History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c11.227

c11.227

“Sultan Hasan Bahman Shah bin Kaikaus Muhammad bin ‘Alī bin Hasan bin Bahman bin Mamun bin Salām bin Nūh bin Ibrahim bin Nāsir bin Mansur bin Nuh bin Nuh bin Nuh bin Sāni bin Bahram bin Shāhrīn bin Sādīn bin Nūsīn, bin Dāūd bin Bahrām Gūr.¹¹⁹ But God alone knows the truth. In consequence of his descent the king was known as Sultan ‘Ala-al-Din Hasan Shah Bahmani.”’ The historian further relates that ‘Ala-al-Din Hasan Shah was led by considerations of expediency to conceal his illustrious descent in the time of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq whose service he joined at Diḥli. At that time one day Shaikh Nizam-al-Din Aulia gave a general feast which was also attended by the Sultan. Just at the time when Sultan Muhammad left the door of the Shaikh, Sultan ‘Ala-al-Din Hasan reached there, upon which the Shaikh, with the help of his inward light observed to his servant: “Today one king has just gone out and another has arrived at the door. Bring him in.” The servants of the Shaikh obeyed his command. He received him with great courtesy and communicated to him the auspicious news by his own mouth. It is said that the Shaikh gave him a loaf which he placed on the top of the forefinger of his right hand and gave it to (Sultan) ‘Ala-al-Din Hasan Shah saying that it was the canopy of sovereignty. Thus Hasan began to cherish the hope of attaining to royalty and ever since his return from the Shaikh’s dinner, the idea of royalty became firmly fixed in his mind. When disorders broke out in Muhammad Tughluq’s empire, ‘Ala-al-Din Hasan Shah with a party of brave men—Afghan youths and others—started from the Deccan and reached Daulatabad.¹²⁰ We may discard without hesitation the legendary account given by the author of the *Burhān-i-Ma‘sir* and refuse to take cognisance of spiritual divinations, but the pedigree given by him to Hasan finds confirmation in other trustworthy authorities. From Firishta’s predecessors as well as contemporaries we have nothing to support the romantic story of Hasan’s early life, and the evidence of coins and inscriptions proves that the title Bahmani was assumed not because Hasan wanted to honour his Brahman patron. Nizam-al-Din Ahmad in his *Tabqat-i-Akbari* writes:—