purana quila

Facts about Purana Qila ,DELHI

1-Purana Qila means old fort
Purana Quila is roughly rectangular in shape having a circuit of nearly two kilometers.
Location: Near Delhi Zoo, Mathura Road
Nearest Metro Station: Pragati Maidan
The thick ramparts crowned by merlons have three gateways provided with bastions on either side. It was surrounded by a wide moat, connected to river Yamuna, which used to flow on the east of the fort. The northern gate way, called the Talaqui darwaza or the forbidden gateway, combines the typically Islamic pointed arch with Hindu Chhatris and brackets; whereas the southern gateway called the Humayun Darwaza also had a similar plan.

2-Purana Qila is the oldest known structure of any type in Delhi.
It was re built by the Afghan king Sher Shah Suri on the same site, which was perhaps the site of Indraprastha, believed to be the capital of the Pandavas

3-Purana-Qal'a was still incomplete at Sher Shah's death in 1545, and was perhaps completed by his son Islam Shah or Humayun
Fort was called as the inner citadel of the city of Dina-panah during Humayun's rule who renovated it in 1533 and completed five years later.
The founder of the Suri Dynasty, Sher Shah Suri, defeated Humayun in 1540, naming the fort Shergarh
He added several more structures in the complex during his five-year reign until his death in 1545.

4-Researchers have confirm that uptill 1913, a village called Indrapat existed with in the fort walls.

5-Excavations carried out by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Purana Quila in 1954-55 (trial trenches) and again 1969 to 1973 by its Director, B B Lal have unearthed Painted Grey Ware dating 1000 B.C., and with a continuous cultural sequence from Mauryan to Mughal through Sunga, Kushana, Gupta, Rajput and Sultanate periods, confirming the antiquity of the fort.

6-The ASI has so far discovered a rare 12th century sculpture of Vishnu, terracotta seals from the Gupta period, pottery from the Kushan and Gupta periods, structures from the Rajput and Kushan periods, copper coins, terracotta human figurines, charred wheat and rice grains and many more remains from the Mauryan period.
Now ASI is trying to find the traces of Indraprastha the capital of Pandava
Delhi is thought by some to be located at the site of the legendary city of Indraprastha founded by the Pandavas from Mahabharata period
Opened after a span of 40 years, the Archaeological Survey of India has carried out an excavation here since February this year -- to identify the presence of Painted Grey Ware which if found, would establish the site's link to Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata, and therefore link it to other sites of the Mahabharata.
Vasant Swarnakar, ASI's Delhi circle chief said that "in earlier excavations, Painted Grey Ware was not found.
It has been archaeologically proven that if it is a Mahabharata site then Painted Grey Ware should be found; we have started with the hope of finding this ware".
According to media reports the public will be allowed to observe how archaeologists dig out terracotta figurines of Kushana, Gupta and Sunga periods, copper coins of the Maurya period and antiquities of the Sultanat period.
This is the first time that an excavation site has been opened to the public while work is still going on.
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