Feroz Shah Kotla was the core of the city of Ferozabad, established in 1354 as an imperial capital by the Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq. Ferozabad, one of the seven cities founded by various rulers at different times in the history of Delhi, was an extensive city. According to the historian Shams Siraj Afif, who lived during Feroz Shah's reign, the buildings of the city stretched in the north as far as the palace or hunting lodge constructed by Feroz Shah on the Northern Ridge (known today as Pir Ghaib). To the south the city extended to site now marked by the Purana Qila or Old Fort. It also grew to be quite populous, and might have contained a population of some 150,000.
The earlier sites of substantial settlement in Delhi had been further south - Lal Kot/ Qila Rai Pithora (now the area around the Qutub Minar), Siri a little to its north-east, and Tughlaqabad in the hills to the south-east. Ferozabad was not only much further north than these three early settlements, it was also the first of the capitals to be built on the bank of the river Yamuna.
Feroz Shah Kotla was the grand and opulent royal citadel of the city. Visitors such as the invader Timur, as well as contemporary chroniclers have left behind glowing descriptions of its buildings. None of the costly stones and gilded and painted features described by them exists today. Apart from the vagaries of time, mankind itself has also been responsible for this ruin. In later centuries, building materials were plundered from here for construction work for the cities to the south (Din Panah and Shergarh) and to the north (Shahjahanabad). Ironically, material for the construction of Ferozabad itslef had come from the older cities of Siri, Jahanpanah, and Lal Kot.
