Hijron ka Khanqah | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Islam |
District | New Delhi |
Province | Delhi |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Mosque and Tombs |
Leadership | Sikander Lodi |
Year consecrated | 15th century |
Location | |
Location | New Delhi |
Country | , India |
Territory | Delhi |
Geographic coordinates | 28°31′19″N77°10′43″E / 28.52194°N 77.17861°E Coordinates: 28°31′19″N77°10′43″E / 28.52194°N 77.17861°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Mosque and Tomb |
Materials | Sandstone |
Hijron Ka Khanqah is an Islamic monument located in Mehrauli, South Delhi, India. The literal meaning of Hijron ka Khanqah is a "Sufi spiritual retreat for eunuchs", with the word hijron (plural of hijra) more widely referring to a specific community of transgender women throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the many monuments located in the Mehrauli village within the Archeological Park. It is maintained well by the Hijras of Turkman Gate, in Shahjahanabad (present day Old Delhi) who are in possession of this 15th-century monument since the 20th century. [1] [2] [3]
Hijron Ka Khanqah is a pre-Mughal, Lodi period, monument dated to the 15th century known for the serene atmosphere that exists at the monument where some eunuchs of Delhi were buried during the Lodi dynasty's reign. [1] [2] [3] It is also said that Hijras of Turkman Gate who own this monument now visit the place on religious days to distribute food to the poor. [2]
Khanqah is Persian word. It connotes a religious edifice where Muslims of Sufi religious order assemble to achieve spiritual peace and character building. [4]
Hijra generally describes the self-organised spiritual and social community (from either the Hindu or Muslim religious traditions) of transgender women in North India, while in a historical sense it can also denote eunuchs in the Western sense of the word (as males who have been castrated and who serve as members of a royal or noble court). Both eunuchs and hijra are described in South Asian history and literature. The ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata literature features a eunuch (castrated servant) named as Shikhandi, while the treasurer during the reign of Allauddin Khalji in the early 14th century CE is said to have been a eunuch, and the Mughal Emperor Aurengzeb is said to have engaged a eunuch to harass his father, Shahjahan, while the latter was being held in captivity. Meanwhile, the Hijra (transgender) community is associated with the imperial court of the Mughal Empire.
The Hijra are a well organized transgender community, considered by some as a "religious cult" in the sociological sense of the word. [5] [6] Many members of the community describe themselves as belonging to a third gender, and are recognised as such by the governments of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. They are a highly visible community in North India, especially as their presence in marriage functions and at the birth of a child in a house are considered auspicious .[ citation needed ] Such a presence is also one of their source of livelihood. During family functions, they are even invited to dance, sing, clown, do typical drumming and bless the newly weds and the newborn. Though, no specifically enumerated census data is available of their numbers, a rough estimate puts this figure at about 50,000 in Mumbai and Delhi. [5] [6]
After entering the premises of the monument through a narrow gate, marble steps lead to a large patio where white colored tombs are seen. There is a small terrace adjoining the tombs. The tombs are enclosed on the west in the prayer direction by a wall mosque. [3]
Of the many white painted tombs (seen in picture) of Hijras or eunuchs here, the main tomb held in reverence is stated to be of a hijra called Miyan Saheb. [2]
It is approached through a small gate from the narrow and winding main street of Mehrauli village. Entry to the tomb is restricted. [1] [2] Mehrauli village located in South Delhi is well connected by road, rail and air to all parts of the country. The nearest rail head is the New Delhi Railway Station, which is 18 kilometres (11 mi) away. The Delhi International Airport is 17 kilometres (11 mi) away. The monument is located in a narrow lane called 'Chatta Wali Gali' in ward no 6 of main Mehrauli road. [2] [7]
In the Indian subcontinent, Hijra are eunuchs, intersex people, asexual or transgender people. Also known as Aravani, Aruvani, Jogappa, the hijra community in India prefer to call themselves Kinnar or Kinner, referring to the mythological beings that excel at song and dance. In Pakistan, they are also called Khawaja Sira, the equivalent of transgender in the Urdu language.
The Qutb Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi, India..The complex was built over demolished ruins of ancient Jain and Hindu site. Construction of the Qutub Minar "victory tower" in the complex, named after the religious figure Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who later became the first Sultan of Delhi of the Mamluk dynasty. It was continued by his successor Iltutmish, and finally completed much later by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, a Sultan of Delhi from the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1412) in 1368 AD. The Qubbat-ul-Islam Mosque, later corrupted into Quwwat-ul Islam, stands next to the Qutb Minar.
Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun in Delhi, India. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife consort, Empress and the mother of his successor, the third Mughal emperor Akbar. Hamida Banu Begum, in 1558, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and his son, Sayyid Muhammad, Persian architects chosen by her. It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, close to the Dina-panah Citadel, also known as Purana Qila, that Humayun found in 1533. It was also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale. The tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, and since then has undergone extensive restoration work, which is complete. Besides the main tomb enclosure of Humayun, several smaller monuments dot the pathway leading up to it, from the main entrance in the West, including one that even pre-dates the main tomb itself, by twenty years; it is the tomb complex of Isa Khan Niyazi, an Afghan noble in Sher Shah Suri's court of the Suri dynasty, who fought against the Mughals, constructed in 1547 CE.
The Masjid-i Jehan-Numa, commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is one of the largest mosques in India.
Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, a district of Delhi in India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurgaon and next to Vasant Kunj.
Qutb ul Aqtab Khwaja Sayyid Muhammad Bakhtiyar AlHussaini, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki was a Sunni Muslim Sufi mystic, saint and scholar of the Chishti Order from Delhi, India. He was the disciple and the spiritual successor of Moinuddin Chishti as head of the Chishti order, and the person to whom the Qutb Minar, Delhi is dedicated. Before him the Chishti order in India was confined to Ajmer and Nagaur. He played a major role in establishing the order securely in Delhi. His dargah located adjacent to Zafar Mahal in Mehrauli, and the oldest dargah in Delhi, is also the venue of his annual Urs festivities. The Urs was held in high regard by many rulers of Delhi like Qutbuddin Aibak, Iltutmish who built a nearby stepwell, Gandhak ki Baoli for him, Sher Shah Suri who built a grand gateway, Bahadur Shah I who built the Moti Masjid mosque nearby and Farrukhsiyar who added a marble screen and a mosque.
Indo-Islamic architecture is the architecture of the Indian subcontinent produced by and for Islamic patrons and purposes. Despite an initial Arab presence in Sindh, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture began in earnest with the establishment of Delhi as the capital of the Ghurid dynasty in 1193. Succeeding the Ghurids was the Delhi Sultanate, a series of Central Asian dynasties that consolidated much of North India, and later the Mughal Empire by the 15th century. Both of these dynasties introduced Persianate architecture and art styles from Western Eurasia into the Indian subcontinent.
Sufism has a history in India evolving for over 1,000 years. The presence of Sufism has been a leading entity increasing the reaches of Islam throughout South Asia. Following the entrance of Islam in the early 8th century, Sufi mystic traditions became more visible during the 10th and 11th centuries of the Delhi Sultanate and after it to the rest of India. A conglomeration of four chronologically separate dynasties, the early Delhi Sultanate consisted of rulers from Turkic and Afghan lands. This Persian influence flooded South Asia with Islam, Sufi thought, syncretic values, literature, education, and entertainment that has created an enduring impact on the presence of Islam in India today. Sufi preachers, merchants and missionaries also settled in coastal Gujarat through maritime voyages and trade.
The Jama Masjid is a 16th-century congregational mosque in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh, India. Constructed by Mughal Emperor Akbar, it is one of the largest mosques in India. It is the most sought after pilgrimage site by the devotees. It is also one of the most visited tourist destinations in Agra district. Some of the designs of the mosque reflect beautiful Iranian architecture.
Shaikh Jamali Kamboh was a 16th-century poet and Sufi of the Suhrawardiyya sect and pupil of Poet Jami and of Shaikh Sama'al-Din Kamboh'
Sultan Ghari was the first Islamic Mausoleum (tomb) built in 1231 AD for Prince Nasiru'd-Din Mahmud, eldest son of Iltumish, in the "funerary landscape of Delhi" in the Nangal Dewat Forest, Near Nangal Dewat Vasant Kunj).
Zafar Mahal, in Mehrauli village, in South Delhi, India, is considered as the last monumental structure built as a summer palace during the fading years of the Mughal era. The building has two components namely, the Mahal or the palace, which was built first by Akbar Shah II in the 18th century, and the entrance gate that was reconstructed in the 19th century by Bahadur Shah Zafar II, popularly known as "Zafar" meaning ‘Victory’. It has a forlorn history because Bahadur Shah Zafar, who wished to be buried in the precincts of the Zafar Mahal (palace) and the famous Dargah of Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki in Mehrauli, Delhi, was deported by the British to Rangoon, after the First War of Indian Independence in 1857, where he died of old age. The monument today is in a neglected and ruined state, locals play cricket and gamble freely inside the protected monument. The 18th-century palace has been all but subsumed by unauthorised constructions. Tall apartment complexes stand at kissing distance, eclipsing its novel Mughal-era architecture with their insipid modern conformity.
Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb, located in the Archaeological Village complex in Mehrauli, Delhi, India, comprise two monuments adjacent to each other; one is the mosque and the other is the tomb of Jamali and Kamali. Their names are tagged together as "Jamali Kamali" for the mosque as well as the tomb since they are buried adjacent to each other. The mosque and the tomb were constructed in 1528-1529, and Jamali was buried in the tomb after his death in 1535.
The Gates of Delhi were city gates in Delhi, India, built under dynastic rulers in the period that could be dated from the 8th century to the 20th century. They are the gates in
Rajon ki Baoli also referred as Rajon ki Bain is a famous stepwell in Mehrauli Archaeological Park of Delhi, India.
Mehrauli Archaeological Park is an archaeological area spread over 200 acre in Mehrauli, Delhi, adjacent to Qutub Minar World Heritage Site and the Qutb complex. It consists of over 100 historically significant monuments. It is the only area in Delhi known for 1,000 years of continuous occupation, and includes the ruins of Lal Kot built by Tomar Rajputs in 1060 CE, making it the oldest extant fort of Delhi, and architectural relics of subsequent period, rule of Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Lodhi dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, and the British Raj.
Baagh e Naazir was built by the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah Rangila's Khwaja Sara Nazir in 1748. It is located in Mehrauli, near Jamali Kamali and Mehrauli Archaeological Park.
Persian Inscriptions on Indian Monuments is a book written in Persian by Dr Ali Asghar Hekmat E Shirazi and published in 1956 and 1958 and 2013. New edition contains the Persian texts of more than 200 epigraphical inscriptions found on historical monuments in India, many of which are currently listed as national heritage sites or registered as UNESCO world heritage, published in Persian; an English edition is also being printed.
Makhdoom Sharfuddin Ahmed bin Yahya Maneri, popularly known as Makhdoom-ul-Mulk Bihari and Makhdoom-e-Jahan (1263–1381), was a 13th-century Sufi mystic.
Page 234: --narrow entrance to the Hijron ka Khanqah (15th c) on the left. This wall mosque dates from the Lodi period but became the burial ground for the Delhi eunuchs. It is beautifully maintained and is surprisingly tranquil place, just off the main road
;;;This is a Lodi period Mosque and Khanqah or convent, which in the early twentieth century came under the possession of the hijras or the eunuch community of the Tukman gate area in Shahjahanabad. The Hijras still possess it and visit Mehrauli on religious occasions to distribute langar to the poor. The Khanqah also has tombs of several Hijras including one said to be of a hijra known only as Miyan Saheb.