Hissar
Distance :162kmsfrom Delhi
¤ Prime Centre of Harrappan
Culture
 Hissar
town was one of the prime centres of Harrappan culture. The area has
been associated with ancient Vedic tribes such as Bharatas, Purus,
Kurus, Mujavatas and Mahavrishas. During medieval times it went
through upheavals and conquests, and gained special importance for its
strategic location with regard to Delhi.
¤ Mughal Domination
Feroze Shah Tughlaq contructed a fort here and called it
Hissar-e-Firoza (fort of Feroze) and dug canals from the Yamuna and
Ghaggar rivers to irrigate the dry land. Emperor Akbar made Hissar the
headquarters of the district earlier controlled by Feroze Shah. During
early 19th century the British took Hissar under their
charge alongwith the rest of Haryana.
¤ Hissar- As An Industrial Hub
Today Hissar is the main cotton centre for Haryana. The Hissar
Agricultural University is one of the foremost full-fledged
educational instutions dedicated solely to agriculture
¤ Places of Interest
Feroze Shah’s palace and
fort
He built Hissar from scratch, so he Feroze Shah Tughlaq deserved a
place for himself to live in. The palace is grand structure complete
with a tehkhana (underground chambers) and a mosque. Close to the
mosque lies a mound which is believed to house the ruins of probably
the Harrappan civilisation.
Lat Ki Masjid
built by Feroze Shah Tughlaq is an outstanding example of the
marriage of many different styles. The slightly slanting walls are
characteristic of Suljuk style while the jalis (grids) are assimilated
from the Hindus. A unique mosque, it is distinguished by its lithic
pillar and square chamber, not to mention the shape of the mosque
itself. The mosque is built in an L shape, never seen earlier.
Humayun’s mosque
Not to be sidetracked, this emperor also had to build something or
the other in Hissar. So he got his fellows to build a masjid at
Fatehabad, a stone’s throw from main Hissar town.
Jahaz Kothi
Remember Jahaz Sahib from history, the Irish who ruled Haryana in
1798? Hissar was his land, and he lived here in a magnificent palace
(although not that big compared to Mughal standards). He got the
mughals to make it for him, and so it has the characteristic mughal
touch to it.
Gujri Mahal
This palace is also in ruins, but its baradari (raised platform used
for social gatherings) is in comparitively good state and it is made
of stone taken from the Hindu palaces and temples that the Mughals
destroyed.
Jain Pillar
Outside the fort lies a tiny two-foot high pillar said to belong to
the Jains who consider it sacred. The pillar has the distinctive
diamond-shaped holy symbol of the Jains.
Ancient Mounds
Three mounds from the Harappan period can be found in Banawali,
Kunal and Agroha. The mound in Banawali, 15kms from Fatehabad, reveals
a fortified town (BC 2500 – 1700). Its inhabitants lived in brick
houses and used clay pottery, beads of semi-precious stones and
bangles, worshipping a mother goddess set in terracotta.
The Kunal excavations are pretty similar, although they bring to
light that the Harappans went through three stages of development;
from pit houses to regular rectangular and square dwellings above the
surface.
The Agroha mound goes back to the 3rd century BC and is
where Harappan coins were discovered apart from stone sculptures,
terrracotta seals, iron and copper implements, shells and a host of
other things. However, don’t count on seeing one of these; they’ve
being shifted into museums across the country long ago.
Pranpir Badshah’s Tomb
Situated inside the Government College, this is where the remains of
the spiritual teacher of Sher Bahlol (14th century AD)
lie. Pranpir was a great Sufi saint who foretold that Ghiyas-ud-din
Tughlaq would rule Hndustan from Delhi.
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