Bordering the Qutb Minar complex, but overlooked by most of the tourist hordes, the Mehrauli Archaeological Park preserves some of the most atmospheric relics of the second city of Delhi.
Scattered around a forest park are the ruins of dozens of tombs, palace buildings and colonial follies. You can reach the park by turning right from the metro station onto Anuvrat Marg and walking around 500m; the entrance is via a small lane on your left, marked by a board showing the park regulations.
Entering the park from here, the first monuments you’ll see are the time-ravaged tombs of Balban and Quli Khan, his son, which formerly incorporated a mosque. A short walk away is Mehrauli’s most impressive structure, the Jamali Khamali mosque, attached to the tomb of the Sufi poet Jamali. Ask the caretaker to open the doors so you can see the intricate incised plaster ceiling decorated with Jamali’s verses. To the west is the Rajon ki Baoli, a majestic 16th-century step-well with a monumental flight of steps. If you walk from here towards Mehrauli village, on the edge of the street is Adham Khan’s Mausoleum, which was once used as a British residence, than later as a police station and post office.
Southwest of the Archaeological Park is a complex of ruined tombs and summer palaces, constructed in the late Mughal period around the Haus i Shamsi tank . An empty space between two of the tombs was intended for the last king of Delhi, Bahadur Shah Zafar, who died in exile in Burma (Myanmar) in 1862.
