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Where are those serais?
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Delhi was home to a large number of serais but many of them simply disappeared without a trace, laments R.V. SMITH
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A scheme is reportedly formulated to reclaim the old serais of Delhi and save them from disintegration. But the Archaeological Survey of INTACH will do well to give priority to the historical inns that have been encroached upon both in the urban and rural areas and are being misused. Quite a few of the serais have disappeared altogether, leaving no trace behind.
The biggest and best-known serai was built by Jahanara Begum, Shah Jahan's elder daughter, in the garden she laid off Chandni Chowk, known as Sahibabad or Begum Bagh. The serai, through which flowed a stream, was a grand building with decorated wall and ornamental tanks and fountains, surrounded by fruit trees. Two beautiful peacocks had been sculptured on the huge gate. Their eyes were of emeralds and their plumage of green stone. Because of the Begum, the serai came to be known as More Serai. Some say it was modelled after the Shah Abbas Serai in Ispahan.
On the stretch of road leading from Tehraha Bairam Khan in Daryaganj towards Suiwallan, and Matia Mahal is Kamra Bangash, built by Faizullah Khan Bangash in the 18th Century. The nobleman also built several serais, mosques and bridges for his patrons, Rabia Begum. She was the widow of Nawab Muhammad Khan, Governor of Agra, Allahabad and Farrukhabad.
Number of serais
The archaeologist Maulvi Zafar Hasan mentions a large number of serais that existed during the early part of the 20th Century. Among them were Sarban Serai, on the Delhi-Qutb Road. Near the Delhi Gate he listed the Serai of Nawab Shaikh Farid Khan or Murtaza Khan. The Sarai Rohilla station is named after Ruhullal-ki-Serai, dating back to 1657. Gur-ki-Serai was built on the Karnal Road. Arab-ki-Serai was built by Haji Begum, Humayun's first life, for Arab workers engaged in construction her husband's tomb.
Mehrauli seem to have had the largest number of serais. There was the Serai of Shaikh Inayatullah, a fortified structure. Daud Serai was attached to the mosque and tomb of Jamali-Kamali dating back to Humayun's time. Ladhap Serai owed its origin to the daughters of Mirza Suraiya Jah. It was built on the western edge of the garden laid by Afzun Nazir Khwajasarai, the celebrated eunuch of the time of Mohammad Shah Rangila (1719-1748). Lado Serai was erected on the pattern of the Persian serais but now the village of that name exists there. Lado may have been a Pathan beauty, for part of the wall that survives is of the Pathan period.
Shaikh Serai was constructed as an annexe to the tomb of Shaikh Alauddin in the reign of Sikander Lodi. The Shaikh, who was better known as Nur Taj, was a descendant of Baba Farid Shakarganj of Pakpatan. People now remember it for the colony built at the place. Serai Shahji, near Begumpur, was attached to a mahal which disappeared in later times. Jia Serai in Hauz Khas village was better known as "Phuta Gumbad" or ruined dome. A serai being attached to a mosque was not uncommon and many of the caravanserais of Delhi were part of old masjids. Katwaria Serai was constructed outside the tomb of an unknown nobleman, though some feel that Katwariserai was the grand eunuch of an Afghan ruler.
Serai Kale Khan was built of "rubble masonry and originally surrounded by arched cells, with their outer walls crowned by battlements". The tomb of Kale Khan, also know as his palace, is not far from the serai which was built by Sher Shah Suri. As a matter of fact, that ruler is said to have built serais at the distance of every two kms. Now people board inter-State buses from the famous spot - with few aware of the man after whom the place is named.
Ghatu Serai was part of the mausoleum of Darya Khan Lohani, Chief Justice at the time of Bahlol Ladi. He served the sultan's son and grandson too. Badli-ki-Sarai, where a battle was fought in 1857, is gone and only part of the gateway survives on the Delhi-Karnal Road. The serai of Mahram Nagar belonged to the Moghul period. Mahram Khan served Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. A village sprang up there, which is now a colony on the Gurgaon Road. On the same road is Basant Serai, named after the eunuch Basant Khan. Serai Sohail also commemorates a royal eunuch. But the most intriguing is Sarai Juliana (which now lends its name to a DDA colony).
The only person of that name (Bibi Juliana) was a Portuguese lady in charge of the emperor Akbar's seraglio. Her serai was surrounded by sprawling grounds, which were used for resettling Christian families uprooted from Raisina Hill when Lutyens began building the new Capital.
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