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A History of Agriculture in India v2.c62.s7: A Great Builder

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c62.s7

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A Great Builder

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Firoz was a great builder. He built cities, mosques, hospitals, public baths, bridges, dams, and irrigation reservoirs. He also restored the decaying buildings of his predecessors. He founded the cities of Jaunpur (to the north-west of Benares), and Hissar. Shams-i Siraj states, 'It was at this time that Hisar Firozah was founded.... In the place now occupied by the city two large and populous villages formerly stood, which were called Great Laras and Little Laras. There were fifty kharaks included in Great Laras, and forty in Little Laras. In this country there is no other village than the kharak. 'The neighbourhood of Great Laras greatly pleased Sultan Firoz, and he thought it would be well to build a city there, for it was very deficient in water, and during the hot season travellers who came from Irak and Khurasan had to pay as much as four jitals for a pitcher full. So the Sultan resolved to build a city, being filled with hope that if he built a town for the benefit of Musulmans, God would provide it with water. He, therefore, began the work, and persevered in it for several years, assisted by his nobles and great men. Hard stone was brought from the hills of Narsai, and was used with strong quicklime and burnt bricks. A fort of great extent and height was commenced.³

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³ Shams-i-Shiraj 'Afif. *Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India...*, Vol. III, pp. 298, 299

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FIG. 5. The Western Jamuna Canal was constructed by Firoz Tughlak. It was aligned along the neglected beds of rivers.

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When a city is built, the question of water-supply arises. In Hissar, which was founded in a desert, the problem was all the more acute. It was solved by the construction of an inundation canal, the famous Western Jamuna Canal, which brought ‘dead lands’ to life.

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