Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c7.s3.18

c7.s3.18

After the Friday services, Firoz Shah used to repair to his palace where parties of musicians, athletes, wrestlers and story-tellers assembled in groups from the four parts of the city. Their number used to swell about two or three thousand. The king listened to music and witnessed the performance of the dancers. He watched the wrestling feats of the pugilists and listened to anecdotes of the story-tellers. He passed his time in these entertainments till the time of the asr prayer. Then performers were handsomely rewarded. Every one present received some award, including the children present on the occasion.¹⁴⁴ Shams Siraj Afif writes about mosques of Firoz Shah Tughlaq thus: "From the *qasba* of Inderpat (present Indraprastha Estate) to the Kushak-i-Shikar (present Delhi University area), five kos apart all the land was occupied... There were eight Public Mosques and one private mosque... The Public Mosques were each large enough to accommodate 10,000 suppliants."¹⁴⁵ This also shows how Muslim population had grown in the capital city in the course of a hundred and fifty years.