Delhi is a city of great extent, and possesses a numerous population. It consists at present of four neighbouring and contiguous cities.
1. Dehli, properly so called, is the old city built by the idolaters, which was conquered in the year 584 H. (1188 A.D.).
2. Sírí, also called Dáru-l-Khiláfat or Seat of the Khalifat. The Sultán gave it to Ghiyásu-d dín, grandson of the Khalif 'Abbáside Al Mustansir, when he came to visit him. Sultán 'Aláu-d dín and his son Kutbu-d dín, of whom we shall have to speak hereafter, dwelt there.
3. Tughlikábád, so called from the name of its founder the Sultán Tughlik, father of the Sultán of India whose Court we are now visiting. * *
4. Jahán-panáh, Refuge of the World, specially designed for the residence of the reigning Sultán of India, Muhammad Sháh. He built it, and it was his intention to connect all these four cities together by one and the same wall. He raised a portion of it, but abandoned its completion in consequence of the enormous expense its erection would have entailed.
The wall which surrounds Dehli has no equal. It is eleven cubits thick. Chambers are constructed in it which are occupied by the night watch and the persons charged with the care of the gates. In these chambers also there are stores of provisions called ambár, magazines of the munitions of war, and others in which are kept mangonels and ra'ádas (“thunderer”—a machine employed in sieges). Grain keeps in these chambers without change or the least deterioration. I saw some rice taken out of one of these magazines; it was black in colour, but good to the taste. I also saw some millet taken out. All these provisions had been stored by Sultán Balban ninety years before. Horse and foot can pass inside this wall from one end of the city to the other. Windows to give light have been opened in it on the inside towards the city. The lower part of the wall is built of stone, the upper part of brick. The bastions are numerous and closely placed. The city of Dehli has twenty-eight gates. First, that of Badáún, which is the principal. * * *
The chief Kází of Hind and Sind, Kamálu-d dín Muhammad, son of Burhánu-d dín of Ghazni, Sadr-i Jahán, informed me how the city of Dehli was conquered from the infidels in 584 (1188 A.D.). I read the same date inscribed upon the mihráb of the great mosque of the city. The same person also informed me that Dehli was taken by the amír Kutbu-d dín Aibak, who was entitled Sipáh-sálár, meaning General of the armies. He was one of the slaves of the venerated Shahábu-d dín Muhammad, son of Sám the Ghorian, king of Ghazni and Khurásán, who had seized upon the kingdom of Ibráhím, son (grandson) of the warlike Mahmúd bín Subuktigín, who began the conquest of India.
The aforesaid Shahábu-d dín had sent out the amír Kutbu-d dín with a considerable army. God opened for him the gates of Lahore, where he fixed his residence. His power became considerable. He was calumniated to the Sultán, and the associates of the monarch strove to inspire him with the idea that Kutbu-d dín aimed at becoming king of India, and that he was already in open revolt. Intelligence of this reached Kutbu-d dín. He set of with all speed, arrived at Ghazni by night, and presented himself to the Sultán, without the knowledge of those who had denounced him. Next day Shahábu-d dín took his seat upon the throne, and placed Aibak below, where he was not visible. The courtiers and assoicates who had maligned Aibak arrived, and when they had all taken their places, the king questioned them about Aibak. They reiterated their statement that Aibak was in revolt, and said, “We know for certain that he aims at royalty.” Then the Sultán kicked the foot of the throne, and clapping his hands, cried out “Aibak!” “Here am I,” replied he, and came forth before his accusers. They were confounded, and in their terror they hastened to kiss the ground. The Sultán said to them, “I pardon you this time, but beware how you speak against Aibak again.” He ordered Aibak to return to India, and he obeyed. He took the city of Dehli, and other cities besides.
Shamsu-d dín Altamsh was the first who reigned in Dehli with independent power. Before his accession to the throne he had been a slave of the amír Kutbu-d dín Aibak, the general of his army and his lieutenant. When Kutbu-d dín died he assumed the sovereign power, and assembled the population to take from them the oath of allegiance. The lawyers waited upon him, headed by the Kázíu-l Kuzát Wajíhu-d dín al Kásání. They entered into his presence and sat down, the Kázíu-l Kuzát sitting down by his side, according to custom. The Sultán knew what they wanted to speak about. He raised the corner of the carpet on which he was reclining, and presented to them the deed of his manumission. The Kází and the lawyers read it, and then took the oath of allegiance. Altamsh became undisputed sovereign, and reigned for twenty-eight years. He was just, pious, and virtuous. Among his noteworthy characteristics was the zeal with which he endeavoured to redress wrongs, and to render justice to the oppressed. He made an order that any man who suffered from injustice should wear a coloured dress. Now all the inhabitants of India wear white clothes; so whenever he gave audience, or rode abroad, and saw any one in a coloured dress he inquired into his grievance, and took means to render him justice against his oppressor. But he was not satisfied with this plan, and said: “Some men suffer injustice in the night, and I wish to give them redress.” So he placed at the door of his palace two marble lions, upon two pedestals which were there. These lions had an iron chain round their necks, from which hung a great bell. The victim of injustice came at night and rung the bell, and when the Sultán heard it, he immediately inquired into the case and gave satisfaction to the complainant.
At his death Sultán Shamsu-d dín left three sons: Ruknu-d dín, who succeeded him; Mu'izzu-d dín, and Násiru-d dín, and one daughter named Raziya, full sister of Mu'izzu-d dín. When Ruknu-d dín was recognized as Sultán, after the death of his father, he began his reign by unjust treatment of his brother, Mu'izzu-d dín, whom he caused to be put to death. Raziya was full sister of this unfortunate prince, and she reproached Ruknu-d dín with his death, which made him meditate her assassination. One Friday he left the palace to go to prayers. Raziya then ascended to the terrace of the Old Palace, called Daulat-khána, close by the chief mosque. She was clothed in the garments of the wronged, and, presenting herself to the people, she addressed them from the terrace, saying, “My brother has killed his brother, and wishes to kill me also.” She then reminded them of the reign of her father, and of the many benefits he had bestowed upon them. Thereupon the auditors rushed tumultuously towards Ruknu-d dín, who was in the mosque, seized him, and brought him to Raziya. She said, “The slayer must be slain.” So they massacred him in retaliation for his murder of his brother. The brother of these two princes, Násiru-d dín, was yet in his infancy, so the people agreed to recognize Raziya as Sovereign.
When Ruknu-d dín had been killed, the soldiers agreed to place his sister, Raziya, on the throne. They proclaimed her Sovereign, and she reigned with absolute authority for four years. She rode on horseback as men ride, armed with a bow and quiver, and surrounded with courtiers. She did not veil her face. She was eventually suspected of an intimacy with one of her slaves, an Abyssinian by birth, and the people resolved upon deposing her and giving her a husband. So she was deposed and married to one of her relations, and her brother, Násiru-d dín, obtained the supreme power.
After the deposition of Raziya, her younger brother, Násiru-d dín, ascended the throne, and for some time exercised royal authority. But Raziya and her husband revolted against him, mounted their horses, and, gathering round them their slaves and such disaffected persons as were willing to join them, they prepared to give battle. Násiru-d dín came out of Dehli with his slave and lieutenant Ghiyásu-d dín Balban, who became ruler of the kingdom after him. The opposing forces met, and Raziya was defeated and obliged to fly. Pressed by hunger and overcome with fatigue, she addressed herself to a man engaged in cultivating the ground and begged for food. He gave her a bit of bread, which she devoured, and then she was overpowered by sleep. She was dressed in the garments of a man; but when the peasant looked at her as she slept, he perceived under her upper garment a tunic trimmed with gold and pearls. Seeing she was a woman he killed her, stripped her of her valuables, drove away her horse, and buried her corpse in his field. He then carried some of her garments to the market for sale. The dealers suspected him, and took him before the magistrate, who caused him to be beaten. The wretch then confessed that he had killed Raziya, and told his guards where he had buried her. They exhumed her body, washed it, and, wrapping it in a shroud, buried it again in the same place. A small shrine was erected over her grave, which is visited by pilgrims, and is considered a place of sanctity. It is situated on the banks of the Jumna, about a parasang from Dehli.