Rustam and one more witness, after being accused of holding a secret correspondence with rebellious Shah Jehan. Those two witnesses were executed by Fidai Khan, and Mehram Khan was absolve of any wrongdoing by Fidai Khan. Later in 1639 CE, Mehram Khan built the serai and bazaar, both named after himself.

Architecture

The caravanserai, with

chhatri ''Chhatri'' are semi-open, elevated, dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indo-Islamic architecture and Indian architecture. They are most commonly square, octagonal, and round. Originating as a canopy above tombs, they largely ser ...

s above and octagonal

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

cambers below on four corners, is built of rubble masonry and mughal

lakhori bricks Lakhori bricks (also Badshahi bricks, Kakaiya bricks, Lakhauri bricks) are flat, thin, red burnt-clay bricks, originating from the Indian subcontinent that became increasingly popular element of Mughal architecture during Shah Jahan, and remained ...

. The complex also has a baradari (open doors pavilion with 12 doors, 3 in each direction), 2 wells, an enclosure wall with 3 gateways, garden in the enclosure and a water channel coursing through the middle of the enclosure.

Conservation

By 2016, the dilapidated monument had been severely vandalised, two out of original four chattris and only one out of 3 original gates of enclosure survived, enclosure wall was broken at several places, both the wells had dried up, water channels was mostly buried under rubble, garden was overgrown with shrubs. In 2016

Government of Delhi The Government of Delhi, officially the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD; ISO: ) is the governing body of India's National Capital Territory of Delhi, whose urban area is the seat of the Government of India. It also ...

's Department of Archaeology in collaboration with

commenced the conservation, one of the 2 missing gateway was rebuilt, both wells and parts of the water channel were restored. With 40% work completed, it came to a halt in May 2017 after Defence Ministry stopped the work as no permission was taken from the Defence Ministry for conserving the monument standing on the land owned by Defence Ministry. Subsequently, efforts were being made by the Delhi state archeology department and local MLA to obtain the permission from Defence Ministry to complete the remaining work of this still dilapidated and abandoned monument.

References

External links