The first city of Delhi, if you believe mythology, was Indraprat or Indraprastha, a city fit for the gods. The story of Delhi, goes beyond the Rajputs, both in history and legend.

The mela began in 1987, and now draws a crowd of thousands.Д«ut in off season, the kund only gets a few devoted visitors: young lovers and a tribe of monkeys. While picknicking near Surajkund lake dried up with the lake, the reservoir continues to attract visitors, largely due to the annual crafts mela held every February. Illegal mining continues till date, despite the ban. The Supreme Court imposed a ban on mining activities in this area in 2002, but the damage had been done. Unchecked mining in Aravali foothills lead to the drying up of Surajkund, and other neighbouring lakes such as Bhadkal and Damdama. вЂњNone of this,вЂќ he points to walled farms and Badarpur sand pits in the valley, вЂњwas around then.вЂќ The Surajkund reservoir is now completely dry, but even back in 2001, monsoons would fill the reservoir. вЂњEven until 2000, I would come here by paddle boat from the Kund,вЂќ he says. He points to the Surajkund reservoir, some 300 meters away. Karamvir Singh, who works at the nearby office of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), remembers his early years here. Steps run around the tank with a gap for a stone ramp, which according to historian Percival Spear, вЂњwas for elephants when they came down to batheвЂќ.ДЄs recently as a decade ago, the valley was a lake filled with rainwater. The semi-circular reservoir is said to be built by King Surajpal Tomar to collect the water from the Anangpur dam. The completely dry Surajkund reservoir, hardly 2 kms away, tells the same story of rapid ecological change. Today, even at the peak of the monsoon, there is no water in sight. It is 50 metres long and 7 metres high, with stepped sluices to control the flow of water. On closer inspection, you can see steep steps on either side. The hard-to-locate Anangpur dam is also attributed to Anangpala II.

In 1311 AD, when Alauddin Khilji was constructing the Alai Darwaza near Qutub Minar, water from the tank was used. In Delhi: An Ancient History, historian Upinder Singh writes that the remarkable feature of the tank are the Rajput-period вЂmason marksвЂ™ or symbols incised on the semi-dressed stones, such as a swastika, scorpion, drums and circle divided in four parts. Several Tomar kings shared the name Anangpala, and they built tanks, dams and baolis.ДЄnang Tal, a water tank abutting the Lal Kot ruins, is one such structure. What we call Red Fort or Lal Qila today was called Qila-e-Mubarak,вЂќ explains Safvi.ДЄpart from Lal Kot, it is in DelhiвЂ™s earliest surviving waterworks that the true legacy of the Tomars comes to light. вЂњLal Kot was DelhiвЂ™s original вЂred fortвЂ™. All that remains of it are a few mounds and ruins which lie in present-day Sanjay Van, Mehrauli and parts of the wall have completely collapsed. Lal Kot was a citadel built by Anangpala II in the middle of 11th century. вЂњIf there is one place in Delhi which gives one a sense of experiencing a thousand years of history at once, it is Lal Kot,вЂќ says writer Rana Safvi, author of Where Stones Speak: Historical Trails in Mehrauli. Revisiting the sites of these ancient cities is to suddenly see a glimpse of DelhiвЂ™s past lives. Earlier historical accounts suggested seven cities waxed and waned here, but the number of settlements was higher, going up to nine or ten. The area in and around present-day Delhi has been the site of many ancient cities. A meandering dirt path from the more famous Surajkund reservoir leads to the dam. In Faridabad, a few hundred metres from Surajkund, neither the villagers nor the GPS can give us directions to where we are headed: the ruins of Anangpur dam.Д«uilt by the Tomar Rajputs, who established the first known city of Delhi more than a thousand years ago, today the site lies unmarked and rarely visited.

Clash of kings ancient battlefield