This fort with stepwell was built by the Turkish ruler

 

Feroz Shah Kotla

From the capital to the fort, the Turkish ruler Firoz Shah
Tughluq wanted to leave his name in everything. He built many palaces during
his 37-year reign. One of them is Feroz Shah Kotla. This fort was built in
1354. At that time, the then Turkish rulers were moving the capital from
Tughlaqabad to Firozabad. This fort was built on the banks of Yamuna river to
remove severe water shortage in summer. Inside it was the baoli or stepwell.

But the place had historical importance even before the Middle
Ages. This place was part of the Mauryan Empire during the reign of Emperor
Ashoka in the third century BC. Later Feroze Shah installed a pillar built on
Ashoka's orders inside his fort. During the Maurya period, this pillar was
located in present-day Jamunanagar district of Haryana. At that time it was a
prosperous town of the Maurya Empire. Feroz Shah Tughlaq shifted the pillar
from there. Orientalist James Prinsep deciphered the Prakrit writing in Brahmi
script on the pillar in 1837. Ashoka has said in his inscription, about the
public service work of the Brahmi. He also said that his main goal was the
establishment of religion throughout the empire. Five hundred years after its
transfer to Feroz Shah Kotla, the meaning of this script became known.

Apart from the Jama Masjid, there is a stepwell in the fort
premises. The Yamuna water reached the stepwell through a canal. Groundwater
and river water, two sources were kept alive. So that there is no water problem
even in hot summer. However, this baoli or stepwell is now closed. Entry is
only for research purposes with permission from the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI).

Later, the Mughal dynasty set new heights on the decaying
remnants of the Turkish Empire. During the Mughal period, this fort gradually
lost its glory. But it was still a historical architecture. Rather, this
medieval fort is known as 'ghostly' in modern India!