[jyotirmoy]

Just west of Feroz Shah Kotla ruins, stands the Khooni Darwaja or the Bloody Gate. Originally it was an entrance Gate to Old Delhi. During Jahangir’s reign, the sons of Abdul Rahim Khan i-Khana were beheaded here. It was only here that the head of Prince Darashikoha was chopped off after his defeat against Aurangzeb in the war of succession. Again in 1857 the three Sons of Bahadurshah Zafar were shot dead here by Captain Hudson.
The gate came to be known as the Khooni Darwaza during the Moghul days, though even in Sher Shah's time in the 1540s, when it was constructed, it was used presumably both as an outpost and the place where heads of criminals were exhibited, since it was on the outskirts of the city.
However, it's a fact that Emperor Jahangir in the early decades of the 17th Century ordered the killing of the two sons of Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan here on a trumped up charge that they were traitors. The truth was that Jahangir had taken a dislike to the great Khan, one of Akbar's nine jewels and near kinsman (he was the son of his uncle, Bairam Khan who acted as Akbar's regent after Humayun's death).
Jahangir got piqued because Abdul Rahim, a towering personality of the Moghul Empire, had supported the claim of Jahangir's eldest son, Prince Khusrau, to the throne after Akbar's death. In this he was supported by Mirza Raja Man Singh and Mirza Aziz Kokaltash, son of Akbar's wet-nurse, Ji Ji Anga. The latter two were also shabbily treated by Jahangir. The bodies of the Khan-e-Khanan's sons were left to rot and be eaten by birds of prey here.
When Aurangzeb ousted his father, Shah Jahan, after the defeat of the imperial forces under Dara Shikoh, he had his elder brother's head displayed at this gate. Later, on September 22, 1857 the sons of Bahadur Shah Zafar, Mirza Mughal and Mirza Khizr Sultan and grandson Mirza Abu Bekar, were murdered at the gate by Major Hodson after the king's surrender to the British. The princes were brought from Humayun's Tomb in Nizamuddin where Zafar had taken refuge in a bullock cart. A crowd of 3,000 people from Shahjahanabad and Nizamuddin followed the British party.

A few years ago the staircase leading to the terrace was used by the three rapists to push the medico of Maulana Azad Medical College to the topmost part of the gate where the criminal assault took place. After the rapists fled, the hapless girl descended this flight of stairs alone with great difficulty, her clothes besmeared with blood and hair disheveled and was accosted by two beat constables who were the first to learn of her plight. A lady police officer took up her case & counseled her through out the trial & brought the culprit to book.

[Jock & Di]

That's great Jyoti, thanks. I don't mean the blood etc, but the history of places so old is fascinating. Oz history is so short in comparison (1788) and certainly tame when you think of India and other countries.

[captmahajan]

jyotirmoy, don't know what your profession is, but you should be a tourist guide! Good stuff.

[jyotirmoy]

captmahajan, on Dec 11 2006, 05:50 AM, said:

jyotirmoy, don't know what your profession is, but you should be a tourist guide! Good stuff.

My retirement is fast approaching so I may take up guiding tourists next.... by the way I am an electronics engineer.
So next time you are in Delhi contact me for a guided tour.... Ok?

[captmahajan]

done.
with great pleasure.

[dzibead]

jyotirmoy, on Dec 11 2006, 06:55 AM, said:

My retirement is fast approaching so I may take up guiding tourists next.... by the way I am an electronics engineer.
So next time you are in Delhi contact me for a guided tour.... Ok?

I think there could be a real market for good tours of Delhi, especially walking tours, like the ones offered in London.  There's so much history and architecture in Delhi that I think most tourists (myself included) just miss.  Until I read The City of Djinns (which  unfortunately I didn't read till AFTER my last trip to India), I was pretty clueless about this aspect of the city, except for the really obvious stuff like Humayan's Tomb and the Red Fort, and most of the "tour guides" who descend on you in places like that are worthless and annoying.    So I think some really good quality tours (including tours that feature FOOD) would fill a real niche.  The tours could center on different neighborhoods like Nizamuddin or Chandhi Chowk, or have different themes, like "Mughal Delhi", or "Lutyens' Delhi" and so forth.    Jyoti, I'll be your U.S. "agent".  

[jyotirmoy]

Well dzibead I have noted your suggestion. The idea of a gastronomic tour of Delhi is tempting me. With you as my US agent business will no doubt prosper

[dzibead]

A friend of mine quit her job as a lawyer in San Francisco and now organizes tours and works as a freelance travel writer in Florence, Italy - and her tours often have a gastronomic angle.  Check out this article by her:
http://www.slowtrav....ler/butcher.htm

[jyotirmoy]

dzibead, on Dec 12 2006, 07:54 AM, said:

A friend of mine quit her job as a lawyer in San Francisco and now organizes tours and works as a freelance travel writer in Florence, Italy - and her tours often have a gastronomic angle.  Check out this article by her:
http://www.slowtrav....ler/butcher.htm

Thanks dzibead for the article.  I have noted the info so next time I visit Florence I will definitely visit this shop.

[iwanttogoback]

i think that the owners of the master paying guest house do walking tours of delhi, but only for their guests.

they were featured on a travel show here and the walking tour, of which you could choose from a few, seemed like a great service they offered.

but jyoti, if you're giving tree monkeys a discount i'll use your tour instead!!

[jyotirmoy]

Very special price for the members assured….but the day I start I will be kicked out of the tree being a tour operator !!!!

[captmahajan]

Don't forget my commision, jyotirmoy. It was my idea