The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c28.2

c28.2

Nasir-ud-din Khusrav Shah who succeeded Qutub-ud-din Mubarak Khalji on April 27, 1320 and ruled upto 5th September, 1320 was the only Indian Muslim to sit on the throne of Delhi during the period known as the Sultanate of Delhi (1206—1526 A.D.). The most baffling problem about him is his origin. It is, however, certain that he was originally a Hindu from Gujarat and had fallen into the hands of Ain-ul-mulk Multani during the latter’s campaign in Malwa in 1305. He was converted to Islam and given the name of Hasan. He was enrolled as an attendant in the service of Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji and placed in the custody of Malik Shadi, Deputy Hajib at the Court.¹ Regarding the caste to which he originally belonged contemporary writers have given three versions, namely, Barādo (बरादो), Barāo (बराव) and Barwār (बरवार), which seem to be variants of one and the same word. Amir Khusrav in his celebrated work entitled *Tughluqnama* calls Hasan ‘Barādo’;² Isami says that he was originally a ‘Barāo’,³ and Zia-ud-din Barani describes him as a ‘Barwār’.⁴ Later writers have simply adopted one or the other of the last two variants; some understood their meanings while others did not. For example, *Tarikh-i-Mubarakshahi* has Barao,⁵ *Tabqat-i-Akbari* has Barao,⁶ *Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh* has Barwar,⁷ and *Farishta* has Parwar⁸—no doubt a mistake for Barwar.⁸ The Medieval chronicles further describe Hasan as a man of a low caste from Gujarat whose members enjoyed a good reputation as dauntless fighters.⁹ But as he was an Indian Muslim and had the audacity to slay Qutub-ud-din Mubarak and capture the throne of Delhi, which had hitherto been the monopoly of foreign Turks from Central Asia, the chroniclers who belonged to the foreign Muslim stock and were of the clerical profession heaped upon him vile epithets, such as base, low-born, ungrateful, faithless and cunning. Misled by these unwarranted expressions and wrongly assuming that Barwar must be the same as modern Parwar or Parwari, some European historians have jumped to the conclusion that hasan alias Khusrav Shah was a Parwari or despised scavenger whose touch was a pollution to high-caste Hindus.