When we talk about history, we generally deal with kings and queens, wars and political matters, but a large part of history is buried somewhere in the everyday life of society. Women and their freedom of choice are often lost in the narrow and deserted streets of the city. There are many forgotten places in Delhi that reflect the unknown stories of unknown women of the city. These include the Sarai Jullena in south Delhi near Okhla, named after a Portuguese woman, Dona Juliana Da Costa, who was gifted 97 bighas of land by Shah Alam I, but exists today as a reminder of a woman long forgotten by the world and even by the people living in the area. Likewise, in the Narela region, the village of Sanoth is named after Sanno Devi, the wife of one of the first residents of the village named Kher.
While the remains of royal women from the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods are scattered throughout the city, although the city often forgot the exact details of the queen who oversaw these structures (such as Hauz Rani, Rani Bagh, Rani Khera, etc.), the best documented evidence of places and structures named after women come from the colonial and post-colonial periods (Lady Irwin, Lady Harding, etc.). Echoing the history of Delhi’s lesser-known women from ancient times to modern times, from Sanno Devi to Shreya Mishra (whose name graces a street near Delhi University’s North Campus).
Women of Delhi in Traditional History
Delhi has long been considered a confluence of diverse traditions and the story of its creation goes back thousands of years. However, the region’s traditional histories do not include the villages and local areas that formed the basis of Delhi before it was urbanized. The history of the women living in these villages has been erased, as has the history of many villages in Delhi that are being sacrificed on the altar of development. A very significant example is Sanoth village in Narela region, which was settled by people from Haryana regions (particularly Rohtak). You know Devi became the administrator of the village and the village was defined as “Sanno ka Than” or “Sanno ka Gaon” from which the modern name of the village is derived. Unfortunately, we find no written records that even begin to speak about Delhi’s lost village culture, and this information is largely preserved in the oral testimonies of the people associated with the community or region.
Delhi has long been considered a confluence of diverse traditions and the story of its creation goes back thousands of years. However, the region’s traditional histories do not include the villages and local areas that formed the basis of Delhi before it was urbanized. The history of the women living in these villages has been erased, as has the history of many villages in Delhi that are being sacrificed on the altar of development.
One aspect of this local tradition followed in the village of Sanoth is the worship of With Devithe local form of Sheetla Devi cults associated with the smallpox epidemic. The local culture worships an entire pantheon of female goddesses for the well-being of their family, their crops and their health. This pantheon includes goddesses like Kanthi, Sheetla, Lalita, Kho-Kho Mata, etc. Religion is a way of remembering women in society, but sometimes with changing times they are also marginalized and appropriated by other communities.
A prime example of this can be Yoginipura, a name associated with Delhi in the early Middle Ages, particularly in the Jaina texts. As a reminder of this identity of the region, we have a Yogmaya temple in Mehrauli dedicated to the sister of Lord Krishna, whom Kans tried to kill but failed. This temple remains invisible, highlighting the historical negligence. Similarly, Mihir Keshari reported two unidentified individuals in his research paper Yogini sculptures (a man and a woman) on the site of the present Gorakhnath Temple near the Sanjay Van in south Delhi. These Yogini sculptures, which perhaps reinforce the idea that Delhi was once a center of Yogini temples, are now marginalized due to the presence of the Gorakhnath Temple, which has appropriated not only the small shrines that surround the region but also Ram Talab, where these sculptures were found.
The nameless and unknown royal women
Most heritage tours around Delhi focus on the association of Mughal princesses and queens with the architecture of Delhi, whose names adorn the sites of the Akbarabadi, Fatehpuri and Sirhindi mosques, Qudsia Bagh, Sunehri Masjid, etc. Likewise, one can talk about the unknown queens and princesses and royal women who are forgotten in their own structures or remain nameless, while even scholars argue about the identity of these royal women. Many places in Delhi are named after queens like Rani Bagh, Rani Khera and Hauz Rani. The problem is that these sites are identified with the rulers under whose reign they may have been built, but not with the names of the queens under whose names they were built.
Rani KheraAccording to the genealogies of the Dabas community, it was named after a Tomar princess who married into the Dabas clan about 700 years ago. Hauz Rani was also named after Emperor Alauddin Khilji’s queen, who was also responsible for founding Hauz Khas. Many neighboring regions around Hauz Khas have some connection to the queens and are waiting to be identified. Begumpuri Masjid (located near Begumpur region), a 14th century mosque attributed to the Tughlaq period, andDadi Poti graves (Even ASI has no idea about the origins of this site; the only reason they are called “Dadi Poti Tombs” is because one grave is larger than the other). Interestingly, Dadi Poti’s tomb is not even from the same period. While one tomb is from the Lodhi period, the other is from the Tughlaq period. Many mosques and monuments in Delhi are named after Begums and British officials, but most of them are largely unknown and unnoticed, even if they are associated with important figures in Indian history (such as the Mazaar of Nizamuddin Auliya’s mother near Adchini, Dargah Mai Sahibawhich is in a corner that hardly anyone visits).
Many of these spaces are invaded, their identities are taken away or they are dehumanized. Many remain unnamed, like the Burhiya Mosque, and some are dehumanized by derogatory names, such as R*ndi ki Masjid, which was commissioned by a courtesan. Mubarak Begum in 1823. The conservative critics tried to dehumanize and dismiss their structure by calling it the derogatory name, but now it is known as Masjid Mubarak Begum. British records tell us something similar Begum Samruwho was not only the wife of a British mercenary, William Reinhardt Sombre; She also served as a civil servant and later inherited the Sardana estate. Begum Samru’s real name was Farzana, but she was known by her surname Sombre, which eventually corrupted to Samru. Her palace was heavily encroached upon, and her church, known as Sardhana Church, and other architectural marvels are largely forgotten or appropriated (such as her palace, which now serves as the offices of the Central Bank of India and is known as Bhagirath Palace).
Many mosques and monuments in Delhi are named after Begums and British officials, but most of them are largely unknown and unnoticed.
Unknown women from Delhi were recorded in Delhi archives for the construction of the Kali Temple and many Shiva temples, although the exact location and whereabouts of the temples are poorly known. But apart from the monuments, there is an entire village in Delhi named after a woman. Sarai Jullena is one such site whose history is largely forgotten, although unlike the Begumpur and Rani Baghs of Delhi, Sarai Jullena has a clearly known history dating back to the 18th century when it was associated with the Mughal rulers Bahadur Shah I and Aurangzeb. Named after the Portuguese Cochin-born Dona Juliana Dias Da Costa, Bahadur Shah gifted her 97 bighas of land which became the basis of Sarai Jullena village. Juliana was an impressive woman with experience in government, medical and judicial matters, making her a formidable political figure in the 18th century. Her biography was written by Gaston Brouet on behalf of Colonel Gentil, based on which Raghuraj Chauhan and Madhukar Tewari have compiled a modern biography of Dona Juliana Dias Da Costa. Sarai Jullena is a prominent area in the Okhla region, but even the named authors of the book lament the fact that Juliana is largely and completely forgotten by the people of Delhi and even residents of the area.
Looking for women outside the political sphere
It is not necessary that the women be remembered for their political connections or public popularity. Often, ordinary people managed to leave their mark on the streets and sights of Delhi because their lives or actions had an impact, or simply as a way to commemorate a tragedy. One of the most important roads on the North Campus of Delhi University is Shreya Mishra Marg, which is used by thousands of students every day, but hardly anyone knows about the importance of the road. Shreya Mishra was a Delhi University student who was unfortunately run over by a reckless driver in the late 1990s. This led to widespread protests against safety regulations in the university and as a reminder the street was named after Shreya Mishra. The accident was mentioned in the Delhi University Gender Study Group report, which provides a detailed analysis of harassment of women on campus.
But since then, both the event and the person have been forgotten and the room remains a crowded, accident-prone zone. Most of Delhi’s streets are named after political leaders particularly associated with the Indian national movement. Therefore, it becomes difficult to find names outside the Indian national movement. Justice Sunanda Bhandare Margis one of the most significant streets named after a woman because she was neither a freedom fighter nor a politician, but rather an activist, lawyer and judge who worked extensively for gender sensitization and the rights of people with disabilities. According to Sohail Hashmi, naming a street after her is perhaps one of the rare incidents in the fight against the sexism that comes with naming places in Delhi.
It is sad to see that naming streets and places after women is still purely symbolic and little thought is given to remembering women from different fields (with exceptions like Amrita Shergill and Mother Teresa) and even in the new name suggestions for Delhi, women are hardly included in the list as the debate over renaming places takes place. Women have been part of history for millions of years, it’s time we included them in history too.
