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Summary: Ho Chi Minh City — Mosques and Cham Muslims is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: During the 2018 New Year holiday, I visited the Hui Muslims who speak the Cham language in Sanya, Hainan. The account keeps its focus on Ho Chi Minh City, Cham Muslims, Vietnam Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

During the 2018 New Year holiday, I visited the Hui Muslims who speak the Cham language in Sanya, Hainan. This sparked my interest in the Cham Muslims of Vietnam and Cambodia, so I decided to visit their communities during the Spring Festival holiday. Worried about the language barrier, I decided against going deep into the traditional Cham communities along the Vietnam-Cambodia border or the Vietnamese interior. Instead, I visited the urban Cham community in Ho Chi Minh City. Luckily, I received a warm welcome from the local Cham Muslims in Ho Chi Minh City and learned a great deal.



Let me first introduce the history of the Cham people. Champa, also known as Zhanpo, was a country established by the Cham people in southern Vietnam in 192 AD. The Cham people were originally an Austronesian-speaking group that moved from Borneo to the Indochinese Peninsula. After the 4th century, they were strongly influenced by India, using Sanskrit and practicing Brahmanism and Buddhism. Because their land was narrow and fragmented, the Champa Kingdom focused on maritime trade. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, it became an important trading port on the Maritime Silk Road. Chinese merchant ships sailing from Guangzhou or Quanzhou, as well as Arab and Persian ships coming from the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, all chose to stop in Champa. Because of this, many Arab and Persian merchants lived in Champa during the Song and Yuan dynasties.

Two stone tablets with Arabic Kufic script were discovered in the cities of Phan Thiet and Phan Rang in southeastern Vietnam. The first tombstone belongs to a road worker named Abu Kamil, who passed away on November 20, 1039. The other stone is a notice about how Muslims lived with the local people. It uses a mix of Kufic and Naskh scripts and is thought to date from 1025 to 1035. The inscription suggests that Arab and Turkic merchants lived here.



Rubbings of the two inscriptions, taken from Cultural Exchange Between Champa and the Malay World.

After the 12th century, Champa fell into long-term warfare, and many Cham people fled to Cambodia and Malacca. From the mid-to-late 15th century, the Malacca Sultanate (1400–1511) became the most important Islamic nation in Southeast Asia, and Champa maintained close ties with it. In 1511, the Portuguese occupied the Malacca Sultanate, causing many Malays to move away, with some settling in areas where the Cham people lived. These Malay Muslims integrated with the Cham people, who also spoke an Austronesian language, through trade and marriage, leading many Cham to convert to Islam.

Western missionary M. Mahot MEP began living in Champa in 1676, and his records are considered the earliest and most reliable Western accounts of Champa's conversion to Islam. In a letter written in July 1678, he noted: 'Regarding the Champa religion, Malay Muslims are more vigilant than we are; they have immigrated to Champa in large numbers and have brought the Champa king and his court into Islam.' In 1685, M. Feret, a missionary from the Paris Foreign Missions Society who tried to preach in Champa, recorded: 'The King of Champa is a Muslim, and he even obtained a Quran from the Paris Foreign Missions Society for his own use.' According to the 19th-century Cham document Ariya Tuen Phaow, a Malay Islamic leader named Tuen Phaow led a large group of Cham and Malay people back from Cambodia to the Panduranga Kingdom in 1793. They joined forces to resist Vietnam. During this time, many Cham people converted to Islam, and this struggle is known as the final peak of the Islamization of the Cham people.

Starting in the 18th century, some Cham Muslims from Cambodia moved to the Mekong Delta on the Vietnam-Cambodia border. The Mubarak Mosque in An Giang was built in 1750 and is one of the oldest mosques in Vietnam.



A photo of the Mubarak Mosque at the Vietnam History Museum.

In 1862, France and the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam signed the Treaty of Saigon, which officially gave France control of Saigon. From then on, Saigon gradually grew into a French commercial hub in Southeast Asia. During French rule in Vietnam, the government gave the Cham people a relatively loose policy of self-governance, which led many Cham Muslims from Cambodia to move to the Mekong Delta. Most of these Cham people worked as manual laborers or small vendors. At the time, the most influential Muslims in Saigon were those from Malaysia and Indonesia who came to trade. The first mosque in Saigon, the Al Rahim Mosque, was built by Malaysian and Indonesian Muslims in 1885.

Tamil Muslims from South India began arriving in Saigon to trade in the late 19th century. Between the 1930s and 1950s, they built the Saigon Central Mosque in the city center, the Niamatul Islamiyah Mosque next to the Indian Muslim cemetery in the northwest suburbs, the Jamiul Islamiyah Mosque in the southwest suburbs, and the Cholon Mosque in the Chinese district of Cholon to the west.

In 1954, Vietnam was divided into North and South, and Saigon came under the rule of the South Vietnamese government. The South Vietnamese government maintained good diplomatic relations with the Federation of Malaya at the time and later with the Malaysian government. Many Cham mosques in Vietnam were built with help from Malaysia in the 1950s and 1960s. In Ho Chi Minh City, these include the Haiyat Al Islam mosque built in 1962, the Alsa Adah mosque built in 1968, and the Jamiul Anwar mosque built in 1969, among several others.

After Vietnam unified in 1975, the government began seizing and collectivizing all private property in South Vietnam, almost always without any compensation. Indian Muslim merchants in Saigon were hit hard and lost all of their property. Fearing further persecution, most Indian Muslims left. The mosques they left behind later became places of worship for Cham Muslims.

There are currently 15 mosques in Ho Chi Minh City. I visited 8 of them on this trip, but since 2 were closed, I actually went inside 6. I will share my experiences with you below.



A 1968 map of Saigon.

1. Saigon Central Mosque.

Saigon Central Mosque was built by South Indian Tamil Muslims in 1935 and is the most important mosque in Saigon.

After Vietnam was unified in 1975, Muslims in Saigon faced a huge shock. The Vietnamese Muslim Congregation was closed, and its founding members fled to the United States. Saigon Central Mosque and its religious school were both occupied. Many Muslim leaders were detained and their whereabouts became unknown, while a large number of Muslims were imprisoned or fled the country.

It was not until 1978 that Vietnam lifted a series of bans on Muslims. After 1979, the Saigon Central Mosque reopened thanks to the efforts of Muslim diplomats. However, for Friday prayers (Jumu'ah), the mosque had to sign a written agreement with local police and administrators every week. They had to list the number of attendees, their names, and their addresses before they could pray, and they had to re-register every single week.

Besides this, Islamic books had to be translated into Vietnamese before officials decided if they could enter the country. Books in Arabic and Malay were almost impossible to bring in.

After 1986, Vietnam began allowing mosques to teach Islamic knowledge and Arabic. They also allowed the formation of mosque management committees, which helped Vietnamese Muslims slowly get back on track. Today, the Saigon Central Mosque is the most important mosque in Ho Chi Minh City. Besides the local Cham people, business people from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Pakistan, as well as Muslim travelers from all over, come here to pray.



A 1945 map of Saigon.

The entire building has a strong South Indian style.











The official name of the Saigon Central Mosque is the Indian Jamia mosque.



Noorul Imaan Arabic school is an Arabic school, and Haji JMM Ismael Library is an Islamic library.













The pool used for wudu.



Typical clothing for Cham Muslim men.







A Cham Muslim uncle sells durian ice cream, and it tastes great.









The homemade bicycle bell on the uncle's bike.



2. Saigon Green House Restaurant

Saigon Green House is the best Cham Muslim restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. It is a bit pricey, but the food is delicious and has a wide variety. The menu on their official website looks very tempting. Official website: https://halalsaigongreenhouse.com/menu







Eat phở first!





Pineapple fried rice





Fried spring rolls





Drink iced tea



Bitter melon served with fish balls made from a fish called featherback (xilin gongbei yu).



The mosque in the picture is Jamiul Aman Mosque, located in Chau Phu District, An Giang Province, Vietnam. It was built in 1965.



The mosque in the picture is Jamiul Azhar Mosque in Phu Tan District, An Giang Province, Vietnam. It was reportedly built in 1425 and is the most important mosque for Cham Muslims in Vietnam.



3. Al Rahim Mosque

Al Rahim Mosque was the first mosque in Saigon. It was built by Malay and Indonesian Muslims in 1885.



A map of Saigon from 1895



A 1945 map of Saigon.















I ate a local street snack, a Vietnamese baguette (Bánh mì), right outside the mosque.

The baguette arrived in Saigon after the French occupied the city in 1861. Early on, baguettes were seen as a luxury item because the price of imported wheat was very high.

During World War I, wheat imports stopped, so more cheap rice flour was mixed into Vietnamese baguettes, which made them much fluffier. As prices dropped, the baguette (phap-ban) started to become a part of the everyday diet for Vietnamese people.

Before the 1950s, Vietnamese baguettes were still made in a classic French style, spread with mayonnaise or jam. After Vietnam was divided into North and South in 1954, over one million people moved from the north to the south, which greatly changed the food scene in Saigon. In the late 1950s, some northern immigrants began selling baguettes on the street, and the modern Vietnamese baguette started to take shape.

After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, baguettes were only sold in state-run restaurants and were often served with other dishes, which is the origin of today's practice of dipping baguettes into rice noodle soup (pho). After Vietnam started its socialist market economy reforms in 1986, the baguette (banh mi) became a common street food again.











Every morning until noon, there is a small shop selling rice noodle soup (pho) right by the mosque entrance.







Chicken rice noodle soup (pho ga)









4. Niamatul Islamiyah Mosque

Niamatul Islamiyah Mosque is tucked away, so most tourists have a hard time finding it. I first heard about this place from an article on the Saigon website titled "Take a Tour of D10’s 64-Year-Old Mosque."

The Niamatul Islamiyah mosque dates back to a cemetery built by South Indian Tamil Muslims in the late 19th century. The site still preserves a graveyard and an old horse-drawn carriage used to transport the deceased.

In 1952, Indian Muslims built the mosque next to the cemetery to use when visiting graves to remember the dead. After 1975, most of these Indian Muslims returned to their hometowns, and the mosque continued to be used by Cham Muslims.

According to my online research, there are now over 40 Muslims of "Hoa" (Vietnamese Chinese) descent who pray here. From what I saw on the spot, the Muslims here look very different from the Austronesian-speaking Cham people and actually look a lot like the Han Chinese from the Chaoshan and Minnan regions. But when I chatted with everyone, they all just said they were Cham people who returned to Vietnam from Cambodia.





The young man on the far right is named Hakim, and he acted as our translator because his English is very fluent. When the older men heard I was from China, they talked to me a lot about the country. They knew there are many Muslims in Xinjiang and even asked me how far it is from here to Xinjiang.



The older man on the right is the imam of the mosque.



Everyone drinks coffee and hot tea, though they say young Cham people rarely drink hot tea these days.









It is almost time for namaz, so the imam changes into his formal sarong (longyi), puts on his white robe and turban, and gets ready to lead the prayer.







Start the prayer.













An older man here treated me to rice noodles (fen) and pastries (gaodian).





Behind the mosque is a cemetery dating back to the late 19th century. Brother Hakim gave me a detailed explanation.



The horse-drawn carriage for transporting the body (maiti).





786 is a symbol for halal used in South Asia and Southeast Asia. You can also see it in southwest Yunnan and among the Hui Muslims in Lhasa. If you assign a number to each letter of the phrase Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful) based on the Arabic abjad system, the sum of all the numbers is 786.





5. Jamiul Islamiyah (Nancy) Mosque

Jamiul Islamiyah Mosque, also called Nancy Mosque, was built by South Indian Tamil Muslims in 1950. After the Indian Muslims left in 1975, it became a mosque for Cham Muslims. The mosque was rebuilt twice, in 1980 and 2004. It is now an Arabic-style building designed by a Vietnamese architect.

There is a barbecue shop next to the mosque and a famous Vietnamese noodle soup shop (pho) called Pho Muslim in the alley behind it. Unfortunately, both were closed for the Tet holiday when I visited.













6. Jamiul Anwar Mosque

Jamiul Anwar Mosque was built with aid from Malaysia in 1968. Currently, 240 Cham Muslims pray here.



When the mosque was first built, the area around it was still a watery countryside on the edge of the city. But as the city grew, the area is now full of residential neighborhoods. The mosque is tucked away inside a maze of complicated alleyways.



On the way to the mosque, there is a halal snack shop.



The lady there speaks English, and we had a great time chatting.



Delicious desserts.













Duck noodle soup (yaruofen).



The Cham Muslims, Kinh people, and Chinese people live together here in great harmony.







Keep walking into the alley and you will see several Halal signs. This area has the highest concentration of halal snack shops among the few mosques in Ho Chi Minh City.







Finally, I arrived at the mosque.



A group of Cham Muslim uncles are chatting.





The drum inside the mosque looks like it has been used for many years.





The classroom on the first floor.



The prayer hall on the second floor.



The photos on the wall show mosques in traditional Cham Muslim communities near the border of Vietnam and Cambodia.



7. Cholon Mosque

The Cholon Mosque was originally named Cholon Jamial Mosque and was built by South Indian Tamil Muslims in 1935. After 1975, all the Indian Muslims left, and today 80 Cham Muslims pray here.

Cholon is the most famous Chinese community in Vietnam, located about 5 kilometers from Saigon. Cholon was formed in 1782, and Cholon City was officially established in 1879. Everyone except the Chinese calls this place Cholon.

For more on the scenery of Cholon, see my diary entry Old Dreams of Cholon. Duras’s novel The Lover is set here.



Right next to the Cholon mosque is a local market.



Next door is a halal shop, but it is closed for the Spring Festival holiday.





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Reposted from the web

Summary: Ho Chi Minh City — Mosques and Cham Muslims is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: There is a herbal tea stall (liangcha) parked in the mosque courtyard. The account keeps its focus on Ho Chi Minh City, Cham Muslims, Vietnam Mosques while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.















There is a herbal tea stall (liangcha) parked in the mosque courtyard.



Outside the mosque

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Reposted from the web

Summary: Delhi Sufi Sites — Shrines, Mosques and Muslim Communities is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Delhi has two important Muslim communities. One is inside Old Delhi, centered around the Mughal-era. The account keeps its focus on Delhi Sufi Sites, Sufi Heritage, Muslim Community while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Delhi has two important Muslim communities. One is inside Old Delhi, centered around the Mughal-era

Friday Mosque (Jama Masjid). The other is in the southeastern suburbs of Delhi, the Nizamuddin community, which is centered around the Nizamuddin Dargah complex.

Nizamuddin is the most important Sufi holy site in Delhi. Every year during Ramadan, hundreds or thousands of believers gather here, and the shrine provides free meals for suhoor and iftar to everyone. The area is busy even on normal days. Sometimes at night, there are performances of Qawwali, a type of South Asian Sufi music, which is very moving.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Eating and Exploring

Chapter 2: The Core Area of the Shrine of Nizamuddin (Nisangmuding Shengling)

1. North Gate: Built in the 15th century

2. Entering the shrine from the North Gate

3. Water tank: 1321

4. Jamaat Khana mosque: 14th century

5. Nizamuddin shrine (gongbei): 19th century

6. Tomb of Amir Khusrau: 1605

7. South Asian Sufi music (Qawwali)

1. Praise songs (nasheed) at the shrine of Nizamuddin.

2. Qawwali performance inside the mosque.

3. Sufi music at the music festival.

8. Tomb of Princess Jahanara: 1681.

9. Tomb of Muhammad Shah: 1748.

10. Tomb of Prince Mirza Jahangir: 1821

11. East Gate Bazaar

Chapter 3: The area around the shrine of Nizamuddin

1. Tomb of Ataga Khan: 1566

2. Chausath Khamba: 1624

3. Tomb of the poet Ghalib: 1869.

4. Barah Khamba: 14th-15th century.

5. Gol Gumbad: 15th century

6. Tomb of Malik Maqbul: 1388

7. Kali Mosque: 1370

Chapter 1: Eating and Exploring

Before we look at the architecture of Nisamuding, let's wander around the neighborhood and grab something to eat. The Nisamuding neighborhood is very lively, especially outside the north and east gates where vendors sell all sorts of things. Many of them sell religious supplies, including fresh flowers and prayer headscarves (shanbu).









If you turn from the busy market into the small alleys, you can see a quieter side of the area.



The tailor



These branches are used for brushing teeth.



At a stall selling religious items, I bought a photo of the shrine of Nizamuddin.







Eating food.

You can find many snacks in Nizamuddin.

Papayas on the street.





Lassi is a popular yogurt drink in South Asia. It is usually made by mixing yogurt with water, fruit, and various spices, and it comes in both sweet and salty versions.





Oily flatbread (you nang)





Chicken rice (biryani) is perhaps the most popular way to cook rice in South Asia. Biryani comes from South Asian Muslims. The word is a Persian loanword in Urdu, generally believed to come from the Persian word for rice, birinj.

According to historian Lizzie Collingham, modern biryani likely originated in the royal kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It was created when chefs combined spicy Indian rice with Persian pilaf. However, some believe that biryani existed even before the Mughal Empire. Documents from the 16th-century Mughal Empire mention both biryanis and pulao, but the two terms were interchangeable back then. Another historian, Pratibha Karan, believes that biryani formed after Arab traders brought Middle Eastern pilaf to South India.

People generally agree that there are three main differences between biryani and Indian pilaf:

1. Biryani is mixed with more spices and has a stronger curry flavor, while Indian pilaf uses almost no spices.

Biryani usually has two layers of rice with meat hidden in the middle, while Indian pilaf (pulao) is generally not layered.

Biryani is usually made by cooking the rice and meat separately, while Indian pilaf (pulao) is cooked all together.







A classic Indian samosa uses a dough made from vegetable oil, melted butter, warm water, salt, and wheat flour. The filling is a mix of mashed potatoes, onions, green peas, spices, and green chilies, which is then fried until golden brown.

The South Asian samosa, the Arab sanbusak, the Afghan sambosa, the Tajik samboosa, the Turkic samsa, and the Somali and Ethiopian sambusa all come from the Persian word sanbosag.

Persian poetry praised the samosa as early as the 10th century. This snack was very popular in Iran until the 16th century, but today it is only found in a few areas. In the 13th or 14th century, Muslim merchants from Central Asia brought the samosa to South Asia, where it became a favorite of the Delhi Sultanate royalty. A scholar from the Delhi Sultanate wrote in 1300 that princes and nobles enjoyed samosas made with meat, ghee, and onions. "

The famous 14th-century traveler Ibn Battuta visited the court of the Tughlaq dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate. In his travelogue, The Rihla, he wrote about eating a pastry called sambusak at the Sultan's court, which was filled with minced meat, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and spices.



I still do not know the name of this fried food.







You can also buy many South Asian-style prayer caps in Nizamuddin.









I bought this Sindhi cap, which comes from the Sindh region and is often seen at Indian Sufi music performances.









Chapter 2: The Core Area of the Shrine of Nizamuddin (Nisangmuding Shengling)

Next, we will enter the core area of the Nizamuddin shrine (Dargah). The core area centers on the shrine (Shrine) and includes a series of historical buildings from the 14th to the 19th centuries. I have marked a diagram here.



Next, we will enter through the north gate and exit through the east gate to take a detailed look at the historical buildings in the core area of the Nisamuding Gongbei.

1. North Gate: Built in the 15th century

First, enter the core area of the shrine from the north gate. You must take off your shoes from this point on. The local vendors nearby will be very eager for you to store your shoes in their shops, but I chose to put my shoes in my own backpack.



2. Entering the shrine from the North Gate

The route is as follows:

















3. Water tank: 1321

After entering from the north gate, the first thing you see is a water tank (baoli) built in 1321. It is the oldest surviving structure in the core area of the Nizamuddin shrine. There is a legendary story about the construction of this water tank:

In 1321, more and more people came to visit Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325). Many chose to stay there permanently, so Nizamuddin began building a water tank near his home. At the same time, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, started building a massive fortress called Tughlaqabad in Delhi. He ordered all laborers in Delhi to work on the fortress, including the workers building a water tank for Nizamuddin. These workers preferred to work for Nizamuddin, so they built the fortress during the day and snuck back at night to work on the water tank.

When Ghiyasuddin found out, he banned the workers from working for Nizamuddin. Nizamuddin then made a prophecy: "Ya rahey ujjar, ya basey gujjar". It roughly means, "Either it will become a wasteland, or it will be inhabited by the Gujjar people." After the sultanate fell, the nomadic Gurjar (gujjar) people took over this castle and it turned into a wilderness.

Legend says Nizamuddin made many prophecies about Ghiyas. Another famous one is 'Hunuz Dilli dur ast'. It means 'Delhi is still far away'. Ghiyas led a successful expedition to Bengal in 1324. In February 1325, while he was on his way back, a wooden pavilion collapsed and crushed him to death before he could reach Delhi.

After the pool was finished, Nizamuddin said a dua for it. People believe this pool has magical powers and can cure skin diseases.

Right next to the pool are two women's graves. Persian inscriptions on them show they were built in 1563. One woman was shown mercy and forgiveness, while the other died in deep sorrow.



Follow the path south from the pool to reach the true heart of the Nizamuddin shrine. Many people are buying fresh flowers where the path meets the courtyard to offer to the saint.









4. Jamaat Khana mosque: 14th century

The Jamaat Khana mosque is the most important building in the heart of Nizamuddin. There are many different stories about its history, but it is likely the second mosque built in Delhi after the Qutb mosque.

One story says that Sultan Alauddin Khalji (reigned 1296-1316) of the Khalji dynasty built this mosque because Nizamuddin once refused a large sum of money offered by the Sultan. Because it has been restored, this mosque looks very different from the Alai Darwaza, the southern gate of the Qutb mosque built by Alauddin Khalji. However, if you look closely, the proportions and decorations of the two buildings are actually very similar.

Another story says the main hall of this building was originally built by Alauddin Khalji's son, Khizr Khan, as a tomb for Nizamuddin. Nizamuddin did not want to be buried in a tomb, so the building became a mosque and side rooms were added to both sides. But looking at the existing structure, the main hall and the side chambers seem to be built together perfectly, with no signs that they were constructed at different times.

A third theory says Nizamuddin was buried in the wilderness according to his final wishes, and this mosque was built for believers by Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (reigned 1351-1388). Overall, the building's style is still very close to the architectural style of the Khalji dynasty.



















The hall on the north side of the mosque is currently undergoing repairs.





5. Nizamuddin shrine (gongbei): 19th century

The Shrine of Nizamuddin (Shrine) sits right in front of the Jamaat Khana mosque. It is impossible to know what the original shrine looked like. The first shrine was built in the late 14th century by Firoz Shah Tughlak, who was the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate from 1351 to 1388.

In 1562, a noble serving under the Mughal Emperor Akbar added marble screens around the shrine.

Starting in 1608, the governor of Delhi at the time, Sheikh Farid Bukhari, added several new features to the shrine, including a wooden canopy inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

In 1652, a red sandstone corridor was built around the shrine, but it was replaced in 1809 by the marble columns we see today.

The shrine's canopy was rebuilt in 1820, and a dome was added in 1839, giving it the appearance it has now.





Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325), also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin, was a key figure in the Sufi Chishti Order and is considered one of the most important Sufis in South Asia.

Nizamuddin was born in 1238 in Badayun, near the Ganges River in Uttar Pradesh. His father died when he was five, and his mother brought him to Delhi to make a living. At age 20, Nizamuddin traveled to Ajodhan (now in the Punjab region of Pakistan) to follow the famous Sufi master Fariduddin Ganjshakar, who was also one of the founders of the Sufi Chishti Order. After that, Nizamuddin spent three consecutive Ramadans traveling from Delhi to Ajodhan to be with Fariduddin Ganjshakar. During the third Ramadan, Fariduddin Ganjshakar named Nizamuddin as his successor. Not long after, Nizamuddin received news in Delhi that his teacher had passed away.

Nizamuddin lived in many parts of Delhi. In his later years, he moved to a place outside the city called Ghiyaspur to escape the noise. There, he built his own Sufi lodge (khanqah). A lodge is usually part of a complex that includes a school, a mosque, and a tomb (gongbei). Inside the prayer hall (daotang), Nizamuddin generously shared his knowledge with everyone who came to ask him for guidance. Soon, more and more people gathered around him, from the poor to the wealthy, and even court poets from the Delhi Sultanate came to learn from his teachings.

Nizamuddin did not focus much on Sufi theory, choosing instead to put his energy into practice. His key principles included helping those in need, providing food for the hungry, and showing compassion to the oppressed. He strongly opposed mixing with the Sultan and the royal nobility. He urged the wealthy to stay in close contact with the poor and the oppressed. He took an uncompromising stance against all forms of political and social oppression.

Nizamuddin was also a strong supporter of the Sufi Sama ceremony, which some people at the time considered un-Islamic. Sama is a Sufi ritual centered on remembrance (Dhikr) that includes singing, playing musical instruments, dancing, and reciting poetry. The famous Sufi whirling dance is one part of Sama.

Music and dance have always been an important part of various religious rituals in India. Nizamuddin hoped to use music and dance to make it easier for ordinary believers to participate in Sufism. Influenced by Nizamuddin, his famous student Amir Khusrow invented Qawwali, the most well-known form of Sufi music in South Asia.



























6. Tomb of Amir Khusrau: 1605

The tomb of Nizamuddin's student Amir Khusro (1253-1325) sits south of the shrine and is the second most important tomb in the core area after Nizamuddin's own.

In 1310, 57-year-old Khusro met Nizamuddin and eventually became his student. In 1319, Khusro wrote a prose work called Afzal ul-Fawaid (The Greatest Blessings) that explains the teachings of Nizamuddin. Nizamuddin passed away on April 3, 1325, and Khusrau died just six months later. His tomb, like the shrine of Nizamuddin, was rebuilt many times. During the reign of Humayun (1530-1560), a surrounding wall was added, which makes it difficult to see the original appearance of the tomb.













Amir Khusrau holds a high status in India and is known as an iconic figure in Indian cultural history. He is called the father of Urdu literature and the father of Indian Sufi music, among many other titles. He was a Sufi musician who invented Qawwali, the most important form of Sufi music in South Asia, and he was also a great Persian poet. Ghazal was a very important form in his poetry. Khusrau made great contributions to the ghazal style of poetry and was the first to introduce ghazal-style songs to India, where they became an important musical form in South Asia.



A portrait of Khusrau teaching his students, painted in the Bukhara region between the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

1. Exiled Turks

Khusrau's father came from the Lachin tribe of the Turks. He was born and raised near Samarkand under the rule of the Western Liao dynasty. In 1218, Genghis Khan's army destroyed the Western Liao dynasty and devastated Central Asia. Many Turks fled in all directions, and Khusrau's father escaped to what is now northern Afghanistan.

At that time, Sultan Shams ud-Din Iltutmish of the Delhi Sultanate also came from a Turkic tribe in Central Asia. He welcomed these Turkic refugees to settle in the Delhi Sultanate and provided significant support and many positions in the sultan's court to exiled Turkic nobles, craftsmen, and scholars.

In 1230, the Sultan gave Khusrau's father a piece of land, and he married the daughter of an Indian Rajput noble.

2. Receive an Indian education

In 1260, when Khusrau was only 7 years old, his father passed away. His mother then took the whole family back to live at her parents' home in Delhi. So, in reality, Khusrau grew up in the home of his maternal grandfather, Rawat Arz.

Khusrau's maternal grandfather was a highly cultured, high-ranking official in the court of the Delhi Sultan Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266-1286). Khusrau started his formal education at his grandfather's house when he was eight, and he also began learning how to write poetry.

In 1271, Khusrau finished his first poetry collection, Tuhfat us-Sighr (Gift of Childhood), which included poems he wrote between the ages of 16 and 18.

3. Gaining recognition from the Mamluk dynasty

Khusrau's grandfather passed away when he was 20, and after that, Khusrau joined the army of the Mamluk dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate. By then, his poetry had already made a big impression on the Sultan's court, and Sultan Balban's second son, Bughra Khan, was his biggest fan. In 1276, Bughra Khan became a patron of Khusrau.

Bughra Khan left the Sultan's court in 1277 to rule Bengal. In 1279, Khusrau visited him in Bengal and finished his second poetry collection there, Wast ul-Hayat (The Middle of Life).

After this, the Sultan's eldest son, Khan Muhammad, visited Delhi from Multan. He also loved Khusrau's poetry and invited him to come live in Multan. In 1281, Khusrau traveled to Multan with Khan Muhammad. At that time, Multan was the gateway from India to Arabia and Persia. It was an important cultural center in India that brought together brilliant scholars from Persia, India, and other places, and Khusrau learned a great deal there.

In 1285, Khan Muhammad died in battle while fighting the Mongol army. Sultan Balban died in 1287. His grandson, Muiz ud din Qaiqabad, who was the son of his second son Bughra Khan, took the throne as the final sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.

Between 1287 and 1288, Khusrau became a court poet for the sultan. In 1288, he finished his first long poem (Mathnawi) titled Qiran us-Sa'dain (The Meeting of the Two Auspicious Stars). It tells the story of Bughra Khan, who had been hostile toward his son for a long time, finally meeting with Sultan Qaiqabad.

4. Gaining respect from the Khalji dynasty

In 1290, the military officer Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji led a coup to overthrow the Mamluk dynasty and established the Khalji dynasty.

Firuz Khalji also greatly admired Khusrau's poetry, so Khusrau was invited back to be the court poet and was treated with great respect. In the court of the Khalji dynasty, Khusrau was able to focus on his literary work. His ghazal poems were turned into songs, and the Sultan had female singers perform them for him every night.

Khusrau once wrote about this experience: The King of the World, Firuz Khalji, gave me unimaginable treasures to reward me for the endless pain I suffered while writing poetry.

In 1290, Khusrow finished his second long poem (masnavi), Miftah ul-Futuh (Key to Victories), which praised the victories of Firuz Khalji. In 1294, he completed his third poetry collection, Ghurrat ul-Kamaal (The Pinnacle of Perfection), which includes poems he wrote between the ages of 34 and 41.

In 1296, Alauddin Khalji became the new Sultan of Delhi. Khusrow wrote Khaza'in ul-Futuh (Treasures of Victories) for Sultan Alauddin Khalji, recording the Sultan's achievements in various areas. In 1298, Khusrow finished a set of five long poems (khamsa) known as Khamsa-e-Khusrow (Khusrow's Quintet). These two works brought Khusrau great fame and status. Sultan Alauddin Khalji was very pleased and rewarded him generously.



Illustrations for the Quintet (Khamsa)

7. South Asian Sufi music, Qawwali

Legend says that in the late 13th century, Khusrau blended Persian, Indian, Turkic, and Arabic music to create the local Indian Sufi music known as Qawwali.

The word Qawwali comes from the Arabic term Qaul, which means the saying of the Prophet. A Qawwal is someone who frequently chants the Qaul, and the act of chanting it is called Qawwali.

During the Mughal Empire, Qawwali was mostly sung in Persian. As it spread across South Asia, it began to be performed in many other languages, including Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi. Today, besides Delhi, Qawwali is popular in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, North India, Hyderabad, and Muslim-populated areas in Bangladesh like Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet. The performance style in each place is influenced by local traditional music, giving each one its own unique character.

1. Praise songs (nasheed) at the shrine of Nizamuddin.

The Nizamuddin Dargah hosts Qawwali performances two nights a week, but I didn't plan well enough and missed them. At the shrine, I was lucky to see an old man singing a song of praise for the Prophet, and it was very moving.



2. Qawwali performance inside the mosque.

I was very lucky to catch a Qawwali performance at a small mosque in the northeast of the Nizamuddin neighborhood, which was one of the most memorable parts of my trip to Delhi.

A Qawwali group usually has 8 to 9 people. This includes one lead singer, one or two backup singers, one or two harmonium players (who can also be the lead or backup singers), and one or two drummers playing the tabla and dholak drums. There are also 4 to 5 chorus members who repeat key verses and clap to keep the beat. During the performance, everyone sits cross-legged on the floor, with the lead singer, backup singers, and harmonium player in front, and the drummers and chorus members behind them.

Before the harmonium was introduced, qawwali usually used the sarangi, a stringed instrument similar to a violin.







Qawwali themes are love, devotion, and longing, and they are divided into seven types based on their content:

The first type is called hamd, which means praise. It is a song praising Allah and usually starts the qawwali.

The second type is called na'at, which means description. It is a song praising the Prophet Muhammad and is usually the second song in a qawwali.

The third type is called manqabat, which means virtue. It is a song praising Imam Ali or one of the Sufi saints and is usually the third song in a qawwali.

The fourth type is called marsiya, which means elegy. It tells the story of how Imam Hussain, the son of Imam Ali, and his family were all martyred in the Battle of Karbala. This type is usually only performed during Shia rituals.

The fifth type is called ghazal, meaning love song. This is a song that seems very secular on the surface, usually singing about the joy of drinking wine and the pain of being separated from a lover. In South Asia, ghazal is an independent musical genre on its own and usually does not have a deeper meaning. However, in the context of Sufi Qawwali rituals, these secular metaphors are used to express the longing for the soul to unite with the divine and a love for the sacred. In songs about being drunk, wine represents divine knowledge, the wine glass is Allah or a spiritual guide, the tavern is considered the spiritual background where the soul exists, and being drunk means having gained divine knowledge or being filled with the joy of loving Allah. Songs that seem to describe a longing for a lover are actually singing about the pain of the soul being separated from Allah and the desire to be reunited.

The sixth type is called kafi, a unique form of poetry in Punjabi, Sindhi, and Seraiki.

The seventh type is called munajaat, which means monologue. The singer uses various forms to express praise to Allah, usually singing in Persian.

3. Sufi music at the music festival.

For the first 600 years, Qawwali was a type of music performed only at Sufi shrines or places of spiritual practice (dargah) in South Asia. Since the 20th century, Qawwali music has gained mainstream attention through major world music labels and the international music scene. It now holds a certain international status, and many bands have started performing Qawwali melodies. I saw a rock band performing Sufi music in front of the Select Citywalk mall in Delhi.



8. Tomb of Princess Jahanara: 1681.

Because of Nizamuddin's important status in India, many significant figures are buried near him. There are several important tombs around the Nizamuddin shrine. The first one, right next to the mosque, is the white marble tomb of Princess Jahanara Begum Sahiba (1614-1681).

Princess Jahanara was the most powerful woman in the Mughal Empire during the mid-17th century. She was also the only female Sufi practitioner in the Mughal court, belonging to the Qadiriyya order, which is known as the Qadiriyya menhuan in Northwest China.



The white marble latticework tomb in the center of the picture is the tomb of Princess Jahanara.

1. Becoming the First Lady of the Empire

Princess Jahanara was the eldest daughter of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1628-1658), who built the Taj Mahal. She was educated from a young age by Sati al-Nisa Khanam, the sister of the famous Mughal Empire poet Talib Amuli. Sati al-Nisa Khanam was highly accomplished in the Quran, Persian literature, court etiquette, and medicine. At that time, women in the Mughal royal family could enter the famous Akbar the Great Library to read books in Persian, Turkish, and Indian languages. The young princess became skilled in reading, writing, poetry, and painting, and she also enjoyed hobbies like chess, polo, and hunting.

After her mother died in 1631, the 17-year-old princess became the First Lady of the empire (Padshah Begum) and took charge of court ceremonies. After moving past the grief of losing her mother, the princess hosted the engagement and wedding ceremonies for her brother, Dara Shukoh, to fulfill her mother's final wishes.

The princess became increasingly favored by her father and eventually rose to be the highest-ranking woman in the Mughal Empire, with her father, Shah Jahan, even letting her hold the imperial seal.

In 1644, his younger brother, the future Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, angered their father. The princess successfully convinced her father to forgive Aurangzeb and restore his military rank.

2. Burned and healed

In March 1644, 30-year-old Princess Jahanara suffered severe burns and was so badly injured that she almost died. To pray for the princess's recovery, Shah Jahan gave large amounts of charity to the poor and released many prisoners. The princess's brothers, including Aurangzeb, also returned to Delhi to visit her.

During her illness, Emperor Shah Jahan stayed in the Red Fort and barely left his daughter's side. The Mughal Empire's royal doctors could not heal her burns, so Shah Jahan brought in Persian doctors, and the princess's condition slowly improved. Finally, after a full year, the princess made a complete recovery.

3. Managing the empire's charity work

In the Mughal court, Princess Jahanara was mainly in charge of charity work, and she was famous for actively caring for the poor and funding the construction of mosques. Whenever a major holiday arrived or a famine struck a region, the princess organized large-scale relief efforts. The princess was also responsible for organizing the pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

4. Sufi practice

Princess Jahanara was a student of the Sufi master Mullah Shah Badakhshi. She officially joined the Sufi Qadiriyya order in 1641 and achieved great success in her spiritual practice.

She wrote several books on Sufism. The most famous one is a biography of Moinuddin Chishti, the founder of the Chishti order. At the time, this book was highly praised for its excellent literary quality and accurate judgment. The princess also commissioned the translation and publication of a series of Sufi works, including many commentaries on Rumi's famous Mathnawi, which were very popular in the Mughal Empire.

5. Becoming First Lady again

In 1657, Shah Jahan fell seriously ill, and his four sons began a war of succession. Princess Jahanara supported Shah Jahan's eldest son, Dara Shikoh, but the following year, Dara Shikoh was defeated by his younger brother Aurangzeb and fled to Delhi.

Shah Jahan hoped the princess would use her influence over her brothers to persuade them, but in June 1658, Aurangzeb still besieged his father at Agra Fort. Aurangzeb cut off the water supply to force his father to surrender, then kept his father and the princess under house arrest.

The princess cared for Shah Jahan until he passed away in 1666, after which she reconciled with Aurangzeb and became the First Lady of the Mughal Empire once again.

During Aurangzeb's reign, the princess still held privileges that no other women in the Mughal royal family possessed. She opposed Aurangzeb's conservative religious policies, especially when he strictly regulated public life in 1679 by reinstating the poll tax on non-Muslims, a policy the princess believed would alienate the Hindus within the empire.



An 18th-century portrait of the princess.

6. The Princess's Tomb

Princess Jahanara built her own tomb next to the Nizamuddin shrine while she was still alive. The tomb is made of white marble and features lattice screens. After the princess passed away in 1681, Aurangzeb gave her the title Sahibat-uz-Zamani, which means "Mistress of the Age."



The princess's tomb is in the top right corner.



Inside the circle.

9. Tomb of Muhammad Shah: 1748.

Right next to the tomb of Princess Jahanara is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719-1748), which also features white marble latticework.

During the reign of Muhammad Shah, the Mughal Empire declined rapidly and irreversibly. In the royal court, local Indian culture gradually replaced the influence of Persian and Turkic cultures.



1. Inheriting the throne

Muhammad Shah was born in 1702 in what is now Ghazni, Afghanistan. After his grandfather, Emperor Bahadur Shah I (reigned 1707-1712), died in 1712, his father was killed in a war for the throne. At just 10 years old, Muhammad Shah and his mother were imprisoned by his uncle, Jahandar Shah (reigned 1712-1713). While in prison, Muhammad Shah was raised and educated by his mother, and he was a very diligent student.

Soon after, Jahandar Shah was assassinated by the Sayyid Brothers, who held real power in the empire. They installed Farrukhsiyar (reigned 1713-1719) as a puppet emperor.

In 1719, Farrukhsiyar was killed by the Sayyid brothers. They then installed two puppet rulers, but both died of illness a few months after taking the throne. Finally, the Sayyid brothers chose 17-year-old Muhammad Shah to be emperor. In 1720, Muhammad Shah got rid of the Sayyid brothers one after another, took direct control of the military, and officially ruled the empire.



A portrait of Muhammad Shah with nobles painted in 1730, kept at the Bodleian Library of Oxford University.

2. Developing arts and culture

During the reign of Muhammad Shah, the influence of Persian and Turkic cultures in the Mughal Empire gradually faded, while local Indian cultural influence grew stronger. Muhammad Shah replaced Persian with Urdu as the court language and oversaw the first translation of the Quran into Urdu. In the royal court, the Turkic formal wear worn by nobles from Samarkand was replaced by the local Indian formal coat (Sherwani).

At the same time, Muhammad Shah brought the local Indian Sufi musical performance (Qawwali) back into the court, which caused it to spread quickly across South Asia.

Although the political power of the Mughal Empire declined during the reign of Muhammad Shah, he strongly encouraged literature and the arts. Muhammad Shah hired many great painters to depict various scenes of palace life in their artwork. At the same time, Indian classical music continued to develop and evolve in Muhammad Shah's court.



A portrait of Muhammad Shah and his family painted in 1735, held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.



A scene of Muhammad Shah meeting Nader Shah painted in 1740, held by the Guimet Museum in Paris.

3. Died in sorrow

In 1747, the Durrani dynasty of Afghanistan led 30,000 cavalrymen from Peshawar. They defeated 70,000 Mughal troops who tried to stop them, then carried out a massacre in the important Mughal city of Lahore and looted a massive amount of wealth. On March 11, 1748, while on the way to Delhi, the Durrani army was intercepted by Mughal forces sent by Muhammad Shah, and the two sides began a decisive battle. During the fighting, Ahmad Shah's artillery ammunition caused a fire. Many soldiers burned to death, and the Durrani had to retreat back to Afghanistan. During the decisive battle against Afghanistan, the Mughal Empire's prime minister, Qamaruddin Khan, was hit by artillery fire and died. When Muhammad Shah heard the news, he was heartbroken. He eventually died from his overwhelming grief on April 26, 1748, and was buried next to the Nizamuddin shrine.

10. Tomb of Prince Mirza Jahangir: 1821 Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Delhi Sufi Sites — Shrines, Mosques and Muslim Communities is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The tomb of Prince Mirza Jahangir (Shahzada Mirza Muhammad Jahangir Bakht Bahadur, 1791-1821) is near the east gate of the shrine complex, and it also features white marble latticework. The account keeps its focus on Delhi Sufi Sites, Muslim Heritage, India Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

The tomb of Prince Mirza Jahangir (Shahzada Mirza Muhammad Jahangir Bakht Bahadur, 1791-1821) is near the east gate of the shrine complex, and it also features white marble latticework.







Prince Mirza Jahangir was the son of the Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II (reigned 1806-1837). He was once named crown prince, but after attacking a British official, he was exiled by the East India Company, and his younger brother eventually became the last Mughal emperor.

Akbar Shah II was never very happy with his eldest son and wanted to name Mirza Jahangir as his heir. However, Sir Archibald Seton, who was stationed at the Red Fort in Delhi, did not like this, and the 19-year-old prince recklessly humiliated the official in public. A few days later, the prince held a party on the roof of the Red Fort in Delhi. He saw a British officer passing by and fired a shot at him, killing one of the officer's attendants. Because of this, the prince was exiled to Allahabad in the southeast of Uttar Pradesh.

The prince was eventually released from exile and returned to Delhi, where he died at the age of 31.



The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto holds a 1811 Mughal court portrait by Ghulam Murtaza Khan. Emperor Akbar Shah II is in the center, and the first person on the right is Prince Mirza Jahangir.

11. East Gate Bazaar

The religious goods market outside the east gate of the Nizamuddin Dargah core area really brings your imagination of the Mughal Empire to life.















Chapter 4: The Perimeter of Nizamuddin Dargah

1. Tomb of Ataga Khan: 1566

Right next to the east side of the Nizamuddin Dargah core area stands the tomb of Ataga Khan, the foster father of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Ataga Khan's full name was Shamsuddin Muhammad Atgah Khan, and he held many important positions in the Mughal court. He was originally just an ordinary soldier, but by chance he saved the Mughal Emperor Humayun by the Ganges River, so Humayun brought him into the palace. To reward Ataga Khan for his loyalty, Humayun let Ataga Khan's wife become the foster mother of his son Akbar (the future Akbar the Great), and Ataga Khan then received the title of Atgah (foster father).

Ataga Khan was always a minister deeply loved by Akbar the Great. In 1561, he replaced Maham Anga as the new wakil (equivalent to prime minister), which caused Maham Anga great resentment. On May 16, 1562, Ataga Khan was murdered by Maham Anga's son, Adham Khan. Hearing that his foster father had been murdered, Akbar the Great was furious. He ordered Adham Khan to be thrown from the city wall twice to make sure he was really dead.

In 1566, Emperor Akbar ordered his foster brother, Mirza Aziz Koka, the son of Ataga Khan, to build a tomb for his father next to the Nizamuddin Dargah. The architect of this tomb was Ustab Khuda Quli, and the Quranic verses on the white marble were written by Baqi Muhammad from Bukhara.

When I visited, the tomb of Ataga Khan was under renovation and closed to the public.







2. Chausath Khamba: 1624

After leaving the east gate of the Nizamuddin Dargah core area and walking further east, you reach Chausath Khamba, the most important building in the eastern part of the Nizamuddin community. It is the tomb that Mirza Aziz Koka (1542-1624), the son of Ataga Khan, built for himself between 1623 and 1624.

Chausath Khamba means sixty-four pillars in Hindi and Urdu. It is a square hall made of white marble. Sixty-four pillars support twenty-five domes that you can only see from inside the building, as the roof itself is flat.

The design of Chausath Khamba does not look like a tomb at all. Experts think this place was likely a hall for resting and gathering when visiting the Nizamuddin shrine and the tomb of Atghah Khan. It was only turned into a tomb after Mirza died.









The British Library holds a drawing of Chausath Khamba made by William Daniell, R. A. in 1801.



This information comes from the website http://ranasafvi.com/chausath-khamba/

A Delhi artist painted the Chausath Khamba between 1820 and 1825.



From http://ranasafvi.com/chausath-khamba/









The raised part on the tombstone is called a qalam, which shows it is a man's grave. Most of the text on it comes from the Quran, Surah 3:185: Every soul shall taste death.







1. The Great Emperor's childhood friend

Mirza was a high-ranking official during the reigns of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) and his successor Jahangir (1605-1627). Because his father, Ataga Khan, was the foster father of Emperor Akbar, he received the title Koka, which means foster brother.

Mirza was a childhood playmate of Emperor Akbar and shared a very deep bond with the emperor. In 1572, Emperor Akbar conquered the Gujarat Sultanate southwest of Delhi and appointed Mirza to govern Gujarat. In 1573, the people of Gujarat rebelled and besieged the city of Ahmedabad. Mirza held the city until Emperor Akbar led his army to break the siege.

2. Receiving the Emperor's forgiveness

Gradually, Mirza became unhappy with many of Emperor Akbar's policies. In 1578, he was ordered to put down a rebellion in Bengal, and in 1586, he was ordered to conquer the Deccan Plateau. He was reluctant to carry out both missions, and his slow progress caused him to miss key military opportunities.

However, as childhood friends, Emperor Akbar remained very forgiving toward Mirza. In 1592, Mirza was sent on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and spent a lot of money on religious causes. Eventually, Emperor Akbar forgave Mirza and restored his status.

3. Losing status

In 1605, Jahangir became the new Mughal emperor, and in 1606 he crushed the rebellion led by his eldest son, Khusrau Mirza. Because he supported the rebellion, Mirza was stripped of most of his power. In his later years, Mirza regained some of his power, but it was nothing like it had been when his father was alive.



Records from the renovations between 2011 and 2014.







The main gate, built between the late 16th and early 17th centuries.





3. Tomb of the poet Ghalib: 1869.

In the courtyard north of Chausath Khamba lies the tomb of Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869), known as the last great poet of the Mughal Empire and the most famous Urdu poet of the 19th century.

Ghalib's real name was Mirza Asadullah Khan Baig. Ghalib was his pen name, which means "dominant" or "superior" in Urdu. During Ghalib's life, the Mughal Empire faded under British influence and finally ended after the rebellion of 1857. Ghalib's poetry is closely tied to this period.







The epitaph on his tombstone reads:

The joys of the world mean nothing to me

Because my heart feels nothing but blood



1. From a Turkic family

Ghalib was born near Agra in 1797, and his family were descendants of the Aibak tribe of the Seljuk Turks. After the Seljuk Empire fell in the 12th century, his family moved to Samarkand. During the reign of the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah (1748-1754), Ghalib's grandfather moved from Samarkand to the Mughal Empire. He worked in Lahore, Delhi, and Jaipur before finally settling in Agra.

Ghalib's father married a Kashmiri girl and later lived with his father-in-law. He died in a war in 1803, when Ghalib was only 5 years old. After his father passed away, Ghalib was raised by his uncle.

2. Poetry and Love

Ghalib started writing poetry at age 11. Although his mother tongue was Urdu, his family also used Persian and Turkic. He also received an education in Persian and Arabic at a very young age.

Ghalib moved to Delhi after getting married at 13, but all 7 of his children died in infancy by the time he turned 30. Ghalib described marriage as a second imprisonment of life itself. He was very keen on extramarital affairs and even earned the nickname "friend of women" in the Mughal court. Once, when someone praised the poetry of the pious poet Sheikh Sahbai, Ghalib immediately retorted: What kind of poet is Sahbai? He never drank alcohol, never gambled, was never hit by a lover with a shoe, and never spent time in prison.

Although Ghalib felt very proud of his Persian poetry achievements, he is most famous today for his Urdu ghazals. Before Ghalib, ghazals mostly focused on painful love. Ghalib brought in more philosophy, including the hardships and mysteries of life, which greatly expanded the scope of ghazals.

To follow the traditions of classical ghazals, the identity and gender of the beloved remain uncertain in most of Ghalib's poetry. Later generations believe that the poetic convention of focusing on the 'idea' of a beloved rather than a real person allowed poets to move away from realism in their work.

3. Court Poet

In 1850, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, gave Ghalib the titles of 'Dabir-ul-Mulk' and 'Mirza Nosha.' From then on, Ghalib officially used the name Mirza and became a Mughal noble and court poet. In 1854, Ghalib was appointed as the emperor's poet tutor. In 1856, he became a tutor for the prince and also served as the court historian.

The Mughal Empire fell to the British in 1857. Before that, Ghalib lived as a nobleman supported by the royal family and his friends, never earning his own money. During British rule, he tried everything he could to get a pension but failed.



The cover of Ghalib's poetry collection published in 1869, held by the Digital Museum of India.

4. Barah Khamba: 14th-15th century.

Barah Khamba sits in a garden in the northern part of the Nizamuddin neighborhood. It is a tomb for a nobleman from the Delhi Sultanate, though the identity of the person buried there remains unknown. Barah khamba means "twelve pillars" in both Urdu and Hindi. This tomb was once occupied as a residence and suffered a lot of damage, but it has now been restored.









5. Gol Gumbad: 15th century

Gol Gumbad is located northwest of the Nizamuddin neighborhood. From the outside, the tomb has the style of the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413), but the interior has some features typical of later tombs.







6. Tomb of Malik Maqbul: 1388

Deep in the alleys of the southern Nizamuddin neighborhood stands the first octagonal tomb in Indian history. It belongs to Malik Maqbul, a Wazir (prime minister) of the Tughlaq dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate, and was built by his son, Junan Shah.



The tomb is in poor condition today. It is damaged in many places and squeezed between residential houses.





A long wall surrounds the tomb, and this is the main gate of that wall.

1. Converting to Islam

Maqbul was originally named Yugandhar. He was a Hindu commander at Warangal Fort, the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty in southern India.

In 1323, the Tughlaq dynasty captured Warangal Fort. Yugandhar was taken to Delhi, converted to Islam, and given the name Malik Maqbul.

2. The actual ruler of the Sultanate

After arriving in the Delhi Sultanate, Maqbul gradually earned the Sultan's trust. He accompanied the Sultan to crush a rebellion in the Gujarat region, where they killed all the rebels and seized a massive amount of wealth. Back in Delhi, Malik Maqbul kept getting promoted. Eventually, under Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq (who reigned from 1351 to 1388), he became the Wazir, a position second only to the Sultan himself.

Malik Maqbul was the most trusted minister of Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq. The Sultan even called him brother and said he was the true ruler of Delhi. At that time, Maqbul was in charge of the Sultanate's finances. He was completely honest with the Sultan, kept him fully informed about the financial situation, and turned over all gifts from local officials to the state. At the same time, auditors and accountants strictly limited Maqbul's power, and they often had intense arguments. Once, Maqbul clashed with an accountant and threatened to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. This forced the Sultan to reduce the accountant's power.

3. Successor

Maqbul died in 1369, and his son Jauna Khan took over as the Wazir of the Delhi Sultanate. Jauna Khan was just as talented at governing as his father, but he lacked military skill and was eventually defeated and executed in battle.

The greatest legacy Jauna Khan left behind is the seven mosques he built in Delhi. I have visited four of them: Begampur Mosque, Khirki Mosque, Kalan Mosque, and Kali Mosque. The fourth one, Kali Mosque, is right on the east side of Malik Maqbul's tomb, and I will describe it in detail next.



Begampur Mosque



Khirki Mosque



Kalan Mosque

7. Kali Mosque: 1370

Kali Mosque sits east of the tomb of Malik Maqbul. It is one of seven mosques built by Jauna Khan (Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul), who served as the vizier to Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty during the Delhi Sultanate.

Kali Mosque and Khirki Mosque are very similar in their design and construction date, and both were once abandoned. The difference is that Kali Mosque was brought back into use in the early 20th century, and some changes were made to its original layout.











Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Delhi Sufi Sites — Shrines, Mosques and Muslim Communities is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Delhi has two important Muslim communities. One is inside Old Delhi, centered around the Mughal-era. The account keeps its focus on Delhi Sufi Sites, Sufi Heritage, Muslim Community while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Delhi has two important Muslim communities. One is inside Old Delhi, centered around the Mughal-era

Friday Mosque (Jama Masjid). The other is in the southeastern suburbs of Delhi, the Nizamuddin community, which is centered around the Nizamuddin Dargah complex.

Nizamuddin is the most important Sufi holy site in Delhi. Every year during Ramadan, hundreds or thousands of believers gather here, and the shrine provides free meals for suhoor and iftar to everyone. The area is busy even on normal days. Sometimes at night, there are performances of Qawwali, a type of South Asian Sufi music, which is very moving.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Eating and Exploring

Chapter 2: The Core Area of the Shrine of Nizamuddin (Nisangmuding Shengling)

1. North Gate: Built in the 15th century

2. Entering the shrine from the North Gate

3. Water tank: 1321

4. Jamaat Khana mosque: 14th century

5. Nizamuddin shrine (gongbei): 19th century

6. Tomb of Amir Khusrau: 1605

7. South Asian Sufi music (Qawwali)

1. Praise songs (nasheed) at the shrine of Nizamuddin.

2. Qawwali performance inside the mosque.

3. Sufi music at the music festival.

8. Tomb of Princess Jahanara: 1681.

9. Tomb of Muhammad Shah: 1748.

10. Tomb of Prince Mirza Jahangir: 1821

11. East Gate Bazaar

Chapter 3: The area around the shrine of Nizamuddin

1. Tomb of Ataga Khan: 1566

2. Chausath Khamba: 1624

3. Tomb of the poet Ghalib: 1869.

4. Barah Khamba: 14th-15th century.

5. Gol Gumbad: 15th century

6. Tomb of Malik Maqbul: 1388

7. Kali Mosque: 1370

Chapter 1: Eating and Exploring

Before we look at the architecture of Nisamuding, let's wander around the neighborhood and grab something to eat. The Nisamuding neighborhood is very lively, especially outside the north and east gates where vendors sell all sorts of things. Many of them sell religious supplies, including fresh flowers and prayer headscarves (shanbu).









If you turn from the busy market into the small alleys, you can see a quieter side of the area.



The tailor



These branches are used for brushing teeth.



At a stall selling religious items, I bought a photo of the shrine of Nizamuddin.







Eating food.

You can find many snacks in Nizamuddin.

Papayas on the street.





Lassi is a popular yogurt drink in South Asia. It is usually made by mixing yogurt with water, fruit, and various spices, and it comes in both sweet and salty versions.





Oily flatbread (you nang)





Chicken rice (biryani) is perhaps the most popular way to cook rice in South Asia. Biryani comes from South Asian Muslims. The word is a Persian loanword in Urdu, generally believed to come from the Persian word for rice, birinj.

According to historian Lizzie Collingham, modern biryani likely originated in the royal kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It was created when chefs combined spicy Indian rice with Persian pilaf. However, some believe that biryani existed even before the Mughal Empire. Documents from the 16th-century Mughal Empire mention both biryanis and pulao, but the two terms were interchangeable back then. Another historian, Pratibha Karan, believes that biryani formed after Arab traders brought Middle Eastern pilaf to South India.

People generally agree that there are three main differences between biryani and Indian pilaf:

1. Biryani is mixed with more spices and has a stronger curry flavor, while Indian pilaf uses almost no spices.

Biryani usually has two layers of rice with meat hidden in the middle, while Indian pilaf (pulao) is generally not layered.

Biryani is usually made by cooking the rice and meat separately, while Indian pilaf (pulao) is cooked all together.







A classic Indian samosa uses a dough made from vegetable oil, melted butter, warm water, salt, and wheat flour. The filling is a mix of mashed potatoes, onions, green peas, spices, and green chilies, which is then fried until golden brown.

The South Asian samosa, the Arab sanbusak, the Afghan sambosa, the Tajik samboosa, the Turkic samsa, and the Somali and Ethiopian sambusa all come from the Persian word sanbosag.

Persian poetry praised the samosa as early as the 10th century. This snack was very popular in Iran until the 16th century, but today it is only found in a few areas. In the 13th or 14th century, Muslim merchants from Central Asia brought the samosa to South Asia, where it became a favorite of the Delhi Sultanate royalty. A scholar from the Delhi Sultanate wrote in 1300 that princes and nobles enjoyed samosas made with meat, ghee, and onions. "

The famous 14th-century traveler Ibn Battuta visited the court of the Tughlaq dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate. In his travelogue, The Rihla, he wrote about eating a pastry called sambusak at the Sultan's court, which was filled with minced meat, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and spices.



I still do not know the name of this fried food.







You can also buy many South Asian-style prayer caps in Nizamuddin.









I bought this Sindhi cap, which comes from the Sindh region and is often seen at Indian Sufi music performances.









Chapter 2: The Core Area of the Shrine of Nizamuddin (Nisangmuding Shengling)

Next, we will enter the core area of the Nizamuddin shrine (Dargah). The core area centers on the shrine (Shrine) and includes a series of historical buildings from the 14th to the 19th centuries. I have marked a diagram here.



Next, we will enter through the north gate and exit through the east gate to take a detailed look at the historical buildings in the core area of the Nisamuding Gongbei.

1. North Gate: Built in the 15th century

First, enter the core area of the shrine from the north gate. You must take off your shoes from this point on. The local vendors nearby will be very eager for you to store your shoes in their shops, but I chose to put my shoes in my own backpack.



2. Entering the shrine from the North Gate

The route is as follows:

















3. Water tank: 1321

After entering from the north gate, the first thing you see is a water tank (baoli) built in 1321. It is the oldest surviving structure in the core area of the Nizamuddin shrine. There is a legendary story about the construction of this water tank:

In 1321, more and more people came to visit Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325). Many chose to stay there permanently, so Nizamuddin began building a water tank near his home. At the same time, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, started building a massive fortress called Tughlaqabad in Delhi. He ordered all laborers in Delhi to work on the fortress, including the workers building a water tank for Nizamuddin. These workers preferred to work for Nizamuddin, so they built the fortress during the day and snuck back at night to work on the water tank.

When Ghiyasuddin found out, he banned the workers from working for Nizamuddin. Nizamuddin then made a prophecy: "Ya rahey ujjar, ya basey gujjar". It roughly means, "Either it will become a wasteland, or it will be inhabited by the Gujjar people." After the sultanate fell, the nomadic Gurjar (gujjar) people took over this castle and it turned into a wilderness.

Legend says Nizamuddin made many prophecies about Ghiyas. Another famous one is 'Hunuz Dilli dur ast'. It means 'Delhi is still far away'. Ghiyas led a successful expedition to Bengal in 1324. In February 1325, while he was on his way back, a wooden pavilion collapsed and crushed him to death before he could reach Delhi.

After the pool was finished, Nizamuddin said a dua for it. People believe this pool has magical powers and can cure skin diseases.

Right next to the pool are two women's graves. Persian inscriptions on them show they were built in 1563. One woman was shown mercy and forgiveness, while the other died in deep sorrow.



Follow the path south from the pool to reach the true heart of the Nizamuddin shrine. Many people are buying fresh flowers where the path meets the courtyard to offer to the saint.









4. Jamaat Khana mosque: 14th century

The Jamaat Khana mosque is the most important building in the heart of Nizamuddin. There are many different stories about its history, but it is likely the second mosque built in Delhi after the Qutb mosque.

One story says that Sultan Alauddin Khalji (reigned 1296-1316) of the Khalji dynasty built this mosque because Nizamuddin once refused a large sum of money offered by the Sultan. Because it has been restored, this mosque looks very different from the Alai Darwaza, the southern gate of the Qutb mosque built by Alauddin Khalji. However, if you look closely, the proportions and decorations of the two buildings are actually very similar.

Another story says the main hall of this building was originally built by Alauddin Khalji's son, Khizr Khan, as a tomb for Nizamuddin. Nizamuddin did not want to be buried in a tomb, so the building became a mosque and side rooms were added to both sides. But looking at the existing structure, the main hall and the side chambers seem to be built together perfectly, with no signs that they were constructed at different times.

A third theory says Nizamuddin was buried in the wilderness according to his final wishes, and this mosque was built for believers by Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (reigned 1351-1388). Overall, the building's style is still very close to the architectural style of the Khalji dynasty.



















The hall on the north side of the mosque is currently undergoing repairs.





5. Nizamuddin shrine (gongbei): 19th century

The Shrine of Nizamuddin (Shrine) sits right in front of the Jamaat Khana mosque. It is impossible to know what the original shrine looked like. The first shrine was built in the late 14th century by Firoz Shah Tughlak, who was the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate from 1351 to 1388.

In 1562, a noble serving under the Mughal Emperor Akbar added marble screens around the shrine.

Starting in 1608, the governor of Delhi at the time, Sheikh Farid Bukhari, added several new features to the shrine, including a wooden canopy inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

In 1652, a red sandstone corridor was built around the shrine, but it was replaced in 1809 by the marble columns we see today.

The shrine's canopy was rebuilt in 1820, and a dome was added in 1839, giving it the appearance it has now.





Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325), also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin, was a key figure in the Sufi Chishti Order and is considered one of the most important Sufis in South Asia.

Nizamuddin was born in 1238 in Badayun, near the Ganges River in Uttar Pradesh. His father died when he was five, and his mother brought him to Delhi to make a living. At age 20, Nizamuddin traveled to Ajodhan (now in the Punjab region of Pakistan) to follow the famous Sufi master Fariduddin Ganjshakar, who was also one of the founders of the Sufi Chishti Order. After that, Nizamuddin spent three consecutive Ramadans traveling from Delhi to Ajodhan to be with Fariduddin Ganjshakar. During the third Ramadan, Fariduddin Ganjshakar named Nizamuddin as his successor. Not long after, Nizamuddin received news in Delhi that his teacher had passed away.

Nizamuddin lived in many parts of Delhi. In his later years, he moved to a place outside the city called Ghiyaspur to escape the noise. There, he built his own Sufi lodge (khanqah). A lodge is usually part of a complex that includes a school, a mosque, and a tomb (gongbei). Inside the prayer hall (daotang), Nizamuddin generously shared his knowledge with everyone who came to ask him for guidance. Soon, more and more people gathered around him, from the poor to the wealthy, and even court poets from the Delhi Sultanate came to learn from his teachings.

Nizamuddin did not focus much on Sufi theory, choosing instead to put his energy into practice. His key principles included helping those in need, providing food for the hungry, and showing compassion to the oppressed. He strongly opposed mixing with the Sultan and the royal nobility. He urged the wealthy to stay in close contact with the poor and the oppressed. He took an uncompromising stance against all forms of political and social oppression.

Nizamuddin was also a strong supporter of the Sufi Sama ceremony, which some people at the time considered un-Islamic. Sama is a Sufi ritual centered on remembrance (Dhikr) that includes singing, playing musical instruments, dancing, and reciting poetry. The famous Sufi whirling dance is one part of Sama.

Music and dance have always been an important part of various religious rituals in India. Nizamuddin hoped to use music and dance to make it easier for ordinary believers to participate in Sufism. Influenced by Nizamuddin, his famous student Amir Khusrow invented Qawwali, the most well-known form of Sufi music in South Asia.



























6. Tomb of Amir Khusrau: 1605

The tomb of Nizamuddin's student Amir Khusro (1253-1325) sits south of the shrine and is the second most important tomb in the core area after Nizamuddin's own.

In 1310, 57-year-old Khusro met Nizamuddin and eventually became his student. In 1319, Khusro wrote a prose work called Afzal ul-Fawaid (The Greatest Blessings) that explains the teachings of Nizamuddin. Nizamuddin passed away on April 3, 1325, and Khusrau died just six months later. His tomb, like the shrine of Nizamuddin, was rebuilt many times. During the reign of Humayun (1530-1560), a surrounding wall was added, which makes it difficult to see the original appearance of the tomb.













Amir Khusrau holds a high status in India and is known as an iconic figure in Indian cultural history. He is called the father of Urdu literature and the father of Indian Sufi music, among many other titles. He was a Sufi musician who invented Qawwali, the most important form of Sufi music in South Asia, and he was also a great Persian poet. Ghazal was a very important form in his poetry. Khusrau made great contributions to the ghazal style of poetry and was the first to introduce ghazal-style songs to India, where they became an important musical form in South Asia.



A portrait of Khusrau teaching his students, painted in the Bukhara region between the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

1. Exiled Turks

Khusrau's father came from the Lachin tribe of the Turks. He was born and raised near Samarkand under the rule of the Western Liao dynasty. In 1218, Genghis Khan's army destroyed the Western Liao dynasty and devastated Central Asia. Many Turks fled in all directions, and Khusrau's father escaped to what is now northern Afghanistan.

At that time, Sultan Shams ud-Din Iltutmish of the Delhi Sultanate also came from a Turkic tribe in Central Asia. He welcomed these Turkic refugees to settle in the Delhi Sultanate and provided significant support and many positions in the sultan's court to exiled Turkic nobles, craftsmen, and scholars.

In 1230, the Sultan gave Khusrau's father a piece of land, and he married the daughter of an Indian Rajput noble.

2. Receive an Indian education

In 1260, when Khusrau was only 7 years old, his father passed away. His mother then took the whole family back to live at her parents' home in Delhi. So, in reality, Khusrau grew up in the home of his maternal grandfather, Rawat Arz.

Khusrau's maternal grandfather was a highly cultured, high-ranking official in the court of the Delhi Sultan Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266-1286). Khusrau started his formal education at his grandfather's house when he was eight, and he also began learning how to write poetry.

In 1271, Khusrau finished his first poetry collection, Tuhfat us-Sighr (Gift of Childhood), which included poems he wrote between the ages of 16 and 18.

3. Gaining recognition from the Mamluk dynasty

Khusrau's grandfather passed away when he was 20, and after that, Khusrau joined the army of the Mamluk dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate. By then, his poetry had already made a big impression on the Sultan's court, and Sultan Balban's second son, Bughra Khan, was his biggest fan. In 1276, Bughra Khan became a patron of Khusrau.

Bughra Khan left the Sultan's court in 1277 to rule Bengal. In 1279, Khusrau visited him in Bengal and finished his second poetry collection there, Wast ul-Hayat (The Middle of Life).

After this, the Sultan's eldest son, Khan Muhammad, visited Delhi from Multan. He also loved Khusrau's poetry and invited him to come live in Multan. In 1281, Khusrau traveled to Multan with Khan Muhammad. At that time, Multan was the gateway from India to Arabia and Persia. It was an important cultural center in India that brought together brilliant scholars from Persia, India, and other places, and Khusrau learned a great deal there.

In 1285, Khan Muhammad died in battle while fighting the Mongol army. Sultan Balban died in 1287. His grandson, Muiz ud din Qaiqabad, who was the son of his second son Bughra Khan, took the throne as the final sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.

Between 1287 and 1288, Khusrau became a court poet for the sultan. In 1288, he finished his first long poem (Mathnawi) titled Qiran us-Sa'dain (The Meeting of the Two Auspicious Stars). It tells the story of Bughra Khan, who had been hostile toward his son for a long time, finally meeting with Sultan Qaiqabad.

4. Gaining respect from the Khalji dynasty

In 1290, the military officer Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji led a coup to overthrow the Mamluk dynasty and established the Khalji dynasty.

Firuz Khalji also greatly admired Khusrau's poetry, so Khusrau was invited back to be the court poet and was treated with great respect. In the court of the Khalji dynasty, Khusrau was able to focus on his literary work. His ghazal poems were turned into songs, and the Sultan had female singers perform them for him every night.

Khusrau once wrote about this experience: The King of the World, Firuz Khalji, gave me unimaginable treasures to reward me for the endless pain I suffered while writing poetry.

In 1290, Khusrow finished his second long poem (masnavi), Miftah ul-Futuh (Key to Victories), which praised the victories of Firuz Khalji. In 1294, he completed his third poetry collection, Ghurrat ul-Kamaal (The Pinnacle of Perfection), which includes poems he wrote between the ages of 34 and 41.

In 1296, Alauddin Khalji became the new Sultan of Delhi. Khusrow wrote Khaza'in ul-Futuh (Treasures of Victories) for Sultan Alauddin Khalji, recording the Sultan's achievements in various areas. In 1298, Khusrow finished a set of five long poems (khamsa) known as Khamsa-e-Khusrow (Khusrow's Quintet). These two works brought Khusrau great fame and status. Sultan Alauddin Khalji was very pleased and rewarded him generously.



Illustrations for the Quintet (Khamsa)

7. South Asian Sufi music, Qawwali

Legend says that in the late 13th century, Khusrau blended Persian, Indian, Turkic, and Arabic music to create the local Indian Sufi music known as Qawwali.

The word Qawwali comes from the Arabic term Qaul, which means the saying of the Prophet. A Qawwal is someone who frequently chants the Qaul, and the act of chanting it is called Qawwali.

During the Mughal Empire, Qawwali was mostly sung in Persian. As it spread across South Asia, it began to be performed in many other languages, including Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi. Today, besides Delhi, Qawwali is popular in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, North India, Hyderabad, and Muslim-populated areas in Bangladesh like Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet. The performance style in each place is influenced by local traditional music, giving each one its own unique character.

1. Praise songs (nasheed) at the shrine of Nizamuddin.

The Nizamuddin Dargah hosts Qawwali performances two nights a week, but I didn't plan well enough and missed them. At the shrine, I was lucky to see an old man singing a song of praise for the Prophet, and it was very moving.



2. Qawwali performance inside the mosque.

I was very lucky to catch a Qawwali performance at a small mosque in the northeast of the Nizamuddin neighborhood, which was one of the most memorable parts of my trip to Delhi.

A Qawwali group usually has 8 to 9 people. This includes one lead singer, one or two backup singers, one or two harmonium players (who can also be the lead or backup singers), and one or two drummers playing the tabla and dholak drums. There are also 4 to 5 chorus members who repeat key verses and clap to keep the beat. During the performance, everyone sits cross-legged on the floor, with the lead singer, backup singers, and harmonium player in front, and the drummers and chorus members behind them.

Before the harmonium was introduced, qawwali usually used the sarangi, a stringed instrument similar to a violin.







Qawwali themes are love, devotion, and longing, and they are divided into seven types based on their content:

The first type is called hamd, which means praise. It is a song praising Allah and usually starts the qawwali.

The second type is called na'at, which means description. It is a song praising the Prophet Muhammad and is usually the second song in a qawwali.

The third type is called manqabat, which means virtue. It is a song praising Imam Ali or one of the Sufi saints and is usually the third song in a qawwali.

The fourth type is called marsiya, which means elegy. It tells the story of how Imam Hussain, the son of Imam Ali, and his family were all martyred in the Battle of Karbala. This type is usually only performed during Shia rituals.

The fifth type is called ghazal, meaning love song. This is a song that seems very secular on the surface, usually singing about the joy of drinking wine and the pain of being separated from a lover. In South Asia, ghazal is an independent musical genre on its own and usually does not have a deeper meaning. However, in the context of Sufi Qawwali rituals, these secular metaphors are used to express the longing for the soul to unite with the divine and a love for the sacred. In songs about being drunk, wine represents divine knowledge, the wine glass is Allah or a spiritual guide, the tavern is considered the spiritual background where the soul exists, and being drunk means having gained divine knowledge or being filled with the joy of loving Allah. Songs that seem to describe a longing for a lover are actually singing about the pain of the soul being separated from Allah and the desire to be reunited.

The sixth type is called kafi, a unique form of poetry in Punjabi, Sindhi, and Seraiki.

The seventh type is called munajaat, which means monologue. The singer uses various forms to express praise to Allah, usually singing in Persian.

3. Sufi music at the music festival.

For the first 600 years, Qawwali was a type of music performed only at Sufi shrines or places of spiritual practice (dargah) in South Asia. Since the 20th century, Qawwali music has gained mainstream attention through major world music labels and the international music scene. It now holds a certain international status, and many bands have started performing Qawwali melodies. I saw a rock band performing Sufi music in front of the Select Citywalk mall in Delhi.



8. Tomb of Princess Jahanara: 1681.

Because of Nizamuddin's important status in India, many significant figures are buried near him. There are several important tombs around the Nizamuddin shrine. The first one, right next to the mosque, is the white marble tomb of Princess Jahanara Begum Sahiba (1614-1681).

Princess Jahanara was the most powerful woman in the Mughal Empire during the mid-17th century. She was also the only female Sufi practitioner in the Mughal court, belonging to the Qadiriyya order, which is known as the Qadiriyya menhuan in Northwest China.



The white marble latticework tomb in the center of the picture is the tomb of Princess Jahanara.

1. Becoming the First Lady of the Empire

Princess Jahanara was the eldest daughter of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1628-1658), who built the Taj Mahal. She was educated from a young age by Sati al-Nisa Khanam, the sister of the famous Mughal Empire poet Talib Amuli. Sati al-Nisa Khanam was highly accomplished in the Quran, Persian literature, court etiquette, and medicine. At that time, women in the Mughal royal family could enter the famous Akbar the Great Library to read books in Persian, Turkish, and Indian languages. The young princess became skilled in reading, writing, poetry, and painting, and she also enjoyed hobbies like chess, polo, and hunting.

After her mother died in 1631, the 17-year-old princess became the First Lady of the empire (Padshah Begum) and took charge of court ceremonies. After moving past the grief of losing her mother, the princess hosted the engagement and wedding ceremonies for her brother, Dara Shukoh, to fulfill her mother's final wishes.

The princess became increasingly favored by her father and eventually rose to be the highest-ranking woman in the Mughal Empire, with her father, Shah Jahan, even letting her hold the imperial seal.

In 1644, his younger brother, the future Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, angered their father. The princess successfully convinced her father to forgive Aurangzeb and restore his military rank.

2. Burned and healed

In March 1644, 30-year-old Princess Jahanara suffered severe burns and was so badly injured that she almost died. To pray for the princess's recovery, Shah Jahan gave large amounts of charity to the poor and released many prisoners. The princess's brothers, including Aurangzeb, also returned to Delhi to visit her.

During her illness, Emperor Shah Jahan stayed in the Red Fort and barely left his daughter's side. The Mughal Empire's royal doctors could not heal her burns, so Shah Jahan brought in Persian doctors, and the princess's condition slowly improved. Finally, after a full year, the princess made a complete recovery.

3. Managing the empire's charity work

In the Mughal court, Princess Jahanara was mainly in charge of charity work, and she was famous for actively caring for the poor and funding the construction of mosques. Whenever a major holiday arrived or a famine struck a region, the princess organized large-scale relief efforts. The princess was also responsible for organizing the pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

4. Sufi practice

Princess Jahanara was a student of the Sufi master Mullah Shah Badakhshi. She officially joined the Sufi Qadiriyya order in 1641 and achieved great success in her spiritual practice.

She wrote several books on Sufism. The most famous one is a biography of Moinuddin Chishti, the founder of the Chishti order. At the time, this book was highly praised for its excellent literary quality and accurate judgment. The princess also commissioned the translation and publication of a series of Sufi works, including many commentaries on Rumi's famous Mathnawi, which were very popular in the Mughal Empire.

5. Becoming First Lady again

In 1657, Shah Jahan fell seriously ill, and his four sons began a war of succession. Princess Jahanara supported Shah Jahan's eldest son, Dara Shikoh, but the following year, Dara Shikoh was defeated by his younger brother Aurangzeb and fled to Delhi.

Shah Jahan hoped the princess would use her influence over her brothers to persuade them, but in June 1658, Aurangzeb still besieged his father at Agra Fort. Aurangzeb cut off the water supply to force his father to surrender, then kept his father and the princess under house arrest.

The princess cared for Shah Jahan until he passed away in 1666, after which she reconciled with Aurangzeb and became the First Lady of the Mughal Empire once again.

During Aurangzeb's reign, the princess still held privileges that no other women in the Mughal royal family possessed. She opposed Aurangzeb's conservative religious policies, especially when he strictly regulated public life in 1679 by reinstating the poll tax on non-Muslims, a policy the princess believed would alienate the Hindus within the empire.



An 18th-century portrait of the princess.

6. The Princess's Tomb

Princess Jahanara built her own tomb next to the Nizamuddin shrine while she was still alive. The tomb is made of white marble and features lattice screens. After the princess passed away in 1681, Aurangzeb gave her the title Sahibat-uz-Zamani, which means "Mistress of the Age."



The princess's tomb is in the top right corner.



Inside the circle.

9. Tomb of Muhammad Shah: 1748.

Right next to the tomb of Princess Jahanara is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719-1748), which also features white marble latticework.

During the reign of Muhammad Shah, the Mughal Empire declined rapidly and irreversibly. In the royal court, local Indian culture gradually replaced the influence of Persian and Turkic cultures.



1. Inheriting the throne

Muhammad Shah was born in 1702 in what is now Ghazni, Afghanistan. After his grandfather, Emperor Bahadur Shah I (reigned 1707-1712), died in 1712, his father was killed in a war for the throne. At just 10 years old, Muhammad Shah and his mother were imprisoned by his uncle, Jahandar Shah (reigned 1712-1713). While in prison, Muhammad Shah was raised and educated by his mother, and he was a very diligent student.

Soon after, Jahandar Shah was assassinated by the Sayyid Brothers, who held real power in the empire. They installed Farrukhsiyar (reigned 1713-1719) as a puppet emperor.

In 1719, Farrukhsiyar was killed by the Sayyid brothers. They then installed two puppet rulers, but both died of illness a few months after taking the throne. Finally, the Sayyid brothers chose 17-year-old Muhammad Shah to be emperor. In 1720, Muhammad Shah got rid of the Sayyid brothers one after another, took direct control of the military, and officially ruled the empire.



A portrait of Muhammad Shah with nobles painted in 1730, kept at the Bodleian Library of Oxford University.

2. Developing arts and culture

During the reign of Muhammad Shah, the influence of Persian and Turkic cultures in the Mughal Empire gradually faded, while local Indian cultural influence grew stronger. Muhammad Shah replaced Persian with Urdu as the court language and oversaw the first translation of the Quran into Urdu. In the royal court, the Turkic formal wear worn by nobles from Samarkand was replaced by the local Indian formal coat (Sherwani).

At the same time, Muhammad Shah brought the local Indian Sufi musical performance (Qawwali) back into the court, which caused it to spread quickly across South Asia.

Although the political power of the Mughal Empire declined during the reign of Muhammad Shah, he strongly encouraged literature and the arts. Muhammad Shah hired many great painters to depict various scenes of palace life in their artwork. At the same time, Indian classical music continued to develop and evolve in Muhammad Shah's court.



A portrait of Muhammad Shah and his family painted in 1735, held by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.



A scene of Muhammad Shah meeting Nader Shah painted in 1740, held by the Guimet Museum in Paris.

3. Died in sorrow

In 1747, the Durrani dynasty of Afghanistan led 30,000 cavalrymen from Peshawar. They defeated 70,000 Mughal troops who tried to stop them, then carried out a massacre in the important Mughal city of Lahore and looted a massive amount of wealth. On March 11, 1748, while on the way to Delhi, the Durrani army was intercepted by Mughal forces sent by Muhammad Shah, and the two sides began a decisive battle. During the fighting, Ahmad Shah's artillery ammunition caused a fire. Many soldiers burned to death, and the Durrani had to retreat back to Afghanistan. During the decisive battle against Afghanistan, the Mughal Empire's prime minister, Qamaruddin Khan, was hit by artillery fire and died. When Muhammad Shah heard the news, he was heartbroken. He eventually died from his overwhelming grief on April 26, 1748, and was buried next to the Nizamuddin shrine.

10. Tomb of Prince Mirza Jahangir: 1821 Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: Delhi Sufi Sites — Shrines, Mosques and Muslim Communities is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The tomb of Prince Mirza Jahangir (Shahzada Mirza Muhammad Jahangir Bakht Bahadur, 1791-1821) is near the east gate of the shrine complex, and it also features white marble latticework. The account keeps its focus on Delhi Sufi Sites, Muslim Heritage, India Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

The tomb of Prince Mirza Jahangir (Shahzada Mirza Muhammad Jahangir Bakht Bahadur, 1791-1821) is near the east gate of the shrine complex, and it also features white marble latticework.







Prince Mirza Jahangir was the son of the Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II (reigned 1806-1837). He was once named crown prince, but after attacking a British official, he was exiled by the East India Company, and his younger brother eventually became the last Mughal emperor.

Akbar Shah II was never very happy with his eldest son and wanted to name Mirza Jahangir as his heir. However, Sir Archibald Seton, who was stationed at the Red Fort in Delhi, did not like this, and the 19-year-old prince recklessly humiliated the official in public. A few days later, the prince held a party on the roof of the Red Fort in Delhi. He saw a British officer passing by and fired a shot at him, killing one of the officer's attendants. Because of this, the prince was exiled to Allahabad in the southeast of Uttar Pradesh.

The prince was eventually released from exile and returned to Delhi, where he died at the age of 31.



The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto holds a 1811 Mughal court portrait by Ghulam Murtaza Khan. Emperor Akbar Shah II is in the center, and the first person on the right is Prince Mirza Jahangir.

11. East Gate Bazaar

The religious goods market outside the east gate of the Nizamuddin Dargah core area really brings your imagination of the Mughal Empire to life.















Chapter 4: The Perimeter of Nizamuddin Dargah

1. Tomb of Ataga Khan: 1566

Right next to the east side of the Nizamuddin Dargah core area stands the tomb of Ataga Khan, the foster father of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Ataga Khan's full name was Shamsuddin Muhammad Atgah Khan, and he held many important positions in the Mughal court. He was originally just an ordinary soldier, but by chance he saved the Mughal Emperor Humayun by the Ganges River, so Humayun brought him into the palace. To reward Ataga Khan for his loyalty, Humayun let Ataga Khan's wife become the foster mother of his son Akbar (the future Akbar the Great), and Ataga Khan then received the title of Atgah (foster father).

Ataga Khan was always a minister deeply loved by Akbar the Great. In 1561, he replaced Maham Anga as the new wakil (equivalent to prime minister), which caused Maham Anga great resentment. On May 16, 1562, Ataga Khan was murdered by Maham Anga's son, Adham Khan. Hearing that his foster father had been murdered, Akbar the Great was furious. He ordered Adham Khan to be thrown from the city wall twice to make sure he was really dead.

In 1566, Emperor Akbar ordered his foster brother, Mirza Aziz Koka, the son of Ataga Khan, to build a tomb for his father next to the Nizamuddin Dargah. The architect of this tomb was Ustab Khuda Quli, and the Quranic verses on the white marble were written by Baqi Muhammad from Bukhara.

When I visited, the tomb of Ataga Khan was under renovation and closed to the public.







2. Chausath Khamba: 1624

After leaving the east gate of the Nizamuddin Dargah core area and walking further east, you reach Chausath Khamba, the most important building in the eastern part of the Nizamuddin community. It is the tomb that Mirza Aziz Koka (1542-1624), the son of Ataga Khan, built for himself between 1623 and 1624.

Chausath Khamba means sixty-four pillars in Hindi and Urdu. It is a square hall made of white marble. Sixty-four pillars support twenty-five domes that you can only see from inside the building, as the roof itself is flat.

The design of Chausath Khamba does not look like a tomb at all. Experts think this place was likely a hall for resting and gathering when visiting the Nizamuddin shrine and the tomb of Atghah Khan. It was only turned into a tomb after Mirza died.









The British Library holds a drawing of Chausath Khamba made by William Daniell, R. A. in 1801.



This information comes from the website http://ranasafvi.com/chausath-khamba/

A Delhi artist painted the Chausath Khamba between 1820 and 1825.



From http://ranasafvi.com/chausath-khamba/









The raised part on the tombstone is called a qalam, which shows it is a man's grave. Most of the text on it comes from the Quran, Surah 3:185: Every soul shall taste death.







1. The Great Emperor's childhood friend

Mirza was a high-ranking official during the reigns of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) and his successor Jahangir (1605-1627). Because his father, Ataga Khan, was the foster father of Emperor Akbar, he received the title Koka, which means foster brother.

Mirza was a childhood playmate of Emperor Akbar and shared a very deep bond with the emperor. In 1572, Emperor Akbar conquered the Gujarat Sultanate southwest of Delhi and appointed Mirza to govern Gujarat. In 1573, the people of Gujarat rebelled and besieged the city of Ahmedabad. Mirza held the city until Emperor Akbar led his army to break the siege.

2. Receiving the Emperor's forgiveness

Gradually, Mirza became unhappy with many of Emperor Akbar's policies. In 1578, he was ordered to put down a rebellion in Bengal, and in 1586, he was ordered to conquer the Deccan Plateau. He was reluctant to carry out both missions, and his slow progress caused him to miss key military opportunities.

However, as childhood friends, Emperor Akbar remained very forgiving toward Mirza. In 1592, Mirza was sent on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and spent a lot of money on religious causes. Eventually, Emperor Akbar forgave Mirza and restored his status.

3. Losing status

In 1605, Jahangir became the new Mughal emperor, and in 1606 he crushed the rebellion led by his eldest son, Khusrau Mirza. Because he supported the rebellion, Mirza was stripped of most of his power. In his later years, Mirza regained some of his power, but it was nothing like it had been when his father was alive.



Records from the renovations between 2011 and 2014.







The main gate, built between the late 16th and early 17th centuries.





3. Tomb of the poet Ghalib: 1869.

In the courtyard north of Chausath Khamba lies the tomb of Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869), known as the last great poet of the Mughal Empire and the most famous Urdu poet of the 19th century.

Ghalib's real name was Mirza Asadullah Khan Baig. Ghalib was his pen name, which means "dominant" or "superior" in Urdu. During Ghalib's life, the Mughal Empire faded under British influence and finally ended after the rebellion of 1857. Ghalib's poetry is closely tied to this period.







The epitaph on his tombstone reads:

The joys of the world mean nothing to me

Because my heart feels nothing but blood



1. From a Turkic family

Ghalib was born near Agra in 1797, and his family were descendants of the Aibak tribe of the Seljuk Turks. After the Seljuk Empire fell in the 12th century, his family moved to Samarkand. During the reign of the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah (1748-1754), Ghalib's grandfather moved from Samarkand to the Mughal Empire. He worked in Lahore, Delhi, and Jaipur before finally settling in Agra.

Ghalib's father married a Kashmiri girl and later lived with his father-in-law. He died in a war in 1803, when Ghalib was only 5 years old. After his father passed away, Ghalib was raised by his uncle.

2. Poetry and Love

Ghalib started writing poetry at age 11. Although his mother tongue was Urdu, his family also used Persian and Turkic. He also received an education in Persian and Arabic at a very young age.

Ghalib moved to Delhi after getting married at 13, but all 7 of his children died in infancy by the time he turned 30. Ghalib described marriage as a second imprisonment of life itself. He was very keen on extramarital affairs and even earned the nickname "friend of women" in the Mughal court. Once, when someone praised the poetry of the pious poet Sheikh Sahbai, Ghalib immediately retorted: What kind of poet is Sahbai? He never drank alcohol, never gambled, was never hit by a lover with a shoe, and never spent time in prison.

Although Ghalib felt very proud of his Persian poetry achievements, he is most famous today for his Urdu ghazals. Before Ghalib, ghazals mostly focused on painful love. Ghalib brought in more philosophy, including the hardships and mysteries of life, which greatly expanded the scope of ghazals.

To follow the traditions of classical ghazals, the identity and gender of the beloved remain uncertain in most of Ghalib's poetry. Later generations believe that the poetic convention of focusing on the 'idea' of a beloved rather than a real person allowed poets to move away from realism in their work.

3. Court Poet

In 1850, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, gave Ghalib the titles of 'Dabir-ul-Mulk' and 'Mirza Nosha.' From then on, Ghalib officially used the name Mirza and became a Mughal noble and court poet. In 1854, Ghalib was appointed as the emperor's poet tutor. In 1856, he became a tutor for the prince and also served as the court historian.

The Mughal Empire fell to the British in 1857. Before that, Ghalib lived as a nobleman supported by the royal family and his friends, never earning his own money. During British rule, he tried everything he could to get a pension but failed.



The cover of Ghalib's poetry collection published in 1869, held by the Digital Museum of India.

4. Barah Khamba: 14th-15th century.

Barah Khamba sits in a garden in the northern part of the Nizamuddin neighborhood. It is a tomb for a nobleman from the Delhi Sultanate, though the identity of the person buried there remains unknown. Barah khamba means "twelve pillars" in both Urdu and Hindi. This tomb was once occupied as a residence and suffered a lot of damage, but it has now been restored.









5. Gol Gumbad: 15th century

Gol Gumbad is located northwest of the Nizamuddin neighborhood. From the outside, the tomb has the style of the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413), but the interior has some features typical of later tombs.







6. Tomb of Malik Maqbul: 1388

Deep in the alleys of the southern Nizamuddin neighborhood stands the first octagonal tomb in Indian history. It belongs to Malik Maqbul, a Wazir (prime minister) of the Tughlaq dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate, and was built by his son, Junan Shah.



The tomb is in poor condition today. It is damaged in many places and squeezed between residential houses.





A long wall surrounds the tomb, and this is the main gate of that wall.

1. Converting to Islam

Maqbul was originally named Yugandhar. He was a Hindu commander at Warangal Fort, the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty in southern India.

In 1323, the Tughlaq dynasty captured Warangal Fort. Yugandhar was taken to Delhi, converted to Islam, and given the name Malik Maqbul.

2. The actual ruler of the Sultanate

After arriving in the Delhi Sultanate, Maqbul gradually earned the Sultan's trust. He accompanied the Sultan to crush a rebellion in the Gujarat region, where they killed all the rebels and seized a massive amount of wealth. Back in Delhi, Malik Maqbul kept getting promoted. Eventually, under Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq (who reigned from 1351 to 1388), he became the Wazir, a position second only to the Sultan himself.

Malik Maqbul was the most trusted minister of Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq. The Sultan even called him brother and said he was the true ruler of Delhi. At that time, Maqbul was in charge of the Sultanate's finances. He was completely honest with the Sultan, kept him fully informed about the financial situation, and turned over all gifts from local officials to the state. At the same time, auditors and accountants strictly limited Maqbul's power, and they often had intense arguments. Once, Maqbul clashed with an accountant and threatened to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. This forced the Sultan to reduce the accountant's power.

3. Successor

Maqbul died in 1369, and his son Jauna Khan took over as the Wazir of the Delhi Sultanate. Jauna Khan was just as talented at governing as his father, but he lacked military skill and was eventually defeated and executed in battle.

The greatest legacy Jauna Khan left behind is the seven mosques he built in Delhi. I have visited four of them: Begampur Mosque, Khirki Mosque, Kalan Mosque, and Kali Mosque. The fourth one, Kali Mosque, is right on the east side of Malik Maqbul's tomb, and I will describe it in detail next.



Begampur Mosque



Khirki Mosque



Kalan Mosque

7. Kali Mosque: 1370

Kali Mosque sits east of the tomb of Malik Maqbul. It is one of seven mosques built by Jauna Khan (Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul), who served as the vizier to Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty during the Delhi Sultanate.

Kali Mosque and Khirki Mosque are very similar in their design and construction date, and both were once abandoned. The difference is that Kali Mosque was brought back into use in the early 20th century, and some changes were made to its original layout.











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Summary: Old Dubai — Before Oil, Souks and Muslim History is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Venetian pearl merchants mentioned the pearl industry in Dubai (Dibei) as early as 1580, but the town did not officially form as a pearl and fishing hub until the early 18th century. The account keeps its focus on Old Dubai, Dubai History, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Venetian pearl merchants mentioned the pearl industry in Dubai (Dibei) as early as 1580, but the town did not officially form as a pearl and fishing hub until the early 18th century.

In 1799, Dubai became the territory of the Al Abu Falasa family from the Bani Yas tribe of Abu Dhabi. In 1833, Maktoum bin Butti moved from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and established the Al Maktoum dynasty, making Dubai independent from Abu Dhabi.

A smallpox outbreak hit Dubai in 1841, causing residents to move from the south bank of Dubai Creek to the north bank. This created the two old districts of Bur Dubai on the south bank and Deira on the north bank. You can read about the historic district on the north bank of Dubai Creek in my previous diary entry, 'Dubai Al Ras Historic District'.

After the 20th century, Dubai became a free port with no taxes on imports and exports, offering great security for merchants. In 1904, British-Indian steamships began regular stops in Dubai. Dubai became an important trade hub in the Persian Gulf, and some Persian merchants started to settle there.

Dubai's economy long relied on pearl exports. However, in the 1920s, cultured pearls flooded the world market at the same time as the Great Depression. Dubai's pearl industry collapsed in 1929, leaving many people unemployed and the whole city in poverty.

It was not until oil was discovered in 1966 that Dubai used the income to start large-scale infrastructure projects, and the whole region began to prosper. After the Gulf War, Dubai shifted its economic focus to free trade and tourism, gradually becoming a modern metropolis.



A map of Dubai from 1822, photographed at the Dubai Museum.



Dubai city in 1950, photographed at the Dubai Museum.

1. Dubai Fort.

Al Fahidi Fort is the oldest existing building in Dubai. It was first built in 1787 (some say 1799 or 1800) and was expanded between the 1830s and 1850s. The fort is built from coral stone, crushed rock, and lime, and it features three towers. This place was originally the home of the ruler of Dubai. In the early 20th century, it housed 100 soldiers before it was turned into an armory and a prison.

After being renovated in 1971, the fort opened to the public as the Dubai Museum. In 1995, new museum galleries were built underground beneath the fort.



Looking down at the fort



The front of the fort



The back of the fort

In the south of the fort, you can see a remaining section of the Dubai Wall. Built in 1800, this wall is 600 meters long and 2.5 meters high, made from coral stone and lime. As Dubai expanded in the early 20th century, most of the wall was torn down. The remaining parts were restored in 2001 and are still standing today.







The main gate of the fort has doors made of teak wood.



Inside the fort.



Inside the fort.



Dubai Fort in 1950.



Dubai Fort in 1950.



An old photo of Dubai Fort.

Artifacts in the Dubai Museum, including weapons used by soldiers stationed here at the time.



A curved sword (scimitar) with a bone handle decorated with silver and gold pieces, and a scabbard covered in dense silver wire.



A shield made of shark skin with copper decorations.



Brass bracers.



Helmet.



Leather pouch for gunpowder.

2. Watchtower.

Besides the city walls and castles, watchtowers were also important defensive structures for the city of Dubai. Dubai currently has three traditional watchtowers left, and I visited one of them, the Al Shandagah watchtower built in 1939.



3. Dubai Creek

Dubai Creek divides the old city of Dubai into two parts: Bur Dubai and Deira. From the late 19th and early 20th centuries until it was dredged in 1961, Dubai Creek was an important trading port between India, East Africa, and the Gulf region, even though the shallow water meant it could not support large-scale shipping.







4. Al Bastakiya Historical District

The Al Bastakiya historical district sits east of the Dubai Fort and was built by Persian merchants in the late 19th century. The name Al Bastakiya comes from the city of Bastak in southern Iran. After Dubai became a free trade port in the 1890s, many Persian merchants crossed the Persian Gulf to trade here. Most of them were from Bastak, which was the main source of firewood for the Gulf coastal region at the time. The Persian community in Al Bastakiya was officially established by the 1920s.

Before this, Dubai was mostly palm-frond huts for Bedouins. After Persian merchants arrived, they started building houses with coral stone, lime, and shells, and they brought wind towers (barjeel) with Iranian features.

After Dubai discovered oil in the 1960s, the residents of Al Bastakiya gradually moved to modern neighborhoods. By the 1980s, half of the houses in the entire neighborhood had been destroyed to build office towers.

In 1989, the Dubai Municipality planned to demolish the whole neighborhood. Rayner Otter, a British architect living in Dubai at the time, wrote a letter to Prince Charles of the UK to ask for the neighborhood to be protected. When Prince Charles visited Dubai that year, he toured the entire neighborhood with Rayner Otter. Thanks to Prince Charles's suggestion, this place was finally preserved.

In 2005, the Dubai government began restoring the historic buildings here, gradually turning the area into a heritage village that looks the way we see it today.

The picture below shows a wind tower (Barjeel) brought to Dubai by Persian merchants over a hundred years ago. These towers create a natural breeze inside the house to help people cope with the intense heat.







A section of the old Dubai city wall remains in the neighborhood.





I visited during Eid al-Fitr and watched the traditional Gulf Bedouin dance, Al Ayala, at the entrance to the neighborhood. Al Ayala is found in the UAE and northwest Oman. During a performance, about ten men on each side wave wooden sticks to mimic a fight while singing traditional melodies. In the middle, three Al Ras drums, two Al Tar drums, and two brass cymbals keep the rhythm. It was named a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014.











The neighborhood at dusk.



There are a few art shops run by Arabs in the neighborhood, and I bought some postcards at one of them.





I had an Arab calligrapher from Aleppo, Syria, named Ayman Bazerbashi, write my name, Wang Dongsi, in Arabic. Ayman Bazerbashi learned Arabic crafts from his father as a child, later became an Arabic calligrapher, and now lives in Dubai.







Other works by Ayman Bazerbashi



The Iranian mosque in Old Dubai



I ate grilled lamb skewers (kebab) and meat porridge (haleem) at an Iranian restaurant in Old Dubai that has been open since the 1970s.













5. Al Shindagha Historical District

The Al Shindagha historical district is northwest of the Dubai Fort. It formed between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most famous site here is the house where the old ruler of Dubai lived from 1912 to 1958. There are also several interesting museums in the area.

















1. Saruq Al Hadid Archaeology Museum

The Saruq Al Hadid Archaeology Museum is located inside a traditional Arabian Gulf house in Shindagha. Saruq Al Hadid is a mysterious ancient site deep in the Dubai desert and is known as Dubai's most important archaeological site. The logo for the 2020 Dubai Expo was based on a gold ring found here.

In 2002, Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was flying over the desert in a helicopter when he spotted a large amount of black sediment on a sand dune. He immediately reported the discovery to the relevant authorities. Investigations revealed that these black deposits were actually waste and slag from copper and iron smelting. This 1.5-hectare slag heap stopped the sand dunes from moving, which preserved thousands of years of history.

Later, a Jordanian archaeological team carried out five large-scale excavations at Hadid. Between 2008 and 2009, a team from the Dubai Desert Survey, made up of American researchers and the Dubai Department of Tourism, conducted another series of excavations here. From 2014 to 2017, a team from Australian and New Zealand universities carried out a three-year archaeological excavation at the site. So far, more than 1,200 artifacts have been unearthed from the site, mostly pottery and metal items, including arrowheads, axes, fishhooks, bracelets, and knives.

Archaeological excavations show that Hili was inhabited from the Bronze Age Umm al-Nar culture (2600–2000 BC) through the Iron Age, which ended around 1000 BC. Its most prosperous period was Iron Age II, between 1100 BC and 600 BC. For over a thousand years, Hili served as an important settlement and a center for trade and metallurgy in the eastern Arabian Peninsula.

Hili is located deep in the desert, 40 kilometers inland. It lacks the three essentials for metal smelting: water, fuel, and ore. Why this site was chosen as a metallurgical center remains a mystery. The current leading theory points to religion. Many bronze snakes and pottery with snake patterns were found at the Hili site. While these have been found in small numbers at other ancient sites in the UAE and Oman, they are most concentrated here, clearly indicating it was a production center. This place was likely a religious site for snake worship in the eastern Arabian Peninsula.









Bronze daggers with lion or ram heads found in Hajar show the best metal craftsmanship of that time.



Many bronze snakes were found in Hajar, and some with diamond-shaped heads likely represent venomous snakes.



Some pottery jars also have snake patterns, which suggests a traditional religion that worshipped snakes, but we still know nothing about this religion.

2. Crossroads of Civilizations Museum

The Crossroads of Civilizations Museum is a private museum opened by Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori in 2014, featuring many precious Islamic book manuscripts and traditional weaponry. The museum aims to show the role of Islamic civilization as a crossroads for trade and cultural exchange between Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The artifacts in the museum were originally kept in Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori's home. During an exhibition he hosted, the director of the Dubai Architectural Heritage Department convinced him to share the collection with the public, which led to the creation of the current Crossroads of Civilizations Museum.

The Crossroads of Civilizations Museum is located inside a traditional 19th-century Gulf house, which was the former home of Sheikh Hashr Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, the brother of the eighth ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Saeed.



The museum itself features a courtyard (El Fena) typical of the Arab Gulf.













Here are some interesting exhibits to share:



An Ottoman-era manuscript covering astronomy, astrology, magic, feng shui, and medicine.



A paper model of a traditional Moroccan mosque produced in France; it would be fun to recreate this.



A plate from Iran dating back 1,000 years, featuring Kufic calligraphy.



A 19th-century stone carving of the Shahada in Syria.

You can find more details on the museum's official website, which also features a beautiful brochure at http://themuseum.ae/.





3. Traditional mosque.

The Shindagha neighborhood is home to the Almulla mosque, which follows the traditional style of the Gulf region. It has no minaret or dome, and such traditional mosques are now rare in Dubai.







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Summary: Dubai Al Ras — Old Streets, Souks and Muslim Heritage is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Al Ras literally means "the cape" or "headland." It is surrounded by Dubai Creek on three sides and sits at the westernmost edge of the Deira district in Old Dubai. It is also the oldest neighborhood in Deira. The account keeps its focus on Dubai Travel, Al Ras, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Al Ras literally means "the cape" or "headland." It is surrounded by Dubai Creek on three sides and sits at the westernmost edge of the Deira district in Old Dubai. It is also the oldest neighborhood in Deira.

In 1841, a smallpox outbreak hit the Bur Dubai area on the south bank of Dubai Creek, causing residents to move to the Deira area on the north bank. A disastrous fire broke out in Dubai in 1896. Because the traditional houses were made of palm fronds, the fire spread quickly and almost destroyed the entire Deira area. The Deira area was rebuilt only after the fire.

1. Dubai Creek

Dubai Creek separates the Bur Dubai and Deira districts of Dubai's old city. From the late 19th and early 20th centuries until it was dredged in 1961, Dubai Creek was an important port for dhows (traditional sailing vessels) coming from India and East Africa, even though the shallow water could not support large-scale shipping.





Today, the easiest way to get from Bur Dubai to Al Ras is still by taking a small boat across Dubai Creek. The dock for Al Ras is right at the west exit of the Bur Dubai Souk and is called the Bur Dubai Abra Station. The small boats leave as soon as they are full, and the fare is two coins (if I remember correctly).







You will arrive at the Deira Old Souk Abra Station on the other side very quickly.









2. Spice Market

Cross the street from the pier and you are at the famous Spice Souk. I arrived early, so the spice market was not fully open yet.











Behind the spice market is a maze of small alleys.













2. Former residence of the poet Al Oqaili

Inside the alley is the Museum of the Poet Al Oqaili, which was the former home of the poet Al Oqaili (1875-1954). Al Oqaili's full name was Mubarak bin Hamad bin Mubarak Al Manea Al Oqaili, and he was a very famous writer in Dubai.





Al Oqaili was born in 1875 in the Al-Ahsa region of the eastern Arabian Peninsula, which is now part of Saudi Arabia. He lost his father at a young age and was raised by his mother, showing a great talent for poetry early on.

In his middle age, he traveled around the Persian Gulf, living in places like Iraq, Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi before finally settling in Dubai at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1923, he hired craftsmen from his hometown of Al-Ahsa to build this house. The entire building is made of coral, stone, plaster, teak, and palm fronds, along with a traditional Iranian building material called Sarooj. Sarooj is a waterproof mortar often used for bridges, ice cellars, and refrigerators (yakhchal). It is a hard mixture made of clay and limestone in a 6:4 ratio. After kneading it for two days, workers add bathhouse furnace ash, cattail fibers, eggs, and straw, then beat it with wooden sticks to make the final mortar.

In 1954, Al Oqaili passed away in this house at the age of 81. He never married or had children, so his cousin from Saudi Arabia inherited the property.

Floor plan of the former residence:



Inside the courtyard









The poet's manuscript





The poet's dagger



The poet's gun



The poet's safe





Kitchen



Coffee pot



3. Al Bait Alqadeem Restaurant

Al Bait Alqadeem means "the old house" in Arabic. The restaurant is inside a traditional Gulf-style home built in 1909. It was built by a pearl boat owner named Abdulla Bin Jamaan, who also served as a bodyguard for the ruler of Dubai at the time. In 1954, Abdulla Bin Jamaan became the first mayor of Dubai.

Today, this old house has been turned into a restaurant that serves traditional Gulf cuisine.











The freshly baked flatbread (bing) is super crispy and tastes amazing, and it feels special to eat it off these huge enamel plates.



The grilled fish is the chef's recommendation and it is also excellent.





I also drank cucumber honey water and really liked it.



4. Nasser bin Obaid bin Lootah Mosque

Lootah is a famous merchant family in the UAE, and the family first came to Dubai from Liwa to settle in Al Ras, led by Mohammad bin Ali bin Rashid. At that time, Al Ras had no residents and was just a place for grazing camels. Later, other members of the family came to settle in Al Ras, including Obaid bin Lootah, the son-in-law of Mohammad bin Ali bin Rashid.

In 1910, Nasser, the son of Obaid bin Lootah, built this mosque. I could not visit the inside of the mosque because I arrived when it was not time for namaz.











5. Heritage House in Dubai

Next to the mosque is the Heritage House, a traditional Gulf-style home built by Matar Saeed bin Mazina in 1890. The structure of this house is similar to the nearby home of the poet Al Oqaili, as it is also made from coral, stone, plaster, teak wood, and palm fronds.

The Heritage House used to display various historical and cultural items from Dubai, but it is currently closed for renovations.





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Summary: Sharjah — Museums, Gulf History and Muslim Heritage is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The Emirate of Sharjah is a great place for a short trip to experience the traditional culture of the Gulf region. The account keeps its focus on Sharjah Travel, UAE Museums, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

1. Arrival

The Emirate of Sharjah is a great place for a short trip to experience the traditional culture of the Gulf region. Everyone in the city speaks English, all street signs are in English, and it is very close to Dubai. It only takes 40 minutes by bus if there is no traffic. You can catch double-decker buses to Sharjah from Dubai bus hubs like Al Ghubaiba, Union, and Deira City Centre. Just tap your Dubai bus card to pay. You can buy a rechargeable silver card or a one-time red card at a small booth in these hubs, and these cards work on the Dubai Metro too.

The station in Sharjah is called Al Jubail. If you walk a few hundred meters to the northeast, you will reach the historic district of the old city, known as Heart of Sharjah. I will start by introducing the history of Sharjah's old city.

2. The history of Sharjah

The Al Qasimi family from the Huwayla tribe began ruling Sharjah in the early 18th century. They declared independence in 1727 and built trade routes across the Strait of Hormuz that connected the Arabian Peninsula with Persia, playing a key role in trade between the two regions.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, political tensions between Oman, Britain, and France grew more complex, and Sharjah became involved. In 1797, Sharjah seized a ship flying the British flag. The British then labeled Sharjah as pirates, leading to decades of military conflict. This included two attacks on Sharjah by the British Indian fleet in 1809 and 1819.

In 1820, to end conflicts in the Gulf region and focus on opposing the Ottoman Empire, Sharjah and several neighboring emirates signed the General Maritime Treaty with Britain, becoming a British protectorate. During this period, Britain acted as an arbitrator in the Gulf region, trying its best to avoid any conflicts between the emirates. In 1853, Sharjah and Britain signed the Perpetual Maritime Truce, which began an era of peace.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Sharjah was an important pearl trading port in the Gulf. In 1830, Britain counted three to four hundred pearl boats in Sharjah, and many of the city's 19th-century historical buildings are related to the pearl trade.

The old wharf outside Sharjah city.



The image below is a map of Sharjah drawn by the British in 1820. The city wall in the lower half and the buildings inside are what we now call the Heart of Sharjah historical district.



The image below shows a map of historical sites in Sharjah Fort. The yellow area in the middle represents Sharjah in 1822, with the Heart of Sharjah (Sharjah al-Qalb) historical district at its core. The dark brown lines show the Sharjah city walls. The red circles marked with Burj are watchtowers, and those marked with Murabbah are fort towers. The orange area shows Sharjah in 1933, and the brown area shows Sharjah in 1963. After the 1960s, Sharjah followed British plans to build a modern city and entered its stage of modernization.



The image below shows the watchtowers and fort towers of Sharjah. Archaeological surveys show there are at least 16 watchtowers outside the Sharjah city walls, mostly near water sources, farmland, and main roads leading into the city.



3. Sharjah City Walls

The current coral stone wall is the southern section of the original Sharjah city wall.

The image below shows the southwest wall and the watchtower (Murabbah).





The south gate and the watchtower (Murabbah Al Qasaba).





4. Entering the Heart of Sharjah

I entered the Heart of Sharjah from the southwest. Since everyone was on holiday for Eid al-Fitr, there were very few people around.

Once inside, you can see walls built with traditional coral stone (coral stone) techniques.



The fan-shaped and brain-shaped coral stones used for the walls were taken from old coral beds during low tide, then dried in the sun to remove the salt. When building the walls, the coral stones were wrapped in a mortar made from crushed coral stone fragments and sand.



Walking through the narrow alleys of the old town in Sharjah.





The picture below shows the Sharjah Art Foundation, which often hosts various exhibitions.



Next to it is a historic building under renovation, where you can see that the wooden roof structure has already been replaced.





5. A wonderful breakfast

Next to the Art Foundation is a cafe and casual dining spot called Fen restaurant. The atmosphere is great and the service is excellent. I had an avocado and egg breakfast to recharge before officially starting my tour of the historic district of Sharjah.











6. Wind Chime Garden

Outside the restaurant, you can see a beautiful garden filled with many wind chimes.









7. Traditional Mosque

Before coming to the UAE, I knew almost nothing about the traditional mosques here. I thought they were all modeled after famous foreign mosques, so I was very excited to see a traditional Gulf-style mosque in Sharjah this time.

The first one I want to share with you is Obeid Bin Issa, the oldest mosque in Sharjah. On the left in the picture is the washroom for wudu and ghusl, and on the right is the prayer hall. The first floor is the south hall, and the second floor is the women's hall. Traditional mosques in Sharjah usually have the washroom and the main prayer hall as two separate buildings.





There is a palm-frond shade in front of the washroom.



Inside the main prayer hall, there are wooden pillars.



The mihrab is plain with no decorations at all, and the minbar pulpit next to it is also set inside a niche, which is a first for me.



This is the back of the mosque. The curved part sticking out on the left is the prayer niche (mihrab) behind the main hall.



The second traditional mosque is called Al-Daleel, and it also has a long history. The first floor is the men's prayer hall and the second floor is the women's prayer hall. The washroom (wudu area) is in a separate building.





In front of the main hall, there is also a palm-leaf shade.





To make a traditional palm ceiling, you first wash and dry the palm fibers, twist them into twine, and tie them onto trimmed palm branches. Next, wash and dry the palm leaves, weave them into large mats, and finally lay them out to form the ceiling.



The mihrab also has no decorations at all.



The rear kiln-style prayer hall (yaodian).



Outside the ablution room of every mosque in Sharjah, there is a direct drinking water station, which is very convenient for locals or passersby to get a drink.





The third mosque is called Al-Shiokh, and it only has one floor.





This mosque is closed outside of the five daily namaz times, so you have to pray in the outdoor shelter at other times.





The fourth mosque is called Al Jame'i, and it is the largest traditional mosque in Sharjah. Its low, flat-roofed design is very similar to traditional buildings in Turpan, as both styles developed to suit hot and dry climates.









Besides the drinking water in the washroom, mosques here keep bottled water in refrigerators inside the main prayer hall. When I walked in, an older man offered me some to drink.



The fifth mosque is called Al-Mana a, and it is the only mosque I saw in Sharjah that has a minaret. The design of this minaret is very simple.





Inside the pergola is a well used for ritual washing (wudu). You can turn on the tap and water comes out, which is a rare sight these days.





8. Sharjah Heritage Museum

The historic building housing the Sharjah Heritage Museum was built in 1795 by the pearl merchant Saeed bin Mohammed Al Shamsi. It is also known as Bait Saeed Al Taweel, which means the house of tall Saeed.

The museum shows the traditional lifestyle of the people of Sharjah through crafts, folk music, wedding ceremonies, and folktales.





Staff members wearing traditional robes (kandura)





Traditional Emirati clothing is a type of traditional dress worn by the Bedouin people of the Arabian Peninsula. The headscarf is called a keffiyeh, and the pure white version is known as a ghutrah, which is mostly made of cotton. The black cord on top is called an agal, which is traditionally made from goat hair. This headpiece appeared as early as the Lihyan Kingdom of ancient Arabia between the 7th and 1st centuries BC.



Traditional Emirati percussion instruments. The tallest drum on the left is called an al masindo. You play it while standing by holding it between your legs, and it makes a very deep sound. The Al Rahmany and Al Ras drums shown on the bottom right are both carried over the shoulder. The Al Tar drum on the top right is a type of hand drum.



The Al Sheendo drum is the largest of the traditional Emirati drums and has the deepest sound.



The traditional Emirati flute is called Al Simai.



The main traditional Emirati song and dance styles are Al Ayala, Al Dan (Al Meedan), and Al Razeef, with Al Ayala being the most popular.



The traditional Emirati wind tower (Barjeel) is a building design that creates a natural breeze inside the house. Wind towers first appeared in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago. The Emirati wind tower design mainly comes from Persia, serving as a witness to the influence of Persian culture on the Arabian Gulf region.



Some miniature models in the museum.







9. Sharjah House (Bait Al Naboodah).

Sharjah House (Bait Al Naboodah) is the most famous traditional Gulf residence in Sharjah. It was built in 1845 by Obaid bin Eissa Bin Ali Al Shamsi, known as Al Naboodah, who was the wealthiest pearl merchant in Sharjah during the 19th century.

Al Naboodah’s pearl trade reached across Africa, France, and India, and he built up massive wealth specifically through his pearl business with India. In 1845, Al Naboodah rebuilt his father’s family home. The new house featured a large courtyard with coral stone walls, along with Indian teak pillars unique to Sharjah and plaster carvings made by Persian craftsmen. Unlike traditional Emirati buildings, this house did not use a wind tower (barjeel). Instead, it was the first to use a wind scoop (malaqaf) that moved air along the inside of the walls.

Al Naboodah’s descendants lived here until the 1970s, but the building eventually fell into serious disrepair. In the 1990s, the Sharjah Museums Authority hired a team of historians to carry out a massive, multi-year renovation. The house officially opened to the public in 1995.

The wood carving on the main gate is the most beautiful piece preserved in Sharjah to this day.



Inside the courtyard.







The museum staff were very welcoming and offered me some ice water.



The first gallery introduces the pearl trade in the Emirate of Sharjah from the 19th to the early 20th century. It displays porcelain shards and coins found during archaeological excavations at the ancient market Souq Al Shanasiyah next to the courtyard.



These porcelain shards come from different countries including France, Britain, Japan, Germany, and China.



The coins on the left side of the picture are all from British India.

Top left is a Victoria rupee (1837-1901).

Middle left is a George V rupee (1910-1937).

Bottom left is a George VI rupee (1936-1952).

Top right is a coin issued by the British East India Company in the mid-19th century.

On the bottom right is a coin minted in 1897 on Zanzibar Island by Sultan Faisal bin Turki of Oman, who reigned from 1888 to 1913.



This is a high-quality documentary screening about the pearl trade in Sharjah.



The second exhibition hall focuses on Al Naboodah to introduce the trade activities of Arab merchants from the Gulf region in India and Paris.



The image below shows the trade ledger of Qasim bin Mohammad Al Ibrahim (1869-1965), a pearl merchant from Kuwait. Inside, his employees used the Gujarati language of India to record the size, weight, and price of the pearls in detail.



The third exhibition hall features an interactive display of the courtyard house. You can tap on any building component on the screen to see an introduction and the restoration process for that part.









Below is an interactive display of the Heart of Sharjah (Sharjah Heart), the historic district of the entire Sharjah Emirate.



The image below shows the brain-shaped coral stone used in the courtyard.



The coral stone used to build the courtyard comes in two types: brain-shaped and fan-shaped. After being pulled from the seabed, the coral must be dried in the sun. Once dried, the coral is very light but very strong. Environmental protection laws now forbid collecting coral stone. Because of this, workers must use limestone from the mountains when repairing damaged coral stone in the courtyard.



Below is a documentary about the major renovation of the courtyard in 1995.





The plaster carvings in the first-floor bedroom.





Go up to the second floor to find the summer house.







How it looked during the 1995 renovation.





Summer temperatures in Sharjah can top 45 degrees Celsius. From June to August, many people head to the mountains or oases to escape the heat, a summer retreat route known as al maqeedh. With the summer house, people no longer had to travel inland to escape the heat.

People in Sharjah usually start getting their summer houses ready at the end of March. They paint the inside and outside of the buildings with a lime powder called norah, which helps reflect the sun's rays. The most important feature of a summer house is the many vents on the roof that help air circulate. During the day, wind blows from the land into the house, and at night, the breeze comes in from the sea.





A roof made from palm leaves.



Go back to the first floor and enter the backyard.





Traditional toilet



Kitchen





Kitchen from the 1995 renovation



Storage room



Finally, I bought two coasters at the cultural gift shop by the entrance



Two round coasters on the top layer.



10. Al Eslah School Museum

Al Eslah School started in 1935. It was first in a village in Al Heera before moving to Sharjah city. It was the first official school in the Emirate of Sharjah. Before this, religious and academic education in the Emirate of Sharjah happened at home.

The founder of Al Eslah School, Sheikh Mohammad bin Ali al Mahmood, was a pioneer for religion and intellectuals in Sharjah. He served as the school principal until 1948. He brought in excellent teachers from other Arab regions for the school, so the curriculum included math, history, geography, astronomy, literature, and even English, to religious studies. The current ruler of Sharjah, Sultan III, once attended this school.

In the early 1950s, Al Eslah School was also the first school in Sharjah to enroll female students. By the late 1950s, as larger schools began to appear in Sharjah, Al Eslah School was gradually abandoned.

The site was renovated in the 1990s and reopened as a museum in 2003, recreating campus life from over 70 years ago. At that time, students from all over the Gulf region gathered here to study Arabic and Islamic knowledge.





The classrooms back then also had palm-frond ceilings.







11. Coffee shops in the bazaar

Al Arsa Souq is the oldest surviving bazaar in Sharjah. It started as an open-air market where Bedouins traded while leading their camels, and later, it was built into its current structure using coral stone and palm trees. I visited during the lunch break, and it was very quiet.







There is a traditional Arabic coffee shop inside the bazaar. I drank some herbal-tasting Arabic coffee paired with mild dates, and ate some chicken rice. Being surrounded by people in traditional clothing felt great.











12. Delicious ice cream

There is a tasty ice cream shop next to the bazaar. I had pomegranate and kiwi ice cream. I thought it might just be for show, but the flavors were actually very rich and delicious.





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