Tughlaqabad Fort Ruins, located in South Delhi, and stretching across 6.5 km, are wonderful remnants of the Delhi Sultanate of the 14th century. These are ruins of the fort built by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty, which ruled Delhi for almost all of 14th century. This fort was built in 1321, but was abandoned in 1327, quite a small period for a forts' prominence.
Ghazi Malik, a slave of the Khilji rulers of the Khilji dynasty, once suggested to the king that a fort built here would be impregnable. However, the khilji king took it lightly and even made fun of him.
A few years later, Ghazi Malik usurped the throne from the Khilji king, and gave himself the title of Ghias-ud-din Tughlaq, and laid the foundations of the Tughlaq dynasty, also known as the slave dynasty, in 1321 AD. As soon as he became the king, he ordered the construction of this fort city, which he believed to be impregnable, but intended it to be beautiful at the same time.
Connected to the southern outpost of the fortification by an elevated causeway is the 'Mausoleum of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq'. This causeway was built over an artificial lake, which no longer exists today, and instead, the Mehrauli- Badarpur road runs below it. The entrance has a high gateway made up of red sandstone as well as a flight of steps.
The mausoleum is in the shape of a single-domed square tomb (about 8 m x8 m) with sloping walls, which are crowned by parapets. While the walls of the forts are made up of granite, the walls of the mausoleum are formed of smooth red sandstone and are inlaid with inscribed panels and arch borders formed of marble. The edifice is topped by an elegant dome resting on an octagonal drum that is covered with white slabs of marble.
The mausoleum houses the graves of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, his wife, and his son, Muhammad bin Tughluq, who was his successor as well. In the north-western section of the enclosure wall, with its pillared corridors, is another octagonal tomb, constructed in style similar to the rest of the mausoleum, but with a smaller marble dome and with inscribed marble and sandstone slabs over its arched doors. According to an inscription over its southern entrance, this smaller tomb houses the grave of Zafar Khan, which had been at the site prior to the construction of the outpost. Ghiyas-ud-din had himself made arrangements for the amalgamation of this grave into the design of the mausoleum.
Tughluqabad Fort consisted of massive stone fortifications that surrounded the city. The walls of the city are between 10 and 15 meters high, and are topped by battlement parapets and are provided additional strength by circular bastions of up to two stories height. These features were quite prominent in most structures of the slave dynasty. It is believed that the city had as many as 52 gates, but, there are only 13 remaining today. The fortified city contained seven rainwater tanks as well to provide continuous water supply to all the inhabitants.
The fortified city can be divided into three parts; the city area, with houses built along a rectangular grid located between its gates, which is the widest; the citadel with a tower at its highest point known as Bijai-Mandal, which also has the remains of several halls; and, the adjacent palace area, which contained the royal residences. A long underground passage below the tower still remains.
Today, even though the fort city looks majestic and worth exploring, most of the city is inaccessible due to dense thorny vegetation, which has come up due to the neglect shown by the authorities. Further, a large part of the former city area has been occupied by illegal settlements, especially in the vicinity of its lakes, which is slowly, but surely, eating away the fort.
At the same time while visiting the Tughluqabad fort, one can easily decipher the remains of the Fortress of Adilabad in the south-east direction, which was built years later, but in a similar style.
