Kotla: 14th Century fortress gave stadium its name

“The name of the stadium is circumstantial, it’s purely due to its geographical proximity to Feroz Shah Kotla that the stadium was called that. But every time we change a name, we lose association,” said historian Swapna Liddle. Historian Narayani Gupta added, “The stadium happens to be near Kotla and that’s how it got that name.”

In his book, which was updated and annotated by historians Narayani Gupta and Laura Sykes, Spear writes about halls of public and private audience, a deep baoli, a mosque, and Ashoka’s pillar which was transported from Ambala to Firozabad. City chronicler Rana Safvi said, “The palace was used as a prototype by the Mughals… Firozabad was the fifth city of Delhi. Sadly, Kotla is not given any importance now and mostly when people refer to Kotla, they mean the cricket stadium.”

About the name change, history professor Shama Mitra Chenoy said Tughlaq holds a special place in the history of Delhi-NCR. “He built canals, inhabited so many areas, restored the Qutub Minar and Surajkund village. Without him, we would have lost all this. The stadium enjoys such a unique name, why change it?”

The cricket ground is believed to have been established in 1883, and in 1948, the stadium witnessed the first match ever played here. “The stadium is associated with the history of cricket in India, since it’s one of the oldest here,” said historian Sohail Hashmi.