POLITICS AND SOCIETY

DURING THE
EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD
Collected Works
of
Professor Mohammad Habib
Vol. Two
Edited by Professor K. A. Nizami
Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History
Aligarh Muslim University
Price: Rs. 150.00
Printed by Jiten Sen at the New Age Printing Press, Rani Jhansi Road, Ne,,: Delhi:
11 "nel nnblished bv him for People's Publishing House (Pl Ltd" R<lDI Jhanl
INTRODUCTION
volume of'Professor Habib's collected works covered three
. Approach and Method, 2. India and the Asiatic Environ-
S; Medieval Mysticism..
volume deals with the political history of medieval
important events and personalities trom the Arab
to the middle of the fourteenth century. It contains
assessment of the main political figures of medieval
nr()vHiP" a fresh perspective for the study of the attitudes
ieVemlents of the medieval Sultans. These articles were written
of 46 years (from 1924 to 1970). As is perfectly under-
on many matters underwent a change dming this
his .basic approach remained unaltered, his tools
and interpretation changed. In his earlier contribu-
is absolutely no reference to Dialectical Materialism, but
articles (e.g. Introduction to Elliot arid Dowson's flis-
reHect an attempt to interpret medieval Indian His-
of Marxist theories.
articles which Professor Habib wrote on themes con-
medieval Indian history but could not be included in this
to copyright difficulties, are the following conh'ibutions
volume of the Comprehensive History of Indi-a: chapter 1:
Environment (Comprehensive History, pp. 1-131), chap-
IX: Nasiruddin Khusrau Khan (Comprehensive History,
V Section IV: Successors of Firuz Shah Tughluq
pp. 620-629).
on Envil'Onment he has dealt with the rise
the nature of the governing class among the M us-
the role of the Khwarazmian Empire, the rise
the Mongol invasion of 'Ajam, the Qa'ans and the
uluses and Amir Timur. Professor Habib was of the view
a proper understanding of medieval Indian History, it is
to follow the march of events in Cenh'al Asia and Persia.!
always thought that the IntroductOiy chapter should provide de-
to the main study, It was at his instance that a long introductory
and Politics in India during the thirteenth Century was devoted by
of "the political expansion and ideological integration of Islam till
. Sir Hamilton Gibb, however, did not agree with the need of such
iv
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
Once when the scope of the Vth volume of the His-
tory of India was being informally discussed, Ram
Sharma expressed his doubt about the need and deSlfablhty of a
lengthy Introduction. Professor Habib's reply was that for a
understanding of the ideals of the Sultans and the ot thea
administrative institutions it wa5 necessary to keep m Vlew the evo-
lution of Islamic It is in the broad framework of Asiatic
and Islamic history that the institutional
India can be properly appreciated. The chafter on Aswttc. Envtron-
ment in the Comprehensive History of Indw IS by. a
critical evaluation of the stages of development m polIty
and provides a veritable background to the undel:standmg of the
administrative and political institutions of the I?elhl Sultanate. The
section dealing with the Mongols not to the
character and personality of Chenglz and Tlmur, but a
mlcresting assessment 01 the Mongol institutions and It IS
practically impossible to appreciate nature and magrutude of
Mongol problem without an insight. the of the rIse
ot Mongols and their social and mlhtary . ..
The article on Nasiruddin Khusrau Khan IS based on an mClSlve
analysis of the circumstances tha.! led to the of the
nature of his government. Baram s account gIves the that
the rise of the Baradu (or PaI'Waris) was a successful assertion of
Hindu pressure groups to snatch power from Muslim
fessor Habib has shown the baselessness of such an ImpreSSIOn.
Dr. R. P. Tripathi was the first to hint that the nature or the coup
was not communa1.3 Professor Habib has dealt with the
thoroughly in the light of contemporaI'y sources. He up hIS
assessment of the rise of Khusrau Khan in the follow1llg words:
"The Baradu insulTection is important because it brought about a
',' . th Empire of Delhi during the period of its greatest strength,
CrIsIS me.. . the
b
.. . the j'ole of monarchy it was not a cnSlS tn
ut tt was a cnstS tn '. "( 448\
role of Islam or of Hinduism or in Hindu-Muslim relatwns p. If
He has dismissed BaI'anrs account of Khusrau Khan figment 0
hb imagination. This chapter is, in fact, a valuable crItique of the
2. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, pp. 410-413. Inspired by Ba,:",i's account Ish:v
ari
Prasad remarks: "Khusrau's object was to re-establish Hmdu supremacy. (MedIeVal
India, p. 220). , _1
Some A;llects of MusUm AdmiU1stmtwn, p. 54. Stanley Lane-Poole (Medlevu.
under Mohammedan Rule, London, p. 119) had some vague realization of fue
non-communal character of t!)is development when he observed: "The reign of an
unclean pariah was as revolting to the Hindus as t? Mu_slims." But },e
could not analyze the reasons for this. Professor Habib s analysIs IS sharp and penetra-
ting.
v
. of medieval India and shows how pre-
predlledion of a contemporary writer can blur historical
dealing ,:ith the successors Firuz Shah Tughluq
nahlre of a bnef resume of the main developments of the
other aI'ticles of Professor Habib which could not be m-
this volume aI'e those which are not relevant to the theme
in this volume. 1n 1924 he contributed to Swarajya an article
origin of the Purdah system"; sometime later an article
in the Aligal'h MagaZine on 'Mahatma Gandhi as a Man
. Professor Habib wrote a long aIticle dealing
admmlstrahve system of model'll Persia4 and in 1933 an-
aI'ticle on fhe administration of justice in model'll Persia.5 In
he contributed an article on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad under
title 'The RevolutionaI'y Maulana' to the Abul Kalam Azad
Volume edited by Professor Humayun Kabir.6
PrAf<.ce,",,' Habib's forte as a historian is his exceptionally powerful
imagination buttressed by a meticulous study ot the origi-
material and mastery of minute details. As he wades
the contemporary accounts, his mind starts conjuring up
of the bygone societies and he lives in that atmosphere till
concept and elusive picture becomes clear to him.
neither in pedantic quantification of data nor in that
scaHolding of which obscure the main structure
Guided by the creative spark of his fertile imagination,
nllrrr",,,p, the spirit of an age as a background against which he
his characters. While discussing the character and value
Mahmud's work he says: "All men are more or less the product
their environment, and a rational criticism of Mahmud's work must
with an eXaIllination of the spirit of his age." (p. 66). Not only
4. Published in The Muslim University Journal, Vol. J, No.4, April-July 1932,
447-527. He concludes his article (hus: "The adminL.trative system of the coun-
the importance of which in the progress of a nation cannot he ignored, has been
ne."Alr.Diru" with malvellous rapidity. It has still many defects and shortCOmings, and
commented upon them in detail. But they should not blind us to 1he colossal
the pahlavi regime during the first decade of its existence, Neither Ardesher
nor Shah Abbas Safavi-perhaps not even Akbar the Great-accomplished
that can be compared with its administrative achievements." (p. 527). Little
Habib realise at !:hat time that within less than half a century the
in Iran would become a tale of the past. This article, though based
documents and state papei"s, gives too good a certificate to the Pahlavi
5. Islamic Culture, Vol. I, April, July, Odober 1933.
6. Moolana Abu! Kalam Azad..-A Memorial Volume, Asia 1959, pp. 79-100.
vi Politics and Society dllring tl,e Early Medieval' Period
in his study of Mahmud but in all other studies, Professor Habib
has gone deep into the spirit of the age and all his characters which.
have been painted with this background are so lively and real that.
one can view them in their proper perspective without any difficulty.
Professor Habib is no doubt parsimonious in foot-notes but that
does not mean that he wrote without reference to authorities. He used
to read the contemporary authorities over and over again. He then
took down detailed notes from them and, haVing assimIlated all that
they contained, transfened his ideas to paper. His prodigious me-
mory made it possible to mlalyse and synthesize his data in any
framework that he designed for his study. He worked so hard before
writing on any subject that he felt completely exhausted when he
finished his work. unce he told me that none of his main contribu-
tions-onMahmud ot Ghazni, Amir Khusrau of Delhi, Ziauddin
tlarahi etc.-exceeded 100-125 pages; the reason being that he work-
ed on a theme so long as his imagination supported him. He disdained
dilating on a theme unnecessmily. As soon as he had effectively pre- .
sented the essence of his investie:ations to the reader, he felt satis-
tied and put down his pen. He did not believe in hi;tory being an
agglomeration. of incoherent details. For him it meant insight into
the spirit of an age. If conflicting data ever seemeJ to weaken his
hypothesis, hE' il1l1ocently remarked: "The fault liespm"tly with the
tacts themselves for they have aI, unfortunate habit of going wrong"
(p. 124), and pushed his thesis further.
Professor Habib wrote only when he had something new to say;
some new perspective to prOVide or some fresh approach to suggest.
It IS for this reason that his ,major works have prOVided inspiration
to scholars to pursue the themes fur"ther. If his study of Sultan Mah-
IToUd of Ghazni prOvided the perspective to Dr. Mohd. Nazim, his
brjef monograph on Khusrau encouraged Dr vVahid Mirza to carry
tlle study furtlrer. His article on Muhammad bin Tughluq inspired
Agha Mahdi Husain. Professor Habib will remain a pioneer in all
these studies. A pioneer is bound to have his shortcomings and Pro-
feswr Habib's studies cannot be considered perfect or final and for
the matter ot that no work can claim perfection or finality-but he
showed the way and l&ter generations owe a debt to his scholarship
tor having opened fresh vistas of knowledge and provided new angles
tor the :;tudy of medieval Indian history: .
Professor Habib laid great emphaSiS on effective presentation. He
worked over his articles meticulously, like an artist. His search for
ap)"'lOpriate words continued till the exposition became pedect and
absorbing. He told me once that he had revised his study of Sultan
Mahmud a dozen times before sending it for publication.
Habib's approach in his articles on the 'Arab Conquest
and 'Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni' seems to have been deter-
his conviction that the abstract principles of creeds should
"Ol.u"'lll" "from the motives actually g"oveming the lives of the
of theiJ (p. 1). He believed that neither the Omayyad
of Smd nor the Ghaznavid invaders of India represented
of Islam in their political attitudes and hehaviour.
as a world force is to be ind!!ed bv the life of the Prophet
policy of the Second Caliph" (P. 78). He has shown that the
, motive of the lives of the rulers that followed the "Ortho-
,Caliphs" was not Islam. They had mund,ane motives and fought
.econjlm:ic, reasons. "The missionarv zeal of the earlier Muslims
evaporated in the signal success it had achieved', and the creed
pad ,come. into the world for the elevation. of the lower classes
being used as a bulwark for the protection of vested interests
. ,continuation of the time-honoured abuses" (n: 37). He
,in the secular character of all Muslim political organizations
states after the fall of the Khilafat-i-Rashida. .
a time. when the history of medieval India was being interpreted
terms and Muslim rulers were being presented in re-
colours, Professor Habib gave a new dimension to historical
by emphasizing that economic and imperialistic 'consider-
tiran religiOUS zeal was the inspiring motive of the lives
Sultans and that the adminish'ation of the Sultanate was
ar When he came across Fatawa--i-/ahandari wherein
says that !"tllers have to frame zawabit which have no-
to do with Sha'l'i'at laws, he had the greatest historian of me-
India on his side. He criticised remarks alfainst tire
the low-born people, but appreciated his clear
vision in assessing the real nature of the administrative
of the Sultanate.
The Arab conquest of Sind, compared with Mahmud's wanton
destnlCtion in India,7 represented a better and more liberal approach
to some of tlle fundamental problems of religion and nolitics. "An
'effic:ient of the cou'ntry was impossible", he ohserves.
"withQut . the help of the most talented and experienced men; and
Qasim, who was free from the sterile fanaticism
8
of
------
shed innocent blood), Ain-i Akbm'i II, p. 198.
Charge of 'sterile fanaticism' the Sultans 'is hardly sustainable. Even
of Ghur had to make adjustments with the native population. The
viii Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
the later Ghaznavid and Ghurial1 Turks, freely appointed Hindus to
the highest (p. 14). He has highlighted the principles that
gui.ded the Arab ('onquerors and remarked: (a) "He (Muhammad bin
appointed people from among the villagers and the chief
cilIzens to collect the fixed taxes from the cities and villages, that
there might be a feeling of strength and protection" (p. 15). (b) To
a query of Muhammad bin Qasim, Hajjaj replied: "Nobody must be
forbidden or prevented from following his religion. They may live in
their houses ill whatever manner they like" (p. 17). Summing up the
role of Muhammad bin Qasim in Indian history, Professor Habib
observes: "Alone among the many Muslim invaders of India, Mu-
hammad Qasim is a character of whom a conscientious MU$alman
need not be ashamed"9 (p. 23). This observation seems to have been
based on the following assessment: "He (Muhammad bin Qasim)
seems to have felt keenly that Islam as a relillion would be judged
by the behaviour of the Arabs and he did all he could to obtain the
goodwill of the Indians for his government as well as his faith" (p. 24).
Regardinf! jizya which was levied bv Muhammad bin Qasim, Pro-
fessor Habib has an explanation to offer: "The iizya, conceived as a
tax on a non-Muslim or_ remaininf! a non-Muslim, can be regarded
as fair and just only by tho:;e who stand to p'ain by its imposition. But
it must be confessed, that as interpreted by Muhammad Oasim, it
lost much of its invidiousness" (p 24).10 Explaining the position fur-
ther in a foot note (p. 31) he says: "That Muhammad Qasim's jizua
was a tax and told heavilv on the people, we can hardly
doubt. It was, nevertheless, accepted by the conquered population
with a of relief. They had expected the destruction of their
temples and the of their civilization and were surprised to find
that the Arah conquest meant only one tax more. Nor was the reli-
gious aspect of the tax so objectionable in the eighth century a.s today
we might be inclined to think, if it was a on non-MuslIms for
remn.ining non-Muslims, it was also (as interpreted by the second
Caliph ;1nd Muhammad Oasim) a means of conferring on the non-
Muslims the legal and political status of the Muslims."
Hindu rajas of Delhi and Ajmer were continued even after the conquest of thSse
regions. The coins of Slunabuddin have the figure of goddess Lakshmi on it. Barring
Firuz Shah Tughluq and Sikandar Lodi no other Sultan ever gave expression to fana-
tical views even as personal bias, let alone as State policy. Professor Habib himself
believed in this but, in this context, his remark is inspired by a comparative assess-
mmt of the broad and tolerant policy of the Arab conqueror of Sind.
9. But why should any Musalman be proud or ashamed of any Muslim ruler's actions?
Every one acled in a particular situation, inspired by his own selfish interests. Posterity
should try to understand, rather than condemn or defend, them. .
10. On page 28, f. n. 12 Malunud bin Qasim should btl rearl as Muhammad blO
Qasim, It is a printinr, lIlista\<e,
Ix
of the character-sketches in the article on the Arab Conquest
are sharp and penetrating. He observes about Hajjaj: "The
. blo.o,d never he is one of the greatest mur-
In hIstory. dId It allure him. and he was entirely
. that mor!nd cravI.ng for the sight of human suffering in
alone. ChengIz and TImur could nnd their happiness." (p. 6).
praIses another quality of Hajjaj: "The zeal of an intolerant
was as alien to his mind as the revolutionary and democratic
of the second Caliph (Hazrat Omar), who had stubbornly
to. tolerate inequality in any form" (p. 5).
article, despite all the inSight displayed in it, was written
an extensive use of the Arab accounts of Sind and Hind. In
the full of Chach Namah was not available in print.ll
edItion of Chach Namah appeared in 1939, ten vears
publication of this article. Furthermore Professor Habib was
to give either as epilogue to his article on Arab Conquest
or as prologue to his study of Mahmud, an account of Indo-
. contacts to bring to fuJI lil!ht the nature of Arab relations with
particularly trade relations, presence of Arab colonies on
areas, the role of hllnarman in Indo-Muslim community life
sin.ilar aspects of medieval Indian culture. Later on con-
work appeared in Urdu on Indo-Arab relations, while the
of Geniza records brought new facts to light. Anart from
Sulaiman Nadvi's classical work Amb wa Hind kay
raltuaat,l:< Maulana Athar Mubarakpuri's volumes on Arab States
and Indo-Arab Relations during the early period
13
have pro-
very illuminatin!! background to the Arab rule in Sind. Not-
the fact that Professor Habib did not have access to
of the material which has recently come to light, his article
a perspective which helps us in understandini! many later deve-
The accounts of the Arabs in Sind as [!'iven by Maulana
Mubarakpuri, Francisco Gabrieli.I4 N. M. BilIimoria
15
and
throw valuable light on Muhammad bin Qasim and his work
Sind.
Again, the chief value of Professor Habib's studv of Sultan
n. All references to Chach Namah in Professor Habib's article are from Elliot and
History of India. Vol. I. pp. 131-211.
Kalichbeg Fredunbig's English translation, appeared in 1900 (Commissioner's
Karachi), but it has not been referred to by Professor Habib.
Hindustan Academy, Allahabad, 1930.
Arab-wa-Hind Ahd-i Risalat main, Delhi 1965; Hindu.,tan main Arbon k:i haku-
Delhi 1967; Islami Hind ki azmut-i rafta, Chapter III, pp. 91-"131.
EMt and West, XV, 1004-65, pp. 281-295, "Muhammad ibn Qasim a!h-Thaqafi
the Ara1:i Conquest of Sind".
15. Journal of the Smd HiStorical Society, June 1.9.38, pp. 7-42.
x
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
Mahmud lies in its perspective. He has shown that the Sultan who
is extolled by some as a religious hero, was really fighting for the
greed of gold and glory. "His outlook on life", he remarks, "was es-
sentially secular." (p. 45). The inspiring motive of his life was not
Islam but the spirit of Persian Renaissance. "The non-religiOUS cha-
racter of the expeditions", he observes, "will be obvious to the critic
who has grasped the salient features of the spirit of the age. They
were not ('rusades but secular exploits waged for the greed of glory
and gold. It is impossible to read a religious motive in them." (p. 77).
Then looking at the campaigns from the Islamic point of view, he
ren!arks: "Islam sanctioned neither the vandalism nor the plunder-
ing motives of the invader; no principle known to the Shal'i'at justi-
fied the uncalled for attack on Hindu princes who had done Mahmud
and his subjects no harm ... " (p. 7S). Regarding Mahmud's place in
Indian history, Professor Habib is constrained to remark: "With the
proper histOlT of our ('ounh-y Mahmud has nothing to do. But we
have inherited from him the most bitter drop in our cup." (p. SO).
The first Indian historian who drew attention to this impact of
Mahmud's invasions 01'. Indian mind was Maulana Zakaullah of
Delhi who remarked: 16
. -; f .
... ,
Dr. Nazim17 is of the view that Zakaullah's argument was adopt-
ed and amplified by Professor Habib. It is true, but Professor Ha-
bib's delineation ot'the spirit of Persian Renaissance which Mahmud
and Firdausi represented in their respective spheres, is original and
penetrating and provides an explanation for the political behaviour
of Mahmud. In fact Professor Habib was inspired by Alberuni who'
makes the following observation about the impact of Mahmud's
invasions on Indian mind:
"Mahmud utterly ruined the prosperitv of the country, and
performed these wondeIful explOits, by which the Hindus
became like atoms of dust scattered in all directions, and
like a tale of old in the mouth of the people. Their scat-
tered remains cherish, of course, the most inveterate aver-
sion towards all Muslims."18
Some of the remarks of Professor Habib have heen elaborated bv
later modern wliters. For instance, he observes:
16. Tarikh-i Hinau>lall, Vol. I, p. 304.
17. The Life and Times of Sultan Mahmud of Gha.na, p. 162.
l/l. A,lberuni's India, Vol. I, p. 2Z. .
from being a missionary, he (Mahmud) was not even
though like a clever man with a clear eye to his
profit, he fought with Hindus and Musalmans alike
the extension of his empire." (p. 44).
the same idea, Dr. Nazim writes:
he harassed the Hindu rajas of India, he did not spare
Muslim sovereigns of Iran and Transoxiana. The drama
plunder and bloodshed that was enacted in the sacred
Doab was repeated with no less virulence on the
of the Mount Damawand and the banks of the river
Religious considerations rarelv carry weight with a
and the Sultan does not' appear to have been
by them in his schemes of conquest."19
Habib's study of Sultan Mahmud's character and cam-
is no doubt revealing and perceptive and provides a perspec-
the analysis of the Ghaznavid role in Indian history, but it
stated that Professor Habib did not have access to as many
contemporary and early sources as Dr. Nazim or Dr.
had. In meticulous study of the details of Mahmlld's life
Nazim far excels Habib; Bosworth's Central Asian
is stronger than Habib's, though his analysis of the spirit
is cursory.
Habib'; observations: "Mahmud was no pahilwan; feats
prowess were beyond his strength" (p. 44) or that
seldom, if ever, shared the hard life of his soldiers," (p.
contradicted by historical facts. Mahmlld usually plunged
into the thickest part of the battle.
2o
It is said that he re-
seventy two cuts and wounds during his numerous wars.21
of Multan he killed so many of the enemy that his hand
to the hilt of his sword with congealed blood and had
lUlJmerse:u in a bath of hot water before it could be 100sened.22
and T,mes of Sultan Mal!mud of Ghazna, pp. 163-164.
129; Farruklti, f. 8b as cited by M. Nazirn.
Amab f. 246a.
xii Politics and Society during the Early MedievaL period
He was known for the use of the sword and qalachU1'i.
23
According
to Shabankara'i, he had a mace of 60 mans weight which he could
whirl round his head and throw 20 gaz.
24
.
Similarly Professor Habib's remark that administrative questions
never interested Mahmud (p. 71) is contradicted by 'Utbi.
24a
An im-
pOltant fact which escaped Professor Habib's notice but which, ac-
cording to Alberuni facilitated Mahmud's Indian campaigns was the
consh'uction of roads by Subuktigin. "In the interest of his succes-
sors", remarks Alheruni, "he constructed, in order to weaken the
Indian frontier, those roads on which afterwards his son Yamin Ab-
daullah Mahmud marched into India during a period of thirty years
and more."25
,"Vhile discussing the spirit of the Persian Renaissance, Professor
Habib has referred to Shaikh S8'di's works and observed: "" .Sa'di's
Gulistan has taught to the children of later generations-a wisdom
essentially selfish in its outlook and superbly unconscious of all
higher aims" (pp. 67-68). This observation, though inspired by
Browne,26 is hardly justified. Assessments of Sa'di's teachings his
position in Muslim Calendar were entirely different in medIeval
India and thb appraisal of Gulistan is totally unwarranted. Shaikh
Nasiruddin Chiragh27 and descendants of Shaikh Hamiduddin Na-
ganri28 looked upon him as a mystic teacher par excellence who
believed and practiced higher values of religion and morality. To
attribute Maehiavellian ethics to him, as Browne has done, is to
misunderstand and misinterpret the entire spirit of his work.
"The contemporaries of Mahmlld", observes Professor Habib, "were
aware of no difference between the lessons of the Shah Namah and
the principles }f the Quran" (p. 67). Notwithstanding all the emin-
ence enjoyed by Shah Namah in medieval times, it is an exaggera-
tion. It would be nearer truth to say that the political powers
derived their inspiration from the Shah Namah and' not the Quran,
but to say th9.t the contemporaries were not aware of any difference
between the two would be hardlv correct.
Identification of some geoflraphical places, and persons also, in
Professor Habib's study of Sultan Mahmud needs correction. Dr.
.Nazim has observed on the basis of contemporary evidence that Pro-
23. Adab ul Harb, pp. 267-8.
24. As cited by Bosworth, The Choznadds, p. 120.
24a. Tarikh-; Yamini, Lahore, ed. p. 304.
25. Alberunis India, tr. Sachau, Vol. I, p. 22.
26. Literary History of Persia, Vol. II, Cambridge 1;'. 526.
27. Khai"ul Majalis, p. 7.
28. Sartlr-us S'ldur (MS),
close to Nahlwala or Patan
refers to 'the ruler of. the Upper Sind' as Shaikh
(p. 47). As is evident from Mas'udi30 and others it
not Lad!. Raverty had pOinted out long ago this mistake
by some earlier historians also.3l
to Professor Habib about some place
IS mterestmg and may be quoted here: .
and your masterly study of Sultan
of Ghazl1l1l, a copy of which was sent to me bv
.. Rushbrook Williams. It is one of the most illD'-
studies of that conqueror and his peliod which I
ever seen ...
. very little criticisms to offer. Some of the place
call for remark. I think, for instance, that Waillind
satisfactorily idelttified with Und, and Gorkan
be Gurgan, the dish'ict to the east of the southern
of the Caspian. This is the modern spelling and vocali-
of the name and tllat it has not changed is establish-
the forms J wian and J urgan used by the Arab geo-
who nearly always use to represent as
for Gilan. V '
mysterious colony of Khurasanis, exiled from Persia to
,by Mrasiyab calls for some explanation. It is incon-
that such a colony should have remained, during
centwies, aloof from the people of the country in
had settled. They must have been absorbed by
social system, even as the Sakas, the Jats, the
the white Huns, and other invaders were 9.bsorbed.
in the Cambridge History of India, that
in fact one of Persis. They may have told
story to Sultan Ibrahim in order to conceal
him the fact that they were the descendants of those
. fled from their native land rather tltan embrace Islam.
'not, of course pretend that this can be proved, but it
oilly explanation of the existence of a Persian Colony
to me, for the story of their expulSion by Afra-
I think, be regarded as mythical. .. "
on "Indian Culture and Social Life at the Time of the
Vol. I, pp. 152-228), Professor Habib has survey-
and Times of Su!tan Mahmud of Chazna, pp.214-2l8.
. Zahab, pp. 234-385.
p.. 1\25.
xiv
Poliiics and Society dW'ing the Early Medieval Period
ed the Indian social scene in the light of Alberuni's Kitab-ul Hind,
using Manu and Kautaliya as corroborative evidence for the state-
ments of Alberuni. He lays his finger on the caste-system as the
basic cause of Indian failure
32
in the face of Turkish invasions.
"The Ghurian conquest of Northem India, when all factors are kept
in mind", he observes, "can be explained by one fact only-the
caste-system and all that it entails; the degeneration of the oppres-
sor and the degeneration of the oppressed, .priest craft, king-craft,
idol-worship with its degrading cults, the economic and spiritual ex-
plOitation of the multitude, the division of the people into small
water-tight sub caste groups resulting in the total annihilation .of any
sense of common citizenship or of loyalty to the country as a whole."
(I, p. 155). In his Inb'oduction to Elliot and Dowson's History of
India, (Vol. I, pp. 33-110) he developed this theme further and point-
ed out that the Turkish conquest of northem India "was not a con-
quest, properly so called. This was a tum over of public
sudden tum-over, no doubt, but still one that was long over due. (I,
p. 72). He then makes two other observations:
(a) "The essence of the social question was this. Face to
face with the social and economic provision of the
Shari'at and the Hindu Smritis as practical altematives,
the Indian city worker preferred the Shari'at. And the
decision of the City-Worker was decisive ... " (I, p. 72).
(b) "Viewed ill a proper scientific and non-communal pers-
o pective in the context of and of futw.:
e
Indian history, the so-called Ghurian conquest of IndIa
was really a revolution of Indian City labour led by the
Ghurian Turks," (I, p. 73).
Both these statements need to be further substantiated and investi-
gated. The concept of and "ci.ty as organized
sources or systems for the expresslOn of publIc opimon seems doubt-
ful and anachronistic. Situation as described in (a) above cannot ex-
plain the establishment, though it can throw some light on the con-
tinuance of Turkish rule in India. Shari'at and Smritis could hardly
be the basis of any such decision at that early stage. With mere
theoretical position neither the Hindus were concemed nor the
Mllslims. The caste-ridden society of India could have the
social principles of Islam in operation only after the establishment
32. This been developed by Nizami in Religion Gnd Politics in India
ing the thilteenth century. Dr. Buddba Prakash has. with this analYSIS m
Some Aspects of Indian Culture on the Eve of Mushm InvaSIOns (The Research Bul-
letin (Arts) of the Universitll of the l'anjab), No. XXXIX, (VII) 1962.
xv
; ,Turkish rule. Military factors rather than theoretical postulates
the success of Turkish arms in India.
lJe,veJlonin!!: his thesis of the Urban Revolution he remarks:
"We have, in view of all these circumstances, no altemative
but to conclude that the acceptance . of Islam by the City
workers was a decision of local professional groups, and in
making their decisions they were naturally more concem-
ed with mundane affairs and their position in the social
order than with abstract theological truths ... " (Vol. I,
p. 77).
" The portion in italics contradicts Professor Habib's views as express
.earlier and the concept of Urban Revolution needs further subs-
Habib's use of Marxist tools for interpretation of me-
Indian history, in his later articles, is interesting no doubt but
can read between the lines there is a realization of the futility
such tools of interpretation. If his Marxism was plus God and
violence, one should search for another name for his histo-
Commenting on Professor Habib's application of
theories to medieval Indian history, Dr. P. Hardy remarks:
. Significant feature of Professor Habib's Marxist interpretation
medieval Indian history is not that Marxism has absorbed Islam
that Islam has absorbed Marxism."33 Be it as it may, the fact is
Professor Habib had to use whip and spur in his narrative to
nn'Or1lll(,p. Marxist theories which, in any case, could not be applied
to medieval Indian historv.
Habib's article on Shihabuddin of Ghur, though mainly
on Tabaqat-i Nasiri, brings to light some very interesting
of the Ghurian polity. "Vhile examining the features of the
of Ghur he makes a very thought-provoking observation:
"Behind the Ghurian .empire there was no imperial idea,
no conception of kingdom, state or even government of
any sort. Historical parallels are dangerous, but if we ignore
mere difference in size, the institution that approaches the
Shansabani kingdom most closely is the jOint-family system
of the Hindus." (p. 124).
'Kr-'""rrt"mg the Karamiyan sect,34 which represented the popular
of Ghur, Ghaliistan and the area around it, he remarks:
Karamis were neither Sunnis nor Shias; they were Muslim
Historians of India, Pakistan and Ceylon, p. 309.
For sources about Karamis, K. A. Nizami, Supplement to Elliot and Dowson's
of India, Vol. II.
xvi Politics and Society during the Emly Medieval Period
pagans. Allah was to sit on His throne just as Buddha (before Him)
had sat on his lotus." (p. 128). These views about Ghuxiau polity and
religion deserve to be worked out in the broader frame-work of In-
dian cultural influences in Afghanistan. Lately some comprehensive
discussions of the Karamis have appeared in journals and attention
has been drawn to many earlier sources about the religious and
social attitude of the Karamis but no attempt has so far been made
to study in depth the impact of Buddhist traditions on them.
According to Professor Habib it was the mystic movement of
Shaikh Abdul Qadir Gilani which brought about a cha.nge in the
cultural and religious milieu of Afghanistan (p. 128).
Professor Habib's assessment of the cultural and economic posi-
tion of Ghur is not complete due to paucity of material at that Hme.
Recent archaeological discoveries have shown that Ghur had
achieved great cultural eminence under the The
minaret ot J3.m
35
and the madrasah relics of Gharjistan
36
pOint to
fairly advanced cultural position of Ghui. That Maulana Fakruddin
Razi had, for long, been associated with the Ghurian court, shows
that religiOUS sciences had made a fairly significant advance in that
regioll.
37
Another imJ2..ortant factor which Professor Habib failed to
notice was the fact that the entire area from Ghur and Kabul to
QarJugh was metal-working
38
and was known for the manufacture
ot weapons.
39
The availability of iron in huge quantity placed the
Ghurians in a position of military advantage.
Referring to Shihabuddin's achievements and problems, Professor
Habib remarks:
"Shihabuddin's tenacity of purpose and unscrupulous diplo-
macy had secured a decisive viCtOlY. But the conquest of
Hindustan wa5 a different matter. Subordinate to the great
rai of Ajmer were a number of smaller rajas, all determined
to make a desperate stand against the invader. Every city
had its walls and towers and was determined to stand a siege.
Almost every village was fortified and would not pay a dir-
ham of land tax Ulliess compelled to do so at the point of
35. A Maricq, Le minaret de Diam, Le decouve1te de I" capitale des SU/tCUIs
gl101'icies (XlI-XIII Siseles) (MDAFA, XVI), Paris 1959.
36. Michael J. Casimir and Bernt Glatzer in EG8t and West, New Series, Vol. 21,
March-June 1971, pp. 51-68.
37. Nizami in Comprehensive History of Indja, Vol. V, pp. 152-55.
38. Zaki Velledi Tagan in ZDMG, Vol. XC, 1936, pp. 33-34.
39. Hudud til Alam, p. 110.
See also C. E. Bosworth's article, "The Early Islamic History of Chur" in e,mtl'lll
AWtio Journal, Vol. VI, 1961, pp. 118-121.
. the sword. The country could only be annexed piecemeal.
village after village and town after town. Neither
buddin nor his successors succeeded in making the power
of their government felt as a permanent force in the open
country, but it is a tribute to their military resourcefulness
and courage that after a series of Sieges, most of them not
recorded by the historians, the Ghurid generals succeeded
in bringing the towns of northern India under their sway
(pp. 115-116).
But Professor Habib's introduction to Elliot and Dowson, written
22 years after this article, gives a different assessm?.nt of.
Conquest of northern India. Here shows that Cities
India fell like autumnal leaves (Vol. I, p. 71), the re-
of the open country were exclusively in the hands of the
(Vol. ], p. 72), and that the turn-over of public was
iStldd!en and that "the rais, rawats and mnas of the counbyslde, who
other alternative made a written contract with the invader
collection of land revenue for him from the areas under their
.. and this put a final end to the conflict." (Vol. I, p. 72). It
. difficult to reconcile the two approaches, except in so far as they
. change of views and assessment during .a period .of two
If the situation was, as stated in IntroductIon to EllIOt, the
. as explained in the article on Shihabuddin (pp. 115-116) i.s
sustainable. Perhaps truth lies half-way between the two POSI-
. The Indian social milieu no doubt facilitated the success of
Turks, but it would be wrong to ignore the military all
"A turn-over of public opinion" was neither possIble nor
take place. Excepting Bihar and Be.ngal, there was
'ol1,.irlel':flhle and persistent resistance to the estabhshment of Tur-
rule. One comes across large number of references to the con-
and reconquest of areas like Gwalior, JaIore" Naga].lr,
thalml)h()r etc. Turkish rule took time to strike roots mto the SOIL
Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khalji". is t;he translation
.Am.ir Khusrau's Khazdin-ul Futuh whICh IS wrItten m extremely
style and is replete with puns, alliterations, and
. Khusrau follows here the tradition of and
.through the medium of metaphors. Professor HabI? was
by D. S. Margoliouth to undertake its tran.slatIOn and III
L".'JULU'>'" stages he revised some part of the translation., In trans-
work of this types, one is beset :vith one difficulty: . If
. to the text and attempts a hteral h-anslation, .the enti:e
becomes a meaningless agglomeration of facts hidden III
of speech; it, on the other hand, he. attempts a readable trans-
xviii
Politics and Society during the Ea1'ly Medieval Period
lation, he. h.as to face at every step the charge of not being faithful
to. on&mal.. Professor Mahmud Sherani's extensive review and
cntlcIsm of Habib's transiation40 is mainly due to this diffi-
culty. a ImgUlst Sherani seems to be very particular about literal
translation of every word; Habib as a historian seems more anxious
t? .convey real me.aning to his readers. Though much of the cri-
of ?y is nothing more than hairsplitt-
and hterruy faultfindmg, It must be accepted that some of the
lillprove.ments and .corrections suggested by Sherani cannot be com-
p,letely 19nored. WIth the publication of a cIitical edition of Khaza
m-ul Futuh, by Dr. Wahid Mirza,41 it has become easier now to
correct .some of the errors which have crept in Professor Habib's
translatIon due. to non-availability of a dependable printed text.42
However, the following corrections may be made in the English
trallslation :
On page 163, foohIote 11, Professor Habib says: "Alf Khan or
Khan was the title 'A.lauddin's younger brother, Almas Beg."
ThIS IS not correct. Baram says that on his accession to the throne
'A.lau.ddin.had given the title of Ulugh Khan to his brother (p. 242):
w ahId edition. of Khaza 'in-ul Futuh has Ulug Khan (p. 10).
AU Khan IS an error ot the copyist;
. On 157 p. 165 foohlote 37, dang does not mean 'a triH-
mg weIght. In thIS context it means a small coin;
On pages 190 and 200 footnote 41 and p. 219 etc., Professor Habib
refers to Malik Naib Kafur Hazardinari as Sah-Kash "because he had
till then, led three expeditions to the Deccan." (p. 200). The word
is sipah-kash (commander of armv);
On page 171: "Ali Beg and Tartaq, the two kings of the chess-
board, were checkmated by their large-boned enemy, the Malik
Akhur Beg." Khusrau uses the word 1.JJJ0I/l but it is a weapon
and its translation as "large-boned enemy" is incorrect;
On page 171, .I has been wrongly translated as
Nagauri rose". The word used is J (gil=earth) not Jf
40. College. Magazine, Nov. 1935; Feb, May, August 1936. Maqalat-I
Hafiz Mahmud Sheram, ed. by Mazhar Mahmud Sherani, (Mailis-i Taraqqi-' Ad b
Lahore, 1972), Vol. VI, pp. 210-340. 1 a ,
41. Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, 1953.
42. The Aligarh edition published in 1927 is not reliable. See also Maqal t-i lJ. t.
Mahmud Sherani, Vo!' VI, pp. 195-209. a a .IZ
(gul = rose);
page '173, 'angels of the Lord' is wrong translation of
/:JJJ{/. Here JY' is the darogha of hell;
On page 186, 'geographers' is not the correct translation of
which means 'engineers';
On page 207, Others, 'who had not stones, were busy in throwing
bricks and iavelins.' Here bricks is not the correct translation of
which means a small spear;
On page 207, 'reclining yard-measures'. Here gaz has been trans-
lated as yard. though it means 'the tree of ihao';
. On page 172, Mudbir and Mudabir do not fonn part of the names
ot Iqbal and Tai Bu. These are mere adjectives;
On page lO, 'Reforms of the affairs of nobles and commoners. is
not the correct translation of It should be 'public works
or works of public utility'.
Professor article on Muhammad bin Tughluq written in
1930, is really a turning point in the study of the character, projects
and policy of that much maligned Sultan. At a time when history
text books and monographs were condemning the Sultan either as a
lunatic or a tyrant, Professor Habib opened fresh avenues for the
study of his character and his role in Indian history. What seems to
have set Professor Habib thinking about the vaIious projects of the
Sultan was his study of contemporary mystic literature, particularly
Siyar-ul Attliya. He could read in Amir Khurd's work a new
proach to the Sultan's relations with ulama and the
and the far-reaching impact of his poliCIes. It must be admItted
that the inspiration to Professor Agha Mahdi Husain to study the
Sultan's character and projects more intensively and in the light of
non-political literature came from Professor Habib.43
43. Though it was Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who first drew Sir Henry Elliot's atten-
tion to the use of non-political literature, particularly Fawa'jd-ul ju'ad, it was Dr. R.
P. Tripathi who .first referred to Fawaid-u: ju'ad; in his Some Aspects of Muslim Ad-
ministration (p. 217), wlitten in 1926, but published in 1936. Thus, so far as pub-
lished works are concerned, Professor Habib was the first to realize the value of
mystic literature for a clearer study of medieval institutions.
Politics ana Society during the Em'ly Medieval Pel'lod
In this article Professor Habib has referred to the so-called autobio-
graphy of Muhammad bin Tughluq in these words:
"The great Sultan was not unaware of the misunderstan-
dings and. suspicions by which he had been pta'sued
his career and, like many educated Nluslim
Kings, he wrote an account of his reign with his own hand.
The invaluable volume, which would have explained the
whole mystery to us, has perished, or, as is more likely, it
been intentionally But four or .five pages
have escaped the hand of the despoiler and may be seen
appended to beautiful volume of the Tabaqat-i-Nasi1'i in
the Briti'ih Museum." (p. 271)
But these page;, as I have shown else where44 and as Professor
Habib also accepted, are apocryphal and fabricated.
Habib's study of the life and thought of Ziyauddin
Baram IS perhaps the most thrilling account of the historian's ap-
proach and methodology, his hopes and failures, his predilections
and prejudices. As the editor has closely seen this article grow and
deve:op, it will not be out of place if the background is given in some
detaIl. Professor Habib had initially wriLen only a few pages (given
in Appendix) by way of Introduction to the English translation of
Fatawa-i lahandal'i prepared by Dr (Mrs) Afsar Salim Khan. 45 I felt
that Professor Habib's mind was bubbling with ideas about Barani,
but he had hardly written 10-15 pages which were inadequate. He
accepted my suggestion and wrote several chapters which were ap-
pended to the English translation of Fatawa-i /ahandal'i.
Though a number of studies of Ziyauddin BaI'ani have been made,
Protessor Habib's analYSis of Bru'ani's life and thought is perhaps the
most penetrating. Based on a very careful study of Barani's Tal'ikh-i
Firuz Shahi and his Fatawa-i lahandari, this study is characterized
'by an unique freshness of approach, depth of understanding and
clear analYSis of the attitudes and predilections of Ziyauddin Barani.
It is a feat of Professor Habib's historical imagination; he visualizes
every aspect of Barani's life and thought and portrays it with rare
deftness and elaIity. He has woven Fi1'UZ Shahi's historical facts
with Fatawa's political maxims Barani the historian and Barani the
44. Studies in Mediewl Indian H.istOJ'Y and Culture, pp. 65-72.
Late .Agha Mahdi 'H,;sain however did not change his opinion and has argued in
favoW' of the Autobiography in his TugMuq Dynasty, pp.
45. The PersIan text of Fatawa-i lahandari also has since been edited by DT Mrs.
Salim Khan and published by the Research Society of Pakistan, University of' Jhe
Punjab, Lahore, . .
Inil1'oductlon
political philosopher stand clearly analysed in this article. His con-
cluding lines are graphic:
.. "Todav the graves of Balban and 'Alauddin Khalji are
unknown, only two mounds in Siri indicate the place
where the Hazar Sulun Palace once stood. But Barani, old,
half-blind and in acute distress, brought the dead to life by
a h'emendous effort of memory and very deservedly he lives
. along .with them. No histOlian under conditions so distres-
sing and at an age so advanced has produced a work so
great." (p. 366).
Referring to Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya in footnote 2 (VoL
I, p. 357)," Professor Habib says that this is not
. rect for auli1(a means saints-not a saint. But, as pomted out by Shah
'Abdul 'AziZ' of Delhi in his commentary on Shah Waliullah's Qaul-
'IIl laniil,46 in the Arabic language itself there are examples where,
in order to emphasize some quality, a plural is used for a Singular.
Even in the holy Quran, Hazrat Jbrahim is called 'Ummat'. In my-
ipc calendar, KIlwaja 'Uhaidullah is called Ahral' and Ka'ab is called
Ahbar,though these are all plural terms.
Professor -Habib thus translates a passage from Barani:
"There has been affection and friendship between me and
Amir Khusrau and Amir Hasan for veal's. They could not
'live without my company and I too 'could not forsake their
company Owing to my friendship with these two
masters also became friends and began to VISIt each other
. at their houses."
Barani's lines are the following: 47
> )}j;'
.. .. ," J .::.Y;IJ() .>j.
.... . :1 (,." ,-/1 "t... .A!:/
li'1i))J
If Professor Habib's translation is accepted, Barani's statement
Will have to be rejected oUhight as was in. his cradle when
Hasan and Khusrau were both in the serVIce of Prmce Muhammad.
have been wrongly translated as
46. Kanpur edition, p. 135.
11.7. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, p. 360,
xxii Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
'became friends'. This would lJave been correct if the word was
.... .. ld
~ q y wou mean here matrimonial relationship which,
quite understandably, might have been arranged by Barani and the
t"yo houses would have come closer.
The last article in this volume deals with the organisation of the
Central Government during the early period of the Delhi Sultanate
and was presented at the third session of the All India Oriental C o n ~
ference in 1924. With the publication of more exhaustive works on
the administrative aspects of the Delhi Sultanate by Dr R. P. Tri-
pathi and Dr. I. H. Qureshi the article ceases to have the same fas-
cination which it had when it first appeared.
Perhaps Professor Habib's reluctance to publish all his articles in
a book form was his realization that considerable work has since been
done on those themes and topics. The fact, however, remains that
in many spheres of research in medieval Indian history he was a
pioneer. He showed the way which others followed. The date on
which a particular article was first published has been given at the
end of each article. It would make it easier to assess the impact
that this article had on subsequent historical writings. All the 'pre-
facf's' and 'dedications' that Professor Habib wrote for his works are
aisn given in appendices. These 'dedications' reveal Professor Habib's
predilections at different times.
Aligarh K. A. NtZAMI
Uctober 27, 1980
Arab Conquest of Sind
Mahmud of Ghazni
CONTENTS
The Muslim World in the Tenth Century
Career of Sultan Mahmud
The Character and Value of Mahmud's Work
Fall of the Ghaznavid Empire
ihalbudldin of Ghur
The Rise of Ghur
Campaigns of Shihabuddin Ghori
Last Years of Shihabuddin
Being the English
ation of "The Khaza'inul Futuh" of Amir Khusrau
Preface
Accession, Reforms and Public Works
Campaigns Against the Mugha!s
Gujarat, Rajputana, Malwa and Deogir
Campaign of Arangal
The Campaign of Ma'abar
\.l1".ll1l1l<1U hin Tughluq
Introduction
Literary Works
Barani
Ziyauddin Barani: Family and Early Life
State Laws
Ziyauddin Barani: Youth and Age
Theory of Kingship
iii
1-35
36-104
105-143
144-148
149-270
271-285
286-366
xxiv
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
Empire of Delhi in Early Middle Ages: Organization of the
Central Government 367-388
l. The Emperor
2. The Imperial Council
3. The Imperial Court
4. The Four Ministries
5. Departments
6. The Imperial Bureaucracy
Appendices
1. Preface to the First Edition of
Sultan Mahmud of Ghozni-A Study
2. Preface to the Second Edition of
Sultan Mahmud of Gluizm
3. Preface to the Khozain-ul Futuh
4. Introduction to the Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khal!i
by Dr. S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar
5. Foreword to Fatwa-i-lahandari
by Professor K. A.. Nizami
.6. Introduction to Fatawa-i lahandari
7. Dedications
Index
389-432
433-447
THE ARAB CONQUEST OF SIND
we are to study the history of eastern institutions aright, we
carefully distinguish the abstract principles of creeds from the
. actually governing the lives of the mass of their followers ..
are millions of Musalmans, Christians and Buddhists who
every day-and witp pedect sincerity-the moral lessons
bv the founders of tHeir religions; and yet the prayer is hardly
when the devotee returns to the actual business of life and,
the words that were on his lips a inoment before, acts
l:l:ln"U'Llll! to the ideas of the country, class or profession. Here and
a troublesome spirit may be found bold enough to remind them
their customary and prudent lives are a constant violation of
fundamental principles of their religion, but the mass of the
are conscious of no such contradictions; and if ever any doubt
assails their minds, they cOmfOlt themselves with the
that the behaviour approved by the most respected or the
men around them cannot possibly be wrong. Among
feelings and aspirations that guide the lives of men,
is often only a factor of secondalY impOltance; the promi-
its name assumes in the war-cries of nations is due, not so
to the desire of the people to live up to the best ideals of their
as to the facility with which the religiOUS sentiment-in itself
force like love and hunger-can be exploited by politicians
misdirected by priests. There is nothing so pitifully tragic in
histOlY of humanity as this exploitation of the principles of a creed
. those who profess to follow it; that the exploitation is often
deepens the tragedy by proving it to be a part of
!J"VU.IVIIJ!!lC'U nature a hereditarv taint of our blood.
J:i:arlwn to mv 0 Men!" the Arabian Apostle said in his
at "f;r I know not whether I snaIl see you here
year.
the customs of paganism have been abolished under my feet.
Arab is not superior to the non-Arab; the non-Arab is not
to the Arab. You are all sons of Ad.am, and Adam was roB.de
. Verily all Muslims are brothers,
2 Politics and Society dl/ring the Eady Medieval Period
"Your slaves! Feed them as you feed yourselves and dress theni
as you dress yourselves.
"The of the Time of Ignorance are prohibited, and,
first of all, I forgive the blood of (my kinsman), Rabi'ibn-ul Hal's.
"The usury of the Time of Ignorance is prohibited, and, first of
all, I remit the interest due to (my kinsman), 'Abbas ibn 'Abdul
Mutallib.
"Remember Allah in (your dealings with) women. You have lights
over them, and they have rights over you.
"Verily, you should consider each other's blood, property and re-
put.ation inviolable unto the Day of Judgment even as this month
(Zil Hijjah), day (day of Hap and place (Mecca) are inviolable ...
"Beware! Go not ash:ay after I have departed and cut not each
other's throats; for you have to meet your Lord and He will ask you
concerning that which your hands have done.
"Verily, a man is responsible only for his own acts. A son is not
responsible for the crimes of his father, nor is a father responsIble
for the crimes of his son.
"If a defonnedl Abyssinian slave holds authority over you and
leads you according to the Book of Allah, hear him and obey.
"Verily, Satan has despaired of being again worshipped in this
city of yours till the Day of Judgment, but you will be misled by
him in matters you consider insignificant, and this will cause him
delight.
"Worship the Lord, pray five times a day, fast dming the prescribed
month, act as I have comrrianded, and you shall enter the Heaven
of your Lord. .
"Hearken to my words, 0 men, for I have conveyed my message
to you and have left among you (two) things, which if you hold fast
to them, will prevent your ever going astray-the Book of Allah and
the example of His Apostle.
"Let those who are present inform those who are absent. Now,
have I delivered my message?"
They answered, "Aye."
"Be Thou my witness, 0 Lord"! 2
All the fundamental principles of the Muslim state are here. Racial
differences are to count for naught, all are equal, all are brothers,
neither law nor social opinion must make any difference between
the high-born and the low. A man's rights to his person, to the pro-
duce of his labour and to the reputation his character has earned
for him are as sacred and inviolable as the holiest of places; no
alleged state-necessity, no fanatical prejudices or party interests can
A"ab of Sind
allowed to infringe theni. Civil war is to be abhorred. No mono-
of offices or power, no kings, no oligarchy, no priesthood-the
of slaves has as much right to be at the head of the state
the noblest of Quraish. A righteous government alone is entitled
the allegiance of its subjects; all ebe is, usurpation and must be
aside. There are to bc no pariahs or low-castes'; the slave is
to the same food and drink as his master and has the sanie
privileges as a freeinan. The customs of paganism-blood-
usury, the subjection of women-are abolished once and for
is the message-simple and dear.
3
And yet the history of
nations, during the thilteen centuries that have elapsed, has
a constant violation of every political principle bequeathed to
by the great Apostle. '
King-craft and priest-craft, wars of succession and orgies of
saint-worship and grave-worship, the rapacity of govern-
.and the starvation of the peasantry-these, and the like, stain
pages of history from generation to generation, though every
creed and palty pretended that it was striving to 'fulfil the law'.
::ip,iriltua,Uy as well as politically Islam was a revolutionary protest
customs of paganism, but Lucifer, driven out of the
door, came back by the back window and began to beguile
faithful in matters 'they considered insignifieant'. 'Umar the
caliph (A.D. 634-43)-acknowledged on all hands as the
st.atesman Islam has produced-canied on a relentless war
every form of religiOUS obscurantism and political oppression.
task proved too great for the generation that followed. His
conquests, moreover, created problems of bewildering per-
Victory often proves more demoralising than defeat. Two
empires lay prostrate at the feet of the conquering Muslims.
to be the position and status of the conqilerecf people-
as equal to the victorious Arabs or brutally suppressed as
ect races? Would generals and politicians, who in the course
few years had established their authority over extensive terri-
remain submissive to the dictates of public opinion or seek
their power as irresponsible and hereditary rulers?
the caliph had been, directly or indirectly, elected by the
of Medina and considered himself responsible to them; and
as the caliphate was confined to the two holy cities or even
Arabian desert, the procedure seemed quite fair. But what
had the people of Medina-a small town in a desert-to elect
head of a government extending from Egypt to Khorasan and
a dozen races, great and srriall? Representative govern-
4 and Society dlwing the Eai"ly Medieval 'Period
ment in its mod81TI form was not known; and, if known, would not
have been practicable for an empire so extensive and heterogeneous.
There were only two alternatives-hereditalY monarchy or civil war.
"Do not cli'f1 off each othersF heads
f
', the Apostle had said; and
slowly, painfully and reluctantly the sanest Musalmans consented
to give their support to the Umayyad caliphate which emerged from
the smoke and dust of civil conflict. What else could they do? The
continuation of internal strife threatened to ruin the future of their
creed. In a situation somewhat similar Augustus Caesar had, seven
centuries before, established the Roman empire On the ruins of the
republic with the active support of the middle classes in the pro-
vinces
4

The Umayyad caliphate was a compromise between Medina and
Rome, with a strong tendency to incline more and more towards the
latter. As in the early days of the Roman empire, a semblance of
democratic fOlms was preserved. 'The futile ceremony of bai'at.
(homage) was substituted for the free election which Muslim senti-
ment demanded. The legal validity of the caliph's power depended
on his having obtained the allegiance (bai'at) of the majority of the
citizens; but as this allegiance was demanded after he had ascended
the throne, only those who were prepared to face the consequences
of rebellion could venture to withhold it. The mass of the people had
to accept an accomplished fact. That the caliphate should become
confined to the House of Mu'awiya was not, under the circumstances,
a matter of surprise. But the reaction went further still, and the
aristocratic Arab clans, whose predominance Islam had sought to
destroy, succeeded in monopolising all political power. The Arab
aristocrat, whatever his other faults, yielded to none in the astuteness
of his diplomacy and his valour on the. field of battle. A liberal distribu-
tion of the revenues of the government and the spoils of war won for
the caliphate the support of the great Arab clans and made it one
of the strongest, as well as the m,ost extensive, governments the world
has seen. The conversion of the missionalY conquests of Islam into
an empire of the Arab clans was neveltheless a very serious degrada-
tion of the spirit of the faith. The conquered Persians were among
the earliest to protest. The whole empire swmmed with sectarians_
revolutionaries and conspIrators; and the ninety years of the Umavyad
caliphate at Damascus were an unceasing series of bold rebellions
brntally suppressed, but always breaking out afresh. The memory of
the Apostle's message was fresh in many hearts: "The Arab is not
superior to the non-Arab; nor is the non-Arab superior to the Arab. You
are all sons of Adam, and Adam was made of earth."
That in spite of these difficulties, the Umayyad caliphs succeeded
A1'Qb Conquest of Sind
5
the extent of their empire is a singular tribute to their
Arabs of Syria were steeped in Ronian influences, and
at their best, combined the finest elements of Roman
and Arab valour. Whatever we may think of them in
respects, no one except 'Umar the Great has conhibuted more
expansion of Islam tllan the Caliph al Walid bin Abdul Malik
and Hajjaj bin Yusuf Saqafi. Hajjaj had wOn his early blood-
laurels in the effective suppression of rebellions in Arabia and
a 'Man of Blood and Iron' if ever there was one, the memory
dark deeds sits like a nighhnare on Muslim consciousness; but,
intensely hated, Hajjaj was implicitly obeyed, and his appointment
al Walid, the strongest of the Umayyad caliphs, as governor of
and, in fact, of the whole of Iran and Turan,' led to the
great Muslim expansion in the east. The second caliph had
the Persians within the fold of Islam. Hajjaj brought
and the Tatars beneath his sway. "Under the
, says Sir Henry Elliot, "of tlle clUel tyrant, Hajiaj, who
nominally governor only of Iraq, was in fact lUler over all the
which constituted the former Persian kingdom, the spirit of
extended conquests arose, which had hitherto, duting the civil
and before the re-establishment of political nnity nnder Abdul
and his son Walid, confined itself to mere partial efforts on
frontiers of the empire. By his orders, one army under
after the complete subjugation of Khwarazm, crossed the
and reduced, but not without great difficulty, Bokhara, Khojand,
Samarkand and Farghana-some of which places had been
though not thoroughly subjected, at a previous pedod by the
LW.1<""llUlmH anus. Kutaiba penetrated even to Kashghar, at which
Chinese ambassadors entered into a compact with the invaders.
army had, by Hajjaj's directions, already operated against the
of Kabul, and a third (under Muhammad Kasim) advanced to-
the lower course of the Indus through Mekran."
eastern exploits show him at his best. He displayed in his
with men of his own race a brutal ferocity and vindictiveness,
he laid aside in his dealings with non-Muslims. The zeal of an
bigot was as alien to his mind as the revolutionary and
emocl-ati.c fervour of the second caliph, who had stubbornly refused
tolerate inequality in any fOlm. His plain and simple object was
of Umayyad caliphate. If the conquered population
sechon of It accepted Islam, well and good; if not, Hajjaj con-
himself with levying the jizya and showed no undue anxiety
their spiritual salvation. He never thought that the principles O'f
obliged him to interfere with the religiOUS and social customs
6 Politics alld Society durillg the Early Medieval Period
of the idolators. He respected the vested interests of their higher
classes and guaranteed even the most unjust of their class privileges.
Purely secular and political considerations seem to have led him to
this tolerant attitude. Every inch a conservative and an aristocrat, he
did not like meddling with the established order of things, while his
unfailing political insight convinced him that a strong govel11irtent,
which had no native Muslim population to support it, could only rest
secure on the basis of religious toleration. He had not come to plunder
but to govern and did not fail to see that a government which wishes
to last must not be too irksome to the people, and should be able to
win the active support of a minority at least. He had in his earlier
career a good opportunity of gauging the strength and force of popular
fanaticism among his own people, and saw the wisdom of winning
over-or of at least neutralising-the influence of the priests of the
idolators by convincing them that a change of government would
not intedere with their time-honoured perquisites and privileges.
Hajjaj was too masteliul and domineering to give his subordinates
carte blanche. Everything had to be reported to him and his orders
obeyed. The substance, if not the form, of a number of his letters
has been preserved, and gives us a strange insight into the mind of
this statesman. The sight of blood never nauseated Hajjaj; he is one
of the greatest murderers in history. But neither did it allure him, and
he was entirely free from that morbid craving for the sight of human
suffering in which alone Chengiz and Timur could find their happiness.
Countries cannot be conquered without war; and war means killing.
Hajjaj was not loth to kill, but he saw clearly that his object would
he best achieved by a mixture of conciliation and terrOlism. His
generals had orders to kill the soldiers of the opposing army ruthlessly,
not only on the field of battle but even afterwards, if caught in arhls;
and seldom, if ever, was the rule relaxed. The object of these measures
was to prevent the civil population of the country from dabbling in
the profession of anns; and it certainly had the desired effect. On the
other hand the mass of the people-the merchants, artisans and agri-
culturists, as the historian oJ Sind calls them-were never molested,
and, on fortunate occasions, even received cOllipensation for the losses
they had suffered from the war. Hajjaj's conquests were therefore
achieved with a minimum of bloodshed. He regarded his flocks like
a provident shepherd; if better tended, they would yield more milk
and wool.
The dynasty, which governed Sind at the time of the Arab invasion,
had been founded by Rai Chach son of Silaij, a Brahnian politician,
who seems to have ascended the thronc in A.D. 632 on the dcath of
his master, Rai Sahasi. The governors of the four provinces, into
Arab Conquest of Sind
7
Sind was then divided, naturally resented the power of the
upstart, but Chach, in spite of his caste, was a notable war-
-He defeated the ruler of Chitor, who had been induced by the
of Rai Sahasi to march against him, and after four long
amipalgI1S brought the whole of the province from Sikka Multan to
sea-coast under his sway. Though later Persian writers knew little
Buddhism as a creed, and seldom refer to it bv name in their
of Muhmrtmad Qasim's invasion, the Arab" chroniclers and
Nama leave us in no doubt that Buddhism was then the
creed of Sind. But Hinduism was gaining ground, and
JJUlULUH,'L priests complained that the worship of Buddha was
abandoned. The exact relation of the two creeds, which was
of neutrality nor hostility nor love, is hard to define. Although
was a Brahman, there is no reason to suppose that he attempt-
to interfere with the then popular religion of Buddhbm. Brahman-
is, indeed, so accomniodating to .anything that partakes of idol-
that Chach and Dahir might have made their offerings in a
temple, without any greater sacrifice of consistency, than
Roman was guilty of in worshipping Isis and Osiris, or than we
every day in a Hindu presenting his butter .md flowers at
shrine of Shaikh Saddhu, Ghazi Mian, Shah Madar or any other
the apotheosized Muhammadan impostors of Hindustan. There is
no irlCompatibility in supposing that Chach, though a Brahman
bilth, still continued a Buddhist in his persuasion, for the divisions
caste were at that time secular, not religious.6
Rai Chach after a prosperous reign of forty years and was
,u"'",,,;u"'.u by Ius Chandar, who patronised the religion of
Naszks (BudeUusts) and monks and promulgated their doctrines.
brought man)' people together with the sword and made them
. to his religion.". Chan dar died in the eighth year of his reign
hIS nephew, Dallir son of Chach, mounted the throne at Alor
capital of the kingdom.
7
Raj, a son of Chandar, established
at Brahmanabad, the most important city of southern Sind, but
seems to have been ousted by Dharsaya, another son of Chach,
he l:ad for a years. Bai, a daughter of Chach, had pre-
to lIve WIth Dharsa),a, who arranged for her marriage with
the king of Bhatia in the country of Ramal, and sent her to
her way to her husband's territory9. But Dahir scandalised
and foe by marrying his sister, when she came to his court,
his astronomers predicted that her husband would be 'the
of Hind and Siner. The incestuous marriage led to a war between
brothers; Dhrasaya was slain and Dahir found himself in posses-
of the whole of his father's dominion. "He relrtainecl for one year
8 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
in Brahmanabad in order to reduce the neighbouring chiefs. He sent
for the son of Dharsaya and o'eated him kindly. He then went to
Siwistan (Sehwan) and thence to the fort of Rawa.r,of which his father,
Chach, had laid the foundation, and ordered it to be completed."l0
The chiefs of Ramal were presumptuous enough to attack him, but
Muhammad Allafi, an Arab adventurer who had entered Dahir's ser-
vice, "attacked them on all sides and killed and captured 80,000
warriors and 50 elephants". The kingdom seemed as strong as it had
ever been.
For centuries before the rise of Isl.am, Arabian mariners had been
navigating the Indian Ocean and had formed small settlements in
Ceylon and the East Indian Islands. In order to ingratiate himself
with Hajjaj, the king of Ceylon sent him as a present "certain Muhain-
madan girls, daughters of merchants who had died there". But the
ship was seized by the Meds of Dewal (Thatta)ll before it could
reach the coast of Mehan and .an Arab woman of the tribe of Yabu
cried out, "0 Hajjaj, Come to my help!" The great pro-consul
not a man to fail his subjects in their hour of need. "Here I am I" he
replied when the news was conveyed to him, .and sent a message to
Rai Dahir demanding the immediate release of the captives. Dahir
replied that the act had been comrriitted by pirates over whom he
had no control. H.ajjaj then sent a punitive expedition under Ubaidul-
lah bin Nabhan against Dewal but the Musalmans were slaughtered
almost to a man, .and a second expedition under Budail bin Tahya
fared no better. Hajjaj was annoyed at the repeated defeats and ap-
plied to the Kh.alifah al Walid for permission to fit out a force that
would be strong enough not only to conquer Dewa! but the whole
of Sind. Al-Walid was reluctant and could only be induced to give
his permission on Hajjaj's solemn assurance that, in case of failure,
he would pay the expenses ent.ailed by the venture out of his own
pocket.
Hajjaj organised the expeditionary force with the greatest care
and entrusted its command to his own cousin and son-in-law,
Muhammad bin Qasim;12 a brilliant youth of seventeen, who had
already distinguished himself as govel110r of Faras. An adv.ance
guard under Abu'! Aswad Jahm was ordered to meet him on the
frontier of Sind; Muhainmad bin Harun, the governor of Mekran,
joined him with the troops of his territory, while a squadron of boats
carrying Dve munjaniqsl.3 sailed along the Persian coast and up the
mouth of the Indus. Muhammad Qasim marched with "six thousand
picked cavalry from Syria and Iraq, six thousand calliel riders
thoroughly equipped for milit.ary operations, and a baggage train
of three thousand Bactrian came!s" from Shhaz, through Kannazbur
Arab Conquest of Sind 9
Aramabe! (Bela), to Dewal and l.aid siege to it as soon as his
arrived. His cousin had "carefully provided him with all he
require, not even omitting thread and 'needles". He w.as in
communication with Hajjaj; letters were sent ,and received
third day .and took about a week to reach their destination.
great temple of the besieged town Hoated a long black Hag,
the inhabitants credited with a magical power for protecting
Muhammad Qasim asked Ja'wiyah, his munjaniq-master, to
at the Hag, and it was knocked down in three shots. Consterna-
among the besieged. They attempted a sortie, but it was
.and the invaders scaled the walls and captured the town.
governor of Dewal Hed, and the priests of the temple were
,o,a,.".,;<1." A ganison of four thousand was left at Dewal and the
moved up the river to Nirun (Hyderabad). The citizens of
town had with commendable foresight sent two samanis (Buddhist
to Hajjaj at the time of Budail's invasion and obtained a
promise of protection from him by undertaking to pay an
tribute. Muh.ammad Qasim had orders not to molest them.
Buddhist governor of Nirun was received with great honour when
to see the Arab general and undertook to guide him to
(Sehwan).
gener.al had quickly learnt all he could of the religion and.
of the people. The massacre of Dewal priests
a mistake he took care not to repeat. He was
anxious to assnre the public that those who submitted
him would lose nothing while his hand was going to
heavily on the recalcitrant. The plivileges of the Buddhist and
priests were repeatedly guaranteed; the coinmon people
left free to worship as they pleased, provided they were willing
to the Arabs the same taxes they had previously paid to the
of Rai Dahir. This policy had the expected effect, and as
as his military supeliority became evident the priests and the
<-..,VH'U"'U masses decided to throw in their lot with him. Bajhra
of Chandar, the govemor of Siwistal1, was determined to defend
city with vigour, but the Buddhists refused to help him. They
him a message: "we are nasik (mendicant) devotees. 0111' religion
of peace, and fighting and slaying is prohibited as well as all
of shedding of blood. You are secure in a lofty place, while
are open to the invasion of the enemy, and liable to be slain
plundered as your subjects.1
4
'''Ie know that Muhmlimad Qasim
a fal'man from I-Iaijaj to gr.ant protection to everyone who
it. vVe trust therefore, that yOU will consider it fit and
that we terms with for the Arabs are faithful
10 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
and keep their promises." When Bajhra, naturally, refused to follow
this cowardly advice, they proceeded to make peace with Muham-
mad Qasim. "All the subjects, farmers, tradesmen, merchants and
the lower classes", they informed him, "hate Bajhra and do not
yield him allegiance. He does not possess any force with which he
can oppose you or give battle." Thus encouraged, the Arabs pressed
on the siege with vigour. Bajhra fled after a week, and took refuge
with Kaka son of Kotal, the Samani chief of Budhiya, whose strong-
hold was Sisam15, while the Arabs entered Siwistan un-opposed.
"Muhammad Qasim appropriated all the silver, jewels and cash (of
the royal treasury). But he did not t.ake anything from the samanis,
who had made terms with him." The government of the city was
placed in charge of civil officers, and Muhammad Qasim started for
Sisam after leaving a garrison in the fOlt. A force of one thousand
Jats, who had started for a night attack on the Arab camp, lost their
way in the dark and again found themselves at the gate of Sisam
in the morning. Kaka, who was personally inclined to deselt the
falling fortunes of Dahir, took this for a had oinen. "You know full
well that I am famous for my determination and courage", he told
his chiefs, "1 have achieved many enterprises at your head. But in
the books of the Buddh.a it is predicted, upon astrological calculations,
that Hindustan shall be taken by the Musalmans and I also believe
that this will come to pass." He stmted with his followers for the
Arab camp and was accorded a warm reception. "1 will be your
guide in subduing and overpowering your enemies", he assured
Muhainmad Qasim, "Be firm and set your mind at rest." And then,
according to "the custom of his ancestors and of the Jat samanis" he
proceeded to bestow the highest honour on the Arab general by
dressing him in a silk robe and tying a turban on his head. All the
chiefs and headmen of the sUl'rounding places now wished to submit
to Muhammad Qasim, probably because "they were enemies of Dahir
who had put some of them to death". "Hence they revolted against
him, and sent ambassadors to Muhammad Qasim, and agreed to pay
a tribute of one thousand dirhams weight of silver and also sent
hostages to Sivistan. Muhammad Qasim dispelled the fear of the
Arab m'my from the niinds of those who offered allegiance and
brought to submission those who were inimically disposed." Bajhra,
now deserted by his friends, was driven away from Sisam, under the
walls of which he had encmriped; his supporters fled in all directions
and an Arab lieutenant, Abdul Malik, was established in the territory
to punish "all enemies and revolters",16
'While his garrisons wcre being overpowered and his subjects se-
duced by the enemy, Rai had been passing his time in ease and
The Arab Conquest of Sind
11
comfort at Rawar. He may have deluded himself with the hope that
the invaders would retire after captming Dewal and one or two
other towns; if so, he was bitterly undeceived. Hajjaj had made up
his mind to conquer as large a palt of as possible, and
while warning Qasim to take a
him at the same tune-to push on to Chma . On retuIlllng
to Nirun, the general received orders to cross the Indus
and put an end to the power of the somnolent Dahir, who had flatly
refused the Arab proposal that he should a and ,Pay
tribute. Moka bin Bisaya, a claimant to the chieftamslllp of BaIt, a
fort on the opposite (eastern) hank of Inc:us, .and
brought to Muhmnmad Qasim, who recelVedlum WIth kmd-
ness. "The country of Bait was given to him, a grant was wntten to
that effect, and a hundred thousand dirhams were offered as reward.
A green umbrella sUl1nounted ?y a a cha.ir a robe. of
'honour were bestowed upon hIm, whIle hIS thakUls were favoured
with robes and saddled horses." Guided by the invaluable Moka, the
invaders built a pontoon over the Indus and drove away Rasi!: a loc.al
chief whom Dahir had sent to defend the eastern bank. Ral Dahlr,
as later events proved, was a valiant soldier, who won .the l'espect. of
the Arabs for the strength of his bow. But his ,:"as
and his irritable and overbearing temper made It ImpossIble for hIS
officers to give him any sane advice. of the Indus at last
awoke him from his untimely slumber mto a blmd fury that he slew
the innocent chamberlain who brought him the fateful news. It was
high time to move. Dahil' came out of Rawar an? encarriped the
side of a lake at some distance. But even now, mstead of tryll1g to
maintain his power in the open country and to cut
enemy's communications, he sat . sullen and m Ius camp wlule
his chiefs, one after another, offered their allegrance to Muhammad
Qasirri. The Arab general had marched to Bait from the Indus and,
after depositing his heavy baggage there, m?ved towards Rawar. Re-
connoitring parties were sent in all directIons, and a for?e of fi>:e
hundred horse was despatched to preve.nt any help Dal1ll'
fWIri his son Fufi, who was at Alor. RasIl, who was now gUldmg the
Arab ariny in cooperation. ;vith Moka, took it to the on the. op-
posite side of which Dal1ll's army lay Then, If are to
believe the Clutch Nama, he ferried them across 111 a boat wInch c,ould
only carry three men at a time and landed at
a village between the fort of Rawar and Dahlr S c<lmp, a
place for their encampment, for there they attack Dalur
in front and rear and sllccessfully enter Ius posItion and occupy It .
Muhammad Qasim's object was at last attained. No help could now
12 Politics and Society du,.ing the Early Medieval Period
reach Dahir from Alor or Multan; if the Rai remained in his camp,
his communication with Rawar would he cut; if he fled back
to Rawar, he would have to stake his kingdom on the
chance of a single battle or stand a siege with the resources of the
country in the hands of the enemy. With incredible fatuity the mis-
guided Rai had permitted the net of his astute antagonist to close
around him. "Alas! vVe are lost", Dahir's minister, Sisakar, exclaimed
when he heard that the enemy had encamped at Jaipur. Dahir blazed
forth with indignation at his njinister's remark but, none the less,
hurried back to Rawar.
There followed a five-day battle outside the fort. Dahir equalled the
heroes of Indian mythology in his personal prowess. But it was the
last flicker of a dying lamp. On the afternoon of the fifth day, after
the field had been irretrievably lost, he was retreating to the fort with
the remnant of his broken army, when his attention was attracted by.
sounds of wailing coming from the left. "I am here! Come hither",
he shouted, thinking that it was a body of stragglers. "0 King! We
are your women,17 who have fallen into the hands of the Musalinans.
vVe are captives!" The Rai was too chivah'ous to seek the
safety of the fort while his women were in the hands of
the enemy. "I live as yet!" he replied, "Who captured you?" He
ordered the driver to turn back his white elephant and drove it
straight against the Musalmans. "It is your opportUliity", Muhammad
Qasim told the naphtha-throwers as soon as the Rai was within reach.
A powerfully shot naphtha-arrow shuck the Rai's howdah and set it
on fire. The frightened elephant, in spite of the effOlts of its driver,
ran to the water-side, and plunged into the stream; the Musalmans
followed close on the heels of the flying animal while the Hindus
rushed forward to rescue their Rai. The driver at last managed to
bring the elephant out of the water and "a dreadful conflict ensued
such as had never been heard of". An arrow hit Dahir in the breast
and he fell down from his elephant; but though weak and bleeding,
the Rai continued to fight till an Arab shuck him with a sword on
the very centre of his head, and "cleft it to his neck". Thus, after a
reign of thirty-two years, died Raja Dahir of Sind at sunset-tinie on
Thursday, the 10th Ramazan, 93 A.H. (June, 712 A.D.). Arrogant and
self-willed, lacking in diplomatic tact and political insight, but bold
and fearless in the face of death-he was of the stuff from which the
heroes of national tragedies are made.
Jaisiya, the .ablest of Dahir's sons, succeeded in taking his defeated
forces to the fort of Rawar and was joined by inany stragglers next
morning. He desired to COlne out and die fighting like his father, but
Sisakar and Muhammad Allafi induced him to fly to Brahmanabad.
Arab Conquest of Sind 13
Bai, the widow and sister of Dahir, refus .. ed to accompany him
and took the command of the men, about 15,000 in number, who were
still left. When the Arabs had undelmined the walls, and no hope
remained, she collected her women in a house and set it on fire.
Muhammad Qasim slew six thousand fighting men whom he found
in the fort, and despatched the head of Dahir to Hajjaj along with
.the spoils.
The Arabs then moved towards Brahmanabad but their advance
was delayed by the fOltS of Bahrur and Dhalila, which lay on the
route and could only be reduced after protracted sieges. Jaisiya
wisely decided to remain outside Brahmanabad, which he had placed
under the charge of sixteen selected officers, four for each gate. Every
day a skilmish took place, but the garrison consisting of 40,000
soldiers defended their city with courage while J aisiya kept harassing
, the beSiegers and cutting off their supply of fodder. The siege dr.agged
on for six months; Muhammad Qasim grew pensive and asked Moka
for help. The astute Hindu saw that J aisiya was the real obstacle;
an expedition led by him shattered the latter's force and compelled
them to fly from Sind; The fate of Brahmanabad was now sealed.
But the officers and soldiers, kno,,;,ing that the Arab general would
show them no mercy, persisted in continuing the useless struggle,
while the civil population longed for peace. Four leading merchants
of the town met to decide the question. "They had neither power
nor wealth to enable them to fight the enemy. If he stayed a few
days more, he would at last be victorious, and they would have no
ground on which to ask for protection. If they could get any assurance,
.' 'it would be better to make terms and surrender the fort to him, for
if peace were made, those found in arms would be slain, but all the
rest of the people-the merchants, the handicraftsmen and the cul-
tivators-would find protection." To this opinion they all agreed and
sent their messengers to Muhammad Qasim; the latter was quite will-
ing to guarantee the life and property of the civil population, and
. a plot was formed to deceive the soldiers. On a day fixed beforehand
with Muhammad Qasim the people came out to fight and, according
to their prearranged scheme, left the gate of the city open. The
Mus.almans entered the town, but Muhammad Qasim ordered them
kill none but those who showed fight. "Protection was given to
the artificers, the merchants and the COJ11mon people, and those who
been seized from these classes were all liberated; but he sat on
seat of cruelty and put all those who had fought to the sword.
said that about six thousand fighting men were slain, but ac-
to othcrs sixteen thousand were killed and the rest were
14
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
THE BRAHMANABAD SETTLEMENT
Before the investment of Brahmanabad, Sisakar, the rriinister of Rai
Dahir, had sued for protection
18
, and Muhammad Qasim, always
gracious to his Sindhi allies of talent and standing, immediately con-
fen'ed upon him "the office of wazir". Sisakar now became the coun-
of the Musalmans. Muharrimad Qasim told him all his secrets,
always took his advice, and consulted him in all the civil affairs of
the government, on his political measures and the means of prolong-
ing his success. Sisakar used to say that "the regulations and ordinances
which the just Ami'r (Muhammad Qasim) had introduced would con-
finn his authOrity in all the countries of Hind. They would enable
him to punish and overcome all his enemies, for he comforted the
and malguzars
19
, took the revenHe according to the old laws
and regulations, never bHrdened anyone with new and additional ex-
actions, and instructed all his functionaries and officers." The fall of
Brahmanabad had brought the whole of southern Sind into his hands,
but VictOlY had not turned his head and he knew wen enough that
his great enterprise, which was no less than the conquest of the whole
of llindustan, could not succeed by force alone-even if force were
to be on his side-and that the goodwill, or at least the neutrality,
of the people was an indispensable condition of success. GOOd. gov-
ernrrient, a government in which every possible regard was paId to
the religiOUS ideas, institutions and customs of the people, had to go
hand in hand with military conquest. While vigorously putting to
death all enemv soldiers found in arms in order to prevent the en-
listment of recI:uits by his onponents, he scrupulously refrained from
everything likely to wound the religiOUS susceptibilit.ies of the
and this tolel'ant policy, frorri which he never deVIated, had dnven
a wedge between the government of Dahir and the rriass of the
people, who gradually veered round to his side. Against such a states-
man it was difficult to excite the racial or religiOUS patriotism of the
public, while the Brahmans and Buddhist priests, the keepers of the
public conscience, were SUlVrised to find that one of the first acts of
the conqueror was to regrant their time-honoured privileges and pub-
lic offices. An efficient government of the country was impossible
without the help of the most talented and experienced men; and
Muhammad Qasim, who was free from the sterile fanaticism of the
later Ghaznavid and Ghurian Turks, freelv appointed Hindus to the
highest offices. He never lost sij!ht of t.he fact his adrriinistrative
measures, if just and fair, would contnbute matenally to the success
of his arms, and as the countly carrie into his hands bit by bit, he
made careful arrangements for its efficient government. The scttle-
The Amb Conquest of Sind
15
ment of Brahamanabad after its conquest has been described by the
Chach Nama iil greater detail than the laws and the regulations pro-
mulgated elsewhere, and may well be taken as a specimen of Muham-
mad Qasim's political attitude and method. It will be best to let the
historian speak in his own words.
The city of was placed in charge of four prefects,
of whom was responSIble for one of the gates. "Muhammad
QasIm also gave them as tokens of his satisfaction saddled horses and
.for their hands. and feet, according to the custom of the
kmgs of Hmd. And he aSSIgned to each of them a seat in the great
public assemblies."2o
The Jizya
"I-Ie fixed a tax upon .all the subjects according to the Law of the
Prophet. Those who the Muhammadan faith were exempted
from sIavety, the tnbute and the poll-tax; and from those who did
not change their creed a tax w,as exacted according to three grades.21
The first grade was of. great men and each of these was to pay silver
eCJnal to forty-eight di'rhams in weight, the second grade twenty-four
dirhams .and the lowest grade twelve dirhams. It was ordered that all
who be carrie Musalmans at once should be exempted from the pay-
ment, but those. who were desirous of adhering to their old persuasion
must pay the tnbute and the poll-tax. Some showed an inclination to
change
22
their and some having resolved upon paying tribute,
held fast by the faIth of their forefathers, but their lands and property
,were not taken from them.
. people, the merchants, artisans and agriculturists, were
dIVided mto their respective classes, and ten thousand men, high and
were counted. Muhammad Qasim then ordered twelve dh'hams
of silver to be assigned t? each man, because all their property
, He appoznted people from among the villagers
(J-nd the chl'ef clttzens to coll'ect the fixecl taxes from the cities and
villages, that them might he a feeling Of strength and protection.
the Brahmans saw this, they represented their case and the
and principal inhabitants of the city gave evidence as to the
IrJiwirwii'1J of Bmhmans.24 Muharrirriad Q.asim maintained their dig-
and passed orders confirming their pre-eminence. Thev were
against opposition and violence. Each of them was er;tlUsted
an office, for Muhammad Oasim was confident that they would
be inclined to dishonesty. Uke Rai Chach, he also appOinted each
to a .duty. He ordered all Brohmans
2
.
5
to be brought before him,
remmclec1 them that they had held grcat offices in the tirrie of
16
Politics and Society during the Ea1'l1l Medieval Pel'iod
Dahir, and that they must be well acquainted with the city and the
suburbs. If they know any excellent character worthy of his consi-
deration and kindness they should bring him to notice, that favours
and rewards might be bestowed on him. As he had entire confidence
in their honesty and virtue, he had entrusted them with these offices,
and all the affairs of the country would be placed under theil' charge.
These offices were granted to them and their descendants and would
never be l'eSllmed or tmnsfel'1'ed.
26
"Then the Brahmans and the government officers went into the dis-
tricts and said, '0 Chiefs and leaders of the people! You know for
certain that Dahir is slain, and that the power of the infidels is at an
end. In all parts of Sind and Hind the rule of the Arabs is firmly
established, and all the people of this counhy, great and small, have
become as equals, both in town and country. The great sultan (caliph)
has shown favour to us humble individuals, and you are to know that
he has sent us to you to hold out great inducements. If we do not
obey the Arabs, we shall neither have property nor means of living.
But we have made our submission in hope that the favour and kind-
of our masters may be increased to us. At present we are not
driven from our houses; but if you cannot endure this tribute, which
is fixed on you, nor submit to the heavy burden then let us retire at a
suitable opportunity to some other place in Hind or Sind, with all
your families and children where you may find your life secure. Life
is the greatest of all bleSSings. But if we can escape from this dreadful
whirlpool and can save our lives from the power of this army, our
property and children will be safe.' Then all the inhabitants of the city
attended and agreed to pay the taxes. They ascertained the amount
from Muhammad QasiIri27 and to the Br.ahmans, whom he had ap-
pOinted revenue managers over them, he said, 'Deal honestly between
the people and the Sultan, and if distribution is required, make it with
eqUity, and fix the revenue according to the ability to pay. Be in con-
cord among yourselves, and oppose not each other so that the country
may not be distressed: Muhammad Qasim admonished every man
separately and said, 'Be happy in evelY respect and have no anxiety,
for vou will not be blamed for anything. I do not take any agreemeilt
or bond from you. Whatever sum is fixed and we have settled you
must pay.28 Moreover, care and leniency shall be shown you and
whatever may be your requests, they should be represente'd to me
so that they may be heard, a proper reply be given and the wishes
of each man be satisfied:"
Muhammad Qasim had, hitherto, freely confirmed the Hindu and
Buddhist priests in the enjoyment of their as the religious
teachers of the people. A deputation of Brahmanabad Brahmans
29
1'e-
The Arab Conquest of Sind
17
Politics alld Society during the Early Medieoal Pel'iod
Rai Chach, the Lohanas, viz., Loklla .and San'ima, were not allowed
to wear soft clothes or cover their hands with velvet; but they used
to wear a black blanket beneath and throw a sheet of coarse cloth
over their shoulders. They kept their heads and feet naked. Whenever
they put on soft clothes, they were fined. They used to take their
dogs with them when they went out of doors, so that they might by
this means be recognised. Wherever guides were required by the kings,
they had to pedorm the duty; it was their business to supply escorts
and conduct parties from one tribe to another. If any of their chiefs
or ranas rode upon a horse, he had no saddle or bridle, but threw a
blanket on its back and then mounted. If an injury befell a person on
a road, these tribes had to answer for it, and if any person of their
tribe committed a theft, it was the duty of their headman to burn him
and his family and children. The carawans used to travel day and night
under their guidance. There is no distinction between them of great
and small. They have the disposition of savages and have always
rebelled against their sovereign. They plunder on the roads, and
within the territolY of Dewal all join them in their highway robberies.
It is their duty to send fire-wood for the kitchen of kings, and to
serve them as menials and guards.' On hearing this, Muhammad
Qasim said, 'What disgusting people! They are just like the savages
of Persia and the mountains.' Muhammad Qasim maintained the
same rules regarding them. As the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar
son of AI-Khattab, had ordered respecting the people of Shain, so did
Muhammad Qasim also make a rule that every guest should be enter-
tained for one day and night, but if he feels sick then for three days
and nights.",33
N O1'them Sind
Hajjai congratulated Muhammad Qasim on the wisdom and prud-
ence of his political measures and directed him to march 011 Alar and
Multan. 'So that he may subdue the country of Hind to the boundaly
of China.' The general made eareftil arrangements for the preservation
of peace and order in the territory he had subdued. The small Muslim
force he had brought from Persia would not have sufficed for garri-
soning a third part of southern Sind, but he had from the first been
fiber.al in enlisting the warlike local tribes and it was with a mixed
force, in which the Arabs must have been a minolity, that he advanced
towards Alar. All the tribes and towns on his line of march offered
their submission and he kept halting at various stages to organise
the government of the counhy. At Manhal, in the vicinity of Sawandi,
"all the merchflnts and chiefs Samanis, while the agriculturists
The Arab Conquest of Sind
19
were Jats." Muhammad Qasim fixed the annual revenue they were
required to pay and appOinted a man from each tribe as the head
of the tribe. 'Emphatic orders' from Hajjaj were also received about
this time: "The altisans and merchants were not to be heavily taxed.
Whosoever took great pains in his work or cultivation was to be
encouraged and supported. From those who espoused the dignity of
, Islam, only a tenth part of their wealth and the produce of the land
was to be required; but those who followed theil' own religion were
to pay from the produce of their manual indushy, or from the land,
the usual sums, according to the established custom of the counh'Y,
and bling it to the govemment collectors." At Silita the chiefs and
peasants appeared barefooted and bareheaded before him. He gr.anted
ithem protection, fixed the taxes they were to pay, took hostages from
.chiefs and asked them to guide his almy to Alar.
Alar (or Aror), the greatest city of Sind, had been left by Dahir in
of his son, Fufi. FuR resolutely refused to believe in the news
father's death and clung to the hope that he had gone to bring
army from Hindustan. The citizens were inclined to share his illu-
Muhammad Qasim asked Ladi,34 a widow of Rai Dahir, to
thein of the buth. Ladi rode up to the fOltifications on the
camel of the late Rai, and after uncoveling her face, told them
Dahir's defeat and death: "she then shrieked out, wept bitterly
sang a funeral song." But the besieged cursed her and said that
had joined the 'Ghandals and cow-eaters'. More reliance, how-
was placed on the repmt of a sorceress, who assured them,' that
the three watches of a day,35 she had flown aU round the
from Qaf to Qaf without finding Dahir anywhere in Hind or
The civil population began to waver, and knowing how faithful
lu.tlaUCUUau Qasim was in the observance of his promises, decided
Fufi Hed away on discovering that he had lost all support,
the citizens opened the gates on the usual tertns-death for
who refused to submit, protection for the civil population and
of the old taxes. "Your temples", Muhammad Qasim
"shall be unto us as the churches of the Christians, the
of the Magians and the synagogues of the Jews."
Mulhalffirrlad Qasim placed Alar in charge of a governor and a qazi
then advanced to Habibah, a fOlt to which Kaksa, son of ChandaI',
Hed after the battle of Rawar. Muhammad Qasim, who wanted
evcu.o'v",,, of standing, well acquainted with the condition of NOlth-
as Sisakar was with south, received Kaksa's messenger very
, , declared that "the princes of Dahir's family were all wise,
trustworthy and honest", and promised to make Kaksa his
in all aH'a.irs with the office of wizarat. The offer was natu
20 Politics and Society during the Eady Medieval Period
rally accepted. "The miY{ister Kaksa was a leamed man and a philo-
sopher of Hind. When he came to transact business, Muhammad
Qasim used to make him sit before the throne and then consulted
hiIll, and Kaksa took precedence in the army before all the nobles and
commanders. He collected the revenue of the countly and the treasure
was placed under his seal. He assisted Muhammad Qasim in all his
undertakings, and was called by the title of 'Mubamk Mushir' (pros-
perous counsellor)." Kaksa proceeded to justify the confidence of his
master by helping him to conquer the forts still held by the princes
of Dahir's family. The advance guard of the invading army, led by
him, defeated the garrison of Askalanda and pressed the siege so
vigorously that the chiefs fled to Sikka while 'all the people, the
artisans and merchants' sued for peace.
The old fort of Sikka stood opposite to Multan On the southern
bank of the Ravi, which then Hawed between the two forts.36 It was
held by Bajhra,fl7 who fiercely defended it for seventeen days, during
which the beSiegers lost heavily, and then withdrew to Multan, which
was commanded by Gursiya, son of Chandar. Muhammad Qasim
demolished the fOlt of Sikka and then crossed the Raw. The garrison
of Multan came out to fight and the battle raged from moming to
sunset. But neither side gained a decisive victory and the garrison
withdrew behind their walls. After the city had been besieged for
two months, a Multani, who had asked for quarter, showed the
invaders a spot where the wall could he mined, and after two or three
days of stiff fighting, they broke into the city. "Six thouS<'lnd war.riors
were put to death, and all their relations and dependants were taken
as slaves, but protection was given to the merchants, artisans and
agriculturists." Muhammad Qasim, for the first time, relaxed the
rigour with which he had, since the fall of Dewa1, sent a fifth part
of the spoils to the caliph,88 and allowed his army to have the whole
of it. "Then all the great and principal inhabitants of the city asseni-
bled together, and silver to the weight of sixty thousand dirhams was
distributed and every horseman got a share of four hundred dil'hams
weight,89 Muhammad Qasim had nothing left to send to the caliph but
a Brahman solved his difficulty by leading him to a hidden treasure
huried by an old king beneath an idol of gold with eyes of ruby.
Two hundred and thirty mans of gold were obtained and forty jars
filled with gold dust. They were weighed and the sum of thirteen
thousand two hundred mans40 weight of gold was taken out. This
is the only instance in which Muhammad Qasim found his way to
one of thOse accumulated hoards of gold and precious stones which
we meet so often in SultariMahmud's invasions. On the same day
a letter from Haiiai shOwed that-apart from the Mu1tarr treasure-.
Arab 0; Sind
Sind expedition, as a business venture, had yielded 100 per cent
to the caliph's exchequer: "I had agreed and pledged myself .
the time you marc?ed with a11llr to repay the whole expense,
by l?ublic treasury 111 fitting out the expedition, to the
Walid bIll Abdul Malik and it is incumbent On me to do so.
the accounts of the money due have been exani,ined and checked
is found that sixty thousand dfrha1n8 in pure silver have been
'''X[)ellUt'U for Muhammad Qasim, and up tQ this date there has been
in cash, goods and stuffs altogether one hundred and twenty
';th,m",,,nN dirhams weight."
Qasim treasure to Dewal, to he despatched
and, after appollltlllg officers over the territory of Multan,
roc,eecled fmther north. He probably reached the foot of the Kashmir
the Jhelani, enters the plain and where Rai Chach had
a poplar a fir tree to mark the boundary between his
and Kashmlr. Muhammad Qasim renewed the mark of the
, but he had decided to advance eastwards, and sent a
througl: Abu Hakim Shaibani, accompanied by ten thousand
to Rat Har (son of Rai Jahtal) of Kannauj inviting
. and Kal1l1auj was then the largest and
kmgdom m IndIa, but Muhammad Qasim felt quite con-
success. In the course of three years he had advanced from
to the Could not another three years take him to
border of Chma? He had carefully studied the religion and the
the an? understoo;J to.penection the policy that
hIS and mcreased hIS fnends. His army, far from
of Its work, longed for more victories. Moreover, it was
who had helped him to his greatest victories of peace
war, and so long as he to his policy of toleration, there
reason to expect theIr support as soon as his superior
. had made the military issue clear. He was just twenty-
111 the bloom of health and youth, and in a mood to embark on
almost superhuman enterprise.
Ral Har Chandar gave Qasiiri's messenger the reply
was to be expected: ThIS country for about sixteen hundred
has been under our rule and govemance. During Our sovereignty
enemy has ever dared to encroach on our kingdom ... What fear
I of y.ou that you should revolve such propositions and absurdity
m111d? Go back to your master and tell him that we must
Muhammad Qasim consulted his officers. They advised him
declare war on Rai Har ChandaI', and he had commenced his pre-
for the proposed campaign when a dromedary rider arrived
llflrm:m from thA nAw..,,,linh. hfTl AhCl111 M"Hlr li1'rl",._
22 Politics and Society dU1'ing the Early Medieval Period
ing him to be deposed, arrested and sent to Salih bin Abdur-Rahman,
the new gove11l0r of Iraq. Muharrimad Qasim's plans of conquest in
[ndia entirely depended for their success on the support of the home
gove11lment. The death of Hajjaj bin Yusuf in the summer of A.D. 714,
had made him pause, but the great Walid still lived and so long as
he was on the throne, Muhanimad Qasim felt quite safe. But al-Walid
died unexpectedly in January 715, and the gove11lment of Damascus
underwent a complete change. The Caliph al-Walrd, who well knew
the character of his brother and heir-apparent, Sulaiman, had sought
to disinherit him in favour 6f his own son, and his design had been
supported by Hajjaj, the power behind the throne. But al-Walld died
before he could complete his plan and Sulaiman ascended the throne
with the determination to satisfy his grudge against the palty of
Hajjaj. While all the snialler fry, whom the dead lion had humbled
and punished, collected together for an orgy of revenge.
It is impossible to guess the feelings of Muhammad Qasim when
he saw the promised cup dashed from his lips. All authorities agree
in stating that he submitted to the order of arrest with a soldids
sense of duty. But was there an alternative? Fly, but whither? Would
any Indi.an ruler care to offer him an asylum? Rebel and defy? The
first ten soldiers whom he met would hand him over to the caliph's
messenger, so well had he taught them the duty of obeying higher
orders. Officers, who had sought to rivet the chains of the caliphate
on the civilised world, had no chance of escape when it strangled their
own necks. He knew the venomous hatred of the new rulers at
Damascus for the party of Hajjaj and could have had no doubt about
his own ultimate fate. But without a protest or a groan-for his mind
was too strong for unseemly tears-he passed silently through the
prolonged tortures that awaited him the region of ete11lal rest.
"The people of Hind", says the laconic histOlian,41 "wept for Muham-
mad Qasim and preserved his likeness at Kiraj. He was imprisoned
by Salih al Wasit. Salih put him to torture, together with other per-
sons of the family of Abu Aqil, until they expired;42 for Hajjaj had put
to death Adam, Salih's brother, who professed the creed of the Khari'is.
Hamzah, the son of Baiz Hanafi, says:
'Ve1'ily, coumge and generosity and liberality
Belonged to Muhammad son of Qasim son of Muhammad,
He led amiies at the age of seventeen years,
He seemed destined for command tram the day of his birth.'
The young hero whose career was thus cut shalt is one of the
most attractive figures in the history of. the Muslim world. His
appointment by his own cousin as the head of the invading army
Mal:, Conquest 0; Sind 23
like one more instance of Umayyad nepotism and we are in-
to suspect that he was a mere figure-head, placed atop owing
his kinship with Haijaj, while abler men, behind the scenes, acted
his name. But a careful examination of the records completely dis-
the suspicion.
43
Hajj-aj no doubt kept the supreme control in his
hand and all important civil and military measures required his
But 'the great distance was an obstacle', and though the
was profuse in his enunciation of general principles, his deci-
had to be based on the facts snpplied to him by Muhammad
and we do not come across any instance in which an important
of the latter was overruled or ignored. The success
the enterprise, .after all, depended on the ability of the rrian on
spot. Muhammad Qasim placed implicit reliance in the talented
whom he appointed without hesitation to the highest offices
they never betrayed his trust; for confidence begets confidence
as suspicion begets suspicion. Early historians, unfortunately,
to have left us no account of his personality. It rriust have been
odd sight to see the. young general-his chin barely covered with
soft down and his calm authoritative voice strangely contrasting
the look of bOyishness that still lingered on his face-riding at
head of his scarred and bushy-bearded veterans, or interviewing
chiefs with the help of interpreters, and by turns surprised,
and horrified by the institutions he was trying to study. But
one could afford to trifle with Muhammad Qasim on account of
and we feel tempted to speculate what the future course
history would have been if the criminal fatuity of Sulaiman
not cut short one of the most promising careers in history. By
time he was forty he might have conquered China. "But the bud
his genius had not withered before it could blossom." On the
hand, it must be remembered that precocious genius is often
dOOrried to an early decay, and the Saracenic armies might have been
repelled from the Doab as they were from southern France. The
promise of his youth was too great to be fulfilled.
Alone among the many Muslim invaders of India Muhammad Qasim
a character of whom a conscientious Musalrrian need not be asham-
Though only the lieutenant of the governor of Persia, his work
compadson with the later exploits of Mahmud and Shiha-
Of the three, Muhal1imad Qasim alone had a conscience and
to his patrician birth-the instincts and feelings of a gentle-
He never sought a shortcut to success through fraud and guile
Shihabuddin Ghuri, and his whole career was free from the cons-
vandalism to which the pillage of peaceful non-Muslim
pOPu.latiion seems a service to Islam. Muhammad Qasirri's painful
24 Politics ani Sociei y during the Early Medieval Petiod
advance up the Indus appears hollow to contrast with the brilliant
adventures of Sultan Mahmud in northem India, but the Arab gene-
ral, unlike the Ghaznavid, had to arrange for the administration of
the conquered territory before he could proceed further. Shihabuddin
has been credited by some historians with an administrative capacity
of which we find little evidence in his career. Muhammad Qasim's
political insight, on the other hand, was remarkable. He seems to
have felt keenly that Islam as a religion would be judged by the
behaviour of the Arabs and he did all he could to obtain the goodwill
of the Indians for his govemment as well as his faith. He admitted
them to the highest offices, allowed himself to be guided by their
advice and never interfered with their religious freedom. Ahd they
trusted him as they never again trusted a Musalman for eight hundred
years. The civil population of one city after another opened its gates;
because Muhammad Qasim offered reasonable terms and they knew
that he never broke his promise. We shall search in vain for an in-
stance of similar confidence in the Ghurian or the Ghaznavid Turks.
If statesmen are judged not by the magnitude of their winnings, but
the method of their play, Akbar alone among the Muslim rulers of
medieval India deserves to be placed on the same pedestal as Muham-
mad son of Qasim. There was, to be sure, a great difference between
the two. Akbar believed that all religions were tme prOvided they
satisfied the moralJ aspirations oE their followers. To Muhammad
Qasim, Islam was the only h'ue faith. But he looked at the problem
as a Romanised Arab. A people accepting the suzerainty of the caliph
and paying the jizya obtained thereby an incontestable right to reli-
gious freedom and equality before the law. The jizya, conceived as
a tax on a non-Muslim fot remaining a non-Muslim, can be regarded
as fair and just only by those who stand to gain by its imposition. But
it must be confessed, that as interpreted by Muhammad Qasim, it
lost much of its invidiousness. It was in public law, equivalent to
conversion, for nothing more could be reasonably demanded, and
secured for the non-Muslim subjects of the caliph the political rights
and privileges of the Muslims. If it was wise of Fate to ordain that
rulers profeSSing the Muslim faith should conquer and govem India'
for six hundred years-a question on which opinion will be naturally
divided-one cannot help wishing that the new faith had been estab-
lished in northem India by armies of the second caliph or, failing
that, by Muhammad Qasim. The Umayyads had lost much that was
noblest and finest in Islam, but something still remained. Being less
priest-ridden, they were less fanatical; and the generous instincts of
the Arab aristocracy, their love of fair play and their conception
of duty as something different froni self-interest would have thorough-
Mab Conquest of Sind 25
. acclimatised the foreign faith and later centUlies would have had
different, and a better, tale to tell.
Modem writers sometimes speak as if the Arab attempt to advance
India through Sind was a strategic blunder. An invasion of the
through the nOlth-westem passes was not possible till IsLam
been established in Mghanistan, but the Arabs had command
sea and their boats brought men and material of war up the
to Alor and Multan. Muhammad Qasim had shown that war,
a financial investment, yielded a handsome return; and depending,
he did on Indian hands for the success of his enterprise, he im-
no' burdens on the resources of the caliphate. But his death
. the progress of Arab arms to an end and the govemors who
succeeded him were unable to maintain his acquisitions north of
Multan. The provincial history of Sind does not concem us here. F?r
over a century govemors appointed by Umayyad
caliphs ruled over the province; and then, like other outlymg portIOns
.of the caliphate, Sind also ceased to the mandates of
and we hear little of it in the Arab chromcles. By a process of whICh
. is known, the Carmathians, driven from the rest of the Muslim
.world, succeeded in establishing themselves in the province, while
the Hindus also regained part of the lost ground. Sultan Mahmud
found Multan in the hands of a Carmathian govemor subordinate to
the Raja of Lahore, and Uchh was govemed by a Hindu Raja when
Shihabuddin attacked it in the last quarter of the twelfth century. It
is difficult to say how the mass of the people were won over to Islam.
Muhammad Qasim never tried to accomplish by the what
the sword can never accomplish, and the number of converSIOns dur-
ing his conquest were negligible. There is no .reason to
that as in Persia, Mawaraun Nahr and Mghamstan, the COI1verSIOn
of the Sindhis to Islam was the slow result of centuries of mi"sionary
labour both before and after the of the ejnpire of
Delhi.
45
[Appeared in Islamic Culture, Hyderabad-Deccan, January 1929 and the subse-
quent issues-Editor.]
REFERENCES
1: Literally, one whose nose has been cut off.
2. Ibn Khaldun; Maulana Shibli, Siratun Nabi, Vol II, pp 118-32. Only a few
s,llltences of the famous speech, probably those in which the Apostle had summarised
his teachings, have survived. .
3. I would not be understood to mean that Islam prescribes any particular form of
. government; that is a question for secular reason acting on the basis of experience.
'Po/itics and Society Juring the Emiy M eJievai Period
No one form of government can suit all people at all time. But Islam does lay down
quite definitely the fundamental principles ;Of social organisation and individual
rights, and declares implicitly and explicitly that public affairs should be directed
by public opinion (Wa-umru hum-shura bainahunv-and they settle their affairs by
consultation and, wa shawir hum fil amr-You [Apostle] should consult them in your
aflairs). A single ruler may at times be a better representative of public opinion than
an assembly, but the contralY is more probable. Monarchy as such is un-Islamic; for
Islam, while prescribing obedience to the head of the state as a cardinal duty, never
speaks of kings; and the early monarchs and their subjects, at any rate, were painfully
conscious that the institution was flot sanctioned by Islam and violated its funda-
mental principles.
4. The contemporaries of Amir Mu' awiya bin Abi Sufyan, the first Umayyad caliph
((j61:79), :vere confronted with the same difficulties as the contemporaries of Augustus.
MedIlla, hke Rome, had expanded from a city-state into an empire; the governmerit
of the empire by the people of Medina or by a caliph elected by and responsible to
them, would have involved great hardship on the provinces, and was bitterly resented.
It was probably in consideration of this fact that the second caliph directed the
election of his successor by a committee appointed by himself, instead of leaving
it t? the public of Medina. animosities aroused by the struggle between Ali and
Mu aWlya become the hentage of the Muslim world. But the political problem
of ,the age seldom understood. The Arab had an instinctive dislike of monarchy,
ana the dislIke was further mcreased when monarchical power came into the hands
eI a family that had jained Islam at the last moment and represented the section of
traclitionally apposed to the Hashimi sectian to which the Apostle belanged
hllllself had never preached the supremacy of Quraish 0.1' of the Arab; and
nHther of the first two caliphs belonged to clans of the first rank. The principle af
the Quran itself is clear: "Those who are most viltuouS amongst you are mo;t
hanoured by the Lord" (Inna akl'amaku"l 'inda'llahi atqakum); and so far as the
was concerned, the best person should have been chosen by public opinion
of the or. the camn:onalty .. the really important constitutianal question
was lost SIght of IU the tenSIOn of CIVIl war. Today, on a calm review of subsequent
events, we can see that the Umayyad gavernment was accepted by a large number
of sane and honest Musalmans for the simple reasan that it was the sole bulwark
between them and anarchy and the af the second caliph by keeping
the Musalmans together. The dIVlSlon of the empIre into self-governing City-states,
under the suzerainty of a caliph elected by their delegates, wauld have probably
been the best salution of the constitutianal problem of the age. But anythinrr like a
'ff'deral sentiment' was entirely absent, and even the Kharijis, in spite of their revo-
lutionary fervour, failed to recagnise that a 'democratic caliphate' was a contradiction
in tenns except On the basis of lacal self-government. But nobody wanted federalism
of any smt; a strong central govel1lment was considered the one thing needful, and
the Umayyad caliphate was the inevitable consequence.
5. Ferishta's description of the Sind expedition is short, confused and inaccurate.
A brief account of it will, however, be found in many Arab chronicles of the early
}ears of Islam and specially in the Futuhul-Buldan 'of Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Jabir
Al Baladuri, an extract from which is given in Vol I of Elliot and Dawson's History
of India. But by far the most detailed and reliable history of the period is the Tarikh-i-
Hind tVa Sind, generally known as the Chaeh Nama. It is a translation from an Arabic
original, now lost, by Muhammad 'Ali hin Hamid bin Ahu Bubr Kun, who. lived
in the time of Sultan Nasil'l1ddin Qubacha. The internal evidence af the Persian text
conclusively proves that, though the translator has added to it here and there the
original Arabic history was written at the time of the invasion and by a per;on-
Arab Conquest of Sind
27
the Qazi appointed by Muhammad Qasim at Alor-well informed as to the
question is carefully discussed in Sir Hemy Elliot's introduction to his
"An air af truth pervades the whole, and though it reads more like a
than a histOlY, yet this is occasioned more by the intrinsic interest of the
by any fictions proceeding from the imagination of the authar .. , The
of the original work is manifest, not only fram the internal evidence of the
but from some omissions which are remarkable, such as the name 01
which must have been mentioned had it been in existence at theUme.
was built in the beginning of the reign of the Khalif Al Mansur, who
in 753 A.D. It ;s evident th"t the work must have been written before that
Again it is manifest that the mass of the people were Buddhists, which nc,
especially a foreign one, would have described them as being, had he lived
the extinction of that religion in India. We read of samanis, monks and a royal
elephant, which are no longer heard of at the later invasion of Malunud of
Again, some portions of the history are derived from oral testimony, recdved
third or fOUlth hand, from those who were participators in the events
just in the same way as Tabari, who wrote in the third centuly af the
probably later than OUI' author traces all his traditions to eye or ear-witnesses."
I, pp 136-37) I might add that the ideas of the author of the Chach Nama are
ideas of the seventh and not the thirteen century; a book lil<e it could not
been possibly written by a contemporary of Shihabuddin Ghuri or Qubacha.
therefore, confidently trust the Chach Nama as the safest of guides for the
and, thaugh not to the same extent, for the earlier history of Sind. Elliot
a long extract. The Persian text has not yet been printed.
6. Elliot, Vol I, p 505.
7. Sir Hemy Elliot gives the following dates On the basis of the Chach Nama.
The accession of Chach to the throne of Sind 10 A.H.
His'lxpedition to Kinnan, in the fourth year. 14 A.H.
Mughaires attack, in the fifth year. 15 A.H.
Chach's death after a reign of forty entire years ... 51 A.H.
Chandar's death, in the eighth year of his reign .. ,. 59 A.H.
Dahir's death, after a reign. of thirty-three entire years ... 93 A.H.
The following table gives the principal members of the Hause of Chach.
I
Chach
I I
Dahir=Bai, Dharsaya
/
/.
I
Fufl,
Silaij
I
I
I
Bai Raj
I
Chandar
I
I
Bajhra
. 9. Bai simply means 'lady'; her real name is not known.
10. Chae" Nama.
I I
Kaksa Gursiya
11. The identification of the places mentioned by the Chach Nama and other
seems a difficult, if not insuperable, task. An attempt to identify the more
FoiitiC8 and Society during the Early Medievai Period
important places was made by Sir Hemy Elliot (Appelldix I, Vol I), but his learned
conjectures are hardly convincing. Reference may be also made to two later works,
Mr Abbot's Silld dnd the Indus Delta Country by Sir Wolseley Haig. Mr Abbot's
small book is written in an exquisite style very pleasant to read, but it seems to
me a work of literature rather than history. Sir Wolseley approaches the problem
with the extraordinalY grasp of facts, which one always finds in his works; and so
far as the Indus Delta is concemed, he tells us all that we can at present expect to
know. The historical geography of the rest of the province is still involved in obscurity.
Rivers have altered their cow'ses; many old cities have changed theh" names or
disappeared, while new towns have arisen to perplex and mislead the too confident
theorist. I have contended myself with indicating the main line of Muhammad Qashn's
campaign; the detailed references of the Chach Nama can only be explained by a
writer acquainted with the geography of Sind and gifted with a genius for com
prehending the moods and movements of its erratic river.
Sir Henry Elliot identifies Armabel with the modern Bela of Mekran. Sir
IIaig agrees with Ferishta in identifying Dewal (or Debal) with the town of Thatta,
which still exists. Sir Henry Elliot's attempt to show the Dewal is the same as Karachi
creates more difficulties than it solves. Nirun is generally believed to be the old na,me
of Hyclerabacl, while the town of Sehwan is called Siwistan in all the Persian histories
of the early middle ages.
12. Muhammad bin Qasim manied HajJaj's daughter after the commencement
of the invasion, probably at Brahamanabad. Persian writers often substitute
an izafat for the Arabic word bin (son of); thus Mahmud-bin-Qasim and Mahmud
bm-Subuktagin becanie Muhammad-i-Qasim and Mahmud-i-Subuktagin. In popular
parlance the izafat seems to have been dropped, and this is (I believe) how the
present system of names among the Musalmans of India has been derived from the
clumsy Arab method in which, thanks to the extraordinary shortage of names, confu_
sion could often be prevented only by giving a man's ancestors to the sixth
generation. I have followed the later custom and called him Muhammad Qasim.
Faras, Pers or Fars is the southwestern part of Persia containing the well-known
towns of Isfahan and Ray.
13. "A single catapult or mllnianiq required no less than five hundred men to worl<
it. These heavy. machin.es had been used by the Prophet in the siege of Taif, and
had done effecttve serVlCe only a few years before at Damascus 'Ind Mecca, as well
as in the reconquest of northern Africa; but they were so ponderous that they
could be rarely used, except where the means of transport by water existed, or
but a short distance by land had to be traversed" (Elliot, p 435). It is strange that
machines depending on water for their transport should have done effective service
Damascus and Mecca. Munianiq8, like modern guns, were of different sizes and
'.n an age when gun. powder was they were often used in sieges. Munianiqs
II adas and '."ughrabts are referred to m almost all medieval sieges, and were pro-
badly machmes of the same general type but differing in details. The exact
is .not known, but roughly speaking a munjaniq was like a cricket-bat
n,ovmg on a Plvot. The most powerful men of the army were selected to pull back
one beam (or palla), so that the other boom moved forward and hit the ball. The
sang-i-maghrabi or munianiq-ball was an artificially rounded piece of stone about
the size of a football. I succeeded in discovering several such stones in the older
p.art of the fortifications of Chitor; as the munjaniqs had fallen into disuse by the
bme of Akbar, these balls. must have been left there in ihe earlier operations of
Alau.ddin Khalji; many forts, moreover, kept large stocks of 7/lunjnniq-!Jal/s in
to the problem of transport, I am inclined to think that the larger
rnun/a1llqs, In any case, were constructed on the spot. The name maghril.bi (westerner)
Noh Conquest of Sind 29
significant. It does not appear from the Ch.ach Nama that the forts of Sind were
with munianiqs; but all types of the machine were tc be found in plenty
forts of Rajputana in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Hindus
learnt their use from the Musalmans just as the Musalmans had
learnt it from the Romans. In Indian sieges, at any rate, they were more
effective; a munianiq-ball might kill a man here and there but was
againt the fOltifications of a fort like Chitor and 'merely rebounded'-
borrow a simile from Khusrau-Iike a nut thrown by a school boy at a wall'.
14. Referring probably to the fact that Bajhra was in the fort of Siwistan, while
subjects had to seek shelter behind the weaker defences of the city.
15. "It would appear that the old tract of Budh, or Budhiya, very closely cor-
to the modem province of Kach Gandawa, on all four sides except the
where it seems to have acquired a greater extension of which it is impos-
sible to define the precise limits. It is worthy of remark that, in the very centre
Kach Gandawa, there is still a place called Budha on the Nari river, and it is
. possible that the Nari is also preserved in the Kakar tract of Bori, or Bura, forming
part of the. Afghan' province of Siwistan. In the Ain-i-Akpari the town of Budhyan
is mentioned as being on the northern frontier of sirkar Thatta, one hundred kos
from Bandar Lahori.' (Elliot).
16. In spite of the difficulty of tracing in detail the route followed by Muhammad
Qasim, his general movement seems clear. He first marched up the Indus, and his
boats were helpful in keeping him in touch with his base at Dewal. From Nirun
proceeded to Siwistan and then westward to Sisam, his object being to subjugate
the western bank of the Indus, i.e., the tribes between the Indus and Mekran who
Kaka for their. chief. This being accomplished, he once more returned to Nirun
and prepared for an invasion of the eastern bank, which was still in the hands of
Dahir. The fort of Hawnr could not have been far from the Indus. Sir Henry Elliot
confuses it with Alar, which was the old capital of Sind, the
'Clm,;tnlction of the fort of. Rawar, as we are definitely told by the author of the
Chach Na11U! was begun by Rai Chach and completed by From he
'Illoved on to Brahmanahad, which is found in most maps. This completed the
subjugation of southern Sind.
, 17. Meaning, probably, the wives of his soldiers or subjects. It does not seem likely
any of the Rai's wives would not have been taken to the fort for safety.
He is also said to brought with him the Arab women who had been
by the pirates of Dewal.
19. Meaning, apparently, the wealthier tax-payers.
20. The 'prefects' here mentioned seem to have had the same duties as the katwals
later days, i.e. maintenance of order, control of the markets, etc. They must have
Hindus or Buddhists. There was no reason why Muhammad Qasim should gel
of his way to bestow "ornaments for hands and feet according to the custom of
kings of Hind" on his own Arabs. By "the great public assemblies" is probably
. the public durbars held by the Arab general, the bar-i-'am of later medieval
Three impositions are here mentioned-slavery, tribute and poll-tax or iizya;
is claimed that Muhammad QasiIri adhered to "the Law of the Prophet".
Now 'the Law of the Prophet' only permits slavery in One case--soldiers cap-
. on the. field of battle should not be killed but reduced to slavery. So far as
was concerned, the only persons who came under the law were the
'who had been pardoned after the seizure of the town.
(b) There remained the tribute and the poll-tax (jizya). Three 'grades of the latter
we given 48, 24 and 12 dir/wm, weight of silver per year. It is difficult to find out
30 Politics alld Society during the Early Medieval Period
the real value of a dirham weight of silver at that time. The dirham or drachm.a was
a Roman coin adopted by the Arabs. The lower and poorer classes must have been
exempted for the simple reason that they had nothing, and nothing could be taken
from them. It was only 'the merchants, agriculturists and artisans" who counted.
A poll-tax of the type naturally pressed hardest on the poorer tax-payers, a rich
merchant could pay 48 silver dirham. without feeling it, while a well-to-do artisan,
whose income did not amount to a hundredth part of the merchant's profits, may
have had to sell all his belongings to provide the 12 dirhams demanded by the tax-
The point requires some elucidation.
Muslim advocates of jizya base their arguments on a text of the Quran 'till they
(the infidels) pay the jizya with their hands and they are subdued". The words, 'with
their hands', have been interpreted by later legists to mean a poll-tax, a tax on a
p('rson and not on his property. The Apostle and the second caliph had asked non-
communities, who came within the territories governed by them, to pay to
the central power a tribute or tax roughly calculated on the basis of the population
of those communities. This was not an tmfair method of calculation in a country not
lharacterised by flagrant inequalities of wealth; the collection of the tax, moreover,
\Va.- left to the communities themselves; and so long as they provided the fixed amount,
they could distribute the tax between their members as they pleased. These com-
munities were divided into three grades, according to their wealth, and were required
to pay an amount which, if divided among their well-to-do members, would have
come on a very rough calculation to Rs 3 per head for the poorest and Rs 6 per head
for the middle and Rs 12 for the richest community. Now in later ages a tax, not
unfair when originally imposed, was exacted by methods radically different by poli.
hcians who argued from the etymological meanings of words and their syllogistic
conclusions in utter disregard of the economic conditions of the country. The jizya,
as levied by Aurangzeb, is not, in my opinion, sanctioned by the principles of Islam.
But admitting, for the sake of argument, that Islam sanctioned a poll-tax for the
economic degradation of non-Muslims, such a tax should have been wisely planned
to secure its object, it should have taxed the richest Hindus to the hilt and' brought
their wealth to the public treasury. This, however, is just what it failed to do. The
JllOportion of 3, 6 and 12 may indicate the comparative wealth of communities but
Cel tainly not of individuals, and a tax distributed on this basis practically left the
richest classes and the greatest amount of wealth untouched, while it pressed heavily
On the least able to pay and most likely to rasent. A retrogressive tax is an
Economic absurdity and naturally led to unpopularity without profit. But nothing
else can happen when administrative and political problems are decided On the basis
of manqulat, i.e. logical deductions from authorities wrongly understood, and in utter
disregard of time and circumstances.
If Muhammed Qasim wanted to be just and fair, he should have either imposed
the jizya in conformity with the tradition of the Prophet and a,ked for nothing more
or continued the old taxes of Dahir without adding the Jizya to them. The imposition
of the jizya along with and in addition to the previOUS taxes seems to be a clear
departure from the example of the Prophet. But Muhammad Qasim was free from
the fatuity of laterday fanatics, who have adhered to the monetary standards adopted
by the Prophet in Arabia without any to the constantly changing value of silver,
and have tried to enforce them in all countries without paying any attention to the
wealth or the poverty of the people. The retrogressive effect of Muhammed Qasint's
was modified by the important principles "that the distribution was to be made
with equity and the revenue fixed according to the ability to pay." How did this work
in practice? We are told that "all the people, the merchants, artisans and agriculturists
were counted" and amounted to ten thousand in number, We have seen before that
Arab Conquest of Sind 31
was defended by 40,000 soldiers and at least 6,000 were put to death
the town was captured; the figure 10,000, therefore, does not include the total,
only the taxable citizens, who in the eye of the revenue officer are all the people
count. There could not, moreover, have been many farms or cultivated fields within
walls of Brahmanabad and the inclusion of agricultulist in the jizya_1"01l coupled
the statement that Muhammad Qasim appointed collectors of the tax from among
villagers' . proves that the list gave the name of the jizya-payers in the whole
under the jurisdiction of Brahmanabad, and not merely from the town. The
was divided into three classes and gave the total revenue to be collected
tt)rritory under that head. Now the jizya was not collected by a separate .set
the Brahman revenUe collectors of Dahir were reapPOinted and asked to
the old taxes and the jizya. The duty of assessing the individual tax_payer
to the Brahmans; so long as they collected the required amount and the tax-
not seriously complain, Muhammad Qasim saw no reason to interfere; his
to tax people 'according to ability to pay' meant that the Brahmans were
make up for the retrogres,ive effect of the iizya when apportioning the other taxes.
That Muhammad Qasim's jizya was a substantial tax and told heavily on the people,
can hardly doubt. It was, nevertheless, accepted by the conquered population with
of relief. They had expected the de,truction of their temples and the ruin of
civilisation and were surprised to find that the Arab conquest meant only one
Nor was the religious aspect of the tax so objectionable in the eighth century
we might be inclined to think; if it was a tax on non-Muslims for remaining
no:'Hviuslilns, it was also (as'interpreted by the second caliph and Muhammad Qasim)
for conferring on the non-Muslims the legal and political status of the
as to the tribute, the 1181,, or one-tenth of the produce is the tax which
to the general hclief of the Musalmans has the sanction of the Apostle. It is
while the Apostle and his ,ucceSSOrs could have income of the Musal-
by their own officer, a different ,ystem has to be devised for the non-
who collected their own taxe,. It is much easier to estimate the
p of a community than its wealth or income and so the jizua was calculated
the basis of population.
We are often told that Muhammad Qasim kept to the old system and demanded
n') 'more than the people had been accustomed to pay. But that may have been
heavy enough. I shall refer later On to a letter of Hajjaj in which he directs that
a tenth part of the produce of their land or wealth was to be exacted from those
became Musalmans', while those who adhered to their old faith were to pay 'the
sums according to the estahlished custom of the country'. The previous tax must,
have been more than a tenth of the produce of land or capital. A Musalman,
escaped by paying a tenth while a Hindu or Buddhist had to pay the jizya on
top of the custom my taxe,. Muhammad Qasim, however, tried to compensate for
undeniable injustice hy his fail11ess in apportioning the taxes, by entrusting- the
to the Brahmans, and by his measures of religious tolerance. The people
judged his government, not by any particular regulation, but the general
and purport of its policy.
obvious mistake.
23. Plundered by whom? The conqueror, we have been told had ordered the property'
the merchants, agricultud<ts and altisans to be spared. But Brahmanabad had stood
for six months in which' all classes must have suffered heavily. The subsidy was
meant to help the resumption of peaceful occupations, but it is difficult to
why the amount given was equal to one year's jizya for the lowest grade.
32 Politics alld Society during the Early Medieval PeI'iod
24. Brahman here seems to mean the priestly or the highest .class of Hindus as
well as Buddhists.
25. There are, as we all know, Brahmans and Brahmans, to wit, two sorts of
Brahmans: those who are Brahmans by birth but devote themselves to civil occupations,
and those who are Brahmans by occupation as well as birth and spend their time in
prayer, mendicancy, etc. It was Brahmans of the first class only who had to be consi-
dered for appointments to revenue office. The 'religious Brahmans' were a different
problem and the measures respecting them are given in a succeeding
26. I am thus inclined to interpret the somewhat disconnected narrative. First
Muhammad Qasim, in order to create a feeling of confidence in the govermnent, decided
to appoint revenue collectors from among the people. Some of the persons selected
were 'new men', whereupon the 'civil Brahmans'-if we may so call them to distingnish
them from their 'religious' brethren, represented that they had a prior claim, and
the principal inhabitants, naturally afraid of adventures in the revenue department, gave
to support their claims. Muhammad Qasim accepted the suggestiori, and
(al appointed the claimants to their previous posts, (b) so that the whole system from
top to bottom came into the hands of the Brahmans; (c) their posts, moreover, .were
granted to them and their descendants in perpehlity as custom demanded, (d) while
'llew men' could also be accommodated owing to the many vacancies that had occurred,
(e) lastly, like a true Arab, who misses no chance of displaying his eloquence, he
expressed 'his entire confidence in their honesty and virhle' and hinted that it was lIOW
for. them to perform their part of the business by pacifying the people and preventing
rebellions against his government.
27. Hajjaj in his letters congratulates Muhammad Qasim on the accuracy and e1ear-
n!'ss of his reports. The young general, who seldom missed an oppOltunity of delivering
the Friday semion to his soldiers, was also an eloquent orator, as ready to speak as
to fight.
28. i.e. though complaints against the apportionment of taxes would be heard, the
final decision lay with the government.
29. i.e. 'the religious Brahmans', who lived on alms, the offerings at the temple and
private charity. They must have been hard hit by the wat, when their followers were
starving and could give them little or nothing.
30. This may mean a temple of Gautama Buddha. Sir Henry Elliot thinks that the
Persian word 'but' has been derived from Budh or Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
31. The follOwing would be a more accurate rendering of the Persian sentence, which
Elliot quotes in a foot-note-'Three dirhams out of every hundred dirham. of the total
revenue received were to he given to them (the' religious Brahmans) as is customaly;
the rest of the collection belonged to the treasury and must be kept safe and accounted
for: Dahir and the predecessor had prohahly allotted 3 per cent of their revenue to
religiOUS Brahmans as charity, and Muhammad Qasim directed the continuation of the
customary payment. The charity was to be given to the same recipients as before.
32. This was 'not a degradation imposed by the conqueror. By Brahmans is here
meant the Buddhist monks, who by the mles of their order are reouired to heg for
livelihood in the manner described. Muhammad Qasim simply allowed the conti-
nuation of an old practice. .
33. Sir Henry Elliot says that Muhanimad Qasim won over the Jats to his side
in his campaign against Dahir, but suppressed them after they had fought in his army
and led him to victory. /
This is incorrect. There is no reaSOn to suppose that the Jats like other races, the
Tmks or Tartars for instance, did not differ in culture and civilisation from place to
place. These regulations applied only to the Jats hackward, and savage section of the
Conquest of Silld
It is difficult to say who the Lohana Jats were, but it is clear that the time-
stem regulations did not apply to the whole race.
She had been captured, according to the Chach Nama, at Brahmanabad, along
two daughters of Dahir by another wife.
. 35. i.e. twelve hours.
36. Traces of the old river-loed, it is said, are still discernihle.
37. Elliot calls him Bajhra Taki, 'grandson of Bajhra', but his manuscript is clearly
at this place, and a little alteration would make it read: 'Bajhra who was
detenrtined to fight: I am inclined to think that he is the same Bajhra, whom
met at Siwistan before.
fifth part of the spoils, ,according to the Quran belong to and His
,ft.. __ l._<" to the state. Muhammad Qasim had strictly adhered to thIS precept. A
was sent to the caliph's exchequer, which had paid the expenses of the
and the remainder was distributed among the soldiers.
39: This would only be possible if there were nO more than 150 horsemen.
40. As will be seen from the following extract from the Chach Nama, the figures
in different sentences do not ouite agree: "Suddenly a Brahman came forward
"I have from the elders of Multan tbat in ancient times there was
this city, whose name was Jihawan. and who was a descendant of the
. He was a BrahTTh,n and a monk; he strictly followed the of hIS
and always spent his time in worshipping. his idols. When. hIS treasure
all limit and computation. he made a reservOIr on the eastern SIde of Multan
was a hundred yards ;ouare. In the middle of it he built a temple fi:ty yards
and he made there a chamher in which he concealed forty copper ,ars each
was filled with African gold-dust. A treasure of three hundred
of gold was buried there. Over it there is a temple in which there 's an 1(:01
of . red gold, and trees are planted round the reservoir ... Muhammad
the ielol to he taken un. Two bundred and thirty mans of gold were oht.amed
jars filled with !!old dust. Thev were weighed an,l the sum of thllieen
and two hundred mans of gold was taken out." Thus we have, firs:, a
or probably a lake; in the centre of it a temnle; within :he. temple an :dol
and buried under the idol. 40 jars of !'old dust. I a:n heheve
the 230 mans of gold here referred to is the Q"old In .the and
13.200 mans, I would prefer to read as 13,200 di"ham-welghts, whIch WIll make
account more consistent.
41. AI-Baladuri, Fatuhul-Buldan. .
Th popular story of Muhammad Oasim's death has heen copied by one Perstan
another and, with negligihle differences, they all give th" same
the followin" as a specimen. from Ferishta, who probably got it. from Mlr
"Raia Dahir's dauQ"hters, who had been sent hy Haiiaj to the. caPltal of the
remained for a long time in al-vValid's harem. It was not t.11 98 A.H.
of them and ordered them to he brought to his presence. He askerl the.r
Thn eldet sister said she was SlIriva Devi and the younger that she was
AI-Walid was captivated hv the elder sister and lost his ",;If-con;rol. But
wonld not accede to his wishes. 'I am not fit for the caliph shed, sh.e nroteste ,
Muhammad Qasim kept us or' an unlawful purpose at hIS house for
d M
be it is a custom amon!! the Musalmans for the ,ervants to stretch
avs. ay , h t' AI W l"i! fle int a
dishonest hands before sendinQ' cantives to t eir rna: er. - 1 W 0_
. and immediatelv wrote a firma" with his oWl! hands Muhammad ?"':m. where
he mav be to be sewn 11n in a cow-hide and sent to the can' tal. The
'placed in a raw cow-hide on the receipt of the firman and ordered .t ,0
34 Politics and Society during tIle Early Medieval Periou
he despatched to the caliph in a coffin. 'This is how I punish the dishonest', AI-Walid
told Suriya Devi when the coffin arrived. 'The Caliph', she replied, 'should not paso
orders on the unconfhmed representation of his enemies or his friends without sub-
jecting them to a critical examination. His action shows him to be wanting in judgment;
it is only through good fOltune that he sits on the throne. Muhammad Qasim was like
a brother to us and we were like sisters to him. He never touched us. But he had
put our father, brothers, kindred and people to death and had reduced uS from royalty
to slavery. We naturally wished to destroy him and have achieved our object by the
invention of our stmy.' Al-Walid felt ashamed of what he had done. But the hero had
been put to death and nothing could bring him to life again."
The interesting but tragic story involves insuperable difficulties. It is certain that
AI-Walid died hefore Muhammad Qasim, who was deposed and arrested by the orde!
of AI-Walid's brother Sulaiir:an. To admit a change of caliph deprives the story of all
,,,nse and meaning. There is no reason to disbelieve the account of the Arab historian,
which is perfectly consistent with all we know of the period-Sulaiman's resentment
against the party of Haijai and its fall after Sulaiman's accession, the hitterness with
which the new caliph's adherents persecuted the relations of Hajjaj and the intolei'ance
of Umayyad politicians towards their fallen foes. The manner in which Muhammad
Qasim was really put to death was probably no less painful, and even more humiliating,
than the story would have uS believe. But the rest is a myth, though an early one. We
first meet it in tbe Persian translation of the Chach Nama but it seems to have been
manufactured soon after Muhanimad Qasim's death, and was added by the translator
to the original Arabic work, The almost morbid defication of chastity, AI-Walid's
resentment against Muhammad Qasim as well as the latter's real self-restraint are
essentially Indian. The people of Sind knew and understood little of the revolution in
Damascus politics wbich preceded Muhammad Qasim's fate; but they had seen the
princesses of their royal family sent to Damascus to be married to the caliph and bis
relations; and 1ater without any ohviollS reason, they saw the all but omnipotent
general whirled away from their midst. In a bypothesis, probably borrowed from one
of their old folk tales, an explanation for all known facts was sought and found.
Uncritical historians did the rest.
43. "Muhammad Qasim was in the hloom of youth, being only seventeen years of
age, when this iniportant command was conferred upon bim. It is probable that, althougb
he is represented to have already administered tbe province of Fars with ability, he
obtained his appointment less from personal merit than from family interest, for he
was cousin and son-in-law of Hajjaj; hut tbe result sbowed tbe wisdom of the selection.
His succeSSes like those of his contemporary, Tariq, in Spain, were as much attrihu-
table to his temper and policy as to his courage and strategy. There was though
by no means little (as Dehal and Multan hear witness) yet much less wanton sacrifice
of life than was freely indulged in hy most of the ruthless bigots who have propagated
the same faith elsewhere. The conquest of Sind took place at the very time in which,
at the opposite extremes of the known world, the Mohammadan arms were suhjugating
Spain, and pressing on the southem frontier of France, wbile tbey were adding
Khwarazm to their already mighty empire. In Sind, as in Spain, where submission
was preferred, quarter was readily given; the people of the country were permitted
the exercise of their own creeds and laws; and natives were sometimes placed in
responsible situations of the govemmen!. Much of the unwonted toleration may, in
hoth instances, have arisen from the small number of the invading force, as well as
from ignorance of civil institutions; hut we must still allow tbe leaders credit for
faking the best means of supplying these deficiencies and seeking assistance froIT;
the quarters most able to afford it" (Sir Henry Elliot). As I bave already explained
the massacre of Dewal priests was a mistake committed by Muhammad Qasim
Arab Conquest of Sind 35
ignorance and never repeated afterwards. Sikka and Multan were captured
aiter a very stiff fight in which both sides lost heavily, but there is no evidence of
any wanton slaughter.
44. Abu! Fazl's epitaph on 'Urfi.
45. Historians have unfortunately failed to study gradual cbanges and confirmed
themselves to revolutions that arrest attention by their rapidity. The problem of
conversion perplexes uS in all countries conquered by the second caliph and the
which are at present (with the exception of southern Spain) entirely
Muslim. That the conquests. were not followed by conversion seems incontestable, and
we find solid masses of unconverted population so late as the fifteenth and th,,
. rixteenth centuries. See Sir Thomas Arnold, Preachings of Is/am, and Professor Edward
Browne, Literary History of Persia. Vol II.
SULTAN MAHMUD OF GHAZNI*
Chapter I
THE MUSLIM WORLD IN THE TENTH CENTURY
"Almost all ethical doctrines and religiOUS creeds", says John.Stuart
Mill, "are full of meaning and vitality to those who originate them
and to the direct diSciples of the originators. Their meaning continues
to be felt in undiminished strength, and is perhaps brought out into
fuller consciousness, so long as the struggle lasts to give the doctrine
or creed an ascendency over other creeds. At last it either prevails, and
becomes the general opinion, or its progress stops; it keeps possession
of the ground it has gained, but ceases to spread further. From this
time may be usually dated the decli'ne in the living power of the
doctrine. For when it has become a hereditary creed, and comes to be
received paSSively, not actively-when the 'mind is no longer com-
pelled, in the same degree as at first, to exercise its vital powers on
the questions which its beliefs present to it, there is a progressive
tendencv to forget all of the belief except the formulmies, or to give
it a dull and torpid assent, as if accepting it on trust dispensed with
the necessity of realising it in consciousness."
This weakening of spiritual zeal has shown itself in all religions at
various stages, and IS p-ainfully ohvious in the history of Islam from
the decline of the Ahhasid caliphate in the ninth centmy to the
Mongol conquest of Muslim Asia and the growth of mysticism in the
thirteenth. It was a period of great achievements in sdence, literature
art, and the area of human knowledge was enlarged hy scholars
trained in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. It was a period of
fevelish political activity; empires were estahlished and pulled down,
cities were founded and destroyed. But it was a period of refinement
* Professor Habib preferred in this book "Gbaznin" to "Ghazni" as explained at
the end of the preface to the second edition (see Appendix). However in the Delhi
Sultan at (fifth volume of A Comprehensi-ve History of India) he allowed the use of the
mnrp. nonnlar "Ghami" __ F:nrron.
37
culture, of an alluring, materialistic civilisation-not of faith. The
zeal of the earlier Muslims had evaporated in the signal
it had achieved, and the creed that had come into the world
the elevation of the lower classes was being used as a bulwark for
protection of vested interests and the continuation of tiine-
ahuses. Of hairsplitting theology there was enough and to
and the sectarian fanaticism which such theology excited dis-
the annals of many generations, dming which 'orthodox' and
ihEirel:ics and tortured each other with an inhumanity they
yed in their dealings with the non-Muslims, who were re-
as the honourable opponents of an honourable war. Islam had
a matter of custom and tradition and a means for procming the
llvl'Ition of the individual soul. It was no longer a world-wide force of
. upheaval. People prayed and fasted and rea? the Quran
devotion, they lived according to what they consldered to be
true interpretation of the law, but the vision of a new heaven and
new earth, such as had inspired the Saracenic invaders of Persia,
totally beyond their ken. They had lost their proselytising fe:vour
were content to keep their creed to them.selves. The boundanes of
Muslim world remained where the Umayyad caliphs had left
and no new countries or peoples were brought within the fold.
also the political, religiOUS and social unity of the
was being gradually undermined by the forces of dis-
Political Divisions: Decline of the Caliphate
The idea that all purely Musli)Jl populations should be under the
of the caliph has never been ahsent from Muslim consci-
the lands of the caliphate were too extensive to
,..""",m<.rl from a: single centre, and in the course of the last two
the political and administrative power of the caliph had
declined. Local princes raised their heads and the orders
ceased to command the implicit obedience that had been
to them in the good old days of Harun-ur Rashid. Spain had
independent, a rival caliphate had been founded by the
of Egypt, and, nearer home, the growth of a number of
dynasties' par.alysec1 the caliph's Iraq, Persia an?
fUlke:,talll. Yet the moral prestige of the cahph 111 the eyes of hls
was immense. He was the successor of the Prophet
serltItnerlt regarded him with deep respect. He was the
authority, kings and trihal chiefs were
to him, and his sanction alone could provide
for their power. The m.addest of political adventUl'ers
38
Politics alld Society dW'ing the Early Medieval Period
would think many times before he directly defied the caliph's
authority.
The 'Minor Dynasties'
O the 'minor dynasties' that jostled each other in Persia and
Turkestan, the most important and powedul was the house of Saman
founded by Amir Ismail Samani in A.D. 911. The Samanids with
their capital at Bukhara, held an insecure sway over Trans-Oxiana
(Mawaraun and Khurasan, their power being almost constantly
defied by rebellIOUS governors and insubordinate officials. Beyond the
the unconverted Turks and Tartars were ruled by their tribal
chIefs, the of whom was the Khan of Kashghar. In
Eastel1l PerSIa the Shlalte dynasty of Buwaih, with its capital at
Ray, was by Ruknu.ddoulah Daylami in 933 and gradually
ItS power m Iraq tIll. Baghdad within its grasp.
calIph was le!t.to slumber m hIS palace, as a venerable phantom',
the rulers assumed the powers and the tHle of
and directed the secular affairs of the capital.
other dynastIes are too many and too unimportant to be men-
tIoned here. They were constantly at war with each other.
(ii) Religious Divisions-Sunnis, Shias and 'Heretics'
As if. o.f rol!tical was not enough to paralyse
the energIes of .acute dIfferences on questions of dogma
appeared WIth an mtenslty of bitterness which Musalmans now
can hardly realise. The division of Musalmans into Sunnis and
had very The Shias cI.aimed that the Prophet's
COusm and son-lll-Iaw, AlI, should have been his immediate successor
while the Sunnis upheld the legality of the actual order of succession .
-Abu Bah, and Ali. tllis political difference
slowly developed llltO dIfference of a more fundamental nature' and
became. the Persian interpretation, as against Sunnism the
A.rab llltell)l"etahon, of the Prophet's teachings.! As yet, however, the
dIfference. between the Sunnis and the main body of Shias was not so
.as It after,:ards. became; . one sect shaded off into another by
gradahons, It was chfficult to say where Sunnism ended
Sillmsm and many persons then living would have found
It. hm'd t.o de.clde to which sect they really belonged. But the most
bItter annnosity prevailed between the 'orthodox' Sunnis and the ex-
;ring of the who believed in only 'seven' out of the
Imams Sillalsm, and were generally known as the 1leretics'
(mHlahldah). TIllS extreme wing, though divided into many groups,
39
the Ismailis of Arabia and the Cantiatlrians of Multan were
notorious, was unified by a common hatred of tlre Sunnis owing
punishment which the latter inflicted on 'heretics' in general,
trying to distinguish between one kind of heresy and another.
great dogmatiC fault, from the orthodox view-pOint, was their
in the Prophet's Family as a Divine Incarnation. But every
of a vice was attributed to them; and it was their supposed
character rather than their actual religiOUS beliefs that excited
fmntic intolerance of the orthodox. They were accused of permit-
incest and of legalising marriages within prohibited degrees; they
blamed, and with more truth, for resorting to assassination as
a political weapon and of hying to establish a heretieal hierarchy
place of the secular state. A 'heretic' was slain wherever he was
. but simple death, as a rule, was considered too mild a punish
and the 'heretic' who escaped being torn to pieces by infuriated
was put to death by the governments with the most revolting
... ..... -.. that the mind of man could invent. To tlris insensate persecu-
the 'heretics' replied with weapons which are always in the
of a determined minoritv. Thev -formed secret societies which
could not be unearthed by spy-system of the states and
their propagandists (da'is) in various disguiSes penetrated into every
of tlre Muslim world. Growing yet bolder, they established
rival caliphate of Egypt, captured the Holy Places and removed
Black Stone from the sacred temple of Mecca. Finally, they
a number of forts in Persia, the chief of which was Alamut,
murder into a fine art, and Sunni kings, statesmen and
. Ult:UJLUg.ldl1' were kept in pell)etual fear of death by the unseen dagger
tlre assassinating neretic'. It was a mad dance, but none the less
continued till the middle of the thilteenth cenhlry when 'orthodox'
neretic' alike were compelled to lick the dust under the Mongol
<::onqueror's iron hee1.2
(iii) Racial Divisions-Persians, Arabs and Turks
"And this is my last advice unto you", the Prophet said in his last
at Mecca, "You are of one brotherhood." And there is no
principle of their f.aith to which the Musahrtans have been
true; religiOUS unity has always overridden all tribal and racial
Ql!,tDICI:IOlllS. Nevertheless there have been avowed, though futile, at-
at racial supremacy; in Muslim lands, as elsewhere, racial
has been an uncomfortable aspect of human nature. The Umay-
caliphs made a bold attempt to convert the empire into a heritage
the Arab aristocracy; the Persian revolution, which overthrew the
and placed the Abbasids on the throne of the caliphate,
40 Potitics and Socidy during the Eal'iu Medieval PeJ"iod
naturally brought the Arab regime to an end and transferred to the
Persians the superimity fomierly enjoyed by the Arabs. But a rival
race soon appeared to contest the prize with the victorious Persians.
From the marshes of Anatolia in the west to the shores of the Pacific
Ocean in the east, there extended the various tribes of the Sino
Mongolian race-Turks, Tartars, Turkomans, Tibetans, Chinese and
Mongols-distinguished by some very marked common features. They
had allied scripts all written from top to bottom. They were short
of stature; with high cheek-bones and small eyes, but remarkably
well-built and. inured to the hardships of war. With the expansion
of the Muslim frontier to the n01th and west of Persia one Turkish
oibe after another was brought within the Islamic pale, and the
Turks surprised their conqueiors by the remarkable courage of their
men and the no less remarkable beauty of their women. Turkish body'
guards were appOinted to watch over the safety of kings, Turkish
slave-girls inhigued in royal harams, and slowly, but surely, Turkish
adventurers shouldered out the Persians fro):11 all places of military
command. By the middle of the tenth centUlY the revolution was
complete, and the Turks had t.aken up among the Musalmans a
position broadly similar to that of the Kshattriyas among the Hindus.
That ol}ly a Turk should 1111e a Muslim land or lead its armies on
the field of hattIe was considered by the ordinary citizen an immu-
table precept of political morality. Of the dynasties that have ruled
Muslim .Asia from the tenth to the eighteenth century, an over-
whelming majoritv has belonged to the Turkish stock.s Administra-
tive posts were still left to the Persians and they had an exclusive
monopoly of art and literature, for which the Turks never showed
much aptitude. A Persian was not regarded as a sudra or treated
as a member of the subject race; his function in the state was
different, but his social status was as honourable as that of the
Turk. Nevertheless Turkish military predominance had its darker
side; the govemment of even the most toler,ant Turkish rulers seemed
to keep the mailed fist in reserve; and Persian genius, compelled
to Occupy a secondroy pllace in politics, found an outlet flor its
energies in organising religiOUS agitation against the orthodox Turks.
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni 41
Chaptm' U
CAREER OF SULTAN MAHMUD
In A.D. 962 Abdul Malik, the Samanid king of Bukhara, died and
his brother and uncle both claimed the throne. Alptagin, the governor
of Khmasan, was consulted by the nobles of the capital and advised
in favour of the uncle; but before his messenger reached Bukhara,
the common consent of the nobles had raised Mansur, the brother
of the deceased monro'ch, to the throne. Realising that he had backed
the wrong horse, Alptagin acted with loyalty and discretion. Leaving
Khurasan to its legitimate 111ler, the Samanid king, he marched to
Ghazni with his personal retainers, drove out its 1111er, Abu Bakr
Lawik, and frustrated Mansur's attempts to dislodge him from his
new principality. Alptagin died in A.D. 969 after a prosperous reign
of eight years during which his general Subuktagin kept tinkering
at the Indian frontier. He was su,cceeded by his son, Abu Ishaq, who
died before he had reigned for a year. After him three of Alptagin's
Turkish generals were raised one after another to the throne. The
first, Bilkatagin (969-77), was a pious and brave man, but his suc-
cessor Piray (977) turned out to be 'a great villain' and was deposed
in favour of the famous Subuktagin.
4
Subuktagin
Amir Nasiruddin Subuktagin had been for several years the most
'prominent man in the kingdom when the people, 'quite sated with
'the villainies of Piray', placed him on the tlu'one in 977. He eradicated
the 'foundations of tyranny and 'spread the carpet of justice and
mercy over the land'. What was no less important, he kept the
.,officers in hand and started his city-state on that career of aggres-
"sive conquests which brought to the notice of the eastern world.
after his accession he annexed the territories of Bust and
, and marching towards the Indian frontier, 'captured a few
and built some mosques' (978). It was a small affair but had
consequences.
till the eighth century had been politically and cul-
a prot of India, and its native population had adopted the
DU!UUJ.llSl frontiers of ISlam had 'been gradually
'across 'the country and now the two forces stood opposite to
I
42 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
each other in the province of Lamaghan on the southern side of the
Kabul river. Rai Jaipal of Lahore, overlord of the Punjab was, driven
to by this . slo,,: diminution of his ancestral kingdom;
Subuktagm s repeated mvaSlOns had made his life uncomfortable;
and resolved to drive matters to it final issue, he marched to the
valley of Lamaghan with 'soldiers black as night and iinpetuous as
a torrent'. Subuktagin and his son Mahmud advanced from Ghazni.
The battle raged for several davs, but the victor could not be dis-
tinguished from the vanquished: Then an untimely snow-starin
shattered Jaipal's calculations.
S
"All at once the sky was covered
with clouds; thunder and lighting appeared; the light of day was
changed into the darkness of night; and the cold became s6 severe
that most horses and beasts of burden died, and the blood of the
Hindus froze wrthin their veins." There was no alternative to a
humiliating surrender, and Jaipal promised a million dirhams and
fifty elephants to the enemy who had ret.ained his activity in the
intense cold.
Seconcl War with Iaipal-Annexaiion of Lamaghan and Peshawar
But in the safety of Lahore Rai Jaipal forgot the promise he had
made, and Subuktagin's envoys, instead of receiving the promised
hibute, found themselves in prison. "I will not release these Inen",
Jaipal declared:, "unless Subuktagin sets free the hostages he has
taken from me. The consequence was another war. Subuktagin
retaliated ?y plundering Lamaghan and Jaipal appealed to his
brother Rms, who responded ,to the call. The rulers of Delhi, Ajmer,
Kmlauj and Kalanjar sent him men and money, and thus strengthened
he once more mm'ched to the Lamaghan valley with a hundred
horse and soldiers beyond all computation. The battle
whIch followed demonstrated the futility of an unmanageable
?rowd. Subuktagin wore out the patience of the Indians by attack-
mg them repeatedly with picked bodies of five hundred horse; and
after a desperate onslaught in which 'swords could not be distinguish-
ed from spears, men from elephants and heroes from cowards', drove
them pell-mell back to the Indus. Lamaghan and Peshawar fell into
the hatnds of the victor. Subuktagin established his tax-collectors
over the conquered territOlY and garrisoned Peshawar with two
thousand men.
AcquiSition of Khul'asan
'S'ome twelve or 'thhteen vcars after these events, a rift in the
Samanicl kingdom opened the door to' a more important acquisition.
Sultan Mahmud of Glwzni 43
AbU: Ali Simjuri, the governor of Khurasan, and Faiq, an unscrupu-
lous politician expelienced in such business, rebelled against the
,Samanicl king, Amir Nuh, a respectable nonentity; and Nuh appeal-
ed to Subuktagin for help. The latter came to the assistance of his
overlord with an alacrity that should have made AmiI' Nuh pause.
, Subuktagin and Mahmud crushed the rebels in a fierce battle before
Herat, and as a reward fer this loyal selvice, Mahmud was appOinted
govemOl' of Khurasan in A.D. 994 and he established himself at
Naishapur. The finest province of Persia thus became for all practical
pUl1?oses a part of the kingdom of Gha7.ni. The glory of the victory
remained with AmiI' Nuh; its fruits with his allies. It was not
Mahmud's prinCiple to give back, what had once come within his
iron grasp.
AmiI' Ismail
Amir Subuktagin died in Balkh in A.D. 997 after a reign of twenty
years, and in accordance with his will his son, Ismail, was placed
on the throne. But Mahinud was not prepared to be ousted by his
younger brother, and Ismail was unwilling to agree to a reasonable
compromise. The consequence was civil war. Mahmucl marched
against Ghazni from Naishapur while Ismail hurried to protect it
'from Balkh. The two brothers met near the capitaL Mahmud's charge
broke Ismail's centre and the 'iron-hearted sword wept tears of
blood over the fate of warlike men'. Ismail was imprisoned in a
fOlt of JUlian and provided with all the requisites of a comfortable
existence.
AmiI' Mahmud-Pel'sonality and Chamctel'
The new amiI', who ascended the throne at the age of thirty, was
destined to surprise and stagger his contemporaries with the brili-
ance of his achievements and to establish a shortlived empire extend-
, ing from the Punjab to the Caspian and from Samarkand to Ray.
Ever since the decline of the Abhasid caliphate, men of small ima-
ginations and small means had been striving for a supremacy totally
, beyond their reach. In Mahmud the long expected hero seeined to
have anived. The princes of Persia and Turkistan trembled at his
name; and Subuktagin's mystic dream of a tree rising out of his
fire-place and overshadowing the world was realised. But contem-
pOl'mies were too dazzled with the genius of the man, who never
lost a battle during forty years of ceaseless warfare, to discover the
impermanence of his work. To posterity, on the other hand, Mahmud
becaine a legend and a name. Latter-day fanatics have 'loved to
44
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
portray him as a hero after their own heruts-the 'Holy Wardor' in
the 'Path of the Lord' in whose footsteps all pious Muslim kings
should aspire to tread; and moralists of a different type have held
him up as an example, not of righteousness but of personal greed,
of the avarice that clings Lo worldly possessions, 'so laboriously won,
so precmiously held, so inevitably lost'. Yet the astute, wine-loving
sultan of Ghazni was neither the one nor the other. Far from being
a missionruy, he was not even a fanatic, though like a clever man
with a clear eye to his own profit, he fought with Hindus and
Musalmans alike for the extension of his empire. But if his faith
never rose to the heights of a sublime passion, neither did his
stinginess amount to a disease. He did not gloat over his horu'ds like
a miser but kept them intact for the financial stability of his govern-
ment.
The gift of a commanding personality had been denied to Mah
mud. He was a man of medium height with well-proportioned
limbs, but the small-pox marks on his face deprived him of all ex'
ternal beauty and grace. It is said that on seeing his face in the
mirror once he felt very dejected. "Looking at the face of kings
is believed to strengthen the eye,sight of men", he remarked to his
wazi1', "but a face such as mine will probably injure the onlooker's
eye." "Not one in a thousand sees your face", the quick witted
wazil' replied, "but your moral qualities affect them all. Strive in
the path of viltue and you will be loved by all." Mahmud was
no pahilwan; feats of personal prowess were beyond his strength,
though his frame bore all the hardships entailed by his continuous
campaigns. But he did not subject himself to more discomforts on
his campaigns than was absolutely necessaly, and his travelling camp
sUlptised his subjects by its splendour. He was too good a general
to endanger his personal safety by needless herOism; nevettheless,
when the occasion requnred, he mounted an elephant and plunged
bravely into the thickest of the enemy lines. His unquestioned
supremacy over his fellowmen was due to the qualities of the mind-
the acuteness with which he unravelled a complicated situation and
read the character of those ru'ound him, the restless activity of a
man determined to be great combined with the illstinctive behaviour
of one born to command. A king had to be reserved, but Mahmud
never cast off the veil even before his most intimate companions.
He had no favourites in state .affairs. The play-things of his idle
hours were not allowed to meddle in matters too high for their
understanding. The devotion with which hc was served by his offi
cers did not evoke an equal c()nfidence on his side. Even towards
his all but indispensable wazi1', the great Khwaja Ahmad 'bin 'Hasan
, Sultan, Mahmud of Ghazlli
45
Maimalldi , his attitude was one of distant respect. The smaller fry
were pawns on the chesshoard whom the master-mind moved
hither and thither at will.
The sultan's pe'sonal faith, as distinct from the policy of his gov-
ernment, is a matter of interesting speculation. Contemporary
gOssip credited him with a disbelief in of Judgment" and
. in. the Tr-adition (Hadis), dear to the Mushm pnests of all ages, that
the scholars (ulama) are the successors of the prophets".7 The ap-
pearance of the Holy Prophet a dream to have put. his
mind at rest; and Mahmud, hke most Muslim never fmled
fo pay a visit to saints of renown, though with exception .of
Shaikh Abul Hasan Kharqani none seems to have mfluenced him
deeply. But his outlook on life was essentially secular, and he .was
1'00' conscioiis of his position as the head of the state to allow pnest-
hood to become supreme. His persecution of the 'heretics', apart
from the pressing demand of the 'orthodox', may have been due to
. lii:s conviction that their 'inimoral' doctrines would shake the founda-
tions on which Muslim society was based; and greed for money and
power, not an enlightened .desire for the spre:d o.f. Islam; the
motive of his Indian campaIgns. A deep and faIth m the
one and the unseen God, Mahmud certainlv had, and it brought him
tne consolation he needed. Apmt from that, it would be safe to
3:ssume that he shared the rationalistic tendencies of his fliend,
Ahmad Husain bin Mikal (Hasnak), who refused to believe in anv
mvstifying nonsense, and the firmness with which he protected
from the caliph's wrath confirms this view. The private
life of the sultan celtainlv shows him to be anything- but the paragon
'of virhte idolised by Muslim fanatics. He was morallv neither better
worse than most of the princes who preceded and followed him.
shared their fondness for war and wine and women as well as
appreciation of poetry and music. He was not above quarrel-
'with his officers for the possession of Turkish slaves. and sc.andal,
mayor may not he tnie, credited him with illel-ritimate
i'hlrlrf,cpn.8 . But the 'plime concern of the historian is not the private
of Mahmud but' the chara<;ter and value of his work.
of the Samanid Kingdom
Amir Nun of Bukhara died in the same year as Subuktagin. His
Mansur, appointed. one Beg:tuzun governor of Khurasan. and
Mahmud : was fighting- with Ismail, Be).?tuztin estahlished him-
at Naishapur. ' Mahhiud's protests were disreQ'arcled:and whe:n
marched on Naishapur, Mansur hastened to defend It. Mahmud
46
Politics and Society dUling the Em'ly Medieval Period
was niore than a match for the Samanid king but he refrained from
pushing matters to extremes on account of the blame that
attach to him for defying his overlord. But as fate would have It,
Begtuzun, joined by the ever-mischievous Faiq, captured and blind-
ed Mansur and placed his brother, Abul Malik, a boy of tender
years, on the Samanid throne. Mahmud's hands were now fl'ee. He
cleared Khurasan of the enemy and Abdul Malik fled to Bukhara.
But flak Khan of Kashghar, who had been watching the course of.
events from beyond the Jaxartes, marched on Bukhara and put the
Samanid kingdom to an end in A.D. 999. I'lak Khan and Mahmud
congratulated each other and divided the Samanid kingdom between
themselves with the Oxus as the boundary line. This political al-
liance was cemented bv a farriilv alliance and the intercourse of the
two kingdoms resulted in the cO{1Version of a large number of Tartars
to Islam.
Towards the end of year A.D. 999 Mahrriud, the first Muslim ruler
to be credited with the title of sultan, received a robe of honour
from the caliph with the title of 'Aminul Millat' and 'Yaminuddoulah'.
He now stood in the place of the Samanids, his former overlords, in
direct subordination to the caliph, and recognised the duties of his
new position by taking a vow to wage a 'Holy W.al against the
Hindus evelY year. Though he invaded India only seventeen times
in the thirty years of life yet left to him, it must be acknowledged
that the vow was fulfilled in the spirit in which it was made.
(1) Fl'ontiel' towns
In A.D. 1000 Mahmud crossed the Indian frontier but retreated
after captUling a few forts.
(2) Peshawal' and Waihincl
Next year (1001-2) he moved again and pitched his tents before
Peshawar with ten thousand horse while Rai Jaipal marched against
him with twelve thousand horse, thirty thousand foot and three
hundred elephants. On 28 November 1001, the armies fell on each
other and 'did justice to their traditions of warlike courage'.9 But
Rai .Taipal was captured with fifteen royal pJinces and five thous.and
Hindus diea on the battle-field. Mahrriud marched on and captured
Jaipal's capital, Waihind (or Und), whf:re some Hindus had collected
toe:ether for a second battle.l
O
Taipal and other prisoners were
released on pavment of tribute, but the defeated Rai, in conformIty
with the custom of his people, transferred his kingdom to Anandpal
pnrlpcl hi< lif" on a funeral pvre.
Sultan Mahmild of Ghazni
47
(3) Biji Ral of Bhera(1006-e1007)
DUling the next two years Mahmud was busy with the westel11
.affairs of his kingdom and the conquest of Siest.an. In the autumn
of A.D. 1006 he crossed the Indus for the first time and appeared
before Bhera on the bank of the Jhelum. Biji Rai of Bhera, who
possessed 'elephants headstrong as Satan' and had never cared to
pay homage either to Subuktagin or Jaipal, carrie out of.-the fort and
offered battle. The struggle continued desperately for three days
and the condition of the Muslim armv became critical. But on the
fOUlth day, after the battle had raged indecisively from moming to
noon, a desperate charge led by Mahmud in person broke the Hindu
centre and Biji Rai fled to the fort with his broken columns.
Mahrriud sat down to beSiege it. The Rai, 'a prey to pel1)lexity and
feal, fled from the fort at night, but was surrounded by a number
of Mahmud's soldiers and escaped an inglol'ious captivity by plung-
ing a dagger into his breast. The city of Bhera and its dependent
territory was annexed to the Ghaznavid empire and Mahrriud re-
turned with two hundred and eighty elephants and other spoils.
n

(4) Fil'st Invasion of Multan (1004-1005)
The province of Sindh, conquered by Mohamrri.ad bin Qasim in
the beginning of the eighth century, had been convelted to the Car-
mathian heresy about a century before Mahmud. According to the
ideas of the age l1eretics' were as wOJthy objects of Holy War as
'unbelievers'. Shaikh Hamid Lodi, ruler of the Upper Sind, had kept
Subuktagin pleased with occasional presents but his gr.andson, Abul
.Fath Daud, left the cautious policy of his predecessor. FeaJing
that the fall of Bhera would leave Multan open to Mahmud's attack,.
he made an ineffectual attempt to come to Biji Raj's assistance-
act totally beyond the bounds of propriety and reason. Mahmud
at it for a time but next year (1005-6) he marched on a
campaign against the Carmathian Daud. Daucl in desperation
.dIJ'IJ""""'U to Ananclpal, son of Jaipal, and Anandpal made a bold
to block Mahmud's progress. But Mahrriud, not unwilling
obtain 'two paradises', turned aside to fight the Hindu before
struck at the 'heretic'. Anandpal's officers were driven back, the
himself was pursued over l1ill and dale' up to the Chenab and
path to Multan was cleared. Daud, who was in no condition to
an open battle, shut himself up in the fort, and after a siege
seven days promised to recmit frorri his heresy to the religiOUS
(shariat) of the orthodox and to pay an annual tribute of 20,000
'J,1,T,rul1'flS But the treaty was hardlY'conclui:lecl when Mahmud heard
48
Politics (Ilia Society during the EM/Y M.edleval Period
of the danger threatening his capital and marched back ill desperate
haste to protect the home-lands of his empire from the Eastern Turks.
if.lak Khans Invasi:on of Khurasan-Battle of Balkh
Ilak: Khan and Malmiud had made an alliance in A.D. 999 on the
basis of an equitable division of the Samanid ldngdoni,. But. this did
not prevent the Khan from casting longing looks on the fertile lands
on the other side of the Oxus. In A.D. 10045 when Mahmud was
away at Multan, I1ak: Khan found his opportunity. He overran
Khul'asan and Balkh and Arslan Jazib, Mahmud's governor of Herat,
was forced to to Ghazni. But the simple-minded Ilak had
calculated without the host. Mahmud reappeared at Ghazni long
before he was expected; his boundless reviv.ed the failing
courage of his officers; the army was reorgamsed WIth remarkable
speed; and Mahmud faced the invader with a powerful.
Balkh, The careful way in which Mahmud attended :0 the dISpOSItion
of his columns shows the terror his opponent inspIred. At first the
Turkish attack seemed to carry all before it, but the. e?d the
Ghazn.avids, led bv the sultan in person, succeeded In drIVIng the
enemy away. Mahmud pursued the Hying enemy for two stages,
the severity of the winter made a campaign in the desolate regto?
of Trans-Oxiana impOSSible, while an unexpected revolt drew hiS
attention to India once more.
(5) Sukhpal (1005)
Bhera was the only territory Mahmud possessed on eastern
side of the Indus. While returning from Multan he had aSSIgned the
governorship of Bhera to Sukhpal Shah), a son of
who had been converted to Islam. Seem):! Mahmud absoI?ed 111 ,a
deadly struggle with the Turks, returned to the of Ins
ancestors and drove .away Mahmud s officers. The sultan started for
Bhera after the battle of Balkh, but before he could reach the
of action, the frontier amtin: capll:ured Sukhpal, and brought hl'.m
captive to the royal carrip. He was forced ;'0 glVe up ,the 400,000
dirhams he had accumulated and was impnsoned for hfe,
(6) Anandpal and the Hindtt Confederacy-Second Battle of
Waihind: N agarkot (1008-1009)
The strategical Importance of Bhera explains of
Sukhpal as well as Mahmud's anxiety to it it could
he garrisoned by a. strong Indian force. From hiS footmg on the
49
he could strike either at Multan in the south or at Anandpal
the east. Multan was lying prQstrate at his feet but not much
to be got out of that poor and harassed kingdom. The gates of
were in Anandpal's possession. Mahmud's relation with
were already strained. Anandpal cherished the 'bitterest
towards the Musalmans ever since the capture of his SOIl,
at Peshawar (1001-2). His attempt to prevent Mahmud's
011 Multan had fumished the latter with a technical cause
declaring war, but when Mahll1ud was fighting with his back to
wall against the Kashghar army, AnandpaJ sent hhn a heroic offer
in h spirit which won the approbaticn of the philosopher,
"1 have leamed", ran Anandpal's letter, "that the Turks
"AI""II",I against you and are spreading in Khurasan. If you wish,
come to you with 5,000 horsemen, 10,000 foot soldiers, and
elephants, or, if you wished shall send you my SOil with double
number. In acting thus, I do not speculate on the impression this
make on you. I have been conquered by you and, therefore, I
wish that another man should conquer you." The impression
by the letter may, none the less, have had a share in main-
for the next three years. But so long as Anal1dpal
strong and independent, a permanent peace between him
Mahmud was impOSSible. The sultan had as yct only touched
ringe of .a continental country, and the spoils he had obtained
insignificant. Beyond the Sutlej lay the temples to which genera-
of pious Hindus had dedicated their wealth. It was necessary
Mahmud to stlike down Anandpal, if he was ever to possess himself
the treasures of the Punjab and the prosperous Trans-Gangetic
Conversely, the rais of Hindustan could not fail to recognise
Oltance of Anandpal as a buffer between them and the aggres-
kingdom of Ghazni. So long as the struggle had been waged
the Indus, they could afford to look on unconcemed a"c/ leave
rai of Lahore to 'protect his non-Inclia'l subjects .. The arrogance
Biji Rai made them indifferent to his fate, nor did anyone, save
UdllUI."". feel it his duty to come to the help of the Multan 'heretics'.
the deluge that 'took no account of heights and depths' had
their sacred frontiers .and was threatening to put an end to
fratricidal warfare, their local independence and their SOll11lOJcnt
importance of the struggle was well understood on both sides
Mahmud marched against Anandpal at the end of the rainy
A.D. 1008. Anandpal appealed to the other tais and their
v showed that the national snirit of the countrv, though
''}}llI","(I. ,vas not deael. The rulers of Ujjain, Gwalior,'
50
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
Kanauj, Delhi and Ajmer marched to the Punjab with their troops.
Help came from every side. Even 'the infidel Gakldlars' crowded under
Anandpal's banner. A patriotic breeze swept over the towns and
hamlets of Hindustan calling its men to arms. 'Hindu women sold
their jewels and sent the money from distant parts to be used against
the Musalmans.' Their poorer sisters, who had no jewels to sell,
worked feverishly at the 'spinning-wheel or as hired labourers to be
able to send something to the men of the army'. All that excites a
nation to heroic deeds was there-the preservation of an ancient and
ever-living civilization, the sacred temple and the no less sacred
Yet the patriotic spirit of the people was paralysed by
created by years of civil war; the rais were doubtful of each other s
intentions and their followers shared their doubts. Anandpal was
impOttant enough to take precedence but not strong enough to issue
orders, and the Indian army was directed by nQ Single commander on
the field of battle. But discipline reigned supreme in the camp of
the warrior-statesman of Ghazni. His troOps, more racially hete-
rogenous than the citizen-mob opposed to them, had been welded
into one by years of continuous campaigning; and their
opponents, they knew their master and were not hable to pamc.
Even so the scales hung evenly.
Anandpal marched bravely to Waihind (Und) with the largest Indian
armv Mahmud was ever destined to face. The sultan, whose extra-
ordi;lary intuition never played him false, saw that the Indians would
'fight with devotion' and was more cautious than usual. He dug a
trench on both sides of his camp, and reluctant to begin the engage-
ment, sat facing the enemy for forty days. But hourly the strength
of the Indian army increased with new reinforcements, and M.ahmud,
afraid lest furthei delay should enable Anandpal to overpower the
Ghaznavid veterans tht:ough sheer force of numbers, sent fotward a
thousand archers to commence the engagement. But almost im-
mediately his calculations were thrown into disorder by thirty thou-
sand Gakkhars, 'who with bare heads and feet, crossed the trenches
in the fit'st attack, broke into the camp from both sides, and falling
on the Muslim cavalry with desperate courage, cut down man and
horse, so that in the twinkling of an eve three or four tholisand Musal-
mans had tasted the wine of martvrdom.' Mahmud was desperately
trying tG clear his camp of the Gakkhars when a whim of the (lod of
battles decided the shuggle in his favour. Ananclpal's elenhant.
frightened bv the explosions of naphtha. fled awav from the field of
hattIe and the Indian soldiers concluded this to be a base desertion
of their cause hy the 'premier king of Hindustan'. A general rout
enslled, and the Gh<Jz,navids pursued the flying enemy for two days
51
nights. The Indian losses were not more than eight thousand,
tIle phenomenon of a multitudinous army breaking up frOrri sheer
of internal cohesion and flying away before an enemy not strong
to meet it in the open field was thoroughly demoralising. Thus
y national opposition ever offered to Mahmud ended in a storm
recriminations. HencefOtth he had no Indian confederacv
the rais were one after another overpowered and deprived
valuables in a stmggle which the superior generalship of the
""aZla'Vltl never left in doubt.
Mahmud took advantage of the disorganisation of his Opponents
make a dash for the temple of Nagarkot (Kangra), known as the
of Bhim, situated on the top of a hill on the upper Bias,12 He
already penetrated as far as the Chenab and the new expedition
took him twelve marches further. The Rajputs of the place
to fight at Waihind and the quickness of Mahmud's move-
left them behind. The Brahmans, who alone were there,
their gates after a siege of seven days and allowed Mahmud
the fort with a few companions. The temple contained more
than existed in the treasury of any king and the fine exacted
sultan from the helpless Brahmans was immense-'700,000
dinars, 700 maunds of gold and silver vessels, 200 maunds of
gold, 2,000 maunds of u'npurified sHver and 20 maunds of
jewels which had been collected together from the time of
It was the sultan's first great find and naturally whetted his
for more.
Anandpal had lost his reputation but not his power at the second
of Waihind and the sultan's next move (1009-10) was a de-
" . L-- L!. __ rather than a campaign. He is said to have marche(l
direction of Gujar.at, but his teal object was to terrorise Anand-
receding from the btittle alliance in which his position was
uncomfortable. The sultan 'urged his horses over ground,
and soft, put to the sword the vagabonds of the counhy and
delay and circumspection proceeded to accomplish his design'.
friends of God 'did not fail of their object after having com-
slaughhir in every hill and valley'; for Anandpal's messengers
on the sultan at Ghazni with offers of peace and 'their best
fol' hi-s future pl'ospel'it1j'. The raj's mind was made-up. 'He
witnessed the calamities which had inflicted min on his country
subjects in consequence of his contests with the sultan' and
to desert the confederacy which had left him to his fate.
was rapidly concluded, Anandpal promised an annual hibute
52
Politics alld Society durillg the Early MedteDal Periad
of thirty elephants and offered two thousand men for service at the
sultan's court. The way to the heart of India was now open. Mah-
mud could march over the friendly territory of Anandpal and strike
at the rais beyond.l
3
Conquest of Ghur
Mahmud utilised the summer of A.D. 1010 for bringing some pre-
sumptuous inhabitants of Ghur to a sense of their insignificance. The
Ghurians, ten thousand in number, dug a trench round their camp
and fought bravely from morning till noon. But the stout-hearted
hill-men were no match for the greatest milit.ary genius of the age.
Mahmud lured the simple folks out of their safe position by a feign-
ed retreat and annihilated them in the plain below. Muhammad bin
Suri, one of the chiefs of Ghur, was so heart-broken that he sucked'
a pOisoned jewel when brought a captive to Mahniud's court and
died immediately. The princes of Ghur remained suborclinate to
Ghazni till the time of Alauddin Jahansuz.
Second :Invasion of Multan
Next winter (lOlO-ll) Mahmud marched against the kingdom of
Multan, which had been long waiting for the day of its extinction.
The city was captured 'through terror and force' and Mahmud pleas-
ed the 'Olihodox' by slaying a large number of Carmathian 'heretics'
and cutting off the hands and feet of many others. Daud ended his
life as a prisoner in a Ghurian fort.
Thanesll;ar
In lOll-12 Mahmud, who had heard that Thaneswar, owing to its
idol, Chakrasvamin, was as holy in the eyes of the Hindus as Mecca
in the eyes of the Musalmans, marched thither for the treasures a
place so ancient was sure to possess.l
4
Anandpal inconsonance with
his treaty, provided all the 'requisites of hospitality' by ordering his
merchants and shopkeepers to look after the needs of the commis'
sariat and his brother accompanied the sultan with two thousand
men. Mahmud refrained from injuring the rai's tenitory but refused
his suggestion that an indemnity and a yearly tribute should be ac
cepted from the people of Thaneswar, because 'm)' roval wish is to
remove the practice of idolatory tot.ally from all the lands of Hin-'
clustan'. Too late in the dav, the rai of Thaneswar reHected on the
necessitv of an Indian "If we do not raise a dam to
keep off this deluge",he wrote to his brother rais, "it will soon spremr-
'Sultan Mahmud of C!WZIl; .
53
over the whole plain and submerge all kingdoms, great and sn1al1."
This was true enough. But Mahmud reached Thaneswar before
the clumsy machinery of a confederacy could stir and the rai
fled in despair. Mahmud collected the treasures and broke the
idols of the undefended city at leisure.l
5
He wished to march
{miher east, but as such a movement would have left him entirely
.at Anandpal's mercy, he accepted the advice of his officers and
turned back with a fabulous number of 'servants and slaves'.
'Mahmud's army, like the almy of most Asiatic conquerors, was es-
sentially a cosmopolitan institution, kept intact by its esprit de crops
and loyalty to its master's person. Mahmud took good militmy men
.into his service wherever he found them. Indians, who were, of
course, non-Muslims, were freely enrolled, and at a later stage were
formed into a separate regiment commanded by a Hindu general,
who enjoyed a velY high status among his fellow-officers.
'Mah117:ud and the caliph
In 1012-13 Mahmud's officers conquered Gharjistan, and the sultan
compelled the caliph, AI Qadir Billah, to hand over to him those
districts of Khurasan which were still in his hands. But the caliph
refused Mahmud's further demand that he should be given
and also. "I will do no such thing", he replied, "and if you
possession of Samarqand without my permission, I will disgrace
before the whole world." Mahmud was furious. "Do you wish
to come to the capital of the caliphate with a thousand elephants,
. threatened the caliph's ambassador, "in order to lay it waste and
its earth on the backs of my elephants to Ghazni?" But the
of plundering the centres of Muslim and Hindu civilizations
was too bold even for Mahmud, and he had to apo-
humbly to the power which even in its hour of weakness could
shattered the moral foundations of the Ghaznavid kingdom.
the less he established his power over Sauiarqand.
j'u(}CUnm:ll and Bhimpal-Ninduna (10]8-14)
Meanwhile Anandpal's death had upset Mahmud's calculations in
The new rai, Trilocanpal, unlike his father, was well inclined
the Musalmans, but he seems to have been a weak iuan and
direction of affairs came into the hands of his son, known to
as 'Nicl.ar' (Fearless) Bhim, who stoutly reversed the
his grandfather and put an end to the Ghaznavid alliance.
was once more forced to fight the kingdom of Lahore in
to keep the road to Hindustan open. I-Ie started from Ghazni
S4 Politics and Society during ti,e Early Medieval Pel'iod
in the autumn of 1013 but snow began to fall before. he reached
the Indian frontier, and it was found necessary to go into winter-
quarters. With the spdng the Ghaznavids moved forward once
more, 'ascending the hills like mountain-goats and descending them
like torrents of water'. Nidal' Bhim fortified himself in the Margala
pass,16 which was narrow, precipitous and steep, but on the arrival
of his vassals he came down and offered battle. The Ghaznavids
won after a severe contest. Bhim threw a garrison into the fort of
Ninduna on the hm of Balanath and fled to the pass of Kashmir.
Mahmud, who nOw seems to have made up his mind to annex the Pun-
jab, reduced Ninduna, and after placmg a garrison in it, pushed on
in pursuit of Bhim. But the elusive hero could not be captured
and the sultan turned back from the foot of the Kashmir hills.
The Kashmir Pass-Lohkot
Next year (1015-16) the sultan again attempted to force his way
through the Kashmir pass. But the fOliress of Lohkot defied all his
effolis. Reinforcements reached the garrison from Kashmir, snow
began to fall, and for the first time Mahmud retired discomfited from
before an Indian fort. While retreating he lost a large number of
his men in the floods of the Jhelum, extricated himself with difficulty
from the watery peril, and returned to Ghazni 'without having achiev-
ed anything'.
Annexation Of Khwarazm (1016)
This failure in the east was conipensated by an acquisition in the
north. Mahmud's sister had been married to Abul Abbas Mamun,
the lUler of Khwarazm. But the bride had hardly been in her new
home for a year, when Abul Abbas was slain by rebels. Mahmud
marched forth to revenge his brother-in-law's death, defeated the
rebel army before the famous fortress of Hazar Asp and appOinted
his general, Altuntash, governor of the newly conquered territory with
the title of 'Khwarazm Shah'. .
The Doab Baran & Mahaban
Towards the end of the rainy season, 1018, Mahmud at last started
on that expedition to the Trans-Gangetic plain of which he had been
dreaming for years. His regular army of one hundred thousand was
strengthened by twenty thousand volunteers from Khurasan and
Turkistan. The omens were favourable. The Hindu confederacy had
disappeared and none of the rais was strong enough to oppOse Mah-
, .. L L. __ .l .l hn.l aoh.l-.!;e1'lI"rl " l"pnlltllti()n for p'eneralshin
Suitan Mai,mud of dtwzni
which none could question, and everyone knew that his methods were
thorough. Trilocanpal and Nidar Bhim, though still eluding their
pursuers, were driven beyond the Punjab, while Sangram, rai of Kash-
mir, made peace with the sultan and led the van of the invading
troops. The Ghaznavids marched through forests in which 'even winds
lose their way', forded the five rivers of the Punjab, and crossing the
Jumna ,on December 2nd, moved against Baran (Bulandshahr) 'like
the waves of the sea'. But Rai Hardat solved the problem by coming
,out of his city with ten thousand men who, either from policy or
conviction, proclaimed 'their anxiety for conversion and their rejec-
tion of idols',11 This 'conversion' saved the citizens and Mahmud
marched down the Jumna to Mahaban. Its lUler, Rai Kulchand, who
had established a reputation for invincibility in local walfare, drew
up his army in the midst of a thick forest. But Mahmud penetrated
the forest 'like a comb through a head of hair' and scattered the Maha-
ban army. Many of the fugitives were drowned in the attempt to
cross the Jumna, and the valiant Kulchand escaped the disgrace of
captivity by slaying his wife and son and then plunging the dagger
into his own breast.
Mathum
On the other side of the Jumna lay the ancient and famous city of
Mathura, the birth-place of Krishna-Basdeo. 'The wall of the city
was constructed of hard stone, and the two gates, which opened upon
the river flOWing under the city, were erected on strong and lofty
foundations to protect them against the floods of the river and rains.
On both sides of the river there were a thousand houses, to which
idol temples were attached, all strengthened from top to bottom by
rivets of iron, and all made of masonry work, and opposite to them
were other buildings, supported on broad wooden pillars to give them
strength. In the middle of the city there was a temple larger and
firnier than the rest, which can neither be described nor painted; the
inhabitants said it had been built not by men but by genU.' In po-
pulation and splendid edifices the city of Mathura was unrivalled;
the human tongue cannot describe the wonderful things it contained.'
But no attempt was made to defend this inimitable monument of
Hindu art when Mahmud crossed the Jumna, and the inhabitants,
anxious to save their skins, left him to work havoc with their sacred
inheritance. 'The sultan gave orders that all the temples should be
burnt with naphtha and fire and levelled with the ground.' Envy
rather than fanaticism seems to have been the predominant lYiotive
in Mahmud's artistic mind. "In this city", he wrote to the nobles of
,,,,aiel> "f what his vandalism had destroyed, "there are C!
!I
'/
Ii
L
56 Politics and Society during tlie Early Medicoa! Period
thousand towering palaces, most of them constructed of huge stones.
The temples. are than can be counted. Anyone wishing to con-
struct the like will have to spend a hundred thousand dinars
and employ the most skilled workmen for two hundred years." As
a financial venture the expedition succeeded beycnd all expectations-
98,300 misq(ds of gold were obtained from idols of that metal; the
silver idols, two hundred in number, could not be weighed 'without
being broken and put into scales'; two rubies valued at 5000 dinars,
a sapphire weighing 450 misqals, and in addition such other spoils
as a rich and prosperous city could not fail to yield. A fe"v lniles
from Mathura, is the historic town of Brindaban, where seven proud
forts raised their heads to the sky by the riverside. The owner of
the fOltS fled at Mahmud's approach he took from them all that they
contained,18
Kanauj, Asni and Shorwa
The sultan then left behind him the greater part of his army,
was too large for the rapid movements he desired, and proceeded
against Kanauj with his best veterans. This ancient city had risen to
prominence as the capital of Harshavardhana, it was defended by
seven forts washed by the Ganga and contained about ten thotlsaild
temples, great and small. The rais of Kanauj had not been slow in
helping Jaipal and Anandpal against the aggression of Ghazni, but the
reigning prince, Rajyapa].a,19 fled away at Mahniud's approach. Most
. of the citizens followed the example of their rai, and Kanauj repeated
the story of Mathura. Mahmud captured the seven forts in a single day
and plundered the undefended city. Further down the Ganges, near
the modern Fatehpur, was Rai Chandal Bhor's fort of Asni. Chandal
Bhor, who had been busy in Rghting the rai of Kanauj, also fled and
Asni was plundered. Then proceeding southwards Mahmud came
across the fort of Munj20 (Mujhavan) the garrison of which, 'inde-
pendent as head-strong camels', fought like 'obstinate satans', and
when all hope had disappeared, threw their women and children into
the fire and died fighting to the last man. The next objective was
Chand Rai of Sharwa
21
, who had been harassing the unfortunate
Trilocanpal of Lahore in the east while Mahmud had been pressing
him So hard on the other side. To prevent this suicidal strife, Trilocan ..
pal had cven sought his enemy's daughter in marriagc for his son, but
Nidar Bhim was imprisoned by his father-in-law when he went to
bring his bride and the strife continued. As Mahmucl marcheel east-
wards, Trilocanpal fled before him and found a refuge with Chandal
Bhor of Asni. Comnion misfortunes at last created some synipathy
between the dynasties of Lahore and Sharwa, and Nidar Bhim, who
Sultan Ma/'mucl of GTlOZI1i
57
seems to have regained his freedom, sent Chand Rai a piece of friendly
advice. "Sultan Mahmud is not like the rulers of Hind. He is not a
leader of black men. Armies flyaway before the very nanie of him
and his father. I regard his bridle as much stronger than yours, for
he never contents himself with one blow of the sword, nor does his
army content itself with one hill out of a whole range. If you wish
for your own safety, you will remain in concealment." The suggestion
was .adopted. Chand Rai fled to the hills with his elephants and trea-
sures. But Mahmud captured Sharwa and then hastened after the
flying rai, whom he managed to discover and defeat on the night of
January 6, 1019. The campaign beyond Kanauj had not taken more
than seventeen days, when Mahmud turned back with Chand Rai's
much coveted elephants.
Mahmud's exploits could not fail to captivate the imagination of
his co-religionists. Neither Alexander the Great nor the heroes of the
Shah Nama had anything so romantic to their credit. A mysterious
wonderland had been explored. Beyond the thick and impenetrable
frontier forest, beyond the Rve great rivers of the Punjab, the muizzin's
call to prayer had re'sounded over many a desolate wilderness and
. amidst the conflagrations of many a hamlet and town. The success
was duly celebrated. The ealiph summoned a special dl.tl:bar to receive
Mahmucl's message of victory. Accounts of the expechtlon were read
out from the pulpits, and pious Musalmans fondly imagined that 'what
the Companions of the Blessed Prophet had. done Arabi.a, Persia,
Syria and Iraq, Mahmud has achieved in Hmdustan. Nothmg could
have been farther from the tmth. He had rolled in immense riches
but had only disO'usted the Indians with his faith. The plundered
people were not likely to think of IslalIi when it
to them' in the shape of the Ghaznavlcl conqueror and left behmd
it an everlasting story of plundered temples, desolated cities and
trampled crops. As a Islam. had been momlly disgraced, not
elevated, by the Ghaznavld s ac1uevement. The beaty am?unted to
3,000,000 dirhams. "The number of prisoners may be conceIved frOil1
the fact that each of them was sold for two to three These
were afterwards taken to Ghazni and merchants came from distant
cities to purchase them, so that the countries of Mawaraun NaIll", Iraq
and Khurasan were filled vdth them, and the fair and tlle dark, the
rich and the poor, were commingled in one common slavery." It was
perhaps the remembrance of M.athura led. Mahmud to bUild. a
Juma mosque and a college at C:hazl1I after IllS. retUl1l .. The
followed his example and Ghazlll was soon adorned With palatial
buildings.
58 Potitics and Society during die Early Medievai Perioci
Tl'ilocanpaZ and Nanda-the Rahib (1019-20)
Two distant storm-centres still troubled Mahmud's mind. Triloean-
pal and his son, Nidar Bhim, had been defeated but not crushed and
were still in the Doab. In Bundelkhand rai Nanda
22
of Kalanjar had
also adopted a hostile attitude. After Mahmud's withdrawal from the
he had ma.rched with the rai of Gwalior against Rajyapala,
and eIther as a pUlllshment for the lattd s cowardly attitude towards
J'v!allmud, or on of some other forgotten grievance, had put
hIm to death. An .allIance between Trilocanpal and Nanda was natural.
But it was not principle to let the grass grow under his
feet. He determmed to crush the possibility of another Hindu con-
federacy, .and,in winter of 1019-20 he again crossed 'the five and
the two nvers. Tnlocanpal withdrew beyond the lower Rahib (R.am-
ganga)., bu.t forced their passage across the river
by on mflated slans (mashaks) , and .after scattering Tlilo-
canpal s arm!, plundered the ne,:"ly built town of Bari,23 which Rajya-
p.ala had after des.tructlOn of Kanauj. Whether to help Tlilo-
canpal, or wIth the mtentlOn of fighting the invader Single-handed,
Nanda had already stalted from Kalanjar with 36,000 horse, 40,000 or
50,000 foot .and 640 elephants. The sultan also moved fOlward. It is
difficult to say where the two met, but on surveying the enemy troops
from .an eminence, the sultan regretted the dangerous expedition he
had undeltaken. The rai was even more afraid, for that very night a
great terror took possession ?f his mind, .and he left all his baggage
and fled. Mahmud, after makmg sure that the Hindus had not attempt-
ed an the deserted camp. Five hundred and eighty
elephants, m .adchtlOn to the two hundred and seventy obtained fr01n
Trilocanpal, fell into his hands. But the Punjab ,was still unsubdued.
Mahmud's position in a far off telTitory with the armies of Nanda
yet undefeated was extremely critical, and afraid lest his retreat
should be cut off, he marched back rapidly to Ghazni.
Annexation of the Punjab (1021-22)
The conquest of India was not Mahniud's aim. Nevertheless the
Doab campaigns had brought him far from his base, and he saw
that if his armies were to penehate to such distant territories as
Bundelkhand, he must at least have the Punjab under his complete
control. In 1021 he started from Ghazni with 'a large number of
carpenters, blacksmiths and stone-cutters' with the definite intention
o.f establishing a government over the Punjab. The first objec-
tive were the frontier trIbes of Swat, Bajaur and Kafirist.an, who had
'not yet put the yoke of Islam round their necks' and worshipped the
Suitan Mahmud of Giwzni
59
Buddha in the form of the lion (Sakya Sinha). The inhabitants were
subdued and conveIted, and a fort was built in their territory.24
Marching further, Mahmud repeated his former attempt, and tasted
again the bitterness of his fonner. failure, .at the foot. of Lohkot, :he
impregnable fortress of the Kashmrr pass. But the Punjab was
and Mahniud forsook plundering and established .a regular admmIs-
tration. A reliable governor was placed at the rest the
provirice was aSSigned to various .and garrIsons were estabhshed
at impOltant points. Trilocanpal had died soon battle of
Rahib; Nidar Bhim fled to the rai of Ajmer .and dIed m 1026. WI.th
him the house of Kallur came to an end. A contemporary Muslrm
scholar, untouched by the passions and prejudices of those
him supplied a befitting epitaph to the dynasty that had ended WIth
such a hero. "They were men of noble sentiment and noble bearing.
In all their grandeur, they never slackened in the desire of doing
what is good and right."25
Gwaliol' and Kalanjar
Next year (1022-23) Mahniud once more marched by way of Laho:e
against N anda. But he had taken all that. best from the m
the direction of his march, and was not mclined to push matters to
extremes. Gwalior was invested, but the rai obtained peace by a
present of thirty-five elephants. Even Nanda, when besieged in Kalan-
jar, found the sultan reasonable. present of three hundred eleph.an:
s
,
whom the rai turned uuceremomously out of the fOlt for the Turks
to 'captrrre and ride on', served to good will, was
strengthened by some Hindi verses wntten by. the rar the sultan,S
praise. All the scholars of Hind, Persi.a and ArabIa present m s
camp applauded Nanda's composition, and sent hIm an
order (farrnan) confirrriing him in the posseSSIOn of hIs fifteen fOlts.
Nanda acknowledged the favorrr by a present of money and costly
jewels, and the sultan turned back from the most eastern point he
was ever destined to reach.
Mahmud in Trans-Oxiana (1023)
On returning to Ghazni, the sultan held .a niuster of his forces.
Apart from the troops stationed in the provinces, the royal army at
Ghazni amounted to 54,000 horse and 1,300 elephants,26 with
this he crossed the Oxus and proceeded to overawe the duefs of
Trans-Oxiana. Ali Tigin, the recalcitrant l:uler of w.as
brought in chains before the sultan ar:cl sent . .as a prlsoner to IndIa.
The smaller chiefs crowded to offer theIr allegIance. Even Yusuf Qadr
60 Politics and Society during tlze Early Medieval Period
Khan, brother of the late Ilak Khan,27 came to meet him and request-
ed him to transport the Seljuqs across the Oxus to Khurasan.
The Seliuqs
This body of pastoral and barbaric Turkomans, destined to an un-
expected, but not undeserved greatness, had long been a source of
trouble to its neighbours. During the reign of the Samanid kings they
had migr,ated from Turkistan, and crossing the Jaxartes, had settled
at Nur in Bukhara from where they used to migrate annually to
Darghan in Khwarazm. Their leader, Israel, son of Seljuq, the chi'ef
after whom the tribe came to be named, was a perpetual terror to
the maliks of Turkistan and Trans-Oxiana. "He was wont to enter the
chase or the conflict like a whirlwind and a thunder-cIoud and van-
quished everyone who ventured into a personal contest with hhn.
Not a bird in the air and not a deer in the forest escaped his arrow."28
Like others, he came riding at the head of his Turkomans to offer his
allegiance to Mahmud, 'with a cap placed jauntily on one side of
his head and beshiding a horse like the spur of a mountain'. The
astute sultan looked suspiciously at the ambitious young chief and
asked him how many men he could bring to the army. "If you send
one of these arrows into our camp", Israel replied, "fifty thousand
of your servants will mount on horse-back." "And if that nUiIiber",
continued Israel, "be not sufficient, send the second arrow to the horde
of Balik (Bilkhan Koh), and you will find fifty thousand niore." "But",
said the Ghaznavid, dissembling his UIL'dety, "if I should stand in
need of the whole force of your kindred tribes?" "Despatch my bow",
was the last reply of Israel, "and as it is circulated arolind, the sum-
mons will be obeyed by two hundred thousand horse."29 Mahmud
made up his mind to crush the Seljuqs before it was too late. An
order was served on Israel comllianding him to reniain within his
tent, while four thousand Seljuq families with their goods and chattels
were transported across the Oxus under the eyes of' the Ghaznavid
anIiy. The sultan's chamberlian, Arsalan I-Iajib, suggested that the bar-
barians should be drowned while crossing the river. "Destiny cannot
be averted by perfidy any more than by valour", Mahmud
and refused to break his promise:
SO
Israel with his two scns was
despatched to the distant fortress of Kalanjar, where he died after
seven years.
31
The exiled families were allotted grazing grounds in
the districts of north-west Khurasan and placed under the guardian"
ship of the Khurasani officers, who were ordered to disarm theill. But
it was easier to bring the Seljuqs into the more fertile tracts of Persia
than to keep them in subjection. The migration, once begun, could
not be stopped and the Ghaznavid empire was ultimately converted
Sultan Mahmud' of G!wzhi
61
into a Seljuq pasture-Iand.SOl These troubles, however, lay in the
womb of the future. For the present Mahmud was supreme, and th:
fall of Israel, whatever its future effects, served as an example to all
TurkolIian chiefs.
Somnath (192.5-26)
Northern India had ceased to attract Mahmud, for the spoils of its
most wealthy telIiples were already i.n his treasury. But the rich .and
prosperous province of v.:as st:ll untGuche.d, and on 18:
1025 he started from GhazlU With IllS regular tIoops and thnty thou
sand'volunteer-horsemen for the temple of SGlnnath, at
dist.ance of a bow-shot from the mouth of the Saraswatr, by the Side
of which the emthly body of Lord Krishna had brcathed its last.s,s
The temple of Somnath
"The people of Hind", says Ferishta (following Ibn-i Asir) "believed
that souls after separating from their bodies SGlnnath, and the
god assigned to each soul, by way of n
e
,,:
as it deserved. They thought that the trdes rose and fell 111 (,ldel . to
worship the idol. The Brahmans said that as the god. was angry wI.th
the idols Mahmud had broken, he did not come to their help; otherWIse
he could destroy anyone he wanted in the twinkling an eye.
nath was the king while other idols were merely 1115 door-keepels
chamberl.ains. A hundred thousand peGple used to collect toge
ther in the temple at the time of the solar and l.unar eclipses. Presents
came to it from distant parts. The princes of Hmdustan had endow:d
it with about ten thousand villages.
34
A thousand Brahmans
ped the idol continuously; and every night. it :vas fr.esh
water from the Ganga, although the Ganga IS SIX hunched k.l1ohs
there.:35 A chain of gold, weighing two hundred mans, WIth
bells fastened to it, was hung in a corner of the temple;
it was shaken at the appOinted hours to inform the
that the time for prayer had arrived. Five sl:lgmg
and 'dancing girls .and two hundred musicians. were 11l the service of
temple, and all their requisites were prOVIded out of the, endow-
ments and offerings. Three barbers empl.oyed to shav.e
the heads and beards of the pilgrIms. Many rajas of I-Imdustan dech-
ted
' their daucrhters to Somnath and sent them there. The temple
ca b bfif' 't
was U spacious edifice .and its roof was suppor.ted y ornamen -
e'd columns. The idol was cut out of stone; It was fi;e long" of
which two yards were below, and three above tHe glound.
Tarikh-i Zainul Ma'asil' says that the inner chamber of the temple, 111
I
I
62
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval period
which the idol was placed, was dark, the requisite light being supplied
by the rays of fine jems attached to the hanging lamps."36
The maTch th1'Ough Ra;putana
The Soinnath expedition is the one by which Mahmud is most
remembered. It was the finest achievement of his military genius.
His marches into Hindustan hitherto had been through a fertile terri-
tory and he was never in danger of starvation: In s.outhwards
Mahmud for the first and last time threw hIS cautlon aSIde, defied
the inclemencies of nature as well as the spears of his opponents and
ventured into a tenitory where the slightest mishap would have
meant complete ruin. Multan was reached by the middle of Ramazan
(November) and Mahmud made careful preparations for crossing the
extensive desert of Rajputana. EvelY man in the army was ordered
to carry enough water and corn for several days, and thirty thousand
camels were loaded as a further precaution. The r.ai of Ajmer fled
at the approach of the' invader. plundered the city b:r
t
refused to delay his march by investmg the fort. A general pamc
seems to have depdved the galTisons on the line of his advance of
all power of resistance. Even Anhilwara, the capital of Gujarat, was
left undefended, and Mahmud after taking from the city the provi-
sions he required, moved down the Saraswati and reached the famous
temple in the second week of January. 'The fOtt of So.ninath
its towers to the sky; the waves of the sea washed Its feet. The
Hindus had climbed' the ramparts to vvitness the arrival of the be-
siegers. "Our god, Somnath", they shouted to the Musalmans, "has
brought you here to destroy you at one blow for the idols you have
broken in Hindustan."
Battle of Somnath
Next morning, which was Friday, the struggle commenced. The
Ghaznavids succeeded in scaling the city-walls and the Hindus made
a desperate attempt to dislodge them. But night on before
battle on the ramparts could end and the besiegers WIthdrew to theIr
camp. On Saturday Mahmud the ramparts and entered the
city. The Hindus, driven out of theIr houses, collected round the
temple for a last despairing struggle. Hand after band prayed fervent-
ly to the idol, and after bidding: it farewell in 'sorrow and tears', sallied
forth to fight. 'A dreadf;11 slaughter followed at the gate o! the temple
and few were left alive. But once more the darkness of mght stopped
Mahmud's hand, while the intervention of a new factor reminded
him of the fickleness of fate.
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni 63
The sultan's march had been too rapid to allow the rais of Gujarat
to collect thier forces for the defence of the temple. But the desperate
resistance of the beSieged gave them the time required; their clumsy
rriilitary machine began to work with feverish haste; and on the morn-
. ing of the third day Mahmud found his camp being encircled by an
Indian force sent by the neighbouring rais for the relief of the garrison.
Mahmud left a part of his army to continue the siege and advanced
to meet the neWCOlJ.1ers with the rest. 'Both sides fought with indes-
cdbable courage and valour, and the field of battle was set aflame
with their anger and their hate.' But the Indian anny was constantly
strengthened by new reinforcements and the Ghaznavids were brought
. to the verge of an irretdevable disaster. Mahmud's position was ex-
tremely critical. Defeat would have meant annihilation, and fmther
delay would have entailed defeat. So after a fervent prayer to the
Almighty with the cloak of Shaikh Abul Hasan Kharqani in his hands,
he led his anny to a last attack, and with the good fOttune that never
permanently deserted him, succeeded in breaking the enemy ranks.
The defeat of the relieving force decided the fate of Sonmath, and
the garrison, overcome by panic and fear, offered no further resistance.
Mahmud entered the temple and possessed himself of its fabulous
wealth. 'Not a hundredth part of the gold and precious stones he
obtained from Somnath were to be found in the treasury of any king
of Hindustan.' Later historians have related how Mahmud refused the
enormous ransom offered by the Brahmans, and preferred the title
of 'Idol-breaker' (But-shikan) to that of 'Idol-seller' (But-fal'osh). He
shuck the idol with his mace and his piety was instantly rewarded
by the precious stones that came out of its belly. This is an impossible
story.37 Apart from the fact that it lacks all contemporary confirmation,
the Somnath idol was a solid unsculptured linga, not a statue, and
stones could not have come out of its belly. That the idol was broken
is unfortunately hue enough, but the offer of the Brahmans, and
Mahmud's rejection of the offer, is a fable of later days.
Mahrnud at Anhilwam
From Somnath Mahmud advanced against Deo, rai of An-
hilwara, who seems to have been mainly responsible for the relieving
force that had pushed the Ghaznavids so hard. The rai took refuge
in the fort of Khandah, forty fm'sakhs from Somnath, which was sur-
rounded by the sea. But when Mahmud forded the sea at low tide,
the rai fled away, leaving the fort and its treasures to the sultan. On
returning to Anhilwara, Mahmud for the first and last time seems
to have harboured the desire of establishing himself in India. He
to make Anhilwara his capital, while assigning Ghazni to
64
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Pm'iod
Mas'ud. The climate of Gujarat, 'the beauty of its inhabitants, its
alluring gardens, flowing rivers and productive soil', attracted him;
and his cupidity was further excited by the treasures to be obtained
from Southern India and the islands bevond the sea. But his officers
would have none of it. "To leave the' country of Khurasan", they
protested, "for which we have sacrificed the finest of gems-our own
lives-and to lnake Gujarat our capital, is far from political wisdom."
Mahmud had to yield. He aSSigned the governorship of Gujarat to
Dabshilim (Devasarum), an ascetic of Somnath, and started for Ghazni.
Dabshilim loyally sent the tribute due to the sultan fer some time,
but his power failed to take root and he was overthrcwn by his
enemies.
S8
The rais of Rajputana, who had been taken unawares by Mahmud's
march through their country, now prepared to contest his return. But
the sultan's anTIY was loaded with spoils. He had no stomach for
campaigns in a wilderness where nothing was to be had save hard
blows and preferred to march to Multan through the Sind desert.
Even this route was full of dangers. First a Hindu devotee of Somnath
undertook to guide the army, and after leading it for a day and a
night confessed that he had intentionally led it on a path where no
water could be found. Mahmud slew the guide and a 'mysterious
light' that appeared in the horizon in response to his prayers led the
Musalmans to fresh water. Then after crossing the desert, the army
was harassed by the Jats. But in spite of many hardships, it succeeded
in reaching Ghazni.
The fats
Mahmud's last invasion (1027) was intended to punish the Jats, who
had so wantonly insulted his army while returning from Somnath.
He constructed a flotilla of fourteen hunch'ed boats at Multan, and
placing twenty men atmed with bows, arrows and flasks of naphtha
in every boat, proceeded against the recalcitrant tribe. The Jats col-
lected together four thousand boats and offered a stout resistance; but
they were defeated in the naval battle owing to the superior con-
of the sultan's boats, which had been provided with one
pointed iron spike in front and one on each side, and the havoc
wrought by the explosions of naphtha. Many of the Jats were drown-
ed and their families, which had removed to the islands of the Indus
for safety, were captured.
Annexation of Isfahan and Ray
The sultan's remaining years were exclusively absorbed in western
affairs. The Seljuq trouble increased day by day. His generals were
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni
65
unable to subdue them and appealed to him to come in person. He
did so. The Seljuqs were defeated and dispersed, but their pastoral
bands parted only to unite again. Meanwhile his officers had over-
thrown the Buwaihid kingdom of Ray and the sultan marched thither
to establish his government over the newly conquered territory. His
hand fell heavily on the 'heretics' and Carmathians who had multi-
plied under the protection of that Shia dynasty, and everyone against
whom .heresy c()uld be provcd was put to death. But the sultan's
days were numbered, and the first symptoms of phthisis (sil) had
already appeared when in the autumn of 1029 he assigned the govern-
ment of Isfahan and Rav to Mas'ud and returned to Balkh. Here
his condition grew though 'he bere up bravely before thp.
eyes of the people'. In the spring he moved to Ghazni, where on
the 30th April 10.30 A.D. after forty years of ceaseless activity he was
called back to the land of everlasting rest at the age cf sixty-three.
The Last Campaign
"The world grips hard on the hard-striving", Hafiz has said; and
tradition will have us believe that two days before his death the
great sultan, unable to reconcile himself to the loss of a world that
was slipping out of his grasp, ordered the precious stones of his
treasury to be brought and displayed in the court-yard of his palace.
He gazed at them yearningly and with weeping eyes ordered them
to be locked up again, without finding it in his heart to give any-
thing in charity. Next day he got into his litter and reviewed his
horses, elephants and camels, and still more overcome, burst into
loud and helpless sobs.39 But it would be unbecoming to pause over
the last moments of a strong and powerful mind. Perlnps the slow
and wasting disease had so bereft him of his strength, that at the
J door of death he was no longer able to hold over his face the veil
with which he was wont to conceal his human frailties! Perhaps
his rationalistic mind, too critical for the commonplace orthodoxy of
the day and not profound enough for the deeper convictions of the
philosopher and the mystic, trembled at the mysteriOUS lancl before
him as he saw it approaching nearer hour by hour, .and he was unable
to embark on his last campaign with that confident courage with
which he had plunged into the forests of Hinclustan! It is by the
manner of his life, not by the lTIode of his de.ath, that a man is to
be judged. The invincible hero of thitty campaigns had disappeared
weeks before his officers buried his emaciated body in the Firuzah
Palace of Ghazni. .
66
Politics and Society dUl'ing the Eal'ly Medieval Period
Chapter III
THE CHARACTER AND VALUE OF MAHMUD'S WORK
All men are more or less the products of their environment, and
a rational criticism of Mahmuc1's work must begin with an examina-
tion of the spirit of his age.
FOUT Epochs of Muslim History
Most Musalmans imagine that their faith has always been what
it is today, or in the alternative, they deplore that it has since the
time of the Pious Caliphs been subject to a slow but continuous
decline. This is, of course, absurd. Islam, like all other religions, has
had its recurring periods of spiritlial rise and fall; it has been
differently conceived by different people at different times; like all
things really and truly human, it is always changing and never
permanently the same. We are here only concerned with the broadest
changes in the Muslim world, and these from the rise of Islam to the
conquest of Muslim Asia by Chengiz Khan, may be divided into
four parts. (1) The period of expansion (622-748), which includes
the conquests of Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Persia, and Northern Africa
under the Pious Caliphs and their Umayyad successors. It is an epoch
characterised by fervent religious zeal, and owing to the captivating
appeal Islam made to the depressed classes, the conquered peoples
were converted to the new faith. (2) The period of the Great Abbasid
Caliphs (748-900) is a period of prosperity and peace with no con-
quests to its record. It is characterized by a cosmopolitan civiliza-
tion in which Arabic became the language of the educated classes
of all countries, while a centralized administration kept the Muslim
world together. (3) The period of 'minor dynasties' (900-1000) is
essentially a period of transition in which the achninistration of
the caliph disappears and a numher of small principalities lise on
its ruins. Its most prominent feature is the Persian renaissance,
which made Persian the Language of literary classes and brought a
new impelialistic idea to the forefront in rlace of cosmopolitan
caliphate of the Abbasids. (4) The period of the Turko-Persian em-
pires (1000-1220) is to be regarded as the political expression of Persi.an
ideals and includes the reigns of the Ghaznavid, the Seljuq and the
Khwarazmian dynasties.
Mahmud was the last of the 'minor kings' and the first of the great
Turko-Persian emperors. The inspiring motive of his life and the
lives of his contemporaries was not Islam but the spirit of the Persian
1'nn";,,,,"'nnn
Sultan Mahmlld of Glwzni 67
Spirit of the Persian Renaissance
The age of Mahniud of Ghazni was devoid of the higher spirit of
faith; and theological discussions, which prosper most when religion
is dead, diverted such zeal as existed towards a war of sects. \iVhen
men find it difficult to believe in God, they try to prove Him; when
they cease to love their neighbour, they attempt to convince them-
selves hating him is a moral dutv. The conversion of the 11011-
Muslim was given up in favour of the more entertaining game of
exterminating the 'heretic'. From east to west the Muslim world was
torn by sectarian feuds and the strong arm of the persecutor was
called in vain to heal the troubles of a people, weltering in fanaticism
but innocent of faith. From this war of hair-splitting theologians
the finer minds o.f Persia turned with a sense of relief to the
resuscitation of their national culture; and the minor dynasties, that
had grown up after the devoid of the caliphate, gave them the
rrotection and patronage they needed. EvelY provincial COlut
became the centre of a revivalist movement. Ancient Persian
leg;ends were rediscovered .and popularised. The Persian language,
which had been cast aside as the vernacular of the common
people, assuirted the dignity of a national tongue. Everyone,
who could, began to turn ont verses in a language singukrly capable
of conforming to the hardest mles of niet!'e and rhyme, and
even poets of mediocre abilities could be sure of a good career.
Moreover the glories of the Kiani and the Sassanid empires, alIudng
with the dream of a half-forgotten greatness, exercised on mOi'e
imaginative minds a fascination which slowly but definitely drew
them aw"y from the path' of the Prophet. The change W1S, of course,
unconscious. Like the schoolmenof medieval Europe. who talked
as if the philosophy of Alistotle was a commentary on the Ten
COinmandments, the contempomi"ies of Mahmud were aware of no
difference between the lessons of the Shah Nama and the principles
of the Ounm. Feridun and Jamshed, Kai-Kans and Kai-Khusrau, the
heroic Rustam and the Macedonian Alexander won from the rising
genemtions the homage which all true Musalmans should have paid
to the Prophet and his COlrtpanions. Now while the Prophet 'and
his COinpanions stood for celtain principles to be established at all
costs and had resorted to war as a means 01' their promulgation,
the legendary heroes of Persia onlv evokecl in their devotees an
ambition for greatness and ruthless itrtperialism without the sense
of a mor.al mission, and instilled into them precents of word Iv
wisdom, such as Polonious bequeathed to Laertes and such a Sa'di's
GlIlistan h<ls to children of later wisrIritrj
68
Politics and Society dl/ring the Emly Medieval Pe,<iod
essentially selfish in its outlook and superbly unconscious of all higher
aims.
Advent of M ahmud
Thus the new spirit, on one hand, helped the evolution of a new
culture .and brought an atmosphere of refinenient and polish to the
court and the camp; and, on the other hand, it heralded in an era
of futile and purposeless wars through which provincial kings, re-
bellious governors, tribal chiefs and even daring robbers, expected
to reach the insecure eminence of Alexander the Great. Fighting
was looked upon, thanks to the militant spirit of the Turks, as a
sport and an3.ttribute 'of manliness, a good thing to he sought for
itself-not as a painful process for the attainment of human pros-
perity. For a century before Mahmud, princes of the 'minor dynasties'
h3.d been acting J am shed and Kai-Khusrau, and their court-poets,
richlv paid for the work, had proclaimed their greatness in pane-
gyrics of which men less lost in ambition would have felt ashamed.
Then came the great Mahmud to .achieve that for which others had
fought and died in vain, and kings and princes licked. the dust
humbly before the figure of a new Alexander. But .the gwnt for all
his grandeur was made df the same moral stuff as the dwarfs that
had gone before. It was his abilities, not his character, that raisec1
him to an unquestioned
Patron of Arts
The literary renaissance of Persia found in Mahmud its most magni-
ficent, it not its niost discriminating, patron. Four hundred poets,
with Unsuri, the poet-laure-3.te, at their head, were in constant atten-
dance at the sultan's court. Their official duty was to sing his praises
and the sultan, in spite of the stinginess attributed to him, seems to
have been extremelv generous. Ghazali Hazi, a poet from Ray, was
awarded fourteen thousand dirhams fa:' a qasida that pleased the
sult.a
n
, while the poet-laureate's mouth vvas tlllice filled with pearls
for an unpremeditated qUa. Among ethers who came flocking from
far and near, Farrukhi, the author cf a qasida reinarkable for its
captivating rhythm, Minuchihri, who in the cult of
and Asjac1i, who is responsible for the fcHow'llg well-known quatram,
are most famous.
4o
I do repent of wine and talk of wine;
Of idols faiT with chins lilee silr;eT fine.
A lip-Tepentance and a lustful hearl-
o God, forgive this penitence of mine!
Suitan Mai,muci of Ghazl1i 69
But it is obvious that the sultan's patrcnage, while stimulating men
of decent merit to do their best, would fail to reach the highest geniUS,
which in every country and in every age has scorned to bow its knees
to democracies and kings. For this Mahmud is in no way to blame.
Mankind has yet to discover a method for dealing with its finest
products. 'Whatever be the element of truth in the famous Firdausi
legend, the tradition that represents the great peet, in whom Persian
nationalism amounted toa religion, as Hying from an emperor of
Mrasiyab's (Turkish) race, certainly gives us an idea of the gloom
that sat oppressively on the most sensitive Persian minds. Two per-
s.ons of a radically different stamp were destined to share Firdausi's
fate. The great phYSician and biologist, Shaikh Bu Ali Sina (Avicen-
na), refused to come to the court of a king to whom the scientist's
views and his sense of personal independence would have been equal-
ly unpalatable, and after flying from tGwn to town before the agents
of Malllnud's wrath, he at last found a safe asylum with the Buwai-
hid ruler of Ray. His friend, the mathematician-scholar Abu Rihan
Alberuni, whose appreciative study of Hindu philosophy stand in
such pleasant contrast with the prejudices of a stormy time, was less
fOltunate. Brought a prisoner from his native Khwarazm; he was
thrown into plison and thence exiled to India on that life of wander-
. ing to which we owe the immortal Kilabul Hind.
4
1
The poetry of Mahmud's age reHects the spirit of the time. It is
brilliant but not deep. Mystic ideas had not yet become current
coin, and the .ghazal, the grand vehicle of mystic emotion, had not
yet been discovered. Qasidas (panegyric odes) in praise of generous
were the poet's principal occupation. The genius of Firdausi
the l1Ulsnavi (romance) into vogue, while his master Asacli,
credited with the not very commeildable invention of the muna:zi-
or composition which leaves little room for poetic
Qttas (fragments) and l'ubais (quatr.3.ins) served to express
lighter moods. Yet the Ghaznavid poets, for all their
have a certain freshness which succeeding ages have
There is no artificiality about them. They had tasted the
of material prosperity and loved to praise the beauty of women
and blood the alluring intoxication of wine. The reality
. theIr human emotIOns prevented them from falling into the mean
verbos!ty of later ages; and if they lack the deeper perception
mystic successors, whose songs begin and end with a sym-
representation of the Absolute, their poetry is at least in touch
life. The poet sang of what his audience knew ancl felt-the
of arms on the field of strife, the joys of companionship in the
camp, the innumerable emotions of men and women whom
10
Politics al"l Society during the Early ilIedieval Period
an artificial culture had not yet deprived of their native intensity of
feelings,. and, above all, of the glOlies and sorrows of their much
loved Iran. The thoughts and emotions of the educated men of the
day were the 1ll0St favoured themes of the poet's verse. The great
period of Persian poetry, which begins with Sa'di and ends with )ami,
was yet to come. Nevertheless the constructive genius of the poet
won victories more solid than the wanior's futile campaigns. The
empire of Mahmud crumbled to dust nine years after the sultan's
death. The Shah Nama lives for ever.
Mahmud's work in India is reserved for a separate discussion but
the sultan was essentially a Central Asian prince. The historic soil
of Ajam was the garden and the grave of Ghaznavid hopes. The
cosmopolitan administration of the caliphate had been shattered be-
yond the possil;>ility of reconstruction, and the new i.mperialism with
its secular and Persian outlook had been in the air for some genera-
tions past. Now 'imperialism' meant two things-first, a conquest of
the smaller principalities that would bring all Muslim peoples, who
had been infused with the spirit of Persian civilization, within the
fold of a single state; and secondly, the erection of a just and bene-
ficent administration that would reconcile every section of the sub-
jects to their common government by an era of prosperity and peace.
Mahmud's petformance of the first part of his work is as remarkable
as his failure to petform the second. The rise of the Ghaznavid
empire struck contemporaries with wonder; but they were no less
surplised with the rapidity of its fall.
A man of refinement and culture with an instinctive admiration
for everything in literature and art, it was in gener.alship that Mah-
mud excelled. "Val' was the prevailing madness, but never since
the fall of the Sassanian empire before the armies of the Second
Caliph had an invader so invincible appeared on the Persian soil.
The exploits of Alexander in the east were rivalled alld; in fact,
surpassed. The Tartar barbarians of the north were driven pell-mell
beyond the Jaxartes. The 'minor dynasties' of Persia were crushed
to death. From Isfahan to Bunclellclland and from Samarqand to
Gujarat, the Ghaznavid subdued every opponent and struck down
every rival. The conquered people were no cowards. They fought
bravely and were as willing to die as their Ghaznavid opponents.
It was Mahmud's scientific imagination that made the difference.
Against the clumsy organisation of the Indians and their childish
trust in mere numbers, he breught into the field an army that had .
been trained to obey the commands of.a single will. The thick-
headed Tartars found to their cost that mere courage and confidence
in fate were no match for the fierce onslaught of diSciplined ranks.
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni
71
But strategy rather than tactics was Mahmud's strong paint. From
his throne at Ghazni his eagle-eye surveyed everything in east and
west. He knew where to strike and he always struck hard. The
rapidity of his marches surplised and bewildered his opponents.
The man who, in the course of a single year, overawed the Car..;
mathians at Multan, defeated the Tmtars at Balkh and yet found
time enough to captme a rebellious governor on the banks of the
Jhelum, could not fail to create havec among his stout-headed but
slow-moving contemporaries. And yet Mahmud, for all his daring,
was the most cautious of men. He never attacked an enemy he was
not strong enough to ovel1?ower. He never failed in what he under-
took because he undertook nothing impossible. The Indi,an invasions,
in which his military genius shows itself at its best, are a marvellous
mixture of boldness with caution.
Administrative questions, on the other hand, never interested Mah-
and while taking up the conimand of the .army in person, he
left the prosaic task of carrying on the gevernment to his ministers.
His civil officers had the efficiency he reqnired; they were strict and
heavy-handed and worked their machinelY with the same diScipline
and order as their militmy colleagues. But they lacked that breadth
of vision, which would have enabled them to supplement the con-
quests of their rrfaster by a far-sighted statesmanship and construct
a machinelY of imperial administration on pennanent and durable
foundations. His wazi'J's were celtainly clever and thorough in their
methods, but l'ike all administrative experts they were devoid of
idealism; and an empire without ideals is an edifice on quicksands.
For the first two years of his reign, his father's waziT, Abul Abbas
Fasih Ahmed bin Isfarieni, continued at his post. Abul Abbas was
of and .made Persian the official language-an in-
novatlOn abolished by hIS famous successor. But if lacking in edu-
cation, he had that extensive knowledge of affairs which was to be
expected of one who had lisen to be the second greatest man in
the kingdom from the hnmble position of a clerk, and he 'worked
marvels in the administration of the state and the army'. The sultan,
however, quarrelled with him over the possession of a Tmkish slave
and the fallen wazh' was tortured to death by the officers who wishecl
to deplive him of all his wealth. Abul Abbas' successor. the crreat
Ahmad bin Hasan Maimandi, left on his contemi)orari.fs an
ImpresslOn second only to that of Mahmud. A foster-brother and
of the Khwaja Ahmad was distinguished through-
out hIS life by an unulipeachable loyalty to the house of Ghazni
which in no way intelfered with the stern obedience he demandecl
of his slibordinates for himself. His father, Hasan M.aimandi, col-
72
Politics a",1 Society during tite Early Mec/ie"a/ Period
lector of revenue at Bust, was hanged by Subuktagin on a charge of
peculation, but the sad event had no elfect on the son's career. It
would have been difficult, if not impossible, for the sultan to embark
on his conquering career without the organising capacity of his min-
ister to SUppOlt him. An excellent schclar, an intriguer of the highest
order and a stern man of business, Ahmad directed the affairs of
the government for eighteen years with an eJRciency none could
deny. But a strong wazi'l' and a strong sultan were really incom-
patible; the Khwaja's soft tongue and effusive loyalty delayed, but
could not finally prevent, the inevitable rupture. His extraerdinary
ascendancy was painful to many, and a strong party, headed by the
sultan's son-in-law, Amir Ali, and the great general, Altuntash, was
formed against him. The sultan made up his mind to prove that the
Khwaj.a was not indispensable and imprisoned him in an Indian fort.
As if to show that the office could be abolished if necessarv Mahmud
refrained from appointing a wazir for some His ultimate-
ly fell on Ahmad Husain bin Mikal, genel'ally known as Hasnak. The
new w(tzi'l', a close personal friend of the sultan, was remarkable for
his 'conversational powers', .and unfortunately also for 'the impetuo-
sity of his temperament', which impelled him to take the wrong side
in the succession-question that arose towards the end of. Mahmud's
reign.
An extensive empire had been establishecl over the ruins of many
governments. What for? \i\Te are not told that Mahmud's administra-
tion was better than what had existed before, while the coUection of
revenue was cettainly more strict. Everybody complained that the
sultan went on conqueling without being able to establish peace
and order in the conquered lands. The condition of the Punjab was
chaotic and other provinces fared no better. Caravan routes were un-
safe, and the occasional effOlts of the govemment to provide for the
safety of its merchants display its weakness rather than its strength.
"He is a stupid fellow", a Muslim mystic is said to have remarked
of him, "Unable to administer what he already possesses, he yet goes
out to conquer new countries." A strong .sense of justice Mahmud
certainly had, ane! many stOlies and anecdotes are tokl about him,
but he never weut beyond deciding with acuteness and wisdom the
few cases that came before him. No general effo,rt was made to sup-
press the robber chiefs, whose castles prevented all intercommunica-
tion between the various parts of the empire. No imperial police sys-
tem was organised to perform the work which smaller princes pre-
sent on the spot had done before. Thc armed and or.e:anised popu-
lations of medieval cities and towns recluired hut littlc help :from
the state to stand up against the forces of disorder, but even that
Sultan Ma/l1nud of Ghazni 75
little was not forthcoming. vVe have only to contrast the Ghaznavid
government with the empires of the Seljuqs and of the sultans of
Delhi to see the elements Mahmud woefully lacked. No laws, good
or bad, stand to his name. No administrative measures of importance
emanated from his acute mind, which failed to see anything gre.ater
or nobler than an ever-expanding field of military glory. The peoples
forcibly brought within the empire-Indians, Afghans, Turks, Tartars
and Persians-were joined together by no bond except their subordi-
nation fa a common monarch. A wise, firm and beneficent adminis-
tration would have reconciled them to the loss of their local liberties,
but that is just what Mahmud failed to provide. The sultan and his
officers alone were interested in the contiuuation of the empire; and
when nine years after Mahmucl's death, the Seljuqs knocked down
the pUl})oseless structure, no one cared to weep over its f.ate.
These observations \vill enable us to assign Mahmud his proper
place in eastern history. He was essentially the pioneer of the 'new
impelialism' brought into vogue by the Persian renaissance. The era
of the 'universal Muslin caliphate' had gene, never to return, and
the successor of the Prophet was no more the administrative head
of the faithful. The 'minor dynasties' had proved themselves a pest
by their unceasing inhigues and purposeless wars. The only possible
alternative was a 'secular empire,' or 'saltanat' as Mahmud called it,
which would unite the Muslim world together and give it the peace
and prospelity .it longed for. Islam had neither contemplated nor
sanctioned the moral foundations of the new institution, which drew
its inspiration from ancient Persia and breathed its pagan spirit; and
the shariat, in spite of its democratic outlook, was gradually twisted
to suit the .requirements of the time and ended by pre::tching sub-
mission to the monarch, who assumed, under the pretence of being
'. the 'Shadow of God' (zilullah), the airs of the 'divine' Sassanian
emperors. The result \-vas both good and bad. The deniocratic feeling,
which has persisted in the social life of the Musalmans in spite of
all opposing forces. was eliminated from politics, and political subser-
vience, froni l:leing a postulate of necessity and prudence, was elevated
to the dignitv of a religiOUS duty. "Obedience to kings", says Abul
Fazl, summing up the 'wisdom and the folly of six hundred years, "is
a kind of divine worship." At the same time the monarchical idea and
the secularisatiOli of politics led to much that was undoubtedly bene-
ficial. The peoples of Ajam were welded together by their loyalty to
a common king in spite of their racial differences and sectarian strifes.
Moreover it became possible for Muslims and non-Muslims to live
together when religion was considered a plivate affair of the king
',1'1'
" I
1
74 Politics and Society dllrlng the Early MedieVal Period
and the sphere of government was restricted to the secular affairs of
the subjects. '
To Mahniud of Ghazni belongs the credit of being the first Muslim
emperor, and to him more than to anyone else the rise of 'monarchical
sovereignty' among the M usalmans is' due. It does not deb'act froni his
merit that he was followed by statesmen abler than himself and by
dynasties more permanent than his own. The Seljuqs of Persia and
the emperor-sultans of Dellli smpassed him as administrators, and
Chengiz and Timur in conquering might. A pioneer is bound to have
his sholtcomings. His Central Asian policy was devoid of statesinan-
ship wllile his work in Indi.a was even more deplorable.
Though India took up much of Mahmud's time, she had no place
in his dreams. His real aim was the establishment of a Turko-Persian
empire and the Indian expcditions were .a means to that end. They
gave him the prestige of a 'holy warrior', which was required to raise
him and shoulders above the basketful of Ajmni princes, every
one of whom was detennined to be great, while the wealth of the
temples made the finmlcial position of his kingdom seCUl'e and enabled
him to organise an army which the minor princes were in no position
t9 resist. Beyond this Mahmud, who knew the limitations of his power,
did not tq to go. No conquest wa, intended because no conquest was
pOSSible. A Muslim govenllllent over' the country was beyond the
region of practical politics without a native Muslini population to
SUppOlt it. Mahmud was no missionary; conversion was not his object;
and he had too much of good sense to waste away his army in a
futile attenipt to keep down a hostile population by armed garrisons.
He took at a sweep-stake all that centuries of Indian inclusby had
accuniulated, and then left the Indians to rebuild, as well as they
could, the ruined fortifications of their cities and the fallen altars of
their gods. HG obtained the gold and the prestige he needed and he
had aspired for nothing else. Except for a passing mood at Anllilwara,
he never thought of establishing his power over the counby. Annexa-
tion was not his object. The addition of the Punjab to his kingdom
so late as 1021-22 proves, rather than disproves, his non-territorial
ambitions. He had at first expected his alliance with Anandpal to
enable him to penetrate to the trans-Gangetic plain. That alliance
failed owing to the latter's death and Mahmud felt the necessity of
having his footing somewhere in the countly. Even then he seems
to have looked at Lahore and Multan simply as robber's perches; froin
where he could plunge into Hindustan and Gujarat at wilt His
western campaigns, on the other hand, give evidence of a different
policy. They .always led to annexations, and very often Mahmud
Sultan Malmwd of Ghazni
75
personally supervised the establishment of his government over the
conquered territOlY.
The .Indian campaigns are one of the finest achievenients of military
genius. Mahmud was venturing into an unknown counhy of large
rivers, thick forests and .a bitterly hostile people of whose language
and customs he was ignorant. To another man it would have beell
a leap in the dark but Mahmud, unwilling to take any risks, proceeded
wmily and advanced from point to point with a mixture of boldness
and caution, which is as admirable as the fearless and dashing courage
of his subordinates. A false step would have meant disaster; the loss
of a Single battle would have left his clisorgmlised forces at the
mercy of the population. At first he never ventured more than ten
or twelve marches from his base and his .acquisition of Bhera enabled
him to strike safely at the enemy. But caution brought success, suc-
cess brought prestige, and Mahmud, finding that his mere name had
grown powertul enough to overawe his enemies, plunged thlice into
the trans-Gangetic plain and a fourth time into Gujarat. The cam-
paigns look like triumphal marches but were really full of danger.
Even an indecisive battle would have revived the spirit of the much
harassed Indimls and brought unexpected forces into the field. Mah-
'mud trembled when in 1019-20, after an uncontested march of three
months from his capital, he at last came across the r.ai of Kalanjar,
who could show a good fight; yet the flight of the rai at night shows
the terror the sultan inspired. Still jf Ivlahmud was to possess himself
of the treasures of the temples, the risk had to be undertaken; for a
piecemeal annexation of the country was beyond his strength. The
issue showed that he had not miscalculated any important factor in
the situation. .
Organized Anarchy of the Indians
The sultan's great advantage over his Indian opponents was the
unitaq organization of his state. The resources of Ghazni were at
the dispos.al of a single inind; the strength of Hindustan was divided
among a multitude of factious mis, sub-mis, local chiefs and village-
headmen, betweCli whom anything; like sensible was
impOSSible. The feudal organization of the Indians, with its divided
allegiance, clannish spirit and love of local independence, left them
helpless before an enemy to whom feudalism and clannish feeling
was alike unknown. The Ghazll-avids knew and obeyed their master;
the Indians had no master to obey. The power of the rai of Lahore
was defied by the mis subordinate to him, who refused to be relegated
to the position of mere governors; and inste.ad of meeting the enemy
76
Politics and Society during the EilI'Zy Medieva! Period
as the loyal generals of the chief whom his position and pre-eminence
alike seemed to mark off as the national hero, they preferred to be
defeated by the Ghaznavid one by one. An internal revolution, which
would have placed the defensive strength of the country in the hands
of a power, was abso.lutely necessUlY if the newly-arisen
enemy was to be resisted with success. But the hand of the reformer
was numbed' by the time-honoured customs of ages; and the tribal
feuds of the Indians, their complicated system of militUl'y tenures and
local rights, prevented them fwm mustering in full force on the field
of battle. The resullt was defeat, cl:isgr.ace, disas'ter. after
temple was plundered; the centres cf Indian civilization ",ere ruined;
and neither the wisdom of the Brahman, nor the heroism of the
Kshattliyas, ncr !lle pious adoration of silent millions could prevent
their idols of gold .and silver from being melted into Ghaznavid coin.
The Indians did not lack fighting spirit, and they had a countly and
a religion fully wor!llY of their devoticn. The carnage round the
Soninath temple, !lle courage with which the ganisoll of many an
unknown fort died to the last man before the unwavering Ghaznavid
ranks, showed what better leadership might have achiev.xl-and
proved, if proof was needed, that even in the hour of deepest gloom
the Indians had not forgotten how to die. But ilieir social and political
customs paralysed them; for with us, unfortunately, custoni is not an
accident but the essence of faith.
The great sultan did not fail to take advantage of this organized
anarchy' once he had discovered its real nature. His first steps were
tentative, but the spectacle of an army, innumerable as ants and
locusts, flying away from Waihind (1008) before even the battle had
become warm, convinced him that the Indian confederacy was a soul-
less ghost before which he had needlessly trembled. With ceaseless
care he .and his father had forged a terrible machine which could be
now used to good pUll)ose. The Ghaznavid army was composed of
heterogeneous material, but stl'ict discipline, years of comradeship
in arms, the memOty of past victories and hopes of future spoliation
and plunder, had welded Indians, Afghans, Turks and Persians toge-
ther. Training had created confidence .and c.:mfidence led to success.
Above all, the subordination of everything to the penetrative intellect
and conimanding will of the sultan gave it an irresistible momentum
against its factiOIi-ridden opponents. Mahmud flashed like a lighhling
across the path of the bewildered mis, thrust himself between them
before they could unite, drove them away from one another and
defeated them in detail. There was no resisting his might.'Veni, vidi,
vid.' A dark fear began to oppress the Indian mind. It was imagined
that the Musalmans would be always victorious and that a new race
Sultan Mallmud of Ghazni
77
of I-Iuns would hold the sacred soil of Aryavarta in perpetual terror-
ism. could be farther from truth. Th<? Ghaznavid had not
come to stay.
Economic Motir;es of the Invasions
The non-religious character d the expeditions will be to
tlle critic who has grasped the salient features of the spirit of the
age. They were not crusades but secular exploits waged for the greed
of glOlY and gold. It is impossible to read a religious motive into
them. The Ghaznavid army was not a host of holy warriors resolved to
live and die for the faith; it was an enlisted and paid .army cf trained
veter.ans accnstomed to fight Hindus and Musalmans alike. Only in
two of the later campaigns were any volunteers present, and insigni-
ficant as was their proportion to the regular troops, Mahrriud found
them nnfit for the rapid and disciplined movements he desired. The
sultan was too undemocratic in outlook and temper for marshalling
ilie forces of a triumphant fanaticism and he never essayed the task,42
The missionary spidt, that might have wept over the fate of so many
souls 'lost to paradise' or seen in India a fertile soil for implanting
the Prophet's faith, was denied to him. His object was lower and
more realizable. Content to deprive the 'unhelievers' of their worldly
goods he never forced them to chane:e their faith and left India
the land he found it. v
The Wealth of the Temples
For time out of mind the expmts of India had been in excess of
her imports and precious metals had been slowly drawn into the
. country. Mines were also being worked in various pr.:lVinces. The
natural consequence was .an ever-accumulating mass of gold and
silver, which won for India a reputaticn for fabulous riches, and, by
ilie time of Mahmud, had become a sedous national danger. Add to
it, generations of pious Hindus had gradually transferred the wealth
of the country to the temples, which, unlike the peasants' purse and
the mi's treasmy, never lost what they had once gained. It was im-
possible that the Indian temples, like the catholic church in Europe,
should not S0011el or later terript some one strong Ulld unscrupulous
enough for the impious deed. Nor was it to be expected that a man
of Mahmud's character would allow the tolerance Islam inculcates
to restrain him from taking possession of the gold, 'to which his
heart turned as a magnet turns towUl'Cls iron', when the Indians
themselves had simplified his work by concentrating the wealth of
'their country at a few selected places. Plundering an enemy's place
ii
78
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval pmiod
of worship was regarded by contemporaries as act of
war-the unavoidable consequence of a defeat. HIS I-Imdu opponents
were infuriated, but not Sllll}rised, at what he did; they
motives were economic, not religious, and provided a sufficient 111-
demnity was offered, he was not unwilling to their idols. He
took away the gold they would have loved to retam .but ne:r
er
cO.m-
pelled them to join a creed in which they did not belIeve.
soldiers were free to blow their sankh and bow before theIr Idols III
imperial Ghazni. He acc.epted the of in the
tricted form in which hIs age understood It; and It would be ft:hle
to blame him for not rising to the moral height of the generattons
that followed and the generations that had gone .before.
Islam-an a posteriOli Justification
No honest historian should seek to hide, and no Musalman ac-
quainted with his faith will try to justify, the destruction cf
temples that followed in the wake of the Ghaznavld
porary as well as later do :10t attempt veIl ,the
acts but relate them wIth pl'lde. It IS easy to twISt
and we know onlv too well how easy it is to find a relIgIOus JustIfica-
tion for what people wish to do from worldlr Islam
tioned neither the vandalism nor the plundermg motIves of the 1l1-
vader; no plinciple blOwn to the Shal'iat justified the for
attack on Hindu princes who had done Mahnmd IllS subjects
no harm; the wanton destruction of places of worshIp IS condemned
by the law of every creed. And yet Islam, though. it. ,;as . not .an
inspiring moti'lJe, could be utilized as an a
for what had been done. It was not difficult to identIfy the spolIatIOn
of non-Muslim populations with service Islam, persons to
whom the argument was addressed found It too III
with the promptings of their own to examme .It cntIcally.
So the precepts of the Quran were. mlSlnterpreted. or :gnOl'ecl and
the tolerant policy of the Second CalIph was cast aSIde :n order that
Mahmud and his mvnnidons mav be able to plunder I-Imdu temples
with a clear and m{troubled coriscience.
It is a situation to make one pause. With a new faith evervthing
depends on its method of presentation. ':-rill be welcomed if it
appears as a message of hope, and If It :veal's the mask. of a
brutal terrOlism. Islam as a world force IS to be Judged bv the lIfe of
the Prophet and the policy of the Second c:aliph. Its early.
were reallv due to its character as a force agamst relIgI-
ons that l;ad lost their hold on the minds of the people and against
one1 nnlitknl svstems that were grinding clown the lower classes.
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni 79
Under such circumst.a!1CeS the victory of Islam was considered by
populatlOn as something inhinsically desirable; it end-
the regIme an priesthood and a decrepit n:ionarchy,
the doctnne of equality, first preached in the eastern world,
a career to the talent of the depressed masses and resulted
111 the wholesale conversion of the populations o Arabia, Syria,
and IraCJ.. No,,:, I-Iinduism with its intense and living faith was
__ qUIte unlIke the Zoroastrianism of Persia and the Chris-
. Asia Minor, which had so easily succumbed before the
It suffered from no deep seated internal diseases and, a
of national character of the Hindus, 'deeply seated
them and mamfest to evelybody', was their intense satisfaction and
pride in their customs. "They believe", says AlbelUni, "that there is
. but. theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, n6
lIke no scienc: like theirs. They are haughty, foolishly
valll, self-conceIted and stolId. According to their belief, there is nO
counhy on earth but theirs, no other race of men but theirs, and no
created besides them have any knowledge or science what-
. soever. Then: haughtiness is such if you tell them of any science
?r l!1 and Pel:SIa, will think you both an
and a hal'. People WIth tlus insularity of outlook were
not lIkely to lend their. em:s to a new message. But the policy of
the rejectIon of Islam without a hearing.
A rehglOn IS n.aturally judged by the character of those who be-
lieve in it; their faults and their virtues are believed to be the effect
of their creed. It was inevitable that the Hindus should consider
Islam a deviation from the truth when its followers deviated So de-
from .the path of rectitude and justice. A people is not con-
clhated by bemg robbed of all it holds most dear, nor will it love a
faith that COmes to it in the guise of plundering armies and leaves
devastated fields and ruined cities as monuments of its victorious
for reforming the morals of a prosperous but erratic world.
They came, burnt, killed, plundered, captmed-and went away" was
a descripti?n of the Mongol of his counhy; it would
be an mappropnate summary of iVlahmud s achievements in Hindu-
It was not that the Prophet had preached Islam in Arabia;
one need be surprised that the career of the conquering Ghai-
created a Imming hatred for the new faith in the Hindu mind
blocked its progress more effectually than armies and fOltS. "Mah-
" says the observant Alberuni, "utterly ruined the prosperity of
, .and. perfOlmed those wonderful exploits, by which the
became hke atoms of dust scattered in all directions and like
of old in the mouth of the people. Their scattered remains
80
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
chelish, of course, the most inveterate hatred of all Muslims. This
is the reason, too, why Hindu sciences have retired far away from
those parts of the country conquered by us, and have fled to places
where' our hand cannot yet reach, to Kashmir, Banaras and other
places. And there the antagonism between them .and all foreigners
receives more and more nonnshment both from pclitical and religiOUS
and other causes."
'The evil that men do lives after them; the good is often buried
with their b o n e ~ ! ' Mahmud's work, whatever it migilt have been,
was swept off fifteen years after his death by the Hindu revival.
'Those who had taken up the sword perished by the sword.' East
of Lahore no trace of the Musalmans remained; and Mahmucl's vic-
tories, while they failed to shake the moral confidence of Hinduism,
won an everlasting infamy for his faith. Two centuries later, men
who differed froql Mahmud as "videly as two human beings can pos-
Sibly differ, once more brought Islam into the land. But times had
changed. The arrogance of the Musalmans had disappeared with the
conquest of Ajam by the Mongolian hordes. The spirit of the Persian
renaissance had blossomed and died, and the new mysticism, with
its cosmopolitan tendencies and with doctrines which did not essential-
ly differ from what the Hindu rishis had taught in ancient days, made
possible that exchange of ideas between men of the two creeds which
Albemni had longed for in vain. Instead of the veterans who h.ad
crossed the frontier in search of their wiliter-spoils, there came a host
of refugees from the blU11ing villages of Central Asia, longing for a
spot where they could lay their heads in peace and casting aside all
hopes of retuming to the land of their birth. The serpent had re-
appeared but without his poisonous fangs. The intellectual history
of medieval India begins with the advent of Shaikh Mu'inuddin cf
Ajmer and its political history with the accession of Sultan Alauddin
Khalji; the two features which distinguish it from preceding genera-
tions are the mystic propaganda started by the Chishti saint and the
administrative and economic measures inaugurated by the revclu-
tionary emperor. \tVith the proper history of our country Mahmud
has nothing to do. But we have inherited from him the most bitter
drop in our cup. To later generations Mahmud became the arch-
fanatic he never was; and in that 'incamation' he is still wcrshipped
by such Musalmans as have cast off the teachings of Lord Krishna
in their devotion to minor gods. Islam's worst enemies have ever
been its own fanatical followers.
. Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni
81
Chapter IV
FALL OF THE GHAZNAVID EMPIRE
The Question of Succession
Sultan Mahmud's two eldest sons, Mas'ud and Muhammad, were
born on the same day and it was difficult to decide the question of
precedence between them. But Muhammad, a virtuous and educated
prince who composed verses in Arabic, had neither the energy nor
the strength necessary for Wielding a sceptre, and the eyes of all men
were naturally turned towards his brother, who had the physique and
personality of a Rustam. No one could lift Mas'ud's mace with one
hand from the ground and his arrow pierced through a plate of steel.
But the sultan, somewhat envious of feats totally beyond his own
strength, made a will in favour of Muhammad and obtained a farman
confinning it from the caliph. The wazir, Hasnak, also worked for
Muhammad and a brittle alliance of the nobles was formed in his
favour. Mas'ud refused to submit. 'The sword is a truer authority
than any writing', he stoutly declared; and the sultan, to whom. his
son's answer was conveyed, felt it to be painfully true.
Sultan Muhammad
The conquests in eastern Persia during the last years of Mahmlid's
reign had been mostly due to Mas'ud, and when returning from Ray
to Balkh in 1029, the sultan had left him in charge of Khurasan and
the newly conquered territories. It was, consequently, easier for Mu-
hammad's supporters to obtain control of the capital on his father's
death. They summoned him. from Gorkan and placed him on the
throne. The new sultan distributed large sums to make himself
popular. His subjects and soldiers thanked him for the kindness but
refused to take him seriously. Everyone expected Mas'ud would
come and overthrow the rickety govemment. Less than two months
. after his accession. the famous Abun Najm Ahmad Ayaz, Ali Dayah
. and a body of slaves took horses from the royal stables in broad day-
light and started for Bust. They were overtaken by Soyand Ral,
the commander of the Hindus, and in the battle that followed most
of the slaves were slain. But Soyand Rai himself was killed, and
Ayaz and Ali Dayah succeeded in reaching Mas'ud's camp at Naisha-
pur.
Mas'ud:s Advance
Mas'ud had offered to remain content with Khurasan and Iraq
prOvided his name was given precedence in the khutba, but on re-
PS (11)-6
132
ceiving a harsh reply from his brother, he decided .to march. on
Ghazni. Muhan1mad, on his side, fr0
1l1
the to Takll1a-
bad, where he passed the rrionth of Ramazan. But his strongest. suP:
porters, Yusuf bin Subuktagin, a brother ?f. the late sultan, Amll" All
Kheshawand and the wazir Hasnak, decided to make a belated at-
tempt to please Mas'ud by a betrayal of their own cal'ldidate.. Two
days after the 'ld. on the night of October 3, they dragged him out
of his tent, sent him to a fort of Kandahar, and then advanced to
welcome his brother at Herat. Mas'ud, however, refused to overlook
the fault of those who had conspired against him for years. Muham-
rriad was blinded by his brother's Amir Ali
put to death and Yusuf bin Subuktagm was ,thrown mto pnson where
he died. .
. I
Fall of Hasnak
Hasnak was reserved for the disgrace, of a public execution Balkh.
Mas'ud recalled his father's farrious wazh', Khwaja bm Hasan
Mairriandi, from his Indian prison and entrusted him With the office
he had held for eighteen years with such dignity and The
fate of the fallen tVazir, so graphically described by Balhaql, ,:on
the sympathy of all hearts. After weeks of and
prisonment, Hasnak was. summoned to the chwan where the
Khwaja behaved with politeness. He' was asked to
a bond giving up all his property to the and}he two .wazl1 s
parted with a touching forgiveness a?,d affectto? In the of.
'Sultan Mahmud", Hasnak apologized, and by his orders, I ndlculed
the Khwaja; it was a fault but I had no help but to obey. The post
of wazir was to me, though it was no place for me. .Shll I
fOlmed no design against the Khwaja and I always favoured peo-
ple. I am weary of life but some care ought be of my
and my family and Khwaja must me. He mto
tears and the Khwaja s eyes were filled With tears also. 'You, are
forgiven", he replied, "but you must not be dejected f?r
is still possible. I have and accept It ,?f the AlmIghty: I Will
take care of your family If you are doomed. But ..had
made up his mind and the intrigues of Sahl. Zauzlll, the mU:lster
of war left the issue in no doubt. While passmg through Syna on
his from Mecca during the reign of. Mahmud,
Hasnak had received a robe of honour from the anh-cahph of Egypt,
this had laid him open to the charge of being a Carmathian. Th,e
caliph of Bagdad had but knew
rationalistic beliefs, would not. allow him to be fm an 1m
putation so
Sultan Mahrnur! of Ghazn.i 83
"Write to this doting old .caliph", Mahillud had ordered his secre-
talY, "that for the sake of the Abbasids I have meddled with all the
world. I am hunting for Cannathians, and whenever one is found
who is proved to be so, he is impaled. If it was proved that Hasnak
it Carmathian, the COrrimander of the Faithful would soon learn
qf .YI'gat had happened to him. But I have brought him up and
hc;J stands On an equality with my sons and my brothers. If he isa
Carmathian, so am I also." The old charge was now revived. Two
men were dressed up as messengers from the caliph demanding Has-
. na1<'s death as a Cannathian, and Mas'nd, with pretended reluctance,
acceded to the caliph's demand. But everybody knew the truth. "If
Mas'udmountsthe throne, let me be hanged", Hasnak had declared
in the days of his arrogant power; and Mas'ud haVing succeeded, Has-
nak had to mount 'the steed he had never ridden before'.
A Ghaznavid Execution
At the foot of the scaffold Hasnak threw off his coat and shirt. 'His
hody was white as silver and his face like hundreds of thousands of
pictures.' All men were clying with grief. He replied neither to the
insults of his enemies nor to the questions asked, but his lips were
seen moving in some silent prayer. He was made to wear a helmet and
vizor lest his head, which was to be sent to the caliph, should be
battered beyond recognition by the stones the public was expected
to throw. But the public, barring a few vagabonds hired by the govern-
ment, threw no stones. A great uproar would have arisen, if the royal
horsemen had not prevented it. His fellow-citizens, the Naishapurians,
wept bitterly when the hangman cast a rope round his neck and
suffocated him. For seven years Hasnak hung from the gibbet. His
corpse dried up; the bones of his feet dropped off, and 'not a remnant
of him was left to be taken down and buried in the usual way-no one
knew where his head was or where his body'. A last touch to the
tragedy was given by Hasnak's mother who refused to weep as women
weep; but a deep cry of anguish burst from her 'lips when she was
told of his death. 'What a fortune was my son's!" she exclaimed, "A
king like Mahmud gave hini this world, and one like Mas'ud the next."
Mas' ud and His Difficulties
Mas'tid now seemed 'as secure as his father had ever been. He had
a commanding personality and a sh'ong and unbending resolutIon. He
was surrounded by a body of efficient and loyal officers; whohad served
his father for years.' He had no rival to fear: The government appeared
strong in the extent of its tenitory, its annies, its revenue and its mass
84
Politics alld Society during the Eady Medieval Petiod
of hoarded wealth. Nevertheless a careful observer would have found
the forces of decay everywhere at work. It was not easy to wield
Mahmud's sceptre. Mas'ud paid no heed to the advice of his wisest
counsellors. His superb self-confidence gave way to a senseless panic
in the hour of danger and showed him to be totally lacking in that
calmness of nerve which comes through the strength of the intellect
rather than the power of muscle and bone. He struck thoughtlessly
and in the wrong quarter with a total incapacity to distinguish the
most dangerous of his enemies from the most contemptible of his foes.
The firmness with which he wielded his axe and his spear in the field
of battle shone in tragic contrast with the folly with which he directed
his campaigns and destroyed the morale of his troops before the
enemy could fall upon them. Equally lacking in the gifts of a states-
man and a general, Mas'ud would have done well to rely on the
judgment of a wiser man. Khwaja Hasan Maimandi, restored to more
than his former glory, directed the government with efficiency so far
as civil affairs were concerned. But the Khwaja never' meddled in
military matters; his death in W37 left Mas'ud free to mismanage
things to his heart's content; and within ten years of his' father's
death Mas'ud had lost his army and his enipire and was flying a help
less fugitive to an inhospitable land.
The two dangers Mas'ud h.ad to fear were the rais of Hindustan in
the east and the Seljuqs in the west. The fOlmer, terrorised rather than
subdued by Mahmud, were sure to wake uP. when the invincible
conqueror was no more. But they were a lethargic people and would
in any case remain on the defensive. Mas'ud's obvious plan should
have been to crush the Seljuqs before it was too late and leave the
rais for a more favourable season. But while the Seljuq peril was
growing apace, he prefened to divert his strength towards Hindustan
in a useless emulation of his father's achievements, who, with a wis-
dom and a generalship denied to his son, had struck simultaneously
In the east and the west. We will first describe the cOniparative prosaic
events -of the Punjab.
Admini'Stration of the Puniab
The peculiar position of this Indian province had induced Mahmud
to take the extraordinary step of separating its civil and military
authorities. All administrative affairs were placed in the hands of
Abul Hasan Ali, knO\vn as Qazi Shir.azi, a man of common-place
capacity, whom sultan in one of his humours had thought of pItting
against the august dignity of the great Khwaj-a, while Ali Ariyaruk, a
Turkish general of remarkable dash and cOllnlge, appointed
S uitan M ahmud 01 CIIO%n/
85
The qazi and the general were independent of
each other and indirect subordination to Ghazni. To keep them both
in check, Bul Kasim bul Hakam was appointed superintendent of the
news-caniers and his duty was to report everything important to
Ghazni. This division of power was intended to keep the province in
check by preventing the concentration of authOlity in a Single hand,
while by the appOintment of a general, whose sole business was to
wage war against the thakw's (mis), Mahmud sought to make the
plunder of Hindustan a permanent affair. The plan miscarried. Ariya-
ruk bore down all opposition and made himself supreme; the qazi in
retaliation dressed himself in )IlilitalY clothes, but was relegated to a
secondary position. The soft words of the Khwaja, however, succeeded
in alluring Ariyaruk to Balkh, where he was arrested and thrown into
prison (March 1031).
Ahmad Niyaltigin
The instructions of the Khwaja to the new
Allmad Niyaltigin, could leave him in no doubt that cordial cooper-
ation between him and the qazi would be looked upon with suspicion
at Ghazni. "This self-sufficient fellow of Shiraz wishes the generals to
be under his command. You must not say anything to any person
respecting revenue or political matters, but you must perform all the
duties of a comm-ander, so that the fellow may not be able to put
his hand on your sinews and drag you down." On Niyaltigin's arrival
at Lahore, the strife between the civil and military authorities recom-
menced. The qazi complained of the semi-regal state which
NiyaHigin was keeping up, of his Turkoman slaves and of his
?ossible designs. But the Khwaja supported Niyaltigin, and
the general in high spirits led a campaign into Hindustan.
Banaras
Marching with the rapidity he had learnt from his master, he crossed
the Jumna and the Ganga and appeared unexpectedly before Banaras.
It would have been dangerous to remain long in the city, but he
succeeded in holding it from morning to midday, during which short
interval the markets of drapers, jewellers and perfumers were plun-
dered, 'though it was impossible to do more'. The qazi found his
opportunity. He confidential reports to Ghazni of the immense
wealth Niyaltigin had obtained and withheld from the sultan. "What
his intentions are nobody knows, but he calls himself a son of Mah-
mud." Fear or ambition actually incited Niyaltigin to treason, and on
returning to Lahore he beSieged the qazi in the fort of Mandkakar.
I
II
I
III
86 Potitics and Society during tile Eai-ly Medieval Fmiod
It was' a, bid for The sultan consulted his high officers
but none of them was mclmed to lead a campaign to India in the
the rains (July 1033). "When one lUllS away frOtri Ahmad
Nlyalhgm, there cannot be much honour left", the minister of war
:'but the general sent him will have enough to do,
fOI there IS a strong force at Lahore. Ashamed of the pusillanimity
of colleagues, it Hindu general stepped forward and offered his
serVIces. They were gratefully accepted by the sultan.
Tilak; the Ilindu -
.The career of Tilak, the Hindu, shows the rapidity with which
were J;>oth forgetting their religious differences
In the selvlce of a common king and the superbly oriental feeling of
loyalty to the salt. Though the son of a barber, he was of handsome
appear.ance, had studied 'dissimulation, amours and witchcraft' in
Kashmrr. and wrote excellent Hindi and Persian. He had first entered
the serVice of. Qazi Shirazi but left it for the better prospects offered
by the KhwaJa, to. who;n. he acted as. secretary and interpreter and
was by him With the most delIcate affairs. Even the Khwaja's
fall did him. no, harm, for Mahmud wanted clever and energetic young
men and '!Ilak s fortune kept. on . Soy and Rai, the general
of the IndIan troops, took the wrong SIde on the succession question,
when he was slain the skirmish against Ayaz, Ma'sud appointed
Tilak to the vacant post. Thus he obtained the name of a man.' "Kettle-
ru:uns were beaten in his quarters according to the custom of Hindu
banners with gilded tops were granted." He had an army
under his. command, the and the umbrella a Ghaznavid general.
sat m the charmed CIrcle of the sultan s confidential officers.
"Wise men do not. wonder at such facts", says the reflective Bailraqi,
because nobody IS born great-inen became such. This Tilak had
excellent qualities and all the time he lived he sustained ll() injury
on account of -being the son of a barber." . . .
. Tilak drew up the plan of his campaign, and as soon as it was
sanctioned by the sultan, hastened against the rebeL NiyaltigiIi was
unable to hold Lahore and fled towards the desert and Tilakfollowed
close on his heeh with an army consisting mostly of Hindus. He set
a price of. 500,000 dirhams. on Niyaltigin's head, cut off the right
hands of his Musalman supporters whenever they Jell into his clutches
and promised .a who would desert him. This policy had
the result deSired. Nlyaltigm was defeated in battle and hiS Tuiko-
soldiers came over to Tilak in a body. 'The span of Ahmad's
lIfe was narrowed, his men deserted him and at'lastmattets -reached-
81
So far that the J ats and evely kind of infidel joined in the pursuit.' lIe
was ultimately slain by the Jats while attempting to cross the Indus.
Mas'ud abolished the plan of two independent jurisdictions in the
Punjab and assigned the government to his son, Prince Majdud, with
supreme command of civil as well as militmy affairs. Nevertheless the
province remained in a state of turmoil and disorder. Ghaznavid garri-
sons held the towns: Hinduism and freedom reigned supreme in the
countryside. Nothing else was possible when the government was so
incompatible with the spirit of the people.
The Hansi Expedition
In the winter of 1037 Mas'ud decided on an expedition against
Hansi. The condition of the Punjab was no doubt unsatisfactory, but
the capture of another Hindu fort could not make the government
stable. The Seljuqs were becoming more powerful every day and the
Khwaja advised him to postpone the Indian venture till he had sub-
dued his western enemies. "If my lord should not go to Khurasan, if
the Turkomans should conquer a province, or if they should conquer
even a village, and do that which they m'e accustomed to do, namely,
mutilate, slaughter and bum, ten 'holy wars' at Hansi would not
compensate." But Mas'ud was deaf to all advice. He said he had
made a vow and must fulfil it. He marched by way of Kabul to the
bank of the Jhelum where an illness, owing to which he gave up
drinking for a time, prevented him from moving further for a fort-
night. Another march of three weeks brought him to the virgin fort
of Hansi. The ganison made a desperate defence and relaxed no
effort, but the fort was stormed after a siege of ten days and its trea'
sure divided among the mIDy. Mas'ud next mm'ched against Sonpat,
but rai, Dipal Hari, fled away and his city was annexed to the
Punjab. Another chief, named Ram, sent treasures to the invader but
apolOgized that he could not come in person owing to old age and
weakness.
On relturning to Ghazni, the sultan discovered that during his
absence the Seljuqs had plundered Taliqan and Fariyab and were
besieging Ray. He felt ashamed of his Indian expedition and promised
to advance against theni, in the coming sumni,er. The Ghazni-Seljuq
contest was rapidly drawing to a head.
Rise of the Seliuqs
"The rustic, perhaps the WIsest, portion of the Turkoirians", Says
,Gibl,:lOn, "continued to dwell in the tents of their ancestors, while the
Turks of the court and the city were refined by business and softened
88
Politics and Society dU1'ing tIle Early Medieval Period
by pleasure." No love existed between the two sections of the race.
The civilised Turkish population of the great cities of Turkistan and
the Turkish peasantry, who had learnt the value of agriculture, found
the ways of their untamed brethren intolerable. For two centuries
the chiefs of Mawaraun Nahr had acted as the frontier outposts
against the barbaric Tartars. But the rise of the Ghaznavid empire
had greatly weakened their strength and it was impossible for them
to discharge their former function with efficiency. The remnant of
the Seljuq tribes left in Mawaraun Nahr was' intensely hated by
the neighbouring chiefs, whose territOlies they constantly raided. The
sons of Ali Tigin, who had re-established the power of their family
over Samarqand and Bukhara, refused to tolerate them, and the ruler
of Jund, named Shah, for whom they had an innate enwty, made
a sudden raid on their wandering camp, and with a double portion
oE their vindictive animosity, slew eight thousand of their males
at a single stroke while seven hundred men, who escaped his wrath,
fled to other side of the Oxus. But in 1031 Yusuf Qadr Khan of
Kashghar died and in the follOwing year Altuntash, the Ghaznavid
general whom Mahrriud had appointed governor of Khwarazm, was
ordered by Mas'ud to advance against Ali Tigin's sons and in a fierce
battle, which cost him his life, he crushed their army and deprived
them of Bukhara. Altuntash's son, Harun, whorri Mas'ud appointed
to his father's post, repaid his kindness by treason and soon met his
punishment. The result of these events was to remove every power
that wght have prevented the march of the Tartar tribes from
eastern Turkistan across Mawaraun Nahr to the tempting fields of
Persia. The officers of the empire proved totally incapable of either
exterminating or subduing the migratory hordes that had crossed the
Oxus. They had no settled habitation and it was impossible to crush
them in a battle. They dispersed and reunited with remarkable ease.
And yet it is easy to imagine what the unexpected raid of the Tartar
shepherds, who came bUlning and plundering, meant to a population
accustomed to law and order.
The leadership of the irrimigrants naturally fell to the Seljuqs, and
in 1036 three chiefs of the tribe, tired of the continuous conHict and
hard-pressed for land, sent a petition to the sultan asking for the dis-
tricts of Nisa and Farawah, the land between the mountains on the
northwest of Khurasan, the Oxus and the desert of Kara-Kum, to be
granted to them as pasture. This humble petition signed by Beghu,
brother of Israel bin Seljuq, and Beghu's two nephews, Tughril and
Daud, concluded with a desperate threat, 'because they had no place
on earth and none remaIned to them'. Mas'ud bitterly complained
of his father's error in bringing these camel drivers into the empire,
Suitan Mahmud of Ghazni
89
and while beguiling the Seljuqs with soft words, sent a force of 15,000
a ~ a i n s t them. Begtaghdi, the Ghaznavid general, defeated the Seljuqs
after a stubborn battle, but when his men had dispersed in search
of plunder, they returned from the mountain -defiles and practically
annihilated his -army. There was no alternative but to concede the
Seljuq demands; but their ambitions expanded with their success, and
they began to aspire for the cities of Merv and Sarakhs, situated on
the frontier of their tenitory, and even for the whole of Khurasan.
But Mas'ud, when he should have concentrated his forces on the
southern side of the Khurasan hills, preferred a Pyrrhic victory over
the Hindus of Hansi; and dUling his absence in 1036-37, the plunder
of Taliqan and Fariyab enabled the Seljuqs to organise their strength,
and placed them in a position to challenge Mas'ud's power in nOlthem
Persia.
In the spring of 1037 Subashi, govemor of Khurasan, was ordered
by Mas'ud to proceed against the Seljuqs. He protested that he was
too weak, but the sultan insisted on his order being obeyed, and the
reluctant govemor led his troops to the expected defeat. At one blow
Sarakhs, Merv and the whole of Khurasan came into the hands of the
Seljuqs. Tughril was crowned king at Naishapur. A permanent peace
between Mas'ud and the Seljuqs was now impossible and a victory
gained by Mas'ud at Sarakhs in the follOwing year only delayed the
last stage of the contest.
The Campaign of Mem
In, the summer of 1040 the Seljuqs collected around Sarakhs, and
Mas ud, though he had made no pl'eparations, resolved to march
against them. A terrible famine was raging and his advisers re-
quested him to postpone the campaign, Mas'ud refused to listen.
The Seljuqs retreated as he advanced and concentrated their forces
at Merv. But Mas'ud's army became more disorganised at every
stage. Grain had to be brought from distant places; the heat was
unbearable; the enemy had filled up the weIrs and harassed the
Ghaznavids on evelY side. Most of the men were unhorsed; no
diScipline or order remained; and finally at Dandaniqan, near Merv,
Mas'ud was sUlTounded by the Seljuqs and had to offer battle, His
generals. disgraced themselves' by treason and Hight, and the men
followed the example of their officers. 'The TUl'kish troops went
one way, and the Indians another, and neither Arabs nor Kurds
could be distinguished.' Only the royal body-guard remained round
the sultan, who surprised friend and foe by his valour and strength,
and spear in hand, stl1lck down all who came within the reach of
'96
Poiitics and Society during--tile E!lI'iy MediBv'di Pe/'iod
his arms. But the field was irrehievably lost. "I saw Prince Maudud,
son of the sultan", says the historian, "galloping here and there, and
endeavouring to rally his men, but no one gave ear to him for every-
one was for himself." The sultan managed to extricate himself and
reached his capital feadully shaken and terrorised. The empire of
Ghazni was no more.
End of Sultan Mas'ud
The officers who had deserted the sultan on the battlefield were
imprisoned. Prince Maudud was despatched with an army to Balkh,
but Mas'ud hiniself was so afraid of the Seljuqs that he dared not
remain at Ghazni. He sent Majdud to Multan and ordered Prince
Izad-yar to hold the Afghans in check, and then with the royal
haram and the choicest treasures of Sultan Mahmud loaded on. three
hundred camels, he started for Lahore. Everyone advised the sultan
against the step. His desertion of the capital throw every-
thing into anarchy and disorder. The journey. ltselJ) was ?,f
danger. "I have no very high opinion of the fidelity of the Hmd!;ls ,
the Wazil' Khwaja Muhammad bin Abdus Samad remarked, and
what faith has my lord in his othel:, servants,. that he should
his treasures to them in the desert? But mlsf01tune had only m-
creased Mas'ud obstinacy, and he caustically accused his officers of
treason. At the pass of Marigalah the wazil" S ominious 'Words were
fulfilled. A number of Turkish and Hindu slaves plundered a pmt
of the royal treasure; and seeing that their Clime woulicl not be
pm'doned by Mas'ud, they besieged him in the inn where he was
staying and placed his brother, the blind on the throne.
Mas'ud was captured and sent to the fort of Gm where he was soon
after put to death.
Maudud
Placed on the throne after nine years of iniprisonment, the blind
Mnhammad contented himself with dly bread while the affairs were
directed by his son, Ahmad, who was reputed to be mad. Mau-
dud gave Sh01t shrift tl) his father's mmderers. He hurned
Balkh to Ghazni and thence marched towards the Indus. Muham-
mad's mmy, which had marched to meet him, was defeated Nagra-
hal' and Mnh-ammad and his sons were captured and slam on the
spot (1041). Maudud built an inn and a village on the site. of ?is
victory; which he named Fathabad. and returned to Ghazlll wlth
his father's coffin. But the battle of Nagrahar had not placed the
Punjab in his hands. His brother, Majdud: wh?m the l.ate.
had appOinted governor of Multan, lost no m consohdatmg Ius
. Suitail Mahmud of ciwzni
91
'pbwer;and with the help of the famous Ayaz, he captured Lahore
ahd established his government from the Indus to Hansi and Thanes-
war. Maudud marched on Lahore in 1042, but Majdud arrived just
ih time to save it. A critical battle was imminent and Maudud's
(units began to waver. But on the morning of the 'Id of Sacrifice
Majdud was found dead in his tent; a few days later Ayaz also died:
and the Punjab passed into Maudud's hands without a battle. But
fmther troubles were yet in store.
The Hindu Revival: Hansi, ThaneswaI', Nagal'kot & Lahore. -
It was not to be expected that the Hindu rais would fail to take
advantage of the troubles of their enemy, now that the Seljuqs had
made theil' task so easy. The empire of Ghazni, shrunk to the di-
mensions of a little kingdom, was torn by civil dissensions and, in a
pellJetual danger of being swallowed up by its western neighbours.
Maudud was in no condition to defend his Indian possessions; and
the mis of the Punjab and other lands, 'whom fear of the Musahrtans
had driven like foxes to the forest, again raised their heads with
confident courage'. The tide turned rapidly. A Hindu confederacy,
headed by the rai of Delhi, captured Hansi and Thaneswar; Ghazna-
vid officers were driven off from town and country; the oppressive
despondency that had taken possession of the Hindu mind disappear-
ed; and the rais determined to crush the prestige of the invader by
a vict01y that would bring joy to evelY village of Hindustan. Of
the sacred places of Hinduism which Sultan MahiTIud had conquered,
Nagarkot was the only one he had kept in has hands. To the average
Hindu mind the Muslini possession of Nagarkot symbolised the
conquest of religion by brute force, and it was the first duty of the
confederates to put an end to this standing insult to their creed. The
army of hiumphant Hinduism marched to the foot of the fort and
laid siege to it with all the sincerity of faith. The Muslim ganison
prepared for resistance, but its appeals for help to the amil's of La-
hore went unheeded and it had no alternative but to capitulate on
ferms that saved its life and honour. The temple was rebuilt. A
new idol was placed on the pedestal. The news spread through all
Hindustan. Hindu pilglims were juhilant and once more came to
visit it in crowds. 'The market of idolatOlY was busier than ever:
Islam had become a losing cause and it seemed as if another decisive
blow would dlive it off from the land. The Ghaznavid amirs of Lahore,
busy in fighting each other, had forgotten tlleir allegiance to Mau-
dud and tin-ned a deaf ear to the prayers of the ganison of Nagarkot.
But when they heard that ten thousand Hindu cavalry supported
by a large infanhy was marching against them, they at last awoke
92
Poiitics and Society during the Eariy Medieval Pm'iod
to the Insecurity of their position, and taking an oath of loyalty to
Maudud, collected their forces with the determination to defend their
city to the 'last. The Hindu army retired without pressing the siege.
Thus Lahore and the large towns west of the Ravi were saved. Over
the rest of the counhy Hinduism soon forgot the Musalmans. Such
traces of Islam as Mahmud might have left in India were simply
swept off. On the other hand, the Hindus learnt no lessons from
their adversity. No national govenm\ent arose to end the civil wars
of Alyavalta and after a century and a half Shihabuddin Ghuri found
the Hindu rais as disunited as ever.
Later Histo1"Y ot the Kingdom ot Chazni
The later history of the kingdom of Ghazni need not detain us
for long. Its petty plinces were content to eke out a humble ex-
istence under the shadow of the Seljuq empire; its unending palace
intrigues were a source of derision to its enemies and of despair to
its friends. Sultan Maudud died in December 1049, and his son,
Mas'ud II, a child of four years, was overthrown by Maudud's
brother, Abul Hasan Ali, who in his turn was defeated by Abdur
Rashid, a son of Sultan Mahmud, in 1051. In 1054 AbdUl: Rashid
was put to death by his general Tughril, the traitor, but the usurper
was slain before he had occupied the throne for forty days. Next
Farrukhzad, son of Mas'ud, was brought out of prison and reigned
for seven years (1052-59), while his brother and successor, Sultan
Raziuddin Ibrahim, a pions king, was blessed with a long reign of
over fOliy years which came to an end in 1099. He was blessed also
with thirty-six sons and forty daughters, and the latter, for want of
suitable princes, were married to Sayyids and pions scholars. Sultan
Ibrahim is credited with two Indian expeditions of which he led
the second in person (1079-80). Ajodhan, the present Patan of Shaikh
Farid of Shakarganj, was reached, and marching thence the sultan
captured the fort of Rupar, situated on a hm with a river on one
side and a thorny forest full of snakes on the other. Still more poetic
was the conquest of Darah, a town of Khurasan colonists, exiled
from Persia to India by the Afrasiyab of the Shah Nama! "They wor-
shipped idols and passed their lives in sin", but their city
was considered impregnable and consequently the rais of India
never succeeded in plundering the foreigners in their midst. But
Ibrahim cut his way through the thick forest that surrounded Darah
and reduced it by fOl'ce. Apart from this somewhat mythic exploit,
Sultan Ibrahim was a sane and sensible man, who never forgot the
serious limitations of his power and s e c u ~ e d for his subjects a long
Deriod of uninterrupted peace. '
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazn;
93
Ibrahim's son, Alauddin Mas'ud, married a sister of the Seljuq
emperor, Sultan Sanjar, and died after a peaceful reign of sixteen
years in 1115. His son, Arsalan Shah, signalized his accession by put-
ting his brothers to death. Only one of them, Bahram Shah, succeeded
in escaping to his uncle Sanjar, who drove out Arsalan and placed
Bahram on the throne. But Arsalan returned and besieged Bahram
and Sanjar once more marched to Ghazni (1117). Arsalan was captured
and a year later put to death. Muizzuddin Bahram Shah was a magni-
ficent king. He twice defeated the governor of the Punjab, Muhammad
Bahalini. Shaikh Nizami Canjavi dedicated the Makhzanul Asmr to
him and the Kalila and Dimna was translated from Arabic into Persian
during his reign. But a quarrel with the chiefs of Chur led to the
sack of Ghazni and Sultan Bahram's reign of forty-one years ended
in disgrace and ruin (1152).
The Seliuq Empire-Sultan Tughril
Meanwhile, like all things mortal, the empire of the Seljuqs had
been progressing through its career of expansion, consolidation and
decay. The battle of Dandaniqan had placed the Persian provinces
. of the Ghaznavid empire in th'ir hands. Sultan Tughril (1039-63), the
first emperor of the dynasty, fixed has capital at Ray and assigned
Khurasan to his brother, Dal)d Jafar (Chaghr) Beg. The ease with
which the conquered people reconciled themselves to the new
dynasty is a credit at once to the moral character of the house of
Seljuq and the captivating power of civilization. The new rulers
threw off their barbaric wavs and conformed to the time-honoured
traditions of Persian monarchy; the military vigour of the Turk com-
bined with the administrative genius of the Persian to establish an
empire that came into contact and conflict with the anti-caliphs of
Egypt and the Byzantine empire in the west and the infidels of
Cathay in the east; and in the centurv of peace that followed no one
regretted the fall of the Ghaznavid administration. "It would be
superfluous", says Gibbon, "to praise the valour of a Turk, and the
ambition of TughriI was equal to his valour. In his own dominions
Tughril was the father of his soldiers and people; by a firm and
equal adminIstration Persia was relieved from the evils of anarchy;
and the same hands which had been embmed in blood became the
guardians of justice and the public peace." The kings of Chazn!
were allowed to eke out their vears of inglorious existence but the
Mus.almans and Christians of I;aq and Asia MInor felt the hand of
'the Conquering Turk', Azarbaiian was annexed to the empire; the
power of the Buwaihids, which Mahmud had crushed in Isfahan and
Ray, was finally annihilated in Baghdad and the Commander of the
94
Politics alld Society duril1g the Early Medieval Pel'iod
Faithful, relieved from the vexations to which he Jlacl bee11. exposed
by the presence and poverty of this Persian dynasty, bestowed on
Tughril the titles of 'Sultanud Doulah' and 'Yamin-i-Amirul
A Seljuq general, Atisiz, overran Syria and even reached. the Nile,
while the Byzantine empire felt the vigour of the TurkIsh troops
across a frontier of six hundred miles from Tam'as to Erzrum. The
contest was, however, undecided when Tughril died at the age of
seventy-two.
Alp A1-salan
Alp Arsalan (i063-72), son of Daud, who succeeded to the empire
of his uncle after a brief peIiod of civil wars, continued the- eastern
c,onquests to Tughril. Arnlenia and Georgia were and
years (1068-71) of war decided the fate of the ASiatic possessIOns
of Constantinople. The initiative was taken by the emperor, Romanus
Diogenes, who advanced with a hundred thousand soldiers and an
auxiliarv force of disorderly allies. After three well fought oam-
paigns the Turks were driven beyond the Euphrates, and when the
sultan advanced against him with fOlty thousand men,' the emperor
contemptuously ordered the barbarian to cede and .city
of Ray as the condition of peace. But the sultan s rapid and skIlful
evolutions distressed and dismayed the supelior numbers of the
Greeks", and at the battle of Mulazgird (Madikerb) the Turkish
veterans crushed the power of their vain and disorganised oppenents
beyond the possibility of redemption. Romanus Diogenes, a
captive to the court, was treated with that SURerb generosl.ty
Alp Arsalan showed his fallen enemies. hiS
western mission, the sultan marched eastward for the .of
Mawaraun Nahr. But an assassin's dagger cut short the sultan slIfe
after he had crossed the Oxus and brought his conquering career
to an untimely end after a reign of nine years and a half.
Malik Shah
The reign of Alp Arsalan's son, Malik Shah .(1072-92!, was period
of prosperity and peace, and shows the SelJu9- empIre at Its best.
The unrealised scheme of his father was accomplIshed by the conquest
of Mawaraun Nahr and Malik Shah's khutba was read beyond the
Jaxartes at But _ rest of !eifS.n
kept perambulating his extensive empire and.supervI.smg Its CIVil admi-
nistration so th.at "few depalted from his WIthout reward and
none without jlistice". The calendar which fallen. into .disorder
s reformed by a committee of mathematiCians (mcludmf,!; the
Omar' Khayyam), who inaugurated the 'Jalali er<l'
Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznl
95
of Malik Shah, 'a computation of ti'JIie, which sU!l)asses the Julian,
and approaches the accuracy of the Gregorian style'. With the naines
of Alp Arsalan and Malik Shah is intimately associated the name of
their great minister, Nizamul Mulk, author of the Siyasat Nama43
and one of the most famous wazil's of the E.ast. Deeply leamed in
all the political wisdom of the day, a patron of literature and art to
whom tlIe 'Nizamiah' University of Baghdad owed its establishment,
Nizamul Mulk served the Seljuq dynasty with zeal and devotion for
thirty years and won for it the loyalty of its subjects and tlIe grateful
remembrance of posterity. But the influence of tlIe queen, Turkan
Khatun, who wished to secure the succession of her son Mahmud
alienated the sultan's mind from him, and at the age of
years the venerable statesman was dismissed by his master, accused
by his enemies, and murdered by a fanatic. Malik Shah himself
. died in the following montlI.
Malik Shah's two sons, BarHamq (1092-1104) and Muhammad (1104-
17), were succeeded by their brother, Sanjar (1117-57), a great, 'dignifi-
ed and mighty monarch', under whom affairs again came back to 'the
highway of legality a.nd the beaten track of equity and justice', from
which tlIey had been unhappily deflected during the reigns of his pre-
decessors. Iraq, Khurasan and Mawaraun Nahr increased in popula-
tion and prospClity; the empire was more extensive than it had been
ever before. Nevertheless Sanjar's long reign was a period of dis-
integration and decay. Provincial govemors (atabeks) began to aspire
for independence; a new race of Turkomans poured across the Jaxartes;
and by slow degrees the foundations of the empire were sapped. San-
jar struggled valiantly against the rising deluge and won seventeen
out of the nineteen great battles he is said to have fought. But he did
.not know how to take advantage of his successes, and his defeats were,
'consequently, more important than his victories. In 1141 a number
of Qara-khitai hibes, who had migrated into Turkistan, rebelled a.!!ainst
the empire. Sanjar was defeated near Samarqand and the whole of
Mawaraun Nahr passed into infidel hands. Another body of emigrants,
the Ghuzz Turks, defeated and captured the sultan in 1153, and carried
him about as a captive in their camp for three years. '%en the sultan
last escaped to his capital, the empire had ceased to exist. Khurasan
been devastated by the Ghuzz; the atabeks had thrown off their
al1e![ianlce to the central power; .and the last of the "Great Seliuqs"
eyes after a strenuous 1ife of seventy-two years spent in an
defence of the work of his ancestors and the civilization
inherited.
the protection of the Seljuq dynasty, Persian clvWzation
a height which it hilS never since attained. The middle of
96
Politics alld Society durillg the Early Medieval Period
the twelfth century wiblessed the final extinction of the kingdom of
Ghazni and the collapse of the Seljuqian einpire. The kingdoms of
Khwarazm and Ghur rose on the ground thus left vacant, but neither
had grown to its full stature when the Muslim world was overwhelmed
by the Mongol barbarians.
NOTES
1. 'The point requires some elucidation. The great religions of the world may be
divided into two groups-the Semitic (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and the
Aryan (Hinduism, J ainism and Buddhism). .speakin
g
, Semitic rel.igions give
more importance to the ethical, and the Aryan re!IglOns to the metaphysIcal, aspect
of faith. Now after the Arab conquest of Persia, the Persians naturally interpreted
the new faith in the light of their already existiug metaphysical conceptions which
they largely shared with the Hindus. One of the most important of these was the
idea of incarnation, the appearance of the Supreme Being in a human form. Every
religion has felt the necessity of finding some means of intercourse between the
real and the sensible world. In Islam the angel Gabriel brings the message of the
one world to the other. Aryan religions explain it by a series of incarnations by
which the Creator comes to teach the law to the created. In the extreme forms of
Shiaism a highly Aryanised interpretation of Islam, the Prophets and the Imams
become' Divine Incarnations, a belief which the orthodox considered t.o be identical
with idolatry. And yet a priMi Shiaism and Sunnism must be consIdered equally
valid interpretations of a common faith; nor is it possible to give vali.d reaSOn why
the Arab outlook on life should be in greater consonance WIth realIty than the
Persian. Another Indo-Aryan doctrine was 'monism' the belief. which regarded
existence as the emanation of one Being and all change as the eVIdence of a CosmIC
P e To the Semitic conception of law as an external command, the Aryans had
urposd' th belief that law was an inner aspiration of the sonl itself. What is known
oppose e . h I' h f I I P .
as Ta.,awWuf (Muslim mysticism) is Islam interpreted m t.e t 0 nc 0-
monism in which god ceases to be a being external to the mdIVldual and :aw IS no
longer cominand imposed from without. Muslim mystics have always claImed that
their doctrines are based on the Quran and rightly so, however a
confession may appear to those who imagine that a religion can .Iong :"Itho.ut
developing a system of metaphysics. But the contention the. Mushm mystIcs !S qUIte
t
'bl th the foct that the development of mystIcIsm In Islam was mamly the
COmpal eWI q ..' d h .
work of Persian thinkers, who were steeped In the doctnne of momsm; an . t at In
its matnre form the teachings of Tasawwuf are broadly the same. as the. phIlosophy
of the Neo-Platonists and the Upanishads. Thus Islam interpreted m the. hght of
Incarnation-idea has given us Shiaism, which in its orthodox claIms that Air
should have been the first Caliph and in its heretical phase asserts hIm Imams
to be Divine Incarnations, while interpreted in light ?f A;ryan momsm, It has led
to Tasawwuf, the finest achievement of Indo-PerSIan ge?lUS In the realm Of.
2. A detailed stndy of the Carmathians and Ismaibs does not come WIthIn our
\Sultan Mahmud of 97
Their ideals and their organisation are equally interesting. Like all IllVolutiollary
'lIiiIibrities they seem to have included men of alI shades of opinion from toletant
like Hakhn Nasir Khusr",u to mere cut-throats and assassins. Nizamul
Mulk in his Slyasat Nama considers them a pte-Muslim Persian sect, founded by
Mazdak a generation before the Prophet and continued into Islam. A mysterious cblmn
the fortress of ,Alamut (eagle's nest) and its 'mock paradise, from whence
the 'Old Man of the Mountain' was wont to send out his young men to assassinate
iris opponents. The word 'assassin' comes from 'httshish (hemp) with which the victim
of the fraud was drugged before being taken to the 'paradise'; its houris, it is said,
had' such an influence On his imagination that his soul found no rest in the WOrld
outside and the promise that he would reach "paradise' at once by the performance
-cif a heroic deed was enough to induce him to wield the assassin'S"!mife and face the
inevitable punishment at the hands of the orthodox. The fort was destroyed by
Flalaku, grandson of Chengiz. For literature on the subject; besides the SIYl1$at Nama
see the' chapters on the 'heretics' in Rauzatwi Safa and Tarikh-i Guzidah. The third
volume of Alauddin Ata Malik Juwayni's Tarikh-i Jahan' Gu.sha was written on the
'basis of the Alamut library.
"'.3. One of greatest of hiStorical errors Is the prevalent opinion that the kings of
Medieval India were, It was originated by General Briggs, the most Stupid
of translators and the most pedantic of historians. Barring the nondescript, Khaljls,
all dynasties of Delhi callie from the Turkish stock, except the Sayyids Lodisand
The sultans. of Ghazni and Ghur, the Slave kings, the Tughlaqs and the
Great Moghuls all belonged to the Turko-Mongolian race. An Afghan king In
Afghanistan even would have .been an anomaly before the days of Ahmad Shah
Abdalf. '
4. Some historians have ignored, while others have denied, the existence of
flilkatagln and Plray. Their reigns are, however, proved by their coins and the most
reliable chronicles refer to them. A great confusion prevails as to dates. Colonel
Raverty, after an arrogant criticism of Mlnhajus Siraj, "ives the following
dates of .the HI1ri era: Alptagin (322-52), Abu Ishaq (352-53), Bilkatagln
{353-,52), PIray (362-67). All authorities are agreed in declaring 367 as the vear
<>f, Subuktagln's accession, but a little reflection would have shown the
Cc;>lonel that his other dates were preposterous. Abdul Malik died In 350, and
who was gove:,,?r of Khurasan in the'reign of that monarch and conquered
ChaznI after Abdul MalIk s death, could not have reigned in Ghazni from 322 to 353.
J?e. date of the conquest of Ghazni Is 351 according to the joint testimony of Minhajus
Hamdullah Mustawfi and Ferishta. The' Question remains-how to divide the
years 351 to 367 between the four reigns? Hamdullah Mustawfi and Ferishta give sixteen
years to Alptagln and one to Abu Ishaq. But they ignore Bilkatag;n and Piray who
h?ve to be accomm.odated. In spite of the criticism of his translator, Minhajus Siraj
gIves the m?st ratronal account-Alptagln, 8 years; Ishaq, 1 year; Bilkatagin, 10
years; and Pira:, 1 year. From this I get the years of the Christian era given above .
. The con'espondmg dates for the Samanid kings, On the testimony of Minhajus Siraj
and Hamdullah Mustawfi, are: Abdul Malik bin Nuh (343-50) Mansur bin N h
Nuh bin Mansur (365-87). ' u
5. SOme before the Christian era the Turki Shah! (Kushan) dynasty of Scythia
Turks by Barhatagin began a career of conquest till under its
monarch, Kamshka, a large part of Northern India, Afghanistan, Turkistan and
Mawaraun Nahr was included in the Kushan empire. The Turks were quickl
assimilated by Indian civilisation, but the result was not altogether fortunate F y
Buddhism, instead of raising the barbarians to its own level, found easier to
,;s'(m..:.7 '
98
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period'
to their idolatrous beliefs; and that preposterous mixture of rationalism and priestcraft,
known as Mahayana Buddhism, in which the philosophy of the Te.acher is,
reconciled with the gods of every locality, became the creed of the peoples. mcluded
th Kushan empire. Kanishka's capital Peshawar, became a centre for disseminat-
: new faith, and centuries later' the Musahnans found the wild tn'bes of
.J hanlstan worshipping the Buddha in the form of the lion (Sakya . From
th; dowofaII of the Kushan empire till the Saracenic invasion of Afghamstan m t1;e'
eighth centw:y all is dark. Alberuni states that the Tttrki Shah! dynasty of Barhatagtnby'
included no less than sixty kings, the last of whom, Lagaturman, was deposed
his Brahman wazir, Kallur,. the 11m ruler of the Hind ..
ubukta found rulin over the Punjab. The pedigree of the kings wntten on SIlk
!as prJ:rwa in the f!rtress of N agarkot but says he was unable to see it.
The order .of the Hind .. Shah! dynasty is given by hIm as follows: :ra
llur
,
KamaJu, BhIni, Jaipal, Auandpal, Tarojanpal (T1'!10canpal) and BhimpaJ (Alberum,.
Sachau's Tr. Vol. ii, p. 13). d th into a
6 The ow-storm is said to have been caused by some irt rown
. erions SO I of clear water by Mahmud's order. Similar bello:s were Widely.
:.:!uent a!:g the Mongols and Turks. It is obvious that. the IndIan army would
sulfer more than the enemy who was accustomed to the chmate. his
7 H' . d was also by a dark suspicion that Subuktagin not
reai ra::'er
rnm
While returning to his palace one the sultan ordered b,S
lamp to given to a poor student, whom he in a
'8 of Sflbu1dagln' the Prophet appeared to hIm ill II ream t ru . ' .. Th
G:i honour thee both the worlds as thou hast honoured my $!Icce .. sorl e
suit ' three doubts were thus removed. . . .
an s . alti'n commander-in-chief of Lahore in Ma'sod's relgo, WIlS'
8. Alunad NlY f M hm d "People used to tell stories about
considere.d to be an illegltImate son a aU. 1. frl dl relation.
his birth, his mother Amir
h
Mahbm:d
G
& D.,.
between the king and hIS mot er- u 0
Vol. ii, lJl2). . . . I d' Mahmud generally left Chazn!;
. 9 Winter was the campalgmng' season In ",a. d' h 'nter in India
in ;utunin (i.e. the end of the rainy season), and after 5po;n Ing t .e W1 . ently"
ed t Ch
. by the bemnning of the summer. HIS campalgos, eonsequ ,.
return 0 azrn 0............ .
have to be indicated by two years of the ",,,,,,stian era.
.. lace of considerable. lnIportance On the western bank of the
10. "TblS !sft a P'I b Attoc" k on the old high-road from Lahore to Peshawar.
Indus about D een lll1 es a ove, 4 8)
and three marches from the latter" (E. & D., Vol. ii. p. S .
h li
th st bank of the Jhelu:m, under the Salt Range. It bears
11. "B era es on e w: . be a posite side of the river the
evident marks of great aAnhd h; strike every beholder with,
extensive mins of BUfane, above ma a , . .
astonishment" (E. & D., Vol. ii, p. K a admit of no doubt for the
12. "That is the sa:n
0
as ot surround it are the Banganga
name Nagarkot is used. The which is a mile from the fort, is now
and the Biyah (BIas). The to\v:, 0 1m, W tem Ie raised tu a Sakti, 01' female
On a spot called Bhawan, whICh means. p. resumed foundation by the
is probabl
Y
J
temples were fortified 1!-nd
herolC Bhnn (E, & D" Vo. 11, p. .
so were most towns and villages. ., . . Meal references. The
18. Uthi's account of tbe campaIgn IS obscure In ;ts d tbis inter-
real object, undo)1bte?ly: was. to by utM
pretation of s mtenti.on annon17.eS we
Sultan Mah'flWll of Ghozll; 99
later. The 'best wishes' for the sultan's 'future prosperity' apparently inU>lied willing-
ness to allow him to march across the Punjab.
14. Utbi places the Tbaneswar campaign after the Nardin (Ninduna) expedition.
and Elliot follows him in the error. This is clearly wrong. The Thaneswar campaign
, was undertaken during the life of Auandpa!; consequently, the Ninduna campaign,
which was directed against his son, Trilocanpal, eouId not have preceded it. Fenshta
adheres to the correct order.
15. The ChakTllS'Vamin was a bronze image of Vishnu, which' held the weapon,
Chakra, in one of its hands. It was taken to Ghazni and thrown into the hippodrome
of the city (Albertini).
16. "The action which preceded the capture of Ninduna appears to have been
fonght at the MargaJa pass, which answers well to the description given oEit by
utbi. The hill of Balanath is a COnSpiCllOUS mountains overhanging the Jhelum and
now generally called TilIa, which means a bilL It is still occasionally called Balanatb,
and there is a famous i0gi establishment on its highest summit, of great repute and
resorted to by members of that fraternity from the niost distant parts of India"
(E. &: D.). .
17. Nizamuddin and Ferishta by mistake attribute this conversion to the ra; of
Kanauj, and they also mention Kanauj as the lIrst city attaoked by Mahmud. They
also confused the line of Mabmud's march and make him cross and recross the
Jumna many times over. I have followed Utbl's contemporary account which is free
from the geographical blunders of 'Iater writers. .
18. The situation of Matbura by the side of the Jumna is charming beyond descrip-
and walking by the river-side On a summer evening under the guidance of its
citizen, Pandlt Radha Krishna, I could just have a dream of what the place
been in the days of its glory. The road to Brindaban, so famous in the
of Lord Krishna, still retains its poetic associations. Even today a visitor, with
can see, will 11nd much to captivate him in the work of later artists-and
is as beauttful as It was in the days of the Mahabharata. (A fnisqal ""
drams.,
Utbi calls him Ral Jaipal,' which is . equivalent to RajyapaIa, but he is 'not to be
with Rai Jaipal of Lahore, who had been dead for years. But further on
of Pur-i Jaipafs war with Chand Rai, Pur-i Jaipa! is not Anandpal but
whom Alberuni calls Tarojanpal, for which Pur-I Jaipal (Jaipal's SOli) is a
misreading. Much confusion bas, however, been caused by later historians.
gives the name of Korah to the rai of Kanauj. V. A. Smitb transfers the name
to Rajyapal's son. It is useless to mention what a mess of names and
scholars have been responsible for. But the list of the Hindu Shahi dynasty
lhernni, and enumerated in a foregoing note, settles the question definitely.
other difficulties will be removed if the 'Pur-i Iaipa!' of Utbi is read as Trilocanpal,
not as Jaipafs son.
Utbi calls Munj 'the fort of Brahmans' and places it before the capture of Asnl.
bighly improbable as Mahmud would come across the fort only when
ing Sbarwa. Utbi would seem to take him to Bundelkhand twice.
Seunra on the Ken between Kalan/ar and Banda, or Sriwagarb, on the
far from Kunch' (E. & D., Vol. ii, P. 659).
. A. Smith calls him 'Ganda'.
lies to the west of the Ganges, a. very large town, but most of it i.
ruins since the capital hail been transferred thence to tile city of Bari. east
Between the two towns is a dislance of three to four days' marches'
vol. i, p 199). The battle must have 'taken place not far from wb"rF! .h",
100 Politics and Society during the Early Medieoal Period
Ramganga falls into the Ganges. V. A. Smith's identification of the defeated prince
with the son of Rajyapal is a',mistake;' Utbi's account leaves no doubt that Trilocanpal,
son of Anandpal, is meant.
24. The Persian cnronicles speak of Qirat and Nardin (or Nur), which Elliot, on
the authority of Alberuni, identifies with the Nur and Kira rivers that fall into the
river Kabul. Doubtless the frontiertn"bes are meant. Plenty of Buddhist remains ,
sUrvive to explain the worship of lions (E. & D., Vol. ii, p. 444). "On hreaking a great
temple sitoated there, the ornamented figure of a lion came out of it; which according
to the belief of the Hindus was four thousand years old" (Femhta). The carpenters,
hlacksmiths and stone-cutters were brought for the constrnction of forts at strategic
points On the frontier and in the Punjab.
25. Alberoni, Vo1. II, p. IS.
26. The total number of elephants possessed by Mahmud is said to have been
2,500.
27. 'l1ak Khan' was the title of the khans of Kashghar. Mir Khwand, Ferishta and
HamdulJah Mustaw/i greatly differ in their account of Qadr Khan; the Rahatus Sadm
of Mohammad lbn-i Ali lbn-i Sulaimanur Rawandi (edited by Dr. M. Iqbal) calls
him nak Khan. The question is of the remotest interest to the student of Indian
history. It will be remembered that the caliph had refused to transfer Samarqand
to Mahmud.
28. Tabaqat-i Nasir!.
29. Gibbon, Vol. vi. I have adopted the great historian's version of the famous
conversation. Rahatus Sadm is more explicit: the first arrow would raise 100,000
horse from Israel's own followers, the second arrow 50,000 from the Turkomans
settled in Trans-Oxiana, while his bow would bring 200,000 from the Turkomans
stin in Turkistan.
30. Tabaqat-i' NaSiri. The Rahatus Sadur says that the Seljuqs were allowed to cross
the Orus at their own request after the imprisonment of Israel, Mahmud allowed this
in spite of Arslan's advice to tbe contrary.
31. He escaped 'out of prison once, but lost his way and was' recaptored.
32. Ferishta, Rauzatus Sala, Raha,tu8 Saaur and Tabaqat-i, Nasiri greatly differ in
their accounts of the earlier events that brought the Seljuqs into prominence. The
matter cannot be discussed here in greater detail and I must content myself with gimg
what appears to me to be the most rational account. See also Alt. 'Seljuq' in Ency.
Brit, by Prof. Houtsma.
33. The Somnath expedition is not desqribed by Utbi, whose chronicle closes after
the defeat of Trilocanpal on the Rahib. The earliest authority seems to be the Kamilut
Tawarikh of the Arab historian, Ibn-i Asir. Ferishta gives a detailed account, but he
bas included later accretions which require a critical examination.
34. I have corrected the figures in this paragraph from Ibn-i Asir.
35. Alberuni says they also brought a basket of Howers from Kashmir.
36. The legend to which Somnath owed its origin is thus described by A1beruni:
"The Moon being married to the daughters (lunar stations) of Prajapati preferred one
of them, Rohini, to all others, and Prajapati, unable to induce his son-in-law to do
justice to all bis wives, cursed him so that he became leprous. The Moon repented, but
Prajapati's curse was beyond recall. He, how.ever, promised to cover the Moon's shame
for half the month and advised him to raise a linga of Mahadeo to wipe off the trace
of his sin. This the Moon did. The Zinga he raised was the idol of Somnath, for soma
means 'moon' and nath 'means 'master' so that the whole word means the master of
the moon. The image was destroyed by Prince Mahmud in 416 A.H. He ordered the
upper part to be broken and the remainder to be transported to his residence, Ghazni.
S,dtan Mahmud of Ghazni
101
all its coverings aDd trappings of gold, jewels and embroidered garments. Part of
It been thrown into the hippodrome of the town, together with the Chakrasvamin
an ldol of that had been brougbt from Thaneswar. Another p!lft of the idol
of Somnath lies before door of the mosque of GhazDi, on which people rub their
feet to clean from and wet. The reason why SOJ1!1lath,i
n
particular, has be-
come, so famo.ns IS that It was a harbour for sea-faring people. The fortress which
con tamed the Idol and its treasures was not ancient but was bUilt onl a h dr d
ago The a 'g'n I 'ti' f h d y un e years
. n, 1 a pasIon ate i 01 was three miles from mouth of the Saraswati
at a spot, which uncovered when the tide receded; hence the legend of the Moon
the lmga., Later on, the temple was built at a bow-shot from the mouth
ate nver. (Alberuw, Vol. ii, p. 103).
37. It is f?und in :he TawQ1'ikh. The earliest autbority seems to have
been :he Ta"kh-. Alfi, wntten SIX hundred years after Mahmnd. The story could have
bfeen mvented (and believed) only by those who were igoorant of the true Structure
o the Somnath Idol.
38, Ferishta's detailed of the two Dabshilims seems to have' no better
foundatIOn than the Allwar-. Suhaili. It is difficult to say what element of truth it
contains.
39. This account is found io Ferishta, who says that Mabmud died 'th' h
rehlc;ance and regret', and all later histOrians repeat the incident. Its Ori';in is n;,:d
to It may, have been, taken from the lost portions of Baihaqi. There is
nothing Improbable m the story. Consumptive diseases have such effects.
40. The details of the lives of the poets cannot be given here nor an exam' t'
of their work attempted. Prot'. Browne's Literary Hiti01'y of Pm"&Uz V J. II Ch
IDa

Maulana Shibli Numani's Shirul-Aillm, Vol. I, have Put in 'I
found III :he old See also Hadi, Studies in Persian Literattlre, published
y the Umverslty, Aligarh. The Firdausi legend has been sub'ected to a
trenchant cnhclsm by the journal 'Urdu', edited by Maulvi Abdul Haq h' h
has robbed the time-honoured story of all its charm. ' w IC
. 41. SO,me very interesting anecdotes about Albeluni and Bu Ali Sina will be found
In the Maqala at Nizami al-Aluzi al-Samarqandi (Gibb's Memorial S ' ) A
short bIOgraphy at Bu Ali Sina is given in the Habibus Siyal'. enes .
4:. It is a fact that Mahmud seldom, if ever, shared the hard life of bis
soldiers. Such a thing would have been below the dignity of the 'new monarchy'.
43. The Siyasat Nama is sometimes supposed to be a treatise on polit' I .
hut it's reall b k I" I Ica SCIence,
1 Y a 00 on po Itlca trickery and a violent pamphlet ao-ainst the 'h t' '
Its historical value is very great. '" ere ICS
[First published in The Hindustan Review, (pp. 9-45), later published in book form
by? B. Ta.'aporevala & Co" Bombay, 1927. The second Cosmopolitan
Publishers, Ahgarh, 1951-EDlTOR] ,
102
1. Early Authorities:
(a) Political
Politics and Society during the EarlV Medieval Period
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1) Akl!bur ud Duwali'l Munqutia: by Jamaluddin Abul Hasan Ali ibni Zafir.
Eady 7th century A.H. Th.rows light on Mahmud's relations with. the caliph. MS. British
Museum Or. 3685.
(2) Al-Kumil jit-Twarikh: by Izzuddin ibn al Asir (1160-1234).
A General History of Islam up to A.D. 1231, edited by C. J. Tomberg, Leyden,
1867-74.
(3) Al Muntazam Ii Tawarikhi'l Muluk WIll umam: by Ibn ul Jawzi (ob. A.D. 1201).
Mabmud's relations with the Caliph. MS. Berlin 9436.
(4) A<labul Muluk wa Kifayatul Muluk: by Fakhr-i Mudabbir.
Early 13th century. A treatise on the art of war; contains historical anecdotes
relating to Mahmud. MSS-ludia Office 647, British Museum Add. 16853. Also
called: Adabul Harb wa'sh Shuja'at.
(5) Kitabul Hind: by Abu Raihan Alberuni.
Arabic text, edited by E. C. Sachau, London, 1887. Translated into English by
E. C. Sachau as Alberunfs India, 2 vols., London, 1910.
(6) Majmaul Amab: by Mohammad bin Ali.
Composed in A.D. 1333. Contains an account of Mahmud's predecessors. MS. BibL
Nat. Supplement 1218.
(7) Milatuz zaman Ii 2'01ikh ul Ayyam: by Sibt ibn al Jawzi (1186-1256), a grand-
son of lbn al J awzi. .
Contains quotations from Mahmud's letters of victory to the Caliph. MS. British
Museum Or. 4619. Extracts ed. and tr. in Recueil des historiens des croisades (Vol
HI Paris 1884), Part VlIi reproduced in facsimile by James R. Jewett, Chicago, 1907.
(8) Rahatus Sudur: by Abu Baler Mohd. bin Ali ar Rawandi.
Edited by Dr. Mohd. Iqbal, Cambridge, 1922,
(9) Siyasat Nama: by Nizamul Mulk TllSi.
Composed in A.D. 1092. Edited by Charles Scheffer, Paris, 1897; edited by Khal-
khali (Tehran).
(10) Tabaqat-i Nasiri: by Minhajus Siraj Jurjani.
Written ahout the year A.D. 1260. Edited by N. Lees, Khadim Husain and Abdul
Hay. Bib. Indica, Calcutta, 1864. Translated into English by H. G. Raverty. Bib.
Indica, Calcutta, 1897.
(11) Tarikh-i- Aal ... Subuktigin: by Abul Fazl Baihaqi.
Edited by W. H. Morley. Bib. Indica, Calcutta, 1862. Edited by Agha Said Naficy,
Tehran, 1327 A.lL
(12) Tarikh-i-Yamini: by. Abun Nasr Mohd. bin Mohd. al Jabbar al-Utbi.
Arabic text edited with annotations by Ahmad Manini, Cairo, 1286 A.H. Arabic
text, Lahore, 1300 A.H. Persian translation by Abul Sharaf Nasib bin Zafar bin Sa'd,
Tehr!ll\, 1271. English translation hy Rev. James Reynolds, Oriental Translation Fund,
London A.D. 1838.
(13) Tarlkh-i Guzldah: by Hamdullah Mustaufi.
Edited by E. G. Browne. Gibb Memorial Series, London, 1913.
(14) Tarikh-l Jahan Gusha: by Alauddin Ata Malik bin Mohd. Juwayni.
Cibb Memorial Series 1912. Tehran 1351 A.H.
(15) Zafn-ul-Akhbar: by Abu Said Abdul Haq bin Abdul Haq bin Mahrnud Carc1lzi.
: ~ u l t a " Mahmud of Ghazm 103
Written under Sultan Abdur Rashid Ghaznavi 441-444 A.lL MS. Bodleian Library
Quseley 240. Edited by Dr. M. Nazfm Siddique.
(b) Non-Political.
(16) Chahal' Maqala; by Nizami-i-ArUZi-i-Samarqandi.
Edited by Mirza Mohd., London, 1910. Translated by E. G. Browne, London, 1921.
(17) Diwan-i-Fa,.,.ukhi: Abul Hassan Ali Farrukhi (ob.l0S8).
Tehran (1301-1302 A.H.) MS. India Office 1841.-,ntikhab-i-F:auukhi, Lahore,
1354 A.H.
(18) Diwan-i-Masud Sa'd Salman:
(ob. 1121 A.D.). Valuable for later Ghaznavid period. MS. British Museum, Egerton
701. Edited, Tehran, 1318 A.a.
(19) Diwan-i-Syed Hassan:
For later Ghaznavids. MS. India Office No. 931.
(20) Diwan-i-Usman-i-Mukhtari:
(ob. 1149 A.D. or 1159 AiD.) Valuahle for Bahram Shah's reign. MS. in Bankipore
Library.
(21) Gulistan: Shaikh Sadi.
Persian text, Lucknow, Delhi, etc.
(22) Hadiqatus Shir: by Sanai Ghaznavi (ob. 1131 A.D.)
Valuable for later Ghaznavid period. B. R. A. S. Calcutta_Bombay 1275 A.lL-
Lucknow 1304 A.H. lJitVan i Sanai: Tehran, 1274 A.H.
(23) Jawamiul Hikayllt tVa Lawam,<wr Riwayat: by Sadiduddin Mohd. al Awfi.
British Museum RS. Add. 16862. Introduction by Nizamuddin, London, 1929.
(24) Kulliyat-i-Anwari: Auhaduddin Ali Anwari (ob. 1191 A.D.).
Valuable for later Ghaznavids. Tabriz, 1260, 1266 A.B. Lucknow, 1880.
(25) Lubabul Albab: by Mohd. Awfi.
Edited by E. G. BrownE' and Mirza Mohd. ibn Abdul Wahhab Qazwini, London,
1903-1906.
(26) Mantiq ut Tai,': by Shaikh Fariduddin Attar.
Edited by Carcin de Tassy, 1851-Kulliyat, Lucknow, 1811.
(27) Makhzan ul Asrar: by Nizami Ganjawi (ob. 1202).
Edited by N. Bland, London, 1844.
(28) Shah Nama: by Firdausi (ob. A.D. 1021).
Edited by Turner Macan, Calcutta, 1829. Edited by Mohl., Paris, 1818.
(29) Tazkiratul Auliya: by Shaikh Fariduddin Attar.
Edited by Nicholson, London & Leiden, 1905-01.
(30) TazkiratlJ8h Shuara: by Daulat Shah Samarqandi.
Edited by E. G. Browne, London, 1901.
(31) Qanun-i Masud;: by Alberuni.
MS. Lytton Library, Muslim University, Aligarh.
U. Later Works:
(32) Asarul Wuzara: by Saifuddin Haji (9th century A.H.).
Account of the Wazirs of Mahmud. MS. India Office No. 1569.
(33) Futuh-us Salotin: by Isami.
Edited by A. Mahdi Husain, Agra, 1938. Edited by M. Usha, Madras, 1950.
(34) Habibus Slyar: by Chiyasuddin bin Humamuddin alias .Khwandmir.
Tehran, 1270 A.H. Bombay, 1857 A.D.
(35) Khulasatut Tawarikh: by Sujan Rai Bhandari.
Edited by K. B. Zafar Hasan, Delhi, 1918.
104 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
(36) Kitab taiziyatul amsar wa tairabatul GSal': by Abdulla bin Fazlullah Wassai,
Tabriz, 1272 A.H. Bombay, 1269 A.H.
(37) Kitabul Ibar: by Ibn Khaldun (written in 1398 A.D.), Cairo, 1284 A.H.
(38) Muntakhabut Tawarikh: by Abdul Qadir Badaoni.
Vol. I-Persian Text, edited by Lees and others, Bib. Indica, Calcutta 1869. Eng.
Trans. by Ranking, B. Indica.
(39) Rauzatus Safa: by Mohd. bin Khwand Shah alias Mir Khwand.
Lncknow, A.H. 127074, Tehran, A.D. 1874. Partially translated into English by
E. Rehatsek, Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, London, 189l.
(40) Tabaqat-i Akbari: by Nizamuddin Bakhshi.
Bib. Indica 192735. English Tr. B. De, Bib. Indica.
(41) Tarikh.i-Alfi: by Mulla Ahmad Tattawi and others.
MS. I. O. Ethe 110112.
(42) Tarikh-i-Ferishta (Gulshan i Ibrahim i) : by Mohd. Qasim Hindu Shah Ferishta.
Text, Lucknow, 1865. Poona, 1832. English translation by J. Briggs as "HistOlY
uf the Rise of Mahomedan Power in India", Calcutta, 1910. A most unreliabll'"
translation.
Ill. Modem Works:
(43) A History of Persia: by Sir Percy Sykes, London, 1930.
(44) Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: by Edward Gibbon.
(45) History of India as told by its own historians: Sir H. M. Elliot, Vol. II.
Edited by Dawson, London.
(46) Lite"Q1'Y History of Persia: by E. G. Browne, (London 190224).
(47) She1'-ul Aiam: by Shibli Numani. 5 Volumes, Aligarh, 1324-37 A.H.
(48) Turkestan down to the Mongol I",;asian: by W. Barthold, English Tr. by
H. A. R.. Gibb, London, 1928.
(49) The Eney. Britannica: article on "Seljuq" by Prof. Houtsma.
(50) The Eney. of Islam: 4 Volumes, London & Leyden, 1913.
SI-IIHABUDDIN OF GHUR
1. THE RISE OF GHUR
Alone among the ruling dynasties of the east, the royal line of
Ghur-known as the Shansabani dynasty-is distinguished by the
strength of its family affections and the absence of fratricidal con-
!licts. The early history of the dynasty is lost in myth and romance,
but in A.D. 1010 Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni
1
is said to have defeated
Muhanunad, son of Suri, the prince of Ghur, and reduced the prin-
cipality to a position of dependence.
2
When the power of the Seljuqs
increased after the fall of the Ghaznavids, the Ghurian princes were
content to pay hibute and homage to the new masters as well as the
old. In the reign of Sultan Bahram Shah of Ghazni, Izzuddin Hu-
sain, the ruler of Ghur, died. He had seven sons, generally known
as the 'seven stars'. Fakhruddin Mas'ud, the eldest of the 'stars', was
the son of slave-girl, while Qutbuddin Muhammad was the son of
"an ordinary woman, who was a maid-servant of the mother of the
other five princes". They were, consequently, passed over in favour
of Saituddin Suri, the eldest of Izzuddin's sons by a Shansabani
princess. The luxuries of civilization were recent importations into
Ghur and though Izzuddin Husain seems to have made a good start,
Ghurian law of succession and the public opinion of the tribe had
not yet reconciled itself to the political and legal consequences of a
royal haram, in which princesses of the highest families, slave-girls
purchased in the open market, and adventuresses from the brothels
strove, on a basis of perfect equality, to win and retain the inconstant
affections of their master, and in which the offsprings of all mothers
were perforce given the same rights because there was an equal doubt
'about the paternity of all. Saifuddin Suri, if we are to judge him
from his actions, was scrupulously fair to his brothers; while retain-
ing for himself the seniority to which he was entitled by law, he
. divided his father's territory equitably between his brothers. Fakhrud-
din Mas'ud, though clumsily ambitious, was also blissfully thick-
,skinned and reconciled himself. to his subordinate position without
much ado. Qutbuddi.o Muhammad, who had received Warshad as
106
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
his share, was touchy and sensitive. Though he had laid the founda-
tions at a palace-tort at Firuz Koh, he could not to
the law at Kuf which relegated him to a secondary posItion or to
the opinion of the tribe, which regarded his existence as anomalous.
Nevertheless, his affection for his brothers was strong enough to sur-
vive the strain. He handed over Warshad to Bahauddin Sam, the
fourth star and retired to Ghazni. But misfortunes dogged Qutbud-
din's tootsteps. His urbanity of manner made him at Ghazni
and popularity brought enemies. Bahram Shah,. the ill-starred
reckless king of Ghazni, was assured by his courtiers that 9utbuddin
was casting evil eyes on his haram and the prmce to b,e
thrown into prison. There he was soon after pOlsoned by Bahram s
order. The tatal die was cast.
Qutbuddin.'s brothers swore that his death would not go
ed. Saituddin Suri collected the troops of Ghur and marched agamst
Bahram. The latter was too weak to resist and fled from his capital
to the territory of the Afghans. Saifuddin mounted the throne oj!
Ghazni with the title of 'Sultan' and, as becaine a just king, refused
to make any distinction between the Ghurians and the C?hazriavids.
The latter received him with effusive loyalty, and he felt so sure
of his new subjects that he sent his aIn1y back to Ghur. under his
brother, Bahauddin Sam. Then, with the approach of wmter, snow
began to fall, the roads between Ghazni and Ghur were blocked,
Saituddin's communications with his tribe cut off. The GhaznaVld
officers, who had only paid lip-homage to the .master, secretly
wrote to Bahram Shah and advised him to return, while, on the other
hand, they lured Saifuddin into a false sense of by continued
protestations of loyalty and devotion. Ignorant of danger to the
very end, Saifuddin marched out to meet Bahram W1th army of
Ghazni but before the battle could commence the GhaznaVld officers,
on words he had relied, seized him and handed him over to
Bahram.s Bahram ordered Saifuddin's face to be blackened. He ,,:"as
then placed on an old and feeble cow, which took every step With
infinite reluctance, and paraded through the city. The children. of
Ghazni, and even its white-bearded old men, ran after the
prince, abusing him and jeering. When the parade was over,
din was put to death with torture; his head was sent to Sultan San1ar
in Iraq, and his wazir, Syed Majiduddin, was hanged.
4
Bahauddin Sam, on whom the headship of the family now devolv-
ed, started for Ghazni but on the way died of an ulcer, and left
duty of revenging. the wrongs his family had suffered to Alauddin
:Shihabuddin of Goo. 107
Husain, surnamed ']ahansuz,' (the conflagrator o:li the w'arld), the
youngest of the stars.
Alauddin was boiling with rage and made up his mind to kill or
die. "Your wicked deed", he wrote in reply to a threatening letter
of Bahram Shah, "shows that the fall of Ghazni is near. No doubt,
kings make war on each other, and, on capturing their enemies, put
them to death also-but never with such disgrace and dishonour.
.I feel sure of victory, for fate will certainly punish you for your wicked
deeds in order to set an example to the world." In the battle that
followed, the Ghaznavids were signally defeated. Bahram fled to
Ghazni and thence to Lahore, where he died soon after and was
succeeded by his son, Khusrau Shah. Alauddin continued his
triumphant march to Ghazni and sacked it for seven days. 'He order-
ed his troops to kili and plunder the citizens without hesitation. For
seven days the massacre raged in full fury. The buildings of the
dty were burnt and destroyed.
5
It had come to Alauddin's ears that
when Saifuddin Suri was being paraded through the city, the women
of Ghazni had followed him with drums and cymbals and celebrated
the occasion as a festival. So he ordered a large number of women
to be put to death. As a punishment for the murder of Syed Majidud-
din, he ordered a number of Ghaznavid syeds to be seized. Bags
filled with earth were fastened to their necks and in this plight they
were marched to Firuz Koh. On reaching there, Alauddin ordered
their heads to be wt off, and their blood, mixed with the earth they
had brought from Ghazni, was used in constructing the towers of
that fort:
Though an achievement like the sack of Ghazni would, at a later
date, have done honour to Chengiz or Tului, Alauddin Jahansuz was
not a monster of brutality. He had a ready wit and was fond of
turning out second rate verses. Success, however, turned his head.
He challenged the power of the Seljuqs and was defeated and captur-
ed by Sultan Sanjar, who, at Alauddin's own request, ordered him
to be imprisoned in a golden cage. But Sanjar was, on his part, pre-
paring for a desperate struggle with the Ghuzz Turks.6 The captive's
ready wit and flattering verses pleased hini and he sent Alauddin
back to his capital with a handsome present. Alauddin's son, Saifud-
.din, died in a battle against the Ghuzz Turks after he had reigned for
a year only. The next heirs to the throne were the two sons of Baha-
uddin Sam, Ghiyasuddin and Shiliabuddin who are well-known for
tp,eir Indian campaigns. .
After returning from Ghazni, Alauddin Jahansuz had appOinted
nephews, Ghiyasuddin and Shihabuddin, to the governorship of
I,:
109
Politics and Society during the Eady Medieval Period'
Sanjah. The young pnnces soon made a reputation. for themselves.
by collecting good soldiers from every quarter. This aroused. the
suspicions of their uncle, who imprisoned them in a fort in
without much ado. Saifuddin, however, brought them out of pnson.
7
Ghiyasuddin on coming to the throne after his cousin's death, appoint-
ed his younger brother, Shihabuddin, governor. of Takinabad, with.
instructions to capture Ghazni. After the desolation of the famous.
city by Alauddin Jahansuz, Bahrain's son, Khusrau Shah, had tried
to recapture it with the help of Sultan Sanjar. Alauddin Jahansuz
was not unwilling to come to terms with the son of his enemy, and
offered to restore Ghazni to the descendants of Mahmud if they would
consent to his retention of Takinabad. But Khusrau Shah, who was
confident of Sanjar's assistance, rejected these reasonable terms and
Alauddin Jahansuz, who never missed an opportunity for versification,
sent a quatrain to Khusrau Shah:
Thy father, who of hatred laid the roots,
Did untold tl'Oubles for his subjects find.
Be careful! Do not for Takinabad
Scatter the House of Mahmud to the wind.s
But Sanjar was captured by the Ghuzz Turks who also seized
Ghazni, and Khusrau Shah had to content himself with the storm-
tossed kingdom of Lahore.
9
After a series of raids against the Ghuzz principality of Ghazni,
Ghiyasuddin and Shihabuddin marched against it in person and cap-
tured it in A.H. 565 (A.D. 1169).1
0
It pleased Ghiyasuddin's affectionate
heart to give his younger brother a little kingdom of his own.
Throughout their long reigns-Shihabuddin survived Ghiyasuddin by
two years-the two brothers were on excellent terms and no jealousy
or suspicion ever man-ed the harmony of their relations,1l !hough
Shihabuddin's subordinate principality of Ghazni expanded mto an
empire, he always recognized his elder brother as his sovereign and
abided by whatever orders Ghiyasuddin was pleased to give.l
2
The
latter at the same time was too sensible or too indolent to grudge his
younger brother a position of prominence and never meddled in his
affairs. But he was not the roi faineant one might be inclined to take
him for. Shihabuddin never embarked on an expeditioIl: without his
brother's permission, and Ghiyasuddin always kept the foreign policy
of their joint kingdoms in his own hands. Cautious and conservative
by naturf', Ghiyasuddin exercised a useful restraining influence .on
his brother's ambition. The blunders committed by Shihabuddin after
'Shihabuddln of Ghur ,109
b,is death,give us an of the pitfallsfrom w,hichGhiyasuddin had
'sived him. '. .
, While the dynasties of Ghaznl and Ghur were fighting in Afghani-
'stan, a new power had risen in the north. Atisiz, governor of Khwar-
had thrown off the yoke 9f the. Seljuq empire after two
lions, One by one, all the provil1ces that had been a .part the
empire were brought under the throne of and m the
of Sultan AIauddin Muhammad, styled the Second Alexander, a
younger contemporary of Shihabuddin, the empire ex-
1;ended from the Iraq to the Jaxartes:; The KhwarazmIans never at-
tained to the administrative efficiency of their Seljuq predecessors.
Their empire was loosely kllit;. the g<?vernors were not always obedient
to the sultan while the subordinate. officers of the governors were
even less obedient to them. Keen observers did not fail to see that
the forces of decay were everywhere at work. But the
were good fighters, and won a reputation for by wagmg
a relentless war against the unconverted Qara Khital Turks beyond
the Jaxartes. They could, when necessary, place an army of over four
hundred thousand in' the field.
The Khwarazmian empire,. which' he was not strong enough to
challenge, naturally turned Shihabuddin's ambitions in the
of India. The memories of Mahmud still clung to the stones of Ghazm
and could not fail to inspire the ambitions of its ruler. But times had
changed. Though India' could not boast of a national go:ernment: the
three strong Rajput principalities of Anhilwara (Guprat),
(Rajputana), and Kanauj (Doab) were prepared to challenge the m-
vader. The hoarded wealth of centuries had been captured by
Mahmud. All that the foreigner could now expect was hard knocks
at every step and the annual revenue of the conquered if
he succeeded in establishing and maintaining his authonty. LIttle
was to be got from the toiling peasantry and the second-rate temples
which Mahmud had not cared to touch. The Musalmans themselves
were a different people. The best elements of the Persian
and its humanizing spirit had disappeared; the new mystICIsm, Its
succesSOr in the field of morals, had not yet become a popular move-
ment. Never has public life among the Musalmans sunk to lower
depth than in the period between the death of SanJar.
the sack of Baghdad by Halaku Khan. Assassination of
opponents, breaking one's word of honour convement, m-
trigue, chicanery and fraud were rampant. Patriotism of sort,
national or provincial, was considered as a stupidity and a mIstake;
and public life, divested of all ideals, became a field for purely per-
!
Ii
I,:
1'1"
I"
I
110
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period'
sonal ambitions,13 Even the most permanent and widespread of .orien-
tal traditions-loyalty to a master's salt-was more honoured m the
breach than the observance. Nobody acted, or was expeCted to act,
except for the promotion of his own interest. .It is a tribute
to Shihabuddin's persistent courage and capacJtyof orgamzatlOn that
he succeeded in his Indian adventures in such a moral atmosphere.
IT. CAMPAIGNS OF SHIHABUDDIN GHORI
(1) Shihabuddin's first steps were cautious and In
A.D. 1175-76 he was directed by his brother to march agamst Multan,.
which had once more fallen into the hands of the Carmathians,14 and
succeeded in capturing it. He next proceeded to Uchch which also-
fell into his hands but not after a fair battle. "As it would have been
difficult to fort of Uchch, orto the raja in open.
battle Shihabuddin sent a message to the raja s wife, who had great
over her husband, and 'deceived her out of her loyalty. 'If
you help me to conquer the city', he promised, '1 will marry you
make you my queen: The raja's wife was afraid of Shihabuddfn s
strength and considered his victOlY' certain. 'I am too old', she replied,
'but I have a very beaiitiful and intelligent daughter. If the sultan
promises to marry her and from my when
the city falls into his hands, I WIll do away With the raja .. The
agreed to the terms and within a few days the fruthless wife
had her husband murdered and handed over the city to him. Shihab-
uddin fulfilled his promise. He converted the raja's daughter to Islam
and married her according to the Law of the Prophet. and
daughter were sent to Chazni to learn the Quran and the ntes
fasting and prayer. But the sultan been horrified by the mother s.
atrocious crime. He never trusted eIther of them and never con-
summated the marriage. The mother died soon after and the daughter
followed her to the grave after two years of disappointment.
l5
The sultan assigned Multan and Uchch to Ali Kirmaj and
ed to Chazni.l6 His duplicity on the occasion need not surprIse us;
this is neither the first nor the last instance of it in his conquering
career. He had never hesitated in resorting to assassination in his
struggle with the Turkish chiefs of Mghanistan. No moral scruples
restrained him from breaking his most solemn word. of honour whe?
such a step was likely to serve his purpose. In all however horrI-
fied he might feel when the same crime was commItted by others, he
was the typical representative of his age. When, some twenty years
after his death. the conquering armies of Chengiz Khan appeared on
Shihabuddln of Ghur III
the frontiers of Islam. Muslim politicians vied with each other in
selling the rights of co-religionists and the freedom of their faith for
a mess of pottage. Political slavery is the logical consequence of poli-
tical unscrupulousness.
(2) In 574 A.H. (A.D. 1178-79) Shihabuddin marched frOin Multan
to Cujarat through the Sind desert. Beyond Gujarat lay the rich tem-
,pies of the Deccan, which the hand of the despoiler had not yet
touched, and Shihabuddin may have hoped to achieve in the south of
India what Mahmud had performed in the north. If s6, the campaign
was a pitiful failure. Rai Bhiin Deo of Cujarat collected his Rajput
veterans and after a stiff battle, in which most of the invaders were
slain, drove SIiihabuddin away from his kingdom.
(3) But it was not the sultan's habit to acknowledge defeat. His
bull-dog tenacity of purpose was remarkable. The rebuff, neverthe-
less, compelled him to change his plan to advance. He rriay have
recognized that for him, a second-rate officer, the military exploits of
the great Mahmud were impossible; in any case, he took the line of
least resistance and, instead of fighting the infidels, began to attack
the Muslirri kingdom of Lahore with the definite intention of annexing
the Punjab. His first step in this direction was the annexation of
,Peshawar in A.D. 1179-80. It provided him with a base for his future
operations.
(4) Next year (1180-81) he marched on Lahore. Khusrau Malik,
who had succeeded his father, Khusrau Shah, in A.D. 1180 was too
weak to offer battle. "As his throne had been tottering from the
attacks of the raja of Delhi and other rajas as well as the opposition
.of the Mghans" he sought safety by shutting hirriself up in Lahore.
.He. was, however. submissive enough.to offer his son, Malik Shah, as
hostage, and Shihabuddin, deciding that peace was the best policy
'for the present", returned to Ghazni.17 .
(5) But the tiger had tasted blood. In A.D. 1184 Shihabuddin once
rriore marched on Lahore and Khusrau Malik was again forced to
shut himself up within the city walls. Shihabuddin plundered the
country round Lahore and retired after constructing a fort at Sialkot
in.order to secure a foothold in the province. This wholly tiniustiRable
provoked the weak and inefficient Khusrau Malik into
retaliation. He laid siege to Sialkot with the help of the Khokars,
whom the new Ghurian fort must have been equally obnoxious.
'he was unable to accomplish anything' and returned ignorriinious-
to Lahore.
(6) Shihabuddin now made up his rriind to put the tottering king-
of Lahore to an end. But it was not his habit to achieve bv
112
Politics and Society during tile Early Medieral Period
force what guile could accomplish. He adopted a friendly attitude
towards Khusrau Malik and sent Malik Shah to see his father in
1186-87. The young prince was accompanied by Shihabuddin's con-
-Iidentialofficers arId IJrovided with all the luxuries of a royal iourney.
'Induce him to drink as much wine as possible', was Shihabuddin's
instruction to his officers. 'so that he may proceed slowly and stop at
many places on the way.' Khusrau. Malik rejoiced at the news of his
-son's return, and relying op. Shihabuddin's friendship, gave himself up
to music and pleasure. But while Malik Shah was still. on his way,
Shihabuddin started from Chazni with twentv thousand horsemen,
and moving rapidly by a different route, on the bank of the
Ravi. Next morning,. when Khusrau Malik rose from his careless
-slumber and found the river bank in the hand of the enemy, he had
no alternative but to sue humbly for peace and give himself up to
Shihabuddin. Through this trick Lahore was captured without any
bloodshed. The deposed king was first imprisoned in a fort in Charji-
-stan and then put to death. 'Not a single member of the house of
Ghazni was allowed to survive.'
(7) The whole of upper and lower Sind, and the larger part of the
Punjab was now in Shihabuddin's hands. A conHict with the Rajput
forces could not now be evaded for long. Shihabuddin felt himself
strong enough and proceeded to challenge the rriost powerful of the
Rajput principalities. The Persian authorities on the carripaign have
been carefully summarised bv Ferishta.
"In 587 A.H. (A.D. 1191) Shihabuddin again marched from Chazni
to Hindustan. He captured Bhatinda, which had once been the capital
-of powerful rai as, from the officers of the. rai of Ahner and placed
it in charge of Malik Ziyauddin Tulaki and twelve hundred picked
horsemen .. After this exploit Shihabuddin wanted to return; but all at
once he heai"d that Pith ora, the rai of Ajmer, with his brother Khanday
Rai, the ruler of and a large nu.mber of Rajput chiefs-in
all, an army of three thoiIsand elephants and two hundred thousand
horse-was coming by forced marches to dispute the possession of
Bhatinda. Shihabuddin turned back and advanced to meet the enemy.
By the bank of the river Sarsuti, in the village of Tarain, now known
as Patrawari,. at a distance of seven karohs19 from Thaneswar and
forty from Delhi, the battle took place. Shihabuddin's left and right
wings were broken and not many men rerriained in his centre. At that
moment one of the sultan's officers said to him: 'The amirs of the
left and right wings, who have been brought up by your royal family,
have broken and led. The Afghan and Khalji aniirs, who forrried the
vanguard and always _ boasted of their rrianliness and courage, are
Shillabuddin oj Ghur
In
not be found on the field of battle. Under these circumstances the
best cOurse would be to tum your reins immediately towards Lahore:
The sultan was displeased at the advice. He drew out his sword and
his centre to an on the enemy; Friend and foe applauded
hIS courage and dexterIty. Khanday Rai s eyes fell on the sultan20
and he moved his huge elephant in that direction. The sultan also
flew at Khanday Rm, lance in hand, and struck hinl so hard on the
mouth that many of his teeth fell out. The rai, however, displayed
. coolness and courage and dealt such a blow on the
sultan s shoulder that he nearly toppled down from his horse. At
a Khalji footman, who happened to observe the sultan's
plight, Jumped on to his horse and seating hinlself behind the sultan
caught hold of him, spurred the horse out of the field and canied
to the Churid amii's, who by now were twenty karohs away.
The s presence order in the remnants of his army."
ThIS account. however, IS not supported by the Zainul Ma'asir.
From this it appears that when the sultan was wounded by
Khanday Rm, he felt very weak and dropped down from his horse. No
one who he was or paid any attention to him. When a part of
the mght had passed, a number of his Turkish slaves came to the
to for him aIllong the slain. The sultan recognized
the of and cal.led out to them. They were overjoyed
to find hIm alIVe. DUrIng the mght they carried him on their shoulders
by turns. Next morning they reached their camp and placed him in
a litter.
(8). "Be this as it may, Rai Pith ora besieged Ziyauddin Tlllaki in
Bhatmda for. a year. and a. rrio?-th, when the garrison capitulated
on terms. Shlhabuddin, on hIS SIde, placed his Indian dominions in
charge of reliable officers and returned to Chur. FrOrri considerations
of policy nothing to .the Afghans,21 but the Churid, Khalii and
Khurasam am1rs were pumshed. Wallets full of oats were tied to
necks and in this plight they were paraded through the city.
If anyone refuses to eat what is placed in his wallet cut off hIS head'
ordered. So they had to eat oats to' save their lives:
Shihabuddm then parted from his brother and went to Chazni. He
would neither eat nor drink. He was sirriply bent un revenge and
laboured to organize an anny. Next year he started from Chazni with
a force of one hundred and seven thousand Turks, Persians, and
and without consulting any of his nobles. took the road to
Hmdustan. On reaching Peshawar an old man of Chur, who was bold
of. speech, nlaced his forehead on the ground before the sultan and
smd: \Ve have not vet been told where the sultan is going and what
PS (II)-8
114
Politics and Society during the Eal'ty Medieval Period
his intentiolls are.' 'Know, that from the time I have been defeated
by the rajas of Hind', Shiliabudd;in replied. 'I have not been to
wife nOlO have I changed the clothes 1 then wore to my .. skin.
I have passed this year ;in sorrow and anger. The Ghund, Khalli
Khurasani mni1's who, in spIte of havmg been so long 111 my servlce,
deserted me on the field of battle and fied-I have not allowed
to enter my presence. I have now placed trust in God and am gomg
to Hindustan to seek revenge for my lirst I expect no ,help
from the old mnirs whom the favour of my family has brougHt up
from their cradles.' The old man kissed the ground. 'May success and
victory accompmy the. sultm's stirrups!' he said, "TIlls time,
helping, yow: amirs will display such, courage as
compensate for their former shortcommgs and will preserve theu
good in the world. But 1 hope the sultm will forgive their crinies
and graciously grmt them audience, that by the royal
kindness, they may feel asha.ni,ed of then preVlous behaVlour md do
their best to transform their vices into virtues: The was pleased
by the old mm's speech. He called the amirs to his mafltS
22
and held
a great feast. They were presented with robes of honom: and daggers
according to their status. Their former sins were forgIven and the
sultm appealed to them to be firm in the forthconring holy war.
"Next day they broke their camp and started for
sultan promoted such ami1's of the place as had .been loyal his
absence, and had helped the of LallOre III sup-
pressing the neighbouring mias. He did everythmg he could to
them. On reaching Lahore, he sent Qawamul
Hamza, one of his great officers, .as ambassador to AJmer and mVlted
the rai to Islam and submission. Rai PUhora sent back a reply
and appealed to .all the rajas of Hindustan for help. Accordmg to the
correct account, he advanced with an army of three hundred thousand
Rajput and Afghan horsemen. The sultan also moved and
in 588 A.H. (A.D. 1192) the armies once more encamped each
other on the bank of Sarsuti at Tarain.
23
The Rajput raras, ?ne
hundred and fifty in number, marked their foreheads, and, accordmg
to their customs, took fearful oaths, vowing that they :vould
to death or defeat the enemy. Inspired by their first VlctOry WIth
arrogance and pride, they sent a. haughty letter to the sultan: 'The
strength and numbers of our army will be soon known. to you, and
reinforcements are coming to us from aU parts of Hmdustan, 13e
merciful, if not to yourself, at least to the misguided men you have
brought hither. If you repent of your venture and go we
by our idols that we will not harass your retreat; otherwtse we \VIll
'Shlhabuddln of Ghur 115
.attack and crush you tomorrow with more tharl three hundred
thousmd horsemen, archers beyond all computation and an army
which the field of imagination is not wide enough to contain.' 'Your
message is wonderfully affectionate and kind'. Shihabuddin replied,
'but I have not a free hand;in the matter. It is by my brother's order
that I have COllle here and undertaken the hardships of the campaign.
.If you will give me sufficient time, I will send some messengers to
inform him of your overpowering strength and obtain his permiSSion
,to conclude peace on the terms that Sirhind, Multan and Sind belong
to me md the rest of Hindustm remain l1llder your sway:
'The Rajput leaders thought that the humility of the reply was
due to the weakness of the Muslim army and went to sleep. But
Shihabuddin spent the night in preparing for battle; md when, in
the morning, the Rajputs came out of their entrenched position to
satisfy the call of nature and wash their hands and faces, he fell upon
them with his lines dra,'I'Il in order. The Hindus were taken aback by
the unexpected attack. but somehow or other, they hurriedly took up
their arms md came to the field. The sultan knew the fearless courage
of the Hindu forces md had divided his army into four diviSions,
which came forward to fight the enelllY by turns. When the Hindu
elephants and horses attacked Shihabuddin's army, it fled away; but
when the enemy deceived by the trick, followed in pursuit, it turned
back md with the blows of its axes relieved the bodies of the enemy
of the weight of their heads. Thus the battle raged from forenoon to
afternoon, when Shihabuddin put on his helmet and armour and
charged the enemy at the head of twelve thousmd men with ill'awn
swords and lances. The blood of brave warriors was mingled with
the earth and in the twinkling of an eye the Hindu lines began to
break. At the same time Kharmfi and the other amirs attacked the
Bajputs on all sides and drove them away from the field. Khanday
Rai, the ruler of Delhi, and many other ra/as were slain in battle.
Bai Pith ora was captured in the neighbourhood of Sarsuti and put to
death by the sultm's order. Enormous spoils fell into the hands of
the Muslim army."
Shihabuddin's tenadty of purpose and unscrupulous diplomacy
had secured a decisive victory, 13ut the conquest of Hindustan was a
dilferent matter. Subordinate to the great rai of Ajmer were a numher
of smaller rajas, .all determined to make a desperate stand against the
invader, Every city h.ad its walls and towers and was deterfriined to
. stmd a siege. Alrrtost every village was fortified and would not pay
a dirham of land tax unless compelled to do so at the point of the
sword. The country could only be annexed piecemeal, village after
116
Politics and Society 'during the Early Medieval Perioee
village and town after town. Neither Shihabuddin nor his successors.
succeeded in making the power of their government felt a
nent force in the open country, but it is a tribute to therr nulitary
resourcefulness and courage that after a series of sieges, most of
not recorded by the historians, the Ghurid generals succeeded ill
bringing the towns of northern India under their sway.
Shihabuddin captured Sarsuti, Hansi, and Samana after the
battle of Tarain. He then marched on to Ajmer, but contented himself
with assigning it to Rai Kola, a son-in-law. of Rai The of
Delhi, pr9bably a relation of Ral, sav.ed h1S C.lty for a time
by submission and a handsome tribute, alld Shihabuddin returned. to
Ghazni after appointing Qutbuddin Aibek governor of Pun)<l?
alld establishing him at Kuhram. The new governor earned out his
master's orders with effiCiency and thoroughness.
forts of Meerut alld Delhi, and made the latter h15 capItal. Koil
(Aligarh) was seized next but further progress in Doab was not
possible without a decisive victory against. the RaJputs of ilie
(10) Rai Jai Chand of Kanauj, whose !dJ:gdom, roughly speaking.
corresponded! wiili tlle modern United PrOVInces of and A:vadl:,
had seen no reason for supporting his enemy, Ral Pliliora, III his
struggle against Shihabuddin, with the inevitable consequence, .that
in his turn he had to face the invader single handed. In the wmter
of A.D. 1194-95 Shihabuddin once more marched into and
invaded ilie Doab. Rai Jai Chand moved forward to meet him and
came face to face with Qutbuddin Aibek, who was leading the van-:
guard of the invading af'!ll,y, between the towns of and
Chandwar. Qutbuddin won a decisive battle before the.
led by the sultan in person, could come to his support. Ral s-
body was recognized among the slain by the Wlth .whICh,
owing to old age, his teeth had been tied togeilier. cap-
tured the treasure fort of Asni and then proceeded to Banares, where
he converted about a thousand idol-temples into houses for the
Musalmans'. This newly acquired territory was added to ilie already
extensive governorship of Qutbuddin Aibek. .
(11) In A.D.- 1195-96 the sultan m
erson, and assigned it to Bahauddm Tughl'll Wlth to to
Gwalior. It was not, apparently, ilie sultan s to
allow anv of his officers to become too powerful. There were to be
three Ghurid governors in India-one for Sind and anoilier
for Delhi and the Doab, and a third for Central Indta. the
failed. Bahariddin Tughril carried on a vigorous.
the rai of Gwalior, and after laying waste his temtory, hesIeged hIm
:"hihabuddin of Ght<r
117
.in his fort. But ilie rai preferred to hand over his fort to Qutbuddiu,
against whom he had no personal grievance, and the latter sent his
ollicers to take possession of it. Bahauddin considered this an un-
pardonable insult from his aggressive and grasping colleague, and
was prepaling to march against him wiili all army, when his sudden
.death put all end to the unseemly conflict. Shihabuddin acquiesced
in the accomplished fact. With the exception of Sind, which re-
mained a sepal'ate government, Qutbuddin became the vicel'Oy of all
the Indian dominions of Shihabuddin. The sequel proved that he
-deserved his masters confidence.
We must now turn our attention to ilie affairs of Central Asia.
Atisiz, the founder of ilie kingdom of Khwarazm, died in A.D. 1156
and was succeeded by his son, n Arsalall (1156-69) who further
increased ilie strength of ilie new dynasty. But I'l Arsalan's reluctance
m sending ilie tribute of 36,000 gold dinars, w\llch his failier had
promised to the Qara Khitai Turks as price of ilie assistance they had
given him against Sultan Banjar, subjected him to iliewraili of those
formidable infidels. The Khitans marched towards Khwarazlll and
defeated I'l Arsalan's advance guard. It is difficult to say hO\v the
-crisis would have ended wheu n Arsalan's deaili, while preparing to
march at the head of his troops, led to a war of succession and for the
time, reduced Khwarazm to impotence. Sultan Shah, the younger son
of n Arsalan, ascended ilie throne at Khwarazm, but his elder brother,
Iilladuddin Takash, appealed to the ruler of Khita, and with tlle help
{) a Khitan army drove away his brother from Khwarazm. The de-
grading tribute to the infidels was perforce continued, but if the
Khitans expected Takash to be a puppet in iliei1' hands, they were
greatly disappOinted. A patron of poets, an expert :alash
was also a clever diplomat, a shrewd man of affaIrs and like all
members of his family and his race, a soldier by instinct and profes-
sion. His first efforts were directed against his brother, Sultan Shah,
'a rash and impetuous prince', who was ouly saved from an eady
destruction by his reckless courage and energy. The governor of
Khurasan, who had presumed to help Sultan Shah, was signally de-
feated and Sultan Shah himself fled to Ghiyasuddin at Ghur. Ghivas-
uddin was too wise to put himself into trouble for oilier people. He
received the defeated prince with the greatest courtesy and assigned
some lands for his maintenance. Beyond that he refused to go, and
insisted on maintaining the good relations that had always existed
between him and Khwarazm. Sultan Shah left Ghur in disgust and
appealed to the Khitans. The latter were not unwilling to strIke at
their former allv and a Khitan amty was fitted out to restore Sultan
118
Politics and Society dwring tile Early Medieval PetiolC
Shah to his throne. But a keen disappoint!I\ent waited the
Takash was strong and popular; the Khitans were intensey hated and.-
not a single Khwarazmian raised his hand in support 0.1: Sultan Shah.
The Khitans besieged Khwarazm but were driven off before long.
Sultan Shah, however, succeeded in inducing the Khitans to send a.
force against Merv, which he succeeded in captw.ing. The next ten
years (1180-91) were spent in a futile war between the two brothers.
If Ghiyasuddin imagined that he could remain on good terms with
both Sultan Shah and Takash, he was Takash never gave him
any cause for complaint but Sultan Shah, on plinciple, preferred.-
to seek quarrels with his neighbours. Not content with fighting and-
what was worse-abusing his patient elder brother, he thought it his
duty to plunder the outlying districts of Ghur. 'He was joined by
some Sanjari slaves like Bahauddin Tughril and created tumult and
disorder.' Ghiyasuddin was not the to submit to an uncalled for
attack; forced to fight against his will, he sat down to his task with
the grim determination of a Ghurian chief. Shihabuddin was sum-
moned with his army from Ghazni while Shamsuddin Muhammad
and Tajuddin were called to Ghur with the armies of Baniiyan and
Herat. The Ghurian princes marched towards Merv and encamped at
Dazjak and Marwand, determined to wear out their opponent. 'The
two armies confronted each other for six months. Sultan Shah used to<
display great audacity and boldness, and used to cut off the foragers
of the Ghurian army. Mter six months an engagement took place.
The Ghurians crossed the river and attacked. Sultan Shah had not
the strength to make a stand. Perplexed and distracted he retired
towards Merv. Bahauddin Tughril of Herat was captured and put to
death. Shamsuddin of Bamiyan was given the title of 'Sultan.' A treaty
of peace was at last made, but Sultan Shah's power was shattered ancI
his prestige had vanished. Soon afterwards (in 1191) he died by
swallOwing, perhaps by mistake, an excessive dose of some poison
had been in the habit of using as a dnrg. His subjects had no alter-
native but to accept Takash as their king. The latter's power was now
at its height. He had after repeated efforts at last succeeded in can-
Khurasan and had been crowned at Tus in the previous year
(1190). The unremitting war between the surviving Seljuq princes ana
the officers who had been raised bv their favours gave Takash an opporc
tunitv of interfering in Iraq. In 1190 Qutlugh Inanij, a rebel governor.
asked for his help against the valiant but ill-advised Sultan Tti!!hriT
Seljuqi. Having entered the country, Takash est.ablished his power at
Rav and refused to depart. Tn the course of the next three veal'S, he
reduced all the important forts of the province and defeated ana
Shihabuddin oj Ghur 119
drove away rivals. He had now (1193) the whole of the Trans-Caspian
region and Persia under his sway.
Ghiyasudclin had carefully avoided friction with Cenh'al Asiatic
powers. Neither the appeals of Sultan Shah nor the more insidious
propaganda of the caliph, whose messengers did their best to con"
vince him that Takash was an apostate and an infidel, had succeeded
in shaking his neutrality. Khwarazm, in fact, was too sh'ong to be at-
tacked with safety while Qara Khitai was a veritable hornets' nest.
But the death of Sultan Takash in 1199 seemed too good an oppor-
tunity to be missed. Now, if ever, was the time to pull down the
obstacle that was hindering the expansion of the Ghurian kingdom
in the north and west. Shihabuddin, who was free from his Indian
campaigns, seems to have been the moving spirit of the new policy,
though Ghiyasuddin certainly acquiesced. Alauddin Muhammad, the
eldest surviving son of Sultan Takash, who ascended the throne of
Khwarazm in August, 1200, did his best to avoid a conflict. His mes-
sengers appeared at Ghur with terms humble and submissive beyond
all expectations. He was prepared to acknowledge himself a depen-
dent and a subordinate chief; he was even willing to give up the right
of keeping a separate mint so dear to all oriental monarchs, and pro-
mised to put the name of Shihabuddin on his coins. A dynastic alliance
was also suggested. Shihabuddin was to marry Turkan Khatun, Ala-
uddin's mother-'although' Alauddin confessed, '1 am not possessed
of the wOlthiness of being your son.' This vicious, self-willed and
intriguing lady, who was destined to be the evil genius of the house
of Khwarazm, was regarded by her contemporaries as the embodi-
ment of all wickedness. The daughter of a Qipchak chief, she had
been married by Takash for political reasons. The intrigues of an
oriental haram soon developed the worst features of her character
and she becran her political career by a murderous assault on her
b f
husband. Ghiyasuddin was shrewd enough to approve the terms, or
'the purport of the message coincided with his personal
But Shihabuddin was of a different mind. Chaste and abstemIOUS III
his personal life, he felt no inclination to share the bed of an elderly
and pleasure-loving widow. His Indian experience had led him t::>
dislike compromises; it was victory and conquest that he longed for.
Ghivasuddin"s hands, for once, were forced by the overvaulting ainbi-
tior: of his younger brother, and the two sultans embarked on a futile
and aggressive war. .'
The campaigns that followed have been descnbed by Alauddm
Ata Malik Tuwavni: "When the Sultans Ghivasuddin and Shihab-
uddin heard of the death of Sultan Takash thev began to harh:)Ul'
120 Poliilcs and Society during the Early Medieval Period
impossible ambitions and hopes that could not be realized. Great
greed took possession of their minds. The advance guard of their
army proceeded to Merv and Muhammad Kharang was placed in
charge of that city. The sultans themselves moved with a large army
and ninety elephants. They reduced and plundered Tus and then
advanced against Shadyakh, which was held by Sultan Alaudclin's
brother, Ali Shah. The two sultans were going round to examine the
fortifications of the city and many Sight seers among the besieged had
climbed a tower in front of them to get a view of the invading army.
Suddenly the tower fell down. The sultans took it for a good Oillen.
They captured the city that very day and began to plunder it. But
shuhnas (superintendents) were stationed before the houses of
'religiOUS people' to keep the soldiers away. For half the day the
Ghurian army continued to plunder; then an order was given to stop
it and so rigorous was the discipline of the Ghurian army that the
soldiers stayed their hands immediately. When the spoils were
collected, every citizen who could find out his belongings was allowed
to take them back. The object of the sultans was to terrorise and
punish. The anny of Khwarazm, with Tajuddin Ali Shah and the
nobles, was brought out of the city, severely treated and sent to Ghur.
The officers of the revenue department were punishe<;l; Ghurian
shuhnas were established up to Jurjan and Bustam and all that
territory was brought under the sway of the two sultans. The forti-
fications of the city were repaired and Malik Ziyauddin was stationed
with a large army to hold Khurasan in subjection. Ghiyasuddin then
returned to Herat. Shihabuddin marched against the 'heretic'
forts in Qahistan; but peace was concluded after "1 little fighting and
Shihabuddin also rehlrned to Herat, leaving Qazi Tulki to guard
that region.
"When Sultan Alauddin Muhammad heard of the misfortunes of
the people of Khurasan, he jumped up like a ferocious tiger and
advanced with the rapidity of lightning. In September, 1201, he alight-
ed before Shadyakh and surrounded it with his troops. The Ghurians,
vain of their power and prestige, came out to fight. But on seeing the
valour of the Khwarazmian army, they realized their mistake and
fled behind the city-walls even as rats fly for refuge to their holes.
But the fortifications of Shadyakh were pulverised by the Khwaraz-
mian munianiqs; the ditch was filled up; and realizing that they would
in any case fall into the hands of Khwarazm Shah, the Ghurians sent
messengers to sue for peace and requested the scholars and shaikhs
of the city to plead in their favour. Alauddin was determined to show
the generosity that becomes a victor in his hour of triumph. He
Shihabuddin of Ghur 121
granted them honourable terms and sent them with presents to Ghur.
He next marched towards Merv and Sarakhs, which his nephew,
Hindu Khan, was holding on behalf of the sultans of Ghur. Hindu
Khan retired to Ghur at the sultan's approach; but the kotwal of
Sarakhs did not come out to pay hOIli,age to Khwarazm Shah. A
detachment of the Khwarazmian troops reduced the city of Sarakhs
and captured the kotwal. Meanwhile Alauddin had returned to
Khwarazm by way of Merv.
"Next year Alauddin Khwarazm Shah again prepared for war
and marched in August, 1202, against Herat. He alighted at the
MW'ghzal'i Radkan, and after collecting his great army of Turks and
Arabs, moved to the suburbs of Herat. The city was surrounded.
The Khwarazrnian munianiqs began their work and the fortifications
were demolished. Izzuddin Muraghazi, the kotwal of Herat, realized
that there was no alternative but to submit. He opened negotiations
with the sultan and sent his son with a large ransom. Khwarazm
Shah accepted his submission. Meanwhile the sultans of Ghur also
had begun plundering Khurasan in order to prevent Khwarazm Shah
from continuing the siege of Herat. When Alauddin heard of this, he
marched back by way of Marwar Rud, while Shihabuddin advanced
by way of Taliqan. Alauddin considered it advisable to keep thp,
river between him and the enemy. Opinion in his ariny was diviued
on the question of crossing the river, and sonie of his men did actually
cross it. But Alauddin did not feel himeslf strong enough to offer
battle and retreated in the direction of Merv. The Ghurians followed
him. At Sarakhs he stopped and negotiations between the two parties
began. The Ghurians wanted him to give them some districts of
Khurasan, but he refused to consider their proposals and .moved on
from Sarakhs to Khwarazm. Shihabuddin marched with hiS army to
Tus and began to harass the inhabitants. As provisions in his camp
were not sufficient, he compelled the citizens to sell corn to him. Many
citizens had taken their com to the mausoleum of Tus, hoping to be
secure under the protection of the sanctuary. Shihabuddin sent
his men to seize the com. This, in addition to his previous severities,
alienated the people. Rich and poor began to detest the rule of the
Ghurians and their love for Khwarazm increased in proportion.
"About this time Sultan Ghiyasuddin died. Shihabuddin returned
to his capital after appointing' Muhammad Kharang governor of
Merv. This Kharang was a leading noble and pahilwan of Ghul', and
the backbone of its armies in time of war. His strength was such
that the sultans of Ghur often asked him to fight with elephants
and tigers and he prevailed over both. As he was required to repeat
:'
,I
122 Politics and Society during the Ea1'ly Medieval Period';
the perfOl:mance quite often, he would complain: 'How long will
I be asked to disgrace myself by fighting with pigs and dogs( He
was, in fact, the Rustam of his age. Kharang attacked Abuward.
where he captured some Khwarazmian nobles and slaughtered many
inhabitants. Thence he marched against Tajuddin Khalji of
who sent his son with offers of submission. The amirs of Murgh
also did the same Flushed with these victories, Kharang was
returning to Merv, when he heard that the army of Khwarazm was
also marching to Merv by way of the desert. Kharang flew to meet
it. In the battle that followed, tlle Khwarazmians, tllough not even.
half the number of their opponents, gained a decisive victory.
Kharang mmlaged to reach Melv with great difficulty, but tlle
Khwarazmians mined the walls and captured the city. Kharang was
taken prisoner and, from fear of his tremendous strength, a Khwaraz-
mian noble cut off his head, which was sent to Khwarazm. Alauddin.
denied all responsibility for his death. When the news reached.
Sultan Shihabuddin, he became very depressed and gloomy.
"After Merv had been recaptured, Alauddin Khwarazm Shah's
nobles tried to induce him to conquer the territory of Herat. 'Sultan
Ghiyasuddin, the elder brother is dead', they said, 'and his. sons are
quarrelling over the distribution of their patrimony. If the royal
standards cast their shadow over that land, most of the nobles will
come to offer their submission.' Alauddin accepted their advice and
marched with a well-prepared army to Herat in 1204. Alp Ghazi, the
governor of Herat, was a nephew of Sultan Shihabuddin, and one of
the leading nobles of Ghur. When the stones from the Khwarazmian
mttnjaniqs began to fall like hail over the houses and bazars of Herat,
the citizens appealed to Alp Ghazi in despair. Alp Ghazi sent a
messenger to the Khwaraz1l1 Shah, saying: 'I have authority from my
sultan to conclude a binding peace, so that no one from our side wilI
attack Khurasan and none of your men may molest this region.' He
promised to pay a large ransom and undertook to keep the Ghurians
true to the treaty, Khwarazm Shah with his usual kindness and
regard for the liv'es of Musalmans agreed to these terms. Alp Ghazi
came out to meet him and was sent back with great honour. On re-
turning to the city. however, Alp Ghazi had to exh'act money from
the people with. great harshness in order to give the ransom he had
promised. When the sultan heard of his severe he e:-
empted citizens of Herat from the ransom, and accordmg to hIS
promise, marched away from the city. Two or three days after his
deparhlre. Alp Ghazi. who had been commissioned by Shihabtiddin
to' conclude a binding treaty, died."
Shilwbud4in of Gil .. '
123
Ill. LAST YEARS OF SHIHABUDDL'I!
Ghiyasuddu:'s deaili in 1204 left Shihabuddin in supreme con-
trol of tile kingdom. He placed the royal crown on his head in.
accordmlce willi his brother's will.and ascended tlle tlu'one at Ghazni.
The hereditm-y dominions of the house of Ghur were divided among
Ghiyasuddin's legal successors. Ghiyasuddin's son, Mallmud, whom
Shihabuddin considel-ed to be .an irredeemable slacker, was given tlle
districts of Farah ana Isfarar; while Firuz Koh, the ancient seat of
the Shansabani dynasty, was bestowed on Ghiyasuddin's nephew
. and son-in-law, Malik Ziyauddin; while another nephew, Nasiruddin,
obtained the territory of Herat. Shihabuddills distribution of his
brother's heritage did not fail to cause considerable resentment;
. Mahmud, in particular, felt wronged at ilie way in which he had been
cast aside. But it was not safe to protest against Shiliabuddin's
orders and loyalty to the authority of their paterfamilias was still
sh'ong among the princes of Ghur.
The kingdom of Ghur at Ghiyasuddin's death was so different
from the other monarchies of the middle ages that it is worth while
examining its salient features with some care. It is difficult to find a.
political llieory that will fit it. It was neither unitary, nor federal,
nOr feudal-neither a satrapy of the Achemenian nor an empire of the
Roman type. It was a kingdom to which at least two other kingdoms,
Ghazni and Bmnian-were attached. But how? No superior title
distinguished the overlord from the feudatory, for there was no over-
lord and no feudatolY. Ghiyasuddin was 'Sultan,' but Shillabuddin
was also 'Sultan' and the same title was bestowed on Shamsuddin
Muhammad, son of Fakhruddin Mas'ud, after the victory over Sultan
Shah. No tribute was fixed. Shiliabuddin and Shamsuddin sent
what they could, though in case of ilie former the amount was consi-
derable; but Ghiyasuddin also demanded what he wanted and it was
paid without hesitation. Foreign powers and subordinate chiefs
treated the two brothers as one; there was no possibility of playing
. them off against each other. The employees of the goyernment clearly
knew to which of the three sultans iliey were subordinate and were
. never allowed to appeal to Ghiyasuddin against their decisions.
Nevertheless Ghivasuddin was an autocrat. Shmabuddin, who
governed an' which was several times larger than the princi-
pality directly administered by his brother, decided the most important
questions on his own responsibility, yet ilie most trifling orders from
Cnur had to be attended to, and if Ghiyasuddin made up his mind to-
interfere, there was no alternative but to obev. The reader may be in-
124
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
dined to think of the Roman empire, one and indivisible, separately
administered by the Caesars of Constantinople and Rome. But
two institutions were essentially dissimilar. Behind the Ghunan
empire there was no imperial idea, no conception of kingdom, state or
even government of any sort. Historical parallels are dangerous, but
if we ignore mere difference in size, the institution that approaches the
Shansabani kingdom most closely is the jOint-family .system of the
Hindus. Somehow or other a tundamental conceptIOn of Axyan
civilization had been imbibed by a Ghurian tribe along with the
Buddhist creed which they accepted, degraded and transtormed; and
long after they had forgotten their old faith and its Rrinciples, they
continued to regulate their social life by the old I-Imdu standard.
With other Muslim dynasties the nue was clear: there could only b,e
one monarch, one supreme will, in the state. As for the monarch s
brothers and cousins, the rule was clear also: 'Kingship knows no
kinship.' The king's sons (except the chosen one), his brothers, uncles,
and nephews, were not even granted the extended to .all
other subjects; it was assumed that they were gmlty of
treason through the accident of their birth; and poets, pnests, and
moralists advised the occupant of the throne to regard them as out-
casts and to punish them in anticipation of their .. But ?hur
was a peculiar principality. Here kinship knew kingshIp. Shihab-
uddin was not a king like other kings; he was, m status, the second
most important member of a 'family corporation', Ghur
for its pahimony; throughout Ghur, therefore, the Wlll of hIS
brothers, as representing the corporation, was The
empire.. Shihabuddin's own creation, was Ius. pnvate affatr,
peculium; he could do with it what he pleased; It would go to hIS
descendants, or to his slaves, if he had no descendants. He could
even give it away by will or by. a in. f.act, he did.
The Shansabani dynasty, for all ItS ImpenalIstic ambItions, never
emerged from the swaddling-clothes of peasant
peasant conception of law and right. In the of croWll;ng
glory, the two sons of Bahauddin and cousm of Bamlan
administered one of the most extenSIVe empIres of the east on the
principles of a well-managed family farm; practical good sense, by
accommodating closely related people to each other, made a legal
limitation of duties and powers unnecessary.
It is not to be imagined that the hypothesis here put forward will
cover all the facts. The fault lies partly with the facts themselves. for
thev have an unfortunate habit of 'going wrong'. Other considerations
besides family-feeling and regard for law influenced the actions of the
Shihabuddk of Ghur 125
Shansabani princes. Alanddin J ahansuz of
Bahauddin Sam and kept their pati'imony of Fll'uz. Koh m hIS Owll
hands; his son, Saifuddin, while setting the)Jl free, left them to starve,
even Shihabuddin, when dividing the family inheritance among the
Shansabani princes after his brother's death, gave the
of Firuz Koh not to Ghiyasuddins son, Mahmud, but to Ghlyasuddm s
son-in-law Malik Ziyauddin. Pattly, also, the fault lies with the
theory, fo; theories do not always appear in tim,e. to direct p.eople
aright. The Shansabanis had no gift for they
kept in mind what their forefathers and hled. to m
their footsteps. No clear law of succeSSlOn IS laId down eIther m the
speeches attributed to them or in the histories of early writers. '!oday,
eight hundred years after the events, we can only hope rediscover
their law, with which their conception of royal authonty was or-
ganically connected, by studying the actual division of inheritance
at each'stage. There was injustice in the division the law
was not clear; but even if the law. had been clear as daylight, there
would have been many cases of gross injustice, and this makes it
possible for us to find any rule that will cover all the cases.
these two reservations, it may be confidently stated that the Hmdu
jOint-family is the nearest counterpart to the Shansabani
Ghiyasuddin governed his brother, nephews n?t as
suzerain or overlord but as their patel', hIS WIll was the WIll to theIr
'father'; no resistance to it was possible, for rebellion is only per-
mitted against 'kings'. Though the system of family
rights often assured a safe and comfortable hfe for the younger
brothers and nephews of the ruler, it must not be imagined that the
conception of the royal family as a 'corporation-if that tertn may
be permitted-tended to make its power permanent. The
was towards a more rapid dissolution. It was less pennanent, m
fact, than the father-poisoning, brother-killing, son-suspecting
dynasties with whom history is only too familiar. For a generation,
however, the affection and good sense of the two brothers prevented
its faults from being seen.
The brothers were. indeed, remarkable. No two sons of the same
mother could have b'een more unlike. Ghiyasuddin had the tempera--
ment of a wise and epicurean. He took to the pleasures
of life in moderation. The sparkling of the crystalline glass and in-
spiration of good fellowship had drawn to wine in his
days. But he gave it ujJ-{lpparently WIthout anv effort-as hIS
physical -powers declined and consoled himself With pomegranatf'
juice, which was still served to him with the same aneT

I
126 Politics and Society during the E(};r/y Medieval Period
from the same vessels. Another substitute for drinking, if we may be-
lieve the historian, was charity, which also produces. a pleasant nervous
exhilaration. 'He distributed his gifts among the plOUS and the needy
in east and west, in Arabia, Persia, Turkistan, and Hind. Their names
were recorded in his Diwan and their allowances were regularly sent
to them.' His only passion so far as he ::as capable of a
hunting, and his game-laws were stern. .From Fn:uz Koh, whI:h
his summer capital, to the territory (zamtn) and CIty of Dawar, there
is a distance ot forty faTsang; no human being dared p'ursue any game
between these 'iWO places. In Zamindawar he had lard out a
which he named the 'Garden of Aram'. "By God I No king III the
world has possessed a garden equal to it in pleasantness and fresh-
ness. Its length was more than sufficient for two courses of a horse
and its O'lades were adorned with pine and juniper trees and shrubs
and herbs. Adjoining the wall of the garden he
ordered a plain equal to it in length and breadth to be
"Once every year, at the sultan's direction, a nargah (semIcIrcle)
of fifty or sixty farsangs was drawn and it took a whole month for
the huntsmen at the two extremities to join. More than ten thousand
wild beasts were thus driven into the plain adjOining the
The sultan came to the pavilion of the gar'den and a conVIVIal
entertainment while his officers and slaves were permItted, one by
one, to enter fue plain and kill the game before him." But even inore
than the chase, Ghiyasuddin loved good company. Though men ?f
scholarlv ability ancl genius were wanting in he s.ucceeded m
attractir;,g persons whose company was to. lum. A .man
like Ghivasuddin was not likely to do anythmg herOIC; but
was he 'in danger of ruining his by .dissipation or of bemg
caught napping by his vigilant and hostile neIghbours. He ascended
the throne at the age of twenty and ruled for forty-three leal's. He
had no love for administrative work. He hated the of lon.g
campaigns and only llndertook to the .lus
throne. His most remarkable quahtv was hIS sense of pIOpOl hon.
He saw men and things in their proper perspective and clearly
distinguished the possible from the impossible. the saf: from
dangerous. There was no danger in fighting Ghuzz or m
Herat. But Khwarazm anct Khita were fOl'nildable powers. Ghlvas-
uddin was not the man to bow his head to anvone. but he knew h?w
to maintain peace and good relations bv a polite
seemed to indicate conscious strength and power. Ghivasudchn
never embarked on the sea of political adventure, his nvals also took
care not to get into his way. -
Shilwbuddin oj Ghur
127
Shihabuddin was a man of different stamp. He worked at fever-
heat and achieved through repeated and unflagging efforts what others
have Won through genius and ability. His restless energy was a source
{)f misfortune tp himself and a cause of grave discomfort to others.
Worse than that, he attempted tasks totally beyond his strength,
and, left to himself. would have dragged everything to ruin. For-
tunately for the Ghurian state, Ghiyasuddin was no adventurer, and
so long as he lived. he directed the unquiet spirit of his younger
brother into safe and profitable charmels. Of the two, Ghiyasuddin
was deCidedly the superior; no one knew this better than Shfuabuddin
himself, who always ran to Ghm' for advice, orders, or suggestions
whenever he was in trouble.
A few words may be added about the religion, or rather the sect,
of the two brothers. The Shansabani princes, like the people around
them, belonged to the Karami sect. "The founder of this sect, Abu
Abdullah (Muhammad) bin Karam, was a pious but ignorant man
from Sijistan, who collected something from every religion into his
book and succeeded in getting his views accepted by the illiterate
peasants of Gharjistan, Ghur and Khurasan. A new sect was thus
manufactured. Sultan Mahmud bin Subuktagin lent him con-
siderable support and the Shias as well as the traditionists (orthodox
Sunnis) suffered much at the hands of the Karamis. They believe
in a material Goel and are akin to the sect of the Kharijis. vVe consider
the Karamis among the sifatis
24
because Abu Abdullah bin Karam
believes in the reality of God's attributes and, in addition, believes
Him to be material and acmally like unto other matter. The Karami
sect, later on, became divided into twelve sections of which six are
more important-Abidiah, Nuniah, Zal'iniah, IIshaqiah, Wahidiah, and
(the best) Haisamiah. Everyone of these sects has' difterent doctrines
of its own, but as these opinions are confined to illiterate fools, we
do not consider them established schools of thought We confine
ourselves to the works of the leamed. Abu Abdullah (bin Karam)
asserts that the station of God on the throne (al'sh) , that He is ahol,e
the throne and that He possesses attributes. In his book Punishment
at the Grave (Azab-i Qabl') he says that God is single in his 'substance'
and 'attributes' and that He is pressing the throne on the upper side.
He thinks that God can change His position in space as well as His
'namre and that He can descend. Some of the Karamis hold that
God onlv occupies a part of the throne others hold that He
occupies' the whole of it. According: to the latter sect, the station
of Goel is above the throne and within its confines."25
There can be little rloubt that the rapid spread of the Karami sect
I
!
I
L
!
128
Politics and Society dwing the Early Medieval Period
was due to a reaction against the fundamental spiritual conceptions
vf Islam. The Karamis were neither Sun.nis nor Shias; they were
Muslim pagans. Allah was to sit on His throne just as (before:
Him) had sat on his lotus. He was also, lIke. the prevlOus gods of
Gharjistan and Ghur, to possess all human .. It must not be
forO'otten that these hill tribes had for centunes worshIpped the gods
of 1,Iahayana Buddhism and that there was an in
their minds to interpret Islam along idolatrous lines. peasant
imagination could not, even negatively, conceive of a bemg for whom
time and space did n01 exist. Left to the!, would
made Allah into a god-as anthropomorphIc and matenal as the Idols
that had gone before Him. There had been a change in the
of deities-the one had displaced the many-but no change the
conception of the deity was possible till the mind of the
had changed. Some literal knowledge of Quran, a re-
solve not to understand its message and spmt, and a smattermg of
Aristotle's logic and of his (wholly indefensible) distinction between
'substance' and 'athibutes' was sufficient to rriake out a case for an
idolatrous interpretation of Islam. The Karamian cosmogony also de-
rived great strength from the age long yearning of the pagan heart f?f
a god that can be seen, heard and adored. For a thIs,
the most backward of Muslim sects, held the fieldm these hIlly tracts.
Then a great change came over the Muslim Sheikh Abd:l!
Qadir of Jilan took the revolutionary step of p.ubhshmg esoteric
doctrines of mysticism. which he in wI:h all mystics held to
be the fundamental principles of the Mushn: broadcast
the Musalrrians. The new mystic movement, If It may be so called lP..
contradistinction to the esoteric mysticism of days,
with rerriarkable rapiditv The chan!!e inaugurated by the shaIkh
met with the approval' of all thoughtful Muslims. The
organized into re!!ular 'orders' (silsilahs) and took to theIr work WIth
an eamestness and zeal which has, in the history of Islam, been
surpassed by the fiery revolutionism of early Educatmg
the Musalmans, most of whorri were still Immersed m the old-worl.d
ideas of anthropomorphic paganism, was as rriuch the wo:k ?f a mystic
missionary as the conversion of the infidel. Now a IS the V?ry
opposite of a pagan. He lives by the light of his i:mer. faith, prefernng
the unseen to the visIble. He holds space and time m contempt and
denies their reality. The materialistic references in sacred .texts are
explained, or explainer!. away. G?d: th: one, the absolute, IS the to-:
taUtv of existence. There is no dlstmctwn between God and no-God,
he alone exists. The 'threats of hell' are as immaterial to the true
Shihabuddin of Ghur
129
mystic as 'the hopes of paradise'-':"both are dismissed away as
'ingless fears. VVe live for the Lord alone. '
'Even the hill-tribes of Ghur were included in the extension propa-
ganda of the new mystic leaders. Though Ghiyasuddin and Shihabud-
din had been brought up in the Karami faith, its influence had begun
to wane. The two sultans of Ghur were naturally affected by the
change that was taking place in the religious consciousness of their
contemporaries. But each adapted himself to the situation in a charac-
teristic manner. 'When Shihabuddin ascended the throne of Ghazni,
he found that the citizens of Ghazni and its neighbourhood believed in
Imarri Abu Hanifa Kufi and he confonried to their faith by becoming a
Hanafi.' This was a wise and diplomatic move. A difference of opinion
between the king and his subjects is not desirable; a wise monarch
will either bring over his subjects to his own religion or else go over
to theirs, the latter being the easier and the most politic course. But
if, perchance, the citizens of Ghazni had still been Buddhists? ..
Ghiyasuddin's conversion to Shafi'ism seems to have been more sincere
and was, apparently, th0 result ofa long deliberation. He dreamt one
night that he was pre<;ent in a mosque with Qazi ';Yahiduddin Mar-
war-rudi, when Imam Sh8fi'i came in and led them both in prayer.
Next day the sultan asked Qazi ';Yahiduddin to deliver a sermon.
Before cOlrimencing the sermon the qazi related a dream he had the
previous night. It was in every detail the same as the sultan's dream.
This incident decided Ghiyas{lddin's waveIing mind and he formally
went over to the Shal"'i sect. The sultan's conversion was naturally
resented by the Karmni scholar-priests, who stood to lose the royal
patronage which had hitherto been extended to them. Their leader,
Imam Sadruclclin Ali Haizarri Naishapuri, who was professor at a
college in Afshin (Gha1iistan) wrote a satire on the sultan: "There
are plenty of Shafi'i merchants in Khurasan. Your majesty will find
therri waiting before tIl(' palaces of all the princes. But you will search
the seven climes in vain for a king who belongs to the Shafi'isect. ..
If. it was necessary to change your ancestral faith, you might have
become a Hanan like other kings. " By God! Imam Abu Hanifa and
Irriam Shafi'i will both tell you on the Day of Judgment: 'It is not
good to fly needlessly from one door to another.''' It was not safe to
live in Ghiyasuddin's dominious after satirising him; but Imam
uddin repented after a year of exile and Ghiyasuddin, never a perse-
cutor, allowed him to return. .
. 'TIle peace concluded by Alp Ghazi with Khwarazm Shah soon after
Sultan Ghiyasuddin's death did. not last long. Alauddin's attitilde
seems to have been pacific; the campaigns of the last war had ruined

130 Politics a1ld Society during the Early Medieval Period
two harvests of Khurasan; he had other enemies also and would have
preferred peace. But Shihabuddin was in a bellicose mood. His suc-
cess in India had turned his head. His khutba was read in all mosques
from Herat to Assam and his power was acknowledged supreme. He
would brook no rival. It was not enough that Khwarazm Shah should
be willing to allow him precedence as a senior man; his kingdom had
to be wiped off the map. So long as Persia, Iraq and Khwarazm
remained united under a single sceptre, the king of Ghazni would
be reckoned a ruler of secondary importance. The war of 1202-4 had
been a failure; the ravages of the Ghurian army had ruined the
reputation of Shihabuddin in Khurasan. But not an. inch of territory
had been gained. Why? Khwarazm Shah was obviously weak. He
had retired before the Ghurian armies without venturing to challenge
them to a single battle. It was Ghiyasuddin who had carefully limited
the sphere of the conflict. He would never allow his armies to march
far from his base and insisted on taking advantage of every oppor-
tunity for opening negotiations. Nothing was further from Ghiyas-
uddin's thoughts than R war of life and death with his northern rival.
Left to his own designs by his brother's death, Shihabuddin not
only recommenced the struggle but changed the character of the con-
flict. He was determined to strike at the heart of the enemy; if
Khwarazm was captured and Alauddin driven away from his capital,
it would be easy to overrun Khurasan and Iraq. It was a purely
aggressive war, but Shihabuddin expected success to justify his
vandalism. The sequel showed that he had miscalculated every im-
portant factor in the situation. Instead of having to fight with Alaud-
din Khwarazm Shah hI' was met by a population in arms, bent on
fighting to death to pretect their homes and hearths from the barba-
rians of Ghur and convinced by their sultan and their priests alike
that a struggle against Shihabucldin was a 'holy war'. Here was no
distinction between Brahmans and Kshattriyas, between Aryans and
non-Aryans. Every peasant and citizen who could shoot an arrow or
draw a sword came out to have a fling at the unprincipled aggressor.
Driven to the wall, Khwarazm Shah bowed his proud head to the
ground and appealed to his overlord, the,king of Qara-Khita, for help.
The Gar Khan decided to help him, and his feudatories, the Afrasiyabi
of Turkistan and the sultanus salatin of Sain-arqand, also
marched to the relief of Khwarazm. Shihabuddin was caught in a vice.
To quote Juwayni once more: "Shihabuddin started the war again.
This time he was determined to strike at the capital of the empire
of Khwarazm. When Alauddin heard of his advance, he marched by
way of the desert to Khwarazm. The arm v of Ghur W(\s mOre iil
Shihabuddin of Ghar
131
number than ants and locusts. Khwarazm Shah informed the citizens
of .the intention of the enemy and the sudden danger that was threat-
enmg them. They rallied to the call. With one heart and one voice
they determined to fight it out the last. All possible preparations
made. Imam Muhammad Shihabuddin Khayuqi, a pillar for the
faIth and a castle the repeatedly preached to the people on
the. duty of defendlllg theIr homes and their fatherland; and on the
of the h'adition (hadis)-ne who dies for the protection of his
and his property is a martyr'-he declared it to be a just and
l:lghteous ,:ar The patriotic of the people
lose to a hIgh pItch; they were thoroughly umted in their determina-
tion to fight. Alauddin sent messengers to summon his horse and foot
from the 'provinces and also appealed to the Gor Khan for help. He
formed hIS camp on the bank of the Nuzwar Canal and in a few days
some seventy thousand people had collected under his banner. The
Ghurians with bluff and bluster-and they were numerous enough
to turn the Oxus lllto a desert-encamped on the (opposite) eastern
bank.. Shihabuddin asked them to search for a ford and began to
put hIS men and elephants in order with the intention of crossing the
Nuzwar next day and offering battle to Khwarazm Shah.
"Suddenly news arrived that Taniku of Taraz, the commander of
the Qara Khi.tai troops, was very near. He was accompanied by the
sultanus salatlll of Samarqand. The GhUlians foresaw the defeat and
disgrace that awaited them and determined to decamp without
achieving their object. Shihabuddin ordered them to burn their heavy
baggage at night and keep awake. When the Ghurians began their
retreat, Khwarazm Shah pursued them like a ferocious tiger. At Hazar
Saf (or Hazar Asp) Shihabuddin tUlned back and offered battle. The
Khwarazmians attacked his right wing. Many Ghurian officers and
amil's were captured. their standards were knocked down, and their
glory The remnant of the Ghurian army was pursued by the
as a horse might pursue a mare-up to Saif-
abad, whIch they succeeded in reaching in a state of utter demoraliza-
tion. Alauddin returned to Khwarazm with the treasure elephants
I
' ,
came s, and horses, which he had captured, to enjoy the good fortune
that had befallen him."
But further misfortunes were in store for Shihabuddin. Alauddin
did not care to his beyond Saifabad, but a more danger-
ous enemy lay waltmg for hIm. The Oara Khitan general, Taniku, who
was ackn.owlede:ed by all.parties to he the .e:re1test military genius of,
the age, mstead of marchmg to Khwarazin, as Shihabuddin expected
had rapidly moved southwards .and blocked up the route by which
132
Politics and Society during the Early Medieual 'Period
the flying Ghurians wished to retum to Balkh. Even ,the .sultan's iron
nerves failed him when he discovered the clever move of the enemy.
"The Khitan anllY and the maliks of Turkistan",. Minhajus .Siraj tells
us, "had crossed the Oxus and lay on the path of the Ghunan
When the sultan reached Andkhud, the vanguard of the
infidels attacked hb camp on Wednesday afternoon. The Ghunan
advance guard, led by Husain Kharmil, governor of drove
them away. Husain Kharmil then came to the sultan. The Musalmans
are victorious at this moment', he said, 'and the infidels been
defeated. It would be best if your majesty ordered the n:am army
to attack the infidels immediately, so that they may dnven away
and a great victory fall to our lot.' 'I have been longmg. for such a
holy war for years', the sultan replied, 'and the hour WIll n?t
me wanting. Tomorrow morning, with the help of God, I ,WIll glVe
them battle and see to which party the Lord grants Sllccess. Though
still film in his religious conviction, Husain Kharmil saw that the
sultan was greatly upset. oHe knew also that the infidels were
numerous for the Ghurians. The Musalmans had been wom out III
their retreat from Khwarazm; their horses had grown lean for want
of fodder and were in no position to n1ake a st.and. The Tartars, on
the other hand, were well supplied with provisions ,and had been
allowed a good rest. Kharmil withdrew from the sultan s presence
fled away in the night to with the five thou:and
he commanded. Most of the Ghunan cavalry, whose horses were too
weak to fight, also fled away. Only a few of and
the royal slaves were left with the sult.an III the Sll1hab,-
uddin formed his lines and began the batt.le. ,troops sur,
rounded him on all sides and enclosed him m then' COIls. Only a :ew
persons from the army of Islam been left', his
him, 'we must not march to battle. But the sultan Onl) a
hundred Ghurian horsemen and Turkish slaves. and a elephants
., 1 ft with him' thev took their I) osition in tront of IllS horse and
wer e e , J l' b tl
ave up their lives in trying to protect hin1. T le cano?y a ove ,le
head was riddled with Tarftar arrows. but nothmg 111-
duce him to tunl back. Finallv, one of his Turlosh
Jo!!i, came and caught of his reins and forced hUll to fly for refune
. . TI
"The Khitans surrounded Andkhud and began to m1l1e the wa s.
The place was about to fall when Shiha!)uddin
from the sultanus salatin of Samarqand: Out of re)Zard fOt th.e farth,
r do not wish a sultan of Islam to fall into the hands of
who. are sure to put him to death. I would advise yOU to give up aU
Shihabuddin of chur 133
your men, elephants and horses for the sal<e of your life. I will inter-
cede for you with these infidels.' Shihabuddin gave up all the treasures
and arms he had for the sake of his personal security and, thanks
to the intermediation of the suIt-anus salatin, he was allowed, after
much difficulty, to come out of the fort. Soon afterwards he received
a confidential message from Khwarazm Shah: 'You began the war.
We should now make peace.' Shihabuddin swore that he would live
at peace with Khwarazm Shah and promised to come to his help
whenever he was commanded to do so, So peace between the two
sultans was made."
Shihabuddin's defeat at Andkhud was the signal for a general revolt
in his dominions. Yilduz, the governor of Ghazni, made up his niind
to ignore the sultan.
26
Another officer, Aibak, who was with the sultan
at Andkhud, flew in haste to Multan, and after assassinating the
governor, Amir Dad Hasan, in a private interview, succeeded in con-
vincing the people by a forged fal'man that the sultan had appointed
him their governor. Still more ominous was the revolt of Sarka, the
leader of the Khokars of the Judi hills, who wished to carve out an
independent prinCipality for himself, and with the intention of ulti-
mately capturing Lahore had raised a tumult froni the Jhelum to the
Indian Ocean. Qutbuddin, the viceroy of India, however, remained
loyal.
The skill and perseveranCe with which Shihabuddin reestablished
his authority over the empire, shines in pleasant contrast with the
military and political blunders which had led to the cat.astrophe of
Andkhud. Yilduz, the governor of Ghazni, offered Shihabuddin battle
instead of welcoming him, and the sultan, who was in no position to
fight, proceeded to Multan. Aibak also proved .a traitor, but many
loyal soldiers had by now gathered round Shihabuddin. He defeated
and captured Aibak and then returned to Ghazni with such forces
as he could collect on lhe frontier. The nobles of Ghazni repented of
their haste .and error, for a rebellion against the sultan had no chance
of success so long as he was loyally supported by the grcat viceroy
of India. The sultan forgave them and their leader and entered his
capital in peace,
The trihal tumults in India, which had cut off all cOililliunications
between Ghazni and Lahore, had still to be suppressed, and in the
winter of 1205-6 Shihabuddin started on his last Indian expedition.
The frontier tribes were the first difficultv. Sultan Mahmud had estab-
lished garrisons and built forts in their'territory, but thev were still
Buddhists and Shihabuddln realised that nothing short of their con-
version would solve the problem, "S6 the Tarahiyh infidels-who lived
134 Politics and Society dUl'ing the Early Medieval Period
in the hills between Ghazni and the Punjab, and considered the
slaying of a Musalman the straight path to paradise-were brought
within the pale of Islam, partly through kindness and partly through
force. About three or four lakhs of infidels, who wore the sacred
thread, were made Musalmans in this expedition." .
Sfiihabuddin next summoned Qutbuddin Aibek, and Shamsuddin
Iltutmish, who was then governor of Badaun, with their forces, and
sent contingents of his troops to suppress the Khokar chiefs. "The
Khokars, whose territory extended from the Indus to the feet of the
Siwalik Hills, were a grave source of trouble and disgrace to the
Musalmans, for they used to put to the rack every Musalman they
captured. The Musalmans, whom the sultan had settled round about
Peshawar, were in special danger from the attack of Khokars and
their communications with the Punjab were cut off. The Khokars had
neither religion nor creed. 'When a daughter was born to one of them
he would stand at the door of his house and cry: 'Is there anyone
who will accept this girl for his wife?' If some one accepted her, well
and good, otherwise he would instantly put his daughter to death.
Among them one woman had many husbands. When any of the
husbands was with their common wife, he left a sign of his at the
door; if another husband came at the same time, he would see the
sign and depart. Such were the people who considered it all act -of
piety to oppress the Musalmans." The Khokar chiefs were subdued
with a thoroughness that left a rankling bitterness in their hearts. But
at the same time vigorous attempts to convert them were made by
private individuals and Shihabuddin gave great favours to the chiefs
who joined his faith.
27
A year and a half of hard work had restored his empire to its
former strength and Shihabuddin made up his mind to challenge the
Qara-Khltai Turks 'I have determined', he wrote to the governor of
Bamiyan, 'to wage a holy war against the infidels of Turkistan.
Collect the forces of your tel'litory on the bank of the Oxus immedi-
ately on the receipt of this order, and construct a bridge across the
river so that the army may have no difficulty in crossing it. He started
from Lahore in Februarv 1206, but was not destined to lead the cam-
paign. At a place, called' Damyak, on the bank of the Indus, he was
ass.assinated by a 11eretic'.28 The triumphant march was turned into
a funeral procession. and it was with great difficulty that the wazir,
Khwaja Moidul Mulk, succeeded in preventing the royal treasure
from being plundered by the sultan's slaves, and conveyed his master's
bier to Ghazni, where he was buried in the mausoleum of his
daughter.
Shihllbuddin of Gkur
135
NOTES & REFERENCES
1. Ghazni is generally written in Persian as GhaZlliall, or the two Ghaznis. The two
cities were situated on the two banks of the river Helmand. 'Ghaznin' though some-
what inaccurate is more tolerable in English. Later the author accepted 'Ghazni'-ED.
2. See Appendix One for the early history of Ghur.
3. According to Minhai!ls Si1'lli, Saifuddin fled at Bahram's approach but was cap
tured and brought back.
4. Fel'ishta. According to Min/wius Sil'ai both the bodies were fixed on the one
arch bridge of Ghazni.
5. Alauddin even ordered all the graves of the sultans of Ghazni, with the exception
of the graves of Sultan Mahmud, Sultan Mas'ud and Sultan Ibrahim, to be dug
up. The skeletons unearthed were thrown into the flames.
6. See Appendix Two.
7. Ferishta says the brothers were re-appointed governors of Sanjah. According to
the Tabaqat-i Nasiri, however, both the brothers had a very difficult time after
their release from prison. Their great misfortune was their poverty. Shihabuddin
sought refuge at the court of his uncle, FakI,ruddin Mas'ud, whom Alauddin had
appointed governor of Bamian after conquering that province. Ghiyasuddin kept
hanging about his cousin's court and seems to have depended for his sustenance on
the charity of his father's seryants.
8. Awwal pidarat nillad kill m blmyad
Ta khalq-i-ia/wn j1l11l1a ba bidad uftad
Han! Ta na-dihi za bahr-i Takillabad
Sar ta S{lI'-i-11lulk-i-Aal-i-Mahmlld bi bac!.
9. Ferishta's account is inaccurate and conflicting: at one place he says that Ghazni
was captured by Alauddin J ahansuz while later on he asserts that it was conquered
by Khusrau Shah. I am inclined to think that the barbarities practised by AIauddin
had made the annexation of Ghazni impossible; the inhabitants were too hostile. After
the defeat of Sultan Sanjar, the Ghizz chiefs plundered Merv and Khurasan with
barbaric atrocities and their wandering bands overran the whole empire. One of
these bands seems to have conquered Ghazni.
10. Ghazni was not taken without considerable difficulty and risk. The barbarous
Ghizz had neither the engineering skill nor the foresight to reconstruct the old fort
of Ghazni. Too weak to meet the army of Ghur in the open field, they dug a trench
round their camp, and fought with the reckless and desperate valour of their tribe.
The Ghurian attempt to storm the trenches proved a signal failure, Ghiyasuddin gave
up the task in despair and retired after sending sonie of his men to Shihabuddin, who
was stin grimly sticking to his duty. The Ghizz cheered by their success, rushed
across the trench, broke the Ghurian centre, and capturing the royal standard of
Ghur, bore it back triumphantly with them. The Ghurian right and left, seeing
their standard cross the trench. imagined that their centre had pierced through
the defence. They rushed to its aid. The hostile troops were mixed together
hopelessly; fighting fiercely round the standard, the Ghizz and the Ghurians crossed
the trench in a mingled throng. Ghiyasuddin returned to the front when he
. heard of the lucky turn of events and his attack decided the issue. 'The Ghurian army
then proceeded to strike off the heads of the Ghizz.' The city and its territories were
conquered and annexed.
11. We hear of a friction however in the early years of Ghiyasuddin's reign. Shihab-
uddin was dissatisfied with his position as a mere officer of his brother's court and
...".tirjQrl tn ~ i c : . h m whf':rp: h ~ liverl for a whole winter at the court of a Sistani malik.
Iii
I
','
136 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
With the spring Ghiyasuddin's love for his brother returned, I-Ie sent his officers
to invite Shihabuddin back and bestowed on him the southern tracts of his kingdom
as a semi-independent governorship.
12,. If the tern,s 'kingdom' and 'empire' are to be applied to the Ghurian state, it
would be more correct to say that Ghiyasuddin was emperor, while Shihabuddin, as
ruler of Ghazni, was a subordinate king. Neveltheless, in accordance with the customs
of Ghu
r
, Sbihabuddin's conquests in India and elsewhere were his own by right and
would descend to his sons, or, failing them, to his slaves. The situation was, no
doubt, illogical and, but for the good sense of the two brothers, would have led to .
difficulties,
13. I venture to add a passage from a monograph I am preparing on the period:
"vVith the accession of Saifuddin II, in 557 we come face to face in Ghm with
that school of politicians which had appeared two or three decades earlier in other"
parts of the Muslim world, The great ideas of the Persian renaissance-its devotion
to the sacred soil of Iran and loyalty to the imperial throne as the symbol of Persian
culture and civilization, its standard of gentlemanly conduct and good breeding, its
code of hononr in war and its canons of morality in peace--had been gradually dis-
appearing from the minds of men, The rapid fall of the Seljuq monarchy in the sixth
decacle of the twelfth century made matters worse. No genuine Persian family came
to the front to bear the Herculean bmden of Nizamulmulk and Sanjar, while the
Turkish dynasties which had forcibly seized a iimb or two of the gre'lt Leviathan,
were unable to accommodate themselves to the time-honoured traditions of Persia;'
monarchy. Worse than that, neither the politicians nor the conunon people had any
sane political philosophy to live by. Of course humQ.ll life must be based on some
principles or other. It is a question of better 01' 'GOrse; of morality or selfishness. So
the age of the Shah Nama was followed by the age of the Gulistan; for the Gui-istan
also, like all other great books, has principles and maxims-of a sort.
"It is possible to trace something of a family likeness between the characters that
in all countries come to the front at the fall of great empires. Lack of deep political
or personal loyalties, freedom from moral scruples and the trammels of tradition,
diplomatic clevemess and restless ambition are, perhaps, the most nniversal features.
But the differences are also remarkable, Some empires leave their subjects di.l'!mited
and wellk while others leave their subjects disunited b'ut strong. The Seljuq empire
belonged to 'the latter class. ,Ve will seek in vain among the officers and politicians
of the post-Sanjar period for the effeminacy and luxurious idleness so characteristic
of the nobles of the later Mnghal empire, They were brave and fearless and regarded
a life of ease and comfOlt with contempt. And one great strain of the Persian renais-
sance at least survived in them in full vigour-the spirit of mad, dare-devil and
reckless adventure. Failing in other things, here they failed not. But neither individuals
nor societies can be saved by strength alone. The age of Shihabuddin was a doomed
age,
"As we follow the of the three ruling dynasties of the age-the Imams of
Alamut, the Ghurians, and the Khw::uazmians-ancl the officers who surrounded them,
we carmot help noting a remarkable difference between the character of the new
generation and the old. The new generation is 1110re efficient but less scrupulous; it
has greater fondness for warfare but is even more given to diplomacy, intrigue and
craft. The loyal and simple-hearted Qutbuddin of Khwarazm is succeeded by his
spare-framed and astute SOll) Atisiz, model for all traitors, 'whose greatness as a
soldier lay in fact that he won all his campaigns without risking a serious battle. The
humble and self-sacrificing zeal of Hasan bin Sabbah and Kia Buz1l1'g Umid is not
to be found in their succ"ssors at Alumut; the remarkable organization they had
Shihabuddin at Ghur 137
,,,tablished was callonsly utilized to obtain the Imamat for Zindus Salam and his
successors and to secure for them the status of gods among men, Alauddin Jahansuz
may, very imprudently, destroy a prosperous city he could have annexed, but he
would not have stooped to strike an enemy below the mee, and in spite of great
refrained I'orn resorting to the assassin's dagger to revenge the un-
deniably great wrong his Family had suffered, I-Ils son and nephews were men of
different stamp--less educated but more unscrupulous. The traditional morality of
the Ghurian hill chiefs was not allowed to stand in the way of their imperialistic
ambitions."
14. A section of the Ismaili Shias, So known after their reputed founder. The
Ismailis only believe in [the first seven Imams while the orthodox (aslla ashari) Shias
believe in the twelve Imams.
15. in Ferishta. Nizamuddin Ahmad, whose brief account has been incorporated
by Ferishta in his more detailed narrative, says nothing about the raja's wife,
16. Minhajus Siraj on whom we have to depend for most of the inforl1ll\tion we get
about Ghur, is velY brief in his account of Shihabuddin's invasion, This is unfortunate,
for Minhajus Siraj, though a coOOly historian, was a truthful man and a critical
student of the Tabaqat-i Nasiri has little difficulty in separating official plaudits from
bare talth, Apart from the works referrcd to later, I have relied on Ferishta, N izam-
uddin and the brief references in the Tabaqat-i Nasiri for the events of this chapter.
17. The Ghaznavid princes were put to death when Ghiyasuddin and Shihabuddin
were startinrr on a famous campaign against Khwarazm .shah, It was apparently done
to prevent ';,.lefactors from 'using any of the princes for the fllltherance of their
designs, This seems to have been the prevailing; practice. At a later date, when
Alauddin Khwarazm Shah was flying from his capital at the approach of Chengiz
Khan, his mother, Turkan Khatull, ordered all the captive princes at Khwarazm to be
put to death,
18. Delhi was not then an important town. Its importance dates from the Slave
kings. Here, as elsewhere, Ferishta overrates the importance of Delhi,
. 19. Roughly, a karoh might be reckoned as .equal to a modern Indian kos, a
distance of two miles.
20 .. As appears from the sequel, Khanday Rai WflS not aware that he was fighting the
sultan himself. His attention was merely drawn to a person he considered to be a
formidable warrior in the enemy ranks.
21. The Afghans, properly so-called, were the tribes known by that name, who
inhabited the rerrion between Kabul and Peshawar. They had only been Partially con-
verted by the ti;;;e of Shihabuddin. Afghanistan is a modern term, since Ahmad Shah
Abdali helonged to an Afghan trihe, the name was given to the whole country over
which he and his successors ruled. There was no 'Afghanistan' in the middle ages. vVe
read of Ghazni, Ghur, Kabul, lIm'at, Balkh, etc., but never of Afghanistan. The group
of tribes, called Khaljis, lived in the southern region between Takinabad and Sistan,
They seem to have been quite distinct from the Afghans as well as the Turks. vVhat-
ever their origin or early history, they considered thelllsc1ves a different people. It wi1l
be obselVed that while 'the Ghurians, and to an extent the Khaljis were the aIel suhj,cts
of the Shansabani dynasty, the Afghans \vefe a later acquisition. Shihabuc1c1in seems
to have felt that he had not the same claims to their loyalty.
22. Maill .. means meeting or assembly. The meetings at the sultan's palace or
pavilion werc of two kinds: thc Majli .. -i KIlOS or a confidential meeting of the
officers for discllssion of important administrative and political measures, and iHa/!rs-1
Am or Ba'l'-i-Am (Darbar) which was a public sitting of the sultan for administrative
and judicial business, when in theory at least, the right of approaching the sultan and
138
Politics alld Society during tile Early Me,iievai Period
laying before the throne was accorded to evelY subject. Inform'll meetings
lor dancmg, musIC, elephant-fights, drinking, etc., were also held and the tenn Majlis-i
Aish was given to them.
23. Shihabuddin, in his anxiety to wash off the disgrace pf his former defeat,
seems to have chosen for the second battle the spot where he had been defeated
before.
24. Silar means attribute; silaris are those who believe in the attributes of God.
25: Shahrastani, Klrabul Mllall-i-Wall NaM. I am indebted for the translation of this
passage from the Arabic text to Maulana Abu Bah Shis Sahib, the leamed, pious and
tolerant Dean of the Muslim Universitv.
26. He is not to be identified with Tajuddin Yilduz, who was then govemor of
Kirman.
27. The conversion of the Khokars, according to Ferishta, was due to a Muslim
who won ov.er a Kh?kar chief to his religion. On presenting himself at the
. s ,;as. gIVen a robe of honom together with a farman confirming
hIm In his prmClpahty. With this he retumed and converted most of the Khokars
to the Muslim religion. and only such of them as lived in out-of-the-way places failed
to embrace the new faith. But the conversion was not So rapid as Ferishta seems to
imagine, for the Khokars whom we meet later on are mostly non-Muslim.
28. It is generally thought that Shihabuddin was assassinated by the Khokars
and a detailed account of how they accomplished their purp"se is given by Ferishta.
'Twenty Khokar infidels', he says, 'whose sons and relations had fallen in the battlles
against the sultan, vowed revenge even at the cost of their Own live., and were on the
look out for an opportunity of assassinating him.
'At marching time when the royal pavilion was being taken down, the Khokars
carefully observed the places where the sultan lived and slept. On the 3rd of Sha'ban
602 A. H. a Khokar came forward, wounded the sultan's porter with a dagger and
Hed. A tumult arose; all those near the place, and even the sultan's personal atten-
dants, crowded round the injured man. This gave the assassins their opportunity.
They cut a peg of the royal pavilion with their daggers forced in ineir entrance and
came to the sultan's chamaer with their daggers drawn. The two or three Turkish
slaves, who were present, becam' immovable like dry wood from fear, and the Khokars
unopposed, fell on the sultan and despatched him with twentytwo Jagger wounds:
These are the circumstantial details of a latter day story. Minhajus Siraj Jurjani,
who was fifteen or sixteen years old at the time of the sultan's death, merely states
that he was assassiuated hy a 'heretic devotee' (fida-i-mulahida). I see no reason
for distrusting Minhajus Siraj's contemporary account. He bore no love for the
'heretics' and had no motives for misrepresenting a fact of which everybody was
aware. Attempts have been made to prove that the 'heretic assassin' was se;'t by
Khwarazm Shah. But this is a far-fetched hypothesis. All that we know of Khwarazm
Shah's later career inclines us to believe that he looked upon Shihabuddin as an ally.
The wings of the eagle had been clipped at Andkhud. Alaud';;1l was in no danger
from him; and he had reasons to expe?t the latter's SUppOlt against the Qira-Khitai
Turks whom he was preparing to challenge. Shihabuddin, it will be remembered, had
marched against the 'heretic' forts during the Khurasan campaign. There seems no
reasou to doubt that the 'heretic devotee' was sent by the Imam of Alamut.
Shihabuddin of Ghur 139
ApPENDIX I
It is difficult to say anything definite about the early history of Ghur. Unlike the
Ghaznavids, the Ghurians were not patrons of literature. Muslim civilization and
culture, moreover, had not taken deep roots in that hill tract when Ghiyasuddin and
Shihabuddin brought it into a sudden but shortlived prominence. It is doubtful
whether posterity would have under any circumstances cared to preserve the works
of the few second and third rate writers and poets whom the two brothers patronized.
But only a few years after Shihabuddin's death Ghazni and Ghur were conquered
by the Khwarazmians, and foJlo\\ing hard upou the heels of the Khwarazmiaus came
the Mongols, who swept everything clean. The libraries, if any, must have been burnt;
many cities were razed to the ground; every fort that could offer resistance was
demolished, and th" number of persons who were killed in battles or butchered in
cold blood surpasses auything recorded in historic times. FilUz Koh, the capital of
Ghur, disappeared from the map and the Shansabani dynasty was completely exter-
minated. The exotic civilization of the hill-tribes could not survive the holocaust.
Qazi Minhajus Siraj J urjani, who is our earliest and best authority on the Shansabani
dynasty regrets in the TaiJaqat-i Nasiri that he was unable, when composing that
volume, to consult the authOlities he had had with him at Ghur. They had been left
behind when the Qazi Hed from the Mongols after shOwing some fight, aud in writing
the earlier sections of his chapter on the dynasty, he had to trust to memOly. The
Qazi's great grandfathel was one of the forty sons-in-law of Sultan Ibrahim of Ghazni,
His father, Minhajuddin Usman, enjoyed a long and prosperous career in the service
of the Ghurian brothers and was ofteu employed on important and delicate missions.
Though Qazi Minhajus Siraj was only fifteen years of age at the time of Shihabuddin's
death, he had excelleut opportunities of obtaining first-hand information from people
who had witnessed the events he undertakes to describe. He moved, throughout his
life, among the highest officers of Shihabuddin Ghuri and one of his cousins, Ziyauddin
Tuki, had the distinction of defeuding Bhatinda against Rai Pithora.
Though the Indian campaigns of Shihabuddin are summarized with unpardonable
brevity, the Tabaqat-i N [l;ir; is a detailed and reliable authority on the Shausabani
dyuasty from the time of Alauddin J ahansuz. The same reliance cannot be placed
ou its account of earlier rulers. The author, who was quite capable of believing that
the Mongols and the Tartars were the Gog and Magog of ancient prophecy and that
the Day of Doom wa. uncomfortably near, approached history in a more rational
spirit. His official duties as a qazi had taught him the necessity of weighing
evidence where human affairs and not religious dogmas were concemed. His account
of the earlier princes of Ghur, which he gives for what it is worth, may be brieHy
summarized. When Zuhak Tazi, the Arab tyrant so graphically described in the
Shah Nama was overthrown by Faridun, some of his descendants Hed to the valley
of Zu Mayandish (Do not be afraid of him!) in the heart of Ghur. In that safe spot,
surrounded by hills over 18,000 feet high, they were soon joined by other Arabs,
whom the fall of Zuhak had scattered on the face of the globe; and, as is the habit
of the Arabs, they multiplied rapidly. When, in later ages, they were converted to
Islam, they showed the excellence of their religious temper by their devotion to the
house of the Prophet. Though the rest of the MuslinJ world was, 'It Muawiya's order,
abusing the Fourth Caliph from its pulpits, the Ghurians refused to partake in the
vice, and when three generations later Abu Muslim Khurasani raised his standard
against the Umayyad Caliphate, Faulad, son of. Shansab, a redoubtable Ghurian chief,
led his tribesmen to the support of the great revolutionist. They also gave evidence
of their Semitic blood by the protection they offered to the Jews. The following story
I::;
140 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Pe1'iod
is a tYJ?ical baclition. In the time of the Caliph Harunur Rashid the supremacy
of Amir Ban)l, the Shansabani chief, was challenged by Shis, son of Bahram, chief
of th.e nval tribe. Civil' war seemed imminent, but saner counsels prevailed
and It was deCided to submit the matter to the arbitration of the caliph. Both chiefs
started for Baghdad. Banji on his way came across a Jewish merchant who undertook
to provide him with all the paraphernalia of a civilized prince and instructed him
In the etiquette of courts in return for his promise to expand bis protection to the
Jewish colony in his tenitOlY. Shis, less fortunate, had to display himself in the
lUXUflOUS capI:al of the caliphate in the short dress and barbaric manners of Ghur.
Harunur Rashid was charmed by the excellent demeanour of Banji and assigned him
the throne of Ghur.
'He is a the caliph remarked. The command of the Ghurian army was,
aSSIgned to Shis and his descendants as a hereditary right. The two families
eOlhIllUed to quarrel till the time of Ghiyasuddin, who finally cruslled the power of the
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni is said to have brought the independence of
Ghur to an end by overpowering Muhammad, son of SUri, in 1010. A list of tbe
rulers of Ghur from Abu Ali, son of Muhammad, son of Suri whom Sultan Mahmud
appointed king of Ghul', to the rise of the seven stars is given by Minhajus Siraj.
These traditions assume that the Ghurians were converted to the faith in the first
or second generation of 'Islam and that the Shansabani dynasty was prominent from
the very first. Both claims can be definitely disproved. The extinct volume of Imam
Abul Fazl Baihaqi's Tart'kh-l' AI-Ii Subuklagill, written some two hundred yeam before
the Tabaqat-i Na.si1'i, gives us a very different picture of the heroic and disunited hill-
tribes. Mahmud' s invasion of A.D. 1010 and. his stili fights with m'lny chiefs, who had
bUIlt thell' forts on the tops of their inaccessible hills, are described in detail. Among
the names. of these. chiefs, Muhammad, SOn of Suri, does not appear. The chiefs,
mOl:eover, mstead of being pious Mnslim devotees of the hous", of the Pmphet are
staunch 'infidels' imbned with the strength of their native hills and inspired b; the
love of their gods. Mahmncl pulls down their tcmples but he does not advance beyond
a few stages. Nothing was to be had in that hilly region except hard blows: no golden
idols, no rich temples, not even the possibility of a permanent land-tax. The great
invader of India SOon saw the futility of the campaign and gave it up. Ghur remained
unsubdued. When embarking on the campaign Mahmud had concentrated his
in the provinces of GalIDsir and Nilll1'oz on the banks of the river Helmand. He
intended to penetrate into Ghur through the son them passes. This was apparently the
best, if not the only, means of approach. The sultan is said to have taken his two
sons, Muhammad and Mas'ud, along with his youngest brother, Yusuf, with him.
!"hen the army ventured into the land of infidels, the three princes were left behind
III .of Abul Fail Baihaqi's grandmother. Our author had, therefore, good
opportruuties of. knowing the characters of the Ghurian frontiers. He could not have
called the Ghurians infidels if they had really been Musalmans.
A second attempt to overpower Ghnr was made hy Sultan Mas'ud son of Sultan
Mahmnd. Of this campaign also Baihaqi has left ns a detailed a:count. Mas'ud .
unlike his father, attacked GhDr from the west. He concentrated his forces alt Hera;
lI,:arched up the valley of the river Murghab. Again we have a picture of infidel
hilI-chiefs devoted to their idols and defending their rocky fortresses to the last. A
few chiefs on the western frontier, in the neighhourhood of Herat. had heen conveiied
to Islam. But the names of the n'st are like the names of demons rather than of Mus,il-
Shihabuddin of GhU1'
141
mans. Mas'ud won great glory in the campaign by his personal powers. But the
enteII,rise on the whole was a failure. The sultan's cOinmissariat fell into disorder'
his '\rmy was becoming demoralized; and he wisely retired while the laurels of
were still fresh on his brow. Ghur reinained independent and barbaric as beforc, a
land of infidelity in which 'every fort (koslwk) was at war with evelY other fort'.
Neither Mahmud nor Mas'ud succeeded in reaching the heart of Ghur. which is the
valley of Zu Mayandish. There is nothing positive to disprove that the infidel ances-
tors of the Shansabani princes did not wield their inconspicuous sway over their
native valley. In the century that followed Sultan Mahmud's death, two great events
changed the character of the region. In the first place, the inhabitants were gradually
converted to Islam. What Mahmud's alIDS had failed to achieve, or perhaps never
attempted, was accomplished by the peaceful propagandists of the new mystic move-
ment. Secondly, the Shensabani princes succeeded in establishing their seniority,
jf not their supremacy, over the hilly region. When for the first time the cmiain riscs
ovcr the scene in which the 'seven stars' are desprately struggling with Sultan Bahram,
the conversion and unification of Ghur are accomplished facts.
Ghur is not a city, as some people iniagine, but a province. MoclcIl1 investigators
have not done any work there and it is difficult to define its proper limits. In the valley
of Zu Mayandish referred to above. the later princes of the dynasty built the palace-
fort of Fituz Koh. As in the middle-ages the names of the capital and the countly were
sometimes unchanged, Firuz Koh is occasionally, but inaccurately, referred to as
Ghur. The province of Ghur was bounded on the northem side by a region of lower
hills, kriown as Gharjistan. To its west lay the well known province of Herat. The
,outhem frontier of Ghur adioined the warmer provinces of GalIDsir and Nimtoz,
which were then parts of the Ghaznavid kingdom. A high range of impassable
mountains. nmning nOlih to sonth, cuts off Ghur from. Ghazni on the west. A traveller
wishing to go from Ghur to Ghazni, had to move southwards to Gannsir
and then go up north again through the valleys and passes hetween the mountain
ranges.
Among the earlier authotities on the Shansabani dynasty, Minhajus Siraj refers
to the Nisab Nama of Maulana Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah Marwarrudi. "He
began composing that book in verse and dedic8:ted it to Alauddin J ahansuz.
later. on, for some reason the s towards Alauddin changed. and he
,refrained from completing the work. When Ghiyasuddin ascended the throne,
Maulana Fakhruddin completed his work and dedicated it to him." .The prose intro-
duction of Fakhruddin Muharak Shah's work has heen edited loy Sir Denison Ros.s. hut
his .extensive genealogical accounts have yet to see the light. The Nisab Nama
must have been one of the scores of hooks the Shah Nama has in.spired. Its historical
account of the Shansabonis could hardly have been reliable. It was a. court annal
and sought to glorify thc ancestors of the prince to. whom. it was dedicated ... 1;Iinhajus
Siraj's neat and well-trimmed account of the Shansabani princes before the days
Sultan Mahinud seems to have been ta,ed on such verses of the Nama as
his fliends could remember. In a later section of the Tabaqat-i.Nas;1';' he adds:
"I ani unable to give a concecutive account of the .Shansaha.ni .princes. frQ':" AmiI'
Banii to Muhammad. son of Suri, as J have not found it in any hook. I am writing
these pag-es in Delhi. The countries of 10:1am have been devastated. by the. Mongols
(Mal' . Allah damn them 1) and their inhahitants scatfered. I. am
10' the which I read when I was iI). GhUl'. and have to flut down
what I can gather from the TariklH Nasir'i and. the. Tar'ikh-i Haizam Nai .. or have
hearc;l from the shaikh of Ghur. The reader should forgive me."
142
Politics and Society durillg the Early Medieval Period
ApPENDIX II
We know very little of the early history of the Ghizz Turks, who sprang suddenly
into prominence in A.D. 1153 and almost entirely disappeared in the course of two
decades. They are said to have crossed the Oxus in the reign of the Abbasid caliph,
Mahdi (775-85) and settled in the desert south of Lake Aral. Tbis deselt is SOme-
times called after their name. Mokanna, the 'Veiled Prophet of Khurasan: found
'Orne followers among them but they did not care to follow his waning fortunes.
Towards the end of. Sanjar's reign we find them living in Khutlan, Chaghanian and
lhe territory of Balkh. They had been accorded a special status and were independent
of the governor of Balkh; their 4,000 tribes paid a yearly tribute of 24,000 sheep
:0 an agent of the controller of the royal kitchen (khawll-i-salar), and as long as this
was done, the emperor left them to manage their own affairs. One of the controller's
agents having proved harsh and exacting, the Ghizz murdered him secretly and
stopped paying the usual tribute. The controller kept quiet from fear of the sultan's
wrath, and made up the deficit from his own pocket; but when some time later,
Qimaj, the governor of Balkh, came to Merv, the controller explained the situation
to him and asked for his 'lssistance. Qimaj was confident of his power of managing
the tribesmen. He induced Sanjar to appoint him superintendent (sllUlma) of the
Ghizz and promised to extract a yearly tribute of 30,000 sheep from them. On
,eturning to Balkh, Qimaj sent an officer to the tribe to demand all 'lrrears. The
Ghizz refused to acknowledge the governor's authOrity and drove away his officers
with disgrace. 'We are the chosen subjects of the sultan', they said, 'and shall obey
no one but him.' Qimaj marched against them but was defeated and killed. Matters
had now become serious. The sultan's officers insisted on the necessity of punishing
slich turbulence. The Ghizz, On their side, were also frightened. Their representatives
came to the sultan and offered to pay as blood-;";oney "a hundred thousand dinars
and a hundred Khitai slaves, beautiful as the moon and Venus, anyone of whom,
if he happened to please the sultan, would be equal to a hundred Qimajes". The
sultan would have accepted their submission but his officers insisted on refusal. When
Ihe imperial army reached their territory, the frightened Ghizz once more sued for
peace. They placed their women and children in front and with cries and tears, offered
an ingot of gold for each household.
The sultan's generous inclinations wem once more frustrated hy his officers, Maid
Aihah, Barnaqash and Yunus Hameri, who declared, pel'haps rightly, that the prestige
"f the empire would vanish if criminal tribes, like the Ghizz, went unpunished.
Driven to desperation, the hardy tribesmen fought for all they were wor-th. Sanjar's
factious and intriguing officers failed to do their duty and their slackness led to a
disastrous defeat. The sultan fled with a few officers towards Merv. The Ghizz
Followed in pursuit. Their march was, however, delayed by a curious mistake. They
took a baker of the royal kitchen for the sultan, and, in spite of his declarations as to
his true status, placed him On the throne and did him homage. But they recognized
their error in time and succeeded in capturing the real Saniar before he could find
safety behind the ramparts of Merv. The sultan was treated with the respect the
Ghizz had previously accorded to the baker. All day he was made to sit on his throne
while the Ghizz chiefs, such as 'futi, Kurgharat, Malik Dinar. Ibl'ahim and Khutali.
<toad before him with folded hands. At night he was made to sleen in a cage.
'Th" fiction was kept UP that Sanjar still reigned, hut the Ghin chiefs did what
they liked and compelled him to sign the orders they had prepared.
Thus arnied ,vith the legal authority of the empire, the harbarous trihesmen pro-
Shihabuddin of Ghur i43
ceeded to capture the capital city of Merv and the prosperous province of Khurasau.
'From the time of Chagher Beg the people of Khurasan had been sleeping in the
cradle of prosperity and peace. The wealth of the city was belond comprehension.
The Ghizz sacked it for three days. They first seized and took away all things above
the ground; then they tortured the citizens to find out where they had buried their
treasures. Nothing was left above the ground or below it. Naishapur was the next
objective. The citizens defeated in battle, Hed to the Juma mosque. But the Ghizz
had the habits of infidels; they broke open the doors 'lnd making no distinction
between men and women, young and old, laymen and priests, slew them all mercilessly
On the s'lored Hoor. After sunset they proceeded to another mo,que, where also the
people had collected together for safety. The ornamented wooden columns of the
sacred building were set on fire and illuminated the city; and in this light the Ghizz
killed and plundered till the morning. Nothillg visible was left; they tortured the
citizens by thrusting earth ~ n d salt into their noses and throats to compel them to
reveal their hidden treasures. Scholars, shaikhs, and nobles all fell into the hands of
Ihe Ghizz and were martyred. There was not a single village in Khurasan which the
l;arhalians failed to desolate: The woes of the unhappy province drew a pathetic cry
from the heart of the poet Anwari:-
The mosque 110 more admits the pious race;
Constrained, they yield to beasts the holy place;
A stable now. 110r dome nor pO"ch is found;
Nor' can the savage foe proclaim his reign,
For Khu1'asania's criers all are slain,
And all her pulpit, levell;id with the ground.
The province of Kirman was also laid waste. Sultan Sanjar escaped from his
ignoble captivity in 1157; hut his power had been crushed beyond redemption and he
died SOon after. The reign of the Ghizz, though terrible, was shortlived. They
established no stable political system. Their chiefs ceased to act together when unity
was not urgently felt, and their wandering bands were suppressed by the Se!juq
governors, who were now independent. In other territories, like Ghazni, the Ghizz
chiefs succeeded in maintaining their sway for a decade or more.
[Appeared in The Muslim University Journal, No.1, January 1930, pp. 1O-51-Editorl
IiIII
HERITAGE OF THE SLAVE KINGS
Shihabuddin's career is generally dismissed as a side issue in the
general history of Muslim Asia. His defeat at Andkhud sadly tarnish,
ed his reputation, while the rise of Chengiz Khan soon after his death
and. the establishment of the largest empire that ever existed irt
the continents of Asia and Europe made his parochial victories look
hollow and insignificant in contrast. For palt of the oblivion that has
befallen him, Shihabuddin is himself to blame. He never patronized
men of letters and his achievements have not therefore been treasur-
ed up for the edification of posterity. No great bard coniposed the
epic of his conquests, and the work of the middling poets, with whose
turning his victories into verse he was quite cOlitent, were not thought
worthy of being saved from the Mughals and the moths: Materials
for a history of his reign are sadly wanting arrd Ferishta's brief ac-
count of his Indian campaigns gives almost all that can be 'gleaned
froni the earlier authorities. A man of unexpansive nature and with'
few interestsbesicles his work, Shihabuddin never attempted to make
Ghazni a great centre of civilization as it had been in Mahmml',
days and a1l0wed the scholars, poets and artists of the aqe to drift.
to the rival COl1l't of Khwarazm or to the provincial capitals of hi5
own empire.
is interes:ting to compare him with his great Ghaznayic1 pre-
decessor. Shihabudc1in was undeniablv a m,an of smaller stature; in
spite of the carping satire attributed to him by Firc1ausi Mahmuc1
was eveIY inch a king and never violated a king's code of honour.
He never broke his plighted word hec.luse, as he hiniself expressed
it, 'fate cannot he averted by duplicity allY more than hv valour'. It
may have been due to his superh confidence in his own capacity, hut
Mahmud always respected the moral feelings of his ,age, and when in
A.D. 999 AmiI' Mansur summarily took possession of Khurasan, Mah-
mud generously retired to Ghazni to avoid an unbecoming contest
with the dynasty his predecessors had served. His plunder of tem-
ples and uncalled for attacks on Indian princes, who had done him
no harm, appears to a modern critic the one unpardonable fault of
FIeritage 0/ the Slave Kings
145
his career; but his Hindu and Muslim contemporaries both con-
sidered plundering an enemy's place of worship as a legitimate act
of war, and a nation that refrains from robbing and oppressing its
weaker neighbours, when it can afford to .do so with impunity, has
yet to be born on this planet. Though often tempted to do so, Mah
mud neyer struck an enemy below the knee.
Shihabuddin's character, like the character of the age in which he
lived, was devoid of all moral ideals. He never hesitated in resOlting
to assassination as a political weapon and it is hardly surprising that
he himself fell a victim to the 'fine art' which more than anyone else
he had taught his age. His diplomacy was throughout crooked and
dishonest.. The end justifies means and that the only rational end of
a man's activity in his personal aggrandizement were the two great,
unexperienced, convictions of the age, and Shihabuddin was not one
of those heroic statesmen who are in advance of their times. The
ordinary citizens had become unable to visualize the state as a moral
agency for the improvement of its subjects, and the princes and
politicians, unsupported by strength of public patriotism, found it
impossible to achieve their objects without craft and guile. Shihabud-
din's unscrupulousness, in other words, was a confession of his in-
capacity to perform in a fair way the extremely difficult task he had
set before himself. But his moral shortcomings shOuld not blind us
to the magnitude of his work. He was not, like Mahmud, the.
presentative of a great movement and could appeal to no patnotic
feeling an:iong his subjects. Neither had he militarv
genius, with its strange mixture of and .cautlOn .. second-
rate general and a second-rate admmlstrator, Shlhabuddm s success
in life was due to a vaulting ambition backed by a tenacity of pur-
pose such as few men have possessed. No fa!lure ever damped the
ardour of his spirits; no ohstacles prevented hIS advance. ter
misfortune he alighted on all foms and was ready to climb agam.
We have seen the unsparing labour with which he organized his
armv and remarkablv reestablished his power over the empire when
his enemies fondly believed that it had been crushed for ever. In
anv age and in any station of life such a man was bound to come
to the front. , .
Shihabuddin's only child, daughter, had died .in her father s
time. The weak and amiable Mahmud bin Ghiyasuddin mounted the
throne of his uncle, but the powerful governors who
trolled the empire-Quthuddin Aihek in Hindustan,
Qubacha in Sind, Tajllddin Yalduz in Ghazni and Bakhtiyar Khalp
. PI> all-10
146
and Society during the Early Medieval Period
in Bengal-only yielded him a nouiinal homage and never even cared
to consult him in war and peace. It is difficult to guess what arrange-
ment Shihabuddin would have made for the government of his ex-
tensive dominions after his death, if the assassin's dagger had not
suddenly cut short his life.
Taunted once with his lack of an heir, the sultan replied that un-
like other kings, he had thousand heirs-his Turkish slaves to continue
his work aiter his death. This may have been more than a passing
fancy; in Muslim as in Roman law, the man, who has no heirs, is
inherited by his slave. Shihabuddin's slaves often betrayed the hust
reposed in them, but he could hardly fail to realize that it was through
them that his greatest victories had been won and his empire in
India established.
The subject deserves a closer examination. The 'minor plinces',
who established their power in the ninth and the tenth centuries,
were not likely to overlook the warlike talents of the Turkish race
to which they themselves belonged. They were afraid, moreover,
that their subordinate officers, might follow their example and over-
throw their power just as they had themselves overthrown the power
of the Abbasid caliphs. Under these circumstances the institution of
slavery proved very useful to the rising power of monarchy. Though
the Apostle had commanded the slave to be clothed and fed like
the master, he was, nevertheless, in law-thanks to the influence of
Roman jurisprudence--absolutely in his master's power. He had to
marry with his master's permission and his property after his death,
went to his master and not to the heirs of his body. It was obvious
that a prince would have-so far as law could procure it-a greater
personal authority over his dominion if all the higher and subordinate
officers were his slaves. And to it his slaves alone could supply the
efficient. civil and military bureaucracy required by the prince .. Slave
trade was one of the most profitable business ventures of the age,
and expeditions for capturing young Turkish slaves from the tribes
beyond the Muslim frontier was a regular annual phenomenon. The
maiority of the captives, tom from the bosom of their family and
the land of their forefathers, must have led a very unhappy life; the
bovs l!l'ew into 'hewers of wood and drawers of water' or enlisted
as nrivates in the army, while the girls were employed as domestic
servants in middle class household or became mistresses and prosti-
tutes. .
But for a reallv good Turkish slave, one who was handsome, pro-
mising and well-educated in the military and polite arts of the age.
Heritage of the Slave
147
the princes and governors were prepared to pay a surprisingly high
price, and the slave-dealers saw that educating their best boys. -:vas
a sage and profitable investment; the more
Turkish slaves received the best educatlon the age could prOVIde
and were carefully trained for the performance of their future civil
and military duties. It was out of these Turkish slaves, carefully
chosen from a large and then tested by actual service in
department of the state, aU dynasties the
to the Khwarazmian had formed theIr bureaucracIes. The
quality of the Turkish slave was th.e efficiency of his work. Startmg
with an education which seldom fell to the lot of a free man of
the middle class, he won his way to the top by a care.er of loyalt!'
and service; that he was a stranger in the land only lllcreas.ed hIS
ro Tal masters confidence in him by making a rebellIon on hIS part
probable. \Ve need not be sUI1JIised, therefore, to fine!
of the greatest dynasties-Ghaznavid and the .or 111-
st.ance-were founded by bureaucrats who had lIves as
I
Educated with a which shone m bnlhant con-
S aves., . b' I d nurtured
trast with the inefficiencv of pnnces orn 111 purp e an Ie
. th I of luxury and tested in the stern ordeal of stmgg
iste:c:
P
the more fortunate Turkish slaves carved out such calreers
x, d I 1 f free men The atter
for themselves as were beyon tIe reac 1 0 .
were not excludecl from puhlic office hut preference was gIven to
slaves, specially in the army. . .
The custom of the time permitted, in fact reqUIred, that a slave
of good moral qualities, and particularly one who had belonged to
a noble family in the land of his birth, should be treated on a pal'
with his master's children and nohodv was sUIprised when a
king manied his daughter, probably the child of a Turkish WIfe OJ'
minister. to one of his slaves.
Shihabuddin's instinct was not at fault when he declared that his
Turkish slave-bureaucracy was the true heir of his achievements and
his hopes. Other kings founded dynasties; he had organized a
svstem; and for somt' ninety years after his death his generals and t1wir
descendants continued to govern Hindustan while the kingdoms of
Ghur and Khwarazm were swept away by the Mongols. The Indo-
Turkish oligarchy of the thirteenth century had the many grievous
faults and its history is a continuous round of intrigues and assasi-
nations, plots and counteI1Jlots. But it had the ambitious spiIitof
its founder, and however selfish in its ainis. displayed, alike in its
architectural designs and its plans, a boldness of thought that
148
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Pel10d
.!lave, been madness for less competent men. The Indian em-
pire w/,lich Shihabuddin left to his successors was, nevertheless, a
fJilDsy stlUcture. Unloved by the people and dependent entirely on
a Turkish oligarchy honeycombed with intrigues, maintaining itself
by terrorism in the towns but unable to establish its power in the
countryside, it had neither the material strength nor the moral pres-
which a permanent government needs. Nor could it rely on the
support of any friendly power beyond the northwestern frontier in
the time of need.
In the 'ordinary course of events the Turkish throne and the Tur-
kish oligarchy would have been swept elf sooner or later by a com-
bination of Hindu forces.
But untoward movements buttressed its failing columns and pre-
served it for nearly a century. The Mongol invasion of Centr.al Asia
and Persia, which will be described' in a succeding chapter, resulted
in immigration of a large number of Muslim families into
they were generally welcomed by the sultans of Delhi, and, carefully
settled in between masses of Hindu population, helped to prevent
its getting out of control. Few of immigrants thought of returning
to' their desolated homes; thev were naturally loval to the government
and helped it in obtaining s'ome control the open countrv. The
second movement was of profounder, significance. A few vears before
the first battle of Tatain, Khwaia Muinuddin Chishti had penetraterl
into the heart of RajDutana with a few unarmed disciples ann spreaa
his prayer carpet before the roval tank. had be.en sent .there. bv
his master, who had allotted him the spirItual empIre of
and refuS,ed to leave the city he was determined to make hIS caDlt81.
Ba' pithora founnit impossible to expel the fearless missionarv, who
praved and converted the poorer to faith. N.or
could the tolerant raja see in the poor hermIt and hIS ?oorer ch:-
cipIes, not externally different from thousand of wandenng. menih-
't' India the 'moral force that W'IS to convert a conslderahle
can s m" h Kh . k h'
pm-hon of the people of In9ia to Islam. Rut t. e . waJa
b
'. ' d l'n 'thA course of his loner and active Me sp.nt hiS mls-
,usmess an . '- h d h'
.. " ." to eve nook and comer of the countrv. He a not mcr
SlOnanes ry , , ' 'h d l' ttl
td "th the government of Delhi and that Q"overnment a. 1 e
:th him. But there !!few up. as a result of mvstic ?m-
'd' t t d b the ChI'shti saint a native MuslIm populatJOn,
pap'an a s ar e . y , ..,. C tb
which had to be reckoned with in political 0\ '. e
future.
THE CAMP ArGNS OF 'ALAUDDIN KHALJl
BEING THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF
"THE KHAZA'INUL FUTUH"
OF
AMIR KHUSRAU
Chapter I
PREFACE
THIS BOOK, which contains an account of victories, has been give>:
the title of 'Khaza'inul Putuh' from I-Jeaven.l All praises are for, the
Opener, who opened the gates of victories for the religion of Muham-
mad and raised His helpers high with Divine assistance: Exalted is
His Dignity and Supreme His Kingdom r And blessings on the Pro-
phet of the Sword, who with a sign cut open the moon and the breast,
and showed with conclusive proofs: 'And Allah did certainly assist
you at Badr.'2 And peace to his Family and his pious Companions,
who woke up the sleepers with the tongue and the sword. Maylove
for them never cec:se to cling to our hearts even as victory clings to
the sword of the pIOUS Sultan of the world r After praises of God in all
sincerity, and of the Prophet in particular, the treasury o praises is
not deserved by anyone except the august Emperor. It wal be right
if I said in his praise, that he is thel exalted Sltn which illuminates the
moon. And he is the Sultan of the monarchs of the eatth more blil-
liant than the sun and moon when they rise r The of God'
over the heads of men! The protector of all creatures from the vicis-
situdes of time! The crystal sphere of excellence! The exalted sun!
Alauddunya wad din! The equal of the sun and moon on high! The
light of both the worlds in darkness etc, etc. Adorned with every
exalted virtue, Muhanimad Shah, the Sultan! May God cast His
shadow over all things so long as the clouds drop dew over the earth
from On high! 3
4The panegyrist of the Alai Empire, the servant Khusrau, states that
however high his pen may raise its feet and crawl through all the
150
1'o/itics alld Society durillg the Early Medieval Period
regions of black and white, it is unable to pass the first stage of the
Emperor's praise. But as it was written in the Book of Creation that
the pen, waich eulogiscs the Einperor, should come within my fingers
'like the shooting-star within the crescent or the sun in its constella-
tion', Divine kindness, the key to unlimited blessings,-'and for Allah
are the of Heaven and Earth' -opened to me the gates of
His treasures. Gems such as had never been bestowed on Bakhtari
and Abu Tamam were showered on my pages; though everyone of
thein was such as Venus could not afford to purchase, yet none was
wortiny o:li being used in praise of the celestial inonarch. Nevertheless,
since more precious gems were not to be found in the human ;niind, as
a matter of necessity, I stlinged these in order, expecting that the Em-
perol" will be an ocean of mercy, which out nothing that falls
into it.
51 believed that my crooked words, like the offerings of an ant
before Solomon's throne6 (May it rule for ever over men and jins I )
will be accepted, .for every poem I present to the Emperor, though
it be nothing else but a dried up river, is yet filled with water through
the stream of his kindness, and, aided by the favourable current,the
boats of my mind can float through all the regions of land and sea.
been drowned in his favours :in the past, I am emboldened to
proceed further; and having often dived in oceans of poetry and
brought out heaps of pearls, I also wished to adorn some pages of
prose for the high festiv.al. And even like th(; effect the stln on
preciolls stones the Empe:l'Or's look will t'llm them into things of value.
As my pen, like a tirewoman, has generally curled the hair of her
maidens in verse and has seldom shown them in pages of prose, she
raises her grateful face to the Emperor; 'May the august eyes dis-
regard my defect.'7
8If the stream of my life was given the good news. of eternal
existence, even then I would not offer the thirsty any drink except
the praises of the Second Alexander.9 But as I find that human life
is such that in the end we have to wash our hands off it, the fountain
of my words will only enable the reader to moisten his lips. Since
the achievement of my life-tiine, from the cradle to the grave, cannot
be more than this, I did not consider it proper to plunge to the bottom
of endless oceans but contented myself with a small quantity of the
water of life. 10The ni.irror of the Second Alexander 11 is such that, if
totally illuininated, its iinages cannot be contained by the looking-
glass of the sky. How, then, can they appear in the rust-eaten inind
of his servant? Still some things, which I have, I will show according
to the capacity of my iniagination and in such a way as I can,-so
that if critics have any doubts about Illy talents, such doubts may be
The Campaigns ot 'Alallddin Khalii
151
removed. I hope that when this spotless mirror, in which his virtuous
existence has been pol'b'ayed, comes before the eyes of the Second
Alexander, he will compare it with the original; if it is well con-
structed and its iinages are correct, he will place it among his select
but, if from inartistic or crooked execution, there is anything
In It contrary to the picture of fire, he will Signify so, in order that I
may correct it so far as possible. I hope, however, that he will not
tum away his face from it, for then my images will vanish as if
they had never been. But I know that a mirror constructed in the reign
of Alexander can never be crooked. 12In this book, known as the
Khaza'inul Futuh, I have only narrated one out of a hundred events
from the conquest of Deogir to the conquest of Arangal. It will
be seen in his 'Chapter of the Iron'13 what Hindu kingdoms have
disappeared from the face of the earth, and how far the 'Word of
Light' has overcome the 'darkness of infidelity'; so that the success of
the faith may be estimated from the light and the smoke. May the
kindness of the Merciful bless the Emperor!
141 will also narrate some events of the reign of this Caliph, who is
Muhammad in name, Abu Bakr in truthfulness, and Umar in justice. I
will show how, like Usman, he has brought the benevolent words of
God into the book of realization, how like Ali he has opened the gates
of knowledge in the' city of Islam, Delhi, with the key of his favour.
Through his munificence, which flows like the Tiglis, he has raised
this imperial city to the greatness of a new Baghdad. The Abbasid
standards, which had fallen down owing to great cataclysms, he has in
his Caliphate again raised upon foundations of justice.l
5
Through the
exercise of his strong judgment, he has maintained peace in the
countries of the world. And in all matters he has sought the aid of,
and held fast to Allah. Sh'ange is his prosperity, for God holds his
wishes in special regard I For instance, fire is killed by water the
moment the two are united, yet if it crosses his mind that the two
elements should be married, the Diwan-i-Quza will at once perform
the ceremony.I6 The powers of nature are much his. orders,
that though the earth is by the wmd wmd .IS dusty
with the earth, yet ill he gIVes the SIgn, the twam wIll be umted and
the guardians of the atmosphere will tmn the wind into water and mix
it with the earth. If his mind so desires, it is not impossible that
opposites should be made to m,eet I.
1 Allusiom to victories.
2 TI,e Qman, chap, iii, sect. 13; refers to a famous battle of the Prophet.
152 Politics and Society.dwing the Eari y Medieval Period
3 Persian doxologies are usually very florid and the Khaza'inul Futuh is no excep-
tion. I have omitted a few sentences from this paragraph. It does not come within
the scope of these notes to explain intricate literary allusions, which have no historical
,igni.6cance.
4 Allusions to authorship.
5 Allusions to prose and verse.
S i.e., the throne of Sultan 'Alauddin. He is referred to under the names of past
monarchs at various places in the book. For the mysterious beings called jins see
the QUlan, chap. lxxii, and for the stmy of Solomon and the Aant, chap. xxvii, sect. 2.
7 'Poetry was Amir Khusrau's mother-tongue; prose he wrote with great difficulty
aud effort:
8 Allusions to water.
9 'Alauddin, as Barani tells us, had assmned the title of the 'Second Alexander';
it is found in his inscriptions and on his coins.
lO Allussion6 to the mirror.
11 The mirror of the First Alexander was supposed to have been made by Aristotle
and placed on the top of a tower constructed at Alexandlia.
12 Allusions to the word of God.
13 Title of Chap. I vii of the Qwan.
14 Allusions to the Caliphs of Islam. The nrst caliph, Abu Babr, was reputed for
his truthfulness; the second, Umar, for his stern justice; the third, Usman, collected
the chapters of the Qman; and the fourth, Ali, was famous for his learning and courage.
15 The Abbasid caliphate had been Clushed by the Mongol barbarians. Baghdad
itself had been sacked by Halaku Khan in A.D. 1258 and the soJe surviving scion of
the dynasty of Harunur Rashid had fled for refuge to Egypt.
16 Muslim marliages required the presence and the certificate of the qaz; or state
law-ollieer. The Diwan-i-Quza was the Imperial Department of Justice, presided. over
by the Sadrus Sud",' or the Head of Qazi of Delhi.
Chapter II
ACCESSION, REFORMS AND PUBLIC WORKS
Here begins the Khaza'inul Futuh, every gem of which is a lamp for
the soul. IvVhen the breeze of Divine favour began to blow over the
wishes of the youthful monarch, not a hundredth part of whose good
fOltune has been yet realized (May God always strengthen his
branches!), many victories blossomed on his sword and from
the Bihar2 of Lakhnauti to the Bihar of Malwa. He grew like a tree
in the tenitory of Kara by the bank of the and out
his bl'anches (so wide) that he attained to the dIgmty of the Shadow
of God'.3 Wherever in the forest or by the bank of the dver, there
was .a mawas 4 whether in cultivated land or wilderness, he trod it
underfoot with his army. Then on Saturday, the 19th Rabi'ul Akhir,
A.H. 695 he moved towards the garden of Deogir, from which
The Campaigns of 'Al.aucidin Kl.alji
153
direction the spring comes; and striking its branches like a stonn,
cleared them ot theuleaves and fruits. Ram. Deo, a tree of noble
origin in that garden, had never before been injured by the tempestu-
ous wind of ffilsfotune; but (the Sultan) in his anger first uprooted
him and then planted him again, so that he once more grew into a
green tree. .Next, loadi,ng his elephants with precious stones as the
rainy season clouds (are laden wim water), and placing bags of gold,
more in quantity than the saman-i-za1'5 that grows on the earth, over
Bactrian camels and horses
6
swift as the wind, he arrived in Kara-
Manikpur on the 28th of Rajab, A.H. 695. Now that
bulbul, the pen, sings by its scratchings on paper, of the accession of
this tall cypress to the throne. From tile first day of his accession till
now, A.H. 709, whichever way he has turned his bridle under the
shadow of the canopy, the odour of his conquests has been dissemina-
ted with the winds. Indeed all forts opened at his impetuosity as buds
'open' at the blowing of the breeze. 71 hope from AlmIghty God that
He will for ever preserve the memOlY of piOUS kings on the pages of
time. And may the excellent virtues of the Emperor be recorded (in
this book) in such a way as to become famous throughout the world,
and may the pitch of (my) voice rise high enough to drown the drums
of Sanjar and Mahmud, though in affairs of government and conquests
they were great and successtul monarchs! 8
Account of the accession of the conquering monarch, the sales of
whose feet have. brought happiness to the throne. 9As Providence had
ordained that this Muslim Moses was to seize their powerful swords
from all infidel Pharaohs and dig out of the earth the immense (Qaruni)
treasures of the mis, till the calf-worshipping Hindus in their hearts
began to consider the cow contemptible and the Emperor, with the
bow of Shuaib,lO became the shepherd of all his subjects, therefore
the deceased Alf Khan
11
was sent to him as Aaron had been sent to
Moses. The hopeful message came ta his. ear: 'We will
your arm with your brothel' and we will glVe you an .authonty.
With the auspicious advice of his brother, the Impenal Moses
mounted the throne, which was high as the Tur, on Wednesday the
16th Ramazan, A.H. 695. He gave away qinta1's after qintars
12

gold-'her colour is intensely yellow, giving delight to the beholder
-to evelY ignoble person. time he opened the .of
his hand to give away some preclOus pearls, he showed the wlllte
hand' of Moses in generosity. Owing to the scattering of emeralds,
it seemed that the meadows of Manikpur were inlaid with gems.
And as the enemy13 preponderated in strength, both the brothers
raised their hands' in prayer: '0 our Lord! Surely we are afraid that
he may hasten to do evil to us,' 'J1.Le heavenly voice replied to give
r
"
154 Politics allCI Society drll'illg tire Early Medieval Period
strength: 'Fear not, surely I am with you.' At the appointed
time the Emperor reached the precincts of the City.l3 But as the
ruler of this side, with the pride of Pharaoh in his head, waited for
him on the bank of the blue Jumna, the inspiration from Heaven came
again to his herut: 'Fear not, surely you will be the uppermost.'
So relying on his dragon-spear, he crune to the precincts of the
Imperial Capital. On Monday, 22nd Zil Hijj.ah, A.H. 695 the Emperor's
proclamation, 'Obey my command J' was heard from e.ast to west.
And then owing to his justice he became thg shephet"d of the people;
the wolf in killing goats became like the wolf of Joseph.
If I am allowed, I will show the superiority of good government
ave, the glory of conquests. 14Every man gifted with the crown of
wisdom, if he takes correct judgment for his guide, will after a little
cogitation come to the conclusion that the dignity of the 'ruler' is
superior to that of the 'conqueror'. For the term 'ruler' is rightly applied
to Almighty God, while the title of 'conqueror' cannot be legitimately
used for any but kings of the earili. Philosophers have said that the
conquest of the world is with the object of retaining it: the man, who
conquers but cannot retain, is in fact himself conquered. And it is
inevitable that when he seizes the world, the world should seize him
also. Thus, too, is deru' as day to all men that the conquering and
keeping of the world is a quality of the sword of the sun; for
from east to west the sun brings the eruth under ilie rays of his sword
and keeps it. But the mere conqueror is like a flash of lightning;
for an instant he seizes the whole world and then immediately
disappears. The conqueror of this age (May God strengthen his
hand over the capital and the provinces!) so highly excels in the
qualities of the 'ruler' as well as the 'conqueror', that neither the
pen nor ilie tongue can describe his powers. As a matter of necessity,
therefore, I will speak of his virtues in such manner as my
capacities allow; and according to the premises stated above, a
description of his administrative measures will precede the account
of his conquests in the arrangement of iliis book; so that every item
may find a proper place without disturbing the continuity of the
narrative. The sock is for the foot and the hat is fOI" the head; the man,
who hM brains in his head, does not wear his sock over i05
Account of the administrative measU1"eS that have been promulgat-
ed in the 1'eign of the Emperor, who is extremely deuoted to this art:-
l6The fortunate star of all mankind arose on the day when it was
made evident to the Emperor's enlightened mind:' 'And agaInst
these we have given you a clear authority.'17 For when I raise
up my eyes; I see that this exalted Dawn
18
has a love and
affection for the sons of Adam than the sun 11as for the moon and the
The Campaiglts of 'Alaruld;" Klwli; 155
stars of the sky or the moon for the particles of the ealth. In the
first place, throughout the empire, from east to west and from north to
south, he has often remitted the tribute from the ra'lyat. Secondly
he has seized from the Hindu mis with the blows of his sword, just as
ilie sun absorbs water from the eartll, treasures which they had
been collecting since the time of Mahraj and Bikulmajit, star by star.
The public treasUlY is so full that it can be neither described by
the pen of Mercury nor weighed in ilie balance of Venus. He
gives away treasures by the balance of Virgo, so iliat people, who only
possessed copper, drowned under tankas19 of gold and silver like
the Pisces. On the day of the Empe/"01.'s munificence, the balance in
the sky is lighter than the balances on the earth.
Account of the distribution of treasures of gold by elephant-loads .
and a t.,.ifle more:- "Before iliis time when Mahmud, the giver of gold,
gave away an elephant-load of gold, his great liberality became famous
through the world. But the Emperor distributes gold in a rrieasure
which nothing can excel. He has ordered large elephants to be
weighed in boats, and the gold-bricks used in weighing them have
been given away to the poor. What monarch can rival the prince in
whose city treasures, weighed out by elephants, are given away.
Account of the distribution of horses swift as the wind, when every
gift consisted of more than a hundred horses: - 21 If I were to describe
his gifts oE horses, the stable of my praises would be unable to
include them. Kings are munificent; and the Emperor every day
gives away fortunes to the necessitous. It is seldom that he makes
a smaller gift than of a hundred fifty (horses); but if he gives one horse
only, it is such that another like it cannot be found. With the blows
of his sword he has seized the stables of all the mis. Some of these
horses he gives to the horse-breakers, so that with the strokes of their
whips they may make the horses run as swift as deer. Others are
given to the paiks (footmen) so that they may ride on them with the
help of their sharp stirrups. The grooms (mufradan-i rikab) are also
given horses. In former days the calves of the runners had grown
thin from running on foot, but now their feet seldom leave the
stirrup. Some horses are given to the amirs, who formerly owned
unbroken coIts but now ride horses swift as the wind. As this clou{t22
rains horses, there is no doubt that the rose, which was formerly a
foot-man, will now come out of the ground on horseback.
Account of his making the means of happiness abundant for every-
one, so that no one may be restrained in his en;oyment durin{!. the
,.eign: - 23N ext in Ol'der to increase the means of livelihood for the
general public, he reduced the tax on shop-keepers, who had been
selling their wru'es dear. An honest officer (l'ais) was installed over
156 Politics and Society during the Ea/'Iy Medieval Pe/'iod
them to converse with sharp-tongued sellers through the whip of
justice and to givc the capacity of talking to the dumb (purchasers).
Clever inspector (mutafahhis) made full inquiries into the weight of
the stones.
24
Every dishonest (seller), who used his own black heart
for his 'stone', had all hardness knocked out of him. Severity and
rigour reached such a pitch that all 'stones' (weights) were made of
iron and their correct weight written upon them; so that if anyone
gave less than the correct measure. the iron turned into a chain round
his neck. If he was impudent still, the chain became a sword and
the extreme punishment was meted out to him. When the shop-
keepers saw this seveli.ty, they did not meddle with the iron-weights;
in tact, they considered them to be castles of iron round their hearts
and regarded the inscriptions on the weights as amulets for the pro
tection of their souls. You might say that the inscriptions were really
not on iron but on hearts ot iron. For on heart sllch as these the
Empel'Or's just 1'egulations came as easily' as inscriptions on wax and
mmained as permanently as insc1'iptions on iron.
Description of the justice meted out in this reign, so that the dragon
has become submissive before the ant. 251 I attempt to describe the
justice of the imperial COUl't that two-horned deer, the pen, will
have to put a chain round the neck of the lion of meaning.
2G
Wonder-
tul, indeed, is his justice, when from fear of his punishment mad
elephants kneel down betore panting ants, and tigers repent of their
rooming draught of animal blood under his arched sword! His justice
has broken the necks and claws of lions and! overthrown the power
ot dog-taced tyrants.
27
The head of the pig-eating oppressors hangs
low, and the blood of goat-stealing criminals has been shed on the
ground like the blood of goats. . ..
Reform of the affairs of nobles and commons-Proh!b!t!.on 0t
adultery and drink. 28Though the giving of water (to the thirsty) IS
one of the most notable viltues of the pious Emperor, yet he has
moved wine and all its accompaniments from vicious assemblies; for
wine, the daughter of grape and the sister of sugar, is the mother
of all wickechless. And wine, on her part, has washed herself with
and sworn that she will henceforth remain in the form
of vinegar, freeing herself from all evils out of regard for
the claims of 'salt'.29 Moreover, all prostitutes, who with their
locks under their ears, had broken their chains and stretched their
feet, have now been lawfully married. . From the ribbon, that!: tied
their hair, they have now turned to the 'ribbon' that ties them
in marriage. Those whose skirts had obtaind a bad reputation, be-
cause they eamed their living by prostituti.on, have been. so
reformed that they sit in theu' houses, patching up theIr skuts WIth
The Campaigns of 'Alnuddin Khalil 157
the greatest repentance and rubbing their hands together.
SO
All the
roms of sin and crime have been cut 9ff.
Peace and order during the Emper01's reign, when no one da?'e
pick up a fallen jewel from the street. SIOut of regard for all his
subjects, this maintainer of peace has so worked with his sharp sword,
that trom the banks of the river Sind (Indus) to the seacoast no one
has heard the name of robber, thief or pickpocket. Night-prowlers,
who formerly used to set villages on fire, now attend to travellers
with a lighted lamp. In whatever part of the country a traveller
might lose a piece of rope, either the rope is produced or compensa-
tion giv.en. Cutpurses, pickpockets and those who dig open graves
S2
had been busy in their profession from ancient times. But now the
sword of punishment has cut off their hands and feet. And if some
of them are still sound in body, their hands and feet have become
so useless, that you would think they were born without them.
Massacre of blood-sucking magicians, when blood bubbled out of
the neck of those whose lips had worked mischief. 3SBlood-sucking
magicians-who by the use of (magical) words sharpened their un-
wise teeth on the Hesh of other people's children and caused a stream
of blood to How, which pleased them greatly-were buried in the
earth up to their neck, while people thtew stones at. them. Thus
punishment for the blood they had drunk was meted out on their
heads. All men ha1;e to suffer the agonies of death, but those who
drink this wine (i.e. human blood) aTe thus destroyed,S4
Massacre of the 'fmternity of incest' (ashab-i ibahat), when p,mish-
ment for their deeds was meted out to them. 35Next the pious sup-
porter of the shari 'at ordered all members of the 'fraternity of
to be bronght before him. Truthful inquisitors were appointed to
catch evervone of them and make thorough inquiries into their
assemblies: It was discovered that among these shameless wretches,
mothers had cohabited with their own sons and aunts (mother's sisters)
with their nephews; that the father had taken his daughter for his
bride and there had been connection between brothers and sisters.
Over the head of all of them, men as well as women, the saw of
punishment was drawn... The saw with its heart of iron laughed
loudly over their heads in tears of blood. Those, who by a 'secret
stroke' (zarb-i pinhan) had become one, were now openly sawed into
two, and the soul that had sought union (wasn with another soul,
was now compelled to leave its own body.SG. ,. ,
Account at the cheapness of com, when it smgle dang
37
. turned
the 38As this cloud of generosity is extremely anxious for the
public welfare and the comfort and pr?sperity of and com-
mons, he has kept low the price of gram, from whIch VIllagers and
158
Politics alld Society duril1g the Early Medieval Period
citizens derive an equal advantage, dming periods when not a drop
of rain has tallen trom the painted clouds. Whenever the white
clouds have had no water left and destruction has stared people in
the face, he has cheapened the price of grain for every section of the
public by generously opening tlle royal stores.
39
The clouds, COll-
sequently, have felt ashamed at their own niggardliness and in envy
of his bountiful hands have dissolved into rain. To spur them on
to this act, the lightning has often laughed loudly over the heads of
waterladen clouds and then fallen on <the ground.
4o
For the lightning
knows well that the clouds sometimes rain and sometimes do not
and when they rain, they rain water only. How can they be
pared to our beneficent Emperor, who always rains and always rains
gold?
Regulatiom of the 'Place of Justice.'(Darul Adl),41 the generolts {!.ate
of which has been opened fm' the public. 42Next he constructed-the
'Place of JustiC(; more open than the forehead of honest business-
men and brought to it all things thUlt the people require. He ordered
that all packages of cloth brought the provinces were to be
opened here and nowhere else; and once opened, they were not to
be tied up again.
43
And if anyone opened his packages elsewhere,
the ioints of his body were to be 'opened' with the sword. As to
the commodities of the 'Place of Justice' and lhe cloth which is re-
quired. by pOOl', there are all varieties of cloth from kil'pas
to ham whICh hIde the body; from behari to guli baqli, which are
used both in summer and winter; from shi'r to galim, which differ
greatly in their fibres; from ;uz to khuz, which are similar in their
structure; and from Deogiri to Mahadeonagl'i, which are an allure-
ment both for the body and the mind.44 As to fruits and other neces-
sities of the table,45 if I were to describe in detail all the fine fruits
that grow out of the ground, the narrative would become too long
and I would be kept back from my real purpose; but the Emperor
has prOvided in the 'Place of Justice' fruits and all other things that
nobles and commons require for their meals, so that in the midst of
the noise and tumult everyone may be able to select carefully the
best and most suitable articles.
46
You profess to give a just (judg-
ment). Can you find (a judgment) just enough to the Emperor's
generosity?
Account of the sacred buildings, which the Emperor has constructed
for the pleasw'e of God. 47Because there is a secret understanclina
between God and the Emperor concerning sacred and public work;:
he has constructed such sacwd buHdings' as su'ike the sky with
wonder. With a pure motive lle began his series of buildings with
the Roval Tuma Masiid (Masiid-i Iama-i Hazrat).48 He ordered a
The Campaigns of 'Ah"cldill Klwlii
159
fourth court (maqslt1'll), with lofty pilIars to he added to the pre-
existing three courts; it was to be so high that the fourth heaven
may call it a second Mecca. In a day, stones like the sun were
brought from the sky, and the (structure of) stunes rose from If:he
earth to the moon. Verses from the Quran were engraved on stone
as if it was wax; on one side the inscription ascended so high that
you would think the word of God was going up to heaven; on the
otller side it came down in such a way as to symbolize the descent
of the (Juran to earth. Through the elevation of this inscrip<iion a
conversation, which will never end, has been started between heaven
and earth. Mter this wide and high edifice had been finished from
top to bottom, other mosques were built in the city, so su-ong tllat
when the nine ]1oofs of the thousand-eyed sky fall down in the
universe-quake of resurrection, not an arch of these mosques will be
injured. Next the columns of the old mosques, whose walls were
kneeling and bowing in prayer and whose roofs were about to fall,
were made to s'tand up so that they onCe more became the 'pillars
of faith' and prayers were said in them. -The four walls (of the
. mosques) were strengthened and so brilliantly plastered irrside and
outside that theii- light outdid the colour of the azure sky.
Of the extension of the Jami and the subsequent construction of
the Minar. 49When by the grace of God50 the decayed mosques
had been so firmly repaired, that like the sacred Ka'ba they became
safe from deshuction, the Emperor's noble ambition prompted him
to build a peer to the high Minar+Jami, a umivalled
throughout the world. Tl\e dome of sky was to be bestowed on the
(new) Minar, for it could not rise higher than that. First, he ordered
the courtyard of the mosque to be extended as much as possible,
so that the 'fraternity of Islam', which is fortunately too large for
the whole world, may vet be contained in this world within a world.
Next, in order to the Minar strong, and to cany it so high
that the dome of the old Minar might look like an arch of the new,
he ordered its circumference to be twice that of the old Minar.
On a sign from the Emperor, the planets, who <Ire the shop-keepers
.of the sky, began to move their chariots. Mercury became busy in
buying iron and stone and the moon began to drive the Taurus. Yes,
when the 'House of God' is being built, the stars have to cany stones
on their And if they refuse to stir from thp-it' places, the Minar
itself wilt 1ise up to them and st1'ike thei1' heads with stones. People
Were sent to search for stones on all sides. Some struck the hills
with their cbws, and as they were anxious to find stones, they ton'
up the hill-side to pieces like lovers.
51
Others were keener than steel
in overturning inlidel buildings. They sharpened their iron instru-
160
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
ments, went to wage a holy war against the castles of the (old) rah.
and taught a ferocious battle against the stones with their muscles
of steel. Wherever an idol temple had kneeled down in prayer, the
arguments' of the strong-tongued spade removed the foundations of
infidelity from its heart, till finally the tcmple placed its head in thanks-
giving on the ground.
52
The stone slabs bore ancient inscriptions
made by the 'Preceptor of Angels'53; but as the pen of Destiny had
ordained that all these stones would have the good news-'Indeed
he builds the mosques of Allah'-written upon them, they thrust the
point of their pickaxes into the hard hearts (of the buildings) and
threw (the stones) to the ground. Then the iron of the shovels,
having turned into a magnet in contrariety to its nature, drew the
stones to itself, and labourers with bodies of S\tee1 brought these
stones tram temples a hundred farsangs away. The stony back of the
mosque had a large mass of stones put upon it; stones, such as the
sky could not have drawn to itself, were taken to the sky; and rocks,
such as the mountains could not hold on their backs, were brought
upon the backs of the animals.
The stone-cutters of 'Hind, who excel Farhad in their art, took out
their hatchets and smoothed the stones so artistically, that if imagi-
nation had put its feet upon them, it would have certainly slipped.
The masons of Delhi, who consider Nu'man Munzir a novice in the
art of building, used their profeSSional skill and joined stone to
stone so that there was no danger of any secret crevice or cavity
remaining between them. The doors and walls of the mosque, which
tormerly performed their tayammmn
54
with the dust, have now been
raised so high that they perform their ablutions with water from the
clouds. This has happened in the year A.H. 711. To carry it higher,
human life must be based on a foundation firmer than that of the
minar; only then could the tower, which has risen out of the earth,
be carried to the sky. And though 1 wish to see it finish, my life
will have to be long before I am able to witness its completion and
send my blessings to its pious founder. Besides my sight cannot
reach its end; I am one of those who come and see and depmi.
Construction of the strong fort of the city, in which a second wall
of Alexander55 appems on the face of the globe: fort of
Delhi, the deputy of the sacred Kaba, had fallen down. Owing to the
ravages of tiJne, it was in a condition of dilapidation worse than that
whiCh has overtaken tavems
57
in the reign of the august Emperor.
Like a man dead drunk, it had fallen down in place and out of
place, quite unable to keep its stones together. Sometimes it placed
its head on the ground before the common people of. the public
hi{!hwav; on oilier occasions, it had bowed dowp. ill salutaf:ion to the
The Cam.paiglls ot 'A/alle/di" Klw!ji
161
worthless ditch. Its towers had once been so high that a nian's hat
tell dO'wn if he attempted to look at them; but nOw, from continued
ill-treatment, they lay down to sleep on the earth. When the Alai
era of public works arrived (May it last for ever!), the Emperor
ordered stones and bricks of gold to be taken out of the flourishing
exchequer and spent in defraying the expenses of the fort.58 Skilful
applied .themselves to the and a new fort was qUickly
bruIt III place of the old. The uewfort with its strong foreann and
seven shakes hands with the coloured Pleiades' squeezes the
powerful Mars under its amiJ-pit, and uses the high sky as a sort of
waistband. It is a necessary condition that blood be given to a new
building; consequently, many thousand croat-bearded Mughals have
been sacrificed for the PUll Jose. When the edifice-many congra-
tulations to its founder-was completed, the Guardian of the Universe
took it under His protection. How will any trouble or insurrection
find its way to the place of which God. is the guardian?
Construction of other forts, which, owing to the emperor's favour,
now ,'aise theil, heads to the sky: _59 vVhen the masons of the imperial
capital had been recompensed for the buildings in the city, the
Em,peror Ol:dered that in any part of the empire there was
a fort, whwh had been affected by the moist winds of the rainy
season, or was about to doze or go to sleep, or had opened wide its
cracks and cast away its teeth (from old age), Or grew yellow flowers
the rainy season, or was laughing through its walls or falling on
Its neck, or had the snakes of Zuhhak60 living in its ears (comers),
or bred rats in its arms (wings), it was to be repaired; so that instead
of crevices frequented by scorpions and snakes, its towers rose
stronger than the constellation of Scorpio, and as high as the
SagittariUS and the Pleiades.
Of the new buildings in the country, and cities, which fill
the whole empire with 'taslJih' (praises of God) and 'azan' (call to
prayers) 61AlI mosques which lav in ruins-the vaults of some had
fallen to the ground, the walls -of others had crunibled down after
haVing been repeatedly patched and repaired, the (interior of) some
was compelled by the wind to perform an ablution (tayam11ltl1n) with
dust every clay, the piUars of others had daily bathed in the .rain
and then laid themselves dowll-were built anew by a profuse
scattering of silver. Prayers were said regularly in all, with blessings
on their pious founder.
Account of the royal tank (Hallz-i-SlIltani), which holds the water
of immortality in solution. 62The royal tank, known as the 'Shamsi
Tank',63 will (now) shine like the sun tiIl the dawn of resurrection.
162 Politics and Society dUJ'ing the Early Medieval Period
But (formerly) the sun eveq day made it a rriirror for seeing its
own face, and it reflected back the light of the sun. But as the
latter shone hotIyupon it, it slowly sank down out of respect for
the sun. 'If your water should go down', the sun asked in its rage,
'who is it then that will bring you flowing water?' And the tank
dried up from fear. This year the revolving sky flared up all of
a sudden, and the water of the. tank evaporated so thoroughly that
its bottom cracked and broke into pieces. In his contempt for the
'kind of the planets', the 'Emperor of the worId'64 ordered the sand
and mud to be removed from the bottom of the tank. And as the
sun from on high had been drying up its water, a dOine, such as
put that luminalY into falling fits, was built over it. Then rain carrie
on, and tIle 'eyes' of the clear-hearted tank, which had dried up
at the sun, were again filled with water. Strange the sympathy of
the tank, that it should weep (at the helplessness) of the sun! But
such is the custom of noble persons. Immediately sweet water be-
carrie available in the City and a tumult l'ose up froin the City wells.
But though it had rained once through the kindness of Heaven, the
bottom of the tank was too dry to become moist with a Single draught.
All clear water, that fell f1"Om the cloud, sank into the earth like the
FJ'eaSU1'e of Qantn.
65
66There can be rio doubt that Delhi is a city,
which even the Nile and the Euphrates cannot provide with sufficient
drinking water. And so the people of the City were faced with the
same that had threatened the followers of Moses. The
Emperor-whose sharp sword has thrown the Pharaohs of infidelity
into the Nile, or, to put it differently, whose Nile-like sword has been
drowned in the yellow blood of Jewish tempered
67
tunic-weavers-
in this general scarcity of water, when even the Jumna had become
dry, raised up his 'white hand', like Moses, to pray to God for water.
Immediately, in proof of the text,-'And we made the clouds to give
shage over you'-the shadow (of his hand) fell over a little dly earth,
The spades and the pickaxes in the hands of the excavators became
like the staff of Moses. Two or three springs appeared on the four
sides of the embankment (chautra). 'So there flowed from it twelve
springs; each tribe knew its drinldng place.' In a few days the
water reached the edge of the embankment; and having rriet it (the
embankment) after a long tirrie, the water shook hands with it and
hugged it with a hearty embrace, just as the sea embraces the land.
Khusrau has written these lines in praise of the tanl" and its dOnie:
'The dome in the centre of the tank is like a bubble on the sUlfrtce
of the sea. If you see the dome and the tank rightly, you will say
that the former is like an ostrich egg, half in water and half out f)f
it.'68
The Campaigns of 'Alm/(Zd;n Klwlii 163
1 A1l1lSions to the spring.
2 A play on the word which means spring and is written in the same way
as Bihar.
3 i.e., became Sultan of Delhi. The sultan was styled the 'Shadow of God'
(Zilu!!ah) .
4 A fortified village. The medieval Kara is near the modern Allahabad.
5 A fragrant yellow flower. For an account of Alauddin's Deogir expedition, see
Appendix A.
6 Najibs.
7 AllUsions to history and book,.
8 'Alauddin was appointed governor of Kara-Manikpur (Allahabad) after
the suppression of Malik Chajju's rebellion in the second year of J alaI uddin's
reign. He distinguished by ravaging Chanderi, and then without Jalalu-
ddin's permission, he marched to Deogir and plundered it. Rai Ram Deo had to
pay an enormous indemnity but was left in possession of his lands. On returning
to Kam, 'Alauddin succeeded in prevailing all the Sultan, who was his uncle
and father-in-law, to come to see him unattended, and had him murdered
during the interview On the 16th Ramazan, A.H. 695 (Wednesday, 17 July 1296).
Apart from the Deogir exploit, these events were not creditable to 'Alauddin,
and Amir Khusrau, who was deeply attached to the murdered SUltan, has not
attempted to justify them. For more details, see Barani and Ferishta.
9 Allt/sions to the history of Moses.
10 J etluo, the fathet-in-Iaw of Moses. The quotations from the Quran in this
paragraph refer to Moses' conversation with God.
11 Alf Khan or Ulugh Khan was the title of Alauddin's younger hrother, Almas
Beg. It was Almas Beg's duplicity that induced Ialaluddin to Come to Alauddin's
camp without his almy.
12 A weight of fOl'ty tlqiyats (ounces) of gold. Here used in the general sense
of ox-loads and bags.
13 After Sultan Jalaluddin's assassination, his yonngest son, Ruknuddin Ibrahim,
was placed on the throne by Jalaluddin's widow, the Malka-i Jaban. But Alauddin
IVan over the people and organized his anny by a liberal distrihution of the treasure
he had obtained at Deogir; and the Malka-i Jahan and Ruknuddin fled away to
as soon as anny crossed the }umna and encamped at Siri.
13a The City (shaT".) in the language of those days always meant Delhi. Other
cities were called by their names. A certain sanctity was attached to the capi-
tal of the country, and it was referred to with respect.
14 Allusions to the dignities of States.
15 In spite of his dazzling conquests, it was as an administrator that Alauddin
excelled. Amir Khusrau's florid rhetoric simply comes to this: it is much better
giving good government to your own subjects than to conquer foreign lands, which
you mayor may not be able to retain. 'One can do anything with bayonets except
sit upon them: It is to be regretted that in spite of his sensible views the author
should have given us sneh a scanty account of 'Alauddin's administrative economic
lllC'aSUres.
lfl Alil/sions to stops.
17 The Qwan. chap. iv, sect. 12. The full extrnct will make the meaning clearer.
164
Politics and Society during the Early Me:dieval Period
'rf they (the non-Muslims) withdraw from you and do not fight YOll and offer you
peace, then Allah has not given you a way against them. '. If they do !lot withdraw
from you and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them
and kill them wherever you find them; and against these we have given you a clear
authority:
18 i.e. the Sultan.
19 Tanka, the ancestor of the modern rupee, was the silver and gold coin of the
Empire of Delhi. The copper coin was called jita!.
20 Allu";olls to gold and balances at gold.
21 Allusions ,to horses, swift the wind.
22 i.e. the Emperor.
23 Allusions to govenunent (,illasat) and shop-keepers. The shop-keepers were
controlled by the diiiJan-i ,.iyasat or ministry of markets. For the working of the
diwan":; riyasat under the harsh but efficient Yaqub Nazir, see Em'ani, pages 315-17,
(Persian text published by the Bengal Asiatic Society and edited by Sir Syed
Ahmad Khan).
. M i.e. weights used by shop-keepers.
25. Aliusions to the traditions of justice and equity.
26 i.e. the Emperor's justice surpasses description.
27 Referring to the chaudharis, kllOts and nlllqaddams whose power Alauddin had
overthrown. They had started as village headmen but aspired to transform them-
selves into landlords and claimed the ownership of their villages. Alauddin's reforms
deprived them of their perquisites and reduced .them to the position cif tenants.
28 .Allusions to vil1ttle and vice.
29 Wine and sugar may be both produced from the same grapes, and the
addition of salt turns wine into vinegar.
30 The regulations for the prohibition of intoxicants are mentioned by Barani,
but he says nothing about the compulsory' marriages of prostitutes. It is likely
that brothels were closed along with taverns and gambling dens.
.31 Allusions to peace and order.
32 Apparently, in cirder to steal the winding-sheet.
33 Allusions to man-eating magicians.
34 The punishment of magicians, stoned after being half buried, has not been
described by Barani, but it is only too probable considering the universal belief
in magic and the atrocious punishments inflicted on those who were supposed
to dabble in anything dark and mysterious. 'No one in 'Alauddin's days.' Barani
tells us, 'had the courage to profess a knowledge of alchemy or magic from fear
of the emperor.'
35 Allusions to incest and punishment.
36 This is confirmed by Barani. 'In those years', he says, 'people who com-
mitted incest and libertines appeared in the City. By the Sultan's orders they
were found out after a careful and diligent search and were put to death with
tortures. The saw of punishment was drawn over their heads and they were
cut into two. After this punishment the name of incest did not come to
anyone's lips in the City.' By the 'fraternity of incest' is meant the Carmathians,
Ismailes and other Shia 'heretics" of the sect of Seven Imams, whom the 'ortho-
The. CamlJaiglls of <Alanadin KlIOI;i 165
dox' Sunnis accused of permitting marriages within prohibited degrees and of
practising incest in their secret assemblies. The charge, whether right or wrong,
was generally believed. The Carmathians had captured Multan a century
before Mahmud of Ghazni and made their existence felt again and again in the
succeeding centuries.
37 The fourth part of a misqal; a trifling weight.
38 Allusions to seasons, corn and its rates.
39 "'Alauddin used to take 'royal dues from the peasants of the Doad in kind.
The corn was stored in the .royal granaries and brought to the market in
times Of famine and sold at the tariff rates". The economic and administrative
regulations of Sultan 'Alauddin are described by Barani in detail.
40 Out of 'respect fo,[ the Emperor apparently,
41 Barani calls it the Sf!ra-i- Adi. It was constructed on the plain before the
Badaun gate, and placed under the supervision of (he (Super-
viser of the Cloth Market). Barani gives the tariff and the detailed regulations
of the Cloth Market.
42 Allusions to opening and closing .
43 The prices in the Sera-iAd!, owing to the subsidy granted by 'AJauddin to
Multani merchants, were lower than in other t(,'Nns. Cloth once brought to it
was not allowed to be taken out again; nor could cloth be sold anywhere else
in Delhi except Sera-i Adl.
44 The phrases added after the names of the cloths are a play upon the
names of the cloths, wilich it would not be worth while explaining in English.
45 Allusions to fruits, ripe and sweet.
46 Barani does not speak of fruits being sold in the Sera-i Adl, but it is quite
possible that a part of the market was allotted to fruit shops. Alauddin was
very particular about the maintenance of order in the markets and no distur-
bance was permitted.
47 Allusions to building,
48 The Qutb Mosque, of which the Qutb Minar is a part, is known by
various names. 'In histories,' Sir Syed Ahmad Khan 'says in the famous AsarlU
Sanadid, 'I have always seen this mosque referred to as the 'Masjid-i-Adana-i-
Delhi or the Masjid-i-Jama-i-Delhi but never as the 'Masjid-i-Quwwatnl
Islam, It is not known when the name of 'Quwwatul Islam' was given to
it but it might have obtained this name when the temple was conquered and
the mosque was built. Such mosques are seldom kno,wn to the public by their
real names but only by the general designation of J ama-i Masjid.
49 Allusions to the mosque and the Minar.
50 The following extracts from the ASQl'us Sanadid of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
will enable the reader to attach a meaning to Khusrau's florid narrative.
'The incomple'te Mtnar: - The Emperor Alauddin was very desirous of fame.
Consequently when he ordered the extension of the (Qutb) Mosque in A.H. 711
(A.D. 1311), he also commanded a new Minar (to,wer) to be built in the courtyard
of the mosque, twice the size of the old (Qutb) Minar. The new Minar had a
circumference of one hundred yards and its foundations were laid in the
Muslim fashion-i.e., with a platform and the first door opening on the western
side. It was proposed to build the new Minar 200 yards high. But though the
Emperor had laid its foundations firmly, his own life was less secUre; even the
i
I
166 Politics alld Society during tlte Early Medieval Period
first storey had not been finished when he died and the wonderful structure
was left incomplete. Some parts of the incomplete Minar have fallen down;
only a mass of stones and lime is left.
'The Large Gate near the Qutb Millar: - When Sultan 'Alauddin became
emperor and developed an ambition for public works, he built an enormous
gate for this mosque near the Qutb Minar in A.H. 710 (A.D. 1311). This gate is
almost wholly of red sand stone, although here and there marble has been
,used. On the four sides of the large gate he constructed four smaller gates,
and on the western, southern, and eastern gates he has put inscriptions with
his name on them. But many of the inscribed stones have fallen down and
rain has eaten into many letters. The roof of the gate consists of a heavy
dome. Everywhere there is fine inlaid and mosaic work, and 'traditions' and
verses from the Quran have been inscribed.
'The Court of (the Qutb Mosque): - After the gate was finished, the Emperor
urdered a fourth, court (darja) to be added to the mosque. The court in the
centre had been constructed by Sultan Mu'izzuddin, and the two courts on
either side of it by Sultan Shamsuddin. Alauddin's court was 115 yards long,
counting three feet to the yard; the foundatiolls of nine doors had been laid
and the central door was sixteen yards. In A.H. 711 (A.D. 1311) the court was
being built; but unfortunately the Emperor died in A.H. 715 (A.D. 1315) and the
mosque was left incomplete. If the edifice had been completed, the whole
mosque would have measured 241 yards in length from east to west, and 132
yards in breadth from north to south. On the northern side the Emperor
began the construction of a door, but that, too, was left unfinished. There was
fine mosaic work on all these incomplete buildings, and texts and "traditions"
had been inscribed. It is not known who removed these (inscribed) stones
but it is clear that they have been removed. Nothing is now left except (plain)
stones and lime'.
51 In allusion to Farhad, the lover of Shirin, who perforated a huge mountain
to please his mistress.
52 Only the ruined palaces of the old rais or temples that had ceased to be
places of worship and had fallen down, were touched. A temple used as a place
or worship was inviolable by the Imperial Law
53 i.e. Satan. A farsang, roughly speaking, is a distance of three to three
a half miles.
54 The Muslim practice is to perform ablutions (wazu) with water before
prayer; but when water is not available, sand or dry earth can be used, and
the ablution is then known as the tayammum.
55 Referring to the famous wall which Sikandar Zulqarnain (probably Darius
I of Persia) constructed to keep off Gog and Magog (The Quran, chap. xviii,
sect. 2.)
56 Allusions to the buildings of the fort.
57 'Alauddin had ordered all taverns and gambling dens of Delhi to be closed.
58 'The Alai Dellzi, or Alai Fort or Koshak-i Sid: This fort was built by
Sultan 'Alauddiil KhaljL When in A.H. 703 (A.D. 1303) the Emperor ma'rched
against Chitor in person and at the same time sent a large force against Warangal
in Telingana, Targhi and the Mughals came and laid siege to Delhi, expecting
to find it empty. But after many battles the Emperor was victorious. After-
wa'rds he built this fort. A village, called Siri, existed here at that time;
The Campaigns' of 'Al.auddin K/wiji 167
consequently, the fort was also known as the fort of Siri. In Sher Shah's time
it was called the "Koshak-i Siri". The fort, as built by Alauddin, was circular,
with strongly built walls of stone, brick and lime, and had seven gates. Before
the fort was completed, another battle with the Mughals took place, and eight
thousand Mughal heads were used in place of stones in building the walls of
the fort. Though' the fort has quite crumbled down, yet some traces of it are
found on the left hand side when going to the Qutb Minar. In A.H. 96 Sher
Shah pulled down the fort of Siri and built a new city near Old Delhi (i.e.,
Indarpat). A village, named Shahabad, exists at the place now.' (Asarus Sanadid.)
59 Allusions to buildings.
60 A king of the Peshadian dynasty, proverbial for his cruelty. He had
two snakes growing out of his shoulders whom he fed on human beings.
61 Allusions to buildings again.
62 Allusions to the tank, clear and moist.
63 A play on the name of the Emperor Shamsuddin (Sun of Faith).
64 i.e. 'Alauddin.
65 Cousin of the Prophet Moses. He is believed to be constantly sinking
down and down, into the earth, along with all his treasures, in punishment of
his niggardliness and greed.
66 Allusions to the story of Moses.
67 Because given to hoarding.
68 'The Hauz-i Shamsi'-'This tank was built by Sultan Shamsuddin some-
time about A.H. 627 (A,D. 1229) in the neighbourhood of Qutb Sahib. It is said
that the tank was constructed of red stone, but now it is quite broken and only
a lake is left This lake is 276 pukhta bighas in area. What, then, must have
been the extent of the tank when it was in good repair? In A.H. 711 as it had
been filled up with mud, Sultan 'Aiauddin had it dredged; and exactly in its
centre he constructed a platform over which he built a very beautiful dome
(bUljl). This dome exists till to-day. Firoz Shah, too, repaired the tank in his
reign and cleared the passages by which the water used to come. But now the
tank has been nearly filled up with earth, and water does not remain in it for
more than three or four months' (Asarus Sanadid).
Chaptm' III
CAMPAIGNS AGAINST TIlE MUGHALS
lAs the public works which have been, and are being, constructed
by tltis pious builder (May he live for ever!), surpas9 what the pen
can describe, out of many iniperial buildings I have contented
myself with the description of those given above in acknowledge-
ment of my own limitations. Now Iwil'l move my tongue, which is
surrounded bv wise teeth, and describe some of the victories this
Alexander has achieved through heavenly assis-
168 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
tance, the territories he has conquered and the forts he has reduced.
Thus I will bring out of my mind the treasures that lie buried there,
at every Dietary 'I will scatter (pl'Ose) tinder the foot of my lJen
tn these pages.
. The first .victory of the arlnY over the gluttons of Kadar
In confines of. !aran. iUanju!. 2This is the account of the victory
V;luch champlOns of the trIumphant army obtained, for the first
durmg the reign of this Sanjar-like Sultan (May God protect
IllS standards!) over the soldiers of the accursed Kadar in the land
When ,the subtle Tatar, accompanied by an army
like an avenglllg deluge, came as presumptuous as ever from the
. mountains, and crossed the Bias, Jhelum and Sutlej,3 the advanc-
lllg wave of the helUtes burnt down all the vlllages (talwamh4) of
tlle that the flames illumina'ted the suburbs of the city,
and the of Qusur were demolished. Such a wailing arose
that the sound 01 it reached the august Emperor of the world.5 6The
la:e Ulugh Khan, the arm of the state, was sent with the right
Wlllg of the army, supported by great generals and troops, to wage
a holy war. He to go to the infidels to show them his strong
aneZ closed fist. 'The Khan, whose bow was like that of Arsh 8
flew as fast as one of his own arrows; and making two marches in
one, he reached the borders of Jaran of Manjur, the field of battle.
Only tlle distance of a bowshot remained between the two armies.
On Wednesday, the 22nd Rabiul Akhir, A.H. 697 the are-at Muslim
Khan came into contact with the infidels. He ordered tile standard-
bearers to bind the victorious standards to their backs; for the sake
tJleir they tm'ned their faces towards the Sutlej, and
WIthout the aId of boats, they swam OV(W the striking out their
like oars impelling a boat. lOThe Mughals seemed velY brave
before the victorious army had plunged into the river; but when
the wave of Muslim troops reached the middle of the stream, they
gave way. Unable to bear ,the fire of the sword, they fled desperately;
and though in number like ants and locusts, they were trampled
the the horsemen like an army of ants. The Mughals
WIshed to slllk mto the ground; for the sword was so busv on the
bank that blood flowed like surkhab
ll
on the river. The
of the .army could split a hair of the eyelash without injuring the
eye; and in the twinkling of an eye, they had sewn up the stony
eyeballs of some Mughals as you mi!!ht sew up the eyes of a hawk,
their arrows pierced the iron hearts of others as a key goes
mto a lock. When a breast, like a rust,! lock, refllses to open, it
should be opened in no other way tlian this. In short, twenty thou,
The Campaigns of 'AI.auJdin Klwlii 169
sand ferocious Mughals were sent to sleep on the ground in mourn-
ing at their own death by the powerful (imperial) lions. A very large
palt of Kadar's aim)' (tuman) was cut to pieces with blows of axe
and spear. Some Mughals whose bones had been ground to pow-
der, were sent off to their journe
y
12 in that condition. Others had
become unconscious through fear, but life stiU remained in their
bodies, their heads ,,,ere cut' off, and so they departed without their
heads. Most of the survivors were imprisoned. 'Lay hold on him, then
put a chain on The iron collar, which loves the lVlughal necks,
enclosed them with the affection and squeezed them hard.
'This is the punishment of the enemies of Islam', cried their chains
with a lOlld voice .
l4When the blood-smeared heads of the Tatars had RUed the battle-
field with thousands and thousands of wine glasses, the jackals of the
f0l'est collected together and heM a feast by the river-side. After
slaughtering the execrable carcass-eaters of Qaidu,15 who are both
Turks of the tribe of Qai (vomit) and the eaters of vomit (qai), the
anny of the Khatifa (May he reign for ever!) prepared
to return. The late Ulugh Khan (May God give him pure wine to
drink!) first held a pleasure-party to commemorate the great victOlY
and scattered gold and jewels a:mong his comrades of war and peace.
Then intoxicated with happiness, he spurred his horse to kiss the
ground before the impelial court. The prisoners, who looked like
the teeth of mad elephants, were put to death. Meanwhile, the
Emperor, lIke Kai-Khusrau,16 had seen the image of this victory in
the world-compassing mirror of his own mind, and :moved his tongue
in gratitude at the realization of his wishes. 'If you are grateful, I
would certainly give to you more.'17 He then gave himself up to
rejoicings. He called tile commanders (khans) of the left and right
wingslll to a great feast, and bestowed such favours on the citizens
and the army, that they were freed from all labour (God protect us
from it!). If you asked water in alms f1'Oln; a beggar, he would give
you wine.l
9
This is the account of another VictOl'y of the MusUm army over the
Mughals. 20When Ali Beg, Tartaq and Targhi came with drawn
swords from the borders of Turkistan to the river Sind (Indus), and
after crossing ,the Jhelum like an arrow, tumed their faces in tilis
direction, Targhi, who had once or twice fled away from the attacks
of tlle victors, already saw his bald head on the spears of the cham-
pions of Islam, like a wine cup placed over a ladle. Although he
had an iron heart, yet he dare not place it within the reach of
anvil-breaking warriors of God. But he was at last shot by an arrow
170 Politics alld Society during the EGl1y Medieval Pe'riod
which penetrated his heali and passed to the other side. Ali Beg
and Tartaq, who had never bcen to this countrv before mistook the
arched swords of Musahnans for those of n{ere pre;chers. They
ventured wi,th single heads on their shoulders into a countrv where
if a man brought a thousand heads, he could not take one' them
back. They had fifty thousand trained and ferocious horsemen; the
lillis trembled at their tread. The confounded inhabitants at the foot
of the hills lied mvay at the fierce attack of -these wretches and
rushed to the fords of the Ganges. But the lighhling; of Mughal fury
penetrated to that region also and smoke arose out of the towns of
Hindustan.
21
People fled from their bW11ing houses, and with their
heads and feet on fire, threw theniselves into rivers and torrents. At
last from these desolated tracts news came to ,the inipelial court.
The Eniperor sent his confidential officer, Malik Naik, akhu1"-bek
i-maisara, with thirty thousand powerful horsemen, and directed him
to slaughter without stint and to shoot such an arrow at the accursed
mark as might create a fearful rent in their work (strategy). Across
a distance which was longer than the day of the idle, the victorious
anny passed more quickly than the lives of the busy. On Thursday,
12 Jamadius Sani, A.I-I. 705 they overtook the doomed enemy.
Immediately on seeing the dust of the Muslim army, the groveUing
Mughals became like particles of sand, revolving above and below.
Hard-lived though they were, their souls fled out of thein; nor
could tl:heir iron hearts' remain in their places to serve as anchors for
their souls. Like a swarm of gnats waning against a hun-icane, in
proportion to their attempt to move fOlward, they were taken further
back. And the Angel of Death cried out to thein: 'Flight shall
not do you any good if 'you fly frolll death or slaughter:
22
From
necessity (rather than choice), they made a feeble att.ack though their
enthusiasm had declined. But the army of the Second Alexander,
which you might call an iron wall, was not a thing that would bend.
It drove away those doers of the deeds of Gog; and in expectation of
divine assistance-,-'and He has sent an army, which you do hot see'
-the sharp sword began to do its work. Soon fire-coloureC! faces
fell to the ground. One would think that the Muslim swordsmen
were throwing balls of fire over running water. In this universal
cutting of heads, Ali Beg and Tartaq,' the two 'heads' of the
Mughals, saw the sword above them and the time of their faH near.
Their faces grew dark' from the blazing heat of the all-conqueIing
. sword, and they threw themselves under the shade of the Musliin
standard. 'The rays of the swotd have smuck us with such a fire',
they said, 'that we will never be satisfied till we have reached the
The Campalgl)s' of 'Aiatuldill Khal;l
171
"Shadow of God",' The man laid low with misfortunes ,cannot find
happiness anywhere except itndel' the 'shadow of God'.
23The field of battle, strewn with elephant-bodied :Mughals, look-
. edlike a chess-board. Their faces (castles) had been cut into two
with the sword, and their bodies, pounded with the clubs (gurz),
looked like bags for holding the chess:men. The dead lay
right and left like so lIiany captured pleces. Of the 110rses (kmghts)
which had filled the squares, some had been knocked down with
blows and others had been captured. Such knights, as after the man-
Del' of pawns, refused to go back, were turned into (pawn.
s
),
and since thev moved still further, they became faTzm (queens), I.e.
they were to place their heads on the ground.
24
Ali Beg
Tal'taq, the two kings of the chess-board, were cl:eckmated by theIr
large-boned eneniy, the Malik Akhur-bek, who to send them
to the Emperor, so that he may either spare their hves 01' cast
them under the feet of the elephants (bishops). 25When Satans pup-
pets, i.e. the infidel troops, wel'e brought b.oun.d the
throne, the two adventurers, who had claImed equality (wlth <the
'Sultan) cast their eyeballs like dice on the cmvet of submission, and
to the Emperor's manHness in order to save their yves.
different orders were given concenling these 'red and wlute ones ;26
some were to be put to death and others implisoned. The two cap-
tured pieces,27 who had hitherto rentained in suspense, were brought
to their prison and freed from the danger of death. In the course of
time one of them died, without any harm having been done to him,
and the other reinained alone. The Emperor was so in the
sport that he took their lives in one game after another.28
Account of another victory and the slaughter of the Mughal tumans,
who had misrd an uprOar under the dog, Kapak.
29
30When the fierce
inndel army (God destroy it!) came proudly the
garden of Hinclustan, the southemmost of the ferlile countnes, to-
wards the end of Diy,31 dust arose from the borders of the land of
Sind and the inhabitants threw away <their property and dispersed
like autumnal leaves. But the starin of destruction, being unable to
raise any dust in the regions of Kuhram and Samana, <tWl1ed towards
the wildemess of Nagaur, and overpowered the inhabitants of that
region. \Vhen the stench of these doomed carcass-eaters led by a
hound increased, the sweet Nagauli rose, which smells like rubbed
sandal-wood, turned fetid. Messengers fast as the wind brought news
of this stench to the perfumed palace of the victorious Empcror,
whose virtues are fragrant like the navel of a musk-deer. abhor-
rence of those men with stinking brains, he ordered the MuslIm army
172 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
l?roceed against them; but the news was to be kept a secret, lest
III fear of the sandal, the horrid stench should fly back
to the fragrant wJl:lows of Khurasan. The Malik of fragrant virtues,
Izzuddaulah waddm Kafur-i Sultani (May the irrtperial court be per-
,:ith his talents!). was appointed to lead the ariny. The deer-
ndmg lions went so qUIckly that they made no distinction between
the darkness of night and the light of dawn till they had reached
their. stinking prey. And when the turmelic-coloured dust of the holy
warnors had bathed the anice-smelling Mughals, the latter also be-
canie fragrant. 320n the banks of the Abi-i Ali33 the Mughals were
overtaken by a weak wave from the swelling stream of Muslim enthu-
siasm. The accursed Kapak fell into a rushing torrent of swords
and began to strike OUit his hands and feet; the sharp sword was
about to cut off his head, when the kind-hearted Musalmans rushed
in from all sides and took him prisoner, in order to send the water-dog
with the other aquatics to the impelial court. AU the followers of
Kapak were either killed or imprisoned; some were shot with arrows
and became cold where they stood; the rest had still some wate::
frOin the stream of life left, but the wind of Divine wrath blew against
theni and they were put into chains. .
Another Mughal army, under Iqbal Mudbir,34 and Mudabir Tai Bu,
followed close behind Kapak's, thirsty for the blood of Musalinans,
but well fiUed with the blood of 'their own bibes. Suddenly a torrent
of blood of the slaughtered infidels fl0wed towards them, but as
they were well accustomed to such a flood, they dived to the bottom.
The swelling stream of blood, however, reminded them of the sharp
sword; for a great slaughter was awaiting thein. Though they tried
to strike out their feet, they found no space to stand on. Meanwhilf'
the van of the Muslin} army advanced like clouds and rain, and fell
like a raging stOlm on these men from Jaihun. All of them fled
from the rain of arrows, and wished like dogs to seek refuge in any
gutter. On every side the army advanced like waves of a deluge
that goes ODer mountains and caverns with tumult and noise. 35News
was brought 'to the commander of the Muslim troops36 that the
Mughals had two heads, one Iqbal and the other Tai Bu. When the
right wing of the imperial army fell upon them, they lost all conscious-
ness of hand and feet, and the two Mughal leaders were flying by
the same passage across the Sind (Indus). But as they had forgotte11
their 'feet', neither did their 'feet' remeinber their 'heads'; and it
was high time for the imperial sword to strike off their 11eads' and
throw them before their 'hands' and 'feet'! 37 38So by the firman of
the commanders of the army, bold and strong-.armecl warriors took
The Campaigns of 'Aim/delia Khalii 173
their swords in hand, spurred their horses across the extensive desert
and SOOIl overtook the retreating Mughals. In that garden of death
heads were struck off ancl necks were cntopen, so ,that the sword
sometimes reached the throat and sometimes the waist. Owing to the
sword of the holy warriors, the deluge of blood came U1J to the nose
of the infidels; yet not a dmp of blood came out of a Musalman's nose.
When the victorious army, which had girded up its loins for holy war
in defence of the Faith of the Lord, saw conclusive proof of the text,
-'And surely Allah wilt help him who helps His cause'-it enacted
the scenes of resurrection on the innumerable bodies of these accursed
wretches. You would have thought that the Day of Judgment had
arrived, and that the angels of the Lord were collecting the dead
bodies of stony-hearted infidels to light the fire of hell, 'of which inen
and stones are the fuel'. Countless infidels having been sent to Hell in
that extensive territory, another great multitude of them was con-
signed to the angels of torture to be put in 'chains and shackles' and
bJ"Ought to the review. At the head of the chain was the accursed
Kapak, a hound {rani .am,lngst the hounds of Hell. He had been
captured among the ami-rs of Jar Tai Bu's tnman and testified with
him to the fact that the people of the north had resorted to flight. All
the other (Mughals) were either despatched to the pit of Hell or else
put in the same cilains with those destined for that place. The vir-
tuous Malik
3
9 moved back with his troops to the court of the august
Emperor (May his kingdom last for ever!). Tillie after time he kept on
sending fresh news to the Lord's dcputy,40 and was in reply favour-
ed with a robe of honour. Finallv he reached the imperial cOUli,
and bronght the hellish crew to the muster of the Judgiuent Day.
'When the earth is shaken with her (violent shaking, cried the huge
elephants as they -threw most of these cutton wearers (i.e. Mnghals)
high up in the air; and (the cotton wearers) became like 'loosened
woof. 41But as even the enOl1UOUS elephants, who aI'e like strong
houses on moving pillars, were not able to destroy all the desolators
of this country, order was given that the base of the towers of the
. Fort (kangar-i-hisar) was to be cOllstructecl from the blood and bones
of the remaining (Mughals). Imllipdiately in obedience to the imperial
command, Tatars and Chinese were hung from the fort as negroes
42
with heads inDerted hang down from a new building. 430wing to
the mirlUle of the Mughal bodies with the material of the towers,
the confluence of Mars ancl Saturn was witnessed, and the evil in-
fluence of the confluence fell on the lives of these men of Mars. For
even after all the towers had been constructed, many of these doollied
men were left. Their wretched heads were cut off with shining
1'"
y
Iii
I"
I
I.,!.
"
v
il!
Ii
11
I
I
I'
174 Politics alld Society during the Early Pvriod
swords and a bastion, so high that it 'touched the head of the sky,
was formed of them. Mars hung its head (in shame) at the sight.
The constellations of the sky have but a single 'head', but here you '\
may see a hundred thousand 'heads' in a single constellation (bastion).
u *
NOTE ON THE INVASIONS OF KAPAK IQBAL AND TAl BU
Later historians have so confused the account of these generals that I have,
for the sake of clearness, reserved their discussion for a separate note.
As to the other authorities, Amir Khusrau has devoted some lines of his
DaIVal Rani to the same campaigns. 'After this (defeat of Ali Beg and Tartaq)
three fierce (Mughal) generals, who moved more rapidly than the wind, crossed
the territory of MuItan and began to ravage the land of the Ravi. One of them
was Tai Bu, the other was Iqbal Mudbir and the third was Kapak, wise in war
and revenge. Their armies, innumerable as grains of sand (had come) to take
revenge for the fate of Tartaq and Ali Beg. According to his custom, the
Emperor ordered the Minister of the State, Kafur (camphor), to disperse the
stench of Tai Bu, so that no trace of it may remain. The great warrior marched
rapidly, and crossing two stages in one night, came upon the Mughals like a
storm and dispersed their wretched ranks. The blood of the Tatars rose high
up to the breast of the horses in that extensive desert. The infidel dogs fled in
panic; the holy warriors pursued them like lions. Iqbal and Tai Bu fled from
the battlefield towards the rivers. Though they had collected spoils before this,
now the preservation of their own heads was all they wished for. The Army
of Faith advanced like a river and Kapak ,vas drowned; it ponnced like a falcon
and carried off Kapak as if he was a partridge. A collar was placed ronnel the
neck of the great hound and he was sent to the Emperor of the World.' In spite
of the mixed metaphors, these lines will leave on the reader the impression that
Iqbal, Tai Bu, and Kapak were three generals taking part in the same campaign,
though, of course, each commanded a different army.
Barani's account is loose and inaccurate.
"On another occasion, in another year, the army of Islam came to a battle
with the accursed Kank and the Mughal troops at Khakar. God granted victory
to Muslim arms. The accursed Kank, leader of the Mughal army, was brought
captive and aliVe before the Snltan's throne, and there cast under the feet of
elephants. On this occasion also, either in the field of battle or else after being
brought to Delhi, enormous numbers of Mughals were slain. A tower of their
heads was raised before the Badaun Gate; people see it till today and if reminds
them of Alauddin.
'On another occasion, in another year, three or four Mughal amirs of
broke into the Siwaliks suddenly and heedlessly with thirty or fourty thousand
horse and engaged in plunder and slaughter. 'Alauddin sent the army of Islam
against them with orders to seize the road by which the M ugha Is were to return
to the river; when the Mughals returned thirsty to the water.side, it was to, mete
out their punishment to them. The Mmlim army seized the passages of the
The. Campaigns of 'ArulIddii, Khalji 175
Mughal retreat and encamped by the riverside. As God had ordained, having
laid waste the Siwaliks and travelling a long distance thence, the Mughals and
their horses reached the river thirsty and in disorder. The Muslim army, which
had been waiting for their return for a few days, obtained the desired supremacy
over them. The Mughals, taken by surprise, begged for water from the Muslim
army. They were all taken captive along with their women and children. A
great victory had crowned the Muslim arms. Th0usands of Mughals were sent
to the fort of Naraniya with ropes round their necks; their women and children
were brought to the Delhi slavemarket and sold away like Hindustani slaves.
The Malik KhasiHajib was sent to Naraniya from the capital. He went there
and put unhesitatingly to the sword all the Mughals who had been brought to
the fort after the victory. Streams ran with their foul blood.
'In another year Iqbalmandacame with the Mughal army. Sultan Alauddin
sent the army of Islam from Delhi against them. This year also the Muslim
army gained a victory over the Mughals. After a feebly fought battle, Iqbal
manda was slain and thousands of Mughals were put to the sword. The hazara
and sada amirs, who had been caught alive, were brought to Delhi and cast
under the feet of elephants. On the occasion when Iqbalmanda was slain. no
Mughal escaped alive.'
Two later historians deserve citation.
'In the year A.H. 705', says Ferishta, 'one of. the great amirs of Dawa Khan,
named Kank, came with alarge army to seek revenge for Ali Beg and Khwaja
Taryai. He had passed the precincts of Multan and reached the Siwaliks, when
Ghazl Malik Tnghluq prepared his army for battle and seized the banks of the
river NiJab, thus cutting off the Mughal retreat. The Mughals plundered and
ravaged; then after a long journey, when the air was hottest, they came back
to the banks of the Nilab with inflamed livers and parched lips, ignorant of the
snare of their enemy. But when they saw the river of life in the enemy's hands,
they naturally despaired of their lives and gave battle to the army of Hindustan.
Most of the Mughals were slain; Kank was captured alive while those who
escaped from the battlefield died of thirst in the forest. Their women and
children were taken prisoners. This was a strange event, for out of fifty or
sixty thousand Mughals not more than three or four thousand were left alive.
Ghazi Malik, who became very famous on account of this victory, sent Kank
with a large number of Mughal prisoners to the Sultan. 'Alauddin had Kank
and his comrades thrown under the elephants' feet near the Hazar Sutun Palace,
and then constructed a tower of Mughal heads in the plain before the Badaun
Gate. It is said that traces of it remain till today. This year the Mughal women
and children were sold in Delhi and the rest of Hindustan like Hindi prisoners
of war.
'A long while after this a Mughal, named Iqbalmand, came to Hindustan with
an immense army and wrought much damage. But Ghazi Malik Tnghluq
marched against Iqbalmand and after slaying him sent many live Mughals to
Delhi to be trodden down by the enormous elephants. Fear and terror now
overtook the Mughals; the desire of coming to Hindustan was washed off from
their breasts; and they created no trouble till the end of Sultan Qutbuddin's
reign. Ghazi Malik Tughluq was stationed at Depalpur. Every year he led
e:Kpeditions to Kabul, Ghazni, Qandahar and Garmsir, plundered and ravaged
those regions and levied tribute from their inhabitants. The Mughals had not
the courage to corrie and defend their own frontiers against him.'
Nizamuddin's account is based on Barani. .
176
Politics and Society during the Early Mt'{iieval Period
'Next time a Mughal, named Kabik, came with a large army and fQught a
battle with the .army Qf Delhi at Khakur. Most of the Mughals were slain and
a ,tQwer of thelf heads was cQnstructed near the Badaun Gate.
After a whIle a Mughal anny of thilty thousand horse came to the Siwatiks
and began to' plunder. Whe?- Sultan heard Qf it, he sent a large army against
them. The army Qf Delhi seIZed the banks of the Ravi, across which the
had to' return; and when the Mughals, loaded with spoils, came to' the
nv.er-slde, the army Qf and defeated them. Many Mughal
we!e captured and JfllpnsQned ill the fQrt Qf Tarainah, which is situated
that nelghbQurhQod, while their families and fQIlQwers were brought to' the
city SQld as slaves. this the Malik Khas-i Hajib was Qrdered to' gO'
to' Taramah to' put the pnSQners to' death. '
'A IQng time after this IqbaImandah, a famQus Mughal, came to' India with a
large An tQok place between him and the army Qf Delhi at
Daradahmdah Amlr (1). Iqbalmandah was slain and the Qther Mughals
were brQught to' Delhi, where they were thrown under the feet Qf elephants.'
Of the five aCCQunts befQre us, Nizamuddin merely summarizes Barani and
need nQt be further cQnsidered. The Qnly additiQn he makes is the identificatiQn
the mentiQned by B.arani with the Ravi. Ferishta apparently had Qnly
Nlzamuddm and Dawal Ram befQre him, and ;llays havQC with facts and names.
Of the three O'riginal authQrities Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, Dawal Rani and Khazainul
Flllllh the last twO' are fairly cQnsistent, but it is difficult to' recQncile them with
the Tariklz-i Amir speaks Qf the three generals as if they
had planned a JQmt push, Kapak leadmg the advanced cQntingents while the
other twO' marched behind. Malik Kafur (nQt Ghazi Malik as in Ferishta) was the
cQmmander Qf the Delhi army. Barani speaks Qf three campaigns in three dif-
ferent, if nQt successive, years. The first is led by Kapak, the name of the CQm-
mander of the second is not given, while the third is assigned to IqbaImanda.
I a.m to' agree with Amir Khusrau, whO' wrQte during 'Alauddrn'i; reign
whtle Barams paragraphs may nQt have been written till years after. Military
matters did nQt interest Barani, his geQgraphical knowledge was meagre and ,his
dates are often incQrrect.
1 Allusions to territories and torts.
. The Qr MQngQls, whO" are the heroes Qf this chapter, ,requir.e some
mtrQductlOn. They were first brQught intO' prominence by oChengiz Khan in' the
beginning of the thirteenth century. The early lifeQf Chengiz was spent in a
prQtracted struggle against the surFounding tribes, but 'he emerged victoriQus
through a 'cQmbinatiQn Qf craft and guile, brutal strength and ,cQnstructiw states-'
.His as 'Khan' Qf the MQngQI tribes was fQI1Qwed by a
Qf hiS people the mQst efficient fighting machine in the wQrld,
Qrgamzed Qn a system Qf umversal cQnscription and ,blind obedience to' ,orders.
Chengiz first invaded China and then attacked the Khwarazmian Empire with
an army of 800,000. No power in the Muslim world was able to' withstand him.
City after city fell befQre the barbarians, and Sultan Alauddin Muhammad
The Campaigns of 'Alamldin Khalji 177
Khwarazm Shah died in Qne Qf the islands of the Caspian to' which he had
fted fQr refuge. Chengiz retired to' his own cQuntry frQm the eastern bank O'f
the indus, but the empire he had founded persisted for three generatiQns, and
'was a terrQr to' all mankind.
Chengiz Khan had four SQns. Juji (or Tushi), the eldest, died in the life
time of his father, but Juji's son, Batu, cQnquered SQuthern Russia, Bulgaria
and part Qf Poland and founded his dynasty there. Ogtai, the eldest surviving
SQn, succeeded Chengiz as 'Khan', 'Qa-an' or 'Khaqan'. Chaghatai and Tului
were given domains under the suzerainty of their brQther. Ogtai was succeeded
by his son, Kayuk (Qr Kapakl. but after Kayuk's shQrt reign, the unity of .the
empire disappeared. The quirilta; or assembly of MQngQI princes, representmg
the majQrity, elected Mangu, son of Tului, to the 'Khakanship' in 1251, but
Qaidu Khan, supported by the descendants Qf Chaghatai and Ogtai, established
himself in Mawaraun Nahr and maintained his independence till his death in
1301. In spite Qf this rift in the Jute, the quiriltai Qf 1251 launched twO' important
expeditiQns. QubJai, brother of Mangu (the 'KubJa Khan' Qf CQleridge), was
sent against China, while his younger brQther, Halaku Khan, was despatched
against the 'heretics' (Ismailis) of Persia. Halaku first captured the fQrts Qf
the 'heretics' and then prQceeded to' overthrow the Caliph Qf the' Qrthodox.
Baghdad was captured and sacked in 1258 and Halaku's descendants, knQwn as
the '11 Khan's', while acknowledging the formal superiority Qf the 'Khakan',
continued to' govern Persia in practical independence during the thirteenth
century. Meanwhile in the east Mangu was succeeded by Qublai, who Com-
pleted the cQnquest Qf the Chinese empire.
The early successes Qf the MongQls had been due to' the strength of their
military QrganizatiQn, the genius of their leaders and the hardships, which the
rank and file were prepared to' bear. A generatiQn Qf civilization sufficed to
degenerate them. The II Khans of Persia became Musalmans and adQpted
Persian ways. The SUccessors of Qublai were driven pell-mell out Of China to
their barbaric land and its barbaric ways.
Sultan Alauddin's cQntemporaries among the 'II Khans' were-Ghazan Khan
son Qf Arghnn Khan son of Abaka Khan son Qf Halaku Khan. whO' ruled
from A.H. 694 to 703 and Ghazan's bmthe'r, Khuda Bandah Aljaitu Suita'n,
whO' ruled from A.H. 703 to 716. While the ruling dynasty had accepted Islam,
many soldiers and Qfficers adhered to' their O'ld faith. But whether Musalman
or infidel, the MongQls had not forsaken their Qld plundering habits and their
taste fQr blQodshed, as the career Qf Timur conclusively shQws.
A detailed account of the Mongols will be fonnd in Sir Henry HQwQrth's
History of the Mon[?o/s, 4 VQls. a monument Qf careful and painstaking scholar-
ship. Sir Henry has depended mostly Qn translatiQns and has, therefQre, nQt
been able to give as graphic an aCCQunt of the character of the MQngQls and
their social system as some of the early Persian writers. The earliest account
of the MQngols seems to' be the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri Qf Minhajus Siraj Jurjani Qf
Delhi. The author had a first-hand knowledge Qf the Chengizi MongQls, agaInst
whom he had fought. and regarded them with a bitter hatred. Writing at a
safe distance from the barbarians. Oazi Minhaius Sirai had nO' hesitatiQn in
abusing the 'Mu.ghal infidels', and the thirteenth chapter Ctabaqah) Qf his wQrk.
de.vQted to the 'Rise of the MQngols'. reads like a thrilling short story. The
military superiority Qf Chengiz Khan had convinced the learned Qazi that the
Day of Judgment was near and he quotes chapter and verse to prove this.
Some chapters (including the thirteenth) of the Tabaqati-Nasiri have been

178
Politics alld Societu durillg the Earlu ;l1edieval Period
printed by the Royal Asiatic Society! of Bengal and the inestimable Col
Raverty devoted twelve years to translating it into English. The most
history of the Mongols is the Tarikh-i4ahan Gusha of Alauddin Ata Malik
Juwayni, who compiled his work in the time of Halaku Khan. The fi t tw
volumes of Juwayni's book comprising an account of the
Mongols, have been. excellently edited for the Gibb's Memorial Series by
Mr. .Abdul Wahhab Qazwini. A later work, the Jami'ut
Tawankh who wrote in the time of Aljaitu sultan, incorporates
much fresh InformatIOn and continues tbe history of Chengiz Khan' .
The fi t vol f th J'" s successors.
rs ume 0 e amzut'I'awankb is said to have been printed in Russia'
the second volume on the 'Successors of Chengiz Khan' has been d't db'
Mr. Blochet for Gibb's Series. Three other Persian
e

may .here .be mentioned-the Tarlkh of Wassaf, who was a contemporary of
Rashiduddm, the Tarikh-i-Guzidah of Hamdullah Mustawfi and th R
Safe: of. Muhammad ibn-i Khawind Shah. All these writers rely mo:tlY
Tarlkh-z-Jahan Gusha and the Jami'ut Tawarikh.
, The some explanation. Early writers generally sa
Magnul, but m later wnters the Waw is dropped The 'n' of 'Mo I" Y
found in Pers' 't S '11' . . ngo IS not
. lan wn. ers. tJ It IS convenient to apply the word 'Mongol' to
ChenglZ Khan and his successors and reserve the word 'Mugbal' for the Indian
emperors of house of Babur, who though belonging to the same .race
;epresented a different culture and civilization. But where the Persian text s '
Mughal', I have kept that word. . ays
2 Allusions to war and victory.
3 :This is the order observed in the original'. (Elliot).
4 The w:ord falwarah is a. common name for a village in many parts of the

Punjab. The talaundz of the Khokars is a local word similarly applied'

.
5 The preceding sentences have been adapted from Elliot. Qusur also
means bUlldmgs.
6 A llusions to arm. 7 Allusions to weapons.
8
10
AAf11am.ous Perslan archer. 9 Or in the alternative. shooting arrows
USlOns to battle and slaughter. .
121 kind ?f water fowl, the anas casarca: or, in the alternative, 'red water'
1 I.e. the Journey beyond the grave. .
13 The Quran, chapter lxix, in allusion to tile punishments of the Day of
Judgment.
14 Allusions to war and festivities.
15 Why Qaidu?
. t is be regretted that while Indian historians supply us with sufficient
to enable us to piece together a complete account of the Man 01
Of. India in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Persian
re erre .to m a. preceding note, give us the vaguest on the subject
or e se Ignore It completely. Of course a raid on Indian territory led by
of. secondary. Importance yras an insignificant matter for the
r
Oeasaonn efmPlrthe from PekIng to Moscow. But there was also another
or err Sl ence.
Ziauddin Barani throughout speaks of the Mongols coming from Mawaraun
!?at Qutlugh Khwaja, who besieged Delhi in the fourth year
who au m s relg.n, was ason of Quda, king of Mawaraun Nahr and Targhi
was present ID that as well as later campaigns, is first brou'ght into pro:
The Campaigns of 'Alallddill Klwl;i
179
minence as a general of Qutlugh Khwaja. Quda is probablY a misreading for
Qaidu. We have 'seen that in the quirUtai of 1251 the Chagbatai and Ogtai
princes refused to acknowledge the 'Khakanship' of Mangu and set up an inde-
pendent kingship under Qaidu in Mawaraun Nahr and Turkistan. This division
of Mongol power saved the kingdom of Delhi, which could not have withstood
a united attack of the Mongols. The II Khans of Persia naturally paid homage
to Mangu and his successors, who like them were descendants of Tului, but
they were constantly at war with the Mameluks of Egypt in Syria, and, more
often than not, had the worse of it. It is the Cbaghatai and Ogtai princes of
Mawaraun Nahr who are responsible for the invasions c!esc'ribed in this chapter.
They were being hardpressed by the 'Khakan' in the west and by '11 Khans'
in the east and this naturally made them anxious to carve out principalities
for themselves elsewhere. An account of the fortunes of the House of Qaidu
will be found in Howorth, vol. i, pp. 173-82, but Persian writers, as a rule,
have confined themselves to an account of the 'Khaqans' and 'II Khans', in
whose eyes Qaidu was a rebel.
16 A famous Emperor of Persia and master of the hero, Rustam. He had
a cup or mirror in which he could see all that was happening in the world.
17 The Quran, chap. xiv, sect. 2. 18 i.e. Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan.
19 The battIe is referred to by Barani and Ferishta, though they do not give
detailed accounts:-
'In the same year, A.H. 696 the Mughal danger ",rose. Some Mughals crossed
the Sindh (Indus) and came into the country. Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan
with the Jalali and Alai amirs and a large army were sent against them. The
army of Islam gave the accursed foe battle within the boundaries of Jalandar.
The Muslim banner was victorious. Many Mughals were captured and killed
and their heads were brought to Delhi' (Bararti).
'In the same year Dawa Khan, the ruler of Mawaraun Nahr, sent some hun-
dred thousand Mughals to Hindustan with the obiect of conquering the pro-
vinces of Punjab, Multan and Sindh. The Mughals crossed the river Sindh
and left nothing undone in the way of spoilation, plunder and destruction. When
this news was brought to the Emperor, he sent llmas Beg, Ulugh Khan and
Hizhabruddin Zafar Khan with an enormous army to suppress them. The two
armies met each other within the confines of Lahore; a fearful battle took place
and the Mughals were defeated. Some twelve thousand Mughals were put to
rhe sword; many of their leading amirs were captured and put to death with
tortures. Ulugh Khan sent the heads of the Mughals to Delhi along with their
wives and children' (Ferishta).
Lahore could not have been the seat of battle, which according to Amir
Khusrati took place by the side of the Sutlej. In the Dawal Rani, Amir Khusrau
calls the place 'Manjur-i-jaran'. the name bein\! twisted to suit the rhyme. The
'Oar Maikhur' of Tabaqat-i-Akbari is apparently a misreading for 'Jaran Man-
iur'. I am inclined to agree with Barani, . or rather his editor, in identifYing
Jaran-Manjur with Jalandhar ..
20 Allusions to war and "ory war.
21 Used in a restricted sense. me"ning Awadli and the Doab only.
?2 The Ouran. CMp. xxxiii, sect. 2.
23 Allus;on.. ;0 cness. The English names of the pieces differ considerably
from the Persian. I have put the eouivalents in brackets.
24 Le. the Mughal horsemen were unhorsed and then killed.
180
Politics alld Society during the Early Medieval Perioc!
25 Allusions to the game of nard. An account of the game will be found
In the Ain-i-Akbari of Abul Fazi.
26 In allusion to the colour of the Mughals and the pieces in the game of
'lard.
27 i.e. Ali Beg and Tartaq. ,
28 During eight years, A.H. 69.1 to Delhi was twice besieged, first by
Qutlugh KhwajR and then by Targhi. Amir Khusrau was not ignorant of these
events; .he refers to Qutlugh Khwaja and Targhi in the Dawal Rani and he
speaks m the above passage of Targhi's previous experience of India. But res-
pect for dignity required an omission of the two most important
M ughal campalguB.
This campaign is described by most historians. 'On one occasion' says Barani
'Ali Beg and Tartaq were the leaders of the Mughal army. They' were
men and AI! Begwas reputed to be adescendant of the accursed Chengiz. Sldrting
the mountams, they reached the territory of Amroha with thirty or forty thou-
sand men,. Sultan Alauddin sent Malik Nayak, the Akhur-bek, with the Muslin1
army agamst the:n. The two forces Came to battle within the confines of Amroha
and God gaVe VIctory to the army of Islam. Ali Beg and Tartaq were both
captured alive .. The larger par:: of the Mughal army was put to the sword,
and dispersed. The slam Mughals were piled up on the field of battle
like stacks of corn. Ropes were fastened round the necks of Ali Beg and Tartaq
and they were brought before the Sultan with many other Mughal prisoners
Twenty thousand horses belonging to the Mughals were brought before
cou;t- A darbar was prepared at the Chautrai Subhani. The Sultan
sat m public and the army stood in a double row from the roya{ seat
to Indarpat. OWlUg to the enormous multitude the price of a cup of water
rose to jitals or half-a-tanka. Through such' a crowd, Ali Beg and Tartaq.
together .WIth other Mughals and their baggage, were taken to the throne.
1Jte captive Mughals were cast under the feet of elephants. And stream of blood
did flow.'
The commander of the army of Islam. on this occasion, was a Hindu. The
Mi"'c't-i Sikandari says that Nayaks nre a tribe of outcaste Rajputs. Be this as it
may, the surname 'Nayak' is common enough today .. The following lines from
.Dawal leave no. doubt as to Malik Nayak's religion. 'As he
(TarghI) Wished to Injure the FaIth through his infidels, Fate decreed that he
meet his death at the hands of an infidel (Hindu). The soil of the
drank the blood of the armies of Ali Beg and Tartaq when the two
TurkIsh Khans were suddenly captured by a Hindu slave (servant) of the Court
and. the quelled by the sharpness of the Imperial sword.'
contents himself with summarising Barani. Ferishta has Tarqal
for Ta.rtaq, a.nd says that the Muslim army was commanded by Malik
Mamk.(an obVIou,s for Malik Nayak) and Ghazi Malik Tughluq. 'The
Sultan. he a?ds. dIStributed the captured' horses equally among the amirs and
?rdered the eight thousa.nd Mughal heads, which had been brought, to be used
Instead of stones and for the Sin, whieh were then being built.'
29 Or Kabak. Kablk m Tabaqat-I-Akbarr'; Kank in Ferishta. Barani says
Kapak. A tuman usually consisted of ten thousand horse
30 A to smells. 31 Wroter or the first of it, December.
32 A'luSlons to
33 Fe'risbta Nilab: Barani and Nizamuddin sav the battle took place at
Khakar. According to the Dawal Rani, 'the Mughals crossed the territory of
The Campaiglls of 'Alauddin Klwli! 181
Multan and began to ravage the land of the Ravi: This seems more accurate. I
am inclined to believe that the advance guard under Kapak first came to MUltan
and then marched up the river Ravi Which in those days flowed near Mmtan.
After the defeat of Kapak on the bank thl\ Ravi, the Mughal contingents of
and Tai Bu tried to flyaway across the same ford of the Indus. Khusrau
gives no dates for this invasion and his geographical references are perplexing.
34 I.e. Iqbal, the coward. 35 Allusions 10 parts of the human body.
36 i.e. Malik Kaful'.
37 Alluding to the Mughal loss of morale. The 'heads'would be the leaders,
Iqbal and Tai Bu, the 'hands' and 'feet' would be the officers and men.
38 Allusions to the Day of Judgment. The quotations following are from the
Quran.
39 Malik Kafur. Iqbal is here said to have been captured among the amirs of
Tai Bu's tuman, but according to Khusrau's previous statement he had been
captured in the battle on the bank of the Ravi.
40 i.e., Alauddin.
41 Allusions to buildinBs.
42 Or, in the alternative, 'Zangis', a Turldsh tribe. Khusrau calls the Mongols
by various names-Tatars, Turks, Chinese and Mughals. This is not really
inaccurate, for they are all sections of the same Mongolian race and the Mongols
freely enlisted their kindred tribes in their armies. The Mongols, who have
given their name to the whole race, seem to have been a minor tribe in the
days before Chengiz Khan" The fort referred to is the Hazar Sutun Palace or
Koshak -j Siri.
43 Allusions to stars.
Chapter IV
GUJARAT, RAJPUTANA, MALWA AND DEOGIR
Having described the dagger thj'usts in l1wny victories ovel' the
Mughals, I now come to the conquest of the Hindus of Gujamt:-
l
As
the sword of the Emperor of land and sea had been plentiful1y smear-
'ed with the blood of the infidel Mughals, he wished to wash off this
clotted impurity in the immense ocean. Consequently, on Wednesday,
. the 20th Jamadiul AW\val, 699 A.H., a fortunate day, he issued a
farman to the Ariz-i Wala2 to send an army, like clouds aud rain, to
the coast of Gujarat to destroy the temple of Somnath. Like an angel
directing the clouds, the late UlughKhan (May God make him drink
out of the fountain of His forgiveness I) was appOinted to lead the
victorious army. Resolved to conquer, the clouds moved towards
the sea;. and as the foundations of the temple were water-deep, they
wished to bl'ing its summit to the water also. When the imperial army
reached the City of that land;s the sword of the righteous monarch
182 Politics alld Society dltl'illg the Eady Medieval Period
completely conquered the province, which, adomed like a bride had
escaped so many emperors of the past. Much blood was shecl. A
general invitation was issued to all the beasts and birds of the forest
continu?us feast of and drink. In the marriage banquet, at
whtch the Hmdus tce're sacrrficed, animals of all kinds ate them to their
satisfaction. Then the Khan-i Azam
4
moved his army 'towards the
sea.
5
Round the temple of Somnath, which is the centre of Hindu
worship, he drew a circle \vith his 'troops, and planted his Khatai
spear so high towards the centre that its sharp point a4nost pierced
the sky. The bmmer of Islam was elevated to the equator, while eveq
arch emerging trom the two semicirdes, into which the army was
without tail passed Hs arrow through the black dot ofi in-
Hdelity. So the temple of Somnath was made to bow towards the
holy Mecca; and as the temple lowered its head and jumped into the
sea, you may say that the building first said its prayers and then had
a .bath. The idols, who' had fixed their abode midway to the I-louse
of Abraham (Mecca), and therel waylaid stragglers,6 were broken to
in ptHsuance of Abraham's tradition.7 But one idol, the great-
est of them all, was sent by the maliks to the imperial COUlt, so that
the brealdng of their helpless god may be demonstrated to the idol-
worshipping Hindus. It seemed as if the tongue of the imperial sword
the meaning of the text: 'So he (Abrallam) broke them (the
Idols) into pieces except the chief of them, that haply they may re-
turn to it.'1l Such a pagan country, ,the Mecca of the infidels, now
became the Medinac of Islam. The followers of Abraham now acted
as guides in place of the Brahman .leaders. The robust-hearted hue
believers rigorously broke all idols and temples wherever they found
them. Owing to the u'al', 'takbil", and 'shahadat' was heard on every
side; even the idols by their bl'eaking affimud existence of God.
in this ancient land of infidelity the call to prayers rose so high that
it was heard in Baghdad and Madain (Ctesiphon) while the Alai pro-
clamation (khutba) resounded in the dome of Abraham and over
the water of Zamzam.
9
As to the city of Nalll'waia and the city of _
Kainbayat (Camba)'), which the sea raises its head to swallow up, as
well as the other cities situated on the coast-though the sea beats
against them with force, yet the wave of the Muslim anny did not tum
to the sea to wash off the contamination of infidelity from the lana,
but cleansed tile ground by a deluge of infidel blood; for if blood is
not clean, and cannot cleanse, yet the sword is a purifier; and! the
sword having overconie the infidels, their b100d became pure also.
My object in this simile is not real blood, but (only to show) that
the sword of Islam purified the land as the sun purifies the eal'th.l0
The Campaiglls of 'Alauddi" Khalii 183
In a single campaign Ranthambhor was conquered, and by the
decree of Providence the land of infidelity became the land of Islam,
llWhen the celestial canopy of the Shadow of God cast its shade over
the hill of Ranthambhor and the conqueror of the world emitted his
heat like the sun over the unlucky inhabitants of that place, the days
oB their life began to decline. The towering fort, which talked with
the stars through its tofty pinnacles, was surrounded by the hoops. The
Sahl1'nian Hindus, who are related to that planet, had for purposes of
defence collected fire in all the ten towers, thus tuming the towers
of earth (hul';-i-khaki12) into towers of fire. Every day the fire of
those people of Hell extended its heated tongue to the light of Islam.
But as ',the Musalmans, men of pure elements, had no means of ex-
tinguishing it, they took care of their own water (morale) without
tqing to overcome the fire. Sand-bags were sewn a.'ld with them a
pashib was consh'ucted. From sowing of sand-bags it seemed that
the Emperor of the world was investing the sand even with a robe of
honour in reward for its capturing the fOl'l:. What then was to be
the reward of men? May the countly prospe1' under such an Empel'Or
till water ana earth, fire and air contiwue to exist! lSWhen the
pashib rose high enough to touch the western: tower of the fort, the
imperial westerners (maghl'ibis) appeared like the h-unk of an ele-
phant on its summit and shot large earthen balls. A mountain mo-
ved against the infidel fOlt, and the hearts o the Hindus began to
fail them.
14Some 'New Muslims' froni among the ill-starred Mughals had
turned their faces from the sun of Islam and joined the Samrnians,15
All these nien of Mars had collected together in the towel' of fire
(bu1'i-i-atshin); but though they had lighted a fire in all the three to-
wers, and gathered like particles in the 'heaven full of stars', yet was
Mercury (tir or arrow) caught in the sign of Sagittarius (qaus), and
wandering towards the tire, was totally consumed. From
16
Rajab to
Zil Qa'd the victorious army remained encamped at the foot of the
fort. From the towers above, the fire rose high enough to evaporate
the water-laden canopy of the clouds, but the fortunate Musalmans
gathered together eveq day at the extremity of the pashib and car-
ried forward the ;imperial banner. With the impemosity of Bahram
the brave warriors penetrated lilce salamanders through a fire that
scared away the lion of the sky (the sun). To the sound of pipes, the
palko (foohnen) from above made their arrows dance over the fire so
that even birds could not fly over the ethereal sphere; the royal
falcons were, therefore, unable to reach the dome of fire which ex-
tended to the sky. 17 Again, the 'imdas inside the fort, being the
184
Politics and Society during the Early Jledieval Period
brides of the Hindus, had borne them fe):nale offsprings of stone and
were openly throwing them out by the end of Sha'ban. The imperial
ghazbans took account of their misdeeds and stoned them. Fo/'
inevitahly the mischievous is stoned. The stones of the besieging
maghj'ibis went up in the air and sbuck the clouds with such force
that lightning was emitted from them. Heavy stones fell like hail
on the heads of the besieged; they ate them and became cold. Yesl
Their provisions being finished, they ate stones. Famine prevailed
to such an extent within the f01i, that they would have purchased\
a grain of rice for two grains of but could not get it. The fire
of hunger had roasted their heads within their earthen bosoms-
and they wished to open their bosoms and eat up theil' roasted hearts.
Man can beaT all afjiictions except that of a starving stomach.
16When the celestial sun had ascended the steps of honour and
sat in the sign of Aries to hold the festival of the New Year's Day
(nauruz), tanlws of gold were showered on the earth like falling
leaves, and it became finer than a garden. After the naUTUZ, the
sun of justice (the Sultan) shone full on the Ranthambhor hill and
every day its heat and light increased,19 till final}y the lofty 01i,
which drew its water-supply from ,the azure s1.)" became a deseli
from lack of vegetation and water. The world seemed smaller to
the Rai (of Ranthambhor) than the prison within a rose-bud. So in
his desperation one night he lighted a high fire, which rose like a
mountain-tulip on the hill, and threw into it the rosy-coloured young
maidens, who had grown up in his arms. Mter he had personally
despatched to hell these deserving inmates of paraclise, he came to
the head of the pashib with one or two other unbelievers, bent on
sacrificing his Hfe with honour. Though the morning breeze had
begun to blow, the narcissus.eyes of the watchmen had not yet
closed in sleep. The melody of the bulbul accompanied the Rai as
he advanced. The rose raised a cry. The watchmen drew their
swords of lily, sprang up from their p1aces like the morning breeze
and put the Rai to flight, as the winter-wind annihilates the blooming
cypress. Thus on the fortunate date, Tuesday, the 3rd Zil Qa'd
700 A.H. such an impregnable fort was taken through an exercise
of the strong will. 20The title of the 'Place of Islam' was sent from
heaven for this house of infidelity. The inhabited parts of Jhabun,
th.art old land of paganism, became the 'New City' of the true believers.
The grear.t imperial banner stood over the iron fort like a key in a
lock; for it was the key for the conquest of southern lands. First
the temple of Bahir Deo, the support of which he had invoked, was
destroyed. Then the houses of infideHty were overthrown by the
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khalil

sb'ong arm of the holy warriors. Many strongly built temples, which
the trumpet of the Day of Judgment could not have shaken, went
to sleep on the ground as the morning breeze of Islam blew
them. The stones of the infidel fort had grown deaf from heanng
the Hindu conches; but now they re-echoed the (Muslim), call for
prayer. Where formerly the loud pealing of the Brahman s
had tom the ears of the Hindus, now the sound of the Prophet s
khtttba filled true believing ears ",>jth a melodious joy.
whichever side the imperial armies march, I "--now thmr arrow will
hit the mark; wherever the imperial 'khtttba' is 1'ead, its fmne will
fesound to the sky.21
This is an account of the conquest of the F01't of Mandtt and of the
whole of Malwa. 22When the lancers of the victorious army had P:lt
antimonv into the eyes of the more climsighted !'(lis with theIr
spears, powerful Zamindars, with greater keenness of
vision threw aside their bol'dness and unpudence from fear of the
stone-piercing arrows of the Turks. They to .the imperial co,urt
with open eyes and turned its threshold mto antImony by.rubbmg
their black pupils upon it; at the same time thev saved thelr bones
from becoming antimony-boxes for the dust.
23
The Emperor regard-
ed every one of them with an affectionate glance, and threw on them
a ray of his favour, which their eyes never exp.ected to beh?ld.
Finally, no impud!'.nt infidel remained III the provlllces 0:
some had gone to sleep on the scarlet-colom-ed bed 0: (llnp?nal)
punishment; others had opened their eyes and bowed 11l obedlence
before the Court.
But on the southern frontier, Rai Mahlik Deo of Malwa and Kuka
Ptadhan had a permanent antiy of thirty or forty thousand chose:1
horsenien. The diu'kness of their (minds) and the dust raised by then'
legions had put the .antiniony of pride in their eyes. 'With de-
crees, the sight is blinded: A curtain had fallen before theu' eyes
and they forsook the path of loyalty. Consequently, a body of sel:ct
troops was sent by the Emperor against them and fell on those blllld
wanderers all of a sudden. Vict01y itself preceded them and had
her eyes fixed upon the road to see when the triumphant army would
arrive. Whenthe ari.nv of Islam cai11e upon the re11cls, their eyes were
dosed and their necks were cut open with the blows of the sword.
Streams of blood sank into the ground. So far as the hlil'rian eve
could see, the ground was muddy with blood. The Hindus! tried to
. fly awav from the blood-eating earth, vet with eyes full of tears manv
of ther;; sank in the niire. At this il10ment Kuka cahie blincllv for-
186
Politics and Society during the Ear/!/ MedieDal Period
word, but his horse remained stuck in the mud 'like black earth
in the mire'. In the twinkling of an eye he was pierced by innuh1er-
able an'ows, and looked like a bee-hive with a thousand compart-
ments, all full of bees. Then his soul Hed to the sh'eams of the under-
world, while his unfortunate head was sent to the imperial court,
so that it may attain to a real sublimity by being placed under the
feet of the royal horses below the palace gate.
When Malwa, an extensive territOl.y of which even clearsighted
geographers are unable to discover the linHts, was conquered, it was
necessary to entrust it to an experienced and clever govemor
(mutasarrif), who would not only keep a firm hand over the newly
conquered land, but also through courageous judgment and great
efforts reduce the fort of Mandu, an edifice so high that the human
eye was unabie to see its su)lih1it. The Emperor surveyed with a
criticru eye the confidential and trusty servants of the state to see
which of them most deserved being entrusted with such a post. 'When
his inspired niind had come to a conclusion, he mentioned to the
hajib-i khas with his brow; 'Tell Ainul Mulk24 (the Eye of the State)
that I have seen foresight in him. I am giving him the title of
Ainul Mulk and elevating him to a very high office. I entrust him
with the province of Malwa, where the darkness of infidelity has been
illuminated with the light of! Islam. He is to use his foresight with
skill, without permitting his eyelid to cover his pupils in sleep at the
command of night. A handful of thorns still remain in that land, and
he is not to consider his eyes safe from being pricked by those ignoble
people. He has to conquer the fort of Mandu by closing up the
streams and making breaches in the walls; and when, by the kindness
of the "Opener of the Gates", the place has been conquered, he has to
wash away, with the sharpness of his sword, the contamination of
infidelity, which sticks to that pagan land as evil intentions stick to
the eyes of rebellious. The cowardly Mahlik Deo has withdrawn
to his fort as the eye of a. blind man sinks into its socket. Bringhim
out by such means as you can in order to overawe the other Hindus.
And if, even for a short time, he remains safe in his fort froni the
arrows of the Musalinans, you are to expect nothing but anger from
me. There is reproof for him if he is unable to flow streams of blood
on the mountains.' The 'hafib-khas' carrie and in his official way
toM Ainul Mulk exactly what the imperial order was. Ainul Mulk
stood up as the eyelashes stand upon the eyelids, mbbed his forehead
on the ground and accepted the royal farman with the pupils of his
eyes.
Ainul Mulk started on the rriission with his troops and opened wide
The Campaigl1s of 'Alauddin Khalji
187
his joyous eyes to accomplish the task entrusted to by tl:6 Em-
peror. He cleared the of remammg doers
as the eye is cured of Its till ,finll;lly . hIS sword
refused to do any further work and went mto the eye of ItS scabbard,
The dark-faced Rai, like a grain of chakslt,25 had sought shelter be-
tween two stones; but he only made it dear that he would be pealed
and ground tor the sake of Ainul Mulk (the eye of the .state). From
dimness of sight, the Rai sent the 'light of his eyes
26
,m front, thus
making him a shield for his own eyes. At the same he
round his son an enormous multitude which only contnbuted to Ius
taU as overgrown eyelashes injure the eyes. All at once a body of
Mulk's troops fell upon them, like the dust stann that over-
powers the eyes of men. In an inst:,nt the boldest of them were
rolling in blood and dust, while the Ral s son slept the .sleep .of death.
But Ainul Mulk's clear judgment was not content W1th thIS
and he wished to lure the Rai himself out of his cave. He was planmng
this when a spy (didban) came back from the and to
guide them. The man led them by a way he had discovered,
in the path with the lamp of his eyes. In the course of mght
A,g I Mulk's alUW I'ached the surrimit and fell on Mahhk Deo
the of a before even his household
gocls were aware of it. Then eye-pIercmg arrows began to pour on
them like im1Urrierable drops of rain, while the flashes ?f the swo:d
dazzled their eyes. The meteoric arrows kindled a fire. m the, bo(l1es
of these demons (deo)27 brought up in the shade. Ral Mahhk
(the fierce derrion) was bumt from head to foot in his battle \V1.th
the shooting-stars and fled to the stream of Sar, where he was slam.
This event occurred on Thursdav, the 5th of Jamadiul Awwal, 705 A.H.
The gate of the fort of Mandu' was opened before the
of fortune. Where, forrrierly, through secret magIC and tricks
deceived the sight,28 the gabl's had drawn a veil o:,"e
r
the people s
... h the dark savings of infidelity, now true believers, under the
eyes J 'th d 'l11e eyes
'brows' of fue arches, bowed in thankfulness to e grou
n
. . rs
of the angels were ill'uminated with the light of congregahonal
and Frida sermons. The four walls of the fort. e
live to the sound of the 'opening verses; (All) PraIse due
to ANah, the Lord of the Worlds.' Malik Ainul own
all this with the black of his pupil and sent it through r,us to
Erri eror to be laced before his august eyes. The wlse under.
the of canopy is like the 'Idea of Man'; for the Eve of
God' is over him.29 When this good news was brought to tI:
e
Emf
e
ror he bowed clO\vn in <thanJ...1ulness and assigned the temtory 0
p ,
I
188 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Pel iod
Malldu also to Ainul Mulk. May God pelject the empire of the Sultan
and guard his perfection with the Pelject Eye.30
This is the account of the conquest of Chitol', which towers like
the sky on the e(uth: - On Monday, the 8th Jamadius Sani, 702 A.H. the
C?nqu.eror of th,e World, resolved on the conquest of Chitor, ordered
his hlgh-soundmg drums to be beaten. The crescent-banner was
moved forward from Delhi and the imperial canopy was raised up to
the smoky clouds; the sound of the drum reached the bowl of the sky
conveyed it good news of the Emperor's detemiination.
Finall,r, the confines of Chitor were reamed. The hriperial pavilion
of whICh -the clouds Illay be considered the lining, was pitmed up in
that territory between two rivers.31 The enthusiasm of the army
shook the .two seashores like an earthquake, while the dust raised by
th.e feet of the troops rendered the two deep rivers fordable. The two
wmgs at the army were ordered to pitch their tents one after the
other on the two sides of the fort. lot seemed that water-laden clouds
had alighted at the foot of the hilt For two months the Hood of the
swords went up to the 'waist' of the hill but could not rise any higher.
Wonderful was the fort, which even hailstones were unable to strike!
FOT if the flood itself rushes from the summit, it will take a full day
to reach the foOf of the hill.
Neveltheless, the celestial fort, which raised its head above the
clouds, would have bowed to the ground at the strokes of the maghl'ibi
stones .. But Jesus from the Baitu[ Ma'mul'. (Mecca) sent the good
news of of Faith; consequently, the stones
of the bUIlding reIllamed mtact and kept their secret to themselves.
32
On a hill, named Chatar-wari, the Emperor raised his white canopy
every day like the sun, and as is the custom of rulers attended to
the administration of the army. He the eastern wrestlers
(pahlawans) to draw the westerners (maghlibis). Other warriors began
to place heavy stones in the 'arm' (palla) of the maghl'ibi-for, except
ilie arm of the maghribi, nothing else could measUI'e their strength.
Every as he mised the stone with his strength, made his
hand a mllal' f01' the hill that had no pillars. The army of Solo).liOn.
dealt strokes, like fuose of David, on the fort that reminded them of
Seba. On Monday, 11 Muharram, A.H. 703, tlIe Solomon of the age,
seated on his .aerial throne, went into the fort, to which birds were
unable to Hy. . The servant (Amir Khusrau), who is fue bird of this
Solomon, was also with him. They cried, 'Hudhud I Hudhud I' re-
peatedly. But I would not return; for I feared Sultan's wratlI in case
he inquired, 'How is it I see not Hudhud, or is he one of tlIe absen-
tees?' And what would be my excuse for my absence if 'he asked,
The Campaigns of 'A!allJdin Khalji
189
'Bling to me a clear plea'? If the Emperor says in his anoer, 'I will
him', how the pOOl' bird have strength enough to bear
It was the rallly season when the white cloud of the ruler of
land and sea appeared on the 'summit of this high hill. The Rai,
shuck with the lighhling of the Eniperor's wrath and burnt from hand
to fom, sprang out of the stone-gate as fire springs out of stone; he
threw himself into the water and flew towards the imperial pavilion,
thus protecting himself from the lighhling of the sword. 'Wherever
there is a brazen vessel, -the Hindus say, there lightning falls; and
the Raj's face had tUl"ned as yellow as brass through fear. Surely he
wo-uld not have been safe from the lightning of the arrow and the
sword, if he had not come to the door of the I'oyal pav-ilian.
. 340n the the yellow-faced Rai sought refuge on the red canopy
from tear of the green swords, the grea-t Emperor (May his prosperity
was still crimson with rage. But when he saw the vege-
tanan Rai with fear, like the h'ampled and withered grass
under the Impenal tent-though the Rai was a rebel, yet the breeze
of royal mercy did not allow any hot wind to blow upon him. All the
storm of the Emperor's wrath vented itself against the other rehels.
He ordered that wherever a green Hindu was found, he was to be
cut down like dry grass. Ovving to this stern order, thirty thousand
Hindus were slain in one day. It seemed that the meadows of Khizra-
bad had grown men instead of !!lass. After the wind of imperiaJ
wrath had uprooted all the muqaddams,35 he rid the land of its two
colours, and helped the miyats, the cultivators of tlle land, among
whom no thorn . raises its head, to grow. The roots and branches of
this azure edifice were aSSigned to the grand tree of the grand Ehlpire,
Khizr Khan and given the name of 'Khiztabad'. The red canopv
was placed over Khizr Khan's head, like the red heaven over the
blue sky, .He wore a robe of honour ornamented with jewels, as the
sky is inlaid with stars. Two banners, black and green, were raised
so high above his threshold that the Saturn and the Sun were struck
with melancholy and bile. Further, his court was adorned by a baton
(durbash) of two colours, each of which seemed a tongue from the
solar lamp. Thus by' scattering lllbies and diamonds and roses, the
Emperol' made the existence of his son prosperous and honourable.
Then freed from the affairs of Khizr Khan and Khizrabad, he took
hold of his successful bridle and brought his stirrups from the f!.reen
meadows (of Khizrabad) to Sil'i. 36After the 10th of Muharram, the
banner of the successor of the Prophet (May it rise higher and higher!);
having wonderfully predominated over -the head of the Hindus, was
ordered to be moved to the City of Islam, Delhi. He (the Emperor)
190
Politics IIlId Socieiu dltl'illg tl.e Early Medieval Period
made the killing of all Hindus, who were out of the pale of Islam,
such an obligation on his infidel-smiting sword (zulfiqar) that should
Muslim schismatics (rafizis) in <these days even nominally demand
their rights, the pure Sunnis would swear in the name thiS rightful
Caliph of God.37
In the second conquest of Deogir, its Rai was captured and then
set f1'ee. 38Rai Ram Deo was a wild horse that had once before
come within the halters of the imperial officers and had been trained
with the horse-breaker's whip, which diSciplines a demon (deo). But
then the imperial horsemen had, with the greatest kindness, left
him the desired meadows of his ancient demon-land (Deo-lakh).39
and like a well-fed horse he had forgotten the neck-breaking bridle
ana became headstrong and refractory. The Emperor of the celestial
throne sent the Malik Naib Bal'-bek
40
(May God strengthen the whip
of his authority!) to capture the runaway. vVith him were sent
thirty thousand horse-breakers, scourge in hand, to train the
horses of the rebel army. They easily accomplished a march of
three hundred fal'sangs without drawing their bridles and fell on
that annv of horses who had turned awav from their headstalls. On
Saturday', the 19th of Ramazan, 706 A.H. the (imperial) horsemen
were ordered to lead their horses to the charge and to moisten their
swords, which were cold as lilies, with blood from necks of the gabrs.
The rebel army fled and its scattered ranks were tom by fnrther
differences. The Rai's son ran awav on his horse. Most of the Hindu
soldiers, sewn together by shots of arrows and spears, fled to the
regions of the undf:r world. The troops that survived were cut into
two parts by the dividing sword. One half of them in excessive
fear turned away their horses from the battle-field and fled with
the Rai's son, for their souls were Rying away from their bodies
as an unruly horse Hies off from the rider's hands. The rest capi-
tulated and gave up their horses to the Qandkash of the pIis6ners.
The Muslim horsemen beinf1 victorious, the Molik-i S({hkash41 ordered
that such booty as was Rt for the troopers should be given back to
them, while things only suitable for the Subliine Court-Reet-footed
horses that Hew over the plain. hitl-like elephams (whose feet) wore
away the rocks, treasures which surpasseCJ all imagination-were re-
viewed, recorded and then entrusted to the officers of (the royal) horse
and elephant stables and the treasury.
42As the Emperor had ordered the 'tongue' of the sword to take as
much care as possible of the Rai and his relatives in the battle-field,
the great Cominamler reshicted llis efforts to catch in!! the
Ram Deo ancl hio rnPn al;"o 11 ..... nn 1.._-" ._"
The Campaigns of 'Alaudd;'" Khalii
191
from loyalty, first the yoke of imperial authority, which is supreme
over all its rivals, was placed on their criminal necks. Yes, he put
(the yOke) so tightly that their iltgular veins nearly snapped asunder.
But the New MeSSiah, i.e., the rightly guided Sultan, knew in his for-
giving heart that fear of his punishing sword had taken out all life
tram their bodies; so he blew his spiIit into them and brought them
to life again. When all these people had regained their life by the
blOWing of the Snltan's 'breath' (favour) upon them, tlle Malik Naib
brought them to the Bait!!l Ma'11ll!1' of Jesus (Delhi), that they may
see the life-gtving holy spilit with their OW11 eyes. And the holy
spirit g01;e them the good news of an eternal existence. 4:3As none
but benevolent images are formed in the niirror o:fJ the Second Alexan-
der, therefore in spite of the signs of rebellion he had seen in Ram
Deo, he took the Rai under the ramparts of his protection and forgive-
ness and considered the inverted images, which appeared in the
latter's rusty iron herut, the refraction of n. worthless looking-glass.
And he raised the Rai to such a high dignity, that owing to the strength
of his good fortune,. his face was never for a Single moment away
. from the mirror on the knees (of the SeCOild Alexande1). The Rai was
indeed fortnnate when the Hindi sword of the Emperor became a
breast-plate for the protection of his honanI'. An order (sharf-nama)
of Alexander also made this clear. When avenging fate ceased to
hate the rebellion of the Hindu, the sword of the Alexander tHl'ned
into a mirror before his eyes. For full six months the fortunate Rai
remained in the rays of iniperial favour. as the crescent bends Hs
hack in the service of the Sun; day by day his honour and di/!Ility
increased, till' in the course of time he attained to the orbit of his
prosperity like the full moon. The Sun of the Empire honoured him
with a blue canopy, and arrayed in all pomp, he moved to his own
p.ermanent constellation. May God Pl'Owct the Sultan, for he sustains
his slibiects, like the moon, with his TJenewlent 1'Oy8.44
Account of the conquest of Siwana, which became Khairabad, by
the imperial sword (Mall it be preserved for el'er!). 45\\lhen the lions
of the august threshold had subdued all snrrounding animals with
th0ir powetful strokes, so that for five hundred farsangs from the
rnval garden no tiger was left, which <the lions of the imperial annv
need trouble their claws about, the imperial horseman hecame tired
of the inactivity and wished to let his swift-footed wander at ,vin
for a few days' in the hunting-field. On \iVednesday, the lIth Muh1.r-
ram, 710 A.H. the standards of the armv were moved (out of, Delhi)
for the campaign: and thell shook as the heart a wild T)east
10hen there is a sheep in the forest. 46It is the custom of the world-
192
Politics alld Societ.y durillg aw Emly Medieoal Period
conqueror not to return from any of his flights without reducing the
tort and overpowering its possessor. He raised his wings 1:0 fly from
imperial Delhi to Siwana, a distance of one hundred farsangs, and
besieged that fort which was an asylum of wild robbers. Upon the
hill he saw a fort so high that the eagle could not reach its summit
in ten flights. In it sat a gabl', named SataI Deo like the Simurf!h
47
on the Caucasus. Several thousand other gallI'S sat on the top of the hill,
like so many mountain-vultures, read? to have themselves torn. Like
stone-eating birds they opened their mouths and waited till the
magh1'tbi-s'tones began to fly to them from evelY side. Then some
of them fell down like sparrows and their gizzards were broken
into atoms, while others fluttered their wings and feet and up
the ghost. The men of the army threw up their hats to catf'h tj,,c>cp
household birds and cut them to pieces. How lon.r; could the game
continue? 48Towards the east the sun of the ealih 49 (May God
him to the constellation of the Lion!) sat on a throne with lion's feet
and wiHl tigers eyes engraved over it. He ordered the swordsmen
of the right wing to attack the southel11 side of the fort, while! the
lions of the left attacked it from the nOlth. The manjanins on
the west were entrusted to Malik Kamaluddin Gun! (the woJfl: fol'
he excelled in killinl!, lions as mtlrh as thf! wolf in killing sheep.
The mG{171ribis under the command of the 'wolf m.adp. a CAVA ;" tl'A
hill witl; every shot. Finallv. the head of the pashib reached the
summit of the hill. Bv the order of the Emperor. the heroes of the
armv marched over the elephantine vashib and fell on the animals
within the fort. But as the besieged were brave and hall [fll'tv, tllev
clid not flv though their he.ads were rllt into pieces. Those who
rrttempted to fly were chased and caught. Some were sent to sleep
like hares with strokes of the hunter's snear, others were grollDn down
to flour under the maghl'ibi stones. The brave warriors of ' the (im-
perial) anriy redoubled their shc>ts at their enem'es of 11108h50 to rrrind
do\'m the latter between two stones for their hrearl at dinner: others
they minced into nie.atand gave a feast to flniinRls of all On
that dav of battle, from the of the false dawn to the
flicker of light the infidels were slain anri streams of 7}ood were made
to flow. 51Some birds. with manv deceptions. fled away from
the battle with their leader; before the Musalmans could catch thei'ri,
thev sprang up from their nests and hied to flv to But the
swift-footed servants of the Emperor got news of thls and laid an
ambush for them. Sonie they prevented from n1'Oceedinq further:
others they slew, till the wild. T7lack crow of darkness a
tl;hite colour, i.e. the night had been succeeded Tn, the mormn:g. On
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin Klwlii
'193
the morning on Tuesday, the 2.'3rd Rabiul Awwal, the dead body of
Satal Deo was brought before the lions of the imperial threshold.
People were struck with wonder at the grandeur of the Gurg (wolf)
and the terrific strength of his arrow-shot.
The campaign against the wilc! animals being o:,er, the intrepid
Emperor ordered his lion-hearted slave, Kamaluddm Gurg, to
the beasts of the forest, and was confident tllat if the clouds ramed
shall) arrows instead of drops of water, the 'wolf would not raise up
his shield over his head, for he had known many such showers. The
just protector of his subjects entrusted the cal!J:le to the 'wolf, in
order that he may guard the young she-goats from the tI:0rns of the
territory. In a single hunting excursion such a fahlous VictOry befell
the Emperor. He moved his standard the 'Platfol1l1 of the
Lions'52 (challtrn-i shimn) and the crescent hanner was brought to, the
'Constellation of the Lion (Delhi),.53
1 Allusions 10 sea and rain.
2 Minister of WClr. The office Was then held by Hizhabruddin Zafar Khan.
3 Apparently Anhilwara, the capital 0'[ Guja'rat is meant. It is now known
as Pattan.
4 Khan-i Azam and Ulugh Khan both mean the first Klran of the kingdom.
It was equivalent to the later title of 'Khan-i Khanan'.
5 Allusions to circle and centre.
6 Obviously referring to the custom of Musalmans praying at Hindu shrines.
Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, it seems, used to visit Somnath on their way. It
was a great seaport and the place from which the pilgrims embarked on their
voyage. Somnath had been destroyed by Mahmud, but like many other temples
it had been rebuilt.
7 A/f;lsions to Qibla (Mecca) and A hraham. The holy Mecca was built by
the Prophet Abraham.
S The Quran, chapter xxi, sec. '5.
9 A famous weI! in Mecca; Hagar's well.
10 'In the beginning of the third year of 'Alauddin's reign, Ulugh Khan and
Nusrat Khan marched to Gujarat with their wl1irs, sar-Lashkal's, and a large
army. The whole of Gujarat, including Nahrwala, was plundered. Karan, the
Rai of Gujarat, fled to Ram Deo at Deogir, while his wives, daughters, treasures
and elephants fell into the hands of the Muslim army. The whole of Gujarat
was conquered. They also sent to Delhi an idol, which the Brahmans had called
Somnath after the destruction of Nath by Sultan Mahmud, for the people to
tread on. Nusrat Khan then proceeded to Cambay and took plenty of precious
stones and valuables from the Khwajas (Muslim merchants) of Cambay, who
were very rich. Kafur Hazardinari. who later on became the Malik Naib and
ps(ll}-B
194 Politics and Society dW'illg the Early AJedieval Period
infatuated 'Alauddin, was forcibly seized from hls Khwaja and brought to the
Sultan' (Barani.).
While the army was returning from Gujarat, a serious mutiny broke out,
which Khusrau refrains, from mentioning. It is, however, described by Barani.
'When Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan were returning from Gujarat with their
spoils', he continues, 'they resorted to great severity and to kicks and blows to
tind out what spoils had fallen into the hands of the men and in demanding
the ,fifth part, which was the share of the state. Their demands were extortion-
ate; they would not accept the returns made by the men but wanted more. By
compelling the men to drink salt water, and by various kinds of coercion, they
wished to take away from them all, the gold, silver, jewels and other valuables
they had. These tortures drove the men to desperation. There were a number
of 'New Muslim' am iI'S and horsemen in the army who collected together, about
two or three thousand in number, and raised a revolt. They killed Nusrat Khan's
brother, Malik Aizzuddin, who was the Amir-i-hajib of Ulugh Khan and then
proceeded tumultuously to Ulugh Khan's tent. Ulugh Khan cleverly came out
of his tent unrecognized and escaped to Nusrat Khan's tent. A nephew (sister's
son) of Sultan Alauddin was sleeping in Ulugh Khan's tent and the mutineers
slew him under the impression that he was Ulugh Khan. The disturbance spread
through the whole army and there was a grave danger that the spoils (of Guja-
rat) would be lost. But as Alauddin's power was destined to increase, even such
a disturbance was soon quelled. The horse and foot of the army gathered before
Nusrat Khan's tent, the 'New Muslim' amirs and horsemen were dispersed, and
their ringleaders, who had instigated the revolt, fled for refuge to the rais and
other rebellious' (chiefs). Further inquiry into the spoils was given up, and
Nusrat Khan and Ulugh Khan reached Delhi with the spoils, treasures, elephants
and slaves they had obtained in the plunder of Gujarat.
'When news of the "New Muslim" revolt reached Delhi, Sultan Alauddin.
from the cruelty that was ingrained in his nature, ordered the wives and children
of all the rebels, high and low, to be captured and imprisoned. Now was begun
the practice of punishing women and children for the misdeeds of men, which
had not till then been known in Delhi, But a more horrid act of tyranny was
committed by Nusrat Khan, the author of many acts of violence in the City.
In revenge for his brother's death, he dishonoured and disgraced the wives of
those who had struck his brother with their axes; he gave them to sweepers to
be used as prostitutes and ordered their suckling children to be broken to pieces
on their heads. His actions filled people with horror and dismay. A shiver went
through the hearts of men.'
A short sketch of the conquest is also found in the Dawal Rani: 'When
the territory of Sind, the mountains and the sea, had become obedient to him.
the Sultan's exalted judgment decided that the Rai of Gujarat should also come
within his power. He sent U1ugh Khan to scatter the dust Of that province to the
winds and to defeat the Rai with his superior wisdom. Like lions (the Musal-
mans) shed the blood of the by the side of the river and the sea; and the
temple of Somnath was overthrown with so much force that the earth trembled
like the ocean.' (DawaJ Rani).
The fortunes (or misfortunes) of Rai Karan's wife, Kamla Devi and his
daughter, Dival Devi, are described by Amir Khusrau in his Dawal Rani and
are summarized in prose by Ferishta. The story is too long for citation in a
foot-note. (See my monograph on Amir Khllsl'(lll, chapter ii, Tarapore-
yala Bombay).
The Campaigns of 'Alaut/dill Khalii
195
To Khusrau's regard for the memory of Sultan Jalaluddin, and his reluctance
to refer to anything not morally creditable to Alauddin, we may attribute his
omission of the conquest of Multan by Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan. A'rkali
Khan, the eldest son of Sultan Jalaluddin, was governor of Multan when his
father was assassinated at Kara. Sultan Jalaluddin's wife, the MaIika-i Jahan,
instead of calling Arkali Khan, hastened to place her youngest son, Ruknuddin
Ibrahim, on the throne. Her action was probably due to the expectation that
she would be all in all with a minor on the throne, whereas ArkaIi Khan had a
will of his own. But when 'Alauddin advanced towaeds Delhi, the Malika:-i Jahan
found herself too weak to make a stand' and most of her officees deserted to
the enemy. She frantically appealed to Arkali Khan, but he had been deepl9'
wounded by his mother's behaviour and refused to stir, Finally when 'Alauddin
encamped opposite to Delhi, the Malika-i Jahan and Sultan Ruknuddin fled to
Multan. 'The first project. which 'Alauddin ente'rtained after his accession to
the throne was the removal of the late Sultan's sons. Ulugh Kha'n and Zafar
Khan sent to Multan with many maliks and amirs and an army of thirty
or farty thousand horse. After they had be'sieged Multan for a month or two.
the kotwal and the citizens of Multan turned away from Sultan Jalaluddin's sons
and some of their amirs joined the besiegers. Jalaluddin's sons asked for peace
through the mediation of Shaikhul Islam Shaikh Ruknuddin; after it been
oromised and the terms settled. they came out (of the city) with the Shaikhul
lsI""" and all their maliks and amirs. Ulugh Khan treated them with honour
and quo rtered them near his own tent. He sent a message of victory to Delhi,
where it was read from 'the pulnits and then desnatched to the provinces.
Ollbbahs (cupolas) were constructed in the City and drums beaten in joy.
'Alauddin's powpr over Hindustan was now established andi he had no enemy
or rival to fear.'
'Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan, who had the sons of Sultan Jalaluddin (both
of whom had once possessed the canopy) together with all their maliks and amirs
to their hands, now started for Delhi. On the way they met Nusrat Khan,
who had been sent to them. The two sons of Sultan Ialaluddin. Ulughu. a
son-in-law of the htp and Malik Ahmad Chap, the ex-Naib-i Amir-i
Ha;ih. were all blinded. Their harams were separated from them and their
wealth. goods, slaves and slave-girls. in fact, all they possessed. were seized bv
Nu'srat Khan. who imnrisoned the sons 0-' Sultan Jalaluddin in the fort of Hansi
and nut the sons of Arkali to death. He brought their harams. together with the
Malika-i Jahan and Ahmad Chap to Delhi and kept them as prisoners in his
own house' (Barani, Persian Text. pp. pp. 249-50).
11 A Illlsions to the slln and planets.
12 The signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricornus.
Allusions to 'manjaniq'.
14 A llusions to stars.
15 A number of 'New Muslims'. i.e. Mongols converted to Islam, had rebelled
when the army of Delhi was returning from Guiarat and sought refuge at
Ranthambhor. They were among its 'staunchest defenders.
16 The following aonears to be the sense of the sentences of which a literal
translation is given above. 'When Alauddin 'began to nile un his sand-bags
on the western side of the fort. the mnetial Hindus (who though Saturnians were
the Men of Mars as well) and their "New Muslim" comrades collected together
in the three western towers of the fort. which looked like "the heaven full of
stars". from here they threw fire 011 the Wb(} were l\
196 Politics and Society during the Early Medieoal Period
pashib at the foot of the fort and at the same time shot their arrows (Mercury)
also. But the arrows they shot (so Amir Khusrau imagines) wandered into
the fire they had thrown and were consequently burnt.
17 Allusions to manjaniq (catapult). 'An'ada, manjaniqs alld maghribis were
various machines for shooting stones at the fort walls and were largely used
in siege operations. The central piece, it seems, was a large wooden beam
moving upon a pivot; the strongest men of the army were made to pull one
side of the beam so that the other side moved forward and hit the stone like
a cricket bat. The stones were chiselled into a round or oblong shape of the
size of a football on the average. 1 succeeded in discovering a fairly large
llumber of these manjaniq stones at Chitor.
18 Allusions to seasons of the New Year.
19 i.e. after the New Year's festival, Alauddin distributed gold to his_ troops
and pressed on the siege with greater vigour.
20 Allusions to jort and mosque.
21 'Next the Sultan planned another expedition to win elephants and treasures.
UIugh Khan went to Jhain and moved towards the fort of Ranthambhor. The
army invested the fort as the sea inve sts the land. The Emperor also went
after him and the august pavilion was pitched up on the hill. The fort itself
was as high and exalted as the family of the Rai, Hamir Deva, who, though
a descendant of Rai Pithaura, exceeded his ancestor in pride. He had rais,
rawats, ranas and an army beyond computation; there were well caparisoned
elephants, thousands of horses swift as the wind and footmen without limit
The fort of Ranthambhor, which is two weeks' march from Delhi, was encircled
by a waH three farsangs ;n length. The Sultan attacked the fort as Ali had
attacked Khaibar. The maghl'ibis began to strike the fort from east and west
with such force that at every stroke one of the towers threw its hat on the
ground; because the stones were sent by the Emperor, the fort kissed the
ground as soon as they touched it. The Sultan was florm in his determination
and reduced the fort in a month or two. As the fort was struck by stone
after stone in succession, the path which had been attempted for thirty years
was cleared, and through the pious resolve of the Sultan, the desire of an
age was fulfilled in a month. When this "land of infidelity" became the
"Jand of Islam", the Sultan assigned the palace and the fort of Ranthambhol
to Ulugh Khan while he himself returned to the capital.' (Dawal Ram). There
are three mistakes in this short description: the time was considerably longer
than is asserted, the fort was reduced not by maghl'ibi strokes but through the
ardnous process of the pashib, and the affair was anything but the easy walk-
over a reader of Amir Khusrau would imagine.
Barani's description gives an idea of the difficulties that faced Alauddin at
Ranthambhor: 'The first expedition of the Sultan was against Ranthambhor,
which was (comparatively) nearer to Delhi and had been seized by Hamir
Deva, grandson of Rai Pithaura of Delhi. Ulugh Khan, who held the terri-
tory of Bayana, was sent against the fort and Nusrat Khan, who was governor
of Kara that year; was ordered to' march to his assistance with the army of
Kara and the other provinces of Hindustan. Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan
captured Jhain and laid siege to Ranthambhor. But one day Nusrat Khan,
who had gO'ne tO'O' near the fort in O'rder to direct the construction of the
pashib and the raising of the gal'gaj, was struck by a stone shot from a magh-
ribi in the fort and died after two or three days, When the news was brought
to Alauddin, he came O'ut of the city in royal splendour and started for Rantham-
1'lw Campaigns of 'Alauddil! Khalji
197
bhor. (At Tilpat, however, Alauddin's nephew, Akat Khan, tried to
him and the plot just missed success.) After this ,event the SUltan mal<.:hed
by continuous stages to Ranthambhor and fixed his camp there, 1he
which had been commenced before his arrival, was now pushed on WI
greater vigour. Ropes were brought from every side and woven mlO sacks,
which were distributed to the army, to be filled earth. and thrown mto
the ditch, The pashib was constructed the gal'ga] was raised, 1he beSieged
destroyed the pash!b with their magaribl-ston>es and threw fire Trom therr ram-
parts willie the beSIegers eSlaOllsneu lll"IDselves ov<;;r the ternlOry 01 Jham till
Dha;. LAt this juncmre the ;:,unan's nephews Umar ancl. Mangu revolted at
lladaun and Awadh while a treedman, HaJI Maula, raised a rebeilion m lJeJlll.)
News of the tumult and disturbance at Delhi was brought 10 'AmU<1<11n but
he had made a prmcely resolve to conquer Ranthambhor and relUse<1 to sUr
from his place, The large army investmg the fort was weary and SIck 01 the
siege-it was mid-summer-but irom tear of 'Alau<1dm's pUIDsnment no horse
or foot could either return from the army to Delhi or desert It and by away
to some other place, Repeated rebellions had aroused 'Am uddin 110m hlS Sleep
and he strove hard to reduce the fort. After much blOodshed and a hard struggle,
Ranthambhor was at last captured, and Hamir Deva and the "New MUSlIDlS', WilO
had fied to him after the Gujarat rebellIOn, were put to, death. 1he
aSSigned Ranthambhor and its territory to Ulugh Khan and returned to Delhi
{Tarikh-i Firoz Shah!). .
Ferishta adds a few details to Barani's account. 'After Nusrat Khan's death,
Hamir Deva came out of the fort with two hundred thousand horse and foot and
offered battle.' Ulugh Khan raised the siege and withdrew to Jhain, from where
he wrote of the state of affairs to the Emperor, After the siege had dragged on
for one year-or, according to another statement, for three years-the bmperor
coJiected a large army from all sides and distributed bags to them. Every man
filled his bag with sand and threw it into the ditch, called 'ran,' till an ascent to
the wall being formed, the besieged were overpowered and the fort captured,
Hamir Deva fell along with his tribe. Most of the rebels, led by Muhammad
Shah who had fied to Ranthambhor from Jalor, fell in the siege. Mir Muham
mad'Shah himself was lying wounded, When the Sultan's eye fell on hun, he
asked him out of kindness: 'If 1 have your wounds attended to and rescue you
from this dangerous condition, how will you behave towards me in future?' 'If
I regain my health', the othe.r replied, 'I will put you to death and rais.e the
son of Hamir Deva to the throne.' Stung to fury, the Sultan ordered him to
be cast under the elephant's feet, but soon after, remembering Muhammad Shah's
courage and loyalty, he ordered the dead man to be decently buried. Further,
Alauddin put to death those who bad deserted the aforesaid Raja-the Raja's
wazir Ranmal, etc, 'Such has been their behaviour towards their own master',
he said. 'How can they be loyal to me?'
22 Allusion to eyes. ,
23 Antimony (surma) is extensively used in India, partiy as a medicme, and
partly as a toilet for the eyes. Surma is put on the eyelids with a large blunt
needle; the imperial army used its spears instead to cure the dim sight of Rais,
Surma is generally kept in small phials of wood or ivory.
24 The whole of this passage is based on allusions to the eye. This was
naturally suggested by the title of Aiuul Mulk Multani (the eye of the state),
who was tbe first governor of Malwa. The Hajib-i Khas Or Imperial Chatnber-
lain was onG of the greatest officers Of the Court.
19&
Politics and Socieiy duting tlw Early Medievat Period
25 Chaksu is a grain, resembling a lentil, from which a remedy for the eyes
IS prepared. The lmperial army being commanded by Ainul MUlk, it was
neces1>ary for the Rai to be lIke a gram 01 chakm so that he may be ground into
powder for the 'Eye of the State'.
26 i.e. his son.
27 The word 'Deo' I:neaos 'god' in Sanskrit and 'demon' or 'giant' in Persian.
Khusrau is very fond of pJaymg upon its two meanings.
28 'Chao/lin bandi'.. apparently an allusion to the stilI prevalent belie! that
through the 10rce 01 magIc the eyes or the audIence can be made to see things
which do not really exist.
29 An allusion to th" Platonic Doctrine of Ideas.
30 'Next the Emperor resolved to conquer the countries of the southern rais.
lhere was a waruke wazir, named Kuka, wno had more JIlllu"nc" III Malwa than
the Rai himse.H. He had iony thousand horsemen and foot . beyond ali cumpula-
uon. But ten thousand (horsemen) sent thither trom the capital shattered Koka's
army. 'i he neads Of ttle reached the ;,ultan 1Il llUICl< .succession; new llags
were put OIl tne Imperial banIler. he who does not come to pay obedience
to the Emperor on his "feet", is compelled to come on his "head" I Away from
Mahlik Deo, who had remamed on his mountain, the Hindus were slam and
captured in large numbers. But as the Sultan had determined that the lIght
or Islam was to fully illuminate . those parts, he motioned to Ainul MUlk wIlh
his brows that he was to betake himsell to Malwa with speed. With the fore-
sight he had, Ainul Mulk obeyed the order with the pupils of his eyes, and
started for Malwa with his troops, who surrounded him as the eyelashes encircle
the eyes. Though General Ainul Mulk was a man of letters, he had also a
reputation in the army for the strength of his dagger-thrusts. Supported by the
good fortune of the Emperor, Ainul Mulk first cut down the rais Of the place and
then for a time gave grass and water to his horses round the fort of Mandu.
Cutting the thorns of the ground with his dagger, he battered at the fort with
iron. But it was a strange tort, four farsangs in circumference and high enough
to touch the mirror of the sky. Ainul Mulk tried to find a path, but it was hard
to find one that would lead them to the towers that rose as high as the moon.
But an opening having been suddenly discovered, the army rushed to it from
both sides of the fort. The Rai was captured and slain near the Sar, and news
of the victory was sent to the Emperor, who assigned the conquered territory to
Ainul Mulk' (Dawal Ram).
'Ainul Mulk Multani, one of the great maliks, was despatched with a large
army to conquer the territories of Malwa, Ujjain, Chanderi and lalor. When
Ainul Mulk reached Malwa, Kuka, the raja (1) of the place, came out to meet
him with forty thousand Rajput horse and a hundred thousand foot. A fierce
battle took place between the two armies, and Ainul Mulk was victorious. Having
conquered Ujjain, Mandu, Dharanagri and Chanderi on the 10th lamadiul Awwal,
he sent a message of victory to the Emperor. In Delhi for seven days and nights
drums were beaten in joy, and sugar' was loaded in carts and distributed to the
citizens. Katar Deo, ruler of the Jalor fort, was frightened at the conquest of
Malwa. He obtained a safe-conduct throngh the intermediation of Ainul Mulk,
J}resented himself before the Emperor and was enrolled among the allies'
(Ferishta).
31 The Gambheri and the Berach. A map of Chitor has been published by
e Survev Deoartment of the nf Tn,",'1l
The Campaigns of 'Ala uddin Idwlj,
32 M . ng that though the assault sword in hand had failed, it still lay in
to knock down the fort with his maghribis. But he retrameo
Irom the step owing to a spiritual message that the buJldIllg WOUld turn MUSllm
later. Its destructIOn, thererore, WOUld have been highly impolitIc. t-urther, the
stones of the fort, being true Musatrnans like all inarumate objects, kept close
together as all Musalmans should. They knew the future but kept the secret to
lest the Rajputs in disgust should pull down theIr treacherous fort.
jj ReierJing to a well-known story of the Quran, chap. x.xVll, sec. 2. li udh!,d
is the bird that brings the news of Balquis, queen of. ::,eba, ::,oIOm?n.. lhe
tamous Padmini is apparently responsible for the allUSIOns to Solomon s Seba.
34 Allusions to colours.
35 The village headmen, who among the Rajputs were also officers of the
army. d AI dd'
36 Allusions to the 10th of Muharram more pleasant than the 1. au m,
Khusrau has said before, entered the fort of Chitor oil the lIth of Muharram.
Here it is stated that the army started for Delhi after the 10th of Muharram.
1 here is really no inconsistency between the two statements, the 10th of Muhar-
ram having been introduced merely for the sake of allUSIOns III the paragraph ..
37 'Then he marched against Chitor in state and reduced It III a sIllgle expedI-
tion. There, also, was a Rai with a large army, who, to speak the truth, was
. the most exalted of all Hindu rulers. But the Emperor dId not waste much
time' tile fort was reduced in two months with such effect that Saturn became
about the safety of his own constellation. It was named Khizrabad
and presented to Khizr Khan. Chitor, the paradise the Hindus, a wonder-
ful fort and has springs and meadows on every SIde (Dawal Ram). .
'Sulan Alauddin came out of the city with his army and marched to Chitor,
which he invested and captured in a short time and then returned to Delhi'
(Barani). . . ..
The story set afloat by Colonel lames Tod will not bear a cntIcal
The following is Ferishta's account of the famous Padmini and the later history
of Chitor:
'In the meantime Ratan Sen, raja of Chitor, had obtained his delivera?-ce in
a most unusual way. The details of the incident are these. After the Raja had
been in jail for some time, it came to the Emperm's ears that among the Raja's
women (zanan) there was one, Padmini-a woman of fine stature, with dark eyes
and moon-like face. and adorned with all the accomplishments of a beauty. The
Emperor sent the a message that his release would depend on his l?resent!ng
her (to the Sultan). The Raja consented and sent messengers to call his famtiy,
who had taken refuge in inaccessible hilI-tracts, so that the Emperor's chosen may
be picked out of them. But the Raja's Rajput relatives.were at
message. They reproached him severely and wished to mIX a httle pOIson III
some food and send it to him; he would take it and withdraw into the world
of the dead without becoming notorious for his dishonour. The Raja's daughter,
however, who was famous for her intelligence among her tribe and kindred,
disliked this proposal. "1 have thought of a plan", she said, "by which my
father's life will be saved and yet his honour will not be lost. It is this.
Despatch a large number of litters full of warriors with a body of horse and
foot to Delhi and at the same time publish the news, that in obedience to the
Emperor's order, the Raja's women are coming to him. On reaching the suburbs,
they are to enter the city at night and take the road to the Raja's prison-house.
,, _ ____ __ ...L ____ 11 "'-,__ ____ ... ____ L_ .::1' _____ ... 1 __ _ ---
200
POlitiCS IIl1d Society durillg the r;ar/y MedieGUI Perioel
stands in their way and enter the prison; then seating my father on a
sWift-footed horse, they are to take the way to their homes with speed." The
counsellors approved ot the plan and acted upon it. A body of devoted warriors
sat rn the litters and came to Delhi. When a part of the night had passed,
entered the city. "We have brought Padmini and all the relatives of'the
RaJa", they crIed. On the prison, the Rajputs drew their swords, rushed
out. ?f the.lr litters and qUIckly cut the guards to pieces; then they broke the
Raja s mounted him on a horse and struggled out of the city like a bird
of Its cage. Jorned, next, by a body of Rajputs, who had been waiting for
hem, they the way to their homes. The Emperor's horsemen pursued
the!ll on theIr and overtook them at several places; many Rajputs were
slam III the sk.lrmIshes, but. the Raja, somehow or other, with great difficulty
the hills, where hIS family was Jiving. Rescued from the Emperor's
claws through the fortunate plan of his accomplished daughter, the
Raja began to the tern tory round the Chitor Fort. Alauddin, ho,wever
III .accordance With the demands of political expediency, took the fort
Khlzr Khan, and b,estowed it on the Raja's sister's son, Kha:riz Rai, who was in
Emper?r s and had gIven many proofs of his loyalty. In a short
lIme Khanz R,,;,- stre?gthened himself wonderfully in the place; all the Rajputs
pleased hiS government and joined him. He remained firmly loyal
It!l the Emperor s death. Every year he came with presents from his land to
kiSS the threshold of the great conqueror, and was honoured with the gift of
a horse and a special robe, after which he returned to his home. Whenever
the Sultan's atmy went on an expediticn, he appeared obediently with five thou-
sand horse and ten thousand foot and exposed his life to many dangers.'
38 Allusions to horses.
39 A play on the word Deogir, which may mean the place of a demon or of
a god.
, 40 The famous Malik Kafur Hazardinari. He held the office of Malik Naib or
Regent of the State'.
41 Malik Kaiur, so called because he had, till then, led three expeditions
the Deccan. to
42 Allusions to the sIVord. 43 Allusions /0 mirrors.
44 The for second conquest of Deogi'1'i are given in Appedix
A along With the authontJes on the other Deccan invasions.
45 Allusions to wild beasts. 46 Allusions to birds.
47 A fabulous bird of the Shahnamah.
48 Allusions 10 wild beasts. 49 i.e. the Sultan.
50 A sort of vetch. Being enemies of the Emperor they had to be soft a
mash consequently. the imperial author proceeds to' grind them between
magll1'lbl stones to proVIde the right kind of dinner-bread for an imperial army.
51 Allusion 10 birds.
52 A plain or platform in Delhi.
53 'Next the .started with his army for Siwana. There, too, was a
strong-an:ned Ral, named Satal Deo, whose "stone" had broken the balance of
other Rars. He. was powerful like Ahrman and all the rawats bowed to hi
authonty. In hIS fort of stone, which was stronger than iron, there were
1'he Campaiglls oj 'AlaaclelilO Kiwl}i
201
gabrs with hearts of steel. They had used their daggers and dispossessed other
rais Of their blankets. The imperial army had been investing the fort for five or
six years without being able to injure half-a-brick of the edifice. But in a single
move, the Emperor took his army to Siwana like a deluge, and Satal Deo, in spite
of his elephantine stature, was sent to sleep like an elephant through the vigilance
Df the Emperor' (Dawal Ralli).
'While the Malik Naib was in the Deccan, the Emperor marched against the
fort of Siwana, which is to the south of Delhi. The army of Delhi had been
besieging it for some years without achieving anything. . Ala uddin encircled
the iort and reduced the besieged to straits. Satal Dco, the Raja 0" Siwana,
humbly sent a silver effigy of himself with golden cords round its neck, a hundred
elephants, and other valuable presents to the EmperOJ; and asked for his pardo;l.
The Emperor took this in good humour, but said that it would do no good till
Satal Deo came in person. The Raja perforce came out of the fort and paid his
respects to the EmperoL. 'Alauddin took possession of all that the fort contained,
even the knives and needles. Such articles as were pf use to the government
were assigned to the royal factories; the rest were given over in payment of
the salaries to the troops and camp-followers. The ter,ritory was divided
among the amirs. The empty fort was handed back to the Raja.
'About the same time the fort of Jalor was also conquered. It is said that
Kanir Deo, raja Qof Jalor, .came to pay his homage to the Emperor at DeliIi,
"There is no zamindar in Hindustan today strong enough to challenge my troops",
:Alauddin declared on one occasion when Kani'r Deo was present in the
majlis. "If I challenge and do not prevail", Kanir blurted out in his excessive
ignorance and folly. "I will know how to die." The Emperor was annoyed at
these words, but said nothing, and permitted Kanir Deo to return to his
territory. When some two or three months had passed, the Emperor determined
to show his strength. He ordered a slave girl, narned Gul-i Bihisht, to march
against J alor and reduce it by force. GuI-i Bihisht reached her destination,
besieged the fort and displayed such wonderful courage that it never occurred
to Kanir Deo to come out and offer battIe. The besieged were reduced
to straits and the fort was about to fall when Gul-i Bihisht suddenly fell ill and
died. Her son, Shahin, took the army in hand and tried to overpower the
besieged like his mother. But Kanir Deo saw that the Emperor's anger was
inevitable and determined to make a: desperate struggle. He collected all his
men, came out of the fort and gave battle. As chance would have it, Shahin
and Kanir Deo came face to face and Shahin was killed. The other amirs,
unable to continue the struggle, retreated a few stages. 'Alauddin was furious
at the news and sent Kamaluddin to lead the enterprise with a new army.
Kamaluddin showed great activity and courage. He reduced the fort, slew
Kanir Deo with his sons and followers and seized his treasure. When the
message of victory reached Delhi, drums were beaten in joy' (Ferishta).
Ferishta is mistaken in stating that Sa tal Deo was deprived of his wealth and
allowed to live in his fort. Khusrau definitely states in both his wO'rks that Satal
Deo was slain. Ferishta's mistake is due to the fact that he applies to Satal
Deo the verses in which Khusrau has described the fate of the Rai of Arangal.
20.2
Politics and Society during the Eml y Medieval Period
Chapter V
CAMPAIGN OF ARANGAL
Now I will describe the conquest of TilanftA in such a
way, that the feet of imagination will become lame in following my
pen! lAtter conquering many regions of the south, the brilliant judg-
ment of the Sultan of };,ast and "Vest came to the conclusion that the
of Arangal must be trampled under the crescent horse-shoe
of the army. On 25th Jamadiul Awwal, 709 A.H. the Nausherwan of
the ag? ordered his accompanied by the red canopy
of the Shadow of God and an army like the stars and planets of the
sky, to lead his lucky horses to the south. The ruby canopy of the
of Sultans, like a cloud that becomes red a, the sun shmes upon
It, began to move towards the sea of Maabar. And as it commenced
its flight at the Emperor's order, you would think it was a cloud, which
Mecca-going winds were carrying towards the sea. Following this
sky tied with the stars and planets of the army moved on, stage
atter stage; after nine days the fortunate star of the state (Le. the
wazir of the Empire) arrived at a propitious moment at Masudpur.
At this place, which is named after the son of the Emperor Masud,
the toot of the standard remained stationary for two days. On Mon-
day, the 6th Jamadius Sani, the crescent standard ot the Empire,
with the maliks and other 'stars', began to move rapidly forward. It
was the tirst part of the month. Every night the moon enlarged
its flame and raised i,t higher to help the night marches of the army.
And though the sun, the 'Mecca' of the Hindus, looked fiercely at
the Musalmans, the feet of the army threw dust into its eye. Yes, the
eye that looks fiercely at such an army deserves no other antimony but
black dust. 3The path before them was extremely uneven; there'were
innumerable deits in it, such that if the wind passed through them, it
would tall as water talls into a well, or i (Hames of) fire ran over
them, they would bow down their heads to ilie earth. Owing to
the rapidity of the streams, the ground at the foot of the hills had
broken into many fissures. Every mound had a hundred !:b.ousand
pointed thorns stuck to its head; the very idea of cutting such rocks
and thorns made the hair of a pair of scissors stand upon its body
like thorns. Through such a forest the obedient army passed, file
after file, as if that perfect, wilderness were the 'straight path'.
After six days of marching, the army crossed five rivers-Jun,
Chambal, Kunwari, Binas, Bhoji4-at the fords and came to
Sultanpur, known as Irijpur. Here the army remained for four days.
'1 . . . . . . 6
'the Campaigtls of 'Ata!lddin Kllatji
203
his horse, and the of the Ernpire began to move.
The nder was above, the horse was below; it looked as if 'stars' were
riding on the backs of the planets. 7From farsang to farsang every
stone on the way had its 'head' broken by the hoofs of the horses
though nothing came out of its 'skull'. The movement of cloven-footed
baggage bearers despoiled the earth of its bloom. The swift paiks
(tootmen) rent the hills with their iron feet; indeed, as these
pedestrians hunied over the ground with firmness and impetuosity,
on one side the stones pierced into the sales of their feet, while on
the other, their feet removed the skin from the skull of the stones.
Il Atter thiIteen days, on the first of Rajab, the army arlived at
Khanda. In such a wilderness the month of God9 came forward to
welcome the Muslim army, and showed great kindness to the pious
men, who had travelled under the hot sun for three months. Here
a muster of the holy warriors was held for fourteen days. The angels
sent their blessings. The prayer for victory came to the 'ears' of
Rajab, and it hurried forward with the joyful news of future victories
like those of the past. .
On this auspicious occasion all the rnaliks, officers and leading men
of the army gathered together before the red canopy, and kept their
days alive by hearing prayers for the Jesus-like Emperor; inoreover
by kee{ling the 'tast of Mary' (mza-i-Maryam), they collected pro-
visions for their future life. There can be no doubt that an extremely
pious assembly had gathered round the sky-shadowing canopy; even
the saints (autad) were present. They held fast to the 'sh'ong cord',
and no (ditterences) had any place amongst them. The august !l1onili
of Rajab heard with solemnity and joy the prayers for the Emperor
and for victory. lONext morning, after the 'fast of Mary', the army
again advanced like a raging deluge. Through rivers and torrents it
passed. Every day it came to a new land; in every land it came across
a new river in which the quadrupeds rolled like five-footed animals.
Though all the rivers were crossed, yet the Narbada looked like a
remnant of the primeval deluge. As the miraculous power of the
Emperor-Sultan was with the officers of the kingdom, the deep rivers
became dry as the dust of the army approached them, and the Musal-
mans crossed them with ease. Eight days after crossing the Narbada,
the army reached Nilkanth. VVhen these wide rivers make a way for
the imperial anny to cross, there would be nothing wonderful if it
also forded through the Nile of Egypt and the Tigris of Baghdad.
llAs Nilkanth was on the border of Deogir, and the territories of
th.eRai-Rayan, Ram Deo, had now been reached, t1le wazir, acting
's 's fr ein
I"
204 l'olitics alld Society darillg the Early Medieval Period
plundered by the troops, who were as innumerable as ants and
locusts. No one dared touch the door or the wall of a building or
take anything from the barns .01' fields oil the peasant. The stores at
the ants did not become the food of the 10Cttsts.l2 The chums, which
sounded to march, were detained here for two days in order to make
inquiries about the stages in advance. On Wednesday, the 26th Rajab,
the movement of the .army again shook the bowels of the earth, and
the ground began to rise up and go down like the belly of a Khat-
khana-blowe1. Trampling the earth under their feet and splitting
stones with force, the army defiled through such a dangerous path.
In sixteen days the difficult road to Tilang was traversed.
The ground was overlaid with hard rocks, which the Hindus had
otten (vainly) attempted to cross; yet these heavy rocks flew away
like dust at the feet of the qUildrupeds of the Muslim army. The eye
of the sky gazed in wonder; for the toad went up and down like the
subtle wit of a clever cheat and was at the same time as long as a
miser's greed. And in attel'npting to describe its hills and cave1"flS,
the inteUigence of the panegyrist would bow its head in wonder.
l:JThe path was narrower than a guitar string and darker than a
beauty's locks. At times it was like a hole in a reed: when the wind
attempted to pass through it, it came out reverberating. The liver-
banks were so steep that it would have been difficult for a duck, or
even an eagle, to cross them. Pretending that they knew the way,
nimble-bodied men attempted to ascend the heights on either side;
but their feet slipped all of a sudden; their attempts to catch hold
of the steep sides were ineH"ectual; and rubbing their hands .together,
they fell down with innumerable wounds. The neighing horses, that
danced in the air, would fall down in a p:loment owing to one false
step. Yes! Many a dancing horse flew swift as the wind; but once
its foot slipped down the hillside, it tumbled and fell. 14Furthermore,
as the dark-taced cloud brought forth its unfinished pearls to won)'
the people of the mmy, the wind struck it hard on 1:11e neck, and all.
its water was shed. Whenever the forked lightning laughed at the
slipping feet of the army, the thunder roared so loudly at the latter
that it immediately disappemed. You would have thought that the
cloud was envious of the ocean-like palm of the Emperor's hand, but
being powerless to do anything at the impmial court, sought conso-
lation by attacking the army. The lightning, on the oilier hand, had
been struck with fire by the imperial sword; but unable to display
its impudence in the Emperor's presence had gone thither to reveal
its bunling heart. 15Though the holy warriors met many obstacles
in this ioumey, yet they had girded their loins sincerelv for the sake
Trw Campaigns of 'Ala uddin Klwlji 205
of Allah alone, and had their cycs on that final reward, the hope of
which sustains the human heart. Consequently, they did not regard
their sufferings as serious. In a thousand ways the assistance of
Heaven, too, was with them. Good fortune accompanied young and
old over hills and valleys, rocks and thorns, desert and forest, even
m; victory accompanies' the Muslim standard.
l6After passing with determination and rapidity 1:11rough those hills
and plains, they arrived at a Vaal? \vithin the borders of Basiragarh.
17
It was enclosed by the two rivers, Yashar and Buji1
8
. A diamond
mine was said to. exist iliere. But as the power of imperial sword,
through the strength of which all the treasures of the mis have come
into the hands of Muslim soldiers, had given strength to the officers of
the state, they did not care to take handfuls of earth from the pits;
tor it is easier for powerful swordsmen to seize jewels with the sword
than to dig them out of the earth tcith the spade. this. time
the Malik, with the impetuosity of a dragon, left the dIfficultIes of
the winding path, and with some dare-de,;il horsemen, ma:ched
against the tort of Sarbar, which belonged to the kingdom of TIlang.
"The saddles were still stinging like scorpions on the backs of the
horses when he ordered the wamors to make a circle round the fort.
The shot their arrows from outside. 'Strike!' 'Strike!' cried
the Hindus from within. The rawats of the Rai were so bitten by the
pOisoned arrows, that they wished to take in the of ants
for protection, and llke thousand-:I'ooted ammals crept lUto every
comer. The arrows had made snake-holes in the bodies of many and
their lives were in danger. The movement of crocodile-like warriors
shook the earth to the back of the Fish.2o 21\Vhen the swift arrows,
with Herv Hames at the end of their wood-pieces, began to fly forward
to bum' the houses of the infidels, their faces grew dark at the
approach of this wall of fire. In ilie of tl:eir .foIly, they. drew
the fire on to themselves; i.e. all of them WIth theIr WIVes and chIldren
threw themselves into Hre and went to hell. For fire is the reward
of the enemies of Allah! The eAi:erior of the fott became bright
owing to this illumination of the pit of hell. The of the victors
were like Hints in armours of steet; they cast away theIr armOurs and
jumped up from the rocks as a spark flies out of flint. At
the breeze of victory suddenly blew fast, and the flames lUsIde the
fort rose higher stil!. The impetuous soldiers of.the Muslim amiy
drew their swords like so many tongues of fire, chmbed up the fort,
and falling on the half-bumt mass, put to death with their Hind-steel
those whom Hre had spared. Matters having come to this, the re-
maining muqaddams of the fort also wished to sacrifice themselves
206
Politics and Society during the Em'ly Medieval Period
in the same element. At this instant, the Ariz-i Mumalik, Sirajuddin,
saw that it was time to light the lamp of victory. Ananir, the brother
of the muqaddam of the fort, had hidden himself in the cnltivated
fields of that land. The Al'iz-i Mumalik ordered him to be captured
and given a servere chastisement. At first, allured with soft words,
he was kept for being beheaded and burnt; but, next, 1:I1is low-burn-
ing lamp of the Hindus (i.e. Ananir) was given a tongue (to ask) for
his lite, so that before morning the Hames of insurrection mif:!;ht sub-
side.22 As the smoke of destruction rose from this fort to the sky,
some retugees from the burning edifice, with their eyes full of water,
fled to Rai (Laddar Deo), and like moist wood, with weepings
and wailings, gave vent to the inner sorrow of their hearts. The
Rai, who possessed elephants and troops, was also overcome by
fear but he did not think it advisable to advertise it. So he bewailed
his fate for a while and thus soothed his inner sadness. But when
the fire of misfortunes is lit, tears from the eyes burn in it Uke oil.
230n Saturday, the 10th of Shaban, they marched from here deter-
mined to plant the tree of virtue in the land of Tilang and to uproot
with the greatest torce the tree of vice, that had fixed its roots there.
On the 16th Shaban the true believers arr!ved at the village of
KunarbaI. While 1:I1e pious standard was being planted, the Malik
Naib commander of the army oll heaven, ordered a thousand swift
they were such that the crow of victory did not build
its nest except on their bows! -to go forward and capture a few
infidels, though the daggers of the latter may be as nuinerous as the
leaves of a willow, in order to make inquiries from them about the
condition of the country. When this force reached the gardens. of
Arangal, the iron of their horse-shoes turned green from walkmg
over the grass. Two famous officers. with fortv mounted h?rsemen
lVent torward and reached the sumrrilt of the Anamkonda HIll, from
where they could see all the suburbs of Arangal.
24
. On
carefully from the hill, four SW1ft Hmdu horsemen came mto
sight. The Musalma,ns drew their bows and ra:r atter them. They
succeeded in knocking down one of the four with a four-feathered
arrow and sent him to the commander-in-chief. The latter took it
as a good omen. 'Thus with my sword', he sai:l, 'will I peel away
the skin from the heads of such Hindus as rebels.
25When the army reached Arangal, canopy ru?bed its
head with the clouds. At midday the Malzk Nmb, accompamed bv a
tew men went to reconnoitre the fort (of Arangal). He saw a fort,
the like which is not to be found on the face of1 the earth .. 26Its
wall, though of mud, was so hard! that a spear of steel could make
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khal;l
207
no impression upon it; if a maghribi-stone were to strike it, it would
like a nut by a child. Its earthen towers were stronger
than faurus, and the Onon only came up to its waist. Nevertheless,
the standards of infidelity trembled on the top of all the towers in
expectation of their downfall, while the aradas of Hindus wept from
fear of being broken. The warlike rawats with all their heavy stones
had thrown themselves into the sling of destruction; some- of
wer:e collecting stones for the l1umianiqs; others, who h.ad no stones,
busy in throwing bricks and javelins. That day the victorious
carefully selected the ground for the army-camp and returned.
Next morning he intended to carry the battle forward, and in good
news, to throw stones at the heads of the Hindus. 27When morning
dawned and the sun rose, the sky-towering standard of the eastern
Empire was raised up and brought to Anamkonda. Once more the
great M aUk went round the fort to re-examine the ground for the
The were to be pitched side by side, as the Aqua-
nus lzes zn the nezghbow-hood of the Pisces.
28It was the 15th of Shaban, when in the middle of the month of
the Prophet, the ruby canopy was fixed so high that it over-topped
the Raniazan crescent. On that nii!-h>t Khwaia Nasirul Mulk Siraiud-
daulah (May God illuminate the nights of his life!) personally arrang-
ed the troops with a lighted lamp. Every division was sent to its
appointed place, in order to surround the fort and to protect the
beSiegers from the shots of the besieged and from whatever CDmr
pounds of air and fire the latter might bring forth to set fire to the
external wall of bronze. 29When the august canopy had been fixed a
>nil from the gate of Arangal, the tents around the fort were pitched
together so closely that the 'head' of a needle could not go between
. them. Inside the fort the Hindus slept at ease, like reclining yard-
measures; outside the watchmen of the imperial army were wide
awake. Every tuman was assignedi one thousand two hundred yards
of land; the total circumference of the fort, as enclosed by the tents.
was twelve thousand five-hundred and forty-six yards. so The land
of infidelity was made to look like a cloth market oWing to the innu-
Irierable tents.
31The victorious army drew into ranks like the teeth of a saw and
the heart of the Hindus was cut into two. Every soldier was ordered
to erect a Kath-gal'h (wooden defence) behind his tent. Immediatelv
all hatchets became busy and every soldier was transformed into
Ishaq, the wood-cutter. Trees that had never been molested by the
stones of those who wished to eat their fruits, were now felled with
iron axes in spite of their groans; and the Hindus, who worship trees,
208
Politic. and Societu during the Early 'MedieDol Period
were unable to come to the rescue of their gods in their need. Every
accursed tree in that land of infidelity was cut down toits roots. Clever
carpenters sharpened their instruIl1Emts on the tree-trunks and soon
cut tllem into proper shape w11h their axes. Finally; a wooden
was built ronnel the army. It was so strong, that If fire had ramed
from the skY, the wood(ln fort (wuld 11(11;e heel! as safe from fire
as Noah's ark was from water.
32When the Hindu-faced evening had made a night-attack on the
sun and sleep had closed the portals of the eyes and besieged the
tort of the pupiI
33
, the watchmen, with their shields on their backs
and their drawn swords in their hands, drew into a double row to
keep guard over the imperial. camp and '.vith the strokes of their
eyelashes drove sleep out of their eyes. Near midnight, when the
meteors had begun to shoot towards the besieged demons and the
moon had brought forth its full shield, a thousand swift Hindu horse-
men from the troops of Banik Deo the rmlqaddam of
that country, made a night-attack on the Muslim army with demonish
cries and the Hindi sword, God forbid that such an ai'my should feaj'
such an attack! 34As a matter of fact, the crocodiles of the besieging
armv who had themselves been waiting in an ambush for this armour-
ed 6sh caught the latter with their HincH swords like fish in a net.
From fear of the enemv's maces and clubs, the Hindus drew their
heads into their anuours"1ike tortoises. The heads of the mwats rolled'
like crocodile-eggs on the fish-backed earth,. In an instant of .
these aquatie creatures had been drowned m a de1ul!;e of theIr own
blood and lav like slaughtered fish. Those wounded by spears and
. arrows cried 'as frogs Cl;' when caught by snakes. Others who tried
to run away received ,vQunds on their backs, which like cancer-sores
opened a cioor for the entry of death. 3,5Finallv, most of the Hindus
were either killed, overpowered or driven awav. Some of them cut
off their horse-belts in order to luore quickly. but the anvil-riercing
holy warriors came out of their iron lines and pursued them, deter-.
milied to strike the Hindi sword at infidel hearts. Every Hindu found
in the neighbourhood was either slain with the Hindi sword and
the Tatar-arrow or sent as a pdsoner to the army.
Now some of the prisoners happened to declare that in the
of Dahdum six farsangs from Tilang, three elephants,
as could tear up the back of a hill with their iron
been secretly hidden. Immediately, at the order of the
in-chief of the imperial army, three thousand brave
by Qara Beg Maisara, galloped awav in that direction ..
tIley reached the said fort, the elephants had been
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khal(t
209
still and inevitably a further distance had to be traversed. Thanks to
the unlimited good fOltune of the Emperor, all the three elephants
fell into the hands of his officers. The elephants, on their part, were
busily puUing their chains in their anxiety to reach the imperial court.
When they were brought to the army camp, the war-like M.alik con-
sidered the acquiSition of these three iron forts a great
and kept them, along with the other el ts, for the Impenal
stables. Indeed, he /w.d seen all this in mittor of his sword and
u;ithout the help of any c0n1umr or fortune-teller.
36As the commander-in-chief of the army, who was also the Im-
perial chamberlain, was very fond of polo (chaugan), he ordered his
enthusiastic men to go on playing the game against the muqaddams
of Ladd;;tr Deo, day after day. He motioned to them with his brow,
that wheresoever they came across a desperate rawat they to
take his head for a 'balf and bring it to their camp. Having recClved
this wide permiSSion, the sportive horsemen considered it a great fun
to separate the heads from. the bOdfes a very la:ge number. Every
horseman in the army whipped hIS ammal and In several matches
brought away the 'balls' of those desperate Hindu warriors; for you
might consider their blood-smeared heads as coloured' balls
to the presence of the chaugan-loving Malik. Further, the Mahk
ordered stone-balls for the to he collected all round the
tort; so t/w.t toith the sttokes of the balls the fmt may and
redttced to dttst in anothej' match. 37As the external manlamqs drew
tIleir strength from the virtuous tree of faith, they did great damage
to the infidel edifiCe, but the inner <aradas, being constructed from
the tree of infidelity, naturally yielded before the impetuosity of
Muslim stones. The stones of the Musalmans all flew high, owing to
the power of 'the strong cable: and hit the mark: while the balls of
the Hindus were shot feebly as from a Brahman s thread, and con-
sequently went wrong.
38When the sabats and gargaies were completed and rose so high
that the garrison of the fort was placed suddenly on a lower
lion the fort ditch began to talk of its great depth to the MuslIm
, Though the latter looked sternly at it and took measure of its
it would not allow the army to cross; and opening wide its
lips, spoke of the security of the fort. Ultimately, the
mud into its mouth, and filled it in so completely that Its two
joined together. Of this there could be no doubt. Further,
of the fort-wall for about the length of a hundred hands,
. so thoroughly' by the stroke of large stones, that could
high enough to embrace the Hind\ls below the arm-pIts. On
210
l'olitics a/ld Society duri/lg the Ea1'ly Medieval l'eriod
the other side, also, the havoc wrought by the maghribi stones had
created new doors in the gate-wall. All these doors of victory which
Divine assistance had opened for the imperial officers. Yes every
crack in the enemy's wall is a door of victory for the friend. 39When
owing to the continuous piling up of the earth, a mound had risen
from the bottom of the ditch to the waist of the fort, and the mud
wall at the fort had become a heap of dust from the strokes of the
stone-balls, they desit"ed to conshuct a pashib so wide that files of
hundred men abreast may ascend over it to the fort. But the cons-
huction of the pashib have taken a few days; and victory, in
her haste, was dancing on the swords point. The rightly guided
wazi1' called the Maliks to a council of discussion, and their correct
iudgment was to the effect, 'that before the construction of the
pashib, a hand-to-luznd struggle sholll(E be attempted, and as victory
is on ow' side, may be she will come running'.
40'l'he night of Tuesdav, the 11th Ramazan, was so briQ'ht that its
sliining moon imparted it the brilliance of Lailatul Oadr.41 The
ta1'(lwih pravers asked for heavenly help with a loud voice.. The
blessing of the fasting day had collected the rewards of the vIctors;
and FOJtune used the lock of the night as her ladder for descending
from heaven to earth. The Pleiades had lifted their hand in p1Yllfer
that key of victory may fall into them! 42The exalted azi1' orc'1cl:e:l
high ladders and all other requiSites to be constructed III everv dIVI-
sion (khaif) in the course of the niQ'ht, whenever the drum beat to
action evervone was to come out of his entrenchment and carrv the
laddel:s to the fort, so that the work of v'ictOl'l1 mie.ht be exalted step
bl{ step. When in the morning the sun in Gemini had clothed the
sky with a waist-band of light, the holy waniors ran towards water
and took off their socks in order to put on their armour. 43After
performing their ablution-and every drop of .ablution-;vater is a
sharp arrow for Satan's heart, for ablution is Musalmans armour!
-thev were ready for prayer and tul'ned then' faces
The Sah-kash also bowed in the obligatory praver, and rmse,d hIS
hands to ask Heaven for victorv and success. He beQ'Q'ecl the Kmg
of Khaihar'44 to plead before God, from whom all good originates. for
the reduction oB the fort, and instantlv the keys of victory fell into
his hands from the Unseen Gate. Some waiting was, however, still
necessary, for everything has its appOinted time.
45When the golden shield of the sun had lisen a spear' high, the
Malik Naib ordered his men to beirin the attack and the hlood of the
'gabrs' was shed in the worthless f01't even as the Censor of morals
throlVs away carnation-colowed wine. The beat of the Ie.athcrn drum
Tile Campaigns of 'Alaucldin Khalji
211
the thunder declares His glory with His praise'-resounded
through the vault of the sky. The tlUrtipets of the holy warriors raised
their voices on every side. 'Here! I am for you', cried Victory as
came IUnning. Bolc( men with scaling ropes 'bel!:an to jump up to the
fort-wall like lions in the forest. The arrows fell thick like showers
of the rainy season and pierced the breast of the Hindus even as
rain drops get into the mothers-of-pearl. PoweJful cHggers, with the
greatest noise, sat down to open a way into the fmt. One half of the
earthen fort flew up like dust to the sky: the other half threw itself
down to seek protection from the ground. The excellent how of the
Turks rubbed its sicles with the skv and claimed to be tbe bow of
Rustam, while their arrows, all flving tog-ether, looked like the cloud
of Bahrrian. Others had applied their spades to the fort-wall; you
would have thought they were 'arguing away' the foundations of
the edifice with their eloquent tongues. Some had thrust their sword-
points into 'fIle solidified earth as if determined to carve fine figures
out of it. The wooden ladders raised their feet to the hiQ'hest eleva-
tion tram the greatest depth for the sake of Islam: and the earthen
fort threw the Hindus down from its hei\!ht in order to deg1'ade in-
fidelity. The maghl'ihis outside exchan.qed shots with the' al'radas
the tort; it seemed as if voung men and veiled blides were'
throwinO' loving stones at each 'other; for either sirle exercised the
greatest b attraction, and with unclosing eves. marked the .
tricks of the other. If one ball was clischaraed from outSIde It
as two balls within: but if two balls were discharQ'ed from within,
no mistorhme hefell the proclaimers of the one Cod. Praise be to God
for His exaltation of the Muslirri faith! There can be no doubt that
stones are worshipped bv the gabrs; but. as thev were unable to Q'ive
their worshippers any assistance. the {!,ahrs threw them up to the
and then down to the earth. And it was rJ1'Oner that the stones should
be st1'ltck against the {!,10und. Next some footmen of the Muslim amiv
clirribed with their hand-nails over the earthen fort: awl having found
the moon in the TaulUs, they permanently pllrchased the land and
buildings of that territory with the Alai coin.46 Though the fort
had been so excellentlv constmcted, that there was nothing on its
walls that one could catch hold of or lay one's finger on, yet the
besiegers clung to it with the edves of nails; and a wise
man overcomes a fool, they boldly clImbed to .the summIt of the
fort. And God enabled them to blingone wing or the fort into their
strong and powerful hands. That night they established
there in force, and broke the legs of those who wanted to drslodg
e
them,
212 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Pmwd
On Sunday, the 13th Ramazan-Sunday, being a day dedicated
to the Sun-the sun had so illuminated the night, that it merged
insensibly into the day, thus giving the holy warriors a greater time
for action. As the. moon withdrew its shield beyond the western
horizon, the men of the army drew their swords and attacked the
fort from the east. The drummers awakened the sleeping war-drum
which leapt up from its sleep at their beats; and it seemed that the
four elements of the sphere would dissolve into chaos at its noise.
The war cries of the warriors, the sounds of 'Huzza! Huz!' and
"Khuzza! Khuz!' resounded through the world.47 The assistance
sent from the smoky skv for the Muslim army descended through
the etheral sphere; and bringing fire with it from there, fell on the
gabr's places of refuge. And in its liberality with human life. the fire
turned these stingy people into enormous heaps of ashes. When the
tongues of fire harl descended low, the standard of the Sultanate
rose on the tort. All praises are for Allah who raised it so hi!!h!
48By Wednesday, a day dedicated to Mercury (Archer), the Em-
peror's fierce troops had as easily entered the mud fort as a warrior's
arrow breaks through and upsets a bubble. The inner fort. which
resembled the (Arabian) Khaihar, was invested. No Hindu
allowed to cross the line of the besiegers just as dogs had not been
allowed to come out of Khaibar (bv the Musalinans); if a Hindu had
afteinpted to do so, his heart would have been cut open bv the arrow
that could pierce through seven plates of steel. When the Alexandrian
lines had surrounded the inner fort by a wall of iron, thev saw a
building, the stones of which rose up to the and even the sky
had raised its mirror higher (lest rt might break from contact) with
the rocky towers. Its stones were jOined so carefully together that
the head of a needle could not get in between them: its walls were
so smooth that a fly attempting to sit on thein would have slipped
down. Its stones and plaster had been welded so excellentlv together
that the tongue of the spade was unable to separate them. In ad,di-
tion to this, there was such a wonderful charm in its walls and build-
ings that no maghribi had the healt to do them any wrong. You
might say that the fort was a stiff spear, which the ant could not
climb, or else that it was a flute, in which the wind 1091: itself as in
a wooden pipe. Its towers stood upright in the air and ascended to
the moon; its foundations sank deep in the earth, down to the Fish.
The watchman on its towers bathed his head with the clouds: the
digger at its foundations washed his feet with water.
When the multitudinous ariny came to the lip of the ditch,49 they
found its mouth full of water; . if anyone talked to it about crossing
The Campaig1ls of 'Alaluidin Khalji
213
to the other side, it tried to drag him down to the bottom. The
swordsmen of the army, however, would not float any boat on the
ditch but detelmined to swim through it together. They practised on
the face to the water every rule of mensuration they knew, and, in a
moment, crossed the ditch, file after file, more easily than a boat
would have done. They determined to sum up all their resolution
and to bore holes into the stomach (of the fOlt) as in a reed. \Vith
the passion of Farand, they wished to knock down the edifice so
completely that it may not be propped up by a thousand columns and
to pull down its towers with such force that the 'heads' of the towers
would come down while their 'feet' went up. In short, they resolved
to seize the fort so effectivelv from the Hindus that even its dust
might not be left in the hands. Yes, Yes, even the dust is
retuctant to 1"emain with the infidel. 50Rai Laddar Deo sat inside
the fort like a snake over buried treasure and called his people around
him. His elephants pulled their chains in pride of the gold they
bore, but the Hai was thinking of his war with the golden scorpions
and watery pearls trickled down his inner eye at the thought (of
losing his enormous treasures). He wished to look into the future,
but his eyes retused to obey him. He had been brave and courageous
in the siege; yet whenever he reflected on the situation in which he
was placed, his stout heart began to palpitate; and if he wished to
remove the heaviness of his heal'!: by saying farewell to all his trea-
sures his heart struck against his breast, and told him that it could
not, at least, separate itself from so much gold as remains 9I:icking to
a black touchstone.
51
He had fastened his hopes on being able to
place before the invaders an obstacle, which would cause them to
stumble and retrace their steps. But the Eniperor's prestige overawed
him; all his courage melted away and he was left a broken man.
In his helplessness, he first collected in heaps the treasure he had
buried under stones more heavy than can be dragged from the hills,
in order to provide for his ransom. Next he constructed a golden
image of himself, and in acknowledgement of having becoiri.e a
tribute-payer, he placed a golden chain round its neck and sent it
through ambassadors, whose honest word was more unchanging than
the purest gold, to the Commander of the imperial army.
'The opposition of the rice-made Hindu', ran the Raj's petition, 'to
the iron bodies of the Musalmans is like a silver-faced beauty challeng-
ing Rustam to battle. This being the case the servant, Laddar Deo,
has been forced to lay aside his own bronze body in a comer. Fear
of the Emperor's Hindi sword has turned me pale, or, rather. my
body of stone has become golden in the rays of the imperial sun.
214 Politics and Societv during tiw Earlv ll{eciieval l'eriod
I have. an exact image of myself, which
IS to promIse tnbute and obedience at the review. I hope
the Impena! officers will intercede for me at' the Court, and inform
the Emperor that fear of him has rendered the broken body of this
servant even liteless than this golden statue, and that I will
only feel signs of life in myself on the day when the wind of imperial
tavour blows over my dead body.
'If the good-will of the olcers of the world-protecting court is
to won .by treasure and valuables, I have as much gold with me
as wIll suHice to gild all the mountains of Hind. All this immense
gold ?elongs to the Empcror and I will not turn my face to it again.
B.ut If the world-adorning imperial will, as a favour to the weak,
gIves back a tew gold coins to this wllortunate Hindu it will exalt
him (Laddar Deo) to a dignity superior to that of all otlIer Rais. For
tlle desire of ?old is found in evelY head. It is only the mirror
(heart) of the Second Alexander that. can tum its back towards this
metal, for his sword has absorbed the gold of the whole world.
Concerning his sword only can the proverb, that "magnet draws iron
and iron draws gold", be true. And if the Emperor really wanr$ rhe
gold possessed by a poor man like me, so much the better J For what
principlity is m?re fOltunate than the one which draws the Emperor's
heart towards Itself. I will keep none of this gold-dust for myself,
for my heart has been broken by the fear of Emperor's infidel slaying
sword. And everyone knows, that when an earthen vessel breaks,
you cannot mpair it with gOld-dust. If precious stones,52 gems and
pearls53 are demanded, I have a stock of them such as the eyes of
the mountains have not seen and the ears of the fish have not heard
ot. All these will be scattered on '.the path of the imperial officers.
Fol' if I do not scatter mbies on the road, ouer which the Emperor's
army comes advancing through hill and plain, my blood will be soon
shed there.
54'Of horses, too, I have twenty thousand, being of the mountain
and foreign (lJahri) br'eed.55 The foreign horse flies like wind on the
surface of water, without even its feet becoming wet. And when the
mountain-horse steps on a hill, the hill trembles like a Hindi sword.56
All these horses will be handed over, along with the slaves, to the
royal stables. Nevertlwless, in 'the extremity of shame, "the bride
of. selt-possession" is slipping from my hands, and I feel like
usmg my shame as a horse and flymg away upon it. For it is impl'Oper
for me to display my potsherds and amber in the company of the
noble.
57
There are also a hundred elephants, who will go to the
imperial court with the greatest pleasure. They are the mad elephants
the Campaigns of 'Alaucici;n Khal;1 215
of Maabar, not the vegetalian elephants of Bengal. Most of them
are new born and young, and are growing their teeth. They have
heard of the elephant-slaying warriors of the imperial army and,
their ears have been opened; they draw a deed on the ground with
trunks to the effect that hencefOl'th they will never turn their
faces towards the Kaba of Islam except in worship. They are coming
with their feet like pillars and their heads like the dome or the gate
of obedience-so that, if the imperial officers choose to be angry
at them, the elephants will submit to it with the "skhts" of their ears;
and if order tor the punishment of rebels is given, the elephants
will execute it with 1:heir teeth. God has given them a forehead
peculiady fitted to render obedience at the imperial court. The,! lire
now scattering dust over their heads before the Hindu's door, but in
the Emperor's vesence thei-I' foreheads will haue the vermilion Co701l1
of good fortune.
58'In short, the servant, Laddar Deo, places all the treasures,
elephants and horses he possesses in one scale of the balance and his
life in the other. The servants of the Emperor can choose whichever
tliey like. It is certain that life and propeliy have the same weight
as honour. If my wealth is taken and nw life is left to me, I will
be broken by the' heavy anxiety of earning a livelihood; if my life is
taken, the scale holding my wealth will sink to the ground. In either
case the balance will be upset. This being the case, I consider myself
a broken stinup; it is for the just Emperor to set the balance right.
If means of livelihood are left to me, I will collect all my "leaves"
and hand them over to the Emperor's officers at his command. If th!!
forgiving Emperor (May the lueasure of his good dceds be
allows me to retain such wealth as is propOltioned to my weightless
life, after all I hold the stout heart of a Rai and not the baLmce of a
grocer. I will take the brave iron spear, which befits my hand, and
measure ntyself against other Rais. I will seize treasures from them,
and send to the Emperor such hibute as is fixed on me. And if there
is the slightest deficit in the tribute, I will send my ou.'n life as a make-
weight.'59
60When the messengers of the Rai came before the reel canopv,
the honoured harbinger of victory and triumph, they rubbed their
yellow faces on the earth till the ground itself acqnired their colour;
next they drew ou1: their tongues in eloquent Hindi, more sharp than
the Hindi sword, and delievered the message of the Rai. The idu[-
breaking Malik comprehended the gilding of the Hindus and paid
no regard to their glozing speech. He would not even look at the
golden statue, which he wished 1:0 throw back at their faces. But he
2i6 Politics and Society during ti,e Emiy Medieval Period
communicated to the ar.niy the command of the Second Alexander
which is more firm than seven walls of steel and the garden of
Shaddad.61 The imperial officers swore by the head of Khizr Khan,
the emerald in the ring of the kingdom, that they would accept the
gOld. and raise the siege. As the troops were unable
to vIOlate the oath, and the coin of forgiveness had also been re-
peatedly issued trom the imperial court, the decision alTived at was
to the effect that they would subject the Rai to a tribute, but as a
charitable offering for the life of the forgiving Emperor, they would
spare his lite in exchange for the golden statue. They would take
away and deliver at the court all animals, vegetables and minerals
which the Rai's territOlY contained; and iF there was the slightest
deficit in handing over the treasures agreed upon, they would render
the Rai as lifeless as the golden image and reduce the fort to a
of ashes like a goldsmith's forge. On this condition, the fort-conquer-
ing Malik stretched forth his right hand, placed his sword in its
scabbard; and s1:ruck his open hand, by way of admonition, so forcibly
on the backs of the ambassadors that they bent under the blow.
Though the agreement was pemianent and not provisional, yet the
poor ambassadors trembled like quicksilver; and thus trembling and
impatient, they hurried back to the fort. Their influence fell 011 the
Rai and he too began to shake like a gold-leaf. The ambassadors
ornamented their speech, but the Rai could not regain his stability,
and wished to tum into mercury and run away. With some difficulty
they ran this quicksilver into a vessel, and through soft speech put
a lit>Ue wax on its mouth.62 Next they busied themselves with
alchemy in order to pay the gold they had pl'Omised.
63The Rai's council spent the night in col1ecting their percious stones
and valuables in order to present them next morning to the Impe6at
officers. When next day the sun showed its face through the
enamelled fort, the ambassadors proved their promises to be as truth-
ful as the dawn. With their elephants, treasures and horses, they
arrived before the red canopy which is the roof of the eas1:ern sun.
The Malik summoned the leaders of the almy and took his seat at
the high place to which he had been appointed by the. Emperor;
the other gre3!t officers took their seats according to their positions,
while the nobles and coJlimons collected round like stars. Then the
ambassadors were called. They placed their heads on the ground
before the canopy of the 'Shadow of God' and presented .their .
elephants to the assembly.64 The 'Maliks' sat while the elephants.
passed; you would have thought the planets had become stationary
while the constellations had begun to move. . .
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khali: il?
65The elephants were such as neither the brush of the artist can
portray nor the pen of the panegyrist describe. Everyone of them
was a throne in for a king, and an ivory factory inside. It moved
without props and yet stood on four columns. Its back was adorned
by a jewelled lItter; it sometimes carried a litter and sOp:i.etimes a
load. Its banner (hunk) rose from its back like a spear into the air,
while its feet cast their shields (foot-paints) on the ground. It wore
a dress of living velvet. Its furious onslaught could uproot a tree.
Its tusks came out of either side, and in spite of their strength, had
been plaited over with gold. Contented to live on lice, in its anger
it could, nevertheless, drink up a whole pond. It threw fOlward its
trunk like a rope, while its eyes remained behind as if in ambush.
It would sit down respectfully when its driver wished to climb to its
back. Entrusting the guardianship of its eyes to its ears, it had
surrounded its two lamps (eyes) with soft cartilage and fed them with
a gentle breeze by the movement of its ears. Its teeth were set
firmly inside; its tusks rose like ivory pillars surrounded by gold. A
tall building on four columns, it raised its head into the air, while its
nose came to the ground; there was a crescent on its forehead, and
its tail rested on its buttocks. It looked like a hill with a long sash
tor a nose, or else like a camel with a crocodile stuck to its front. It
carried its wine-glass in its head, and liquor was distilled from its
ears. Without anv particular sorrow, it scattered dust over its head;
without any weakness, its body felt heavy. It looked like a cloud
arisen out of the sea-shore, wearing vermilion tulips on its forehead
and green leaves in its ears. Every one of them had these qualities,
and yet each was better than the other-for each was like the moun-
tain and yet like the wind; soft to walk and firm to stand; Hindu-
slayer and yet infidel property; baggage-canier as well as warrior;
it carried a load on its back and its face looked towards the Court,
tor if strong-necked, it was also obedient; the ebony-coloured manu-
facturer of ivory, it carried its head high and at the same time kissed
the ground; a meet seat for the king, and a servant of the COlllt, its
body was heavy and its paces were gentle; it could break the enemy-
lines, and yet fight in ordered ranks. And when they 1Twve together
in a row, there is an emthquake of Fad! Fad! and Saf! Saf!
66After the elephants had passed, the treasures they carried on their
backs were The boxes were full of valuables and gems, .
the excellence of which drove the onlookers mad. Everv emer.ald
(zaba1'jad") sparkled in the light of the sun, or, rather, the sun reflected
back the light of the emerald. The rubies (yaqut) dazzled the eve of
the sun and if a ray from them had fallen on a lamp of fire, the lamp
I'!'
218
i'oiitics and Society ,iltring tiw Eariy Medieval Period
would have burst into flames. The 'Cat's eye' (ainul hirl'at) was such
that a lion af;ter ,,:ould looked with contempt at the
sun; and the Cock s eye (amul dlk) were so brilliant that the 'Cat's
eye' was afraid to look at it. The lustre of the rubies (lcd) illuminated
tile darkness of the night and the mine, as you might light one lamp
tram another. The emeraLds had a fineness of water that could
eclipse the lawn of paradise. The diamonds (Umas) would have
an iron heart like an arrow of steel, ancI yet owing
to theIr delIcate nature, would have been shattered bv the stroke
of a hammer. The other stones were such that the blushed to
look them. As the ,Pearls, you would not find the like of them,
eDen .tf you kept dwmg mto the sea through all eternity. The gold
was hke the full moon of the twelfth night; it seelliecl th.at in order
to ripen it, that alchemist the sun, had lighted its fire, and the morning
had blown its breath, for years.
67When the horses were brought, the prestige of all that the am-
bassadors had previously displayed flew away like the wind. Lest
the struggle should be further prolonged, every horse in the Raj's
palace and stables had been brought; even the wind of them was
not lett in his hands. The sight of these fleet-footed animals captivat-
ed every heart-the heart of the Musalman teas broken, and the soul
of fhe Hindu flew away from his breast; for the horses were such
as their eves had never seen.
68Wheli the Rai had sent through his clever ambassadors all that
he had received by way Clf inhelitance from his ancestors, the Al'iz-i
Mam,alik to e:mnine ,the j,ewels. He divided them into 'genus'
and specIes, class aiter class, and had everything written down.
He then stood up and turned to the am.bassadors, It was clear to his
perfect judgment that the wealth and property of the Rai had been
wholly confiscated, and that no jewel had been kept away from its
proper place. Ye,t as a eFplomatic formality, he propounded 'propo-
sitions' before the wise ambassadors, and ultimatelv unfolded to
them the 'major' and the 'minor' premises. In an address, full of a
variety of meaning, he put it to them: 'You are acquainted wth
every "species" (of this treasure). If on investig,ation a single item
is tound missing, though vour life is "indivisible", vet will I destrov
it; and with the stroke of the sword, I will divide parts
into indivisible "atoms". Take care and state the true premises!
Tell me, as all the gems 'of the Rai are excellent, has he sent the best
of them hither? How has the classified "talking" and "neif!hing
animals" (men and horses) and what portion of them has he retain-
ed?69
<By the God, who has created man, the finest of "substances"'! 70
swore the philosophic ambassadors, 'Each of these jewels is of a
"kind" of which no man can calculate the value. And among them is
a jewel, unparalleled in the Whole world, though according to perfect
philosophers such a substance cannot exist.
71
Before this time
we had been adviSing the Rai to send a part 01 the jewels, that had
never been cut or divided,72 to the Imperial Court. This jewel
(b'easure) is unique according to the opinion of all men", and he
would reply, "Let him who wishes to cut and divide (share) it, at-
tempt the task. It is impossible for such a jewel (treasure) to be
divided; he who talks of doing so is in a great error." Thus was
he accustomed to speak, but then the sword of the Imperial officers
began its lecture, the Rai understood that its stroke would divide
up those singular "substances", and has sent all his jewels to the
imperial muster. There is no stone left in the Raj's treasury that can
be considered "precious"; nor is there any neighing creature in his
stables that can be designated a "horse". As for the elephant, it is
a famous "body" and a large animal; if man is superior to it in dig-
nity, he is also smaller in size. If there had been another "speCies"
of the same "genus", the Rai, with the sense he possesses, would
have sent it to the muster along with other "varieties" and "kinds".
The affair is as we have represented. For the rest, your exalted
judgment is higher, and even wiser.'
(The Malik) saw from the propositions of their sp3ech, that their
logic was clear of all confusion. He applied to them such 'terms'73
as had never been applied to them in ancient times, and that, too,
in a way never to be forgotten. But if any of their premises had
been wrong, the conclusion would hare been with t!w sword.
When the singular Sah-kash had fixed on the Hmdu a trIbute
surpassed all computation, the latter made a straight figure and put
ten ciphers beside it,74 and below he wrote promising to sencl
untold wealth to the treasurv of the Emperor (May God preserve him
to the Day of Reckoning!). 'When the account of the jizya. h?d heen
settled, the Al'iz-i Hasib
75
ordered the Amil's and the Katlb-z Moha-
sib76 to take the roll of those who were present in, 01' absent from, the
army. On the 16th Shawwal, the Sah-k?sh, having achi.eved his
object, turned his horse towards the meae/ow" of the CapItal, and
guided it in such a way that its feet went on making half-ciphers.
77
on the ground. This figure indicated that in comparison to the spOIls
he was searching fOf, the untold treasures he had obtained were less
than even half-a-cipher. And since a cipher means absolute non-
entity, you can well see how much less than non-entity half-a-ciphel'
220 Poiitics and Society ciltrillg ti,e hriy Medieval Period
is .. month of Zil Hijjall was spent in crossing the extensive
On 11th Muharram A.H. 710 the imperial officers reached
Delhi, the deputy of the sacred Mecca. 'And whoever enters it shall
be secure.' On Tuesday, the 24th Muharram, a black pavilion was
erected on the Chautra-i Nash'i, like the Ka'ba on the navel of the
earth. The kings and princes of Arabia and Persia took up their
around. it. The Maliks, who had been sent on the expedition
h the came Emperor, 'liter mOistening the
glOund with sweat of their brows, presented the spoils. Ele-
of the size of Marwa, Safa, Tur and Bu Qabis,79 horses that
rmsed a dust (cloud) ont of the sea like western winds and treasures
under which a thousand camels would have groaned: were all dis-
The day looked like a second ,ld for the people, when the
pIlgnms, aiter wandeling through many valleys, had at last reached
the of the imperial Court, and their wishes, compared
to winch .the ambitions of Hajjaj Yusuf80 were slavish longings, had
been realIzed. The spectators went round and round the Court:
e:eryone present was allowed, without any hindrance, to see
display and obtain the reward of his pilgrimage. But the reward,
that could not ha;e been obtained by the labour of a life-time, was
that the Emperor s eyes should suddenly fall on one with fav<mr.
1 Allusions to stars and the sky.
2 Nausherwan was the famous Persian Emperor in whose reign the Arabian
Prophet was born; Buzurchmehr was his wise wazir. The reference is to 'Alaud-
din and his 'naib' or 'regent', Malik Kafur. .
3 Allusions to uneven roads.
4 Binas ,may be read as Bambas. The Kunwari is the of the maps,
and the Nlyas (Binas) and Bashuji (Bhoji) must be the rivers now known as the
'Sind and Betwa.' (Elliot).
5 A lIusions to the. stars.
6 i.e. the Malik Naib Kafur Hazardinari. He was lhe Regent of the Empire
and commander-in-chief of the invading army. The author finds every kind' of.
laudatory title for him. He is often referred to as the 'Sah-Kash', winner of three
campaigns and sometimes simply as 'the Malik'. He is not to be confused with
Sirajuddin, generally known as Khwaja Haji, who accompanied the expedi-
tionary force as 'Ariz-; Mamalik' Or minister of war.
7 Allusions to quadrupeds.
8 Allusions to prayers for victory.
The Campaigns of 'Alollddin Khalii iii
9 Rajab is known as the month of God while Sha'ban, the month which conies
after it, is known as the month Of the Prophet.
10 Allusions to rivers and streams. 11 Allusions to the slOry oj Solomoll.
12 Allusions to hills and desert.
13 Allusions to musical instrumellts.
14 Allusions to thunder, lightning and rain.
15 Allusions to war.
17 Elliot says Bijanaga'r.
16 Allusiom to the sword.
18 A doab is a piece of land between two rivers. Yashar may be read as
flishnahr or Yasnahr. Buji is Baruji in Elliot's manuscript.
19 Allusions to creeping creatures.
20 On which the cow stands holding the earth on her horns.
21 AI/wiolls to fire.
22 i.e. after being scolded (oiled) with the tongue and threatened with death,
Ananir had the fort restored to him on of obedience, so that 'the flame
of insurrection might subside.' It was not a part ot Alauddin's programme to
establish his government over the conquered territory and, consequently, the
legitimate successor of the late muqaddam had to be found, so that the required
promise of obedience may be taken from him.
23 Allusions to trees and branches.
24 Allusions to instl'llments of war.
26 Allusions to jorts.
27 A lIusions to stars and sky.
28 Al'usions to Sha'ban and Barell.
29 Allusions to the army.
25 Allusions to sun and cloud.
30 A tuman is a body of ten thousand men. According to this calculation
the besieging army was over a hundred thousand.
31 Allusions to carpentry.
32 Allusions to the instruments oj war.
33 i.e., when the night was far advanced.
34 Allusions to water animals.
35 Allusions to iron instruments.
37 AI/usions to Manjaniq.
39 Allusions to sieges.
36 Allusions to 'Mir Hajib' and 'chaugan'.
38 Allusions to structures for reducing forts.
40 Allusions to the month of Ramazan.
41 Or the 'grand night', being the night on which the Quran was first revealed.
42 Allusions to ladders.
43 i.e. to perform their ablution, which. as stated by the following sentence,
IS the Musalman's armour. The army first said its morning prayer; the attack
did not commence till the sun was 'a spear high'.
44 The fourth caliph, Hazrat Ali, who conquered the forts of Khaibar in
Arabia.
45 Allusions to attack on the fort.
46 Meaning, as the following sentences suggest, that the footmen took posses
sion of one wing of the fort and retained it in spite of all counter attacks.
47 An early eastern use of Huzza! huzza! The same exclamations occur in
the Miftahul Futuh'- (Elliot).
48 Allusions to instruments of war.
49 Allusions to fort and ditch.
AlIllSiollS to treasures, Buried treasqres, it is believed, are guarded by snakes
,.
i
222 Politics and Society during the Early MedieL'al Period
51 The Rai desired to retain at least a part of his treasure.
52 Allusions to precious stones.
53 Or, literally, 'the nephews of showers, the sisters of raindrops, the orphans
of pearls and the livers of mines'.
54 A Ilusions to stables.
55 The text says Kohi (mountain-horse or country-breed) and bahri (sea-horse
O'r imported breed). As the latter variety was Arabian, its' main feature was
fleetness of foot.
56 Various countries in medieval days were famous for different weapons;
Pecsia for its bows, Tartary for its lance and India for its sword. Reference
to the Indian or Hindi sword is often found in Persian literature.
57 Allusions to elephants.
58 Allusions to weights and balances.
59 A curious quibble of which it is difficult to find the exact significance.
Lac1dar Dea seems to have meant that if either his life or the whole of his
property was taken away, the balance would be upset. If they took away his
life, 'the scale holding my wealth would sink to the ground'-perhaps a veiled
threat that in the last extremity he would subject his jewels to the hammer.
What he desired was that t\:tevictor should leave him some part of his wealth,
and take instead of it a portion of his prestige by subjecting him to a yearly
tribute. When equals are taken from equals the remainders are eaual: and
Laddar Deo, left with a part of his prestige and a part of his wealth. would
straight-away attack the other Rais and pay the imperial tribute out of their
pockets.
60 Allusions to jewels and treasures.
61 Both Ferishta and Barani state that 'Ala uddin had ordered the Malik Naib
not to take any extr-me measures agai nst Laddar Deo and, to remain content
with seizing his treasures.
62 The 'soft wO'rds of the ambassado"s brought self-possession to the Rai as
closing the mouth of a vessel brings 'self possession' to the mercury it contains.
63 Allusions to stars.
64 The canopy was the symbol of imperial authority, and people bowed
before it even whei1 the Empe'ror was not personally present.
65 Allusions to elephants. I ,have not translated literally this paragraph which
has no historical significance.
66 Allusions to jewels.
67 A lIusions to horses.
6R Allusions to philosophY that confound the understandinR.
69 Khwaja Haji's meaning is obviom. If Rai had failed to send any
valuables, which by the agreement he was hound to, the ambaadors would
be held responsible for the default, nrovided they were cognisant of it. As
the imperial army could not enter the fort. the only method of l!"tting the
agreement enforced was by superfluous threats. For the, rest. Amir Khusrnu's
ornamentation may be ignored: such loeical Tammage would not he llSpd even
in the inter-universitv negotiations of today: and the Raj's .ambassadors, with
their eloquent Hindi, could not have used the logical terms put into their mOHths.
70 The Persian word 'jauhar', which in Common parlance a precious
stone. also means 'substance' in Arabian Toeic:' the sense in which "jauhar' is
used by Mqslim is the same in which 'substance', <\s from
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khalii
223
'accident' is used by Western writers. Amir Khusrau, in tn., paragraph, con-
stantly pJays on the two meanings of 'jallhal". . .
71 This is the famous Kohi Nur, which according to many late'r wnters
(includi'ng Khafi Khan) was bcoughc by army from the ?eccan.
Though logicians', to put the ambassadocs' words In a different .declare
that there is no such thing as a "unique substance", except the DlVlI:e Bemg, yet
the Koh-i Nul' diamond has no peer and stands III a class by Itself. You
cannot find a diamond to match it in the whole world.'.. .
72 That is no one had overpowered the Rai and dlVlded up hiS treasure
bei:ore and he imagined that it was one and like 'substance'. But
the imperial sword proved that it could cut and diVide everythmg. "
73 of threats. The 'terms' really used by Khwaja HaJI were not
to be found in the ancient logic of Aristotle.
74 He promised to pay thousand only (7): The
figure seems to be purely suppositious. But we are here dealmg not With the
revenues but the heirlooms of states.
75 i.e. Khwaja Haji, the Ariz-i-Mamalik.
76 Keeper of the army roll.
77 Which is the shape of a horse-shoe.
78 Allusions to Holy Mecca.
79 All four are hills famous in Muslim traditions.
80 A famous governm pf Persia, whose cousin Muhammad bin Qasim in-
vaded Sind.
224
Politics and Society during the Early M edieoal PeJ'iod
Chapter VI
TIlE CAMPAIGN OF MA'ABAR
This is an account of the conquest of Ma'abrtr it is a l'iver full of
pearls). The blade of the khalifa's sword, which is the flame of the
of had now i1Iuminated all the darkness of Hindustan
:n
1th
the lIght of its guidance. On one side. it had formed a wall of '
lIon before the Magog-like Tatars, so that those wretches were com-
pel1ed to. draw their feet into the skirt of the Ghazni mountains. and
even thelr were unable 1:0 cross the territory of Sind.
?n the other so much dust had been raised from the 'temple of
Somnath that lt dlied up the bottom of the sea. On the light hand
as wel1 as on the the army had conquered all land from sea to
sea; even the good news of the conqueS1: oj! the two seas2 (Bahrain)
was and the arrows of the state flew so far that even the
of Kaish3 was in danger of being captured bv the imperial
There were rriany capitals of the Hindu deos (demons), where
Satamsm had prospered from the earliest times. and where. far from
the pale of Islam. Devil in the course of a!!es harl hatched his eP'P's
and had made his worship COrripulsory on the followers of the idols:
but now with a sincere motive, the Emperor removed these symbols
of infidelity, first frorri Deol!,ir and then from all other rIeman-lands.
so that the li[Z:ht of the Shari'at mav reach their neie-hbourllOod to
dispel the contamination of false beliefs from those ;)laces through
the muazzin's call and the establishment of prayers. God be praised
for all this! - .
But the sea of Ma'abar is so far from Delhi that a man travellinl!;
with expedition can only reach' it after a iourney of twelve
The anows of preceding Sultans had never reached that distant land,
but the exalted ambition of the World-Conqueror induced hirri to test
the marksmanship of his archers, and th", Mllslim fa;th was nublished
in that far-off region. The general, Malik Naib Bar-hek lzznddaulah
(May God increase his dignity and grandeur!) was, for the honollJ' of
despatched on the expedition with the august canopy and the
vlCtonous troops. He was ordered thro11gh his victorious drums to
bring to the ears of the idols-'and' thev have ears with which they
do not hear'-the warning, 'that He may make it (Islarri) overcome
religions, an of them:
4
And when the 'water' of the sword flows on
the coast, the sea of infidelity will he d1'Owned in the 'Sha1"iat'.5 The
obedient officer, after accepting the command, represented: 'The
enclosure of the irriperial court has been dignified by the enormous
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khalii
225
elephants of vVarangal. If the "Sl;ltanus Salatin" wishes to make the
"balance of the state" heavier by mountain-like elephants, there are
over five hunclred of them on the coast of Ma'abar. As soon as the
imperial army marches in that direction, the Hindu troops will scatter
like leaves of grass;. and though these vennilion-coloured hilIs6 may
be removed to another spot, it is quite possible for the emperor's
men to overtake them. If the expedition is entrusted to rrie, I will
pick up all these hillocks from the land of Ma'abar and brine; them
in the palm of my hand as "weights" for the carpet of the state. I
have been reflecting on the design ever since my return from Aran
gal. But the exalted judgment of the great khalifa (May god increase
the weight of his good deeds!) is superior to my opinions; for he
sends me to break the bodies of the large idols rather than to capture
the large bodies of the elephants. There can be no doubt that the
scale of the emperor's good deeds \vill be so heavy after this virtuous
act that the elephants will be mere make-weights in the balance. So
taking the erriperor's order as a "strong rope" to support my weak
faith, I have determined to embark on the expedition. God helping,
I win conquer the country on the sea-coast before I allow the army
to open its baggage: With this faith he left the court; and t1'tlsting
in the emperor's f01Tune, he brought the good news of the conquest
of treasures to the army, '
The march of the a1'my to Dhll1' Samandar (Dwara Samtldm) and
Ma'aba1', like a river that flows another rivel'.7 On Tuesday,
26th Jamadiul Akhir, 710 A.J-I. a fortunate moment, at about mid-day
the red canopy started for the expedition, To protect the men from
the heat of the'sun, the august canopy of the 'shadow of god' collected
so many clouds under itself that the sun's ravs were unable to pierce
through them. First, it rrioved towards the bank of the Junina, like
a cloud going to the sea, and halted at Tankal
8
, which
red with its ruby velvet. There the clerks of the! Dlwan-t Arz-z
Mamalik began to run their pens along the extensive river-bank to
take the muster of the arrriv while the A1'z-i wala collected his men
like drops of rain under the'towering canopy. For full :l'ourteen days.
i.e., the crescent standard of the Malilwsh Sharq stopped
at the place and a list of all the stars and planets was prepared. Then
on the morning of the 9th Raiab. the drUnis to beat! for the
march, and the exultation of the Muslim army raIsed the dust up to
the eyes of the s{ars. ' . '
90Wing to the multitude of horserrien, the earth looked the
pages of the Shah Nama. You would have 'the
rained Bahrrians, or that a swann of Suhrabs and Blhzans was movmg
226
Polltios and Society during the Early Medieval Period
trom one territory to another. A thousand Rustams appear-
ed on every side with their bows; some of them were so red-haired
that you could not have painted them even with the blood of Sia-
wash. There were Gurgins who, with the impetuosity of Ardshir;
could have pounded a tiger with a piece of bone, and lions like
Barzin, who could have made a head9tall for Rakhsh with the skin
of Godurz,lO
111<'0r twenty-one days the men of the army made long marches
and took short routes, till they arrived at Katihun. From there
seventeen more days they reached Ghurl!aun. In these seventeen
the ghats :were ,Great heights and depths were seen, 'in
which understanding was heJpless--like an
ant zn a baszn or a hen zn the sea. On the summits of ,the mountains
the horses appeared small like needle-paints of rust on the blade of
a sword; deep in the valleys the largest camels looked like revolving
particles of dust. Kai Khusrau would have been lost with all his
troops in the depths of the clefts and the vulmres of Kai Kaus
12
would have perished in attempting to fly above the mountains. You
could tound the egg, on eyery mountain-top in
that WIlderness. Through dIVIne aSSistance, the amiy passed safely
even over such a road, tramnling the heights and depths under its feet.
For when a rrwn, for the sake of his faith, carries his hearl on the palm
of his .hanct: befot'e the enemy's sword, the blade of steel is p'il!.htened
and hides Itself under the f!.round. 14Three great rivers were crossed,
and the army learnt good lessons in crossing them. Two of the rivers
equalled one another. but neither equalled the' Narbada. A hundred
thanks ta f!.od, that the arm1! was able to cross the rivers even asa
bird flies thl'Ough the rain or the sky traverses'the ocean.' After the
rivers, mountains and vallevs had been crossed, a present of twenty-
three elephants, hup-e 8S Elburz. arrived from the rai of Tilang. Thev
could a,ct as a payheb for opening the wav to a besieged fort, or send
a flying the air., or drag'down a cloud from the hill-tops with
their trunks. Lzke standal'rfs15 fixrrl on m01lnds, theIJ were sent as
presents to the sultan, if he would accept them. 16The victorious
arrriv took twenty davs before it could rnov" these htH!e hills in that
'tleld of resurrection'-'you see the mountairis, you them to be
solid. and they shall pass awav like the passing awav of the
cloud'. A roll was hlken of those' present in. and ahsent from, the
armv; and when the muster was finished. in accordance with the
emperor's orders, the standards were carried forward, so that bv their
growth and muWplication they might hring about the 'day of resur-
rection' in Ma'abar. The inhahit(luts of that regiem ':Ytin; given the
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khalil 227
call of 'the day on which the trumpet shall be blown, so you
come forth in hosts'-of 'the day on which a man shall fly from hIS
brother, and his mother and his' father, and his spouse and his sons'.
The oider-'lay hold on hini, then put a chain on him-was executed
on rebellious necks and the attack at which mountains pass away was
delivered on the of that country. The defeated Hindus
were despatched with the sword to their bro:hers in so
that fire, the undeserving object of their worship, may be their proper
punishment 'when hell is kindled up'.
17When on the seventh day, which was Friday, the sky bathed
blue wings in the rays of the' sun and call?et of itS
shoulders and the tvorld was clothed' tn Its whIte radiance lIke a
on a clean dress on Friday, the army began to
niove with the swiftness of a hurricane from Ghurgaun
Wherever the accursed h'ee that produced no religion was found, It
was tom up bv the roots; the conquered people looked like uprooted
trees falling in: the strong current of the Jai!1Un; or like straws. tossed
up and down and carried in a, whlrlwmd. On reachmg the
TaviH!, they saw a river only slightly smaller than the sea. The anny
crossed it quicker than the it resembled,
employed itself in cutting down the Jungles and destroymg the Q'at
dens. Owing to the excessive dust by the
rivers in the land were filled with mud like the mtestmes of earth
eating animals.
WOwing to the trarriping of the the hills became consump-
tive and wished to bury themselves m the womb of the earth, whtle
the dry-tempered desert became tuberculous and was covered with
cracks. On Thursday, the 13th of Ramazan, the royal canopy cast
its shadow on the capital of Deogir, which, at the command of heaven,
had been protected by the angels; and here the army determined. to
collect shooting-stars
20
and four-feathered arrows for overthrOWIng
Bilal Deo (Ballala Deva) and other deos (demons). The rai rayan,
Hama Deva had heard safety to satan proclaimed by the dreadful
Musalman and submitting to the imperial court, considered
himself safe under the protection promised to him. 21With a true
inmition, this rai of noble origin became the emboclii:nent of correct
judgment in rendering honour and obedience to the orders of
imperial court, in providing material of war for the army, and III
advising the conquest of Bir an.d Dhur Sama?dar. In. to
the servants of the erriperor, thiS model of hiS generation, i.e .. the ral
rayan wrote a letter of horriatte with the open of sincerity and adorn-
ed the city of Deogir with the gems of paradise. He ordered all
228
Politics and Society dW'ing the Early Medieoal Period
things by the anny to be placed in the market; if the (Muslim)
Rustams reqUIred the feat;hers of Simurgh for their arrows, all possible
efiorts were made to obtaIn them, so that every horseman of the anny
at Iran and Tman
22
might slay a huge demon of Dhur Samandar
even as had killed the deos of Mazindran. 23 At the order of
the noble who was a tree planted by the imperial court, the mar-
kets of the CIty were decorated like the garden of Aram, and the men
.anny rode up to them on their horses. They saw a city more
beautiful than the paradise of Shaddad; every; market was like
garden difierently planned; the money-changers sat with bags
small and large coins, and red and white tankas lay before them like
roses and the cloth-merchants had every variety
of cloth from hahaN Hznd to the Khol'asan the like of
you among the flowers of the piled up
In theIr shops like tuhps over the mountain-top or basils in the or-
chard. FruIts better than pomegranates and rarer than naghz lay ill
heaps.
24The material provided for the anny-hard and soft goods of
wool and leather, brass and iron-was beyond all computation.
gave good money and bought things at a just price. The
Turk not oppl'ess the Hindu and the will of the fIindu was not
opposed to will ?f the. Turk: As these sun-worshippers had be-
Come worshIppers of the Impenal sword, they considered the pur-
chasers a good f?rtune for themselves and brought to the anny
that theIr commumty could prOvide. The rai rayan had already
Informed a Hindu, named Dalvi (Parasuram Deva, the Dalavai), who
lay on the frontiers of Bir and Dhm Samandar25, that ,the imperial
army would be at his place in a few days; so, with his mouth open
like a bucket, Dalvi sat waiting for the army and even wished to
draw the whole of Dhur Samandar into a Single bucket for the sake
of the MusalIfians. 26The anny, which had already heard the mes-
sage, 'Surely we have given to you a clear victory', stopped for three
days at the aforesaid fort to put its battalions (haz01-as) into order.
When the advance guard had started,27 they packed tip their baggage
for the holy war and the arm"ies of heaven and earth were with them.
On Tuesday, the 17th Ramazan, the imperial archers and swordsmen
began to move rapidly and were accompanied by the august canopy.28
From the Airrianabad of Deogir to the Kharababad29 of Paras Deo
Dalvi, the amiy made five marches and crossed three large rivers.
One of them, Sini,30 had such a wide breast that the broad sea look-
ed like a heart pulsating in its left side; its breadth exceeded thirty
long reeds (nai). Of the other, Godavari, you might say that, in its
The Campaigns of 'Alauclclin Khalii
229
extensive playing ground, it had carried the ball successfully against
all other rivals.
31
The third was Bihnur with a breast as wide as the
Sini's.32 The army also crossed several other rivers, some roaring, others
softly melodious. Mter five days, it reached the stage of Bandri in the
territOlY of Paras Deo Dalvi.33 Now Dalvi, a bucket drawn out by
t!le imperial ollicers, hoped to get water out of Bir Dhur and Bir
l'andya
34
and desired that with the strong ann of the victorious army,
the two biTS (wells) together with the seas that encircle them, may
be drawn into (his) single cup.35 36He had dried up in the general
scarcity of water, but now seeing his star in the ascendant and his
constellation stable, he came forward to receive the Musliin army and
undertook to guide it. When the day of Jupiter had been illuminated
with the heart of the moon, the Malikush Sharq sent forward swift-
footed scouts in quick succession to find out the condition of the
countly and made diligent inquiries on all sides. Finally, it was dis-
covered that the two mis of Ma'abar had formerly but a single will
(mi) and were as united as the two fUTqacZain.
37
But the younger
brother, Sundar Pandya, had from political ambition coloured his
hands in the blood of his father according to thc law, 'seize what you
lind'. Thereupon, the elder brother, Rai Bir Pandya, collecting many
thOusand Saturnine Hindus and leaving his two cities empty, had,
hastened to flay his younger brother alive. Meanwhile Bilal Deo
\Ballala Deva), the rai of Dhur Samandar, hearing that the cities were
without their maha-rais, had marched forward to plunder the mer-
chants of the two cities at one swoop. At this moment, however, he
heard a sky-rending thunder of the Muslim drunis behind his back.-
And most surely our host alone shall be the victorious one.' Finding
himself in this -critical situation-'They put their fingers into their
ears because of the thunder-peal, from fear of death'-Bilal Deo,
ITke an upturned and unlucky Saturn, marched down to his own low
constellation. .
38The Malik gathered an this information with the greatest care.
Then on SundaY, the 23rd Raniazan, after consultation with the great
nwliks on whom rested the responsibility of the campaign, he select-
ed a tuman (i.e. 10,000 men) from the officers and men of the army
and started in haste. There were archers with him who could split a
grain of poppy into a thousand fragments for the pleasure of the
spectator, and swordsmen who could cut a hill into two like a nut.
39
For twelve successive days men, horses and cattle40 went up hill and
down dale; the depths were such that the sky fell into fits on seeing
them, and tlIe attempt to gaze at the heights took away the onlookers
breath. The carpet of thorns growing out of the rocks wouldhave
230 Politics and Society dW'illg the 1!;a1'ly Medieval Period
pierced into a rhinoceros, yet in their haste the men marched over
it as over a cushion of silk. In the darkness of the night, they waded
through wide rivers, which looked like waving silk, and through rush-
ing torrents, which could have overturned a mountain; and they
passed, like a ship sailing through a storm, across streams into which
Noah's deluge had subsided without rising up again, sometimes car-
ried on the crest of a wave, at other times enclosed in a hollow.
Through divine assistance, most of the soldiers crossed ,the land,
though at the bottom of the valleys you could drink water from the
centre of the earth and at the summit you could wash your hands
with the clouds; many difficulties were met with, but they were all
surmounted. 410n Thursday, the 5th Shawwal, in that equatorial re-
gion where the disk of the sun heats the earth like a furnace, the
tort-reducing imperial arrny enclosed Dhur Samandar
42
as in an oven.
They saw a fort so magnificent, that after viewing it one began to
despise the sky. It was not (so to say) Dhur Samandar, but a sea,
called Bir (well), which was surrounded by a larger sea. You would
have thought the fort was a building encircling the sun, which had
been ruined by repeated rounds of the full goblet. You saw a f011
surrounded by water and its name was Bir; there is water in other
welts (bir) , but here there was a well within water.
43The inhabitants of the fort had an old, traditional faith. Their
hands and feet began to tremble from fear of the (imperial) army,
and the thought of the enemy's arrows filled their bodies with 'thorns'44
like the 'bones' of a fish. All these terror stricken fish fell into lines,
and getting into their armours, tied their shields to their backs and
began moving up and down. Had you seen their restlessness in the
fort, you would have said it was like the revolutions of fish in water.
Rai Bilal Deo became as pale as a drowning man and his heart began
to palpitate like the dew-lap of a frog. Within the bir (well) many
meetings were held as to the reply to be given to the imperial army.
451 the fire-worshipping Rai wished to refrain from displaying his
wind and smoke, the handful of straws around him blew their breaths
and tried to incite him. 'Ages will be required', said they, 'before the
pillar of fire-worshipping tribes can be raised in Dhui: Samandar
again. There is no doubt that our origin is from fire and from Dhur
Samandar (salamandar). Since the Turkish army, like a river of fire,
has reached the thatch-houses of our villages, it will also have strength
enough to reduce the stones of our fort into lime. None the less, our
fort is called Dhur Samandar (sea); water is, and always has been,
within reach. If the "tongues" of the Turkish swords begin their work
and we find it impossible to extinguish them-well, we have to be
ti,e CampaIgns of 'Aiaw:idin KhatJi 23i
cremated, sooner or later, .and it is better not to die without water
,honour). The rai flared up at this advice and displayed his inner
fire. 'Before this time', he said, 'my fire-worshipping ancestors, the
lamp of whose soul burned bright, have that
cannot stand against the Turk, nor fire agamst water. Thls bemg
the case, we have no alternative but to turn away our faces from
the fiery arrows of the Turks. Nor mus't water be thrown at them;
for water may tum into oil and make us feel its flame in our life-
ti)1le. Theretore, I lay all idea of opposition aside. I will kneeling
betore them, like water over the earth. May be the fire of the Turks
will be somewhat appeased!' This considerably cooled the advocates
of fmther struggle; they gave up all thought of resistance and con-
sented to open the doors of Bir (well), so that the torches of warfare
may be extinguished
46
. .
41When, in the moming, the saqt had brought her red wme-glass
out at the transparent goblet of the sky, the commander of the army
went round the fort, before which (the troops) of Ma'abar had been
twiee defeated. He thought that the flasks by the side of the ditch48
were like a wine-table laid out. The ferocious lions and tigers (of
the army) were organized, party by party, while he himself
along with other maliks before the gate of the fort. NOlse and tumult
arose tram the blood-drinking lines and the thunder of the drums
resounded on all sides. The mystic-minded sword of the Musalmans
shed so much rebel blood that the deluge rushed to the ditch and
meted out to it the punishment its sins deserved. The heat of the
flaming arrows turned the blood of the !lin?us into. wat.er and
brought it out as perspiration. The counCIL the ,,:shed to
batter down the tort, which stood like a demon s hat, Wlth thell'
I'ibi-sfones, or else to order the lancers of the army to upturn It lIke
an empty glass with the point of their so surrounded
by blood, the rebels may fly out of .the bOllmg (b:l') as a
flies out of a flagon. But they retramec1 from mal1lfestmg theIr
tor a time in order that the negotiations may proceed. The chOIce of
becoming Musalmans or (tribute-payers) was )?laced. before
the besieged' if they accepted eIther, well and good; If not, m obe-
dience to commands, the fort was to be broken . into
with maghl'ibi-s/ones, and the blood of its inmates spIlled ltke wme
poured out of a goblet. .
49Bilal Deo now found that the call to prayer would resound In
his temple and the voice of the 11lIla;:;;:;in: rise high he, a demon,
had assumed the name of Bilal,50 wIllIe the relIgIOn. of Islam. was
extended hy propaganda and the sword. When the mght of FnuIlY,
232 Politics alld Society dUl'illg tl-.e Early M edieoal Period
a.lter throwing 'ollie dark mantle of evening over its shoulders, had
flm.erg
ed
out of its stony pulpit, this Bilal, whose essence it was to
be a demon, despatched Gaisu (Gisu) Mal after the night prayer to
lind out the strength and circumstances of the Muslim army. When
Gaisu Mal reached the Musli
IIl
camp, he was stupefied, just as satan
is stupefied when he hears the QUl'an reac1. Rows of horsemen sur-
rounded the fOlt and kept a strict watch; next morning they would
commence the struggle and enter the houses of tlle demons in full
force to establish the khutba and prayer where the idols had been
worshipped. When,51 through the locks of the night, Gaisu Mal52 saw
the enormous army spread out like the hair on a man's head, the hair
on his body stood up like ,the teeth of a comb in fear. He turned
back like a curly lock, and rising and falling, hastened to the fort.
When he reached tlle woolly rai and told him what he had seen, the
rai came near to losing his reason and began to dishevel his hair in
mourning at his own loss.
53Next, the rai taught all the charms and magic he knew to Balak
Deo (Deva) Nayak, who was equal in satanism to a hundred-tllOusand
(lakh) demons,54 and sent him to the camp of the illiperial alirty. Tliis
household shadow came to offer submission before the royal canopy,
and bringing to his lips the message he carried in his heart, petitioned
for Bilal Deo's life and livelihood: 'The servant, Bilal Deo, submits
to tlle epiperor like Laddar Deo and Ram Deo, and whatever the
Solomon of the time commands, 1 am ready to obey. If you desire
horses like demons, elephants like giants and other valuables, they
are present. If all this noise and tumult is for the of the
four walls of tllis fort, they are, as they stand, no obstacle to your
advance. The fort is the fort of tlle sultan; take it. The servant, Bilal
Deo, has thrown a few stones from the top of his fort; but God
that the stones of a demon should do any halm to men! And what
can be better for me tllan to keep my stones to myself, and remain
out of haIm's way like the Hindus of Deogir? A Hindu on being
cremated turns into a demon; but as yet the flame of the Hindi sword
of the Turks has not reached pie, and it would be unwise for me
to become a demon' before my time. Behold! The spirits of so many
Hindu demons are revolving'in the dust round the imperial camp.
They have thrown their lives to the wind by disobeying the dejrton
governing SolOlrton, and, consequently, they are grovelling in the
dust after death. The 'servant, Bilal Deo, is a descendant of Great
Deos; but before the Asaf-like wazil', who is the deputy of Solomon's
court, he casts aside his Satanism and places his living body under
the protecotion of the lines of angels that stretch towards his right
The Campaiglls of 'Ala uddin Khalii 233
and left, and, like an evil spirit in tlle month of Ramazan, places his
neck in ilie chain of captivity:
55The exalted minister heard the submissive niessage of ilie rai.
His penetrating judgment discovered tlle reason of Bilal Deo's humi-
lity, but in obedience to the commands of the Muslim caliph, he
replied: 'The order of the caliph concerning Bilal Deo and all other
rais is this: First I am to place before them the two negatives of
the oath of affirmation.
56
May be, their hearts will be illuminated!
But if destiny has drawn a curtain before their eyes and they fail to
see the light, I am to offer them the alternative of having the yoke of
tribute (zimmah) put on their necks. If they reject this also and
retuse to pay tribute, tllen I will not place any burden on tlleir necks'
but will simply relieve their necks of the burden of their heads. Now
(tell me) which of these three conditions pleases Rai Bilal Deo most,
so that I may consult the heads of the rumyr and give you a reply
suited to yom judgment as well as mine? Weigh your 1'Cply carefully,
even as II weigh you: 57The rai's messengers nearly collapsed at the
fearful ultimatum. ''\IVe are Hindu arrows', iliey said with their brok-
en spirits, 'and Hindus' are not good marksmen. May be yom message,
which is straight as an arrow, will become somewhat crooked (if we
convey it). Some straightforward men should be sent along with'us;
tor a messenger despa'tched by yom stout arm is sure to pierce into
the rar s heart so effectively as to realize all your wishes.'
The Malik welcomed the idea. He ordered some Hindu Parmar
(Pramar) hajibs-who, like Turkish arrows, were strong snakes with
wings of demons-to go along with the two or three ambassadors of
the raL Thanks to the powerful arm that had despatched them, the
(imperial) messengers flew to the fort in the twinkling of an eye and
began to attack ilie rai with their. The rai from
his place like a mad man on heanng theIr Venus-rending He
wished to talk boldly, but found himself tongue-tied, and It took
some titrte before he was able to speak. When his fear had somewhat
abated, alld his spirit, which had flown away, returned to its a?ode,
he s,tood up like an ruTOW with folded hands. 'A!l propelty,
and inanimate' he said, 'which fate has placed m the hands of thIS
servant, Bllal, is at the service of the imperial court. is also one
of the tribute-payers. NeAt morning, before the shootmg-stars and
their lantern, the moon, have withdrawn, I will present all I have
to the Muslim army. For myself I will keep nothing except my Hindu
f.aHh and the sacred thread (zunnal')" which I wear round my
If a ullifonrt yearly tribute is fixed on me, I gird up Iny loms
like an arrow and meet the wishes of the impenal officers. By the
'I'"
234 Politics and Society during the Early Medievai Period
God who has given such strength to the arrows of the holy warriors,
that they pierce the stony hearts of the gabrs, I will not repudiate
this agreement: 58When the imperial messcngers had consoled the
rai, who looked like a broken bow, and were sure that his weaknesses
could not be repaired, they retraced their steps and cmne to the
exalted Malik. The raj's presents, which were suitable for the bow-
were given over to the archers of the army; and the Malik,
having assured himself the rai was sincere in the promise he had
made, removed the knot of anger from his brow and placed his bow
comfortably on its rack.
On the morning of Friday, the 6th Shawwal, when the sky had
clothed its teet in light, the messengers of the rai, men bad in shoot-
mg arrows, but tlUthful in speech, such as Balak Deo Naik, Main
Deo (Deva), Jitmal and some others, came out of the fort with folded
hands. They brought their presents and bowed before the imperial
canopy, like a bow when an arrow is shot fropl it; next, like an arrow
springing rom the bow-string, they began their alluring speech.
The raj', they said, 'whose tlUthfulness is straighter than a bow-
string, assures you that in the attempt to save himself, he has become
more bent than a Hindi bow. Finding that the Turks shoot their
arrows on whichever side they see a large corner, he enrols himself
among the imperial tributaries before they put a rope round his neck
and bring him within their power. He will submit ,to such Imperial
orders as are issued, and will not defend his fort with bows and
arrows:
59No one can describe the elephants so well as I (Khusrau), for
only a cloud can cast its shadow over a mountain. Everyone of them
was valiant in slaying the brave, gigantic in stature, yet like man in
intelligence. The iron goad above its head looked like the inverted
crescent over a cloud ... Hard-headed but obedient, it bore on its
back the prestige of the comt. From a wide throat it emitted a soft
sound. Its hands were without fingers and its feet beat like dlUms
on either side. Its shanks were upright and strong like the trunks
of trees and bore the enormous weight of its body. It could tear
open the sides of a wolf as wide as laughing lips, or send infidels to
sleep in red velvet under the weight of its feet. At one throw it
could send a thief Hying to the other world. The male elephant could
win thei.r 'heads' from the Hindus with chaugan-stick of its tlUnk;
the temale could colour the nails of her hands and feet with Mughal
blood as if it was hina
60
and at the same time carve out their eyes
with her nails. The sales of its feet shook the unmoving earth, and
at the same time dragged the chain behind. The Sah-kash consider-
the r;drnpmgns Of 'A/audd;n Khalil
235
ed the acquisition of the elephants a very good omen-that is, he
thought them magllets for draWing the iron hills of Ma'abar towards
tliemselves. Otlicers were appoin'ted to look after them and expenses
were allotted tor their food and upkeep.
610n the day of Mars, when the wine-coloured dawn had disap-
pem'ed and the heat of the sun was falling veltically on the earth,
the rai sent all his dust-raising horses to the imperial s'tables. They
came before the august canopy, rows after rows, like the winds that
strike against the clouds; and the canopy, which has the hills for the pegs
-if you saw it, you would think it to be the throne of Solomon float-
ing in air-threw its shade over them. The horses seemed to leap into
the Held of vision out of the realm of imagination. The maline horses
could swim through the sea as if it was a cup of water. Their eyes
were like crows, with black linings, and they looked at Shabdiz
6
2 with
contempt. There were dark horses with white faces, like the moon
rising up in the horizon of the night; white horses with black hoofs,
like an eclipse overshadowing the sun; horses with black patches,
which remInded one of clouds scaNered by the winds; and hay horses
with red marks like the air full of roses. Their essence was from the
wind, and rain could do them no harm; their bodies were of fire and
you could not make their effigies out of wax. They wore shoes of
iron and could, nevertheless, dance in the air. Their limbs were like
reeds, and they could not, therefore, be drowned in water. Their
breasts were wide like the foreheads of the munificent, while their
ear-holes were small like the eyes of the stingy.63 Like true mystics,
they could s1;ep on air and walk over the sUlface of water. Barley
was permitted to them, but not whips.
64When the day of the sun()5 had dawned on the eastern horizon,
the sun-worshipping Bilal Deo saw the rays of the Muslim sword
over his head. He bowed down, ran out of his constellation (fort),
and throwing hiniself before the canopy of 1:he 'shadow of god' like
a trembling and lifeless phantom, buried his head in the soil of sub-
mission. Having thus acquired the light of good fortune, he retired
to his own constellation at a sign from the Hajib-i Malikul Hujjao
in order to bring out his gems, valuables and buried treasures. All
that night he was engaged in digging up the treasures which he had
hidden like the sun in the bosom of the night. When (next morning)
the Hindu-faced night threw the sun out of the earth, the rai brought
all the sparkling' gems, which he had hitherto kept underground,
in his skirt before the august canopy and entrusted them to the officers
of the public treasury. In this dty, the four towns of which are
four months' journey (from Delhi), the troops remained for twelve
236 Politics and Society dl/ting the Early Medieval Period
days till the main force jOined them. Then the elephants of Dhur
Samandar were sent to the Imperial capital like eastern winds that
go to the Kaba.
The march of the army to Ma'abar, accompanied by fortune and
by success. On Wednesday,66 the 18th Shawwal, the high-
s?undmg a,lmy druins were mounted on carriel-backs for the expedi-
tIOn to Ma abar and led up and down across valleys and rivers. The
ground was elitremely uneven; but the men jumped like lions across
hollows which made the camels weep, and cantered like caniels over
snake-holes and rat-holes where a bakhti
67
would have sunk down
to the neck. The sharp thorn drove their points into the feet of
the camels as if they were horses to be shod; the pointed stones tore
the horses' hoofs with the deceptivity of a camel; the litters were
torn by the rapidity of the march and then sewn up again by the
thorns. Yet the obedient army patiently bore all the labours of the
campaign. If a heavy mountain had been laid flll its back every day,
it would have carried the niountain without hesitation or protest.
.I:<;very night they slept on ground more uneven than a caniers back.
68Five clays after the above date, the army reached the frontier of
Ma'abar. Between the territories of Dhur S'amandar and Ma'abar, a
mountain was seen that rubbed its head against the clouds; on the
hills in front of it, there grew thorny trees, which, spear in hand,
protected the garrisons that had taken refuge among them. Two
passes leading from two valleys had been opened for the fort-reducing
army; one pass was Tarnlali69 and the other was Tabar. But in a
moment the mountain-rending almy created a hundred passes on
every side with the shots of its arrows; and they passed through the
hill as rapidly as their arrows had passed through the rocks. At
night they reached a river and encamped by its bank in the wilder-
ness.70 The dust of the desert flew with the wind of Islam, and
attacked the Ma'abari b'oops, who were more numerous than sand-
grains; their ranks were broken like 'scattered motes',71 or like par-
tIcles of dust carried about by the wind.
Account of the conquest of Ma'abar and the capture of elephants,
horses and jewels.72 The kindness of ,/:he creator has bestowed sharp-
ness on the curved swords of the Muslini arniy, and tltey were now
resharpened by him. When tlte army reached this land of infidelity,
it created its own arch withtlte strength of its arm and cOnipelled
infiOel heads to stand up and fall down before it
73
. The contamina-
tion of infidelity, which the sea could not have washed off from this
land, teas washed away by the 'drops' of the SW01'd. The rehels of
that territory had never seen Muslim horserrien even in their dreanis.
The Campaigns of 'Alat/ddia Khalj;
237
The had deSignated their city Mardi (manliness);
hnt eXisted .there not in reality, hut only in name. The
,of the city saw disconcerting dreams and remained lost in the
devil s game. Finally, the maliks reached the fort and carried their
banners through the city with heating drums. There was hloodshed
all reckoning. The imperial mmy hathed in its own pers-
plratton and washed the land with rebel blood.
750n !hursday, the 5th Zil Qad, the Muslim troops, numerous as
sand-g:ams, started from the river Kanauri (Kaveri) towards Bird-
hul (Vlra Chola). They were thirsty for Ma'ahar and for the ocean;
and in c.ase the Bir fled towards the sea, they had detelmined to
pursue. hl:-n thither like thirsty nien in quest of water. When the
enthUSiastic army approached Birdhul, the bewts of their drums re-
sounded in the Bit: (well); and though Bir on his part also raised a
h':le and CIY, It was a. weak voice coming out of a well. The
Hmdu commumty kept thell' Bir (well) covered, so that no one could
look him. 'An event is going to happen', they told Bir, 'your
.wIll be off and you will he left with your mouth open:
Bu' Wished to smk mto the earth like a' well but on further reflection
felt afraid that ,they (the Musalmans) throw a rope
hIS throat and take out all his water. He was in this perpleliity when
tlle army approached nearer and his fOlt began to shake. Bir lost
all self-control and desired to fly towards the sea; but first throuah
sad and melancholy sighs he sent it a hlE;ssage. 'I have sailed over
so otten. now I, who am Bir (well), suffer front a great scarcity
of. to the enonnous Turkish army. Give nie a refuge in
thUle Islands. When these melancholy Sighs reached the sea, it ins-
tantly puton its.arn:0lll' and roared its replv: "0 Bir,
do not cO.me tIllS Side, for m tIllS fall of kingdoms, I will be onIv
overthrowmg myself along with you. I am not a dly pond, in which
you can di well (bir).76 My title is "the sea" and God has given
r,ne the pnVllege of surrounding the seven climes. May he, a wave
from the anny of thE' king of land and sea-"and he it is who has
made ,the sea suhservient that you mav eat fresh flesh from it"-will
come fishing side, and I shall he ahle to pay my respects to it:
I am not deVOId of shanie and honour, and it is for such a contingency
that I preserved the valuables in my treasury. VelY often peo-
ple have smled over me upon a handful of wood and straw' but now
I will change :uy water into dust at the feet of the imperial troops,
You may consIder me one of the meanest of impetial servants. If I
?ave a b:easure of pearls, it is a present for the maliks. If tllere are
Islands of each in me, they are to he used for the letters of the im-
238
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Perloa
periaI diwan.
77
As for the ships which sail on the surface of the water,
they cannot be concealed. The finest ships, arrayed like young dam-
sels, are waiting for the emperor's orders; he can choose whichever
he likes. Henceforth the solution of all difficulties concerning this
region is in the hands of the king of kings. The property of the ser-
vant is the property of his master:
When this reply came to Bir's ears, he also roared out from his
empty heart. and in his excessive thirst and dryness, he felt like
drinking up the whole ocean. For he was like an empty well, whose
eyes have sunk to the boHom and whose interior is entirely devoid
of moisture. The officers of Bir also lost their self-confidence; and as
these aquatic animals were heset with a vreat scarcitv of water, they
inevi-tablv resolved to make Bir (well) flv bv way of land.
78Whe'n the great Brahmans saw th.at the rayan was weaker
than a leaf, they represented to him in coloured language that betels
should be offered to the rawats to induce them to sacrifice their lives.
On a hint from the rai, betels were presented to Hindu horsemen
and paiks to induce them to shoot forth new leaves. They took the
betels and their mouths were filled with hlood in mourning at their
own death. You would have said that the pale-faced and green-
coloured Hindus were like the betel-leaf, which is green above and
yellow beneath?\). For no hlood was left in their arteries, and death
had opened its iaws to colour its 'teeth with their blood. They were
not eating betel but drinking blood; for every time they put it in
their mouths, the leaf chanl!ed its colour under their black teeth, wept
tears of blood and caused their lins to onen in laughter. Along with
them, the Bir also ate betel and drank blood.SO When the holy war-
riors reached the precincts of the city, their sword cast its rays on
Birdhul and made it clear to Bi r that the time of his decline was near.
No water remained in him. From this time till sunset, the yellow-
faced rai, along with other pale faces, kept falling into fits (safra);
and their disease affected the sun, for it also grew pale and sank down
in a fit. The rai saw that the day of his nrosperitv had chang:ed into
night and the world grew clark before his eves. Along: with his
plexed comnanions-'vou may think them as one hody and theIr
hearts are disunited'-he retired towards the city, from where he
took a quantity of cash and valuables, which brought some consola-
tion to his palpitating heart, and also a number of men and horses.
Thus equipped for the flhrht, he moved towards the city of Kandur
(Kannanur). But as the danger from the imnerial army was extremely
great, he was unable to establish himself firmly eyen there and fled
to the forest of elephants and tigers.
The CampaIgns of 'Alauddin Khalil
239
8lA. body of Musalmans had allied themselves to the broken crup-
per of the Hindus and had violated the law: 'Do not make the in-
fidels your hi ends as against the Musalmans.'82 But now they saw
rai break his own stirrup and the day of reckoning covered them
like a saddle-cloth. The world appeared to them contracted like the
bow of .a saddle; the wave of blood rose above the saddle and they
had no place to dry their feet. So they 'turned away their bridles from
their infidel allies, sought safety in submission to the Musalmans, and
tried to strengthen themselves by hanging to the saddle-straps of the
state. 'Then surely the party of Allah are they that shall be trium-
phant: Though euel'y one of them was the ven{ tVOl'st of rebels and
apostates, yet they were honoured bl{ the Malik and liberated f1'Om
their chains
83
. Their oath of affirmation testified to their claim of
being Musalmans, and out of regard for this, the Muslim Malik order-
ed the V-shaped yoke to be removed from their necks. The forgive-
ness of the forgiving emperor was extended to them; they were asked
concerning the circumstances of the infidels and brought (to light)
all they knew about those fire-worshippers. Led bv these Musalmans,
the imperial troops resolved to chase the cowardly Bir and all other
covVards. .
84But at this moment a black-faced cloud advanced from the direc-
tion of the Ma'abari h'oops, and owing to its friendliness with the sea,
strove hard for the Ma'aharis. To the Mllsalmans also it vave
formal help. In fact it was very deceptive; sometimes it rained severely
at other times gentlv; on the one hand, it gave water to the stream
of Shal'i'at, and on the other, it assisted those aquatic animals. At
this double dealing the lightning laughed. But as fate had ordained
that the shower of Muslim arrows was not to reach the .l!,abl's, the
rain became rriore severe as the strove to advance. You
would have thought destiny had drawn a curtain hefore the victorious
army in order to protect the flying troops. For when the Imperialists
advance like a delul!,e, fate alone can saue the drowninl!,. So the almv
returned to Birdhul. Thev found that Bir (well) ha(1 Hed and
drum (dhul) was empty. The infidel cloud, like a Hindu in sable
clothes, drew its Hindi rainbow to the full length and sent down its
rain-drops like sharp arrow-points. Thev passed throue:h the armour
and the oreast-plate; and though the bronze bodies of the holv war-
riors remained unaffected, they were, nevertheless. hindered from
dischargin,e: their arrows. The water rendered the bows ineffective
and made the Hindi swords rUsty85; it got in between the arrow and
its (iron) point and separated them from one another; it also whis-
pered something in the 'ears' of the bows and untwisted their
240 Politics and Society during the Em'ly Medieval Period
strings
86
. But the clever and mastedul (imperial) archers were not
afraid of the cloud of Bahman or of the rain-drops; their arrows Hew
like lightning, for they were of the nature of the wind. Some
aquatic animals of that land crept like snakes into every hole and
crevice, while the bodies of others were pierced by the sharp arrows
even as water gets into a snake-hole. The Hindu rawats came f01th
riding in troops but were laid low before the Turkish horse. A deluge
of water and blood flowed forward to plead for mercy before the
caliph's army. Or you migh:t say, that owing to the extreme happiness
of inlfdel souls, the beverage of blood was so delicious, that every
time the cloud rained water over it, the ferocious earth drank it up
with the greatest pleasure. In spi<te of the great intoxicating power
of this wine the saqi poured her clear liquid out of the flagon of the
sky to increase its intoxication further. Out of this wine and beverage
death had distilled her first delicious draught. Next you saw bones
on the earth.
From Birdhul the anriy advanced in search of Bir across a path
so completely covered by water that you could not distiriguish the
road from a well. Torrents of rain fell from above. But the horse-
men guided their horses as pilots guide their ships, and sailing
thl'Ough the storm like Noah's ark, they reached a village where the
Hindu army lay encamped like bubbles on the surface of water. But
as soon as a breeze from the majestic sword of the Turks blew towards
them, they broke and dispersed and seemed to sink into the
even as a min d1'op disappears in sandy soil.B7 At midnight, when
the moon and the stars had been hidden by the clouds and the morn-
ing was still far off, some swift-footed scouts reported that the rai,
having lost aU consciousness of head and foot, had fled to the citv
of Kandur. The victorious army hunied .after him and soon reached
the place. The Hindus, who relying on the strength of their 'head',
llad lost their 'feet' before this time, now lost their 11cac1' also. They
ran about 'headless', searching for their lost 'head'; and in this search
they also lost the heads they had. The 11cad-throwing' Turks found
no . traces of the lost man anywhere, though they cut off a number
of heads under the suspicion that they were his, and again and again
drew circles round the places where thev expected him to be. Finally,
the Hindu-faced night withdrew and the morning dawned88. 'When
the elephantine cloud had disappeared, one hundred and twenty89
cloud-like elephants were captured at the place and on the backs of
the elephants were treasures, such as do not drop from the backs of
the clouds and are not to be found in the bowels of the hills. The
... tn thp officers of the treasnry. Many elephant'
the Campaigns of. 'Alauddin Khalil
241
bodied rawats, who like the tusks of elephants had
tram the battle-field, no,",:, crept their houses like the. elephanf.s
eye from fear of the terrific Turkish storm; but they were; neverthe-
less, dragged out of their corners and thrown under the feet of. the
elephants. It seemed that, smeared with the blood of those possessors
of the elephants, the elephants of that land became like 'birds ill
Hocks' and carried to the. elephantine clouds the words of thankful-
ness to the Lord of Kaba.90
91Though a deluge of blood was made to flow in the Kharababad
of Kandur with the Hindi sword, :that could have cut a boat into two
yet no trace of the desired fish was found. The Musalmans thought
he had .gone. towards, Jat Kuta. (Jal 'We will go and throwotit
our fishmg hne there, determmed, May be he will fall into our
hands!' So .without waiting to rest or recuperate, they started quicker
than the ram that falls from above. But it was discovered for certain
trom people from that direction that Bir had not been any-
where near that bl1'ana. He had washed his hands off the sea as well
tal' sea, in spite of its stability, had led from that flowing rive;
and dived to the bottom of the ea1'th. 92Thc forest to which Bir ,had
fled was S? 0ick,. there was no in it for an an'/: to put its
feet; and If. ImagmatlOn had entered It, It wonld have lost its way
and never found it out again. As it was ascertained that the rai had
into the forest even as a needle pierces through silk, that
Ius companions had gone with him like the thread follOWing the
needle, and that the end of the thread was not now to be found the
'N!alik, who, if he heard of S? much as the picture of on
silk cloth, would have run 11lS shmp scissors towatds it in the darkest
night, did not consider it worth while wasting his arrows against the
hillsid? for a ma.tter of detail as capturing the small party of
the I'm. It was ImpossIble ,to find them. The Musalmans drew away
their skirts from the thorny forest and returned to. Kandur, so that
with their stalIs they may explore the hills of that region in search
of more elephants. '. .
93When in the morning the elephantine clouds had gathered round
that golden idol, the sun, news was brought that in the cityof Bar-
matpur (Bmmatpuri) there was a' golden temple, and that the rai's
elephants had collected round it even as clouds collect round the
sun. The army started like a storm to move those clouds and anivecl
there at midnight. Two hunched and fifty elephants," who . roared
like thunder, were captured before dawn by the fleet-footed horse.
men, ;ust as the waves of the sea fl1'e1'Oised in a continuous succes
c
sian by the wind.
94
Next, the Muslim Sah-kash came with a body of
242
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
holy warriors to destroy the golden temple in which the idols were kept.
They saw a building, old and strong as the infidelity of satan, and
enchanting like the allurements of worldly life. You might say that
it was the paradise of Shaddad, which after being lost, those llelIites
had found, or that it was the golden Lanka of Ram, that rai having
collected the golden heads of the idols and left them till the timc of
Solomon came, or else, that they had been left for Bir, bllt Bir (teeli)
having become dry, these idols fell down. 1)51n truth, the towering
edifice testified to the fact that the earth is the infidel's paradise. It
rose from the earth, a structure of gold scratching the eyes of the stars
and piercing the people of the sun. Its summit reached the claws of
the lion; its go],den foundations went deep into the earth; you would
have thought the Twelve Fish had been consolidated into one. Its
roofs and walls were inlaid with sparkling rubies and emeralds, and
after gazing at them, red and ye110w spots came before the spectator's
eye.
96
The sight of gold was cooling to the Sight. The green colour
of the emerald wonld have given prestige to a kingly crown; for it .
looked like a young parrot flown from its egg in the moon. The jewel-
led figure of the idol looked like a bubble on. the surface of the sun,
and gazing at it would have weakened the eye. God be praised that
all these gems have been brought to the treaslIry of the 'Shadow of
God' !
mThe foundations of this golden temple, which was the holy place
of the Hindus, "'ere dug up with the greatest care. The gl,orifiers of
'God' broke the infidel building, so that 'spiritual birds' came down
like pigeons from the air. The 'ears' of the wall were opened by the
sound of the spade. At its call the sword also its 'head' Jrom
the scabbard; and the 'heads' of the Brahmans and idol-worshippers
came dancing from their necks to their feet at the Hashes of the sword.
98The golden bricks rolled down and brought with them the plaster
of sandal-wood; the yellow gold became red with blood, and the white
sandal turned scarlet. The sword Hashed where jewels had once been
sparkling; where mire used to be created by rose-water and musk, there
was now a mud of blood and dirt; the stench of blood was emitted
by ground once fragrant with musk; the saffron-coloured doors and
walls assumed the colour of hronze. And by this smell the men of
faith were intoxicated and the men of infidelit1f ruined. 99The stone
idols, called 'Ling-i-Mahadeo', which had been for a long time estab-
lished at that place-qlliblts, 111ulieres infidelium plldenda slla affri-
cant,loO-these, up to this time, the kick of the of Islam had not
attempted to breaklOl The Musa
1
:mans destroyed all the lingas. Deo
Narain (Narayana) fell down, and the other gods, who had fixed their
The Campaiglls of 'Ala uddin KTwlji 243
seats there, raised their feet and jumped so high, that at one leap
they reached the fort of Lanka; and in that affright the
selves would have fled, had they any legs to stand 011'. And long-hved
satan, who in that temple had induced the sons of Adam to bo:v
down before the lingas of the deos, fled to Sarandip in such ?espan
that he reached Adam's Foot (qadam-i-Adam) andlowerecl hiS head
before it.l02 See how far ISlam has succeeded, when even satan bows
his head before Adam.l0,3 The foundations of the temple, which ,,:ere
mines of gold, were dug up, and its jewelled walls, which were mmes
of precious stones, pulled down. The spades and shovels were sharp-
ened at the heart of the rubies; the pick-axe, shaped like the key,
opened the door of victory over the building; and the mattock went
into the inlillcl wall and brought out the pearls. Wherever there was
any treasure in that desolated building, the ground was sifted in a
and the treasure discovered. No part of gold remained with the
gabrs except its dust, no jewels except the of fire. When
the gold and jewels had been entrusted to the the
successful army moved back to the (centraJl) camp, With Its treasures
and elephants. . ... .
1040n Sunday, the 11th Zill Qad, the men of the VlctOrlOUS army
arrived before the august canopy and rubbed their mud-smeared f?re-
heads on the ground. The temples of Birdhtll (Vira Chola) had raised
their heads to the drum of the sky and their foundations went down
to water-depth; but now their foundations were dug up so thoroug?ly
that below every foundation a well (bir)105 was excavated reachmg
down to the fisl1 and the spal'kling treasures, which like ducks had
been roosting in every corner of the building, were out of the
centre of the earth. So much dust was raised from these Hmdu houses
that the 'heart' of saturn became a well of dust. Two days later the
towering canopy started from here; on Thursday, the 15th Zill Qad,
it arrived at the citv of Kim (Kanum);I00 five days later it reached the
city of Mathra (Madura), the dwelling place of the brother of the mi,
Sll;1dar Pandva. The citv of the 1!reat Saturnian, who had it colossal
palace, was found as empty as the constellation,pf Mars. The mihad
fled along with the ranis and only two or three etiiphants had
in the temple of Jagannath (Sokkanatha). In spite of all sealch for
the lost ,arrow (Mercury) and the Great Bear, only these two or three
clouds (elephants) could be seen. The Malik was so inHamed with
anger that he set fire to the temple of Jagannath.
From here the Malik ordered the elephants to be taken to the main
camp, and in contradiction to the proverb, that 'one hill does 'not go
to another', these elephants were taken to the other elephants. When
244 Politics and Society during tile Early Medieval Period
Arz counted them at the muster, the line of elephants was three
fm:sangs long, al).d from tarsang to farsang the ground was rubbed
and beater under feet. Five hundl;ed and twelve elephants,
have torn the wall of the (First) Alexander' like a rampart
of paper, were brought into the roll of captives by the powerful
. of the Second Alexander. Gigantic bodies they had, and if
.theIr no noise when they walked, yet the earth groaned
and Surely the of the hour is a grievous thing'.107
. of the elephants,. With trunks like dmgons, under whose feet
the grew soft as wax. !OS They were like hills, so high that the
on thelr foreheads gave a red lining to the clouds, or else
clouds so above the ground that water took a long time in
theIr backs, Their bodies were so large that the wind
.stnkll1g theIr backs was unable to reach their tails; and the creator
of ether had hidden 'fire' in them just as lightning is hidden in the
.clouds. driver sat on their necks with his goad like the spur of
a. But other clouds rain water and cause vegetables
grow, drank water and ate vegetables; while other
lulls preclOus stones and are permanently fixed, these hills
c:ontamecl no treasures and were always on the move. Everyone
present. wondered at their shape-a steep hill and a man gUiding it.
The dn:er sat Oil its neck like an angel directing a cloud, and the
box On Its back looked like a ship floating on the. sea. When it was
moving, you have thought. it a mighty wave in the ocean;
when standll1g, It looked like the main tower of a fort adorned with
a trunk ,in place 9f the munjaniq. And if the waves 'of the are
moved. by force of the winds, the e1ephants, when angry, moved
the. wll1d III waves; if the tower of the fort is surmounted by a
def:nce, this tower was adorned by a box of jewels. You
mIght lIken It to a dome on four columns, which crushes the infidels
by its. weight, or to a hill on four rocks, which causes the heretics
to sliP. do,",:n its. .... In spite of its weight, it moved gently lJike
the wmd; 111 spIte of Its movement, it seemed to stand still.
. Pmise of h01'Ses onslaught on the field of battle destroyed
thf! stone-stables 9f Tune.109 the elephants had retired to theil'
officers, the l1ku.ster of the horses was taken. The imperial Arz counted
one by one; they were. five thol/sand in nllmbe'l'. There were
y amani' horses, all going to theil' with all'1l1'ing
steps. ma.rme horse could float like a bllbble on teateI'. They
sW1ft as. lzghtning; their qualities were those of the rose; their
?ngm was from thewi:nd and yet they yielded softly.to the bridle.
A man could never attain to thei'l' g.rciftness except in imagination.
The Campaigns of 'Alauddin.Klwl;i.
Their b1'eath was like the morning b1'eeze blowing ovel' the Narcissus;
their ears grew like lilies. EJ;eryone of them was an Ahraman, who
in the rapidity of his move1l1ent, left his shadow behind. Sometimes
it would stand in the ail'; at other times (its swiftness) lay dormant
like fire in stone. Its figure c([)Jtiuated the eye and was never again
forgotten. ilt galloped mpidly over uneven paths and could
see a needle in the darkness of the night, it finished its iOllrney as
quickly as a thread gets into the eye of a needle. When the horses.
with such fine figure and qualities, had been reviewed, they were all
assigned to the 1'Oyal stables and enlisted in the of the em-
pe1'Or, so that in the il1lJ)erial battles another wall came along
(with the wall of the elephants). lvfarl the whole globe, and even
the nine heavens, remain under the emperor's rule!
Praise of the treaSll1'eS of land and sea, worth" of the exalted
Solomon. nOIf a c1escrintion of the hoxes of jewels were attetnptect
there is no breast in ,,,hich it could be contained,nor .any heart that
could appreciate its value. There were nve hundred mans of pre-
cious stones, and everv piece was equal in size to the disc of the
(sinking) sun. The clianionds were of such a colour that the sun
will have to stare hard for ageS before the like of them is made in
the factories of the rocks. The pearls glistened so brilliantly that
the brow of the clouds win have to perspire for vears befo1"e slich
pearls again reach the h'easurv of the sea. For g-enerations the mines
will have to drink blood in the stream of the snn before rubies such
as these are produced. The enieralds were of water so nne, that
if the blue sky broke itself Into frae:ments. none of its frae:ments
would equal them. Every diamond hrightlv; it seeined as
if it was a drop fallen froni the sun. As to the other stones. their lustre
eludes descllption iust as water escanes alit of a small vessel.
IIlThrough the favour of the Lord of men and iins. and assisted
by the sincere motives of the Imam and the caliph of the ap'e, the
orthodox (sunni) victors had now piously compelled all false houses
of worship to bow their heads on the praver-carpet of the ground
and had hroken aU stone idols J,ike the stonv hearts of their worship"
pers. How clean the breasts of those who broke with gl'eatest severity
these contaminated stoiles, which satan had raised like a waH before
himself! The hearts of the Musalmans were now quite satisfied with
the breaking of false gods. The elephants, who had gone rubbing
their noses against the ground to the thresholds of the teiliples, noW
considered the rubv velvet on their backs as their pil!!riins' dress for
visiting the capitalr of Islam, and wete ready to bow -their heads in
to the empel'or of the seven clinics. The treasure: which
246 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
was, the mainstay and the Kaba of those evil men, was collected for
the imperial COUlt. The ceremonies of holv wm' which are obligat'lry
duties, had been performed in obedience' to orders of the 'COi;-
mander of the faithful'. The i\lalik-i Ghazi and the holv warriors
of the ,victorious ,army bowed their heads in thankfulness-'Victorv
is only from Allah, the Mighty and the Wise'-illld hathed thc groun;l
",\lith their perspiration and tears. And in their praver for the increas-
ed power of the caliphate, they raised their so high, as to
reach the treasury of acceptance.
Return of the l)ictOl'iOIlS army to the imperial COlll't of land al1d
sea. 1120n Sunday night the company of stars prcpared to return tr
the imperial capital. The breaking up of the camp filled all hearts
with a deep joy.113 Next mOl1ling, Sunday the 4th Zil I-lijjah, 710 A.H.
th.e troops, accoinpanied by their e1:ephants and loaded
theu' heavy treasure, began their march for the capital. Victory
IJl all her glory led the van, planning further conquests, success
accompanied, them in all things, and the favour of god protected
them. Yes! God will protect the an1l1l that protects the !/Jorlel. Youn<t
and old rejoiced on account of favour from AHah. Thc
of 'Huzza- Huz!' rose from the infidels-'They are nothing but as
nay, .they are sh'aving further of! from the path'. As the
deSire to kiSS the ground of the court had overpowered the men
of the army, they eheerfullv underwent the hardships of the journey.
passed raDidly and without weariness over the mounblins, tIle
thought of which makes one feel tired, and crossed with the in-
difference of a somnambulist. deep vallevs. the dream which would
cause a man to jump up in his sleep. . Thorns, the ver\' memorv of
'pricks one like a spear, appeared to them soft 'like the 'hair
of own bodies. They swam through rivers, the thought of
drowns one's in a sea of wonder, and passed \
l'aplclly through hot wmd and rain and \vh;ch was souietiines
gentle and sometimes severe, till thev finallv reached the 'shadow of
God', and were protected from sunshine and heat, pain and sorrow,
they God for the blessin{!,s to peace and for the
pnu1lege of 11C1ng able to see the head of the state.
1140n Monday, the 14th Jmnadins Sani, 711 A,H. the exalted Sl1ll
(sultan) held a public durbar in the Golden Palace.115 The 'Shadow
of God' sat under the callOpv, and the ravs !if his face drove awav
the evil eve, as if with a' baton, The fortunes of men awak-
ened; it seenied that the h1,ack shadow of his canopv had lined their
sleepv eves with antimonv. His baton struck its light on the head
... .. .. I ",...' l __
" _, 1 ____ 1 _L_____ !__ ....1-_
The Campaigns of 'Alaudrlill Khal;i 247
neck of the sun. THe sky, for all its fearless tvrannv, was over-
powered by the lustre at' the spears, and time, i;l of its over- (
bearing strength, felt afraid of the fearful bow. The 1Ha/iks in
innumerable rows rubbed their waists together like so many rubies
and diamonds.llS 'White and brown horses stood ill files,
stamping the with their feet and turning it into gold. The
earth scemed full of (small) hillocks after the great had
ruhbed their foreheads upon it, while the prostration of the tikacla/"
rais gave it the edour of saffron. The cry of Bismillah came to
cars of the a"gels and rernilldetl thein of thcir bowing before
Adam; the sound of Hadakallah fell on sat.an's ears, compelling him
to bow clown to Adam's descendants.
117
,The wind of imperial favour
blew so generously as to takc away the power of self-restraint froni
the wishes of men; vct slleh was the awe of his in"iperial majestv,
that but for the anehor-Ioads on their hacks, the elephants would
have fled awn\,. 'When the right and left wing of the imperial court
bad assembled, the sky reeited the 'Ayatal Kursi'118 and the four
-angels read the four Quls1I9 at the fOllr columns. The emperor's
servant, the Sah-kash, who had performed more services than can
be described, was introduced along with other and ([reat men
who had survived the campaign in which thev had so often risked
their lives. He bowed the broad fOl'ehead of his fortune hefol'e the
throne and pl,aced his obedient face on the carpet of the court.
The cry of Bismillah rose so high, that divine favour descended down
it from the skv as down a strong rope. Then the review of the
snoils hega1l, The ground was covered bv the large bodies of the
elephants and faultless [tems. \Vhile the jewels were on the hacks
of the animals. they indicated that the 'essence of things' was finer
than the 'eye'; but when thev were scattered at the 'feet' of men and
horses, it was proved that the eve was superior to tIle jewels. All
men, who were adorned with two eyes. just as the eve' is adorned
with two 'jewels', wondered at the' sight of e1.eDhants and jewels.
Everv gigantic eleJ)hant had a female. and the female also had a
gigantic stature. TIle bodv of the elephant \vas strong and large;
tbere was a great distance between its head and feet, and the dis-
tance between its trunk and tail was greater sti],]; nor could vou
see the whole of its back and breast except in three views (from three
different points). The forgh',inrr emneror thanked the merciful Gocl.
who gives and takes away life, for the acquisition of those valuables;
and the circlHnference of the sky was not extensive enough to con-
tain his gratitude. And it will 'not be strange, if, in retum for his
thankfulness, all the creatures of the broad worlq are conquered by
248
Politics and Society dUring tlw Early Medieval Period
his sword, for gratitude to God is the condition of all great success,
A few words of apology for the Innumerable mistakes and defects
of this book. 120By the favour of the Creator his 'hook of victories
ornamented with the great deeds of Abul Muzaffar Muhammad
Shah Sultan, has been brought to an end. It is a specimen of Khus-
ran's prose. May this account of some of the victories of this con-
queror wander all over the world through the realm of day and night
till the Day of Resurrection! fl'1y reason for making the hook short,
and contenting niyself with the description of a few victories only,
is this: Since the imperial orders are being issued for the conquest
of the whole globe, there is no doubt that victory wiJl carry these
commands to everv part of the world, from east to west. It was
easier for me (under the circumstances) to adorn iny book with a
few gems only to illustrate these victories. So from necessity, I have
described a part of the empcror's virtues and a few of his conquests;
and in words that may funy and correctlv express mv meaning, I have
writtep a few pages. Nor did I wish that verses in any language.
other than Persian and Arabic, should blacken the lip of my pen and
the pages of my, book. It is certain that the few sentences I have
composed arf more meaningless than the two-lettered words that are
taught to children; that the pages of my book are more weaHv
joined together than pieces of paper; which it is attempted to stick
together with the water of the mouth: and that the ideas I have
expressed, though in my opinion fine as hair, are (in reality) no better
than a letter written with a hair sticking to the point of the pen. But
since I have appealed,to divine assistan,ce in the coniposition of this
book, I hope my inventions will find acceptance in the Sultan's eyes,
P1'ayers to God for the acceptance of this book (bll the sultan) arid
fOl' hIs forgIveness. 12lMay God who has cast the 1,ight of guldance
on the hearts of the M usalmans, procure this description of political
events, which is found on the 'Opening Chapter' and verses in support
of the Muslim faith, a good fortune hefore the last 'Commander of
the Faithful', Muhammad, on whose forehead shines the verse,
'Surely we have made you a ruler in the larid'. If my pen in its
wanderings has' eyer passed beyond the boun(ls of respect, and in
its ignorance and forgetfulness has said anything not worthy of the
royal protector of the Faith, may the Lord senrl this verse from His
Book to the sultan's inspired heart-'and those who restrain their
anger and pardon men'-so that in his mercy to all men, he may
spare my life also. If there is anything defective in composition,
on which men of wit -and learning can place their ,fingers, send me
a ray of thy favour, so that these defects may remain concealed. Lest
The Campaigns of 'Alauddill Khol;;
249
from the obvious or hidden meaning, of words
is drawn against the 'Mother of Books, I fimsh my
sentence-'There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad IS HIS
)het'. And my last prayer is: 'Make me ?ie a
with the good.' '0 Lord Send Thy blessmgs on ,Thy
Thy messenger,. the unlettered Prophet, and, on hIS fmml)' and 1115
companions, the innocent and the pure, out of Thy merc)" Than who
art the most Merciful of all.'
1 Aliusions to conquest and victory.
2 The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
3 A city in the Island of Ormuza. .
4 The QUl"On, Chap. vii, sec. 22 and Chap. bu, sec. 2.
5 Aliusions to heavy' loads. 6 The elephants.
7 Allusions to stars. 8 or Natgal.
9 Allusions to the Shah Namah. . h' f
10 Rakhsh was Rustum's horse and' Godurz was The blOgrap les 0
the heroes of the Shah NalJlah, whose names occur m thiS paragraph, need not
be detailed here.
11 Allusions to uneven roads. h k a
12 Kai Kaus a famous emperor of Persia, attempted to fly to t e s y. on
h
. d by birds but when the birds were tired, he fell down and died.
t rone carne, h d Z I f ther of Rushn1
13 The fabulous bird of the Shah Nama" w 0 nurse a, a " '
14 Clear and spark/inK allusions to water.
15 i.e. the trunks of the elephants. . ,
16 Allusions to the 'Day of ResllrreetlOll.
are from the Quranic description of the Day
17 Allusions to wind and water.
18 Probably the Tapti is meant.
19 Allusions to health and illness.
20 i.e. spears.
21 Allusions to counsel and advice.
22 i.e, the army of Ddhi.
The quotations in the paragraph
of Resurrection.
23 A /lusions to trees,
24 Allusions to goods and lJlel"chandise. ., 11"
25 Dalvi besides being a proper name, means 'a bucket'; Blr means we i
Samandar (in Hi'ndi) means the 'sea'. The reader sh01!ld. be to
many plays on the three words; for, at the v.ery Paras eo a
wishes to draw the whole <if Dhur Samandar a smgle bucket.
26 Allusions to the army 'and to heavenly assIstance.. .
27 Here follow a number of quotations from the Qlll"On:whlch I have omItted
28 Allusions to water. . t'l
29 Meaning the 'town of destruction'; the title seems to have 1;leen gIven 0 1
250 Politics and Society d"til'g the Early ly[edieval Period
for no reason save that of rhyming it with Ailllanabad, 'the city of safety',
Parasurama Deva was an ally of the empire, 'Dwara Samudra Was the capital
of the Ballala rajas, and Vira Narasimha was the name of the prince who was
l'verthcown in this invasion'. See Wilson's Mackenzie Colleclion, Int. p. cxiii;
Buchanan's Mysore, iii, pp. 391, 474, 'Thomas, Prinsep's Useful Tables, p. 276'
(Efliot).
30 Literally meaning the 'breast.'
31 A play on the words, 'goi' meaning 'ball' and 'dalVari' meaning 'pretence',

32 'No doubt the present Sina and Bhima, but the position of Godavari is
transposed' (Elliol).
33 'Dalvi is p',obably for an inhabitant of Taluva, the modern Cancra'
(Elliot).
34 'This should signify Bir (Vira), the Raja of Dwara Samudra, and Vira, the
Raja of Pandya; but there was evidently a confusion in the mind of the writer
as to the persons and places, as seen in this passage. In another place he says
"the fort which is called Bir and Dhur-samundar". Wassaf calls the Pandya Raja
"Tira Pandi", and makes a pun on this name, calling him "tira-bakhl", showing
that he did not know his real name' (Elliot).
35 'There is great punning here about wells (hiI') and buckets (dalvl) which it
is impossible to render into English so as to make it comprehensible' (Elliot).
36 Allusions 10 Ihe sky. 37 Two stars near the pole of the Lesser Bear.
38 Allusions 10 fruits, fresh and ripe.
39 A lIusions to uneven paths.
40 So I interpret the author's words-'soft-mouthed creatures with hard
hoofs, soft-moving creatures that endured much hardship and kind-hearted
creatures that strove hard'.
41 A 1I11sions to the fort.
42 A play on the word 'samandar' which means both 'sea' ,md 'sa!amandar'.
43 Allusions 10 water anilllais.
44 In Persian as well as Hindustani, the word 'thorn' (Khar or Kanta) is med
f oc the thin pointed bones of a fish.
45 Allusions 10 fire. like the garden of Abraham.
46 Whenever the rai was prepared to submit. his advisers incited him to
continue the struggle. 'It would be impossible to re-establish the presti!!e of
their kin!!dom after the shock of a humiliating peace. Their power rested on
the fact that their kingdom was indigenous and as old as salamandar. True.
the probability was that the imnedal troops would win. specially when the mrrin
armv came up. But. after all. death comes sooner or later. and would it not
he belter to die with honou,?' The rai did not agree. 'To be cremated after
n.eath was one thin!!: to be burnt to death while livin.!!; was another. Nor was
there any good in throwing oil over fire. Continued struggle would mean greater
ruin.' He would. therefore, make peace.
47 !ntoxicalill.!! allusion., to wine.
48 i.e. the towers of the fort.
49 Allusions 10 Islam and infidelity.
50 One of the companions of the A rabian Prophet, whose memory has been
most tenderly cherished by the Mmalmans. is the nrophet's 11111azzin. Ha7.rat
Rila!. It was inevitable that Amir Khusrau ShOllld play upon the name. which
the Hindu mi shared with the Muslim 11111azzin.
51 A IlusioilS to hair.
The Campaigns t;f 'Alauddin Khalii
251
52 Meaning 'curly locks'; there is an inevitable play on the name.
53 Allusions to demons and fairies. . .
54 An illustration of the author's figures of s.peech. Balak D.eo IS satd to
have been equal to a hundred thousand demons Simply because hiS name could
be twisted to mean a 'hundred-thousand'.
55 Allusions to wisdom and judgment. 56 'There is no God but Allah'.
57 Alillsions suitable and slraight as the narrow.
58 Allusions to bow and string.
59 Allusions to elephants. . .
60 The shrub, lawsonia intermis, used by Ind!an women for dyell1g their
hands and feet. It is called 1I1e'hndi in Hindustani.
61 A I/lisiollS 10 horses. 62 Name of the Emperor Khusr'au's horse.
63 I have slightly compressed Khusrau's florid description.
64 Allusions to things sublime. 65 i.e. Sunday.
66 Allusions to camels,
67 'Bactrian camels', or, in the atlernative, 'locusts'. ,"
68 Allusions to hills and passes. 69 Elliot says
70 'After traversing the passes, they arrived at night on the banks of the rIver
Kanobari, and bivouacked on the sands' (Elliot). I do not find the name
Kanobari in my MS, at this place.
7 J The Quran, chap. xxv, sect. 3.
72 Allusions to Ihe sword.
73 Does not signify forced convel'sion but battle, in which the head first stands
up and then falls before the arched sword.
74 It was necessary for the Hindus to be cowards (namaI'd) so that author
may be able to compare them with Mardi (manliness), the name of their town.
75 Allusions 10 well and water. .
76 Punning on the word hir (well) is the very o.f paragraph. .
77 The custom of using sand for drying ink by spnnkhng It over the wnttcn
page is stilI common in India.
78 A Ilusions to the betel-leaf.
79 The pun from Bir and well changes to Ric and bimh (betel-leaf). the hitter
bcing written in Persian in the same way as Bir.
80 A Ill/sions to the stars.
81 Allusions to saddle and bridle.
82 The Qumn, chap. v, sect. 8.
83 A /lusions to Islam and infidelity.
R4 A Ill/sions 10 the clolld. showering pearls.
85 Or. in the alternative, 'and sometimes showed the ,word the wnv 10
Abyssinia from Hind',
86 Or, 'and drew them away from their strings'.
87 Allusions to being lost.
88 Allusions to elephants and their
89 Elliot reads 'one hundred and eiht', which, without the dot'. would be
written in the same way as one hundred and twenty. His account of the cam-
paign is very incorrect and confused at this place.
90 The reference is to the memorable of Mecca by Abraha. the
Christian viceroy of the king of Abyssinia at Yemen (510 A.D.). you not
considered how your lord dealt with the possessor of the elephant? Did he .not
cause their war to end in confusion. and send down (to prey) upon- them birds
252
Politics and Society during ti,e Early- Period
in flocks, casting them against hard stones like straw eaten up' (The Quran.
chap. cv).
91 Allusiolls to fish alld -water.
92 Allusions to forest.
93 Allusions to elephants and clouds.
94 Allusions to Islam and infidelity.
95 Allusiolls to the high sky. The reference here seems to be to a well-
known proverb that 'the earth is the paradise of -infidels and the helI -of true
believers'.
96 Referring to the well-known phenomemm that af:er seeing a strong
colour the eye sees its complementary colour for some tIme.
97 Allusions to Ka'ba and idol-temples.
98 AIlUMons to gold and jewels.
99 Allusions to idol-worshippers.
100 'Allusive to a practice, which it is unnecessary to parlieularise marc
closely which is stiIl said to be -much -observed among the Khatris, and which
in general repudiate, attributing it at the same time to the Saraogis'
(Elliot), vol. iii, p.91.
101 This sentence is taken rfrom Elliot.
102 Ceylon is said to have been the place of Adam's descent. The refusal
to bow down before Adam was the cause of satan's -,fall.
103 Allusions to precious stolles and gold.
104 Allusions to the luminaries of the sky.
105 Bir. well, and dhul. drum.
106 'Kh.'am' in Elliot. 107 The Qllrall, chap xxii, sect. 1.
108 Ai/usions to elephants.
109 Allusions to horses.
110 Ai/usions to jewels.
III .Allusions to prayer and lVorship.
112 Ai/usion to heavenly -bodies.
113 Allusion to army and_troops.
114 Allusions to the royal court.
I 15 Apparently meaning the Siri Palace, according to Barani; the Malik
Naib presented the spoils to the sultan on various occasions.
116 Alluding to the white and red waist-bands of the courtiers.
/17 As we learn from Tbll-i-Battuta, the official cry of the hajibs was Bis-
millah (in the name of AIIah) whenever a -Musalman was granted audierice,
but when a Hindu was introduced, they cried 'Hadakallah' (May Alh\h -lead
thee aright!).
118 A verse of the QUl'an known by that name.
119 fhe four quls are the last four-chapters of the-Oul'an.-
120 Allusions to the 'Diwan-i 11lsha' (secretariat).
121 Allusions to tlze 'QlII-OIl:
Appendix A
THE DECCAN EXPEDITIONS
1. The Dawal Rail;
253
SUCH was his fortune, that even at the time when he was an amiI'. he became
a Solomon III the country of Deogir (Demon-land). The demon (deo) became
&0 submissive in the land of Jamshed, that Ram Deo's country was ravaged
and the rai.himself was tirst-captured and then set .free. Fate placed in 'Alaud-
dm's hands -a world of treasure, nay, the treasure of the whole world-innumer-
able elephants and more precious stones than could be carried by a hundred
camels.
Next, the army of the emperor was ordered to march towards Tilang. The
-rai at 'l'llang, a ruler over the world of gOld-leaf, possessed a hundred elephants.
He wished to raise a tumult with his world-conquering heart, but the prestige of
lhe emperor- overawed him; and as he had not courage enough to resort to
dagger thrusts, he sought refuge in his unlucky fort. The fort was encircled by
the Imperial army. even as a demon might have- been surrounded by Jamshed's
soldiers. The rai saw himself wounded by the talons of the emperor's good
tortune; he asked lor the right 'hitnd of peace and it was extended to him. The
rai then constructed a golden image of himself with a golden cord round its neck
and sent it to the Imperial army wiih one hundred elephants and a treasure
beyond all reckonIng. In return for this the Malik spared the rai's life; yet in
order to test him-and an arroW is not kept blunt except on purpose-he thun-
dered in rage: 'It the rai does not come in person, we shall take up the dagger
In the hand of peace we have extended to him.' When the rai's neck heard
this, lt telt lik.e rolling itself on its head (to the Malik's presence); so before
he could be brought out by compulsion, the rai came out in person with his
head -,tIll on his neck. This display of submission saved his rebellious neck
tram the decapitating sword and he was aJlowed to reign in his own territory_
Having been deprived of all his wealth, Saturn -was le-:t in his empty constella-
tion. After thus suppressing the rebels, the victorious army returned to the
court; it was distinguished by royal favours and even ordinary horsemen were
raised to the status of respectable amirs.
Next, the Barbek was ordered to make the elephants of Ma'abar the morsel of
his falcons, so that the heroes of the -army may be intoxicated with Ma'abari
blood. He was to conquer the seacoast tiJI Lanka (Ceylon) with his sword; the
land right up to Sarandip (Ceylon) was to be perfumed with the amber of faith
-and the heads of satan's followers knocked down in quick succession at Adam"s
-feet. Accompanied by viCtory herself, the army started with the intention of
raising from the sea a -dust that would rise up to the moon. When it reached
the territory of the rai rayan, the ground became invisible under the feet of
the quadrupeds, but as Deogir was already submissive, the army moved against
the -other deos, while the earth trembled under its Jeet. Here, too, was a
tamous rai, BiJal Deo, a person of great reputation in those days who through
the strength of his elephants and his treasure had often done considerable harm
to Deogir., At a hint (from the Malik)the army began to plunder the country.
But the wise rai refused to fight; he came .fearlessly out of his fort and handed
over to the imperial army with all elephants, horses, valuables he possessed.
254
Politics d"d Society during the Early Medieval PetiOli
After this fortunate victory on the way, the army provided itself with the
necessary material of war and moved like a wall of iron towards the ocean, It
raised such a storm that stones flew about like straws, ships were wrecked in
the sea and the villages and towns situated on the line of march shook from
eacoast to seacoast, In that vicinity also there was an august rai, a Brahman
named Bir Pandya, the linest gem in the crown of the Hindus" His sway was
unchallenged over. land and sea, and there were many inland cities and har-
bours in his domimons, the chief of them being Patan, where the rai resided,
and Mllrhat Puri which contained a famous idol and temple, The golden temple
raised its head to the moon and Saturn felt ashamed of it; the idol was drowned
in rubies and preciOUS stones, everyone of which was valuable enough to
provide tood tor a whole city, The rai possessed a large army and countless
boats; Musalmans as well as Hindus were in his service. He had a thousand
elephants and horses more than could be counted, When the imperial army
,e,lched Patan, the. misguided rai forgot his path in fear, and in spite of the
strength he possessed, hid himself like an ant in the forest. His subjects
wandered disconsolate on all sides, and his elephants and troops went about
searching for their lost 'head', An army becomes a mere mob when its leadt)r
is not to be found-what is the use of the body when the head has been cut off'!
The Muslim troopers of the rai submitted to the imperial army; the comman-
der (Malik Kafur) forgave them, encouraged them, and treated them with
lavour. Next, they applied their iron instruments to the golden idol and
opened doors into the 'heads' of [he temple, which though it was the Kaba
of the accursed gabrs, yet kissed the ground of the imperial treasury. The
gold and treasure of (the temple)-so heavy that it would have casued a hill
in the other pan of the balance to fly up-was placed on mountain-like elephants
for the imperial court. When the Ma'abar expedition was over, the wise
commander brought the army back to the capital, where it was distinguished
by royal favours. How great, indeed, is the fortune of the emperor who con-
quers the world without stirring from his throne, At a motion of his eyebrows
in Delhi, Ma'abar and Bahrain are plundered, He has only to will it, and all
the deo,- ot India become submissive to him,
II. Ziauddin Bal'ani
'Aiauc1din, the governor ()If Kara, marched out of that place to Bhilsan with
ois uncle's permission, Here an enormous booty fell into his hands; and he
brought It, together with a bronze idol worshipped by the. Hindus of that .place,
to the sultan at Delhi. The idol was buried \:;.aeath the road under the Badaun
Gate; and Jalaluddin, well-pleased with his nephew, appointed him Arz-i Mamalik
and bestowed on him the governorship of Oudh in addition to the governor-
ship of Karr.', At Bhilsan 'Alauddin had heard of the. elephants and wealth of
Oeogir and enquired about the routes to that place. He had resolved to collect
ro large army at Kara for an attack on Deogir without informing the sultan,
hnding the sultan more kind and affectionate than ever, he applied for some
delay in paying the dues (fawazil) of Kara and Oudh, '1 have heard', he re-
presented, 'that within the boundaries of Chanderi and many regions adjoining
Ii, the people are free and ignorant and entertain no apprehension of the army
of Delhi, If I am allowed, I will invest the money due ,from me (Jawazil) to
the dilvan in enlisting new ho.rse and foot. With these I will march to those
The Campaigns of 'A/auddill K]wlji
255
territories and bring th .
h , e enormous spOIls that 1 win t h
w :ch I am postponing the payment to the . " er with dues of
to nos Simple and trustful hoal.t dl'd 't Sult<ln s. {hwan, The sultan, owmg
. . . .. .., no see that 'AI dd
hiS Wile and mother-in-law th t h .. ' . nu In was so worried by
I . . ' a e wanted to Conque d
,IV 1ere . he might setUe permanently . witho .. r SDJne Istant territory
AlaudciIn to. postpone the payment f h ut home, He allowed
, , .J./.J 0 t e levenues due and t .
.11 my. le atter returned" t h" . (0 Incrense his
'Alauddins feelings had. b
O
IS gObvernOrshlP with his object achieved
(een em lttered aga' t ". .'
ovlalaka-l lahan While the di b d ..., IDS nlsmother-ID-Iaw the
made him SICk lite Fe' S9
f
ehlence of h:is wife, the sultan's daught;r h'l(1
. h h ..'. <If 0 t e Malaka-L Jah'm wh h'd .' "
:WIt t e sultan, as well as the di nit . . ,". 0 <l a great mftuence
Irom complaining of his wife's d
g
bY dot th" SUltan himself, prevented 'Alauddin
.. . . ISO e oeoee to Jal'l dd .
disgrace p.revented him from s e:lkin 0 .. c.d U m; and feaT of pUblic
r,aS\ed his days in SOrrow and d
P
' g f hIS troUbles to anyone else He
b . C , IStress 'md often I d .. C
a out 11Is plan of going out into the' . consu te, hiS friends at Kara
With the dues Ijall'azii) remitted to him d WID a POSitIOn for himseL;,
own. governorship (Illa/ISI/') 'AI.)uddin litte:) the sultan and the income of his
soldiers (payaks) with Who I olIt three Or four thouS'lOd foot
P b . m Ie set out from K)ra . .' -
II llcly, however, he gave out th t h ' '.' on an expedllion to Deogir.
kept nos plans about Deogie: secret. a
H
e w":' gOlDg to plunder Chanderi and
and Oudh my uncle 'Alaul Mulk e as h,s deputy (naib) for Kara
stages to Elichpur and tone .hls chief assoc;ates. He marched
him was lost, But 'Alaul Mulk k o. ato. L.njura. Here aU inteUigence 01
K'lf' Th ept on sendlOg the suit, -
, ' ,1... esc COntained vague statements thai, . <In regular from
,Inci plundenng rebels, and that he would d :lauddm was, busy m .chastisin
a
The sultan, who had brought up 'Alauddi own reports in a day .or
dlSCernmg men in the city and the cour n . as. ,\ wn), SuSpected no evil. But
absence,. that he had gone out to seek ht Continued
born ot guess-work, soon spre')d IS ortune In a d,stant land. This news.
Wh' '. ,among the people
en Alauddm arnved at Ghati L'Iua t .
command of hiS son had g.one on d'. J ", he army of Ram Dco under the
h ' .. a Istant ex 'd .
ad never heard of Islam before thO t f p. - Ilion. The, people of Deogir
n've b . IS Ime, Or the hnd f h
- r ee" mvaded by any (Muslim) kin' kl ' . 0 t e Mahrattas had
tamed an enormous quantity of gold .f' Jan or malik. And yet Deoair COn-
When Ram Deo heard of th ' Sl ver, Jewels, pearls and other
'0 th . e approach of the M.l: ' es.
. er such: troops as he could and t h 1I: ,m army, he collected
Lajura, It was defeated by ht em under one of his ranas to Gh'ltl'
h t . , , ,w 0 entered D . ,
e cap ured elephants and thousand h eogor. On the forst day
and offered hIS SUbmission, 'Abud-din brou h . ors,:s. Ram Deo then Came
(. tICS of gold and Silver, jewels and e') Is g t With him such enormous quan-
ratIOns .have passed since then and ha:
hat
thOugh ,!,ore than two gene-
devolutIOn ot the crown a la ' been spent m every reign at th
h . " ,rge part of th J ' e
ot er goods is still left in the tr;asury of e ephant<, jewels, pearls anel
1 have referred to the conSOlidation '
freedom from administrative anxieties in government and his
power was established and his mind (;0, show) that When at last his
had him on every. side, when the fo ., from the dangers that
of S1I'l Inhabited, the SUltan applied h' rt .Slfl had been built and the town
from the army which he had stationed to schemes of conquest. Apart
. - e route of the M ugha 1 invasions.
256
Politics and Society during the E:ar/y Medieval Period
be organized a second army to overpower the raiij and zamiudOJll: of fPreign
lands and seize the elephants and treasures of the Deccan.
In the first expedition tbe Malik Naib Ka,fur Hazardinari was sent to Deogir
with the amir3 and maliks and the red canopy. Khwaja Haji, the Naib Arz i
Mamalik, was also sent with him to look after the administration of the army
and the collection of elephants and treasures. No army had been sent from
Delhi to Deogir since the time 'Alauddin had invaded it as a mere malik; con
sequently, Ram Deo had rebelled and refrained from sending any tribute
tor years. The Malik Naib reached Deogir with a well-drilled army, plundered
the territory :and captured Ram Deo and his sons together with the Rai's
treasury and seventeen elephants. Great spoils fell into the hands of the troops.
A message of victory was sent from Deogir to Delhi; it was read from the top
of the pulpits, and drums were beaten in joy. The Malik Naib returned to Delhi
with Ram Deo and the spoils and presented them before the throne. The Sultan
treated Ram Deo with great favour and presented him with the green canopy
along with the title of Rai Rayan. He was further given a lac of IQnkas and
sent back with great honour to Deogir with his sons, family and followers.
Deogir was reconterred on him. Thenceforth to the end of his life, Ram
Deo always obeyed the sultan; he passed his remaining days in loyal obedience,
never wavered ifrom 'Alauddin's orders and sent regular tribute to Delhi.
Next year, in A.H. 709 'Alauddin sent the Malik Naib to Arangal with the
maliks, amil's and a large army accompanied by the red canopy. 'Sacrifice
your treasure, elephants and horses in capturing the fort of Arangal', the
sultan directed him, 'and try to make up for the loss in future years. Be
quick and do not persist in exacting too much. Do not insist on Laddall Deo's
presenting himself before you in person or on bringing him to Delhi ,for the sake
ot your fame and honour. Do not remain there long. Be moderate and polite
m your dealings with the maliks and amil's. Do not undertake any venture
without consulting Khwaja Haji and the more important officers. Be kind and
gentle to the men and do not show any unnecessary irritation. You are going
mto a toreign country; it is a long journey from there to Delhi and you should
not be guilty of any acts or words which may lead to trouble.. Connive at the
small speculations and faults of the men, As to the ami,s, officers, generals
and administrators of the army, do not treat them w mildly as to make them
bold and disobedient nor so harshly as to turn them into your enemies. Keep
yourself well informed of the good and bad acts of the officers and prohibit
the ami" . from assembling together and visiting each other's camps, Apart from
gold and silver, do not be harsh in collecting the fifth. If the amil's ask you
to leave them a few slaves or horses they have captured, accede to their request.
If they ask you for a loan either for themselves or their men, give them the
money and take a receipt. And whenever the horse of an amiI', officer or trooper
is killed in battle, or stolen by n thief. or is otherwise disabled, give him from
the royal stable a horse equally good or better; and ask the Khwaja to note
down the loss or destruction of every horse in the Diwan-i A rz, for such a
record is necessary for the purposes of the government.'
The Malik Nilib and Khwaja Haji took leave of the sultan and went to Rabri,
a town in the territory of the Malik Naib, where they collected the troops. Then
by continuous marches they moved towards Deogir and Arangal. At Chanderi
the malik,9 and amirs .of Hindustan joined them with their horse and foot, and
The Campaigns Of 'Alauddin Khalii
257
a muster of the army was held The rai fa an R
of Deogtr to receive the army I I' . h
Y
' ' am Deo, came to the frontier
Naib and the maliks and amirs mnumerable for the Malik
dom, Ram Deo came and tie t e army was marchmg across his king-
and when it encamped in the su he ground bel ore the red canopy every day,
of a loyal chief. He provided he all the duties
supplied the royal (Sultani) factories the mate Nmb the officers, and
came with hIS muqaddams to h ena t ey reqUIred. Every day he
shopkeepers of Deogir to the a;: to the red canopy. He sent the
the SOldiers at a cheap rate. Aft; .ordered them to sUJ?ply everything to
Deogir, the army prepared to mov R
ymg
for a few days 10 the suburbs of
his order to all the towns on th e. am hastily sent his own men with
D' . e route to TIL-tng' 'At all th .
eoglr tern tory up to the frontier of Aran al' e stages 10 the
and all other necessary things in re d' . g , they were to keep corn, [odder
like the people of Delhi and wo were to obey the Malik Naib
was lost; they were to str tee d responsible if a piece of rope
them till they reached the arm through their land and look after
men and. tootmen to accomp;;; the urt er Mahratta horse-
Malik Na!b tor several stages :nd he hImself went with t.he
and experIenced men of th .' eave and returned. The WIse
sincerity. 'Putting Ram Deo's loyal obedience and
'bears such fruits as we see i'n Ram at the head of affairs', they said,
When the Malik Naib reached the fron : . .
towns and villages on his way h d b of Tilang, he discovered that the
the army ot lslam the rais and
a
een
d
I aId waste. Seeing the superiority of
d 11 d
' muqa had aband d th . .
an e for refuge to the fort f A one eir own forts
very and all the mud-fort of Arangal was
[he ral wlth his muqaddams rais d I' region had collected there, while
of stone with their elephants tre
an
re atlves had crept into the inner fort
the mud-fort. Every day a fi basures. The Malik Naib sat down to invest
the besieged' maghribl-S tones
erce
althe took place between the besiegers and
.' were Sort and bl
celved by both parties. After a fe dhoWS were inflicted and re-
adventurous and desperate me t hays ad been spent in this manner the
ladders and threw up their rop:s'o tht n
e
Islam planted their
of the fort, the mud of Which ' : d e Ir s, they flew up to the towers
their sword, arrow spear and was ar er than stone, and with the blows of
selves masters of the mud-fort. th.e ?efenders and made them-
now appeared smaller than the f garnSon wlthtn the stone-fort the world
was lost and that his stone-fort 0 . an .ant. Laddar Deo realized that all
Brahm d In Immment danger H t d' .
. an ambassadors (basiths) to the M f'k : e sen lstmguished
promisIng to give up all the t I a 1 Nmb and asked for terms
abIes Which he possessed and retasure'd
e
ephants, horses, jewels and other valu'
d ,0 sen every year t . -
an a number of elephants to th ' a cer am amount of money
Malik Naib gave him terms and Treasury and stables of Delhi. The
from the rai the treasure which capturing the stone-fort. He
Ing for years-one hundred eleph t ( d hIS ancestors) had been accumulat_
of jewel d an s, seven thousand hi'
. s an other valUables. and a deed .. ' orses, a arge quantity
future years. Towards the beginnin of prOmISIng money and elephants for
turned back from ArangaI with hi g . the year A.H. 710, the Malik Naib
. s SpOIls and returned to Delhi by the same
258
Politics and Society during Medieval
route through Deogir, Dhar and Jhaiun. His message of victory had reached
the' sultan before him; it was read from the top of the PUlPits, and drums
were beaten in JOY. When the Malik Naib n:;turned 'Alauddin. gw.ntcd him an
audience on the Chautre-i Sultani, in the open country before the Badoun
Gate. The gold, jewel, elephants, horses and other valuables brought by the
Malik Naib were reviewed by the SUltan, while the people of Delhi enjoyed
the display.
It was the sultan's habit, whenever he sent an army from Delhi, to establish
posts tram Tilpat, which is the tirst stage, to the army-camp or so far they
could be established. At every st!lge relays of fast horses were statJoned,
while runners (d/zawas) sat at every half or quarter kal'oh throughout the way.
Moreover, in every town on the way, as well as in the Village, where. fast horses
were stationed, otlicers and report-writers (kaijiat,llawis) were appomted. Thus
every day, or every second or third day, news of the army was brought to the
sultan and the news of the sultan's safety carried to the troops.
no false rumours could circulate in the city or in the army camp. This mter-
change of news was a great benefit to the country. On this occasion,
while the Malik Naib was besieging the mud-fort of Arangal, some posts m
the way were disestablished as the passage across Tilang was extremely dan-
gerous, and for more than forty days no news of the army came t.o the sultan.
'Alauddin became very anxious, while the leading men of the city began to
suspect that some mistortune had overtaken the army or an .insurrection had
broken out. On one of these anxious days, the sultan sent Mahk Qara Be:;! and
Qhii Mughisuddin of Biana to Shaikh Nizamuddin. 'Give my respects to the
Shaikh' he said 'and tell him that the non-ar'rival of any intelligence from
the has me anxious .. He is more' concerned. for the glory of Islam
than 1 am; if his spiritual insight has revealed anythmg about the army to
him let him send the news to me. Let me know everything you hear from
the 'lips of the Shaikh, without any additions or deductions.' The two mes-
sengers went to the Shaikh, who after hearing the royal message, informed
them of sultan's Victory and triumph. 'But what is this victory?' he added, 'I
expect victories greater still.' The Malik and the Qazi hastened back rejoicing
to the sultan and told him all they had heard. 'Alauddi'J1 was extremely pleased
on hearing the Shaikh's reply; he felt cert'l-in that Arangal had. been
and his wishes realized. He took out his handkerchief and tled a knot 10 a
corner. 'I take' the Shaikh's reply for a good omen', he said, 'vain words do
not come to his lips. Arangal has been conquered and I may expect further
victories.' As destiny would have it, runners bringing the message of victory
from the Malik Naih came on that very day before the zuhl' prayer. The
was read from the top of the pulpits on Fridny: drums were beaten
and were held in the city. The sultan's faith in Shnikh's spiritual
power increased; though he never perwnally met the Shaikh. yet throughout
his life no words at which the Shaikh could be displeased ever came to his lips.
The Shaikh's enemies and rivals told him everything about the Shaikh's muni
e
fi.cence. of the large crowds that freouented his house. of his meals and his
liberality, but though he was Jealous by mture. 'Alauddin never paid any atten-
tion to their reports. During the later years of his reign, he developed a great
fa'th in the Shaikh. But the two never met.
T,?ward
s
the end of the year AH. 710 'Alal'dcjin aain the Malik N<;ib
. The Campaigns of 'Akluddin Khalji 259
with a disciplined army to Dhur Samandar and Ma'abar. The Malik Naib and
Khwaja Haji took leave ot the sultan at Delhi and proceeded to Rabri, where
the army was collected. Then they moved on by stages to Deogir. Ram Deo
had dIed. Continuous marches from Deogir brought the Malik Naib to the
frontier of Uhur BilaI. the Rai of Dhur Samandar, fell into the
hands of the Muslim army in the first attack (?) Dhur Samandar was captured
along with the treasure it contained and thirty-six elephants. A message of
victory was received in Delhi.
From Dhur Samandar, the Malik Naib proceeded to _Ma'abar. Ma'abar was
. captured without resistance; its golden temple was destroyed and the golden
idols, which had for generations past been worshipped by the Hindus of the
place, were broken. All the spoils of the temple-the gold from the broken
Idols and stones precious beyond description-were brought to the army chest.
There were two rais in Ma'abar. From both of them the Malik Naib took away
their elephants and treasures. Then having sent his message of victory before
himself, he turned back victorious and triumphant. In the beginning of the
year A.H. 711 he reached Delhi with six hundred and twelve elephants, twenty
thousand horses, ninety-six thousand mans of gold, and many chests of jewels
and pearls. On this occasion the Malik Naib presented the spoils to the sultan
at different times in the Koshak-i Sid, while the Sultan gave away half, one,
two and even four mans of gold as present to various maliks and amil's. The
old men of Delhi declared with one voice: 'No one remembers, nor has it
been recorded in any of the histories of Delhi, that such spoils, elephants and
treasures have in any age or generation been brought to the city as after the
capture of Ma'abar and Dhur Samandar.' At the end of the same year twenty
elephants reached Uelhi with a letter from Laddar Deo, the rai of Tilang. 'I
hold in readiness', the rai wrote to the sultan, 'the money which r promised
before the royal red canopy, and conce:rning which I have given a deed to the
Malik Naib. if allowed, 1 will hand over the money at Deogir to anyone com-
missioned to receive it. 1 wish to carry out the obligations of my treaty and
compact.'
III. Ferfshta
A large army had once before been 'sent to Arangal by way of Bengal, but
unable to effect anything, it had returned dilapidated and ruined. In the year
A,H. 709 the emperor sent the Malik Nafbl with an enormous army on a secoOlI
expedition to Arangal, but this time by way of Deogir. 'If Laddar Deo, the
ruler of Arangal', such were Alauddin's directions, 'gives up his treasure, jewels
and elephants, and prpmises to pay an yearly tribute, rest content with it and
do not try to conquer the fort of Arangal or the territory of Tilang. Consult
Khwaja Haji in the direction of affairs. Do' not put the amirs to task for small
offences. If a trooper's horse is killed in battle, stolen by a thief or otherwise
disabled, give him a better one in its place.' The Malik Naif) and Khwaja Haji
reached Deogir by continuous marches. Ram Deo came out to receive them
with many presents and wonderfully fulfilled all the duties of a host. He sent
the shopkeepers of his own army to thd Malik Naib's troops and directed them'
tl' seJl their wares at the imperial tariff-rates. He personally came to pay his
respects before the red canopy every day. When the Malik Naib started from
Deogir for Tilang. Ram Deo accompanied him for a few stages: then leaving
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
. a part of his horse .and foot with the Malik Naib to keep guard over the army
and show the way to Tilang, he returned with (the Malik Naib's) permi,sioll.
Moreover, he ordered the merchants, rc.iyals and corn dealers ()If his kingdom
to continue their duty of carrying grain and all other necessaries to the army
ond to see to it that the (Delhi) troops were not put to trouble on any account.
When the Malik Naib reached the pargana of Indore on the frontier of Tilang,
he ordered his troops to kill and plunder without stint. A terror surpassing
all description took possession of the inhabitants, and the rais of the surround-
ing country collected round Laddar Deo from fear 0; the Muslim Army. When
the invaders approached, Ladder Deo took refuge in the inner fort of Arangal,
which was of stone while the other rais remained in the very extensive outer
fort of mud. The Malik Naib invested the fort and closed all exits; but the
infidels raised the banner of defence and a' great number of men fell every day.
After a long time and with great effort, the outer fort was at last conquered
and most of the rais and zamindars were captured with their women, children,
families and tribes. Laddar Deo was now helpless. He offered three hundred
elephants, seven thousand horses, plenty of jewels and cash, and promised to
pay an yearly tribute. The Malik Naib (accepted it) and prepared to return.
When the news reached the emperor, drums were beaten in Delhi, the message
of victory was read from the pulpits and all the ceremonies of thanks-giving
were duly performed'. On the Malik Naib's arrival, 'Alauddin came out of
the city and sat on the Chabutra-i Nasiri near the Badaun Gate, where the
Malik Naib presented his spoils and became the object of unprecedented royal
favours.
It is said that whenever 'AJauddin sent his army in any direction, posts
(dak chaukis) called bam in the language of former times, were stationed from
Delhi to the camp of the army. Two swift-running footmen, known in Hind
as paiks, were placed at every karoh and clerks (navisandas) were stationed
at every city and town on the route to despatch a daily written report on the
events of the place. Now, while the Malik Naib was besieging the fort of
Arangal, the roads became dangerous owing to the large number of Telangi
soldiers and the posts were swept away, For some days no news of the a=y
arrived. The emperor was perplexed and sent Qazi Mughisuddin of Biana
and Malik Qara Beg to Shaikh Aulia. 'Give my respects to the
Shaikh', he said, 'and tell him that my mind is weighed down by the non-acrival
of any news from the army. He has even a greater concern for Islam than
T have and if he has come to know anything about it through the revelations
of the inner light, request him to give me some hints. And tell me exactly
whatever comes to Shaikh's lips in answer to this, without adding or subtracting
anything.' When the two messengers reached the Shaikh and conveyed their
message, the Shaikh referred to an emperor of the past qnd related the <tory
of his conquests; in the coucse of conversation he remarked that he (the Shaikh)
expected other victories in addition to the conquest of A'rangal. 'Alauddin
was extremely pleased and felt sure that Arangal had been conouered. As
providence would ,have it, that very afternoon messengers brought the message
of victory from Arangal. The emperor's faith in the Shaikh increa,ed; though
'Alauddin never evinced any desire to see the Shaikh personally, yet 'by the
despatch of messengers and letters he gave evidence of his sincerity and friend-
<hip and invoked the Shaikh's blessing.
"Alallddin hag conquered all f()rts from the frontiers of Sind4 ang Kabul
The Campaigns of. 'Alauddin Khaiil
to the border of Bengal, and also the forts of Gujarat and the Deccan; the
hereditary dominions of the rajahs had come into his hands; and there were
not ten bighOJ!,' of land in the inhabited parts of Hindustan where his khutba
was not read. He now began to aspire for the coast of the Sea of Umman
(Indian Ocean) and the remotest corners of the south. The Malik Naib and
Khwaja Haji were despatched in A.H. 710 to subjugate Dhur Samandar and
Ma'abar. The temples of those lands were full of gold and precious jewels
and their rais had a great reputation for the wealth of, their treasuries. When
the two generals reached Deogir, they found that Ram Deo was dead and had
been succeeded by his son. :Not reposing the same trust in the loyalty of the
son as they had in the loyalty of the father, they left an officer of their own
near the town of Jallahpur on the bank of the Ganges (Godavari) before
proceeding further. This time they tried to slay the infidels more than ever
.before, and marched on riotously till after a journey of three months they
reached the destined ports. They overpowered Bital (Bilal) Deo, rajaiz of the
Cacnatic, plundered his country, broke the temples and seized all idols which
were set with jewels. They also built a small mosque of stone and plaster,
in which they gave the Prophet's call for prayers and read the empero(s
khutba. The mosque still exists in the suburbs of Sit Band Ramisar and is
known as the Masjid-i Alai (,Alauddin's mosque). It can be seen from there
that the port of Dhur Samandar, situated on the shore of the Sea of Umman
(Arabian Sea), has now been destro,yed by the inundations of the sea. It is
said that the infidels, out of respect due to a house Of God, have refrained from
destroying the mosque. But, according to others, it is written in the books
of the infidels that this land, as well as the whole of the inhabited globe,
will finally come under the sway of Muslim rulers; consequently their divines
have not permitted the Hindus to destroy the mOque. Be this as it may,
the Malik Naib, having seized the treasure of the Rai, prepared to depart.
. The Brahmans of C, p!ace had been spared by the victors and were living
with the army. On the night before its departure, some of them took out a
part of the treasure, which was buried under the temples; but while dividing
it among themselves, they began to quarrel and disputed veny lOUdly. A
Musalman, who came to know of this, informed the kat waf. The kotwal ar,rested
all the Brahmans and brought them before the Malik Naib. The Brahmans,
from fear of the rack and torture, gave up all they had; they showed where
the treasure lay concealed, and also six other spots in the forest where treasures
were buried. The Mafik Naib acquired a world of wealth from those places,
loaded it on elephants and started for Ma'abar. Here, too, he broke the temples
and seized the cash and jewels, which the rais had hoarded for thousands of
years. Then, loaded with booty, he started on his return journey and reached
Delhi in A.H. 711. He presented to the emperor before the Hazar Sutun Palace
three hundred and twelve elephants, twenty thousand horses, ninety-six thousand
mans of gold, being equivalent to about ten karares of tankas, and caskets of
pearls and jewels beyond all computation. The emperor was mightily pleased
to see the treasuce, before which the 'bad aWlIrd' of Parwiz was a trifle. Con-
trary to his usual practice, he opened the door of his treasury and gave five
and ten mans of gold to each of his amirs; the divines, shaikhs and other
deserving persons got a man or half-a-man each while smaller people also
received presents in proportion to their deserts. The rest of the gold was
melted in the emperor's presence and the Alai mint-mark (muhr) was put
upon it. Since silver has never been referred to in the spoils brought by the
Poiitics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
Malik Naib from the Carnatic, it would seem that no particular value was
attached to silver in tho,e lands and that it was not current (as a coin). Even
now most people in those parts use gold (as a circulating medium). Not to
speak of the rich, the very beggars feel ashamed of wearing silver ornaments
while most men of the middle claes dine in plates of gold.
Appendix B
MUGHAL INVASIONS OMITTED BY KHUSRAU-QUTLUGI-l KHWAJA,. SALDl AND TARGHl
As I have explained in the introduction, KilUsrau avoids all ,reference to
that were not to 'Ala uddin's m;dit. Thus he simply ignores the two
invasions in which the Mughals inve,ted Delhi and 'Alauddin's position became
precarious. They were, probably, omitted by the Fath-i Namah also. Barani,
however, desccibes them in greater detail than is his habit, for the great historian
had little love for military men and their ways. ! give below some extracts
about the three Mughal invasions Khusrau has ignored.
1. Invasion of Qut/l/gh Khwaja
Towards the end of the same year (i.e. in the fourth year of 'Ala uddin's reign),
Qutlugh Khwaja, SOlI of the accursed Zaidu, invaded Hindustan with twenty
Illmans of Mughals. They started from Mawaraun Nahr equipped and ready
[or a great war, crossed the Sind (Indus) and by stages reached the neighbour-
hood of Delhi. Since they intended to capture Delhi, they refrained from attack-
ing the forts on their way and did not plunder the country through which
they passed. The coming of these wretches with an army numerous as ants
and locusts spread consternation through the city. Young and old were equally
dismayed, for they had never been through such a crisis before. All the i'nhabitants
of the neighbouring towns fled for refuge to the old fort Delhi, which had not
been repaired. The city was fearfully overcrowded; the mosques, streets and
lanes could ha"dly hold the pcople. The price of commodities in the city rose
very high for the caravan-routes had been blocked.
'The sultan marched out of Delhi with great pomp. The royal camp was
pitched at Siri, and the maUks, amirs and soldiers we.re summoned to Delhi from
all quarters. My uncle, 'Alaul Mulk, katwal of Delhi, was one of the sultan's
confidential advisers, and when the sultan left Delhi, he assigned the izaram, the
city and the treasury to my uncle's care.
'Alaul Mulk, who had gone to Siri to bid the sultan farewell, represented to
him: "Kings and ministers, who have governed the world in the past, have
shunned great battles in which it is not possible to foresee on which side victory
will lean or what any moment will bring forth. They have advised that wars
between equals should be avoided, for such wars are dangerous both to the
king and to his subjects. War, it is written in the wills of kings, is like the
scales of a balance; the weight of a few coins will raise one scale and depress
the other; and everything may in a moment be ruined beyond repair. Thollgh
a deleat is not 'ruinous to monarchs in ordinary wa'rfare and matters can be pat-
ched up again, yet kings have been very nervous about a war equals, in
1;,.3 Campaigns of 'Ala uddin KHalil
263
which the whole country is played for at a single stroke; and they have, so far
as possible, averted by diplomacy and the of st:ong leagues the
mortal danger which they were unable to face. ThiS IS why kmgs send ambas-
sadors and to each other witbout hesitation.
.. "Your majesty should send in front, in order to block the Mongol advance,
the camel-riders, who are as strong as a hundred thousand horse, while you
yourself stop here with your army and postpone for a iew days an engagement
with the enemy, who is swarming like ants and locusts. them for a
while, so that we may see what they are at and how the SituatIOn develops.
We 'can give them battle, if there is no other alternative But they are not
stretching their hands in plunder; tbey have collected thelf men together and
crept into the forts. How will their immense army, from which do not
allow ten men to be separated, tind How Will they live. If a few
days are spent in the coming and gomg of ambassadors, we Will be able to
discover their' intention. It is possible that they might become tired, take
to plunder and withdraw; and then your majesty can pursue them for a few
stages.
'''I am lin old and tried servant", 'Alaul Mulk continued, "I have always
placed before your majesty my views concerning, the management of aflam and
your majesty has rewarded me for domg so. But the wisest course IS that
which your majesty prefers. The judgment of the great kmg IS supenor to
the judgment of other men. I have also thought out some schemes for puttmg a
stop to the invasions of the Mugha.s and shall place them before yo.ur majesty at
a moment of leisure. But this time the wretches have come With an Immense mul-
and though God has given us a large and well-equipped yet most
of our soldiers are Hindustanis, whose lives have been passed m fightmg
Hindus; they have not encountered the Mughals before and are ignorant of
tactics and their deceitful retreats and ambushes. If the Mughals, by some Wise
measure could be induce4 to rc'_,eat on this occasion, it will be pOSSible for us
to the army of Delhi so efficiently that Our troops will be only too
glad to meet them in future."
'The sultan commended 'Alaui Mulk's well-meant advice for its loyalty. Then
he summoned the great khans and maUks to his presence and. addressed
as follows: "You know that 'Alaul Mulk is a wazir and a wazlI'-zada. He IS a
well-wisher of mine and has been my counsellor from the time when I was
malik. He deserves the wizarat (ministership) by right, though owmg to hiS
corpulence I have only given him the katwa/ship. , At this moment has ex-
pressed some strong views and brought forw,:rd lUCid. arguments to me
from joining battle with the Mughals. I Wish to gIve him my answer m the
presence of you all, for you are the pillars of my government."
'''Alaul !\1ulk!'- continued the sultan, turning towards the katwal, "You are
an old and faIthful servant. You lay claim to the wizarat of the state and to
wisdom, Now hear from me, your patron and your king, the judgment that is
wise and true. There is a well-known saying: 'One cannot steal a camel
escape in. darkness.' Neither can one retain the empire of Delhi byfollowmg
such advice as vours-by shunning war and seeking refuge behind the camel's
backs. it wo;ld be unbeocming for me to avoid battle by. deceit or fraud.
Contemporaries as well as posterity will laugh at my bea,rd If I act on your
advice, specially when my enemies have marched two thousand from
their own country and challenged me to a combat beneath the Deihl tower. On
264
Politics and Socimy the Early Medievai Period'
an occasion like this you ask me to act like .a coward, to send my camels in
front, while I sit, llke a hen Of a duck on her eggs,. hatching schemes by which
my enemy may be subdued. To whom will I be able to show my tace, if I
acted thus'! With what manliness will I be able to go into my bl/ram again'!
Of what account will I remain to the people of my country'! How Will my
bravery and courage keep my turbulent people in obedience? Happen what may,
tomorrow I will move from here (Siri) to the plain of Kili and fight QutlUgn
Khwaja and his men till it is clear to which of us two god grants victory and
success.
"'Alaul Mu,k! I have given you the kOlwa/ship of Delhi and entrusted the
city, the !!arum and the treasury' to your care. It is your duty to kiss the keys
of the treasury and the gates and lay them before the victor, whoever he may
be, and serve him faithfully. But do you not, with all your wisdom and ex-
pe:'ience, see tbat war could only have been avoided by diplomacy before the
enemy had surrounded us. But when he comes before me with such an army,
I have no other alternative, no other plan, but straightway to knock him down
and, at the risk of my own life, to take the breath out of his body with the
blows of my axe and sword and spear. The household tales you tell me arc
of no use in the market-place. Subtle things, which may be nicely told onthe
four yards of a clean carpet at home, are inappropriate on the field of battle,
where a stream of blood has to flow from both sides. As to the plans you have
thought of for stopping the Mughal invasions, I will hear them the day after
the battle is over and I have discharged its duties. You are a learned man and
the son of a learned man. By all means tell me everything that comes to yoU!
mind concerning this problem."
'''I am an old servant", 'Alaul Mulk replied, "and I have never hesitated in
placing my views before your majesty." .
'''You are a faithful man", the sultan assured him, "and I have taken your
well-meant advice in proper spirit. But the situation before us is one in which
has to be thrown to the wind, and there is no course for us but to risk
our lives and offer battle, to draw our swords and fall upon the enemy."
'Alaul Mulk kissed the sultan's hands in farewell. He than returned to Delhi
and closed all entrances except' the Badaun Gate. Young and old in the city
were seized with dismay and lifted up their hands in prayer.
'Sultan 'Alauddin marched with the army of Islam from Siri to Kili and
encamped there. Qutlugh Khwaja also came forward and encamped opposite.
People were struck with amazement and wonder, for in no prev:ous generation
or age had armies so large opposed each other in battle. Both armies were
arrayed in order and stood waiting for the engagement to commence. Zafar
Khan, the commander of the right wing, and his amirs drew their swords, rushed
and fell upon the enemy. The Mughals were unable to withstand the
onslaught; they broke and fled and the army of Islam followed in pursuit.
Zafar Khan, the Rmtam of his generation, continued the chase; with the blows
of his sword he made them fly before him, while he cut off their heads. He
pursued them for eighteen karohs. The Mughals were so frightened that they
could not distinguish their bridles from the crupper of therr saddles and had
not the courage to turn back. But Ulugh Khan, who commanded the left wing
and had many amirs and a large army, did not stir from his place. He hated
Zafar Khan and would not move forward to help him.
'Now the accursed Targhi with his 111m an had been placed in ambush as a
reserve. His Mughals climbed the trees and discovered that no horsemen (from
The Campaigns of 'Alaudain Khaiii
265
the army of Delhi) were moving forward to support Zafar Khan. As soon as he
lound this out, larghi attacked Zafar Khan trom behind and sucounded him
on ad. sides w;th a f1ng ot Mughal forces. Zafar Khan was hailed with a shower
of arrow, and unhorsed. But the brave hero, though on foot, continued to
ugnt; he took out hiS arrows from his quiver and brought down a Mughal at
every shot. At that moment Qutlugh Khwaja sent him a message: "Come to
me. 1 will take you to my father, who will raise you to a higher dignity than
the king of Delhi has done." But Zafar paid no attention to hiS olter. <..1ut!ugh
Khwaja tried to capture him alive, but as this proved impossible, the Mughals
attacked him from all sides and he was martyrw, Then they slew his amil's,
wounded his elephants and killed' the elephant-dnvers.
']he increasing darkness saved the Mughals that night. But Zafar Khan's
attack had filled their hearts With terror; they fled from the battle-field in the
early hours a! the morning and did not pitch their tents again till they had
marched thirty karohs from Delhi. Then by marches of twenty karohs, and
Without resting at any stage, they reached their own frontier. But they 'remem-
bered Zalar Khan's attack years. "It must have seen Zafar Khan", they would
say whenever their cattle refused to drink water. An army so large never came
again to give battle in the suburbs of Delhi: (Ziyauddin Barani, l'arikh-i Fir1,lz
Mwili, rerslan text, pages 25461)
Ferishta does not add anything substantial to Barani's narrative: 'Towards
the end of the same year, Qutlugh Khwaja, son of Dawa Khan, came from
Mawaraun Nahr with twenty lumans of Mughals, i.e., 200,000 horsemen, resolv-
ed upon the conquest of Hindustan. After crossing the river Sind (Indus), he
conSidered the towns and villages on his route as belonging to himself and
consequently refrained from injuring them. On reaching the bank of the Jumna
he laid siege to Delhi. Innumerable people had fled to Delhi from the
city" (KailUgarhi) and the surrounding town and villages from fear of the
Mughals;. the crowd was such that in the mosques, markets, streets and quarters
of the city there was no place either to sit or stand. Men were sick of the
overcrowding; the prices of all things rose exorbitantly as the roads for bring-
mg corn and provisions were closed. Sultan 'Alauddin summoned his maliks
and wnirs and began to get his army ready. Some of the amil's, however were
against giving battle; they urged that the army of Hindustan was weak and
hinted that war was a doubtful business, which may have either of two results.
The emperor refusl'd to accept their advice. "It does not become famous kings
to shun war and battle", he replied.
'Consequently, entrusting the safety of the city, the haram and the treasury
to the 'Alaul Mulk, and closing all entrances except the Badaun Gate,
'Ala uddin out of Delhi with imperial pomp. He had, according to the
correct narrative, 300,000 horses and 2,700 elephants. The two armies beat their
drums and arranged their ranks on the plain of Kili. Never since the elevation
of the Muslim standarl:! in India, had armies so large met each other in battle'
nor have they since then till now, A.H. 1015. In short, the Second Alexande;
p!aced his army in order of battle. The right wing was entrusted to Hizhabrud-
dm Zafar onc of the greatest generals of the day, who held the territories
of the Punjab, Samana and Multan. The left wing was assigned to the Sultan's
brothers, Ulugb Khan and Rukn Khan, while the emperor, with Nusrat Khan,
took charge of the centre with 12,000 young and brave horsemen and many
fierce elephants. All tbe imperial officers were placed in suitable positions. Zafar
Khan first attacked the enemy lines in front of him and overthrew them with
266
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Peridd-
the onslaught of his elephants and the blows of his sharp sword; then he ,fell on
the lines that confronted his coJleagues and broke them also. The Mughals tell
dead in heaps in the forest and plain and reduced to helplessness, they took to
flight. Zafar Khan pursued them for eighteen karohs. But Ulugh Khan, who
commanded the left wing, was jealous of Zafar Khan and did not advance to
support him. Seeing that Zafar J(han had gone forward alone and that no troops
we:-e auvancing to his help, the Turkish leader of the Mughal left, who had
tonned an ambush in the way, suddenlY came' behind Zafar Khan and surround-
ed him on all sides. They wounded hiS horse, but Zalar Khan, though on foot,
placed the arrows .from his quiver on the ground and shot down a large number'
of the enemy. Qutlugh Khwaja sent him a message: "Come to me and I Will
raise you to a position greater than you enjoy," But Zafar Khan did not heed it
and kept on ,hooting his arrows. Qutlugh Khwaja'tried to capture him alive, but
that having proved .impossible, he ordered arrows to be, showered on Zafar Khan'
t;ll he was martyred. The amirs of ,Zitfar Khan's army were also slain. Qutlugh
Khwaja was sotnghtened by the Hindi attack that he did not draw his briUle
till he had marched thirty karohs on' that very day; then by continuous marches
he moved on to his own country. Zafar Khan's courage and generalship be-
came proverbial among the Mughals, and if one horse refused to drink, they
would remark that it nad seen Zafar Khan. The emperor, who was afraid of
- Zafar Khan, considered his martyrdom a second victory, and returned from
Kili to the city, where he gave himself up to rejoicings and pleasures. Those who
had behaved bravely in the battle were rewarded with robes of honour and
promoted in the service, but an ami/", who had fled to Delhi from the camp,
was paraded through the streets of the city on an ass.'
II. Invasion of Saldi
To 'Alauddin's dislike of Zafar Khan, we may also attribute Khusqtu's omis-
sion 0, another struggle with the Mughals, which took place wme .time before
the invasion of Qutlugh Khwaja. 'In the same year that Ulugh Khan and Nusrat
Khan, were sent, to Gujarat, Zafar Khan waS despatched against Siwistan (Seh-
wan), which had been captured by Saldi and his brother and other Mughals.
Zafar Khan invested the fort of Siwistan with a large army and made a way
into it with the blows of his axe, sword, javelin and spear. No maghribis, mun-
janiqs or iradas were brought into action; no pasheb or gargaj was constructed;
and though the Mughals from within shot such a shower of arrows on all sides,
that even the birds of the air could not go near the fort, yet Zafar Khan cap-
tured it with his sword and axe; Saldi and his brother and al! the other Mughals
with their women and children were sent in yokes and chains to Delhi. Thi.o
expioit estab:ished Zafar Khan's prestige in the public mind and 'Alauddm
began to look askance at his generalship and fearless courage, which showed that
a 'second Rustam had appeared in Hindustan. Ulugh Khan, whose achievement
(the conquest of Gujarat) had been surpassed, also conceived a hatred for
Zafar Khan. This year Zafar Khan held the territory of Samana. 'Ala uddin,
who was extremely jealous by' nature, was thinking of getting rid of him in one
of two ways-either by showering favours on him and sending him to Lakh-
nauti with several thousand horses, so that he may seize that territory and send
the su'tan's elephants and tribute from there or by having him poisoned or
blinded.' (BaJ'ani, Persian Text, pp. 253-4.)
Ferishta adds little to the above account. He calls the M ughal leader Chaldi
the Campaigns of 'Aiauddin Khalii 261
and says that the Mughal captives sent to Delhi, apart from the women and
chiidren, numbered seventeen hundred.
Ill. Invasion oj Targhi
'No sooner had sultan 'Ala uddin returned (from Chitor), than the Mughal
Qallger arose once more. The Mughals in Mawaraun Nahr heard that Sultan
'Ala uddin had gone to lay siege to a distant fort and that there were no troops
in Delhi. Targhi co.lected twelve tumans of horse and by forced marches reached
Delhi before he was expected. In the same year, when 'Alauddi'n had marched
to Chitor, Malik Fakhruddin Jauna, the J>ad-bek-i Hazrat and Malik Chajju,
nephew of Nusrat Khan and governor of Kara, had been sent to Arangal
with the amirs and horse and foot of Hindustan. But when they rcached
Arangal, it began to rain in torrents, and harassed by the rainy season, the
army of Hindustan could achieve nothing there. Towards the beginning of
the winter, it returned to Hindmtan, greatly reduced in numbers. It had
lost all its baggage. The army Of Sultan 'Ala uddin had also lost its
at the foot of the Chitor fort in the siege operations and the rain.
The sultan had not been in Delhi for a month, no muster of the troops
had been held and the material lost had not been replaced, when Targhi, all
oJf a sudden, u'rrived with thirty or forty thousand horsemen and encamped
on the bank of the ,Jumna. The people of the city, thecefore, found their
communications with the outside world cut olf. 1 he condition of Sultan
'Alauddin's an;ny was pathetic. The sultan, as explained above, did not get
SUfficient time to replace the horses and material he had lost at Chitor, Malik
Fakhruddin Jauna returned to Hindustan after losing his army and its material
in Warangal, and as the Mughals had so encamped as to close all the roads,
no horse or foot from the army of Hindustan could reach the city. At Multan,
Dipalpur and Samana there was no force -strong enough to break through
the Mughal lines and join the sultan at Siri. The army ot Hindustan was
summoned, but as the Mughals had captured all the forts, it was compelled
to remain at Koil (AJ:garh) and Barran (Bulandshalrr).
'Sultan Alauddin, therefore, came out of the city with the few troops he
(lad and encamped at Siri, He laid aside all thought of open battle and dug
a trench round his camp; on the outer side of the trench he constructed a
wooden defence of stakes made from the doors of the houses of Delhi in
order to prevent the Mughals from breaking into his camp. He ordered
the garrison to be watchful and awake; they were to keep an armed guard
at the trenches, so that the Mughals may not be able to cross them, and five
armed elephants were made to stand in the trench of every detachment. The
Mughals swarmed round the camp alld wished to make a sudden assault on
the sultan's army. Never before had the Mughal danger been so great in
Delhi as in this year, and if Targhi had remained for another month, there
was a great likelihood that the citizens, growing sick of the situation, would
hilVe submitted (to him). The Mughal danger weighed heavily on all hearts;
no water, or wood could be brought to the city from outside, and the
caravan rOllles of the corn merchants had been closed. The Mughal horsemen
came to the Chautra-i Sublzani, Muri and Kudhi; they often alighted on
embankment of the royal (Shamsi) tank, where they held their drinking parties,
and sold the corn and provisions -of 'Alauddin's stores at a very cheap rate. -
This prevented an excessive scarcity of corn in the city. Two OT three skir-
268
Poiitics and Society dU1'ing the Ea1'iy Medieval Period
mishes took place between the mounted foraging parties of the two armies,
but neither side gained a decisive victory, Thank God! the accursed Targhl
(/Id not succeed in breaking into the sultan's camp and annihilating his army.
A.ter two months the prayers of the helpless (were heard by the almighty)
and Targhi collected his spoils and retired to his own land.
'1 his deliverance of the city and the army of Islam from the M ughals
a strange thing to experienced men. The Mughals had come at the
proper time and in sufficient numbers to capture the city; they had closed
all roads, for the entrance of soldiers and provisions; the sultan's army had
no equipment and no reinforcements could reach it; and yet the Mughals
were unable to overcome or prevail.' (Bm'ani, pp. 299-302.)
Ferishta, who contents himself with summarising Barani, is pleased to add:
'1 he sultan, in his excessive anxiety, appealed to Shaikh Nizamuddin Aulia.
I hat very night, it is said, Targhi, who had beseiged Delhi for two months,
was overpowered by a ,trange terror and retreated in haste-an action tor which
no materIal reasons can be found. The people of Delhi considered it to be
the resu.t of the Shaikh's intervention and numbered it among his miracles.'
farghi's apparent success, it must not be forgotten, had been due to the rapidity
of his 'Ala uddin's defence of Siri for two months must nave
given the ar.1irs of the Doab and the Punjab time to collect their forces. It is
difficult to explain the 'strange terror' that took possession of Targhi's mind,
but his communications were in danger and he may not have felt himself
strong enough to meet the forces which were sure, sooner or later, to march
fo: the relief of Delhi from all sides.
Appendix C
CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT EXPEDITIONS
[The conversion of dates from the Hijra to the Christian Era is based on
Cunningham's Book of Indian Eras. Appendices C and D have been com-
piled by my friend, Mr. Saed Zaman, M.A.] .
I. Accession of Jalaluddin Khalji-June 1290.
2. Rebellion of Malik Chajju, battle of Kula'ibnagar; Malik 'Alauddin Khalji
appointed governor of Kara-Manikpur (Allahabad)-1291.
3. 'Ala uddin pfunders Bhilsa-1294.
4. Malik A1auddin marches to Devagir without the sultan's permissIOn;
RaIl'.o Deva's submission; 'Alauddin returns with the spoils-winter of 1295-96.
5. Assassination of Sultan J alaluddin on the ba'nk of the Ganges near Kara, 19
July P96; 'Alauddin is proclaimed emperor and marches on Delhi-rainy season,
1296.
6. Ulugh Khan and Zafar sent to Multan; siege of Multan; Arkali Khan
and Ruknuddin Ibrahim submit and are imprisoned-winter of 1296-97.
7. Invasion of Kadar; Ulugh Khan sent against the Mughals; Battle of
Jamn-Manjur, 6 Februa'I'Y 1298.
8. Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan conquer Gujarat and Cambay; Bhim Deo
, Tile Campaigns of 'Alatlddi1i Khalil 269
is defeated and his haram captured; revoH: of the 'New Muslims' while the
army was returning-winter of 1299-1300.
9. Zafar Khan recaptures Siwistan (Sehwan); Saldi and his Mughals are
captive to Delhi-winter of 1299-1300.
10. Invasion of Qutlugh Khwaja; battle of Kili-1300.
11. 'Alauddin besieges Ranthambhor-summer of 1301; Akat Khan attempts
to assassinate the emoeror at Tilpat; rebellions of Umar and Mangu in Badaun
"Tld Oudh and of Haji Maula in Delhi; fall of Ranthambhor-29 June 1301.
The rebellions during the seige led 'Alauddin and, his council to promulgate
" series of administrative reforms for the suppression of rebellions, the better
government of the country and the reorganisation of the revenue system.
12. 'Alauddi'n marches toehitor and lays siege to the fort; fall of the fort-
25 August 1303.
13. Malik Fakhruddin Jauna is sent by way of Bengal to Arangal but returns
to the Doab after losing his men and material-1303.
14. Targhi. the Mughal, marches from Mawaraun Nahr; Sultan 'A1a'uddin
entrenches his camp at Siri-winter 9f 1303-4. The retreat of Tan!hi was
followed by the famous economic which keot prices stable anel
enabled 'Alauddin to muster an army of 450.000. The forts on the route of
the Mughals were repa.ired and garrisoned.
15. Invasion of Ali Beg, Tartaq and Targhi; battle of Amroha-30 December
1305.
16. Conauest of Malwa: defeat of Kuka Pardhan; Ainul Mulk Multani captures
Mandu-24 Novenlber 1305.
17. Invasions of Kapok. I"bal and Tai Bu-probably the winter of 1306-7.
hut authorities differ and give no exact dates. (See note at the end of Chap. III.)
18. Camoaign of Arangal-the army is absent from Delhi from 31
1109 to 10 June 1310; the Malik Naib reaches Deogir. December 28; Sieg" of
Aran,ml commences, 19 January 1310; the imnerialists canture the outpr fort
of mud-6 February 1310: Submission of Laddar Deo; the army starts from
Arangal with its spoils-20 March 1310.
19. 'Alauddin starts for Siwana-JO June; 1310; fall of the fort, probably 19
August 1310.
20. Kamaluddin Gurg reduces Jalore-1310.
7.1. Campaigns of Ma'abar and Dhur Samandar-the army is .absent from
Delhi from 20 November 1310 to 30 October 1311; Siege of Dhur Samandar
(Dwara Samudra)- 11 and 12 February 1311.
22. The Malik Naib invades Deogir-pl'Obably winter of 1314 and 131'i
Parani refers to this invasion, but no detailed record of it has been given by
any of the Kha1ji historians.
23. Death of Sultan 'Alauddin,3 February 1315 (4 January 1316).
270
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
Appendix D
CONCORDANCE OF DATES
First day of the Hizra era
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
, 709
710
711
Hijra era '
19th Rabi II 695.
28th Rajab 695.
16th Ramazan 695.
22nd Zil Hijjah 695.
22nd Rabi II 697.
20th Jamadi I 699.
3rd Zi-qa'd 700.
11th Muharram 703.
5th Jamadi I 705.
12th Jamadi II 705.
19th Ramazan 706.
25th Jamadi I - 709.
19th Jamadi II 709.
26th Rajab 709.
16th Sha'ban 709.
11th Muharram 710.
26th Jamadi II 710.
13th Ramazan 710.
17th Ramazan 710.
23rd Ramazan 710.
5th Zi-qa'd 710.
11th Zi-qa'd 710.
15th Zi-qa'd 710.
4th Zij Hijjah 710.
14th Iamadi II 711.
Table 1
Corresponding date of the Christian era -
30 October 1296.
Table IT
19 October 1297.
9 October 1298.
28 September 1299.
16 September 1300.
6 September 1301.
26 August 1302.
15 August 1303.
4 August 1304.
24 July 1305.
13 July 1306.
3 July 1307.
21 June 1308.
11 June 1309.
31 May 1310.
20 May 1311.
Christian era
25 February 1296.
4 May 1296.
19 July 1296.
23 October 1296.
6 February 1298.
10 February 1300.
29 June 1301.
25 August
24 November 1305.
30 December 1305.
24 March 1307.
31 October 1309.
24 November 1309.
30 December 1309.
20 January 1310.
10 June 1310.
20 November 1310.
3 February 1311.
7 February 1311.
13 February 1311.
26 March 1311.
1 April 1311.
5 April 1311.
24 April 1311.
30 October 1311.
MUHAMMAD 'BIN TUGHLUQ
It is unfortunate that no medieval or modern historian' has either
'given an interpretation of Muhammad bin Tughluq's measures or
'succeeded in reconciling the ohvious contradictions of his character
and policy. The great sultan was not unaware of the misunderstan-
dings and suspicions by which he had been pursued throughout his
career and, like many educated Muslim kings, he wrote an 'accOlmt
'of his reign with his own hand.' The invaluahle volume, which
would have explained the whole mystery to us; has perished, or, as
is more likely, it has been intentionally destroyed. But four or five
pages have escaped ,the hand of the despoiler ancI may be seen ap-
vended to a beautiful volume of the Tabaqat-i N asiJ'i 'in the British
Museum. Unless the autobiographv of Muhammad bin Tu,ghluq i;
.found, we will have to rely on the Taj'ikh-i Firuz ShaM of Maulana
Zivauddin Barani for the most detailed account of his reiqn. And
Barani, -thour.rh conscientious and scmpulously honest in his state-
ment of facts, repeatedly confesses his inability to understand the
sultan, whose character and outlook were radically different from
his own. Bm'ani was a religious f'Watic while Muhammad hin
Tughlug believed in toleration. Bm'ani had an unshabhle faith in
caste and birth, in Saivids and hii!h-placed Turkish, officials and
Hinduraias who coull trace their pedi)!Tee to the sun and the moon.
He held the vile canaille in contempt and considered its suppression
the end-all and be-all of everv government., Muhammad hin
Tughluq was a man of the He had risen from the ranks to
the highest offices in the stilte after a cheQuered civil and military
career, during which he had devoted his leisure hours to self-im-.
provement throufh philosophic studies. A friend of heretics,
tionists and dreamers, Muhammad bin Tughluq was none the ,less
acquainted with every detail of the administrative machine and it
was impossible for his suhordinates to ignore his commands. He,
was every inch a soldier as well. and the rebels of his day found
him a opponent on the field of hattIe. His most inexcusable
sin, from Bm'ani's pOint of view was that he insisted on placing his
trust in men, who like himself, had made their mark through sheer
272 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
merit and hard work. Of the ministers and officers who could claim
the sultan's confidence, not one had a gentleman for his father. "He
raised Najba, the low-born son of a singer", declares Barani in dis-
[ust, "to a rank superior to that of maliks and appointed him to tho
r-overnor-.;hip of Guiarat. Mnltan and Badaun. Similarlv. Aziz
Khummar and his brother. Firoz the harber, Manka the cook. MasllCI
the vintner, Laddha the p'ardener, and many other ,!!erms of worth-
lessness were ennobled and [iven hi!!h offices and territories. Shaikh
Babu, the bastard son of a was honourably admitted to the
circle of the sultan's friends and his status was raised in the eves of
men. Pera, the g-ardener, the lowest and meanest of all men in Hind
and Sind, was entrusted with the ministry of revenne and nlacpd
above the heads.of maliks, amirs and vovernors, Kishen Tndri. the
meanest of mortals. was anpointed I!overnor of Awadh, Muqbil, a
slave of Ahmad Ayaz and in chRrllcter and appearance a disP'race to
the race of slaves: was entrusted the nrovince of Gujarat, which had
hitherto been placed in the charl!e of I!reat khans and wazirs,"
Except when it meant a defiance of his administrative Oldero,
Muhammad bin Tu!!hluq could tolerate every variety of opinion and
as he explains in the survivin!! parres of his autobio!!raphv, he had
himself gone over from tr.aditional orthodoxv to philosonhic doubt
and from philosophic dOllbt to rational faith. He not onlv tolerated
flarani, but actuallv emploved him as a comtier for seventeen vears.
On two occasions, as he te1ls, Barani ventured to give
hin Tu!!hlug some learned advice based on, old Persian tales. The
sultan was to abdicate and rrive himself to huntin!! and pleasure.
Muhammad refused to hud!!e an inch. He would either put the
country ril!ht or perish in the attempt. Barani, as became a courtier,
never ventured on the delicate topic. again. But when Sultan
Muhammad died, Firuz Shah dismissed Barani. Malik Maqbul Khan-
i lahan, a converted Hindll captive who was all-powerful in the new
reitrn, felt he had no need of a man of Bm'ani's ideas. So the poor
historian, after drawin!! a comfortable salarv for seventeen veal'S,
to ioin the ranks of the unemploved, and was ff)rced to eke onl
his hv copying: milnuscrints and other odd iobs. Even if
he found enouo-h work. it could not have broul!ht him more than fonr
to six copper coins a dav. But work was not always to be had: and
while his style became more exmessive and his tonl!ue more bitte",
his phvsical powers be,!!an to fail him. His pathetic to
Firuz Shah for employment or nension, went unheard; and havin(!
despaired of all hope from the kin,!!, Barani hlrned fiercelv f]<Yainsf
the dead. Why did God condemn him ti} dishonour in his old aQ"e?
Muhammad bin Tughluq was to blame. Barani, his servant, was II
Muhammad' bin Tlighluq'
2'73
partaker of his"Sins'for he had never summoned lip' sufficient
to wean the sultan from his sinful ways. Arid the more he pondered
over the past; the more sinful did the ways of' Muhammad bin
Tu!!hluq and his officers appear. "Some of us (courtiers), who had
dabbled in, books and possessed some ennobling knowledi!e, started
quarrelling with each other and traitors that we our desire
to retain his favour, we never ventured to explain to him how irreli!!i-
ous his punishments were ... From greed of tanklls and iitals
from love of honour and promotion we refrained from speaking the
truth and became nartners in his sinful deeds. I cannot sneaT( of the
fee1ine-s of others but for mvself, I have suffered no end of hard-
ships.' As a punishment for' what I said and did. I have been con-
c'lemned in myoId a?"e to povertv and distress and have lost the con-
fidence f)f evervone in this world. I do pot know what will he mv
fate in the next world and what nunishments are awaiting me:
Whatever honour or material p'ain have heen mv lot in life, I re-
ceived from Sultan Muhammad bin Turrhh,C(. He ('"ave me rewards
and presents such as I had never ohtained before and am not likelv
to obtain again even in my dreams."
Muhammad bin TUl!hlug was a born fi!!hter .. His conscience did
not mick him. He was convinced to the last of the ril!hteousness of
his faith and of the soundness of his administrative measures. And
the hOllr of death dirl not find him wantin!! in resolution or in a
sense of humour. He threw aside without reluctance the crown
worn for so many veal'S and with a smile and a verse on his lips, he
snurred his horse to the realm bevond. For Barani, however, a
different end was in store. He had m8de compromises with his
conscience. and his conscience began to retaliate. Its debilitatino-
effects were a!![ravated bv loneliness, novertv and want. Visions of
the terrible anti-Christs with whom he had rubbed shoulders
before Sultan Muhammad's throne kept haunting his imagination.
"W'hen ')ultan Muhammad found that his orders were not executecl
as efficiently as he desired, he was incited to greater wrath. He.
punished the people and cut them down like weeds and herbs.
There were many hke of them have not been created
from the time of Adam till today-ready to slamrhter the Musalmans
at his orders. Even Hajjai bin Yusuf did not deserve to be enrolled'
among their servants and slaves. Such were-Zain Banda, Mukhta-
suI Mulk, Yusuf BUi!hra, Khalil, son of the Chief Ink-stand Bearer:
Muhammad Najib, the wretched Nihawandi prince; Qaranfal, the
swordsman; the accursed Aiba; Mujir Abu Rajn, thousands of curses
upon him; thc son of the Qazi Guiarat Ansari; and the three rascally,
sons of Thanesari. The killing of Musalmans was. only occupa-
274 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
tion in life. By God, I am sure if a score of Prophets had been
handed over to Zain Banda, Yusuf Bughra or the accursed Khalil to
be put to death, they would not have allowed a night to elapse be-
fore accomplishing their full purpose."
Nevertheless Barani was too honest to resort to mis-statements of -
facts. His conscience, whatever its other shortcomings, always in-
cited him to speak the truth and the whole truth. But he was an
old man, harassed by the anxiety of earning his daily bread. He
composed his history, probably from the notes of current events he
had been jotting down for years. There are, consequently, many
omissions in the Tarikh-i Fimz Shahi. Barani also assumes' the' exis-
tence of other works now extinct and consequently omits or sum-
marises facts which other authors had described in detail. But
Barani's interpretation of facts is correct in nine cases out of ten.
Personal disappointment and religiOUS prepossessions prevented him
from seeing most things in their proper perspective. The reaction-
ary historian of a revolutionary age, he reconciled his moral evalua-
tion of men and movements by preaching it as a gospel of truth that
men of virtue and honour-which for him was synonymous with
good birth-perish in ignominy, while it is the nature of the 'revol-
ving sky' and of 'ungrateful time' to lead the wicked to prosperity
and power. A historian with such moral convictions inevitablv saw
everything upside down. '
The historian who solves the mystery of Muhammad bin Tu?hluq
will, in the first place, have to re-interpret Barani's facts in a rational
manner. He will also have to tap the other soui'ces of information
available. Ibn-i Battuta has to be used with care, but 'table-talks'
of the mystics, if diligently searched. will yield plenty of suggestive
and useful facts.
No satisfactOlY explanation of Muhammad bin Tughluq's COpper
currency has yet been offered, except the cheap one, that it was a
foolish enterprise. The Mongol empire had a system of paper cur-
rency which made the transportation of gold and silver from the'
far-fIun!! provinces of the empire unnecessary. A special quality
of paper seems to have been med and also a quality of ink
and a number of the highest officers were required to seal every
note issued. Imitation was prevented by a series of ruthless laws
which only the Mongols could inflict or suffer. Under the n Khans,
Persian financiers anxious to win a cheap popularity by providing
money from nowhere, often thought of the easy method of glutting
the market with paper currency without providing for redemption:
jp one at least we are definitely told that a c<tft-Joad of
Muhammad bin Tughluq
275
printed notes was ready for distribution. But the khans were afraid
of the effect of such an experience on the stability of the empire and
it was never tried.
The Musalmans of Central Asia had learnt the manufacture of
paper from their Chinese captives in the ninth century; it is con-
ceivable that many secret methods for making peculiar kinds of
paper and inks still remained a monopoly in the hands of the Chinese
governments and Muhammad bin Tughluq had not within his reach
the apparatus and technical skill required for the manufacture of a
paper token currency. His intention, moreover, was to issue token
coins of small designations and in an age when the mass of the peo-
ple were not accustomed to the handling of paper, currency notes
of one tanka each would have received short shrift at the' hornv
hands of the Indian peasanh-y. Unlike the paper currency of th'e
Mongol empire, the token coins of Muhamad hin Tughluq were
meant for popular use. .
Though no historian seems to have observed the fact, the token
copper coins issued by Muhammdd bin Tughluq are often found.
The metal used seems to be hronze and the superscription is radi-
callv different from that of all other coins of the middle ages. The
langua!!e used is Persian and not Arabic, as was the traditional cus-
tom. While most medieval coins of the baser metals are difficult to
decipher, in this case special care was taken to make the leg-end
legible. The simple custom of superscrihing the sultan's name on
one side and the caliph's on the other was discarded in favour of a
historic description, which leaves no doubt that we have here the
sultan's famous token coins. "Minted tanka", runs the le?enc1, "cur-
rent durini! the days of Muhammad hin Tughluq, who hopes (for
divine favour). He who obeys the sultan obeys the Lord." A silver
coin, in those days. was known as tanka; a copper or bronze coins
was known as iitnl. Here is a jUnl calling itself a tanka; it must
therefore have been a token coin. The word, 'current', is si2'nificant.
Other coins circulated owinl!' to the value of their metal; this tanka
owed its value to the power and credit of Muhammad bin TUP'hhlq.
No other coins of this style or with such a legend was struck in the
middle ages.
BaranL indulging: in his habitual exa?l!eration of a Persian writer,
does not hesitate to declare, that the token coins were struck by
every Hindu !!olc1smith in his house and had no more value than
clods of earth, This poetic fancy in itself impossihle at a time
when four or five mans of wheat could he ohtained for a iNnl,
is modified hy the same writer's more accurate statement that
"the value of the old (sHv!,)r) cqin owing to the great honour it had
276
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
attained, rose from one to four and one to five". In other words,
within the empire where Muhammad bin Tughluq's farmans ran,
the token coin depreciated to 20 per cent or 25 per cent of its face
value. "Outside the empire", he says, "the bronze (token) coin was_
accepted for its value in metal, one silver tanka being exchanged for
a hundred tankas of bronze." The proportion of 1 to 100. it may be
safelv assumed, represents the relative value of bronze and silver: Tlo
depreciation beyond that was possible. Barani leaves us in no doubt
that, when the experiment failed. Muhammad bin Tu)!hluq nobly
redeemed his promise. "With unlimited wrath in his heart, Muham-
mad bin Tu)!hluq issued a farm an ordering every one who had a
bronze tanka to bring it to the treasury, where a silver tanka would
be )!iven to him in return." \Vhy did a ruler who was so scnmulous
in redeeming his pledge, fail to guard against so obvious a trick as
the imitatiOIi of his token currencv? No punishments for the manu-
facturing and uttering of false coins had been laid down and Muham-
mad bin TUP'hluq. )!enerally so readv to use his sword against tho<e
responsible for the failure of his policY, seems in this case .to.
allowed everv one to )!O scot-free. "Vas there some pecuhanty IIi
the composition I)f the metal upon which he relied to prevent the
imitation of his token hut which his subiects, nevertheless. succeeded
in discovering? Even if the false coin was sufficiently like the tnle
coin to deceive a bonafide holder, it would be impossible to separate
the two after thev had got into circulation and manv perfectlv inno-
<:!ent persons would have suffered bv any attempt t? separate th.em.
A chemical examination of the token tanka may bnng some
features to light. . .
No measure of Muhammad bin Tu)!hluQ excited Q'reater
and opposition among his contemporaries than the change of
from Delhi to Deva!!iri. Of course, he had to be obeved. Baram
condemns it: Ferishta praises Deval"iri hut is not prepared to defend
the chang-e of capital. The "tahle-talks" of the mystics
the sultan as a rnthless tyrant and p'ive in detail the hardships en-
tailed bv the measure. And vet as futl1re historv showed, there was
no step in which Mllhmnmqd hin TUl"hlua. his own
was indllhitahlv right. It has he en some tIme sou?,ht to de.eml
Muhammad on the p'I'Ound that Devag-iri was a central place and
that it was not possible to p'overn the Deccan from Delhi. Such an
however. cuts hath wavs. the Deccan not. be
O'overned from Delhi. neither could Hmdnstan be governed flOm
Devagiri. It is not likely that bin T,ughluq
an elementary faGt. The conchtIon of Delhi was artI-
ficial; threefourths' of its enormous population depended, dI!'ectly or
Muhammad bin Tughluq
'277
indirectly, on the government for its livelihood. If Muhammad bin
Tughluq had removed the seat of government to Devagiri, the popu-
lation of Delhi would have starved; and face to face with starvation
it would have insisted on electing another king. So the government
and the citizens of Delhi had to be transported together. But why
remove the capital at all? The 'table-talks' and histories of the my-
stics give us somE: clue to the sultan's real mobve.
Muhammad bin Tughluq knew the Deccan better than any of his
contemporaries. Malik Kafur, in the course of four successiul cam-
paigns, had plundered the richest temples of the South and com-
pelled most of the rajas to accept the overlordship of Delhi; but
'Alauddin, acting on the same and sensible advice of Alaul Mulk, the
fat and wise kotwal of Delhi, had refused to annex a bigha of land.
The southern rajas were deprived of all the jewels they had collected
'star by star' from the time of Vikramaditya, but their territories
were returned to them with ther diplomatic suggestion that they
were welcome to make up for the loss by plundering their neigh-
bours. It not the habit of the Khalji autocrat to undertake more
than he could very safely perform. Mubarak Shah after his acces-
sion entirely changed the Deccan policy. He not only overthrew
the Yadavas of Devagiri but established his administration over their
territory, which was distributed among a large number of petty
officers known as the amiran-i sadah or commanders of one hundred,
who expected to collect the revenue and keep the population
quiet. It was a brittle and rickety administration. There was only
a thin sprinkling of Muslim population in Gujarat, Hajputana and
Malwa. In Devagiri there was no Muslim population whatsoever,
(;xcept the officers and their men. To the south, east and west of
Devagiri there were powerful Hindu chiefs, who had lost their pre-
stige but not their power; a union of their forces could have day
driven the weak forces of the empire pellmell beyond the Vmdhyas,
and the hold of Delhi over Gujarat and Malwa, conquered so lately
by Sultan 'Alamldin, would have also been endangered. But the
htteful dice had been cast. Muhammad bin Tughluq was driven to
the conclusion that position of Devagiri would never be secure so
long as the kingdom of Warangal al1owe,d to. exist. He led an
expedition against Warangal during .hls father s rClgn and tasted the
bitterness of failure His second attempt, however, was successful
and Warangal, like Devagiri, was entrusted to the sadah amirs ..
Still the situation was anything but satisfactory. Foreign govern-
ment-a government of the South by the North-was as
to tlle sadah amirs of the empire as to the Hindu population whom
they were expected to control. Everyone saw that it could not last
I
278 Politics and Society dU1'ing the Ear/yMedieval Fe/'ioe!
beyond a decade; the forces of opposition were too strong. The suc-
cess of Islam in India, moreover, depended on its becoming tho-
roughly indigenous. Shihabuddin (Mu'izzuddin) and the Slave kings
(Turkish sultans) had succeeded in Hindustan owing to two great
movements I The Mongol invasion of Central Asia and Persia had
driven a large number of Muslim refugees to India who settled in
the country for good. At the same time the Chishti and Suhrawardi
mystic orders (silsilahs) with their super-military discipline had carried
on an extensive religious propaganda in every village and town of
Hindustan, and their efforts had brought a considerable minority of
pure Indians within the fold of Islam. This minority of gardeners,
cooks, barbers, and other 'germs of worthlessness', which Barani de-
tested, naturally stood for that social democracy which is the finest
contribution of Islam to India and gave to the empire of Delhi the
strength it needed. Unless something like this happened in the Deccan
also-unless by deportation or conversion, an indigenous Muslim
population was created there-the breeze of the first Hindu reaction
would sweep everything aside. Muhammad bin Tughluq, who com-
bined the bull-dog tenacity of Mu'izzuddin Ghuri with the far-sighted
tolerance of Shaikh Fariduddin, to whose school he belonged, grimly
made up his mind to accomplish the task. The population bf Delhi
was there, living comfortably beneath his nose; it was a fine social
and economic unit for a southern capital and he would take it there.
But this was not enough. Unless an extensive propaganda was under-
taken and centres of Muslim social and religious cuiture were estab-
lished in the Deccan, his scheme would fail. The mystic also had to be
transported for the purpose of preaching and propaganda. But would
they obey?
But men of religion among the M usalmans. were then divided into
two different and somewhat hostile groups-the ahl-i shal'iat or
'priests' who believed in salvation through the performance of reli-
gions practices and the ahl-i tal'iqat or 'mystiCS' (sufis) who believed
in spiritual culture. With the former Muhammad bin Tughluq's rela-
tions were always hostile. He hated them for their erroneous interpre-
tations of the shal'i'nt; he despised them for their worldliness; and he
persecuted them for trying to dominate the policy of the state. With
the 'mystics', however, his relations were more intimate. He was a
disciple of Shaikh Alauddin, grandson of Shaikh Fariduddin of Aju-
dhan, and had been brought up in the of the Chishti
silsilah. Tradition, not well-authenticated, asscrts that he used to
frequent the khanqah of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya; and the credit
of having constructed a mausoleum over that saint's tomb certainly
h"lonao to him ThA DAVflairi scheme nevertheless, created plenty of
. Muhammad bin tughtuq
279
. friction. Muhammad bin Tughluq claimed that the head of the state
had a right to the allegiance of the 'mysticS' as 'mystics', and that he
could issue to them orders superior even to those of their pir or master.
One of the most important of these orders used the allocation of
spiritual dominion or walayat, i.e. the sphere of a mystic's propa-
ganda. The diSciple had to go wherever his master ordered and work
according to his directions. It was thus that Shaikh Mu'inuddin of
Ajmer and his successors had succeeded in spreading the tentacles of
their organisation over Hindustan. Muhammad bin Tughluq thought
that there was a congestion of mystics in the Punjab and the Doab,
while they were badly needed in the distant provinces, and particu-
larly in the Deccan. The Chishti mystics, on the other hand, considered
the government an embodiment of sin, and of the worldliness which
they detested. "Can a servant of the state-really say his
prayers?" Shaikh Jalaluddin of Tabriz had asked; and even Shaikh
Nizamuddin, the most tolerant of them, had summarily broken with
a friend, who owing to the of his starving family had hesitated
before refusing Sultan Alauddin's offer of the governorship of Awadh.
Muhammad bin Tughluq's new claim led to a protracted struggle.
He began by requesting the chief mystics or shaikhs to enter his ser-
vice. Maulana Alamuddin and some descendants of Shaikh FaricIud-
din acceded to his wishes, but the majority of thc influential mystics
refused the employment offered. The sultan retaliated by asking them
to come to his durbars or to his dinner and made it clear that the
slightest assumption of superiority on their part would be met with
condign punishments. They came but only after they had made it
clear that were reluctantly obeying superior brute force. Shaikh
Qutbuddin Munawwar, grandson of Shaikh Jamal. Hansawi, who lived
qUietly by the side of his ancestor's grave, was one day surprised by
a visit from Hasan, an imperial officer, accompanied by a body of
soldiers. "You are wanted by the sultan", Hasan informed him. "Have
I any choice in the matter?" "No," replied Hasan, "I have been order-
ed to take you (to Delhi)." "Cod be praised", the Shaikh replied, "I
do not go of my own free-will." Muhammad bin Tughluq was shoot-
ing alTOWS when Qutbuddin Munawwar arrived. He received the
Shaikh warmly but was annoyed to find that the latter's arm did not
b'emhle when they shook hands. "I went to Hansi but you did not
consider it worth while to pay me a visit", the sultan complained.
"I am a poor man", the Shaikh replied, "I pray for the sultan and for
all Musalmans from my secluded corner but do not consider myself
important enough for the company of kings. Please permit me to
depart." Two lakh of tankas sent to the Shaikh through Firuz Shah
and Ziyauddin Barani was Hatly refused. "All I need is two seers of
Potitics and Society during t.he Early Medieval Period
khich1'i and a little ghi", he said, "please take this back." The two mes-
sengers insisted, nevertheless, on his accepting two thousand tankas
at least. Shaikh Qutbuddin Munawwar distributed them among the
poor of Delhi and returned, to Hansi. _
If the grandson of Shaikh J alaI uddin, the senior successor of Shaikh
Fariduddin, could be so indifferent to the sultan's advances, the atti-
tude of others can be well imagined. Of course, there were many
mystiCS ready to accept the sultan's money and to do his, bidding.
But Muhammad bin Tughluq wanted men of independent character
and true godliness, who would spread Islam in the Deccan through
the fume of their virtues'; he had no need for mystics who exploit the
sincerity of their disciples and misrepresent their faith. Muhammad
bin Tughluq's last attempt at peaceful solution was the imposition ot
compulsory but purely nominal duties on a number of selected mys-
tics. The' duty of tying the sultan's dastar when he sat on the lhrone
was assigned to Shaikh Nasiruddin Mahmud, generally known as the
Chiragh-i Dehli, the senior successor of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya
and the most influential mystic of his day. The duty of handing the
sultan his pan, of putting scent on his clothes anci so forth were given
to men of some what lesser status. From a secular pOint of view these
were offices of great honour. But Shaikh Nasiruddin refused to per-
form what he considered to be the nominal duti\js of the valet and
was thrown into prison; later on, reflecting thai. his master had not
condemned service to the sultan, if exacted through force, he con
sented to undertake his honorary office. It was obvious that the mea-
sure had not succeeded in winning the goodwill .of the saints, and
Muhammad binTughluq fell back on his last resort-the gentle court-
eous pressure of brute force. The 'spiritual dominion of Hindustan
was divided among the mystics by the sultan's order and they were
ordered to betake themselves to the sphere allotted for their preach-
ing and propaganda. It was made perfectly clear that if courteous and
neatly worded requests were not obeyed, obedience would be en-
forced at the point of the sword. The scheme was, all the whole fairly
successful. The mystics would not serve the sultan, but neither would
they rebel. If they were transported to a distant province and ordered
to remain there, they would go on preaching and inculcating their
doctrines and never care to return. MauIana Shams uddin Yahya, an
early diSciple of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, was summoned to the
sultan's court and was granted an audience, after he had been kept
under mild 'surveillance for some days. "Of what use is a man of your
learning'in Delhi", the sultan told him; "go to Sit in the idol
temples of that region and invite the people to Islam." A number of
soldiers were entrusted with the duty of conveying the Shaikh to his
Muhammad bin Tughiuq 281
destination. Shams uddin returned to his house on the pretext of pre-
paring tor the journey. "I dreamt of Shaikh Nizamuddlll last night",
he told his relatIOns. '"He was calling me to himself. It is idle for them
to talk of my going to Kashmir. I intend joining my master." Ncxt
day he developed an ulcer on the chest and it had to be operated
upon. Muhammad bin Tughluq suspecting a trick, ordered the Shaikh
to be brought before him. He was taken there on a cot, being too ill
to move. The sultan allowed him to return, and Shaikh Shamsuddin
Yahya breathed his last a few days later.
The fate of other mystics, however, W,lS not so tragic. Amir Khurd,
an author of the time of FlruZ Shah, has left in his Siyarul Auliya dn
account of the successors and disciples of Shaikh Nizamuddin who
had survived upto the time of Muhannuad bin Tughluq. Everyone
of them was compelled to go to Devagiri. "During the days when
Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq was sending people of Deihi to
Devagiri and planning the conquest of Turkistan and Khurasan and
the overthrow of Chengiz descendants, he summoned the law-
oHicers (sl!dttl's) and all the leading men of Delhi and the surrounding
territory. I-Ie also ordered the construction of a magnificent pavilion
under which a pulpit was constructed; from the pulpit the sultan was
to address the assembled notables and incite them to a holy war
against the infidels. About this time Shaikh Fakhruddin Zarracli,
Shaikh Shamsuddi;J. Yahya and Shaikh Nashuddin Mahmud were
called by the sultan. Shaikh Qutbuddin, the sultan's dabir, who was
a discipie of Shaikh Fakhruddin Zarradi, wished to take him to the
sultan before the others arrived. Shaikh Fakhruddin was reluctant
to meet the sultan. '1 have often before this', he repeatedly said, 'seen
my head rolling on the ground before this man. I will not cooperate
with him and he will not spare my life ... ' 'I wish to overthrow the
descendants of Chengiz Khan', the sultan asked him when they met,
will you help me in the enterprise?' 'If God so wills', Shaikh Fakh-
ruddin replied. 'This is an ambiguous the Sultan complain-
ed. 'It is impossible to speak more defimtely about the future, was
the reply. Muhammad bin Tughluq was 'Give me
advice on which 1 may act', he requested. Suppress your anger, re-
plied Fakhruddin. 'Which anger?' the sultan inquired. 'J:he of
animals', the Shaikh explained. When (the four) sat down for dmner,
the sultan and Shaikh Fakhruddin had to eat out of the same plate,
The sultan observing that Shaikh Fakhruddin abhorred dining with
him, began to separate the meat from the bone and placed it before
the Shaikh. Fakhruddin tasted bits of it with great reluctance. When
dinner was over, a robe of honour and a purse of gold was brought
tor each of the distinguished guests. The others accepted it, but Shaikh
2S2 Politics and Society during tile Eariy Medlevai
Qutbuddin, feeling sure that Shaikh Fakhruddin would not consent
to touch the sultan's gift and thereby subject himself to Muhammad
bin Tughluq's wrath, took the robe and purse on his behalf. Muham-
mad bin Tughluq rated them thoroughly for his act. 'Leave off these
idolatorous beliets', he said, 'or I will put you to death.' "
. Shaikh Fakhruddin Zarradi had, to go to Devagiri
WIth the rest. He ahghted by the side of the roy,cl tank but made up his
mind to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca without the sultan's permission.
Qazi Kamaluddin, chief qazi whom he consulted about the enterprise
tried to dissuade him. 'It is not prudent for you to leave without the
sultan's permission, specially as he is on the look-out for an oppor-
tunity to punish you. It is, moreover, his intention to make Devagiri
famous by setting here the scholars, Shaikhs and Qazis of the whole
world: Fakhruddin discarded the cowardly advice. He left Devagiri
on the pretext of joining a marriage-party and then fied to the sea-
coast. While returning from Arabia, he was drowned.
Shaikh Fakhruddin's truculent spirit was not shared by the majo-
rity of the mystics. He protested but obeyed. Khwaja Karimuddin
Samarqandi, a man whom Shaikh Nizamuddin had delighted to
honour, consented to perform the duties of shaikh-ttl-Islam of Sat-
gaon in Bengal and served the sultan with loyalty and devotion. The
mystic poet, Amir Hasan, whose Fawa'idul-Fu'ad has been a model
tor the 'table-talks' (malfuzat) of later mystics, dragged himself to
Devagiri in his old age to die. Not a word of cQmplaint seemed to
have escaped his lips. It was the veteran soldier's last service to the
empire. Maulana Sharafuddin Firuzgarhi, another Chisti mvstic of
eminence also died after reaching Devagiri. It is clear Amir
Khusrau's account that he had to go to with all his relations,
though one of his uncles was brought back to Delhi by the Khwaja-i
Jahan Ahmad Ayaz. "The Khwaja-i Jahan", he says, "was appointed
wazir of the empire in 731 AH. As he witnessed the regard Shaikh
Nizamuddin had for my uncle, Sayyid Qutbuddin, he desired to bring
back the latter with him. Mv uncle did not wish to return but as he
was well aware that the Khwaja-i Jahan could enforce his wish by
procuring an order from the sultan, he consented to keep the Khwaja
company on two conditions-first, he was to be allowed to wear the
dress of a Sayyid and a mystic, secondly, he was not to be saddled
with any administrative . duties. He had to make these conditions as
it was Sultan Muhammad's policy to deprive Sayyids and mystics of
their robes and turn them into administrators."
Muhammad bin Tughluq's government did what it could to help
the eo Ie in their journe to Deva iri, but they suffered great hard-
Muhammad bin tugh/uq
283
ships and the sultan soon after permitted them to to Delhi, if
they so desired. The majority of the survivors, however, remained in
their homes to cast off the yoke of the sultan who had caused them
so much trouble. Viewed as an administrative act, the measure was
a failure; Devagiri did not and could not become the capital of India .
But as a movement of emigration it succeeded beyond expecta-
tions. In one terrible sentence, Bm-ani has sumr.::J.ed up the result of
Muhammad bin Tughluq's measure. "All around Devagiri, the an-
cient land of infidelity, there sprang up the graveyards of the Musal-
mans." What more could Muhammad bin Tughluq had wished.
These graveyards made Islam indigenous in the Deccan. In the south
as well as in the north, there were then plenty of forests to clear and
plenty of food for those who were willing to work. In the neighbour-
hood of the ancestor's graveyards, their descendants built their new
homes. Even the mystics after their death were forced to cooperate
with the Deccan policy of great sultan; the tomb of every saint
became a cultural centre of his silsilah and contributed simultane-
ously to the and the degeneration of Islam. So much at
least is clear. Muhammad bin Tughluq's ruthless but-farsighted mea-
sure started a movement of migration from the north to the south
which continued till the end of Aurangzeb's reign and supplied the
Bahmani kingdom and the sultanates of the Deccan with the life-
blood they needed.
Was Muhammad bin Tughluq right in bringing the Deccan within
the control of the empire? It is easy to answer the question from the
standpoint of a fanatical Hindu or Musalman. But for the student
who approaches history without any religiOUS prepossessions the
answer will depend upon whether the political, cultural and social
contributions of Islam to India have been sufficient to make up for
the-loss of life and property it has entailed. "Surely, kings when they
conquer a city", says the Queen of Sheba, "ruin it and degrade its
noblest citizens. This is what they always do" (the QlI1'an, Chap.
XXVII, 3). Nothing but the gravest reasons can morally justify such
a terrible disturbance of the organised society of a country. Muham-
had bin Tughluq, however, was more anxious for the purification of
Islam than for its political expansion. A scholar of the school of
Averroes and Alberuni, his critical mind revolted against that con-
glomeration of polytheistic practices and clerical inventions which
was declared to be 'the Islam' but with which Allah and His Apostle
had nothing to do. He hated the worship of dead saints and living
pirs; he protested against the vicious interpretations which later com-
mentators had fastened to the sacred texts. The lives of the compa-
of tl.A !!Intl tl.,:.. nf thA f!rpl=''k nhilnC;:()T\hAl'li: WArp.
284
Politics and Society during tile indy Medievai Period
in his No Indian ruler has so ruthlessly tried to con-
to tI?e of tIle second Caliph. So on the one hand he
walled III mystic terminology is known as shirk-i-Khafi
in every form. On the other hand, he made
a clear dlstmchon between the principles of Islam and the prosperity
ot the Musalmans of India as a community. For the former he worked
ceaselessly, restlessly throughout his life; for the latter he did not
care. The only raison d'etre for the existence of a Musalman was that
he shoul? sacrifice himself for his faith and the same was true of the
as a. whole: It had .business to fatteh and prosper b?
the of the revolutionary Prophet
lllto a Job-huntmg pnest-worshlpplllg creed which had no mission in
the world but to supply more bread and butter to its votaries. Islam
.to Muhammad bin Tughluq was a mission and a faith he did not like
our laterday politicians, interpret it as the articles of for
a trying to enter the service of the state. He loved his
relIgIon !or. the same reason as Plato loved philosophy-it was the
grand prmclpl? of social justice. Fierce in his punishments as a judge
and as a warnor, Muhammad bin Tughluq's worst enemies have not
bee.n able to accuse him of communal oppression or l'eligious perse-
,:as the Musalmans who suffered most ill his reign. For he
lllslsted wIth the tongue and the sword' they should live UI) to the
creed.
bin Tughluq was by training and temperament a re-
voluhomst ou.t a new heaven and a new earth, sworn enemy
of caste dommatlOn and priesthood and every variety of vested in-
terests. Stem in exacting obedience to his orders as the head of the
state, he Was humble and unassuming in private life. Few men have
freedom and equality more. It was inevitable that the sultan's
should drive him to the greatest dilemma of his life. Born
III an age when the whole world was convinced that it could not live
;-vithout its kings,. he be.gan by doubting and ending by disbelieving
m the ?asls of hIS own authority. Hereditary kingship was a
p:agan was no place for it in Islam. The only autho-
nty by whlCh, according to the democratic principles of Islam, one
could. others was their iitima-consensus, agreement or
. WIll. Unable to find such an ijtima in India, Muhammad bin
I began to search for a Caliph, who might be able to transmit
t? some of the undoubted moral authority of the Pious
Caliphs. Baram s account makes it perfectly clear that Muhammad
bin Tughlu.q's contemporaries had not only forgotten the Caliph but
were surprIsed at s.uch a being discovered by the sultan's
agents. lhe splendId receptIOns offered to the Caliph's ambassadors
Muhammad bin Tughluq
285
were not intended to win the applause of the gallery, for the
was content to watch with a mockin!! smile. Muhammad bin Tug-hlug
was seeking to pacify the doubts in his own breast.
It is a curious evidence of Muhammad bin Tu)!hluq's revolutionary
attitude, that instead of lookin)! at officers of the government as their
patron and benefactor, he viewed them from the standroint of a
hostile and persecuted member of the opnosition. It was, of course,
the lower rungs of the official heirarchy that sinned most. The
arrogance [l.nd pride that little authority creates in little minds, necu-
lation, bribery, oppression, the spirit of insubordination and the
equally base spirit of .subservience-all these and many other sins of
the bureaucracy were well-known to the sultan who had himself
climbed all the- steps of the official ladder. It has been g'iven to few-
perhaps to none-to serve an irresponsible g'overnment in a subor-
dinate canacity and yet retain the instincts and feeling'S of a j!entle-
man. Muhammad bin Tu!!'hluq, hopcver. was not unaware of the
sh'ength of their esprit de corps. Hence his anxiety to hlrn mvstics,
who were the ne[!ation of that spirit. into administrators. The plan
failed and the snltan saw that he could only crush their spirit by over-
whelming force. It was a desperate and dangemus enterprise, but
Sultan Muhammad's sense of iustice left him no alternative. The
worst sinners in his eves were the sadah amirs who had heen establi-
shed over the provinces of Guiamt. Malwll. Devrgiri and ,\VarangaL
Thev were strang-ers to the popllhtion which they were expected to
control bv force: the opinion of their coreli!!ionists which mllV, or
may not, have operated as an effective check was conspicuous by its
absence and the snnervision of the provincial rrovernors was mostlv
nominal. So left to their own devices, the petty officials, who had little
cultnre and no morals and were apparently drawn from the lowest
strata of Indo-Muslim society, proceeded to- onpress the neople whom
the militarv strenrrth of the empire had rendered helpless. Contem-
porary as well as later historians were too much 'influenced bv class
feeling to give 115 an accurate picture of these amirs. But it m11st have
heen a sil1rr11larlv atrocious ratalo[!l1e of crimes that incll1ced S'lltan
Muhammad bin Tuahluq to decide that nothing short of their whole-
sale slaughter would be a sufficient punishment for their misdeeds.
The amirs of Malwa and Gujarat were brutally suppressed, but the
Deccan officers proved too strong for him and after a protracted struj!-
.gle succeeded in asserting their independence and the Deccan, which
Muhammad bin Tu[!hluq had with so mllC'h tTOuble broug-ht within
political and cultural influence of Islam. slipped out of his hands.
[Appeared in The Int@l'mediate College Magazine. Aligarh, May, June,
Jl.)ly 1930, pp ln-Editor]
f.
Iii
ill

LIFE AND THOUGHT OF ZIYAUDDIN BARANI
Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
"Speak well of the dead", says a p:overb; and
following this universally accepted pnnclple Baram s jumor contem-
porary, Syed Mubarak Kirmani. I!enerally known as Amir pen-
ned a biographical note about him in the fifth chapter of hIs Szyarul
AIIliya, which is the standard work on the history 01 the Chishti mystic
order (silsilah) in India.l AmiI' Khurd who was some twenty years
younger than Barani knew him personally, but their ways had parted.
The mystics in general were aQ"ainst having any contacts the
l!overninent and its officers and Shaikh Farid and Shaikh Nizamuddin
Auliya were particularly insistent on this principle.
(so the Si1la1'ul Auliya tells us) took back from MohlUddm Kasham
his khilafat-nama (certificate of succession) simply on the /!round that
Sultan 'Alauddin (on hearing that Mohiuddin
2
was starving) had sent
him a letter of appointment to the gaziship of Awadh. which wa.s
hereditary post, along with inam :md land Q"rants.
2
The onlv lIvelI-
hood the' Chishti mvstics permitted to their higher disciples was
newly-cultivated land (mmin-i-ah1Ia) or flltuh, the unsolicited charitv
of neighbours. But after the death of Shaikh Nizamuddin ('the l!reat
Shaikh') Sultan Muhammad bin Turrhluq marIe up 'his mind brinrr
all mystics under his control; and the threats and the
the sultan succeeded in hreaking up the circle of the great ShaIkh. HIS
senior khalifas, like Shaikh Nasil-uddin Chiratrh, Shaikh Shamsuddin
Yahya, Shaikh Qutbuddin Munawwar and Manlana Fakhmddin
radi refused to waver from the moral of the p-reat ShaIkh;
thev would have nothing to do with the rrovernment, which thev con-
to be a sinful organisation; they did not want the sultan's fav-
ours and thev wcre not afraid of his w{ath. But the temptations of the
sultan in winnine: over the smaller frv. Amon!! them AmiI'
Khurd was offered a post in the Deccan. hut when Snltan Muh'1m-
mad's frovernment in the Deccan collansed, AmiI' Khurd had no altor-
native but to return to Delhi. He confesses to the consciQus)1ess of a
Life and of Ziyauddin Baranl
287
great sin but does not tell us what that sin was. But this sin-cons.
ciousness disappeared after he had seen the [Treat Shaikh in 'a com.
plete dream' exactly at the spot where he to sit on the roof "f
his ;ama'af khana;3 he then presented himself before Shaikh Nasir-
uddin Chiravh, who under verv chanp'ed circumstances was trving
to continue the traditions of the great Shaikh, and re-entered the
mystic path.4
Khwaja Ziyauddin Bm'ani was appointen a courtier bv Sultan
Muhammad bin TU[Thluq in the tenth veal' of his reign and fell from
!1race under circumstances that will be described later after Sultan
Muhammad's death. But for Barani no return to the mvstic cirde
with its principles of novel'ty and sniritual indenendence was possible,
and to the last. thouj!h sternly excluded from the court. he kept han-
kering for pension or office and appea1inlf to Sultan Firuz and the
hi!!h officers of the state who turned a deaf ear to his sad and pa-
thetic appeals. Barani refers to Sh,aikh Nasiruddin by name as one
of the leading men who were responsible for the election of Firnz
Shah, but there i, no evidence of his meeting the Shaikh after the
latter's return to Delhi. Thev must have been acquaintances in tIle
past, but now thev belonved to different worlds. The saint insisted
on maintainin.e: his independence and condemninlf the existin!! admi-
nistration, thou!1h in consonance with mvstic tradition he does not
name the rei[Tnin!! sultan.
5
Barani, on the other hand, was writing
book after book to attract the sultan's attention. .
It is in the lip-ht of these circumstances that Amir Khurd's biogra-
phical note on Barani should be examined.
"And among (the diSciples and friends of Shaikh Nizamuddin)
was Khwaja Ziyauddin Barani,6 unrivalled in grace and nleasing to
the spiritual minded. He was admired by the select and the com-
mons. He had plenty of wit and humour; in all social gatherin[Ts in
which he was present, the attentive ears of everyone were turned to
his soul-refreshine: words. He was an encycloi1aedia of humorous
remarks and stories. He had in fullness the l"ood fortune of associat-
ing with relit"ious scholars (nlims), eminent mystics (shaikhs) and
poets, and was .gifted with hij!h resolve. All this was due to the fact
that owing to the affection of his father, who belonrred to a nohle
family, he was blessed with the discipleship of Shaikh Nizamuddin
and had placed his forehead in sincerity at the Shaikh's heaven-like
He settled down ilt Ghiyaspur and, as he himself hints in
his Hasrat Nama (Book of Re{!rcts). he had obtained a position of
and nearness to the great Shaikh. T 0tp,r on, as owing to his
elegant mirlcl he had !lQ equal under the blue sky in the courtier's
288 Politics and Society during Early Medieva(Pe,;od
art, he was well-established and confirmed in the coint of Sultan
Muhammad bin Tughluq (Mav {Tod illuminate his proofs) and during
his reijIn Barani received an abundant portion and full share of his
fraudulent, faithless and deceitful world When he readied the a!1e
of seventv and odd vears, he retired to a corner on receivin!! at his '
request (ha iltimas) the of life from the f)ternal jIovern-
ment of Firuz Shah (Mav "-od perpetuate his rrovernment :llld sul-
tanatl) and devoted himself to the writin,,- of his unrivalled books
such as the Sana-i-Moharnmadi (Praises of the Pronhet Mohnmmad),
'lalat-i Kahil' (the PTeat nraver), lnmrat Nama-i [lahi (Book of Cod's
Gifts\ Mn'asir-i Sadn'at (Good Deeds of the Saivvids\ Tarikh-i Fi1'llZ
Shahi and others. He hrourht them to completion.
"This I!entleman (lJ1IZUr[!) was often in t],p company of the sultnn
of poets, Amir Khusrau, 8nd the kin!! of scholars: Amir Hasan. and
obtained jIreat benefits from their companv, Tn addition to these
merits. love for the descendants of the Pronhet (saivvids) was firm
in his heart. Ultimatelv, he wns ill for a few clavs and then went with
the courarre of a lover from this world to the next. He had no dang
or dirham
7
with him at the time of his death; he had even p'iven
awav his clothes in charitv. There was onlv one niece of cloth (tatt)'
ovel his dead hodv and onk n. niece of r'unnv-doth (hurilla) under it.
Tnevitahlv the influence of the comnanv of the {Treat Shaikh '(i.e.
Nizamndrlin Auliva) overcame the inflllPnce of the' company of kings
and his end was {Toad. He went out of this world in poverty as a man
should, was buried in the mausoleum of the {Treat .Shaikh at the
foot of the ?:rave of his noble father (Mercy of G ad upon him 11."
It was no credit to the (Tovernment of Firl17: Shah that it h,ld pur-
nosely left the great scholar to die in such distress bllt Amir Khnrd
had to wield his nen with care and draw a veil over the whole affair.
The statements that Bm'ani Tetired from service at his own request
and that he got a pension from the p'overnment of Firuz Shah are
hoth incorrect. The circumstnnces of his fall will he discussed later
but manv parap'rai1hs in the Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi make it quite clear
that he livP(l durin!! the rei!1n of Firnz Shah in great poverty and
was proh::thlv D"o'ded hv peonle hecause the rrovernment. which he
insisted on praisinrr., continlled to re<!ard him with disfavour. He r:
e
-
turns to the subied of his helplessness and noverty a!1ain and agam.
The followin!>' quotations from the Tnrikh-i Firl1z Shahi will give
some idea of the conditions under which he lived after Muhammad
bi,n Tughluq's death
1. "If I describe in detail how the wicked Skv and discordant
Time have played with the author, I will have to compose two vo'
Life afid, Thought of Ziyauddin Barani
289
lumes of complaints and write down various disloyalties to the
Sky." (p. 69).
2. "The Sky has treated me in a way that is not permitted in any
infidel land" (p. 114).
3. "And in addition to the regrets which I have expressed in these
lines. a still !!reater regret awaits me. The king of my time and Q'ene-
ration-May he live for a thousand years! -is greatly interested in
history and is blessed with accomplishments in this science ('ilm).
But what am I to do? My enemies have thrown me far from his
court and his presence. It is not possible for me to place this History
(Tarikh-i Firttz Shahi) before his august eyes. If this History, which
I have not only honoured with his august name, but in which I have
recorded some of his good deeds along ''lith his charities and virtues
and the events (of his reign), is placed before throne and is per-
used by him, I will be freed from all my rCr'rets, and every desire
which crosses my heart owing to tlfe lack of the assistance of good
fortune will vanish. By Allah, the forgiving and the powerful, I am
in great distress, and in this distress I appeal to Almighty God and
pray: 0' Lord! Out of regard for my distressed mind and my con-
dition of helplessness and poverty, prOVide a means so that this
History of mine may be placed before the eves of his Maiestv, the
king of mankind, Firuz Shah Sultan (May his kingdom and sultanat
last for ever!) so that all this labour of mine may not be wasted. And
this ,is easy 'for Allah, and He is omnipotent in the acceptance of
prayer" (p. 125).
4. After describing the general prosperity of the country in the
reign of Firiiz Shah in hyperbolic terms, our author adds: "I am
not' prosperous or rich, well-pl'ovided or happy in the august reign
of .Firuz Shah, for in this I stand solitary and distinguished
from all other inhabitants of the country. The following line is correct
with reference to me but not with reference to anyone else-Even
the birds and fish are happy in their homes but I am not."
5. The of Bm'anl's complaint against his fate is s'um-
marized in the following two. sentences: "J have neither attained to
eminence in my religious affairs, nor have I obtained in my worldly
life the prosperity that could,satisfy a refined and cultured mind,
and now I am eld and blind and confined to my corner, helpless and
poor, with nething but my regrets to feed upon and to carry
with me to. the ether world except my unfulfilled desires."
These lines ,were penned in the sixth year of Firuz Shah's reign
when Baranl's age was seventy-four (lunar) years. Had he died hefore
Muhammad bin Tughlliq, he would have been satisfied with what
290 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Perioci
fortune had given him. His life fill then had been happy and aris-
tocratic.
REFERENCES & NOTES
1. In the fourth chapter of his Siyoml Auliua, Amir Khurd gives an account of
ten khalifas or successors of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, whom the great Shaikh had
authorized to enrol disciples. In the fifth chapter he gives biographical notices of
twenty disciples of the great Shaikh and then adds a list of nineteen other disciples
about whom he only jots down a sentence or two. A page is given to our author (pp.
. 312-13). The Persian text of the Siyarul Au/iya was printed by Chiranji Lal, a Jain
gentleman of Delhi, in 1861 on brown paper. This work is difficult to lind. An Urdu
translation by Molvi Ghulam Ahmad Biryan was printed at Lahore. I am indebted
to Mr. Kahliq Nizami for the loan of Chiranji La!'s Persian text.
2. Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, who died in 72J5 A.H. (1325 A.D.), is sometimes re-
ferred to as 'Dehlavi', or as 'Ghiaspuri' after the suburb of Delhi in which he lived,
or as 'Badauni', after his birth-place. At present he is generally known as Shaikh Niza-
muddin Auliya. This designation is not conect for auliya means saints-not a saint.
Writers of mystic annals have loved to coin titles for the greatest of
mystics. Amir Khurd gives him the designation of SultllllUl MashailJl (Sultan of the
Shaikhs). I have preferred to follow the custom of my Aligarh colleagues and have
referred to him as 'the great Shaikh'.
Amir Khurd's grandfather, who was a merchant, became a disciple of Shaikh Farid.
After the death of Shaikh Farid, the Kirmani family came to Delhi and attached
itself to his senior disciple, Shaikh Nizamuddin. Amir Khurd confesses that he was
made a disciple of the great Shaikh when he was too young to linderstand mystic
principles; nevertheless the Siya,uZ AuUya is mainly devoted to Shaikh Farid and
Shaikh Nizamuddin, about whom the author had learnt a lot from the senior mem-
bers of his family and the surviving disciples of the two great mystics. In addition
to this, the great Shaikh's conversations were summarized in five thin volumes by
the famous poet, Amir Hasan Sijzi, and published under the n.:me of Fawa'idul
Fl.l'ad. TIlis work is authentic; it narrates no miracles and it was revised before
puhlication by the great Shaikh himself.
Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh of Awadh is genelally considered to have been the
senior disciple of the great Shaikh. One hundred conversations of Shaikh Nasiruddin
have been recorded hy Hamid Qalandar in a book called the Khairul Majalm
3. lama'at khana means a house of mystics; if it is a large building, presumahly
with a separate room for each mystic, it is called khanqah.
4. Siyarul AuUya, chapter IV, No. 2 (Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh).
The Fawa'idlll Fu'ad has heen printed hy Nawal Kishore and other presses and
it has been translated into Urdu hy Molvi Ghulam Ahmad Bityan. An excellent
edition of the Persian text of the Khaintl Maialis has been hrought out by Mr. Khaliq
Nizami for thr' Ali.garh HislOlY Department.
Apart from the biographical note in the fifth chaPter, the SiuaruZ AlIliYD notices
Ziyauddin Barani at two other places-it quotes a conversation of Barani and the
great Sh"ikh from Baranj's extinct Hasrat Nama and also states that Sultan Muham,
Life and of 'Ziyauddin Barani
291
mad bin Tughluq sent Barani along with Firuz Shah with a gift of cash to Shaikh
Qutbuddin Munawwar of Hansi. But whatever the reason, the name of Barani does
not Occur either in the Fawa'idul Fu'ad Or the Khairul Majalis.
5. The Fawa'idul Fu' ad gives the dates of all conversations-3 Sha'ban, 107 A.H.
(January 29, 13(7) to 11 Rajab, 722 (July 27, 1322)-but none of the persons present
tefers to the reigning Sultan, 'Alauddin Khalji, either directly or indirectly. But the
great Shaikh refe .. unhesitatingly to Balban and other kings of the past. Similarly,
in the conversations recorded in the Khairul Maialis neither Shaikh Nasiruddin nor
any of the persons present refer to Firuz Shah. But Shaikh N asiruddin is quite free
in his criticism of the conclitions of the age and praises 'Alauddin Khalji and his
reforms.
6. Our author always calls himself Zia-i Barani, but his full name, as Amir Khurd
knew it, was Ziayuddin Bmani.
7. That is, no copper coin .
,
Chapter II
LITERARY WORKS
At the a)!e of sixty-nine Barani was overtaken bv a great misfor-
tune; and this misfortune, which deprived him of almost all the
material /!oods of life, made him an inveterate scribbler, a famons
author and a powerful, thollvh in some resper:ts a misgUided, thinker.
The details of Bm'ani's fall in A.D. 1351 will he discussed later. The
main facts are: Muhammad bin Tlwhlnq died on the bank of the
Indus and three days later Firuz Shah was elected sultan. Meanwhile
at Delhi the wazir, Khwaja-i lahan Ahmad Ayaz, actin'g on wrong
information, placed a boy on the throne, allee-in!! him to be the son
of the late sultan. When Firuz Shah approached Delhi, the so-called
rebellion collapsed and the Khwaja-i Jahan committed suicide.
Barani either fled to the fort of Bhatnir or was taken there, and he
spent five months in suspense awaiting the decision of his case by
the government.
In this terrible position Bm'ani, like a l!ood Musalman, thoullht of
his past sins and came to the conclusion that the only means bv
which he could attain to salvation was writing a life of the Prophet.
So in great haste he composed the Sana-i Mohammadi. or Na't-i Mo-
hammadi. This work has not heen puhlished and not much should
be expected from it so far as accurate information a?ont the life
the Prophet is concerned, thou,.,-h it mav throw much lIght on Baram s
own life. Bm'ani had to depend entirely upon his memory; he had
no authorities within his reach; and no scholarly work was possible
292
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
under these circumstances. Nevertheless the effort of composing the
Sana-i M ohammadi turned Bm'ani, who had hitherto been a dilet-
tante and a gentleman of leisure, into a professional author. In spite
of his old age and poverty, book after book was composed by him in
the next six or seven years. At the age of sixty-nine (lunar)
he became conscious of a profession as well as a mission. Very few
authors in world history ha"e begun their life's work so late.
Of the nine books written bv Barani after his sixtv-ninth veal',
only two have been printed apart from the Fatawa-{ lahandari-
the Tarikh Baramakah and the Tarikh-i Fi1'ttz Shahi.1 The condi-
tions under which Barani worked have been already indicated. He
had no librarv and no resources. He could translate a book which
he possessed "or could borrow; he could write a book of his own
based upon another man's book; he could tax his memory and give
his reader what he found there mixed inevitably with' something
that his feverish imagination had created; and he could expound
at length postulates which he considered to be the final achipve-
ments of human wisdom. But it was not within his power to under-
take anv investigation or research. Even well-known works on
Islamic history and Indian history were not within his reach, He
had no means' of making sure of a' date or a fact. A related question
also whom did Barani write? That some of his books
were intended for Firuz Shah is obvious. Btlt at the same time he
leaves us in no dOllbt that he wrote for all eternity, though only lor
the noble and the well-born. But did Barani also write for the
booksellers? The balance of evidence is in the affirmative. He de-,
lights at the idea that the books of people, whom he does not like,
have no sale. "What men worth v of reliance have written in their
histories has been deemed of credence by of hers. Bllt
what self-made men and people of low birth have written has not
been trusted by the wise. Histories written by persons of no stand-
ing and account (bi sm' wa pal become old in bookshops; they arc
then )!iven back, to the paper-merchants and the paper is washed
white."2 Also some of his books, like the Tal'ikh-i Bal'amakah, could
not have been written without a view to the book-market.
The way in' which the Calinh Harun Ra,hid overthrew the Bar-,
makides (or Baramakah) is well-known. For several years all persons
connected with the fallen family lived in constant fear and it was
dangerous to praise the Barmak'ides. But after the passage of SOlW
thirty years, one Abul Qasim Taifi ventured to take up his pen and
wrote an account of the fallen family of the g'reat wazirs. Barani savs
that the author's father may have talked to a freed-man of Jafar- Rar,
maki, but an author writin$ within thirty years of Jafar's death coulr
Life and ttun;ght of zlyauddinBarani 293
have also found many other sources of information.
S
Taifi's Arabic
book apparently the first on the subject, was later on enlarged by
one Abu Mohammad Ubaidullahul Asari.
4
Asari's enlarged was
translated into Persian by Abu Muhammad bin Abdullah' bm Mu-
hammad in the time of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and may have
been placed before him. "The author of the ,Arabic text is Abu
hammad Ubaidullah bin Muhammadul Asan and the
Barani has translated his Arabic in a pleaSing Persian style.
ously the h'anslation of Abu Mohammad was available in the DeIhl
market, but its style was out of date and Barani
iustified in translating Asari's work afresh. ZIa-I Baram ,
our author states, ''has seen great advantage m narratmg the
of the Barmakides and has, therefore, translated it from ArabIC mto
Persian' though before this time a Persian h'anslation has been made,
just critics are invited to compare the two trans,lations" (p. 5), ,
The Tal'ikh-i Baramakah of Barani gives the hIstory of the
kide family in the barest outline and its attentIOn on
one feature generosity of the to all
dry. It is a well-known and theme. ,Stones of
munificence follow each other m senal succeSSIOn; they a
lenge to revenue calculations and common sense and qUIte ImpOSSI-
ble to swallow. Barani quotes the high authority of Sultan
to justify the nonsensical stories that had gathered round the Barma-
kides in the century and half after their fall. "It is no to the
world that Sultan Mahmud, a religiOUS ruler and a holy was
fond of truth and quite sensitive about the matter; no one m hIS ex-
tensive dominions could have had the courage to trmlslate false
stories about the generosity of munificent and place them
before him. Till the correctlless of every fact (hdwyat) had not
agreed upon, it was not h'anslated."5, Still it be remembered
that the total resources of the Abbaslds were lImIted to
value of the labour of the peasants and the of then-
and the gifts attributed by Bm"ani to, the Bannakldes exceed thlS
amount. Owing to its services to phIlosophy and cultm,e and h
the
development of Muslim religiOUS sciences, the Abbasld , calIP ate
occu iesa historical position far higher than the DelhI su tanat.
Nev!theless the larger part of the Abbasid caliphate was a deso}ate
steppe with a cyclonic rainfall of about 4" a year; the.re a
favoured tracts like the Nile banks and the, south .. u
elsewhere the people were dependent entirely upon artifiCIal
tion. A halo of romance surrounds the Baghdad of Harun I
which medieval Delhi cannot seek to rival. But so far as the vUlgar
things of life are concerned-corn, cash, commodities and catt e-
294 Politics and Society dUl'ing the Early Medieval Pe"iod
the empire of 'Alauddin had a larger area of arable land and produced
more grain than the Abbasid caliphate, and the money that Muham-
mad bin Tughluq threw away in his meaningless gilts tar exceeded
what the Barmal<ldes had ever possessed. But Baram after his tall
was anxious to record the munrticence of the great, and he tound
in Asari's Arabic book a composition suited to his purpose.
In the introduction to his 1 arikh-i Bal'amakah Baram refers to the
fact that he had been reading the Tal'ikh-i Malunudi of Qaffal. Ue
also reters to the Tal'ikh-i Mahmudi (without naming Qaftal) in his
Tal'ikh-i Fil'uZ Shahi as one of the books with which ::iultan Muham-
mad bin Tughluq was well-acquainted.
s
No manuscript ot this booJ,;:
'has survived, but in view of the fact that it seems to have been the
only book on Mahmud within Barani's reach, that it gave him very
meagre tacts about Mahmud's career and a lot of erroneous informa-
tion, and of Barani's statement that Mahmud was a Shafi'i7 and, there-
tore, not bound to respect the rights given to non-Muslims by the
Hanafi sharf at, the matter deserves a careful examination.
Ibn-i Khallikan (1211-82 A.D.) gives the information
about QaHal in his Biographicul Uictionary.8 "Abu .1:$akr Abdnllah
ibn-i Ahmad ibn-i Abdullah al-QaHal al-Maruzi (native of Merv), a
doctor of the sect of al-Shafi'i was t11e paragon of his time for legal
knowledge, traditional learning and seh-mortification... Great
numbers studied with profit nnder his tuition, and among the ,num-
bers were Abu Ali as-::iinji, the Qazi Husain, and abu Muhammad
al-Juwayni, the father of Imamulharamain. An these persons became
imams of great note; they composed most instructive works, propa-
gated al-Shafi'i doctrines in the different countries of the Muslim
empire and taught them to others, who in their turn became eminent
as imams. Al-Qaffal was already advanced in years when he. began
to study the law; he had spent his youth in making locks (quiZ), an
art in which he attaincd great skill, and it was for this reason that
he was surnamed al-QaHal (the locksmith). It is said by some that
he was thirty years of age when he commenced learning jurispru-
dence. He composed a commentary on Ibnul Haddad al-Misri's ti'ea-
tise on the secondary principles of the law, a work which has been
commented upon also by Abu Ali as-Sinji and by Abu Tayab al-
Tabari. " AI-Qaffal died in the year 417 A.H. (1026-27 A.D.) at the
age of ninety and was buried in Sijistan, where his tomb is still well-
known and continues to be visited as a place of sanctity." Ibn-i Khal-
likan attributes no book on Mahmud to Maulana Qaffal; had such a
book existed, Ibn-i Khallikan would not have been ignorant of it.
The gross trick by which Sultan Mahmud was converted to the
Shafi'i sect is described by Ibn-i Khallikan on the . authority of the
Life and of Ziyauddin tlaranl
295
MughisuZ Khalq fi Ikhtiaml Haq (Assister of God's Creatures in
Selections of What is Fittest, Vol. II, p. 26) of the Imamul Haramalll,
whose father was a pupil of QaHal. In order to decide which of the
two sects was correct Sultan Mahmud, it is stated, convened a meet-
ing of Hanafi and Shafi'i doctors at Merv. doctors",. Ibn-i
Khallikan writes, "agreed that a prayer of two rak ats (accordmg to
the two sects) should be recited in the presence of. the sultan,
that he may examine and reflect, and chQose whlCh was .bettel.
These prayers were said by al-Qaffal sard t:v
o
rak'ats of prayer with great care and decorum III accordar;ce With
the Shafi'i rules. He then a prayer of two mk such
as was allowed by Abu Hanifa, and, having clothed himself With the
curried skin of a dog, aJ;ld daubed one-fourth of body ,:,ith an
impure matter, he made an ablution with date Wllle. (It belllg
heart of the summer in the country, he was soon surrounded by flIeS
and gnats.) After performing the abkrtion in the .contiary
turned towards the qibZa and began the wltho.ut havlllg
fested the intention (niyyat) of doing so whilst maklllg the
tion; he then pronounced the takbir in Persian, . after he
this verse of the Quran in Persian, do bargak-l sabz
o
green
leaves), and stood and bowed the ground tWice, lIke a
picking up corn, without leav.ing any mterval between these u:otlOns,
he then pronounced the profession of faith (tashahhud) .twlce a?d
fi
nished by breaking wind backwards, without even marklllg the
, h' h 'd '0 ltan IS
tention at pronouncing the salutation.l1 Suc , 0 e sa,1 " su ,
Abu Hanifa's mode of prayer: The sultan replIed, If It not so,
I will put you to death, for no religious man would a
prayer.' The Hanafite doctors denied it to be then s, on
which Qaffal ordered Abu Hanifa's books to be brought m and
sultan ordered a Christian scribe to read aloud the system of
imam ... It was then found that the mode of prayer as represente 'j
Qaffai was really authorised by Abu and the sultan abandon-
ed the Hanafite rite for that of al-Shafi I. L
This incident, if it has been correctly reported, no honour
either to Sultan Mahmud or to Maulana Qaffal. But!!1 the
that grew round Sultan Mahmud, his conversion to the I
was attributed to Maulana Qaffal and someone had the bnght Ide
of writing a book on Sultan Mahmud in the QaH.al.
Like the other fabricated histories of the for
while and it probablv inspired Barani into glvmg hiS Fatawa-l Jfhand
dari the form it has: But it was not accepted by the an
disappeared from the market. Later authors, lik.e Ahmad
Bakhshi and Ferishta, do not refer to the Mahmu
Poiitics and Society' during the Elwly Medievai Period
Ziyauddin Barani's fame as a historian during the last six centuries
has rested entirely on his Tarikh-i Fi1'uZ Shahi, which covers the his-
tory the Delhi sultanat for a period of ninety-five years, trom the
acceSSlOn of Balban to the sixth ycar of Firuz Shah's reign. It has
grievous shortcomings; on some very important matters it has misled '
almost every later historian and yet it is difficult to find any Persian
history of medieval India that one can place by its side. The reason
for this is simple and clear. For Bararii history was not a record or'
a chronicle or a story; it was very definitely a science-the science of
the social order-and its basis was not religion or tradition but
vation and experience. This cannot be said of any earlier Muslim his-
torian. Very few later historians have come up to Bm'ani's standard.
does not mean that we are under any obligation to accept either
Barani's basic principles or his conclusions. But we have to credit
Barani with the fact that he made a sincere effort to understand
the social order in a scientific His personal misfortunes had
brought him a curious inSight.
The Tarikh-i Fi1'uZ Shahi is best understood if we begin by examin-
ing its two vital defects.
(1) Bm'ani says that he finishcd writing the Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi
in 758 A.H. (A.D. 1357), some six years after his fall when he was living
in great poverty. The question naturally arises-had he collected any
documents, kept a diary or prepared any memoranda from time to
time for the writing of his proposed history? The answer has to be.
in the negative. Barani had no idea of writing any history C?f this
period till after his fall. He tells us in the introduction to the Firuz
Shahi that his original intention was to write a world-history from
the time of Adam to his own time and to dedicate it to Firuz Shah.
But while contemplating this, I recollected that the Sadar-i Jahan
Minhajuddin Jurjani has written the Tabaqat-i Nash'i at Delhi with
surpassing excellence."13 The Tabaqat-i Nasiri consists
tions (tabaqat) covering the history of mankind from Adam to the
time of Sultan Nasiruddin. Bm'ani very rightly concluded that if
he merely repeated the facts. of the Tabaqat-i Nasiri in his own lan-
guage, his labour would be wasted; and that if he wrote something
different, "people would consider him insolent and presumptuous and
he would also be casting doubts in the reader's mind about the cor,.
rectness of the Tabaqat-i Nasiri". To understand the full implica-
tion of this remark we must remember that the facts of Islamic his-
tory collected by Barani from the fabricated histodes then current
directly contradicted the Tabaqat-i Nashi. So Barani decided
to begin where the Tabaqat-i Nasiri had ended. Baram very often
records long conversations and advices, but they are not based. on
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Barani
297
any record he had kept. "The facts of histor(, he .says, "are .not
based on evidence (sanad, documentary proofs). 14 It IS not pOSSIble
to accept his precept as general principle. But a historian,
like Barani, who records contemporary events and IS unable to reach
the government archives, has no alternative but to record popularly
known facts or what he had learnt from individuals, whose names
he may not be in a position to mention. ..
(2) Barani refers again and again to the great hIstonans ?f Islam,
like Tabari, Bailiaqi, Utbi, etc. It has to be confessed WIth great
regret that he had either not read them in the origil?al or forgotten
them completely. The matter has already been. dIscussed. WIth
reference to the history of the Delhi sultanat, Bar.am r.efers to the four
following authors as authentic-Khwaja Sadr Nlzaml, the author .of
Tajul Ma'asir; Maulana Sadruddin Awfi, the author.of
Hikayat; Minhajuddin Jurjani, the of Nas!1t, and
"Kabiruddin Iraqi son of Tajuddin Ira,ql, who. has
Namas (Books of Victories) of Sultan Alauddm dunng h.IS lIfe-tIme
and worked miracles".15 Of these only the last appertams to the
period covered by the Tal'ikh-i FirltZ Shahi. But there were other
works also-the Historical Masnavis of Amir Khusrau t.wo
works of the same author, the Khazainul Futuh and the !laZ-t KhuS1
(5 vols.) The Diwan of Amir Hasan and the four Dtwans of Amn
Khusrau with their prose introductions would have been of help
him. Did Barani ever look up any of these books to sure 0
a date or ascertain a fact? Again the answer has to be the
f Had Barani studied the Khazainul Futuh at the wnt-
.lYe. he would have given us a more accurate account of MalIk fa-
southern invasions; the same book with the help of the eal:
f Kh ' Dawal Rani Khizr Khan would have enabled Baram
part.o usrau sobscure of 'Alauddin Khalji's conflict with tht'
a Tarikh-i Fil'uz. Shahi . does not
material, either Widely, on
Namas 0, T1Ch
OlY
, th had nothing but his memory and
the penod It covers. e au or .
his pen, ink S/ 1" great wo"rk and it is .instructive
Still the Tankh-t F!1"ttz 1(l U IS a
to look at its positive aspects.. . , f f memorv. The
( )
The Tarikh-i Firltz Shah! IS a remarkable 0 d d' , T_
a 'd . thO g that he had himself wltnesse an ever)
author recOl severy m . The 'e are of
thing he had lea:nt from :he. , like
course, Baralll. gA th t'mes his memory playS
Tarmashirin's of Indfla
h
, b
t
ttl Similarly his story
him false, as in hiS account 0 tea e " .
298 Politics and Society dUl'ing the E:a1'ly Medieval Period
that Sultan 'Alauddin wanted to establish a new religion is either a
figment of the feverish imagination of his old age or else is based
on wrong reports given tohim in his youth. We have Bm'uni's own
authol'ity that though 'Alauddin knew how to say his prayers,. he
never fasted and did not even attend the Friday congregation, a duty
which very few Muslim kings have had the courage to ignore. Barani
and Khusrau both affirm that .'Alauddin was a stern persecutor of the
Ismaili heretics (ibahatis), and that whenever an Ismaili was dis-
covered, his body was sawn into two parts in accordance, with the
sultan's orders. 'AJauddin may have been negligent in fasting and
pmyer, as Bm'ani regrets, but he was sound in doctrine. "'Alauddin",
Barani says, "had a firm faith in traditional Islam, like ignOl'ant peo-
ple; he neither knew nor heard, nor repeated the dogmas of men of
bad faith or bad religion."18 ObViously a man so true to orthodox
and traditional Islam could not have dreamt of overthrowing it. A
critical reader will find many errors of the same kind throughout the
Tarikh-i Fi1'UZ Shahi. Barani's dates are inaccurate and very often
he gives no dates at all. This shortcoming can be made up by re-
ference to other works; we can also put in chronological sequence
events which he has described in the wrong order. Our real diffi-
culty arises when events, which had become fixed in Barani's mind
in the order of cause and effect, are described without any reference
to sequence or cIn'onology. This is particularly .in
of the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq, conccrnmg wInch Bm'ani
says: "1 have not cared as to which victory, rebellion or event
first and which came later, and I have not adhered to the chronolo-
gical sequence of events, so that wise men :may ;-vru;;ting
wisdom by observing the affairs of the state m theIr totalIty. 19 There
was a terrible famine in the land, one of the worst our country h.as
ever seen; Simultaneously, Muhammad bin TughIuq embarked a
series of novel measures and he had to face a number of rebelhons.
Barani describes the fmnine but does not correlate it with the other
events and wishes us to accept his own interpretation of the reign-
that all misfortunes were due to the inventions or reforms (aslub) of
Muhammad bin Tughluq, to his hardheartedness, which at-
tributes to his faith in rationalistic philosophy, and to hIS reckless
generosity. Modern historians have succeeded in putting the ",:ars
and rebellions of Muhmnmad bin Tughluq in their chronolog
1
?al
order, but not his reforms or aslttb. Concerning other
the Khurasan campaign, the token currency, the department of
culture, etc.-BaraHi has forgotten to tell us the whole story and thIS
had led to widespread misunderstanding. . .
It is necessary to insist on the shortcommgs and defects of the
Life and Thought. of Ziyauddin Baran. 299
'Tw'ikh-i Fimz Shahi', which am due to Bal'anfs lapses of memory
and the tricks it played with him, because no historian, medieoal 01'
modem, has had any suspicion about the matter. In tact it is only
a study ot the Jahandwi that reveals to us that Barani's remarkable
memory was failing, and if we approach the Fintz Shahi with this
suspicion in mind, the suspicioh is confirmed. Some events are quite
torgotten; others are incorrectly related; and in some cases Barani's
fixed opinions play havoc with his memory. It is not possible here
to point out all the errors of the above-mentioned type in the
i Jr'iruz Shahi, this would mean an independent work, by itse1.20 But
an examination of one problem-the token cUlTency or Muhammad
bin Tughluq-will explain what is meant. Hitherto, thanks to Bara-
Hi's incomplete narrative and a memory that played him false, all
historians have been writing as if Muh"mmad hin Tugluq was stark
mad and behaved like a perfect idiot in the matter.
To avoid misunderstanding, an exact translation of Bm'anI's ac-
count is necessary. "The third design of Sultan Muhammad, which
contributed to the ruin of the country, to the strength and courage
of the rebels of Hi'.Jdustan, and to the greatness and prosperity of
all Hindus in the matter of buying mld selling, was the issue of the
bronze coin (sikka+mis). Because his high courage incited him to
conquer the whole world and bring it under his control, and for this
impossible enterprise an army beyond all computation was necessary,
and such an army is not possible without an unlimited treasure, and
the royal treasury had been greatly depleted, Sultan Muhammad
issued the bronze coin. He ordered the bronze coin to be made
current in buying 2nd selling in place of the gold and silver c01ns:
21
As a result ot this measure, the house of every Hindu became a mmt
and the Hindus of the empire :had lacs and crores of bronze coins
minted; they used them for their expenses; they hought horses, moms
and valuables of all' kinds with them and havalgans (?), mttqaddams
and khuts attained to power and dignity through the bronze . coin.
A great misfortune overtook the country. persons III the
distant provinces exchanged the bronze COll1 to the
of its bronze. But in regions where they were afraId of the sultan s
order, the silver tanka exchanged for one hundred bronze tankas.
Every goldsmith (zal'gal') struck bronze coins in his house .and the
(royal) treasuq was filled with bronze coins. The bronze coms were
so degraded and disgraced that they becat;ne as as
sherds and stonepieces. The old coins, owmg to therr dIgl1lty,
to fom' and five times their value. When the operatlOJ1S of buymg
and selling began to collapse everywhere, and the bronze coins be-
came worthless like clods of earth, Sultan Muhammad hIS
300 Politics alld Sotiety dW'ing the Eariy Meeiieoai PeJiiJei
order about the bronze coin, and, with great wrath -in his heart, or-
dered that anyone who had a bronze coin was to bring it to the trea-
sury to take the old gold coin in exchange, for it. Many thou-
sands of people of various groups, who had these bronze coins in
their and had given them up as valueless or had kept them
for makmg bronze vessels, took them to the treasury and brought
gold and silver or shashganis and duganis (silver pieces) in re-
turn to their houses. Such a large number of bronze coins were
brought to the treasury that they were piled up in heaps, like hil-
locks, at Tughlaqabad. In return for these bronze coins a very large
quantity of (silver) coins went out of the treasury. One of the great
disasters that overtook the treasury was the issue of these bronze
coins."22 .
The whole world is living on token currencies today, but in many
countries token currencies have led to disaster at some time or other.
It is unfortunate that the account we have of the first token currency
in India should be so erroneous. The word mis in Persian means
either copper or bronze; for the wrong translation of mis as copper
Barani is not responsible. Copper is an element; bronze is an alloy.
Two contradictions and errors in Barani's account are obvious. (1)
The reference to Hindus is wholly irrelevant and is due to "Barani's
unsoundness of mind concerning the Hindus". Only goldsmiths,
whether Hindus or Muslims, could have forged the bronze coin.
Maybe, the majority of goldsmiths were Hindus then. But all Hindus
could not have forged the bronze coin in their houses, because they
did not know the art. On the other hand, the order. to forge bronze
coins could have been given to the goldsmiths both by Hindus and
Musalmans. The phenomenon of rising prices has been carefully
studied in modern times; creditors lose, debtors gain; the producers
also gain at the cost of the consumers. Nobody's religion or commu:
nity has anything to do with the matter. (2) Secondly, if there was
not much money in the b'easury when the experiment started, how
was Muhammad bin Tughluq able to redeem the bronze coins forged
and uttered on such an extensive scale? The fact that the sutlan
could not possibly have redeemed all forged coins-in addition to
the fact that plenty of these coins have survived to our days-throws
a doubt on the whole account of Bmani. Modern governments re-
deem their depreciated currencies at their market value. Why did
the sultan not follow this policv? What sensewflS there in paying
full value to the holders of the depreciated coins, who had purchased
them at their depreciated value?
Barani's account would have been complete if he had added the
following:
....
TAte a,lld, Thought, of Ziyauddin Barani
3D]
(i) The mint had a special type of bronze alloy for the coins, which
could be easily distinguished on the touchstone; but the secret of
the proportion of the metals in the bronze coins could not be disco-
vered by the goldsmiths.
(ii) When people took gold and silver coins in those davs, they
had the coins weighed (to make allowance for clipping) and also
ed on the touchstone for purity of metal. The sultan expected thp
puhlic to follow the same practice in rej!ard to his token coin. Bu'
in this matter the public failed him. Consequentlv many forred
coins got mixed with the treasury coins; and as the forged coins be-
came current and the f!overnment was nnable to prevent this, mm'p'
and more coins were forged.
(iii) A bronze coin would be at least its weight in bronze-
i.e. about ,50 bronze coins would be normally equal to one silver tanka.
But forging the bronze coin, was an offence. So a forged bronze coin
mav meet any fate, for a new element-fear of punishment-also
entered into the determination of its value. In the distant nrovinces
it circulated at one-half of its usual metal value in terms of the silver
,tanka; in the capItal people would be afraid of being found in pos-
session of fOl'!!ed bronze coins. They would throw them away or keep
them in order to, melt them into bronze vessels later on.
Civ) The whole operation j!ot beyond the control of the j!overnment.
Too many forged coins gotinto circulation and the failure of the
experiment, caused a havoc in the market. It was not possible to
punish those in actual possession of the for)!ed bronze coins, he cause
thev were innocent. In fact, strange to say, nobody was punished.
(v) It was understood from the very bep:inning that the treasurv
would redeem everv hronze coin it had issued. The sultan now ordered
this to be done. People brouQ'ht to the treasurv the bronze coins thev
had. The treasunl redeemed the hl'Onze coins it had issued a 1'I1fltter
of treasur!I-COnscience; it reiected the false coins hut did not rmnish
their owners hecause the!! were bonafide possessors. I-leaps of
rejected bronze coins, which were probablv melted later on. could he
seen at TUj!hlaqabad. Bllt for!!ed bronze coins not brourrht to the
treasury continued to circulate at their metallic value and have sur-
vived to our davs.
These additio;ls would have made Bm'ani's account correct and
complete, Paper currencv for p'overnment purposes onlv was used
the Chinese and also by the MOlwol emperors. The II Khans of PersIa.
were tempted to issue 'a paper currencv for public use, but their ad-
visers decided arrainst the experiment. The ffOVP"nment of Muham-
mad bin Tughluq could not manufacture a special quality of paper;
302' Polttlcs and Society during the Early Medlsval Period
so it decided to use a special bronze alloy. Ferishta says that Muham-
mad bin Tughluq's experiment was suggested by the paper cun-ency
(which he calls sikka-i chau) of China. It is easy to prove these state-
ments for a 1arl'e number of the forged coins are found in our
museums. The silver coin of the period was known as tanka and the
copper coin as iital. The for!!ed coins, which this experiment produced,
are of bronze and easilv distinguishable from all other coins bv their
remarkahle superscription. On -one side the superscription in Persian
reads: "This tanka has become current (mii shud) in the time of the
servant hopeful (of divine favours)' Muhammad hin Tu!!hlua Shah,"
The lan!!ua!!e of all other coins of the sultanat period was Arabic, bnt
here is a bronze ('oin (iital) declaring in the Persian lan(l'uafYe that its
ci1'culation value is that of a silver coin (tanka). However, the suner-
scription on the other side is in Arabic: "He who obevs the sultan"
obe';'s j!od (Rahman)." _ '
The fact that all these coins are forj!ed is also easily proved. Take
five or six of them, rub them on a stone, and see the rubbed parts of
the coins in brij!ht liO"ht. Thevwill have different colours,
that in everyone of them the' proportion of the metals is different.
None of them, therefore, can he from Muhammad hin TllfYhll1o's mint.
It has been necessarv to discuss the token currency of Sultan Mu-
hammad bin Tu!!hluq to wam students of the Fi1'UZ Shahi that B8rani's
!anses of memorv must be ('onstantly kept in view nlonO" with his
inflexibilitv of thou!!ht and the nredominance of fixed ideas, which
n.re often the concomitant of old a!!e.
(b) In his introduction to the Tal'ikh-i Fi1'm: Sh(1hi, Rflrani lays
down the followinrr canon for the {widance of the historian: "One
of the nrinciples in the wrlting of history is this. It is the obli!!atory
dutv of an honest historian to record the excellences, charities, iustice
and kindnesses of kin!!s and !!reat men, but (on the other hand), he
not seek to hide their wickedness and meanness: he should
not practice flattery the writin,g of historv. If he considers it ad-
visable, then openly, otherwise by hints, insinuations and indireC't
speech, he should convey the correct information to the discerning
and the wise. If the historifln is unable to write in this way (i.e., cop-
vey the correct meaning by insinuations) owing to the' terror and
fear of his powerful contemporaries, in that case he is excused. But
concerning the rlliers of the past, he should write openly and truth-
fully."23 Further, i.f the author has been iniured or favoured by the
king or a powerful officer, he should not allow, this fact to colour
his narrative. In examining Barani's flattering chapters on the six
years of Firuz Shah's reigli, what he says here ShOllld be borne in
mind. He is excused.
Ute and 'Thoughl of Ziyauddin Barani
303
(c) All readers of the Ta1'ikh-i Fi1'tlz Shahi during the last six cen-
turies have been captivated by Barani's remarkable Persian prose
style, which is simple, direct and effective. Persian histories before
Barani's time were either written in a highly ornate style, full of allu-
sions, figures of speech, etc., like the Taiul Ma'asir of Nizami and gave
the minimum of facts with the maximum of words, or they specia-
lised in a plain blue-book style, like the Tabaqat-i Nash'i, and merely
recorded facts. In Bm-ani's hands history became literature-litera-
ture in our modern sense. The Tarikh-i Firllz Shahi reads like a novel,
with passages of surpassing excellence scattered throuj!hout the work
No Indo-Persian history equals the Tarikh-i Fi1'ltz Shahi either in the
analysis of characters or the delineation of scenes. Nowhere does
Barani make an unnecessary show of learning. He writes so as to be
understood with the least amount of effort on the reader's part; cur-
rent tradition (if one may iudge from the works of Amir Khusrau) re-
quired simplicity in poetrv and ornateness in prose. On the other hand,
one has to deplore Barani's fondness for abusive words and phrases. 24
So far as the persons damned by the Tarikh-i Fi1'ltZ Shahi are con-
cerned, they could not rise from their to answer Barani's abuses
and misrepresentations. But it appears from his own confession, as
we shall see later, that one of the char!!es brought aj!ainst him before
Firuz Shah was the persistent use of 'poisonous words'.
(d) Bm'ani to a familv of hi!!h officers and he was a court-
ier for over seventeen veal's. One of the distinctive features of his
work is the careful acconnt he (l'ives us of state-laws (zawabit) and
(l'overnment orders (aslub). Later historians, in this respect, have
greatly imnroved on Bm'ani's work. But Barani's achievements should
be underrated. To take an example: Chenrriz Khan was a
fiQ'ure and eminent Persian historians have written about him-Ata
Malik Tuwavni, Rashiduddin, Wassaf, Mirkhond, Khondamir and
others. 'But ;lone of these authors have described the lfasas or laws
of Chen!!i7 Khan with the claritv with which Barani has 'described the
economic rep"ulations of 'Alauddin Khalii.
(e) Bm'ani had a very hiQ'h opinion of his work and dec;lared that
'he had won the ball of distinction from Persian historians'. "I have
taken !!reat tronble in writing this work and I expect 'lDPreciation
from the iust. This book has many virtues. If you consider it a his-
tory, you will find in it an account of kings and maliks. If you se8rch
in this book for laws, rm'ernment regulations and administrative affairs
you will not find it without them. If vou want precepts and advice for
kin!!,s and rulers, vou will pnd them more plentiful and better in this
book than in anvother. And because evervthing I have written is true
and correct this history is worthy of credence; also I have put a lot
, , .
304
Politics and Socility during the Early Medieval Pe1'iod
of meaning in very few words and this example of mine deserves to
he followed. It would be true and correct if I recited the followin!!:
quatrain about my History: If I say there is no history in the world
like mine, how will a person who is ignorant of this science agree
with my statement?"25 And elsewhere he says: "I know, and critics
of history, who in these davs are rare like alchemists and the mvthi-
cal bird: Simurgh, also that durin!! the past thousand years no
historian has been able to write a history like the Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, '
which also includes information about principles of administration.
T ,have really worked wonders."26
The great claim Bm'ani makes for himself is that of the wisest
thinker on state affairs. Till about the time of Sher Shah, everyone
who read the Firuz Shahi acknowledged Barani's wisdom. Then the
circumstances of the countrv and the thoug-hts of educated people
changed. Barani, though still valued as a historian, was ignored as a
political teacher. Today no precept of Bm'ani has any practical value.
But the wisest of political thnkers-Plato, Aristotle, Machi::tvelli, KQrl
Marx-are only wise for their time. No one is wise for' all times.
Barani's political wisdom is confined to the period of the Delhi sultanat.
1. So far as we can gather, Barani wrote the following books: (1) Sana-i- Moham-
modi, (2) Salat-i Kabir, (3) Inayat Nama-i Ilahi, (4) Ma'asir-i Sadoot, (5) Tarikh-i Firm;
Shahi, (6) Lubbatut Tarikh, (7) Tarikh-i Baramakah, (8) Hasrat Nama, and (9'f the
Fatawa--i Iahandari, The Fatawa-i Jaha,ndari, probably Baran;'s last work, was.un-
known to Amir Khurd, Amir Khltrd also writes as if he did not know the works of
Barani. The Tarikh-i Baramakah has been lithographed in Bombay. The Tarikh-i
Firoz Shahi was edited by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan for the Asiatic Society of Bengal
in 1862. Both books are out of print. The Persian text of the Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi
is being edited by my esteemed colleague, Professor S. A. Rashid for the Muslim
University History Department, and Vo1. I (covering the M1lqaddama or introduc-
tion and the reigns of Balban and Muizuddin Kaiqubad) is available.
2. Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, p. 14.
3. At one place Barani makes TaW quote au incident from his father who had
heard it from Yaqub bin Ishaq Ibrahim (bin Salih bin MihranJ. who was a high
officer of Haron Rashid (p. 43). At place the following remark of Taifi is
quoted: "I have not seen 'them (the Barmakidesl; for over a qam (thirty years) has
passed since the brave fellow (iawan mard), who called himself 'caliph', overthrew
these generous people" (p. 60).
4. There is reason Jar thinking that Asari revised and enlarged Taifi's text about
one hundred and fifty years after the fall of the Barmakides, for Barani's Tarikh-i
Baramakah contains the following sentence: "Till today one hundred and fifty years
have passed since that event. There is no stability left in the government of the
Abbasids. Every region has fallen into some one's hands and only Iraq and Egypt.
owing to their religious mIers, have remained sitbordinate to the caliphs. All rights
of governance and direct administration have completely vanished" (p. 86).
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Baran!
5. Tarikh-i Baramakah, p. 112.
6. Ibid, p. 465.
7. This sentence has been omitted in Asfar Begam's translation by an unfortunate
oversight.
8. Translated from the Arabic by B. M. C. De Slane, and published by Bernard
Quaritch, 15 Piccadilly, London, 1868, Vol. II, p. 26.
9. Ibn-i Khallikan's Biographical Dictiona1'!!, De Slane, Vol. III, p. 334.
10. That is, in the reverse order, beginning with the washing of the feet and not
with the washing of the hands.
11. Ibn-i Klwllikan, Vol. HI, p. 336. The chief features in Qaffal"s parody of the
Hanafi prayer are explained by De Slane (Vol. III, p. 336) as "According to
the Hanafite doctrine the tanned skin of every animal, except the dog is pure. The
expressed juice of every plant and fluit is impure, except the juice of the date (nabiz)."
(Qaffal reversed the usual order of washing the' hands, face, feet, etc. un the ground
that in Hanafi law a change in the order of washing does not invalidate the ablution.
"According to the HanaEs it is better to express the intention to pray in words, pre-
ferably in one's but unpronounced intention is enough.) The words,
two green leaws, are an inadequate h'anslation of 11ludhammatan (Quran, 64 verse
of the 54 ""rat. AI' Rahman), Imam Abu Hanifa specifies three Quranic verses as the
minimum required for a rakat, but Qaffal interprets him to mean three words." The
Hanafites have permitted prayer in one's mother-tongue, though this is not generally
done. The ShaH'ites do not pennit the use of the translated Quranic verse in prayer.
The passing of wind invalidates prayer in Hanafi law; Qaffal is misrepresenting the
Hanafis in this matter.
12, Ibn--i K/UJllikan. Vol. III, Pl'. 334-35.
13. Tarikh-i Fintz Shahi, PP. 20-21.
14. Ibid, p. 13
15, Ibid, p. 14.
16. Ziyauddin Barani, after pralSlng the vohunes of the Fath-NamM which ,vere
composed by Kabirnddin 'Iraqi, points out the following shortcomings: -(a) Kabir-
uddin only gives an account of 'Alauddin's victories and says nothing about his
feats; (b) he has resorted to praise and Hattery and not followed the traditions of
historians, who record both the good and bad acts of mpn; (e) since every volume of
the work was written in 'Alauddin's reign and was placed before that ruler, he had
no alternative to flattery; (d) Barani praises the excellence of Kahirudclin's Persian and
Arahic prose, but implies that this is not the proper style for historical works. Now
Amir Khusrau's K/wzainlll Futu/l (which has been translated into English by me under
the name of Campaign,s 'If 'Alm{(lelin Klwl;i) is in its earlier part a summalY of Kabi-
mddin's work but in its later part it gives a detailed account of Malik Kafur's Deccan
campaigns. Very probahly Kabiruddin had died and Amir Khusrau, either at his own
initiative or at 'Alauddin's order, continued his work; it is certainly written as if it had
to, be placed hefore the <ultan, The K/wzaillltl FIt/uh of Khusrau has all the defects
of Kabiruddin's work Barani had no hooks with him, hut he apparently remembered
enough of the shortcomings of Khusrall's work to make up for them by giving us a
detailed account of the invasions of Qutlugh Khwaja and Targhi. Khusrau has simply
ignored these invasions both in his Khazainlll Fut,," and the DlLwal Rani.
17. 'Isami in his Putu""s Salatin makes it clear that Zafar Kbn, who commanded
the right wing of the Delhi army, attacked the anuy of Qutlugh Khwaja at his own
initiative and in clirpct contravention of fAlauddin's: stell) order that, in view of the
very delicate military situation, when not only a defeat but a drawn battle would
have meant complete disaster, the enemy should not be attacked without his per.
PS (n)-20
306
Politics and Society during the Em'ly Medievai Period
miSSiOn, "If any olfiCtT muves forward without the ruler's order, his head would be
severed from his body', 'Alauddin had commanded, No blame attaches to 'Alauddin
or to Ulugh Khan for not following up Zafar Khan after he had broken through a
part of the Mongol lines; for their primary duty was to protect the nnfortified city
of Delhi and they could take no risks, "Even if I break my way back through the
enemy ranks", Zafar Khan said to his officers, "how are we to show our face to our
master?" So they decided to die fighting, (The Futuh-us Salatill of Isami, D. Mehdi
Husain's edition, PP. 249-61).
18. Torikhi-Firuz Shahi, pp. 388-89.
19. Ibid, p. 467.
20. This work, I hope, will be undertaken by my colIcague, Professor S. A. Rashid,
in the introduction to his edition of the Tarikh-i- Firuz Shahi.
21. The word 'gold' in this context is quite superfluous; the bronze coin was to
replace the silver tanka only
22. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, pp. 475-76.
23. Ibid, pp. 15-16. It was a generally accepted principle of medieval history that
criticism of the powerful rulers of the day and their officers should be made indireatly.
Thus Mirkhond (a contemporary of Babur) in the introduction to his famous Rauzatus
Safa writes: "The second condition is that the historian should describe all aspects
of every affair. In other words, just as he recounts the merits, charities, justice and
mercy of great men, similarly he should describe, and not seek to hide, their wicked
and mean acts. If he considers it prudent, he may describe the latter (wicked acts)
openly; if not he should resort to hints, insinuations and indirect remarks. A hint to
the wise is enough" (Rauwtus Sat", Nawal Kishore edition, Vol. I, p. 6).
24. Many of these abusive words and phrases are openly intelligible if translated
into Hindi or Hindustani.
25. Tm'ikh-i Firuz Shahi, p. 20.
26. Ibid, p. 125,
Chapter III
ZIYAUDDIN BARANI: FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE
"The father of this weak individual", Barani writes, "was a man of
status."l "I am the son of a munificent man and the descendant of
munificent ancestors."2 Barani's claim to good birth cannot be denied,
though it is unfortunate that his pride of it so deeply coloured his
life and vitiated even his religiOUS outlook. His mother's father, Sipah-
salar Husamuddin, was the vakildar or deputy of Malik Barbek Bek-
tars Sultani,3 the Haiib (or chamberlain) of Sultan Balban; and Barani
quotes Husamuddin as declaring that Malik Bektars was 'the highest,
the closest and the most trusted of Balban's_officers'. Seniority of status
among Balban's officers, however, belonged to Malikul Umm'a Fakh-
ruddin, the kotwal of Delhi. When Balban started on his three years'
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Barani
301
campaign against Tughril, the rebel governor of Bengal, he took
Malik Bektars with him but left Fakhruddin as his naib (deputy) at
Delhi with power to decide all matters in his discretion without re-
ferring them to the distant sultan. When Balban marched from
Lakhnauti against Tughril, he appOinted Sipahsalar Husarn.uddin to
the office of shuhna (kotwal) of Lakhnauti with the instruction to for-
ward information from Delhi along with the al'zdashts (reports) of
the maliks and amirs of Delhi to the sultan three or four times a week.
Malik Bektars was sent forward with an advance-guard of seven or
eight thousand courageous horsemen against Tughril and his scouts
succeeded in capturing and killing him. Barani declares that Sipah-
salar Husamuddin was a man of intelligence, sound judgment and
tact, and that he had a high status and position before Sultan Balban.
In his account of the Saiyyids of the reign of 'Alauddin Khalji,
Barani praises the Saiyyids in general-'for the world exists owing to
them'-and the Saiyyids of Kaithal in particular. "My father's mother
was the daughter of Saiyyid Jalaluddin, who was among the dignified
and prominent Saiyyids of Kaithal. She was a pious Saiyyid lady,
capable of performing miracles, which were witnessed by chaste
women."4
Barani's father who had the title of Muidul Mulk, was the naib
(deputy) of Arkali Khan, the second son of Sultan
Jalaluddin invited his officers to build their houses at KmlugarhI, and
Muidul Mulk (Barani tells us) built a large and high house there.
5
Barani does not tell us what office his father had held in the reigns of
Balban and Kaiqubad, though he quotes ,his fa0er and teachers,
'who were the great scholars of the time ,6 .as hIS authonties for that
period. Muidul Mulk did not go with Arkalr Khan, when he was ap-
pOinted governor of Multan, nor was he among the loyal officers ,:h,o
fled from Delhi to Multan with the Malka-i Jahan (Sultan Jalaluddms
widow). The reason for it was Simple. Mulk's. Alaul
Mulk was one of the five highest officers of Alauddm Khal]I. Con-
Muidul Mulk was appointed naib and khwaja
of Baran (the present Bulandshahr in U. P.) by Sultan Alauddm.
Our author took his surname 'Bm'ani' from Baran, but he shows no
knowledge of the place nor any affection for it either. .We are left to
assume that he was in Delhi aU the time, and that hIS father could
perform his duties through agents.
Barani condemns his uncle, Alaul Mulk, for having been a party to
the murder of Sultan Jalaluddin. But Alaul Mulk's high status, diplo-
matic tact and efficiency cannot be denied. When 'Alauddin
ed against Devagiri without the permission of Sultan Jalaluddm (hIS
308 Politics and Society during tile Early Medieval Period
uncle and father-in-law), he left his governorship of Kara (Allahabad)
and Awadh in charge of Alaul Mulk; later on, when after the murdel
of Sultan Jalaluddin, 'Alauddin marched on Delhi, Alaul Mulk \vas
again left in charge of these two provinces. In the second year of
'Alauddip.'s reign, .Alaul Mulk was called from Kara and appointed
kotwal of Delhi. It was a very responsible post. In spite of the rise
and fall of kings and the changes of dynasties, the kotwalship of Delhi.
had for over eighty years remained in charge of Malikul Umara
Fakhruddin and his father; father and son had made their post secure
by not meddling in politics and intrigues and confining themselves to
administration. In the struggle between J alaI uddin Khalji and the old
Turkish nobility led by Aitmal' Kachchin and Aitmar Surkha, the sons
of Fakhruddin Kotwal had sided with the Khaljis (A.D. 1290). No refer-
ence thereafter is made to Fakhruddin, bi.lt the administration of
Delhi seems to have remained in charge of officers appointed by him.
Thev were all now put under the control of Alaul Mulk along with
the city, the hamill and the royal treasures.
7
The sultan said that Alaul
Mulk deserved to be his wazir, but could not be appointed to that post
on account of his extraordinary corpulence. When marching to Kili
against Qutlugh Khwaja, 'Alaucldin left the city and everything else
in charge of Alaul M ulk and instructed him to kiss the keys of the
city gates and the treasury and place them before the victor, whoever
he might be, and be loyal to him thereafter. Bm'ani says that none of
those who took part in the assassination of Jalaluddin, with the ex-
ception of Sultan 'A]atlddin himself, were destined to live for more
than three or four years. Alaul Mulk seems to have died soon after
the battle of Kili.
Barani at two or three places refers to his grandfather-obviously
paternal grandfather-as a person from whom he had obtained infor-'
mation about the past. I-lis paternal grandfather also must have been
a high officer, for 'Alauddin in the council held before the battle of
Kili declared: "You all know that Alaul Mulk is wazir and a wazi1'-
zada." The two terms are used figuratively, but they do imply that
Barani's grandfather was an officer of distinction.
This is all that Bai'ani tells us about his family in the Ta1'ikh-i Fi1'llZ
Shahi. If he had brothers, sisters, wives and children, we know nothing
about them at present. The Ta1'ikh-i Fintz Shahi is the composition of
a very solitary soul. But it is probable that if his autobiography or
[{asmt Nama is discovered, we will know more about his family.
Barani was a precocious child. He declares in the Fi1'uz. Shahi that
what he has' written about Balban and Kaiqubad is based on what
he had heard froni the senior members of his family, his teachers and
others.8 But from the reign of Sultan J alaluddin-and he was only
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Barani
about six years old at the time of Jalaluddin's accession-he claims
to have written everything on the basis of his own observations and
facts he had himself collected. He adds that during Jalaluddin's
reign he, had finished the Quran, was learning Arabic word-mean-
ings (muf1'idat) and trying his hand at composition. The way in which
he wrote about the dancing-girls of Jalaluddin's court some sixty
years later also seems to show that he had a very prematurely deve-
loped sex-impulse.
Barani insists that he had eminent teachers. The best teachers of
that time taught in their own houses or in mosques or other public
places; they did not f!0 about teaching gentlemen's children in their
homes. Still Muidul Mulk did probably get fairly competent teach-
ers for him. They tauf!ht him f!ood Arabic and traditional 10f!ic, but
!-tis complete ignorimce of philosophy and science-and his
cism against both-proves that he was taught no book on eIther
subject. Islamic history, as is well known, was not a part of the
medieval svllabus but only that portion of it-the period of the
Pronhet an'd the Pious Caliphs-which is concerned with theoloe:v
and theololtical controversies. Bm'ani in his old a([e could remember
quite well the facts of earlv Islamic history as it was. taufJ'ht to
sons of the orthodox, but he was all at sea concernm([ the penoel
after Hazrat Ali. "Mv life", he writes, "has heen nassed in th0 studv
of books. I have read manv books of ancient and later times in every
branch of knowlede:e: and after the sci0T1ces of tnfsi1' (Ouranic c?m-
mentalY), hadis (the Prophet's traditions 1. fiqh (Jawl and th.e ta1'1qat
of theShaikhs (mvsticism, tasawwuf), I have found no SCJence so
useful as the of history."9 .'.
Bm'ani was acquainted with the first three sublects .h.sted here.
but in regard to these he was merely a creat:lre of re-
fused to think for himself and reneated platItudes. Baram s l([nOr-
ance of Islamic historv has alreadv been proved in on the
Fatawa-i Jahandal'i, Of mysticism or tasawwllf hIS HJ'11OIanCe
even more nrofound. He mpe3.ts some platitudes he had heard 111
the khanqah of the f!reat Shaikh or learnt from
that religious scholars are of two tVj1es. who seek thIS world (1l1am .-1
d
.. ) d those who seek the 'next !ulami-i aintlvi) anel that the
unt/av!. an . d '.
do not flatter kings and their officers for ?mts an,
and he puts these platitudes in the mouths of hIS heroes ae:am all
. B t the unfortunate fact is that he ne'iier understood the
alt
am
. u . th'" I
ABC of mysticism-its cultivation of Gael-conSCIOusness as \
ob'ective of life; rejection of an the tramr:nels the
to J the extent that they were a hindrance m thIS path; ItS chsmlssal
as mere ,allegories of 'the joys of heaven alld the tortures of hell,
310
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Perlcd
to were things of such hope and fear; its determina-
hon to rem am aloof from the medieval class-state because it was an
organisation of exploitation and sin; its tolerance of all creeds its
and forgiving character, and its principle of s;lfless
servlce.m the sphere of social life. Bm'ani's God, as is quite clear
from hts works, has two aspects-first, he is the tribal deity of the
Musalmans; secondly, as between the Musalmans themselves he is
the tl'ibal deity of Muslims. No conception of god couid
have been more Also to the very end of his life,
tasawwuf meant nothmg more to. Barani than continuous fasting and
lots and lots of prayers. And hIS conception of religious devotions
was purel'y mechanistic. Thus in estimating the influence of the
great Shmkh,lO he only refers to the mechanistic elements of religion
and h.as no idea that the Shaikh's mission, though it included formal
devotIons, was for something really higher. Barani admits that Sul-
tan 'Alauddin and his family were believers in Shaikh Nizamuddin.
This ,is corre?t; But it is curious to find him adding: "What a heart
was Alauddm s and how negligent and reckless I People came to see
Shaikh Nizamuddin from two thousand and three thousand far-
songs, and the young and the old, the literate and the illiterate from
the city tried to themselves before the Shaikh by every means
they could. But It never came to Sultan 'Alauddin's mind that he
should pay a visit to the Shaikh or invite the Shaikh to meet
B.arani, the ex-courtier who was trying to be readmitted to the royal
seems to have thought that the great Shaikh would have gone
runnmg to the Hazar Sutun palace, if he got 'Alauddin's invitation.
But 'Alauddin knew better. Nothing but force could have taken the
great Shaikh to the royal palace and nothing but force could have
enabled Sultan 'Alauddin to break into the Shaikh's Khanqah. The
spiritual elements in Barani's life are not worth considering.
Still no one would go to Bm'ani for the principtes of religion. What
makes Barani important for us is the fact that he concentrated his
attention on the basis Of experience on three 'important political pro-
blems-(a) the state laws, (b) the governing class and (c) the monar-
chy. It will conduce to clarify if we first discuss his theories of state
laws and the governing class, and examine his theory of monarchy
after giving an account of his career.
1. Tarikh-i Fi1'UZ Shahi, p. 350,
lJ Ibid, p. 204.
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Barani 31l
3. The term sultani after the name of an officer means that he was a slave of the
.ultan; but some people also adopted this title out of excessive loyalty.
4. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, p. 32.
5. Ibid, p. 350.
6. Ibid, p. 127.
7. Ibid, pp. 248 and 255.
8. Ibid, p. 127.
9. Ibid, p. 9.
10. Ibid, pp. 341-47.
11. Ibid, p. 300.
Chaptel' N
STATE LAWS
It has been the habit of the Musalmans to talk as if the Muslim
community did, or could, guide all its affairs in accordance with th:
sh01'i'at, which is believed to be based on the Quran, the Prophets
precepts and qiy(lS (analogy). At the same time it is claimed that the
door of ijtihad (or the fOlmulation of new shal'i'at laws) was. closed
after the period of the great Abbasids (754-861 A.D.).
are incorrect. Early Muslim society was changing rapIdly; the PIOUS
Caliphs felt the need of new laws and had no hesitation in framing
them, But the laws of the Pious Caliphs have been accepted as an
integral part of the shari'at by th;e orthodo;: and S? difficulty arises,
A very good example is the CalIph Umar s prohlhltlon of temporary
marriages.. . . . . '.
The time of the Umayyads was a period of sectanan controversIes
and political conspiracies, which were brutally suppressed; and
whether they liked it ornot, a very stern political authority kept the
Musalmans 'of the world together. By the end of the period of the
great Abbasids, the standard collections of. the hadises had'
been made and the four schools of Sunm shan at had been con-
solidated. At the same time the central caliphal power vanished; Islam
expanding into foreign' lands had to face new sodal conditions, which
the shal'f'at had never contemplated and to which it could not be
applied without disastrous consequences. monarchy" for
which there would not be any pretence of )!eneral acceptance or
succession to the Prophet', arose in the lands of the Persians and
Turks, primarily because it meant a centralised auth?l'ity!or the pubhc
welfare. These newly risen kings had to define theIr attItude towards
religion and to declare what laws they would enforce. The easiest way
of solving the first problem was to accept the religiOUS sect, rites and
312 Politics and SoCiety d1l1'illg' the Eil1'l!l Medieval Period
of the reople and to employ a body of religious scholars,
wIth decent salanes and proper honours but dismissible at will for
the and semi-religious functions of the state. These
mullahs have been called externalist scholars (ulama-i
zahm).: We must not forget that this was about the only well-paid
open to the educated men of those days, regardless of their
class ongm. The second problem led to a perplexing contradiction.
The basis of 'shm'i'at-law' was canonical authority; the public good
was not a l'elevant consideration. If fornicators are to be thrashed,
they must be thrashed everywhere, regardless of persons and tradi-
tions. If women have a right to inheritance, this right must be given
to them everywhere, regardless of the fact that owing to local con-
ditions and traditions, such as the purdah-system, it is not possible for
them to manage their properties. But the basis_ of kingship was the
puhlic good; it could have had no other basis. It is a brutal fact that
the larger number of Muslim kings have come to a sad end, because
lack of public support l!ave an opportunity to their opponents. Under
these conditions wise kinl!s adopted a policy of compromise and
moderation. Thev paid a lip homap'e to the sha'l'i'at and admitted
their sinfulness if they were unable to enforce anv of its
thev l<ept the state-controlled mullahs disciplined and satisfied; over
the whole field of administration, concerninl[ which the shn'l'i'at is
silent or nearly silent, they made their own laws;, if the traditional
customs of the people were ae:ainst the,shari'at, thet allowed' them to
override the shari'at under the clesil[nation of mf. Thus state laws,
called 'zawabit: gl'ew under the protection of monarch". If these laws
violated the shari'at, the principle of necessity or of istihasan' (the
public good) could be quoted in their favour. And the back of the
shari'at was broken for the primary reason that it had provided no
means for its own deoelopment. The P'l'eat authority of Imam Ghazzali
was quoted, correctly or otherwise. in favolll' of a compromise.
Monarchy may be .illep'itimate institntion; the officers in charrre
mav be bad men; but the affairs of the Muslim community had to be
carried on. The fact that the imam (praver-leader) of my mosque has
been appointed by a bad kine- does not invalidate the m'ayers I SflV
behind him. I can take my case to a qazi in spite of the fact that
country is governed by a bad king. It is an achievement of
that he has found a solution for this problem. Unfortunately, whIle
his thoughts are clear, his words conflicting. Still he is the first
theoretician to justify secular laws among the Musalrnans and lfe de-
semeS full credit for this achievement. .
In the time of Shamwddin Ututmish there fiQl;1mhed a great
Ufe and Thought of Ziyaurldin Barani
313
ecclesiastic, Saiyyid Nuruddin Muharak Ghaznavi, who was generally
called Mh'-i Delhi (leader of Delhi). Shaikh Abdul Haq in his Siya1'ul
Abml' lists him among the mystics, but he was one of the
zahiri (externalist scholars) and represented their conscience. such as
it was. Some fundamental postulates of his were reported to Baraiti
and deeply influenced his young mind.
"I heard", Barani writes, "from mv I!'l'andfather. Sipahsalar Hllsa-
mudelin who was a vakildar of the harhek (chamberlaiu)8 of Sultail
Balban that Balban repeatedly told his sons and confidetltial officers
that he had twice heard Saivyid Nuruddin Mubarak Ghaznavi make
the follOWing statements in his sermons to Sultan Shamsuddin IlhIt-
mish:
. "In all that the kings do concernini! the necessarv I'ules (um1.lr) of
kingship-the way in which they eat, drink wine and weal' roval
rohes the manner in which thev sit, get un, and go out ndll1i!, the
order' in which they sit on their thrones and compel the peonle to sit
and perform the si;dah (prostration) hefore them-they follow with
their hearts the customs of the Kisras (Persian emperors), who were
rebels against God. In all their dealiul[s with the people of God they
claim superhuman status (fm'd) for themselves; this too is opnosed to
(the of) the Prophet: it is a claim to partnershin in the attri-
()utes of God and a cause of damnntion in the next wodel.
. tQ the commission of the ahove acts. which are
the wilLof God and the traditions of the Pro]1het, the salvation of kmv
s
is not possibk . except by the implementation of the following four
policies for Hie protection of the faith: .
"'First, the kings should protect the religion of Islam with sincel:e
faith. They should utilise the power, dil!nity and of
kini!ship, which is al[ainst the (moral) character of (God s) creatures. Jl1
estahlishine: the supremacy .of the true word, in .the
of Islam, in enforcill!! the commands ?f. t?e shan a.t, and Jl1
'the order for the good and the prohIbItIon of eVIl. And kmp-s WIll
not be ahle to perform the duty of ])rotecting the faith unless, for the
sake of Goel and the (Prophet's creed, thev overthrow 11l1roOt kllf!'
anel kafi1'i (infidelity), shirk (settinl[ parti1ersto God) and the worship
of idols. But if the total unrooting of idolah'v is not nos sible owinr' to
the firm roots of knfl' and the larp'e ri'umher of krifil'R and 1nHshriks,
the kine'S should at strive tn insult. ctisrrrace; dishonour and de-
fame the mtlshl'ik and idoJ-worshinl1ji11r!ffy{dlls: who .are worst
enemies of God and the Prophet. The' svm;pto'm of the kll1l!s hemg the
protectors of religion is this. 'Vhml thev see a their eves grow
red and they wish to bury him alive: thev also deSll'e comnlet:-l
y
uproot the brahmans, who are the leaders of kUf1' and shl1'k and owmg
314
Politics and Society d1l1'ing the Early Medieval Period
to whom kllfr and shil'k are spread and the commandments of kufr
are enforced. In order to maintain the honour of Islam and the pres-
tij!e of the true faith, they do not permit a kafil' or mushrik to live
with self-respect or to attain to honour and independence among the
Musalmans, or to pass his time in luxuries, enjoyments and pleasures,
or to become the ruler of a neople (qaum), j!roup (f!.aroh), territory
(wilayat) or province (iqta); also owinQ' to the fear and terror of the
king"s of Islam, not a sing"le enemy of God and the Prophet can drink
water that is sweet or stretfh his legs on his bed and go to sleep in
peace .
.. 'The second policy necessary for the salvation of Muslim kinj!s is
this. The open display of sins and shameless deeds and the publication
of forbidden things should be suppressed a:monR' the Muslim people
and in the cities, territories and towns of Islam throuP'h the terror and
power of kinj!ship. Sinful and shameless deeth should, by excessive
punishments and warning"s. be mflde more bitter for sinners than
poison. Persons who, in snite of their claim to be Musalmans, make
dirty and shameful sins their livelihood and profession, and PTflctise
them all their lives. should be reduced bv the kinQ's to such ilistress
that the world appears to them narrower than the circle of a fin!Yer-
ring, and they are compelled to leave their nrofessions and find otller
means of livelihood. If prostitutes. who work for hire (mustaiim). are
not prepared to Q'ive un their sinful ways, they should nractise their
profession secretly and not openlv and proudly. But if prostitutes
practise their profession in their own dis!YT8ceful quarters, and no not
come out into the public, the practice of their profession should not
he prohibited; for if the prostitutes are not there, many rascals driven
bv their sex-impulse will attack (Muslim)hamms. .
.. 'The third principle for the nrotflction of the faith. which leads
to the salvation of kinQ's. is this. The duty ofenforcinl! thfl rules of thf'
shari'at of the Prophet should be assig"ned to pious, God-fearing and
religious men; dishonest and Godless people. who have no rep."ard for
the ri!Yhts of others as well as cheats, swinnlers and self-<flekprs-in
fact all men who are in love with this world-should not be allowed
to sit before the masnad (pillow) for enforcin!! the shari'at or given
leadership in matters appertaining" to the tariqat (mvsticism) or as-
siP'ned the duty of p'iving fatwas (lel!al opinions) or the teachinO' of
reliO'ious sciences. philosonhers and helievers in rationalistic
sophv should not be allowed to live in land; the
of philosophical sciences should not be pen1l1tted under any cIr-
cumstances. The kinj!s should strive to insult and rle!Yrade men of ban
sects, bad dOl!mas and the opponents of the orthodox Sunni creed;
"nil none of them should be given any office in the government
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Baranl
315
.. 'The fml1'th principle, which is necessary for the protection of the
true creed and the salvation of kin(J's, is the administration and en-
forcement of justice. The kinr's will not have performed their duty in
this respect unless they strivfl to their utmost in the enforcement of
iustice and are iust in 'everv and. owing to the fear of the
authority of the kin!Ys, oppression and crnelty are eliminated from
thflir kinp-doms and all onnressors are overthrown .
.. 'Whenever (Muslim) kinO's imnlement these four policies with
firm determination and sincere faith and establish truth at the centre
throul!h the terror and nrestiP'fl of their royal authority. then even if
their souls are 'Y)olluted bl{ sinh tl desires and in the nenessaru acts of
thelf halle even acteil a.aainst the sunnah, their status II,m
11f! nmonrJ the l'eli[!iolfS peonle and owinrJ tn their protenfion of the
Faith. theil' place on the dal/ of illdamrmt will be amonrJ the m'ophets
and saints. On the other haml if fl kin!Y recites a thousand rak'ats
(O'enuHectionsl of prayer everv day. fasts :111 his life, does not P'O up'lr
thinO's forbidden <lnd snpnns the whole of his treasure in ch'lritv. hllt
neither protects the faith bv llsinQ' his roval nower and illlthoritv for
overthrowin!! and unrootinQ' the enemies of and thfl Pronhet. POI'
p'lorifies the orders for the p'ood and the nrohibition of thp evil in his
provinces and tflrritories, nor tries to enforce justice to the greatest
extpnt possihle. his phce will he nowhere flxcent in hell.'''
The worns and style are Barnni's but the ideas mi!!ht well havfl
hefln the ide:1s of Nuruddin Mubarak. which went deen into Banlni's
mind and found flxT)ression hter on in the Fatawfl-i .Tahandari. The
only important element which Barani added to these postulates was
thp ri!Yht of the nohle-horn to I!overn the country.
The basic princinles of the O'reat ecclesiastic's thou!!hts deserve to
be carefully examined: (a) All non-Muslims are classed, not as ('0-
of God hut as his enemies; so Allah, whom the Ouran calls
'the lord of the worlds' 'on whose natUl'e mercy is eng"raved',4 becomes
the trihal deitll of the Musalmons. (b) This conception is further
tnl the theoru of Islam as a plundel'in[! nreed. which
was to"1')l'oceed entirelu bll fmce. There is no auestion of any
with the non-Muslims or of persuading them in anv way: the
resort is to be entirely to wilr ilnd force throtl{!h the royal authority.
(c) Still the most terrible 'kaNI's' of the dalf the Mon[!ols, who
had slaul!htered the inhilhitants of one Muslim city after another
(lnd hovering on the frontiers of India. Whether Nuruddin
Muharak's precious sermon was delivered in the reij!n of Chengiz or
OQ'tai is immaterial. Iltutmish was in no position to ch"l1enp'e the
Monltol empire; and severe Mongol attacks of the type which 'Alaud-
din Khalji managed to s\U'vive would have crushed Iltutmish com-
316 Politics and Society dtwing the Early Medieval Peri.od
pletely. He had neither the administrative "-capacity and driving
power of Alauddin nor his military genius, and it was no secret that
he had sought to avoid a conflict with Chengiz Khan by refusing to
offer an asylum to Jalaluddin Mankbarni. 50- Nuruddin Mubarak
selected the Hindus as the easier target. It was a cowardly choice:
But would the Delhi empire survive an anti-Hindu policy of the type
demanded by him? The answer of responsible kings, as Barani
admits, was in the negative. (d) The king's. office, though a violation
of the 'shari'at', is recognised and he is authorised to act against the
'sunnah'; still if he fights the in a manner that (accord-
ing to the highest authorities of the _Muslim religion) would ha1)e
hortified the Arabian Prophet, he is to 1'ise ftOm the dead among the
pi'(>phetsand saints. The dignity of the shari'at is affirmed and there
is rio reference to royal laws (or zawahit); still the power of the king
to override the shmrat is admitted. (e) The '5hari'at' punishments for
the ptOfessions of sin are completely ignored; the necessity of the
continuation of these professions-in any case of the profession' of
prostitutes defined as women who live by the of sin (musta-
iira)-is emphasised; their profession is" to be degraded and con-
tinued under state-control.
Barani, after expanding the precepts of Nuruddin Mubarak in
Advice XI of the Fatawa-i lahandari, complains that Muslim kings
had no intention of following his directions. This is certainly true
of Balban. He was franklv not in a position to march against the
Hindu rais from fear of the Monllols and made this fact clear to
his officers.
5
And 'Alauddin, who could fi!!ht both the Mong-ols
and the rais, wisely kept the public opinion of his Hindu subjects
on his side.
Bat'ani continues; "Balban repeated these precepts of Saiyyid
Nuruddin Mubarak Ghaznavi to SultanShamsuddin Iltutmish,
whkh he had himself heard, again and again, before his sons,
nephews and officers and wept bitterly. '[ cannot fulfil the duties
of protecting the faith', he told them, 'and how can I entertain
such an ambition when my maste1's6 themselves were unable to ptO-
tect the faith! But I can at least come to the rescue of the oppress-
ed and have no rellard for any man in the enforcement of justice.
You, my sons and relations, should take care of your steps. If I come
to know of your oppression of any weak person, I will punish you
for it. In most cases I will put the murderers of innocent persons to
death.7 Your near relationship to me and your claims of service will
not prevent me from administering impartial justice.'''
. The problem of state-laws, so far as the Tarikh-i Fimz 5hahi is cOn-
cerned, is illustrated by the discussion between Sultall 'A.lal.ldilin and
Life and Thought -;t-2i1;auJdin Barmil

Qazi Mughisuddin But Barani had no access to 'Alauddin's
court and he is in thinking that 'Alauddin's economic reforms
were due, in the first-ihstance, to his desire to bring the prices of com-
modities within the eC?mpass of the salaries of the soldiers. The real
. l:eason that inspired 'Al,aricldin is given hy Shaikh Nasiruddin
in his Khairul Majalis 6
It
the authOrity of Qazi Hamid Multam.
8
Qazl
Hamid on enterin<t the sultan's chamber one day found him sitting
on the throne beating the ground with his feet,
bat'e-footed and wholly in some thought. The qazl went
before the sultan but the latl-(iJ; did not notice him. He came out and
informed Malik Qara Beg. Then the two entered the chamber and
Qara Beg engaged the sultan Later on, Qazi Hamid
asked the sultan what he had been thinking about. 'I-lear me!' Sultan
'Alauddin replied, 'For sometime a thought has been coming to
mind. God has so many people in this world but he has put me m
command of them. Now I should do something so that the benefit of
my work may reach all mankind. But what can I do? If I distribute
all the treasures I have-and a hundred times more-they will not:
suffice for all. If I add all the (royal) villages and provinces. to them,
this too will not suffice. I have been thinking what to do so that
I may benefit all men. Just now a thought has come to me, which I
will explain. If I reduce the l?rice of grain, the benefit of it will accrue
to all. But how is the price of grain to be reduced? I will order the
naiks of the provinces (atmf) to be summoned, so that the?, may
the grain of the provinces to Dellii. Some will bling gram on 10,00C
and others on 20,000 beasts of burden. I will give them r?bes or
honour, silver and the expenses of their familie5, so that they may
bring grain and sell it at the price I fix.'
Tile Khairul Majnlis stops here, but it appeats that 'Alauddin kept
on thinking of the measures that were necessary for securing his main
objectives-the elimination of famines atld the of
nomic security and stability on the principle of production-cost. It
was not pOSSible to work miracles. But he could ensure the safety, of
roads, see to the proper transport of commodities, crush monopolIes;
prevent regrating, and ensure that the prices fixed by him on the
principle of productioll"Cost were sh'ictly maintained. Since most com-
merce and industry was in the hatlds of certain Hindu classes, he .
would work through them and conh'ol them. It was a strange dream,'
which no Muslim king has had before or since. But 'Alauddin,:as
a man of action and the economic system he built up lasted dunng
the remaining ten years of his life .
The laws of the shari'at were irrelevant to tlle objectives 'Alauddin
Poiitics and Society during the Eal'iy Medievai Fe,'iod
had in view and he paid no attention to them He als 'd
. th.. . 0 pal no
t? e mullahs m state-service and their doctrines, and left
Q.azl HamId manage them on behalf of the state. But
hom dId Alauddm get this curious idea of serving all people?
From a duect study of the Quran and possibly the t h' f
Shaikh Nizamuddin Aulia.9 eac mgs 0
For Ql!1'an, read in the original 01' in translation but without'
the rr,txs.mterpretat.ion of the. commentators, will convince anyone
that xt xs deeply concerned wzth the removal of human distress The
as the head of the state, demanded taxes, or rather' alms
(khrmat), for the expenses ()f the state and assistance to the distress-
ed groups in the Quran-orphans, travellers, peoplE' in
teu:p.orary dIstress (masakin), poor persons who are incapable of
wOlkmg (fuqra) and persons who, though in great want, had too
much self-respect tv ask any individual for assistance. For the Pro-
phet . the only for or alms demanded by the
fOl hIm the dIstmchon between taxes and alms
Immat.enal-;vas that the government would spend them in the
.IelIef dlshess. Take from the rich and give it to the poor', was his
to the governOl' of Yemen. His own standard of living
m house, clothes and food was roughly equivalent to that of a mo-
derately ,Provided Indian peasant of today, and a very important
of his life was his struggle with the material distress around
hIm. Om: conception of a welfare state depends upon our
hope of. Improvmg the material and cultural conditions of the peo-
ple by in the instruments of production. No such
was possible in the seventh century. All that the Prophet
VIsualise that the government shoUld be a machinerv for
and reha?ihtation. But though the taxes had to be loW: the
was attamable, and to a very great extelit it was attained
WIth reference to Arabian standards of life.
Now the great'mujtahids' of Islam, who deserve to be highly j'es-
and should not be blamed in the matter, completel
ovellooked thw asper:t of the Quranic teaching and the prophets
They merely laId down the principle that a man who had a good
mcome. give. per cent of it in chadty for the removal of
dIstress; It was a religiOUS obligation and the government
had nothmg to do with it. If a man gave more in charit it wa
commenda?le but not binding. They could not pOSSibly
ed that thIS small amount would suffice for relieVing the distress of
the classes mentioned by the Quran. But the conditions of the time
should not be forgotten. Monarchy, miscalled caliphate, had
Life and thought of Ziyauddin Baran!
3i9
with the Umayyads and the Abbasids, and it was supported by_a
well-organized bureaucracy, whose members were appointed and
could be dismissed by the ruler. The taxes were taken for the
expenditure of the government and not for the public welfare. The
government was expected to do something for education and cul-
ture, but this depended upon its discretion; and the government natm'-
ally spent money on this head in a way calculated to strengthen its own
power. Now the great mujtahids lived during the period of the early
Abbasids (754-861 A.D.), and though there are some stories connect-
ing Imam Shafi'i with Harun Rashid, the other founders of the SUllili
schools were independent of the government. Also it was, as Shaikh
Junaid said, a time of terror (azmana-i wahshat). It is conceivable
that the great mujtahids could have framed laws for securing the
objectives of the Quranlc injunctions and the prophet's state under
these changed circumstances, and advised their wccessors to do the
same from time to time. This would have given us a developing
shal'fat. But it is very doubtful in anything the Jnujtahids said about
the state would have been considered binding by the rulers and the
governing dass or changed the course of history. In any case, as
Barani correctly points out, the founders of the four schools decided
to ignore all matters concerning the state, and no real guidance from
them was available except for the fact that they recorded what the
Prophet and the pious caliphs had done and said under very different
conditions of life. So quoting the 'shari' at-as pl'Omulgated by the
ackllowledJ!.ed'muitahids'-teith reference to state-affairs was absurd.
The ulama-i zahiri, like Saiyyid Nuruddin Mubarak Ghaznavi, may
promulgate their personal interpretations with a view to the welfare
of their own class and profession. But there is no authority for such
cheap postulates. "The government of the modern world, and in
particular of Hindustan, is not possible in accordance with the
shari' at", Ferishta, who had witnessed the reforms of Akbar, declared
while speaking of the reforms of 'Alauddin. The orders of the shari'at
were, of course, still binding in the sphere of personal laws, e.g., in-
heritance, marriage, divorce and some other matters such as the
prohibition of usury or interest.
Seen in the perspective of history, it appears clear that if a well-
defined Quranic objective, specially in the social sphere, came into
conflict with a law of the shal'i'at or even a law of the Quran itself,
the QUTanic objective should have prevailed. For law has no mean-
ing except with reference to an end or object; also the law has been
made for the frilfilment of man and not man for the fulfilment of the
law. A non-Muslim might imagine that according to the general
faith of the Musalmans, a Quranic injunction would cancel a hadis
320
t>oUiics and Society during tile Early Medievai Period
and a hadis would cancel a precept of the mujtahids. That should
have been the normal procedure, whether we consider the authority
that gives an injunction or the proofs available of that injunction hav-
mg been given. The Quran has been preserved with absolute cor-
rectness, but too many unauthentic hadises have been set afloat, while
for many precepts of the mujtahids we have only an indirect evidenpe
and not their written word. But the medieval mullahs looked at the
matter from a different angle. They did not-and they could not-pre-
vent an educated Musalman from reading the Quran and guiding
himself by his own interpretation of it in the realm of faith. But in
the sphere of the sTwrrat it was different. The ha<;ic claim of every
school was that its mujtahids could not have committed any error. If
an injunction of the Quran or a hadis seemed on the face of it to con-
tradict the precept of a mujtahid, it had to be reconciled with that
precept by means of strained interpretations called ta'wi!. Cons-
equently the 'shari'at' of Islam is what the 'mujtahids' of the period
ot the great Abbasids (754-861 A.D.) have made it. There has been
no 'Wihad' since then. Later law-books, like the great Hidayah, are
really compilations. But the greatest of human thinkers, as the late
Mr. H. A. L. Fisher remarks in his History of Europe, cannot antici-
pate all the capacities of life to present new formations. With the
passage of time a great change took place. To say that the door ot
'ijtihad' (legislation) was closed would not be correct; that door can
never be closed. But the power of 'ijtihad' was taken trom the. 'ula-
ma' by a greater authority. The new 'mujtahid' was the state. The
door of the old type ijtihad had to be closed so that the door of the
new ijtihad, state legislation, might be opened. But the stupid prat-
tle about the shari'at has continued. It was, and has been, the duty
of a good Musalman to praise the sh(tri'at and demand its enforce.-
ment,' but there has been an even greater duty to evade its enforce-
ment on the basis of 'practical reason'.
These considerations should be kept in mind in examining the
which Barani records as having taken place between
Sult.an 'Alauddin Khalji and Qazi Mughisuddin of Bayana. The con-
versation turned round for questions asked by the Sultan.lO
(1) The position of the Hindus as tax-payers. The qazi repeated
with reference to the Hindus what text-books like the Hidayah
written in Iraq, Persia and Central Asia had said about insulting the
helpless non-Muslim minorities in those lands. But 'Alauddin was
not concerned with Hindus in general but with the Hindu chiefs--:-
chaudhuris, khuts and muqaddams-who had not been paying hit?
taxes. This point has he en clarified by Mr. Moreland in the Agrm:i@
System of Moslem India.
Life and Thought of Ziljallddin Bardn; 321
(:?) Thl' 's//({ri'a( /lllIlis/IIIUm! /u /}C meted (Jill 10 gOVCl'Ill1!Cllt scr-
vants g1lilty of corruption, hribery, making up false accounts, etc.
The qaz! declared that the matter had not been discllssed by the
'shm'i'at' and he had not read ahout this question in any boole So
the sultan could punish the defaulters in such way as he deemed fit;
but the shadet punishment of cutting the hand was not applicahle
to those who stole from the public treasury.
(3) The treasures bro1lght fro111 DevagiTi. Alauddin had kept
them separate from the public treasury on the i!round that they had
been aC(luired by him before his accession to the throne. The qazi
declared that they were acquired through the strength of the army
of Islam and should, .therefore, belong to the public treasury. But
since the sultan controlled the public treasury ill his discretion, the
point was purely academic.
(4) The claim of the sultan and his famil!! on the royal treasury.
The 'slwri'([i' issilent on the matter and therc had beenno 'shari'at'
restrictions on royal at any time. 'Whatever the (lazi
said was on his own responsibility. There were four alternatives:
(a) According to the traditions of the Prophet and the Pious
which no king had followed, the sultan could take the salary he
gave to his well-equipped troopers (i.e. 234 tanka,s a year). (b) In the
alternative he could take the salary he gave to his highest officers.
(c) Thirdly, worldly religions scholars (ulama-i dunya) had permitted
a sultan to take, for the maintenance of his dignity, an amount subs-
tantially higher than he i!ave to his highest officers. (d) But morc
than this could not be justified except on the ground of state policy
(111 aslahit-i 111 1Ilh!).
The sultml then gave an account of the punishment he had heen
inflietilHT. '}\ re thev all avainst the shaTi'at', he asked. The qazire-
pli('(1. "Thev a.re 811 af.'ainst the shari'at; for it has not been dechll'ect
in the precepts' or the Prophet or the judgments of theulama that
the head of the state (ullil amI') can do whatevcr he likes for the ese-
CUti011 of' his orders.' The qazi's contention was that 'Alauc1din's'
sc\cre]111nislllllents \"ere )lot authorised bv the shari'at; he could
not sav what punishlJlents should be inflicted in accordance with the
shari'(it. for 11;e shari'at was silent. The whole conversation assumes
that the kin.l' has the power of making laws, bue that severe punish-
111ell ts un le,s authorised hv the shari'at, should be considered a vio-
lation' of the shar(at becal;s8 they are a violation of humanity.
Bm'ani discusses at some length the laws (zawabit) as well as the
. new deSigns (aslub) of Muhammed hin Tughluq. But he does not
l''-.Ilt:n t1'10 ril1(':l.clin"l'l f"'f e>7'fil'j'l'1l- Tnt" .'". ..... -J-\ lon,r .;,... 1"'1.';'" n.-. ..... .... .f.. ...... -C ...1 ..........
322 Politics and Society dW'ing the Early Medieval Period
sultan, and only comments on the practical consequences of his
measures)1
Barani's final opinion on the state and its laws is to be found in
the thesis he puts in the mouth of Bughra Khan: "Only that ruler
can in truth and justice be called and deemed a king in whose ter-
ritory no man goes to sleep naked and hungry, and who makes laws
(zawabit) and frames measures (mawazin) owing to which no subject
of his has to face any material distress (dal'mandgi) from which there
is a danger to his life,"12
This may be considered his last word in the matter; there was
nothing more that could be expected under medieval conditions of
production,
l. The late Maulana Abul Kalam Azad calls them tllama-i StI or the 'wicked mtillahs.
2. Ta1'ikh-i Firuz Shahi, pp. 41'-44.
3. i.e. Malik Bektars.
4. Kataba ala' f1atsih;, rahmah.
5. Tal'ikh-i Fil'uZ Shahi, pp. 50-5l.
6. Masters here would mean Shihabuddin Ghuri and I1tutmish.
7. That is, he would not allow a murderer to escape the death penalty by paying
money compensation to the heirs of the murdered man. Firuz Shahi, p, 44.
8. Khairul Maialis, ed. K A. Nizami, p. 241.
9. Barani greatly underrates 'Alauddin' s knowledge of Islam. He was
by educated people and must have learnt the contents of the Quran and the Islamic
creed tram them. Shaikh N asiruddin Chiragh, who was then in charge of the great
Shaikh's charities, leaves us in no doubt that 'Alauddin's reforms were cordially ap-
proved by the circle of the great Shaikh.
lO. Tarikh-i Firttz Shahi, pp. 289-96.
11. It was not to be expected, however,' that the tllrlma would not object to
the sultan's measures. The sultan during the famine ordered wells to be dug outside
Delhi and provided all necessmy requisites for agriculture. Maulana Afifuddin Kashani
a famous legist, objected to it because this agricultural work was being done by
pulsion for the royal granaries. Sultan Muhammed imprisoned him and then set him
tree. But some time aftenvards the sultan heard that he had spoken against him to
two other legists and he had all the three put' to death (Ibn Batuta, Aiaibal Asfar.
Urdu tr. by Khan Saheb Muhammad Husain, Vo!' II, p. 142).
12. Ta1'ikh-i Firuz Shahi, p. 148. .
Lite and Thotlght at Ziyauddin Barani
323
Chapter V
THE GOVERNING CLASS
No person could have obtained the position of Sipahsalar Husa-
muddin in Billban's court unless he had been of pure Turkish birth,
for Balban was a faddist on the question of birth and genealol!Y,
and so probably were the senior members of Barani's own family.
They seem to have cruelly driven it into his young mind that owing
to his high birth he was above the mass of mankind. Personal
misfortunes drove him to make this childhood conceit into a philoso-
phy of life, and though he could never find a single theological text
in' support of his birth-theory, he nevertheless called in relie;ion and
the divine design to support it. (Advice XX!.) The Turkish officers
at the time of Barani's birth were divided into two groups-those
who had attained to hi!!h office as slaves, and sometimes called them-
selves 'sultani'; and those who had entered government service as
freemen. Barani's family seems to have belonged to the latter
group, for at some places he refers to the cash-purchased (zar-khari-
ita) slaves with contempt.
But his family must have been living in India for many generations
and lost all contacts with foreign lands, long before these relations
were severed by the Monl!ol invasions. Unlike his friend, Amir
Khusrau, he shows no knowled!!e of Turkish; and there are no Tur-
kish words in his works except the titles in general use. His ignor-
ance of the geography of Central Asia and Persia is surprising. Barani
nowhere calls himself a Turk in the three works of his that are avail-
able, and in his modes of thou!!ht and feeling he is hundred per cent
Indian. His governing class theory, thoufh he is unaware of the
fact, is the philosophy of the popular Hindu caste-system put into a
Muslim mould. The monld, as we shall see, did not fit in. Hindu-
ism postulated that God had created men in separate castes and that
it was the duty of the law to prevent 'a mixture of castes'. Nothing
equivalent to it is found in the scriptures of the Jews, the Christians
and the Musalmans. Only a person very deeply imbued with the
traditions of the Hindu caste-svstem, like Barani, could have had the
courage to state that pietv was onlv within the reach of persons of
good birth. Today we only know of the Turks who in India
from our records. They are not to be found anywhere II1 the coun-
try. Probably even in 'the time of Barani the process of the
of the Turks with the Indian Muslims had already begun, thou/!h m
the sphere of politics they were distinct and hostile groups. The
Turks could only have maintained their separate social entity by re-
324
Politics and Society d!l1'ing the Ea1'7y Medieml Period
fraining from marrying Indian women, but this thcy refuscd to do;
so while many persons claimed to be Turks on their paternal sidc,
their homes and with it the ideology of their childrcn becamc more
and more Indianized with every generation,
Islam taught that all men were equal and brothers, and it secured
this equality within the Islamic fold to an extent that had not been
possible for any groul) before, Nevertheless, the old ideas persisted;
also no government could exist without a governing class before
modern inventions made democracy possible. Consequently the
whole of Persian. literature is full of contemptuous references to the
lower orders on the ground of birth. It was the same in the convcr-
sation of well-born persons. Still too much insistence should not be
laid on this fact, for a very important section of the Muslim intelli-
gentsia came from the lower middle class or the upper working
classes,
Barani's theory of birth has a basic contradiction of which he was
not consciolls. The only nobility that mattered to him was the offi-
cial bureaucracy of a unified state. He did not care for merchants
and othel' classes, however prosperous, nor did he know of any such
social order as the feudal aristocracy of medieval Europe; when he
saw something similar to it, he condemned it like most Muslim poli-
tical thinkers as tawaiflll mlllllki or oligarchic anarchy, for it was ill-
compatible with the implementation of state-laws and, in fact, with
the state.
With reference to pre-Muslim times, it was easy for Bat'ani to say
iliat every government office was hereditary, though a little reflec-
tion would have convinced him that such an arrangement would
havf; led to the disintcgration of the shlte. Barani has a vcrv clear
idea of the Umayyads and Abbasids as governing class states, the
latter having been built on the ruins of the former. Then his know-
ledge becomes dim, but as he surveyed the sultatiat of Delhi for a
century and a half, he saw the governing groups being overthrown
one after another. The picture in Advice XXII is fairly well drawn,
but it is based primarily on the experience of the Delhi sultan at.
In order to understand Bm'ani's ideas, the three principles that
lay at ilie basis of the normal Muslim state should he borne in mind.
The Prophet and the pious caliphs appointed officers for specific
duties; theil' office ended when their duties had been discharged
but they could also be dismissed at the discretion of the head of the
state. 'Amir Mu'awiya' established the system of iVluslim monarchy.
Fil'St, he organised a bureaucracy or governing class from the noble
Arab clans; all officers were appOinted by the head of the state and
thev could at any time be dismissed by him. Secondly, the head of
Life and 1'hollgl,t of Ziyallddin Batall'
:i.is
the had the right to nominate his successor, or series of succes-
sors, but the person nominated would only ascend ilie tlu'one if
accepted by the high officers; if dissatisfiecl, these officers could
select another person from among the sons and brothers of the latc
ruler. Tbrdlv, when Islamic religious sciences had been reduced to
wnting in the timE: of the great Abbasids and their teaching had been
put on a proper basis, a group of officcrs for religiOUS and semireligi-
ous hmctions-the lIlama-i zahiri or state-controlled scholars-was
also organised on the same lines as the bureaucracy; its members
were appOinted and dismissed at his discretion by the head of the
state,
This framework lasted so long as i'"Iuslim monarchy lasted, but
wiiliin this framework anv number of revolutions were possible.
Nevertheless Muslim states, generally speaking, have never toler-
ated a hereditarv bureaucracv or a hereditarv ecclesiastical class,
though the head' of state was expected to have due regard for the
relations of his deceased servants. Thev have also not tolerated a
hereditary landed aristocracy (barring exceptions such as thc
dihqaHs of Persia and the mis, Ulnas and 1'(lwats of the Delhi sul-
tanat); a landed aristocracy, when it appears, is generallv due to thc
fact that the officers have seized the land assigned to their chargc
and the state is diSintegrating.
After postulating that (a) nobility goes by descent because the
sons of the nobles alone are noble and (b) that the nobles have thc
exclusive right to government offices, Barani finds it impossible to
define a noble family. The governing groups had been destroying
each other too rapidly. All that Bm'ani could have meant by a noble
familv was a family the 111embers of which had held high offices for
three' or four gene;'ations; conversely, if a family was effectivcly and
permanently deprived of high offices, it ceased to be noble and took
its place willi the masses.
The main bureaucratic revolutions noted by Barani are the fol-
lowing:
(1) Shihabudclin was succeeded by his slave-officers, but Shan:-
Iltuhnish had to overthrow Yilduz and Qubacha and theu'
olEcers in order to establish his power.
(2) Iltutmish organised a part of his bure<lUcracy from the old
of Shihabuddin and their descendants, but in order to
balance them, he formed another wing of his hnreaucracy fr0111 the
noble-born and educated men who had fled to his capital from
, , 1
326
Politics and Society during the EaJrly MedIeval Pmjod
(3) The death af Iltutmish led to. a canflict between the twa wings.
During the reign af his successars, the great Turkish slave-afficers,
known as the Chihalgani (ar the Farty), abtained cantrol aver the
affairs of the government and removed the free-born maliks and
nobles. "The people of the time saw clearly that till great men and
nables are not overthrown, worthless and cash-purchased slaves do .
not attain to high office and leadership."l
(4) Since all the Chihalgani Turkish officers cansidered themselves
equal to each other and everyone of them proclaimed, 'I and none
ather', there was a periad af anarchy for same thirty years (1236-66)
and the authority af the cenh"al pawer vanished. Balban (1266-87)
restared the authority of the central pawer by annihilating his rivals;
still he was a great faddist for birth and kept .the Turkish aristacracy
intact. But during the reign af Kaiqubad, his minister, Malik Niza-
muddin, though himself from an old Turkish stack, had a large num-
ber of Turkish. officers executed by the sultan's arders. Thus the
backbane of the remnant of the aId Turkish slave-bureaucracy was
broken, and Aitmar Kachchin and Aitmar Surkha were unable to
prevent the accession of Sultan Jalalucldin Khalji. But Jalaluddin
was not the man to. push a revalutian to. its inevitable canclusian and
he confirmed many Turkish. officers af the old regime in their posts.
(5) 'Alauddin won over the officers af the uncle he had murdered
through offers of gold and re-appointment to. their pasts. "But in the
second ar the third year of his reign, when his authority had been
fully established, all the former officers of Jalaluddin, who had de-
serled their old master's family and joined 'Alauddin and taken mans
of gvld and offices and territories from him, were seized in the city
and the army. Some were thrown into forts and imprisoned; others
were blinded or killed. All the money they had obtained from 'Alaud-
din, along with their own wealth, houses and properties, was seized.
Their houses were made state-property (sultani), their villages were
brought back to the khalsa, and nathing was left for their children.
Theil soldiers and servants were put in the charge of 'Alauddin's
officers and their families were overthrown."2 Three of the old officers,
with the surname of Alavi, Khalji and Rana, Barani tells us, were
spared3; the rest were totally uprooted. Most of th,e officers thus
punished must have been the descendants of Balban s
of true Turkish blue blood whose ancestors had come mta promI-
nence as slave-officers. 'Alauddin demanded efficiency and obedience;
blue bload meant nothing to him. Also these officers af ?ld
were accustomed (as Barani himself makes clear) to conspmng
the king. The new schemes 'Alauddin had in mind would have fmIed
i+ nrnru:".,oC" r.+ ...h ..... n.l...l .....n ....... .;.....,...,.. ......... ,.. .......... n...-n..a,.l .Jon ..... " ........ .;,.1'O... .; ..... 1'l" .. 1-. """"""'.0.1 .. 7'>.C"
Life and ii"hought ot Llyauddin Raj'ani 311
as gad's chosen families, had been kept in office. This is the
single act of suppressian of the amil's or officers of a farmer regIme
that took place in the histary of the Delhi sultanat and it was very
thorough. The suggestions tar treating a fallen official regime with
which no. co.mpramise is passible, offered by Barani in Advice XXII,
may have been suggested to hiIp by this situation.
(6) Barani, curiausly enaugh, does nat bring the charge of low
birth and' mean origin against the officers af 'Alauddin Khalji. Their
fathers and grandfathers had not held high affices but they may have
worked in the lower gavernment pasts Which were apen to. nan-nobles.
'Alauddm's coutrol was stern. but his officers were able men and he
them the discretianary pawers. they needed. divides
'Alauddin's o.fftcers into.' three generahons. The first generatIOn, led by
the six afficers who had conspired to. assassinate Sultan Jalaluddin,
was brilliant. The second generatian was campetent and able, and
Bm'ani has great respect for it. In the third generation of 'Alauddin's
afficers too many 'yes-men' had crept in, while far reasans
he put to. death his great minister of Qaam. Still,
subject to the mishaps af medieval pohtics and m spIte ?f the enar-
mo.us strain put on it during the reign of Muhamma.d bm. Tnghluq,
the continuity of bureaucracy was till end
o.f Muhammad bin Tughluq s reign. Thus at the begmnmg of
din's reign we find Muhammad Ayaz of Siri;, his KhwaJa-1
Jahan Ahmad Ayaz, was bm Tughluq s ncub at
Delhi when the sultan died. Qutbuddm Mubarak Shah, to. the smpme
af all, re-appo.inted the high of father, and they mai?tain-
ed his empire intact for him. Tu?hluq Shah was
a bureaucrat, and so far as possIble he mamtamed the and dIg-
nity af his former colleagues. Twa royal Mahk K.afur and
Khusrau Khan, whose sto.ries are well-known, tned to dammate the
bureaucracy, but the main bady of maliks and umara managed to
survive bath.
Muhammad bin Tughluq's po.licy tawards the anly
be briefly reviewed here. All the three great autho.nhes on hIS relgn-
Bm'ani 'Is ami and Ibn-i Battuta-are firm in stating that he was a
great shedder af blaad.4 was in his ways and man-
ners that excited the SuspiCIOn o.f even hIS hIghest the
very beginning af his career. Thus he w.as beslegmg
in the reign of his father, four great maltks of hIS army-Tarnal,
Mal Afghan and Kafur Muhrdar-marched back fram the fo.rt
their men because Ubaid, the poet, had convinced them that, smce
they were Sultan 'Alaucldin's officers of standing and presumably :0-
nartners in the kine:dom. Muhammad bin Tughluq (who had the trtle
328
Politics and SQciety, during (h Ewrly Mediecal Period
of Ulugh Khan at the time) would seize and behead them all on the
same day. Similarly when the sultan, owing to the famine, had moved
to. Sargdwari .along with the inhabitants of Delhi, he was so pleased
wIth the efficIency of Ainul Mulk in providing grain for his men that
he decided to promote him hom the governorship of Zafarabad to
the Viceroyalty of Devagiri in place of his former teacher, Qutlugh
But Ainul got frightened, and though not a fighting man,
decIded to 1'ebe1.:o The rebellion of Bahram Aiba (Kishlu Khan), the
&overnor of Multan,. who had been a comrade in anns of Tughluq
Shah and was One of the senior-most officers of the empire, was due to
a misunderstanding. Bahram was driven to take firm steps
agamst an agent of the sultan on account of his insolence. The sultan
refused to hear any explanations and marched against Bahram and
Bahram considered it a pOint of honour to die fighting.6 Still the sultan
succeeded in keeping the majority of the officers, high and low, of the
homelands of the empire loyal to himself.
It was otherwise with the lower officers of the distant provinces of
the empire., When the sultan appointed Aziz Khammar, 'the low-born',
governor of Dhar and the whole of Malwa, he instructed him as
tollows ,: 'J hear that everyone \vho rebels does so owing to the $UP-
port or the amiran-i sadah (saclah (ill/irs: commanders of one hun-
dred) and the amiran-i saclah support him owing to their
the imperial policy) and love of plunder: Aziz Khammar summoned
eighty-nine sadah amirs and ordered their heads to be cut off,7 This
started the conHagration which cost the sultan all his Deccan posses-
sions. "It did not occur to the mind of this doomed and low-born
lllan (Aziz Khammar)", Bat'ani remarks, "that if being an amir-i sadah
was a sufficient offence for the inHiction of the death-penalty, tlien
wherever there are sadah-amirs-ill Devagiri,Gujarat and else-
where-they will all be embittered and rise in rebellion. And how
will the army of the country be maintained, if" the saclah-,amirs are
embittered and rebel? The news of the slauahter of the sadah-amiTs
, 0
of Dhar, on account of their being sadah-amirs, reached Devagiri
and Gujarat. Consequently the sadah-amirs of these two provinces
became Vigilant and made preparations for rebellion."8
The term, amir-i sadah, has not been used by other historians of
the reign, but their position is not difficult to understand. In the
advice he puts in the mouth of Bughra Khan, Bm'ani explains the
organisation of the army as folIows
9
: "A sarkhail commands ten
chosen horsemen; a sipahsalar, ten sal'khails; illl amir, ten sipah-
sa lars; a malik, ten a111il"s, a khan, ten maliks; and a king should have
at least ten khans under his command." An amiT, properlv so-called,
would he a commander of one thousand horse; and the higher
Life (mel Thought of ZiyauC/(li.n Bam/li
329
bureaucracy consisted of khans, maliks and amirs only. The a11111'-1
sadah of Baraui are the sipahsalal's of Bughra Khan. The strength
,of their position la) in the fact that they constituted the backbone
of the army that had conquered the Deccan under 'Alauddin Khalji
and were under no obligation to Muhammed bin Tughluq.lO When
the Deccan territories were annexed, they would be spread out 011
the land. If there were ten horsemen at a thana'or military post, an
amir-i sadah would he commanding ten thanas or a territory of the
size of a parganah. They maintained the whole administration of the
conquered lands, and the Bahmani kingdom originated owing to
their revolt. Thev could not have been men of noble birth and do
not evoke Barani;s sympathy.
Barani's great complaint against Muhammad bin Tughluq is that
he appOinted Hindus and men of low-birth to high offices. "I have
the court of sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq and obtained
plenty of gold owing to his constant inams and gifts. I am surprised
at the contradictory qualities of that king, who was a unique product
of creation. During all this time I heard from his sacred lips stories
concerning the contemptible and worthless character of men of low
and mean origin. He would prove with arguments and illustrations
that meli of mean origin are ungrateful, untrue to their salt, mis-
chievous and wicked. He talked as if he hated low-born people more
than he hated idols. Nevertheless I have seen him promoting Najba,
the low-born son of a musician, to such an extent that he rose higher
in status than many 11laliks; for Gujarat, Multan and BadaUl: were put
in his charge. Similarly he raised Aziz Khammar
11
and IllS brother,
Firuz Iiaiiam (the barber), Manka Tabbakh (the cook), Masud Kham-
mar (the vintner), Laddha Baghban (the gardener), and many other
gems of low-birth (jawahir-i latrah) to a high status and gave them
offices and territories. I-Ie gave Shaikh Babu, the son of a Nayak
weaver (Nayak bachcha jlllaha), a position near to himself and eleva-
ted the ranks and position of such a low-born man among mankind.
He assigned the diwan-i wizal'at (minis by of revenue) to Pera Mali
(the gardener), the lowest of the low-born and 'mean-born men of
Hind and Sind, and placed him over the heads of maliks, amirs, waliS'
and governors (maqtas). He assigned to Kishen (Krishna) Bazran
Incb'i who wa, the meanest of the mean-born, the territorv of Awadh.
To Muqbil, the slave of Ahmad Ayaz, who in appearance' and charac-
ter was a shame for all slaves, he gave the wizamt (governorship) of
Gujarat, which had been a post for great khans and It w,:s
strange how: he gave high offices and governments of. tern-
tories and great provinces to men of low and mean bIrth. 12
The professions indicated in thc above surnames are the ancestral
330
Politics and Society during Early Medieval Period
professions of the officers mentioned; the officers themselves, it has
to be assumed, were highly and efficient men. Looking back
at the matter through the distance of six centuries we cannot but
admire Muhammad bin Tughluq for the breadth of his vision. The
rapidity of the Turkish conquest of India, as I have tried to prove
elsewher.e,13 was due to the fact that Hindu society was divided into
two sectIOns, between whom there was an impassable gulf-the
Aryan cas.tes and the non-caste groups, the latter being the basic work-
ers of India; also the fact that Muslim kings could sit on Indian thrones
t.or five Shihabuddin Ghuri was primarily due to the
fact that then posItion was a guarantee to the working classes that
the worst features of the caste-system would not return.
Barani conveys to us a wisdom of which he is himself unaware.
India could not have been _properly governed without help from the
Sons of the soil. The Slave kings, unable to obtain that co-operation,
merely made arrangements for the payment of revenue with the exist-
ing Hindu chiefs-rais, l'anas, rawats, and (lower than them) the
chauclhw'is, khuts and muqaddams. The government of the Delhi sul-
tanat could not be carried on without a knowledge of Persian as well
as the local dialect just as the British Indian government needed a
kno:-"ledge of b?th English and the provincial language. It is also
obvIOus that while government work at the lowest level-i.e. that_of
the patwal'i-had to be carried on in the local language, for the higher
officers a knowledge of Persian and of Muslim ways of life would
be necessary. '
But what groups of Hindus would be incited to learn Persian
immediately after the Ghurian conquest? Not the great mis, who
could employ interpreters fol' their slight administI'ative contacts
with Delhi. The great merchants and bankers could employ inter-
preters, but they would find a knowledge of Persian at the conver-
sational level useful. Now knowledge of conversational Persian is
not hard to acquire for a north Indian; Persian verbs differ from
those of the Indian languages, but a small percentage of nouns is
the same, and the construction of sentences is similar. An illiterate
Indian (whether Hindu or Muslim), if taken to Persia and com-
pelled to shift for himself in a purely Persian environment, can
learn to express himself in Persian in six to eight weeks. A Hindu
in <Alauddin's Delhi could have learnt to speak Persian almost
effortlessly in five or six months.
But Persian at the clerical and, later on, at the literary level
would be learnt by all members of the non-caste groups (whether
converted to Islam or not) who were determined to better their lot
by co-operating with the government of the day, which according
Life and thought at Zlyauddin Baranl
331
to all sane calculations had come to stay. We find clear indications
of progress in this respect. A new middle-class man emerges the
nawisandah or clerk. It Sharaf Qaani had the central revenues com-
pared with the patwal'i's papers and exacted every jital, he must have
had a large bilingual staft. If the number of nawisandahs undergoing
punishments for their offences varied from 7,000 to 10,000, their total
number (even if these figures are somewhat exaggerated) must have
been fairly large.l4 .
The membership of a governing-class, whatever the character of
that governing-class, requires not only a common language and cul-
ture but also a common way of life-or at least a knowledge and
tolerance of each other's ways of life. During the period of the Slave
kings, membership of the higher bureaucracy was dangerous for an
Indian Musalman and impossible for a Hindu. But the Khalji revo-
lution seems to have brought about a change. Amir Khusrau in his
Khazainul Futuh15 tells us that Sultan <AlauJdin sent an army of
thirty thousand horsemen under a Hindu officer, Malik Naik, the
Akhiu'-bek Maisamh, against the Mongols, Ali Beg, Tartaq and Targhi.
The position of low-born men (whether Hindus or Muslims) in the
government of Muhammad bin Tughluq was the natural culmina-
tion of a process covering a century and a half. The list given by
Barani is only of <precious specimens' and not complete. Isami men-
tions Kandi Rai among the leading officers of Qutlugh Khan, the
viceroy of the Deccan; he also refers to the fact that a Hindu by the
name of Bharan was the governor (maqta) of Gulburga.l
6
And even
Barani can record a fact like the following withont comment: "'A
mehta (Hindu administrative officer) was appOinted to Kamal and
its rana, Kankhar, was brought captive before the court."17 But
Barani (for good reasons as we shall see) had not the courage to name
the greatest man in the list-Kannu, a Hindu convert, whom M;l-
hammad bin Tughluq promoted gradually to the post of the nalb
wazir of the empire.
These facts cannot fail to suggest some reflections. If every Rajput
rai had kept a composite government, inclusive of the non-caste
groups, like that of Muhammad bin Tughluq, a truly national resist-
ance to the Turks would have been possible and Shihabuddin Ghuri
would have failed; and, in any case, the Turkish power in India
would have been shortlivedlike the Mongol (or Yuan) dynasty of
China. Secondlv these low-born men were a source of strength to
the 'Barani's hostile account leaves us in no doubt about
their loy;ltv. Thirdly, these 10'.v-born men were the only Hindus
whose co-operation the sultan could get. The 1'ais of his day would
n"t- h""" h""n ",;IBn" t() pntpr sp.rvice as imnerial officers like the
332 Polifics and Society darillg the Eady Medieval Period
Rajput princes of Akbar's time. The fourth paint is only a matter for
speculation, but perhaps we are on the right track. The functions of
the kayasthas in the administrative and revenue history of India are
well known. But it is said, perhaps correctly, that they are a profes-
sion and not a caste. ,Vill we be justified in finding the origin of the
kayasthas in those Hindus who, regardless of caste, began learning
Persian in the thirteenth century, gradually acquired the culture of
both the communities and ultimately made themselves indispensahle
in revenue anel accounts?'
Muhammad hin Tughluq's relations with the mystics and the
1Ilama neeel not be discussed here. Barani does not raise the ques-
tion, and though some of them refused to serve the sultan and others
were tempted into his service, their careers as administrative officers
were temporary and tragic. Mr. Khaliq Nizami after examining the
whole evidence available comes to the following opinion: It seems
obciolls that Muhammad bin Tughluq wished to exact the same work
from religious scholars and mystics as the piolls caliphs and demand-
ed from the learned and the pious-the service of the state. 18 This
is correct. But it was nevertheless an error. "Our religious scholars",
Ibn-i-Khalclun remarks, "are farthest removed of all from poli-
tical affairs."19 Persons taken from religious circles, whether acade-
mic or mystic, as Mr. Khaliq Nizami frankly admits, conld give' no
help to the sultan in his administrative affairs, while some of them
perished in the course of the service. An example should suffice.
The sultan, who was a murid (spiritual diSCiple) of Shaikh Alauddin,
a grandson of the famous Shaikh Fadel of Ajudh:1n,
Muizzuddin son of Shaikh Alauddin to the governorshIp of GUJarat.
In consonance with Chishti mystic principles, the appointment
should have been refused. But the temptation of becoming a pro-
vincial governor was too great. The sultan Qrdered Muizzuddin to
be given two lacs of tankas so that he may organise a body of two
or three thousand well-equipped horsemen and march with the royal
,standard, On reaching Anhilwara the sultan ordered Muizzuddin to
establish himself there with his officers while the sultan himself
marched to Mount Abu. But later on, when the sultan had march-
ed to the Deccan to suppress the first rebellion of the Deccan sadah
I]mil's under Ismail Makh Afghan, Taghi, a shoemaker and a former
slave of Safdar Malik Sultani, rebelled with, the assistance of the vil-
lage-headmen (1J1:Uqadda1l1s). His first step was to capture
wara; he Imt to death Malik :Muzalfar, who was a counsellor of MUlz-
zuddin, but it suited his purpose to keep Muizzuddin officers
as prisoners and hostages. Taghi had only a small and mobIle army
of rebels and, Shaikh Muizzuddin's defence of Anhilwara must have
Life ,ani! Tli,ot,glll of Ziyallddin Barall; 333.
been tragically inefficient. Later on, when the hot ill
his pursuit, Taghi came to Anhilwara and put Mmzzuddm and all
his officers to death.20 It is a sorry tale, which proves the correct-
ness of Iban-i Khaldun's remark. The 111(1111 a, in general, have con-
fined themselves to the wiser policy of declaring academically as to
how affairs should be conducted instead of undertaking the harder
and more dangerous task of conducting thern.
To sum up: The great test of truth is experience. Bm'aui's the'OlY
about state laws (zawabit) is correct because il was based on the
administrative experience of the Delh,i sultanat. But it is not possi-
ble to discover any value, practical or theoretical, in his doctrine that
the offices of the state should he the monopoly of the and
"0 by descent from father to son. He admits again again that
'his doctrine will not work, but attributes its failure to the wicked-
iless of Time and the revolving Sky!
1. Tarikh-i Silahi. Pl'. 26-27.
2. Ibid, pp. 250-1.
3. The surnames pave that they were not of Turkish descent.
4. The following paragraphs will give some idea of the irnpression left On Barani' 5
mmd bv ,],e bloodshed of the regime: "Everyone of the aforesaid designs, when im-
plemented in practice, led to disturbances, distress and ruin; the hearts of the select
and the commons were filled with hatred ,of Sultan Muhammad; 'and firmly established
regi0ns and telTitories went out of hand. As his orders were not carried in the
way he wanted, the temper of the sultan became worRe and :-vorse; and owmg to the
temper of the sultan. people were heheaded like herbs and mdishes. This
work of killing IVlusahnans, who believed in one God and were Sllnnis, was taken up
bv a body of wicked men, the like of whom have not been created from the time
at Adam till today and even Hajjaj hin Yusuf did not deserve to be their slave or
servant in the matter of \\"ere Zain Band Mukhtasul Mulk; Yusuf
Bughra; ,Khalil, son of the, Sar-Dawatdar; Muhammad Najib; the accursed Shahzada
Nihawandi;Qaranful Sayyaf (Swordman) the accursed Aiba; Mujir Abu Re;ah, on whom
be it hundred thousand curses of Gael; the son of qazi Gujnrat Ansari; and 'all the three
wretched sons of Thanesari. They devoted themselves to nothing else except the' kill-
ing of Musalmans. By Gocl, it is my fiml conviction that if twenty prophets had been
nssigne(1 1"01' being put to cleath to Zuin Banda, Yusllf Bllghra and the worthless Khalil,
they would not have allowed a night to pass before executing the order. The, king
was engaged day and night in the design of punishing the mischievous (sharir), and
thonsands of accused were put to death uncler tbis charge. The few above-mentioned
persons, who have been the worst of men in this world and the next, were the chosen
and specially trusted officers of his court" (Tllrikh-i Fimz Siwhi, Pl'. 471-72).
"With my own eyes I have seen that no day passed without Sunni Musalmans being
beheaded like herbs and radishes, and a stream of Muslim blood being made to How
before the royal gate. They had organised a deparhnent of punishment and some wret-
334 Politics and Society during the Etlrly Med/eval Period
ched, irreligious people were appointed jurists (mufti) of this department, while other
persons, who were apostates and infidels in temperament, Were appointed its officers,
controllers and investigators. The work of punishment was carried to such an extent
that the sky and the earth, the heavens and the angels, became sick of it and began
to hate it" (Ibid, p. 497).
Under these circumstances 'Isami, a hostile critic, naturally reflects: "If the people
of the counhy hecome of onc mind and rebel with a united heatt .and suddenly attack
this enemy of the Faith, it would not be surprising if they are able to throw his
(severed) head on the ground" Salatin, p. 436). But not even an attempt
to assassinate Muhammad bin Tughluq has been recorded, and we always find him
surrounded by officers sternly loyal.
5. Tariklt-i. Firuz Shahi, pp. 489-9:\:.
6. 'Isami, Flltllh-us Saiatin, pp. 420-27.
7. Tm'ikh-i Firuz Shahi, pp. 503 and 507.
8. Ibid, p. 504.
9. Ibid, p. 145.
10. Thus 'Is ami, their spokesman, while condemning Muhammad bin Tughluq, shows
the greatest respect for 'Alauddin Khalji.
n. Himar literally means 'the ass': this title. was given to people out of regard
for their physical stamina. But with the addition of a dot, it may be read as Klwm-
maT, meaning vintner.
12. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, pp. 504-5.
13. Introduction to Elliot and Dawson, Vol. II, Cosmopolitan Puhlishers, Badar
Bagh, Aligarh. For the condition of the non-caste groups about 1030 A.D. see Sacbau's
translation of Alberuni's Iudia, Vol. I, chapter IX and Vol. II, chapter LXIV. It is
not certain when the Manusmriti was written, but the position it prescribe" for
thl) chandalas or non-caste groups is not substantially different from the account given
hy Albenmi on the 1:>asis of his personal observations (Code of Manu, Buhler's trans-
lation, Chapter X). .
14. Tmikh-i Fil1lZ Shahi, pp. 296-97. 'Alauddin. says: "Owing to the thefts of
clerks (nawisandahs) and revenue-officers, perhaps I have reduced ten thousand clerks
to destihition in the city and put worms info their bodies." See also p. 382) where
Sultan Mubarak Shah is said to have set free six thousand or seven thousand prisoners
of Alauddin Khalji at Delhi and sent fast runners with instruction to set free those
in the provinces. .
15. My translation, Campaign, of 'A/.auddin Khalii, (pp. 26-27). In his Dawal Rani
Khizr Khan, Khusrau c1enitely declares that Malik Naik was a Hindu servant (banda)
of the august court. Barani also refers to Malik Nayak Akhur-bllk. (p. 320) but does
not definitely state that he was a Hindu,
16. 'Isami, Flltuh-.lS Sala"tiu, pp. 457 and 464.
17. Tariklt-! Firuz Shahi, p. 523.
18. Religious Tendencies of the Delhi Sultans, (Urdu), p. 366.
19; Muqadda1lla, Ibn-i- Khaldun (Urdu Translation, 11')04) Vol. III, p. 218. "AT
u7nma 110.<; sayasiuat."
20. 'Tm'ikh-i Firuz Shah;, pp. 508-18,
Life and Thought of Ziyauddilll Baranl
335
Chapter VI
ZIYAUDDIN BARAN!: YOUTII AND AGE
Ziyauddin Barani talks as if he was the chosen victim of fate, but
his life till his fall in 13.51 seems to have been fairlv comfortable.
We do not know when his father died, but such indications about
his life, as he has left us, make it clear that till about his fiftieth vear
he lived like a !!entleman. of leisure, leadine: that double life whieh
till the last generation or two our Indian society considered to be the
proner thine: for rich citizens, and which as a p'eneral rule was not
onlv tolerated but aTlproved. His father had left him a lar!!e, ner-
hars a palatial, house at KailuP'arhi, a suburb of Delhi which Sultan
Muizzuddin Kaiqubad had laid out as more sllitable for his <ray
life. It is quite likely that after Kaiqubad's death many dancinp'-
('irls, buffoons, musicians. (iokers\ etc., went on living in
that suburb, where thev hAd built their houses. There was no nro-
hibition of a gay life under Talaluddin or Alauddin, provided law
and order were not disturbed. Accordinl! to Ferishta the rates for
dancim!-p'irls were also included in 'Alauddin's comnrehensive tariff,
so that the lives of voun!! men might not be ruined. Here our author
seems to have kept his shve-r-irls Rnd musicians. For the more res-
pectable aspect of his life, he huilt a house for himself Jlt Ghiays-
pnr. where he met his literary friends and where he led that life of
')xtcrnalist relip'ion, which was necessary in the neighbourhood of
the Q'reat Shaikh.
We have only Barani's own word for sayin!! that he had led a life
of pleasure; but he insists on the matter and there is no reason for
disbelievin!! him. "On readin\!' mv own narrative of the pleasures en-
joved bv thJlt king (Kaiqubad)," Bm'ani writes in his Tarikh-i Fi1'UZ
Shahi.1 "and of sensualists (mlllash), beauties, habihlal lovers and
heart-throwers of that rei.[1n, I become unconscious. And in mv
present condition, when owin[ to old age and weakness not a sin2'le
tooth has remained in mv p'ums, and I am dish'essed in mind and :1
victim of my opponents (md bowed down by the kicks and blows of
my enemies and rivals, I recollect my youth ae:ain as well as the
pleasure-parties and eniovments of the past, which I partook with
noble-minded persons of high resolve. In rnl/ 'maialis' (parties) them
were plentlf of beauties, witty persons, unrivalled humottrists, women
with excellent looks, rose-faced (beauties) with silvertf shanks, cypress-
statured 'saqis', !faun! with sU[1ary lips, distinf!uished musicians
and ghazal-l'eciters.
2
It stings mIl heart! Owin!! to the scarcity of
thpc;:p O"r(uinc: Antl rruTlnO" t() mv nf c:llvpl" !:Inrl O'n.lrl T o:lTn lnnflnQ.;J
Politics alld Society dW';llg the Emly Mediecal Period
to !1l." lahourinus and disgraccd corncr, afl'li<:tccl, valueless and with-
out a purchaser. vVhat am I to do? To whom am I to take this
Histol'Y and ask for justice? I have, however, written these few
pages about the events and memories of thc Muizzi period. I have
(also) composed with reference to the pleasure 'and enjoyment of
Sultan Muizzuddin and his coritemporaries a vohinie of ghazals (gha-'
zallui-i dhvani) in praise of the ele,!!ance of beauties and liamed it the'
Qubb(itut Tarikh.:3T-Iad it come 'before the literary critics or the'
lifetary geniuses of the past, this cloud of sorrow. would have been
l'el110Ved from my breast and the pain of my heart cured owing to
their praise and justice. And bv the soul of those masters 'of litera-
ture,4 who were once my . friends and companions, in the whole of
Hindustan no literarv man of eminence or master-author comes to'
IlW mind to whom (may take my works and owing to whose praise
and justice I may feel satisfaction and peace in my dry and.desolat-
eel heart And if I try to send the afore-mentioned pages,. from
every word of which enjoyment increases, to a mDll of wealth, who
has a desire for the enjoyment (of the company) of men of wit ancI,
clegance or has the high resolve of noble souls: TJ[! that God wlw
has Twnolll'ed me at the beginnil1g and disff-raced me at 'the end 01
1111{ life, I do not see such a cultmed, aesthetic, courageous 'm}d
noble-born person anvwhere. And if in mv impotence and help-
lessness I wish to find a khanzada or a 11lalikzada who is cultured,
desirous of pleasure, clissinated and capable of providing the nieans o.f
comfort to. others and who owing to his refined and cultured mind
can obtain pleasure from the above-mentioned vain' wmds of Jove
,mel so. that I mav deceive him and get gold out of him,
then I swear by the natnre and faces of coquette" (nazn'inan) and the
Q'race and glances of moon-faced women that I"can find no sHch
any trace of him. So helplessly I weep over my life
and pass mv days somehow. The despair that is in mv heartRo.ws
in tears of blood from mv eves; a wave from the river of hlood po.urs,
out of my eves, drips from mv ven and stains the paper."
It is relief to look at the other side of Bm'aufs life. He did no.'e
ret mw post in the reie;n o.f 'Alanddin Khalii; still he had access to.
all circles. except the hip-hest conrt circles. hut even of these IJe came
to know a lot. His father and ]mcle had been amon.1! the
officers of the land and no. house would close its doors to him. He
was .. for example, on intimate terms with o(ficers like Malik Lanl
Be.g. He had access to Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliva .. and his circle,
and Amir Khurd in his Si1{([/'ul Auliya quotes a. c01{versation between
him and the great Shaikh from his extinct T-Iasl'at Namah. ,Our allthor
gives the highest praises to the scholars of 'Alauddin's reign in the trq-
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Baranl
337
ditional as well as the rational sciences, and after giving a list of
forty-six leading scholars of Delhi, he adds: "The forty-Six scholars,
whose names I have given are those with whom I have studied or
hefore whom' I have presented myself; I have met most of them at
meetings and parties or have seen them when teaching."5 Similarly
when writing about the Saiyyids, he remarks: "The author of the
Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi has had the good fortune of meeting Saiyvia
Tajuddin and Saiyvid Ruknuddin and has performed the rite of kis-
sing their feet. I have seldom seen Saiyyids with such dignity and
orthodox virtues."6 Our author lived at Delhi through the StOlIDV
reil!n of 'Alauddin Khalji, seeing evelything, observing everything
and discussing everything. Though occaSionally he forgets the se-
quence of events, his account of 'Ala uddin's rei/Zn is more complete
than that of any other king. It was a period of terror, of achieve-
ment, of cultural advance and of material prosperity; and all its fea-
tures sank deep into Barani's mind.
From his literary friends of the past, onr author's memory selects
two for special note, of whom anyone would have been prOlid-Amir
Khusrau and Amir Hasan-though one cannot but reeTet that Barani
so completely abandoned their 'ideals flfter they dead. .
"In th0 time of 'Alauddin Khalji", he tells us,7 "there were poets
such as the eye of time has not seen since then--or even before. The
incomnarable Amir Khusrau has been the kinl! of poets ancient and
modern.
8
He has no rival either in the number of his 'writin/Zs, the
invention of new ideas or the explanation of hidden meanings. If
the masters of prose and verse have been unrivalled in one or two
branches, Amir Khusrau excelled in all branches.9 Such a master-
poet, who excelled in all branches of poetry, not been seen in
the past and may, or may not, be seen till the Day of ,Tudp-ement.
Amir Khusrau has written a whole library of nrose aiJd verse and has
worked wonders in the art of composition. KhwaiaSanailO have
written the following verse in praise of Amir Khusrau: By God, if
finder the blue sky there is. has been or will be (lnyone like him!
"And in addition to his learninl!, literary excellences, art and elo-
Quence, he was a sufi (mystic) of stable s'piritual position. Most of
his life was pasged in fastinp', prayer, devotions and the reading of
the Quran. He fasted continuously and was one of the chosen. dis-
ciples of Shaikh Nizamuddin. I have not seen another disciple with
such firm faith in the Shaikh. He was unrivalled in the perform-
ance of obligatory as well as superogatorv He had a com
mendable portion of spiritual love and affection (ishq wa 1(mhahh([t\:
he loved mystic songs and was a man of ecstaslesand deli)!hts. He
excelled in musical perfOlIDances as weU as musical inventions.!]
338
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
Almighty God had created him eminent in all arts that appertain to
a refined and aesthetic mind. His was a unique existence and a
wonder for these later times.
"The second incomparable pO,et of the period of 'Alauddin was
Amir Hasan SijzL12 He has manv works in prose and verse. His c o ~
positions were considered models owing to the excellence of theIr
literary construction and fluency of style. As he has written plenty
of fluent and emotionally inspired (waidani) ghazals, they have called
him the Sa'di of India. And among persons endowed with excel-
lence of character, I seldom met anyone like him in relating anecdo-
tes and making witty remarks at parties, in ready information about
the sultans, dignitaries and great scholars of Delhi-in stability of
reason, in living according to the principles of the sufis (mystics), in
the necessary virtue of contentment,. in pure faith, in living happily
and passing time happily without any worldly means and in leading
a celibate existence free from wordly connections.
"There has been affection and friendship between me and Amir
Khusrau and Amir Hasan for years. They could not live without
my company and I too could not forsake their company. Owing to
my friendship with them, these two masters also became friends and
began to visit each other at their houses.l
3
"Owing to the I!reat faith which Amir Hasan had in Shaikh Nizam-
muddin, he has collected in several volumes all the conversations of
the Shaikh exactly as he heard them during the period of his .disci-
pleship and I'iven them the name of Fawa'idul Fu'ad.l4 In these days
his Fawa'idul Fu'ad has become the text-hook of true diSciples. Amir
Hasan has several diwans (of IZhnzals\ letters (sahaif) in prose, anf!
many masnavis (romantic poems). His conversation in society was
sweet and witty; also he was a pleasant companion, capable of under-
standing the minds of others, and excellent in manners and I'ood
form. I have found more happiness and good cheer in his company
than in the company of anyone else."
II
It must be remembered that Barani was very much youn,eer than
his two great friends. Amir Khusrau died a few months after Shaikh
Nizammudin (A.D. 132.5) in the eallv months of the rei!!n of Muham-
mad bin TUl'hluq. Amir Hasan ~ e n t with the sultan to Deval'iri
and died there. Both Amir Khusrau and Amir Hasan were in !!ov-
ernment service, and the direct confessions of the former and the
indirect remarks of the latter leave us in no doubt that they found it
a hideous burden and a deeTadation. Barani, coming from a familv
of old Qfficers, probably feJt differently. He W<lS cQnvi)1ceq that th(l
Life and ThoUght of Zlyauddin Baraiti 339
well-born had a right to high government posts, and the fact that
he was not given any office till his fiftieth year may have further
incited him against the mean and the low-born. However in the
autumn of A.D. 1334 Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq appOinted
Barani as his nadim or courtier. It was an office of much profit but
no responsibility and not suited to a man with self-respect.
The great Seljuq wazir, Nizamul Mulk Tusi, in his Siyasat Nama
15
has given an account of the courtier's position and duties. These
duties would naturally differ according to character of the king; but
judging'from Barani's own confessions, the description of the Siyasat
7\lama applies to him:,
"The king", says Nizamul Mulk, "has no alternative but to employ'
courtiers so that he may be frank and intimate with them. Associat-
ing for long with the great amirs and generals of the army injures
the prestige and dignity of the king, for it makes them bold. In short,
if the king appoints a person to an office or an administrative duty
(amal), he should not make him a courtier; if he appoints anyone a
nadim (courtier), he should not appoint him to any office (amal), for
owing to the freedom he has on the king's carpet, he will become
aggressive and do harm to people. The officers should be always
afraid of the king. The courtier should be bold, so that the king
may obtain delight in his company; the king's mind is put at ease
owing to the courtier. The courtiers should know their time; when
the king has adjourned his court (bar) and the great' officers have
retired, that is the time for the courtiers.
"There are some advantages in emploving the courtier. First, he
is a friend of the king. Secondly, since he is with the king day and
night, he is in the position of a bodyguard for the king. Thirdly, if
a danger arises, the courtier sacrifices his life and makes his body a
shield for the king. Fourthly, it is possible (for the king) to sav a
thousand things, in jest or in seriousness, to the courtier, which it is
not possible (for him) to say to the wazir and to great officers of the
government, for they are holders of high posts and managers of his
affairs. Fifthly, they inform the king of the actions of the maliks,
like spies. Sixthly, they can speak boldly about all sorts of things
and, in sobriety and during intoxication, they can explain the good
and bad (affairs of the state) to the king; and in this there are many
advantages of policy.
"The nadim (courtier) ought to be well-born, accomplished, good in
manners, pleasant in appearance, orthodox in faith, worthy of con-
fidence and pure in his ways. He should be able to tell plenty of
stories, jocular as well as serious. He should remember a lot of pro-
verbs. He should always speak well (of people) and be a bringer of
Politics and Society' during the' Early Medieval Period
happy He should know nard16 If he can play
on musical instruments and wear arms, It IS hetter. He should
(always) a!!Tee with the king. When the king anything to
his lips and speaks' he should say 'Bravo! Excellent! He should
not tell the king: "Do this'; 'Do not do that'; 'Why have youdone
that?'; 'This should not he done'. Such speech appears dIfficult. to
the king and he dislikes it. It is proper!or, the to WIth
the courtiers whatever 'appertains to dnnkmll, enjoyment,
mailises, hunting, playing the ball11 and the. like. But it is better
for the king to arrane-e with the wazir, the hIgh officers of the state
and, experienced old men whatever appertains t.e the
,battles. campaigns, administration, revenue, marnage Jour-
neys, ,toppages, arrily riliyyat and the like, for thev are hIS
in' these things.' Thus every matter will be properly arranged ...
By the tenth vear of Muhammad bin Tukhlu?'s re.cion, when
Bm'ani was appoi1lted, the objectives of the sultan s pohcy and thp
methods by which he soug'ht to were to
Barani fullv accepts before God and man his responsIbIlIty for hiS
actions as'a courtier,. He was loyal to his sultan, bl1t,
there many aspects of the sultan's policY that distre.,sed and
horrified him, and the 'most horrifvind thin!! to him was the constant
sheddil1!) of Muslim blood under aU Idnds of pretexts. "The killiUP'
of the Muslamans and believers in one GorY', Barani tells .I1S, "bad
hecome a part of the sultan's character ha?i:. lIe had put'to
death a lar)!'e number of ttlama (externahstic scholars), ma-
shaikh (mystic leaders, saiyvids, sufis (mvstics), qalandal's, clerks (na-
and soldiers (In.shk'Zris). No day or week passed but 'the
blood' of a number of Musalmans was shed and a sprino: of blood
was made to flow before the entrnnce to the roval g-ate.l
8
"
And I, an ung-rateful Wl:etch, who had read many books and had
a portion of the knowledo-e that edines. practised hypocrisy and ob-
tained a position near the sultan. I had not the courage to speak to
the sultan in the matter of capital punishment, which is a violation
of the sha;'i' at. I was afrakl on. account of my life. which is sure to,.
end, and for my wealth, which is sme to flenArt. My silence in the
matter would have been a lesser offence: but for the silh, of
and iitals and the' desire for a position near to the Idnp'. I became an
accomplice in the matter hv assistance to the violations of
s'lia1'i'at and recitinp.: worthless precedents, I do not know. what WIll
bappen to others like me, ,But I. on accoun: of ,the evil things I said
and did, have become disgraced, contemptIble, valueless and
worthy of reliance in this world:, I have becorM dishonoured
door to Qoor (l!1 aCGount of my poverty. I do DOt kJIOW what WIll
Ufe aruJ. Thought vf Ziyauddin Baran!
be my fate in the next world and what punishments await me."19 The
sultan, it is needless to add, felt quite convinced that his continuous
death-penalties and other punishments were justified, and to the very
end of his life neither his conscience nor his judgment troubled him
about the matter.
Barani must have had many opportunities of COIlversation with the
sultan, but he only gives us an'account of four conversations: '
, 1. The sultan's ex-teacher, Qutlugh Khan, had been an efficient
viceroy of Devagiri. He was firm, tactful and solicitous for the
public good. He had suppressed rebels like Shahab Sultani and Ali
Shah of Kara (a nephew of Zafar Khan, Sultan Alauddins (Diwan-i
A1'z) and sent them to Delhi.20 But his ways were very different
from those of the sultan; the sultan recalled him and appointed his
brother, Maulana Nizammuddin Alimul Mulk, temporarily in his
place. When the sudah-ami1's of Baroda and Dabhoi revolted and
defeated Muqbil, the naib-wazir of Cujarat, the sultan made up his
mind to march against the rebels. At this juncture Qutlugh Khan
sent through the mediation of Barani a letter to the sultan to the fol-
lowing effect; 'The sadah-ami1'S of Baroda mld Dabhoi are not of
sufficient importance for the sultan to march against them. They
have rebelled on account of . the bad ways and the punishments of
Aziz Khammar; if they hear that the sultan is marching against them
they will take refuge iri Hindu territories, but resentment against the
sultan will spread among the sadah-amirs.' Qutlugh Khan under-
, took to raise an army out of the inams he had received from the
sultan's generOSity and to defeat the rebels of Gujarat in the same
way as he had defeated the rebels of the Deccan. Barani read out
the letter to the sultan, but the sultan did not like the suggestion of
Qutlugh Khan and gave no reply.21
2. During his march against the Cujarat rebels, the sultan stopped
for four or five davs at the town of Sultanpur on of the Rama-
zan month. "Once towards the end of the night", Barani tells us,22
"I was summoned by the sultan. 'You see how many rebellions are
arising', the sultan said to me, 'I am not afraid of these
But people say that these rebelliol1S are due to the exceSSIve capItal
punishments of the sultan. Well, I am not going to give up my punish-
ment owing to what people say. You have read many histories.
Have vou read anvwhere about the crimes for which kings have m-
Hicted' capital punishments?'" Bm'mli quoted from one of his favour-
ite bogus books, the Tarikh-i KiS1'avi. PuniShments, were necessary
for the maintenance of the state. But Jamshed in reply to' a ques-
tion had said: 'The inHiction of capital punishment by the king is
justified in the case of seven offences; if the king goes beyond these
Politics and Socii1ty during Em;iy Medieval Perivd
limits, troubles for the kingdom will arise.' Barani then proceeded
to cm:merate the seven ofiences for whkh alone Jamshed had pres-
cribed capital punishment:- '(i) the
creed and insistlllg on that en-or; (u) mnrder-killing a subject of
the kina intentionally (and without justification); (iii) adultery-the
of a married man with the wife of another; (iv) cons--
piraey-planning the king,. provide.d the
is proved; (v) rebelhon-leadmg a agamst king, or
helping a rebel leader; (vi) aiding the k!ng s a
helps the king's enemies, opponents or nvals by ili:em mfor-
mati on, arms, or assists them in other ways, and tins fact IS proved;
(vii) disobedience-disobedience the king in a way that endangers
the state but not disobedience of other kinds.'
To the sultan's question about offences for which the Prophet had
prescribed capital punishment, Barani replied-'Apostacy, murder
and adultery'. Capital punishment for the other four, offences are
the responsibility of the king for the welfare of the state. He then
quoted a supplementary remark of Jamshed: have
wazirs, raised them to a high status and put the affarrs bf the king-
dom in their charge. In consequence of this, wazirs have been able
to make laws (zmvabit) for the state and to enforce them permanent-
ly; and owing to the enforcement of these laws, it has not been
necessary for the king to sully his own hands with the blood of any
creature,'23
The sultan replied: "The punishments prescribed by J amshed
were for ancient times. In these days plenty of wicked and mis-,
chievous people have been born. I inflict capital punishments on
the basis of suspicion and presumption of rebellion, -disorder and
conspiracy. I put people to death for every diso?edi:nce I
see in them, and I will keep inflicting capital pUnIshments 111 thIS way
till either I perish or the people are set right and give up rebellion
and disobedience. I have no wazir who can frame such laws for my
kingdom that it may become unnecessary for me to smear my hands
with blood, Also I inflict capital punishments because people have
become my enemies all of a sudden. I have distributed so much
treasure among the people, but no one has becume my sincere well-
wisher. The temper of the people has been clear-ly revealed to me;
they are my enemies and opponents."24 . ,
3, After MulIammad bin Tughluq had crushed the rebellIOn of
the Deccan amirs but before he could pacify the ten-itory, he heard
of the rebellion of Taghi in Gujarat and decided to march
him. Barani, who was then at Delhi, was sent by Firuz Shah, Mahk
Kabir and Ahmad Avaz-the triumvirate to whom the duty of actin!!
Life and tilOugl.t of zjyauddin Baran!
for the sultan at Delhi had been aSSigned-with a letter congratu-
lating the sultan on his victory. The sultan had crossed Ghati Satnn
(the ford of Satun) and marched one or two stages when Barani pre-
sented himself.
"The sultan", writes Barani, "received me with great' cordiality.
One day I was riding by the side of the sultan's stirrups. The sultan
kept on talking till the question of the rebels cropped up and he
said to me: 'You see what troubles the ungrateful sadah-amirs are
raising. If I suppress their rebellion in one direction and pacify the
counoy, they l'aise trouble in another direction. Had I at the very
be!!inning ordered the extermination of all the sadah-amifs of Daul-
ahlbad, Gujar'at and Bharoach, I would not have had to face so many
troubles on account of them now, And this ungrateful slave of
mine, Taghi-had I put him to death or sent him as a present (yad-
gar) to the king of Adan (Aden), he would not have been able to
rebel today.' I had not the courage to say in the presence of the
sultan that the o'oubles and rebellions which arose in every direc-
tion--and tire general detestation which was visible-were due to
the excessive capital punishments of the sultan; and that if these
punishments were stopped for a time, may be, the people would be
pacified and the general detestation in the hearts of the select and
the commons would decrease. But from fear of a change in the
. sultan's temper, I could not say this openly before him. Still I said
to myself: 'What (prOVidential) wisdom is this that the very policy
which is bringing about the ruin and destruction of the kingdom
appears to the sultan's mind as a means for its pacification and reha-
bilitation: "25
4, The fourth conversation recorded by Barani concerned the
diseases of the kingdom. Taghi was still at large, but the sultan
had decided to see to the- pacification of Gujarat. Then news came
about the second Daulatabad rebellion and the sultan had to reconsi-
der his programme. "In those days when the sultan was undecided
about going to Daulatabad, he summoned me and said, 'My kingdom
is diseased and its illness cannot be cured by any medicine. If the
physician treats it for lumbago, the fever increases; if he treats it for
fever, there is an obstruction of the arteries, Different diseases have
appeared in my kingdom simultaneously, If I put it right at one
place, disorders appear at another place; if I put it right at the se-
cond place, disorders appear at a third place. What have kings of
the past said about these diseases of the kingdom?'
"I replied, 'Books of history have described the remedies prescrib-
ed by kings for the diseases of the kingdom in a variety of wavs.
c .....'O"VI. .... ."1 - ."0
344 Politics and Socfeiy dWing ~ h e Early Medieval Period
and that a general resentment against them has appeared, have ab-
(Heated from the kingdom and assigned it to one of their sons, whom
they have considered deserving, in their own life-time. They have
then retired to a corner of the kingdom, devoted themselves to eng-
agements that keep away weariness and contented themselves with
the cheerful company of a few courtiers. They have not (after their
abdication) meddled with the affairs of the kingdom. Other sultans,
owing to that disease of the kingdom which is due to the hatred of
the people, have given themselves up suddenlv to hunting, music
and wine, and have assigned all affairs of the state-both principles
and details and the solution of every problem-to their wazirs, high
officers and the supporters of the kingdom. They have not thereafter
made any inquiry or investigation or given orders about any matter.
Such a remedy, provided it is acceptable to the people and the king
is not reputed for seeking vengeance, cures this disease of the king-
dom. One of the most dangerous and fatal diseases of the. kingdom
is the detestation of the select and the commons and the lack of con-
fidence among the generality of the ra'iyyat'.
"The sultan answered, 'If the affairs of the kingdom were settled
according to my wishes, my desire was to go to the sacred Kaba and
assign the affairs of the Delhi empire .to these three persons-Firuz_
Shah, Malik Kabir and Ahmad Ayaz. But in these days I am angry
with the people and the people are angry with me. The people have.
discovered my mind and I have discovered the evil and rebellious
designs of the people. Every remedy I try fails. My remedy for rebels,
opponents, disobedient persons ana evil-wishers is the sword. I will
continue punishing and striking with my sword till it either c ~ t s or
misses. The more the people oppose me, the greater will be my
punishments: "26
III
The rebel Taghi fled to the Jam of Thatta and the sultan decided
to pursue him. Trans-Oxiana was in those days nominally under a khan,
who had to be a descendant of Chengiz. But the real ruler of the
territory was Amir Qazghan (the maternal grandfather of Tamer-
lane) and Qazghan sent an army of 4000 or 5000. Mongols under Altun
Bahadur to help the sultan. The sultan marched against Thatta to de-
feat Taghi and the Jam with an army 'numerous as ants and locusts'
but he developed fever on the 10th of Muharram, 752 A.H. and died
on the 21st of the same month (20 March 1351 A.D.).
The Mongols planned to plunder the leaderless army by attackinr;
it from one side while the Sumeras of Sind were attacking it from the
other. Under these circumstances all the leaders present (including
iife and Thought of Ziyauddin Earani
Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh) elected Firuz Shah their sultan and pla-
ced him on the throne on the 24th Muharram. The election' of the
new sultan restored order and diSCipline; the Mongols were induced
to depart, and the march to Delhi began. On reaching Bhakkar the
army heard that the Khwaja-i Jahan Ahmad Ayaz, whom Muham-
mad bin Tughluq had sent as his deputy (naib-i ghibat) to Delhi,
had put a boy on the throne, declaring him to be the son of the
late sultan and, technically speaking was guilty of rebellion. On
the face of it his action seems inexplicable. Muhammad bin Tughluq
had no son. Though there has been some controversy on the point,
the follOWing caustic verse of 'Isami, written and published while the
sultan was alive, definitely settles the matter. "If the king (Khusrau)
has no son, he wishes the whole world to be like himself."27 Add to it,
Ahmad Ayaz was eighty-four years old; he was a pure civilian and
had never shot an arrow or mounted a troublesome' horse. Baran!
quotes Firuz Shah as stating that Ahmad Ayaz used to get quite out
of breath when mounting the stairs of the Harzar Sutun palace and
that there was a danger that his heart would be affected. Why should
such a man embark on a hopeless rebellion when the amirs and the
army had accepted Firuz Shah?
Shams Siraj Afif in his Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi admits that people in
general believed that Ahmad Ayaz had rebelled after hearing of the
election of Firuz Shah but affirms that this opinion was not correct.
On the basis of his own investigations and of what he had heard from
Kishwar Khan son of Bahram Aiba Kishlu Khan, the former governor
of Multan,' Afif gives the following account of what happened. On
hearing of Muhammad bin Tughluq's death, the Mongols attacked
the chief market of the army-camp and the men were scattered. The
Khwajah-i Jahan had a confidential slave, Malih Tutun, whom he
had sent to the sultan. Tutun left the army-camp while it was being
plundered and gave the follOWing report to the Khwaja-i Jahan at
Delhi: "Sultan Muhammad is dead; the Mongols have attacked the
main market and plundered it. The whereabouts of Firuz Shah and
Tatar Khan are not known; it is not certain whether they have fallen
into the hands of the Mongols or have been killed." Even to this day,
ARf adds, the people of Delhi remember the name of Malhi Tutun.
The Khwaja-i Jahan wept both for Sultan Muhammad and Firuz.
"There was a great affection between the Khwaja-i Jahan and Firuz
Shah-such an affection that no third person could come between
them; the wife of the Khwaja-i Jahan used to call Firuz Shah her son
and did not observe purdah from him." But belieVing that Firuz Shah
was dead, 'the Khawaja-i Jahan took an initiative (ijtihad) and placed
::1'1
346 Poiitics and Socie;fy during the Eariy MeJieoai Per/oJ
the boyan the throne'. This initiative proved to be an error, but
most of the officers at Delhi seem to have agreed with him at the
time. When the Khwaja-i Jahan heard of the advance of Firuz Shah,
he kept on collecting an army from political policy, though he had
= intention of fighting. But the late sultan's generosities had ex-
hausted the treasury and he could only collect some twenty thou-'
sand soldiers.
When Firuz Shah's army approached Delhi, Qawamul Mulk (later
on, Khan-i Jahan Maqbul), the naib wazir and the second senior-
most officer at Delhi, fled to Firuz Shah. The Khwaja-i Jahan was
greatly distressed, "with a cloak of singlefold, his rosary between his
fingers, and both his hands folded behind his back, the Khawaja-i
Jahan went up and down the Hazar Sutun, wearing his shoes." But
he refused to allow his officers to go in pursuit of Qawamul Mulk.
He reflected that his design had been an error; it would be best to
submit to Firuz Shah and confess his mistake. So next day', after Fri-
day prayers, he marched with all the officers who had joined him
out of the city of Delhi and encamped by the Alai Tank. To the
questions of his officers about his future intentions, his reply was:
"You should know that in this design of putting a son of Muhammad
bin Tughluq on the throne, I had no personal ambitions. The place
of leadership (imamat) belongs to kings and of wizarat to wazirs. If
kings set their heart on doing the work of wazirs, or wazirs try to do
the work of kings, the country will be ruined in due course. People
on' both sides invent stories, but I have nothing to do with the affair
of king-making. Still, in the reign of Sultan Muhammad I used to.
address Firuz as my son; my wife used to appear before him; and
he used to address me as his father. I do not know what is going to
happen. But you should come with me; Sultan Firuz is a kind man;
he will not ignore my words and will forgive you also." Afif tells us
that the Khwaja-i Jahan was an old man of eighty-four years; his
head was shaved; his beard was white; he was a diSciple of Shaikh
Nizamuddin and looked like a mystic shaikh, who has a mystic inherit-
ance (saiiadah).
Some of his followers protested against this policy, but the Khwaja-i
Jahan drew their attention to the futility of trying to defend the city
of Delhi and the misfortunes it would bring to Muslim women. So.me
of his officers kept him company, while others preferred to fly ..
Qawamul Mulk met Firuz Shah at the stage of Fathabad; the Khwap-I
Jahanreached the royal camp at Dhanswa near Agroha on the follow- .
ing day. When Firuz Shah was holding his court after the asr (after-
noon) prayer, he appeared at the door of the court with a chain round
his neck, a mystic cap (taqia) on his head instead of a pagri (pag) and
Life anJ thought 0/ zlyaudJin. Bawn!
'a naked sword tied to his neck. "At the time of the afternoon court,
there is the distance of an arrow-shot between the king and those who
come to salaam him." When Firuz Shah's eyes fell on the Khwaja-i
Jahan, he ordered his officers to dress him properly, to place him in the
royal litter, to take him to a tent (khu1"mmgah) and to tell him that he
(Firuz Shah) would come to see him there.
Firuz Shah's intention was to forgive the Khawaja-i Jahan and restore
him to the post of wazir. But his officers discussed the matter and
vetoed his design. They came to his palace and sent Imadul
Bashir Sultani to ask for an audience. When Firuz Shah admItted
them, they showed pxcessive reverence: 'The Hai was binding
every Muslim; they wanted his permission to go for the sacred pIl-
grimage. Small political offences, like revenue offences, could be for-
given but not treason. The Khwaja-i Jahan had put a boyan th.e
throne, squandered the cash in the treasury and then stretched hIS
hands to the gold and silver vessels of the state. He had only come
when his cause was lost.'
"Firuz Shah", says Afif, "was intelligent enough to understand that
unanimously and with one voice they were demanding the destruc-
tion of the Khwaja-i Jahan. He became pale with excessive thought
and caution:" Nothing like this could have happened in the :eign of
the late sultan. The officers had not come to discuss but to dIctate to
a ruler, whom they had themselves made. Firuz's nerves failed him
as they were going to do on many future occasions. So af:er
days of reflection, he summoned Imadul Mulk and asked hIm to .m:
form the officers confidentially that they could deal with the KhwaJa-I
Jahan as they liked; he would not interfere in the matter.
informed the Kbwaja-i Jahan on behalf of the sultan that, owmg to hIS
old age, the iqta (province) of Samana had been assigned to ?im.
while dispatching him to Samana, they also sent one of seDlor
most officers, Sher Khan, who was even older than the Khwala-l Jahan,
in the same direction. Sher Khan pitched his tents at the same stages
as the Khwaja-i Jahan, but did not come to see him. "He has been
sent to destroy me", the Khwaja-i Jahan told his friends; and he made
up his mind to anticipate the event.
"Next day the Khwaja-i- Jahan sent a request to Sher Khan !or some
pieces of cloth for a tent and Sher Khan sent .thGm to hIm: The
Khwaja-i Jahan ordered his men to pitch the tent m an open plam and
to make the ground clean and even. After this had been done, 0ev
carried him to tlle place. On reaching the tent a tr?ubled
the Khwaja-i Jahan asked for water, performed hIS ablutIOns and SaId
two rakats of prayers like one of the elect. Then he put on the cap
348 Politics and SOciety dul'ing the Early MedievcU Period
(kulah) he had received from Shaikh Nizamuddin and tied round it a
dastal' (turban)' which also he had received from the great Shaikh.
Then he turned towards the swordsman (sayyaf): 'Have you a sharp
sword?' The man showed his sword. After that the Khwaja-i Jahan
asked a friend of his to perform his ablution and offer two rakats of
prayer. When his friend was ready, the Khwaja-i Jahan placed his
torehead on the ground and kept on reciting the Oath of Affirmation
(Kalima). His friend (as directed) took the sword and severed the
Khwaja-i Jahan's head from his body."28
A correct and impartial account of these events has been given in
order to explain the circumstances of Barani's 'fall', c6ncerning which
he has preterred to remain silent. Two things seem clear. First, he was
at Delhi at the time and must have been Implicated in the so-called
rebellion of the Khawaja-i since all men who mattered had
concurred in the He was not the man to go against a general
movement. This presumption is strengthened by the abusive man-
ner in which he speaks of the Khwaja-i Jahan in order to
himself with the rulers of the. day. He does not tell us that the
Khwaja-i Jahan: acted on wrong infOlmation, though he must have
known that fact; he also tells us nothing about the ultimatum of the
officers to Firuz Shah or of the manner in which the Khwaja-i Jahan'
met his death. Secondly, he had plenty of enemies in the new regime; .
both his words and prove this fact.
At the beginning of the new reign we find him interned (shahr-
band) in the fOl:t of Bhatnir. He may have fled to that place, like
the officers who deserted the Khwaja-i Jahan at the Alai Tank, or .
he may have been seilt there by the order of the government. In any
case he passed five months in suspense awaiting the decision of the
authorities. In the introduction to his Na't-i Mohammadi, he writes
29
:
"After praises of God and blessings on the and his descen-
dants and greetings to the companion: Ziya-i Barani, the greatest
ner of the Prophet's community, states that when the age of thIS
sinner had passed beyond seventy (lunar) years, my strength gave
place to weakness, the senses grew dim, I became frail, and the fear
of facing the last moment (of life), which is a fearful time, over-
powered my breast and the thought 6f meeting the angel of
which is a terrible meeting, took possession of my body. and mmd,
I swear by Muhammad-and God himself has sworn by the head
and life of Muhammad-that though I reflected a lot, I could not
remember a good act or an acceptable deed during the last two
qarns of my life, which had not been ruined and worthl:ss
by the influence of sin and iniquity; I could not m all my hfe
any devotion or virtue under the firm hold of whICh I could seek
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin' Barani 349
protection at the time of surrendering my life, or .. owing to the
strength of which T could go from this world. to the next, or bv
clinging to which I could pass through the trials. and danj!ers of the
next world. Hour after hour as J rem(\mbered the sins and errors of
mv past, I became more and more hopeless."'. .
Such confessions are formal and traditio!)al ilmong
approaching the hour of death and no great significance attaches to
them. But what Barani proce.eds to tell us is more to the point.
"During the five months I was interned (shahl'-band) in Bhatnir, T
lived in sorrow and gloom. In this 8m'row, if I saw the dawn, I did
not know whether I would live till the ni{!.ht; if ni{!ht came, I was
not hopeful of being alive till the morning. And in this con-
dition it came to my mind that I should write a hook in prmse of the .
Prophet Muhammad, bring- into the Persian lan[>"tJa2"e all I had seen
and read in the hooks of traditions (hadis), and use this book as a
firm handle for the moment of death. In truth, I considered this
idea of mine a good inspiration and strength came into my heart. In
the condition in which I am-fol' my affairs have come to such a pass
that all my friends and acquaintances haDe turned awaq fl'Om me
and owinf!, to my misfortunes my enemies and attain-
ed to theil' heart's desi1'e-owing to the composltJon of thIS book.
which is the protection (pusht wa panah) of my religious and world-
ly affairs, I feel a new streng-th in myself from to time."
Barani was apparently free to move about Wlthm . the fort
makes an incidental reference to his being" there m the Tankh-z
Firm Shahi30: "When I was in the fort of Bhatnir, some dang"er of
disturbances arose during" the winter. The people of the villages
(talaundis) came round the fort-wall and the dust raised bv their
horses and cattle was so great that the brig-ht day became dark as
night and people could not see each other's faces .. Hardly. a
sandth part of the 1'a'illyat could enter the WIth theIr
horses. I counted the horses in the stable of Tkhtiaruddm Maddhu,
the barber (hajjam); thirteen horses worth one thousand or two thon-
sand tanka:; were tied there."
The new rulers wiselv decided not to inaugurate their regime with
bloodshed. Only fifteen persons put to death
31
among
whom Barani mentions Ahmad Avaz, Nathu 80dhar, Hasan, Husam
Adhak and. hvoslaves of Ahmad Ayaz. But the relatives of these
rebels 'were not put to death. Ziyiluddin life :was spared
by Firuz Shah, probably on the of Mallkul Umara
Malik Shikar Bek Wamlan Sultani. After. the. death of the late
Sultan (Muhammad bin Tughluq), I Zia-i Barani, allthor of Ta-
rikh-i Fin-lz Shahi', fell into a variety of mortal dangers. Ill-Wishers
350 Politics and Society dUI'ingthe Early Medieval Period
against my life and powerful and strong enemies and rivals strooe for
my death. I was, so to say, driven to madness by the polo-sticks of
their hatred. They attributed to me a thousand kinds of poisonous
words before his maiestl/. If, next to the kindness of God, the mercv.
modesty, affection, kindness, sincerity and regard for truth of the
sultan of the time and the ap"e. Firuz Shah-us Sultan, had not corne to
my rescue, and if he had heard and accepted the poisoned words of
the powerful and inHuential enemies of this weak creature, I would
have been sleeninrr in the womb of mother earth. If the virhlOllS
'character of thi' kind. the of the had not callO"ht
hold of nw hn"rk llOW C'olJld I have been alive today? lowe my lipe
to the sultan".32
IV
But if the f10vernment spared his life, it certainly confiscaled his
pronertv. He mav ha.ve had. to share his father's house at KailuIYarhi
with other heirs. bllt he had himself built his house at Ghiaspur. Then
the late sultan had loaded hi)J1 with gifts and presents. What hap-
pened to all his wealth and property? The only possible anwser is-
confiscation bv the p"overnment. The la.te sultan had been reckless in
his e-ifts w:ith little reg-ard for merit or seryice; a g-ood deal of e-old
and silver had IYone out of Tndia and there was no possibility of p-er-
ting it back. But what had been left at Delhi-could he
recovered. The new government, as we have seen. was desperate]v
in need of cash and commodities; verv probably while EaraJJi was'
awaiting the decision of his fate at Bhatnir, an inventory of his nro-.
perty was made; some income from it was left t? hin:-;omethin<1
which Amir Khurd could in courtesv refer to as pensIOn -but the
rest of it was confiscated. Firuz Shah might have been willing to let
him g-o scotfree. but his hands were tied by his officers. The charO"e
that Barani had been using 'poisonous words' was probably
his books are too full of abusive phrases of a type that do no credIt to
a man of his RO"e, al1il he mav, as a courtier, have too frequently used
poisonous words to please the late sultan.
So on his rerum to Delhi, Barani found 'nothing to live on except
his regrets'. That he was in v-reat want, specially in view of the stand-
ard of life to which he had been accustomed, is certain; it is equally
certain that they did not leave him to starve to death.
fear of the government and the hope that he may be forjlwen, IS
silent both about the charpes brought against him and about the con-
fiscation of his property. But silence under such circumstances is a
confession.
Ltfe and Thought of Ziyauddin Baranl
351
In his old age and poverty, Barani not only longed for the affluence
that had left him but wrote as if he was still capable of sex-life. But
what him really was not desire but the desire for desire.
The follOWing account of the Majlis of Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji,
appertaining to a time when Barani was barely eleven or twelve, but
written in the Firuz Shahi when he was seventy-four, is
significant.
33
"The saqis of the majlis (of Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji) were Yilduz.
the Sar-saqi (the chief cup-bearer), and the sons ot Haibat Khan and
Nizam Kharitadar. They were so lovely, handsome and graceful that
a religious mendicant, if he happened to look at them, would have
tied his rosary round his waist-band and fled from his cell to the
tavern out of love for these breakers of religiOUS vows.
"AmonlY thE' musicians of the mailis were Muhammad Shah. the
chanf!i, who played on the harp (chang) while Futuha and the
daughter of Fiqai and Nusrat Khahm used to sing. The
and melody of their voices induced birds to descend from the air, but
the consciousness of their human hearers Hew away, so that bereft of
their senses. their very life seemed to ehh and How. Mihr Afroz and
tne accomplished daughter of Nusrat BibLwhose excessive beauty
and charms captivated whichever part of the audience they chose to
. p'lance at, danced 1'0 the music. Their motions were so graceful that
the onlooker felt like sacrificinrr his life for them flnd never raised
his eves from the captivating movements of their feet.34
"In short the majlis of the sultan was such as can only'be seen in
drp-ams. Amir Khusrau. the rhief courtipr (mn!iklln nlldama) of thp
sultan's majlis, brought new ghazals everyday in praise of moon-faced
youn2: boys and heart-enchanting beauties; and these f;!hazals were
recited while the saqis invited the audience to drink amidst the mmic
and blandishments of !l'raceful beauties and the dancin!! of fair lrirIs.
Tn that companv, the like of which cannot be seen on the face of the
earth nor described in words, the disheartened and the weary were
recalled to life, while pleasure-seekers found their paradise on earth
the semitive felt like resirrnine- the world and its toils .. The man
who did not feel intoxicated in such a majlis, where the hurs s.at at
the door and fairies (paris) swept their skirts along the ground, must
haveheen entirely devoid of feeling-a strong man with a stony
heart.
35
"As for me, a misj!lIided old man lost in the desert of failure, onh,
a few breaths of life are left to me now. But when I write about the
Sc<:meS of those )J1ajlises, I wish, in memory of those young, life-giving
i
, ,
Politics and Society during the Early Meclieval Period
and moon-like beauties, whose charming and graceful dancing I have
seen and whose songs I have heard, to tie the Brahman's thread
round my shouhlers, to put the Brahman's tika on my accursed fore-
head, to b,lacken my face, and in that condition to wander through
every market and every street, disgracing and humiliating myself in
lamentations on the misfortunes of those queens of the world oJ
beauty and moons of the sky of refinement. Though sixty years have
passed since then, I feel like tearing my clothes, plucking off the hair
of my head and beard, and giving up my ghost in sorrow at the foot
of their graves. Regrets, a hundred thousand regrets for my past!
For t have neither attained to eminence in my religious affairs, nor
have t obtained in mtl worldly life the prMperity that could satisfy
a refined and cultured mind. And now that I am 01(1 fl]1il blind
and confined to my corner, helpless and poor, with nothing but my
regrets to feed npon and nothing to carry away with me (to the other
world) save my unfulfilled desii'es, I often repeat to myself these
verses so applicable to my case:
'iI am neither an infid.el nor a Musalman; neither my heart nbr my
faith is in illy hands: God alone can inform mv heart flhollt mv refll
condition. I am neither Sb'ong in the hope (of divine kindness) nor
firm in my conviction of attaining to salvation, for the path of, mv
hope has brokfm in a thousand places. Where am I to go? What am I
to do? To whom can I explain the feelings of mv heart? I have neither
the power to walk, nor the will to remain The east and west
of mv world are contracted like the breast of an ant; mv earth and
sky haye become small like the circle of a ring. May lord opim
the doors of his favour to me, for I have reached the limits of helD-
lessness, weakness, anxiety and sorrow."36 '
The following lament of Barani also deserves to be noted: "I have
seen this munificent man (Malik Nusrat Sabbah). He was often a imest
at my father's house. Although in these days I am in great helpless-
ness and 'distress, and beggars (khwahandgan) go away disappointed
from my door, nevertheless as I am the son of a generous man, ann
the descendant of Iininificent ancestors, I consider death a thousand
times better than snch a day. I have nothing of my own and I can
borrow nothing from others. Day and night I pine in the desire of
practisimt ,{!enerosity and away and dinal's.37 If in the
writing of this History no other advantage accrues to me, I have at
least included in it an account of the munificence and generosity of
the liberal people about whom I have heard from my father and
grandfather and some of whom I have seen. Owing to the remem-
brance and the description of the munificent, I feel peace (lnd
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Barani
353
far' d I ' -
CIon m my eso ated heart. At their name I am brought fr d th
to life."38 om ea
these. circumstances the main attempt of the eleven chapters
:aram has w.ntten on the first six years of Firuz Shah's reign was to
tfose 1Il power and to praise the regime. He even praises the
or certain things he has himself clearly condemned
The army is not sent on any long campaigns.39 (b)
kee p are more prosperous than at any other time. shop-
as ruler of the market; he buys as he likes and sens
es.. ,c) The property of merchants, bankers
... ratels has exceeded lacs and reached karors.41 (d) "Th .
for anything in the houses of khuts and muqaddams
eu- orses, 3attle and corn."42 (e) There are no intelligence
any to isturb the life of the people-neither secret s
nor oren reporters (munhi).43 All these things have
by in the Fatawa-i Jahandal'i or the earlier
. z Shahz. But he adopts a different standpOint now.
Baram naturally praises th b f . .
sons of Firuz Shah Shadi rd: me
m
hers 0 the .royal family-the two
who were known the . an 0 was vakrJdar) and Fath Khan
in the hamm; and the princes :-v
ere
still kept
nrldin Thrahim.44 Amonp' the hiah ffi . Qutbud.dm and Fakhr-
for special praise: (1) Khan-i tIe fire seleC'ted
has given him full POwers' and k' aq u, the waZZ1'. "The sultan
his wazir as Finlz Shah h' h no mg has shown such favours to
Kh
. as s own to the Khan i T h " ()
an. (3) Maliknsh Shar 1m d I . - . a an. 2 Tatar
mumalik. (4) Malikul . Mulkk Bashll' Sultani, the ariz-i
been ve h al a I ar Be WamIan SuItani. "He has
a great m
h
e, thekauthor of the Tal'ikh-i Fi1'UZ Shahi amI
lUI as spo en a fe 'd' f '
throne." (.5\ Iftikharul M 1]( tl ' w WOl s m my avour before the
Sher Khan'. putsuh: Ie of rUjal'rtt. (6) Mrthmucl-Bek
career, durin!!' which he hIS 90 and 100. "In his long
ami1' and malik to that of =s the grades of sipahsaZar,
rebellion. (7) Zafar Kh'ln th e . as never taken part in any
., e nat wazzl'.
It is no secret that while the Kha . T h
for the sultan_ the decisions a an showed the greatest
CISlOns of the Kha . T h B . ' e i!overnment were the de-
. n-I ,a an. aram has (for P'O d - f .
pomt of view) i!!'nored the -I ' 0 Jeason. rom .hJS own
in his Tal'ikh-i Fil'uZ offthlJ
e
Khan-i Jahan, but Allf
ps_ITT1_'>'> ' S 1 as 0 Ows;
354
Politics and Society duJ'/ng the Early Medieval period
"The Khan-i Jahan was from Telang and his name before his con-
version to Islam was Kannu. He was a man of the greatest honour
in his own community and had a position of distinction before the
rai of Telang. Muhammad bin Tughluq captured rai and sent
to Delhi, but the rai died on the way. The Khan-l Jahan came obedI-
ently to Muhammad bin Tughlaq recited the oath of affirma-
tion (kalima). The sultan gave him the name of Maqbul (Accepted)
and h'eated him with favour. Later on, when the sultan sawall the
signs of intelligence and wisdom in the Khan-i Jahan, he appointed
him naib wazir for the city of Delhi and opened the doors of pro-
motion to him. When the 'Khan-i Jahan
46
sealed and sip"ned a elocn-
ment he wrote his name as follows- 'Maqbul, slave of Muhammad
Tughiuq.' Though the distinguished wazir did not know ho.w read
and write, still he was the wisest of men and through hIS wIsdom
he adorned the capital of the empire. The title of Qa,:"amul Mulk
was given to him during his early career. The of
was assigned to him and later on he was appomted nmb wazzr. The
Khwaja-i Jaban was the wazir of Sultan Muhammad.
"The Khan-i Jahan as naib wazir (deputy wazir) made laws awl
regulations and put the department of revenue in perfect order. The
governors of the provinces had not much fear of the Khwaja-i lahan
but they stood in mortal dread of the Khan-i lahan. If the Khwai8-i
laban wanted the governor of a telTitory to be severely treated, he
handed him over to the Khan-i lahan; and the latter h'eated him
with excessive sternness in accordance with the regulations. Also
when the Khwaja-i Jahan, a religious man, retired from the diwan
(for his devotions), the Khan-i lahan sat in his place; he dealt severelv
with the governors and collected plenty of cash and commodities for
the royal treasury. The Khwaja-i lahan had nothing except the title
of wazir; all the work of the diwan-i wizarat (revenue deparhnent)
was carried on through the experience and intelligence of the Khan-i
Tahan."
The two colleagues became bitter enemies, as we have seen, and
the primary reason why the officers demanded the desh'uction of the
Khwaja-i lahanwas that the post of wazir-and the direction of the
policy of the government-had to be assigned to the Khan-i Jahan.
ARf gives us an idea of his methods of work. c'In accordance with
the traditions of the great wazirs, the Khan-i Jahan sat before the
pillow of his office every day; he carefully investigated the accounts
of governors and other officers and realised the share of the treasury.
The income and expenditure of the treasury were placed before him
every day. He i[lsistec1 and re-insisted that money beyond reckon.ing
Life and Thought of Ziyaflddin Barani
355
should be daily put into the treasury. If on any day the money re-
ceived by the b'easury was not sufficient, he wou:d be exbemely. harsh
towards all his officers and would often go WIthout food to
his thoughtfulness and anXiety. 'The stability of the h.e
would say on such occasion, depends the treasUl:' .. If thel e
not enough money in the treasury, or If the money IS Improperly
spent, the foundations of the j!overnment will be shaken: If, God
forbid, the treasury of a farsighted king becomes empty owml!. t? any
cause, the maintenance of the
this reason the wazir was bent on collectmg treasmes llIj!ht and clu).
Another aspect of the Khan-i Jahan's lifEi should not be overlooked
because it relevant. He was fond of women and utilised to the
. . .. rIM l' %nl"lt j-o keen apv Humber of
fllll i-he l'enmSSlOl1 or t 1e us un ., "-' /." . -' " . ."
slave-!!irls. His agents searched for them in aU countries. It IS ,
ARf tells us, "that he had two thousand slave-girls of all countr.Ies
from Rtlm (Byzantine) to China in his lwrmn; everyone of these
adorned herself with flne dresses and ornaments; and the Kh.an-l
Tahan, in spite of of work, spent much of his sl;,ecl.allv
tPp- religious holidavs, in his haram. He had plenty of chIldren. FmIz
Shah an anmial grant (nan) of eleven thousand tankas for every
son of the Khan-i Jahan and of five thousand tanklls for eveIY
ter. Firuz Shah himself to his position. 'The real, kmg of
Delhi', he would say, 'is the Azam-i Humavun Khan-i lahan .48
To us, in the Delhi sultanat with a Turkish sultan born
of a converted Hindu mother on the throne and a converted Hindu
with an international haram of females as his wazir, may seem to be
some slight rectification of those defects, which were inevitable
when the government was in the hands of a small Muslim governing
class. Also, the position attained by the Khanj J ahan was the result
of a long series of efforts and many failures. The Abyssinian Yaqut
was killed by the Turkish bureaucracy, though he was a good and
pious man b\T all accounts. We know nothing of Raihan, but he wa5
killed bv the party of Ghivasuddil> P11ban on accmmt of his Jnrlinll
birth. The Khalji -revolution, within very narrow limits, opened the
door to new men-to the Indian Musalmans whose ancestors had
been convelted to Islam and who were the bulk of the Musalmans
in the country, to new converts from Hinduism and to unconverted
Hindus. Malik Kafur is the first converted Hindu who carved out an
excellent career in the adminish'ation; the degeneration of his policy
in the later days of 'Alauddin Khalji was probably clue to the fact
that the mass of the officers were against him on account of his origin.
KhUSralI Khan, a royal favourite only, does not count. But in the time
356 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
of Muhammad bin Tughluq we have seen a number of Indians,
Hindus as well as Musalmans, pushing their wav up the adminis-
trative ladder through loyalty and efficiency. Of these officers the
Khan-i Jahan was the most brilliant.
To Barani, a scion of the great free-born Turkish officers of the Bal-
bani regime, all this seemed wicked and a violation of the eternal or-
dinances of providence. He hated Hindus; he hated converted Hindus
no less, for to him Islam was a matter of birth, not of choice. He
hated new men in the administration, whose ancestors had been of
no account. He hated efficiency and loyalty as the two criteria of ser-
vice, for his only criteria for government posts was noble birth, com-
pared with which no other qualification mattered. And good birth
for him meant belonging to an immigrant family from Central Asia
or Persia, which had held high office in India and was, preferably,
free-born and not servile in its origin.
The Khan-i Jaban could not have read Barani's books, which had
not been written by then, but everything Barani said in the cowt of .
the late sultan must have been brought to his notice. Words against
converted Hind1ls. the low-born, etc. which seemed diVinely inspired
to Barani, naturally appeared 'pOisonous' to the members of these
j!"roups. So the Khan-i Jahan made up his mind. He spared Barani's
life out of ree;ard for Firuz Shah, but confiscated most of his pro-
perty and ordered him to keep away from the court. This order also
implied a command to the men of the court to keep away from
Barani. It is to be wished that the Khan-i Jahan had been more
liberal to Barani in the matter of expenditure, but substantially tlie
order was correct. There could be no place for Barani in the neVI<
governing-class or in a court dominated by the Khan-i Jahan. Barani
has nowhere named his enemies. The reason is simple, for the anI v
enemy he could have named was the great wazir of the day! .
1. pp. 165-00.
2. I am inclined to interpret 'my majlis (mailis-i man)' to mean that Barani was
himself at one time in a position to employ these dancing-girls, bhands (baffoons)
(tc.. or at least to pay tbem for entertaining bis friends at his parties.
3. I take this sentence to mean that Qubbatut Tarikh was the name Barani had
given to a volume of his erotic ghazals.
4. The tenTI, 'masters of literature who were my friends and obviously
refers to Amir Khusrau and Amir Husan. No one of their stature was left. Still
there were literary persons of note, like Ainul Mulk Mahru (whose I""ha has been
edited by Professor S. A. Rashid of Aligarh); Tatar Khan, whose Fatawa (Legal
Tudgments), compiled by a group of scholars under his direction, was to be a monu-
fllen-t(tl enterprise Qf whiG" only parts have survived; Ma\ll.na J alaluddin R\lffii, head
Life and Thought at Ziyauddin ilaralll 357
of the College of Firuz Shah by the side of the Alai Tank, and Saiyyid Najmuddin
Samarqandi, who was in cbarge of the college near the Siri dam (Ima1'at-i bala bar
ab-i Si1'i). Barani praises all the four in his account of Firuz Shah's reign. But ob-
viously he praised them from afar and was denied personal access as well as the
privilege of correspondence (Tal'ikh-i Firuz Shah;, pp. 562-65_ 579-00).
5. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, p. 354.
6. Ibid, p. 349.
7. Ibid, pp. 359-60.
B. Khusl'llu means king.
9. Amir Khusrau started his five volumes of romantic verses, the Pani Gani, with
a to tbe Khar""a (five poetical volumes) of Nizami Ganjvi. But in his last
volmne he admitted that Nizami was superior: "Because he specialised in one art,
he has remained unsurpassed-(C!JuIl yak farwh bud, shud yaganah)."
10. That is by anticipation. Khwaja Sanai lived in the reign of Sultan Bahram, the
last descendant of Sultan Mahmud to reign at Ghaznin.
11. In a verse quoted by Daulat Shah in his Tazkiratush Shu' ara. Amir Khusrau
declares tbat bis musical inventions, had it been possible to write them, would have
HlIed three volumes in the same way as his ghazals filled three diwans. His fourth
Ditccw was written later.
12. Not Sanjari as is often written by mistake. Sijzi meat'. belonging to Sijistan,
Ihe ancjent Shakistan (the land of tbe Shakas), now called Sistan.
13. This assertion seems strange in view of the fact that Amir Khusrau and Amir
Hasan were both in the' service of Sultan Muhammad (Khan-i Shahid) while Barani
was still in his cradle. But may be, the relations between tbem became closer owing
to the friendship of both of tbem with our autbor.
14. The Fawa'idul FIt'ad wa'S prepared in five thin volumes; printed together they
make a book of about 250 lithographed pages.
15. The Persian text of the SiyaslRt Nama was edited by the late Prof Scheffer.
But that edition has been long out of print. I have used the excellent edition of
Agha Abbas Iqbal, printed by the Majlis Press, Tehran, Urdi Bihisht, 1320. Prof.
ScheHer translated the Siyasat Nama into French. There is no English translation.
16. A medieval game played with dice.
17. i.e. the medieval polo.
18. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, pp. 465-66.
19. Ibid, p. 466.
20. 'Isami describes these rebellions in his Flttuh-tts SalaNn, pp. 456-80, in some
detail.
21. Tal'ikh-i Firuz Shahi, pp. 507-8.
22. Ibid, pp. 509-11. Since it was the fasting month, this conversation must have
taken place at the time of sahri or the pre-morning meal.
23 The author of the Tarikh-i Kisl'avi was obviously trying to define treason under
medieval conditions. He also \vanted punishments for treason to be based on per-
manent laws as well as evidence and not on the personal discretion of the king.
Barani bas developed these ideas in his Fatawa-i Jahandari (Advice VII).
24. Tarikh-i Firttz SllIIhi, .PP. 510-11. By the term, 'people' we should understand
officers and select men_nd not the mass of the inbabitants.
25. Ibid, pp. 516-17.
26. Ibid, pp. 521-22.
27. 'Isami, Futllh-us Salatin, p. 433 (Dr. Mehdi Husain's edition).
28. These facts about the Khwaja-i Jahan are related by Afif in his Tarikh-i Hrttz
358
Politics and SocMy during the Early Medieval Period
Slwhi (up to p. 78). ARt refers to Barani's wurk and says he is going tu continue it;
but nevertheless, he gives a complete account of the Khwaja-i Jahan's 'rebellion' be"
cause Barani had grossly luisIepresented the actions and motives of the dead wazir.
29. on\ knuwn nlanuscdpt of the Na'ti A,fohammacli is in the Hampur Librnry.
Some extracts from it, introduction were made for Professor S, A, Rashid. This passage
has been translated from these extracts.
30. Tarikh-i Firuz 5hahi, p, 554,
31. Ibid" p. 552.
32. Ibid, p. 557.
33. lbill, p. 199-201,
34. A careful examination of this paragraph will show that after the lapse of some
sixty years Barani was unahle to recollect the names of the following: the 'Ons of
Haibat Khan and Nizam Kharitadar; the daughter of Figai; and 'the accomplished
daughter of Nusrat Bibi'. But Barani seems to have had a very strong emotional
memory, and he remembered what he had felt. Elsewhere in the Firuz ShaM also we
find that Barani is unable to recollect the names of persons and refers to them in-
directly-e.g. 'Aziz Himar and his brother'.
But what about Barani's visual memmv? The reader of the Firuz shahi will not
find an account of ,the personality-the forms and features--of any of the
persons whose c1HU'aclers he has delineated, What (lid 'Alauddin Khalji, Malik iCafur,
Khusrau Khan, etc., look like? Barani could have easily described them but he never
does. Did Barani's visual memory fail him or is thi, unfortunate gap in the Tarikh-i-
Fi1'1lZ Shahi due to historical tradition? I am inclined to the latter alternative, for
the tradition of Persian history did not clemand a description of the personality of its
prominent figores.
35. Hurs are beautiful women who will console go;d Musalmans in paradise; varis
are beautiful women who inhabit the Caucasian mounrains ,at present.
36. The translation of these verses has been taken from Professor S, A. Rashid's
\York, Ziallddin Em'ani, a Study.
37. Dirhams and dinars were copper and silver coins of the Roman empire adopted
by the l\,fusalmans. A gold coin was genel'a1Jy called dinar-i SHl'lch (reel dinar).
38. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, pp. 204-5.
39. Ibid, p. 553.
40. Ibid, p. 554.
41. Ibid, p. 554.
42. Ibid, p. 554.
43. Ibid, pp. 556-57.
44. Ibid, pp. 576-86 are devoted to the praise of the royal family and the high
officers. Shahzada Fath Khan was only six years old, but Barani claims that the Shah
zada was kind to him.
45. pp. 394-98.
46. I have referred to him as the Khan-i Jahan, but this title was given to him
by Firuz Shah after his accession.
47. AIlf: Firuz Shahi, p. 397-98.
48. Ibid, p. 400.
Chapter VII
THEORY OF KINGSHIP
Bat'ani talks as if monarchy has been a universal political pheno-
menon of human history and he has no suspicion that there have
been different types of monarchies based on different principles. And
he reduces the theory of monarchy to the utmost simplicity. From
the time of Adam to the rise of Islam only a few royal families gov-
erned the globe. The prophet and the pious caliphs were not 'kings'
in the ordinary sense of the word. Their advent was due to divine
intervention and it was not possible to continue their system. Barani
is not a believer in the'later caliphates nor in the so-called 'theory of
the Muslim state'. With the Umayyads the world returned to the old
ways. Barani is convinced that there is a real difference between the
monat'chy of the Musalmans and the old pagan monarchies; no Mus-
lim king, for example, could openly claim divinity like the Pharoahs
of Egypt; still he has no clear conception of this difference, which he
confines entirely to the religiOUS sphere, But he believes that pre-
Muslim precepts of government are still valid; and because Muslim
kings adopted what was believed to be the Sasatlian court-procedure,
Bm'ani tends to overlook the basic differences between the Sasanian
and the Muslim monat'chies. Barani's knowledge of world history,
and even of the history of Ajam, is not only superfiCial but grossly
misleading. Since his Fatawa-i Jahandari is supposed to have been
written in the time of Sultan Mahmud, he is debarred from referring
to any.zuler of Delhi. But he discusses the Indian social and 'political
order in the Jahandari, and the real value of his political thought lies
in the fact that it is based on an examination of the working of tbe
institutions of Delhi sultanat for over ninety-five years. But other
elements of quite different origin had also taken possession of his
mind and it is necessary to separate the two.
If Barani's postulates about monarchy m'e caretully examined, it
will be seen that he has not one but two theories of monarchy or
kingship. His first theory is based on tradition (or supposed tradi-
tion), the postulates of the cheaper mullahs, out of date canons of
wisdom, and current proverbs of that most superficial type. This
theory naturally lands Barani in a mass of contradictions. It is un-
.%0
l'OiitiC8 and Society during the Eariy Medievai Period
necessary to examine them in detail, and only the most important ot
them need be enumerated.
(a) The king is a great sinner by the very nature of his office, which
the Quran and the Prophet have not sanctioned. Nevertheless if he
acts to the precepts of Barani, his place will be among
the smnts and prophets, It is like saying that a Muslim robber will
be divinely blessed if he is a good robber-if he robs non-Muslims
on an scale for the good of the faith, gives a fair percent-
age of hIS in. (including generous gifts to the muZ-
and IS gUIded Ul IllS work by religiOUS precepts.
(?) The, king is the 'deputy' and 'representative' of God on earth;
he IS the shadow of God (zzllallah) and his mind and the minds of
his .advisers ar,e, divi?ely inspired. This postulate contradicts the pre-
cedmg proposItion; It is also contradicted by facts. In practjce the
,:ere not prepared to admit that the mind of the king was
dIvmely msprred; most of the hereditary kings among the Musalmans
have been hereditary asses, while the usurpers have been
The power of the king lasted only so long as he could main-
tam It by the excellence of his administration and the sharpness of
his sword, If he failed, his opponents had no mercy for him, They
would kill him like a dog and publicly display his carcass or his head
, on a spear. The majority of the Muslim kings have been murdered
atrociously, and so were the majority of the Abbasid caliphs after
Mutawakkil. So long as a Muslim king was sovereign de facto, he
was hedged by a sort of pseudo-divinity and people prostrated them-
selves before him. But when his power vanished, his divinity also
vanished, Muslim political consciousness did not recognise any king
as sovereign de ture, A deposed king was genexally a severed head
or a corpse, publicly displayed,
,(c) The t? 'Barani, governs the kingdom through
hIS qualItIes-lIke .God ,himself, In doing so the king has
the lllsolence to claIm partnershIp With God and this is shirk the one
unpardon.able sill according to the Quran. Nevertheless it is
for the king to have these contradictory qualities for the conduct of
the. . But ,he b,e thoroughly repentant of his
acbons III hIS heart, If he IS to obtaIn dIvine forgiveness; otherwise his
place will be with the Pharoahs. This doctrine of the contradictory
qualities ot God and the king contains a dual error, It is b'ue that the
attributes given to God by the Quran, supposed to be ninety-nine ir.
number, contradict each other in their dictionary meaning. But it
is emphatically not true to say that thinking Muslims have conceived
God as a bundle of contradictory attributes. Their basic conception
fAte and thought of Zitwuddin Barani
361
of God has been a God of mercy (rahmat). The fearful qualities
of God are really due to His mercy, for they have mercy for their
object. Similarly the king (or the shlte) is not a bundle of irrecon-
cilable contradictions; the object of the state (as Bm'ani has himself
made clear) is the public good through the enforcement of
Punishment and reward emplovment and dismi:,sal, taxation and ex-
penditure may seem opposed things; but they are not. really
dictory. If the powers of the state are properly exercIsed, the ChIef
feature will be harmony and not conb'adiction, Of course, the com-
plete elimination of contradictions is not harmoniolls
action for the public good should be the malll obJective.
In faimess to EaI'ani he should not be blamed for these stupid
ideas which he inherited from tradition and needlessly enlarged.
second theory of Rm-ani, for which he alone is responsible,
places the instit1ltion of monarchy on the needs of the social order,
speCially the enforcement of iustice. The primary needs 0: man as a
member of societv demand the maintenance of a centralIsed execu-
tive authority, was not aware of the existence of
or the slave-owning city-republics of Greece an? the anCIent
This knowledge, in any case, would have been urelevant to hIS pur-
pose. Republican governments were only possible in states. There
could be no slave-owners' democracy in Islam; for whIle on the one
hand the slave-merchants kept bringing slaves into the on
the other hand the judicial procedure of the qazis kep.t settmg
those slaves of the working-class groups who satisfy, the qazIs
that they would give one-third of their daily t? theIr
Slavery is a hideous institution. But whatever Its defects, b:s
of Indian society was wage-labour and not e
s )}wl'e ot contract the Muslim shal'i'at. permits on
grounds. Further, Muslim political conSCIousness for a
of reasons demanded large territorial states, and these states h
not be administered except by the centralisation of po,",:er w IC
only the institution of monarchy made possible under medIeval con-
ditions.
Monarchy given, its other institutions are implied. The king should
be able to appOint, promote and dismiss the officers of the state,
secular and religiOUS, and Barani gives detailed advice to how thIS
should be done. He should also be able to appoint varIOUS types of
spies, reporters and intelligence officers to tell him ,ho;n his
cracy is working, One of the foundations of the king s IS
phYSical power; the king should, therefore, be careful about hIS army,
and with reference to the army Earani thought all talk of economy
Fotitics and Socieiy during the Emiy Medieval Period
to be out of place. But above all the king should have the power of
making state-laws (zawabit), even if in extreme cases they had. to
override the shal'i'at. If these laws were properly made and enfor-
ced, tbe uniform working of tbe departments of the government over
tbe vast area covered by it would be assured, and tbe subjects would
also know where tbey stood. "A state-law in tbe technique of
ministration", he declares, "means pursuing (a line of) action wl11ch
the king imposes as an obligatory duty on himself and from which
he never deviates (Advice-XIV)." This definition includes administra-
tive orders, which concern only government employees, as well as
laws, properly so-called, which impose and rights
on tbe subjects. But we must remember that l!l Baram s time the
state was not expected to interfere, unless very necessary, in the per- ,
sonal laws of the various communities.
But if tbe laws were to be made by tbe killg personally, evcrything
would depend upon his intelligence and strength of character, upon
his wisdom and his will power; a weak king may nol have the stre.qgtb
to resist illegitimate pressure. In any case it would be useless making
laws if they kept on changing with every new occupant of the throne.
Secondly, the making of laws is a difficult and delicate task; it
quires knowledge of existing laws and existing circumstances, wis-
dom, sanity and foreSight. So keeping tbese and otber
in view, and basing his argument on the Quranic injunction about
consultation, Barani wanted to institutionalize the monarchy hv
giving tbe authority of fmming laws and administrative reguhitiori's
to the king's council (Advice HI). The members ot the council were
to be selected by tbe king with care, presumably in accordance with
the principles laid down by the council itself. The king was to be
present at tbe discussions and to propound the question. But the
council was to be left quite free to discuss every aspect of the matter
witbout being informed of the king's opinion. If tbe members could
reach unanimity, tbeir advice was to be accepted by the king; if they
disagreed, it was better, when possible, to discuss the matter once
more. A mere majority of tbe council had no meaning, for it was only
an appOinted body. But as tbe basic principle tbe COUllCil's work
Barani boldly lays down the precept-HNo opinion for kings". The
type of council suggested by Barani was never tried. The majlis-i khas
of tbe Delhi sultans was a different institution. It could be ignored;
it could also be overriden. Of course, kings, like otber persons, resort
to consultation when in difficulties; and tbe greatest achievements
which Barani had witnessed-tbe land-revenue and other reforms of
'Alauddin Khalji as well as his economic regulations-were due to the
majlis-i khas of the sultan. But 'Alauddin latet on gave up consulting
Life and Thought of Ziyauddin Bm'ani
363
the majIis. Muhammad bin Tughluq his in
discussion' he never consulted. Jalaluddm KhalJI (If Bm'am IS to be
believed) his majlis quite often; but his officers talked
like courtiers; the sultan interfered and overrode hiS nephew,
Chap; and comequently, the majlis never to a .correct declSlon.
The otber rulers were eitber gUided by tbelr favountes or consulted
tbeir officers separately.
Believing in monarchy but distressed at tbe erratic of
kings he had seen, Barani evolved tbe theory tha.t, the kIng s
should bv custom or convention, be made a quasl-JIldependent body,
so that the policy of the administration may not vary. with .tbe
pants of the throne or their changing The of. the
scheme are obvious. The king was respoIlSlble-respunslble because
his head had to answer for his misgovernment. Of the seventeenth
rulers of Delhi from 1200 to 1357, ten (including Khusral! Khan) ,:ere
killed poisoned or left to die in prison. If the responsibilities of
were 'to be ensured by capital punishments, then this was certaI,?ly
a reasonable percentage. But a council discussing secre.t and
by unanimity of votes could not be hel:1 responSIble eltber b) the
public or by government officers. Add to It, tbel:e was the. danger
the council would extinguish the royal anthonty ItS
would inaugurate all era of anarchy like that the !Ulb.
Be tbis as it may, tbe Delhi sultans saw to It that tbe maJhs-I khas
never developed any tJ'aditions of its own.
Another defect of monarchy, which Barani wished to correct, ap-
pertained to the sphere political fHlllishments. The. Quran refers
to persons, called 1nllnaflqs (hypocntes), who were either opposed
to the Prophet or were slack in tbe performance of their duties. But
the Quran dves not name them and tbe Prophet did not punish thqm.
No question of treason arose in tbe time of the first two caliphs; in
thE: bter rei):'lJ of the third caliph anarchy prevailod and in the reign
of tbe fourth caliph there was civil WaI. The pious caliphate, as
Barani correctly points out, was based on 'the agreement of the peo ..
pIe' and not on any injunction of tbe Quran or Prophet. The crime
of treason, properly so-called, could only be pOSSIble after tbe Umay-
yads had established the!r power on tbe princ.iple of a hereditarv
monarchy and a governmg-class drawn exclUSively from the noble
Arab clans. There is nothing in tbe Quran or tbe precept',; of the Prn-
phet ordering a Musalman to obey such a or preventing
him from opposmg it. The Umayyads had their vlltlles, but thev based
their government on 'force and terror', things unknown in the period
of tbe pious caliphate. There were plenty of rebellions and all of
364
Pollttcs and Society during the Early Medieva! Period
them except the last-were brutally suppressed. The ruthless punish-
ment of opponents was the method by which the Umayyads sought
to maintain their power. The Abbasids, when they overthrew the
Umayyads, behaved in the same way. .
The 'shari'at' of the Sunnis was organised during the penoel of the
great Abbasids; it preferred to remain silent both about monarchy and -
treason. .
During the ninety-five years of the Delhi sultanat, which
surveys, all governments resorted to the ruthless punishment of
opponents, except during a few short reigns. He records these pumsh-
ments from the time of Balban till they reached their maximum dur-
ing the reign of Sultan Muhammad bin It is a tragic and
heartrending story, specially the murder of IIlnocent women and
children.
Barani is prepared to maintain the prestige of the government by
a reasonable amount of punishments and his sympathies throughout
are with the central government, never with its opponents. Eveil if
he dislikes a king, he will never sympathise with rebels. He is well
aware of the danger of a weak and overmild government like that
of Jalaluddin Khalji. 'These mischievous Hindus tanis', he
'cannot be controlled except by a stem and harsh-tempered kmg.
But he was honified by the punishments and tortures he saw around
him and repeatedly condemns them in his Tal'ikh-i Firuz In the
lahandari (Advice XIII) he sets out to discover the pnnclples of a
law of treason, which while maintaining the stability of the govern-
ment would not be unduly harsh to the subjects and would not be
d complete neO'ation of the principles of humanity. His
tions certainlv'" deserved the most careful consideration of those ill
authority in i'nedieval India. It is to be regretted, therefore, .!hat as
the Fatawa-i lahandari was never properly published, Baranl s very
sane views on the question of punishments for political offences could
not get a hearing. .
Though Barani believes in monarchy, he has no illusions concern-
ing its shortcomings. He is not satisfied with the policy of any of the
sultans he examines except Ghiyasuddin Tughluq, who was called
upon to continue the system of 'Alauddin Khalji without having to
resort to those terroristic methods by which the system was establish-
ed. It is obviously this conviction that monarchy as a system has its
unavoidable shortcomings, and that a king as king would never be
up to his duties, which drives Barani in his last Advice to recom-
mend that the heart of the king should be always full of supplication
to the Almighty and that he should be always conscious of his need
for divine mercy and grace.
Life and Thought of Ziyauddln Baranl 365
Though the Fatawa-i Jahandari was written after the Tarikh-i
Fil'UZ Shahi, all the ideas in it were present in the author's mind
when the Firllz Shahi was composed. Thus, to take one example.
Barani makes Balban give a Ion!! advice (covering some ten pal!es)
to his son, Sultan Muhammad (Khan-i Shahid). All the ideas in
advice are to be found in the Irzhandari. The object of the Fatawa-i
Jahnndal'i, as Barani planned it, was to prescribe a norm for the work-
ing of the institutions of the Delhi snltanat and to p'ive the necessary
to its officers. It has been alreadv pointed out that a tradi-
tional theory, fun of contradictions and sheer nonsense. vot mixed
with a evolved by Barani himself in the livht of experience
and observatIon. which was fundament'lIlv secular. If the first theOl'v
is completely ignored, then the second theorv, which remains, can
be accepted to the reservations already discussed. One dan,
I!er for the historian of medieval India lies in the fact that he is
tempted to judrre medieval institutions by modem concepts and
dem standards. The value of the lahandm'i lies in the fact that It
I!ives us the standads prescribed by a great medieval mind for the
evaluation of medieval institutions.
It has been necessary in the course of this work to pOint out manv
things deroe-atory to our author-his failinl! memory, his honeles<
vanity of birth which partly contributed to his ruin, his irrational pre-
iUdic'es aO'ainst the Hindus, for which Islam supnlies no iustifl"'1tions
and which were not acceptahle to those in authoritv. and his verv
superficial comprehension of the Muslim creed. It has also been
necessary to quote much that Barani wrote to his own discredit. Rnt
after all these deductions have been made, the Tilrikh-i Firuz Sh(1/"
remains the l!reatest book that has survived to us from the sultanr>t
period. Its eminence in this respect is unchallenl!able. No sinQ'le work
of Amir Khnsrau or Amir Hasan can be compared with it. Thev were
more capable men with rrreater reputations, bnt their achievements
are bound up with a particular system of thought and a specific lan-
guage. The vreatness, or perhaps the good luck, of the Tarikh-i Firuz
Shahi lies in the fact that it is bound up integrallv with the historv
of India; and so long as the history of India is studied, Barani cannot
be ignored. The manuscripts of his work were not easily available
in the middle ages; very often people came to know of it only through
summaries or bv hearsay. "Sher Khan", savs Abdul Fazl, "divided the
whole of Hindl;stan, with the exception 'of Bengal, into forty-seven
iqtas. He resorted to the branding of the trooper's horses. He also
heard of the designs of 'Alauddin Khalji, which have been described
by the Tarikh-i Fimz Shahi, and adopted some of them."l Today
graves of Balban and 'Alauddin Kh"lii !1l'P nnlr"'Aum. ------
366 Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
in Siri indicate the place where the Hazar Sutun palace once stood.
But Barani, old, half-blind and in acute distress, brought the to
life by a. tremendous effort of memory and deser,:,edlY}le lIves
along with them. No historian under condItIons so dlstressmg and
at an age so advanced has produced a work so great.
in Medieval India, QI/arterly, Aligarh, Jan-April HI,58,
, J It, I ,to 1 t'o The PolitiC'll! Theory of the [Jell" Sl/itlllUlte, hClIlg t 1(,
Scp.1ra
t
e, \' ag n IOC lIt.: 101 '. l' Af _, .
English tlanslation of B;;lrani's Flfltawa-i ]a/u/lu{ari by Prof. Habib aJ1( 01. sal
AI7..alu<lciin.--Editol']
1. Akbar Namah, Bib. Indica, Vol. I, p. 1!l6.
EMPIRE OF DELI-II IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES:
ORGANIZATION OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
The few scholars who have written with a firsthand knowledge of
the original authorities 6n medieval India have confined their atten-
tion almost exclusively to the administrative system of the Mughals.
The present article, so far as I am aware. is the first attempt to des-
cribe the governmental organisation of the first empire (1206-1398).
It is based on an analysis of the Persian texts smviving to us from
the period, speciallv the Tabaqat-i Na.sil'i of Minhaius Siraj Jmiani,
the Tal'ikh-i FiJ'uz Shahi of Ziyauddin Bm'ani, the later histOlY of the
same name by Shams Siraj Afif, and the Khazainul Futuh, Aijaz-i
Khusmwi and the Ma.snawis of AmiI' Khusrau. I have been content
to state my conclusions, without troubling the reader with the pro-
cess of reasoning by which those conclusions have been reached;
nor have I considered it necessarv to refer to the authorities at every
step. ' ,
I. THE EMPEROR
The working of an autocratic system depends on the personality
of the autocrat and the administration of the first empire was no ex-
ception to, the general law. Nevertheless the position of the em-
peror-sultans of Delhi was unique in the history of OlIr land. It was
a position of many weaknesses and I!reat strength.
. N.o immemorial hallowed the of the imperial
famIly. Babur ann hIS descenr18nts could noint hack to a line of
crowned heads that receded and disappeared in the poetic fables of a
prehistoric ap'e. Bl1t pride was not possible for our pre-Mup'hal
emperor, Thev had sprl1ng from the people who threatened to
absorh them hack af'ain. Some of them were men of hnmhle orip'in'
others were middleclass men who had risen to the ton throufTh sheeI:
force of genius. like 'Alauddin Khalji, or through the slow gradations
of office. like Ghivasurldin TUl'hluq and his son. and their sole claim
to the crown lav in their power to defend it af!'aimt 811 nre'tenders
Contemporary historians are si(l'nincantIy silent about the earlier
history of the Khaliis ann thp 1 .. . 'T01
368
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
The truth would have been too unpalatable to thcir royal patrons,
The imperial throne was a competitive post; everyone could aspire
for it, at the risk of his neck if he failed; it had not become the mono-
poly of a particular dynasty. Public opinion regarded
a desirable institution but had not vet been deceived into thinkmg It
an inevitable part of the cosmic order. .,
Monarchy and the Shal'i'at: No Law of Succession
Though Muslim kings have been ruling in various countries for
the hst thirteen-hundred years, to the shari'at monarchy has always
remained a non-legal institution. The result was curious. In the first
place all distinction between the king de facto and the king de jU1'e
was lost. The emperor for the time being could claim against his op-
ponents all the powers that the shari'at allows an elected governor
against rebels; but a successful rebel, even if he ascended the throne
over the boch, of his murdered predecessor, like the great 'Alauddin,
could claim the same privileges ae-ainst his enemies. Monarchy de
facto was all that mattered; strictly-speaking Muslim law knew as
little of rebels as it knew oE kin/Ts and in the eyes of the shm'i'at the
position of the kin,g was more precarious than the job of the humblest
government emplovee. Seconcllv, no definite law could be evolved
for the devolution of the crown: Primogeniture is a principle
to Muslim law, and the emperor's eldest son had no more rie-ht to his
office than the youn![est. The law of private which divi-
des the property of the deceased father equally among his living sons
could not be applied. The state was not as the pronert\T
of the king; and in anv case the programme of dividing and subdivid-
ing the empire in each generation - was too imnracticable to be
thou/Tht of. The conseglience was the interminable wars of
sion with which students of Indian historv are onlv too painfnllv
familiar. The wanior's sword was called upon to s01ve the prohlem
which the jurist's pen had left in perplexity and doubt.
Rules of Custom
Monarchv as an institution was still in its cartila!1e and such rules
as regulated it were the remIt of newlv-established' customs and pub-
lic opinion. The crown, it was expected, wOllld be confined to the
members of the roval familv as had heen the custom of the Persian
house of Sassano But in medieval India the principle had an unex-
pected result. Instead of helping a particular dynastv to monopolize
the empire, it incited rebels to exterminate the )'Oval familv root and
branch. When 'Alauddin came to the throne, he suppressed the family
of Balban, and, 12,ter on, Malik Kafur and Khusrau Khan between
Empi,.", of Delhi in Early Middle Ages
369
managed to exterminate the extremely prulific house of
KhalJIs. The ceremony of vowing allegiance (baiyat) had sur-
VIved the Ummayyad caliphs; but when a royal dynasty alto-
gether dIsappeared, the nobles were expected to elect its successor
from amongst themselves through a formal or informal election and
new family occupied the same pOSition as the old. Public opinion
dId nc;>t expect that the laws of private morality would be respected
by the members of the royal family in their dealings with each other.
Affections deal' and all the charities of father, son and brother
They were considered sentiments highly dangerous for kings who
often proved themselves even worse than the public wished them to
be. The absence of a definite law of succession could lead to no other
result. .
The Position of the Emperor
. The imperial throne was no sinecure. Dangers beset it on every
sI.de. The .emperor has to live in an atmosphere of perpetual suspi-
CIOn and dIStruSt. He has to beware of his own sons and brolliers of
his most loyal officers and his most favoured wife. The assassin's
. an series of palace intrigues, the constant necessity
of keepmg hIS sword sharp and his reputation green and the ever
fear that the nobles may be hatching a disloyal plot kept his
energIes on the alert. his position, if he happened to be
a man of talents, was Impregnable. The ordinaty citizen regarded
the occupant of the throne as the "shadow of god" on earth.
Mter several centuries of disorder and internecine strife a unified
administration been established Over the country. The emperor
apReared, m fact was, the great bulwark of the people against
CIVIl war; m time of danger all men of sober sense rallied to his side.
it was not to their advantage to have the crown put into
whose personal ambition was as obvious as their lack
of pnnclples. An autocrat of unbounded energies was needed to
keep. the of anarchy in check; the one great virtue the subjects
I.n theIr ruler was strength; the one fault they could never
forgIVe hIm weakness .. It was not a time tor le mi faineant.
Weak-kneed pnnces were klCkffd off the throne willi suprising faci-
In the two between the conquest of Delh'i by Qutbud-
dill and the death of FHUZ Shah Tughluq, less than a score of years
fell to the lot of kings. But the power of the strong
monarch knew of no lImIts except the patience of his not over-suffer-
.. The shari'at left him an outlaw could not step in
370
Politics and Society during the EarluMedlOOal Period
to put a legal check to his authority. After the Khalji revolution the
nobles were terrorized, and they bowed to the throne in abiect sub-
mission. In all political matters the will of the emperor-sultan was
supreme; it overrode the principles of Muslim law as well as the an-
cient administrative traditions of the countrv. And these enormous
powers he was expected to use for his own 'personal benefit and fOj'
the welfare of the generality of his subjects (khalq-i knuda).
Administrative Duties of the Emperor
The administrative duties of the emperor were as multifarious as
the necessities of the state. He was the supreme legislator as well as
the highest court of appeal. He led all military campaigns in person
or else directed them from the capital. He supervised the working
of a farflung but tolerably efficient spy system that kept him informed
of the 'good and bad doings of the people'. He conh'olled the mar
kets and attempted to regulate the prices of the necessaries of life.
He kept a jealous eye on the governors and the higher nobility and
heard the complaints of his subjects against the officers of the govern-
ments. He was expected to combat famines with all the resources
at his disposal and to distribute the income of his state with an un
stinted bounty among the poor.
Duties of quite a different kind were also thrown on his shoulders.
Men of science and letters expected llim to act as their pah'on and
presiding genius and to grant them 'governorships and in re-
cognition of their work. Poets brought qasidas written in his honor
and travellers expected a hospitable reception at his hands in rehlrn
for their information and their tales. Curious as it may seem, the
fact is nevertheless true that medieval governments interfered more
with the life of the people than any government is likely to do today.
Inquiries were made into the income and expendihlre of all persons
who were unfortunate enough to attract the attention of the adminis-
h'ation; 'spies and poked their noses into everyone's private
affairs, and a futile attempt was made to keep people on the path of
righteousness through a system of 'warninl's and punishments'. Over
this extensive machinery the emperor preSided with watchful care;
his eye was everywhere; nothing important could be done without
his orders; and the fear that the system of autocracy may fall intn
other people's hands kept him perpetually awake.
II. THE IMPERIAL c:::OUNCIL
There is a strong family likeness in the administrative machinerv of
all a,utocratic states. and a detailed examinatiop will reveal many ry
Empire of Delhi In Early Middle Ages
371
semblances between the government of the Roman emperors and the
sultans of DeThi. But the immediate model for the Indo-Muslim svs-
tem were the monarchies of Persia, which in their tum had been very
deeply influenced by Roman conceptions of government and law.
Ziyauddin Bm'ani remarks that Balban organized his court after the
manner of kings of Ajam, and this is certainly true so far as the struc-
ture of the central government is concerned. The imperial council
and the imperial court, the four ministries, the details of husiness
procedure and almost all technical terms were imported bodilv from
Persia, though the necessities of the new state invested them
with different functions and different meanings.
The emperor-sultan was the final executive authority for all state-
affairs. But the time honoured custom was to call a council (mailis-i
am) of the highest officers for discussing the more important pro-
blems. The council was consultative merelv; it had no constitlltional
or legal powers; its meetings were secret; tIle emperor could call
wbomsoever he liked and could overrule the most decided opinions
of the council. Neveltheless it was a thing of reality and not a sham.
There is wisdom in discussion, and the emperor saw the obvious
necessity of consulting officers grown grey in the service of the
government. On them he depended for the actual can-ying out of
his orders; their silent and negative votes would turn his farman into
a dead letter. Their unanimous agreement sh'engthened his position
and their unanimous opposition was sure to make him pause. The
officer insisted on being consulted and it was difficult and dangerous
to deny their request. A monarch who did not care to exnlainhis
policy was naturally regarded with suspicion. The proceedings of
imperial council have survived to us in cletail and make a verv inter-
. esting study. Discussions were carried on in a high-flown and ('our-
teous First the emperor explained the question in a brief
speech, and after giving his own views, if he had any, asked for. the
0,rinion of the council. Everyone addressed the emperor. Both par-
bes made repeated professions of their I'ood faith and threw exh'e-
mely vague and indirect hints at the deplorable folly, if not the h'ea-
s?n, of their opponents. The emperor ended by announcinv his deci-
SlOn and the reasons that had led him to it, and praised all his offi-
cers for their devoted loyality.l
III. THE IMPERIAL COURT
. The impelial court (majlis-i am, bal'-i am) was an institution radi-
call),. from the ?ouncil. !t was a public assembly and not a
conhdenhal or consultabve meetmg. The emperor sat on the throne.
372
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Peripd
a large high-backed chair with a red canopy2 above it., him
was a body guard of slaves with and m front
of him the nobles stood respectfully in a semIcIrcle wIth folded hands.
lhe privilege of sitting in the emperor's presence
to even the highest officers. A number of (hajlbs) mam-
tained law and order within the assembly, whIle the mayor of the
palace (naib amil'-i haiib), one greatest. imperial officers, stood
near the emperor amongst the EvelY attempt was t;nade to
impress the public with the emperor s and
The ceremonies of the court were humlhatmg and servIle. PwstIa-
tion (sijdah) was necessary for everyone presenting himself before
the throne. Nevertheless, except on special occasions, the was a
business assembly. Access to the emperor was a matter of ngh:-a
right freely accorded to even the humblest and the meanest subject;
and a great part of the imperial prestige was to the, fact
evelY one could with more or less trouble, lay hIS complamts before
the monarch in person. The programme of the day's work
up beforehand and people desiring an audience had to apply m l'I.me.
No one was allowed to come to the emperor empty-handed; nobles
were expected to bring presents of value, but for folk any-
thiIlg-an old prayer carpet, of a, ,9as.1da m the em-
perer's praise-was enough! Blsmtllah! Btsmtllah. ,(m t,he name of
God) the hajibs cried when the petitioner entere.d the mam
bowed to the gronnd; hut if he was a they
cry and said "Hadakallah" (May God lead the.e .. The
offered hiS present to the emperor who rec.elYed
praise. Then a quick inquiry was made mto
pandits, ministers and clerks were all present to gIve the
necessalY and to take down the imperial order. The, petitioner on
being dismissed came out of another door and was pmd the value of
his l;resent in cash. Every species of public business was transacted
in the imperial court. People with a grievance came there to have
their netitions heard. Appeals from the qazi's court were brought
the emperor, who, whenever necessary, personally examined
the witnesses. In criminal cases the judgement he delivered was en-
forced tnen and there by a number of jallads (executioners and tor-
turers) always present in the precinct. Our ancestors, rightly or
wronglv, the law's miscarri'lge to its delays, Here also came
the governors and other provincia.! officers to present themselves foro.
mallv before the emperor, though detailed inquiries into provincial
administration and accounts were relegated to the various ministers
concerned. The sittings of the court were long and tiresome, and
must have heen as to the emperor as to his officers.
Empllre of Delhi in Early Middle Ages 373
IV. THE FOUR MINISTRIES
Under the supervising and directing eye of the
ness of the state was divided muong the four tradItional mmlstnes-
revenue (diwan-i wizarat), war (diwan-i (!l'z) , local govemment
(diwan-i insha), and markets (diwan-i l'iyasat). The division was not
quite logical, but Persian custom permitted four minishies only and
the number was adhered to. The minister of revenue, generally
known as the wazil', took precedence over his colleagues. But they
were not his subordinates; there was .no corporate responsibility and
every minister took his orders from the emperor diI-ect. The relation
of the ministei'S with each other and to the emperor is well sum-
moned up in the advice given by Bughra Khan of Lakhnauti to his
son Kaiqubad. "Select four wise and experienced men from amongst
your officers and consider them the four pillars of your
Place all public affairs in their hands. EntIust one of them WIth the
diwan-i wizamt (revenue) mId raise his status above others: Give
diwan-i l'iyasaf; to the second and believe in his words and adVice.
To fhe third assignee the diwan-i al'Z and ask him to look after the
management of the army. Give the diwan-i insha to the fourth and
leave him to reply to the petitions of the provincial governors and
officers according to his best knowledge and judgment. the
four equally near to yomself and make them your adVIsers m all
political affairs, of which they know the difficulties and dangers.
not throw the bUSiness of the government into disorder by entrustmg
every thing to one man. Do not let anyone of yom ministers or
your courtiers have too much influence over yourself or the adminis"
tration. Further, every scheme you may have thought of, and every
order you pass concerning the business of any of the ministries, and
all confidential secrets of the state must be (discussed) in the pre-
sence of all the four ministers. Though the position of the wazil' is
higher than the position of other ministers, it will not be prudent for
you to favour any of the four pillars of your kingdom to such an ex-
tent as to wound the feelings of others and alienate their hearts."
The personal relation of the emperor with his ministers were not as
a rule very intimate. Generations before Nizamulmulk Tusi drew at-
tention to the fact in his Siyasat Namah, a strict line had been drawn
between the king's courtiers and favourites (nadim) and his ministers
(naibs). The millister was not in oriental monarchies expected to play
the 'fool' or to go out of his way to please the king. This was the
courtier's look out, and courtiers were not allowed to meddle in state-
affairs. The minister was essentiallv a servant of the state; his rela-
tiem wi:th his master was pril11Hrily business relation.
i'
374
Poiitics and Society during tile Early Medievai Period
The Ministry of Revenue
The minister of revenue (naib"i diwani"wizarat), in addition to his
duties as the emperor's first adviser, supervised the working of the
diwan or revenue office. Though oriental empires were nev.er the
merely 'tax"collecting institutions', that Sir Berny Maine in:agined
them to be, yet the collection of revenue was the most delIcate as
well as the most important function of government. On that
thing else depended. The work had to be under condI-
tions of extraordinary difficulty and the wazzr had to be a man of
first-rate business talents. It was his duty, somehow or other, to pro-
vide the money required for the expenses of the administration, He
kept an eye on the local governors and their accounts. He
the figures sent by various officers and got out from them every lltal
they had received trom the people, He had to be cautious and stern,
a master of general principles as well as details, in order to keep the
servants of the revenue of[ice in check
The land tax was, of course, the principal source of revenue. At
Hrst no machinery existed for its collection. The government of the
Slave kings was too weak to establish anything like a regular local
government over the counby; and for want of any officer of its
the revenue office had to arrange with the rajas, rawats, chaudhans
and muqaddams (headman), or whatever pre-existing authority a
locality may have had, for the collection of the revenue due. A deed
(khat) was taken from them and they were expected to collect the
tax for the state and deduct from it a commission for their work The
plan did not succeed. The rajas and headmen considered themselves
lords of the soil. They kept armed detainers, made war on each
other and ignored and insulted the revenue officers. The military
arm of the state was too weak to enforce the conb'act made, and if
we are to believe the evidence of 'Alauddin Khalji, nonpayment of
taxes was the general rule.
The power of the village headmen was overthrown by 'Alauddin
Khalji and the work of collecting the land-tax was enb'usted to amils
(tax-collectors) appOinted and dismissed by the revenue office. The
home provinces of the empire-Awadh, the Doab, eastern Punjab,
northern Raiputana, and Gujarat-were measured under the direc-
tion of Sharaf Qaani and the records were kept for permanent refer-
ence. During the reigns of the Khaljis and the Tughluqs the pro-
cedure seems to have been as follows, A record of the arable land
in every village was kept by the village patwal'i who sent direct to
the central revenue office an account of the tax in cash or khld paid
for every plot of land. The revenue office also received from the
Emptre of Delhi in Ea1'ly Middle
amUs an account of the revenne they had collected and from the
governors of the maqta (province) a statement of his gross receipts
and expenditure. The three accounts were then any
money embezzled by the revenue officers was realIzed by kicks and
blows', and the excruciating torture of the 'pincers and the rack'.,
All tax collected (mahsul) went first to local treasury which de-
ducted the expenses of administration and sent the remainder (fawa-
zit) to the imperial treasury. 'Ala uddin and Sharaf Qaani did
care to classify arable lands as Todar Mall did afterwards, and were
content to take :l fixed proportion of whatever the land produced
eVelY year. The state-share demanded from the fal'mers of the Doab
is stated by Ziyauddin Em'ani to have been one-half-whether of the
gross or the net produce, he does not say. The inevitable result of
such a procedlll'e was the impossibility of a budget. The state could
not estimate beforehand what it was going to get; its expenses were
fixed but its income kept fluctuating; every thing depended on the
hm'vest. The emperor-sultans relied on their hoarded gold to make
up the deficit in unfOltunate years.
The Ministl'y of Wm'
The minister of war (naib-i al'z-i mumalik, a1'iz-i mUinalifc:3) is not
to be confused with the commander-in-chief. There' was no
mander-in-chief in medieval India; the office would have been too
dangerous for the monarchy: The. commander of every campaign
was appointed for the occasion. The minister of war was generally
an officer of distinction, but he was not necessarily the most eminent
soldier of the day, Organizing capacity was required of him rather
than generalship, though he had to be fail'ly well acquainted with
military affairs. Once a yem' the minister reviewed' every horse-
man and foot in the army. The horse and arms were cm'efully
mined and the payment of the salary was conditional on their' being
passed as fit; failure to come out successful meant dismissal. The
price of the horse, and probably of the mms also, was paid by the
state. Thetime-honourecl fraud was to bling horses employed for
private or business purposes to the review and obtain their price
from the state. The practice of brancling4 did not wholly remove
the evil. .
In medieval' wm'fare infimby. counted. for very little; it could not
withstand a cavahy attack and was not sufficiently mobile. An effi-
cienthorseman usually had .two horses; a cavalier' with one horse
only was looked up9Ii as.a lame man .. If. the horse was killed or
died Wit)lOUt any negligence on the pmt' of the man, a new horse
376
Politics alld SoCiety dwring Early Medieval Pmwa
was supplied at the cost of the state. All salaries were paid by the
ministry in cash. Revenues and lands were rarely assigned for mili-
tary service till the reign of Firuz Shah. The whole army, whether
stationed at the capital or the provinces, was directly under the
command of the central power.
In time of peace the minister of war reviewed the men once a
year, for which they had to come to Delhi, and looked after the
general business of the army. In time of war two further duties also
usuvlly devolved on him-the organization of the commissariat and
the collection of spoils. The first must have been extremely difficult
considering the extent of the country, the farHung military schemes
of the emperor and the general custom of not permitting the army
to live on the countryside. As a rule the price of foodstuffs and other
necessaries was fixed by the ministry, and mahaians and sahukars
were directed to provide all requisites beforehand on the route of
the campaign. The question of spoils was a perplexing one. The
shari'at had allotted four-fifths of the spoils to the almy and one-fifth
to the state; but adherence to such a rule would have meant the
distribution of the gold of the temples plundered from the time of
Mahmud to 'Alauddin among the men, leaving the emperor precious
little for his pains. It was consequently ignored, in spite of the pro-
tests of the qazis. But it must be remembered that the earliest
armies of Islam received no pay; they fought for the faith and the
spoils of war was all that they got. The shari'at rule regarding their
rights was essentially inapplicable to men who were paid for fight-
ing and drew their salaries in time of peace.
Minist1'Y of Local Govemment
The duties of the minister of local government (naib-i diwan-i
insha) were of an exh'emely delicate nature. Tact was the one great
quality he needed. He had to convey the wishes of the emperor
to the governors and local officers and place their petitions before
the emperor. He had to be the master of a pliable and courtly
style; plain speech was not the fashion of the day, and the officers
had to be kept in hand by vague threats, assumed indifference, illu-
sory promises of reward or whatever political mow the occasion re-
quired. _ He was the usual channel for all correspondence between
the central and local government, though questions referring the
particular ministr.ies were sent to them direct. There was plenty of
red tape; everythmg was docketed and classified; and all legal forms,
bewildering to the uninitiated, had to be carefully kept in view. All
government appOintments were matters of conb'act and negotiation;
after an agreement had been. reached, a deed was drawn up speci-
Empire of Delhi in Early Middle Ages 377
fying the duties of both parties; it was signed and sealed by the em-
peror and the officer concerned, and then deposited among the state
documents for future reference. Most Ministers of local government
are said to have been 'men of letters' and so were many of their
secretaries and clerks; but what they really required and possessed
was literature as applied to diplomatic life,
Ministry of Markets
Our medieval ancestors had a great horror of shopkeepers, who
were accused of profiteering and it was tIre business of the minister
of the markets (naib-i diwan-i j'iyasat) to keep them in check. When
'Alauddin promulgated his economic regulations, the minister of the
market had to supervise the work; and Yakub Nazir, whom he se-
lected for the post, possessed all the virtues reqUired of him to per-
fection. He was rough, har'sh, hard-heated, strict, incorruptible and
well-versed in the ways and methods of the Delhi underworld. 'A
scolding tongue and an itching palm must not go together',5 says a
medieval proverb, and the minister had certainly great opportunities
of dishonest gains if he was unconscientious enough to connive at
infractions of the law and leave his duties unperformed. Apart from
the land-revenue, most of the other taxes were collected bv him.
All tavernkeepers were registered and taxed by the ministry" of the
markets; it levied the octroi duties from commodities brought to the
towns and supervised the weights and measures kept by the shop-
keepers. All special licensees were under its supervision, and it had
to see that the inhabitants of the town were duly supplied with all
the requirements of life. 'Fair' and not 'competitive' prices were
the ideal of the day, and in time of famine or panic tIre, minister
intervened without hestiation and fixed the plice of corn and eata-
bles. All the business of the cities was under the control of the mi-
nistry, and the happiness of the citizens velY largely depended on
the efficiency with which the minister performed his
The Regent
An exh'aorrunruy office, the regency (niabat-i mulk) was sometimes
created, either owing to the minority of the monarch or to show the
confidence of the emperor in the person entrusted with the office,
The regent stood in the emperor's place; he was above the ministers
and :vas not a minister himself. Considering the circumstances of
the time, the office was a danger both to the holder of it as well as
to the states. The high position of the regent to aspire for the crown
that seemed to be within the reach of his arms"
378
Politics and Society during ille Early Medieval Period
Such, broadly, was the plan on which the ministries were organiz-
ed. But much depended on the executive orders of the emperor
and character of the ministers. The confidence of the emperor may
entrust an able wazi1' with the powers of a regent as happelled with
the elder. Khan-i Jahan Maqbul in the reign of Firuz Tughluq, while
an active and energetic emperor like Muhammad bin Tughluq was
apt to treat his ministers as head-clerks or as executive officers whose
only business was to calTY out the orders given. The procedure
also kept changing from age to age and duties were taken from one
ministry and assigned to another.
v. DEPARTMENTS
In addition to the ministries were a number of 'departments' (mas-
nad, imal'at), whiclJ were, or ought to have been, non-political, and
occupied a lower status than the ministries. The chief of these was
the department of justice presided over by the head qazi (sadrus
suduh) of Delhi. Every large city had its separate qazi and most of
the smaller towns also. Special qazis were appointed for the army
under the direct control of the qazi-i lashkal'. The first duty of the
qazis was to settle disputes between the Musalmans according to the
mles of the shari'at,but other functions were also aSSigned to them.
Tht:'y were expected to act as 'justices of the peace' and to settle
petty qualTels in which both Hindus and Musalmans may be con-
cemed. Appeals lay from the local qazi to the Head qazi of Delhi
and from him to the emperor. But making an appeal was an extra-
ordinary procedure, and was not allowed except in cases' where there
was an obvious miscalTiage of justice. The qazi heard both parties
and their witnesses and gave his decision then and there. No law-
yers appeared to argue points of law before him. Unlike other
officers the qazis were generally appointed for life.
Much bittemess: was aroused by some conh'oversies connected
with the administration of the law. The qazis naturally tried to make
themselves independent of the government, and as interpreter, of
the shari'at they could make out a good prima facie case for them-
selves. The autonomy of the modem high courts has led to much
that is good and to nothing that is harmful. But medieval iC(rr,di-
tions were different. Muslim law was regarded as a code unchang-
ing and unchangeable;' and unlike modem states, which are profes,.
sedl)' law-making institutions, the government of medieval India
could only control the law by conh'olling its interpretation. So the
qazis have to be subdued. Here, as elsewhere, the machinery of
autocracy owed much to 'Alauddin Khalji. On the death of Sadrud-
Emptre of Delhi in Early Middle Ages 3 7 9 ~
din Arif, the head qazi of Delhi, he appOinted one of his most de-
voted and unscrupulous servants, Hamid of Multan, to the vacant
post; and the Multani bachah, as his enemies used to call h i m ~ com-
pelled his department to work in obedience to the empero!:'s wishes.
The precedent was followed by late, emperors; the judicial office
ceased to be a thing which 'men of piety and learning' could claim
as a right; it was a government favour to be granted to those who
were suffiCiently pliable and subservient. Unfortunately the posi-
tion taken up by the qazis more than justified their fate. Faced with'
the problems of a new country which had never been contemplated'
by the commentators, they refused to be guilty of a rational inter-
pretation and clied for an impracticable enforcement of the bare
letter of the law in direct opposition to its intention and spirit. The'
state did not interfere in cases that involved private rights only ad-
ministrative questions did not come within the purview of the qazis:
consequently the bOIl(Lof contention was the criminal law promul-
gated by the state. Muslim law, like Roman Law, is very undeve-
loped on the criminal side. The Quran gives a few rules but they
were never elaborated Or studied. The 'thief'; for instance, is to
have his (or her) hands cut off-but what is a 'thief? There are
series of allied crimes, petty larceny, embezzlement, peculation,
house-breaking, dacoity and highway robbery-in which either for-
cible possession is taken of what belongs to another, or lie is frau-
dulently denied the possession to which he is entitled. Are these
crimes to be treated as "theft' and all allotted the same punishment?
The qazis had no answer. They protested against the meeting out
of the maximum punishment to crimes not really seriOUS; but they
had nothing positive to put forward and none the less claimed that
the law of the state had no business to interfere. The emperor had
no alternative but to ride roughshod over the scruples of the qazis.
And he did S0. .
The law of crime was secular and common to both the communi-
ties, but our authorities cast little or no light on the decision of cases
in which Hindu law was involved. They certainly did not come
up before the qazis; while Muslim law has been often oveniden by
customs adopted from the Hindus, Hindu law nowhere shows any
evidence of that modification it certainly would have undergone, if
its enforcement had been enh'usted to Musalmans. Probably the
machinery of the village panchayat was still retained for judicial
purposes. An appeal, from its decision lay to the provincial gover-
nor. For Hindus as wen as Musalmans, the emperor was the final
court of appeal and Hindu pandits were always present to advise
him on questions of Hindu law.
380 Politics alld during ihe Ea1'ly Medieval Period
Departments of Admiralty and Agriculture
The two smaller departments that may be mentioned here are the ,
admiralty (ami!'-ul bah!') and agriculture (amir-i koh). The empire
came into touch with the sea but there was no navy. The duties
of the admiral were prosaic and safe. He supervised the boa'\:" on
the Jamuna, Ganges and other rivers, regulated the fares of ferries
and the h'ansit of merchandise up and down the stream. The de-
partment of agliculture dealt with the schemes of agricultural im-
provement which the government had almost always in hand. The
main effort was concentrated on rendering many barren tracts, that
lay in the various parts of the counhy, fertile through better manur-
ing and the excavation of canals. Experiments were made to dis-
cover if a better system for the rotation of crops could be devised;
many forests were cleared and much money was spent in subsidising
farmers and contractors who promised to initiate better methods of
cultivating the land. It is obvious that a goVernment drawing the
larger part of its revenue from the land could not ignore improve-
ment, that promised to be .0,0 beneficial to the heasUlY.
v!. THE IMPERIAL BUREAUCRACY
Medieval India is sometimes spoken of as 'feudal'. This is an
absurd blunder and arises from a misconceptioil of the meaning of
feudalism and an ignorance of the hue character of the government
of the first empire. Pastoral tribes, when they settle down and take
to agriculture, normallv organize themselves on a feudal plan. The
great leader of the 'becomes the king of the the.
of the tribes become his feuda:taries fief-holders; and m subordmatlOn
to them the heads of the families or clans assume the position of
landlords from whom the tenant or farmer gets his land. Now the
OTeat feature of such a society is its divided allegiance; the head of
tie government never comes into direct contact tille: .of
the soil but can only command him through a senes of mterrmdla-
ries, each of whom is ina position of semi-independence. A, a
farmer; holds his land from B, who holds it from C, who holds it
from D. and so ,on to Z, the king, and it is inevitable that A, B, C
and D would be more inclined to follow the chief immediately 'above
them rather than the distant and unknown king. Add to it, military
service became an incidence of land-tenure. A, who held so much
land was bound to brinO' so many men to the army of B, who in
turn' led :them to the of C and, so on through the intermediate
links t() the king.: The system was to the agricultural pro-
gress of the country as well as to the discipline of the army; per-'
Empire of Delhi ill Early Middle Ages
" 381
sons good at fighting were not likely to prove good farmers and vice-
versa, while the military orders of the king were not considered bind,
ing by the men if their immediate officer, whose tenants they were
for all times, took it into his head to command them. All offices
were hereditary; from the king to the lowest farmer every one was
succeeded by his eldest son and everything depended on birth.
Stahls, not contract, was the basis of the society. Such in general
outline was the feudalism of medieval Europe, and such also was
the system of medieval Rajputs. The rana of Chittor was the over-
lord of all Rajput clans. All chiefs were in theory subordinates to
him-but in theory only. For practical puropses they were inde-
pendent and fought and intrigued according to their own sweet will.
The orders of the rana were not obeyed beyond his own territory.,
The Territorial State of Delhi
The empire of DeThi was in sharp contrast with the 'organized an-
archy' of the Rajputs. It was a territorial state of modern type. The
sovereign was supreme over all causes. The governors were not
heads of feudal h'ibes and clans but servants of the emperor appoint-
ed and dismissed at his pleasure, and their offices, far from being
hereditary, were not even for life. The army was not 'feudalized'.
The men were enlisted directly by the emperor and paid by him.
They vowed him their allegiance and knew no other master. All
land was owned by tlle state. There were no intermediaries between
it and the tenant; who obtained his farm and paid its rent to the
government direct. It is obvious that while the .feudalism of the
Rajputs frittered away their energies by a system of divided allegi-
ance, the empire of Delhi concentrated all its resources under the
direction of a single monarch, who controlled everything through
servants dependent on himself.
Bureaucratic Grade
This highly-developed bureaucracy was duly graded and classified
according to the decimal system. Ten men were placed in charge
of a sar-lashkm' or sar-khail, ten sal'-khails were commanded bv one
amiI', ten amil's by one malik, ten maliks by one khan, and it was
desired that there should be at least ten khans in the kingdom. Thus
a khan=amil'-i tuman=commander of a tuman or a body of 10,000;
a malik=amir-i hazarah=commander of 1,000; an ami?' or amil'-i
sadah=commander of 100; a sal' khail=ami'l'-i dah= commander of
10. The term ami?' was often: used to signify all officers command-
ing one hunch'ed men or more, but the sal'-khail though he was some-
382 Politics and SoCiety during Early Medieval Period
times complimented with the title of amid dah did not count as a
person of any importance or standing.
Bureaucratic Titles
A few words may be added to explain the meaning of the titles
and the origin of the system of classification. In the historv of
Muslim Asia' most titles have been suhject to a slow and .!!ranllal
de!!radation; and. sultan; khan, malik and ambo illustrate the unfor-
tunate process. The term amir in modern Urdu means a rich mfln.
Tn Arahic it sip'llified a ruler, commandel', 81fVreme !!01)e1'nOI'. the
person from whom amI' or order orh!inated. The second Rnd-
in!! the title of 'successor to the successor of the nronhet' uncomfor-
tahly Ion!!. invented the deSignation of Ami1'1ll M ominin (comman-
der of the faithfnll. The kin{"s that rose in Aiam on the dec];"''' of
the Abbasid callinh<lte flssumed the title of nm,ir6 to inflicate their
curiolls nosition of leD'al subordin'ltion to. and nractical infleneild-
ence of. the Amirul Mominin. W'hen the flesip'n<ltinn of sultan Wqs
invented for MahmllC! of C:hazni. the word WfiS fmther deO'ranN1 to
mean not a semi-indenendent ruler but one of his mOl'e imn()l'tant
officers. The worn maw.: is <l1so Arabic and is used in the 01lrt7n as
equivalent to chief I'uler and kin!!.
The nre-Muslim emnerors of Persia called themselves M,7:1(1(l-
.Muluk (kinp' of kin!!s) and the 'Partr.ians were desip'nated MlIlllkut-
Taw(1if (tribal kinQ:s). But unlike amiI', ma7ik did not come into
popular use and constantlv maintained a hip'her diP1litv. Nowanavs
a number of families, both Hindus and MusnImans, whose ancestors
were once. have come to use the word as a nab'onvm in utter
i!!norance of its ori{"inal si{"nificance. The word khan has har1 even
a more troubledhistorv. In India it means anv Afp'han: in Afp'ha-
nistan it is apnlied exclusive!v to men of some standinp' and distinc-
tion; pettv 'Princes assume the title in Turkistfln, while amonp' the
Ottoman Turks it was used an equivalent to sultan. theheaC! of the
,state. It was originally a Turko-{;hinese word and mean the {treat
overlord of an Turkish tribes. Khaan and Oa8nwere hoth med,
kh and q being interchangeable in Turkish. The title of khaqan
given, by Firdausi to the emperor of China seems a shortened form
of khan-qann (khan of khans). Chengiz throughout his career was
known by no other title but that of khan and his successor also founC!
it the highest designation they could assume. The semi-indenend-
ent of Turkistan were'known as in the 9th and
centuries just as the minor princes of PerSIa were' known as amtl's.
With the conquest of Turkistall by Musalmalls, the title of khan
Emp!Jre Of Delhi in Early Middle Ages
383
came to be given to the highest officers of the state, and in that sense
it was imported in to India. The premier khan was called uluf!.h or
alp (first) khan, a title which was later on changed into khan-i
khanan, while the premier ami!' was called ami1'ul umam, khan,
rnalik and ami!' were all official titles given by the state; they were
not indications of racial ori{!in or family standing, and a private
assuming them would have been punished. Both Hindus and
Musalmans could become and ami!'s; there are of few odd
eases of Hindus being created khans, but the Hindu equivalent of
khan was mi, and of khan-i khanan, mi-m1fan. But unlike the khans.
the rais of the empire were not Q:overnment servants but mediatized
princes, who inherited their principality as well as their title. The
title of sultan was first invented to indicate the unique position oc-
cupied by Mabmud of Ghazni. He was the first person to estab-
lish a Muslim empire distinct from the caliphate; the title of ami1'
seemed too small for a mler whose powers extended from the Pun-
iah to the Casnian and from Samarqand to Ray, and a new word
brou{!ht into the off-icial vocahnlary to si)!nify' the advent of the first
of the ?Teat Muslim emperors. The minor kings of Ghazni and Ghul'.
whose pretensions far outstripped their power, would have de{!raded
the new title also, but the rise of the Seliuq dynasty in Persia and
the empire of Delhi in India conb'ihuted to keep its dignitv intact.
In Tndia the Persian word shah was also added to it and the com-
hin:1tion shah-us sultan (emperorsultan) was not an inanpropriate
deSignation for the half-pagan, half-Muslim monarchical office.
01'i"in of the System of Classification
'While the Court and the central government of the Delhi empire
wac, organized according to Persian models, the administration of thE
army followed Turkish lines. Universal conSCription for the army
.seems to have been an immemOl'ial institution among the Turkish
races and was the foundation of their military streIwth. It worked
with surprising efficiencv and ease and won the admiration of all
observers. Alauddin Ata Malik Tuwayni has described the
system ag it existed in the time of ChenQ:iz. All persons canable of
bearing. arms were called to the army whenever necessary. The mall'
of the countrv was divided into groups of ten each under
all amil'-i dah; ten nmil-i dah were grouped under all amil'-i sadah,
ten of the latter under a amil'-i hnzarah, and ten were
grouped into a tllman. which was the highest military unit. . It was
llil,tnraI that tlle Turks, who came to preponderate in the annies of
m.ost. Islamic countries, should popularize the system to which they
)-lad been accustomed in their homelands. The conquests 6f Chengi?,
384 Politics and Socie'ty during the Early Medieval Period
Khan, at a later date, seemed to impress it with the hallmark of suc-
cess: Yet through slow changes and gradual adaptations it was di-
vested of its most important features till there remained nothing but
a series of suppositious calculations. Conspiration was not worked
in Persia, but the Turkish system seems to have been used for classi-
fying and grading the officers of the A further change came
with the Muslim settlement of northern India after Shihabuddin
Ghllri. Military officers were burdened with civil duties, which, with
the evolution of a regular government, came to take more and more
of their ti_me. In the end administrative work became the normal
duty of most officers, while supervision of the army within the ter-
ritory under their jurisdiction and occasional service on the battle-
field became a mere accident. The decimal system of calculation
also became a rough indication of their status and ceased to signify
the men under their actual command. All maliks and ami1's never
commanded the same number; what made them important, or other-
wise, was the land under their jurisdiction and the revenues they
brought to the impelial treasury. The decimal systeJU was incon-
venient for enlisted armies; it had too great jumps and allowed no
place for intelmediate units. Very often two or four thousand men
would be required to ganison a fort or go on an expedition and for
these the system had no place. It was consequently cast aside; khan,
malik and ami1' simply served to show that an officer belonged to the
first, second or third rank. Akbar's regrading of the bureaucracy
into mansabdars (ufficers) commanding from 500 to 10,000 men was
a reform of the old decimal system on more up-to-date and useful
lines.
Origin of the BUreallC1'(lcy in Slavery
But while the bureaucracy derived its classification from the deci-
mal system of the Turks, its origin is to be traced to the slaves pur-
chased, trained and promoted by the 'minor dynasties' of Persia, and
to the end of its days it bore on its face the impression of its servile
origin. An officer could not many without the emperor's permis-
sion. He could not hold pleasure-parties or go to visit his brother-
officers without informing the government. When he died, he was
inherited nO,t by his sons but by the emperor, who as a compensa-
tion undertook to look after the children of the deceased and very
often enrolled them in his service. EvelY sphere of his life, public
as well as private. was under the emperor's control. He was sub-
jected to a surveilla).1ce and autocracy from which all other citizens
were free. Centuries later the observant Bernier was amazed at this
strange phenomenon of 'socialism' which so Hagrantly Houted the
Empire of Delhi ill Early Middle Ages
385
rights of private proPel:t)'. Yet the solution of the puzzle is simple
MedIeval Indm was not socialistic; it recognized the right
of property, but such a right could not be claimed by those who
were themselves the property of others. The stahlS of the govern-
servant was that of a slave. A slave can have no property of
hIS own; he cm.mot marry where he likes; he is inherited by his mas-
ter he dieS and his sons are heirs to nothing but his slavery.
In earlier days most were aChlally slaves, but the
of kept adhering for centuries to the corps even when it was
largely lomed bi' free men.
A despotic system of government cannot exist without an efficient
bureaucracy to support it, and it was soon discovered that the young
t:md handsome Turks brought captive from the tribes of Turkistan
and Mawaraun Nahr supplied excellent material for the recruit-
ment such a corps. The slave-merchants spared no effort in the
of the promising boys in their hands, and they were
pmd for theIr labour as the price of a really efficient slave was
hIgh. The best slaves were purchased by the khl'1s and nobles and
had. prospects in life denied to free man. The g:'eat danger to the
government of the day was the disloyalty of its officers; provincial
govern?rs were onl), too prone to declare intlependence and their
subordmate officers very often rebelled against them in their turn.
A .bureaucracy of slaves provided the best possible guarantee against
thIS tendency to local The slave was the property
of the master and anythmg he earned or embezzled would sooner
or later came into his master's power. Rough hands had torn him
away from his tribe and people and starting life in a fOi'eicrn coun-
try, he had no kindred or relations to intedere with his
to his master's person.While the property of his master at law, the
slave was no less dependent on him in fact. He had no status ex-
cept what his master allowed him. He was not sprung from the
5011 and there was no a priori reason why, in a case of antagonism
between the ruler and his subjects, he should attach himself to. the
latter.. considerations had great weight with the kings as wen
as theIr hIgher nobles, and from the ninth century onwards the more
important offices were monopolized by Turkish slaves, and even
free men lost their freedom by entering the service of the govern-
ment.
The Bureaucracy of the Slave Kings
vVe are here ollly concerned with the sysfem as it worked in India.
Shihabuddin Ghuri had no sons and he consoled himself by collect-
386 Politics and Society dU"ing the Early pericd
jng together a large body of Turkish slaves who formed the officers
of his army and were entrusted with the Indian territories as they
were conquered one after another. The extinction of Shihabuddin's
dynasty left them without a master; the tie of 'salt and sonship' that
might have kept them in obedience to house of Ghur seemed to
demand that they should obev no one else. First a triangular duel
commenced between Qutbuddin Aibek of Delhi, Nasiruddin Knba-
cha of Sindh and Taiuddin YHduz of Ghazni; and when Taiuddin
was deprived of his kin!!dom bv the Mong-ols and Nasiruddill was
conquered by Iltnlmish, the 'slave-officers' of Delhi took to intril!U-
ing al!ainst each other. Their object, as a class, was twofold. First,
thev wished to prevent the crown from becoming too powerful. The
kin:g was one of themselves and they saw no reason why a divinity
should be allowed to hec1g-e him. His power could only grow at
their expense; it would put an end to their independence and pre-
vent them from exploiting the newly won country. Secondly. a
large number of Hindus, thanks to the propag-anda of the Mmlim
mystics. had been converted to Islam. What was to he their status?
The s/wTi'at, of course, b'eats all Musalmans as eanal, but the Turkish
vrandees made un their mind that the Indian Musalmans must be
and the offices of the ?,overnment preserved as a mono-
polv of the Tlll'kish race. Manv of the new Mnslims had heen en-
rolled from the lower classes. and any amount of scorn and con-
temTlt was Tloured over their heads on the score of their low birth.
It ,vas laid down as a principle of profound political wisdom that
no office should he given to a low-caste man
7
; and the new aspirant
to the Islamic privilep'e of social eauality was contrasted to his dis-
credit with the honoured families of the Indian rais who had proved
true to their ancient faith.
The Turkish officers were fairly successful at first. The crown was
practically put into commission. Shams uddin Iltutmish had with
difficulty kept himself on his storm-tossed throne, but his sons were
set up and pulled down with bewildering rapidity and the heroic
Raziya lost her life in a vain attempt to subdue the spirit of aristo-
cratic lawlessness. The Indian Musalman was made to feel his in-
significance in every sphere of life. 1ntermarriaj!e was not a thing
to be thought of; even talking to an ordinary Musalman or meeting
him on a social footing was considered something degrading. The
Turks might have preserved their power indefinitely, if they had
combined to defend the government against its enemies and culti-
vated a strong spirit of cooperation. But while sb'iking both at the
crown and the people, they were themselves divided into bitter fac-
tiofls Everyone of them imagined to be a Khusrau or' a
Empire of Delhi in Early Middle Ages 387
Kaiqnbad and shouted, "I and none other" (Ana wa la gha.il'e). Blood-
feuds arose and were handed down from father to son; till coopera-
tion even against the enemies of the mistocracy became impossible.
The first blow came from above. Ghiyasuddin Balhan after rising to
the throne with the help of his brother officers, thou/!ht it his dutv to
remove the most important of them bv a liberal use of poison and the
assassin's dal!!!er. But he was after all a Turk and desired the sub-
iection, not the annihilation, of the aristocracy. After his death, the
Tmks again started their I!ame of keeping puppets on the throne and
divining the country among themselves. But circumstances had chan-
V
ed
. The onposition had been slowlv gatherin!! in mass and volume:
flnd while the aristocrats continued their death-dance over a p'round
that trembled and shook beneath their feet, the revolutionary forces.
strengthened hv an ever-increasing' number of converts, exnloded
hlew them into the air. Balban's l!randson mln successor. Kaiqu-
had. drank himself to death, an'd the officers after nlacinp' his son, a
mere child. on the throne, nrew up a list of persons doomed to death.
At the head of the list was the name of the venerable minister of war.
Tnhluddin Khalii. The sequel was a surprise to the Turks. Talalud-
din massed his forces against them and moved himself more than a
maTch for his opponents. The Turks had to vield without a hattIe.
The child-kinP.' wa, c1eTlosed and Talaluddin mounted the throne at
the ndvanced a!!e of seventv. The moderations of the new emneror
[lnd his to shed the blood of even his most hitter onnon-
ents served to mask the chan!!e. The middle classes of the towns of
Hindustan were solid for the' new re!!ime and the citizens of DelhC
'who found the rule of the Khaliis intolerable', were let in quiet. A
large number of the Turkish officers were reappointed to their offices.
Still tllearistocratie Turkish ring was broken: the Indian MusaTmom.
and such Hindus as wei'e willinlr to cooperate with them, had secm-
ed a place in the sun. Jalaluddin's nenhew, 'Alauddin, drove the
ap'reement home. He first won the Turkish nobles from the party
of his uncle by false promises and bribes. and then as soon as his
power wasfirmlv etahlished, exterminated them Manv
of lhe Turkish officers were pnt to death. some were hlmded and
others were imprisoned in distant forts. Their propeli)' was confis-
cated, and their families and followers were overthrown. Onlv three
members of the old aristocracy, one of them Khalii, the con-
verted Rajput and the third a' mcor-
porated in the ne", aristocracy which was entirely a creabon of the
sultan. The revolution was complete. The government had pa.ssed
from the foreign Turks to the. Indian their Hmdu
alliGs. India Was to be governed by admmlsn'ators sprung
388 Politics and Society during the Ea1'ly Medieval Period,
from the soil. It was a sectional government, no doubt, but so have
been all governments in all countries that history knows of.
The new aristocracy was kept in a position of stern subjection. No
emperor of India, not even Akbar the Great, has been such a terror
to his nobles as 'Alauddin KhaljL Spies and reporters were stationed
at the gate of every officer and daily informed the sultan of all that
happened. Nothing was overlooked, and punishment was swift and
sure when proper explanations were not forthcoming. The nobles
were ordei'ednot to visit each other or to invite guests; they were
even afraid of talking when brought together for business to the im-
perial court. None of them was allowed to marry without the Em-
peror's permission, lest family alliances should enable them to form
strong and powerful cliques. The new officers had not been formed
out' of a body of slaves, but all the conditions of slavery were im-
posed on a servant recruited from a free-born population.
'1 What is called Mdilis-i' Aish (pleasure-party Or sometimes simply the Sultan's
mailis must not be confused with imperial council (mai/is-i khas). The form,,!, was
a social ,gathering of the, emperor's courtiers for drinking, dancing and music, to which
his ministers may, or may not, be invited. It had no political significance.
2 The red canopy was regarded as the most important of all royal symbols. Highly-
favoured subjects or' feudatory rajas were permitted to use a canopy, but of' a dif-
ferent colour, as' an extraordinary privilege. Thus Raja Rama Deo of Devagiri was
given the title 'of mi myan (raja of the rajas) and invested with a green canopy by
'Alauddin Khalji in recognition of his position as the second highest dignitary of the
,
3 Translated by Elliot as Muster-Master General. He is the predecessors of the
'Bakbsi' of the Mughal Einpire. The translation of 'Mir-Ad as Minister of Petitions
by Blochman imd Dr. V. A. Smith is one of the oddities of modern scholarship.
'Arz', here' means review, not petition. Later on the Emperors themselves undertook,
some of the duties of the Minister of War.
4 (dagh) is. popularly believed to have been an invention of Sher Shah.
This, is incorrect. It is, mentioned by Barani in his acconnt of 'Alauddin's reforms,
bnt was probably an old custom even 'then. Wf' 'find a reference to it in qasidas
of the time of MMmud of Ghaznin. All branded horses belonged to the state though
tliey were' in the possession of the horsemen.
5 Bazaban-i daraz dast ra kotah bayad kard'.
6 This significance is still preserved in the title of the amir of Afghanistan.
7 Tht)s according to a wretched verse which WOn the approv[,j of Balban:
Fa siflah TO madih khamah ki gardun ra maial uftad, ,
Slyah sangay ki dar kabil st sazad sang -i-istinia.
[Published' in P1'oceedings of the Third All India Oriental COnference,'
. 1924, pp. 309'328]
APPENDICES
1. PREF A.CE TO THE FIBST EDITION OF
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni-A Study
The study here presented to 0e h'ies to one of the
most stOlmy periods of our I?edieval hIstory. As km!!; as
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni will always attract the attention of a postenty,
which has been so profoundly influenced by his work, and it but natural
that the most divergent views of his character should prevail. I am not
aware that I have been inspired by any sympathy or antipathy towal'ds
the great conqueror. But there has recently.grown up.a tendency among
some Musalmans of India to adore Mahmud as a samt, and to such a
scientific evaluation of his work and his policy will appear very painful.
There is only one thing I need say in my defence. Islam as a creed
stands by the plinciples of the Quran and the 'Life' of the Apostle. If
Sultan Mahmud and his officers sh'ayed from the 'straight path'-so much
the worse for them. We want no idols.
Muslim University, Aligarh,
24 March 1927.
MOHAMMAD HA.BIB
2. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION OF
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni
About twenty-seven years have passed since this book was written. In
an atmosphere surcharged with hah'eds duling the Lucknow communal
riot of 1924, I composed and recomposed many of its passages to give
expression to that longing for humanity, justice, tolerance and secularism
which has been torturing my eastern soul. What has happened since then
-the growth of hatreds on a global scale and the death of millions and
millions of innocent men, women and children to satisfy the greed of the
governing classes-has only served to conflnn me in my opipions. The
book Was hailed by a stonn of criticism in the Urdu press. But as this
Poiitics and Society during tt'B Ea1'ly Medieval Ff31wd
criticism-:-:vindictive, bitter, hostile-:-was based on a complete ilSnorance
of the ongmais, 1 took no notice of It. I reprint the book as it was written.
* *
The iact that Muslim leaders during the last three hundred years,
whether polrucHlnS or mullahs, have known no other psychoiolSY except
the psycltuwgy ut retreat, and that, thanks to them, ail Muslim com-
mumties have been subject to recurrent waves of evenising reactionary
fanaticisms WItiI the consequence that the Musalmans unable to stand
on tileir own feet and to adjust their ways of life and their institutions
to the strenuous conditi?1lS at the modem world Or to take their proper
par t III the expandmg VIstas opened by modem science, have been driven
to seek llie protection of some foreign impelialism or other-all this
not blIlld us to tile fact that (a) the Muslim revolution has been
aVItal fact in for all time, (b) that the Quranic conception
01 god war,. and can still be, a revolutionaIY force of incalculable value
lor. attamment of. hwnan welfare, and (c) that the higher Muslim
and of. 0-e n:iddle ages as taught by its best exponents
::nd IS ton11, that "religion for the service
Mao Tse-tung and our own Mahatmaji
have plOmulgated .11: thIS generatlOn. The racial arrogance which has
been of the features of westem Europe and America during the
last thiee. centunes .1S lesult ot the temporary superiority given to tilem
by. the nse of .capitalIsm and capitalistic production. We cannot allow
oliI.selves to be b-r the. same disease. We stand not for the substi-
?f discnmIllation for another but for the elimination of all
dlscnmmations.
*
*
The history of no '-'Duntry has any meaning or value except in the con-
lext .of wOl.ld-history. Mahmud is one of tile outstanding features of
med.leval Apm (non-Arab Asia) and will be judged for all times by the
serVICes he may have rendered to-or the havoc he may have WIought
concerned. The historian? as such, has no counb-y and
no. He .IS a stude:lt .of the. of He must investigate
man s dmlectlcal rna! ch hom rehglOn to relIgIOn, from country to counb.y
and from age to. age on basis of his expanding ideals, his improving
tools of production and hIS developing social organizations.
Still if the kindly reader thinks that he must form his estimate of
M.ahmud On a religio-theological basis, I will venture to draw
IllS attention to two great authOlities, whose religious orthodoxy at least
Ca!l11ot be doubted.
. Imam. Abltl. Fazl Bailiaqi was a junior officer of the royal secreta!iat
In the time of Sultan Ma!llnud; during the reign of Masud, son of Mall-
mud, he the assIstant of Abu Nasr Mishtakan, the royal secre-
or dabl!';. still later,. the Ghaznavid empire had contracted
a kmgdom. WIth power or prestige, Bailiaqi retired into
hfe to pass hIS remaInmg days in devotions and in the compo-
SItIon of the three volumes of his famous Tarikh-i Aal-i Subulctigin (His-
AppendiclJs
tory of the Dynasiy of Subuktigin). Ghznavid oUicer i':s
fearless in speaKing the buth ana we need not be at tile iact
tilat only the thiw volwne ot his great work, devoted to Masud,
has survived. However, in this smviving volwne, Imam Bailiaqi wntes:
"Amir Masud called me in. Vvelcome', he said, and orde,red the ser.-
vant, Aghachi, to bring the bags. Take these', said to me, '1'here me
O1!e thousand gold ple(;eS, eacn weighing a rmsqal III every bag (a
misqal = 1 :5/ I dramS).leil Abu l"asr rlmt tllis IS the gold whicn
hi-tIler \may goa be pleaSe(l WIth him 1) has brought irom his holy wars
\gIUlZWlI) III mdia; iuols at gold were to and melted (mto
mgots). It is lawtul \ltalal) property. Dmmg every .they brmg
from this stock to. me so tllal anythmg 1 WIsn to glVe m chanty may be
from property wllieh is lawful (lUllal) without doubt, I hear that Abul
Hasan, tile qazi ot Bust, and his son, are facing desperate paverty; they
accept natrung trom anybody and have veq little to live upon. Give
one Dag to tne father arId one to the san, so that 0ey may J;le able to.
live in attluence on lawiul property and 1 may have dIscharged III part my
obligation \to god) for the recoveq of my health.'
"I taak the bags, bwught them to Abu Nasr and narrated everything
to. him. He thanKed gOd and said, 'His majesty (khudawand) has given
good orders. 1 have heard that at times Abu! Hasan and his son are eVeIl
unable to find 10 dirhams (copper coins): Abu Nasr went into his house
and llie bags were takoo willi him.
"After afternoon prayer-time (zohr) Abu Nasr soot some one and
called Qazi Abul Hasan and his son. They came and Abu N asr con-
veyed tlle sultan's message to the qazi. The qazi altered many prayers
(for the sultaII) and replied; 'This gitt is an honom. 1 accept it and give
it back. I cmmot take it for the day of reckoning is near and I will not
be able to render an account for it. I will not pretend that I am not in
great need. But since I am content with the little 1 have, of what use
IS this gold to me?'
"'God be praised', said Abu Nasr, 'This gold has been brought by
Sultan Mahmud from idol-temples through (the shength of) his sword;
the idols have been deshoyed and brokeIl to pieces. The commander
of the faithful (i.e. the Baghdad caliph) has considered its acceptmlce
(by him) to be correct. But tile qazi will not accept it!'
"'May the life oi his majesty be prolonged', the qazi replied, 'but the
condition (hal) of the commander of the faithful is different from mine.
He is the ruler of a territory. Further, yau khwaja (Abu Nasr) have beerl
with Amir Mahmud in llis campaigns. 1 have not. It has not been re-
vealed to me whether these campaigns were conducted in acco.rdance
with the tradition of the prophet (blessing on him!) or not. I will on no
condition accept this gold or any obligations about it:
"'If you do not accept it for yourself', said Abu Nasr, 'give it to your
pupils, to the deserving (mustahiqqin) and to the durweshes.'
"'I know of no deserving person in Bust to whom gold may be given.
And why should I place myself in the pasition that while another per-
son takes away the gold, 1 have to rendet an account for it on the day
of reckoning. Under no circwnstances will T Th;o ,'In' .. '
392
"Abu N,lsr turned to the son. 'You take your share.'
"'May the life of the great khwaja be prolOnged. I am the son of the
person who has just spoKen and have also studied with him. If I had
seen him only for a smgte day and come to know at his spiritual emi-
nence (ahwal) and his ways O;t life, I would have considered it my duty
to follow him all my life . .i3ut I have been with him for years. I am also,
like him, afraid of the account I will have to render on the day of re-
ckoning. The meagre portion of worldly goods I possess is lawful; it
is also suJiicient tor me. I am not desirous of increasing it.'
"'You two are great souls. May Allah give you in abundance!'
Khwaja Abu Nasr replied. He wept and sent them back. He was very
thollgntful the rest ot the day and kept reflecting on the conversation.
Next day he wrote a letter to Amir Masud explaining the situation and
retumed the gold. The amir was smprised" (Persian text, pp. 636-38).
It was not'to be expected that the great Shaikh Sa'di in his Gu/istan,
the most widely read of all Persian books, would say anyhing shocking
to the religious consciousness of his time. And yet his estimate of Mah-
mud is low and, in fact, clUe!. "A malik (rulet") of Khurasan saw in a
dream", Sa'di tells us, "that the whole body of Sultan Mahmud son of
Subllktigin had been disintegrated and reduced to dust. But his eye-balls
wel'e still rotating in their sockets and looking around them. The philo-
sophers failed to interpret the dream, but a durwesh correctly inter-
preted it and said: 'He is still gazing (in distraction) that his empire
is in the hands of another'" (Gulistan, Chapter I). There was for Shaikh
Sa'di and his contemporaries no question of Mahmud's services to Islam,
They were not members of the Indo-Turkish goveming class of Delhi
and Daulatabad, under whose aegis most legetlds about Sultan Mahmud
were manufactured. A VelY good example are the impossible stories we
lind in the Futuh-tls Salatin of 'Isami. It is only when Islamic ideals were
suppressed in order to manufacture Islam into a governing-class creed
that could become 'a religious hero'. And the most impossible
of modern Imperialisms-the 'dream imperialism' of the Pan-Islamists
-keeps that fiction alive. The 'real Mahmud', who certainly did not de-
s.er-:e the st,ricture of Sa'di, would have been as much smprised at this
f,ctIOn as Ius so:' was surprised at tlle qazi of Bust's refusal to accept
the gold of Indmn temples as a royal gift.
An apology is .due for my use of the word Ghaznin. The exact tenn
Ghazni' ain-meaning the two cities on either side of the river-is
,complex for use in English. 'Ghazni' is a modem term and should be
qnly used mode:-n. Ghazni, is a single. city surrounded by a
moat-walL Ghaznah IS the Arablcised form whlch our Persian histo-
rians do not use.
The Hrst edition had no index. I also considered a list of authorities
to be of my young friend and colleague,
:Mr. Khahq Ahmad NlZamI, M. A, has enabled me to remove both these
shortcomings.
Badal' Bag/!',
AIl/slim University, Aligarh, IvIoHAMMAD HABIB
22 December 1951.
Appendices
393
3. PREFACE TO TIlE KHAZAIN-UL FUTUH
THE Klw;winu/ Futuh of Amir Khusrau has often been referred t<;>
the later historians of India. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan ,has quoted It .m
tho second volume of his ,and even
has "!loticed it in the third volume of his Hzstory of Indw as lola by He!
Own Historians. But I doubt if in the six hundred years that have
elapsed since its author's death a,ny .one has cared the'
with the care it deserves. Khusrau s lll1Il1ortal reputatIOn as the great
est of Indo-Persian poets, was founded on his depth of feel,-
ing, his lyric gift and his supremely ,personahty. Scholar,
mystic, philosopher, poet, soldiet" and polItiCIan, few people have
able to bring such divet'se attributes tog;ether: was the, same
his poetry. tie composed verses in ArabIC, H,ll1ch and PerslaI1; and, m
tlle Pet'sian larlguage, to which the mass of hIS wOl:k he h1.ed
his hands at every kind of verse and every form of metre. He y;as ,a
musician also, and in one of the lines quoted, by Daulat, ?hah ,m Ins
Tazkiratush Shuara, Khusrau claims that his muslCal composltIOl1S, 1 tlley
could be written', would be as voluminous as his verses. Many poets of
equal eminence have lived in obscurit:l:' want; Khusrau. was born
to fame and had no difficulty in obtammg recogl1ltlOll from 111s contem-
poraries. Ziyauddin Barani, the historian, who kilew Khusrau wen, de-
clared him to be 'the greatest of all poets, ancient and modern; for 'Yhereas
other poets had excelled in one or two of verse-the qlta" the
qasida the ghazal, the ruboi, or the masnavz.-Khusrau was preemment
in alL' KhuSTau's car"eer was, moreover, as sustained as it was successful.
He began his life as a courtier of nephew
of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban. Jalaluddm Khal}! aI?p01l1.ted hIm an officer
of the empire, Mashafdar (Quran keeper) and courtwr-m fact, poet laure-
ate-on his accession in 1290; and in spite of all revolutions and dynas'
tic charlges, Khusrau held this office till his death in A.D. 1325.
Khusrau's prolific works include four diwOHS, five metrical romances,
five historical romances and two prose works. Two other small books
10:e also attributed to him-the Kluiliq Bari, a versified Hindi-Persian
cabulary, and a brief summary of the conversations of Nizamuddin
Auliya in simple and l\lcid prose. No WrItel" has .done more
to provide livelihood for the poor COpYIsts (katlbs) of the mIddle ages;
voluminous though his works are, posterity has preserved them with
sedulous care; and apart from the Khaliq Bari and the Tughluq Nama
(which Khusrau did not live to revise: and complete), they have, sUl"vived
in ,fairly good condition. Along the rest, the, Klwzainul Futuh has
also been transcribed and retranscnbed, '<hough Jts fOlm and contents
were both calculated to drive away the 'gentle reader' who did not brin)!;
to his task a grave sense of duty and an irrepressible desire to unearth
all historic facts, regardless of the time and labour the search might
entail. Its manuscripts are not scarce, and as the text would have lost
its value in the hands of a careless copyist, due care seems to have been
always taken in transcribhlO' it. The real difficulties of: the Persian lan-
guage apart, there are hardlY three or four places whem it is not possible
to put the text right.
394
Politics alld Society during the Early Medieval Period
The present translation based on the Yule. manusclipt in the British
Museum, was begun and completed by ill year
along with my tnends, Mr. AbClur ll.ahman and Shumb \?me-
sh;, 1 was working as a research student under the supervIsIOn of DJ. I?
S. YIargoJiouth at Oxford. The Yule manuscnpt IS obvIOusly a modem
work and belongs to the early erghteenth centm.>:, but a note at t!:le end
01 the text declares that 'the original from whIch thIS manuscnpt has
been copied was written eleven years after Ar:rlli' Khusrau's death'. On
my return to India, my frIend Mr. Hasan Bami (advocat.e, Bulandshahr)
pmced at my disposal a copy of the. work. WhICh he had
transcribed tor llllnsell. I reVIsed the translatron With the help of my
senior pupils, Mr. S. A. H.ashid, Mr. Moinul Haq and Mr. Sultan
We did not find any substantial difference between the two manuscnpts.
The difficulty of translating a book of ornate Persim1 like the
Futuh can OlUy be apprecIated by those who have undertaken snnilm'
work. As I iOOk back at the wearisome days and sleepless mghts the pro-
secution of this work has entailed, I cmlllot help for the
kind and ungrudging help of revered teache:', Dr. D .. S. Margoliouth.
Many passages ot the translation been reylsed by him, though
the responsmility for the IS el1:trrely m.me, completion ?f the
task would not have been WIthout his gUldance and adVICe. It
has been my privilege to sit at the feet of such a masteL
In dividing the work into chapters and paragraphs,. 1 have, so far as
possible, followed Khusrau's lead. In tile the
and chapter headings, mostly 111 verse, are wntten 111 red 111k. Most para-
graphs have also been given a to tell the reader what al-
lusion and similes he is to look for; I have transferred these verse"head-
ings to the Translation of Persian veTses has throughout been
put in italics.
I have tr'ied to make the translation as accurate as possible and in the
attempt to be accurate, I have tried to be as literal as the different forms
and traditions ot the English and the Persian permit. But a
literal translation sometimes gives to the English reader an impression
which the author never intends, and in such cases I have considered it
my duty to tr'anslate the ideas of the author rather than his words. It
must also be confessed that a number of Khusrau's verbal tricks' or 'mira-
cles', puns on words and letters, and scholastic allusions, are absolutely
untr'anslatable, and no good purpose would have been served by a very
clumsy translation buttressed by wearisome and uninteresting footnotes.
Some of these 'miracles' have perforce been omitted, while I have at-
tempted to tr'anslate the rest in such manner as was possible. One of the
good points of Khusrau's work is the plentiful dates it contains. In the
Persian text, the date is first embodied in a chronogral11 and is then ex-
plained in a simple verse which gives the day, month and year'. I have
omitted the chronogram and merely translated the date.
I am grateful to Dr. S. Krishnaswami for his scholarly intro-
cluction on the historical aspects of the work. The liter'my character of
the KhazainHl Futuh was examined by me in the introduction to my
friend, Mr. Moinul Haq's edition of the Persian text. It is transcribed
here for the reader of the English translation:
Appendices .395
"Poetry was Amir Khusrau's mother-tongue; prose he WI'ote with dilfi-
CullY alld etlort and he would have been well adVIsed to leave that
ot lIterature to more pedestnan intellects. But it was not to be expected
that sucn a cOllsiLlera(lOn would serve to clleck his exubenmt
Apart hom the introductions to his two of his
lering III volume arld value, have surVIved. 1he first, l1az-I-Klmsravl
(Miracles 01 Khusrau) is a long work in five volumes on ligures of speech.'
it contains every variety of mn'ade" known to the pen of the
petitions to higl1 ollicers composed of vowels only, verses wmch are PersIan
It read trom nght to left, and Arabic iI: read from lett to nght,
trom which, au letters with dots m'e exclnded, and many such aTtlllcrallties
of wit and style wmch may have delighted and consoled the author's c<;n-
temporanes, uut tail to attract OUf taste. Some' ot letters 111-
dULled in the volumes have a solid histOrIcal value. An application to a
government olhcer requesting tor a post or the mis-
uellllviour ot was sure to attract attentlOn it by Khus-
rall; anCl the poet was too ll1Ver1tive not to have a new mrrcle ready for
every occaSlOll. it is easy to understand that supplicar1ts flocked to his
door.' lie seems aiso to have beguiled his leisure hours in discovering
new literary tricks and otten sem them as presents to his friends. The
Ijaz-i-Kl!usrat;i is the accumulated mass of these miraculous prose com-
pOSitions which Ami! Khusrau had been amassing for years and edited
111 the later part ot 'Alauddin's reign. Most of the pieces are. tiresome and
frivolous, but others throw a brilliant light on the social life of the day.
Amir Khusrau's second prose-work, the Khazainul Futuh is the official
histOlY ot "Alauddin's campaigns.
'Amir Khusrau was a man of wit and humour. His fancies are often
brilliant. Nevertheless nothing but a stem sense of duty will induce a
modern reader to go through Khusran's prose-works in the original. His
style is artificial in the extr'eme; the similes and metaphors are sometimes
too puerile for a school-boy; at other' places the link between
the ideas (if preserlt at all) is hard to discover. Prose is the natmal speech
of man for ordinary occasions, but Amir Khusrau's ideas seem to have
come to him in a versified form. So while his poetry has all the beauties
of an excellent pTose, his prose has all the artificiality of very bad verse,
it is jejune, insipid, tasteless and wearisome.
'Failing to realise that the true 'beauty of prose lies in its simple,
direct and effective, he bies to surplise his readers by a new tr'ick at
every turn, attacks him with words the meaning of which he is not likely
to know, or offer's hinl metaphors and similes calculated to shock and
disgust. His one desire is to convince the reader of his own mental power
and in this, so far as contemporaries were concerned, he certainly
succeeded. But Amir Khusrau, for all his artistic talents, never' compre-
hended that a book of prose, like a volume of verse, should be a thing
of beauty and of joy.
'The Klwzainul Futuh very well illustrates the general chm'acter of
Khusrau's prose. It is divided into small paragraphs; every paragraph
has a heading infOlming the reader what allusions he is going to find
in the next few lines. A single example will suffice. "Allusions to water.
If the stream of mv life was p-ivp.n thp .,."",1 - ,_-.. --
396
Pulitics "lUI Suciety durilig the J!;(lI'iy Medieval Period
even then I would not ofter the thirsty any drink. the of
the Second Alexander'. But as I tJmt human hfe IS such III the
end we have to wash our hands oft it, the fountam of words will
enable the reader to moisten his lips. Since the of my lIfe-
time, from the cradle to the grave, cannot be more than thIS, I did not
think it proper to plunge to the of endless but hav.e con-
tented myself with a small quantlty of .the,water of hfe. And so It !!;oes
on wearisome and miificial, from begml1lng to end.
:It is obvious that such a procedure detracted much from the v.alue
of an historical work. Only such facts could be stated as. permItted
Khusrau to bring in the allusion; the rest could be only partially: stated
or had to be suppressed; Khusrau's o:n1y was to make his para-
graphs as small as possible, otherWIse his prose w;mld marched
along 1'Outes quite different from those selected. by. Alauddin s generals.
The I'eader, who wishes to discover the hue histoncal fact, has first to
analyse Khusrau's literary tricks and critically sepa:ate the ?f
fact from the colouring impmied to it by: Khusrau III .order to brill!!; llil
the allusions. At times the literary tricks mduce us to I'!?;r:ore the fact at
the bottom. "Allusion to virtue and vice-Though the glVmg water (to
the thirsty) is one of the most notable of this. (pure-mmded
t

peror, yet he has removed wine and Its accompamme?ts from
assemblies; for wine the daughter of grape and the SIster of sugar, IS
the mother of all wickedness. And wine on her part, has washed herself
with salt and sworn that she will henceforth remain in the form of vine-
gar, freeing herself from all evils out of r.egard for the. claims of salt.'"
This would have appeared a mere literary flourish i.l we had not been
definitely told by Ziyauddin Barani, that .'Alauddin.
a series of harsh measures for the suppressIOn of dnnkmg m Delli.
Conversely, the allusion may have no basis of fact at all. "Allusions to sea
and min-The sword of the righteous monarch completely conquered
the province (Gujarat). Much blood was shed. A general invitation was
isued to all the beasts and birds of the forest to a continuous feast of
meat and drink. In the marTiage banquet, at which the Hindus were
sacrificed, animals of all kinds ate them to their satisfaction." This would
seem to indicate a general and intentionai massacre. But there was no
such massacre, and Khusrau himself goes on to assure us: "My object
in this simile is not real blood but (only to show) that the sword of Islam
purified the land as the sun puries the emth." The Khazainul Futuh has
to be interpreted with care, and in the light of other contemporary
material, it would be dangerous and misleading to accept Khysrau's
accounts at their face value. Still the labour of interpretation IS well
repaid by the new facts we discover.
'The Khazainul Futuh naturally falls into six pmis-the introduction,
administrative refOlms and public works, campaigns against the Mon-
gols, the conquest of Hindustan, the campaign of Warangal and the
campaign of Ma'abar. The space devoted to the various sections is sur-
prisingly unequal. About two-thh-ds of the book is devoted to the
Warangal and Ma'abar campaigns, while the other measures of 'Alauddin's
reign are summarized in the remaining third. The reason for thisi!;;
perbaps, not impossible to discover. A remark of Barani (Tarikh-i Firuz
Appendices 397
Shahi, p. 361) seems to throw light on the real character of the
Futuh as well as the Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi. "The other great! histonan
of the time (of Sultan 'Alauddin) was Kabirudd,in, son of Tajuddin; Iraqi.
In the art of composition, eloquence and adVIce, he. hIS oW?
and 'Alauddin's contemporaries, and became the Al1ur-l-dad-t .m
of revered father. . He held in honour by Alauddm:
He has dIsplayed wonders 1I1 ArabIC and PersIml prose. In the Fath-t
Nama (Book of Victory) which consists of . several he
honour to the traditions of prose and scems to surpass all wnters, anCIent
and modem. But of all the events of 'Alauddin's reign, he has confined
himself to a narration of the sultan's conquests; these he has praised with
exaggeration and adorned with figures of speech, and he has depmied
from the tradition of those historians who relate the good as well as the
bad actions of every man. And as he wrote the history of 'Alauddin
during that sultan's reign and every volume of it was presented to the
sultan, it was impossible for him to refrain from praising that terrible
king or to speak of anything but his greatness."
'So Amir Khusrau, though the was not the court-historian
of 'Alauddin Khalji; that honour belonged to Kabiruddin who was con-
sidered to be the greatest prose writer of the day. The oH1cial history
by which 'Alauddin expected to be remembered by posterity was not the
thin volume of Amir Khusrau but the ponderolls Fath-i Nama which
was prepared undel the sultan's personal supervisiO'n. The Fath-i Naina
has disappeared; its manuscripts may have been intentionally
during Timur's invasions or under the early Mughal emperors; for It must
have oeen full of contempt and hatred for the Mongol barbarians';
Ferishta and other later historians do not refer to it and its great length
would, in any case, have made its preservation diH1cult. But Barani and
Khusrau had the Fath-i Nama before them and accommodated their his-
tories to it. Barani, who was essentially a man of civil life, allowed
Kabiruddin to speak O'f 'Alauddin's conquests, and confined his own his-
tOly to an account of administrative and political affairs, merely adding
a paragraph on the campaigns here and there for the logical complete-
ness of his work. AmiI' Khusrau was more ambitious. He pitted himself-
against Kabiruddin's great, if b'ansient, reputation and on Kabiruddin's'
own chosen ground. HithertO' his pen, "like a tire-women, had generally'
curled the hair of her maidens 'in verse", but it would now bring "pages
of prose for the high festival". Let not critics dismiss him as a mere poet,
living in a mock paradise and incapable of describing the affairs of govern-
ment and war. If he had wings to fly. 11e had also feet to walk. He would
even surpass Kabiruddin, whom shallow critics considered "the greatest
of all prosaists, ancient and modern". He would excel in all that Kabi-
excelled. TI;te virtues (or which Barani deplor-
Il1gly KabmIddll1 are all pall1fully present in Khusrau's
work-:-an artifiCIal stvle adorned with figures of speech, an exclusive
devotion to wars and conquests, the elimination of all facts that were
not complimentary to 'Alauddin, and, lastlv, an' exaggerated flattery of
the sultan. In the Pani Guni Khusrau had imitated the Khamsah of
Nizami and walked as far as possible in his predecessor's footsteps. It
was a mistake, but he repeated it once moi'e in the Khazilinul Futuh.
398
Politics and Society during the Early Medieval Period
We do not see Khusrau's prose in its natural dress; it is draped and dis-
figured into an imitation of Kabiruddin's extinct composition. For Amir
Khusrau, if a scholar, was also a courtier, and a courtier is devoted to
the fashion of the passing hour. The fashion had been set by Kabiruddin
and his Khusrau blindly followed it.
'The Khazainlll FlItuh is not inenlly a challenge to the Fath-i Nama
of Kabiruddin; it is also a continuation of that work. Barani seems to
imply that Kabiruddin was' a survivor from the preceding age and he
may not have lived to complete his voluminous work. If so, the dispro-
portionate length of the Deccan campaigns in the Khazainul Futuh be-
comes intelligible. The Khazainul Futuh is essentially a history of the
Deccan invasions. 'Alauddin may have asked Khusrau to continue Kabi-
rnddin's work. but Khusrau's introductory remarks make it probable that
he wrote on his own initiative and exPected the sultan to accept it as
the official account of the reign. The Fath-i Nama had made a detailed
description of the earlier events unnecessary, and Khusrau merelv sum-
marises them to enable his book to stann. on its own feet. But the Deccan
campaigns are given in detail: probably after the manner of the extinct
Foth-i Nama.
'Amir Khusran wished his work to be an official account of 'Alauddin's
reil!n and the Khazainl1l Fl1tuh has, consequently, all the merits and
defects of a government publication. It credits 'Alauddin with every
variety of virh1e and power, and his officers also come in for tIleir due
share. All governments live on lies or, at least, a partial sunm'''ssion of
truth. But' Amir Khusrau's hvnerholic exagl!erations are deceptive
and dangerous than the insidious Pl'Onal!anda of modern
His flatterv neither deceived nor was intended to deceive: it simnl"
n current fashion and nobodv nttnchflrl anv significance to snch word<.
EXRO'P'erntion is not a commendahle hnhit. bllt nnderstand it as a habit
anel it will no lonl!er veil the blJe mennin!! of the anthor.
'Zivauddin Barani comnlains that Kahinlf'ldin simnlv confined himself to
those events which were creditahle to 'Alanddin. This T< certainlv trne
of Khusrau's work. He will not utter a lie hut neithf'r win he sneak "thp
truth and the whole truth". On the 16th 'Ramzan. 6})!) 19 Tl1lv .1296 A.n.)
Sultan Talaludilin was assassinated on the bank of the (';an!!es hv the
order of 'Alanddin KhaliL who was the governor of Kara. It was an atro-
cions murder but Amir Khnsrau simnlv il!nores it. "As nrovidence had
ordain en. that this Muslim Moses was to seize their nowen"l swords fro1'1l
nU infidel Pharoahs... he mounted the thronp on Wednesday. 16th
'Ramwwn. 695 A.H." What else was there to say. He wns not hrave enou!!h
to defend his murdered oatron nor mean enom>:h to hhcken his chamct"l'
after his death. He simnly turned away his eves. Similar omissions strike
ns in the chanter on the Mongols. Nothinl! is said of the camnni!!ns in.
which 'AhndClin's armies werp nefentpn.. The Momwls twicp hesiep'ed
Delhi and 'Alauddin's nosition was exb'emelv critiml.' Bllt T{husrall has
not even indirectly alluded to these momentous events. We are ahle to
make up for some of the omissions with the help of Barani and other
historians, but it is difficnlt to he certain that all the gaps have been
fillecl up. .'. .
'In spite of these serious the K7w:;afn1l1 F1!tHh is for thf;1
Av.mmdices
399
critical student, a book of solid worth. Amir Khusrau exaggerates and
we can make allowance for his exaggerations. He leaves blanks which
other historians enahle us to ill! up. But he is too honest and straight-
fOlward to speak a lie, and we can safely rely upon his word. He is
exact in details and dates and enables ns to make a fairly cotr,plete
chronologv of 'Alauddin's 1eign.' In spite of the mtificiality of his style,
hi, descriptions have vivid touches of An eye-witness. As a soldier he
felt auite at home in military affairs, in the constmction of siege-en\!ines
the tactics of the hattIe-field. A careful examination of the Khazr inul
Fl1tllh will enahle us to oht::lin a fairlv idE'a of the art of war in th!
early mieldle ages. Even where he tens us nothinl! new, he serves to
confinn the ::lccounts of othel's. He did not sit and hrood in a corner. He
mimded with the hi(!hest and thfl I!reate,t in the land. and when he tnnk-
un his pen, it was to write with a Ilrst lland knowled(!e of afFnir<. The
<ections on the Deccan cnmnaigns are a nermanent contribution tn Tnili'ln
hi<torical literablre. Nor i.s tIle element of romanrp. ahsent. whatever WP.
may think of the motives of the invaders, long and heroic !!larches across
"naths more nneven than a c'lmel's hack". temples plundered, raias snb-
rllled an(l the homrlpr'! wealth of celltnries brou!!ht at a sween.stake to
the h'>lTihle snltan of Delhi. It was n mad dance of rapine, ambition and
(lenth. '''fbI'! Hindu TalOats came ridinl! in troons hut were laio low
hefoYfl the Tllrki<h horses. A c1elu(!e of W'ltflr and hloon. flowed fOlward
in order to nlead for mercv before the c"Hnh's tmons. Or. von may have
sniel that owinl! tn the grent hannine<s of tlle infidel ,onk the beveraP'e
of blood wa, so cleliriolls that everv time the clond rained W'lter over it,
the earth drank it un with tIle I!reatf7-st pleasllTe. Rut in soite
"f I!reat intoxirnnnl! nnwer of this wine, the saQi poured her clear
liouid ont of the ilaO'on of the sky to increase its fnrther.
Ont of thi< wine and bpveral!e death had manufactured her flrst delicioU5
dranO"ht. Np",f 11011 MlO nones on the earth."
'If Amir Khll<ran had heen writin{! in the age of the Puranas, be wnnld
have renre<ented 'Alnuddin as an inramation of Vishnu and describer!
his ormonents as malicious demoll<.That is now the Arvans hlackened
the character of their enemies anrl iustified t'heir a!!l!res.<inn. A modem
writer wnl1ld have to white-wash tne cnlelfies bv talking of liherty,
iustice. the duty of elevating hackward races and, with solemn un cons-
dous humour, advanced the Jllost humane arl!uments to iustify the in-
humanities of war. But Amir KhuCrall was not a hvuocrite: he saw life
thl'Ol1l!h plain and the tr",oitions of his day mAne hvuocriw
llnnecp<cnrv. The Deccan exnedition< bad one clear nhiect-the acalli<i-
tion nf hor<lK elenhants, i8Wek r'old and SiIVf'T. Whv tell The
Musn lmnns ha(1 not O'on", there on a relil!ions miion: thev haC! neither
th", time nor the ;nclination to enrol and thev were tno good
to let ilTel".vant consideTations disturb thffir militarv nlan<. Of
course the name of god was solemnlv nronounced. The invaders bnilt
mOSCl11e< wherevP.1 they went and thf' call to nraver re<Ol1nelen. in manv
a wil(1"''T1ess manv a desobted town. This was their Inhit. Of
thinl! like an ioeali<tir. even a fanatic, religions mission the Deccan in-
va <ions were completely innocent.
'But it wonld be a serious mistake to interpret tl1e political movements
400
Pulitics ami Suciety duriJ/g the Early 1l:Iedieval Periud
of those days in the light of modem national or the religious
enthusiasm of the early Saracens. The fundamental social_ and pOliti?al
principle of the middle ages ",,:,as lo):'alty to the It all raClal,
communal and reliaious conSiderations. The raJll s Mushm servants fol-
lowed him against the sultan just as the Hind:l fol-
lowed him against the raja; neither felt any I11ner contradICtion
their religion and their life. Loyalty to the salt (namak was
synonymous with patriotism; diSloyalty to the salt (namak was
a crnne biacker than treason. Irrational as the principle may seem, it
prevented commumil hiction and worked peace. for the
ruler all his subjects stood on an-equal The Hl11du, subjects of a
neighbouring raja were the proper and. objects of a holy war.
But not so the sultan's own Hindu subjects. They were under hiS pro-
tection and his prosperity depended ,lIP?n prosperity.. .Leamed
writers -may call them zimmis (payers of tnbute) 111 books of law.
But men of practical affairs knew. the they stood, on
power of the mass of the people. 1 he temples III the sultan s domlllions
were perfectly safe. "It is not pennissible to injure a temple of long
iug" was the fatwa (judgement) a qazi in. the rei%n of Sikandar Lodl,
and it undoubtedly expresses medieval Mushm sentiment on the matter.
The sultan could prohibit the of a new temple or mosque,
though, apart from occasional vagaries, the right was rarely exercised;
but the destruction of a standing temple is seldom, if ever, heard of. It
was, however, different with a temple in the dominion of another
ruler; it'had no Imperial guarantee to protect it and be r;lundered
with impunity, because its devotees were not the sultans subjects and
their disloyalty and sufferings could do him no harm. The outlook of
the age was essentially secular. Religio.n was a war c:ry and more.
'A superficial reader of the Futuh m.lght be mdmed. to
thiIik it in,pired by bigotry and fanatiCism. But thiS would be a senous
error. Amir Khusrau's religiOUS outlook was singularly tolerant; an exami-
nation of his diwans can leave no other impression on the critic's mind.
Even in the most bitter expressions of the Klwzainul Futuh, there is a
veiled suggestion. Of what? "So the temple of Somnath was made to
bow towards the Holy Mecca, and as the temple lowe,red its head and
iumped . into the sea, you may say the building first said its prayers and
then had a bath. The idols, that had fixed their abode midway to the
house of Abraham (Mecca) and way-laid stl'agglers, Wffi'e broken to pieces
in 'pursuance of Abraham's traditions. But one idol, the greatest of them
all, was sent by the 11laliks to the impel'ial court, so cllat the breaking
of their helpless god may be demonstrated to the idol-worshipping
Hindus." "They saw a building (the temple of Bmmatpuri) old and
sh'ongas the infidelity of satan, and enchanting like the allurements of
worldly life. You might say it was the paradise of Shadad. which after
being lost, those hellites had found, or that it was the golden Lanka of
Ram. .. The foundations of this golden temple, which was the
place' of the Hindus, were dug up with the greatest care. The glorifiers
god broke the inudel building, so that 'spiritual birds' descended down
like pigeons from the air. The 'ears' of the wall opened at the sound of
the spade. At its call the sword also raised its head from the scabbard,
Appendices
401
and the heads of brahmans . and idol-worshippers came dancing to their
feet at the flashes of the sword. The golden bricks rolled down and
brought with them their plaster of sandal-wood; the yellow gold became
red with blood and the white sandal hn-ned scarlet. The sword flashed
where the jewels had once been spatkling; where mire used to be creat-
ed by rose water and musk, there was now a mud of blood and dirt; the
saffron-coloured doors and walls assumed the colour of bronze; the stench
of blood was emitted by ground once fragrant with musk. And at this
smell the men of faith were intoxicated and the men of infidelity ruined."
'Is this the tI-umpet-call of an aggressive and bloated fanaticism or the
excruciating melody of the tI'agic muse? Was Amir Khusrau praising the
idol-breakers or bewailing their lack of h'ue faith? It must not be for-
gotten that a courtier presenting an official history to the sultan had no
freedom either of opinion or speech; and Ami!: Khusrau emphatically
expresses his willingness to recast his book according to the sultan's
wishes. But as Mohammed ibn-i Khawend Shah (Mirkhond) the author
Ra.lIzatlis Saf(,. remarks: "The official historian should by hints, in-
Slt.,natWJlS, overpraise and such othei' devices- as may come to hand, never
expIess his opinion, which, while remaining undetected by
patron, IS sure to be understood by the intelligent and the
wIse. Amn' Khusrau had no liking for Malik Naib Kafur-i Sultani whom
he a.buses in the, Hani, and his keen sense for the religiOUS and
l?oetzc ,elements Il1 hfe -could not but revolt against the senseless vandal-
Ism 01- tl,e Deccan campaigns. Hence the "hastly realism of his sket-
ches. He may, OJ' may not, have wept tear; of blood over the fall of
an ancient civilization; but his mode of expression leaves little doubt
that. the greed of gain and not the service of the lord was the inspiTin"
motive of the !.nvaders. <?ne thing alone W9S clear 1!fter the day cl
stOlmy battle: You saw /Jones Oil the eartl-i'.'
NiH Gluttri, Aligarh
27 May 1931
MUHAMMAD HABIB
1 Published with marginal explanations by N awal Kishore Press, Lncknow.
2 One of the letters has been translated in Elliot and Dawson. There are othei's
of equal and greater value.
S. Alluding to the First Alexander's efforts to discover the water of immortality.
4 "Vine and sugar may be both produced from the same grapes and the addition
of salt turns wine into vinegar.
5 The same fate has overtaken other medieval histories, for example the first
volume of Bailwqi, the Autobiog,;aphy of Muhammad Mn Tughiuq and the last
chapter of Afif's Tmikh-i Fi1'tlz Shahi, which was a violent attack on Timur and is
found torn or missing in most volumes.
6 In the first invasion, the Mongols were led by Qutlugh Khwaja and ir;> the secc:nd
l;y Targhi. Barani, who is brief and hasty in his account of wars, gives a detailed
account of the two oieges of Delhi, prohably because Kahiruddin and Amir Khusrau
had preferred to be silent about them.
7 Barani, our standard histOlian for the period, is VCIY parsimonious and incorrect
ill dates.
ps-(n)'---'2.6
402 Politics alia Society dudllg the Early MeclielXll Period
4. INTRODUCTION
TO TIlE Campaigns of 'Alauddin Khalii
BY
RAO BAHADuR DR. S. AIYANGAR, M.A., ph.D.,
M.R.A.S., F.R.HIST.S., F.A.S.B.
THE Khazain!ll Futuh of AmiI' Khusrau, of which the
contain a mom or less complete translation by Professor Md. Habib of
the Muslim. University, Aligarh, is perhaps historically the most import-
ant work of Amir Khusrau. As Professor Habib points out in the course
of the translation itself, and in a life of Amir Khusrau written by him
and published by Messrs. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Bombay, the Klwzai-
nul Futuh is a prose work of a rather peculiar character. Khusrau finds
his natural element in poetry, and the wtiting of prose to him was a work
of effort; and, as in the case of the Sanskrit writer Bana, this prose com-
position is a to!lr de force intended to exhibit the literary sh'ength of the
author, .rather than one intended to give pleasure to the reader as a
work of art, or to convey information in an easily understandable fmID.
As a. work of history therefore, it might seem at first sight to be of com-
paratively. less value than works of a similar character by authors
in Persia.n. for all the drawbacks that its literary character carries
along WIth It, the work of Professor Habib exhibits it still as a valuable
source of histmy much as recent research .has done in respect of the
Harshacharita of Bana.
.Tl:ere is another defect in this work of Amir Khusrau from the point
of ':'Iew the .student of Like so much else that we are possessed
of 111 IndIan lIterature, tins work belongs to the class of in-
tended for the eye and the ear of the patron whose achievements fonn
the of the composition. It has to dwell naturally upon the credit-
abl? a<;hIevements of the patrons concerned, and pass lightly over that
whICh IS not to the glmy of the hero. This, of course', would
make It very as a histm'ical composition pure and
SImple. But even so, while It may be dangerous to draw inferences from
the silence of the author in reJ1;ard to particulars, it could still contain
much that is of value: .sometimes even of very high value, in what it
dces actually explICItly. As the learned professor points out, there
are very promll1ent omissions in this work, such as the invasions of the
which reached the capital and made its position one for great
Such. events aI:e over; and so similarlv a few others of
the ll1cldents 111 the reIgn of Alauddin are barely alluded to or even
passed o:,er, as Professor Habib takes occasion to point out
III hIS notes. these defects, the compatison instituted
by Habl? tIle course. of his notes shows that the presentation
of hlsto??al the work IS all to the advantage of AmiI' Khusrau's
whI<;h really to have been the source from which
IBter ll1cIudm!! even Amir Khusrau's younger contemporary
Baram, largely drew. While in particulars these later works serve the
Appelll/ices
403
pUlpose of illuminating commentaries on various paris of the Klwzainul
Fu.tuh, yet in respect of several of the important historical events des-
crib.ed, correctness and historical probability seem to lie undoubtedly with
Amn' KllUsrau. The work thus fOlIDS typical of a class, not merely 'of
Persian but, of Indian works generally, from which historical material
of highest value can be drawn by a careful, critical scholar, notwith-
standmg the peculiar literary features which make them fall short of
being pure histmy.
It is hardly necessary in this introduction, for which I am indebted to
Professor Habib's esteem and personal for me, that I should be
traversing the field already so well covered by him. I might take advan-
tage of it to consider the details of the southern campaigns in particular,
which remained obscure till witIlin recent times, and which I took it
upon myself to expound, with the imperfect material at my disposal at
the time, in my lectures tu the University of Madras, on South India
and HeT Muhammadan Invaders, lectures 3 and 4. This work, Khazainul
Flltl/h was then available only in the abridged translation given in
volume III of Elliot's History of India as told by lJer own Historians. A
comparative
i
reading would indicate the corrections made by Professor
Habib, and there is the additional advantage of the whole work
before us in an excellent edition by the learned professor. Without under-
valuing Elliot's work in the slightest degree, we may say that them are
numbers of places in which the work of Sir Henry Elliot needed amend-
ment.
Amir Khusrau devotes the first two chapters to the accession and the
adminisb:utive acts of the reign of 'Alauddin, and, as the professor has
pOinted out, he has no word to say in condemnation of the atrocious deed
by which 'Alauddin ascended the throne. But all praiSe! is given to 'Ala-
uddin for the administrative measures, several of which do des ewe praise
from the pOint of view of the good results produced. In respect of the
Mughal invasions, the same shortcoming appears, as is pOinted out. It is
the invasions that redounded to the credit of 'Alauddin and his generals
that are described in detail in chapter III. Those that are likely to be
less creditable are barely alluded to, or passed over completely. Chapter
IV is devoted to the conquest of western Hindustan, Rajputana, Malwa
and Gujarat, and as a next step forward, the invasion of Deogiri. Chap-
ter V is devoted to the campaign of Arangal (Waranil:al), and chapter VI
the campaign of Ma'abar with which this work of Amir Khusrau is
brought to a close. As a matter of fact more than half the work is de-
voted to the two southern invasions, the invasions of Arangal and Ma'abar,
and it may be said that they constitute the primary episodes in this epic
of 'Alauddin's. Even Barani, whose account is by far the most useful and
the most valuable so far, suffers somewhat from the want of details as
Bar'ani was not anxious to dilate upon the wars and conquest of
It is this work and we may almost say practically this work alone, that
gives a description of these invasions and provides a satisfactOlY
scheme of chronology without which the campaigns can hai'dly be under-
In campaigns described in chapter IV against the four places,
GlIJurat, RaJaputana, Malwa and Deogiri, the account !!iven in tbp.
404
Politics and Society dUl'ing the Early Medieval Period
Khazainul Futuh is supplemented by what is found in the Datval Rani
of Amir Khusrau himself, and by passages translated from the l'ecently
published text of Barani. This the account as complete and
satisfactory as, in our present position with regard to the historical mate-
rial available, we are entitled to expect. The invasion of Deogiri, and
the putting of Ram Deo under tribute as a result of the invasion, the
capture of the Gujmat princess Dawal Devi are all described, and the
episode is concluded with the restoration of Ram Deo to his territOlY
with perhaps something added to it, as indicating the initiation of what
may be reom'ded as a new policy by 'Alauddin of maintaining Hindu
rulers in their position, provided they agreed to remain under tribute
to the empire. The invasion of Arangal therefore can now be under-
taken with the certainty that, in Deogiri, there was a staunch ally,
who could be depended upon for such support and assistance as may
be required by the invading mmy.
The mmy of invasion left for Warangal on the 25th Jamadiul
Awwal 709 A.H., corresponding to Friday, 31 October 1309. After nine
days' march, the invading mmy arrived at a place called Masudpur on
the 6th Jamadius Sani, corresponding to Monday, 19 November, or
Tuesday the 11th according as we take the week-day or the date as
the correct one. The march lay through uneven country of mountains
and hills, full of brambles and bushes. In fact it had to thread its way
through a forest counhy. After six days of such marching, crossing five
rivers, Jun, Chnmbal, Kunwari, Binas and' Bhoji at the fords, the mmy
arrived at Sultanpur, otherwise called lrijpur, where it halted for four
days. It broke camp again on the 19th of the Jamadius Sani, con'espond-
ing to Monday, 24 November 1309, and had to pass through moun-
tainous country again and through rough roads. After thirteen days of
arduous marching, the mmy ::trrived at Khanda on the 1st RajaQ (5
1309). Here a muster of the mmy was taken lasting fourteen
days. They apparenty stayed there longer; the month of god, as it was
called, was spent there in camp, and the camp broke late in the month
as Amir Khusrau says, the morning 'after the fast of Mary'. Again it
had to march through rivers and forests and the great river Narmada
itself had to be crossed. Eight days after crossing the Narmada, the atmy
reached a place called Nilkanth on the border of Deogiri, the telTitOlY
of Ram Dea. They made a halt of two days in the place to make en-
quiries as b> the most convenient route by which to march onwards to
Warangal. The march began 011 tlle 26th Rajab corresponding to Wed-
nesday, 31 December 1309, or Tuesday the 30th. It again was a march
of sixteen days through difficult wads. They had not yet come to the
country of Tilang. They were still on the road to Tilang according to' Amir
Khusrau. They arrived at the end of their arduous journey at a doab
within the borders of which was Bisargarh. This is described as
closed between two rivers Yashar and Buji. A diamond mine is said
to have existed From here Malik Kafur, at the head of a body of
select horse marched against the fort of Sarbar, which belonged to the
kin<'dom of Tilang. This fort offered stout resistance, and was not taken
till the defenders performed the rite of jauhar and offered desperate
defence. 'fhis' was ultimately overcome, and a brother, Anarir, of the chief
Appendices
405
was put in charge of tlle fOlt. Apparently tlle rest of tlle army had joined
by now, and the march was resumed on Saturday, the lOth of Shaban,
cOlTesponding to Tuesday, January 1310, if the 10th of Shaban is taken
as correct, or Saturday, the 7th if Saturday is to be taken as correct, and
'on the 16th of the month the almy arrived at the village called Kunar-
'bal. An advance party of a thousand cavahy was sent forward to make
. a reconnaissance, and capture some from whom il.ltOimation could be
. got. From AmiI' Khusrau's description Kunarbal must have been quite
dose to Warangal as, after getting some information, the whole army
was able to occupy the hill of Anamkonda from which they could see
the 'gardens of Arangal'. A camp was erected for the army on the 15th
. of Shaban in front of the fort, and arrangements were made for laying
Siege to the fort itself. Each tuman (division of a ten thousand) of the
mmy was assigned 12 hundred yards round the fort, and, according to
Amir Khusrau, the total circumference of the fort was 12,546 ymds. This
would mean tllat the invading atmy was over 100,000 in number. After
a difficult siege lasting for a considerable period of time with night
attacks and couItter attacks, the enemy was overcome, and the outer
fort was taken aiter effecting a breach 100 yards wide. On Tuesday, the
11th Rajab, the storming attack began. On Sunday, the 13th Raj,ab,
really Sunday 14 February 1310, an impression was made upon the mud
walls and. by the follOwing Wednesday the mud wall was broken through
and the fort was in turn besieged. While this siege was in pro-
gress, Ral Ludder Dev (Prataparudra Deva II) sent to offer and
the telms wel'e accepted. Mter taking a very large amount of treasure
given by the raja together with the elephants, 'horses and such other
war equipment, the raja was put under tribute in accordance with the
instructions of 'Alauddin, and the invading mmy could now return. The
retum march began on 16th Shawwal, corresponding to Thursday,
19 March 1310, and turned homewards towards the capital. The whole
of the month Zil Hijja, the month. followinO" Shawwal is said to have
been spent in crossing extensive forests. the 11th' of the following
month, Muharram A.H. 710, the army reached DeW. This would be
Wednesday, 10 June 1310, the total return march having occupied there-
fore. ty.ro months and 25 days. 'Alauddin held a great durbar in Chautr-i
on. Tuesday, 24th of Muharram, Tuesday, 23 June 1310. That
'IS to An11l' Khusrau, the topography and the chronology of
the mvaslOn.
The first question that would naturally arise from out of it is what is
actually the route taken by the invasion. There is a lead that Amir
Khusrau gives us to detelmine this point. An invading army starting from
Delhi towards the south can choose a number of routes; but, having
regard to the fact that the objective here was Telingana, the road taken
would naturally be the shortest possible route for this particular objec-
tive. An invasion of Telingana, which Amir Khusrau does not mention,
by way of Bengal had tumed out to be a failure. So the extreme eastern
ronte is to be taken to have been altogether avoided. The readiest route
would be the road going through Bharatpur, Biana" Kota southwards
straight to Nagda, the present day railway station, from which there are
straight roads to Ujjain and to Dhar, and across the Nmmada to the south.
I

,\
II
1\
/:
405
Politics alld Society durillg the Early Aledievu! l'erwd
But this route is barred by the consideration that in that part of the
journey before Natmada they had to do nine days of marching to reach
Masudpm, wherever it was, and it took another six days of very arduous
marching crossing five rivers by the fords till at least lrijpur or Sultanpul
could be reached. Without knowing where Masudpur lay and what lrij.
pm or Sultanpur is we could .hardly settle this route of march. Masud-
pur was reached actually nine days after leaving Delhi. That must mean
about a hundred to hundred and fifty miles from Delhi. We shall have
to locate the place Masudpur somewhere about the region of Bharatpur. .
It is after reaching Masudpur that the five rivers had to be crossed. So
taking that alone into consideration we would not perhaps be wrong in
locating the town wmewhere near about Bharatpur. The first river cross-
ed is the liver Jun. That seems to be the river that passes through Biana
to fall intu the Jumna, one of its streams being called Banganga, and the
other river Gambhir flowing into it,. and passing through Biana, not very
far from the south of Bhantpur ')tJ the road. rhe next river crossed is
given as the river Chambal. Ghambal could be crossed ove;: a very great
length, and that may not give us 2nything like a definite lead as to the
actual road. The next river is tht) 1 iver Kunwari. This river luckily hap-
pens to be a tribuatary of the rive:: (:hambal, and is of comparatively
shorter length, and therefore its crossing, limits the length through whlCh
we shall have to look for the road. Therefore the mmy could not have
taken even the high road leading from Muttra through Bhm:atpur,
Gangapur and Kota to Jhalrapatam and We have to look for the
route of this invasion farther to the east of thIs road. It seems to' take us
towards Gwalior. Therefore the invading army might have marched
through Bharatpur, or might avoided it and taken. the Agra route,
proceeding to Oholpur and GWdIOr. In the course of tIm and be-
fore reaching Gwalior, the army WJuid have crossed the three nvers Jun,
Chmnbal and Kunwari. It is on the road between Gwalior and Sultanpur-
1ri5pur, that the other two rivers have been . the two
Binas, as it is given there by Anm Khnsra;l, and, BhojI, Su' H.enry
gives different readings and takes wl:at I.S wntten by Armr
Khusrau to be the equivalent of Kuan: whlCh seems qUlte correct.
he wrote as Beas seems to be, accordmg to the readlllg of Prof HabIb,
Binas. It makes no difference; probably it is the river Sindhu, which must
have been crossed, the eastern Sindhu. not the Kali-Sindhu in Rajputana.
Elliot therefore is probably right in his identification. But the next river is
given as Bhoji, according to the reading of Professor Habib. It was read
Bashuji by Elliot, though he gives the alternative Bhoji. Bhoji seems
really the correct reading; but what is the river called Bhoji? of
course makes the suggestion that it must the but was It. called
Bhoji that Amir Khusrau could be so speCIfic about Its nmne? It IS very
likely that, at the time that Amir Khusrau was writing, it had the name
Bhoji, because it was by dmnming the upper course of this river that the
great Bhojpur Lake near Bhopal had been formed; and, while the lm'ge
lake was still in existence, it is very probable that the stream that brought
the superfluous waters of the lake was called Bhoji at least by the people.
So it leaves but little room to doubt that the Bhoji river here is the Bethwa
and nothing else. Having crossed these, Sultanpur or Irijpur was reached
by the army. The road taken therefore seems to be the railway road of
407
today along which to a considerable part of it one sees a road also follow-
ing. It would mean Gwalior, crossing the Sincihn, Jhansi, and trom Jnansi
crossing the .l3ethwa to Lalitpur, Etawa, .l3hilsa and Bhopal. That is how
the rallroad passes. Probably there was a road gOlllg aown that way at
least with the possibility of a military road at that time. Six days' march
from not far soutb oJ. Bnaratpur througn very diltrcult roads could not have
amounted to more than a hundred miles at the outside, and that would
bring us to somewhere near Bhilsa. Bhilsa or Bhopal would mean velY
nem' three degrees of latitude. It is somewhere about that region, it may
be a little more to the n01'th than Bhilsa itself, that we shall have to locate
Sultanpnr or Irijpur at. One is able to see nothing corresponding to it on
the maps, unless we take it to, be Sagar; but tllal is gOlllg too tar east fm'
the purposes of a march toV\ards Warangal. Bhopal would be going a
little far to south, and would perhaps put it beyond the actnal point rea-
ched. Barani mentions Char.deri as the place where the muster of the
army was held, and where the auxiliaries from Hindustan cmne and joined
the main army. It is just possible that the halt of four days at Sultanpur
was due to this cause, and Chanderi or region near about was either lrij-
pur or Sultanpur. But then Chanderi could be reached without crossing the
Bethwa; but a route could be taken which necessitated the crossing of the
Bethwa to reach Chanderi. Somewhere about that region therefore would
be Sultanpur-Irijpur: There is a place mm'ked Babina about 12 to 15 miles
of Gwalior wherefrom you can take a small road to' Chanderi without
crossing the Bethwa. If on the contrary the high road to Lalitpur be
taken, one has to cross the Bethwa before long. At Talbahat on this road,
a smalJ.er road branches off to Chanderi crossing the Bethwa again. This
probably was the wad taken.
There is a four days' halt provided at Sultanpur in .Amir Khusrau's ac-
count, which might well have been utilised for the purpose indicated in
the narmtJve of Barani. Another thirteen days' march brought them to
Khanda, in all probability the railway j,unction Kandwa across the Narma-
da, which it reached on 5 December 1309. The route taken from Chanderi
probably was the familiar wute of those days towards Sarangpur, thence
to Ujjain, thence to Dhar and across farther, while it was open for the
=y to have taken the from Sarangpur, perhaps to Indore, and
thencl'l across by way of Mandhata to Kandwa. There they made a great
halt, and spent the time of the fast of Mary (Mar'iam) leaving the place
the day after the fast. It took eight days' march after crossing the Nar-
mada at Mandhata to reach a place called Nilkanth on the frontier of Deo-
giri. This place must be somewhere near the river Tapti, the road taking
the army tnrough Asirgarh and Burhanpur towards the railway junction of
Jalgaom, not very far from Nandnrbar, the frontier station of the kingdom
of Ram Deo, over which Rai Karan at one time was appointed to rule.
Nilkanth was reached on the last day of December 1:309. Then there is a
long journey of 16 days to bring the army to the next station on the march,
Which is put down as Basiragarh in the doab of two rivers Yashnar and
Baruji. or Yashar and Bhuji as in the manuscript used by Professor Habib.
The question now is what was the actual route adopted, and in what direc-
tion did the army move, for neither of which is there an indication. We
are able to locate Nilkanth itself onlv hv CfIlPOO 0,,,1 1I.T:1I__ ,_"_
408 Politic" UllcLSociety dll.rillg the Elirly MedievlIl Peri.o,/
somewhere near Burhanpur-not very far in that That means thfll
army had been taken ,over the Vindh.>:a the Narmada and
Satpum. If Deogiri had been the obJectIve, the route would law
through Baglana over the Tapti, and hills on the southern . SIde of
But tne mam thoroughfares aVOId the hIlly and lead through BUl-
hanpur, Elichpur, Amaraoti,. N agpur and turthe.r . two or three
roaas clossing the frontier ot the present-day s Dom!l1.!Ons and con-
centrating on WarangaL It would be a some to
know where Basiragarh was Amll Khusmu s the
trouble to define it as in the doab of two nvers Yashar and BhuJl. 1 here
is the additional detail given in AmiI' Khusrau's description that it was a
place where diamonds were found in plenty. road is as .a
dillicult road but that is said to be the road to Tllang, and Basll'agarh IS
said to have 'contained a diamond mine. Making use of these details, we
ought to follow one of the roads, taken perhaps even by the British armies
in the Mallratta wars I.hrough Elichpur, Amaraoti and Nagpur; thelefrom
defiecting south-eastwards towards the frontier of the Nizam:s D.ominions
one road goes across the Wainganga, and reaches a WhlCh.ls now-a-
days called Wairagarh placed on the bend of a small nver . Ho,,:,s
into the Wainganga with another stream north of It emptyll1l!! It.self vel)'
Ilear. The very Harne Wairagarh would answ:er to descnptlOn that
diamonds were found there. There are two nvers, m fact there are three
rivers round. about it. The name Basiragarh is read by Elliot as
There are places with the name, or something :,ery. near. on the b?rders
of Belar, but they will not answer the det.mls ?f Amll. Khusra:l s des-
cription. The recommendation for It WIth IS . the
actual fact that there is a roadway leadmg from that straight down !l1t.a
the Nizam's Dominians by way or Karimnagar tawards ""aranga!. But if
Warangal had been the objec.tive, is wad thraugh Chanda,
across tile Painganga entering mto N Izam s pom!lllans almost about. the
same region as this other Gomg to Vl:'mragarh would a slIght
deviation which may not be ImpassIble, havmg re!!;md to' the road
conditions six centuries ago. It must be remembered that MalIk left
the main body of his traaps in Basiragarh, and made a dash, as IS usual
with him, in these southern campaigns that he undertaok, upon a.
Which AmiI' Khusrau calls Smbar. This Smbar is as near as passlble m
saund to Silpur just across the river Pa!nganga which is reachable .by
ways now from Chanda' across the nver, and from where IS
actually situated. The road on the way to Chanda seems to' be a bIgger
wad now-a-days; but that daes not necessarily mean that it was so in the
thirteenth century. Sirpur is set almost an the bo:ders of
Dominions where the Nirmal range of the Sahyadn almost vamshes mto
plain ground, makillg the road easy even for an army with heavy equip:
ment. It is straight on a line with Mantani and Warangal; that Mantam
on the Gadavari was one of those places on the highway northwards from
Warangal is referred to as having been visited by Malik Kafur's contem-
porary Pratapa Rudra of Warangal on ane of the occasions that he had to
go north towards Delhi. Sirpur it seems probable was the frantier post
against which Malik Kafur made a cavalry dash. Having mastered posses-
Bion of this he had the means to learn about the further route to WarangaJ,
and something about the defences of the fort and the resaurces of .its mler.
Appelldic'.
409
Probably the main army joined him leisurely at Sarbar, which he left on
t>aturday, 7 January 1310, and reached Kunarbal in the outskirts of War,
anetal in the course af a week. In the account of Ferishta, the army is said
to"have reached the pargana of lndur an the fwntier of Tilang. 'lhe par-
gana af Indur would be the pargana of l\iza..nabad ot today, which plaCi9
was what was known as Indur. It is on the road from Deo
giri to Warangal. Ferishta is apparently under a misimpression here, as
he takes Malik Kafur's mmy to lJeogiri itself, whereas both Amir Khusrau
and Barani mention that the army reached only the Deogiri frontier which
AmiI' Khusrau preCisely locates at Nilkanth, and Barani alsO' states it clearly
that it was only the fwntier m.d not the capital of Veogiri tllat was
actually reached. Ferishta must therefore be wrong as, if our identifica-
tion ot Smbar with Sirpur shauld happen to be correct, the march from
Sirpur to' the regian of Nizamabad \\-ould make ra.rher an extensive
<ietour, which it not likely was made in the actual Circumstances of
the case, though the passibility is not altogether el\.cmded. The station
reached is said to be Kunarbal. Probably it was one ot those villages in
the near outskirts of Waranga!. There is nathing to answer the name
Kunarbal, on the maps'. But a place Kunar, not rar from Warangal, but
a little to the soutll of it by south-west, on the road from Nizamab,ld
is marked on tlle India atlas. Even granting that the mmy marched
straight down from' Sirpur to J aktiyal, and therefrom passed on to'
Wamngal through Karimnagar, it is not impossible that a camp was
erected a little to the south of the tawn for other military advantages.
Therefrom the aperatians were continued leading to the fall of War-
angal, and the that brought the campaign to a close. The army
forward on Its march, on Thursday, 19 March 1310, and reached
J?elbi on Wednesday, 10.June 1310, taking ill all twa months and twenty-
. five days for the return Journey. Amir Khusrau gives nO" indication of the
taken for the return jaurney, but Bmani notes that the l"eturn
Journey was by the route of Deogiri, Dhar, Jhaiun, which is a clear in,
clication that this is not the route originally taken on the outward i.om,
ney, though it indicates umnistakably again tllat this was probably the
more usual route. route of march downwards to' Warangal must
have been Chanclen, Sarangpur, Indore, Khandwa, etc. The march
\)nwards might have been the mare western route crossing the NarmacJ.q
at Maheswar, Kalghat-Dharampur, as it is called, marching up narth to
Mandu, from there to Nagda northwards through Kota to Bharatpur,
DeThi. In this journey it is very probable that the mmy march-
ed from 'Ya:angal on to Deogiri, and passed through Ram Deo's capital,
although It IS not stated so in so many words.
. The army spent the season of the rains in Delhi and started for the
'Gouth on the campaign against Ma'abar on 20 November 1310. A muster
.of the almy was taken at Tankal, otherwise wl"itten Natgal, on the
rumna, and marching orders were given on 2 December following. In
one straight march the army came to' a place called Katihun in 21 days.
and a further 17 days took them to Gurgaom, crossing three rivers of
which the biggest was the Nmmada. This summary description gives
the impression that the route taken was the' usual route in which the
(lImy i1let with no incidents of an untoward character. In all pr()bability
that route was the route of the' !"letll]"1l mn,,..h '''n"n .. .L_
410 i'olitics lIna Societu auring the Earlu MeclieGal l'eriuci
cribed above. The army would have come down as far as Muttra, anu
turned. south-westwards along the great highroad through Hharatpur,
Savai-Madhopur, Kota, Jhalrapetan as far as Nagda. There is no place
that is identiliable with anythmg like Katihun that AmiI' Khusrau speah
of; at any rate, there is nothing satisfactory so far. But having regard to
the length of march and the summary description, we may possibly take
it that the stage' Katihun was somewhere near the region of Nagda.
Gurgaom must be located somewhere between Burhanpm and the Tapti,
a distance of about five marches from where Deogiri actually is. The road
taken this time probably went hom the Narmada at Maheswar south-
wards to Pansemal, from which Nandurbar, Sindkheda and Dhulian and
Jalgaom can all be reached across the, Tapti; and beyond them lay Chales-
gaom, aud across the Sahyadri, Deogiri. There is nothing like Gurgaom
on the maps in this locality, and we must therefore remain content with
not being able to find its modern equivalent. Leaving Gurgaom, the aImy
reached the Tapti, and crossing it reached Deogiri in five marches after
leaving Gurgaom, on the 17th Ramzan, equivalent tu, 8 February 1311.
There the army made a halt, and according to Bat'ani, Ham Dev having
died and Sankar Dev being lhe ruler, the malik appointed some one to
attend to the needs of the army maTching on the further joumey. From
there five marches took them across the three l'ivers, Sini, Godavari and
Binhur to the place which AmiT Khusrau calls the Kharababad of a
Paras Deo Dalvi. Working on the accOlmt of Elliot alone. I took Khara-
babad as an actual name of a place. But with the translation before me
now it strikes me it is merely Amir Khusrau's descTiption where he plays
upon an attribute that he himself had given to Deogiri by calling it
Almanabad, a city of safety, and by way of contrast, he calls the other
Kharababad, which he gives again to Kandur in the south. That must
have been the headquarters of the southern government und8l' the gene-
ral Parsu Deo, the Dalavai, Parsu being the contracted fmm of Parasu-
ram. The road starting from Deogiri and going southwards has to cross
three rivers whichever way it went. But the usual way in those
seems to have been from Deogiri through the interior towards Bhir,
almost straight east of Ahmadnagar, and, across the Balaghat range, to
somewhere near Ashti or Kharda, two frontier stations where during the
Mahratta wars battles were fought. Marching from th8l'e to Barsi and
along south by way of Naldmg to Sholapur and thence to Pandarpur.
If, as is possible, Sholapur had been the headquarters of Parasuram Deo,
the condition that the Bhima was one of the three rivers crossed is not
.. if instead the road taken was from Barsi to Pandarpur, one
of the famlhar roads, both the Sina and the Bhima would be crossed.
Pandarpur . was probably the frontier station, and that was the
ment of Parsudevo Dalvi. We have refer'ence to an inscription of the
Hoysala Vira Somesvara discovered there. It is therefore clear that Pan-
darpur was the frontier between the two kingdoms of Ballala and
Yadava. Therefrom, after' holding a council of war, Malik Kafur started
at the head of one tU11!an (a division of ten thousand soldiers), and
made a dash upon Dvarasamudra, reaching the place after twelve
marches, on 25 1311. Without much of fighting, terms of peace
were an:anged Vira Ballala, not Viranarasinga as stated by Elliot
and copied from hlIll by Professor Habib. After the telms of the treaty
Appendices
411
had been an:anged, Malik Kafur probably remained there some time
when mam army joined him. After a. stay of about twelve days, he
left on 10 March 1311. Flve marches took them to the
of Ma:abar. passes had to be crossed, which,
to Professor Habib s readmg, are Tarmali and Tabar. The first
to Ell!ofs reading Sarmalai, introduced a certain amount of
.. through these passes, they came to' the bank of a
Ilver, whlCh noted as which name Professor Habib says,
does not occur III the manuscnpt. But as a river is mentioned and in
the stage the narrative, it is what is called Kanauri, the river
Ieference IS apparently the Kaveri. Them they encamped for the
and left on 25 March 1311 towards Birdhul. Unfortunately for us
Armr Khusrau uses the name Birdhul once for the capital another
01'. the ruler, and contributes to make confusion worse cdnfounded. We
gave l?lr?hul t? be the equivalent of Vira-Chola. That would
1 e all light If 1.t IS apphed to the capital. But the ruler against whom
:-VIS Vlra in that case, we shall have to take it
t e lU .er was B1J; or VU'a, ruler of tlle Chola counhy for the time
bemg. Amu' . Khusrau s tendency to play upon the word Bir only adds
Here the i.ncidents of the war are said to be' an attack
tl
IT t Pandya fieemg from there to a place called Kandur on
Ie ou s nts of the forests.
all the destruction that was committed in Kandur,
whlCh Aml.r Khusrau calls her'e Kharababad, which seems to be a term
of with him and nothing; more, the :Muhammadan mmy sus-
that VITa fled to the sea-shore for protectiDn to' a fortress
of hiS there, whlCh, to reading of Elliot, was given as
Jalkota; but. Professor Hal:Hb s readmg of .the manuscript makes it JOlt
Kuta. Certam people commg from that dIrection gave the information
that Vira Pandya had not gone in that direction; as no infolmation of
either the king or of his army was to be had, and as Amir Khusrau in-
dulges in a pun that Vira Pandya washed his hands off the sea and fled
to the as offering more satisfactory protection to his army,
It IS probable Vlra Pandya fled towards the Pachatnalais on the Salem
frontier. aImy therefore returned to Kandur, and went f01ward in
of VU'a the dense forests surrounding the town.
Fmdmg progress lIl1posslble they were content to remain at Kandur re-
ceiving the submissi?n of the pmt of the mmy left behind.
The account of Amu' Khusrau makes It appear, and it may be true as
other accounts seem to confirm it more or less, that Malik Kafur was
the elephants of the enemy; but so far he
dlsappomted m not getting possession of as many elephants as he
Wished to secure, or per'haps as he expected. Just at this junchlre infor-
mation reached him that in a place callecl Barmatpur-Elliot's reading
BraIu;nastpur-there was a golden temple and a rich city with temples
ld?ls to he plundered together w!th. some elephants, which they
were given to understand were kept their for great8l' security. The aJmy
marched to Barmatpur or Brahmastpur, which, of com'se, is stated in
s?. many :nards. to ';e desh'o):'ed completely, the images of Siva and
Vlslmu alike bemg mcluded m the destruction. The whole place seems
412
1'olitlcs alld Sudety durillg the Early Medieval Period
to have been dug up for buried treasure, and after .takin); whateveT was
possible to get, the army was preparin); to proceed to the' next stage of
their work.
On the 11th Zi! Qa'd, which seems to correspond to 1 1311, they
left the Chola country on their Madura. first sta.);e
in the rnarch afteT four days was a place whlCh the narratrve calls Krm
here but which was read Kham by Elliot. Five marches thence
reached Madura, Matra, the 'dwelling place of the brother of the Ra1
Sundara Pandya'. The king 'with his household and that could be
carried, had fled, and the mvadin); army found notlun); exceptmg
an empty palace with only three elephants in the temple of Ja);<mnath
(Sokkanatha). Malik Kafur's disappointment was p;reat. He took
, possession of the .three elephants and .sel:t all to 10m. :he rest. of the
elephants taken m the course of thIs ll1VaSIOn; and Amll Khusrau ac-
counts 512 of such elephants taken so far in this invasion. The an);er
of the invading general showed itself in destroying by fire both
temple and the palace in the immediate nei);hbourhood. So far as thIS
account is concerned, the campaign comes to a close he}"e. On Sunday
the 4th Zil Hiija, which would correspond to the 24th or the 25th of
April 1311, the army set forward on the return journey and Teached
Delhi and presented itself in the durbaT of the Sultan on Monday, the
29 September 1311, havin); been five months and two or three days .on
the return journey. The rest of the account is occupied of. com:se, WIth
the description of the wealth that was carried from the mvaSlOn, and
wlmt 'Alauddin himself did with the spoils of war.
Now proceeding to an examination of the route of this invasion, we
have already indicated that the road taken 0is time should have
the high road from Delhi to almost Na);da, there to !::dole, hom
there to Dhar, across the Narmada to Deo);In; from DeO);lll, the mmy
proceeded to Bhir, and thence across on the' road to'
thence southwards to Barsi and across to Pandarpur, the fief of Persdevo.
From them Malik Kafur made a dash at the head of a select and com-
pact body of troops, about ten thousand strong,
Halabid of the Hoysalas, under Vira Ballala. No battle IS. descnbed, and
no battles were obviously fought. But the Ballala and terms
of treaty were arranged, sendin); forward the treaty wrth the Ballala
prince" to the headquarters for ratification of the We must
here that no fUlther campaign is mentioned by Amrr Khusrau, nor rs
any made of any battle fought, or siege in Dvarasamudra. There-
from five marches took the army to the frontrer, by way of the Hoysala
country, to that of the Chola-Pandya. The dash from Pandarpur upon
Dvarasamudra could have been only by one of two well-known routes,
either from Pandarpur to Bijapur, and by the eastern road throu);h
Ane);undi and Hampi strai);ht alon); as far as Hiriyur in Mysore, and
thence to Banawar and Halabid. Returning by the same route as far as
Banavar arld taking the route to str"ike the main road at Chikkr:ayakan,
halli, tlle army must have marched forward toward the ,Passes mto the
Salem District at Hosur; or they must have marched takm); the western
route through Dvarasamudra and Haltlbid to Harihar, thence comin);
down as far as Kadur or even Banavar, and leavin);for Dvarasamudra.
Apvendices
413
The main army jOined Malik Kafur at Dvarasamudra. From there the
road taken was surely the eastern road throu);h Gubbi and Bangalore
towards Hosur, Krishnagiri and across the hills in the Salem district. In
those days tllat was a very well-known route, and one of the hi);hways
of communication' between the country above the );hauts and below.
Amir Khusrau gives us no very particular information possibly becauso
there was nothin); interestin); that occurred. The whole route lay
through the country of Vim Ballala, and, once a treaty had been entered
into, nothing could well have happened worth mentionin);. But from
Hosur south, it is a new route and it runs through hostile country. Amir
Khusnm mentions two passes; according to Elliot's readin);, the names
are Sarmali and Tabar; but Professor Habib's reading' is Tarmali and
Tabar, The objective of the invasion seems to have been to strike the
Kaveri somewhere. That gives us a little lead where there was actually
none. After mentionin); the passes the name of the river is );iven as Kano-
according to the manuscript of Elliot. But in the manuscript used
by Professor Habib, the term Kanobari does not occur; but later on in
speakin); of their strikin); camp, the starting point is given as Kanauri,
which amounts to as much as mentioning the river before. In both the
cases, the river where they came for the night must have been the river
Kaveri either on the banks of which, or in the sands of which," they
spent the ni);ht. The '?",hat road through Salem leaving Hosur has to pass
through Hosur, Krishnagiri, then Dharmapuri on to Salem, Trichengode,
Bhavani, across the Kaveri as one route. That is the route taken now-
There is another, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Taramangalam reach-
mg banks of the Kaveri higher up than Bhavani perhaps almost
opposIte the pla?e where now the Mettur dam is being built. Of course,
army n:archmg would certainly see to the facility of crossin); the
rIver Kaven at a place where it can easily be forded. There are two
passes here; arld whichever of the routes be taken, the army has to pass
through Toppur. Toppur is a villa);e where there is a little stream, which
is called Toppur river; and as it cuts its way through one of the spurs
of the Eastern Ghats, the pass gets the name Toppur pass. It is a well-
known place on the road from the plain country i11to Mysore in days
before the railway. There is no need to get through another pass at all
if the route through Omahll'-Salem be taken; but the mention of a
second pass and the definite statemE'nt in the account of Amir Khusran
that there. were two passes to cross, clear indication that the road
was the other, and probably it' is the old ford on the KaveTi at
which the river could be crossed with ease to the opoosite bank wheTe
in those davs there were imoortant towns along whiCh the road ran to
the south. Tarmali is pTobablv the Taramangalam river, or the pass a
little to thp west of Taramangalam. Then after crossing the Kaveri the
armv left on its march. If they had crossed the Kaveri hefOl"e
Which seems to be indicated in the statement of Ami!' Khnsmll, the roan
would take them down sol'th 85 as Musi!"i close to the ann
then the road takes off from Kaveri into the interior. Af Musiri
there is even now a well-known ford across the Kaveri. Probahlv that
Was a ford even in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Crossing
the Kaveri again, although it is" not mentioned, the road could be taken
on the other side of the Kaveri and fh0 Coleroon to the ChoTa capital
414 Politic., and Society ell/ring the Early Medieval Period
at Jayamkondacholapuram or Gangaikondac!lOlapuram, the former of
which appears to have been the of the Chola country. at
the time. The route between Musm and Tnchmopoly on the other slde
of the river would be comparatively inconvenient for an almy. There
were so many water channels and the country is so thoroughly agricul-
tural that the difficulty would be really great, unless the anny had made
Il detour into the interior and marched towards the south to :Madura
by way of Dindigul. The objective being Birdhul, according to Amir
Khusrau we shall have to fix upon what that is. Undoubtedly that must
have the capital of the Chola countly, now the eastem capital of
the Pandya empire. The capital in those days must have been
kondacholapuram, which is about six miles to the west of Gan)!:m-
kondacholapuram on the highroad to Kumbhakonam on the one slde,
and TrichinopolY'on the other on the northern bank of the Coleroon. That
was the capital of the great Pandya Maravarman Kulasekhara, and re-
cords of his reign state that he issued his orders from. a garden
outside the city of JayamkoncLlcholapuram. But even tins does not bnng
liS any nearer to Birdhlll. Since the phone.tic approach that we could
m:lke to Birdhul is Vira-Chola, and, as we hear often of halls and palaces
bearing names of these princes in some of these cities, such as for
instance Mudikondasolan in Gangaikondacholapuram, it is !,ust possible
that this city Jayamkondacholapuram contained halls which may have
. been called Virasolan. Virasolan was a common name of a large number
Df princes, and there were two emperors who bore the name, Vira-
rajendm ruling from A.D. 1063 to A.D. 1070, and :r<:ulottu.nga III not
before the date of the invasion, who had the title Tuubhuvana Vlra.
Other indications point closely to that as the centre of attack. .It is
not very far from Chidambamm, where often, these pnnces anomted
themselves in the hall of the holy place there, soon after the royal cere.
mony in the capital. If then Jayamkondacholapuram is what is to be taken
to be the Birdhul, what is Kandur and the forests near about?
is undoubtedly Kannanur on the northern l;>ank Coleroon about SIX
miles from Srirangam across the comparatively bIg nver. Kannanur must
have been a place of importance at the time, as that happened to be the
Hoysala capital down to the time of Vira Ballala. It was only some
after Vira Ballala began to rule that the whole of the' Hoysala terntory
above the Ghats and below united into one with Vim Ballala as ruler.
Till then his uncle and after him that uncle's son ruled over the country
south with their p;'incipal a.t Kannanur. with alternative. which
finds mention as Kundani, whIch IS now sahsfactonly located 1\1 the
Baramahals of the Salem District, not very far from Hosur. This Kanna-
nur might have been on way of march Virasolan, but if the
invasion went in the first mstance to the capItal of the country, they
might have passed Kannanur bv. Kannanur .would otherwise. answer to
the description given in Amir Khusrau. It IS. 'on the outsk.ll"tS of the
forest almost on three sides except on the SIde towards Snrangam. It
probably was the centl'e of a Muhammadan' population' even before
the days of Malik Kafur, as there were a number of places in
Muhammadans were settled for P1llvoses of commerce, at any rate, In
the interior, as there were verv old settlements of in a numbe1' of
places along the coast. Vira Pandya when he' was attacked ii1 Birdhul
Appendices
415
retired after a faint resistance to Kandur, where the Islamic aJmy chased
him. But when they went to Kandur, Kharabahad as it is called, they
did not find Vira Pandya or his almy there. They inferred naturally
that he must have gone away in the other direction to another fortress
of where could find efficient protection. According to Amir
Klmsrau s account, It must be a place towards the sea the sea itself
contributing to its dee?ce. According to Elliot's it is Jal-
kota, but Professor Hablb reads it Jat Kuta. There is not much subtsan.
tial difference in the latter pmt of the word. Kota and Kuta could be
easily mistaken .in But whether it is Jat or Jal would.
make asubstantJal sense. With the reading Jat, it is rather
hard to make anythmg out of It. Jal, water, may make some sense, and
the way that Amir Khusrau seems to play upon the term sea and the
statement. Bir, Vira Pandya washed his hands off the sea, would
to mdlCate that perhaps the COlTecter reading would be Jal. In
slIch a the place would be Jalkota or water fortress, as Amir
IS actually descri?ing Vira Pandya as having run away for the
plotection of. the sea .. ThIs must have been the strong fortress, which,
111 the ?entunes. played an important part, and which in the
days of the Bntish used to be called Devacotta, really Tivukota, the
fortress on the island, popularly spoken of as Tikotai, which is at the
mouth of .the Colero.on, but in those days extending perhaps northwards
to a conslderable dIstance into the island which the river has formed
there. .used to be a flourishing seaport at the mouth of the Cole-
roon, whl.ch 111 the of the Cholas used to be called Jayamkonda
or bnefly Jayangondapattinam. But the Muhammadan
army dld havin,?; had information that Vira Pandya had
111 dIrectIOn. TheIr attempt to follow him into the forest
ploved and they had no alternative but to content them-
selves Wlth what they had been able to do. Perhaps the inevitable
.had not been secured in number. Timely infOlmation came to
.K.afur the elephants of Bir were kept in a strong place which
PlOfessol reads as Bharmatpur, and which Elliot read as Brah-
mastpur. E.lther. of the readings Would be equivalent of the Hi d
whl?h I have indicated from the circumstantial 01
AmJr lumself to stand for Brahmapuri-Chidambaram which
to the account of Khusrau, Malik Kafu!' sacked. 'He des-
tloJ:ed the temples. and the idols there, and even dug up the place for
havmg secured some elephants also. He broke camp from
thIS locahty and started 011 the invasion of Madura Mat Am'
Kh lI' d M d' . ',la, as Ir
h usrau s It, an ar 1 as Wassaf writes it, more truly catching up
t e !opula
k
name of the town. The first stage in the march which seems
to ta en them about four days was mentioned as Kham b Elliot
and !Om by Either way it does not take us
a which may be regarded as certain. We have
to lemam content wlth what I stated in my South India and Her Muham-
l1U/dan on pages 104-5, .that probably it stands for Kadamba-
vanam, whlCh be about sIxty miles from Chidambaram. It may
hilve taken five malches to reach It. Another five marches from there
they reached town of Madura, the habitual capital of the Pandyas'
even under VlTa Pandya. The capital had been evacuated by the
416
Politics alld Society d,wing the Eady Medieoal Period
who canied away his treasure and household to a place which is men-
tioned as Mankul, which Elliot attempted to identify with Namakkal.
Namakkal is too far out for the purpose. It is there probably the two
Mangalams, Mela (Upper) and, Kila (Lov.:er) on the. Western. Ghats
which may be recrarded as places of secunty. Not findm?; anythm?; but
three elephants, tfe Muhammadans set fire to the temple itself and taking
the three elephants returned making up a total of 512 elephants for this
invasion. This is as far as Amir Khus:'au's account accordin?; to the
Kfwzainul Futuh or Tarik71-i Alai takes us.
Before we close this introduction we ought to refer to two minor points
which are neither of them mentioned in this account. Ferishta is
sible for the statement, given in the portion by HabIb
himself that Malik Kafur, in the course of hIs southern mvaSIOns,
tructed' a masjid. It is called Masjid-i-Alai, 'Alauddin's
Band Ramisar and adds that the mosque was to be seen eXIsting 111 hIS
days early in tile seventeenth century. Th? Sita Band Ramisar
would lead one readily to take it that It IS Setub.anda Ramesvara: or
Rameswaram, where a big dam across the sea ascnbed to Rama eXlst.s.
But Ferishta's own description gives the lie direct. He says that the MalIk
Naib after overcoming Bikal Dev, the Raja of the Carnatic, plundered
the country, and it is in that invasion and in connection he says
that he built a mosque in that country of CarnatlC, and later, m the
connection that the mosque could be seen in that counhy and descnbes
it as 'the 'port of Dur Samandar on the shore of the sea of Ummam'.
Sea of Ummam is ce'ttainly the Arabian Sea, and the POIt or Dur Saman-
dar must be a port in the counhy of Dvarasamudra, that is the Hoysala
country. It cannot therefore refer to by any stretch
.language. There is no reference to such a thmg HI the account of Amlr
Khusrau, or in the abIid?;ed account of Zia Barani. It is just possible that
a raid was undeItaken towards the west coast. But this has nothin?; what-
ever to do with Rameswaram in the distant south. That would lead us to
the question whether Rameswaram, or that region, was ever at all invaded
by Malik KahiL We have seen that Malik Kafur, in the course of these
wars, was in the habit of making dashin?; raids a?;ainst various places.
From the capital of Hoysala a raid to the west coast may seem possible.
,It is from PandarpUl that he first undertook a raid towards Dvarasamu-
dra. It will be noticed that from the camp of Basiragarh a raid was under-
taken against Sarbar on the occasion of the invasion of Warangal. It is
not at all unlikely that he sent out a raid. or led it himself from his camp
rtt Madura towards Rameswaram as a likely place where the elephants
that he wanted so much and the wealth of the Pandya might lie hidden.
[n another work of AmiI' Khusrau called Ashika, he speaks of an in-
vasion up to the shores of the sea of Lanka, against the ruler whom he
called Pandya Guru. He mentioned his capital by the name Fatan where
there was an idol temple. This, in all probability, is no other than Ra-
mesvarapattinam, as we may call it now. as well as Periapattinam and
another Pattinam on the opposite coast of India. Excepting for this raid
we have no infOImation whatever that Malik Kafur had anything more
to do with Rameswaram. It may therefore be taken to be that he caiTied
his raids as far as 'Rameswaram. It is harcily possible that he built II
Appendices
417
ll,?sque there. tl10ugh there might have been one already, and that Ferish-
ta s account IS the result of a confusion that the. mosque was built at
when he speaks of the sea of Omman. For a further
dIScussIon of thIS, reference may be made to South India and Her Muham-
madan Invaders.
, We close the introduction with pointing out the services that Pro-
has to students <,Jf Indian history by giving such a
.of thIS work of AmiI' Klmsrau, and adding to the
Itself matenal from other works bearing on the subject,
would, ena?le a student to arrive at a satisfactOIY conclusion re-
gal the mvaSIOns of the south under 'Ahuddin, This work needed
the and we are grateful indeed to Professor Habib for haVing taken
lip tlus work and done it so well.
5. FOREWaRn TO Fatawa-i-fahalldari
is my pleasant duty as the editor of Medieval India Quarterlr/ in
the !?resent work first to inh'oduce it to the public. .'
" It .IS ObVIOUS that there .wIlI be a number of conflicting political theo-
lIes. every country m every age. Unfoltunately the only book on
theory that surVIVes to liS from the period of the Delh' S It, t-
is the Ft f 1 d . f h flu .lIla ,e
. a a wn an 0, t e amous historian, Ziyauddin Barani. It
gIVes us the Ideas of a pmtlCular thinker and the view point of a palti-
clliar group. But that alone is not enough.
The l?olitical theory of the Sultanate peIiod should stmt with the fa-
But the theories of that book should be critically examined
?I WIth .to the life of the author, so that his personal
f may be ,ellmmated, and, secondly, with reference to the political
acts Of .the, penod, so that the veracity of its stltements and the sound-
ness 0 Its Judgements may be tested.
This is what the present book aspires to do.
The translation of t?e Fatawa-i fahandari was made by Dr. Afsar
Begum (Mrs. Afsar SalIm, ,under the guidance of. Dr. Peter Hardy
of, the London .School of and Studies. On returning to
AlIgmh she Ievlsed her translatIOn, but the form in which her h'anslation
was now put, r,nade most of her old footnotes useless. Dr. Afsar Begum
appomted the. University of Peshawar, left the revised typ;
.of her WIth Pr?.f?ssor Habib along with some footnotes
1l1. handwntmg. The remammg footnotes, which are mostly of a
?II,hcal character, were prepared by Professor Habib with the help of
!'ss Anees rahan, M, A. (Lecturer in History, Maharani Laxmibai Col-
lege, who collected all the materials, looked up the refel'ences
and fau'ed out the manuscript of the notes for the typist.
At this stage Professor Habib. who was writing and tearing up pages
rS--JI--?7
418
Politics and Society during the Early Medieml Pe/iod
and pages, demanded that it was my duty as the editor of Medieval
India Quarterly to advise him how. to proceed. I that he
should write a short introduction whIch would, along Wlth the footnotes,
make the translation of the Fatawa-i Iahandari intelligible, and that he
should add after the Iahandari a dissertation on the life and the ideas
of Ziyauddin Barani, so that a theory of the Sultanate period may. be
evolved by a critique of the Iahandari and the othel" works of the penod.
For the students of the Delhi Sultanate the Fatawa-i Iahandori is a
valuable discovery. It gives us an idea of the political climate of the
middl6l ages-the ideals and aspirations of the governing class and the
activities of the pressure groups. Besides, it supplies the key to the un-
derstanding of the Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi. Indeed it will take a perma-
nent place in India's historical literature.
KHALIQ AHMAD NIZAMI
6. INTRODUCTION TO Fatawa-i Iahandari
THE Fatawa-i Iahandari of Khwaja Ziauddin Barani is at present the
only known Indo-Persian work, exclusively devoted to political theoIY,
which has survived to us from the Sultanate period. Its translation into
English by Dr. Afsal' Begum (Mrs. Afsar Salim Khan) should be welcomed
by all students of Indian history. The Persian text is being edited by Miss
Kishwar Rashid, M.A., Research Assistant of the M. U. History Depart-
ment.
A detailed introduction to the Fatawa-i Iahandari-or rather to the
political theOlY of the Sultanate period-is being prepared by me and may
be printed one day. But for a proper comprehension of the translation of
the Iahanda/'i the follOWing pOints are submitted for the kind considera-
tion oj! the reader:
. I: The Fatawa-i Iahandari is really the continuation of the author's
famous Tarikh-i Firoz STU/hi. It strives to put into the form of a coherent
system of ,Poli!ical p.hilosophy the basic ideas which Barani has already
expressed 111 hiS em'her work.
II: This fact enables us to define the character of the Fatawa-i Iahan-
dari. It gives us the political theory, and defines the political objectives,
of the second most important political pressure-group of the period-the
group of 'freebom' or 'noble' officers, as distinguished from the 'slave-
officers'. Barani condemns the latter group as zar-kharida (cash-purchased),
but they had, on the whole, a predominant, though not an exclusive,
control of the machinery of the state. These were the only two pressure-
groups who were interested in the running of the government as a
whole. There were many other pressure-groups-the Hindu mercantile
classes, the Hindu landed aristocracy, the Muslim mystics, the 'ulama,
the almy officers and soldiers, the city workingclass, etc.-but they
were concerned only with the preservation of their own particular in-
terests, economic and cultural, and had no theory of
Appendices
419
Bm'ani belOlwed to a family the noble origin of which could not be
questioned anl'he was brought up to believe that aristocratic birth was
the primary fact for the social order. But the failure of his class and
his personal frustrations had embittered his feelings. He was given no
posf in the government of 'Alauddin Khalji;, he was a courtier of
Mohammad bin Tughlug for twenty-seven years, but after the acces-
sion of Firuz Shah, when Barani was in his seventieth lunar year, charges
were brought against him and he was interned at Bhatnir. His life was
spared but his property seems to have been confiscated, for he passed the
rest of his life, some eight or nine years, in appallhlg poverty. He des-
cribes himself as old, bent, white-haired, half-blind, friendless and un-
able to bon'ow any money; and this frail, man wrote two of the
greatest books of the Sultanate peJiod with a three-fold object-approval
of Sultan Firuz Tughluq and his officers, attainment of paradise, and the
instruction of noble-born readers in generations to come. He failed in
the first object, but he may have succeeded in the second; the fact that
the J(Llwndari is being edited and translated (and that the Firuz Shahi,
first edited by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, is being re-edited by Professor
S. A. Rashid) almost exactly six hundred years after Bm'ani's death
proves that Bm'ani has at least succeeded in the last object.
The Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi records our author's persistent protests against
the political power of the low-born from the period of the forty slave-oificers
(c1wlwlgani), who obtained control of the Delhi empire after the death .of
Shamsuddin Iltutmish, to the men of humble birth whom Mohammad bin
Tughluq appOinted to high positions on account of their 'efficiency' and
'loyalty'. When he wrote the Iahalldari our author's belief in the principle
of birth had risen to the height of a religion. "The merits and demerilts
of men" he tells us, "have been appoitioned at the beginning of time and
allotted to their souls. The acts and deeds of men are due to Divine com-
mandments; whenever Almighty God instils goodness or wickedness,
virtue or vice, in a man, He also endows him with the faculty of giving
expression to that goodness or wickedness, virtue or vice ... This aptitude
Jar mts, fine and coarse, is hereditary ... And as excellences have been
put into those who have adopted the nobler professions, they alone are
capable of virtue ...... They are, consequently, said to be noble, freeborD,
viltuouS, religious, of high genealogy and pure birth... These groups
aione are worthy or offices and posts in the government of the king ...
Tho promotion of the low and the low-born brings no advantage in this
world, for it is impudent to act against the wisdom of Creation ... Do not
be captivated by the clevemess and the agility of the low-born and the
mean, for their excellences are imitative and not renl excellences" (Advice
XXI).
III: The basic feature of the Fatatca-i Iahandari is, therefore, its class
character. Barani interprets both religion and politics in terms of adsto-
c"atic privileges. He wants free-bom or noble Musalmans to bel divided
and sub-grades, and they are to have the monopoly of all
offices and pensions, And since .education makes low-born Musalmans
emcient and capable, so that they are able to challenge and surpass their
betters, Barani insists that the state should prevent Muslim boys of the
lower orders from obtaining education, and anyone who ventures to teach
them should be punished and exiled from his city. For Barani' the shon-
420
Politics and Society dUling the Early Medieval Period'
keepers and all classes below them are low-born. Bmani's hatred of shop-
keepers is intense. May be, they refused to supply him commodities on
credit I
And this theory ot mistocratic privileges is pushed into religious life and
the affairs of the next world, in opposition to all authoritative Quranic
commentaries and the whole religious literature of Islam. The famous
Quranic verse-"Indeed, the pious among you are most honoured by
Allah"-is interpreted as follows. Piety is the privilege of good birth.
Consequently, if a man is pious, there must have been some element of
aristoci"acy among his ancestors; but if his low birth is proved, then his
piety is a mere pretence. It would be a scandal if the sons of butchers,
weavers and shopkeepers have more honour in the eyes of Allah than
the sons of Khans, maliks and amirs! Similarly, Barani's king is the
highest of saints (quth) and partakes of the status of the prophets while
the king's well-born counsellors can discern those secrets which God has
hidden in His Preserved Tablets (Lauh-i Mahfuz). Another expression
of the same attitude is Bmani's condemnation of persons who have
accepted Islam through personal 'free-choice'; Islam, like good wine, must
have matured in the muscles and tendons of a man's ancestors; to be
spiritually effective, Islam must be' hereditaiy.
IV: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have
not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal (Corin-
thians)." Barani certainly not speak the tongue of angels. He
confesses that when he was mtemed at Bhatmf after the death of Moham-
mad bin Tughluq, his enemies attributed "a thousand kinds of
words" to him before Firoz Tughluq. They may have been coneeI:. Baram
as a writer is too fond of abusive pluases, many of which are only intelli-
gible when translated literally fr0I!' Persian into Plain But .while
in the Firuz Shahi there is some htermy flavour. hIS abuses, m !he
Jalul1ldari they are merely coarse. Also the Lord m HIS mercy had demed
to Barani the virtues oJ: charity, tolerance and forgiveoess. He hated and
hated inteosely and considered his hatred a virtue. Among the Musalmans
his hatred was directed against philosophers, scientists, heretics, all low-
born Mtlsalmans and particularly against such of them as had attained
to high office. He may have hated the slave-aristocracy with equal venom,
but on that matter he had to speak indirectly and with restraint. He hated
all non-Muslims and particularly the Hindus, and in order to justify "an
all-out war against Hinduism", which the kings refused to undertake, he
even misrepresented the doctrines of Imam Shafl'i. Our anthor, we should
remember, had b860 "driven to madness by the polo-sticks of the hatred
of his enemies"; so enable to abuse those who had injured him personally,
he found a spiritual consolation in cursing those who had done him no
hmm. . "
V: The form of the Fatawa-i Johandari is curious. The only available
copy of the book is the manuscript in the Commonwealth Library from
wbich the present translation has beeo made. In the first page of this
manuscript "Zia-i-Barani" declares himself to be the Then
pages are missing and we are left to guess what Baram mIght have smd.
As we read on, we discover that Sultan Mahmud is the hero of the book,
but cmiously enough we find three persons speaking one after anothet-
Sultan Mal1mud, a contemporary of Sultan Manmuq ane:! Barani hiIllSelf-
Appendices
421
and it is difficult to say where the speech of one of them ends and the
speech of the other begins. Also Mahmud is sometimes spoken of as living
and at other times as dead. The thIrd person is probably Mi!ulana Qaffal,
a Shafi'ite doctor who (according to Ibn-i Khallikan) converted Manmud
to the Shafn creed at Merv. A bogus book, the Tarikh-i Mahmudi, had
been written by some one in the name of Maulani! Qaffal, and in the
preface to his 'l'arikh-i Barmaki Bmani refers to the fact that he had been
reading this work of Qaffal. It probably inspired Barani with the idea of
giving this peculiar fonn to bis book. Of the Sultml Mahmud of history,
J:Sarani knew little or nothing; in fact his ignorance is appalling. But Mah-
mud has to bear the whOle burden of J:Sarani's philosophy, though he
would have repudiated it from A to Z. Writing; 111 this cmious fonn was
pennitted by contemporary litenuy hadition, and Bmalli seems to have
preferred this fonn paltly in order to obtain for his doctrines such credit
as the legendary figure of Mahmud could give but primarily in order to
escape criticism mId persecution. After all no one could blame him for
what Mahmud and (jaffal had said. The contradictions about Mahmud,
which we find throughout the book, I am inclined to attribute to Barani's
failing memory. In the closing paragraphs of the work-which Afsar has
called 'Baranfs Epilogue'-our author again beginS to speak in the first
person about his irustrated life and his hopes of favour for his book from
the great officers of the future. The f61m of the Jahandari inevitably pre-
cluded Baralli from referring to any events or persons after Sultan Mah-
mud; his reference to SUlt.'Ul Sanjar is probably due to ignorance or over-
sight. The Jahandmi does not refer to any Sultan of Delhi by name, though
in many passages he seems to have them in mind.
VI: -:r:hat Barani was a smpassing recorder of contemporary events is
proved for all time by the excellence of the Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi. He was
a good Arabic ,scholar and knew the main events of the period of the
Prophet and the Pious Caliphate. Of the rest of Islmnic histOlY he knew
.and wbat he Iu:tew was all wrong. In the to his
1 ankh-t FZTlIz Shah! Baram refers to some bogus books and also to the
works of the follOwing well known authors-Tabmi, 'Utbi, Baihaqi, Fir-
dausi and Minhajus Simi. An examination of the Fatawa-i Jahandari will
prove that Bmani had either never read the works of these authors in the
original or else had completely forgotten them. The fonner alternative is
more probable. Similmly the books refelTed to in the Jahandari were either
cheap and worthless fablications, which have not survived to our days
or else existed only in the imagination of our author.
Tills question requires a careful consideration. The're have smvived
to us from Sultanate a large. number of bookS on mysticism
(ta8awwuf) whICh weJ.e certamly not wntten by the saints and scholars
to whom they were attributed. A visitor, for example, told Shaikh Niza-
Tuddin Auliya !hat he had in Aw.adh a book written by the Shaikh.
'.'I,ntten no l;ook, the Shm!h replied, "and no Shaikh of my
(ChlstJah) 811stlah has wntten any book. Nevertheless books in prose and
verse were even then being fabricated in the names of all the great
Chishti saints and their leading disciples. Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragb
protested this bogus literature but it continued to grow. Nobody
.where It came from and no one could be held responsible for it.
ThIS lIterature, a part of which I have exmnined carefully, has two very
422
Politics an,! Society during the Early Medieoal Period
distinctive feature.,. First, the level of scholarship is very low. The
authors are unacquainted with well known historical faets; they know
veq little of mystrc principles; and they keep on manufacturin).?; miracles
whlCh conh'adict 'hisrory-time' and coinin).?; names of books which could
never' have existed. Secondly, all this literature is quite purposeless; even
any mischievous intent cannot be attributed to the authors. Their only
purpose was to write something-anythin).?;-iil the names of the ).?;reat
and widely respected saints or their disciples.
There is no alternative but to conclude that this mystic literature was
fabricated because there was a widespread and uncritrcal demand for it.
lt a man needed a bOOK durin).?; the Sultanate period, he had to employ a
Kutib to write it for him. But the booksellers kept ready for immediate
delivery books of which they could push the sales. Now the great saints
of the Chisthi silirilah had written no books; nevertheless the public in-
Sistently demanded books written by them. It is safe to assume that en-
terprising booksellers got literary backs to prepare without much trouble
the bogus books the public was prepared to buy 011 account of its faith
in the saints to whom they were attributed. There was no question of
copyright; after the first bookselleT had 'uttered' some copies of a book
prepared by him, other booksellers were welcome to make any profit they
could by having it copied and sold. Shaikh Nasir'uddin Chira).?;h, as has
been. pOinted out, protested against this sort of literature in the reign
of Frroz Shah on the ground that it was stupid and not authentic.
Critical scholars of later days, like Shaikh 'Abdul Haq in the time of
Akbar, refused to consider it as authoritative; But it was, nevertheless,
copied and recopied and sold; public respect for the saints t<; whom it
was attributed assured its survival. Finally, time gave it a sort Cff sanctity.
Fabricated mystic books of smaller size have had a large sale in India
during the last two generations both in the original Persian and in Urdu
hanslations. Manuscripts of the larger fabricated works are easy to find
in private collections and public libraries. It would not be safe to say
that even now additions to this sort of fabricated litemture have stopped.
Similar bogus literature appeared in the field of history also durin).?;
Sultanat period. The public wanted books written by great kings
hke Jamshed, wh? never existed, or on great kings like Sanjar, whom it
wanted to be prarsed. So the booksellers produced a Testament (Wasaya-i)
of and. a biography of Sanjar Wlitten by his supposed secretary,
Thrs sort of literature seems to have been fairly voluminous.
But dId not have the same good fortune, because it had not the same
sanctIty, as the fa?ricated literature on mysticism. When it was proved
that a work on hIstory was a pure fabrication, no one was concerned
about its preservation; so most of this fablicated historical literatur'e seems
to have vanished. Now it was, unfortunately on the basis of his acquaint-
ance with this bogus, fabricated literature that Barani claimed the status
of a historian. The Historical Illustrations in the lahandari ar'e a sufficie!llt
proof of th.is. ignorance of histolY is appalling even with reference
to the basrc authorItres available in the Delhi of his days, and his ignor-
ance of geography is even more sO'.
But under which Barani worked should not be forgotten.
hIS 1351 A.D. that is, from the age of sixty-eight solar
. years onwards, Baram wrote at least seven books-the Sana-i Mohammadi
423
(or Na't-i-Mohammadi); Salat-i Kabir; Inayat Nama-i-llahi; Ma-asir Sa-
daat; Tarikh-i Firuz; Shahi; Hasrat Nama; and the Fatawa-i lahandari.
He could Wl'ite from memory; he could translate; he could Wl"ite a boO'k on
his own on the basis of the work of another author; or he could put in
logical order (as in the lahandari) .the ideas that had been developing in
his mind fO'r a long time. But it was not witlUn his means to undeltake
any investigation or research.
VII: No Wl'iter on political theory can ignore world histoq. And
Barani had imagined a world histoq in consonance with the basic pos-
tulate of his political philosophy-the devolution of all offices of the state
according the principle of hereditary right. "In the regime of the Kisras
oj Iran ("Ajam) from Kaimufs (son of Adam) to Khusrau Parvez (the last
of the great pre-Muslim emperors)," he tells us in his Fii'UZ Shahi, "the
office of the king went to the king's son, the office of malik to the maliKs
son and nobility was confined to the free-born." Similar statements will
be found in the lalwndal'i also. All facts not in consonance with this sim-
ple postulate are just ignored.
VIII: Barani's attitude towar'ds the Hirldu deserves a car"eful examina-
tion. .
British rule irr various parts of India lasted only from three to seven
generations. And the chiet featme of British rule was that a foreign race,
determined to remaiI) foreign and sh'llply distinguished from the natives
in colour and features and definitely raised abow them by its cultural,
a?miIlistrative, scientific and industrial capacity, controlled both the pO'li-
trcal and the economic system of the COUlltry; British rule in India was,
further, backed up by the irresistible militmy and economic resources of
a gr.eat white empire which dominated the globe. Now Wl'ites during the
BrItish period natmally visualised the so-called 'Muslim rule', of which
they only studied the wars and kings, irl terms of the 'British rule' of which
had knowledge. This is unfortunate. It is true that Muslim
kIngs, mostly of foreign extraction, sat on Indian thrones for some six or
seven cooturies. But they could only do so because their enthronement
was not the of 'Muslim rule'; had it been otherwise, they
could not have lasted for a sirrgle generation. The Musahnans were a
minority the .land with no foreign contacts and no foreign support;
they consIsted of all classes and groups from the richest to the poorest;
and there was notlUn).?; in their" favour except the tendency to equality
in theiv social system and their freedom from caste. The workin).?; classes
of the two commUl1ities had the same tools, possessed about the same
average skills, sold. their product'S in the same market at the same prices,
wore the same cloth somewhat differently cut and sewn, and lived in
houses. made. of the same material but somewhat differently designed.
And smce the mass of the Musahnarrs to the lower middle
class and the workirrg classes, it is an error to visualise 'the Musalmarrs'
as a governing race.
Now a careful examinations of the lahandari, specially Advices IX
and XI, will show that while the Muslim upper classes had a predomi-
nant influence over the administrative machine, the economic system of
the country was entirely in the hands of the upper class Hirrdus. They
were transport-merchants, market-merchants; and the machinery
424
Politics mid Society during the Early Mediecal l'eriou
coins in actual circulation, was entirely in the hands of Hindu bankel's.
Whoever may govern the land, this Hllldu aristocratic banking and com-
mercial monopoly was unbreakable.
"On the matter of the Hindus" }\fsar Begum correctly remarks, "Barani
was mentally unsound." But what drove him, to madness was the fact
that in the empire of Delhi no privileges whatsoever were given to a
IVlusalman as sucll. He had to fiud his livelihood in an economic system
dominated by the Hindu gTOupS. And the Muslim. kings, as J5arani
laments, were in no mood to challenge a system without which their
governments could not have functioned.
IX: Bat'ani's solid contributions to political theory should not be
ignored. His greatest contribution is his analysis of the institution of
monarchy with reference to Islamic religion and social needs. He frankly
declares monarchy to be anti-Islamic. 'fhe principles' and traditions of
monarchy violate the injunctions of the Quran, the precepts of the Pro-
phet and the traditions of the Pious Caliphate. But it was justified by
the the age, for without it the, social order would have pei'ished.
Baram m hiS however, longed for an, 'institutionalised monarchy'.
He kmg to. select his 'counsellors with care and to be guided
by ,their his basic precept is: "No opinion for kings." The
dubes of the kmg With reference to almost evelY institution are surveyed
by the J alwndari in detail.
X: The Fatawa-i Jahandari also enables US to understand the real
character of the empire of Delhi. It was not a theocratic state in any
sense of the word. Its basis was not the shari'at Qf Islam but the zatVabit
or state-laws made by the king. "A zabita or state-law in the technique
of administration," Bat'ani declares, "is a rule of action which a king
imposes as an obligatory duty upon himself for l'ealising the welfare of
the state and from which he absolutely never devbtes." (Advice XIV).
It is obvious that such legislation would tend to favOtil' the ruling dynasty
and the upper class Muslim (or rather Turkish) cliques, who had a
monopoly of the highest militaty and administrative posts. Its foundation
was, nevertheless, non-religious and secular. It was not based on any
texts or their interpretations by the 'ulama, but upon the opi-
mon of the king (or the king and his advisers) as to what was good for
his kingdom and his people. Barani leaves us in no doubt that in cases
of conflict the state-laws overrode the shari'at: But in order to compre-
hend the matter properly, we must first examine the character of the
shari'at (about which Bm'ani is silent) and then survey the field of con-
Hict.
The basis of the shari'at or the law of Islatn are the Quran and the Pro-
phefs traditions (i,e. what the Prophet did and what he said). But since
the Quran and the traditions did not provide solutions for all the problems
that arose in a society that was becoming more and more complex, the
great legists who built up the shari'at of Islam had recourse to two great
canons-first, qiyas or the extension of a principle laid down by the Qur(l1l
and the traditions to similar cases; secondly, istihsan or the public wel-
fare. Reason and expedence were, of course, necessary for the understan-
ding and interpretation of the scriptures, but the Muslim legists (faqih),
unlike the Roman jurisconults, were not prepared to acknowledge that
reason (aql), unsuppOIted by the scriptures, could be the foundation of
AppendlcBs 425
any shari' at-law. They preferred to be silent about problems
which the prinCiple; of the scriptures, even when extended by qiyas and
isrihs'an, Gonld give no guidance. We should not by to find in the slwrfat
what was. never put in there.
During the first five cel1tu.IieS of Islam the principles of the saari'at
were an acute topic of conb'oversy, But a century bel'ore Barani all con-
troversies had been brought to an end. Where agreement was pOSSible,
agreement had been attained; but where agreement had proved impos-
SIble, disagreement was accepted as a settled fact, and the qazi in deciding
a case (and a Mussalman in directing his OWil footsteps) could follow any
recognized doctor of law. The text-books of the shari' at simplified the
matter by noting dOWIl the opinions of the great legists under their names
in matters on which ijllUl. (consensus of opinion) had been impossible, The
great Hidayah was a comprehensive treatise on the subject and plenty of
text-books based upon it appeared in various pat'ts of the Muslim world.
, Now tbe chapters of any book on the slwri'at or fiqh at'e easily divisible
mto two groups-those which deal with 'ibadat OT religious devotions
and tbose which deal with mU'amil(lt or human affairs. All /ilwri'at
books insisted on laying dOWIl laws about religious devotions but
on this Muslim religiOUS cOllsciousness refused to accept as
authontatIve" were fonnal, and by ignoring, the spiri-
tual element 111 ,lIfe, they rehglOn to the perfOImance of meaning-
less routme duties. But devotions are a matter between man and his God'
the state is not entitled to intelfere. The chief laws that concern us
aTe the laws of crime, civil laws and public laws.
In the shari'at of Islatn, as in Roman law, the law of Clime has remain-
eu undeveloped. Muslim legists, on the whole, were very reluctant to base
any law of Clime on the trRditions of the Prophet; consequently they had
to confine themselves to the discussion of those ciime (hudud) fer which
the Quran has prescribed a punishment; other offences, however, grave,
were not crimes for the shari'at and the silence of the shari'atJ left all of
them to the law of the state.
was no difference of opinion on the question that the Quranic
pnlllshments were too severe and there was a universal desire to 'avoid'
them. And they were avoided on two pretexts. First, in accordance witb
the referred to ?y ,plliushments on the ground of
doubts -the laws of 6VJ.dence 'm the shan at were made so severe that
pr?of of such crTI:tes was in practic? impossible unless they had been com-
at a place,. FOUl' were required to prove eyeIY
cnme and the shf.;htest dIfference In theIf statements caused the case for
the prosecution to fail. Secondly, the deBnition of Qurmuc climes was re-
stricted within thenmTowest possible limits.
. A brief survey of hudud (punishments) will give us some
Idea of the exact pOSItion. (1) Theft. The Quranic pnnishment for 'theft' is
severan,ce of the hand. But it was that if a person took wrongful
pO.ssesslOl1 of movable propeity to ;VhlCh' he had any sort of claim, his
cnme w?uld amollilt to theft (s!rqah). Thus misappropliation by a
pnrtner IJ1 busmess was not theft; alsa stealing from the public treasury
, w.as. not because all were partners in the public treasury.
SU:J11arly, It was ruled that stealmg of eatables was not theft, nor stealing
adjuncts to eatables, like wood and charcoal. Thus the whole field-botll
!l';: to p;uirlPl'lf"'{3. nn ..l T'\Tln;C'hT"nQ/nfo ... 'un..... 1........ _"-_J..-.I 1 ___ _
426
Poiitlcs "lid Society durillg the Early Medieval i'erlod
punished according to the degree of guilt, and tried to reduce punishments
so far as possible. The chief. object was to recurrence
crime. But there was no hesItation, when the SItuatIon m lll-
flicting a severe punishment not peJ.mitted by the Quran;
for example, was punished with death. You ?am.e across thIeves III DelhI-::-
thieves who had been punished. But none of theJ.ll ha.d severed
Murder: The Quran, it is believed, leaves to the hen's of the mmdered
man the choice between demanding the death of the murdeTer and. ac-
cepting a money compensation from him. Such a principle a
king 01' the fifteenth centUl), remarked) wC;uld mean a h?ence for
to kill the pOO!. So it was ruled that the kmg was the of all
men and that he was in no need of a money compoSItion. But rt was"
nevertheless, within his power to be content with a short of
the death penalty, So a distinction was ma,de vanous types of
killing and appropriate punishments were prescnbed for each. But the
king could permit the heirs of the murdered man to accept a
pensation, If that arrangeJ.llent better served the rods of Justrce: (lll)
Adultery and Fornication: The Kanz, a very useful of the
I1idayalt, declares as follows: "If the are persons, they ,
are to be stoned to death in an open plalll and the stonmg, should be
begun by the witnesses; but if they have been punished on therr own con-
iessions theJ.l the Imam should throw the first stones .. , The man should
be while standing, but a pit should be dug and the put
into it up to her breasts before she is stoned.,'. If the are
unmarried then one hundred sh'okes of the whIp are prescnbed fO! free
persons fifty strokes for slaves. The whips would have no knots or
thorns and the strokes should be of stI'ength, not vel)' severe. and
)lot v61)' light. The man should be deprived of s (upP61') :U1d
thrashed while standin!!;; the should fall upon the parts
of his body, except the head, the tace and the sexparts. to Imam
Abu Yusuf he should also be thrashed on the head, but accordmg to Imam
Shafi'i he should only be thrashed on the back. . The woman should be
thrashed while sitting; she should not be depnved of her (upper) !!;ar-
ments, bilt h61' cloak and oth61' are to be taken off .... For pe:-
sons who make false accusations concerning adultelY, the IS
eighty sh'okes of the whip for free persons and forty for: slaves.
c
There
was no desire to have these severe laws enforced-not even
among the advocates of shari'at. Bm'ani his SJwhi the
opinion of a great Syed Nu:uddm N!ubmak GhaznavI, who
flourished the reign of Shamsuddin to the .effect that the
profession of the ?fostitutes should ?e other-Wlse. I:asca1s
who go to theJ.ll will attack the of MuslIm homes. ThIs
the average opinion of the medieval ulama. Adultery was a
offence; the fact was hard to prove and the rules of pIOcedm
e
were entirelv in favour of the accused. We hear of no stonmg of adulterers
in Delhi though 'Alauddin Khalii says that in such cases he caused the
man to be castrated and the woman to be put to death ..
differed in opinion as to what the state should do, dan.cm!!, guls, prosti.-
tutes, brothels, taverns and were illl peimitted under condI-
tions prescribed by state-laws. ..,
(iv) Apostasy: The punishment !or apostasy, shan at
books, in case of men is death, and III case of women It IS Impnsonment
...
Appelldices 427
for life. But the definition of 'apostasy' was never clarified. On the one
hand, there was a desire to treat as apostates illl Musalmalls who deviated
from the orthodox path, the extreJ.lle case the Ismailies. On the
other hand, there was a conviction that no inquiries should! be
made into the innel thoughts of men. Punishments for apostasy were rare
(except with reference to heretic Muslim sects) and the matter in all cases
came within the sphere of state-laws.
'1'0 sum up: The Whole sphere of criminal law had, by means of the
arguments and legal procedures, which have been briefly indicated,
brought within the jurisdiction of the state. It was claimed that the Pro-
phet himself had tried to 'avoid' the hudud.
The great merit of the shari'at is its civil law, which was the best in
lhe meaieval world. The'Quran does not us many laws, but the tradi-
tions of the Prophet, both directly and by extension the principle
of qiyas, w61'e considered valid in the sphere of civil laws. Add to this,
there was the principle of ratvayat-knowledge of how things were done
the days of the Prophet and the Pious Caliphs. The intelligence of the
great Muslim jurists had also added many principles to civil laws, which
had beerr their primar)' concern. It WilS expected that the king and his
zawabit would not intedere with the private rights or citizens as defined
by the shari' at. But even h61'e there were at least three exceptions. First, it
was acknowledged that slJari 'at-law could be overridden by custom or urf.
Thus the rights of iilheritance, which the Quran gives to all Muslim women,
have OH61l been denied to theJ.ll by custom. In a conHict between shari'at
local custom the state could intervene. Secondly, where the shari 'at was
Silent, the state-law had to fill up the gap. Thus the Samanid kings (so the
Zuinul Akhbar of Gardizi tells us) finding that the shari'at was silent about
canals and had a law-book compiled on the subject. Lastly,
where private rights came into conflict with public law, the matter came
within the jurisdichon of the state. The best examples of this in India
were rights relating to land. That the cultivator was entitled to the pro-
duce of his toil was a moral light which no one questioned. But the ex"
tent to which he was to be taxed, the method of levying the tax and the
pOSition of the intelmediaries, whether hereditary revenue-collectors or
government officers, were questions for state-law to decide. The fact that
medieval states did not inted61'e with the laws of inheritance and marriage
at any community has created the .wholly impression that the state
was dominated by the slwri'at.' '
The Qura1! has only the plinciple of public law-the decision of matters
by common consultation. Are the political traditions of the Prophet and
the Pious Caliphs binding on the monarchical state? Bamni's two reasons
for answering this question in. the will not, perhaps, commend
themselves to most thoughtful Muslims. The Prophet, he says, was guided
by Divine revelation and the pious Caliphs were inspired by the personal
inHuence of the Prophet. How can we; to whom this good fortnne is de-
nied. follow in the footsteps of the pious Caliphs? Also the times are bad.
"Such Islam and snch Musalmans are not left that one can govern tllem
hke Abu Bakr or 'Vmar." (Advice VIII). This argument, if conect, would
overthrow the validity of the whole Muslim creed. The traditions of the
Prophet are binding because the Prophet, inspired by God, was a
human being. In any case the Quran is Vety clear and definite: "There
is for you in the Prophet of Allah a good example"-an example which
47.8
Po/iNes alld Society during the Early Medieval l'eriod
!las to be followed and not ignored. An extension of Barani's argument
hom politics to other spheres would threaten the whole structure of
Islam.
Still though Barani's reasons for it are not correct, his basic precept is
valid. There was a contradiction in the position of the second Caliph; he
governed_ several countries but was responsible to the people of Medina
alone. In the time of the Third and the Fourth Caliphs this contradiction
caused great difficulties. When Hazrat Ali left Medina for 'Iraq, the city-
state of the Prophet came to an end. Many traditions of the republic of
Medina were by their nature inapplicable to the mammoth empires of
the Omayyads and the Abbasides. The democracy of the Medinite re-
public, which centred round the Prophet's mosque in a small city where
everybody knew everybody else, was gone and would nevel' retum.
cracy may come in a new fOlm, but it could not be in the form of
a city-state; that fOlm Islam had transcended for all time. The change
had been a progl-ess and not a fall. If the princil?les of Islam were ?f
value to mUllkind, then we should not regret the pnce that had to. be pUld
for their expansion. Barani's opinion that the only political tradItions by
which Muslims could live were those of the Sasanian monarchy were shared
by all his contemporaries. It was, nevertheless, erroneous. In the, four
canhlries. preceding Barani, the thinkers of Iran had 0e
histOlY of her Sasanid and for gUIdance of their
kings but without any to hlstonc!11 authOl?tJes. The legendary
han of Barani was the creation of the Iraman Renaissance. It had never
existed.
If the transition from the city-state to the territorial state made the
continuation of the tJ-aditions of the Pious Caliphate impossible, it was
also difficult to follow the traditions of early Islam in other matters-IUlId
revenue, import duties, salaries. of officers and .soldiers, etc.-owing
differences in geographical envITonment, production-systems, -character of
fruits and crops, social traditions and the like between the Arab and the
non-Arab world.
Barani is certainly correct in thinking that neither the sha-ri'at nor the
kllown traditions of the Pious Caliphate gave to Muslim society the laws
on which the administrative stJ'ucture of the extensive monarchical em-
pires of the middle ages could be based. Such .empires required state-
laws based upon the personal authority of the but made after COl:-
sultation with his council. Barani advises the kmg to follow old laws, 111
case they have worked well and are suited to of the
day. But this is a changing world and n,ew clrcumstan?es _ new
laws. These new laws should be made Wlth care. BarUlll tells us 111 de-
tails how he wanted the king's council to work. The were.to be
carefully selected; they were to be of equal starus and acquamted Wlth, all
the secrets of the state. They were to have !he freedom of .expres-
sion and no one was to be in danger of his hfe or Ius post. The kmg was
to withhold his opinion to the end; in fact his primary ?uty was .to
the council to arrive at a unanimous opinion (tawafuq-z ara). This unam-
mity, subject to certain conditions (e.g. when the council had beet). swayed
by its passions), Barani considered to -be a guarantee of corre?tness.
Legislation was a continuous process and wanted the coun?il, and
not the king, to be responsible for the contmllJty of -the states pohcy. He
warns all kin\!s a\!ainst self-will.
Appendices
429
Obviously a re?ting on laws so made is a royal state a governing-
dass .state. But It IS m no sense a theocratic state. Its foundation are
expenence and secular The king in such a state is 'sovereign' in the
sense that teIm has been defined by Hobbes and Austin. He sh'ives
to secure _ obedience to the laws he had made as well as the laws he has
adopted frorn, his predecessors by his awards and punishments. He is a
human sUPeI'Jor and ackno:wledges n? human supelior. He is obey-
ed by f:!1e of the subjects, It dnven to despair his subjects have
always 111 then hands the POWeI' of overthrowing him.
XI: Barani expounds with emphasis the theory of conh'adiction, as it
taught by .the .fOJ:mal lo.gic ?f hi, day on the basis of the precept: 'the
umty of opposites I, nnposslble. Some aspects of its application deseI'Ve to
be noted. to Barmi all contradictory forces are eternal; one of
m?-y, for a. time, overpoweI' another but no force can completely eli-
ItS OPI?OSltC. In terms of human life he concludes that "it is impos-
slhle for all kmgdoms of the world to be united into one state or for all
talse creeds to be overthroWll." (Advice XI). This would mean the end of
our human hopes owing to an etemal war of kinrrs and creeds. Our
lief today lies in the hope that all contJ'adictions'-' disapp&'1r in a higher
unity-that 'thesis' and 'anti-thesis' lead to a higher 'sY1lthesis'. And we
that the.re are principles according to which states can be federated
u:to peaceful world-union and religions made to live and wOf,k side by
SIde m !?eaceful cooperation.
_ Baram s application of t?e pIinciple of contJ'adiction to monarchy is un-
After condemnmg monarchy as un-Islamic and sending kings to
!lell-fire, he . goes to th? .opposite e;ctreme md makes the king a partner in
the ?ontJ'a::hctOlY qualIties of God and declares him to be God's 'deputy'
and No educated contemporaries of Barani would have seriously
agreed Wlth this asseItion.. The attributes of God seem to be contradictory
but they are onl):' contradIctory for liS; .their contradiction is phenomenal,
n?t .real. The UllJty of the Supreme Bemg transcends all contradictions.
Similarly, contradictions in human beings, whether kings or plain citizens
should !lot be a matter of pride. All contradictions are frustJ'ations and ali
are unf?rhInate. The perfection of the state-and of the king
111 so as the attr:lbutes of the state are expressed in him-lies not in the
contradICtory manifestations of its power but in the ultimate unity of its
purpose .. Barani's fundamental eITOr lies in his conception of God as a
bundle of contradictory attributes; his other enOrs follow as an inevitable
consequence.
Lastly, thoo!), that the rights of the goveI'lung class are based
dIVmely plinciple of birth leads to insuperable difficul-
tIes Wlthm the MuslIm penod. The old pagan aristocracy of noble birth
had been -0YeIthrown by the expansion of Islam and no new aristocracy
could take Its place. No one cared to inquire into the t 'ty f th
1 d d
ti ti b I pa erm 0 e
IU ers an no IS nc on etween a =itimate kl'ng and a . .
ct
'bl " , uSUJ"))eI' was m
pra Ice e. RIVal chques, ?onsisting mostly of low-born advenrureI'S.
competed f.or power, and every clIque that captured the governmeIlt tJ'eated
the group If overthrown with mthless ferocity. "By every means that
comes ,to hands thev 0yerthrow and reduce to poverty and distress
many .famllIes, and o.f the precedine: king meI'elv for the nre-
selvation of their lIves ... Some they spare; otheI's they kill;
they ImprISOn, otheI's they nnrl rla __ ' L1.. _. ___ _
430 S 'etl" during the Eo1"ly Medieval Period
Politics ond ,oc. " '," ,
h f this himself. He tries
perties". (Advice XXII). B,m",ani had meted out to the
to find a solution by descnbmg th
h
'alises that unless the
Sim:,uris by Sultan Nlahmud" J:)ut JOottheir'lives, they will by persls-
of a fallen governmg class me depuve, 'ble Bal'ani has really no
' k h government Impossl . "
tent rebellions, ma e t e I between the goveming cll)sses. It WllS not
solutiO'll for thIS constant e f th period to confine the throne
possible in the though Barani praised this prin-
permanently to a partIcular h d'd not recO'lJ1mend it as a
'i Ie with reference to pre-Mushm : I I The Mughal em-, '
c P d fO'l" the misforhme for India s govenung c asses. ,
reme y , ,
pire was still ,far off. " de of thinking that Bm'ani is drawn to ,
It is qUIte 111 harmony WIth hIS tt ic society-the Qara Khitais of Qadr
contemplate a non-I'ehglOuhs, non- d
S
am , ealed books and which, while
h
' h h no prop ets an no lev th h al'ty
Khan-w IC , , , nd reason, is not cursed wi t e equ, I,
g
uided by expenence, tradItion a al f ch a society is unreserved, for It
I' d His app'rov 0 su ,
of the Mus 1m cree . " 1 and a permanent royal dynasty, N9 one
has a permanent c ,'re'udices beyond the pale of Islam.
should accuse Baram ?f an):' should be shldied along
Bm"ani's repeated dISCUSSIOns 0 IP., te One of his basic demands-
with his account 'Alauddih' Kfd 1
1
, s who fixed market-
that the power of the state s ou cm sort and credit and indnlged in re-
prices by their exclusive control of tm'd p d" sed His second basic de-
grating wd a ret: fixation of wages and
mand is for 'social secunty p 01e I'S assured of the reward of
" , 'del' in w IC evelY 1 d)
pnces m an economl? roduction-cost (nirkh-i bamwar .
hi, labour on the pn1clple ofl M I'm relirrious life is found in its tasaw-
XII: The ,h!ghest e India; history has Muslim mysticism
wut or m):'sticlsm. at bOth' literature and in life than during the
found a higher expressIon 0, llddi Barani lUld his father. The domma-
generations represented by d Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar,
ting teache:'s of t):1e Nasimddin while Qazl
Shaikh Nlzamu,ddm ,
Au
3
a
Fariduddin, mllSt be cOJ1SJdered as
Hamid Nagaun, a fnen, 0 'writers O'f all time, The works of Hmmd
of the profoundest Mushm mYShhc
t
h' rr of the three o'reat Shaikhs
, I d t find but t e eac m,.,s ,(,. d fA',
Nagaul'l are lar 0, d 'the F(ltc(!tdul-Fu a_ 0 rrm
above Imv? been prz.ser'fc and the Khairul Mai
alis
of
Hasan Siizi, the Au 0 d Hasan Sii
zi
were disciples of
Hamid Qalandar. :A.mlt ar
ti
oets of standing, But though
Shaikh Aujia and claimed to be
h
an
Em'ani was a dlSClP e .0 a " 'Amir Hasan, the teachings of t e
intimate friend of Amlr KhUSI au and f th da had not touched even the
great Shaikh m:d the Oaf formal, mechanistic and
periphery of hi!' soul. HI,S co cep I te to the spiritual elements of
of the earth, earthy, He IS a d d; representative O'f contemporary
Muslim life and must not be COIlSI ere, .
Muslim religion and culhlre, B'" " r dit that within the very nar-
XIII: It must be put down to ;lIan; s g He' mote'ted
row limits mentioned above, he w,s hsm}fl 'd by the custom, which hac1
tl 'l tortl re He was anI e 1
vehemen y agams' I, 'hi I ' hinrr the innocent women an(
becQme CQmmon in his dav, of rut eSj r the' large scale m111'-
children of political He{e a es bl' h prestige of the go-
ders perpetrated in hIS day 111 nrc er to' es a IS
Appendices
431
vernment through a reign of terror. Since the slwri'at was silent on 0
e
question of political punishments, Barani undertook to dIscover so:n
e
pnn-
ciples for regulating them on the o.f secular ;'eason mid hlIII!-muty. Most
readers will be inclined to agree WIth hIS conclUSIOns, The pumshments for
theological olfences, which he needlessly demands, had ;1C? reference to the
India of his dilY, when all a? relIgIOUS leaders, , ,
XIV: Barani wrote the Fatawa-z lalwndan 111 hIS extreme old age; It IS
probably his last work and his powers were,visibly !ailing. his facul-
des haa not decayed to the same extent. HIS capaClty fQr thmkmg cer-
tainlv not suffered; in his own mind his thoughts had the same clanty as
eighf years before. But his capacity, of declined and there is a
great fall from the literal)' level of the ShaIn. weakn?sses, also
appear. Our author forgets he has anci, IS tJreso.me :ll llI,S re-
petitions. He also again and agmn cO'nh-adlcts himself about hls,ton?al facts;,
this also is probably due to memOlY. IS full of
lacunae, but owing to Bm'ani s habIt of repeatmg hImself agam and agaln,
nothing of value has been lost.
Dr. Atsar Begum. when going to the Peshawar UniverSity, left her ty_
pescript with me. I have conflned myself to correcting typing errors; some
roohlOtes which I have added are indicated by my initial in square brackets.
Atsar's original work (translation and notes) was prepared by her for her
Ph,D thesis at the London School of Oriental Studies undet, the Supet"Vision
of Professor C. H. Phillips, Dr. Petet' Hardy wd Professor Dr. Miss Lamb-
ton. Inevitably it was litet"al and not pmiicularly readable, for all the de-
fects, repetitions and lacunae of the original Persiml text were brought
scientifically into the English translation, So in view of the peculiar chm-ac-
tel O'f the Persian original, I advised Afsar to re-prepare the whole h'mls1a-
tion keeping the following objects in mind: -(a) Barani's lOng HistoriCal
Illush"ations, unless releval1t of his main theme, Wet'e to be drastically sum-
marised; (b) all repetitions were to be ignOJ"ed; (c) abuses which Bm"ani
repeats wet'e to be translated only once or twice, but it was to be indicated
clem"ly that such abuses Wet'e habihml; (d) Bm"ani's confused arguments
were to be put in as logical form as was possible by a mere rearral1gennent
of sentences; (e) elimination of unnecessary adjectives so far as possible; (f)
where Bm"mu's discussion was long and tiresome, it was to be summmised
within square brackets; (g) and, finally, translation was to be rr:
ade
as read-
able as pOssible and, while remaining steTIlly faithful to the onginal, an at-
tempt was to be made to give to the translatiOn 'the strength' which Bm'ani
would have certainly given to the oligin:;ll had he written it eight or ten
years earlier. The book i.s divided into 24 Chapters called Nasihats
(Advices),: where an Advice covers more than one topic, it has bee'll sub-
divided into sections in the English translation with a separate heading in
square brackets.
The 'Fatawa-i Jahalldari is the! most thought-challenging work of the
Slutanate period and Afsar's translation seeks to do justice to Barilni's
tllOughts.
It remains to thank a few friends on behalf of my ex-pupil and myself.
Professor S, A, Rashid and Maulana Abrar Faruqi helped Afsar in the in-
Jerpretation of the Pet"sian text by sending het- a revised coPy of it from
here and also such other material as she required, Dr. Hardy who has
spent so much time in shldying the Fatawa-i lahandari with Afsar will
(I hope) approve the present form of the translation. To Mr. Khaliq
432 PolItics alld Society d"rillg the Early Medieval Period
Nizami I am (among many other things) grateful for his 'five minutes in-
structions' about the lines on which the present Introduction has been
written, though he is in no way responsible for the opinions I have expres-
sed. All intellectual workers at Aligarh owe to Shri Syed Bashiruddin, our
Librarian, and his staff a debt of gratitude which it is difficult to express
in words; to me personally this association of some thirty-Rye years with
'Bashiruddin and the Library' has been one of the happiest inspirations at
Aligarh.
7. DEDICATIONS
1. Sultan Mailmud of Glwznin
The first edition was published in 1927 and dedicated to "A.B.A. Haleem,
Friend and Colleague." The second edition which appeared in 1951 has
the following inscription:
"To
Chailman Mao Tse-tung
the greatest Chinese Statesman of all Time
And
Commander-in-Chief Chu Teh
Premier Chou En-Iai
Vice-Chairman Liu Shao-chi.
And
The Rank and File of the Chinese Communist Party, who after chal-
lenging imperialism, feudalism and 'bureaucratic capitalism'- and faein!!.
oppression, starvation, disease and death-have once more succeeded in
making the largest COlll1try of the East a progressive area through the
cD-operation of all classes under the leadership of the pro1etariat (in-
cluding the intelli{;entsia), and the elimination of all discriminations based
on religion, race, nationality, birth, colour and sex."
II. I-Iazrat Amir Khusrctu of Delhi
It was published in 1927. The dedication read as follows:
"To
The Hon'ble Nawab
Sir Mohammad lvluzammilullah Khan
K.C.I.E., O.B.E.
(Rais-i Azam, Bhikampur, U.P.)
Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University.
Ill .. The Campaigns of Sultan 'Alauddin Khalji
It was published in 1931. The dedication was as follows:
"To
My Father
Mohammad Naseem Esq.
Advocate, Lucknow."
IV. The Political Theory of vIle Delhi Sult(Lnate
The dedication read as follows:
"In Memvriam
Dr. Ziaudclin Ahmad
M.A., Ph.D., D.Sc.,
Vice-Chancellor, Alil4arh Muslim Universit.y"
INDEX
AIlAKA (Son of Halaku), 177
Abbas Ibn Abdul Mutalib, 2
Abbasid, 25, 66, 83, 146, 151, 293,
311, 319, 320, 324, 364, 428
Abbasid Caliphate, 36, 39, 43, 299
Abdul Haq Muhaddis, Shaikh, 422
Abdul Malik, 5, 10, 41, 46
Abdul Qadir of Jilan, Sheikh, 128
Abdur Rashid, 92
Abi-i Ali, 172
Abra:ham, 182
Abrar Faruqi, Malliana, 431
Abu Abdullah (Muhammad) bj.,l
Karram, 127
Abu Ali Sinjuri, 43; 294
Abu Bakr Caliph, 38, 151, 427
Abu Bakr ibn-i Ahmad ibn-i-
Abdullah al Qaffal al-Maruzi, 294,
295
Abu Bakr Lawik, 41
A b l ~ Hakim Shaifani, 21
Abu Hanifa (Imam). 295
Abu 1shaq (son of Alaptagin), 41
Abu Mohammad UbaidulIah Asari,
293, 294
Abu Muhammad bin Abdullah bin
MuM, 293
Abu Muhammad a!-Juwayni, (the
father of Imamul Harmakl), 29j
Abu Nasr, Khwaja, 392
Abu Nasr Mishtakan (the royal
secretary or Dabir), 390, 391, 392
Abul Tamain, 150
Abul Abbas Fasih Ahmad bin 1s-
farieni, 71
Abul Abbas Mamun 54
Abu! Aswad Jahn. 8
Abul Fazl, 73, 365
Abu! Fath Daud bin Nasr, 47
Abul Hasan (the Qazi of Bust), 391
Abu! Hasan Ali, 84, 92
Abul Hasan Kharqani, Shaikh, 45
63 '
Abul Qasim, 292, 293
Abuward, 122
Abyssinian, 2, 355
Adam, 1, 154, 243, 273, 359
Adan (Aden), 343
Afghans, 73, 76, 90, 106, 111, 112,
113. 114. 382
Afghanistan, 25, 41, 109. 110
Afif, Shams Siraj, 345'
Afrasiyab, 69, 92, 130
Afsar Begum (Dr Mrs. Afsar S",Um
Kha<l), 417, 418, 421, 424, 431
Mshin (Gharjistan see Garjistan),
129
Aghachic (servant), 391
Agra, 116, 406
Ahmad Ayaz, Abun Najm, 81, 86,
272, 329. 342, 344
Ahmad Bin Hasan M",Lmaudi Kha-
waja, 44, 71, 72, 82 '
Ahmad Chap, 363
Ahmad Husain bin Mikal (Hasnak),
45, 72, 81, 82, 83
Ahmad Niyaltigin, 85, 86, 90
Abraman, 246
Aiba, 273
Aibak Jogi, 132 133
Aibek Sultan Qutubuddin 116 117
133, 134, 145, 353, 369, 386' ,
Aiyangar, S. Krishnaswami, 394
Aizanabad, 409
Ajam, 70, 73, 74, 80, 359, 371, 390
Aimer or Ajmir, 42, 50, 59, 62, ~ O ,
109. 112, 115, 116
Ajodhan, 92, 332
Akbar (the Great), 24, 332, 384, 388,
422
Akhur bek, Malik, 170, 171
Alai, 161, 182, 211, 326
Alai Empire, 149
Alamut (name of a Fort in the Jibal
PrOVince, north of Qazwinl, 39
AJap Arsa:Ian, 94, 9?
434 Politics and Societ!l dW'ing the Early Medieval Period
Alaptagin, 41, 59
Alauddin (see Khalji, Alauddin)
Alauddi<l Ata Malik Juwayn, 119.
383
Alauddin Hussain, J ahansuz, 52,
107. 108. 125
Alauddin Khwarzm Shah, 120, 121,
122, 129, 130, 131
Alauddin Mas'ud, 93, 177
Alauddin Shaikh (grandsc<l of Sh.
Farid of' Ajodhan), 279, 332
Aiaul Mulk (Uncle of the historian
Barani), 277, 308
Alberuni, Abu Raihan, 49, 69, 79,
80, 283, 355
Alexander (the Great), 57, 67, 68,
70, 109, 150, 151, 160, 167, 244
Alexander II, 191, 214, 216, 396
AU Khan, 153
Ali (the Caliph), 38, 151
Ali Beg, 169, 170, 171, 331
Ali Dayah, 81
Aligarh or Koil, 116, 417, 432
Ali Hazrat, 309
Ali Kirmaj, 1!0
Ali Shah, 120
Ali Shah of Kara (a nephew ot
Zafar Khan, Sultan Alauddin),
(Diwan-i Arz), 341
Ali Tigin, 88
Alor (Mullan), 11, 12, 18, 19, 25
Alp Ghazi, 129
Altun Bahadur, 344
Altuntash rgovemor of Herat, Offi-
cer of Mahmud Ghazni), 54, 72. gg
AI-Walid. Khalifa, 8
Amaraeiti, 408
America. 390
Amir Ali Kheshawand, 72, 82
Amir Dad Hasan, 133
Amir Hasan Sijzi, 282, 288, 297, 337,
338, 365. 430
Amir (Or Mi1') Khurd, 286, 287, 288.
336, 350
Amir Mansur; 144
Ami1' Masud, 391, 392
Amir Nuh bin Ma<lsur, 43, 45
Amir Qazghan (The Maternal
of Tamerlane): 344
Anarnkonda, 40$
A<landpal, 46, 47, 49, SO, 51, 53, 56,
74
Anatolia, 40
Andkhud, 132, 133, 144
Anees Jahan, 417
Anegundi, 412
A<1hilwara (Gujarat), 62, 74,' 109,
332, 333
Apostle (Muhammad), 146, 380
Arab, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
16, 25, 27, 38, 39, 40, 89, 121, 324
Arabia, 5, 38, 57, 59, 66. 79, 126,
220, 282
Arangal (Warangal), 151, 202, 206,
207, 403, 404, 405
Arghun Khan (grandson of Halaku
and eldest sQ.!} of Abaka), 177
Aristctle, 36, 67, 128, 304
Ariyaruk, 84, 85.
Arkali Khan, 307
Armenia, 94
Arsalan Shah, 93
Aryan(s), 124, 130, 330, 399
Aryavarta (in territory of Kanauj),
77,92
Asarus Sanadid, 393
Aehti or Kharda, 410
Asia, 66, 93, 144, 390
Asia Minor, 79
Asni, 56, 116
Assam, 130
Atisiz, 94, 109, 117
Aurangzeb, 283
Austin, 429
Avicenna (Shaikh Bu Ali Sinal, 69
Awadh, 116, 272, 279, 286, 308, 374,
421
Awfi, Sadruddin, 297
Ayaz Ahmad, 282. 291, 327, 345,
346, 347, 348, 349
Aziz Khummar, 272, 328, 329, 341
BABINA: 407
Babu Shaikh, 272, 329
Bactrian, 153
Badaun, 134, 272, 329
Badr, ' the Battle of, 149
Baghdad. 25. 37, 38, 82, 93, 95, 109,
151, 182, 293, 391
Bahauddin Sam (son of Izzuddin
Husain), 106, 107, 124, 125
bldex
Bahauddin Tughril, 116, 117, 118
Bahir Deo, 184
Bahman (son of Isfandiyar), 240
Bahmani Kingdom, 329
Bahram Aiba (Kishlu Khan) see
also Kishlu Khan, 328
Bahram Shah, 93, 105, 106, 107, 108
Bai (the widow and sist.er of Dahir),
13
Baihaqi, Abu! Fazl, 82, 86, 297, 390,
391, 421
Bajhra, 9, 10
Bakhtiyar Khalji, 145
Balagha t, 410
Balanath, 54
Balban, Sultan Ghiyasuddin, 290,
308, 313, 326, 355,
365, 368, 371, 387
Balkh, 43. 47, 65, 71, 81, 82, 85, 90,
132
Bamiya<l (Bamian), 118, 123, 124,
134
Bana (Sanskrit writer), 402
Banaras, 80, 85, 116
Ba<ldri (Bandarpur), 229
Ba,."galore, 413
Banik Deo, 208
Banwar, 412
Baran (Modern Bulandshahr), 55,
307
Barani, Ziyauddin, 271, 272, 273,
274, 275, 278, 279, 283, 286,
289, 291, 292, 293, 294, 296, 297.
298, 300, 301, 303, 304, 306, 307,
309, 310, 313, 316, 317, 320, 321,
323, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330,
332, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 340,
341, 343, 393, 398, 403,
404, 407, 409, 410, 416, 417, 418,
419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 426, 427,
428, 429, 430, 431
Bari, 58
Barm'a Kides (a famous family
which rose to very high position
under the Abbasides), 293, 294
Barmatpu"" 241
Baroda, 341
Bashiruddin, S. PrOf., 432
Basiragarh, 205, 408
Batu, (second son of Juji), 177
Baward-i Khorasan, 228
Bayana or Thankar, 116
Beghu, 88
Begtaghdi, 89
Begtuzun, 45, 46
435
Bengal, 146, 215, 282, 307, 365, 405
Bernier, 384
Bethwa, 406
Bhakkar, 345
Bharatpur, 405, 406, 407, 409, 410.
411
Bharoach, 343
Bhatinda, 112, 113
Bhatner, 291, 348, 349, 350, 420
Bhera, 47, 75
Bhilsa, 407
Bhim, 51, 54
Bhima, 410
Bhimpal-Ninduna, 53'
Bhir, 412
Bhoji, 404, 406, 407, 408
Bhopal, 406, 407, 417
Biana, 405, 406
Bias, 51, 168
Bihar, 152
Bihmur, 229
Bihzan8, 225
Bijanagar, 408
Bijapur, 412
Biji Rai : -of Bhera (1006-1007),
47, 49. 106
Bilal Deo (BattaIa Deva) , 227, 229,
23 I, 232, 233, 235
Bilkatagin, 41
Binas, 404, 406
Bir, 237, 239
Bir Dhur, 227, 228, 229, 230, 237,
238, 24,0, 243, 411, 414
Bir Pandya, 229
Bisargarh, 404
Bombay, 402
Brahman(s), 6, 7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17,
51, 61, 63, 76, 130, 182, 238, 242,
352
Brahmanabad, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17
Brindaba<l, 56
British, 330, 408, 415, 423
British Museum, 394
Bu Ali Sina, Shaikh (Avicenna), 69
l31,1dail bin Tahya, 8
436 Politics and Society during the Eal'ly Medieval Period
Buddha (Gautama), 7, 10, 59, 128
Buddhism, 7, 128
Budhist, 1, 7, 41, 124, 129, 133
8ughra Khan (Nasiruddin Bughra
Khan) See Nasiruddin Bughra
Khan
Bukhara, 5, 38, 41, 45, 46, 60, 88
Bulgaria, 117
Bul Kasim bul Hakam, 85
Bundelkhand, 58, 70
Burhanpulr, 408, 410
Bu Sahl Zauzni, 82
Bust, 41, 72
Bustam, 120
Buwaih, 38
Buwaihids, 65, 69, 93
Byzantine, 93, 94
CAESARS, 124
Caliph, 4, 66, 70, 151, 284
Caliph II, 78
Caliphate, 151
Carmathia'-1s, 25, 38, 47, 52, 65, 71,
82, 83, 110
Caspian (Sea), 43, 177, 293
Central Asian, 70, 117, 119, 148,
275, 320, 323
Central India, 116
Ceylon, 8
Chach Nama, 7, 11, 15
Chakrasvamin, 52
Chambal, 203, 413
Chanda. 408,
Chandar, 1, 7
Chanderi, 409
Chand Rai of Sharwa, 56, 57
Chand war or Chantarwal, 116
Chantri Nasiri, 405
Chenab, 47, 51
Chf',giz Khan, 6, 66, 74, 107, 110,
144, 177, 281, 303, 315, 316, 344,
382, 383 .
r'hidambaram. 415
Chihalgani (forty families). 326, 363
ChIna, 11, 23, 177, 275, 331, 355,
382
Chinese, 5, 40, 173, 301
Chishti Order, 80, 278, 279, 282,
286. 332, 421
Chitor, 7, 188, 381
Chola, 4U
Cho1apattinam, 415
Christians, 1, 295, 323
Christianity, 79
Churgaun (Khargaon), 226, 227
Constantinople, 124
DARROI, 341
Dahdum, 208
Dabir, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Dalvi (Parasuram Deva, the Dala-
vail, 228
Damascus, 4
Damyak, 134
Dandaniqan, 89, 93
Daud, brother of Tughril, 88, 94
Daud Jafar (Chaghr) Beg, 93
Daulotabad, 343, 392
Daulat Shah, 393
Dawal Rani, 297, 401, 404
Dawar, 126
Dazjak, 118
Deccan, 111, 276, 277, 278, 279, 281),
283, 285, 286, 331, 332, 342, 398,
399, 401
Delhi, 25, 42, 50, 73, 74; 91, 111,
112, 115, 116, 148, 151, 160,
162, 177, 188, 189, 192, 193, 224,
235, 276, 277, 278 279, 280, 281,
283, 286, 287, 291, 293, 296, 297,
306, 308, 316, 317, 324, 325, 330.
333, 335, 337, 338, 343, 344, 345,
346, 348, 350, 354. 355, 359, 365,
367, 369, 371, 376, 377, 378, 379,
,81, 383, 386, 387 396. 398, 399,
404, 405, 406, 408, 412, 419, 422, 424
Deogir (Devagiri) 151, 152, 177,
190, 203, 224, 227, 232, 276, 277,
278, 281, 282, 283, 285, 307, 321,
328, 338, 341, 403, 404, 407, 408,
409, 410. 412
Devacotta, 415
Dewal. 8, 9, 11, 18, 20
Dhanswa Near Agroha, 346
Dhar, 328, 405, 407, 409, 412
Dharmapuri, 413
Dholpu.r, 406
Dhulia;n. 410
Dhur Samandar (Dwara Samudra),
225, 228, 229, 230, 236
Pindigu1, 414
lr,dex
Diogenes, 94
Dipal Hari, 87
Diwan, 126
Diwan-i ATZ, 225
Diwan-i Quza, 151
Doab, 23, 54, 58, 116, 205, 279, 374,
375
Dvarasamudra, 411,_ 412, 413
EAST INDIAN ISLANDS, 8
Eastern Persia, 38
Egypt, 3, 37, 39, 82, 93, 203
Elburz, 226
Elichpur, 408
Elliot Sir H"nry, 5, 393, 403, 406,
408, 411, 413, 415, 416
Erzrum, 94
Etawah, 116, 407
Euphrates, 94, 162
Europe, 77, 144, 390
FAKHRUDDIN, MALIKUL' UMARA (KOT-
wal of Delhi), 281, 282, 286, 306,
307, 308, 353
Fakhruddin Mas'ud (son of Izzud-
din Husain), 105, 123
Fakhruddin Zarradi, Maulana, 286
Farah (Name of district), 123
Farawah, 88
Farghana or Farghanah, 5
Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar, Shaikh,
94, 278, 332, 430
Fariduddin Zarradi, Maulana, 279,
280, 281, 282 .
Fariyab, 87, 89
Farrukhi (Fakhruddin Mubarak
Shah), 68
FarrUJkhzad, 92
Fatawa-i Jahandari, 292, 295, 299,
316, 353, 365, 417, 418, 419, 421,
423, 424
Fatehpur, 56
Fath-i Nama (of Kabiruddin) 397
Fathabad, 90, 346
Fa:!imicJs, Caliphs of Cairo, 37
Fawa'idul Fu'ad, 282, 338
Ferishta, 61, 112, 144, 295, 302, 319,
335, 409, 416
Firdausi, 67, 69, 144, 382, 421
Firoz Koh, 105, 107, 123, 125, 126
Fisher, RA.L., 320
France, 23
Futuh-us Salatin, 392
GAISU (GISU) MAL, 232
431
Gakkhars (Name of a tribe), 50
Gambhir (a river), 406
Gangapur, 406
Ganges, 56, 61, 85, 152, 170, 380
Gardizi, 427
Gharjistan, 53, 108, 112, 127, 128,
129
Ghami, 41, 42, 43, 44, 49, 50, 51,
52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61,
63, 64, 65, 68, 71, 75, 78, 81, S5,
87, 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 106, 107, lOS,
109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 118, 123,
129, 130, 133, 134, 144, 145, 224,
383, 392
Ghaznavid, 24, 47, 50, 51, 53, 54,
55, 57, 60, 62, 63, 66, 69, 70, 73,
75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 83, 87, 88, 89,
90, 93, 105, 106, 107, 144, 147, 390
391 '
Ghazzali Imam (A.D. 1058-1111),
312
Ghiyaspur (Ghiaspur), 287, 335, 350
Ghu.r, 52, 93, 105, 106, 113, 117,
118, 119, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126,
127, 128, 129, 130, 147, 383, 386
Ghuri, Shihabuddin, 23, 24, 92, 105,
107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113,
116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122,
123, 124, 125, 127, 129, 130, 13],
132, 133, 134, 144, 145, 146 147
148, 325, 330, 331, 384, 385,' 386 '
Ghurid, 113, 116
Ghurians, 52, 106, 111, 118, 119,
120, 121, 122, 124, 127, 130, 131,
132, 330
Ghuzz Turks, 95, 107, 108, 126
Gibbon, 87
Giri. 90
Godavari, 228, 408, 410
Gor Khan, 130, 131
Greece, 361
Greeks, 94, 283
Gujarat, 51, 61, 62, 63 64 70 74
75, 111, 177, 272, 28'5, 328,' 329'
332, 341, 342, 343, 374 396 403'
404 ' , ,
438 Politico alld Society dUl'ing the Eal'ly Medieval Period
Gulistan, 67, 392
Gurgaon, 409, 410
Gwalior, 49, 58, 59, 116, 406, 407
HABIB, PROF., 402, 403, 406, 410,
411, 413, 415, 417
Hafiz (Great Persian Poet), 65
Hajjaj bin Yusuf, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11,
13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 220, 273
Halabad, 412
Halaku Khan, 109, 177
Hameed, Ruler of Sind, 394
Hamid Ladi, Shaikh, 47, 107
Hamid Muiltani, Qazi, 317, 318
Hampi, 412
Hamza, Rukunuddin Qawamul
Mulk. 114
Hanali or Ha.::talites, 129, 294, 295
Hanifa, Imam Abu Hani!a Kuli,
129
Hansi, 87, 89, 9!,' 116, 280
Hardy, Peter, 417, 431
Harihar, 412
Harshacharita, 402
Harshavardhana (Harsha), 56
Harun-ur-Rashid, 37, 292, 293, 3 [9
Hasan (son of Mohd. also known as
Ali Zikratul Islam), 297, 349
Hasan Barani, 394
Hasan Maimandi, Khwaja, 84, 86
Hasrat Nama, 308
Hazrat Ali, 428
Henry Maine, Sir, 374
Herat, 43, 118, 120, 121, 122, 123,
126, 130
Hikm bb A wana Kalbi, 17
Hind, 7, 14, 15, 16, 18, 56, 59, 114,
126, 160, 214, 272, 329
Hindi, 59, 86, 208, 213, 234, 239
Hindu(s), 12, 13, 14, 17, 25, 40, 42,
44, 46, 47, 49.. 50, 52, 53, 55, 58,
62, 64, 69, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 86,
90, 91, 92 .. 124, 145, 148, 151, 153.
155, 182, 185, 189, 190, 192, 202.
205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211, 212,
213, 215, 217, 218, 219, 225, 227.
228 231, 232, 233 234, 235, 237.
238: 239, 240, 242: 24< 272, 275,
277, 283, 299, 300, 313, 316, 320,
323, 330, 331, 355, 356, 365, 378,
379, 382, 383, 386, 396, 399, 400,
404, 424
Hindu Khan, 121
Hindustan, 7, 10, 11, 19, 49, 50,
57, 61, 63, 65, 74, 75,79, 84, 85,
9!, 112, 113, 114, 115, 145, 147,
148, 170, 171, 224, 276, 278, 279,
280, 299, 364, 396, 403, 407
Hiriyuif, 412
History Of India as Told by Her
Own Historians, 393
Hobbes, 429
Hesur, 412, 413
Howdah 12
Haysala (a district), 410, 416
Husain Adhak, 349
Husain, Qazi, 294
Husamuddin Maulana, 306, 307,
313. 323
IBN-i BATTun, 274, 327
Ibn-i Khallikan, 294, 295, 332, 333
Ibn-ul Haddad al-Misiri, 294
Ibrahim Ladi, 92
ljaz-i Khusravi, 297, 367, 395
Ikhtiaruddin Maddhu, 'the bar bar
(Hajjam), 349
II Khan, 274
Iltutmish, Sultan Shamsuddin, (A,ll
1211-36), 312, 313, 315, 316, 32\
326, 386, 419, 426
Imadul Mulk (Balban's Minister of
war), 347, 353
Imam Abu Hanifa Kufi (See also
Hanifa), 129
Imam Muhammad Shihabuddin
Khayuqi, 131
Imam Sadruddin Ali Haizam Nai-
shapuri, 129
Inayat Nama-i Ilahi, (Book of
God's Gifts) , 288
India, 46, 53, 58, 59,
63, 69, 77, 92,
109, 111, 116, 124, 130, 133, 116,
148, 284, 286, 296, 323, 330, 331,
332, 350, 365, 367, 368, 375, 380,
382, 383, 384, 385, 387, 391, 409,
422, 430, 431
Indian. 25, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 57,
69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76', 78,
86, 92, 107, 117, 119, 133, 144, 148,
Index
284, 324, 330, 335, 356, 36i, 386,
402, 403
Indian Frontier, 41, 54
Indian Ocean, 8, 133
Indore, 407, 409
Indus, 177
Iqbal Mudbir, 172
Iran, 70, 228, 423, 428
Iraq, 5, 8, 22, 37, 38, 57, 66, 79,
81, 93, 95, 109, 118, 130, 320
Irijpuif (Sultanpur), 404, 406, 407
Isami, 327, 345
Isfahan or Ispahan, 64, 65, 69, 93
Isfarar, 123
Islam, 3, 5, 8, 19, 22, 25, 36, 37,
41, 46, 57, 58, 66, 73, 77, 78, 79,
80, 92, 111, 114, 128, 132, 134, 148,
151, 159, 169, 177, 182, 183, 185, 186,
189, 190, 224 231, 236, 242, 245,
278, 280, 283, 284, 285, 297, 298,
313, 314, 320, 321, 324, 338, 356,
376, 386, 420, 424; 425, 427, 423,
429, 430
Ismaili(s), 38, 298
Israel, 60, 61
Israel bin Seljuq, 88
Tzad-Yar, Prince, 90
Izzuddaulah Waddin Kafur-i Sultani,
172
Izzuddin Husain, the ruler of Ghur,
105
Izzuddin Muraghazi, 121
JAFAR BARMAKI, 292
Jagannath (Sokkanatha), 243
JaipaJ (Rai Jaipal of Lahore), 41,
42, 46, 47, 56
Jaisiya, 12, 13
J aktiyal, 409
Jalali, 94
Jalaluddin Khalji see Khalii Jalal-
uddin
Jalaludd'n Mankbarni (son of Jala-
Iud din Khwarazm Shah), 316
Jalall'ddin, Sayyid, 307
Jalaluddin Tabrizi, Shaikh. 279, 280
Jamal Hansawi, Shaikh, 279
Jami Abdur Rahman, 70
.Tamshed, 67, 68, 341, 342, 422
Jamuna, 380
.4.H
Jar Tal Bu, 1'73
Jats, .10, 19, 64, 87
Jat Kuta (Jat Kata), 241, 411, 415
Jawiyah, 9
J axartes, 38, 46, 60, 70,
J ayamkandachalapuram,
94, 95, 109
or GangaJ-
kondacholapuram, 414
Jayangcndapathinam, 415
Jewar (Jaipur), 11, 12
Jews, 323
Jewish, 162
Jhaiun, 409
Jhalrapatam, 406
Jhansi, 407
Jhatrapetan, 410
Jhelum, 47, 48, 54, 71, 87, 133, 168,
169
Jitmal, 234
Jizya, 5, 24
Judi, 133, 168
Juji, (or Tushi), 177
JUlian, 95
Jumna, 55, 85, 154, 162, 225, 409
lun (name of a river), 202, 404,
406
Jund, 88
1 ur.i an, 43, 120
Juwayni, Ata Mali, 130
KA'BA, 159, 160 236 241, 246
Kabiruddin of Tajuddin
Iraqi), 297, 398
Kabul, 5, 42, 87
Kachchan Malik Aitmar, 308, 326'
Kadamba-vanam, 415
Kadar, 168, 169
Kaliristan, 58
Kafur Malik See Malik Kafur
Kai-Kaus, 67
Kai-Khusrau, 67, 68, 169, 226
Kailugarhi, 307, 335, 350
Kaimurs (son of Adam), 423
Kaiqubad, Muizzudd;n (A,D. 1286-
90), 307, 308, 326, 335, 336, 387
Kai thaI, 307
Kaka, 10
Kaksa, 19, 20
Kalanjar. 42, 49, 58. 59. 60, 75
Kalila and Dimna, 93 .
Kamaluddin, Qazi, 282
Kambhavat 1Q..,


440 Politics aHd Society duri11g the Eady Medieval Period
Kanauj (Doab), 42, 50, 56, 57, 5R,
109, 116
Kanauri (Kaveri), 237; 411
Kandur (name of a city), 238, 240,
241, 411, 412, 415
Kankhar, 331
Kanobari, 411,
Kapak, 172, 173
Kara (Allahabad), 152, 308
Kara Manikpur, 153
Karami, 127, 128, 129
Karamian, 128
Karimnagar, 408, 409
Karimuddin, Khwaja, 282
KanIal, 331
Kashghar, 5, 46, 49, 88, 94
Kashmir, 21, 54, 59, 80, 86, 280, 281
Katihun (name of a place), 226,
410
Kaveri, 411, 413
Khaibar, 211, 212
Khairul Majalis, 317, 430
Khaliq Bari of Amir Khusrau, 393
Khalji, 112, 113, 277, 308, 326, 355,
369, 370, 374, 387
Khalji, Sultan Alauddin, 80, 149,
277, 279, 286, 294, 297, 298, 303,
307, 308, 310, 315, 316, 317, 319,
321,326,327,329,330, 331, 335, 336,
337, 338, 355, 362, 364, 365, 367,
368, 374, 376, 377, 378, 387, 388,
396, 397, 398, 402, 403, 404, 405,
412, 419, 426, 430
Khalji, Sultan Jalaluddin, 307, 308,
309, 326, 327, 335, 351, 363, 364,
387, 393
Khalji, Tajuddln, 122
Khanda, 203, 404, 407
Khandwa, 407, 409
Khan-i Jahan (title of Malik Maq-
bul Qawam-ul Mulk), 353, 354,
355, 378
Kharabad, 228, 241, 410, 411, 415
Kharang Muhammad, 120. 121, 122
Kharijis (Kharijites), 127'
Kharmil, Husain, 115, 132
Khazai11ul Futuh, 149, 151, 152,
297, 367, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397,
398, 400, 402, 403
117, 126
Khitans, 117, 118, 132
Khizr Khan (Eldest son of Alauddin
Khalji), 189, 216, 297
Khizrabad, 189
Khojand (name of a place), 5
Khokar(s), 111, 133, 134, 168
Khuda Banda Aljaitu Sultan 177
Khurasan, 3, 5, 38, 41, 42, 43 45
46, 47, 49, 53, 54, 57, 60, 64, 79
81, 87, 88, 89, 92, 93, 95, 118, 121
122, 127, 129, 130, 144, 172, 281,
298
Khurasani, 60, 113
Khusrau Amir, 149, 234, 248, 288,
303, 331,
351, 355, 363, 365, 367, 368, 386,
393,394,395,396,397, 398 399 400,
401, 402, 403,. 404, 405,' 406: 407,
408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 415,
416, 430
Khusrau Malik, 111 112 162
Khusrau Parvez . (the of the
great pre-Muslim emperors), 423
Khusrau Shah, 107, 108, 149
Khwaja-i Jahan (see Ayaz Ahmad),
282, 291, 327, 342, 346, 347, 348,
349
Khwarazm Shah, 5, 54, 60, 69, 88,
109, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, Iln,
129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 144, 147,
177
Khwarazmian, 66, 109, 118, 120, 121,
122, 131, 147
Khyyam, Omar, 94
Kili (battle of), 297, 308
Kishlu Khan, 328
Kishwar Khan (son of Kishlu Khan)
345 '
Kishwar Rashid, 418
Kitabu! Hind, 69
Koil (Aligarh). 116
Kota, 405, 406, 409, 410
Krishna-Basdeo 55
Krishnagiri, 4 t3
Kshattriyas, 40, 76, 130
Kuhram, 116, 171
Kumbhakonam 414
Kunarbad (Village) ,
Kunwari (Kuwari)
river), 202, 404
Kurds, 89
LADORA (BAGHBAN), 272
Lahore, 25, 42, 49, 53, 56, 59, 74,
75, 80, 85, 86, 90, '91, 92, 107, 108,
Ill, 112, 113, 114, 133, 134
Lakhnauti (Founded by the Khaljis),
152, 307, 373
Lalitpur, 407
Lamaghan or Laghman 42
Lambtan, Miss (Dr.), 431
Lanka, 242, 243, 416
Lingas Deo Narain (Narayana), 242
Lohanas, 18
Lohkot, 54, 59
London, 417, 431
Lucifer, 3
Lucknow, 389
MA'ABAR, 202, 215, 224, 225, 226, 229,
231, 235, 236, 237, 239, 396, 403,
411
Macedonia, 67, 182
Machiavelli, 304
Madina, 182
Madras, 403
Madura (Mutra), 412
Madura Khusrau, 414
Mahaban, 54, 55
Maharatta, 408, 410
Maheshwar, 409, 410
Mahmud (Sultan Mahmud "f
Ghazni), 23, 36, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46,
47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56,
57, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64 66 67 63
69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74: 75: 76: 77:
78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 88,
90, 92, 93, 105, 108, 109, 111, 123,
125, 133, 144, 145, 153, 155, 293,
295, 299, 359, 376, 383, 389, 390,
391, 392, 420, 421, 430
Mahmud bin Ghiyasuddin, 145
Majdud, Prince, 87, 90, 91
Majiduiidin., Syed, 106, 107
Malik Ainu! Mulk, 187
Malik Bektars, 307
Malik Chajju Yaghrish Khim
(Nephew of Sultan Ghiyasuddin
Balban),. 393
Malik Deo, 186
Ma:lik Juway<li, 303
Malik Kabir 1.&A
441
Malik Kafur, 277, 327 355, 368,
404, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413,
414, 415, 416
Malik Kamaluddin Gurg 192 193
Malik Maqbul Khan-i J;han '272
Malik Muzaffar, 332 '
Malik Naib (Malik Kafur), 191, 206,
210, 224, 237, 239, 241, 243, 401
Malik Nizamuddin 326
Malik Qara Beg (a high officer of
Alauddin), 336
Malik Shah, 94, 95, 111, 112
Malikus Sharq Qawamul Mulk 22,
229 ' -,
Malik Ziauddin, 120, 123, 125
Malik Ziauddin Tulaki, 112
Malka-i-Jahan (Sultan Jalaluddin'>
widow), 307
Malwa, 152, 177, 185, 186, 187, 277,
285, 328, 403
Mandhata, 407
Mandu, 185, 186, 187, 188
Mangu (son of Tului and a grand-
son of Chengiz, died in China in
A.D. 1260), 117
Manka (Tabbakh), 272
Mankul, 416
Mansur (Abbasid ruler), 41, 45, 46
Mantani, 408
Mao, Tse-Tung, 390
Maravarman 414
Mardi of a fort), 237
Margohouth, D.S. (Dr.), 394
Marwand, 118
Marwar, 121
Marx, Karl, 304
Mas'uii II, 65, 92, 202, 272
Mas'ud (son of Sultan Mahmud),
64, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89.
90, 123, 390, 391. 392
Masud (Khammar\ 329
Masudpur, 202, 404, 406
Mathura, 55, 56, 57, 243
Matra, 412
Maudud Sultani (Firuz Khan), )0,
91. 92
Mawaraun Nahr 25 57 88 9
177, 385 "" 4, ')5,
Mazindran, 228
39;,_!2, 82, 159, 182,
442 Politics and Society d""ing tile Early M ediecal Period
Medina, 3, 4, 428
Meds of Dewal, 8
Meerut, 116
Mekran, 5. 8
Mela (Upper), 416
Merv (the capital of the Seljugs).
89, 118, 120, 121, 122, 295
Mihr Afraz, 351
Minhajus Siraj, 132, 177, 296, 297,
421
Minuchihri, 68
Mir-khond, 303
Mchammad (The Prophet), 90, 91,
92, 149, 151, 248, 249, 348, 349
Mohammad bin Harun, the gover-
nor of Mekran, 8
Mohammad Ibn-i Khawend Shah
(Mirkhond), 401
Mohammad bin Qasim, 7, 9, 10, 11,
12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 47
Mohiuddin Kashani, Maulana, 286
Mcidul Mulk, Khwaja, 134
Moinul Haq, 394
Moka Bisawa, 17
Moka bin Bisaya, 11, 13
Mcngol, 36, 39, 40, 79, 96, 147, 148,
177, 183, 274, 275, 301, 315, 323,
325, 331, 344, 345, 386, 396, 397,
398
Moreland, W.H., 320
Moses, 153, 162
Mount Abu, 332
Mu'awiya, 4; 324
Mubarak Ghamavi, 313
Mubarak Sayyid, generally known
as Amir Khurd, 286
Mubarak Shah, 277
Mudabir Tai Bu, 172
Mudikondasolan, 414
Mughals, 144, 161, 167, 168, 169,
170, 171, 172, 173, 177, 234, 367.
397, 402, 403
Mughisuddin (of Bayana) Qazi, 317,
320
Muhammad (the Prophet) see
Mohammad (the Prophet)
Muhammad ABafi, an Arab adven-
turer. 8, 12
Muhammad Ayaz, Kotwal of Siri.
327
Muhammad Bahalirn, 93
MUtl1ammad bin Abdus Samad,
Khwaja, 90
Muhammad bin Suri, 52, 105
Muhammad Najib, 273
Muhammad Shah, 351 .
Muhammad Shah, Sultan Abul
Muzaffar, 248
Muhammad Sultan (Khan-i-Shahid)
son of B;Uban, 81, 82, 149, 285,
346, 365
Muidul Mulk, 307, 309
Muinuddin Chishti, Khwaja, 80, 148,
279
Muizzuddin (son of Shaikh Alaud-
din), 332, 333
Muizzuddin Bahram Shah, 94
Muizzuddin Ghur, 278
Mujir Abu Raja, 273
Multan, 7, 18, 20, 21, 25, 38, 47, 49,
52, 61, 64, 70, 74, 90, 110, III, 114,
115, 116, 133, 272, 307, 328, 329
Munj (Mujhavan), 56
Munjaniqs, 8, 9
Muqbil, the naib Wazir of Gujrat,
341
Musa1mans, 1, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15,
24, 38, 39, 40, 44, 49, 50, 52, 53,
57, 62, 64, 66, 67, 73, 74, 76, 77, .
78, 80, 86, 91, 93, 109, 116, 128,
132, 134, 170, 172, 173, .177, 183,
186, 192, 202, 203, 206, 209, 210,
212, 213, 218, 227, 228, 231, 237,
239, 241, 242, 245, 248, 249, 273,
275, 278, 279, 283, 284, 291, 300,
310, 311, 312, 315, 319, 320, 323,
340, 363, 378, 382, 386, 389, 390,
419, 420
Muslim(s), 1, 3, 4, 5, 6,24, 25, 37,
39, 40, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 53, 66,
67, 70, 72, 74, 80, 91, 95, 115, 124,
128, 145, 146, 147, 148, 168, 169,
170, 171, 172, 182, 183, 203, 204,
205, 209, 211, 225, 228, 229, 232,
235, 236, 237, 241, 277, 278, 293,
296, 300, 310, 311, 312, 315, 316,
317, 319, 324, 325, 330, 340, 347,
355, 359, 365, 368, 370, 372, 379,
382, 384, 390, 400, 424, 425, 426,
427, 428, 429, 430
Index
Muslim Asia, 36, 40, 144
Muttra, 406, 409, 410
Mysore, 412
NAGARKOT (KANGRA), 51, 91
Nagaur, 171
Nagauri, 171
Nagda, 405, 409, 410, 412
Nagpur, 408
Nagrahar, 90
Nahrwala (Anhilwara), 182
Naik Balak Deo, 234
Naik: Malik (a Hindu, general ot
Alauddin's army), 331
Naishapur, 43, 45, 81, 89
Naldurg, 410
Namakkal, 416
Nandurbar (Nundarbar), 407,410
Narbada, 203, 226
Narmada, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408,
410, 412
Nasik, 7, 9
Nasiruddin Bughra Khan (Second
sc:J. of Balban), 322, 328, 329, 373
Nasiruddin Chiragh, Shaikh, 280,
281, 286, 287, 317, 345, 421, 422
Nasiruddin Mahmud (Son of Ghi-
yasuddin), 123, 296, 386
Nasiruddin Qubacha, 145, 386
Nasirul Mulk Sirajuddin, Khwaja,
207
Nausherwan, 202
Nidar Bhim, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59
Nihawa<ldi, Shahzada, 273
Nile, 162, 293
Nil Kanth (name of a place), 203,
404, 407, 409
Ninduna (Name of a place), 54
Nirmal, 408
Nirun (Hyderabad), 9, 11
Nisa, 88
Nizami, Khaliq Al1.mad, 332, 392,
431
Nizami Shaikh (of Ganja), 93
Nizamuddin Ahmad Bakhshi, 295
Nizamuddin AUliya, Shaikh, 278,
279, 280, 281, 282, 286, 288,
310. 318, 336, 337, 346, 348, 421,
430
Nizamul Mulk Tusi, 95, 339, 373
Noah, 230
Noah's ark, 240
Northern Africa, 66
Nu'man Munzir, 160
Nur, 60
,443
Nuruddin Mubarak Ghamavi, 426
Nusrat Khatun (Nusrat Bibi), 351
Nuzwar (canal), 131
OTTOMAN TURKS, 382
Oxus, 5, 46, 60, 88, 131, 132, 134
PACHAMALi>IS, 411
Pacific Ocean, 40
Paganism, I, 3
Paingonga, 408
Pandarpur, 410, 412
Pandva, 243
Pandya Guru, 410
Param Deo, 63
Paras Deo Dalvi, 228, 229, 410
Parenda, 412
Parmar (Pramar) Hajibs, 233
Parsu Deo, 410
Parthians, 382
Pera Mali (the gardener), 329
Persdevo, 412
Persia, 37, 38, 39, 40, 43, 57, 59, 60,
66, 67, 68, 73, 74, 79, 81, 88, 89,
92, 119, 130, 148, 177, 202, 371,
382, 384
persian(s), 38, 39, 40, 66, 67, 69,
70, 73, 79, 80, 86, 93, 94, 112, 113.
126, 248, 272, 274, 275, 293, 295,
300, 303, 311, 320, 323, 324, 325,
330, 332, 367, 373, 382, 383,
393, 394, 402, 403, 420
Peshawar, 42, 46, 111, 113, 134, 417,
431
Pharaohs, 153, 154, 162
Phillips, C.H. (Dr.), 431
Piray, 41
Plato, 36, 284, 304
Poland, 177
Polonious, 67
Punjab, 42, 43, 49, 50, 54, 55, 57,
58, 59, 72, 74, 84, 87, 91, 93, Ill,
112, 134, 279, 374
QA-AN OR KHAQAN, 177
Qadr Khan, 430
Qaffal Maulana, 294, 295
444 Poiitics and Society dmillg the Eatt y Medievai Period
Qahistan, 120
Qaidu Khan (son of Khash and
grandson of Ogtai), 169, 177
Qara Beg Maisara, 208, 317
Qara Khita, 130
Qara-Khitai, 95, 109, 117, 119, 134
Qawam-uI Mulk (Later on Khan-i-
Jahan Maqbul), 346
Qazi Hamid Nagauri, 430
Qazi Shirazi, 84, 86
Qazi Tulki, 120
Qazi Wahiduddin Marwar-rudi, 129
Qipchak (Southern Siberia) 119
Qubacha (Nasiruddin), 325
Qttbbatat Tarikh. 336
Qublai Khaqan (the great grand
father of Chengiz), 177
Quran, 37, 67, 78, 110, 128, 159, 232,
283, 295, 309, 311, 318, 320, 337,
360, 363, 389, 424, 425, 426, 427
Quresh, 3
Qureshi, Shuaib, 394
Qusdar, 41
Qusur (name of a place), 168
Qutbuddi Aibek see Aibek Qutbud-
din
Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah, Shamsul
Haq, 327
Qutbl!ddin Muhammad (son of
Izzuddin Husain), 105, 106
Qutbuddin Munawwar, Shaikh, 279,
280, 282, 286
Qutlugh Inanij, 118, 328, 331, 341
RABI IBN UL HARS, 2
Radhkam, 121
Rahib (Ram-ganga), 58, 59
Rai Bhim Deo, 111
Rai Bilal Deo, 228, 230, 233
Rai Bir Pandya, 229
Rai Chach, 6, 7, 15, 18
Rai Chandal Bhor's, 56
Rai Dahir, 8, 9, 11
Rai Har Chandar, 21
Rai Hardat, 55
Rai Jai Chand, 116
Rai Kandi, 331
Rai Karan, 407
Rai, Khanday, 112, 113, 115, 116
Rai, Kola, 116
Rai Kulachand, 55
Rai Malik Deo of Malwa, 185, 186,
187, 189
Rai Pith ora, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116,
148
Rai Rayan; 203
Rai Sahasi, 7
Rajput, 50, 51, 109, 111, 112, 114,
115, 116, 332, 381, 387
Rajputana, 61, 64, 148, 177, 374,
403, 406
Ram (King), 87, 242
Ram Deo, 153, 190, 203, 407, 409,
410
Rama Deva, 227
Ramzan (Qala'lldar), 62
Rana, 17, 326
Ranthambhor, 183, 184
RaShid, S.A. (Prof.), 394, 431
Rashiduddin (a great historian of
the Mongol period), 303
Rasil, 11
Rattzattts Saja, 401
Rav;, 92
Rawer, 11, 12
Raziuddin Ibrahim, Sulta'll, 92
Raziya (Sultan), 386
Roman,S, 7, 123, 124, 146, 379, 424
Rome, 4, 124
Ruknuddin, Shaikh, 337
Ruknuddoulah Daylami, 38
Rum (Byzanti;ne), 355
Rupor, 92
Rustam, 67, 81, 211, 213, 226, 228
SA'DI, SHAIKH, 67, 70, 338, 392
Saddhu, Shaikh, 7
Sadruddin (Shaikh-ul Islam), 282
Saddruddin Arif, Qazi, 379
Safdar Malik, 332
Sah Kash, 234, 241, 246
Saifabad, 131
Saifuddin Suri, 105, 106,
125
Sajistan, 127
Sakya Sinha, 59
Salem (a district), 413
Salih al Was it., 22
Salih bin Abdur Rahman, 22
Saman, 38
Samana, 116, 171, 347
Inaex
Samacids, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 60,
147, 427, 428
Samarkand, 5, 43,. 53, 59, 70, 88, 95,
130, 132, 383
Sanjah, 108
Sanjar (Sultan) (1117-37), 93, }5,
106, 107, 108, 109, 117, 118, 153,
168, 421, 422
Sanskrit, 402
Saracens, 128
Sarakhs, 89, 121
Sarandip, 243
Sarangpur, 407, 409
Sarbar, 404, 409
Sarka (a khokar chief), 133
Sarmah, 411, 413
Sarsuti, 114, 115
Sarswati, 61, 62, 112
Sassan, 368
Sassanian, 70, 73
Sassanid, 67
Satal Deo, 192, 193
Satpura, 408
Savai-Madhopur, 410
Sawand, 18
Seljuqs, 60, 61, 64, 65, 66, 73, 74,
84, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94,
95, 105, 107, 109, 118
Shabab Sultani, 34
Shabdiz, 235
Shadoad, 216, 228, 242
Shadi Khan (son of Alauddin
Khalji), 353
Shadyakh, 120
Shafa'i Imam, 129, 294, 319, 420,
426
Shah Madar, 7
Shah Nama, 57, 63, 70, 92, 225
Sham, 18
Shamsuddin Muhammad, 118, 123,
134
Shamsuddin Yahya, Shaikh, 280,
281, 286
Shansabani (Ghurian Royal Family),
105, 123, 124, 125, 127
Sharaf Qa'ani, 327, 331, 374, 375
Sharfuddin Maul ana, 282
Sheba of Sheba), 283
Sher Khan (cousin of Balban), 347,
353, 365
Sher Shah, 304
Shias, 38, 65, 127, 128
Shihabuddin (see Ghuri Shihabud-
din)
Shihabuddin (Muizzuddin); 273
Shiraj, 8, 85
Sialkot, 111
Sicldiqi, Abdur Rahman, 394
Siestan, 47
Sihta, 19
Sijistan, 294
Sikandar Lodi, 400
Sind (Indus), 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 19, 20,
24, 25, 42, 47, 49, 87, 90, 91, 112,
116, 117, 134, 145, 157, 169, 171,
172, 224, 272, 329, 344, 386
S,ndhu (a river), 406, 407
Sini (a river), 228, 229,410
Sirpur, 408
Sirajuddin, 206
Siri 366
12, 14, 17, 19
Sitaman, 406
Siva, 411
Siwana (Khairabad), 191, 192
Siwistan (Schwan), 9, 10
SiYGru! Abrar, 313
SiyuTul Auliya, 281, 286, 336, 430
Siyasat Nama, 339
SOIa:man, 150, 242, 245
Somnath, 61, 62, 63, 64, 76, 177,
182, 224
Soyand Rai, 81, 86
Spain, 37
Srirangam, 414
Stuart Mill, John, 36
Sub an, the king of Bhatva 7
Subuktagin, Amir Nasiruddin, 41,
42, 43, 45, 47, 71, 127, 392
Sudra, 40
. Suhrab, 226
Suhrawardi (Shaikh Shihabuddin
A.D. 1145-1234), 278
Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik, 21
Sultanpur (Irijpu.r), 404, 407
Sundera Pandya, 229, 243, 412
Sunnis, 38, 39, 127, 128, 314
Surkha, Aitmar, 308, 326
Sutlej, 168
Syed Ahmad Kha'n,' Sir, -393, 419'
Syria,S, 8, 57, 66, 79, 94
446 Politics aml Society during the Early Medieval Period
TARARI, 297, 421
Tabqat-i Nasiri, 271, 296, 297, 367
Tabriz, 279
Taghi, 332, 333, 343, 344
Tajuddin, Ali Shah, 118, 120
Taiul Ma'asir, 297, 303
Takash: Imamuddin, 117, 118, 119
Takinabad; 82, 108
Taliqan, 87, 89>, 121
Tamin bin Zaid-ai-Qaisi, 17
Tankal of a place on the
bank of Jamuna), 225, 409
Tapti, 407
Tarain, now known as Patrawari,
112, 114, 116, 148
Taraz, 131
Targhi, (Malik), 169
Tarikh-i A!a-i Subuktiyin (History
of the Dynasty of Subuktigin),
390, 391
Tarikh Baramakah, 292, 293, 294,
421
Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, 271, 274, 288,
289, 292, 294, 296, 297, 299, 302,
303, 304, 308, 316, 337, 345, 353,
365, 367, 396, 397, 418, 421, 423,
426
Tarikh-i Kisrani, 341
Tarikh-i Mahmudi, 294, 295
Tarikh-i Zainu! Ma'asir, 61
Tarm"!i, 236, 413
Tartaq, 169, 170, 171
Tartar, 5, 38, 40, 46, 70, 71, 73, 88,
132, 168, 169, 173, 224, 345, 353
Tavi, 227
Tazkirlltushuara of Daula! Shah,
393
405
Telang, 354, 404, 408, 409
Thanesari, 273
Thaneswar, 52, 53, 91
Thankar, 116
Thatta, 8, 344
Tibetans, 40
Tigris, 151
Tilang, 208
Timur, 6, 74, 177, 397
Toctarmall, 375
Trans-Caspian, 119
':j'rans-Ganl(etic, 49, 54, 74, 75
Trans-Oxiana (Mawaraun Nahr) ,
38, 59, 60, 344
Trilocanpal, 53, 55, 56, 57, 59
Tughlaqabad, 300, 301
Tughlaq, Firuz Shah, 272, 279, 281,
287, 288, 289, 291, 292,296, 299,
302, 342, 344, 345, 346, 347, 343,
349, 350, 353, 355, 369, 376, 378,
419, 422, 431
Tu!:hlaq, Ghlyasuddin, 107, 108,
109, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122,
123, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130, 327,
364, 367
Tughlaq Muhammad bin (Sultan),
271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277,
278, 279, 280, 281, 283, 284, 28.5,
286, 287, 288, 289, 291, 294, 298,
301, 302, 321, 327, 329, 330.
3'31, 332, 338, 339, 340, 342, 345,
346, 354, 356, 363, 364, 419
Tuyhlaq Nama of Amir Khusrau,
393
Ttnghril (the governor Of Lakh-
nauti), 307
Tughril (Sultan) 0039-68), 88, 92,
93, 94
Turan, 5, 228
Turks, 5, 38, 39, 40, 49, 59. 68, 73,
87, 94, 113, 121, 169, 185, 216,
231, 232, 234, 240, 311, 323, 124';
331, 383, 384, 385, 387
Turks, Ghaz;navid, 14, 24
Turks, Ghurian, 14, 24
Turkan Khatun ( Allauddin's
Mother), 95, 119
Turkestan, 37, 38, 43, 54, 60, 88,
126, 130, 132, 134, 169, 281, 382,
385
Turkish, 40, 41, 45, 69, 71, 84, 88,
89, 90, 94, 110, 113, 132, 146, 147,
148, 230, 237, 240, 241, 271, 308,
323, 326, 330, 355, 356, 382, 385,
386, 387
Turkomans, 40, 60, 85, 86, 87, 95
TUiTko-Persian, 66, 74
Turq, 122
Tus, 118, 120, 121
UBAIDULLAFI BIN NABHAN, 8
Ujjain, 49, 405
Judex
Ulugh Khan, 168, 169, 177, 181,
328
Umar,. the Second Caliph (A.D, 63D-
43), 3, 5, 18, 38, 51, 311
Umayyad, 4, 5, 25, 66, 311, 319, 324,
364, 369, 428
Umayyad Caliphs, 37, 39
Unsuri, 68
Usman (the third Caliph), 38, 151
Utbi, 297, 421
VIKRAMAOlTYA, 277
Vir a Ballala, 412, 413, 414
Vira-Chola, 411, 414
Vira Pandya, 411, 415
Virasolan, 414
W AHlDlAH, 127
Waihind (Name of a city on the
bank of Indus), 46, 50, 51, 76
W 408
Wairagarh, 403
Walid bin Abdul Malik (705-15), 5,
21
Warangal, 225, 227, 285, 327, 396,
404, 405, 407, 408, 409, 416
Warshad, 105, 106
Wassaf, 303
YAnu, 8
Yakub Nazir, 377
447
Yaldus, Tajuddin (or Yaldiz), 145,
337, 386
Yaminuddoulah, 46
Yashar, 404, 407, 408
Yilduz, the Sar Saqi (the chief cup
bearer), 133, 325, 351
Yusuf bin Subuktagin, 82
Yusuf Bughra, 273, 274
Yusuf Qadr Khan, 59, 88
ZAFARABAD, 328
Zain Banda, 273, 274
Zainul Akhbar, 427
Zainul Ma'asir, 113
Zamindawar, 126
Zamzam, 182
Zariniah, 127
Ziaudd:n Tulaki, 113
Zoroastrianism, 79
Zuhhak, 161