Hauz I Shamsi is a large tank on the outskirts of
Mehrauli in
Delhi and was built by
Iltutmish.
It is believed that Prophet once visited Iltutmish in his dream and pointed to him the site for building the tank. And it was on account of this dream that he looked for the site that the Prophet had pointed out to him in his dream. And legend has it that he noticed the site when he saw an impression of one of the hoofs of the horse of the Prophet. And it was around the impression of the hoof that he decided to build the large tank.
He built a domed pavilion and excavated a tank. The tank was very vast with a red sand stone pavilion in the centre. The tank was supplied with rain water and the double storey pavilion could be reached only by boats when the tank was at its brim.
The existing domes pavilion now rests on 12 pillars. The original stone with the hoof print is believed to have been removed. The hauz is on one side of the main market street and on the other bank lies the Jahaz Mahal.
