The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c5.s6.1

c5.s6.1

Alchemy flourished chiefly in the medieval period, although how old it might be is difficult to say. It paved the way for the modern science of chemistry, as astrology did for astronomy. In the medieval age alchemy was believed to be an exact science. But its aims were not scientific. It concerned itself solely with indefinitely prolonging human life, and of transmuting baser metals into gold and silver. It was cultivated among the Arabians, and by them the pursuit was introduced into Europe. Raymond Lully, or Lullius, a famous alchemist of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is said to have changed for king Edward I mass of 50,000 lbs. of quicksilver into gold.⁶⁰ No such specific case is found in medieval India, although there was firm belief in the magic or science of alchemy. A Sufi politician of the thirteenth century, Sidi Maula by name, developed lot of political clout in the time of Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji (1290-1296). He built a large *khanqah* (hospice) where hundreds of people were fed by him every day. He used to pay for what he bought by the queer way of telling the man to take such and such amount from under such and such brick or coverlet, and the *tankahs* (gold/silver coins) found there looked so bright as if they had been brought from the mint that very moment.⁶¹ He did not accept anything from the people but spent so lavishly that they suspected him of possessing the knowledge of *Kimya va Simya* (alchemy and natural magic).⁶²