A BLIND SPOT IN HISTORY.

PURANA QILA

Would it surprise you if I told you that Sher Shah Suri(SSS) or Sher Afghan ruled over a large part of India only for five years(1540-1545)? The kind of lasting legacies that he has left on administrative reforms make me marvel at his vision and far sightedness.The era of SSS is quite unsung and lesser known than the other rulers of Delhi.

Most of us would be knowing that the Grand Trunk Road(G T Road) was built by Sher Shah Suri. Roads are the life line of a nation. It makes administration easier. Suri was from Sasaram in Bihar and after defeating Humayun he ruled from Delhi, so he knew the importance of communication network, movement of news as well as troops.  In History such a massive road was built during Ashoka's rule from 304 -232 BC, as his empire stretched from Afghanistan to Bangladesh and from Central Asia to South India. The GT Road or "Sadak-e -Azam"  was built  keeping  the convenience of the people moving on the road in mind.There was a kos minar built after every two miles and a sarai(inn) built after every three miles of the road. Trees were planted along this road for shade. SSS also introduced the dak system. He appointed harkaras who would carry post from one place to another. This dak was not only for administration but the convenience was also extended to traders  for business communication. Harkaras were runners who would go up to the next post and from the next post the next man would take the dak and run onwards, like a relay race. The harkaras carried a danda(stick) with  ghunghroos or bells attached to it so that their approach could be heard by the next man in the relay race, and he could move onward  without any pause. 

There were 1700 dak chowkees with 3400 harkaras in those days running on 3000 kms of roads connecting the whole country. Later horses were used for transportation of the dak. There would be a chowkidar to attend to the horses of the harkaras  and oxen of travellers at the sarai, which doubled up as the dak chowkee. A daroga was in charge of this sarai and there were two tarikh- navis who would record the arrival and despatch of the dak.

CHAITYA LIKE DESIGN

Another major reform that SSS devised was replacing the system of province with sarkar, pargana and village. The empire was divided into 47 provinces called sarkar, managed by (1)Munsif- e- munsifan(Chief of Justice) and (2) Shiqdar- e- shiqdaram( Military chief).

Each Sarkar was divided into smaller districts called Pargana. The pargana was managed by

(1)Munsif (judicial officer),

(2) Shiqdar(administrative officer),

(3) Amin(revenue officer),

(4) Patwari(keeper of land revenue record),

Then there were villages which had the

(1) Choudhry( land holder),

(2) Muqaddam(village headman)

(3) Karkun(accountant),

(4) Mushrif(holder of trust),

(5)  Khazanchi(treasurer).

There would be a Fotedar who maintained property records in Persian and Hindi. There would be a Kanoongo who supervised these records. So akin to clerical and supervising staff of today!

Interestingly these officials were transferred after every two or three years to prevent misuse of office. I simply liked the designations of the Officials, so have given the details. Interesting to note that now one does come across people having these surnames.

It may surprise you to know that SSS introduced the standardized  Rupia. Rupia was a generic term used for silver coin of any denomination since the Magadha empire.  During the rule of Chandrgupta Maurya (340-290 BCE) the silver coin was called Rupya-rupa. SSS standardised the Rupia to be a silver coin weighing 178 grams. A gold coin was a Mohur weighing 169 grains and a copper coin was called daam. We now use the word daam to mean price.




REPAIR OF OUTER GATE

 The Old Fort or Purana Qila was built by Humayun in 1533. It was basically a fort for accommodating the troops. There were not many buildings in the Fort. Archeological Survey of India(ASI) did a lot of excavations in this fort as it was believed that this was the place where Indraprastha of Mahabharat times was located. After the excavations it was found that the history of human inhabitation at this place only goes back to the 2nd century BC. The Mahabharat time is said to have been somewhere around 800 BC.Therefore one can safely assume that Indraprastha of ancient times was surely not located here. Just for reference sake the Indus Valley Civilization is said to have existed between  (3600-1200 BC)  

SHER MANDAL-OBSERVATORY & LIBRARY.

Humayun could not live in peace for long as he was defeated by Sher Shah Suri and fled to Afghanistan and then Iran. Humayun sought the help of the Iranians to regain his empire from the Afghan SSS. To gain  support from the Iranians Humayun  had to convert from Sunni to Shia Islam. Humayun has been described as a forgiving person by his biographer Gulbadan, who was also his sister. He repeatedly forgave his brothers who tried to dethrone him or conspired against him. He was known to have a lot of faith on astrology, the occult and astronomy.  He was very superstitious and would not set foot inside a house with his left foot. 
He re-organized the administration upon mystically determined principles. He divided the public offices into four distinct groups, for the four elements. The department of Earth held charge of Agriculture and the agricultural sciences, Fire pertained to the Military, Water, the department of the Canals and waterways; and Air seemed to have responsibility for everything else. 
He disdained warfare and after winning a war would spend months together indulging himself at the captured city. He was out of the Old Fort for 15 years wandering from place to place, and after his last battle with SSS with the help of the Iranians, he lived at the Purana Qila for 5 years before tumbling to his death. In 1556 he fell from the steps of his Library when the Muezzin called out for the evening prayers. There is also a thought that he was star gazing and missed the stair, or perhaps he was under the influence of Opium and didn't know where he was going. 'He tumbled in life and finally tumbled out of it too' is how his life has been described. On October 1556 the last Hindu King of Delhi,Hemu won the throne of Delhi and  had his Rajya Abhishek(coronation) at the Old Fort. In the second battle of Panipat Hemu lost to the Mughals and in  November 1556, his torso was hung outside the walls of the Fort.

The walls of the Fort are 18 metres high and stretch across 2 km. 

JHAROKA

The Fort has three main gates, the Bada Darwaza facing the West, the Humayun gate towards the South and the Talaqi Gate towards the North . The gates are beautiful with Jharokhas and Chatris. There were tiles on the walls which were blue with beautiful work on it. These tiles were most probably imported from Central Asia.

The walls of this fort are straight unlike the Tughlaqabad Fort where the walls are slanting.

QILA E KUHNA-MOSQUE

The Qila e Kuhna is a Mosque built by SSS. The workmanship is very ornate and the carvings are beautiful. One can see the use of the lotus, lotus buds as well as the Kalash and Chaitya like designs of Ajanta on the pillars , arch and the dome.

KALASH ON RIGHT PILLAR

The only other structure in this Fort is the Sher Mandal which was an Observatory as well as a Library for Humayun.

KHAIR UL MANZIL MOSQUE

Opposite the Fort across the Mathura Road stands another lonely building. Yes, lonely, as it stands alone. This is the Khair ul manzil a mosque built by Maham Anga, Akbar's wet nurse. 

HOSTEL & MADRASA

There was a Madrasa attached to this Mosque as well as rooms where students could stay. It is said that once while Akbar was returning from Nizammudin dargah, an arrow was shot at him from inside this Mosque, which missed the mark. 

THE DOME

The construction of the dome has always been an enigma for me. At the Qila e Kuhna mosque this mystery was clearly unfolded to me. In the corners of a square room, four arches are made , on top of it eight arches are made, then sixteen, and so on until a circle is formed over which the dome is constructed.

After partition Muslims of Delhi and neighbouring states who wanted to go to Pakistan stayed at the Old Fort waiting for their train to Pakistan.

The Nawab of Rampur is said to have donated blankets to people only from Rampur State staying at this camp.

The Old Fort, quite barren and  forlorn actually looks old. It's a place which was never really inhabited. No ruler could enjoy living and ruling from this Fort. They had to flee and seek refuge elsewhere, or died violent deaths like Humayun's fall from the steps and hitting his head or Hemu dying at Panipat in the war, barely one month after his coronation. 

Although I believe that Indraprastha did not exist here, yet if it did then,  true to its nature the fort did not allow the Pandavs too a life of peace and happiness. 

The Old Fort is a place which was inhabited continuously since the 2nd Century BC, but now only animals live within the Fort as the Delhi Zoo is now located here. There is a Sound and Light programme too organized in the evening when one can visualize  & hear the History of Delhi. There is a museum inside the wall of the fort where one can see the material that was excavated from this area.

Everytime I pass the Purana Qila, I feel like visiting it and seeing why this fort refused to offer safety, peace and happiness to its inhabitants.