[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.habibullah-1945) › c19.35 # The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c19.35 The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c19.35 - **Language:** English ### [c19.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.habibullah-1945.c19.35) Military preoccupations notwithstanding, the Memeluke ruler however, showed great awareness to the enduring virtues of literature; indeed, the pen no less than the sword was an integral component of his mental life. Some of it was no doubt inspired by practical needs; religious administration demanded works on theology and law, while politics needed chronicles and treatises on statecraft. But a devotion to poetry, stories, literary histories and essays proves more than mere utilitarian outlook. It is true that the Mamelukes were only the inheritors of this tradition and that the Mongol scourge brought in a large number of foreign writers to Delhi; but in the development of what may be called a culture-state they must have had a large share. Under every ruler Barani gives a long list of poets, theologians, lawyers, historians and masters of the epistolary art. Among prose writers the Delhi state could boast of such eminent names as that of the literary historian Nuruddin Muhammad Aufi, the historian and political theorist Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, and the chroniclers Hasan Nizami and Minhaj Juzjani. Ziauddin Barani himself had more versatility than that of a mere historian; a later account ascribes to him, besides works on history, also treatises on state-craft, law, scriptural commentaries and religious practices¹. Poetry was a universally practised art and ability to compose verses was almost an essential complement to literary education. It is hardly necessary to single out names from among the hosts of poets maintained on the state's pension list or in the company of every prince and noble. Nor is it possible to distinguish the poet from the essayist, the historian from the theologian, for those were the days of encyclopaedic accomplishment. Balban's court was specially rich not only in eminent divines and poets but also in physicians and astronomers who in their special branches "had no equals." Badruddin Damashqi and Husamuddin Marikla are honoured names in the annals of medicine; Hamiduddin Mutriz was as much well versed in mathematics and astronomy as in the healing art¹. The crown of the 13th century poets was Khusrau who with his friend Amir Hasan Sanjari, an equally accomplished writer, made even the Iranians jealous of the classic excellence of Indo-Persian poetry. Amir Khusrau himself speaks appreciatively of yet another of his contemporaries, named Rukn Muhmerah of Budaun². - [Previous: c19.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.habibullah-1945.c19.34) - [Next: c19.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.habibullah-1945.c19.36) - [Up: c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.habibullah-1945.c19) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.habibullah-1945.c19.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.habibullah-1945.c19.35) · Pramāṇa