Delhi

Main article: India

History

Main article: History of India

Delhi has not always been the capital of India, but it has played a crucial role in the country's history.

1977: Resumption of mass gathering of Muslims in Feroz Shah Kotla fortress for requests to genies for fulfillment of wishes

Most of those who come to Feroz Shah Kotla do not consider the site a fortress or a historical monument. Despite the information shields at its gate, despite being under the jurisdiction and control of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), they consider the site a darga, or shrine of Muslims.

Firoz Shah Kotla is a very unusual darga in the landscape of Delhi. Most dargahs are built around the sacred tomb of a Muslim saint. Most dargahs in Delhi and elsewhere are light rooms of marble and limestone, embodying the light of the saints buried in them. But Firoz Shah Kotla is a ruin, darkened from time to time the remains of the medieval palace of the Sultan. Here, in these vast ruins, there are no venerated graves or mausoleums, at least those that can be seen. Among the parishioners of this darga, many of whom came here for more than two decades, there were often fierce statements that it was not graves that were important here, but jinnatke asarat, the action of the jinn.

In 2014, the Hindustan Times reported^[1], that every Thursday a huge crowd gathers in Feroz Shah Kotla fortress. The people believe that the genies go down to the fort from heaven and accept requests from people. Many wishes can be seen on the walls in the room, written on paper.

Photo 2023

Jinn are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabia and later in Islamic culture and beliefs.

According to traditional theological ideas, human saints were tied to their graves (Baljon 1989:191), woven into a landscape that their presence made sacred. The stories of the genie saints in Firoz Shah Kotla focus on mobility rather than rootedness. Jinn Saints gather here on Thursdays evening to read petitions, they leave when the ruins get too crowded, some of them can move between India and Pakistan every ten minutes.

When the ruins of the medieval palace are empty again, the genies return to read the petitions left by people.

"It was not until 1977, a few months after the end of the state of emergency (declared by Indira Gandhi) that we had the first records that people started coming to Firoz Shah Kotla en masse. This seems important given how devastating the state of emergency was for Delhi's Old City and how many poor and working people were relocated from the Old City to resettlement colonies across the river, "Anand Vivek Taneja, an assistant professor of religious studies and anthropology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee (USA), wrote in his paper ^[2]

According to Taneji's research, the practice of addressing genies in Kotla resumed with renewed vigor in the late 1970s when a fakir named Laddu Shah settled in the ruins.

As an example of this practice in 2014, the publication cites Nurjahan, a mother of five young children, who came to Kotla with photocopies of letters in her hands. She wrote to the genies that she and her children were constantly sick. Her house was sold, and the children did not study. She walked the Cauldron, posting photos of her children and photocopies in different places and praying to the genies.

According to popular belief, Laat Vaale Baba, the lord of the jinn of Kotla, lives in Minar-i-Zarrin. Letters addressed to him are tied to the fence protecting the Ashoka pillar, transferred to the fortress in 1356. People rush behind the fence to touch the pillar, because they believe that the desire made when touching the pillar will be fulfilled.

In Islamic cosmology, jinn is a separate species of creature, different from humans and more ancient than them. "He [Allah] created man from dry clay, and jinn from fire that does not give smoke, and made them invisible to the eyes of people" (Ashur 1986:1).

They are thought to consist of a completely different substance than humans and are physically stronger than them, as well as having the ability to change appearance and travel vast distances very quickly. Like humans, unlike angels, genies have free will and can choose between good and evil. Jinn are mortal, as are humans, but live much longer; some of the living jinn are considered sahabs, associates of the prophet Muhammad, who saw him personally and heard him recite the Quran.

People's relationships with jinn based on fear or intimacy (and often both) are widespread in the Islamic world, but even in the case of jinn with names such as Aisha Kandisha of Morocco (see Krapanzano 1981), they are generally seen as something different from sanctuaries and veneration of holy people, albeit related to them. But in Firoz Shah Kotla, genies are considered saints; they are talked about and talked to, they are revered.

How to understand the popularity of jinn saints in a city full of human saints, perhaps the holiest city of Indian Islam known as "bais khwaya ki chauhat" - the threshold of twenty-two saints? Despite the fact that Dargajin saints and the traditions of their veneration are associated with the pre-colonial traditions of communication with jinn and spirits, they nevertheless represent an innovation in the theological landscape of Delhi. This transformation of the theological landscape is closely related to transformations of the spiritual and physical landscape of the city - large-scale movements that shape daily life in a post-colonial city.

Firoz Shah Kotla has long been associated with genies, and there is evidence that the site was revered almost a century ago, although for most people, including those who regularly go there now, it was a place of fear and witchcraft to be approached with caution.

In the archives of the colonial government office, there are copies of detailed correspondence reports with the colonial Office of Indian Affairs regarding Firoz Shah Kotla, when repair work and excavations began there in 1914. It follows from them that people constantly passed in Firoz Shah Kotlu, and also that then the practices of veneration (for example, attaching coins to a wall) were already widespread.

Firoz Shah Kotla became a popular (rather than marginal) pilgrimage site in 1977, a few months after the end of the 1975-1977 state of emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.

In the 2010s, in Firoz Shah Kotla, the mosque's imam insisted that genies had nothing to do with the site's sanctity. The insistence on the presence, sanctity, and power of the jinn I witnessed was usually made in opposition to the imam.

Most places of worship scattered throughout Firoz Shah Kotla are unregulated and do not have an officially appointed head of ritual activities. However, the mosque has an imam, or prayer leader, appointed by the Delhi Waqf Council. Imam studied at the Deobandi madrasah and actively condemned and ridiculed the practice of jinn worship in Firoz Shah Kotla, considering it superstition. Conflict with those who insist on the existence and sanctity of the Jinn seems to be a classic conflict between those belonging to the Deobandi and Barelvi Madhhabs of Sunni Islam. However, those who insist on the existence of jinn see the difference between Delhi locals and visitors (the imam hails from Bihar).

The people who come to Firoz Shah Kotla are mostly working class and come from very specific geographical areas: Old Delhi/Shahjahanabad and its old suburbs like Paharganj, as well as Jamna Par (on the other side of the river) in East Delhi. Those coming from East Delhi often have family ties to the Old Town. In the 1960s or 1970s, they were either forcibly relocated to slums on the other side of the river, or they moved from the Old City, where they were becoming more and more crowded, to closer areas of East Delhi.

Fear and overcoming fear are an integral part of the impressions of Firoz Shah Kotla, especially in the dark underground rooms under the mosque, which are unlike any other famous place of worship. Unlike other dargas, spaces filled with light, the spaces of Firoz Shah Kotla are often smoked, dark and underground. On Thursday afternoon, these underground rooms, lit only by the flame of small candles, barely visible through the thick smoke of incense, seem to be otherworldly spaces, where you lose orientation in space and even feel horror.

People passing through this haze become ghosts themselves, their voices echo strangely in the gloom and bat wings buzzing overhead.

1947

A sharp decline in the Muslim population after India gained independence and divided the country. Some killed, some left

At least eight cities previously existed within the borders of modern Delhi, and the old saying that whoever created a new city in Delhi would lose it came true each time - the last time it happened to the British, who lasted only 16 years.

In 1947, after India gained independence from the British yoke, the country was divided into India proper and Muslim Pakistan. By the time the immediate end, roughly two-thirds of Delhi's Muslim population had either died, moved to refugee camps, or left for Pakistan and other countries.

From a city that had nearly the same number of Hindus and Muslims, Delhi evolved into a city where Muslims made up about 10% of the population, as the influx of Hindu and Sikh refugees increased the city's population by almost double that of ^[3]

Muslim sanctuary lagerea at Purana Kila fortress and nearby Humayun tomb

During the partition of India, in August 1947, the Purana Kila fortress, along with the neighboring Humayun tomb, became the location of refuge camps for Muslims migrating to the newly founded Pakistan. This included more than 12,000 civil servants choosing to serve in Pakistan and between 150,000 and 200,000 Muslim refugees who had amassed in Purana Kiel by September 1947, when the Indian government took over the two camps. Purana Kila camp functioned until early 1948 as trains to Pakistan departed until October 1947.

Destruction of many Muslim cult sites

The violence was unprecedented, never seen before in Delhi. This did not stop at killing Muslims, looting and destroying Muslim personal property. Muslim dargahs and tombs were brutally attacked, including the four oldest and most revered dargahs of Delhi -

• Kadam Sharif in Paharganj,
• dargah Kutub-Sahib in Mehrauli,
• dargah Chirag-Delhi and
• dargah Sultan Ghari in Malakpur Kohi,

as well as smaller dargahs, many of which were objects of local veneration. In almost all cases, violence was directed against the grave - many reports on the damage caused refer to the destruction of the tombstone and decorative jalis surrounding the grave. Some of these tombs and darga were also monuments protected by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) ^[4]

1942:2115 Japanese internees in Purana Kila fortress. Most are from Singapore

By December 1942, there were 2,115 Japanese internees in Purana Kila's camp in Delhi, the vast majority from Singapore. They were housed in tents.

1857: Centre for Resistance during the rebellion against the British yoke

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Delhi became the center of resistance to them.

1803: British take over Delhi

The British captured Delhi in 1803.

1739: Invasion of Persian ruler Nadir Shah

Many invaded Delhi for centuries, including the Persian ruler Nadir Shah, who sacked the city in 1739 and took the Kohinur diamond (later part of the jewels of the British royal family) and the famous Peacock throne to Iran.

1545: Death of Sher Shah. Civil War and the Return of the Mughals

Sher Shah died in May 1545 during the siege of Fort Kalinjar. After his death, the empire plunged into civil war until it was eventually reconquered by the Mughals.

1540: Sher Shah expels Humayun from India and establishes last dynasty of Delhi Sultanate - Surids

In 1538, while Mughal emperor Humayun participated in military campaigns, the ruler of Bihar of Pashtun origin Sher Shah captured the Bengal Sultanate.

In 1540, Sher Shah defeated the Mughals and expelled them from India, establishing himself emperor in Delhi, founding the last dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate - the Surids.

Sher Shah's empire at its peak

As ruler of Hindustan, Sher Shah led numerous military campaigns, conquering Punjab, Malwa, Marwar, Mewar and Bundelkhand. A brilliant strategist, Sher Shah was both a gifted administrator and a capable general. His reorganization of the empire and strategic innovations laid the foundations for future Mughal emperors, in particular Akbar.

1526: Babur captures Delhi to become first Mughal ruler

Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, was the first Mughal Emperor. He captured Delhi in 1526, and in Purana Kila, where his son Humayun ruled, a new capital arose. A century later, Shah Jahan ascended the Peacock throne during the cultural heyday of the Mughal empire.

Delhi Sultanate

1398: Tamerlan takes over Delhi

Firoz Shah Tughlakid built Firozabad centered on Firoz Shah Kotle (1354). Timur (Tamerlane) broke into the city in 1398, opening the door to the Sayyid and Lodhi dynasties, the last of the Delhi sultanates whose tombs are scattered throughout Lodhi Garden.

1368: Replacing the top two floors of the Qutb Minaret after being struck by lightning

When the Qutb minaret was struck by lightning in 1368, bringing down its upper levels, it replaced them with existing two storeys lined with red sandstone and white marble.

1356: Feroz Shah Tughlaq moves two pillars with Ashoka edicts to Firozabad

Delhi has two Ashoka pillars - one in Feroz Shah fortress (cauldron) and the other on Delhi Ridge, opposite Bar Hindu Rao Hospital. The pillars were transferred from their original places in Meerut and Ambal during the reign of Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq in the XIV century BC. e.

The pillar in the ruins of the Sultan's fortress (cauldron) is also called the Delhi Topra Pillar because it was discovered in the village of Topra, near Ambala (Haryana) in the upper reaches of the Yamuna River, about 90 kilometers from Delhi.

Initially, the pillar was installed by order of the ruler of Mauryev Ashoka in 273-236 BC. e. and has a height of 13 meters. The Topra column was moved and installed by the Sultan in 1356 near the Friday Mosque in his new city of Feruzabad, which later became part of modern Delhi.

The building, on the upper terrace of which there is a pillar, is a pyramidal three-story structure built of rubble masonry. It has a large number of small rooms with domed ceilings on the first and second floors, which have access to the roof. Rooms on each floor have arched entrances.

It is assumed that initially the pillar had a capital in the form of a lion, similar to the emblem of Ashoka, which nowadays is the national coat of arms of India. It is suggested that Feroz Shah decorated the top of the pillar with carvings of black and white stone, crowned with a gilded copper dome. But a smooth polished pillar surface and elephant-like carving is currently visible, added much later.

Although all Ashoka columns have a set of six edicts, the Topra column in the Cauldron is the only one on which there are seven. The Seventh Edict is a retrospective statement in which Ashoka sums up the work he has done and imposes moral restrictions on people. For this reason, this pillar is the only one of its kind.

The original obelisk inscription is made mainly in Brahmi in Prakrit. Later, inscriptions in Pali and Sanskrit were added. At the time of the reinstallation of the obelisk in Delhi in 1356, no one knew the meaning of the inscriptions engraved on the stone. The Brahmi font was deciphered only in 1837.

The inscriptions on the column describe the politics of Ashoka, speaking under the name of Devanampia Piyadasi, and tells the people and future generations about issues of dharma (fair, virtuous life) and moral commandments. Some excerpts from James Prinsep's translation are as follows:

• Along the big roads, I ordered fig trees to be planted to serve as a shadow for animals and people...

• ... And may these and others, most adept at sacred ministries, use their most compelling efforts quietly and respectfully, acting on the hearts and eyes of children to instill enthusiasm and instruction in dharma.

• And whatever acts of goodness are done by me, the same shall be prescribed as duties to men, which will follow me, and thus their influence and growth will be manifested - in the service of father and mother, in the service of spiritual shepherds, in respectful behavior towards the elderly, in kindness to learning, to orphans and the destitute, servants and the minstrel tribe.

• And religion is growing among people through two separate processes - through the performance of religious rites and through protection from persecution. (...) And that religion can be free from persecution of people, that it can increase by an absolute prohibition to put to death (any) living beings or to sacrifice anything that breathes. For such a purpose, all this is done so that it can continue for my sons and sons of sons - as long as the sun and moon exist.

• May stone pillars be prepared and may this edict of dharma be engraved on them so that it can be preserved until the most distant centuries.

This pillar also mentions issues related to taxation.

Apart from the Ashoka decrees, the column has another set of texts inscribed in Sanskrit in Nagari script under and around Ashoka inscriptions. Three 12th-century inscriptions account for the conquests of Visala the Virgin Vigraharaja IV of the Chauhan dynasty, which still ruled Delhi during the Gurid conquests of the 1190s, and his victories over the enemy Mlechha (presumably Ghaznavid or Gurid).

There are also two 16th-century inscriptions: short in Sanskrit, written by a writer named Ama, and longer in a mixture of Sanskrit and Persian, which mentions Ibrahim Lodhi, who reigned in 1517-1526.

In 2016, the Topra pillar showed clear signs of destruction. Most of the inscriptions were peeled^[5].

The second column of Ashoka, transported by the Sultan to Delhi, was divided into five parts as a result of the explosion. The column was neglected for a century. After the 1857 uprising, Raja Hindu Rao took it upon himself to hand over the wreckage of the column to the Asian Society of Calcutta. During the year, the structure was assembled and installed.

1354: Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq establishes new capital Firozabad in present-day Delhi

In 1354, Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlak (1351-1388), founded the new fortified city of Firozabad in modern Delhi and made it the new capital of the Delhi Sultanate.

Reconstruction of the fortress (boiler) Feroz Shah

1335: Delhi Sultanate Controls Maximum Territory

Maximum territory under the control of the Delhi Sultanate in 1330-1335

The Hilji dynasty founded the second Delhi Sultanate and built a new capital around Fort Siri (1303) to protect it from the Mongols, supplying it with water from Hauz Khas.

Ala al-Din al-Hilji ordered the construction of Ala Darwaza, which was completed in 1311 and serves as the southern gateway leading to the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque. He also started the construction of Al Minar, which was to be twice as high as Qutb Minar, but the project was abandoned probably after the Sultan's death.

The Hilji were defeated by the Tughlakid sultans, who built Tughlakabad Fort (1321), although it was abandoned only six years later.

1250: Mamluk Dynasty in Delhi

Delhi Sultanate during the Mamluk Dynasty. Map at the time of about 1250g

Sultan Iltutmysh brings an iron column to Delhi from his campaign in central India, completes the Qutb minaret and builds the first Islamic mausoleum in the city for his son

According to King Chandra's inscription on an iron column set up in Delhi today, it was erected at Vishnupadagiri (Vishnupada).

Based on paleographic similarities with dated inscriptions from Udayagiri, Gupta-era iconography, metallurgy analysis and other evidence, Mira Dass and R. Balasubramaniam (2004) suggested that the iron pillar was originally installed in Udayagiri. A column with a wheel or disc on top was originally in Udayagiri caves, they said. This conclusion was partly based on the fact that the inscription mentions Vishnupada-giri ("hill with traces of Vishnu's feet"). This conclusion was confirmed and developed by Michael D. Willis in his work "Archaeology of Hindu Ritual," published in 2009.

A key argument that the iron pillar was in Udayagiri is that the site was closely associated with Chandragupta and Vishnu worship during the Guptas period.

In addition, in central India, there were established traditions of iron mining and processing, as evidenced, in particular, by the iron pillar in Dhara and local place names such as Lohapura and Lohangi Pir (see Vidisha - a city in Madhya Pradesh).

It is known that the Sultan of Delhi Iltutmysh in the 13th century attacked Vidisha and plundered it, which gave him the opportunity to take the convoy to Delhi as a trophy.

Iltutmysh completed the Qutb minaret. It also commissioned the Hauz-i-Shamsi reservoir south of Qutb Minara and a madrasah next to it.

He built several Sufi lodges and tombs for Sufi saints. Iltutmysh began construction of Hamid al-din lodge and built Gandhak ki Baoli, a step well for the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, who moved to Delhi during his reign.

Gandhak ki Baoli step well in 2009

In 1231, Iltutmysh built a tomb (Sultan Ghari) - to his eldest son Nasiruddin Mahmud, who had died two years earlier.

Sultan Ghari - mausoleum of Sultan Iltutmysh's son

It was the first Islamic mausoleum in Delhi, located in a fortified area that also houses the graves of other relatives of Iltutmysh.

1193: Qutb-ud-din Aibak destroys Indian and Jain temples and begins to build Kuvwat-ul-Islam mosque with Qutb minaret from their stones

Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a slave of Muhammad Guri and his viceroy in India, destroyed the Hindu city and used its stones to build the city of Mehrauli in the area of present-day Delhi.

The Kuvwat-ul-Islam (Power of Islam) Mosque, also known as Qutb Mosque, or Great Mosque of Delhi, was built by Qutb-ud-Din Aybek. Its construction began in 1193. The building materials for the mosque were twenty-seven destroyed Hindu and Jainist temples. It was the first mosque built in Delhi since the Islamic conquest.

In 1193, Qutb began the construction of Qutb Minara, the world's largest brick minaret 72 meters high, still preserved in the Mehrauli area. Under Kutba, only the foundation of the minaret was completed.

Also in Delhi, the fortress of Lal Kot was rebuilt.

In 1206, after the assassination of Muhammad Guri, Qutb-ud-din Aibak became the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate and founded the Mamluk (slave) dynasty.

1192: Muhammad Guri defeats Prithviraj Chauhan, grandson of Anangpal II, at the Battle of Tarain and includes Delhi in his domain

Anangpal Tomar II was succeeded by his grandson Prithviraj Chauhan, who in 1192 was defeated by the troops of Muhammad Guri at the Battle of Tarain (modern Haryana).

He left his huge army in India in the care of a capable military leader, a former slave and faithful man Qutb - hell - Dean Aibak. He was entrusted with the conquest of the remaining North Indian lands and the delivery of captured treasures to Ghazni.

1052: Rajput ruler Anangpal II erects Lal Kot fortress and settles abandoned Dhillikapuri settlement

Anangapal II, better known as Anangapal Tomar, belonged to the Tomar dynasty, which ruled in present-day Delhi and Haryana from the 8th to 12th centuries.

The capital of Tomars changed its location many times: first it was in Anangapur (near Faridabad) during the reign of Anangapal I (who founded the Tomar dynasty in the VIII century), and then in Dhillikapuri (Delhi) during the reign of Anangapal II.

The rule of the Tomars in this region is confirmed by numerous inscriptions and coins, and their ancestry can be traced back to the Pandavas (from the "Mahabharata"), "said B. R. Mani, former deputy director general of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), who led the excavations at Lal-Kot Kot and Anang Thal (in south Delhi) in 1992-1995. Archaeologists have determined that they were built by Anangpal II.

Keele Rye Pithor Round Bastions in 2012

During his reign in the 11th century, Anangpal II founded and settled Delhi. Mani says: "Anangpal II played an important role in the settlement of Indraprastha and gave it its current name, Delhi. When he ascended the throne in the 11th century, the region was in ruins, and it was he who built the fort of Lal Kot and Anangtal Baoli. "

Tarun Vijay, chairman of the NMA, adds: "During one of our expeditions in 2020, we discovered that Anangpal II was the founder of Dhillikapuri, which later became Delhi."

Tomars and their connection with Delhi are also mentioned in the book of the famous historian of the Middle Ages, Professor K. A. Nizami "Ehd-e-Wusta ki Dilli" in Urdu, translated into English as "Delhi in Historical Prospects," tells about Delhi for six centuries (from 1300 to 1800). Describing Delhi's predecessors, Nizami refers to Persian chronicles in which he is referred to as "Inderpath." Nevertheless, according to his book, Delhi officially became a city only in the 11th century, when the Rajputs of Tomar captured the mountainous region of Aravalli.

Cynthia Talbot (2015) notes that the term "Keela Rai Pithora" first appears in the 16th-century text "Ain-i-Akbari," and earlier texts use the term "Delhi" to describe the place. Later, the founder of the Mamluk dynasty, Qutb al-Din Aibak and his successors did not expand or change the structure of the fort.

Map of the fortress of Lal Kot and the city of Dhillikapuri, later referred to as Kila Rai Pithora, 2022

The ruins of Lal Kota can be seen on the territory of the Mehrauli Archaeological Park (Mehrauli Archaeological Park, metro Qutub Minar).

In 2021, the authorities decided to proclaim Anangapal II the founder of Delhi. Proposals put forward during the discussion include the installation of a statue of Anangapal II at Delhi Airport and the creation of a museum dedicated to his legacy in Delhi.

Indraprastha

1st century: Kashi and Indraprastha are India's biggest cities

The Jatakas tell that Indraprastha was second only to Kashi (ancient Varanasi) in magnitude. In the second century C.E., Ptolemy mentions the city of Indrabar, which can be identified with Indraprastha.

At some point in time, Indraprastha was either defeated or abandoned, information about him lost in the centuries.

According to a number of Indian scholars, the fort of Purana Kila, built in the 1540s as the center of the city created by the Mughal emperor Humayun, could have been erected on the site of Indraprastha. In the XVI century, the fort survived a number of battles.

185 BC: Indraprastha in the Mauryan Empire

600 BC: Indraprastha continues to exist

1200 BC: Culture of painted grey ceramics in Indraprastha

During excavations at the site of the medieval fortress of Purana Kila (see above), Iron Age ceramics, the so-called gray dishes, were discovered. Its presence proves that the excavation site was inhabited more than 3,000 years ago, which coincides with the estimated time of existence of Indraprastha.

1400 BC: Indraprastha is the capital of the Pandavas

Indraprastha has been named the capital of the Pandava principality since about 1400 BC . It is believed that this city became the first significant settlement in the area of ​ ​ the modern city of Delhi, where many kingdoms and civilizations have since changed.

According to legend, the kings from the Kuru clan made it their capital after the death of Hastinapur, which was destroyed by the waters of the Ganges.

The "Mahabharata" says that before the construction of the city, there was a heavily forested, deserted place where 'evil spirits' lived. The Pandava brothers, having received this land from their blind uncle Dhritarastra, drove the native inhabitants of the'Naga' and 'Tashkaks' from it, cleared the forest and built a beautiful city, giving it the name of the god Indra ('prastha' means' settlement 'in Sanskrit).

See also

• Mumbai
• Varanasi

Notes