Anang Tal lake declared monument of national importance

Anang Tal lake declared monument of national importance

Subject :Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context: Recently, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had visited the Anang Tal Baoli inside Sanjay Van, and directed officials to restore the heritage stepwell within the next two months.

• The Anang Tal lake in South Delhi, believed to have been built a thousand years ago, has been declared a monument of national importance through a gazette notification by the Ministry of Culture earlier this week.
• The notification, issued on August 22, stated: “The central government is of the opinion that the ancient mound including Anang Tal, Tehsil Mehrauli, district South Delhi, National Capital Territory Delhi… is an ancient site and remains of national importance; Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (24 of 1958), the central government hereby gives notice of its intention to declare the said ancient site and remains to be of national importance…”

Anang Tal

• The lake is situated in Mehrauli, Delhi and is claimed to be created by Tomar King, Anangpal II, in 1,060 AD.
  • He is known to have established and populated Delhi in the 11^th century.
• The millennium old Anang Tal signifies the beginning of Delhi.
• Anang Tal has a strong Rajasthan connection as Maharaja Anangpal is known as nana (maternal grandfather) of Prithviraj Chauhan whose fort Rai Pithora is on the list of the ASI.

Who was Anangpal II?

• Anangpal II, popularly known as AnangpalTomar, belonged to the Tomar dynasty.
• He was the founder of Dhillika Puri, which eventually became Delhi.
  • Evidence about the early history of Delhi is inscribed on the iron pillar of Masjid Quwaatul Islam, adjacent to Qutub Minar.
• Multiple inscriptions and coins suggest AnangpalTomar was the ruler of present-day Delhi and Haryana in between the 8^th-12^th centuries.
  • He had built the city from ruins and under his supervision, Anang Tal Baoli and Lal Kot were constructed.
• AnangpalTomar II was succeeded by his grandson Prithviraj Chauhan.
  • Delhi Sultanate was established in 1192 after Prithviraj Chauhan’s defeat in the Battle of Tarain (present-day Haryana) by the Ghurid forces.

What are the Key Points About the Tomar Dynasty?

• Tomara dynasty is one of the minor early medieval ruling houses of northern India.
• Puranic evidence (writings of the Puranas) gives its early location in the Himalayan region. According to bardic tradition, the dynasty was one of the 36 Rajput tribes.
• The history of the family spans the period between the reign of Anangpal, who founded the city of Delhi in the 11^th century CE, and the incorporation of Delhi within the Chauhan (Chahamana) kingdom in 1164.
• Although Delhi subsequently became decisively a part of the Chauhan kingdom, numismatic and comparatively late literary evidence indicates that Tomara kings such as Anangapal and Madanapal continued to rule as feudatories, presumably until the final conquest of Delhi by the Muslims in 1192–93.

National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities

• The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) is an Indian government agency responsible for maintaining cultural heritage database under the Ministry of Culture of the government of India.
• It was launched in 2007 aimed at studying, researching and preserving the cultural heritage of India.
• The main goal of the agency is to make information available online to the general public, explicitly for scholars and students interested or associated with the subject.
• Responsible to maintain two national registers such as national registers on antiquities and national register on Built Heritage & Sites (BH&S), it is referred to one of the important databases of the country in architectural and historical perspectives alongside the Archaeological Survey of India, a nodal agency of the NMMA.