Page 7 - july-september-2019

VOL. 16 No. 2
Sheikh Chillie ki Madrasa DiLLi ki SHAAn

of knowledge under alaudin
All madrasas have certain features, such as teaching rooms, a library, Delhi was an important centre
mosque, living quarters for teachers and students. They all have a more khilji. His minister shamsul
or less similar architectural layout. malik patronized all fields
of knowledge. Greco-arab
One well known madrasa is Sheikh Chillie ki Madrasa, located at medicine was especially given
Thanesar. Let us look at its architecture. importance.

HiSTORY SpECiAL fACiLiTiES

Madrasas are very few in number, as they were All madrasas had arched rooms. The rooms on the north and
targetting just a small ulema class. All students south were lecture halls, one of the rooms was a library, the
were prepared for the civil services or the mosque was on the west, larger rooms were living quarters for
judiciary. Sheikh Chillie ki Madrasa was the most teachers, while the smaller ones were for students. The Madrasa
impressive Madrasa from the Mughal times. also has a section, which was perhaps used as a hammam.
This can be said
because of the
wHO wAS SHEikH CHiLLiE? well that is placed
above the room.
There is speculation about the person who is The structure
buried in the tomb attached to the madrasa. was built of
While some say it could be the writer who bricks. There
created the character of Sheikh Chillie, others were garden
say that it could be Dara Shikoh’s spiritual master, quarters outside
or maybe a saint who kept a 40 day fast, which is the rooms and a
called ‘chehli’, thus giving him that name. water tank in the

Sheikh Chillie is a famous character who often middle. Outside
appears in humorous stories. He is prone to day the arched rooms
dreaming and building castles in the air, which was a verandah
all collapse by the end of the story. and towards
the North was a
ACTiViTY staircase leading
up to the tomb.
What was the moral behind the creation of such
a character?
Not to scale

ACTiViTY: fiND THE DiffERENCES

The Mughals got a few madrasas built under their reign.
An important one was Khair-ul Manzil in
Purana Qila, which was built by Maham
Anga, Akbar’s wet nurse and foster mother.
Her name is mentioned in the central arch
of the mosque. The name Khair-ul Manzil
literally means ‘the auspicious destination’.
When you visit Delhi, have a look at this
madrasa and compare its layout to Sheikh
Chillie ki Madrasa, and spot the differences.

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