Mughal-era Kos Minar in the Delhi National Zoo

By-ibneazhar-aik-kos-monument-lahore-pakistan-1 15978367131 o 20

The Kos Minars (translated: ''Mile Pillars'') are

medieval India Medieval India was a long period of post-classical history in the Indian subcontinent between the ancient and modern periods. It is usually regarded as running approximately from the break-up of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century to the star ...

n milestones along the

Grand Trunk Road Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sadak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sadak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. It r ...

on the northern

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

that were introduced by the 16th-century

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

ruler

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...

of the

Sur Empire The Sur Empire was an empire ruled by the Afghan (ethnonym), Afghan-origin Sur dynasty in North India, northern India for nearly 16 or 18 years, between 1538/1540 and 1556, with Sasaram (in modern-day Bihar) serving as its capital. It was fou ...

. Kos Minars were erected to serve as markers of distance along royal routes from

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

, Agra to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, and from Agra to

Mandu Mandu may refer to: Geographic toponyms * Mandu River, a river in Minas Gerais, Brazil * Mandu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, a village * Mandu, Madhya Pradesh, a ruined city in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, India * Mandu, Jharkhand, ...

in the south. Most of the Kos Minars are present in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

, and

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

by the roadsides, railway tracks, paddy fields and in many towns and villages. Kos Minars were described as a "marvel of India" by early European travellers such as

Sir Thomas Roe Sir Thomas Roe ( 1581 – 6 November 1644) was an English diplomat of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Roe's voyages ranged from Central America to India; as ambassador, he represented England in the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Emp ...

and have been labeled as an integral part of India's "national communication system" by

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

Characteristics

kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

in Sanskrit is one fourth of a

yojana A yojana (Devanagari: योजन; Khmer language: យោជន៍; ; ) is a measure of distance that was used in ancient India, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. Various textual sources from ancient India define Yojana as ranging from 3.5 to 15& ...

,Arthashastra, Chanakya, 4th century BCE, pp151
/ref> an

ancient India Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentism, Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; ...

n unit of distance. It represented a distance of approximately . Minar is an Arabic word for tower, related to

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

. Kos Minars are solid round pillars, around 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.

History

Maurya period

In the third century BC, emperor

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

improved existing routes linking his capital city

Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

in the east and

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

via

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

in the west and further to Balkh. These routes had landmarks in the form of mud pillars, trees or wells to guide commuters.

Sur period

The 16th-century

ruler

introduced improved brick pillars plastered over with lime at every kos. The minars thus came to be called as Kos minars.

Mughal period

Abul Fazl Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (14 January 1551 – 22 August 1602), also known as Abul Fazl, Abu'l Fadl and Abu'l-Fadl 'Allami, was an Indian writer, historian, and politician who served as the grand vizier of the Mughal Empire from his appointment ...

recorded in '' Akbar Nama'' that in the year 1575 AD,

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

issued an order that, at every kos on the way from Agra to

, a pillar or a minar should be erected for the comfort of the travelers. In addition, many

caravanserais A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a variety of names inc ...

(roadside inns) were built for travelers. Later emperors such as

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

continued to add to the network of Kos Minars. In the Mughal period, there were around 600 minars. In the north, they were extended as far as

and in the east to

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

via

Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...

Deterioration and preservation

As the British introduced

Imperial units The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed thr ...

and later, independent India adopted the

International System of Units The International System of Units, internationally known by the abbreviation SI (from French ), is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. It is the only system of measurement with official s ...

, the kos unit of measurement and consequently these minars went out of use. The monuments gradually went into a state of disrepair, as contemporary people ignored their significance. Only 110 Kos minars are left. According to a report of the

Archaeology Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

, there are 49 in

alone. There are also seven Kos Minars in

Jalandhar district Jalandhar district is a district in Doaba region of the state of Punjab, India. The district headquarters is the city of Jalandhar. Before the Partition of India, Jalandhar was also the headquarters of the Jalandhar Division, with constituent ...

and five around

Ludhiana district Ludhiana district is one of the 23 districts in the Indian state of Punjab. It is Punjab's largest district by both area and population. Ludhiana, the largest city in Punjab, is the district headquarters. The main industries are bicycle parts ...

in Punjab. Conservation work of Kos Minars situated in

started in 2016. Grill fencing was erected at each minar to protect the original structure of Minar. Restoration work for nine Kos Minars near

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...

began in 2018. The Archaeological Survey of India has given Kos Minars protected status and courts have ordered encroachments cleared away.

Photo Gallery

Kos_Minar,_Mughalpura,_Lahore.jpg, Mughalpura, Lahore, Pakistan Kos_Minar,_Manhala,_Lahore.jpg, Manhala, Lahore, Pakistan Old Grand Trunk Road.jpg, Taxla, Pakistan (old G.T.Road) Mughal-era Kos Minar in the Delhi National Zoo.jpg, Delhi Zoo, India Kos Minar, Uppal.jpg, Jalandhar, India Mughal Kos Minar.jpg, Dakkhni, Jalandhur, India Mughal milestone.jpg, UP, India Kos minar,tirawadi,karnal.JPG, Tarawri, Karnal, India Kos_Minar_,_the_Milestone.JPG, Karnal, India Kos Minar 001.jpg,

, India Kos Minar-Ambala-Haryana-DSC1922.jpg,

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...

, Haryana, India

References

{{reflist, 30em Buildings and structures completed in the 16th century Road transport in India Buildings and structures of the Mughal Empire Monuments and memorials in India Ruins in India History of transport in India Archaeological monuments in Uttar Pradesh Monuments and memorials in Punjab, India Road signs in India Historical markers 16th-century establishments in India Road signs in Pakistan Ruins in Pakistan History of transport in Uttar Pradesh Milestones