A commentary on Aligarh’s history - darbars of DMs and qilas

Aligarh: To instill some sense of belonging in the youth and diaspora that is high on Pokemon Go some city residents, under the banner of Aligarh Culture Club - have come together to release CDs of Hindi commentary narrating the history of Aligarh with first volume emphasizing on edifices and darbars held by the DMs. The club members will come out with a second volume on culture of the city soon.
The members of the club, patronized by Gopal Das (Neeraj) and other noted cultural figures from the city have come out with 175 CDs in the first installment. In the 35 minute CD, Johny Foster, poet and musician, has narrated the history of the city. He transports the listeners to the times when the DMs held darbars with the people in the 19th century.
Foster narrates that the darbars were started here by the first DM of Aligarh Collector Russel, in 1804, and this was followed by others who came later (There is a locality in his name called Russelganj). These darbar sessions with the DMs lead to laying down of railway track, establishment of Jail building as the buildings on rent were not reliable then and also a sarkari hospital - During the time of Collector AO Hume, founder of Indian National Congress, some French officers approached Hume to make the contemporary Malkhan Singh Hospital a government one, narrates Foster. There are enriching stories on Aligarh under the Scindia regime and the tours made by Babur and Iltutmish.
There are other charming details like Railway Road was called thandi sadak, the oldest locality in the district is Upper Fort, followed by Kanwari Ganj, Shah Pada, Jaiganj, Babri Mandi and Turkman Gate. He has also shared the story of two qilas (forts) and how Harduaganj got its name… “World is moving at a fast pace, people are leaving their hometowns for better jobs so it is important to make these attempts to preserve our history,” said Foster. Secretary of the club Pankaj Dhiraj said, “This is to bring cultural people together.”