The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c28.19

c28.19

Nor does the theory of Khusrav Shah’s ‘Bhangi’ origin stand the test of historical criticism. Firstly, medieval authorities describe him as a man of low caste, but not one of them says that he or his ancestors belonged to the scavenger caste. This theory owes its origin to the fertile imagination of Briggs who has been unsuspectingly followed by some other European writers. Secondly, in Gujarat to which Khusrav Shah and his caste fellows belonged and to which province they fled after their defeat at the hands of Ghazi Tughluq in 1320 A.D., scavengers are not called Parwaris—the term which Briggs and Edward Thomas sought to identify with Barwar or Parwar—and the Gujaratis do not recognise it as a synonym of Dhed or Mahar. Thirdly, all authorities, contemporary and later, maintain that Khusrav Shah and his castemen were brave warriors and that some of them were well-to-do men of standing and reputation in the country. Scavengers who are a down-trodden people never enjoyed any reputation for courage in war and administration.