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Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s3: Promotion of Learning

Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s3

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Promotion of Learning

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Throughout the medieval period of Indian history the Sultans were keenly interested in the promotion of learning. Iltutmish, Balban and 'Alāuddīn Khaljī established a number of Madrasās in Delhi and elsewhere. During Fīrōz Tughlaq's reign numerous colleges and monasteries were established throughout the country. Besides, his various Kārkhānās provided vocational training to thousands of youngmen.

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After Tīmūr's invasion not much is known about the educational system until Sikandar Lodī came to power. Himself a poet and litterateur, Sikandar encouraged learning in every way. He established Madrasās in all parts of his kingdom and appointed distinguished scholars to the charge of the colleges at Agra and other places. He wanted to raise the percentage of the educated, especially among the Afghans, and therefore insisted on compulsory education of his military officers.⁷² According to the author of the *Akhbārul Akhyār*, the Sultan invited learned men from Arabia, Iran and Central Asia to India and many of them adopted Hindustan as their home. Shaikh Husain Tāhir, who lived during the reigns of Bahlūl and Sikandar, was known as a walking encyclopaedia.⁷³ Two distinguished brothers, Shaikh 'Abdulla and Shaikh 'Azīzullā Tulambī, were invited from Multan and appointed Principals of the colleges at Agra and Sambhal respectively. 'Abdulla⁷⁴ produced forty good disciples of whom Miān Ladhan, Jamāl Khan Dehlvi, Miān Shaikh of Gwalior and Miān Saiyyad of Badaon are well known.⁷⁵ Sikandar Lodī himself often attended 'Abdulla's lectures. He used to enter the class with silent steps, listened with humility, and when he left he offered the customary salutation.⁷⁶ Shaikh 'Azīzullā's two distinguished disciples were Miān Hātim Sambalī and Shaikh Ilah Diya Jaunpurī. The Sultan founded schools at Mathura and Narwar also, which were open to all without discrimination of caste or creed.⁷⁷ Learning thus "spread in the country".⁷⁸

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⁷² T.A., I, 336.

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⁷³ He died in 1503 and lies buried at Delhi. T.D., 60-63; List., III, 158 *Akhbārul Akhyār*, 195-6.

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⁷⁴ He died in 1541 and was buried at Shaikh Sarāi, Delhi. List., III, 142 ; *Akhbārul Akhyār*, 330-31.

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⁷⁵ Islamic Culture, XXX, 1956, 110.

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⁷⁶ Badaonī, Ranking, I, 427.

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⁷⁷ Yūsuf Husain, *Glimpses of Medieval Indian Culture*, 74.

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⁷⁸ T.A., I, 336 ; T.D., 44.

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Two important points may be noted in connection with the educational system in the medieval times. The first is that there was hardly any secular approach to education. The location of Muslim and Hindu schools in masjids and temples respectively, was enough to give a religious bias to education. Hindu scholars concentrated on the study of religious books like the Vedas and Shāstras besides logic, grammar and literature. The subjects of study in Muslim schools likewise were of a religious nature. Great emphasis was laid on theological education (*manqūlāt*). Besides grammar, literature and logic, the other most important subjects were Hadīs (Tradition), Fiqh (Jurisprudence), and Tafsīr (Exegesis). In the words of Dr. Yūsuf Husain, "the institutions of higher learning in the Muslim countries, called Madrasās, had developed into centres of learning with a distinct religious bias. They were essentially schools of theology, with auxiliary linguistic studies. These Madrasās were the strongholds of orthodoxy and were subsidised by the State.⁷⁹

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⁷⁹ Yūsuf Husain, *op. cit.*, 69.

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The second point of importance is that the standard of education was high. Education was neither compulsory nor universal. Only those who had a keen desire to acquire knowledge joined the schools. There were no printing presses, no text books, no "made-easy" notes. The students devoted their whole time and concentrated attention to study; and lack of printed books necessitated strenuous taxing of the memory. Grammar was the basis of study of languages and there was no other short-cut for acquiring mastery over it. Religious and philosophical studies interspersed with high-brow discussions required a thorough grounding in the subject. Thus while only a few persons took to scholastic pursuits, those who joined schools and colleges took to their studies in right earnest.

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*Persian Literature*

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Although there were separate schools for Sanskrit and Persian studies, there were some Muslim scholars who learnt Sanskrit and Hindu scholars who learnt Persian. Muslims had learnt much from Hindu medicine, philosophy and astronomy, and translated many works on these subjects from Sanskrit into Persian. This was possible only when the translators possessed mastery of both the languages. Similarly Hindus too had started taking to the study of Persian. A contemporary Brahman scholar of Persian was Pundit Dongar Mal. He was a poet, a scholar and a professor of Persian.⁸⁰ He wrote both in Hindi and Persian, and his style combined the grace and mystic note of the Sūfi classics.⁸¹ Similarly a Muslim theologian, Shaikh Rizqulla (1491-1581), wrote lyrics on the love of Krishna in Hindi under the titles of *Wujūb-Jap-Niranjan*, "the work being unfortunately lost to us".⁸²

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⁸⁰ Badaonī, Ranking, I, 426; Islamic Culture, XIII, 1939, 408-14.

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⁸¹ A *matla'* (opening couplet) of his is full of feeling: Had not thy glance been the dagger, my heart had not bled to-day; Had not thy look been the serpent I never had lost my way. (Cited in Badaonī, Ranking, I, 426).

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⁸² N. B. Roy, *op. cit.*, xxii; *Akhbārul Akhyār*, 174.

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Indeed from the days of Fīrōz Tughlaq onwards many works were translated into Persian from Sanskrit; Sanskrit possessed a rich Literature. Fīrōz Shāh Tughlaq got a work on Hindu Philosophy translated into Persian and named it *Dalāyal-i-Fīroz Shāhī*. In the fifteenth century the work of translating Sanskrit works into Persian went on apace. King Zainul 'Ābidīn of Kashmir (1420-70) possessed good knowledge of Persian, Hindi and Tibetan. Under his patronage the *Mahābhārata* and *Rājtaranganī* were translated into Persian. Jonarāja (d. 1459) carried on Kalhan's *Rājtaranganī* in the same style, his pupil Srīvara covered the period from 1459 to 1486, while Priya Bhatta and his pupil Shuka carried on the tale to some years after the annexation of Kashmir by Akbar.⁸³

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⁸³ Keith, *History of Sanskrit Literature*, 174.

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Miān Bhuā, the Prime Minister of Sikandar Lodī, got together many Indian and foreign scholars to write books on every science.⁸⁴ He appointed physicians of India and Khurāsān to prepare a treatise on Medicine. They consulted works of "Charak, Sushrut, Jānu Karan, Bhoj ...., Chintāman, Chakrāvat, Kīrat and many others,"⁸⁵ and completed in A.D. 1512 a work called the *Tibb-i-Sikandarī* also known as the *Madanush-Shifāi Sikandarī*. The chief author of the work is mentioned as Miān Bhuā, son of Khawās Khan and Minister of Sikandar.⁸⁶ In view of the fact that the works of so many scholars of medicine were consulted in the preparation of the treatise, the contention of 'Abdulla that it was a translation of a Sanskrit work entitled *Ayur Mahāvaidak*,⁸⁷ does not seem to be correct, more so because the title *Ayur Mahāvaidak* is itself open to doubt. Obviously the *Madunush-Shifāi Sikandarī* was the result of years of patient research based on the works of many ancient masters of Indian Medicine "which were popular in those days". Both Rizqulla and 'Abdulla aver that "there is no work of greater authority on medicine in India" than the *Madunush-Shifāi-Sikandarī*.⁸⁸ Similarly many works of Persian were adapted into Indian languages. *Katha Kautuk* was written by Srīvara on the theme of Yūsuf and Zuleikhā by the Persian poet Jāmī.⁸⁹

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⁸⁴ W.M., 32 (a).

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⁸⁵ The dots indicate portions which have been eaten away by worms in the MS. of the *Madanush-Shifāi Sikandarī*, 3 (a).

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⁸⁶ B.M. *Catalogue*, II, 471.

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⁸⁷ T.D., 44.

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⁸⁸ W.M., 32 (a), T.D., 44. The work has been published by the Newal Kishore Press, Lucknow.

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⁸⁹ A. Berriedale Keith, *A History of Sanskrit Literature*, 361.

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Besides works of translation many original works of merit were produced during this period. Muhammad bin Shaikh Zainuddīn compiled a lexicon entitled *Farhang-i-Sikandarī* alias *Tuhfa-us-Sa'dāt*. A very uncommon work of its kind, it was completed in A.D. 1510 and dedicated to Sultan Sikandar.⁹⁰ Another famous writer of the time was Zahīr Dehlvī. Sultan Sikandar conferred the title of Zahīr on him. Other writers of note were Maulānā Hasan Naqshī, Maulānā 'Alī Ahmad Nishānī and Nūrul Haqq.⁹¹ But the greatest intellectual of the age was perhaps Shikh Jamāl Kambū. He was a theologian, poet and writer and a great traveller. Badaonī says that his Dīwāns alone consisted of eight to nine thousand couplets. Shaikh Jamāl's real name was Shaikh Fazlulla *alias* Jamāl Khan.⁹² He was the author of a number of works of which *Siyār-ul-'Ārifīn*, *Masnavī Mehr O Māh* and the *Dīwān* are well known.⁹³ The *Siyār-ul-'Ārifīn* is a biography of saints commencing from Khwājā Mu'īnuddīn Ajmerī and finishing with the author's own spiritual guide, Shaikh Shamsuddīn. Jamāl's poetry vibrates with exalted passion.⁹⁴ Sikandar Lodī, himself a good poet, used to submit his verses to Shaikh Jamāl for his opinion.⁹⁵ Eleven lines of his composition in praise of the saint are still preserved in the *Makhzan-i-Afghānī*.⁹⁶

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⁹⁰ British Museum Catalogue, II, 493.

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⁹¹ E and D, VI, 487.

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⁹² *Akhbārul Akhyār*, 227-29. His tomb is in Mehrauli. Āsār., 47; Carr Stephen, 173; Arch. Sur. Rep., IV, 67, 90.

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⁹³ T.S.A., 47 and n. 1.

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⁹⁴ Cf. "I wear a garment woven of the dust of thy street And that too rent to the skirt with my tears." *Also* "My heart's desire is fixed on thy abode Oh thou that art long absent from my sight; By day and night the thought of thee alone My constant partner is . . . . . " (Cited in Badaoni, Ranking, I, 429-30)

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⁹⁵ Badaoni, Ranking, I, 429; Dorn, I, 89.

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⁹⁶ Some of the lines express the Sultan's deep regard for the saint-poet "Oh Jamālī, the store-house of eternal wealth, The wayfarer of the path of faith. You went round the world, . . . . . You had been a jewel but now turned into a full treasury . . . . . I may lose the sight of my eyes by the glare of the sun, But the moon of your face will not be remote from me." (Cited in *Makhzan*, 71 (a-b) ).

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The list of the authors and works given above is obviously not complete or exhaustive. But it is indicative of the type of literature produced in the Persian language in the fifteenth century. The works of translation as well as the original ones cover a long range of subjects—medicine, philosophy, theology, lexicography, biography and poetry. Examples of lyrical poetry quoted here exhibit extreme delicacy of feeling and expression; passionate love and deep disappointment; the depth of mysticism and sūfism. Similar works of mystic poetry were produced in other languages also (but of that a little later).

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However, the Persian literature of the day was deficient in one major sphere—historical literature. Ever since the foundation of Turkish rule in Hindustan, many works of historical merit were produced, so that from the *Tājul Ma'āsir* of Hasan Nizāmī to the systematic treatise of Shams Sirāj 'Afīf a continuous history of two centuries is available to us. In fact there are various contemporaneous accounts for the reigns of the Khaljīs and the Tughlaqs. But in the fifteenth century there is only one contemporary work, Yahyā bin Sarhindī's *Tārīkh-i-Mubārak Shāhī*, dealing with the first thirty-four years of the Saiyyad rule. Although a single contemporary work covering a long period of about thirty-four years is hardly enough for giving a correct picture of the times, yet at least it is there. For the next three generations, in fact till the coming of Bābur, very little seems to have been written, and the period under review is sadly lacking in historical literature.

Cites (5)