SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF

MEDIEVAL INDIA
As compared with ancient India ,a large number of literary sources are available for the
medieval period .

They provide a more reliable information and insight about the life of the people of the period

These sources inform us of the administration set up of the rulers ,their Theory of
Kingship ,Military achievements cte.

They also reflect the state of Cultural Economic and Religious institutions
The sources were mainly under the headings of

Foreign Traveller's Accounts ,

Literature ,

Inscriptions etc. .

These are the sources of knowing the history of Medieval India

Literary sources
1. Min haj Siraj – his work Tabaquat-i-Nasiri

He has written a political history called Tabaquat-i- Nasiri in persian under

Iltutmish in 1228 AD

This book is divided into twenty three collections of biographical notes and historical
events arranged dynasty wise

It descried the events of the period of the slave dynasty and also the events beginning
with the rise of Islamic rule of the different rulers of Iran ,

The history of the Ghaznavis and Ghur dynasty as well as the attacks of the Mongols
2. Tarikh –i- Firuz Shahi by Shams-i-Siraj Afif

He wrote several texts . This work has been regarded as a good historical source material

He was at the court of Sultan Firuz Shah

He gave vivid account of the events , administration ,society and cultural life of the period
of Firuz Tughlaq
3. Ziauddin Barani his work Tarikh – i- Firuz Shahi

He had a high position under the Khalji:s and flourished well under Muhammad – bin –
Tughlaq

He remained close to the throne for many years and there fore ,was a witness of the
events of his time

He wrote several texts ,like , Inayat Nama- i- Illahi , Hasrat nama ,

Fatwah-i- Jahan dari , Tarikh-i- Firuz Shahi etc

This work has been regarded as the best Historical Source Material

The book begins with the reign of Sultan Balban and concludes with the 6 th year of the
reign of Firuz Shah .
4. Kalhana and his Rajatarangini .

He composed this work about the kings of Kashmir in Sanskrit .

It is a history of Kashmir up to the 12th century

He composed the Rajatarangini ,when Jayasimha was ruling in Kashmir .

It is a poetic work , consisting of eight books of unequal strength , and 8,000

Sanskrit verses
5. Muhammad Hassan Nizami and his Taj – ul- Masir

He described the events of the period between 1191 to 1217 AD

It was written in Turki

He described the events of the reign of Qutb- ud- din Aibak and events related to
the period of Mohammad of Ghur and sultan Iltutmish

He concentrated mostly on the description of Battles

He paid attention towards administration and social conditions .

He did give details of some cities , fairs , festivals , and sources of entertainments
of the people .
6. Alberuni and his Tahkik – i- Hind
He visited India with Sultan Mahmud of Ghazhni and his army when he invaded Somnath
in India

He gives a graphic description of India as he had seen it .

He describes in this book ,the religious , literary and Scientific traditions of India

He has described Roads, Rivers and their courts , Weights and Measures ,Currency etc .
7. Ibn Batuta and his Rehla
One of the important work of this period is the description of the African traveller .

He remained in India for fourteen years from 1334 to 1347 AD.

Eight years he spent in Delhi

In his book ,he describe the events , administration, fairs and festivals , markets ,
Court life ,economy ,society , climate etc.

During the periods of rule of sultan Ghiyas – ud – din Tughlaq and sultan muhammad
–bin- Tughlaq
8. Works of Amir khusrau
He was one of the best scholars and poets of his age

He was a disciple of the famous Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Auliya

He witnessed the reign of Sultan Balban and got patronage of the khalji rulers as well as of
Ghiyas – ud – din Tughlaq

He was not a historian but a poet . He had composed half a million verses .

He described the events in a chronological order

Qiran – us – Sadam

It was composed in 1289 AD

It described the memorable meeting between Bughra khan , the governor of

Bengal and his son Muizzuddin Kaiku bad ,the sultan of Delhi

Miftah –ul- futuh

It enumerates the military campaigns and victories of sultan Jalal ud din khilji
Ashiqa ;
It was composed in 1316 AD

It describes the marriage of Ala – ud – din’s eldest son prince Khijra Khan

And Princess Dewal Rani ,daughter of Raja Karan of Gujarat .

The Tughlaq nama

It is the best historical manuscript of Amir Khusrau and was composed in the closing
years of his life

Neh Siphr

It gives a very interesting and authentic sketch of the social and cultural conditions of
the period
 9. Firuz Shah Tughlaq and his Futuhat-i- Firuz shahi .

It is a small text written by Firush Shah Tughlaq himself

The primary purpose of writing this text was to justify himself as an ideal Muslim ruler

This text provides useful information concerning the administration of Firuz Shah .
10. Tuzuk –i- Baburi

It is the Auto biography of the Mughal Emperor ,Babur ,written in Turki

It was translated into persian by several persons during the period of the Mughals

Later , it was translated into several European Languages including English and French

Babur provides information concerning not only the events of the life of Babur but
also his character , personality ,knowledge ,capability ,weaknesses cte

The descriptions given by are quite authentic .

He wrote about the failures of his life

He also described in an impressive style the Climate , Hills , Rivers ,Forests ,Flora and
Fauna ,Trees and Flowers and the beauty of the Natures cte .

He described its geographical condition , and political condition

11. Sir Thomas Roe (1615 – 1619 AD )

He was the leader of English embassy to the court of Jahangir .

Sir Thomas roe and his priest terry stayed in India for about three years and
followed Jahangir during his tour to Mandu and Ahmadabad

His travel account ,” a voyage to East Indies “ is a very useful source of information
.
Archaeological sources

The archaeological sources are Inscriptions , Coins , and Monuments .

they help in the reconstruction of the Socio – Cultural history of Medieval

India .

The Sultans of Delhi did not leave behind much epigraphic evidence of
historical significance

Their coins have proved to be very useful in fixing the chronology of events and
correcting genealogical tables of the rulers

The inscriptions have been published mostly in the “Epigraphica Indo

Molesmica “

Edward Thomas made the best use of the Numismatic sources in “The
Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi .”
Edward Thomas was the first among the modern Historiographers of Medieval india to
make

Extensive use of Numismatic

The Archaeological Survey of india has brought many new sources to light through its
publication entitled “Reports of the Archaeological Survey of india volume I to 38

“The Annual Reports of the Archaeological survey of India “ edited by Sir John Marshall
Accounts of Alberuni

He was the court poet of Mahmud of Ghazni

He was born in 973 AD in the modern territory of Khiva

When Khiva was conquered by Mahmud in 1017 AD Alberuni was also captured .

He came to India along with Mahmud and stayed here for some time .

He was a great Mathematician , Philosopher , Astronomer and Sanskrit Scholar .

He has given a full account of the Social and Political condition of India

He was very much impressed by the learning of the Hinduism

He criticised the Hindus for their isolation from the nations of the world
Early marriage was common but there was no custom of widow Re – marriage .

Marriages were arranged by the Parents of children

The Hindus worshipped a large number of Gods .

The educated Hindus believed in Gods who was one eternal , without beginning and

end , acting by free will , almighty , all wise ,living , giving life cte .

The administration of Justice was liberal and humane .

All the written complaints were filed and sometimes even oral complaints were also
accepted

Cases were decided on the testimony of witnesses

Criminal law was comparatively mild

There was no principle of equality of law among the Hindus

The Brahmans were exempted from capital punishment .

The punishment for theft varied in accordance with the value of the property stolen

The people also paid tax to the state .

The share of the state was 1/6th of the produce

But the Brahmans were completely exempted from the tax .

Politically India was disunited and rival states fought against one another , completely
ignoring the interests of the country .

The word “ National “ had no meaning for them

There was a rigid caste system and that made the task of the unification of the country
difficult

The country was divided into a large number of small states

Alberuni refers to the states of Kashmir , Sind ,Malwa ,Gujarat , Bengal and
Kannauj .

He has also referred to the effects of the invations of Mahmud on India .

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