Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
Delhi (Dihlī)
Title
The night bell for the victims of oppression
Short description
The Delhi Sultan had a bell placed at his palace's gate for the victims of oppression to call upon him at night. The anecdote refers to events that would have happened about one hundred years before the author came to Delhi.
Text on source
وكان عادلًا صالحًا فاضلًا، ومن مآثره أنه اشتدَّ في رد المظالم وإنصاف المظلومين، وأمر أن يلبس كل مظلوم ثوبًا مصبوغًا وأهل الهند جميعًا يلبسون البياض، فكان متى قعد للناس أو ركب فرأى أحدًا عليه ثوب مصبوغ، نظر في قضيته وأنصفه ممن ظلمه، ثم أنه أعيا في ذلك فقال: إنَّ بعض الناس تجري عليهم المظالم بالليل وأريد تعجيل إنصافهم، فجعل على باب قصره أسدين مصورين من الرخام، موضوعين على برجين هنالك وفي أعناقهما سلسلتان من الحديد، فيهما جرس كبير، فكان المظلوم يأتي ليلًا فيحرك الجرس فيسمعه السلطان
وينظر في أمره للحين وينصفه [ص. ٣٠٢]
English translation
He [the sultan Šams al-Dīn Lilmaš] was just, pious and of excellent character, and among the commendable actions which are remembered of him was his zeal in redressing wrongs and seeing that justice was done to the oppressed. He gave orders that every person who had been wronged should wear a coloured robe. Now the people of India all dress in white, so when he held public audience or rode out and saw someone wearing a coloured robe he looked into his petition and rendered him his due from his oppressor. Then he carried this practice to extremes saying 'There are some people against whom injustices are committed at night,
and I wish to do justice to them without delay,' so he set up at the gate of his palace two marble statues of lions. These were placed on towers there and hung round their necks were two chains of iron attached to which was a large bell [jaras]. The victim of oppression would come by night and set the bell [jaras] ringing; the Sultan would hear it, look into his case there and then, and see that justice was done by him.
Folios/Pages
630
Date
1225 circa
Observations on the events description
"The cup, bowl, or cone shape bell is known in Arabic as the jaras, whilst the sphereshape bell is called the juljul. On the other hand, jaras also stands for a large bell (campana) and juljul for a small bell (tintinnabulum)" (Ṣand̲j̲, EI-2).
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
Name
Role
Notes
Edit
Delete
Iltutmish, Shams al-Din
Viewer
Sultan
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "The night bell for the victims of oppression" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 16.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
