About the Book
Written in the 1820s, Sair-ul-Manazil, as far as we know, is the first attempt to systematically list the monuments of the city of Delhi. Apart from public buildings like mosques, temples, shrines and tombs, it lists wells, gardens, houses, shops and stray graves. This was in itself a formidable task and one that might easily have resulted in a very dry and tedious document. The author, however, considerably enlivens it by a description of the various localities of the city, of the people who lived and worked there in his time, social activities and fairs, and historical anecdotes connected with places and people. The original was written in Persian by a person known as Sangin Beg. This volume is a translation into English by the late Nausheen Jaffery, edited and introduced by Swapna Liddle. It includes sketches (by Neeti Banerji) that both illustrate the narrative and bring a visual life to it. The translation of a large number of inscriptions makes the volume of special interest to anyone interested in the historic buildings of Delhi.