Kotla Firoz Shah

Welcome to Kotla Firoz Shah, also called Firozabad, a citadel built by Firoza, a 14th century Turkish Muslim ruler and the last of three well-known rulers of the Tughlaq dynasty. Although the dynasty continued after Firoza's death from natural causes, his successors are largely unknown. The predecessors were known for their expansion of their kingdom in what is now northern India both through their genius and their cruelty. According to our guide today, Firoza was chosen because he was kind of nondescript. He wasn't good looking or ambitious so the politicos of the day decided he would be a good choice for a respite from his cousin, Muhammad, who evidently would bestow riches on a subject in the morning and cut off his head that evening depending on his whim.

Firoza understood why he had been chosen to succeed his cousin and was okay with it, according to his journals. That's what our guide from Delhi Heritage Walks told us. (I haven't read his journals. Students, note the credit to sources here. Our guide, a lovely young woman, is currently working on a PhD in history at Delhi University.) Nevertheless, Firoza found a way to more peacefully make his mark and secure his rule. He raised the salaries paid to everyone (so the rich would not complain about the poor getting more) and he built cities across his kingdom, including the citadel on which we stood, which covers acres of land and includes a mosque. He also built water channels and roads.Whatever he built carried his name so that his subjects would know whom to thank. 

Firoza's buildings are now ruins but the massive walls remain a testament to his social welfare initiatives. The stone walls are two-feet deep. According to our guide, no one knows exactly what was where, but from a pattern similar to other citadels, it has been deduced that the outer walls that face onto what is now called Old Delhi were the most public spaces and that each new series of rooms, as we moved back toward where the sacred Yumuna River once flowed, became more royal, housing family and the wife and Firoza himself. Perhaps a credit to his beneficence, he ruled for nearly 40 years from 1351 to 1388. 

An interesting footnote is that he sought to made amends for the harm caused by his predecessor and paid compensation to families and victims terrorized by the former ruler. He then asked for each to write a note of forgiveness and he buried all of the notes in Muhammad's tomb.

 This is me near the entrance to the citadel,

which would have been one of the more public spaces.

We returned here for a sweet-salty lime soda afterward.

"Sweet salties" have become my favorite drink.

Limeade with soda water and salt can replenish 

even the most dehydrated person.

 Look closely at this picture. It gives you a sense of the scope of the 

ruins, but in the upper left you will see a pillar that is noteworthy for two reasons.

The locals call it "lat baba," meaning a spirit worthy of respect. It was discovered

near this citadel by Firoza on his travels and he had it removed by workers excavating 

around it and allowing it to fall on silk cotton that was piled up. It was then hauled

by hundreds of men on carts to a barge and floated up the river to his citadel.

They then hauled it up from the river, building new levels to the citadel as they went.

Firoza could not read the script (later determined to Brahmi). The gleaming, polished sandstone 

pillar is now known to be one of many that were erected across northern Indian by the great

King Ashoka, a Mauryan who, after vanquishing the territory in the 3rd century AD,

looked at the carnage of the battlefield and renounced warfare. He became Buddhist. This

pillar carries one of his edicts, issued across the subcontinent on these pillars. This one famously 

sets out the beginning of modern Indian belief that all living things should be respected. It specifically

lists animals, including white doves, that should  not be killed. The pillars were topped

with statues of animals, but it is believed most were knocked off by Muslims opposing idolatory.

 I had heard and read of Ashoka. 

Today, I stood and looked at the edict he set out 1800 years ago while standing

high up above the city of Delhi on a citadel built by a ruler who believed the way to secure

his rule was to raise his subjects out of poverty and build for the public good.

The above picture is the times of prayer and a prayer rug propped at the

front of the mosque built by Firoza. While its roof and walls have fallen, 

it remains a very busy  and active mosque.

Here are prayer rugs stacked in one of the porticoes of the mosque.

The rising sun lights up a walk of the citadel.

(The walk started at 7:30 a.m. so that we could be done before

the heat of the Delhi sun bore its full weight on us.)

An outer wall of the citadel. The  Tughlaq architecture is marked by

the slant on the left hand side of the wall, which is an outside wall.

The foundations of the mosque and the structure surrounding Ashoka's 

pillar are stone cells. The narrow, darker ones are home to bats. Others, like this one, 

are more open to the outdoors. All are sacred spaces where people come 

to present offerings asking for the guidance and help of the djinns, spiritual 

creatures believed to inhabit these spaces. We were told that every Thursday the ruins are open
 to the public and that people bring offerings and the homeless that live on Delhi's streets
 come prepared to accept offerings of charity. We saw one cat. Cats are believed

to be companions of the djinns, much like old Salem believed that witches kept 

them as familiars. The strands of marigolds are typical here, used in weddings,

funerals and we were welcomed to India with garlands of marigolds. The white flecks to 

the left are sugared puffed rice and the little square holds a sweet dessert. A range of 

flowers are piled in the middle and candles and incense purify the air.

(And mask the smell of bat guano.)

In these first weeks in India, it has been at once overwhelming and familiar, making it difficult for me to know where to begin to share my journey with all of you. I hope you will enjoy what I write and be patient as I try to figure out how to begin to share this story.