Adventures in the 14th Century

We went to two really neat places in New Delhi over the weekend. The first is called Tughlakabad. It is a huge fort that was finished in 1324 - a very long time ago! It was built by an India Sultan named, Ghiyasuddin Tughlak. Sultan is another word for "king." The walls of the fort are 6.4 kilometers long so it is a very big place! Our favorite part of the fort is the secret tunnel the supposedly goes to another fort nearby. The tunnel is 1 kilometer long and is full of cobra snakes during the day! Don't worry, we didn't go down there.

The second place we visited was a very old Mosque called Qutb Minar. It is very famous because it has a very tall, beautiful "minar." A minar is like a tall tower. Mom and Dad say this is a "World Heritage" site because it is very unique. The minar was built by another sultan named, Qutbuddin Aibak. It is 72 meters tall and was built between 1202 and 1210 A.D. Qutb Minar is even older than Tughlakabad! It have many beautiful carvings and inscriptions on it all the way to the top.
The minar was built to show how strong the Sultan was, but there is a great story that says the Sultan built it for his daughter. His daughter loved the water. The tower was tall enough so she could climb to the top and see the Yumana River from far, far away!