Famous as a market for shoes, spectacles and bangles, Ballimaran was once known for its hakeems.

“Hakeem Ajmal Khan used to live here at Shareef Manzil,” says Riyaz Khan, a resident of Ballimaran. “People like Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad used to come here.”

Famous for hosting the haveli of Mirza Ghalib, it is said Ballimaran once had a canal running through its main street. “In the time of Shah Jehan, there was a neher (canal) here in middle of the road,” says Khaliq Ahmed. “It was so deep that ballis (wooden poles) were used to measure its depth. That’s why the area was named Ballimaran.”

“The neher was filled by the British,” says Ahmed. “Those were the times when there would be cages with parrots hanging from balconies,” he says. However, there is another version of the same story. According to a resident Asim Khan, boatmen used to live in the area. “They would row their boats with ballis, and that has given the area its name,” he says.