Page:The Architecture of Ancient Delhi Especially the Buildings Around the Kutb Minar 1872 by Henry Hardy Cole.djvu/132

 88 The Kutb Miliar. Firuz Shall. His Inscription on the Minar. His Public Works, and Repairs. Firuz Shah's resto- ration of Delhi Buildings. this account (see pages 69-70 and 93-94). The restoration of the Minar by Firuz Shah, undertaken in the year a. d. 1368, was a work of considerable magnitude and attracts attention to the principal occupation of his reign by reason of its being foremost among his numerous repairs of buildings. In A. D. 1351 Firuz bin Eajab ascended the throne of Delhi, but at first was opposed by Khwajah-i-Jahan, the Delhi minister, who set up a supposititious son of Muhammad bin Tup;luck. Firuz was a weak man, fond of wine, a sportsman and so merciful and credulous, that in less turbulent times he would have suffered great disadvantage. The inscription on the fifth story takes notice of his having repaired the Minar, and he thus records his predilection for blinding in an autobiography called the " Futiihat- i-Firuz Shahi." ! " Among the gifts which God bestowed upon me his humble servant, was a desire to erect public buildings; so I built many mosques and colleges and monasteries, that the learned and the elders, the devout and the holy, might worship God in these edifices and aid the kind architect with their prayers. The digging of canals, the planting of trees and the endowing with lands, are in accordance with the direction of the law. Again, by the guidance of God, I Avas led to repair and rebuild the edifices and structures of former kings and ancient nobles, which had fallen into decay from lapse of time, giving the restoration of these buildings the priority over my own building works. The Jumma Masjid of old Delhi, which was built by Sultan Moiz-ud-din Sam had fallen into decay from old age and needed repair and restoration. I so repaired it that it was quite renovated. " The western wall of the tomb of Sultan Moiz-ud-din Sam and the planks of the door had become old and rotten. I restored this, and in the place of the balcony I furnished it with doors, arches and ornaments of sandal wood. " The Minarah of Sultan Moiz-ud-din Sam had been struck by lightning. I repaired it and raised it higher than it was before. " The Hauz-i-Shamsi, or tank of Altamsh, had been deprived of water for years by some graceless men who stopped up the channels of supply. I punished these incorrigible men severely and opened again the closed up channels. 1 Translated in Elliot's " Historians," iii. 3S2.