Ijtihad'21

Ijtihad Vol.8 44

Bibliography Felperin, Leslie. 2020. Shepherd: The Hero
Dog review – Nazi-era drama strikes the
Appleton, Josie. 2006. “What next, a tomb
  right tone. Movie Review, The

Arnold Arluke and Boria Sax. 1992. Guardian. Accessed April 22, 2021.
  https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/
24/shepherd-the-hero-dog-review.

Hediger, Ryan. 2013. “Dogs of War: The
Biopolitics of Loving and Leaving
the U.S.

Canine Forces in Vietnam.” Animal Studies

 

Here's Military Dogs that are specially

Trained for Combat. Directed by US

Military System (2019).

Brouwer, Sigmund. 2017. “Tomato.” In https://youtu.be/w0n4jfLWwo8.
 
Accessed March 20, 2021.
Buddies: Soldiers and Animals in World War
  https://www.dw.com/en/hitlers-dogs

g%C3%B6rings-lions-how-the-nazis

-used-and-abused-animals/a-536987

08.

Hutton, Robin. 2018. “War Dogs.” In War

 

Campbell, Clare. 2013. Bonzo's War: Johnston, Steven. 2012. “Animals in War:
   

Colin Salter, Anthony J. Nocella II, Judy

K.C. Bentley. 2014. Animals and

War: Confronting the

Military-Animal Industrial Complex. Jones, Boyd R. n.d. “On the history of dogs
in warfare.” Companion Animal
Lanham, Boulder, New York, Society Newsletter, 12-18. Accessed

Toronto, Plymouth: Lexington

Books.

Ijtihad Vol.8 45

March 22, 2021.  War 2 denied a medal then put down.
12 August.  Accessed April 18,
Judith Tydor and Baumel-Schwartz. 2017. 2021.
“Beloved Beasts: Reflections on the https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-ne
History and  Impact of the British ws/bravest-sniffer-dog
“Animals in War” Memorial.” world-war-8620003. 
History and Memory (Indiana 
University Press) 29: 104-133. McNeill, J. R. 2000. “Ideas and Politics.”
Accessed March 16, 2021.  Chap. 11 in Something New Under
doi:https://doi.org/10.2979/histmemo the Sun: An  Environmental History
.29.1.0104.  of the Twentieth-Century World, by J.
R. McNeill. New York  and London:
Kean, Holda. 2017. The Great Cat and Dog W. W. Norton and Company.
Massacre. Chicago and London: The
University  of Chicago Press. Meena, Meenu. 2019. Khud ko yaad karne

Kelly, Tristan J. 2018. “Military Working ke tareeqe ke baare mein sochna! 03
Dogs in the United States Armed
Forces from World  War I to September.  Accessed September
Vietnam.” PhD Thesis. 
2019, 2019. 
Kravitz, Asher. 2019. Shepherd: The Story
of a Jewish Dog. You Tube. Directed https://lsrhistory.wordpress.com/201
by Lynn Roth.  Produced by Craig
Berenson, J. Todd Harris, Lynn Roth 9/09/03/%E0%A4%96%E0%A5%81
Howard Rosenman. Performed  by
Ken Duken, Ayelet Zurer August %E0%A4%
Maturo. Accessed April 15, 2021. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= A6-%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8B-%
Dx8PlYiLNlk. 
E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A
Kritika Koshyari and Anushka Saxena.
2019. A Memory Conundrum. 03 4%A6%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%96
September. Accessed  September 03,
2019. %E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%87- %E0
https://lsrhistory.wordpress.com/201
9/09/03/a-memory conundrum/.  %A4%95%E0%A5%87- %E0%A4

Manger, Warren. 2016. “The bravest sniffer %A4%E0%A4%B0%E0A5%80%E0
dog of World War 2 denied a medal
then put  down.” Mirror. 12 August. %A4%95%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%
Accessed April 22, 2021. 
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ukne 82-%E0%A4%95/. 
ws/bravest-sniffer-dog-world-war-86
20003.  Military Dogs | Indian Army | indian army
dog training | army dogs. (2020).
—2016. The bravest sniffer dog of World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J
QJIgvAknVw. 

Military Working Dogs in World War 2 | US
Army Dog Training Film | 1943.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j
-rmLMaZYkE&t=67s.

Moore, Lucinda. 2017. Animals in the Great
War (Images of War) . Yorkshire:
Pen and Sword  Books Ltd. n.d. Of
Wars and Men. Accessed April 23,
2021.
http://bushiraqwar.blogspot.com/201

Ijtihad Vol.8 46

7/03/the “The little-told story of the massive WWII
dogs-of-war-plus-foxes-elephants.ht pet cull.” BBC. 12 October. Accessed
ml.  April  22, 2021.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine
Ostermeier, Mark. 2010. “History of Guide -24478532. 
Dog Use by Veterans.” Military
Medicine 175:  587-593. Accessed These Are Home Movies from Hitler's
April 15, 2021.  Vacations. Accessed March 17,
2021. 
Preskar, Peter. n.d. “Adolf Hitler’s Favorite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h
Dog.” Medium. Accessed March 17, k3xuqCIRns. 
2021. 
https://medium.com/short-history/hit Tindol, Robert. 2013. “The Best Friend of
lers-favourite-dog-1cfc8f047924. the Murderers: Guard Dogs and the
Nazi Holocaust.” In Animals and
Pina, Álex, dir. “Game Over” Money Heist. War, by Ryan Hediger, 105-121.
Season 4. Episode 1. Atresmedia London, Boston: Brill. 
Vancouver  Media. 2020, April, 20.
https://www.netflix.com/title/801920 Upton, Emily. 2013. The Exploding
98.  Anti-War Tank Dogs of World War II.
2 December.  Accessed April 17,
Sax, Boria. 2000. Animals in the Third 2021. 
Reich: Animals in the Third Reich. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&ur
Pittsburgh: Yogh &  Thorn Books.  l=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.todayifoun
dout.com%
Sloane, Charles F. 1955. “Dogs in War, 2Findex.php%2F2013%2F12%2Fant
Police Work and on Patrol.” Journal i-tank-dogsworldwarii%2F&psig=A
of Criminal Law  and Criminology OvVaw3So3Cb5oTonoX3Ms0a7JR
46 (3): 385-395. Accessed March 20, &ust=1618748856588000&source=i
2021.  mages&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqF
woTCPC6t4q0hfACFQAAAAAdA
Spröer, Susanne. 2020. “Hitler's dogs, AAABAI. 
Göring's lions: How the Nazis used
and abused animals.” DW. 08 June. Wadiwel, Dinesh Joseph. 2015. The
Suriano, Maria Grazia. 2017. War against Animals. Leiden,
Animals in the Great War. Boston : Brill . n.d. “WW2
Associazione culturale Se.  People's War.

Ijtihad Vol.8 47

Ideals Of Justice And Punishment: A Case Of Popular Consciousness?
1789 - 1795 FRANCE

Pia Kaul
Department of History, Lady Shri Ram College for Women

The State uses terror as a tool to keep order to this day,  but this paper explores the acceptance
of terror by the public, to an extent of assuming it as their primary role through denunciations in
18th century France. The 18th-century society of France was filled with insecurities that feature
every nation till this day; this led to the development of how public spectatorship and terror
interacted to lead to the creation of ideas of justice and punishment. Questions about the active
role of the public in this theatre of terror and how it leads to the creation of mentality are also
explored. Inherently, the power struggle that exists between the ruling class and the public in
trying to implement the ideals of republic and equality have been enumerated in this paper as
well. 

I. Introduction of their agency or whether it was a
continuation of a culture passed down
Looking at European history timelines one because of the inherent fear of “other” in
realises the complexity at hand. Not only do French aristocracy and society.
the major events have flowing boundaries,
but they also happen simultaneously II. Making Of A Culture Of Terror
changing the result of each other in the
course of development. Starting from Society is governed by a ruling class, the
Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, laws it puts down, the people who form the
European history in France is said to reach a base and a running ideology that changes its
pinnacle with the French Revolution. sides continuously. In the French society of
Marking it as a pathbreaking course in the 17-18th century, all these players were
history that has had its ebbs felt till now. In coming together to propagate a culture of
this paper, one will try to draw connections terror, which culminated (due to many more
between the idea of “terror” in the reasons) in the Reign of Terror in 1793. To
jurisprudence of the French monarchy, look at how this notion of terror came to be
Republic and society. One will try to draw an “instrument and sign of justice”149 in a
the ideals of justice, crime, punishment from society frothing with the notions of
the enlightenment thinkers who played an Humanism, one needs to understand how
active role in the unfolding of the French and why this culture was prevalent in the
Revolution and highlight how the general
public in its ways managed to appropriate 149  Ronald Schechter, A Genealogy of Terror in
this “culture” set by the “new governing Eighteenth Century France, Chapter 3 Terror of the
(ruling) class”. Towards the end, one would Laws: Crime and Punishment.
question whether this new consciousness of
terror within the public was created because

Ijtihad Vol.8 48

Old Regime.  appears cruel (emphasis added), for the
peace, repose and preservation of the human
Since the time of Louis XIV we have had race.”152 One can see the development of the
legal jurists writing about the principle of culture even in the writings of contemporary
terror; many of them were later reprinted in philosophers like Voltaire, Beccaria,
the 18th century. The idea that was central to Montesquieu who though advice against the
all theorists like Jean Domat, Henri-François use of the death penalty still toe the line of
d’Aguesseau and Claude-Joseph de Ferrière terror as the main inference of laws. They
was that terror is a necessary tool in law, it advise hard labour as the source of terror
served as a “frein” or a brake on the and state that instead of the death penalty,
otherwise natural and inevitable forces of which creates a finality of the spectacle of
crime and that the security of the people was punishment, hard labour is a long-lasting
dependent on this terror. But major visual that deters the people who might be
disagreements were on the way to enforce interested in criminal activity. “The terror of
this terror.150 Nonetheless since the 17th death makes less of an impression perhaps
century a language of not only jurisprudence on wicked people who for the most part are
based on terror but a cultural sanctioning lazy than the fear of painful work that is
that was developing with words like reborn every day.”153 These ideas evoked a
“terreur, lèse-majesté, “ were used not only heated and continuous debate about the
by jurists but by kings to solidify the use of death penalty in the French society but being
extensive punishments on criminals. The last typical of the context they were in, both
three kings before the Revolution also used sides fought only on the use of the death
the language of terror in their declarations penalty; the notion of terror to deter crime
and edicts. In 1712 Louis XIV declared that was undisputed. As highlighted, one can
corpses could be subject to trial if the understand the development of this culture
persons in question had committed which saw crime as an intrinsic part of the
lèse-majesté, committed suicide, or used society, a natural human tendency and thus
violence against law enforcement agents.151 saw terror (stemming from the terror of God,
This insistence upon inflicting punishment the terror of nature over man, the terror of
on the corpses was a way to underline the ‘other’) as the natural restraint for it. This
terror upon the living.  culture was the centre of debate for the
Constituent Assembly when drafting the
Even the Parlement of Paris adopted this Penal Code of 1791. 
language of terror while adding humanistic
senses of equality and sensibility to it: “The One of the major reasons why this culture of
law is just, whatever its decision because it terror was existing and being passed on was
is the law. It is the same for everyone, it is because of how punishments were given.
the safeguard of the citizen...But it is also Micheal Foucault in his book Discipline and
the terror of the guilty one ready to commit Punish gives details about the usage of
the crime that he is planning, it horrifies him excessive force on the bodies of criminals to
by the horror of the torment even before it punish them. These range from pouring
can condemn him. True humanity is not that molten lead or hot oil on their wounds, to
which cries over the fate of a scoundrel; it is pouring wax in their ears, using a practice
that which stops being sensitive, that which called wheeling or even tying them to horses

150 Ronald op cit. 152 Ibid.
151 Ibid. 153 Ibid.

Ijtihad Vol.8 49

to have them quartered. These punishments, "the death penalty will consist in the simple
though gory and meticulous were always deprivation of the life sentence, without any
carried out in public- since the need for it to torture being possible against the
be watched was more important than justice convicts."156 
being carried out. But these reach their
sophisticated zenith with the guillotine III. Terror And Torture: Popular Will?
which, despite its later invention, marks the
highest peak of the terror, which one will Taking the past example one notices that
divulge a little later. Another reason why the though the language states that “torture” will
death penalty becomes central to the be removed, one needs to question the
conversation around the culture of terror in distinction between terror and torture. To
France is that it was one of the last countries assume this distinction would not be a folly
to abolish capital punishment in 1981. “The as during the Reign of Terror with the use of
ideals of retributive concept and application tools like denunciation and guillotine, one
of the law of retribution”154 and thus fighting notices the lines drawn between the two.
evil with evil was the core idea that flowed Taking that forward one postulates (with
through the years along with capital caution) that while terror can also be
punishment.  inflicted on a body, the essential difference
between the two would be that torture is
Come the French Revolution when the older negative and undigestable half of the terror
regime of monarchy, its practices and and terror is the educational and
customs were constantly being vilified and instructional angle of the society. It comes
disregarded for a brighter Republic, one still forth as a spectacle to observe, in which
sees a strong connection to the use of terror even if a body is tortured in the
and the death penalty. This not only seems anachronistic senses, it still partakes with
out of line with the ideological base of the passively (and many times actively) taken
Revolution but also seems like a political consent of the public to learn and teach a
tool used by the new governing class if lesson. The line between the two blurs when
looked at closely. As Prugnon has said it out one takes them out of this context, but
"Now, when would you abolish the death keeping that in mind one further ventures to
penalty? In a moment of anarchy, when you ask: why was the general public so keen on
do not have enough of all your strength death penalties and the language of terror?
against the multitude, who have been taught The ruling classes’ motives can be
that they can do anything; where the brakes understood with the simple notion of the
and barriers against it should be multiplied, need to maintain authority and power- and
far from weakening them; at a time, finally, fear is the best motivator for that. But for the
when the sentiment of religion is ready to be public which is consistent with people of all
extinguished in several classes of society... walks of life- did this notion emerge as
”155 Thus keeping this in mind, despite the vengeance for the ‘other’ or was it a
strong arguments of the abolitionists in the state-sponsored idea that was propagated
Constituent Assembly, Article 2 was added through other actions? To look for answers
to the Penal Code of 1791. It lay down that for this, one has to look into the language of
the period of Reign of Terror. 
154 Jean-Claud Farcy, The death penalty in France:
Two centuries for an abolition (1791-1981) 1/3, 156 Ibid
Musée Criminocorpus published on October 8, 2006.
155 Ibid

Ijtihad Vol.8 50

IV. Denunciations: Tool And Act Of will. This was a political move to heighten
Terror and appropriate fears of a new system into
gaining a free political hand.
As an emerging society that was just finding In October of 1789 Commune of Paris set up
its footing in the notions of liberty, equality its own comite de recherches to gather all
and fraternity and having the power to individual facts (emphasis added) known to
govern in the hands of the public; it was them, because as Basire puts it, “We are
easier to feel this ideal slipping away. This surrounded by conspirators; everywhere
constant fear of counter-revolutionary plots are underway and you are continually
activities led to a staunch language of terror receiving denunciations of individual facts,
appearing in denunciations. These which are all connected with the great
conspiracies, as imagined by the governing conspiracy, about whose existence none of
Jacobins at this point, had permeated to the us can have any doubt.
public quickly - due to government action
and a constant environment of fear. These facts are all separate and, if they were
“Denunciation was the civic duty of the all put together, they would offer a general
citizen, expressive of his vigilance in caring body of crime which would finally throw
for public affairs, one of his individual great light on the intentions of our
actions to defend and promote the enemies."161 Insistence should be given to
Revolution and to secure its successful two main portions of this quote, “receiving
transition from tyranny to liberty and denunciations of individual facts” and “they
equality. The symbiotic growth of would offer a general body of crime”, both
counter-revolutionary threat and radical of these points to the connection that is
suspicion led the Revolution into the being drawn between this virtuous duty of a
Terror.”157 This progress of Revolution into citizen in fighting crime (of
the Terror is inherent to the way the idea of counterrevolutionary nature and thus against
‘other’ in the Old Regime stalwarts was their very citizenship). This notion that
imagined and after being subdued it instead of the people supervising the
transferred to any and everything considered government now, they were supervising
“an antithetical Other outside the single, themselves to protect themselves was
indivisible body of the Nation”158 governed created. This put denunciation and thus by
by a “single General Will.”159 extension the punishment of such cases right
The debates in the National Assembly called in the hands of the new government - who
with very little opposition for concrete already had a language of terror at use to
action against such counter-revolutionary deter crimes against the Nation. Thus as a
forces in France and in mixing this with the tool of the government, the idea of terror
civic duty of the citizen, they managed to seeped between citizens too and into the
create a legal system that looked at simple (and now legal) act of accusations.162 
denunciations and evidence or instruction as
two sides of the same coin and highlighted What made denunciation more similar in the
the evil will160 in opposition to the nation’s language of terror used until now and more

157 Colin Lucas, "The Theory and Practice of Jacobin Execution in Comparative and Theoretical
Denunciation in the French Revolution." The Journal Perspective.” Historical Reflections Vol. 29 No. 2,
of Modern History 68, no. 4 (1996), 768-85. Interpresting the Death Penalty: Spectacles and
158 Ibid. Debates (2003).
159 Ibid. 161 Colin op cit., 780.
160 Daniel Gordon, “The Theater of Terror: The 162 Ibid.

Ijtihad Vol.8 51

prominent in the eyes of the public, was the vengeance and irregular application than did
public nature of its existence. A
denunciation was a public act; the denouncer bloodless hangings….With a decapitating
had to sign their declaration and thus,
envisioned as a safeguard for false machine; violence would be
accusations, a list of false Denouncers was
put up in the public to shame them. This act reinstitutionalized and immobilized.”163
of publicity not only underlined the
supposed powers that the public had over Daniel Gordon presents an interesting
each other, but it also created this semblance
that public opinion was crucial to legal connection in his article, The Theater of
cases. Thus, giving space for the public in
this culture of terror. This was radicalised Terror: The Jacobin Execution in
and found its zenith in the Reign of Terror
under the Jacobian government as they Comparative and Theoretical Perspective.
systematised the “endemic suspicion of
earlier revolutionary years into a Law of He postulates that borrowing from the
Suspects” in 1793. This meant that anyone
deemed suspect could be arrested and this theatrical notions of staging, spectacle and
was based upon denunciation without the
need for evidence. This twisted the legal public gathering, this new language of terror
notions further and added another tangent
into the culture of terror where now the fear found a method to become a public
isn't just about the punishment after the
crime but also of each other and vendetta.  gathering, which was essentially centred on

V. Theatrics Of Terror: Guillotine the guillotine. “The guillotine was initially

In this backdrop one finds the creation of the designed as an equal and painless means of
guillotine to represent the language of this
terror that has continued in the execution, but in the public square it often
Revolutionary governments. Guillotine
changed how it was constructed and became something more - a stage prop, the
propagated, it revolutionised the violence
that was very much part of the old and new background to dissent expressed through a
regime. Those who argued against the
negative effect on the public as making them song, joke or silent sang froid.”164 He cites
caustic and ‘ferocious’, those who favoured
decapitation argued that decapitation would an example of the popular songs sung at
have a positive effect on the people's
actions. A decapitating machine would such stages and refers to many police reports
control the exercise of popular violence and
restore control over violence to more that cite the cases of prisoners dancing,
conventional custodians. “As the Duc de
Liancourt put it, a decapitating machine joking, making speeches that involve flair
would lend itself less easily to popular
and extraordinary cond165uct. This

introduction of the guillotine into this

culture of terror makes in some ways a

democratisation of this culture of terror.

With the act of guillotining becoming a

public gathering, one finds the space for

individuals to use that space to not only

mark their last words but make a memory of

it. They use this ‘democratised’ space of

their death to register their opinions, feelings

and even ideas. Thus now terror in death

(not after) and political-will go hand in

hand. But this appropriation on the part of

163 Regina Janes, "Beheadings." Representations 35
(1991), 21-51.
164 Daniel op cit.
165 Daniel op cit., refer to it for songs or speeches
given by the ‘victims’
“We are led to our deaths
By villains; and this
Is a sorrow we cannot deny.
But the time will come
When they too shall succumb,
Which consoles us as we die.”

Ijtihad Vol.8 52

the public comes much after the introduction politics of theatre in which the public was
of the ‘Theatre of Terror.’166 turned into an audience staged for debates,
decisions and actions of the actual ruling
To trace this theatricality of this terror, (governing) class.
Simon Schama, traces the creation of
“public” first through the pre-Revolutionary On this basis one argues that this new
playwrights and actors and how they were consciousness of terror in the public was
the ardent believers of the guillotine and actually a play staged by the new political
thus this notion of flair, gesture, rhetoric was elites in which they were merely delivering
passed onto the Revolutionary governments dialogues already written for them. Using
too.167 But this doesn't explain the continuity this staging as a means to pass off the
one finds from the Old Regime to the judgment of a few as the judgement of all
Jacobian government. Since the insistence of (the nation) was a clearly politically
Jacobians was to invert the practices of the motivated act. Thus this contradiction in the
Old Regime; “they made criminal trials Revolutionary ideology was not because of
public and eliminated torture. The logic of necessity but to maintain a societal structure
inversion should have led them to abolish of power; there needs to be hierarchy (even
public executions as well, but they did not when ideals of equality are talked about) and
do so.”168 The answer to this one is found in a delusion of popular rule to uphold that.
Daniel Gordon, he proposed the idea of a Thus theatricality of capital punishments
“sovereignty gap”. He states that it was the and ritualisation of violence provided that
“Revolution’s democratic universalism mystification (or charm of this new
joined to the principle of sovereignty.” He government).
uses Keith Baker’s argument to further this
thought, he mentions that in the Old VI. Popular Ideals Of Crime, Punishment
Regime, the king held “absolute and And Terror
continuous” sovereignty which meant he
could do as he pleased and had absolute Regina Janes, unlike Daniel Gordon, sees
control over people and their matters when this public action or consciousness of their
translating into democratic ideals of the acts as a subsumed and derivative practice
revolution meant now the nation or the from the governing class by the people and
people were the sources of this absolute thus highlights their agentive role in this.
power. Thus the “nation’s will” meant to But as shown, Daniel Gordon states this was
govern the country and make its laws with crafted and furthered by the new political
each citizen holding a part of that decision in elites. One finds Jane's argument to be
them. But since the legislature could not representative of how this crafted culture
accommodate these numbers (hence the was appropriated by the public to highlight
“sovereignty gap”)169 they had to look for their own notions of justice, crime,
other means to make the public feel included punishment and power, for which an
and an active part. This gave rise to the existing model was presented by the new
and older political elites. Thus when Janes
166 Ibid. stresses that pikes and guillotine were
167 James P Gilroy & Schama Simon "Citizens: A essentially both symbols of the revolution,
Chronicle of the French Revolution." Rocky they just emphasised different sides to it -
Mountain Review of Language and Literature 44, no. one of the primitive, popular and violent
4 (1990), 267. justice of the people and the other
168 Daniel op cit.
169 Daniel op cit.

Ijtihad Vol.8 53

sophisticated, institutional and revolutionary in that it managed to pave the way for the
violent justice; one finds truth in this. As rupture of the culture of terror. The cutting
“when the people cut off and displayed the of the head of the King is a splitting of an
head of a "traitor," they made the object as well as body and mind, the
"sovereignty of the people" more than a guillotining of King Louis XVI is an edifice
pretty compliment. They enacted that of sacred king vs. mere man and further this
sovereignty by exercising a traditional whole spectacle represented a split of
prerogative of the sovereign. monarchy vs republic, tyranny vs freedom,
abstract reason vs history and life vs
By the period of the Revolution, the display death.172 Thus this act, this spectacle of the
of severed heads had long been a common fall of the Old Regime was in the truest of
way for a European sovereign to display his essence a rupture and ‘a thing’ just put into
power to his subjects.170 Thus making the place by the simple act of beheading. Thus
people actual executors of this sovereignty, signifying that the meaning of an event can
that was theirs in this Revolution. This was exist at the larger level and at the smallest
the transfer of metaphor and conception that level too, signifying the trijunction of past,
took place with the coming of the guillotine present and future (shown in the blood
and was appropriated by the public. frenzy that followed the beheading of the
King and how his blood-dipped artefacts
To understand this progression from crafted became valuable). 
consciousness to appropriated actions on the
part of the public one must look at Caroline But to further understand how this idea that
Humphrey’s article The Guillotine: public justice meant to the people wasn't the
Reflections on Violent Revolutionary same before one has to compare this with
Rupture. In her attempt to classify the the September Massacre of 1792 (killing of
guillotining of King Louis XVI as a rupture Princess de Lamballe). In this event, the idea
in the revolution that marked the trijunction of justice was the same, capital punishment
of the past, present and future and thus of and terror but what changed was the
the actors and the politics involved in this conception of ‘we’ and ‘us’ amongst the
event, she gives a clear base to draw from. public. As Humphrey has also shown and
Using her arguments of a trijunction one can Foucault has captured in his book,
gauge that this one event of the Guillotine, Discipline and Punish, “it is not just that the
though unique in its nature, marked a ‘revealed, paraded, exhibited, the tortured
cultural shift to be followed in the coming body is like the support of the judiciary
Reign of Terror and how it differentiated the procedure … that must become readable for
existing consciousness of the public; before everyone, the corpse also became an object
and now.  of hatred and wild phantasmagoric visions
released during or immediately after the
In Robespierre’s words, - “It is with regret I killing.”173 
pronounce this fatal truth: Louis must die so
that the nation may live.’171 Thus with this In both cases, the act of justice does not end
one act, the fate of the nation was sealed and with just the beheading of the condemned
but their bodies are afflicted with more
170 Regina op cit.
171 Caroline Humphrey, "The Guillotine: Reflections 172 Ibid.
on Violent Revolutionary Rupture." Ruptures (2019), 173 Michel Foucault Discipline and Punish: The Birth
27-51. of the Prison (New York: Vintage Books, 1995). 

Ijtihad Vol.8 54
 
torture or terror and they demand the
audience’s observation (in the case of the
Princess, Marie Antionette was urged to
come to witness this by the mob and the
beheading of King Louis XVI was a public
spectacle). Thus exemplifying that the idea
that terror needs to be inflicted onto the
corpse, to serve as an educational scene
based on terror, was a notion already
existing in the public’s consciousness. But
what made these two events different in
conception was represented by the guillotine
witnessing public - the September Massacre
was a mob action and the Guillotining of the
King was “an orderly justice of state.”174
Thus the state-sponsorship ratified the
participation of the public in these actions of
terror and thus passively gave the semblance
of decision making. The Massacre, in the
words of Humphrey, had “no consensus of
emotions” or “no claims of responsibility”.
Thus marking the ‘we’ of the guillotine of
the King more consciously embedded in
their actions and unlike the authority of the
mob that killed the Princess (note the usage
of the word mob too). This underlines that
the sense of ‘we’ lacked before and was
created due to the political elite’s actions to
muster a public, using the spectacle of the
Theatre of Terror centred around the
guillotine.

VII. Shifts In Language Of Terror:
Conclusion

174  Caroline op cit. 175 Regina op cit.

Ijtihad Vol.8 55

Bibliography

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Janes, Regina. "Beheadings."
Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New
York: Vintage Books,1995. Representations 35 (1991): 21-51.

Gordon, Daniel. “The Theater of Terror: The doi:10.2307/2928715.

Jacobin Execution in Comparative "La Peine De Mort En France : Deux Siècles
and Theoretical Perspective.”
Historical Reflections Vol. 29 No. 2, Pour Une Abolition (1791-1981)
Interpresting the Death Penalty: 1/3." Criminocorpus. October 08,
Spectacles and Debates (2003). 2006. Accessed November03,2020.
https://criminocorpus.org/en/exhibiti
Gilroy, James P., and Simon Schama. ons/death-penalty/history-death-pena
lty-france-1789-1981/complements/l
"Citizens: A Chronicle of the French a-peine-de-mort-en-france-deux-siecl
Revolution." Rocky Mountain
Review of Language and Literature es-pour-une-abolition-1791-/.
44, no. 4 (1990): 267.
Doi:10.2307/1346805. Lucas, Colin. "The Theory and Practice of

Humphrey, Caroline. "The Denunciation in the French
Guillotine: Reflections on Violent Revolution." The Journal of Modern
Revolutionary Rupture." Ruptures, History 68, no. 4 (1996): 768-85.
doi:10.1086/245393.
2019,
doi:10.2307/j.ctvf3w1v4.7. 27-51. Schechter, Ronald. A Genealogy of Terror in

Eighteenth-century France. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2018.

Ijtihad Vol.8 56

Religious Architecture During the Tughlaq Period:
A Case of Begumpuri Masjid

Simran Kaur Saini
Department of History, Lady Shri Ram College for Women
The 14th century CE in India saw the emergence of a new religious and cultural tradition: Islam.
There was a prolific growth of Islamic architecture, along with art and learning centres. The
broader theme of this paper will discuss the Begumpuri Masjid, a site in the Tughlaq city of
Jahanpanah, and its influence on the Tughlaq religious architecture. The paper will further dive
into the question of cultural syncretism visible in the buildings of that period and the political
reasons behind the same. This aim is taken with the view that there was an underlying process of
“alloying” and “accommodation” prevalent in the interaction between Islam and Indic
traditions. The paper will also deal with the conservation of the site in question. The Masjid is
situated in the Delhi Ridge, which is slowly vanishing due to the large-scale urban development.
Therefore, it becomes imperative to locate the conservation of the site in this context.  For the
purpose of this paper, an attempt to conduct a first- hand observation of the site was done.
However, due to it being closed for certain reasons, a detailed primary documentation of the site
could not take place.

I. Introduction: Historical Background to to the subcontinent.177
the Tughlaqs
As one will notice in the following sections,
It is imperative to understand the context
surrounding the construction of the mosques particularly became
Begumpuri Masjid in order to better locate
the purpose of this paper. The period during defence-oriented and used bricks extensively
the Tughlaq rule was marked with an
increasing consolidation of Islam as well as as a result.178 The syncretism evident in
eclecticism. The military coup against
Khusrwo Khan, in 1320 CE, has been seen these structures was vital given the constant
as the event that put an end to the Khilji
dynasty and led to the establishment of the threat of invasions from Central Asia during
Tughlaq period.176 Ghiyath al-Din (founder
of the Tughlaq dynasty), who belonged to the 14th century.179 An intermixing with the
the region of Khurasan, facilitated the
coming in of Multani and Iranian influence 177 Ghazi Malik, the governor of Multan and
Dipalpur, emerged as the new ruler of Delhi, naming
176 The Khilji dynasty ruled as Sultans of Delhi from himself Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq once he assumed the
1290 CE to 1320 CE. See Riazul Islam and C. E. throne. See Anthony Welch, and Howard Crane, “The
Bosworth, History of civilizations of Central Asia, v. Tughluqs: Master Builders of the Delhi Sultanate.”
4: The Age of achievement, A.D. 750 to the end of Muqarnas Vol. 1 (1983): 124.
the fifteenth century; Pt. I: the historical, social and 178 Anthony Welch, “Architectural Patronage and the
economic setting, (Paris: UNESCO, 1998). Past: The Tughluq Sultans of India.” Muqarnas Vol.
10 (1993): 311. Increasing control over  the idea of
“pan-India”.
179Simon Digby, “Before Timur Came:
Provincialization of the Delhi Sultanate through the
Fourteenth Century.” Journal of the Economic and
Social History of the Orient Vol. 47 no. 3 (2004):

Ijtihad Vol.8 57

Indic culture can be noticed in the number of of cultural syncretism. Firuz Shah Tughlaq
Hindu wives taken by the Sultan and the (1351- 88 CE) succeeded Muhammad Bin
increasing number of Hindu government Tughlaq. Buildings were commissioned to
officials.180 Muhammad Bin Tughlaq serve educational as well as religious
succeeded Ghiyath al-Din in 1325 CE. The purposes.184 Restorations of the old built
interaction between indigenous religious structures were undertaken majorly during
traditions and the Sultanate increased during his reign.185 There is more emphasis on mass
his reign. The construction of temples and weight during his reign rather than
existed along with the notion of realising the ornamentation in structures.186 For example,
idea of Dar al- Islam.181 The recognition by the Begumpuri Masjid is made of rubble
the Abbasid Caliph of Cairo also provided core masonry and decorations are only
immense legitimacy to Muhammad Bin found in terms of stucco and glazed tiles
Tughlaq.182 This need to establish a linkage instead of elaborate stonework. There is
between the Sultanate and the rest of the heavy emphasis on large domes and
Islamic world through the symbolic turrets.187 This period was marked with a
Caliphate recognition was seen as necessary certain level of stability with an emphasis on
in the midst of growing political extending the influence of Islam. The ulema
upheavals.183 The city of Jahanpanah was exerted considerable influence in the court.
established under him. There was also an The law of waqf was implemented as
evolution of the architectural style in terms well.188 Firuz Shah’s supposed treatment of
other faiths has been suggested in the
300.  Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi.189 There were
180 Anthony Welch, “Architectural Patronage and the
Past: The Tughluq Sultans of India.” Muqarnas Vol. 184 Anthony Welch, “Architectural Patronage and the
10 (1993): 312-13. Also see Riazul Islam and C. E. Past: The Tughluq Sultans of India.” Muqarnas Vol.
Bosworth, History of civilizations of Central Asia, v. 10 (1993): 311.
4: The Age of achievement, A.D. 750 to the end of the 185 Firozshah, Futuhat i Firoz Shahi, ed. H.M. Elliot
fifteenth century; Pt. I: the historical, social and (Calcutta: Susil Gupta (India) Ltd. 1871), III, Ch 17.
economic setting, (Paris: UNESCO, 1998). A The statement, “Again, by the guidance of God, I was
contrasting image is presented in the notion that the led to repair and rebuild the edifices and structures of
main point of contention during the coup was the former kings and ancient nobles, which had fallen
rising status of Hindus in the court. into decay from lapse of time; giving the restoration
181 Anthony Welch, and Howard Crane, “The of those buildings the priority over my own building
Tughluqs: Master Builders of the Delhi Sultanate.” works'', is reflective of this sentiment. Firuz Shah has
Muqarnas Vol. 1 (1983): 125. Dar al- Islam refers to been depicted as someone who was a devout Muslim
territories under Islamic control. For more and who wanted to uphold the ideals of Islam.
information, see Manoucher Parvin, and Maurie 186 William Jeffrey McKibben, “The Architecture of
Sommer. “Dar Al-Islam: The Evolution of Muslim Firuz Shah Tughluq”, (Thesis, Ohio State University,
Territoriality and Its Implications for Conflict 1988): 35-38. One also notices an increasing
Resolution in the Middle East.”,  International discontentment with the existing Islamic architecture.
Journal of Middle East Studies Vol. 11 no. 1 (1980): 187 Jyoti P. Sharma, “A Cross-Cultural Dialogue: A
1–21.  Case Study of Pre-Mughal Mosques in Delhi.” Built
182 Ibid., 126. Environment Vol. 28 no. 3 (2002): 258.
183 Konpal Preet Kaur, “Intermingling of Societies: 188 The socio- economic sphere of Muslims was
Revising Delhi Sultanate through the Prism of managed through these funds called waqf. See Aziz
Architecture.” Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Ahmad, “Mongol Pressure in an Alien Land.”
Archaeology Vol. 3 (2015): 378. Instead of actually Central Asiatic Journal Vol. 6 no. 3 (1961): 184;
following through with didactic pathways outlined by William Jeffrey McKibben, “The Architecture of
the Islamic orthodoxy, the various titles and Firuz Shah Tughluq”, (Thesis, Ohio State University,
recognition by the Abbasid Caliphate served to 1988): 38-39.
construct a rather complex notion of legitimacy based 189 Firozshah, Futuhat i Firoz Shahi, ed. H.M. Elliot
on Islamic imagery.

Ijtihad Vol.8 58

irrigation projects undertaken to increase the village of Begampur.191 It is 15 kms
agrarian productivity and attempts to revive away from Delhi on the Delhi- Mehrauli
the economy were made.190 The need to road. It is situated in the east plains of Delhi
maintain a stable economy after it took a hit Ridge. This area is rich in Quartzite and has
during the capital transfer is very much the Yamuna River flowing through it.192 The
evident in the economic practices and the city of Jahanpanah, meaning “Shelter of the
architectural material used. The background World”, was founded by Muhammad Bin
discussed here, thus, is vital in Tughlaq in 1327 CE.193 This city consists of
understanding the heterogenous Tughlaq the area between Qila Rai Pithora and Siri
religious architecture that emerged during a Fort. Protection from outside invasions was
period of constant political, socio- economic one of the reasons for the establishment of
changes. this city. It has thirteen gates and consists
of various structures dating to the Tughlaq
II. Mosque Architecture and the period.194 
Begumpuri Masjid
Origins and Structure of the Site
Geographical Location There are two conflicting strands of
information given on the provenance of the
Map 1: Location of Begumpuri Masjid. Masjid. The first says that the mosque was
built in 1343 under Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
The Begumpuri Masjid (380 32’ 21’’ N and by an Iranian architect Zahir al-Din
770 12’ 22’’ E) is a site located in the old city al-Jayush. The other says that it was built by
of Jahanpanah. Its current location is on a
small road beside the Aurobindo Ashram in 191 Yajñadatta Sharma, Delhi: and Its Neighbourhood,
(New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 2001):
(Calcutta: Susil Gupta (India) Ltd. 1871), III. The 71.
number of military campaigns were less as compared 192 Sarmishtha Mandal, and Amita Sinha. “Vanishing
to those undertaken under Muhammad Bin Tughlaq Ridge In Delhi: A Conservation Approach.” Vistas
and usually involved construction of mosques at the (2008): 124.
ruined temple sites. See Finbarr Barry Flood, “Lost in 193 M. Mohan, “Spatial Data Modelling for GIS for
Translation: Architecture, Taxonomy, and the Eastern Historical Restoration and Conservation of Cultural
‘Turks.’” Muqarnas Online Vol. 24 no. 1 (2007): Heritage of Seven Cities of Delhi.” International
79–115.  Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and
190 William Jeffrey McKibben, “The Architecture of Spatial Information Sciences (2004): 4.
Firuz Shah Tughluq”, (Thesis, Ohio State University, 194 ASI, Reports of the proceedings of the
1988): 36. Archaeological Surveyor to the Government of India
for the season 1862-63, (Simla: The Government
Central Press, 1871), 218-222. The first mention of
the sites built under Firuz Shah happens here.
However, there is no mention of Begumpuri Masjid.
Also see ASI, List of Muhammadan and Hindu
Monuments Vol. III, (Calcutta: Superintendent
Government Printing, India, 1912), 157-159. The
report gives a brief account of the history,
architecture and condition of the Begumpuri Masjid.
The site is deemed protected in this report.
Excavations were also taken up in 1964-1969 in
Jahanpanah by ASI. For this, see  ASI, Indian
Archaeology 1964-65- A Review, (Faridabad: The
Director General Archaeological Survey of India,
1969), 7-8.

Ijtihad Vol.8 59

Firus Shah’s vazir Khan-i- Jahan Junan Shah Figure 2: Plan outlining the entrance to the
as one of the seven mosques commissioned Mosque
by him. The dates for this version are also
disputed, placing the origin of the mosque
between 1370- 87 CE.195 As there are no
inscriptions on the site which may provide a
clue to its origins, the literary and certain
material sources themselves are divided on
this matter.196  

Figure 1: Rough Plan of the Site

195 See Konpal Preet Kaur, “Intermingling of Figure 3: Elevation of the Eastern Gateway
Societies: Revising Delhi Sultanate through the Prism
of Architecture.” Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies The main materials used were mortar, rubble
in Archaeology Vol. 3 (2015): 372-75; William and roughly cut stone.197 There is also
Jeffrey McKibben, “The Architecture of Firuz Shah evidence of durable, incised stucco and
Tughluq”, (Thesis, Ohio State University, 1988); glazed tiles. One can see a break from the
Anthony Welch, “Architectural Patronage and the large use of red sandstone. Instead, there is
Past: The Tughluq Sultans of India.” Muqarnas Vol. increased use of local quartzite and compact
10 (1993): 315-316. plaster.198 The ornamentation is very less,
196 Ibn Battuta, The Travels of Ibn Battuta AD lending a simple look to the structure. The
1325-1354 Volume III, ed. H.A.R. Gibb (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1971), 190. Ibn Batuta 197 Yajñadatta Sharma, Delhi: and Its Neighbourhood,
places the construction of the masjid during (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 2001):
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s timeline, though certain 71.
features of the mosque are very much in sync with 198 ohn Burton-Page, Indian Islamic Architecture:
those introduced during Firuz Shah’s time. Forms and Typologies, Sites and Monuments,
(Leiden: Brill, 2008), 6-7. The economic
impoverishment caused by Muhammad Bin
Tughlaq’s move to Daulatabad has been cited as a
major reason for the shift from fine stonework to
cheaper materials for construction of structures. 

Ijtihad Vol.8 60

core of the structure rises from a highly with stone chajjas to protect the structure
raised plinth.199 The mosque has a from climatic factors. The prayer hall is
rectangular plan, with external about 30 ft (9.14m) and is rectangular. Two
measurements of roughly around 308 x 289 tapering turrets are on either side of the start
ft (94 x 88 m) and around 247 x 223 ft (75 x of the Iwan leading to the prayer hall
68 m) of the central courtyard.200 The probably reflect an architectural style called
four-Iwan plan was introduced at this site.201 the pylon. This pylon is very large and even
The courtyard is surrounded by cloister or hides the big dome covering the prayer hall.
long running colonnades on all sides with a It has been suggested that the turrets may
gateway. The arches are approximately 12 ft have covered the glazed tiles.204 The site
high and 16 ½ ft wide on the east, north and plan for the Begumpuri Masjid suggests that
south sides. Only the gateway on the east it was a new, original idea. The inclusion of
side has 15 steps leading to it. There are the Iwan plan along with that of the pylon
approximately 45 rooms all across the three and Chajjas clearly hint at a sense of
sides of the structure.202 The beam and architectural eclecticism. 
bracket arrangement is also visible here.
Three arched openings in a long cloister lead Present Condition of the Site
to the main prayer hall which itself is broken
by 24 arched openings.203 A large dome Although the site has three entrance
covers the main hall while smaller domes gateways, the main point of entry is from the
are built on the bays of the colonnades. The eastern gateway that has a set of steps
eaves (projecting edge of a roof) are covered leading to the site. The north and south walls
are broken. The north and south gateways
199 Tamara I. Sears, “Fortified Maṭhas and Fortress may also have had steps which have
Mosques: The Transformation and Reuse of Hindu disappeared, presumably due to
Monastic Sites in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth environmental conditions.205 The lack of
Centuries.” Archives of Asian Art Vol. 59 no. 1 proper signages and directions along with
(2009): 7–31. The incorporation of plinth is a narrow roads also make the accessibility to
common feature in the Hindu temples of the north as the site a bit difficult.206 Major threats to the
well as tombs of Multan. site are in the form of urban development,
200 Yajñadatta Sharma, Delhi: and Its Neighbourhood, encroachment, lack of maintenance and
(New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 2001): growth of vegetation.207 There are dumpsters
71 overflowing with waste near the site’s walls
201 Anthony Welch, “Architectural Patronage and the and gates. Biodeterioration in the form of
Past: The Tughluq Sultans of India.” Muqarnas Vol. vegetation growth is quite rampant at the
10 (1993): 315. The Iwan is of Iranian origin wherein site.208 Major sections of the mosque also
four vaulted (arched roof) gateways provided an
entrance to the main site from all the four sides. 204 Jyoti P. Sharma, “A Cross-Cultural Dialogue: A
Begumpuri is seen as perhaps the first site in the Case Study of Pre-Mughal Mosques in Delhi.” Built
subcontinent to employ this plan. Also see, John Environment Vol. 28 no. 3 (2002): 257.
Burton-Page, Indian Islamic Architecture: Forms and 205 Seema Khan, “Mosque Architecture under Firoz
Typologies, Sites and Monuments, (Leiden: Brill, Shah Tughluq”, (Thesis, Aligarh Muslim University,
2008); Jyoti P. Sharma, “A Cross-Cultural Dialogue: 2011): 85-89.
A Case Study of Pre-Mughal Mosques in Delhi.” 206 See Appendix III
Built Environment Vol. 28 no. 3 (2002). 207 See Appendix II and III. The site is in the midst of
202 Seema Khan, “Mosque Architecture under Firoz a village with residential buildings and construction
Shah Tughluq”, (Thesis, Aligarh Muslim University, work surrounding it.
2011): 85-89. 208 See Appendix III
203 Yajñadatta Sharma, Delhi: and Its Neighbourhood,
(New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 2001):
71.

Ijtihad Vol.8 61

witnessed plaster deterioration, loss of known for the arched windows and fort-like
material, discoloration as well as littering of appearance.211 There are three gateways with
construction waste. The site has particularly domes that have a pair of turrets attached to
seen an increase in encroachment from the them. The end of each outer wall also had a
villagers in the past few years, with the site bastion. The mosque is built on a 3 m plinth
becoming a spot for alcoholics.209 and is square in shape (52m each side). It is
an example of a cross-axial arrangement.212
The site currently is under the administrative The whole site is divided into 25 spaces.213
control of the Archaeological Survey of Except for the courtyards, other spaces are
India and is owned by the Government of covered with domes. In terms of the material
India. Presently, the site is not used for any used and the scale of building, the mosque is
religious purposes. The ASI, in 2017, similar to the Begumpuri Masjid. The Jami
declared the Begumpuri Masjid as a Masjid, located in Firuzabad, the city
monument of National Importance as per founded by Firuz Shah, was built in 1354.
section 20 A and 20 B of Ancient This mosque has two storeys. It has been
Monuments and Archaeological Sites and suggested that the second storey was used
Remains Act, 1958.210 An amendment of for religious purposes while the first storey
this act in 2010, declared 100 metres around may have been used for commercial
the site a no construction and no purposes in order to maintain the waqf. The
encroachment zone, with an additional 200 Jami Masjid is beside another famous
metres being a regulatory zone. However, structure built by Firuz Shah called the Lat
despite this step, no additional steps have Pyramid.214 It has
been taken to conserve and protect the site.
one central courtyard.215 The main entrance
III. A Look at the Significance of
Begumpuri Masjid: Some Parallels and 211 Yajñadatta Sharma, Delhi: and Its Neighbourhood,
Analysis (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 2001):
72.
Many other mosques were built in Delhi 212 It means that instead of having a single courtyard
during the same period, especially under like the Begumpuri Masjid, the Khirki Masjid has
Firuz Shah Tughlaq. This section of the four courtyards of equal sizes divided by two rows of
paper will look at mosques built under Firuz colonnades running from the middle of the sides.
Shah Tughlaq or during his time in the 213 Seema op cit., 76-80.
regions of Delhi, Jaunpur and Deccan in 214  The Lat pyramid was a stepped structure with
order to get a better idea about the purpose three layers. It is here that Firuz Shah installed the
and influence of these structures. Asokan Pillar made up of red sandstone whose
removal and subsequent installation at the site is
Delhi detailed in Sirat-i- Firuz Shahi. This is similar to
installation of the iron pillar in the Quwwat – al-
The Khirki Masjid is situated in the city Islam mosque in 1129 CE after the Ghurid conquest.
Jahanpanah. As the name suggests, it is As these pillars commissioned under the Hindu rulers
imbued a sense of victory and power, it became all
209 See Cheena Kapoor, “Tughlaq era’s Begumpur the more necessary to reuse these pillars in the
Mosque lies in ruins, as alcoholics frequent it,” DNA, Islamic structures in order to reinforce the power of
July 9, 2017. the Delhi Sultanate. See Finbarr B. Flood, “Pillars,
210 Notification S.O. 2307, Gazette of India, Palimpsests, and Princely Practices: Translating the
Extraordinary Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii) 15. Past in Sultanate Delhi.” Res: Anthropology and
10. 1959. Aesthetics Vol. 43 (2003): 95–116; Anthony Welch,
“Architectural Patronage and the Past: The Tughluq
Sultans of India.” Muqarnas Vol. 10 (1993): 314-316.
215 Jyoti P. Sharma, “A Cross-Cultural Dialogue: A

Ijtihad Vol.8 62

for this mosque is on the northern side, most constructed under Muhammad Bin Tughlaq.
probably because the Yamuna flowed on the In both of the cases, structures and
eastern side. One notices the existence of fragments from the pre-existing temples
inscriptions at the above-mentioned were taken and re-used.218 Such an infusion
mosques, which was not the case at the of two different styles may have a political
Begumpuri Masjid. As with the other motive hidden behind it.219  As one can see,
structures under Firuz Shah such as the many of the features of these mosques are
Kalan Masjid, the materials for construction similar to mosques of an earlier era and bear
were economical and inexpensive.216  little resemblance to the mosques of 14th
century Delhi. 
Deccan
Jaunpur
The Jami Masjid, situated in Warangal,
Andhra Pradesh, has been viewed by some The Atala Masjid was built in 1408 under
scholars as a type of a ‘conquest mosque’.217 Ibrahim Sharqi, the first of the Sharqi
Archaeological evidence suggests that it was rulers.220 It was constructed during the same
part of Swayambhu Shiva temple, built on its time period as Begumpuri Masjid and other
ruined mandapa. The Hindu-styled Tughlaq structures, and, thus, its features are
decorative engravings and carvings on the similar to the Begumpuri Masjid. It has
pillars were removed. Five columns remain. colonnades on all three sides and an Iwan on
Fragments and existence of beams suggest the west. There are gateways on each of the
that the columns supported a central three sides. The Atala also adopted the pylon
octagonal bay. The pilasters and designs of style of architecture for its main prayer
minbar and mihrab indicate that it was hall.221 
constructed under the Tughlaqs. A similar With heavy Tughlaq influence, this mosque
type of Jami mosque exists in Daulatabad, further served as a prototype for other
subsequent mosques built in Jaunpur.222 
Case Study of Pre-Mughal Mosques in Delhi.” Built
Environment Vol. 28 no. 3 (2002): 257-258.  Certain IV. Analysis
striking features of this site include the evidence of
water wells and Zenana galleries. In almost all the structures given above,
216 The Kalan Masjid is also situated in Firuzabad and
has a two storey structure. Similar to Khirki Masjid, 218 Ibid., 84-105.
it has a fortress-like facade and an eastern gateway 219 Phillip B. Wagoner, and John Henry Rice. “From
for the main entrance. The structure is rectangular in Delhi to the Deccan: Newly Discovered Tughluq
shape with a pool in the middle of the courtyard. The Monuments at Warangal-Sult̤ ānpur and the
use of domes, long- running colonnades and chajjas Beginnings of Indo-Islamic Architecture in Southern
is also present here.  India.” Artibus Asiae Vol. 61 no. 1(2001): 91-92. 
217 Phillip B. Wagoner, and John Henry Rice. “From 220 M.S. Dodson, “Jaunpur, Ruination, and
Delhi to the Deccan: Newly Discovered Tughluq Conservation during the Colonial Era.” Essay. In
Monuments at Warangal-Sult̤ ānpur and the Knowledge Production, Pedagogy, and Institutions in
Beginnings of Indo-Islamic Architecture in Southern Colonial India, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
India.” Artibus Asiae Vol. 61 no. 1(2001): 78-79. By 2011), 123-124. Also known as the Jaunpur
reconstructing the broken temples into mosques, the Sultanate, the Sharqis ruled from 1394 CE to 1479
Tughlaqs probably wanted to portray the waning CE in the city of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh.
power of the indigenous Kakatiya dynasty and 221 Ibid., 123-124.
strengthen their own rule in the area. Therefore, these 222 William Jeffrey McKibben, “The Architecture of
mosques are quite similar to the Quwwat al- Islam Firuz Shah Tughluq”, (Thesis, Ohio State University,
mosque built in 1129 CE or the mosque built in 1988)
Kadwaha, during Allauidin Khilji’s campaign.

Ijtihad Vol.8 63

there have been indigenous architectural form of either tracing it back to the Tughlaqs
influences along with Iranian features. The or actually showing supreme power by
need to showcase the power of the state is making a larger version of the original
visible in the huge sizes of these sites as prototype. 
well as the amount of initiative taken under
just one ruler itself. The pressure to declare Another thing evident from the study of
the Islamic faith above the others is felt in these sites is the fact that although certain
Fatawa-i- Jahandari by Barani.223 Thus, the Hindu elements or pieces of temples were
supposed reconstruction of mosques from reused and mixed with the Islamic style and
temple ruins in some cases clearly attempts thus produced architectural styles which
to send this message. However, such a were not regional but still had the essence of
strong disregard for the other faiths the region within it. The varying features in
mentioned in the Fatawa is Barani’s own the mosques at different regions may also be
opinion and advice on statecraft. Thus, such due to the fact that many of the structures
motives may or may not reflect the popular built during the Tughlaq period had different
ideas at that time.  patrons. There was a rich patron-worker
relationship with many people in the court
In all these sites, certain features such as commissioning such large structures.225
plinth, beam and bracket arrangement and
the use of chajjas clearly hint at VI. Conservation of the Site: The
appropriation of indigenous traditions in the Recourse to Heritage Tourism and Urban
structure. This hints at the assimilative Regeneration
nature of Islam as seen in the other conquest
societies under it. The evident Begumpuri Masjid is in a vulnerable priority
fortification-like structure in the Khirki and category. Urban expansion and growing
Kalan mosque is a further example of population have led to overcrowding of the
inclusion of other architectural styles. Such region, and, in a way, turned it into a
influences may have also resulted from the concrete jungle. Despite being a protected
degree of freedom the local artisans had monument under the Archaeological Survey
regarding building a structure as Islam did of India, no proper plan of conservation has
not have rigid scriptural texts on mosque been undertaken for it.226 The site, therefore,
architecture as opposed to temple presents a clear case of how conservation
architecture. The cultural syncretism also and protection of heritage is in a conflicting
arises from the long belief or practice of relation with development.227 It is here that
reusing non-Islamic structures and spolia as the concept of urban regeneration comes in.
a celebratory gesture.224 It aims to “sustain” the local community in

The resemblance of the Begumpuri Masjid 225 Anthony Welch, “Architectural Patronage and the
with that of the Atala Masjid in Jaunpur Past: The Tughluq Sultans of India.” Muqarnas Vol.
might suggest a need to further link the 10 (1993): 315.
legitimacy of the new Sharqi dynasty in 226 See Appendix II and III.
227 Sohail Hashmi, “Preserving “our heritage”, The
223 Ziauddin Barani, Fatawa-i- Jahandari, ed. Afsar Hindu, February 23, 2013. The act protecting the site
Begum (Delhi: Kitab Mahal, 1961), Advice XI. 2. has also been a source of serious contestation
224 Finbarr B. Flood, “Pillars, Palimpsests, and between the local inhabitants and the ASI. Many
Princely Practices: Translating the Past in Sultanate people had been living inside the Masjid before being
Delhi.” Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics Vol. 43 evicted by the ASI in the 1920s. Further, restrictions
(2003): 95–116.  on the construction activities have generated
resentment between the parties.

Ijtihad Vol.8 64

the rapid modernization project and attempts adjoining areas. The site of Begumpuri
to ensure the socio-economic development Masjid can be further incorporated into a
of the community while also ensuring that heritage walk circuit of the sites in Hauz
their local identity and heritage is not Khas. Formulation of proper rehabilitation
compromised upon.228 With regards to the programmes for those removed from the site
Begumpuri Masjid, heritage tourism might premises is also important in
be a viable option to bring about urban accommodating the locals into the
regeneration.229 Heritage tourism is a part of conservation process. Establishment of
a larger model of economy- of - tomorrow Archaeological Parks in this area has been
and cultural economy wherein a balance is proposed by some scholars where historical
struck between development, sustainability tourism and preservation will be linked to
and preservation of heritage.230 Intrinsic to the conservation of the Ridge.232 There is a
this process is the process of community or need for visitor facilities at the site in terms
public participation. It becomes imperative of adequate signage and information boards
to identify and locate the various about the site, trash cans for waste disposal,
stakeholders and to understand what value and washrooms as well.
or significance the structure carries for each
one of them.231 The surrounding area of VII. Conclusion
Hauz Khas can be translated into a heritage
integration model by focusing on the revival One can see that there was an underlying
of the site in question as well as of the process of assimilation and accommodation
of distinct cultures happening in terms of
228 Nisar Khan, “An Approach for the Holistic architecture. Political factors such as
Conservation of the Non-Classified Built Heritage of assertion of power and legitimacy by the
Delhi.” Journal of Architecture Vol. 3 (2012): 88–93. Sultanate in a foreign land by turning the
229 Brian Garrod, and Alan Fyall. “Managing Heritage local structures into sites of their faith and
Tourism.” Annals of Tourism Research Vol. 27 no. 3 victory can be gauged as one of the main
(2000): 682–708. Heritage tourism refers to tourism reasons for the cultural syncretism seen in
that revolves around anything that is “inherited” or is the Begumpuri Masjid and other related
a figment of the past. It espouses that inheritance sites. Another factor is that if this mosque
forms the core of the whole industry with a strong was indeed built by the vazir of Firuz Shah,
connection to sustainability. then certain shadows of his former religion,
230 Also see, Simran Kaur Saini, “Integration of which was Hinduism, may have also
Medieval Baolis into Cultural Economy: A Case introduced eclecticism. Having a convert
Study of Delhi” Speaking Archaeologically Vol. 2 no. build massive mosques, that too from certain
1 (2019): 112-145. Hindu spolia, would have served as a
231 See Nidhi Dandona, and Manish Balani, Urban stronger message to the people about the
Regeneration And Preservation Of Built Heritage: strength of Islam. Apart from this, the period
Case Of Hauz Khas Enclave Precinct, New Delhi, in question also saw the growing tensions
(Delhi: Sushant School of Architecture, 2008). between the ulema and the Sultan that could
Incorporating the local community equally in the only be bridged when the Sultan would
decision making process forms the basis for the reinstate the real Islamic belief. By building
sustainable heritage tourism and regeneration massive structures of piety, the Sultan would
process. Alienation felt due to the existing protection
laws can be bridged by making them as the 232 Sarmishtha Mandal, and Amita Sinha. “Vanishing
custodians of that heritage.The whole village of Ridge In Delhi: A Conservation Approach.” Vistas
Begumpur derives its name from the Begumpuri (2008): 124.
Masjid, and thus in a sense forms the bedrock of the
village’s identity. Thus, it becomes vital for the
concerned authorities to make the locals realise how
significant this piece of identity is and increase their
association with the site. 

Ijtihad Vol.8 65

regain legitimacy at a greater level too. Such an organisation can conduct more
Here, one has to understand that the lines of awareness programs for the site in
distinctions were nearly blurred in what one question, and can help generate
calls the ‘popular’ Islam where cultural accountability and responsibility amongst
syncretism came as a natural process. The citizens as well.236 As Begumpuri Masjid
‘elite’ Islam on the other hand also forms a part of the urban heritage of Delhi,
employed cultural syncretism to some extent an integrated approach of conservation,
but in order to project itself as supreme and combining the political, cultural,
distinct.233 Thus, setting of a congregational economic and urban aspects, needs to be
mosque, where the name of the ruler as well taken up. The Begumpuri Masjid
as his ancestors was called out during the occupies a really important place in not only
Friday prayers, would also add strength to locating the architectural history of the
the Sultan’s rule in the region.234 Therefore, Tughlaqs, but also that of their political
legitimacy of the Sultan has to be situations and the socio-religious realm.
viewed in terms of the complex relation Therefore, it becomes really crucial that
between the religious and political during. such a site is conserved and not neglected.
The cultural syncretism seen in the
architectural endeavours of the Tughlaq Acknowledgements
period also emerged as a
consequence of the immigrants such as This research project was undertaken by the
Persians, Central Asians, Turks and so on author as part of the Speaking
coming to India. Archaeologically Exclusive Research
Project. All credits for the site images used
Neither protection of the site nor the here go to Speaking Archaeologically. The
development of the whole area has been author would also like to extend her
addressed properly despite it being a gratitude to Speaking Archaeologically and
protected site. Organisations like INTACH Ms. Shriya Gautam for the constant support
have been working along with ASI, DDA throughout.
and NMA for conserving built heritage.235

233 Muzaffar Alam, The Languages of Political Islam 236  R.V. Smith, “A mosque with windows…,” The
in India: c. 1200-1800. (Ranikhet: Permanent Black, Hindu, May 25, 2014. Although DDA started with
2004). the Urban Heritage Awards in 1993, collaboration
234 Konpal Preet Kaur, “Intermingling of Societies: with non- governmental, heritage conservation
Revising Delhi Sultanate through the Prism of organisations can be undertaken in order to arrive at a
Architecture.” Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in holistic urban development programme.
Archaeology Vol. 3 (2015): 376-378.
235 The Times of India, “National Monuments
Authority okays bylaws for Begumpuri Masjid,” The
Times of India, April 26, 2014. The site finds mention
in the INTACH listing of Delhi Heritage and also is a
part of the Heritage Bye- laws enacted by the
National Monuments Authority in collaboration with
INTACH. See INTACH, Delhi the Built Heritage: A
Listing, (Delhi: INTACH, 1999).

Ijtihad Vol.8 66

Bibliography Archaeological Surveyor to the
Government of India for the season
General Readings 1862-63. Simla: The Government
Central Press, 1871.
Alam, Muzaffar. The Languages of Political
ASI. Indian Archaeology 1964-65- A
Islam in India: c. 1200-1800. Review. Faridabad: The Director
Ranikhet: Permanent Black, 2004. General Archaeological Survey of
India, 1969.
Habib, Irfan. “Ziyā Baranī's Vision of the
ASI. List of Muhammadan and Hindu
State.” The Medieval History
Journal Vol 2 no. 1 (1999): 19–36. Monuments. Calcutta:
Superintendent Government
INTACH. Delhi, the built heritage: A Printing, India, 1912.
Listing. New Delhi: INTACH, 1999.
Newspaper Reports:
Jackson, Peter. The Delhi Sultanate: a
Political and Military History. Cheena Kapoor, “Tughlaq era’s Begumpur
Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2003. Mosque lies in ruins, as alcoholics
frequent it,” DNA, July 9, 2017.
Primary Texts
R. R.V. Smith, “A mosque with
Afif, Shams-i Siraj, Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, ed. windows…,” The Hindu, May 25,
H.M. Elliot (Calcutta: Susil Gupta 2014.
(India) Ltd.,1871).
Soh Sohail Hashmi, “Preserving “our
Barani, Ziauddin, Fatawa-i- Jahandari, ed. heritage”, The Hindu, February 23,
Afsar Begum (Delhi: Kitab Mahal, 2013.
1961).
Swati Mathur, “Culture Ministry declares
Battuta, Ibn, The Travels of Ibn Battuta AD Begumpur Masjid a monument of
1325-1354 Volume III, ed. H.A.R. national importance,” The Times of
Gibb (Cambridge: Cambridge India, December 20,2017.
University Press, 1971).
The Times of India, “National Monuments
Firozshah, Futuhat i Firoz Shahi, ed. H.M. Authority okays bylaws for
Elliot (Calcutta: Susil Gupta (India) Begumpuri Masjid,” The Times of
Ltd. 1871). India, April 26, 2014.

ASI Reports Secondary Texts
Ahmad, Aziz. “Mongol Pressure in an Alien
ASI. Reports of the proceedings of the

Ijtihad Vol.8 67

Land.” Central Asiatic Journal Vol. Flood, Finbarr B. “Pillars, Palimpsests, and
6 no. 3 (1961): 182–189.
 
Ahmad, Saleem. “Antiquarian Interest in
Medieval India: Firuz Shah Tughlaq —. “Lost in Translation: Architecture,
and His Interest in Ashokan Pillars.” Taxonomy, and the Eastern ‘Turks.’”
Proceedings of the Indian History Muqarnas Online Vol. 24 no. 1
Congress Vol. 63 (2002): (2007): 79–115. 
1295–1300.
Garrod, Brian, and Alan Fyall. “Managing
Ali, Asif. “Mosque Architecture in Delhi : Heritage Tourism.” Annals of
Continuity and Change in Its Tourism Research Vol. 27 no. 3
Morphology.” ATEET no. Special (2000): 682–708. 
Issue (2012): 40–56.
Habib, M. & A.U. Salim. The Political
Burton-Page, John. Indian Islamic History of Delhi Sultanate (including
Architecture: Forms and Typologies, a translation of Ziauddin Barani's
Sites and Monuments. Leiden: Brill, Fatawa-i Jahandari, circa, 1358-9
2008. A.D.) Delhi:  Kitab Mahal:1961.

Chatterjee, Malay.“The Future of Delhi's Hardy, P. “The Oratio Recta of Baranī's
Past: The Challenges of Conserving —Fact or Fiction?” Bulletin of the
Historical Environments.” India School of Oriental and African
International Centre Quarterly Vol. Studies Vol. 20 no. 1 (1957): 315–21.
9 no. 3/4 (1982): 371–84.
INTACH. Delhi the Built Heritage: A
Dandona, Nidhi, and Manish Balani. Urban Listing. Delhi: INTACH, 1999.
Regeneration And Preservation Of
Built Heritage: Case Of Hauz Khas Islam, Riazul and C. E. Bosworth.
Enclave Precinct, New Delhi. Delhi: History of civilizations of Central
Sushant School of Architecture, Asia, v. 4: The Age of achievement,
2008. A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth
century; Pt. I: the historical, social
Digby, Simon. “Before Timur Came: and economic setting. Paris:
Provincialization of the Delhi UNESCO, 1998.
Sultanate through the Fourteenth
Century.” Journal of the Economic Joshi, Jagat Pati, Indu Prakash, and Krishna
and Social History of the Orient Vol. Deva. Inventory of Monuments and
47 no. 3 (2004): 298-356.  Sites of National Importance. New
Delhi: Archaeological Survey of
Dodson, M.S. “Jaunpur, Ruination, and India, 2004.
Conservation during the Colonial
Era.” Essay. In Knowledge Kaur, Konpal Preet. “Intermingling of
Production, Pedagogy, and Societies: Revising Delhi Sultanate
Institutions in Colonial India,
123–24. New York, New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Ijtihad Vol.8 68

through the Prism of Architecture.” Implications for Conflict Resolution
Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in the Middle East.” International
in Archaeology Vol. 3 (2015): Journal of Middle East Studies Vol.
370–80. 11 no. 1 (1980): 1–21. 

Khan, Nisar. “An Approach for the Holistic Patel, Alka. “Architectural Cultures and
Conservation of the Non-Classified Empire: The Ghurids in Northern
Built Heritage of Delhi.” Journal of India (Ca. 1192–1210).” Bulletin of
Architecture Vol. 3 (2012): 88–93. the Asia Institute Vol. 21 (2007):
35–60.
Khan, Seema. Mosque Architecture under
Firoz Shah Tughluq. Dissertation, Raza, S.J. “Tughlaq Administration in the
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh: Aligarh Light of Epigraphic Evidence.”
Muslim University, 2011. Proceedings of the Indian History
Congress Vol. 69 (2008): 230–39.
Lambah, Abha Narain.“Religious Islamic
Architecture.” Architecture Plus Rizvi, S.N.H., and S.N.H. Rizvi. “The
Design Vol. 14 no. 6 (1997): 49. Chronology of Muhammad Bin
Tughlaq’s Reign.” Proceedings of
Mandal, Sarmishtha, and Amita Sinha. the Indian History Congress Vol. 5
“Vanishing Ridge In Delhi: A (1941): 302–9.
Conservation Approach.” Vistas
(2008):P 124–30. Saini, Simran Kaur. “Integration of
Medieval Baolis into Cultural
McKibben, William Jeffrey. The Economy: A Case Study of Delhi”
Architecture of Firuz Shah Tughluq. Speaking Archaeologically Vol. 2 no.
Dissertation, Ohio: Ohio State 1 (2019): 112-145.
University, 1988.
Sears, Tamara I. “Fortified Maṭhas and
Mohan, M. “Spatial Data Modelling for GIS
for Historical Restoration and Fortress Mosques: The
Conservation of Cultural Heritage of
Seven Cities of Delhi.” International Transformation and Reuse of Hindu
Archives of the Photogrammetry,
Remote Sensing and Spatial Monastic Sites in the Thirteenth and
Information Sciences (2004): 1-7.
Fourteenth Centuries.” Archives of
Moosvi, Shireen. “Numismatic Evidence
and the Economic History of the Asian Art Vol. 59 no. 1 (2009): 7–31.
Delhi Sultanate.” Proceedings of the
Indian History Congress Vol. 50 Sharma Yajñadatta. Delhi: and Its
(Golden Jubilee Session) (1989): Neighbourhood. New Delhi:
207–18. Archaeological Survey of India,
2001.
Parvin, Manoucher, and Maurie Sommer.
“Dar Al-Islam: The Evolution of Sharma, Jyoti P. “A Cross-Cultural
Muslim Territoriality and Its
Dialogue: A Case Study of
Pre-Mughal Mosques in Delhi.”
Built Environment Vol. 28 no. 3
(2002): 249–62.

Ijtihad Vol.8 69

Siddiqui, Iqtidar Husain. “Influence and Beginnings of Indo-Islamic
Prestige of the Sultan of Delhi in Architecture in Southern India.”
India and the Neighbouring Artibus Asiae Vol. 61 no. 1(2001):
Countries, with Special Reference to 77-117.
Central Asia — Fifteenth Century.”
Central Asiatic Journal Vol. 29 no. Wescoat, James. “Conserving Urban Water
1/2 (1985): 98–110. Heritage in Multicentered Regions:
An Historical-Geographic Approach
Singh, Surinder. 2000. “Dynamics of to Early Modern Delhi” Change
Statecraft in the Delhi Sultanate: A Over Time Vol. 4 no.1(1994): 142-
Reconstruction from the Letters of 166.
Ainul Mulk Mahru.” Proceedings of
the Indian History Congress Vol. 61 Welch, Anthony, Alexandra Bain, and
no. 1 (2000): 285–93. Hussein Keshani.  “Epigraphs,
Scripture, And Architecture In The
Steinberg, Florian. “Conservation and Early Delhi Sultanate.” Muqarnas
Rehabilitation of Urban Heritage in Online Vol. 19 no. 1 (2002): 12–43. 
Developing Countries.” Habitat
International Vol. 20 no. 3(1996): Welch, Anthony, and Howard Crane. “The
463–75.  Tughluqs: Master Builders of the
Delhi Sultanate.” Muqarnas Vol. 1
Subodh, Sanjay. “Sectional President's (1983): 123-166. 
Address: Knowledge, Technology
And Building Construction In Welch, Anthony.“Architectural Patronage
Medieval India.” Proceedings of the and the Past: The Tughluq Sultans of
Indian History Congress Vol. 76 India.” Muqarnas Vol. 10 (1993):
(2015): 180–94. 311-322.

Verkaaik, Oskar.  Essay. In Religious —. “A Medieval Center of Learning in

Architecture: Anthropological  

Perspectives. Amsterdam: Zaweed, Salim.“Medieval Monuments Of

Amsterdam University Press, 2014. Mehrauli: Reality And Myth.”
Proceedings of the Indian History
Wagoner, Phillip B., and John Henry Rice. Congress Vol. 76 (2015):748–58.
“From Delhi to the Deccan: Newly
Discovered Tughluq Monuments at
Warangal-Sult̤ ānpur and the

Ijtihad Vol.8 70

APPENDIX-I

Table: Database of the coins of Nur Jahan

Sr. Title Museum/ Accession Dateline Mint Details Image
No. Collection No. 
Material: © The Trustees of the British
1.  Nur Sarmaya 2015.44.6 1034 AH Agra Silver Museum
/1624
Jahan, Museum CE Authority:
Jahangir,
Silver Nur Jahan
Material:
Rupee Gold
Diameter:
Coin of 37mm

Agra

Mint

2. Coin British IOC.1909 1028 AH Agra
Museum /1618
CE

3.  Silver Lahore A-1178 1037 AH Agra Metal: Silver
Weight:
Coin of Museum 11.310
grams
Jahangir Obverse:
In triple
with the circle of
dotted lines
Name of the legend is
written as
Nur follows:
Bahukm
Jahan Jahangir
Shah Sad
Zever Yaft
Sanah 1037

Ijtihad Vol.8 71

4. Nur Indian - (By
authority of
Shah
Jahangir,
gold gained
a hundred
beauties)
Reverse:
In a single
circle of
dotted line,
the legend is
written as
follows:
“Za Naam
Noor Jahan
Badshah
Begum Zarb
Agra”
By the name
of Nur Jahan
Badshah
Begum.

1034 AH Lahore Gold coin

Jahan Museum,

With Kolkata

Jahangir

5. Nur Anwar’s KM-168.1 A.H Agra Silver rupee
1033-103 coin
jahan Coin
7/ Obverse- Ba
with Collection 1623-162 Hukum Shah
Jahangir (Private) 7CE Jahangir Yaft
Sad Zewar
(By order of
king
Jahangir
gained a
hundred
beauties)

Reverse- Za
Naaem Nur
Jahan
Badshah
Begum Zar
(gold by the

Ijtihad Vol.8 72

name of Nur
Jahan
Badshah
Begum).

6. Nur Anwar’s KM-168.4 1034 AH Lahore Silver rupee

Jahan Coin   coin

With Collection

Jahangir (Private) Obverse- Ba

Hukum Shah

Jahangir Yaft

Sad Zewar

(By order of

king

Jahangir

gained a

hundred

beauties)

Reverse- Za
Naaem Nur
Jahan
Badshah
Begum Zar
(gold by the
name of Nur
Jahan
Badshah
Begum).

7. Nur Anwar’s KM-168.5 1033-10 Patna  Silver rupee

Jahan Coin 37 AH coin

With Collection 1623-16

Jahangir (Private) 27CE Obverse- Ba

Hukum Shah

Jahangir Yaft

Sad Zewar

(By order of

king

Jahangir

gained a

hundred

beauties)

Reverse- Za
Naaem Nur
Jahan
Badshah
Begum Zar
(gold by the
name of Nur
Jahan
Badshah
Begum).

Ijtihad Vol.8 73

8. Nur Anwar’s KM-168.6 1034 Surat  Silver rupee

Jahan Coin A.H coin

With Collection

Jahangir (Private) Obverse- Ba

Hukum Shah

Jahangir Yaft

Sad Zewar

(By order of

king

Jahangir

gained a

hundred

beauties)

Reverse- Za
Naaem Nur
Jahan
Badshah
Begum Zar
(gold by the
name of Nur
Jahan
Badshah
Begum).

Ijtihad Vol.8 74

APPENDIX-II

Site Index of Begumpuri Masjid

Images with Description

Main Hall and the courtyard Inside of an arched colonnade passage

Overview of the arched colonnade on the side wall Close view of the arches

Ijtihad Vol.8 75

One of the arched columns Eastern Gateway

A broken roof Inside of the eastern gateway

Vegetation and garbage mounds on the side of the Loss of material and broken facades
main entrance

Ijtihad Vol.8 76

An arched opening showing plaster deterioration, Another view of one of the arched passages
black crust and loss of material

Ijtihad Vol.8 77

APPENDIX-III

Site Vulnerability Report of Begumpuri Masjid

Name of the Site: Begumpuri Masjid

Location: Aurobindo Ashram, Begumpur Village, Hauz Khas, Delhi

Dateline and Dynasty: Tughlaq Dynasty, 14th Century

Law/Organisation under which the site is protected: Protected Monument under ASI

Present Condition of the Site: 
The site is increasingly under threat from conditions such as loss of material, discoloration, plaster deterioration, and
vegetation growth. The site is located in the midst of a heavily urbanized space, and thus also suffers from the threat
of encroachment

Is the site easy to locate? Were there location boards/ informational details on roadside?
Very difficult to spot. No signage or information boards.

Is there a tourist information centre on site?
No. There is one board which designates the site as a protected monument but that is broken too.

Is relevant literature about the site easily available?
No.

Is the site littered? 
Yes, there are mounds of construction waste outside the site premises

Are there proper facilities on site in terms of public amenities like toilets, waste disposal equipment,
cafeteria?
No.

Is there environmental damage to the site or any sculptural remains on the site? 
There is vegetation growth on the site along with debris of fallen off material at various points in the site. There is
growth of both small and big plants. Organic growth was not witnessed. 

Is the site adequately advertised by the local/ centre tourist agency?
No.

Were there any instances of vandalism? 
Yes. Vandalism mostly occurred in the form of graffiti and dumping of waste.

Are there modern settlements (buildings, houses, slums) in close proximity to the site?
Yes, the site is surrounded by residential houses all around.

Ijtihad Vol.8 78

Is the site encroached on in any way due to constructions close by?
Yes.

Is there scope and need for future excavations on the site?
No.

Do you have any suggestions regarding the current preservation of the site?
Organisations like INTACH have been working along with ASI and NMA for conserving built heritage. Such an
organisation can conduct more awareness programs for the site in question, and can help generate accountability and
responsibility amongst citizens as well. The Delhi Development Authority is also one of the major stakeholders in
shaping the course of developmental activities in Delhi. Involving the local inhabitants in the process of conserving
and promoting this built heritage might also help.

Any other observations, diagrams, etc.

Figure 1: Sketch showing the side- view of the turret of the prayer hall
Figure 2: A rough sketch of the main prayer hall with its two tapering turrets.

Ijtihad Vol.8 79

INDEX

A I
Agency: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8. Ideology: 37, 45, 50.
Althusser: 18, 19, 20.
Animals: 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41. J
Architecture: 54, 56, 60, 62. Jacobian Government: 49, 50.
Jahanpanah: 54, 55, 56, 59.
B Justice: 45, 46, 50, 51, 52.
Begumpuri Masjid: 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60,
61, 62. M
Built Heritage: 63. Marxist: 18, 19, 23.
Memory: 27, 28, 29.
C Migration: 26, 27.
Channel Islands:12, 16. Mosque Architecture: 56, 61.
Coins: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Mughal court: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6.
Collaboration: 12, 13, 15, 16, 17.
Complexities: 39. N
Conservation: 54, 61, 62, 63. Nostalgia: 27, 28, 29.
Co-sovereignty: 1, 8. Nur Jahan: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

D O
Denunciation: 45, 47, 48, 49. Old Regime: 45, 47, 50, 51.
Dogs: 32, 34, 35, 36. 37, 38, 39, 40, 41. Optimism: 17, 23.

E P
Experiences: 32, 33. Partition: 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.
Popular Will: 47.
F
Faiz Ahmed Faiz: 18 R
Fictional Narratives: 25, 27. Reign of Terror: 45, 47, 49, 51
French Revolution:45, 47. Relationship: 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22.
Revolution: 1, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 45, 46,
G 47,48, 50, 51.
German: 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. Romance: 18, 19, 20, 21.
Gramsci: 18, 19,
Guillotine: 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52. S
Second World War: 25, 30,
H Sovereignty Gap: 50.
Heritage Tourism: 61, 62.
Home: 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. T
Humans: 32, 33, 34, 38, 39. Theatre of Terror: 45, 49, 52.
Tughlaq: 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 61, 63.

Ijtihad Vol.8 80

NOTES

Ijtihad Vol.8 81

NOTES

Ijtihad Vol.8 83