The Baoli is one of the earliest structures to be built in the Nizamuddin area.

The Baoli is one of the earliest structures to be built in the Nizamuddin area.

It was constructed under Hazrat Nizamuddin's aegis and is said to have been the cause of contention between the saint Hazrat Nizamuddin and Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.

Nizamuddin Auliya began building this baoli when the city of Tughlaqabad was being built and the Sultan had prohibited any other construction in the Delhi region.

To escape the Sultan’s wrath, the masons worked on building the baoli at night.

When the Sultan found out he was infuriated, and he banned the sale of oil to prevent night-time construction here.

The saint then performed a miracle using water from the baoli instead of oil to light the lamps.

Miraculously, this is the only baoli in Delhi that has not dried up due to the falling water table, and pure water is still fed by underground springs.

Over the centuries, several structures were built along the baoli walls, including the domed structures on the northern edge, Chini ka Burj, and the vaulted marble pavilion known as the tomb of someone named Gogabai, about whom nothing else is known.

Built of large blocks of hand-chiseled Delhi quartzite stones, the baoli measures 38 m by 16 m and is enclosed by walls on three sides - south, east, and west, and has steps descending from the north leading to its circular base.

Built of large blocks of hand-chiseled Delhi quartzite stones, the baoli measures 38 m by 16 m and is enclosed by walls on three sides - south, east, and west, and has steps descending from the north leading to its circular base.

A tunnel on its eastern façade originally led to the Dargah courtyard – possibly for the pilgrims to head to the dargah after their ablutions.

Buildings have been erected along the walls of the baoli at different times, including the narrow, arcaded passage on the east.

In July 2008, owing to inappropriate repairs and epoxy layers on the walls, portions of the eastern wall collapsed.

In July 2008, owing to inappropriate repairs and epoxy layers on the walls, portions of the eastern wall collapsed.

After exhaustive scientific analysis and consultation with the community, efforts to rebuild the wall began.

The idea was not only to restore the historic structure but also to improve quality of life of resident communities and pilgrims.

For the first time in centuries, the baoli was de-silted to its original depth of 25 metres below ground level and major repairs including the removal of the 20th-century epoxy layer.

In keeping with requests from the Dargah Committee and local community, the conservation of the collapsed portions of the Baoli was coupled with a mammoth effort to clean the stepwell of all debris, which meant 700 years of accumulated dust, rubble, and dirt.

The manual lifting of sludge required more than 8,000 days of work.

The collapsed portion was restored with traditional materials by master craftsmen closely supervised by structural engineers and architects who used state-of-art equipment to monitor the works.

Next, the eastern corridor was renovated with marble facing and sandstone lattice screens replaced the iron fencing of the southern arcade.

The baoli’s conservation is thus an example of a complex urban conservation project with multiple requirements that could only be addressed by a multidisciplinary team and partnership of several government agencies.

Baoli precinct:

The baoli is surrounded by a number of smaller structures that form an integral part of the precinct.

Some of these were occupied or were under the private ownership of residents.

The vaulted southern arcade of the baoli is contemporary to its Tughlaq construction as are possibly the two domed pavilions on either side of its northern edge.

The western side of the Baoli has three monuments – Chini ka Burj, Gogabai’s Tomb, and Lal Chaubara, while the eastern side has the vaulted corridor leading to the dargah.

After the baoli work was completed, the conservation team started working on the conservation of Gogabai’s Tomb and Chini ka Burj, as seen in archival images.