The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c19.47

c19.47

In manners and customs a rapid de-Turkicization is observable. It did not take the Tughrils, Ughul Baks, Aetigins etc. long to shed their Turkish mannerism and adopt Persian and even Indianised Muslim names. One can suppose the compatriots of Aibak and Iltutmish speaking ordinarily in Turki, but against the ever expanding Persian it could have had only a shortlived vogue; no literary work in Turki, in any case, is known to have been produced in India. It is true, Balban's emphasis on Turki racialism would imply a revival of Turkish cultural elements. The long-continued device of the Turki horsemen on the currency pieces seems to point to the same direction. For the first time in Barani we find some of the state functionaries referred to in their Turkish designations². But Balban was too deeply committed to Persianism to bring about a real revival of Turki customs. His monarchical ideals were the ancient kings of Iran whose precepts and examples gave form and content to his autocracy; he could think of no illustrious names for his grandsons but Kaikhusrau, Kaikaus, Kaiqubad and Kaiumars. Turkestan obviously could not heighten the cultural glory of his court; Persian was the only channel through which he could reach the intellectual world of Islam and thus buttress his claim to the championship of civilisation against Mongol barbarism. For the eastern Muslims it was impossible to get away from Persian influence; in India it was to exercise an abiding tyranny.