A History of the Mahrattas v2.c43.28

v2.c43.28

The Order of the Sun was likewise borrowed from Persia; the Mughal Emperors assuming the right to confer it upon the great ruling princes of India, irrespective of creed. According to Malcolm, the figure of the Sun in Leo was adopted centuries ago as the arms of Persia, and consequently became the insignia of an order of knighthood. Dr. V. A. Smith suggests that the symbol may have been borrowed by Hulākū the Tartar (A.D. 1258), as a trophy of his victory over a Seljukian prince of Iconium, who used the emblem on his coins, and adds that the symbol of Sol in Leo was perhaps adopted first by Ghiās-ud-din Kai Khusrū bin Kaikobād (A.D. 1236–44), the emblem having reference either to his own horoscope or to that of his queen. (Sleeman, *Rambles and Recollections*, ed. V. A. Smith (1915), pp. 135, 137–8.)]