Ruins of pavilion near Mahram nagar or IGI Airport

Mehram ki Serai is a 17th-century

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes coverin ...

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

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in the north-east corner of

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

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

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

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

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ea ...

's harem.

Etymology

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

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

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 Unite ...

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

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

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 (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...

(22.4 km) from the mughal city.

Mehram nagar Mehram Nagar is a 17th-century village in the state of Delhi, India, located to the northeast of Terminal 1 of Indira Gandhi International Airport. History Mehram Nagar village, Mehram Bazaar and Mehram Serai were established in 1639 by a M ...

village, that later came up near it, has a double-storey pointed-arch vaulted gateway with large wooden door. In 1622 CE

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugh ...

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

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

and marched against his own father emperor Jahangir and mother

Nur Jahan Nur Jahan, born Mehr-un-Nissa P ersian: نورجهان (; – 18 December 1645) was the wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir from 1620 until his death in 1627. Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa, as the daughter of a Mirza Gh ...

. Mehram Khan,

Fidai Khan Fidai Khan (born Mirza Hedayetullah, ''reigned:'' 1627–1628) was the subahdar of Bengal Subah during the reign of emperor Jahangir. Biography Mirza Hedayetullah was the youngest of four brothers. Emperor Jahangir gave him the title Fidai Khan in ...

, 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

, 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 elevated, dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indo-Islamic architecture and Indian architecture. Originating as a canopy above tombs, they serve as decorative elements. The earliest example of chhatri being used in t ...

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 s ...

. 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) is the governing body of the Union Territory of Delhi, whose urban area is the seat of the Government of India. It also governs the city or l ...

'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