Firozabad - Where the Djinns Grant Wishes!!

Nestled between a cricket ground and Ring Road, lies the ruins of Firozabad or Firoz Shah Kotla - the city built by the third Tughlaq ruler Feroz Shah Tughlaq. 

It is said that when Mohd. Bin Tughlaq died, the noblemen had to coax his reluctant cousin Firoz Shah Tughlaq to ascend the throne as he was planning to become a dervish. 

Yet, his rule is recorded as one of the most prosperous one and is described by chroniclers as a period of abundance, happy subjects, cheap goods and flourishing villages. 

A native saying goes, three things are needed to build a city - Dariya (a river), Badal (rain - brought by clouds) and Badshah (an emperor). In the 14th century, in the year 1354, Firoz Shah Tughlaq settled the city of Firozabad on the bank of river Yamuna and built himself this fortified palace complex as part of his capital city. The city doesn't exist anymore. What remains here are fragmented remnants of a series of walls, courtyards and broken gateways apparently leading nowhere. As against the delicacy of intricate artwork of the Mughals, the Tughlaq structures are huge, blunt, somewhat stern, hauntingly spectacular and magnificent their own unique way. The emperor's personal quarters and those of his wives were situated along the riverfront, which has now shifted course and has been replaced by the busy Ring Road.

Successor of two most talked about and controversial in Indian history - Firoz Shah's reign heralded the weakening of Tughaq dynasty. Though his reign of 40 years experienced a decline in the military prowess of his kingdom due to his reluctance to command armies and wage wars with his neighbors to increase his kingdom, it witnessed a period of architectural blossoming as he was credited by contemporary historians to have created numerous gardens around Delhi, several towns, built many mosques and villages, reservoirs, dams, hospitals, public baths and bridges.  He even reconstructed the two upper stories of Qutub Minar as it got damaged by lightning. Firoz Shah was said to be well known for three things: his passion for good governance, hunting and building. 

And his fourth hobby seemingly was collecting slaves; for according to the records, he had gathered more than a lakh of them in his lifetime !!

According to common belief, benevolent djinns now live in its dark labyrinths. Faithfuls throng here every Thursday to ask for wishes to be granted by these djinns. The range of their benevolence is believed to be from curing illness, to getting a job, reuniting families, to bringing missing people back home to something as small as winning a local cricket match!! Djinns are formless invisible beings who are created from smokeless fire by the Almighty and have the power to grant boons. 

There are seven underground vaulted windowless rooms called the sat-dar. In these dark corridor, in the dim light of flickering candle lights, and thick smoke of incense and fragrance of flowers, the devoted followers gather to move from chamber to chamber and write petitions with their requests on papers, spelling out the exact nature of their problems and stick it to walls of the recesses, innumerable crevices and alcoves blackened by the soot of oil lamps. 

Jami Masjid: Like every Islamic town has its own congregation mosque built for their respective cities, Ferozabad too had its own - which stands testimony to its glorious past. Its walls are mostly gone now, the prayer arches are totally in ruins, the cloisters on the sides of the courtyard and the prayer hall have all disappeared with time, and just a skeleton of its former grandeur remains today. It is believed that when Timur raided Delhi, he offered prayers here and was so impressed with this building, that he took away some of its artisans and masons to Samarkand where he built a mosque exactly of the same pattern. 

At the center of the courtyard of this mosque, Feroz Shah had described some policies of his governance. He had recorded that he had put a stop to physical tortures as means of punishment and had waived off petty taxes from common people. He desired to look after the welfare of his subjects and he did all he could to keep them happy. 

It is also mentioned that on becoming the ruler, he had sought letters of forgiveness from those who had been tortured or killed by his ancestor Mohd Bin Tughlaq, after offering them adequate compensations and had placed them in his tomb in a box believing that this act would grant spiritual mercy for his predecessor in his afterlife. 

Minar i Zarin: (Column of Gold) : 

While on one of his hunting expeditions in Meerat, Firoz Shah came across this massive monolith and was intrigued by it. Not knowing what to do with it, he got this 13 meters high and 27 tonnes heavy pillar excavated by hundreds of men and had it transported on a 42 wheeled cart using numerous pulleys and revolving wheels with 200 people pulling each rope attached to each wheel. Large boats were used to carry it across the Yamuna at this spot to have it erected here again on a three storied pyramidal structure. The pillar is similar to another one on the northern ridge which was also brought by Firoz Shah. 

This pillar made of sandstone has been polished so skilfully that even after 2300 years it continues to shine like gold giving it the name Minar i Zarin or column of gold. Much later the British deciphered the inscriptions on it as Brahmi script and were interpreted as Ashoka's edicts in Pali language. 

Sirat - i - Firozshahi narrates: 

... No bird can fly as high as its top and no arrows can reach its middle ... O God! How could they have painted it all over with gold that it appears to people like the golden morning!!

Notwithstanding the existing inscriptions, many legends continue to float around regarding its magical properties and some people still believe it to be the walking stick of the Pandava prince Bheem. Another belief is that the chief of the djinns, named as Laat Waale baba (the master of the pillar or laat) dwells inside this pillar and thus it is common to find the eager faithfuls touching this third century BC pillar that extols the virtues of Buddhist Dhamma and praying for granting their wishes. 

The Baoli:

Towards the northwest of the Ashokan Pillar, lies a large circular baoli or step well, surrounded by underground rooms which was believed to be used by the royalty to cool off during the summer months as they bathed in the waters of this well. The water supply ran through pipelines connecting the river Yamuna.