There is famous saying ‘Dilli 7 baar lutti / looti gai’.
While the city remained of important for centuries and was favorite of invaders. How do we count this 7 times lootna?
I mean, when it was first destroyed and what event represents 7th destruction?
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
I believe officially the City of Delhi was looted more than 7 times.
There is perhaps no other city in the World that has suffered such depradations, and the history is more confusing depending on whom you believe, becuase getting a specific date for the City of Delhi itself is a massive debate.
Majority of textbooks probably tell you it was most of the old city built in Sha Jahans time, but records tell us it has been in existence since before Sher Sha Suri or even the Tughlaq Dynasty which was centuries before that time. The other big debate is whether buildings like the Red fort were Mughal or older... again I believe the base of these buildings if not the present buildings are significantly older.
Now archeaological evidence as well as the written history down the ages from each dynasty that ruled this unluky city tell us of countless sackings and lootings.
Here are the most well known sackings in date order... these are the ones most official papaers recognise.
It was first apparently sacked by the Mamluk invaders in. (1206)
Then agian the Khiljis sacked old Delhi in. (1290)
The Tughlaqs looted the city at the begining of thier riegn in. (1320)
It was subsequently sacked before the Sayid Dynasty came to power (1414)
Upon accesnding the throne the Lhodis then also sacked Delhi (1451)
Fammously it was ransacked upon the arrival of the Mughals in, however compared to other looters the Mughals sacking is considered a paltry if not vastly exxagerated affair. (1526)
Finally the British who sacked old Delhi in late 1857-1858 were the last of these looters, at least according to the offical records. (1857)
However there have been many invaders before the this history begins and even during each ruling period there were often multiple sackings.
Note the above records dont even mention the three biggest Central Asian looters, namely Timur or Tamberlane who virtually razed the city in late 1398 during the Tughlaq Dynasties futile effort to save it.
Furthermore Nadir Shah also plundered and sacked Delhi in early 1739 and fammously took the Peackock throne of Shah Jahan.
Also his adept right hand man, Ahmad Shah Abdali came to loot the City on several occasions some say as many as 5 times. His most fammous adventure in 1761 led to the battle of Panipat after which he went on to loot Delhi as well.
There are even accounts of much older invasions at least two unsuccssfull Mongol attacks were reppelled by the defenders of Delhi in the early 13 Century but some sources believe that at least one of several Mongol raids did succeed and as many as 90,000 Delhi citizens were slaughtered by the Mongols, if this is true it gives us an idea of the sheer scale of each invasion.
Poor Delhi I say. :(
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
sad indeed :hinna:
I was also thinking about Taimur, which you mentioned later part of your post :k:
Can’t we count 1947 riots in this list, which might have affected the demography of the city.
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
Yes offcourse the riots were also marked by widespread looting so you have prefectly valid point. Even if the saying said Delhi had been looted 10 times it might still be short of the actual figure.
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
I think Mahabharat's Kurkshetra was near Delhi and if the city was present in those times, it might got affected by the epic war.
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
^ Kurkshetra was a few hundred kilometers North West of Delhi, but not too far I remember the Mahratha Army in 1761 went on a pilgramage to that area and was caught off guard, also Panipat itself is on the main road towards Delhi and it was the site of many large battles of the Mahabharata war so yeah if Delhi was present theres no doubt it would have been affected.
Sometimes a City does not have to be involved in a conflict for it to be sacked, it only teeks a few reffugees from one battle to go to such a city for shelter which would incur the wrath of the invaders to raze the city.
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
I think Delhi remained the destination of invaders. While Lahore got attacked being on way from Khyaber to Delhi. But who don't hear destruction stories from people of Lahore, whereas Delhi became a symbol of destruction :(
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
yeah delhi hai meri jan..............
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
You mean Delhi is your jan
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
no i was singing the song :)
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
Kiyun yahan ‘Indian Idol’ ke audition ho rahe hain? 
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
delhi se yaad a gaya
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
aur topic ke bare main aap ka kia khayal hai?
BTW, have you heard about a king who is remembered by Delhi walas as Pagal Badshah just because he changed his capital from Delhi to somewhere else?
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
Perhaps Lahore was spared becuase of its fortifications, even before the Mughal fort which dominates the City today, the terrain around Lahore is better suited to defence. Just North of Lahore the area is perfect guerilla warfare country. Also the people of the region were perhaps more war-like and surrounded by equally frugal and tough people who worked together. I know that Jats, Rajputs, Ghakars etc while they had thier differences they came together much more cohesively.
Problem with Delhi is its too big to defend easily. The Jumuna river can easily be crossed most of the year becuase there are several ferry points and natural fords. The people of the Delhi plains are largely peacefull and I doubt any of them ever conducted raids on thier nieghbours... whereas Delhi was surrounded by not the friendliest of people and the tribes and nations that were around delhi never got along with each other either. Perhaps the other mistake was hoarding valuables inside the City of Delhi itlsef.
Lahore would normally have a treasury on the hills outside of the Town or in a small fortress just above the City on the Ravi side. Even when the Mughals came and built it as thier early capital they placed all the valuables like the treasure and palace gardens far from the city itself. They diverted the water to make obstacles as well as ornamental gardens. Also the City served as the old Mughal capital and its garrison was always well supplied.
Delhi is not so lucky despite being in a relatively fertile region the garrsons often ran out of food. Its not an easy city to defend for a small army and most of the defenders were never the best soldiers, when Aurangzeb sacked Delhi his brothers army was made up of citizens who were drafted in to fight in the difficuilt times. Whereas Auranzebs army were veterans from Southern Campaigns.
While Lahore lay on the GT road most invaders were cautious of its surounding territory which was always a wild west... whereas Delhi had little hope of relief armies ever coming to the rescue and since the terrain around Delhi is a relatively dusty flat plain... any approaching relief force can be seen for miles.
Lahore is lucky that from the North side there are valleys that could hide huge armies and even sustain such forces for long periods.
To effectively protect Delhi the defender would need a huge army but it would be very thinly spread on the perimeters. The only other big option almost all the defenders took was to fight an open battle outside the city. Problem with this tactic was that if the army ever lost... it was a battle for all or nothing.
Wheras an Army defending Lahore had much less perimeter wall to defend and even if it fought a battle outside the terrain allowed for a defending force to use several rearguard tactics... advancing between valleys for example with the flanks covered against cavalry... in the mediaval times Lahore had much more forest around it too.
Whereas Delhi was almost alwasy a plain from at least the 12th Century... it was perfect terrain for cavalry warfare and since most of the invaders used mobile cavalry as thier main weapon the defenders always ran the risk of being outflanked.
Thus Delhi suffered badly in the long run... its a great tragedy really that many of the armies entrusted with protecting Delhi often were led by weak commanders and sometimes the generals were very cruel in that they chose to leave things to the last minute. A lot of the defending armies sometimes abandoned the city altogether choosing to pull back and find a position where it would be easier to defend.
The Tughlak Dynasty when it fought the Mongols used to just ride out and face them on the battlefields far to the North West of Delhi rather than risk siege warfare. Most besiegers could raid the countryside for food but the defenders static troops often starved becuase thier supplies were cut.
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
Great post Faris Bhai :k:
I kinda remember reading Taimur’s biography, where they mentioned the way to Delhi was full of Marsh and his armies had to suffer a lot.
Secondly, if Lahore was that much safe, why Delhi remained favorite capital for almost all dynasties?
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
Yes Taimur attacked in February and it was marked by an incredibly wet winter that year, also the defenders had deliberately opened several flood gates in his path... Taimurs army could have just skirted and attacked from the South but it appears he was in a hurry to get things over. Either he feared a long Southern March would give a relief force time to ambush him in unkown territory or perhaps he had troubles on his mind back in Central Asia either way... he overcame the water obstacles and the trenchfoot.
Lahore was the early capital of the empire but Delhi was the heart of North India and they had to stay there if they wanted India... it would have been better for thier empire in the long run if they had kept Lahore as the main centre for a while but Shah Jahans new Red Fort was supposed to be the best defence system ever built to protect Delhi.
In Fact the Red fort did well in its time... few armies ever got in by a direct assualt and even The British despite being the first to open a major breach in its walls had thier first two assaults repulsed by defenders. However food supplies and treachery were the reasons why it fell on two previous occasions. Nadir Shah got in through trickery having allready killed the Mughal leadership and bribing his way past the rest.
Against the Marathas the Mughals abandoned the Red fort and fled to another one further East where the Fortress had a Moat. It was starved into sumbmission by all the others except the British... who first starved then bombarded thier way in.
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
Co incidentally Lahore was ransacked on multiple occasions before the 12th Century but after it finally fell to the Moghuls it remained largely in Moghul hands till the late 19th century.
Perhaps later invaders simply bypassed it or the defenders being Muslim simply accepted any Muslim overlord much easier than Delhi becuase Delhi was by then considered the true capital. 
I find it perplexing that men like Nadir Shah did not have to fight anyone to gain control… perhaps the garrsons surrendered without a fight?
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
I think people of Lahore and adjoining areas like Amitsar gave peaceful way to the invaders from Lahore, because they knew any resistence to the troops would cast them their wrath. It is interesting to note that people of the area specially Sikhs looted the looters on their way back to home 
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
Told you, they are classic guerilla warfare experts… now if only the defenders of Delhi were so smart… :nono:
Mind you I’m suprised with all these invasions nobody though about any serious obstacle building…
I think the most powerfull stronghold in Hindustan was not even half the size of Delhi and even the British had to hang thier heads and walk away when they tried to take it by force. 
Re: Saat baar looti gai Dilli
I think Lahore has seen as many invasions as Delhi itself, like you mentioned the invaders mainly considered our Punjab as a buffer between their prized possession (Delhi). I had listed most of the invasions that have taken place in Punjab in another thread I’ll dig them out again.