History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c14.44

c14.44

The Masālik supplements both Barani and Ibn Batūṭah. Its value rests on the ground that its author, though he never came to India, was an independent writer who neither courted the Sultan's favour nor feared his wrath and who had no motive in misrepresenting facts. In most cases his information was derived from trustworthy persons who had a first-hand knowledge of the affairs of Hindustan like Shaikh Mubarak and Khojandi. None of Shihāb-al-Din's informants says anything about the horrible deeds of the Sultan which profoundly moved Barani. There is undoubtedly looseness and exaggeration in the Masālik and I have great doubts about the accuracy of the figures supplied by its author. But the agreement of two independent authorities like Ibn Batūṭah and the author of the *Masālik* is valuable especially when they are corroborated by contemporary Indian authority. The *Masālik* throws much light upon the economic condition of the people, the working of the machinery of government, the personal character of the Sultan, a most controversial topic and clears up a number of difficulties relating to the currency and the weights and measures of the reign. Badr-i-Chāch’s panegyric does nothing more than help us in determining with accuracy a few important dates and corroborates the *Masālik*’s statement about the Sultan’s patronage of learning and scholarship.