SANGRĀHIKĀasi.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/E-newsletter_Apri_June2016English.pdf · Arabic and Persian inscriptions, Farman and sketch, painting of Sheikh Salim Chishti, Farman

SANGRĀHIKĀ

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA

Year 2, Issue 2, April-June 2016

e-newsletter on the museums of ASI

Editorial Team Dr Urmila Sant, Joint Director-General (Museums), Archaeological Survey of India Dr K. Lourdusamy, Director (Museums), Archaeological Survey of India Sh. Indu Prakash, Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India Dr Aprajita Sharma, Assistant Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India Data Supplied by Archaeological Site Museums, Archaeological Survey of India Hindi Translation

Hindi Section, Archaeological Survey of India

Mail us at [email protected]

Mail us at [email protected]

image on cover: Lithograph, Zeenat Mahal (source: Photo Section, ASI) image on back cover: Amphorae, Chinese Celadon, 18th century CE (source: Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort)

Contents

All contents in the publication are for information only. Feel free to refer and distribute this work with due acknowledgement but no part of this publication can be reproduced for any purpose in any form.

2 Year 2, Issue 2, April-June 2016

From the Director’s Desk

3

Museums of Archaeological Survey of India Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort (Mumtaz Mahal)

4 - 14

Education and Awareness Activities and Special Events Exhibitions

15 - 18

Prized Antiquity

19

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

from the Director’s desk…

Dear friends,

I am happy to present the second issue of year two of Sangrāhikā which

is dedicated to the Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort (Mumtaz Mahal).

The museum is housed inside the historic Red Fort of Shahjahanabad built

by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628-58 CE).

Though the Red Fort, also popularly known as Lal Qila, have several

ancient buildings but the Mumtaz Mahal is one of the most attractive royal

edifice built by Shah Jahan in the memory of his most beloved queen

Mumtaz Begam.

During 1911, this particular building was converted into an

Archaeological Site Museum wherein objects displayed are of Mughal period.

The collection includes some famous and exclusive objects such as paintings

of Sultan Sahib; arms; manuscripts of Quran; Chinese porcelain; textiles;

lithograph of Zeenat Mahal along with her clothes and; coat of the emperor

Bahadur Shah II.

The up-keepment and several new proposals will be taken up soon for

the overall development of this museum so as to make it more imperative

and informative for the researchers.

I am indeed happy to inform all the readers that I have taken the charge

as the Director (Museums) and any suggestions from all are welcome.

Dr K. Lourdusamy Director (Museums)

Archaeological Survey of India

3 Year 2, Issue 2, April-June 2016

T he historic Red Fort of Shahjahanabad (the seventh city of Delhi) was

built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628-58 CE) as his citadel.

After a reign of 11 years at Agra, Shah Jahan decided to shift his capital to

Delhi. In 1638 CE, the construction of Shahjahanabad was started and a

little later on 12th May, 1639 he laid the foundation of this fort which was

completed after nine years on 8th April, 1648. Its master builders were

Ustad Hamid and Ahmad and it was completed under the supervision of

Izzat Khan, Alivardi Khan and Makarmat Khan.

In its earlier days, the fort was known as Qila-e-Mubarak (the fortunate

city), but now it is popularly known as Red Fort or Lal Qila because of the

red sand stone largely used in it. It is one of the building complexes of India

which encapsulates a long period of Indian history. It was the home of the

Mughal emperor from the reign of Shah Jahan to Bahadur Shah Zafar II and

played a very important role, not only in the history of medieval India but also

in the history of modern India.

Museums of Archaeological Survey of India

4

Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort, Delhi

fig. 1 ~ Red Fort, Delhi: Front view


fig. 2 ~ Red Fort, Delhi: Barracks built by the British Army


5

Located on the west bank of River Yamuna, the fort is roughly octagonal

on plan with two longer sides on the east and west and six smaller ones on

the north and south. It occupies an area of about 124 acres (50.10

hectares). The rampart wall measures about 900 by 550 m with a perimeter

of 2.41 km and rising to a height of 22.50 m on the town side and 18 m along

the river. The width of the rampart is 13.71 m at base and 9 m at the top. The

walls are built of red sandstone and are covered with a succession of turrets,

kiosks, balconies and perforated screens. Outside the rampart runs a moat

(18 m wide and 9 m deep) except on the river side and was originally

connected with the river.

The fort is provided with four gates - Lahori Gate (west), Yamuna Gate

or Khizr Gate (east), Delhi Gate or Akbarabadi Gate (south) and Jahangiri

Gate (north) which connects the Salimgarh Fort. The general entrance to the

fort lies through Lahori Gate where on 15th August, 1947, for the first time

the National Flag was unfurled by the first Prime Minister of Independent

India and every year the Independence Day is celebrated here.

After the First War of Independence in 1857, the British army captured

the fort. They demolished most of the buildings and gardens, especially of

western part and constructed several barracks and other buildings to

accommodate their army.


fig. 3-4~ Red Fort, Delhi: Naubat or Naqqar Khana


6

Despite heavy demolition, the fort still has a variety of structures like

palaces, pavilions, halls, hammam and garden of Shah Jahan’s period. The

significant buildings inside the fort are Chhatta Bazar or Meena Bazar,

Naubat or Naqqar Khana, Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience), Mumtaz

Mahal, Rang Mahal (Palace of Colour), Khas Mahal (Private Palace),

Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience), Hammam (Royal Bath), Moti Masjid

or Pearl Mosque, Hayat Baksh Bagh (Life Bestowing Garden), Sawan and

Bhadon pavilions, Zafar Mahal, etc.

fig. 5-6 ~ Red Fort, Delhi: Rang Mahal (Palace of Colour), Khas Mahal

(Private Palace), Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience)


fig. 7 ~ Red Fort, Delhi:

Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort (Mumtaz Mahal)


7

Mumtaz Mahal is one of the most magnificent royal edifices in Red Fort

complex. It was built by Shah Jahan in the memory of his beloved queen

Mumtaz Begum. The building measures 26.8 m long from north to south and

24.6 m from east to west and was formerly an important apartment of the

seraglio.

After the mutiny of 1857, it was converted into military prison and after

that as sergeant’s mess. Therefore, its original appearance has been

completely changed. The building had gilded chhatris on the corners of its

roof which are now missing. The lower portion of the wall and piers are of

marble and traces of some of the old paintings and glass decoration can still

be seen. In 1911, this building was converted into an Archaeological

Museum by the Archaeological Survey of India. The antiquities are displayed

in chronological sequence in five galleries and are basically related to

Mughal period.


fig. 8 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort: First gallery


8

In this gallery, art objects belonging to emperor Shah Jahan and his

predecessors have been displayed. These include paintings of Sultan Sahib

Qiran Amir Taimur Gurgan (1336-1405 CE), manuscript of Taimurnama of

Maulana Abdullah Hatifi (1488-89 CE), manuscript of Diwan-i-Hafiz,

specimens of calligraphy in Nastaliq characters by Mohammad Hussain of

Kashmir, dagger of Sultan Tahmasp Safavi of Iran who gave shelter to

Humayun, painting of Sultan Abu Sa’id (1463 CE) the grandfather of Babur,

Arabic and Persian inscriptions, Farman and sketch, painting of Sheikh

Salim Chishti, Farman of Jahangir (1622 CE), brass astrolabes which were

used for measuring the distance between heavenly bodies and manuscript

of the Quran in Naskh characters by Muhammad Arif.

First Gallery (Entrance Gallery)


fig. 9-10 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort:

Display of Chinese porcelain in the second gallery


9

In this gallery, there are various types of stone, jade and ivory objects

which includes dagger handle (sheath made of silver), lid made of

chalcedony, betel dish, marble bowl with lid, Persian vase, jar with lid of 18th

century, Chinese plate of 18th century, bowl with decorative Persian

inscription, perfume box, thumb guard, velvet textile, silver clock and Persian

pen box, etc. have been displayed.


Second Gallery (Central Gallery)

fig. 11 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort:

Display of the third gallery


10

Paintings belonging to the Persian and Mughal painters are exhibited

here. The important exhibits are opium-eaters, a battle scene from Shah

Nama, Mirza Farrukh Fal (son of Humayun), Baz Bahadur of Malwa, Khwaja

Hasan Basari, Jodhabai and Nadir Shah, Rajasthani and later paintings are

of Kunwar Shri Balwant Singh, Rajadhiraja Bakht Singh, Rao Ummed Singh

of Bundi, Nawab Mansur Ali Khan ‘Safdarjung’, Bahadur Shah and painting

of Raushan-Ud-Daula (water colour painting) with other manuscripts of holy

Quran, etc.

Here, the arms used in the war of 1857 by the Nawab of Pataudi and

Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II and field-glass used by General J.

Nicholson during the siege of Delhi are displayed. Bahadur Shah’s letter to

Queen Victoria with the thumb impression of his son, Jawan Bakht has also

been displayed along with other interesting contemporary letters and

portraits of late Mughal and contemporary personalities.


Third Gallery (Painting Gallery)

Fourth Gallery (Bahadur Shah Zafar Gallery)

fig. 12-13 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort: Forth gallery with a

lithograph of Zeenat Mahal (far above); other significant display (above)


11

The attraction of this fourth gallery is the lithograph of Zeenat Mahal, the

wife of Bahadur Shah Zafar II.


fig. 14-17 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort:

Cloths of the royals along with armory displayed in the fifth gallery


12

In this gallery, the clothes (angia and ghaghara) of Zeenat Mahal, coat

of Emperor Bahadur Shah II, arms (swords, daggers, scimitar, stick sword,

English pistol, brass cannon, round shots, battle axe, etc.) used by the

warriors during the Mughal period, have been displayed.


Fifth Gallery (Exit Gallery)

Collection

13

Total number of antiquities : 13,003

Displayed objects : 284

Reserve collection : 12,719

Antiquities are broadly categorised as

Miniature paintings

Lithographs

Sketches

Chinese porcelain

Furniture

Coins


fig. 18-19 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort: Jar, Chinese blue and white

porcelain (left); Letter written by Bahadur Shah II to Queen Victoria (right)

Textile

Arms

Farmans

Utensils

Silver objects

Visitor Amenities

14

Basic facilities like R.O. drinking water, toilets

Visitor benches are provided near the museum

Publications

Braille text panels in Hindi and English

Museum Publications

Information

Visiting hours: 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM

(Museum remains closed on Monday)

Entry Fee: `5 per head

Entry ticket for museum are available

at Red Fort ticket booking counters


Education and Awareness

I nternational Museum Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm on

18th May, 2016, at different museums of the Archaeological Survey of

India. A number of awareness programmes along with competitions for

young children were arranged on the eve of museum day.

Activities and Special Events

16

fig. 20-21 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Hampi:

Photo-exhibition and quiz competition on International Museum Day

fig. 22-23 ~ Hazarduari Palace Museum, Murshidabad:

Photo-exhibition titled ‘Glimpses of Indian Heritage’



17

fig. 24-25 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Konark:

Special workshop on ‘Creative Art from Waste’ for the school children

fig. 26-27 ~ 1857 Residency Museum, Lucknow:

Drawing and quiz competition for the school children



18

fig. 28 ~ Archaeological Site Museum, Sri Suryapahar:

Photo-exhibition titled ‘Sivsagar - Past and Present’

fig. 29-31 ~ Archaeological Site

Museum, Sri Suryapahar:

Prize distribution to the school

children for different competitions

(left); sketch of a double-storied

structure - Baraduari, Khaspur,

Cachar prepared by a school children

(above)


Prized Antiquity

Akitoosha-i-Ukba

Object: Akitoosha-i-Ukba (Provision for the next world)

Accession number: 56

Period: 16th century CE

Location: Gallery no. 1, Archaeological Site Museum, Red Fort

Description: A book made of copper pages, inscribed with silver

calligraphy. It has 99 names of Allah in Naskh style.

© Archaeological Survey of India, 2016

Documents

SANGRĀHIKĀasi.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/E-newsletter_Apri_June2016English.pdf · Arabic and Persian inscriptions, Farman and sketch, painting of Sheikh Salim Chishti, Farman