The Kos Minar of Lahore

The Kos Minar of Lahore



The Kos Minars (translated: Mile Pillars) are medieval Indian milestones along the Grand Trunk Road in northern Indian subcontinent, that were introduced by the 16th-century Pashtun ruler Sher Shah Suri. Kos Minars were erected to serve as markers of distance along royal routes from Agra to Ajmer, Agra to Lahore, and from Agra to Mandu in the south.

Kos Minars were described as a "marvel of India" by early European travellers such as Sir Thomas Roe and have been labeled as an integral part of India's ''national communication system" by Archaeological Survey of India.[1]
Characteristics

A kos in Sanskrit is one fourth of a yojana,[2] an ancient Indian unit of distance. It represented a distance of approximately 3.22 kilometres (2.00 mi). A minar is a Persian word for tower.

Kos Minars are solid round pillars, around 30 feet (9.1 m) in height, on a masonry platform built with bricks and plastered over with lime. They are not identical. As milestones, they were an important part of communication and travel.
Mughal periodAbul Fazl recorded in Akbar Nama that in the year 1575 AD, Akbar issued an order that, at every kos on the way from Agra to Ajmer, a pillar or a minar should be erected for the comfort of the travelers.[4][5] Englishmen brought back detailed reports of the Kos Minars between 1615 and 1618.[3] In 1619, Emperor Jahangir ordered Bakir Khan, Fauzdar of Multan to erect a minaret at every kos.[6] In addition, many caravanserais (roadside inns) were built for travelers. Later emperors such as Shah Jahan continued to add to the network of Kos Minars. In the Mughal period, there were around 600 minars.[1] In the north, they were extended as far as Peshawar and in the east to Bengal via Kannauj.
Deterioration and preservationAs the British introduced Imperial units and later adoption of SI Units in independent India, the unit of measurement kos and subsequently these minars went out of use. The monuments gradually went into a state of disrepair, as contemporary people ignored their significance.[3] Only 110 Kos minars are left.[1] According to a report of the Archaeology Survey of India, there are 49 itself in Haryana.[6][7] There are also five Kos Minars around Ludhiana city.[8] Restoration work for nine Kos Minars near Mathura began in 2018.[3] The Archaeological Survey of India have given Kos Minars protected status and courts have ordered encroachments cleared away.

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