Hauz Khas Fort, New Delhi

Hauz Khas Fort in New Delhi is located near Hauz Khas Village of south delhi. Both Hauz Khas Village (often referred as HKV) and Fort are very popular amongst locals and tourists. The fort is also on the cards for photo & video shoots and has been filmed in several Bollywood movies.

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The area, Hauz Khas also houses a lake and a deer park, which are adjacent to both, the village and the fort. People visiting to Hauz Khas might often see more tourist footfall in the Village than the locals. HKV is mostly famous for its cafes, bars, restaurants, tattoo shops, apparel stores, fashion accessories etc. There are several markets and residences in the nearing localities, and the residents often visit the park for morning and evening walks, runs, sprints, and other outdoor activities. Fort, village, lake and park are all interconnected and to be explored by foot.

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Although it is named deer park but people here can also find rabbits, peacocks, guinea pigs and various breeds of birds, animals and insects.

History of Hauz Khas Fort:

Like any other fort, castle, heritage site etc, this fort too has a history to it, less significant but not negligible. The fort was built by Alauddin Khilji in 1284 AD with the purpose to supply continuous water to Siri Fort. The construction of the fort was undertaken by the architect Malik Ghazi Shahna and is based on the Indo-Islamic architecture.

This medieval age architecture was one of the stepping stones for the beginning of Delhi as the capital of first Muslim rulers in India. Even the name Hauz Khas says so; word hauz means ‘pond’ in urdu whereas khas means ‘royal’. The fort is built near a water tank from which the name for the fort and location came from. Initially the fort was named Hauz-i-khas by the then emperor. Later Firoz Shah Tuglaq got the water tank rebuild as the royal baths and renamed the fort to Hauz Khas Fort.

Tombs and structures among the Tomb of Firoz Shah in the fort were built during the Tughlaq dynasty. Other structures being mosque, pavilion, and theological college. There is also a madrasa to be seen at the edge of the lake; all constructed by Firoz Shah Tughluq between 1352 AD – 1354 AD.

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Now what lies there is mostly green lawns and left overs of what was. The ruins surround a T shaped pavilion in the fort. Tomb of Firoz Shah can be found at the intersection of the two wings of the L-shaped building of madrasa.

The fort is open to everyone, 7 days a week from morning to evening (10:30 am - 7 pm). There ain't any entry fee to it.