Adilabad Fort, Delhi — Attraction in Delhi

Adilabad Fort, Delhi

The one place that every child visiting Delhi is dragged to, is, of course, the Red fort. It is a monument that attracts one of the highest footfalls in the country. That’s perhaps because it used to be the power-center of a greater part of India less than a century ago. But what of the numerous other fortresses strewn around this country? Did you know there are several others in Delhi itself? Seven cities were raised in the capital one after the other, and more than seven forts were built to protect the palaces and the monarchy in each case. Much of that splendor is gone today, but the stones that remain in some parts of Delhi bear testimony to the immense military power of the kings that ruled here once. Let me take you on a visit to one of the smaller, lesser known forts in the city today.

In the south east fringes of Delhi, very close to the better known Tughlaqabad Fort, lies a fortress of almost identical features but smaller proportions, Adilabad. Like Tughlaqabad, it lies in fascinating ruins today… Young boys play cricket in the meadows around it, and except for locals, visitors to the place are few and far between.

It was in 1321 when the first Tughlaq ruler had seized power from the Khiljis that ruled before him. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq was an able administrator and a shrewd military commander, and he had his dream fort,the massive Tughlaqabad, built in 6 years to keep out the menace of the Mongols. Tughlaqabad, however, never flourished as a city, and the curse that was its undoing is an enticing story in itself. In any case, after Ghiyasuddin’s death, his son Muhammad bin Tughlaq inherited the throne. Muhammad was a brilliant man, his ideas far ahead of his time… to the point that many still think he was a crazy man. Among the many projects he took up was the building of the walled city of Jahanpanah. In effect, instead of creating a new city again, this king consolidated all the previous forts inside one great wall- from Lal kot near Qutb Minar, to Siri in South Delhi, all the way to his father’s abandoned fort, the mighty Tughlaqabad in the south east. In the words of famous Moroccan traveller Ibn Batuta, who was visting Tughlaq’s court in those days,

“Dilli the metropolis is a vast and magnificent city, uniting beauty with strength. It is surrounded by a wall that has no equal in the world, and is the largest city in the entire Muslim Orient.”

So far so good. But if the kingdom of Jahanpanah was so well consolidated, and the fort of Tughlaqabad couldn’t be properly settled for lack of drinking water in the area, what led the king to build another fort in its vicinity? No one can tell. Perhaps it was built as a transitory palace between Tughlaqabad and Jahanpanah? Or perhaps it was the prince’s private palace when his father was king? All we know is that Muhammad named it Adilabad after himself, Adil being his assumed title. To add to the confusion, there’s yet another fortress in the distance, tinier and even more ruined, also said to have been built by Muhammad bin Tughlaq. Not much more than a wall remains there, but its name is intriguing: Nai ka Kot (Barber’s fort). Historians haven’t been able to find out much about this place.

Adilabad was originally connected to Tughlaqabad via a causeway. Today there is no direct connection, but you can drive right up to it through ‘kuchha’ roads. Not far away is the well preserved tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, where, it is said, Muhammad bin Tughlaq is also buried beside his father. Though his fortress is in ruins today, its basic structure is still intact. When I went there just after the rains, the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) seemed to have done some beautification of the area. The grass was fresh green, and colorful flowers against the broken rubble walls made a strangely poignant scene. Do visit once. Surely this mysterious fort deserves...

ADILABAD FORT

The Fortress of Adilabad lies on the south-eastern part of Tughlaqabad on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road in Delhi and was built a few years later connected to Tughlaqabad Fort via a kilometre long causeway. This fort was constructed by Sultan Muhammed Bin Tughlaq, son of Sultan Ghiyaas-Ud-Din Tughlaq that was designed to imitate the fort of Tughlaq and depicts ancient architecture of huge sloping walls with bare surface, crenulations and a corbelled archway which is nothing in comparison with the grandeur of the Tughlaqabad Fort and is a smaller version of it.

Historically, Muhammed Bin Tughlaq was also very fond of beautiful forts and spent most of his time planning the layout of his new found city named 'Tughlaqabad'. Like his father, he continued the construction of this fort and later extended his city over huge acres of land smeared in abundant greenery and enclosing the space that was left unused by the previous ruler Alla-ud-din Khilji of the Khilji dynasty lying between 'Siri Fort', 'Tughlaqabad City and the Qutb Complex in Mehrauli in Delhi that formed the new 'Jahan Panah' city of the Sultan and his dynasty.

The Fourth city of the Sultan unfortunately did not materialise due to his erratic decision of shifting the Turkic Empire from Delhi to Daulatabad that lies in the Deccan region of India forcing all administrative offices along with his people to move along. This new capital was found lacking many amenities for a normal population to survive and hence, upon realisation, after two years, the Sultan shifted his capital back to Delhi in Tughlaqabad but unfortunately lost most of his people on the way back due to lack of travel necessities and food arrangements which caused a great deal of to his kingdom and eventually collapsed. Even today many still wonder what made him take such a drastic step as he was known for his scholarly aptitude and even introduced coins during his reign because of this one decision, he is also still known as one of the most unconventional and controversial Ruler of India and sometimes called as the 'Mad King' by locals.

The Adilabad Fort took shape as a very small fort compared to the majestic Fort of Tughlaqabad and slowly took shape when fortified walls were built to protect the city and its people from untoward attacks. Upon completion of the massive walls, a citadel Palace was constructed that housed the Royal Family of the Turkic dynasty and Royal Courtiers along with a few Administrative Halls.

The Adilabad Fort houses the legendary 'Palace of a thousand Pillars' or 'Qasrr-i-Hazaar Satun' in Urdu language making it one of the best sites to visit. The idea to create a masterpiece structure was very popular during that era and is seen in many places including the famous Tombs like the 'Taj Mahal' to name one. Today, one can only get a glimpse of its ruined walls and gravels of a fragmented structure in complete ruins which made it a very inviting and popular tourist site.

Tourist can reach this site via cars, Buses and Auto Rickshaws. Entry into this site is free of cost and opened to public viewing from 0930 hours to 1800...

The Fortress of Adilabad lies on the south-eastern part of Tughlaqabad on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road in Delhi and was built a few years later connected to Tughlaqabad Fort via a kilometre long causeway. This fort was constructed by Sultan Muhammed Bin Tughlaq, son of Sultan Ghiyaas-Ud-Din Tughlaq that was designed to imitate the fort of Tughlaq and depicts ancient architecture of huge sloping walls with bare surface, crenulations and a corbelled archway which is nothing in comparison with the grandeur of the Tughlaqabad Fort and is a smaller version of it.

Historically, Muhammed Bin Tughlaq was also very fond of beautiful forts and spent most of his time planning the layout of his new found city named 'Tughlaqabad'. Like his father, he continued the construction of this fort and later extended his city over huge acres of land smeared in abundant greenery and enclosing the space that was left unused by the previous ruler Alla-ud-din Khilji of the Khilji dynasty lying between 'Siri Fort', 'Tughlaqabad City and the Qutb Complex in Mehrauli in Delhi that formed the new 'Jahan Panah' city of the Sultan and...