Firozabad and the Delhi of Sher Shah
separated from it, there were towers of peculiar shape, like the little paper towers (Mehndian) which are made on the occasion of a certain festival. These towers had, on the top, little pavilions, each consisting of four pillars, lintels,and a pyramidal roof.
PURANA KILA or INDARPAT. — The Hindu tradition of the antiquity of this fort has been disposed of. It was founded by Humayun, in 1534, but the walls were built of stone and mud,and the son of Sher Shah, Islam, pulled them down soon afterwards, to rebuild them in lime. Only the main gate is used now, there being a tradition that the northern gate was closed by some king, who ordered it to be shut behind him as he went out to battle, and never to be reopened unless he returned victorious.
KILA KONA Mosque. — There is no date on this mosque, but it is agreed that it is the work of Sher Shah; it must have been built about 1541. It differs from any built before it, and is much more ornate. It has three-storied corner-towers at the back, which is not, as in former mosques, left plain, but the ugly area of bare wall is broken by an ornamented band of tiling and by some balconies, also decorated with tiles. On
127
