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A tower of dismay

Hastsal Minar is one of those landmarks which time seems to have cornered off in its apron. Situated 17 kms from Delhi near a monsoon pond in the village of Hastsal, the minar is 17 meters high and rises above a two-tiered platform. It is built of br icks and red sandstone, with a narrow staircase. Historical accounts are silent about its origins, but close by is the Hathikhana or elephant house of Shah Jehan, now in ruins. It is believed that the minar was erected by the Moghul emperor as a shooting tower.

In those days wild life was plentiful in the area. Early in the morning the hunters left for the place from the Red Fort and reached it before sunrise on horseback. Sometimes they camped there for the night in the summer months and early winter, in which case the party left the fort in the evening to reach its destination before nightfall.

Shah Jehan had inherited his love for shikar from his father and grandfather, though Babar himself was a great hunter who once killed a tiger single-handed. But Babar was more like Bairam the legendary Persian who usually hunted all by himself. His descendants had a large retinue to aid them in big game hunting.

Akbar had the knack of taming wild animals, especially elephants. He was also fond of watching fights among various animals kept in the Agra Fort. Shah Jehan heard his grandsire’s tales from Jehangir who often painted old shikar scenes. Shah Jehan himself was an authority of sorts on elephants. Once when an elephant ran amok and headed for the pavilion where the emperor was seated, Aurangzeb, then a lad of 17, bounded forward and attacked the animal trunk with his spear. Shah Jehan came down from his makeshift throne and patted the prince on his back. “Wah, Wah”, he said, adding, “It was well done, but on such occasions it is better to step aside and not insist on a show of gallantry.” How well Aurangzeb remembered his father’s words is evident from his long reign.

The villagers of Hastsal tether their domesticated animals near the Hathikhana now and sometime climb the minar to look for goats which fail to return from the grazing ground. The minar is in a sad state of neglect, with its staircase dirty and sometimes stuffed with straw and other village refuse. About the Hathikhana a strange tale is told.

There was an elephant in it, a huge one, which once belonged to Mahabat Khan, the Moghul general at the time of Jehangir.

This elephant later came into possession of Shah Jehan and carried him safely through many a battle. Incidentally Shah Jehan didn’t fight many battles after his ascension to the throne. His time on the battlefield was spent mostly when he was known as Prince Khurram. How Mahabat Khan took him captive at the behest of Nur Jahan and how later the two found themselves on the same side is another story.

The elephant of Mahabat Khan attracted Shah Jehan’s fancy as it was such an intelligent animal that it knew how to protect its owner and even left the battlefield with him on sensing that the battle was not turning in his favour. But after many years the elephant became old and was given away to its keeper to draw water from the royal well. This well gave enough water to irrigate the shahi gardens. But then the well went dry and Shah Jehan ordered that it be closed.

The elephant keeper however pleaded with the emperor to give him a chance to save the well. One day he descended into the enormous well along with the elephant. Both of them presumably died but the well began to overflow after that.

In honour of the elephant and its keeper a fair is still held on the outskirts of Agra in the month of Kuar, at which silver elephants are offered to the well, from which 12 oxen could draw water at one time.

Few know that the fabled elephant once graced the Hathikhana at Hastsal, which is now facing a big threat from rampant encroachment.

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