Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/123

121 the skill and resource of the stonecutters and engineers of the Maurya age.

Sixteen centuries later, in 1356, the two Asoka pillars which now stand near Delhi_on the Kothila and the Ridge respectively were transported by Sultan Firoz Shah the one from Topra in the Ambala. (Uinballa) District, now in the Panjâb, and the other from Mîrath (Mcerut) in the United Provinces. The process of removal of the Topra monument has been described by a contemporary author, whose graphic account is worth transcribing as showing the nature of the difficulties so frequently and successfully surmounted by Asoka’s engineers.

The historian relatesr that—

'After Sultan F iroz returned from his expedition against Thatta he often made excursions in the neighbourhood of Delhi. In this part of the country there were two stone columns. One was in the village of Topra in the District of Sâdhaura and Khizrzâbâd, at the foot of the hills, the other in the vicinity of the town of Mirath. . . . When Firoz-Shah first beheld these columns he was ﬁlled with admiration and resolved to remove them with great care as trophies to Delhi.

Khizrâbâd is 90 kos from Delhi, in the vicinity of the hills. Whon the Sultan visited that District and saw the column in the village of Topra, he resolved to remove it to Delhi and there erect it as a memorial to future generations. After thinking over the best means of lowering the column, orders were issued commanding the attendance of all the people dwelling in the neighbourhood, within and without the Doâb, and all soldiers, both horse and foot. They were ordered to bring all implements and materials suitable for the work. Directions were issued for bringing parcels of the sembal