Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c4.s2.t2.3.1

c4.s2.t2.3.1

As to the nature of his treatment : Amir Khusrau tries to conceal nothing from his readers. For example, he tells us frankly that he undertook to write the Qiran-us-Sa'dain in obedience to a royal command. The Sultan flattered him by calling him 'the seal of authors' and promised to give him a big reward which would free him from all worldly cares ever afterwards. The plan of the book and the scope of its treatment was defined by the royal patron.² Under the next patron, Sultan Jalal-ud-din Khalji, when the author was asked to compose a book, he felt morally stronger. He frankly told the Sultan that whenever he was inclined to drift away from historical truth in accordance with the demands of poetical conventions and the accepted standards of eulogies, he was stung by the inward reproaches of conscience. So that, he told him, he had made up his mind to adhere to truthfulness, whatever his position demanded.³ However, Amir Khusrau served a continuous succession of monarchs, Sultan Muizz-ud-din Kaiqubad, Jalal-ud-din Khalji, Ala-ud-din Khalji, and Mubarak Shah Khalji respectively, and when any honest man lives too long in courtly environments, his standards of ethical judgment usually undergo a change.