Kos Minar: Lost Legacy of Sher Shah Suri

Kos Minar, Jasola Vihar, New Delhi 

After the realignment of Uttarapatha, Sher Shah Suri named the road as "Sadak-e-Azam" or "Badshahi Sadak" now known as GT Road. From Teknaf, Bangladesh on the border with Myanmar west to Kabul, Afghanistan, Sher Shah Suri established many structures along with the road for the convenience of travelers and traders including Dharamshala, Sarai, step-wells, gardens, and kos minar. 

The word Kos Minar is driven from the Sanskrit Kos means "a unit of land distance of various lengths from 1 to 3 miles" and Urdu Minar means "A tower or Turret". Kos Minar functioned as a tower made of various structures and lengths to help travelers to determine the distance. These were plastered solid brick structures standing on a square platform. Each minar soars from a narrow octagonal base with a round pillar, around 30 feet in height. 

The concept of kos minars has been there for centuries. In the third century BC, Mauryan emperor Ashok consolidated Uttarapath, and Dakshinapath silk routes and a few passes. These ancient routes had landmarks which were in form of mud pillars, trees, or even wells, to guide commuters and provide round-the-clock speedy delivery of royal communications and personal secret messages. 

Later in medieval times, Sher Shah Suri gave it a shape and restored the concept, and erected kos minars on Sadak-e-Azam. 

In the Mughal period, kos minars were constructed either of bricks or stone rubble masonry and plastered with lime. 

Today these structures can be found in dilapidated condition in villages, farms, slums, near railway tracks and even in zoos, though it comes under ASI-protected monuments. 

As per the Ain-e-Akbari, there were around 600 minars but now only 110 are left in UP, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, and other places.