The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c5.22

Language: English

c5.22.1

For the history of Central Asia and the rise of the Shansabani dynesty of Ghor, the *Kamilut-Twarih* of Sheikh Abdul Hasan b. Abul Karam as-Shaibani, known as Ibnul Asir, stands out pre-eminently. The author who lived in Mesopotamia, and completed his work in 628/1230, was contemporary to many of the events narrated in the last two volumes of his work. He used a critical judgment in utilising his sources of information with the result that rarely has his account been found wrong or unconfirmed. This however can not be said of his notices of Indian affairs which, though remarkably correct in dates and essential facts, are admittedly based on hearsay which thus taints the details of his narrative. He is however valuable in so far as he confirms other sources. In some places he supplies interesting explanations or details which, though not mentioned by other authorities, appear to be correct. The *Rahatus-Sudur* of Najmuddin Abu Baker Muhmmad b. Ali ar-Rawandi, is a valuable history of the later Seljuqs of Iraq, whose final extinction the author lived to see. Although Ataul Mulk Juwaini, the author of the famous *Tarikh i-Jahan Kusha-i-Juwaini*, must have drawn from these two sourcees, his work, completed in the year 658/1260, is invaluable for the history of Central Asia in the 13th century from the conquests of Changiz Khan. He held a high administrative office in Baghdad under Hulaku and was in a position to use Mongol official documents.

c5.22.2

His work is thus the first detailed and authentic account of the Mongol conquests in Western Asia. He is pro-Mongol in his attitude—for he wrote to commemorate the reign of Mangu Khan—but the account is singularly free from inaccuracies. Like all other central Asian writers, however, his notices of India are meagre and are made only in connection with either the Shansabanis or the fugitive Khwarizmi Prince, Jalaluddin. The same may be said of a few other histories written outside India during the century. Of these, the *Sirat-i-Jalaluddin Mangbarni*, by Nuruddin Mohammad Zaidari, Nessawi, a friend and companion of the fugitive prince, completed in 1240 A.D., is important as supplying valuable detail of the prince's activity in India. The work is extremely biassed in favour of its hero, and presents a distorted picture of the conditions in which Jalaluddin appears all the more brilliant. The *Nizamut-Twarikh* of Abu Said Abdullah b. Abul Hassan al-Baizawi, the celebrated commentator of the Quran, completed in 674/1294, hardly deserves mention not only for its extremely brief account of the Ghorides and the Sultans of Delhi, but also for its grossly inaccurate statements which were evidently based on rumours and tales. Of the histories written early in the 14th century, mention should be made of the *Tarikh-i-Wassaf*, by Abdullah b. Fazlullah Shirazi, written between 1300 and 1328 A.D.

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It is a continuation of Juwaini's history of the Mongols and begins with the later years of Mangu Khan's reign. India finds only casual reference in course of the account of the Mongol conquest, and yet the work throws light on Mongol activities on the Indian frontier. In one place it furnishes a valuable information respecting the relation of Mahmud's government with Mangu Khan and supports the account of the official chronicle of Delhi. Its notice of the history of the Sultans of Delhi is however, unreliable; only from the time of the Khaljis the account begins to be tolerably free from errors. Containing almost the same matter relating to India is the universal history of Rashiduddin called *Jamiut-Tarikh*, completed in 1310 A.D. Valuable as the work is for the contemporary history of Central Asia, its account of the rulers of Delhi is hardly more dependable than that of Wassaf, from whom it quotes extensively. Equally imperfect is another work of the same period called *Tarikh-i-Binagiti*, written in 1317 A.D. by Abul Fazl. b. Muhammad al-Binagiti and dedicated to Sultan Abu Said of Persia. It is a general history of the world but in reality is nothing more than an abridgment of Rashiduddin’s *Jamiut-Twarikh*, which it follows in all its errors and is thus of no material help. The *Tarikh-i-Guzidah*, completed in 730/1329 by Hamdullah Mastaufi Qazwini, is however, a more helpful history.

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It has been considered to rank among the best general histories of the East, but its usefulness for the history of India is confined to its brief though generally accurate account of the Ghaznawides, Shansabanis and the sultans of Delhi. Except for the Ghorides, for whom it supplies some interesting details, the value of the work, so far as facts and dates are concerned, is merely corroborative. Of later histories written outside India, mention may be made of the *Mujmal-i-Fasihi*, a chronological compendiem of prominent events composed about the middle of the 15th century by Fasihuddin Ahmad b. Muhammad Fasihi al-Khafi, the *Rauzatus-Safa* of Mir Khvand completed in 1498, the *Habibus-Siyar* and the *Khulasatul-Akhbar* of his grandson, Khwand Amir,—compiled in 1528. Mention should also be made of the *Tarikh-i-Alfi*, compiled by a board of editors under the direction of Akbar and brought down to 1632, the thousandth year from the death of the Prophet. The authors took great pain in utilising all available sources with care and discretion. The sultans of Delhi, however, find only casual mention, for the work is mainly concerned with the history of Central Asia and is arranged in a strictly chronological order.

c5.22.5

An anonymous work entitled *Rauzatul-Jinnat* written in the 15th century, though mainly a historical and topographical account of the city of Herat under the Kurt dynasty founded by Ruknuddin, gives some useful details respecting Mongol operations on the Indian border in the 13th century.