Badshapur is one of the 4 sub-division of Gurugram district of Haryana state, situated on the Gurugram-Sohna road (NH-248A). It is named after the Badshahpur Fort, which in turn was the abode of the wife of Mughal EmperorBahadur Shah Zafar.[1] Badshahpur is a part of Badshahpur assembly constituency of Haryana.
Fort Badshahpur was the palace of one of the wives of mughal emperorBahadur Shah Zafar. The unprotected fort is in ruins and needs restoration.[3] It has been encroached by the people.[1][4]
Begum Samru Place
Begum Samru Place at Gurugram lies between Badshahpur-Jharsa. The paragana of Badshahpur-Jharsa was ruled by Begum Samru (b.1753 – d.1836) and she built a palace for herself between Badshahpur and Jharsa.[2] Her palace has been completely lost to encroachments. Palace building is located between Gurgaon and Jharsa village, much of which was used as district collector's residence or camp office. Built in Islamic style, the ruins of this palace survived till about 2008 in Gurgaon.[5]
Badshahpur Mohanlal Stepwell, built in 1905 by Mohan Lal and currently owned by his grandson Ved Prakash Mangla (c. 2018), is a stepwell on sector road near Sohna Road in Badshahpur in Gurugram.[1][6] It was built to conserve the water due to the crisis,[1] and also as a source of water for the domesticated animals.[6]Ansal University's Sushant School of Art and Architecture (SSAA) students conducted a research on it in 2005.[6]
The catchment area has been obliterated due to construction and encroachment.[1] The neglected unkempt flies-ridden stepwell is without any protective wall.[6]INTACH had offered to preserve the stepwell and also written to the Government of Haryana to reserve it.[1] INTACH could not preserve it due to lack of agreement on terms with the owner who wants to maintain it himself.[6]
In January 2018 SSAA and INTACH discovered that HUDA is in the process of constructing a road which might lead to the destruction of this stepwell.[1][6] HUDA officials agreed to review it and if needed will alter the road to avoid risk to the stepwell, deputy commissioner assured to have it preserved.[1][6]
Akhara Stepwell
Akhara Stepwell, also Akhara Baoli, is a stepwell in inside a functional akhara on the same road as the "Badshahpur Baoli", only few km away, in Badshahpur. Constructed with local materials, such as stone, all these baolis of Gurugram district have mixed Ahir-Rajput-Jat-Mughal architectural style of 18th-20th centuries with Islamic pointed arches and cusped or segmental arches.[7] In 2018, activists filed the case against the church which tried to illegally grab and destroy this legally protected baoli through fraud.[8]
Dhumaspur Stepwell
Dhumaspur Stepwell, also Dhumaspur Baoli, is a 200 years old Zila Parishad-managed five-story stepwell on the "Jail Road" in Dhumaspur village near Badshahpur in Gurugram. If was built on 2 kanal land from the stones brought from Makrana and Jaipur mines.[8] In 2018, activists filed the case against the church which tried to illegally grab and destroy this legally protected baoli through fraud.[8]
^Forgotten stepwells fine examples of our heritage, Hindustan Times, 16 September 2019. Both baolis in Badhshapur are based on the square plan with three side steps and a rectangular single steps to move down into the baoli. A stepped pond was usually built near a temple and the stepped well was built on travel routes or the outskirts of towns by nobles, queens, rich traders and philanthropists of the community to provide drinking water to the passers-by.
India
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