History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c14.19

c14.19

(2) ‘Iqd-al-La’āl by Ibn ‘abd-al-Rabbah and his account is largely based on information supplied by one Shaikh Mubārak bin Mahmūd Amb. Shihāb-al-Dīn in writing about India says: ‘I used to learn a great deal about India from books and the reports of men which seem very agreeable to the eyes and ears. But since the country was far away, I could not ascertain the truth of what I read and heard. When I began to write this book and tried to find out which of the informants were reliable, I came to know that the reality far excelled what I had heard and read in books.’ Shaikh Mubārak is the principal informant of Shihāb-al-Dīn. His ancestors were held in high esteem by the Sultans of Hindustan and he himself had witnessed some of the great victories of Muhammad Tughluq. His account of conquests is complete, though geographically not quite correct and the figures furnished by him are doubtless much exaggerated. Besides Shaikh Mubārak, the author of the Masālik obtained information from several other persons whose names he mentions in the course of his narrative.