Known as the 'Old Fort' of Delhi, the Purana Qil'a, lies on the eastern edge of Delhi, along the river Jumna. Humayun, the second Mughal emperor began construction in the 16th century in an ancient area known as 'Indraprastha', associated with the Hindu epic Mahabarata.
"Around 1913," writes Aditi Chandra in her book Unruly Monuments (2025), ". . . . the village of Indrapat, located inside the fort was acquired by the government. 1,900 residents were evicted, and over 100 houses demolished," (p. 246). It took a few more years for proper water supplies to be brought to the fort premises, and begin its transformation into the tourist attraction it is today with a collection of museums inside. This process was interrupted, as she describes in her book, between 1947 and 1963 when it was first occupied by Muslim refugees from Delhi, and then Hindu and Sikh refugees from what is now Pakistan.
The Purana Qil'a, lies on the eastern edge of Delhi, along the river Jumna. Humayun, the second Mughal emperor began construction in the 16th century in an ancient area known as 'Indraprastha', associated with the Hindu epic Mahabarata.