Firoz Minar — Attraction in West Bengal

one of the most famous of the surviving monuments of Bengal built according to an inscription by Saifuddin Firuz Shah (1488-90 AD), the second ruler of the Abbyssinian Slave dynasty. Built in brick, 26m high with a base diameter of 6m, it stands outside the citadel of gaur as its eastern side on the north-eastern edge of a large mound that is probably the site of the mosque to which it was once attached. The minar thus resembles the Qutb Minar at Delhi, being a majana, and at the same time a victory tower proclaiming the victory and glory of the sultan and of the religion to which he and the community belonged.

The position of the minar in the centre of the city suggests that it must have been a place for assemblaze, that is to say, a central esplanade for spending time and enjoying the city view from its top. It should perhaps be mentioned here that a minar of such a height was unnecessary for muajjn’s call, since a minar was not regarded as an inevitable adjunct to a mosque. In fact, after early Islam the existence of a minar, either attached to a mosque as majana, or built singly, amounted to symbolizing the glory of the land and its builder. The Firuz Minar at Gaur could not be otherwise, and is in line with its predecessors in India or outside, particularly in Iran.

The lower part of the minar below the doorsill was once covered with a platform of coarse marble, but is now filled with earthen work. A flight of steps now leads the visitor to the entrance of the minar, which originally had a door of Shal wood. The minar is five storeys in hight, the three lower storeys are twelve sided, and the upper storeys are separated by a dripstone, becoming less and less large in diameter. The last storey, which no longer exists, was originally an open pavilion covered by a dome. While the rounded portion of the minar is marked off from the lower part by the dripstone, all the twelve-sided storeys are separated from each other by horizontal stone string mouldings.

There is a spiral staircase of seventy-three steps inside the minar, and this leads one to the top of the tower, now finished off with a flat roof. All the storeys of the minar are pierced with window openings corresponding to the entrance doorway.

The decoration of the minar is confined mostly to the lower storeys. The faces are panelled, and these are ornamented with engrailed arch-motifs from where hang the chain and bell ornaments. Stone string-mouldings are bordered with lattice patterns, leaf and rosette designs, and dentil works. The entrance doorway, which is faced at the top with stone, is decorated with three big rosettes in spandrels. Above, the doorway frame has two horizontal string-mouldings, which are surmounted by a battlemented design. The slab of the blue stone forming the doorsill must have been taken from a Hindu temple as it is covered with figures apparently 'representing a boar hunt'.

The minar, also known as Firuza Minar because of its blue tile- work, resembles the chhota pandua minar, also a madhana and a victory tower in receding storeys and tile decoration. The independent existence of the minar has led to the contention that the tower was not a madhana. But the walls found in the mound on the southwestern side of the tower appear to prove sufficiently that there existed a mosque at one time. The door of the minar is on its southwest side and points toward the middle of the mound which must have been the central doorway of the mosque. The position of the minar in relation to the destroyed mosque is, in fact, the same as that of the position of the Bayana and Vijaymandargarh minars to their mosques. Moreover, Ghulam Husain Salim's information that 'a mosque, a tower and a reservoir' were erected by Sultan Firuz Shah leaves us with no doubt that the Firuz Minar was a majana. This is the exact description of the destroyed mosque and the surviving minar and the tank to its east.

The top of the minar was probably used at a later date by some pir (saint) for i'tikaf (meditation), and hence is sometimes known as Pirasa Minar. The...

Malda – the first thing that comes to our mind about Malda is mangoes. But Malda is much more than that. Malda has a very rich history and was the seat of power for many empires. Malda thus have a few historical relics scattered throughout with Gour and Panduah being the most famous. The e history of Malda can be traced back to the medieval periods and centres around the cities of Gaur and Pandua. Gaur being an ancient city, its mention can be found even in the Hindu Puranic texts. The historical records of the city however can be traced from 500 BC from the time of Mauryan Dynasty.  From the Mauryas, Gaur and the region of Pandua, then known as Pundrabardhana came under the reign of the Guptas. They were succeeded by Sasanka, the king of Karnasubarna as well as the king of Gour in the beginning of 7th Century AD who ruled for almost 3 decades. From the middle of the 8th century to 11th century the Pal dynasty ruled Bengal. They were great followers and propagators of Buddhism and the religion flourished under their reign. The Pal dynasty yielded to the Sen Dynasty who was ardent followers of Hinduism. Unlike the Pals, the Sens did not encourage the propagation of the other religions During the reign of Lakshman Sen, Gaur was known as Lakshmanbati. The Sen Kings ruled Bengal till Bakhtiyar Khilji conquered Bengal in 1204 ADThe Muslim rule lasted for about 500 years before Sirajuddulah was defeated by Lord Clive in the battle of Plassey in 1757 thus changing the course of Indian history.

From the ancient period different rulers with different beliefs, religion and dynasty had left the mark of their dynasty, but most have them failed the test of time. New rulers had obliterated the previous marks left by the erstwhile rulers. But whatever remains are now in ruins and relics, nevertheless reminds the resplendence and grandeur of the time.We present before you Malda in a couple of posts – the first one covering a few historical...

Gour, also known as Lakhnauti , is a ruined city on the Indo-Bangla border, most of the former citadel is located in present-day the Malda district of west Bengal, India, while a smaller part is located in Nawabganj Districts of Bangladeshi. This city was on the east bank of the Gangesriver, 40 kilometres (25 mi) downstream from Rajmahal, 12 km south of Malda. Howeverver, the current course of the Ganges is far away from the ruins.

The city in its prime measured 7 1/8 km. from north to south, with a breadth of 1 to 2 km. With suburbs it covered an area of 20 to 30 km²., and in the 16th century the Portuguese historian Faria y Sousa described it as containing 1,200,000 inhabitants. The ramparts of this walled city (which was surrounded by extensive suburbs) still exist; they were works of vast labour, and were on the average about 40 ft (12 m) high, and 180 to 200 ft (61 m) thick at the base. The facing of masonry and the buildings with which they were covered have now disappeared, and the embankments themselves are overgrown with dense jungle. The western side of the city was washed by the Ganges, and within the space enclosed by these embankments and the river stood the city of Gauḍa proper, with the fort containing the palace in its south-west corner. Radiating north, south and east from the city, other embankments are to be traced running through the suburbs and extending in certain directions for 30 or 40 m. Surrounding the palace is an inner embankment of similar construction to that which surrounds the city, and even more overgrown with jungle. A deep moat protects it on the outside. To the north of the outer embankment lies the Sagar Dighi, a great reservoir, 1600 yd. by 800 yd.,...