Qila Rai Pithora

Qila Rai Pithora (literally "Rai Pithora's Fort") is a fortified complex in present-day Delhi, including the Qutb Minar complex. The term was first used by the 16th century historian Abu'l-Fazl in his Ain-i-Akbari, who presents Delhi as the Chahamana capital.

Qila Rai Pithora
Outer Wall of Lal Kot and Rai Pithora
Location	Delhi, India
Coordinates
Original use	Fortress and jail
Owner	Government of India
Qila Rai Pithora in Delhi Show map of Delhi Qila Rai Pithora (India) Show map of India Qila Rai Pithora (Asia) Show map of Asia Qila Rai Pithora (Earth) Show map of Earth

In the popular tradition, the construction of the fort is attributed to the 12th-century Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan[1](called "Rai Pithora" in Persian-language chronicles). In the mid-19th century, archaeologist Alexander Cunningham made a distinction between the ruins at the site, classifying them among them to older "Lal Kot" fortification built by the Tomaras and the newer "Qila Rai Pithora" built by the Chahamans.

However, there is no concrete historical evidence connecting the site to Prithviraj, whose capital was Ajmer, and later excavations have cast doubt on Cunningham's classification.

Description

The term "Qila Rai Pithora" (Persian for "fort of king Prithviraj") was first used by the 16th-century Mughal court historian Abu'l-Fazl in his Ain-i-Akbari. The term is used to denote a fortified complex (including the Qutb Minar complex), where the early rulers of the Delhi Sultanate based themselves.[2]

Remains of the fort walls are scattered across South Delhi, visible in present Saket, Mehrauli around Qutb complex, Sanjay Van, Kishangarh and Vasant Kunj areas.[3]

Lal Kot and Qila Rai Pithora

Alexander Cunningham's classified the site into older ("Lal Kot") and newer ("Qila Rai Pithora") parts attributed to the Tomaras and the Chahamanas respectively, but later archaeological excavations have cast doubt on this classification.[4]

Carr Stephen (1876) considered "Lal Kot" only a palace, and used the name "Qila Rai Pithora" to describe the pre-Sultanate fortification at the site. B. R. Mani (1997) referred to the site as "Lal Kot", using the term "Qila Rai Pithora" to describe a fortification wall possibly built by the Chahamanas.[4]

Catherine B. Asher (2000) describes Qila Rai Pithora as Lal Kot enlarged with rubble walls and ramparts. She theorizes that Qila Rai Pithora served as a city, while Lal Kot remained the citadel. Qila Rai Pithora, which was twice as large as the older citadel, had more massive and higher walls, and the combined fort extended to six and a half km.[5]

Asher states that after the Ghurid conquest of the Chahamana kingdom in 1192 CE, the Ghurid governor Qutb al-Din Aibak occupied Qila Rai Pithora, and renamed it to "Dilhi" (modern Delhi), reviving the site's older name.[6] However, Cynthia Talbot (2015) notes that the term "Qila Rai Pithora" first appears in the 16th-century text Ain-i-Akbari, and the older texts use the term "Dehli" to describe the site.[2] Aibak and his successors did not extend or change the fort structure.[6]

• 
  Statue of Prithviraj Chauhan, Qila Rai Pithora complex.
• 
  Gateway
• 
  Round bastions
• 
  Bastion of Jahanpanah meets the wall of Qila Rai Pithora
• 
  Walls of Lal Kot and Rai Pithora's fort at the point where they meet together
• 
  Entrance signage

Association with Prithviraj Chauhan

The texts contemporary or near-contemporary to Prithviraj place him in Ajmer: these texts include Sanskrit-language works such as Prithviraja Vijaya and Kharatara-gachchha-pattavali, as well as the Persian-language chronicles such as Taj al-Masir and Tabaqat-i Nasiri.[7] Later texts such as Prithviraj Raso and Ain-i-Akbari associate him with Delhi in order to present him as an important political figure, because when these texts were written, Delhi had become an important political centre, while Ajmer's political importance had declined.[8]

Although there is no doubt that some of the structures at the site were built before the Delhi Sultanate period, there is no evidence connecting the site to Prithviraj or any other Chahamana ruler. In the mid-19th century, archaeologist Alexander Cunningham divided the pre-Sultanate structures at the site into two phases, attributing the older "Lal Kot" to the Tomaras, and the newer "Qila Rai Pithora" to the Chahamanas. Cunningham cited Ain-i-Akbari to assert that Qila Rai Pithora was the second of "old Delhi's seven cities".[4] As late as in the early 21st century, modern scholars have used the term "Qila Rai Pithora" to denote Delhi's old citadel while referring to the older Persian-language chronicles, although these chronicles themselves do not use the term, instead calling the site simply "Dehli".[2]

Prithviraj's uncle Vigraharaja IV appears to have brought Delhi under Chahamana suzerainty, and Prithviraj may have been an overlord of the contemporary ruler of Delhi. However, there is no concrete evidence that Prithviraj himself lived in Delhi or even visited that city.[9] A short inscription on the Qutb Minar reads Pirathi Nirapa, which some writers read as vernacular for "King Prithvi", but this inscription is undated and its reading is uncertain, thus rendering it flimsy evidence.[10] Some coins, called "Dehliwalas" in the early sources of the Dehli Sultanate, were issued by a series of kings which include the Tomara rulers and a king called "Prithipala". Even if "Prithipala" is assumed to be a name of Prithviraj (although some scholars believe him to be a distinct Tomara king), it is possible that Prithviraja's coins were called "Delhiwalas" not because they were minted in Delhi, but because they were used in Delhi after the city became a major Ghurid garrison.[11]

See also

• Bawana Fortress
• History of Delhi

References

1. "Prithviraja III | Rajput Chauhan king". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
2. Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 95.
3. "Lal Kot or Quila Rai Pithora". Delhi Tourism. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
4. Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 96.
5. Catherine B. Asher 2000, p. 252.
6. Catherine B. Asher 2000, p. 253.
7. Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 73.
8. Cynthia Talbot 2015, pp. 70-71.
9. Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 90.
10. Cynthia Talbot 2015, pp. 96-97.
11. Cynthia Talbot 2015, p. 97.

Bibliography

• Catherine B. Asher (2000). "Delhi Walled: Changing Boundaries: The Urban Enceinte in Global Perspective". In James D. Tracy (ed.). City Walls: The Urban Enceinte in Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-65221-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Cynthia Talbot (2015). The Last Hindu Emperor: Prithviraj Cauhan and the Indian Past, 1200–2000. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107118560.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)