Purana Quila

Purana Qila‘ (Old Fort) is one of the oldest forts in Delhi. The present citadel at Purana Qila was believed to have been built under Humayun and Afghan Sher Shah Suri (‘The Lion King’). Excavations point to traces from the 3rd century BC, the pre-Mauryan period. The first two rounds of excavations — in 1954-55 and 1969-72 — by then ASI director, BB Lal, had unearthed traces of PGW under the mound. At the time, Lal had embarked on a mission to excavate various sites mentioned in the Mahabharata text and had found such traces as a common feature at all those sites.

The fort was the inner citadel of the city of Din 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. Purana Qila and its environs flourished as the “sixth city of Delhi”.

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