Random Notes on Niza Town

Nizamuddin Narrator

By Chander Mahadev

Prominent amidst the cultural rubble and ruin of the southern part of the capital city of India, lays the historical colony that is quaintly named Hazrat Nizamuddin. Most Delhiites who have either lived or graced this area and era would not be able to tell you as to from whom it derived this mysterious & mystical name. A cultural pot-pourri, it is a mini-city that houses both a West side and East side – for that is how the two segments of this colony came into being.
In the following pages, I will make a somewhat unscholarly attempt to bridge the East-West divide that has long plagued its residents. A liberal, pre-Mughal era juxtaposed with a sectarian and fundamentalist present, most inhabitants today are either drawn largely from the fringes of Islamic society or are remnants of pre-independence refugees with a pronounced disposition to being purveyors of pop art. They are into as varied professions as trading, housing, billboard advertising and the likes.

You could well say my attempt is in effect a real tall order. You could also argue that it is no easy task to attempt and write a historical tome that does not make for cumbersome reading. More so, when one makes a virgin attempt to tackle the ageless history of the tawaif of all cities, which I prefer to, call Dilli.
But the Dilli I have encountered and experienced for over five decades of my earthly existence has been both moving and inspirational. And my understanding of the canvas of Delhi has largely been limited to Nizamuddin, or Niza Town as it was affectionately called, during the early years of my life.

I have always passionately believed that Nizamuddin is the place where live history and celebration of life mock at me from every stone edifice. As also from the staid walls of tombs and memorials that have spanned more than ten centuries in time -- from 12th Century A.D right to the onset of the New Millennium.
And Nizamuddin has never been given its rightful due and longs for recognition. My narration is not that of an objective chronicler but the sum total of all the good, bad and beautiful life experiences that have lived within me to tell the tale.
Let’s rummage through Nizamuddin’s patron saint’s journey through life in a historical perspective as is available on the Internet. For, without a historical perspective, all efforts to revive this land of my dreams would remain unsung. Despite efforts to the contrary, Niza Town has been a cultural melting pot and continues to do so even today. Let us take a sneak preview of the Sufi saint’s life and times.


Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia (d. 1325 A.D.) represents in many ways the epitome of the Chishti clan of the Sufis. His spiritual guide, Hazrat Baba Farid, said to him on appointing him as his successor: "Be like a big tree, so that Allah's creation, the human beings in their vast multitudes, may find rest and solace under your shadow."

According to historical references, his wisdom manifested itself in the form of service to humanity. Of his, it has been cited: "He was not a miracle-monger of the ordinary sort. He never flew in the air or walked on water with dry, motionless feet. His greatness was the greatness of a loving heart; his miracles were the miracles of a deeply sympathetic soul. He could read a man's inner heart by a glance at his face and spoke the words that brought consolation to a tortured heart."
In keeping with the great Sufi saint’s preaching, the place where he breathed his last came to be rechristened during the flower-power era of the late sixties and the early seventies. Thus was witnessed the re-emergence of a Sufi stronghold which had almost been buried in the vagaries and whims of time.