Tughluqabad .

All the three major rulers of the Tughluq dynasty, Ghiyasuddin, Muhammed and Feroz Shah, have left their stamp on history, not least by the fact that each of them constructed their own new city. While the ruins of the cities constructed by Mohammed bin Tughluq and Feroz Shah can still be seen within the confines of modern day Delhi, the most awe inspiring of these cities is Ghiyasuddin Tughluq’s fort of Tughluqabad, built in four years between 1321 and 1325, and situated on a rocky plain near the suburb of Faridabad. The dramatic, strong, sloping battlements atop a rocky outcrop immediately arrested my attention as I drove up along the Mehrauli-Badarpur road. Why did the Sultan choose such a site for the construction of his city? We have to consider geo-political reasons to find the answer-the borders of the empire at this time were being subjected to repeated Mongol incursions, and the Sultan felt that the site was the correct one to defend his dominions, in spite of the clear shortage of water in the area.

The Moorish traveler, Ibn Batuta states that Sultan Ghiyasuddin was always fascinated with this particular spot; and recounted in his memoirs that Ghiyasuddin, before he became Sultan had said to Mubarak Shah Khilji, the last of the Khilji kings, “’O master of the world, it were fitting that a city should be built here’. The Sultan replied to him ironically, ‘When you are Sultan, build it’. It came to pass by the decree of God that he became Sultan, so he built it and, called it by his name-‘Tughlaqabad.’”

I found that while most of the city area is in ruins, the fort walls still retain some of their grandeur. The ramparts tower to a height of anywhere between 9-15 metres, and up to 30 metres around the citadel.  The walls are the thickest you can find in any of the forts in India, at places 35 feet thick, but generally between 15-25 feet in most of the places. I could easily walk along some of the battlements and bastions, and noticed that these were pierced by a regular array of arrow-slits; these were of two types, one allowing the defenders to shoot arrows to a distance and the other for shooting to a closer range. Today, squirrels hide their nuts in these crevices; there is great peace and tranquility all around.

Tughlaqabad has a colourful history. Legend has it that the revered saint Nizamuddin Auliya, was constructing a well at the same time as the Sultan was engaged in his enterprise. The workers laboured during the day for the Sultan and at night for the saint. However, the Sultan was none to pleased about the diversion of his labour force and stopped the supply of oil that provided fuel for the lamps that allowed the workers to work for the saint after dark. Nizamuddin Auliya is said to have responded by miraculously transforming water into oil so that work on his well could continue. At the same time, he cursed the Sultan’s city, by proclaiming famously “Ya base gujjar, ya rahe ujar”(the city would either be populated only by the tribe of Gujjars, or remain barren).  The saint’s words were soon to ring true, for Tughlaqabad had to be abandoned owing to the shortage of water and is today inhabited only by the gujjars, a race of nomadic tribesmen and cattle breeders.

The story does not end here. The Sultan, angered with Nizamuddin, was on his way back to Delhi from a campaign in the south. When the saint’s followers warned him, he is said to have replied, “Hanuz, Dilli dur ast” (Delhi is yet far away). Once again, the words proved prophetic, for the Sultan never entered the city, as he was crushed to death beneath a temporary pavilion as he reviewed his troops. Historians point to the hand of Muhammed bin Tughluq in this accident and hold him guilty of regicide; others say that even Nizamuddin knew of the plot, hence his prophetic words.

The Tughlaqabad of today stands silent and imposing and is one of the few places where one can explore a monument almost alone, accompanied by the occasional stray animal. The ruins of the city spread across a vast area of several kilometers and consist of the main citadel, some palaces and the remains of miscellaneous other buildings including granaries, tanks to hold water and other utility works. A number of subterranean passages lend an aura of mystery to the place. Some are said to connect the nearby citadel of Adilabad, others lead we know not where.

Let your eyes travel across the ruins; in a number of spots, you can spy free-standing arches, a wonderful proof of the skill that local artisans had now gained in the construction of the true arch. The arch alone stands, while the rest of the ceiling has long given away.

Opposite the fort lies the remarkable tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin, that also houses the grave of his son and successor, the “mad genius”, Mohammed-bin Tughluq. Remarkable, as its appearance is more like a small fortress than a tomb, with its sloping sides and surrounded by a wall with arrow slits and bastions. This once again points to the Mongol menace; even the tombs had to be protected.

However, the normally austere and functional architecture so characteristic of the Tughluqs gets a break here; the red sandstone of the tomb is relieved by white marble, and there is evidence of some ornamentation in the tomb. Be careful as you approach the tomb along the causeway-there are several monkeys who dislike being stared at! The tomb must have been really beautiful in its heyday, as it was situated within a lake and linked to the main citadel by means of this causeway.

Today, the area once occupied by the lake is covered with vegetation and is inhabited by a variety of birds, besides the monkeys.

Thomas Bacon who visited the runs in 1831 observed, “I met with nothing which so deeply excited my interest, not even the ruins of Futtehpore Sikri…nothing else which I have seen is half so gigantic, with the exception of Konarak, and that is one single building, whereas Tughlaqabad presents a small city of such wonders”. I couldn’t help but agree with him well more than a hundred and seventy five years later.