Mohammed Sajib at 20:40, 2 March 2026

2026-03-02T20:40:57Z

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{{Short description|Series of edicts on the teachings of Buddha}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox Historic building
|name= Delhi-Topra pillar
|image = Delhi-Topra pillar.jpg
|caption= The Ashokan Pillar on top of the ruined palace of [[Feroz Shah Kotla]], Delhi. It was transferred in the 14th century from [[Topra Kalan]] in [[Yamunanagar district]], [[Haryana]] to [[Delhi]].
|pushpin_map= India#India New Delhi
| pushpin_relief = yes
|coordinates = {{coord|28.6358346|77.2456407|region:IN-DL|display=inline, title}}
|location_town = [[Delhi]]
|location_country = India
|architect = [[Ashoka]]
|client =
|engineer =
|construction_start_date = 3rd century BC
|completion_date = 3rd century BC
|demolished_date =
|cost =
|structural_system =
|architectural_style = Edicts on [[sandstone]] pillars and on in-situ rocks
|size =
}}
The '''Delhi-Topra pillar''' is one of the [[pillars of Ashoka]], inscribed with the moral edicts promulgated by [[Ashoka]], the Mauryan Emperor who ruled in the [[Indian subcontinent]] during the 3rd century BCE. The [[Edicts of Ashoka]] were either carved on in-situ rocks or engraved on pillars erected throughout the empire. The pillar, originally erected in [[Topra Kalan]], was transferred to Delhi in the 14th century by [[Feroz Shah Tughlaq]].<ref name="Bhandarkar pp.206–207">Bhandarkar pp. 206–207</ref>

==Pillar edicts in Delhi==
{{see also|Pillars of Ashoka|Major Pillar Edicts}}
All of the Ashokan pillar or column edicts were made out of [[Chunar stone|Chunar sandstone]] quarried from [[Chunar]] in the [[Mirzapur District]] of [[Uttar Pradesh]]. They were chiseled at the quarry and then transported to various places in the country. They were chiseled from massive rock blocks of {{convert|1.22|m|ft}} square and {{convert|15.2|m|ft}} long, which were extracted from the quarry. They were chiseled as monolith pillars of size between {{convert|12.2|m|ft}} and {{convert|15.2|m|ft}} in length with an average diameter of {{convert|0.785|m|ft}}.<ref name="Bhandarkar p.206">Bhandarkar p.206</ref> The pillars were cut, dressed, finely polished into circular columns, and carved with edicts, before being transported to various locations in the country.<ref name="Bhandarkar pp.206–207">Bhandarkar pp. 206–207</ref>

The two pillar edicts are still in Delhi.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhis-Air-pollution-behind-corrosion-of-Ashoka-Pillar/articleshow/55811910.cms|title=Delhi's air pollution behind corrosion of Ashoka Pillar?|website=[[The Times of India]] |date=5 December 2016 }}</ref> The one on the Delhi ridge opposite the entrance of Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, close to the [[Delhi University]] campus, is popularly known as the Delhi-Meerut Pillar. The other, in the grounds of Feroz Shah Kotla, is known as the Delhi-Topra Pillar.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Kotlas-Ashoka-pillar-over-2000-years-old-suffers-heavy-damage/articleshow/55763120.cms|title=Kotla's Ashoka pillar, over 2,000 years old, suffers heavy damage|website=[[The Times of India]] |date=3 December 2016 }}</ref><ref name=Singh>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first= Upinder|title= Delhi|work=Ashokan Edicts in Delhi|pages =120–131|access-date=2009-07-22|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KkpdLnZpm78C&q=Ashokan+Pillar,+Delhi&pg=PA120|publisher= Berghahn Books|year=2006|isbn=81-87358-29-7}}</ref>

[[Feroz Shah Tughlaq]], who ruled from Delhi as [[Sultan]] during the medieval period between 1351 and 1388, was a keen historian, architect, game hunter, and with deep sense of commitment to build public utilities related to irrigation works and establishing urban towns. Feroz Shah, during one of his campaigns, was enthralled by the two spectacular monoliths – inscribed Ashokan pillars he saw, one at Topra near Ambala and the other near Meerut, till then undeciphered – and decided to shift them to his palatial Feruzabad palace in Delhi as "totemic embellishments". He shifted the pillars from these places and got them erected in Delhi; the former in his new capital and the latter on the ridge, near Pir-Ghaib, his hunting palace. The first pillar was erected in the 1350s, next to the Friday mosque in the new city of Feruzabad.).<ref name="Sharma, pp. 1, 10-11">Sharma, pp. 1, 10–11</ref><ref name=Singh/><ref name=john>{{Cite book|last=Keay|first= John|title=India: A History|work=The Arm of the Guptas|page=136|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3aeQqmcXBhoC&q=Ashokan+Pillar,+Delhi&pg=PA136|publisher= Grove Press|year=2001|isbn=0-8021-3797-0}}</ref><ref>Flood p. 248</ref>
Near the gate of the building that holds the Ashokan pillar, every Thursday afternoon is a kind of ''djinns date'', as a large number of people visit the place to either mollify or revere the ''djinns'' or genies (said to be a pre-Islamic belief) that are believed to prowl there.<ref name="Peck p.82">Peck p. 82</ref>

The Delhi-Topra Pillar was moved from [[Topra Kalan]] in [[Yamunanagar district]] of [[Haryana]] (original location at {{coord|30.12889|N|77.15965|E|display=inline}}), and was erected above the palace building at [[Feroz Shah Kotla]]. It is {{convert|13|m|ft}} high (with one metre below the platform) and made of sandstone.

The inscription in Brahmi script, which was deciphered by James Princep, a renowned scholar in [[India]]n [[antiquarian]] [[Study (art)|studies]] in 1837, conveys the same message as the other Ashokan Pillars erected such as "code of dharma:virtue, social cohesion and piety" but with one difference that on this pillar there is also a reference to issues related to taxation. The building that houses the pillar is a three-storied structure built in rubble masonry. It has a large number of small domed rooms in the first and second floors, with links to the roof. Rooms on each floor have arched entrances, which are now stated to be used for ''pujas'' (worship). It is a pyramidal-shaped structure with reducing size at each level with the pillar installed on the terrace of the building. It is conjectured that originally the pillar had a lion capital (similar to the Ashoka Emblem), which is the [[National Emblem of India]]. Feroz Shah is said to have embellished the top of the pillar with frescoes in black and white stone topped with a gilded copper cupola. But at present, what is visible is the smooth polished surface of the pillar, and an elephant carving added much later.<ref name="Sharma p.131">Sharma p.131</ref><ref name="Peck p.85">Peck p.85</ref><ref name=hort>{{Cite book|last=Horton|first= Patrick |author2=Richard Plunkett |author3=Hugh Finlay|title= Delhi|work=Feroz Shah Kotla|page=104|access-date=2009-07-22|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ee1HTcplZS0C&q=Ashokan+Pillar,+Delhi&pg=PA104|publisher= Lonely Planet|year=2002|isbn=978-1-86450-297-8}}</ref>

[[File:Visaladeva inscription on Delhi Topra 12th century.jpg|thumb|[[Vigraharaja IV|Visaladeva]] inscription on the Delhi-Topra pillar, 12th century.]]
[[File:Delhi-Topra Nagari inscription of 1524 CE.jpg|thumb|Delhi-Topra inscription of 1524 CE, mentioning Sultan [[Ibrahim Lodhi]] (ruled 1517–1526).]]
This pillar, apart from the Ashokan edicts, has another set of text inscribed in Sanskrit "below and around Ashokan edict", in ''nagari'' script. These are three inscriptions of the 12th century AD, by [[Vigraharaja IV|Visala Deva Vigraharaja IV]] of the [[Chahamanas of Shakambhari|Chauhan dynasty]].<ref name="US208">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=Delhi: Ancient History |date=2006 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-81-87358-29-9 |page=208 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KkpdLnZpm78C&pg=PA208 |language=en}}</ref>
These inscriptions record the conquests of [[Vigraharaja IV|Visala Deva Vigraharaja IV]] of the [[Chahamanas of Shakambhari|Chauhan dynasty]], which was still ruling over Delhi at the time of Ghurid conquests in the 1190s, and his victories over a Mlechha enemy (presumably [[Ghaznavid]] or [[Ghurid]]).<ref name="US208"/> With this finding, it has been inferred that Visala Deva reused this pillar to record his triumphs in wars.<ref name="Flood pp.249–250">Flood pp.249–250</ref>

There are also two 16th century inscriptions: a short Sanskrit one by a writer named Ama, and a longer one in a mix of Sanskrit and Persian, mentioning the ruler [[Ibrahim Lodhi]] (ruled 1517–1526) of the [[Lodhi dynasty]].<ref name="US208"/>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">

File:Delhi-Topra Ashoka pillar.jpg|Delhi-Topra Ashoka pillar
File:Delhi-Topra pillar Brahmi and Nagari.jpg|1800 years separate these two inscriptions: [[Brahmi script]] of the 3rd century BCE ([[Edict of Ashoka]]), and its derivative, 16th century CE [[Devanagari]] script (1524 CE, [[Ibrahim Lodi]] inscription), on the Delhi-Topra pillar.
File:Delhi-Topra pillar Ashoka inscriptions.jpg|Delhi-Topra pillar Ashoka inscriptions (Edicts I to VII)
</gallery>

==Transportation techniques==
[[File:Sirat i-Firuz Shahi 14th century illustration of the transportation of the Topra pillar to Delhi.jpg|thumb|Transportation of the Topra pillar to Delhi. Sirat i-Firuz Shahi, 14th century illustration.]]
The transportation of the massive pillars to Delhi, planned under the direction of Sultan Feruz Shah, was documented by contemporary historian Shams-i-Siraj.<ref name=john/><ref name = "Bhandarkar">Bhandarkar pp. 207–209</ref>

The truncated pillar now at the ruined palace of Feruz Shah came from Khizrabad, in the upstream reaches of the [[Yamuna River]], about {{convert|90|km|mi}} from Delhi. The transportation of the pillar was highly demanding, requiring soldiers (both cavalry and foot) to pitch in with all tools and tackles to transport it to Delhi. Silk cotton from the [[Bombax|Silk cotton tree]], the ''simal'', was gathered in large quantities to surround the pillar before it was lowered horizontally to the ground. The covering was then removed, and replaced by reeds and raw hide to protect the pillar. A 42-wheeled cart was used to transport it to the river bank, where it was loaded onto a large boat. The cart required 8,400 men to move it, 200 to each wheel.<ref name=john/> A purpose-built palatial building was constructed out of stone and lime mortar to house the pillar. The square base stone was placed at the base of the pillar before the task was completed. The building is now in a ruined state, but the pillar still stands as it was erected.<ref name=john/><ref name = "Bhandarkar"/>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Topra Kalan#Topra Ashokan Pillar|Topra Ashokan Pillar]]
* Related topics
** [[Ancient iron production]]
** [[Ashoka's Major Rock Edicts]]
** [[Dhar iron pillar]]
** [[History of metallurgy in South Asia]]
** [[Iron pillar of Delhi]]
** [[List of Edicts of Ashoka]]
** [[Pillars of Ashoka]]
** [[Stambha]]
* Other similar topics
** [[Early Indian epigraphy]]
** [[Hindu temple architecture]]
** [[History of India]]
** [[Indian copper plate inscriptions]]
** [[Indian rock-cut architecture]]
** [[List of rock-cut temples in India]]
** [[Outline of ancient India]]
** [[South Indian Inscriptions]]
** [[Tagundaing]]
{{col div end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite book|last=Bhandarkar|first= R. G|author2=D.R. Bhandarkar|title= Asoka|work=Social and Religious life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hhlfSZLDjRsC&q=Ashokan+Pillar,+Delhi&pg=PA207|publisher= Asian Educational Services|year= 2000|isbn=81-206-1333-3}}
* {{Cite book|last=Flood|first=Finbarr B.|title=Objects of Translation|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2009|isbn= 978-0-691-12594-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLNE_li8C10C&q=Ashokan+Pillar,+Delhi&pg=PA248}}
* {{Cite book|last=Peck|first=Lucy|title=Delhi -A thousand years of Building|work=Rock edicts & Ashokan Pillars|publisher=Roli Books Pvt Ltd.|location=New Delhi|year=2005|isbn=81-7436-354-8|url=https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no43813.htm|archive-date=12 March 2006|access-date=13 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060312215021/https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no43813.htm|url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite book|last=Sharma|first=Y.D.|title=Delhi and its Neighbourhood|work=Rock edicts and Ashokan pillars|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|location=New Delhi|year=2001|url=http://www.indiaclub.com/Shop/SearchResults.asp?ProdStock=87|access-date=31 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216054938/http://indiaclub.com/shop/SearchResults.asp?ProdStock=87|archive-date=16 February 2010|url-status=dead}}

[[Category:Edicts of Ashoka|Delhi]]
[[Category:History of Delhi]]
[[Category:Indian inscriptions]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Delhi]]
[[Category:Memorials to Ashoka]]

Delhi-Topra pillar - Revision history

Mohammed Sajib at 20:40, 2 March 2026