Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c4.s2.t2.1

c4.s2.t2.1

Before we take leave of historical literature, we wish to digres for a moment on the historical value of the books of Amir Khusrau and his estimate as a historian. We have derived a large part of our information from his work alone. He has composed at least three poems and one book of prose—the Qiran-us-Sa'dain, the Miftah-ul-futuh (or Fath-ul-futuh), the Nuh Sipahr, and the Khaza'in-ul-futuh respectively, of a professedly historical character, besides numerous other poems. If we add to these books his poem called Dewalrani Khizr Khan which, though a romantic story, is intermixed with contemporary historical events, and the Tughluq-nama which deals with the rise and fall of Khusrau Khan the usurper and the accession of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, the number of his historical books amounts to six, which give us a more or less connected account of an interesting period of about forty years (1285—1325) in which the author lived and personally witnessed most of the events related.¹