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Qila Rai Pithora |
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| The Chauhan prince of Sakambhari, Vigraharaja
IV captured Delhi from the Tomar Rajputs in the latter half
of the 12th century. The grandson of Vigraharaja IV, Prithviraja
Chauhan III, built Qila Rai Pithora, the first city of Delhi,
by extending the citadel of Lal Kot, and constructing huge ramparts
and moats around it. The city derived its name from the title
of Prithviraja Chauhan and thus came to be known as Qila Rai
Pithora, with Lal Kot as its southwestern base. |
| At present the ruins of Qila Rai Pithora have
been conserved in a 20-acre DDA Conservation Park at Mehrauli.
The park has an 18-foot high statue of Prithviraj Chauhan and
a library, and is being developed as a tourist destination that
will house an interesting museum and artifacts belonging to
the medieval period. |
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| The ruins of Qila Rai Pithora can be reached
by taking the Delhi-Qutab or Badarpur-Qutab roads, just past
the Adhchini village. The ruins of the ramparts of the extended
city are rubble-built and are 5 to 6 meters in thickness, with
a height of 18 meters on some sides and are surrounded by a
wide moat from the outside. |
| The city had a number of imposing gateways and
bastions. According to Timur, Qila Rai Pithora had 13 gates.
The great traveler, Ibn-Battuta, mentions that Badaun Gate,
one of the remaining gates, was the main entrance of the city.
The other existing gates of the city are Hauz-Rani and Barka
gates. The boundary walls are well lit up in the evening and
it looks very beautiful when one views the ramparts through
the camera arrangement placed atop the Qutab Minar. |
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