Tughlaqabad, the Curse of a Saint

Ya base gujjar, ya rahe ujjar.' (May [this city] be the abode of nomads or remain in wilderness.)

These words, with which the great Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya cursed Ghiyas-ud-din's city, seem to still echo all over the ghostly ruins of Tughlaqabad. The citadel frowns down ominously like some Gothic palace all over the Qutub-Badarpur road and seems to prefer its splendid isolation, which is of course not exactly what Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq had in mind when he started out building it. It would have broken the old sultan's heart if he had seen just how swiftly the saint's curse went into action; soon after his death in fact.

Tughlaqabad fort, situated as it was on high rocky ground, was ideally located

to withstand sieges. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq helped matters along by putting up formidable walls which, though short on aesthetic value, are excellent examples of solid unimaginative masonry and not the type that any invading army could hope to scale in a hurry. Tughlaq put ramparts towering at heights of anywhere between 9m (30ft) to 15.2m (50ft), and rising up to 29.8m (98ft) around the citadel, between himself and the Mongols.

  

It seems that even when he was far from being a king, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq had dreamed of raising his city, Tughlaqabad. Earlier, Ghiyas-ud-din had been a general (he rose to being the governor of an important province like Punjab, but that's another story) in Ala-ud-din Khalji's army. Once while on the road with Ala-ud-din, Ghiyas-ud-din, on spotting this area, mentioned to the sultan what an ideal setting it seemed to provide for a new city. Upon this the king indulgently (and, knowing Ala-ud-din, also perhaps patronizingly) replied, 'When you become king, build it.' Knowing fully well, as every boss, that while he was around there was not a shadow of a chance of anyone else taking his place. After the death of Ala-ud-din, various events conspired to put the general on the throne at last. Then he fulfilled his long-cherished dream.

The crumbling ruins of the Tughlaqabad Fort convey a sense of lost grandeur and remains as the only witness of the embattled past and the terror and valor associated with that period in Delhi. Many unforeseen incidents took place during the construction of this structure. The king had a spat with the great saint Nizam-ud-din regarding the laborers who were to work on this project. The king took away all the workers who were working on the saint's shrine at the time, for completing his own fort, thus incurring the wrath of the saint. The saint cursed the king and indeed the king was mysteriously murdered while on his way to Delhi in 1325. Almost immediately after the death of the king, this fort lost all its former glory as his son Jauna (Ulugh Khan) succeeded him under the title Mohammad-bin-Tughlaq and wanted to build his own new city instead of following in his father's footsteps. The fort was abandoned unceremoniously in the year 1327 and strangely, true to the curse of the saint, it soon became a haunt for the Gujjars tending their cattle within the abandoned fort of Ghiyas-ud-din.

The Hauz of Alauddin

There's a lot more to Hauz Khas than the posh market, the fashion street and the village. The complex is centered around a hauz or tank of area 28 hectares built by Alauddin Khilji, named Hauz-e-Alai, which took care of the water needs of village around it. After his death, the Hauz was abandoned and it became stagnant as the water channels got silted. Firoz Shah Tughlaq took over the responsibility of reviving this 

tank in the 14th century so that it can be used again. Not only he cleared up the tank, he planned a layout of an L-shaped structure starting with a mosque, the Madrasa-e- Firoz Shahi, a college for Islamic theology, calligraphy, mathematics, religious law etc by best teachers and scholars invited by Firoz Shah from Islamic countries all over the world.

Firoz Shah's  tomb is in the junction of the L shaped structure of the 'madrasa' he commissioned, overlooking the Hauz and also the tallest in height. 

The tomb contains four unmarked graves; three are made of marble and the fourth, near the east door, is of rubble and plaster. The central grave is that of Firoz Khan. The other two marble graves, which are similar to the central one, are ascribed to the son and grandson of Firoz Shah. 

Though Firoz Shah inherited a disintegrating empire with nearly empty coffers, thanks to the capricious reign of his predecessor Muhammad Bin Tughlak with his disastrous ruling policies, it didn't stop him from beautifying Delhi. History says he, during his reign, constructed 1200 gardens around Delhi...200 towns, 40 mosques, 30 villages, 30 reservoirs, 50 dams, 100 hospitals, 100 public baths and 150 bridges. 

Established in 1352, the Madrasa was one of the leading institutions of Islamic learning in the Delhi Sultanate. It was also considered the largest and best equipped center of Islamic studies in the world.  The village surrounding the Madarsa was also called Tarababad (city of joy).  It takes a little stretch in our imagination to feel the heart of the area, that was once thronged by artists and scholars from all across the sub continent.

Here’s what contemporary poet, Mutahhar has to say of the madrasa:

‘The moment I entered this blessed building through the gate, I saw a level space as wide as the plain of the world. The courtyard was soul-animating, and its expanse was life-giving. Its dust was musk-scented, and its fragrance possessed the odour of amber. There was verdure everywhere and hyacinths, basils, roses, and tulips were blooming and were beautifully arranged so far as the human eye could reach. It seemed as if the last year’s produce had in advance the current year’s fruits, such as pomegranates, oranges, guavas, quinces, apples, and grapes. Nightingales, so to say, were singing their melodious songs everywhere. It appeared as if they had guitars in their talons and flutes in their beaks.’

Now the tank is a few yards away from the building but initially its water would have lapped at the madrasa walls. One can see steps leading to the water. On the other side of the tank is a ruined structure called the ‘munda gumbad’ or the bald/roofless dome. It is believed that this pavilion once stood within the tank. So we can assume that the tank would have been at least twice its present size.

The architecture of Firoz Shah is stern, austre, utilitarian, hauntingly lovely in the night, and warningly forbidding during daytime. The glazed tiles came off a long time ago; now only the naked walls stand tall, like the spirit of this prolific builder and architect king, in spite of validating the lack of skilled masons and sufficient capital of his times. 

The pavilions in the garden are significant srtuctures as well, as they are believed to be the graves of teachers who taught the students of the madarsa. Pavilions also acted like classrooms where the students could sit and study in the presence of their departed teachers. 

Alai Darwaza - A Magnificent Gateway

One of the earliest gates in Delhi, built in 1311 by Alauddin Khilji is located at the Qutub complex. He wanted to built a large mosque. But Siri was not large enough for him as it already housed his palace of thousand pillars in it. For this reason he decided to enlarge the mosque at the Qutub. It is the main gateway from southern side of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque. This is one of the first building in India to employ Indo-Islamic architecture in its construction and ornamentation. This domed gateway is one of the first of its kind and showcases the remarkable craftsmanship of the Turkish and Indian artisans who worked on it. With its pointed arches and spearhead of fringes, identified as lotus buds, exquisite inlaid marble decorations and latticed stone screens, it adds grace to the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque to which it served as an entrance.

This assimilation of exotic and indigenous architectural styles was possible due to a variety of factors: the Muslim rulers had to use, in most cases, Indian craftsmen and sculptors who were schooled in their own traditions. Though both the Indian and Islamic styles have their own distinctive features, some common characteristics made fusion and adaptation easy. Alai Darwaza still stands in full glory, in its elegance of red sandstone, inlaid white marble decorations, in its many scriptings and inscription carved on it and its latticed stone screens.

Just off Aurobindo Marg in the Hauz Khas area, stands the Chor Minar or the 'Tower of Thieves'. It was constructed under the rule of Alauddin Khilji. Legends say that it was supposed to be a 'tower of beheading', where the severed heads of thieves were displayed on spear through its 225 holes, acting as a deterrent to thieves. Near this place lived a colony of Mongols who had settled in Delhi. When the Mongols attacked Delhi, these local settlers were tempted to join their bretheren. Alauddin, the fierce and ruthless ruler, killed them on suspicion that they would destroy the safety of citizens and stuck their heads on spikes to be displayed on this tower as a warning to traitors.

The year was 1303 when Allaudin Khilji passed away and was buried at Qutub complex. This ambitious and aggressive ruler finally ended the journey of his turbulent life in a simple brick grave with no decorative marble covering or intricate ornamentations. The grave lies quietly on a small hill in a most unobtrusive corner of the Qutub complex and generally not the most sought after spot as far as the visitors are concerned.  

And Alauddin Khilji Built Siri



Siri was the second of the seven cities of medieval Delhi built around 1303 during the rule of Ala-ud-Din Khalji to defend the city from the tireless onslaughts of the Mongols, plundering the gardens and palaces in Delhi, relentlessly.

There's a popular legend explaining the name of his palace as 'Siri' which is derived from the word 'Sir' the Hindi word for head. It is believed that when the Mongols raided Delhi, Alauddin Khilji defeated them and all the generals and soldiers of the Mongol army were captured and brought to Siri where they were trampled to death by elephants. Nearly eight thousand of their heads were build into the walls of Siri Fort. Inside this fort was his supposedly magnificent palace which had a hall, that was known as the Hall of a Thousand Pillars. It had marble floors and grand decoration of stones. Now, all that we find are just ruins, which was once considered the pride of the city. Legend states that Allauddin's famous building had engaged 70,000 workers. There were seven gates for entry and exit, but at present only the south eastern gate exists.

Alauddin was a great warrior and defeated the Rajputs at Ranthambhor and Chittor in 1303. He also conquered the Deccan and annexed it to his empire. 

Legend says that he was enchanted by the beauty of Rani Padmini of Chittor and desired to bring her to his harem by force. He ordered his army to storm Chittor. But hard as they tried, the Sultan's army could not break into the fort. Then Alauddin decided to lay siege to the fort. It became a very long drawn siege and and gradually supplies within the fort started getting depleted!!

As the situation developed into a crisis, the King of Chittor, Rana Ratan Singh ordered that the Rajput soldiers would open the gates of the fort and would fight to death with the besieging troops. On hearing of such a decision, queen Padmini decided that with their men-folk going into an unequal battle with the Sultan's army in which they certainly would perish, the women of Chittor would have to commit the ritual called as 'Jauhar' to escape dishonour at the hands of the victorious enemy.

And so, they lit a huge pyre and all the women of Chittor jumped into its flames, one after another, following their queen. With all their women burnt to ashes, the men of Chittor had nothing to fear anymore. They decided to perform 'Saka'. Each soldier got dressed in saffron coloured robes and turbans, charged out of the fort and fought till death, the immensely powerful army of the Sultan.

After this monsterous victory, the jubilant troops of the Sultan entered the fort, only to find the charred bodies of the women, for whom they came all the way!! All their gallantry finally resulted in naught.

The bards of Rajasthan have immortalised this legend with poems and songs which still talk about the supreme sacrifice of the brave queen Padmini and the women of Chittor. The stories of valor of the Rajputs to defend the honor of their queen lives on forever.

Ghiasuddin Balban - Even a Hardcore Cruel King Grieves

The penultimate king, Ghiasuddin Balban of Mamluk dynasty ruled over Delhi from 1266 till 1287 and his grave lies inside Mehrauli Archeological Park, next to the Qutub Minar Complex.


Balban was an Iberi Turk who was captured by the Mongols in his childhood and sold to Khwaja Jamaluddin Basri of Baghdad, a very learned man. Buying of slaves in open market, bringing them up and then selling them to Muslim monarchs used to be a very profitable trade in those days. 

Later Balban was bought by Iltutmish and rose to power by hard work, enormous will power and a keen sense of politics. He gained the trust and favor of his master and acquired a prominent seat in the Chehelgani (the forty court nobles) . Under the reign of Raziya Sultan, Balban rose a step closer to the throne – he was appointed the Amir-I-Shikar or the Lord of the Hunt which made his position stronger. The Sultanate was already in deep waters with very weak successors after Razia, who were unable to deal with the perennial invasion by the Mongols and the Rajput. Balban as the military head tackled the rebel forces and the opposition with incredible severity and efficiency. He ruled with an iron hand and brought in a sense of stability in Delhi Sultanate which had become weak at the core by then.

He rose to the position of the Prime Minister of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud from 1246 to 1266 and married his daughter. Since Sultan Nasiruddin did not have male heir, after his death, Balban declared himself the Sultan of Delhi and ascended the throne at the age of sixty.

Balban's was the proverbial reign of terror. It is believed that he never conversed with persons of low origin or occupation and never indulged in any form of familiarity, by which the dignity of the Sovereign could be lowered.

He never joked with anyone, nor did he allow anyone to joke in his presence. He never laughed aloud, nor any one in his court was permitted to laugh. No frivolous talk was permitted in his presence. No officer or acquaintance was allowed to recommend any person of low position for employment.

Though he brought about a semblence of stability in his territory, with his political wisdom, he is remembered for his harshness and cruelty to all those who dared to oppose him. Testifying to this role of Balban, the Maharashtriya Gnankosh (encyclopedia), says (pg. G-191, part XII, 1922 edition): "Balban's life was one of turmoil and continuous warfare. He was extremely cruel and a killer. In suppressing interminable revolts around Delhi he massacred 100,000 people which caused rivers of blood to flow all around. Mangled dead bodies piled up in every town and the whole region emitted an unbearable stench."

The first thing he did was breaking the Chihalgani, the 40 nobles of highest position, or the king makers in the royal court, where he too belonged once. This was because he feared that they might bring him harm. Malik Bakbak, a member of the group, was reportedly flogged to death for a negligible reason. Haibatkhan was whipped 500 times and brought as a slave to the widow of a man Haibatkhan had murdered. Balban poisoned even his own cousin Sher Khan, a leading member of this gang of 40. And thus, by his own barbaric and cruel means, Balban tried to ensure that he can rule safely and without opposition.

Around this time, the Hindu Rajputs started resisting the Muslim rule. Afraid of the guerilla raids of the Rajputs, under the ambush of trees and foliage surrounding Delhi, he ordered mowing down of all trees around, slaughter all Hindus and loot their property. Till date, Delhi remains a semi desert region, dusty and bare.

His rule of repression and carnage continued far and wide as the revolts never seemed to rest. His fight against the revolt of Tughril Khan from Bengal was one of a kind. In 1279, as Tughril revolted and proclaimed himself king, Balban ordered Amin Khan, his governor in Oudh to take charge to suppress it. But as Amin Khan came back defeated, he was ordered to be killed and his corpse was hung from a gate in Ayodhya, as a reminder to all who dared to fail.

 Well... a second army failed as well. When a third army too came back defeated, Balban himself decided to lead an army to crush the revolt of Tughril. He lead a force of 200,000 and camped near Lakhnauti, or Lucknow of today. Tughril Khan escaped in Bengal, to save his life. But Balban hunted him down relentlessly, until he could capture and execute him. 

Returning to Lucknow, Balban took his revenge on Tughril's associates as well. They were said to be impaled on stakes on either side of a two-mile long main bazar road in the city center. It was such a ghastly sight that some onlookers fainted.

 "Never before had such a horrific scene been enacted," wrote chronicler Barni.

As if this was not enough, on his return to Delhi, he took on the sympathisers of Turghil as well. They were mercilessly slaughtered and blood flowed like water on the streets of Delhi, till the Qazi intervened and pleaded for peace. 

This is the final resting ground of Balban. The tomb is open to the sky and at present lying in ruins among local 'kikar' or Acacia trees. It is made of rubble masonary. Part of it still has traces of plaster decoration and it gives us an idea of how it might have looked originally, if we stretch our imagination a bit!!  The building stands as a proof of the emergence of Islamic architecture in India. Though the tomb is devoid of any grand ornamental detailing but was one among the first to include true arch in its construction!! It has three chambers. Two of them are empty. The one on the western side of the main chamber has a grave, which is believed to be of his favourite son Khan Shaheed.

It was in 1286 A.D. that the Mongols returned with a large army. Balban was well into his eighties and his son led the confrontation. Khan Shaeed died in the ensuing battle and it is said that the so called cruel, ruthless killer of millions, Balban, the Sultan of Delhi, died grieving for his own son!!





The Muslim Slave dynasty which had seized the throne in Delhi with a bang in 1206 A.D. under Qutubuddin Aibak ended in a whimper, after a monstrous 84 bloody years. The Muslim Slave dynasty was stamped out under the heels of the Khiljis after its eleven monarchs had rained fire and brimstone on the Hindu India of that age.

The torch and the sword were now picked up by the Khiljis and the stampede into India continued.

Razia Sultan - The First Queen to Rule Delhi

Believed to be the grave of Razia Sultan, The ground breaking female ruler, in a man's world, a queen who ruled from Delhi in the early 13th century. An amazingly radical leader of her times, she was the first woman ruler who not only reigned over Delhi, but also led men in battles! She became a ruler in her own rights, she didnt replace a dead husband, wasn't covering for her son or nephew or any male ruler that existed at the time.


Iltutmish on his death-bed around 1236 was a worried man. His sons were incapable of taking his position to take over the kingdom he built with so much passion and hard work. So, he nominated his daughter Razia instead, to sit on his throne. Thus began another bloody chapter of intrigues and power struggles in Delhi! To start with, the nobility didn't accept a woman as a ruler, and therefore handed over the throne her brother Ruknuddin. The father, now dead, knew very well the traits of this son!! The kingdom became neglected, the citizens were unhappy and chaos prevailed as Ruknuddin remained busy whiling away his time in the company of nautch girls..The nobility soon realized their mistake, put the brother to death within 6 months, and brough back the sister Razia to the throne of Delhi a bit reluctantly, as there seemed to be no other choice.

Now, Razia was a remarkable woman, not only surprisingly secular for the times, she also was an able warrior, a shrewd politician who kept her citizens happy, was capable of playing the rebellious nobles against one another, and dealt with the politics of politics with remarkable elan. She fearlessly abandoned the veil as she believed that as a queen, she needed to be an approachable figure for all. She had even promised to her subjects that if as a ruler she didnt meet their expectations, they were free to depose her. And she did fulfill their expectations. She was a good ruler by all yardsticks!

All was going well with her and for the future of her empire, depite severe opposition from many conservative male nobles of her times - but something went wrong! 

She became close friends with an Etiopian slave (Habshi) named Jamaluddin Yaqut! There's a bit of controversy around the subject of whether or not Razia and Yaqut were lovers or just close friends, but whatever be the relationship between them, it made the court nobles really upset. And around that, hell broke lose.

The jealous male nobility around her anyway could not tolerate the fact that she had been chosen by her father above the heads of her brothers, and were looking for an opportunity like this, to strike back!

First of all, the court nobles were enraged about a woman of pure Turkish blood liaiasing with a slave from Ethiopia. They would tolerate none of it! On top of that, as Razia appointed Yaqut, the in-charge of the royal stables they grew even more jealous. Discontent grew into serious rebellion and a childhood friend of Razia, named Altuniya, (who according to some sources was also in love with her) led the angry nobles to fight a battle against the queen and Yaqut. In this momentous battle, Yaqut was killed, Razia taken prisoner and eventually she married Altuniya to save herself from being killed.

Delhi lost its first and only queen as her brother Muizuddin usurped the throne. Razia, ironically aided by Altuniya, made one final attempt to take over Delhi… and was defeated. They both then fled the capital, fell into the hands of robbers, and were killed.

And thus in the year 1240, with Razia Sultan's death, Delhi went back to dealing with incompetent rulers for another 20 odd years…

Alas!! The world certainly hasn't changed! Be it racial differences during the Sultanates or apartheid later on.

Officially, this historic queen lies in a simple grave, down the alleys near Turkman Gate of Old Delhi, surrounded on all sides by houses! The other grave is said to be that of Razia’s sister Shazia, unknown to history.

Alai Minar - Dream Unrealised

Ala-ud-din Khilji conceived a very ambitious construction programme when he decided to build the second tower of victory, two times higher than Qutub Minar, when he returned victorious from his Deccan campaign. However, the Sultan died before even the first storey was finished and the project remained incomplete. The structure was found to be too perpendicular to be stable! And the political turmoil that followed after his demise could never ensure this as a priority by any of his successors.

The tower that was intended to be built to compete with the Qutub Minar stands today as a symbol of ostentatious display of crude power, undisguised pride and a dream unrealised.

Tomb of Iltutmish - The Sounds of Silence!!

To the north west of Quwwat-ul-islam mosque is the tomb of Iltutmish or Altamash - the successor of Qutub-ud-din Aibak. In the slave dynasty, there was no defined lineage of ascention and whoever became powerful, was elected by the Chihalgani (a core group of forty nobles who had the power to nominate the best candidate to become the ruler) to become the next king.

Iltutmish was a slave of Aibak and later as he gained the trust of his master with his goodness, bravery and intelligence, Aibak got his daughter married to him and appointed him as the the governor of Gwalior.

After Aibak died, the Chihalgani elected Aram Shah (little is known about him) as the next Sultan but soon he was overthrown by them as he was found to be inefficient and was replaced by Iltutmish.

Besides being remarkably handsome, Iltutmish was believed to be a capable ruler, a patron of art, literature and architecture. During his reign of 22 years from 1211 till 1236 he played a major role in consolidating and strengthening the empire through his conquests and by defending it from the invasions of powerful mongols including the fearsome Chengis Khan. The construction of Qutub Minar was completed under his supervision.

He built this ornate tomb in 1235, a year before he died. One of the earliest in Indo Islamic architecture, its stark and simple exterior disguises a richly ornamented interior carved out of red sandstone and marble. The western prayer wall (Mehrab) consists of three arches - all of which are richly carved with verses of Quran on marble.

Iltutmish's eldest son, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, had died in 1229 while governing Bengal as his father's deputy. The surviving sons of the Sultan were incapable as rulers. In 1236 Iltutmish, on his death-bed, nominated his 17 year old daughter Raziya as his successor.

The Mysterious Wish Granting Iron Pillar

Located inside the Qutub complex, right in the middle of the courtyard of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque stands this 73 meters tall iron pillar, dated 4th century AD. It bears an inscription in Sanskrit in Brahmi script of those times, which says that the pillar was set up as a Vishnudhvaja (flagstaff of Lord Vishnu) on the hill known as Vishnupada in memory of a mighty king named Chandra.

It is believed that anyone who can encircle the entire column with their arms, with their back towards the pillar, will have their wish fulfilled. 

The pillar is made of 98% wrought iron and has withstood nature's fury, and continues to stand in the same place, out in the open, untarnished for more than 1600 years, without even a single patch of rust - which is a clear testimony of the skill of ironsmiths of ancient India.

This pillar extends for a meter below the ground and weighs more than 6 tonnes!!

Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque - and the Winds of Change

Construction of Quwwat-Ul-Islam (Might, or Glory of Islam) Mosque was initiated by Qutub-ud-din Aibak. It was the first ever mosque to be built in Delhi. And history was never the same again as this was the starting point of a revolution in art, architecture, culture and literature in India with the confluence and amulgumation of the islamic and the indigenous.

Aibak probably neither had the resources, nor architects or designers to build this mosque. This was in fact believed to have been built with the ruins of several Hindu and Jain temples which he demolished in order to carry on with the construction. The rear part of the mosque is believed to be part of Prithviraj Chauhan's "Chausath Khamba" or sixty four pillared hall.

However, this mosque never stopped growing even after the death of Aibak. Qutbuddin's son in law and successor Iltutmish, extended the original prayer hall screen by adding more arches. By then, the empire seems to have  stabilized well enough so that the Sultan could replace some of the Hindu masons with expert workers from Ghor and Persia. This explains why the arches added by Iltutmish are more distinct and Islamic in style than the ones built under Qutb's rule.

More additions and beautifications were made to the mosque later by Alauddin Khilji, including the famous "Alai Darwaza", his formal entrance to the mosque, built exquisitely in red sandstone and white marble , and a courtyard in 1300 AD.  

Qutub Minar - the Lone Witness

Around 13 kms south of Connaught Place on the way to Mehrauli lies the Qutub Minar Complex on the ruins of Lal Kot, the first city of Delhi.

At the centre of the complex stands the Qutub Minar, the most famous landmark of Delhi. It is the tallest brick minaret in the world - a five-storied tower, all of 234 feet in height and has a climb of378 steps.

No one knows why exactly this was built. In all probability, it was a tower to commemorate a victory over Qila Rai Pithora, which stood at the same spot as the citadel and the capital of the last Hindu Rajput ruler of Delhi, Prithviraj Chauhan. It could even have been an expression of rapture for Qutub-ud-din Aibak to be elevated from the position of a slave to the status of a king. Or may be it was the place for the 'Niyazzi' to call the faithful for prayer. No one really knows. But history says that Mohammed Ghori of Ghazni defeated Prithviraj Chauhan who was ruling over Delhi in 1192 AD and entrusted the administration of his newly acquired kingdom to Qutubuddin Aibak, his slave general of Turkish descent.

After the death of Ghori in 1206, following a brief struggle for power, Aibak became the new Sultan of Delhi and thus he became the founder of the Mamluk dynasty, or the "Slave Dynasty". Aibak shifted his capital from Ghazni to Lahore first, and then from Lahore to Delhi. His reign was short and he died in 1210 as he fell from horseback while playing polo and was severely injured.

Qutb-ud-din Aibak, commenced construction of the Qutub Minar in 1193, but could only complete its base. His successor, Iltutmish, added three more stories to it and in 1386 Firoz Shah Tughlaq constructed the fifth and the last story.

Built mainly of red sandstone, the fifth storey of the Minar was restored by Firoz Shah Tughlaq in 1369 who used contrasting elements of marble alongside the red sandstone.

Reportedly it has been struck thrice by lightening and also damaged by earthquakes. Sikandar Lodi carried out some more repairwork to it in 1505 and later it has been further renovated by the British major Smith and then again by Governor General Henry Hardinge.  

The Indestructible Power of the People

"The people,
O, the people,
How great and noble
The indestructible mountain ranges
Of capable people!

Therein lies
The power to overturn
The unscrupulous,
The power to laugh dismissively
At the arrogant.

The united hearts of the people
Are like the sun.
Nothing is stronger
Than the people.
The people are a great wave -
No, a raging breaker.

The world is too small
For the colossus
Of the people arisen.
The ultimate power of destiny
That will determine the future
Of this century called Humanity
Lies in the people.

- Excerpts from the poem
'The Indestructible Power of the People'
By
Dr. Daisaku Ikeda

Introduction

Delhi, a city with a glorious and tumultuous past, replete with power struggle, internal strife, stories of vicious conspiracy, love, lust and intrigues – between families, dynasties and cultures. The eternally flowing river Yamuna has been a silent witness to a lot of bloodshed of its 5000 year old history which began with the creation of Indraprastha by the Pandavas.

It has been said that whoever forms a new city at Delhi will inevitably lose it. This has come true with every acquisition till the most recent occupation by the British. And yet Delhi has been looted, plundered, acquired and raped time and again. Greed, anger, foolishness and arrogance have taken over the hearts of many, to create havoc in the city, over and over again, across centuries.

History speaks of Nadir Shah, who had ordered his soldiers to plunder and massacre Delhi. It is said that he got so much wealth from Delhi that he was not able to carry it home. Abdali and Taimur Lane were no different. They had tried their best to demolish the city. And yet – Delhi always rose up from its ashes, like the proverbial phoenix and stood up with its head held high in its full glory every single time.

No one could ever own Delhi forever;  the power always remained with the masses, the common ordinary people. The heart of Delhi remains in the indefatigable energy of its common people, in it’s undefeated attitude.