Delhie Book : Tughlaqabad (left), The tomb of the Emperor Ghiyas al-Din Tughlaq (right) - 1843 [From 'Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi’, an album consisting of 89 folios containing approximately 130 paintings of views of the Mughal and pre-Mughal monuments of Delhi, as well as other contemporary material, with an accompanying manuscript text written by Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe (1795-1853), the Governor-General’s Agent at the imperial court. Acquired with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund and of the National Art-Collections Fund.] The citadel and town of Toghluckabad was built by the Emperor Gheeasoodeen (‘ Aid of Religion’) Toghluck the son of a Toorkee slave. In AD 1321 the King Mobaruck (‘Propitious. Fortunate’) Shah (‘King’) of the Khiljee Tribe was put to death by Khoosroo (‘a great king’) Khan an ungrateful favorite to whom the whole administration of the government had been confided. On the death of the King, Khoosroo at once assumed the vacant throne and murdered all the survivors of the Royal Family. His sovereignty was but of short duration for Ghouse Khan the governor of the Punjab went into open rebellion and marching to Dehly with the veteran troops of the frontier, he gained a victory over the dissolute and ill commanded bands opposed to him and put an end to the reign and life of the usurper, to the universal joy of the people. [The citadel and town of Tughluqabad was built by Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughlaq (r.1320-1325), east of the Qutub Minar. The fortress stands on a high outcrop of rock, with rubble built walls, surviving intact all along the 7 km perimeter, with a vast reservoir on the south. The fortress was divided into three sections-the citadel, the palace and the city. All that remains of the complex of palaces, houses and halls is a few arches. The citadel has a high masonry mound in the centre known as Vijay mandal (tower of victory). ] Inscribed: naqsha-i qil‘a-i Tughluqabad. On entering Dehly Ghouse Khan made a declaration that his only object was to deliver the country from oppression, and that he was willing to place any of the Royal line on the throne. No member of the Khiljee family was found to have survived and Toghluck was himself proclaimed under the title of Gheeasoodeen. His whole reign was as commendable as his accession was blameless. He began by restoring order in his internal administration and by putting his frontier in an effective state of defence. In AD 1324/5 the King proceeded in person to Bengal where Bohara (‘a Turkish word’) or Boghra Khan the father of a former Emperor Keikobad (‘a proper name’) still retained his government after a lapse of 40 years. He was now confirmed in possession and permitted the use of Royal Ornaments by the son of his father’s former slave. The King also settled some disturbances in Dacca, then a Province independent of Bengal, and, on his was back reduced Tirhoot and took the Raja prisoner as he approached his capital in February of AD [blank, 1325] the Emperor was met by his eldest son Fukheeroodeen (‘Pride of the Faith’) Jonah (‘Old, ancient’) Khan,, who received him in magnificence in a wooden pavilion erected for the occasion. During the ceremonies the building gave way and the King with five other persons was crushed on its fall. The misfortune may have been accidental but as before stated at page 40 [f. 39v] strong suspicions existed that such was not the case, more especially as Jonah Khan was absent at the time and that his next brother, who was the father’s favorite, was involved in the same calamity. The city of Toghluckabad is still remarkable for its extent and massive grandeur, and at its day, cannon being unknown, it must have been impregnable. It was chiefly built of immense masses of stone raised one above the other to a considerable height and without cement of any kind to connect them. After the death of its founder it was not again the seat of Empire and on the introduction of our rule in 1803, it was found to be the abode of thieves who were the terror of the surrounding country. By present measurement the ruins extend 3 miles in length and same in breadth. The bastions are 61 and the gateways 13 in number. [The tomb of the Emperor Ghiyas al-Din Tughluq (r.1320-25). Originally it stood within a reservoir and was attached to Tughlaqabad fort by a causeway. The tombs sloping walls pioneered a style that was used in all subsequent Tughlaq architecture. The tomb also has the graves of Ghiyas ud-Din's wife and his son Muhammad Bin-Tughlaq (r.1325-51).] [Note: It is unlikely that this artist ever went near this tomb, which is represented more like that of Safdar Jung than of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq. ] Inscribed: naqsha-i Tughluqabad va sultan-i ‘adil. The tomb of the Emperor Toghluck is connected with the citadel by a causeway, and surrounded by beautiful cultivation during the spring harvest. Source : British Library

Is he Metcalfe of Metcalfe's House? Cant remember in my befuddled, DDT-poisoned state.

Absolutely !... the same Metcalfe.

RBSI please get hold of 'Tarikh Farahbakhsh' of Muhammed faiz baksh or its english translation by W Hoey It is a wonderful book on history of Delhi and Faizabad.

Interesting account of a little known leader whose main claim to fame was as father of the maverick Mohamed Bin Tughlak.

Unrelated, but I think this link is too good to not share: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/categories/c1270/ This isn't a book but an amazing collection of stories from WW2 and the British Raj, courtesy the BBC.

Sharda I freak out on Mohammed Bin Tughlak. He is my favorite maverick, which is not to say that his schemes did not have a core of intelligence, its just that they did not work in practice at that point of time!

Ditto- in fact I would have gone further to say he is one of my fave historical characters but after a post here lambasted him for his mercenary ways, I kept quiet! He was way ahead of his time and had so many modern and innovative ideas! His punishments may seem cruel but we have to think of the context of his time.

And given 'Dilli' today maybe Daulatabad would have been a better option! Sharda..how could you have been intimidated...free expression at any cost!! :) We will discuss his policies at length on this thread. Did you read the article in the NYT which said that women make up only 15% of the people who edit Wikipedia?! There is a strand of analysis which says that women are hesitant about expressing themselves on the Net! ( Not us , certainly!). Of course, my daughter and I had the same reaction...perhaps women have better things to do than editing Wikipedia!

well said sumedha.....you are a girl after my own heart.

Thanks, Mita! Which bit do you agree with, Daulatabad or Wikipedia?! :)

Sumedha, hail to freedom of 'free expression'.......never mince words or be apologetic about your opinion (for whatever it is worth), and as far as wikipedia is concerned I am in accord with you and your daughter.

I agree with both Sumi. Daulatabad would definitely made the capital city more civilised- Today we have a capital city which has the lowest gender ratio in the country, which thrives on commission and jugaad, and where honour killings and rapes occur with alarming frequency! As regards Wiki- what free expression is posted there in any case? If women have the opportunity, and luckily we belong to that category- they are far more expressive and take a stand!

Thanks, Mita and Sharda! We shall carry the banner of free expression together!! (Although I must say that when people get personal on a thread as opposed to academic I tend to avoid them since I argue for the fun and learning of it not unpleasantness.) To get back to MBT he had extremely 'different' ideas for his time but they were workable ideas. If he thought of making the capital of India at its centre it was an attempt to think how best to govern the country , not to treat it as a resource to be exploited ( a trait only too common even today amongst Dilli's rulers). His standardisation of coinage and the use of a rudimentary fractional reserve system is a precursor to the modern currency systems as they operate today. I guess he was impractical in terms of implementation. What was the need to transport even the cats and dogs of Dilli to Daulatabad?! The water supply issue should have been checked before hand. The steps to check counterfeit coins( which finally brought his system to its knees) could have been more stringent. Hindsight can point out a lot of issues. But more power to eccentrics...where would we be without them?