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1 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning,
Delhi through the Ages: The Making of its Early Modern History
Unit-I
ANCIENT DELHI AND ADJOINING SITES: INDRAPRASTHA,
ASHOKAN EDICTS, MEHRAULI IRON PILLAR, LALKOT
Dr. Ritika Joshi
1 Learning Objectives
1 Introduction
1 Sources for the Study of Delhi’s Past 1 The Earliest Settlement under the name of Indraprastha-Hastinapur, Panipat, Tilpat
1 Political History in Brief
1 Delhi as an Historical City
1.5 Ashokan Edicts 1.5 Lal Kot 1.5 Mehrauli Iron Pillar (4th Century)
1 Conclusion
1 Glossary/Keywords
1 Answers to In-Text Questions 1 Self- Assessment Questions
1 Suggested Readings
After reading this Unit students should be able to understand:
- The basic geographical features of ancient Delhi
- The elements that went into making of Early Delhi
- The role of myth and history in examining the importance of Indraprastha
- The basic features of Ashokan Edicts and Lal Kot
- The significance of the Iron pillar at Mehrauli
1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
STRUCTURE
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Delhi, as we all know, is one of the longest-serving capitals and perhaps one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Although there is little record of Delhi’s ancient history, there is no denying the fact that it was an important political centre, a conglomeration of many cities, which was built, destroyed and rebuilt several times. Besides, the city’s immense importance stems from the fact that it has been an important urban centre for so long. Ancient pilgrimage places, abandoned cities, a huge medieval metropolis, a colonial capital, and urban settlements are therefore contained within a quickly expanding and changing modern city.
An attempt will be made to understand the significance of Delhi’s geographical terrain and Delhi’s political history which would help in comprehending the evolution that this city has undergone over the ages. In short, the present unit will deal with the early history of Delhi with special focus on Indraprastha and the Tomara and Chauhan constructions.
Delhi has been the site of human settlement from prehistoric times. Although stone tools belonging to these times have been found at several places in Delhi, particularly in the rocky stretches of the Delhi ridge and from Anangpur in Faridabad, no skeletal remains of the prehistoric people have been unearthed so far. Unfortunately, not much can be known about the prehistoric times in Delhi from the available archaeological evidence.
Similarly, the Late Harappan remains found at Bhorgarh (near Narela in North Delhi), Mandoli (near Nand Nagari in east Delhi), etc. tell us little about early proto-historic settlements in the Delhi region. Besides, the archaeological evidence of Delhi’s past suffers from another major limitation i., the detailed and complete reports of most of the excavated sites have not been published. For example, we all know that the Purana Qila is the only site in Delhi where we get evidence of a continuous history of over 2500 years. Excavations were carried out here in 1955, 1970s and subsequently in 2013-14. Yet the complete Purana Qila report is still unpublished.
In the absence of ample archaeological data, we tend to rely on the ancient literature for information regarding Delhi’s early history. However, “as dates of many of the texts are uncertain and the information, they give is often a complex synthesis of mythology and historical fact”, not much reliable evidence can be gleaned from them either.
Piecing together the evidence from stone tools, ancient mounds, pottery, monuments,
1 SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF DELHI’S PAST
1 INTRODUCTION
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Many ancient mounds located in the vicinity of the old and new channels of the river Yamuna mark the ancient settlements located there. Explorations on the IV and V paleochannels of the river Yamuna revealed thousands of stone tools. Further excavations also yielded finished artefacts, waste materials and some materials at various stages of production dating to the Harappan era.
Not only river Yamuna, but Delhi Ridge also has rich ecological history. Thomas Crawley in his book Fractured Forest, Quartzite City: A History of Delhi and its Ridge, enunciates the significance of Delhi Ridge. He states, “For the Paleolithic inhabitants of Delhi, one stone would have held particular importance: quartzite. This is the stone from which so many tools were crafted. Quartzite can be found in abundance throughout the Aravalli range, which begins in Gujarat, traverses all of Rajasthan, and ends with the low hills of the Delhi Ridge.. is resistant to erosion, and so it remains important in many parts of the range, including the Ridge. It would have been a beacon to early tribes.”
The origin of Delhi is lost in remote antiquity. Also, Delhi is not the oldest name of the town that first came into existence. The first city of Delhi is believed to be Indraprat or Indraprastha, a city fit for gods. According to legend, the town of Indraprastha was established by Yudhishtara. It was so called, as it looked like Amaravati, the capital of Indra. It is referred to in the Epic [Mahabharata] as Purottamam (chief of towns). It was also known during this period under the alternative names of Sakraprastha, Sakrapuri, and Khandavaprastha; the last owing its origin to the forest in which it came to be established. It was there too that Vajra, the son of Aniruddha, was installed as the king of Yadavas. The later history of the city is obscure though its name Indrapat survived.
Indraprastha is also mentioned as “Indapatta” or “Indapattana” in Pali-language Buddhist texts, where it is described as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom. The Purana Qila is widely believed to be on the site of old Indraprastha. However, there is lack of any conclusive historical evidence in this regard. The "Purana Qila is an important site", says Upinder Singh. She finds it plausible that “Indabara”, (possibly derived from the Prakrit form “Indabatta”) which finds mention in Ptolemy’s Geography and is said to be probably in the
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS -
- Delhi is located along the banks of river Ganga. (True/False)
- Apart from river Yamuna which other geological features are prominent in Delhi?
- Aravalli range traverses through which places in India?
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Delhi through the Ages: The Making of its Early Modern History
vicinity of Delhi, was the same as Indraprastha. However, despite the finds of some odd pieces of the pottery representing the PGW culture at the Purana Qila, it cannot be conclusively proved to be the site of Mahabharata’s Indraprastha. Thus, the remains of the fabled city are yet to be found.
Archaeological surveys were carried out at the Purana Qila in 1954-1955, between 1969 and 1973 and 2013-14. Archaeological digs have uncovered structures from the earliest historical period (about the 3rd century BC onwards). Archaeology reveals that people lived in both mudbrick and fired brick houses and had reasonably complex drainage, with terracotta ring wells that may have served as soak-pits. There are numerous levels of human habitation, with dwellings being constructed in a similar fashion and bricks frequently reused. The site was inhabited, perhaps until Humayun’s Dinpanah was built there.
Archaeologist B. Lal conducted a trial excavation at Purana Qila, the contested site of Indraprastha, in order to determine the age of the site and determine whether it was associated with the Mahabharata. The 1954-1955 sessions revealed pottery of the Painted Grey Ware (before c BCE), Northern Black Polished Ware (c-200 BCE), Shunga, and Kushan Empire periods. The oldest artefact unearthed was a Painted Grey Ware vessel dating back to around 1,000 BCE. The excavations in 1969 and 1970 uncovered Northern Black Polished Ware from the fourth/third century BCE. In contrast to the description of Mahabharata, no structural remains from the Indraprastha have been discovered.
As stated above, the 1954-1955 sessions revealed pottery of the Painted Grey Ware (before c BCE), Northern Black Polished Ware (c-200 BCE), Shunga and Kushan Empire periods. Interestingly, the 1969-1973 sessions and the subsequent excavations at the site in 2013-14 by V. Swarnkar failed to reach the PGW levels. Evidence of continuous occupation from the NBPW period to the 19th century has been found. The Maurya-period settlement yielded mud-brick and wattle-and-daubhouses, brick drains, wells, figurines of terracotta, a stone carving, a stamp seal impression, and a copper coin. Simple grey ware and simple red ware belonging to a pre-Mauryan era settlement were also found suggesting that there were human settlements in Delhi in the time of the 16 Mahajanapadas.
D. C. Sircar, on the basis of an analysis of a stone carving found in the Delhi area at Sriniwaspuri which records the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, believed Indraprastha was a significant city in the Mauryan period.
There are a number of literary references to the existence of this mythical city and in the literary source its first mention is found in the sixteenth century, early modern source, Ain-i- Akbari written by Abul Fazl indicated that Delhi was originally known as “Indrapat.” He also
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Delhi through the Ages: The Making of its Early Modern History
dating. In the days that followed, it was determined that 2607 BCE falls within the Harappan civilization’s timeframe and not the epic period. Therefore, Syed Ahmed Khan’s claims can be interpreted as an attempt to impress Europeans with his scholarship and knowledge of Indian texts. In addition, he must have desired a position in the archaeological society and public recognition. However, Syed Ahmed Khan’s claims were the first step in bringing Indraprastha’s rhetoric into a quasi-historical and quasi-scientific realm. Syed Ahmed Khan provided additional support for the division of Indian history into Hindu and Buddhist eras for the ancient past, the age of Muslim intervention for the Medieval past, and the arrival of the British as the start of modernity thereby heralding the periodization of Indian history on the basis of religion that is no longer tenable.
A series of textual repetitions introduces the urban clamour of Indraprastha, ancient Delhi, to the historical arena. Indraprastha’s existence was lent a certain gravitas by its mention in administrative spaces such as history books, archaeological reports, and museums. Indraprastha’s status as Ancient Delhi is supported by a variety of literary and inscriptional evidence and brought up by renowned historians, authors, tour guides, bloggers, and even commoners, despite the lack of archaeological evidence. A series of repetitions enabled the relocation of this myth and chain of affective longings into the arena of history and archival truths. The Indraprastha myth might be the most plausible illustration of the illusion of truth.
Tilpat
For the sake of peace and to avert a disastrous war, Krishna proposed that if Hastinapur agrees to give the Pandavas only five villages named Indraprastha (Delhi), Swarnprastha (Sonipat), Panprastha (Panipat), Vyaghrprastha (Baghpat), and Tilprastha (Tilpat), they would be satisfied and make no further demands. Duryodhana vehemently refused, remarking that he would not part with even the tip of a needle's worth of land. In this way, the stage was set for the great war for which the Mahabharata is best known.
According to the Ain-i-Akbari, Tilpat was a pargana under Delhi sarkar that contributed 3,077,913 dams to the imperial treasury and supplied 400 infantry and 40 cavalry troopers. In addition, a brick fort was mentioned at the time.
In the year 1658, during the reign of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Tilpat was known as Tilpat Garhi. In 1669, Tilpat became the epicentre of a Jat rebellion led by Tilpat's zamindar, Gokula.
Panipat
Panipat was one of the five cities (prasthas) constructed by the Pandava brothers during the
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time of the Mahabharata; its historical name was Panduprastha.
The First Battle of Panipat was fought on April 21, 1526, between the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodhi, and the Timurid warlord, Zaheeruddin Babur. This First Battle of Panipat ended the 'Lodi Rule' established by Bahlul Lodhi in India. Babur's force destroyed Ibrahim's far bigger force of over one lakh (one hundred thousand) warriors.
On 5 November 1556, the Second Battle of Panipat was fought between the forces of Akbar and Samrat Hemu Chandra Vikramaditya, a King of North India from Rewari in Haryana who had captured the vast states of Agra and Delhi.
In 1761, the Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathas led by Sadashivrao Bhau Peshwa of Pune engaged in the Third Battle of Panipat. Ahmad Shah was victorious, but at a high cost of life on both sides. It culminated in the worst loss in the history of the Marathas. The power vacuum caused by the conflict eventually led to the British invasion of India.
Hastinapur
Hastinapura translates to "the City of Elephants" in Sanskrit, from Hastina (elephant) and pura (city). Its history dates back to the time of the Mahabharata. According to legend, the city was named after King Hasti.
The earliest archaeological remains of the region date to the Bronze Age Ochre-Colored Pottery culture of the Ganga Yamuna doab. The region transitioned to an Iron Age culture around 1200 BCE. The region was inhabited by the Painted Grey Ware culture during the Vedic Period.
Hastinapur is depicted as the capital of the Kauravas' Kuru kingdom in the Mahabharata. Numerous Mahabharata events occurred in the city of Hastinapur. According to the Mahabharata, their mother, Queen Gandhari, the wife of King Dhritarashtra, gave birth to 100 Kaurava brothers in this city. On the Budhi Ganga near Hastinapur, two locations- Draupadi Ghat and Karna Ghat refer to Mahabharata figures.
The first mention of Hastinapur in the Puranas describes the city as the capital of the empire of Emperor Bharata. During his reign, King Samprati (also known as Samrat Samprati), grandson of the Mauryan Empire's Asoka the Great, constructed numerous temples here. Archaeologist B. Lal commenced excavations at Hastinapur in the early 1950s. Although the primary objective of this excavation, according to B. B. Lal himself, was to determine the stratigraphic position of Painted Grey Ware in relation to other known ceramic industries of the early historical period, Lal discovered correlations between the Mahabharata and the material remains he unearthed at Hastinapur. This prompted him to historicize some of the
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of India north of the Narmada through a coalition of tribute-paying states. The literature of the period, which spanned from the plays of Kalidasa to intricate mathematical treatises, provides insight into the sophistication of their court, while the iron pillar, now located in the Qutb Minar complex, testifies their technological achievements.
In the post-Gupta period, the nation dissolved into warring states once more. From 606 to 647 CE, the great ruler Harsha established a tiny Gupta-like empire in Kanauj, roughly 80 kilometers upstream from Kanpur. He was able to solidify control and repel Hun and Arab raids into the northwest for a time. These raids were primarily motivated by a desire for plunder and were comparable to the warfare between neighbouring Rajput states. Three hundred years later, Kanauj became the site of ceaseless conflict between the three principal royal dynasties (Pratiharas, Rashtrakutas and the Palas). The Pratiharas ruled a vast territory that included Delhi. The Tomars ruled under them and were likely situated in the Suraj Kund region. Anangpur, a village near Suraj Kund, is believed to have been named after Anang Pal Tomar, most likely the same Anang Pal who flourished in the eighth century.
By the eleventh century, the Tomars had attained autonomy from a greater authority. They had also relocated their capital from Suraj Kund to a new citadel at Lal Kot (where the Qutb Minar was afterwards constructed), where the remnants indicate that there were several beautiful temples and a big tank within the walls. When the defenses were later extended to the east, it is estimated that the city’s population increased to between five and six thousand individuals. In 1160, the Tomars fell under the control of their Ajmer-based neighbours, the Chauhans. Under the Chauhans, the Tomar city walls were significantly extended by the construction of the relatively lower Qila Rai Pithora walls, giving the city a total perimeter of approximately 8 kilometres.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS -
- .............., the form of pottery most strongly associated with the speakers of the Indo-Aryan languages during the first millennium BCE, has been unearthed across a significant portion of northern India.
- From 606 to 647, the great ruler.............. established a tiny Gupta-like empire in Kanauj.
- .............. became the site of ceaseless conflict between the three principal royal dynasties -Pratiharas, Rashtrakutas and the Palas.
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Delhi through the Ages: The Making of its Early Modern History
1.5 Ashokan Edicts
It was discovered in 1966 and is a significant element of Delhi’s history and legacy, as it suggests that a nearby 3rd-century BC community was significant enough to warrant an edict. Among the cluster of religious institutions on the neighbouring hilltops, the Kalkaji Temple is rumoured to be quite old and may have been surrounded by a settlement.
The edict does little more than emphasize the significance of the Buddhist lifestyle: “Two and a half years have passed since I became a Buddhist layman. Initially, I exerted little effort, but over the past year I have grown closer to the Buddhist order, exerted myself with zeal, and enticed others to mingle with the gods. This objective is not exclusive to the powerful; a lowly man who exerts himself can also reach heaven.”
The objective of this declaration is to inspire both the humble and the great to exert themselves and to inform those who dwell beyond the borders of the kingdom. Effort in the cause must persist forever, and it will spread among the populace.
Other Ashokan edicts, engraved on pillars, have been discovered at Delhi. The Delhi– Meerut pillar (oposite Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, on the ridge near Delhi University) famously known as Topra Ashokan pillar has already been briefly discussed above. Another one was the Delhi– Topra Pillar found in the Feroz Shah Kotla Grounds. These pillars were shifted from their orginal places (namely Meerut and Ambala respectively) by Feroz Shah Tughlaq (1351- 1388). The original inscription on the Delhi-Topra Ashokan obelisk is primarily in Brahmi script, but the language was Prakrit, with some Pali and Sanskrit added later. The inscription was successfully translated in 1837 by James Prinsep.
1.5 Lal Kot
Development of Delhi as an historical city cannot be said to date earlier than the middle of the eleventh century when a Rajput king Anangpala of the Tomar dynasty founded a town, in the area of present Suraj Kund. The Tomars later shifted their capital ten kilometers west where Ananagpal raised the citadel of Lal Kot in AD 1060. It was around the place where the Qutb Mosque now stands.
However, the name Dhilli, or any other ‘phonetically’ similar version of the city is not traceable in this period. The earliest epigraphic reference to Dhillika, from which the Delhi derived its name, is found in the Bijolia rock inscription in district Udaipur (Rajasthan) issued by the Chahaman Someshwara in Vikrama Samvat 1226 (AD 1169- 70). It mentions about
1 DELHI AS AN HISTORICAL CITY
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Delhi through the Ages: The Making of its Early Modern History
with rubble walls and ramparts. According to her, Qila Rai Pithora served as a city, while Lal Kot remained the citadel. Qila Rai Pithora, which was twice as large as the older citadel, had more massive and higher walls, and the combined fort extended to six and a half km.
Catherine Asher states that Prithviraj lost the Chahamana kingdom in 1192 CE to the Turks. It is at this time that the Ghurid governor Qutb al-Din Aibak occupied Qila Rai Pithora, and renamed it “Dhilli” (modern Delhi), reviving the site’s older name.
Upinder Singh, too, is of the view that Qila Rai Pithora is much larger than Lal Kot (which forms its south-western part). According to her, “the walls, 5-6 metres thick and 18 metres high at places, were interrupted by several gates, only a few of which survive”. Excavations carried out in 1956-58 revealed well laid structures, including an oven and floors of houses.
1.5 Mehrauli Iron Pillar (4th Century)
It is 23ft. 8 inches high and is in the Qutb complex. The diameter of the column at Mehrauli is 40 cm at the base and 30 cm at the top. At the top of the column is an inverted lotus capital, which was probably crowned with a Garuda, Vishnu’s vehicle, or another Vaishnavite symbol.
There are several inscriptions on this column, each referring to different kings. The longest inscription found on the west face of the iron pillar talks of a king named Chandra who is said to have originally erected the pillar on the Vishnupada Hill. This king has come to be identified with the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II (375-413 AD). From the inscription (a translation of which is on the wall of the northern colonnade), it is amply clear that the pillar was not built under the patronage of the Delhi Tomars. However, the name of the location remains unidentified. While the difficulty of transferring such a heavy load suggests that Vishnupada was nearby, we would expect an artefact of this calibre to have been created at a major power centre, and we know of none nearby. Therefore, it is likely that the column was shifted from a considerable geographical distance. It may have been an important political, aesthetic, or religious symbol of a prior ruler’s domain that was captured by a Tomar to bolster his own authority. The Tomars certainly viewed it as a significant artefact, as did the Turks, who placed it in the middle of their mosque’s courtyard.
We can be even more awestruck by the pillar than the Tomars or Turks were, given that the craftsmanship required to purify the iron and cast it could not have been accomplished in the West before the 19th century. It has been established that the column is made of unusually pure wrought iron. Recently, it was discovered that the early iron-making process resulted in a high phosphorus content, which allowed the iron to react with oxygen and hydrogen to form a protective film of misawite, which has been slowly accumulating since its creation.
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A legend claims that an early Tomar king, Anangpala dug up the pillar to test the veracity of a story claiming that the pillar rested on the head of Vasuki, the king of serpents and was immovable. Also, it was prophesied that Anangpala’s reign would last if the pillar would stand. When it was drawn up covered in blood, the story was authenticated. The king attempted to re-fix the pillar, but it remained unstable (dhilli) – thus originated the name of the city of Delhi.
Alexander Cunningham, the British colonial archaeologist of the nineteenth century and first director of what is now India’s Archaeological Survey (ASI), was told a second, more credible-appearing myth. He was reassured that the pillar’s depth had been investigated. It had been found continuous at 35 feet. The base was discovered to be bulbous after a check was ordered, extending only twenty inches beneath the surface.
Summing up, it is evident that the area in and around present-day Delhi was a site of many ancient settlements, Indraprastha and Lal Kot being the better-known ones. Though it is generally accepted that Tomar Rajput established the first known city of Delhi more than a thousand years ago, one must bear in mind that the story of Delhi goes beyond the Rajputs, both in history and legend. If mythology is to be believed, “Delhi was built on what was once a forest and was home to Pandavas from the epic Mahabharata”. The historicity of Indraprastha still remains to be corroborated by the archaeological evidence.
- Paleochannel– Remnants of once active rivers or streams
- Uttarapatha– Northern high road, the main trade route that followed along the river Ganges
1 GLOSSARY/KEYWORDS
1 CONCLUSION
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS -
- ................ was the first director general of ASI
- Mehrauli Iron pillar is in the ................ complex
- At the top of the column is an inverted lotus capital, which was probably crowned with a Garuda, Vishnu’s vehicle, or another ................ symbol.
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B. (Hons.) English / Political Science/Economics/B. (Hons.)
This unit familiarizes the students with:
- The cities of Sultanate Delhi in the 10th to 14th centuries
- The various reasons for the shift of capitals
- The changing character of the city of Delhi
This unit will study the cities of Sultanate Delhi in the 10th to 14th centuries. It will discuss the various reasons for the shift of capitals and the changing character of the city. Case studies of any two of these cities will be undertaken. Students will be encouraged to plan field trips related to the themes and readings.
As has been stated in the earlier unit, Delhi is not just one urban settlement, but a conglomeration of many urban settlements belonging to different periods. This trait of Delhi was noticed well by an Arab traveler Shihab-al Din al-Umari who visited India during the fourteenth century. He says: Delhi is composed of many towns (integrated into one). Everyone is known by its own name. Delhi, being one of them, has given its name to all of them. It is extensive in length and breadth and covers an area of forty miles.. present, Delhi consists of twenty-one towns. 1 We will briefly discuss the 10th to 14th century cities of Delhi.
2.2 Anangpur Fort
Anangpur, also known as Anekpur or Arangpur, was founded by one of the two rulers of the Tomar dynasty, who went by the same name– Anang Pal. While Syed Ahmed opines that it was founded by Anang Pal-I, Cunningham subscribes to the view that Anangpur was founded by Anang Pal-II in the eleventh century. However, on the basis of the fragmentary remains (which included a few palaeolithic tools, a circular copper coin, Redware potsherds, etc.) found during the exploration of the site in 1992, it is difficult to assign an exact date to the
1 Shaikh Shihab al-Din al-Umari, Masalik al absar fi-mamalik al-Amsar ,English transl. I. H and Q. M. Ahmad,‟A Fourteenth century Arab Account of India under Sultan Mmuhammad bin Tughlaq,‟ pp. 14-15, 35- 36.
2 DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES IN DELHI
2 INTRODUCTION
2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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construction of the fort.
The topic has been discussed in the earlier unit. In brief, in the middle of the eleventh century a Rajput king Anangpala of the Tomar dynasty founded a town, in the area of present Suraj Kund. The Tomars later shifted their capital ten kilometers west where Anang Pal raised the citadel of Lal Kot in AD 1060. It was around the place where the Qutb Mosque now stands. Prithviraj Chauhan extended and fortified Lal Kot as a defence against the Turks; the city then came to be known as Qila Rai Pithora. Qila Rai Pithora literally means “Rai Pithora’s Fort”.
Thus, the oldest city of Delhi, of which traces remain to this day, is enveloped in the city of Rai Pithora. The Chauhan ruler of Ajmer Vigraharaj IV captured Dhillika of the Tomars. His grandson Prithviraj, the famous Rai Pithora extended the ramparts of the Lal Kot, which is known in the Persian sources as Qila-i Rai Pithora. The walls of the city can be traced round the Qutb Mosque. This fort was occupied by Qutbuddin Aibak in 1192. It is here the foundation of Medieval Delhi was laid.
Inscriptions of the Sultanate period dated 1276, 1316, and 1328 mention the city of Dhilli as part of the country known as Hariyanaka, Haritana and Hariyana. Similarly, a Sufi poet Mull Daud also mentions Firoz Shah as the Sultan of Dhilli, which suggests that the name Dhilli continued in the inscriptions as well as in the vernacular literature for a very long period during the Sultanate period. Dhilli became Dilli/ Dehli because in Arabic and Persian languages there is no provision for compound words like dh, th, etc.
2.2 Dehli-i Kuhna's Masjid-i Jami
The settlement-history of Delhi during the Sultanate period dates from 12th century, when it was occupied by Qutbuddin Aibak on behalf of Shahabuddin of Ghor in AD 1192. The oldest city of Delhi, of which traces remain to this day, was enveloped in the Lal kot which is known in the Persian sources as Qila-i Rai Pithora. The walls of this city can be traced around the Qutb Mosque. After the Turkish conquest the city underwent a complete transformation. The Ghorian-Turkish conquerors started building their city around the fortress they had captured. The ramparts of the Qila-i Rai Pithora were pierced with thirteen gates. The principal entrance was known as Badaun Gate. An inscription under the arch of the eastern entrance to the Masjid-i Jami records:
“This fortress (hisar) was conquered (fateh kard) and this mosque was built during the months of AH 587 by the great and mighty commander-in-chief Qutb-ul-Dawlat-wa-ul- Din, (the pivot of the kingdom and the faith), the commander of commanders, Aibek Sultan. May
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point of view this marks the growth of ‘New City’ the Shahr-i Nau while the earlier cities that had developed in the thirteenth century came to be referred to as Dihli-i kuhna or ‘Old Delhi’ in the fourteenth century.
Sultan Jalau-d-din Firoz Khilji (CE 1290-1296) ascended the throne in the palace city of Kilokhari that eventually came to be known as Shahr-i Nau or the ‘New City’ and he introduced paintings in his palace city and landscaped gardens and various types of bazaars along with a walled enclosure to protect the city.
2.2 Siri
In order to protect Delhi from the ravages of Mongols, Sultan Alauddin Khalji fortified a camp at Siri in 1299. As the sources point out, Siri was a plain waste ground (sahra) almost adjoining the old city of Delhi to its north-east; One may point out here that the local memory about the location of such an important military encampment was lost. Cunningham has, however, identified this place with a vast area enclosed by raised mounds of earth and containing the village of Shahpur Jat.
Initially, the settlement of Siri was called Lashkar or Lashkargah (army encampment), while the Qutb Delhi was known as Shahr (city). Later, however, the Lashkargah situated in Siri was named Darul-Khilafa. Yazdi, a fourteenth century historian, has described the location of Siri in his Zafarnama to the north-west of Jahanpanah, while Qutb Delhi or Dehli-i Kuhna was located to its south-west. According to him the walled enclosure (Sura) of Siri is roughly “circular”. Timur also writes in his memoirs: “Siri is a round city. Its buildings are lofty. They are surrounded by fortifications built of stone and bricks, and they are very strong.” This fact is broadly correct to the extent, remarks Athar Ali that it was not rectangular in contrast to the other settlements of Delhi.
That Alauddin Khalji and his successor Qutbuddin Mubarak lived in the palace of Hazar Sutun which had been built by Alauddin Khalji outside the Siri fortress is clear from the account of Ibn Battuta. However, Siri always remained “an isolated extension of Qutb Delhi”.
2.2 Tughlaqabad
The increase in the population of Delhi and Siri was probably the primary cause that led Sultan Ghayasuddin Tughlaq to lay out another city – Tughlaqabad between the year 1321 and 1323 AD. It is situated about nine miles almost due south of Delhi. Its stupendous size, solidarity, and massive strength give it an air of impressive dignity. Unfortunately, the fort is now in such a dilapidated condition that it is difficult to reconstruct the plan of Tughlaqabad.
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Only the fortress wall and a huge entrance have survived the vicissitudes of the time. An idea of its former grandeur may be formed from Fanshawe’s account about the Fort. He writes:
“The great size of the stones used in the wall, the triple storied towers, the high parapet, backed inside by terraces with rooms and the lofty gates, are all very imposing. Perhaps the most impressive bit of all is the south-east bastion of the citadel and the east wall above it. The path through the above-mentioned leads past a large reservoir hewn in the rock; beyond it are the ruins of the palace and stables and of a fine mosque. On the west was a very deep (baoli) tank for the use of the defenders of the citadel, and all around are underground passages, off which the servants and the slaves had quarters.. red sandstone gateway, with its sloping face and jambs and head in the earlier Pathan style contrasts finely with the dark walls and rounded towers in which it stands...”
Although Tughlaqabad was planned in a way that it sheltered the palace, the office complexes as well as the city, it only remained a “detached complex to house the Sultan, his retinue and personal troops”. The urban activities were concentrated in “O ld Delhi” which still retained it s status a s a commercial a s well as an admi nistrative Centre. Tughlaqabad ceased to be the seat of the ruler after the accession of Muhammad bin Tughlaq and it was finally abandoned after the city of Firuzabad was founded by Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351-88).
2.2 Firuzabad
A shift may be witnessed in the location of the capital from the rocky zone along the river during the reign of Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq, who fixed his capital Firuzabad on the banks of the Yamuna in 1358 AD. Firuzabad was thus a large city which probably spread two miles north and south and appears to have occupied all the ground between Indrapat (Indraprastha, Purana Qila) and the Ridge. It may, however, be pointed out here that “the population extended along the Yamuna River in a fairly narrow belt”. 4 Shams-i Siraj Afif, the chronicler of the reign of Firuz Shah tells us:
By the grace of God, the population of Delhi increased so much that the entire space between Indrapat and the Kaushak-i Shikar had been inhabited, the distance between the limits of Indpat [Indrapat] and the Kaushak-i Shikar is five kurohs. 5
4 M. Athar Ali, “Capital of the Sultans Delhi during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries”, in Delhi through the Ages, p. 42 5 A kuroh indicates the distance of roughly two and a half mile.
SOL Notes
Course: Political science (BA Honours)
University: University of Delhi
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