Subz Burj v/s Nila Gumbad - no they are not the same!

Here's the beautiful Subz-Burj, at the intersection of Mathura Road and Lodhi Road. Subz means Green in Arabic, Burj means Tower.  The tiles on top of the tower suppposedly used to be green, but were replaced by blue tiles during restoration by ASI in the 80's (or at least that's what I am told). Subz Burj is a tomb. No one knows who's buried in it.

Because of the colour of the roof tiles, there's an unfortunate tendency to mix up Subz Burj (Green Tower) with Nila Gumbad (Blue Dome), which is the name of an entirely different monument near Humayun's Tomb.

Nila Gumbad in foreground. Humayun's Tomb is to the top left. Nai ka Gumbad is in between.
Photo from Archnet: Link here

Nila Gumbad is also supposed to be a tomb. The ASI says it's the earliest Mughal tomb in India, and reflects an architectural style without any Indian influences. It is believed to contain the remains of a man called Miyan Fahim Khan. He was the attendant/servant of the poet Rahim (Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khana). What this attendant did to deserve burial in such a grand tomb, I don't know. To top that, there is no structure inside the tomb, no sarcophagus to show that someone is buried there.

Here's a map showing where Subz Burj is, with respect to Humayun's Tomb and Nila Gumbad:

Humayun's Tomb was listed under the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992. This month the listing was expanded to list several other tombs and complexes in the vicinity of Humayun's Tomb, thereby doubling the area under the heritage list. While Nila Gumbad is now included in the list, Subz Burj is now in the buffer zone.

So - to summarise the differences:
Subz Burj - Originally green and now blue; Nila Gumbad - Always has been blue
Subz Burj - Now a traffic roundabout (Lodhi Road - Mathura Road intersection). Nila Gumbad - Adjoining the Humayun's Tomb complex
Subz Burj - built somewhere in mid-1500's, no one knows who is buried here. Nila Gumbad - said to be the oldest Mughal ruin, but I can't find a date online for when it was built. Later in mid-1600's,  Miyan Fahim said to be buried here.
Subz Burj - lies in the buffer zone of Humayun's Tomb; Nila Gumbad - listed under world heritage site list.

Chaunsath Khamba - gorgeous after restoration!

Just a quick post to say how stunning Chaunsath Khamba is looking these days after restoration.

This is what it looked like a couple of hundred years ago:

Painting by William Daniels

Chausath Khambha is the tomb of Mirza Aziz Kokaltash, Mughal emperor Akbar’s foster brother. It was built in 1623-24 AD. This is the largest open space in Nizamuddin Basti. There are three parts of the complex:

• Chaunsath Khamba (tomb of Mirza Aziz Koka)
• Urs Mahal (hall, gathering area, courtyard)
• Ghalib’s tomb (famous Urdu poet Ghalib)

The restoration of Chaunsath Khamba was done by the Aga Khan Trust, with funding from the German government. If you go there, you'll see the posters showing "before and after" comparisons.

Tea sets at Nizamuddin

These metal tea-sets are popular with those who visit Nizamuddin dargah. Check them out next time you visit the dargah. They are sold at small road-side stalls.

Meswak at Nizamuddin Basti, Delhi

If you go to Nizamuddin during the month of Ramzan, you will always spot the meswak sellers doing brisk business:

Meswak / Miswak / Siwak, Nizamuddin, Delhi
Spotted on the Delhi Magic Heritage Walk through Nizamuddin: 
http://delhimagic.com/heritage-walk-nizamuddin.html

Meswak is a traditional way of cleaning teeth and is widely used among Muslims in India. It is sometimes spelt as miswak, and it's also called siwak. 

Sales of meswak shoot up during Ramzan, because during fasting, you are not allowed to brush your teeth with toothpaste (as the fast will be considered broken). Meswak is "sunnah" (approved way of life), so you can use it to clean your mouth. Meswak triggers the flow of saliva. Swallowing this saliva is considered ok (whereas there are usually restrictions on swallowing saliva during fasting). 

Cutting implements used to shape the Miswak and scrape off the bark..
If the twig is whitish, it means it is fresh and good for use

The meswak is a shrub / small tree. Its natural habitats in India are near mangroves, in saline lands, thorn shrubs, desert flood plains and along drainage lines in arid zones. It can tolerate lots of salinity.  

The scientific name is Salvadora Persica; this fancy name was bestowed upon the tree by Dr. Laurent Garcin (1683-1751), a French naturalist working with the East India Company. In choosing the name "Salvadora" Dr. Garcin was honouring a 17th century apothecary from Spain, Juan Salvador i Bosca (1598-1681). The "Persica" refers to Persia, where the "true specimen" of the tree is said to be from.

To me the Salvadora Persica looks very much like a tree which is native to India, because it is widespread and has names in several Indian languages, including Samskrit. Some examples below:

Hindi: मेस्वाक meswak, पिलु pilu 

Kannada: ಗೊನಿಮರ gonimara 

Marathi: khakan, पिलु pilu

Sanskrit: गुडफल gudaphala, पिलु pilu

Tamil: உகா uka

Telugu: గున్నంగి gunnangi

Here is a photo of the plant in its natural settings, from Salem Al Shekaili's flickr page. Looks like a very uninspiring and ordinary shrub, doesn't it? But it is a valuable resource - the leaves are used as food (they have a mustardy flavour), the bark has medicinal properties, and it is being widely planted in Kutch as part of reforestation attempts.

Salvadora Persica, by Salem Al Shekaili

In fact, to check to the versatile plants of the desert, you should head over to Salem Al Shekaili's really fabulous page to see his full collection of halophytes (plants which grow in saline environments).