I’ll be hosting a walk in the inner ramparts of Old Delhi, focusing on how the settlement of the city of Shahjahanabad was distributed in terms of professional enclaves. We’ll be traversing the lanes once inhabited by tawaifs, tailors, musicians, bawarchis, hakims and many others, alongside stories of how life transformed for the working class from the opulent times of Shah Jahan to the turbulent era of the later Mughals. We’ll also discuss how spy networks operated and major conspiracies were hatched in these very bylanes during the rule of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar.
We’ll be looking at some structures reminiscent of how the city was shaped by the Begums of Shah Jahan and also remains of some palaces and mansions belonging to very strong female characters in history. We’ll also discuss the entertainment culture of the middle class as well aristocratic society and visit the haveli of Delhi’s most famous poet, Mirza Ghalib, reminiscing his works which spoke in such fervour about the city of Delhi and stories outlining the heartbreak Ghalib suffered when his beloved city was ransacked in the Revolt of 1857 and afterwards.