Firuz Shah Tughluq’s siege of Nagarkot (Kangra)

01The siege

Kangra, on its ridge above the Banganga and the Patalganga, had been taken by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1009 and recovered by the Hindu kings in 1043. In 1361 Firuz Shah besieged it for some months. Raja Rup Chand of the Katoch house finally came out, submitted, and was allowed to keep his throne as a tributary. Firishta says the sultan then visited the temple of Jwalamukhi nearby.

02The library of Jwalamukhi

Firishta records that the temple held a large collection of Sanskrit books, which Firuz took to Delhi and had some of them translated into Persian. One, a work on astronomy and natural philosophy, was rendered as the Dalail-i-Firuz Shahi. The Katoch house survived as rulers of Kangra into the nineteenth century, and the fort was held again by the Mughals and then by Ranjit Singh’s Sikh kingdom.

Place · Ancient Shakti Peetha; dome gilded by Maharaja Ranjit SinghJwalamukhi TempleThe Shakti Peetha in Kangra where the Devi is worshipped as flames that burn from cracks in the rock, with no murti at all. Tradition says the tongue of Mata Sati fell here.Read →