ABSTRACT
This chapter is about Hauz-i Rani, a small reservoir lying on the southern fringes of New Delhi. It seeks to study the significance attached to the reservoir by neighbouring settlers, and the manner in which these disparate groups of people related to the Hauz-i Rani and each other over a period of nine centuries. The population composition and settlements in the vicinity of the reservoir have hardly remained stable since the date of the construction of the Hauz-i Rani some time in the twelfth century. There has been considerable demographic change in the region and hence the manner in which people perceive and signify the importance of their landscape has also undergone considerable transformation.
