In news– Delhi government is working on a project to restore Malcha mahal, the project would commence in 4-5 months.
About the mahal-
- Malcha Mahal, also known as Wilayat Mahal, is a 14th century Tughlaq era hunting lodge in the Chanakyapuri (ridge area) area of New Delhi.
- It was built by Firuz Shah Tughlaq, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi, in 1325.
- It came to be known as Wilayat Mahal after the self-proclaimed “Begum(‘queen) Wilayat Mahal” of Awadh, who claimed to be a member of the Royal family of Oudh who was reportedly given the place by the Government of India in May 1985 and it lies neglected since the death of the last of the royal family in September 2017.
- Her two children, ‘princess’ Sakina Mahal and ‘prince’ Ali Raza who claimed to be the descendants of the last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah.
- It is not the ASI protected monument.
Firuz Shah Tughlaq-
- He was a Muslim ruler of Turkic origin of the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388.
- He succeeded his cousin Muhammad bin Tughlaq following the latter’s death at Thatta in Sindh.
- Due to widespread unrest, his realm was much smaller than Muhammad’s.
- He established Sharia across his realm.
- He made a number of important concessions to theologians and imposed a Jizya tax on all non-Muslims.
- He tried to ban practices that the orthodox theologians considered un-Islamic, an example being his prohibition of the practice of Muslim women going out to worship at the graves of saints.
- His autobiography is Futuhat-e-firoz shahi.
- Instead of wars, he decided to spend more time and money on city planning, construction of public buildings, roads, water channels, and utilities.
- One of his commissioned structures is the baoli inside the citadel of Ferozabad.
- The citadel is known as Kotla-i-Feroz Shahi (the fortress of Feroz Shah), but more commonly referred to as Feroz Shah Kotla.
- He founded several cities around Delhi, including Jaunpur, Firozpur, Hissar, Firozabad, Fatehabad.
- He died on 20th September 1388.
- Tughlaq’s death led to a war of succession coupled with nobles rebelling to set up independent states.
Source: Times of India
