Memoir on Kotla Firoz Shah/Sirat-i Firoz Shahi, by J.A. Page

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FIROZABAD, THE ROYAL RETREAT.

Shams-i-Siraj Afif goes on to say that “Sultan Firoz had given up residing in Dehli, and stayed at Firozabad”. Delhi, it would seem, however, still remained the capital of the kingdom, and continued to be used for State functions, for “when3 [Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, p, 343.] it was necessary to hold a court he left his devotions and proceeded to the capital”. To use Lane Poole’s simile, “Firozabad4 [Mediaeval India under Muhammadan rule, p. 144.] became the Windsor of his London”.  

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FEATURES OF THE PALACES.

The Sultan, we are told, was possessed of a penchant for history and, in despair of getting an adequate historical record written of his own reign, caused5 [Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, p. 316.] the following lines of his own composition (az zaban-i khwesh), to be inscribed in letters of gold on the walls (imarat) of the Kushk-i Shikar-rav6, [This palace, it seems, was the one on the "Ridge."] and on the domes of the Kushk-i nuzul, and the walls (imarat) of the minarets of stone which are within the Kushk-i Shikar-rav at Firozabad: —

“I made a great hunt of elephants, and I captured so many:

“I performed many glorious deeds; and all this I have done:

“That in the world and among men; in the earth and among mankind, these verses

“May stand as a memorial to men of intelligence, and that the people of the world, and the wise men of the age, may follow the example.” Which literary excursion it may be remarked, does not reveal the Sultan’s pen to have been any mightier than was his sword in his vacillating campaigns undertaken in Bengal and Thatta. Firoz adopted the practice.” “The1 [Medieval India under Muhammadan Rule by Stanley Lane Poole, pp. 148, 149-150, 151.] court to which these pampered servants ministered was luxurious but orderly. It is true the Sultan was somewhat addicted to wine, and on one occasion, in the midst of the Bengal campaign, the general Tatar Khan discovered his sovereign in an undignified position, lying half-dressed on his couch, with a mysterious sheet concealing something under the bed. Tatar Khan saw what was the matter, and both were speechless with surprise. At last he began a little sermon on the wickedness of indulgence at such a time of anxiety. The Sultan inquired what he meant, and asked innocently if anything untoward had happened. The Khan pointed to the hidden wine cups under the bed and looked solemn. Firoz said he liked a modest drop now and then to moisten his throat, but Tatar was not to be mollified. Then the Sultan swore that he would drink no more wine whilst the Khan was with the army. So the general thanked God and went out. But Firoz soon afterwards bethought him that the Khan was much needed at the other end of the kingdom, and sent him there in all haste. Several times the Sultan was lectured by holy men on his weakness, but he worked off his excesses by vigorous hunting, to which he was enthusiastically devoted, and the vice cannot have gone to such lengths as to interfere with affairs of state— at least so long as the able Hindu wazir2 [Makbul Khan, a converted Hindu named Kutta of Telingane, who became a slave under Muhammad Tughlaq and was raised to the office of Wazir by Sultan Firoz in the beginning of the reign.] was there to control them.”

“The testimony of all contemporary chroniclers shows that Firoz was adored by the people. It was not only that he reformed abuses, checked extortion, reduced taxation, increased irrigation, and enlarged the markets and opportunities of labour: he was 'a father to his people', took care of the needy and unemployed, refused to dismiss aged officials but let their sons act for them,— ‘the veteran’, he said, ‘may thus stay at home in comfort, whilst the young ride forth in their strength': he contrived the marriages of poor Muslims who could not otherwise afford the usual dowries, and provided state hospitals for the sick of all classes, native and foreign” ..... "A devout Muslim, he kept the fasts and feasts and public prayers, and in the weekly litany the names of his great predecessors were commemorated as well as his own and that of the caliph who had sanctioned his authority. When an old man he went on pilgrimage to the shrine of the legendary hero Salar Mas’ud at Bahraich, and humbly shaved as an act of piety. He never did anything without consulting the Koran, and even selected a governor in accordance with a fal or lucky omen in the sacred book. [b][size=120]Making every allowance for the exaggeration of the court chronicler, his panegyric, written after the Sultan’s death, is probably not misplaced: ‘Under Firoz all men, high and low, bond and free, lived happily and free from care. The court was splendid. Things were plentiful and cheap.3 [Some prices may be quoted: wheat 3d. (8 jitals) the quarter (man); barley 1-1/2d. the quarter; sugar 1d. to 1-1/2d. the sir or 3/4 lb.] Nothing untoward happened during his reign. No village remained waste, no land uncultivated” ....." No king since Nasir-ad-din (Khilji) had so appealed to the affections of his subjects; none had had shown himself so just, and merciful, so kind and religious — or such a builder’. In the brief and modest memoirs which the Sultan left, he recites some of the successful efforts he made to repress irreligion and wickedness, and to restore good Government, just law, kindness, and generosity to the people, in the place of torture and bloodshed and oppression. ‘Through the mercy which God has shown to me,’ he says, ‘these cruelties and terrors have been changed to tenderness, kindness, and compassion ..... I thank the All-Bountiful God for the many and various blessings He has bestowed upon me”.

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THE SULTAN’S GARDENS.

“Sultan3 [Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, p. 345.] Firoz had a great liking for the laying out of gardens which he took pains to embellish. He formed 1,200 gardens in the vicinity of Delhi. All gardens received abundant proofs of his care, and he restored thirty gardens which had been commenced by Alau-d-Din (Khilji). . . . In every garden there were white and black grapes of seven varieties. They were sold at the rate of one jital per seer”. This hobby of the Sultan was not without its remunerative side, for “of the various articles grown in the gardens, the Government share of the produce amounted to 80,0004 [Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, p. 346.] tankas, without taking into account the dues of the owners and gardeners”, which it seems were paid in kind.

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THE SULTAN’S BUILDINGS.

“Sultan5 [Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III, Tarikh-i-Firozskahi pp. 354-7.] Firoz excelled all his predecessors on the throne of Delhi in the erection of buildings, indeed no monarch of any country surpassed him. He built cities, forts, palaces, bands, mosques and tombs, in great numbers. Of cities, there were Hissar Firozah and Fath-abad, of which the author has given an account in a previous chapter, Firozabad, Firozabad Harni Khira, Tughlik- pur-i Kasna, Tughlikpur-i Muluk-i Kamut, and Jaunpur, besides sundry other places and forts which he repaired and strengthened. His palaces (kushk) were those of Firoz, Nuzul, Mahandwari, Hissar Firozah, Fathabad, Jaunpur, Shikar, Band-i Fath Khan and Salaura. Bands: Fath Khan, Malcha (into which he threw a body of fresh water, ab-i-zamzam), Mahpalpur, Shukr Khan, Salaura, Wazirabad and other similar strong and substantial bands. He also built monasteries and inns for the accommodation of travellers. One hundred and twenty khankahs (monasteries) were built in Delhi and Firozabad for the accommodation of the people of God, in which travellers from all directions were receivable as guests for three days. These one hundred and twenty buildings were full of guests on all the three hundred and sixty days of the year. Superintendents and officers of the Sunni persuasion were appointed to these khankahs, and the funds for their expenses were furnished from the public Treasury.

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HIS CHIEF ARCHITECTS.

Malik Ghazi Shahna was the chief architect, and was very efficient; he held the gold staff (of office). 'Abdul Hakk, otherwise Jahir Sundhar (was deputy, and) held the golden axe. A clever and qualified superintendent was appointed over every class of artisans.

The Sultan also repaired the tombs of former kings. It is a custom among kings while they are on the throne to appropriate villages and lands to religious men in order to provide means for the maintenance and repair of their tombs. But these endowments had all been destroyed, and the grantees, being divested of them, were reduced to distress. The Sultan carefully repaired all the tombs and restored the lands and villages after bringing into cultivation such as had been laid waste. He also sought out and restored the Superintendents and officers of these endowments who had been driven out of them. The financial officer (diwan-i (illegible)) examined the plan of every proposed building, and made provision so that the work should not be stopped for want of funds. The necessary money was issued from the royal treasury to the managers of the building, and then the work was begun. Thus it was that so many buildings of different kinds were erected in the reign of Firozshah."

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THE ROYAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS.

"Sultan Firoz had thirty-six royal establishments, for which enormous supplies of articles were collected and the annual outlay on which was very large. Some of them were in receipt of a regular payment (rayati): others had no fixed income (ghair rayati). Thus among the rayati establishments there were the elephant, horse, and camel stables, the kitchen, the butlery, the candle department, the dog-kennels, the water-cooling department and other similar establishments. These received a regular monthly allowance of one lac and sixty thousand tankas for their expenses, in addition to which there was the cost of their furniture, .....

“In the establishments which received no regular allowance, such as the wardrobe, the alam-khana or insignia, the carpet stores, and the like, new goods were procured every year according to orders given. In the winter season six lacs of tankas were expended on the wardrobe, besides the outlay for the spring and summer, 80,000 tankas were expended on the alam-khana in the purchase of articles, besides the salaries of the accountants and wages of the work-people. About two lacs of tankas were expended in the carpet department. Each of these establishments was under the charge of a khan or malik of high rank;”..... “The royal stables were in five different places, and, besides these, some thousands of horses grazed in the neighbourhood of Delhi, and were called sihpanj. The camel establishment was distinct, and was in the district of Dublahan, where whole villages were appropriated to them and their keepers. Their numbers increased every year, because the great feudatories, when they came to Court, brought camels of all sorts among their presents to the throne.”

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SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE KOTLA.

The following is a brief relation of events connected with the subsequent history of the Kotla from the retirement of its founder from affairs of State to its probable destruction in 1540 A.D. at the hands of the Afghan emperor Sher Shah Sur.

“The Sultan now grew old and feeble, for his age was nearly ninety years (1382 A.D.) and Khan-i-Jahan,1 [Named Juna Shah. He was the son of the former wazir Makbul Khan. The two wazirs, father and son, between them virtually ruled the kingdom during the whole of the reign, the one for 18, the other for 20 years, so great was the reliance reposed in them by the Sultan. Juna Shah is said to have been responsible for the erection of several of the principal mosques built in Delhi, among which are numbered those named on page 16 (supra). (Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III, Tarikh-i-Firozshahi. p. 369 et seq.)] the wazir, exercised unbounded authority ..... All the affairs of State were in his hands. At length it came to this, that whatever Khan-i-Jahan said, the Sultan used to do”.

“One day the wazir represented to the Sultan that Prince Muhammad Khan ..... was on the point of raising a rebellion”, whereupon the Sultan gave the order for his arrest. The Prince, however, discreetly remained away from court, and, in alarm at his position, gave his own version of affairs to his father, on which the wazir was dismissed from office.

The Prince, “gathering the slaves of Sultan Firoz, the amirs, and other people of the city” about him, attacked the house of Khan-i-Jahan, who was wounded and fled into Mewat, and his house was plundered.

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THE SULTAN RETIRES IN FAVOUR OF HIS SON MUHAMMAD KHAN.

“The Sultan of necessity, gave over to the Prince the reins of government, with all the horses and elephants, wealth and state ..... He conferred upon him the title of Nasiru-d-din Muhammad Shah, and then retired to his house to serve his God. In the cities, throughout the dominions, the khutba was repeated in the names of the two sovereigns, and Muhammad Khan took his seat upon the throne in the Palace of Jahanuma (on the “Ridge”). The deposed wazir was soon afterwards seized and beheaded.

The Prince “who was young and inexperienced, gave himself up to pleasure ..... and at length great irregularities arose in the administration. The slaves of the late government of Firoz Shah, of whom there were about a lakh in Delhi and Firozabad, abandoned the Prince and joined themselves with the late sovereign”. Hence arose contention and strife,1 [Elliot and Dowson, Vol. IV, Tarikh-i-Mubarakshahi, p. 17.] during which the Prince attacked and routed this following, who “fled to the palace and took refuge with the Sultan. Fighting went on for two days, when the insurgents brought out the old Sultan from the Palace”, which caused the adherents of the Prince to abandon him and rejoin their old master. Finding he could no longer maintain the struggle, the Prince fled to the mountains of Sirmor.

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FLIGHT OF MUHAMMAD KHAN AND HIS SUPERSESSION BY SULTAN FIROZ’S GRANDSON, TUGHLAQ SHAH.

The Sultan then appointed Prince Tughlaq Shah his grandson, son of Fath Khan, to be his heir, and delivered all the affairs of government over to him.”2 [Ibidem.]

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DEATH OF FIROZSHAH.

“On the3 [Ibidem.] 18th Ramzan 790 H (26th September 1388 A.D.) Sultan Firoz died, worn out with weakness”, whereupon Prince Tughlaq Shah “took his seat upon the throne in the palace of Firozabad”; and a force was then sent against Prince Muhammad Khan in his retreat in the mountains of Sirmor.

The new Sultan was, however, also “young and inexperienced, and gave himself up to wine and pleasure”. Government was neglected and several of the Amirs and slaves raised a revolt. “Malik Mubarak Kabri (an adherent of the Sultan) was despatched with the sword in the palace of Firozabad as he was retreating through the door. A great outcry thereupon arose in the palace, and the Sultan hearing it escaped through the door opening on to the Jamna” but was overtaken and killed at the ford near the Ridge. The reign4 [Elliot and Dowson, Vol. IV, Tarikh-i-Mubarakshahi, p. 21.] of Sultan Tughlaq Shah had lasted 6 months and 18 days.