Inscription tablet, dark-green sandstone
Eastern India; 1361
H: 103; W: 46.5; D: 9.5 cm
Inventory number 33/2003
The text on the tablet recounts three campaigns made by Firuz Shah III in the period 1357-1359 against various Hindu states in eastern and southeastern India. These campaigns brought treasures, elephants, and hundreds of thousands of Hindu slaves to Delhi. There were also Hindu idols, which were put in front of the mosques so that orthodox Muslims could tread upon them.
Remains of a decoration on the back show that the stone had probably come from a Hindu shrine and had been reused.
The tablet was placed before one of the conquered cities and served as a warning against resisting Tughluqid sovereignty.
Remains of a decoration on the back show that the stone had probably come from a Hindu shrine and had been reused.
The tablet was placed before one of the conquered cities and served as a warning against resisting Tughluqid sovereignty.
Published in
Published in
Will Kwiatkowski: “The David Collection stele: a new source for Firuz Shah Tughluq’s Jajnagar Campaign” in Journal of the David Collection, 3, 2010, pp. 114-129;
Joachim Meyer, Rasmus Bech Olsen and Peter Wandel: Beyond words: calligraphy from the World of Islam, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2024, cat. 85, p. 239;
Joachim Meyer, Rasmus Bech Olsen and Peter Wandel: Beyond words: calligraphy from the World of Islam, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2024, cat. 85, p. 239;