Satpula is a remarkable ancient water harvesting dam or weir located about east of the Khirki Masjid that is integral to the compound wall of the medieval fourth city of the Jahanpanah in Delhi, with its construction credited to the reign of Sultan Muhammad Shah Tughlaq (Muhammad bin Tughluq) (1325–1351) of the Tughlaq Dynasty. The objective of building the weir was for providing water for irrigation and also, as a part of the city wall, to provide defense security to the city against attacking armies. Satpula is a usage in Hindi languages, which literally means "seven bridges". History During the second decade rule of Sultan Muhammad Shah Tughlaq, the economic conditions of the Delhi Sultanate was in distress due to very high expenses incurred on the war campaign in South India (Deccan) and also due to the Sultan establishing his southern capital at Daulatabad. Both these acts necessitated increasing taxes to enhance the treasury coffers to meet large expenses. But people were dissatisfied and distressed with these developments. Some tribal groups, such as the Chaghatai tribes, had launched raids on many places in North India and even posed serious threats to Delhi, when the Sultan was on his south Indian campaign. In the period between 1334 and 1344, repeated droughts had caused famines that were further compounded by the Black Plague. These two natural calamities had added to the suffering of the people in the country. Urgent solutions had to be found to remedy the distress conditions. One of the viable options planned was of building the Satpula, the seven arches bridge or gate controlled weir or dam, to tap the water resources of the local nullah (stream) on Southern Delhi Ridge feeding the Yamuna river, which could be used to bring large areas of flat land in the vicinity under controlled irrigated agriculture to grow food crops to stem the famine conditions. This solution was also thought to provide the much needed defense to the walls of the newly built city of Jahanpanah. Topography The location of the Satpula, which is a part of the east–west wall protecting the southern part of Jahanpanah, drains a catchment comprising a series of low hills on the south, east, and west. The stream draining the catchment area, known as Barapulla Nallah was planned to be tapped to store the run–off water of the catchment. Command area for irrigation was identified in a