Probashi- City
Probashi- City
Baolis of Delhi- Wells welll dug
Baolis of Delhi- Wells Well Dug
B
Baoli at Hazrat Nizamuddin , under renovation . This Baoli constructed in 1321 by the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya is said to have been the cause of the downfall of the Delhi Emperor Giyas‐ud‐din Tuglaq . Photo courtesy : The Agha Khan Foundation
Baoli or Bavadi also referred to as in Bengal .
He made another Baori or Bauri , is a Hindi word ominous reference to the sultan ' s which means a large well with flight fort when he remarked " Ya rahe of stairs to descend up to the usar , ya basé
Gujjar " ( Either it water . The step well would have a remains deserted or be peopled by tank attached where the water men of the Gujjar tribe). Both from the well would flow into . these prophecies proved true . Ghiyas‐ud‐din was killed at a place
Legend has it that a Baoli caused at near Delhi when a shamiana least one emperor in Delhi to loose ( canopy , marquee ) collapsed over his kingdom and his life . The him during a reception arranged by abandonment of Tughlaqabad was his son . The sultan could not reach not brought about by any foreign
Delhi alive . His successor invasion , but to the curse of the
Mohammad Bin Tuglaq chose to Sufi Saint Nizam‐ud‐din . The build his own fort and deserted legendary quarrel between the two Tughlaqabad . It soon became a started when Ghiyas‐ud‐din haunt for the Gujjars tending their Tughlaq the then emperor of Delhi cattle within the abandonedd fort of did not allow his people to work for
Ghiyas‐ud‐din . the saint on the construction of a baoli ( step well ). A protracted tiff Incidentally the Baoli whose followed , which offended the saint construction became the cause for and led to his famous prophecy Ghiyas‐ud‐din
Tuglaq ’ s misfortune
" Hunuz Dilli dur ast " ( Delhi is yet far got completed in 1321 and is away ), for the sultan was then out amongst the few surviving Baolis in
the city . It can be seen at the Hazrat
Nizamuddin Dargah complex in the
Capital . The Baoli still bears water fed by an underground stream . This 7000 year old Baoli was recently renovated in a concerted and well coordinated effort of ASI , MCD , and Aga
Khan Foundation .
At the turn of the century about 1000 Baolis dotted different parts of Delhi , however since then many of them have either caved in or have been filled up to accommodate real estate . Now only about 30 survive some in precarious state of neglect . Records speak of many Baolis being built e . g . that built by Udhara the trader from Gujarat who came to Delhi at the time of Balban and built a imposing Baoli ) for public use in Palam . However these step wells are not traceablee .
The credit of the oldest surviving Baoli in Delhi goes to the Baoli at