Roam Alone; Salimgarh

I first heard about Salimgarh Fort during a walk at Purana Quila by heritage group DelhiByFoot. The walk leader mentioned it while narrating the on-and-off rule of Sher Shah Suri and Humayun and the construction of the sixth city of Delhi in the area now known as old fort, which was called Dinpanah or Shergarh, depending on which side you are on.

Salimgarh lies in the Red Fort complex only, but does not record high footfalls. However, history enthusiasts of Delhi know about its significance. 

It is said that Humayun camped at Salimgarh for three days while readying for the final assault to take back his kingdom from the Suris. The fort was built in 1546 AD on an island on the Yamuna river by Salim Shah Suri, son of Sher Shah. In subsequent years after the Mughal recapture of Delhi, a bridge was built to connect it to the mainland and then to Red Fort. Emperor Aurangzeb used it as a prison and so did the British, who incarcerated soldiers and officers of the Indian National Army in the barracks. After the 1857 war of independence, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was also detained there for some time.

The fort earlier housed a freedom fighters' museum displaying INA memorabilia which has now been merged with the newly-built Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose museum in the Red Fort complex. When I visited Salimgarh a few months back, the barracks were barren sans a few guards.

The first thing that struck me as I took a left turn towards the ruins from the road leading to Red Fort  from Meena Bazar is that I never noticed the signage pointing to the fort despite visiting Lal Quila so many times. As I passed the stepwell and reached in front of the yellow-hued walls of the fort, I was dithering, because no one seemed to be going there. I asked a man standing nearby, who looked like an official, if it is safe to venture inside. He assured that security guards are stationed there and I should not worry.

Still, as I walked towards the gate, I felt he and his companions were looking at me. “They must be thinking I am crazy.  When you can walk straight and see the beautiful diwan-e-aam and diwan-e-khas and Moti Masjid, why take a left and enter a hidden citadel?” I thought.

You can peep through the narrow slits on the wall of the pathway connecting Salimgarh with Red Fort and see the familiar arched brick-coloured railway bridge on Ring Road. I walked a few more steps and was studying a map of the complex embossed on a stone slab when a lady security guard asked me “kahan jana hai”. I told her that I want to see Salimgarh. “Woh bridge ke uss side hai, par abhi museum bandh hai,” she said.

Nevertheless, I went on, crossing a longish footover bridge which offered a view of the Red Fort and the railway tracks. There were rows of empty British-style barracks, and a few bored dogs here and there. The only old structure in the complex was a structure, or rather, half a structure. One side of it was missing. The map outside described it as a “jarjarit masjid” or the ruins of a mosque. 

In the internet, there are stories galore of the fort being haunted and local people claiming to have heard footsteps or laughs. And I could understand why such stories would spread. The dreary  barracks where soldiers were imprisoned, the dark dungeons which witnessed the killing of Mughal prince Dara Sikoh at hands of assassins sent by his brother, the jails which held Aurangzeb’s eldest daughter Zebunnisa, a Sufi poetess, for 20 years after she fell out of favour of his father – if one thinks about such stories while standing at the ruins of the forgotten fortress on a smoggy winter afternoon, it is natural to feel that there's something uncanny in the air.

For me, the problem at hand was something else. The dogs were sensing something amiss and giving cold stares at the cellphone-wielding woman loitering at Salimgarh. I am not exactly comfortable with the canine species and they also share the same feeling, most of the times. So, I paced back to the bridge and started the long walk (for me) to the main Red Fort complex.

Two forts, standing side by side, but the grandeur and hustle and bustle of Lal Quila, packed with hordes of excited tourists, seem all the more distinct after coming from the lonely fort. You will feel as if you just experienced a mood swing.