Hauz Khas is a neighborhood in South Delhi, its heart being the historic

Hauz Khas Complex Hauz Khas Complex in Hauz Khas, South Delhi houses a water tank, an Islamic seminary, a mosque, a tomb and pavilions built around an urbanized village with medieval history traced to the 13th century of Delhi Sultanate reign. It was part of Sir ...

. Well known in medieval times, the Hauz Khas village has amazing buildings built around the reservoir. There are remnants of Islamic architecture roughly colored by splotches of urban culture. It is centrally located and offers both rural Hauz Khas Village and urban Hauz Khas Enclave, Market environments. Hauz Khas is surrounded by Green Park, SDA ( Sri Aurobindo Marg) to the west, Gulmohar Park (Balbir Saxena Marg) towards the north, Sarvapriya Vihar ( Outer Ring Road) towards the south and Asiad Village (August Kranti Marg) and Siri Fort to the east. Hauz Khas is also home to various diplomatic missions such as the ones of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, Guinea Bissau, Burundi, and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. Historically Hauz Khas was known as Hauz-e-Alai and is the place where Khusro Khan of Delhi Sultanate was defeated by Ghazi Malik (Governor of Dipalpur) in 1320. Hauz Khas is witnessing the growth of trendy shops and lodgings. It is now becoming the center for domestic and international tourists and backpackers. The area also is home to historical monuments and has easy access to the

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colou ...

, making it a preferred location for many visitors to India and domestic middle-class visitors from other Indian states. The area attracts young tourists with numerous

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or share ...

s and

cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-c ...

History

Ferozesha tomb at the left end with Northern limb of the Madrasa

A plaque at the entrance of Hauz Khas complex

Hauz Khas is named after an ancient water reservoir by the same name, now part of the extensive

. In Urdu language, 'Hauz’ means "water tank" (or lake) and ‘Khas’ means "royal", giving it the meaning — the "Royal tank". The large water tank or reservoir was first built by

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrativ ...

(r. 1296–1316) (the plaque displayed at the site records this fact) to supply water to the inhabitants of Siri Fort.

Geography

It was developed during the 1960s by DLF (Delhi Land & Finance Ltd.) as Hauz Khas Enclave. Later it was made a district of South Delhi encompassing some more neighboring areas.
Hauz Khas (Enclave) as known, consists of A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,K,L,M,P,Q,R,X,Y,Z Blocks. E block is the Main market here and lies in the middle of the colony. It includes a multi-level parking lot. G block and Aurobindo Market are other markets close by. Mayfair Gardens is an independent small private colony inside Hauz Khas, neighboured by Padmini Enclave. Hauz Khas has some of the largest green areas in Delhi, namely Deer Park and Rose garden.
It is near to the two major hospitals in Delhi, AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital. As Hauz Khas now is administered as a district, it is also known as a reference for other areas like Mayfair Gardens, Padmini Enclave, Safdarjung Enclave, Hauz Khas Village, Kalu Sarai, IIT-Delhi, Shahpur Jat, Asiad Village, Katwaria Sarai and institutional areas like on Sirifort Road and Aurobindo Marg.

Hauz Khas village

Hauz Khas village is a historic habitation around the region of the

, dating to much before establishment of South Delhi city. It existed as an urban village at the edge of larger Hauz Khas area, developed by DLF after the 1960s. The village area started getting modernized in mid-1980s when designer boutiques of fashion designer like Bina Ramani, started moving in. Then, in the late 1990s restaurants started coming up in the area, today it has around 50 restaurants, bars, pubs and cafes. The success of Hauz Khas village has led to the development of

Shahpur Jat Shahpur Jat is an urban village in South Delhi, located near Hauz Khas and within one of the ancient capital cities of Delhi, Siri Fort. History When the Siri Fort was abandoned, Jats & Jatavs moved to the Shahpur Jat area, being attracted ...

and Lado Sarai as fashion and design markets also in the South Delhi area. Lake_in_Hauz_Khas.jpg, Lake in Hauz Khas Village in the year 2014. Hauz Khas Village Lake.jpg, Skyview of lake Hauz Khas village.jpg, The Tomb of Firoz Shah Tughlaq Hauz Khas Village 0002 046.jpg, Islamic monument at Hauz Khas Hauz Khas Village 0002 227.jpg, Arc and wall design Hauz Khas Village 0002 238.jpg, Dome design inside the tomb Idgah Padmani Enclave

Points of interest and tourism

Historical Places like the Hauz Khas Complex which consists of the Hauz Khas Lake or Royal Tank, a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

and a

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

, all from the time of the Khalji dynasty. Neeli Masjid and Chor Minar, where the heads of executed thieves (chor) would be put on display in the earlier days, lie inside the colony. Nearby landmarks include Siri Fort Auditorium, Siri Fort Sports Complex, HUDCO Place and Yusuf Sarai Community Centre. Hauz Khas is witnessing the growth of trendy shops and lodgings. It is now becoming the center for domestic and international tourists and backpackers. The area also is home to historical monuments and has easy access to the

, making it a preferred location for many visitors to India and domestic middle-class visitors from other Indian states. The area attracts young tourists with numerous hip

s and

Accessibility

The domestic terminal of

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of , is situated in Palam, Delhi, southwest of the New D ...

(Terminal 1) is from Hauz Khas while the international terminal (Terminal 3) is .

Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station (station code: NZM) is a railway station in South Delhi, India. It is under the administrative control of the Delhi Division of the Northern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. It is one of the five main s ...

lies away. The Hauz Khas Metro Station (

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In th ...

and Magenta Lines) is situated towards the Outer Ring Road. The Hauz Khas Bus Stand is also situated towards the Outer Ring Road.

Education

Hauz Khas houses engineering and management colleges like the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and the

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is a leading business school of India. Established in 1963, it works as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. It also functions as a civil services tr ...

. Hauz Khas also houses the fashion college National Institute of Fashion Technology. Hauz Khas also contains private schools such as Laxman Public School and General Raj's School and a school run by the Aurobindo society Mother's International School with Sahoday Senior Secondary School. Due to the location of the

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi is a public institute of technology located in New Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 IITs created to be Centres of Excellence for training, research and development in science, engineering and technolo ...

nearby, the area of Kalu Sarai has developed into an educational hub, with many private cram schools, like MADE EASY (Temple for ESE aspirants), Achievers Point,

FIITJEE FIITJEE is a coaching institute for JEE and other competitive exams founded by Dinesh Kumar Goel. It has a pan-India network of 67 branches in 43 cities, along with branches in Bahrain and Qatar. It offers courses for students of grades 6 to ...

, Aakash Educational Services Limited
Resonance Eduventures Ltd.
for helping the student with the goal of cracking the admission tests of Indian Institutes of Technology and

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Government of India. These institutes h ...

, and prestigious exams like Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana,

National Talent Search Examination In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typica ...

International Mathematics Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except ...

, and other competitive tests conducted in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It also houses Institute of Home Economics, which is a college of

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE ...

. St. Anthony's senior secondary school

Nearby

Fastbooktrip, Institute of Home Economics, Gaudiya Math, Panchshila Club, Chor Minar, IDGAH, DDA Sarvpriya Vihar Park

References

External links

{{Delhi Neighbourhoods in Delhi District subdivisions of Delhi South Delhi district History of Delhi