The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c13: Chapter IX: Religious Affairs, Education and Public Works

The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehlī c13

Language: English

Chapter IX: Religious Affairs, Education and Public Works

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A state governed by the canonical law in the essential departments of its life naturally attached great importance to the ministry of religious affairs.¹ The ṣadr-u’ṣ-ṣudūr was a highly venerated official who not only enjoyed great prestige but also exercised much power. Generally the qāḍi-i-mumālik combined with his duties as the chief judge of the empire the office of the chief ṣadr : thus the same man presided over both dīwān-i-risālat and dīwān-i-qaḍā.² Sometimes a preacher of exceptional eloquence was appointed as khaṭīb-u’l-khuṭabā who ranked high in the order of precedence at the court.³ He was subordinate to the ṣadr-u’ṣ-ṣudūr. As head of the dīwān-i-risālat, he appointed the religious preachers and imāms to lead prayers and manage the mosques of the realm. These men had generally been trained at some college in theology : though they were not ordained or admitted to any organized priesthood. They do not appear to have been graded for purposes of service or payment. Sometimes the offices of qaḍā, khiṭābat, imāmat, ḥisbah and even dādbekī were given to one man ; this naturally happened more often in the earlier days of the sultanate when the Muslim population in some towns was limited to a small garrison.⁴ The imāms and other officials of the same nature were mostly remunerated by assignments of land.¹ The offices of qāḍī-i-mumālik and ṣadr-u’ṣ-ṣudūr were given to the same man because offices of a religious and legal nature were often concentrated in the hands of single individuals in the empire and it was considered desirable that these men should deal with one chief. Besides, the functions of a qāḍī have always been considered religious by nature, and it seemed only natural that the chief qāḍī should also be the chief religious dignitary of the state. The provincial qāḍīs also acted as ṣadrs in their respective areas.

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¹ Tāj, f. 10a.

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² E g., Masālik-u’l-abṣār, p. 32 ; S A, p. 72 ; Baranī, p. 580. For dīwān-i-risālat vide Baranī, p. 374 ; also Chapter V.

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³ I, B., ii, pp. 36, 59.

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⁴ Minhāj, p. 175 ; Siyāsat-nāmah, p. 41 ; Inshā-i-Māhrū, Letter VII ; Kulliyāt-i-Ḥasan Sajzī, p. 390. It was generally the first concern of a monarch to provide mosques in the conquered territories : Tāj, ff. 11a, 58a, etc.

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¹ It is interesting to note that the custom of including cultivated as well as uncultivated land in the assignment is much older than Akbar's reign: Inshā-i-Māhrū, Letter XXI. For the nature of these assignments vide Appendix F.

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The most important function of the ṣadr-u’ṣ-ṣudūr was to recommend men of learning and merit to the sultan for state stipends, so that they might devote themselves to the pursuit of knowledge.² This patronage gave the chief ṣadr great influence over education as well as public opinion, for both pulpit and chair were controlled by men in the service of the state. There is, however, no instance on record of the sultan being able to influence the opinion of the ‘ulamā on any point of law. The exaltation of the royal authority had begun under the Abbasids; the ‘ulamā of the sultanate can be accused only of lack of originality in the interpretation of the Muslim law in the realm of politics. In every other respect they showed a sturdy independence. It was a qāḍī who boldly criticized ‘Alā-u’d-dīn Khaljī’s government; another doctor of the sacred law protected the rights of the dhimmīs when Sikandar Lodī’s zeal was carrying him away.³ The ṣadr-u’ṣ-ṣudūr was not so much controller of opinion as guardian of learning. It was, therefore, considered necessary to give the office to a man whose piety was above question; when a less worthy appointment was made, it caused a great scandal.¹ In no other way was education controlled by the state. It is true that the muḥtasib was responsible for the purity of doctrine; but his authority was exercised only to prevent disruptive heresy. Baranī complains of ‘the heretic Sa‘d, the logician ‘Ubaid, the misbelieving poet and Najm-i-Intishār, the philosopher’ who had exerted bad influence on Muḥammad bin Tughluq; it is obvious that their views must have been unorthodox in the extreme, yet no one seems to have molested them.² There are few instances of prosecution for heretical views; these only took place when such preachers became a political danger. The colleges were free to manage their own affairs; their sources of income were large endowments. The students were charged no fees; they were supported by the college. The madrasah in the days of the sultanate was the repository of all that was best in the arts and sciences of the Middle Ages. Indeed the sultanate of Dehlī was the preserver of all that was left of Islamic culture and learning in the East after the Mongol cataclysm. At that time the Muslim empire of India was in the vanguard of human progress not a fallen wayfarer abandoned by the caravan to muse on its past glories.

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² E.g., Baranī, p. 580; Masālik-u’l-abṣār, p. 33

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³ Baranī, pp. 289-296; Dā’ūdī, f. 19, r

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¹ Baranī, pp. 298, 352.

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² Fatāwā-i-jahāndārī, f. 121a.

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The splendour of the Mughul Empire has dimmed the memory of the greatness of the sultanate of Dehlī; human imagination often likes to create a contrast for the sake of effect. The sultanate was by no means a less enthusiastic patron of art and letters; it deserves the title of a culture state just as much as the empire of the Great Mughul.³ The sultans, irrespective of their idiosyncracies, were keen supporters of learning and culture. Lack of space forbids an attempt to present here a cultural history of the sultanate even in brief outline, nor is this the proper place for it; but it is necessary to give some indication of the interest taken by the state in the enlightenment of the people.

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³ Masālik-u'l-abṣār, p. 11; Khusraw says of Dehlī: ز علم با عمل دهلی بخارا (Diwalrānī Khiḍr Khān, p. 46).

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The Ghaznavid dynasty did not forget the great traditions of Maḥmūd; it maintained a brilliant and enlightened court at Lahor, which became famous as a centre of Islamic culture. The Lubāb-ul-albāb gives a long list of famous scholars and poets who adorned the Ghaznavid court in the Panjāb; of these there are some whose fame remains undimmed by the passage of time.¹ Abū'l-Faraj-a'r-Rūnī, Mas'ūd-i-Sa'd-i-Salmān and Sanā'ī will live as long as Persian is read and understood. The Ghurids were the successors of the Ghaznavids and inherited the tradition of learning.² The sultanate of Dehlī was not founded by savages; men who could conceive and build the screen in the Masjid-i-Qubbat-u'l-Islām were no barbarians.³ Indeed, Quṭb-u'd-dīn Aibak was as particular about the style of the announcement of a victory as he was enthusiastic about the actual conquest.⁴ He spent the scanty leisure snatched from the conduct of arduous campaigns in the company of men of learning and distinction.⁵ Attracted by his generosity which earned him the titles of lak-bakhsh and pil-bakhsh, poets, litterateurs and jurists flocked to his court.⁶ His successor, Iltutmish, built a college in Dehli, which was later repaired by Fīrūz Shāh.¹ The court became an asylum for the learned who were driven from their homes by the Mongols and gathered lustre from the new-comers,² The famous Rūḥānī took refuge at Dehli and wrote famous odes in the sultan's honour.³ Another poet was Malik Tāj-u'd-dīn Rezah, the dabīr-i-khāṣ.⁴ It was in this sultan's reign that 'Awfī wrote his famous Jawāmi'-u'l-ḥikāyāt and dedicated it to the prime minister, Nizām-u'l-mulk Muḥammad ibn abī Sa'd Junaidi.⁵ Under the sultan's successors thrived Shihāb-i-Muḥmarah, to whose merit the great Khusraw bears testimony.⁶

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¹ Lubāb-u'l-albāb, Chapter IX; Chahār Maqālah, Discourse II, Anecdote XVIII. ² E.g., Tāj, f. 46. ³ Quwwat-u'l-Islām is a corruption. The mosque is mentioned in no chronicle by that name. The old city of Dehlī was called Qubbat-u'l-Islām. The main mosque of this city naturally came to be known as Masjid-i-Qubbat-u'l-Islām. Sir Syed Ahmad seems to have adopted the name Quwwat-u'l-Islām, probably thinking that Qubbat-u'l-Islām was a corruption of Quwwat-u'l-Islām. ⁴ Tāj, f. 73b. ⁵ Idem, f. 65a. ⁶ Tārīkh-i-Fakhr-u'd-dīn Mubārakshāh, pp. 51, 52. Lak-bakhsh = one who bestows lacs (a lac = 100,000); pil-bakhsh = one who bestows elephants.

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¹ E. & D., iii, p. 383.

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² Minhāj, p. 166.

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³ Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī, i, p. 59.

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⁴ Idem, i, p. 64.

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⁵ Firishtah, i, p. 117.

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⁶ Cf. Khusraw :

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The number of refugees grew very large under Balban and included a crowd of writers, poets, litterateurs, artists and men of skill.⁷ The sultan took his meals in the company of the learned; in spite of his great regard for his dignity as a monarch, he visited men of learning in their own houses.⁸ Baranī gives a long list of professors who lectured in various colleges and whose names were illustrious in those days; no branch of knowledge known to the medieval world was unrepresented in the city of Dehli which, long before, had rightly earned the title of Qubbat-u'l-Islām.⁹ Philosophers, physicians and astronomers jostled jurists, mathematicians and theologians in the assemblies of the capital. Musicians of note and well-known comedians brightened the pleasure parties of princes and nobles.¹⁰ The beloved martyr prince Muḥammad's court was long remembered in the annals of the sultanate; in his lifetime it was as famous in Fārs and Khurāsān as in Bengal

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⁷ Firishtah, i, pp. 131, 132.

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⁸ Baranī, pp. 46, 47; Qirān-u's-sa'dain, p. 29.

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⁹ Idem, pp. 110-112.

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¹⁰ Ibid.

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در بداوان مست برخیزد شهاب مهمره
بشنود از نغمه مرغان دهلی گر نوا

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Badāwān is probably a poetic form of Badā'ūn; Muḥmarah is also read as Mutmarah, Badā'ūnī, i, p. 70.

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and Hindustān. Amīr Khusraw and Ḥasan shed lustre on the prince's entourage.¹ The profligate Kaiqubād did not discontinue patronage of learning; but his example was not likely to encourage any earnestness of purpose.²

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¹ Baranī, pp. 67-68.

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² Kaiqubād patronized Khusraw and Sāwī, vide Qirān-u's-sa'dain, introduction; Baranī, p. 195.

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The Khaljīs.

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Of different calibre was Jalāl-u'd-dīn Fīrūz Khaljī whose reign was a worthy precursor of the literary glories of his nephew's régime. The old sultan himself, like several Muslim rulers, wrote poetry of some merit; his personal retinue contained men like the immortal Khusraw, Malik Sa'd-u'd-dīn, the logician; Tāj-i-Khaṭīb, the historian and political writer.³ 'Alā-u'd-dīn was singularly fortunate in the brilliance of his reign. The need which drove him to his great economic policy has led some historians to accuse him of niggardliness; yet he paid regular emoluments to the learned men of his empire, though on a reduced scale. Allowance should be made for the fact that a tankah bought much more in his reign than under normal conditions.⁴ No branch of religious or secular science was neglected at Dehlī; Baranī gives the names of forty-six professors in different subjects who excelled, according to the historian, any man in Turkistān, Persia, Turkey or Egypt. Foreigners of distinction in their own lands discovered that they had yet to learn a great deal at Dehlī.⁵ Baranī devotes more than fourteen pages to distinguished scholars and artists; the list contains pedagogues, poets, preachers, philosophers, physicians, astronomers and historians.⁶ Amīr Khusraw wrote some of his best works in this reign. Another famous poet was Amīr Ḥasan Sanjarī, who was styled the Sa'dī of India.⁷ There were several other authors whose works have mostly perished. Of the historians Amīr Arsalān Kohī and Kabīr-u'd-dīn have been mentioned; the latter is reported to have written an official history of 'Alā-u'd-dīn's reign which has unfortunately not survived. Nor were music and such arts as calligraphy neglected; some artists are mentioned by name. The sultan himself took a pride in the brilliance of his court and the enlightenment of his people.¹ Quṭb-u'd-dīn Mubārak Shāh could compose verse; he increased the scholarships and emoluments which had been curtailed in his father's time.²

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³ Baranī, pp. 198-200; Firishta, i, p. 156; Tārīkh-i-Mubārakshāhī, p. 65.

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⁴ Baranī, p. 365, Chapter VIII. Ḥasan and Khusraw praise the sultan for his liberality, e.g., Kulliyāt-i-Ḥasan Sajzī, p. 503; Khazā'in-u'l-futūḥ, p. 17.

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¹ Baranī, pp. 352-368; Firishtaḥ, i, pp. 213-217. Kabīr-u'd-dīn's book is mentioned as Tārīkh-i-jahāngīrī in Tārīkh-i-ganjīnah, f. 395b.

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² Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī, i, p. 76; Baranī, p. 382; Firishtaḥ, i, p. 220.

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³ Baranī, p. 435.

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⁴ Idem, pp. 460-462; Firishtaḥ, i, p. 236; Masālik-u'l-abṣār, pp. 32, 42, 43.

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⁵ Baranī, pp. 463, 464; Firishtaḥ, i, p. 237; Masālik-u'l-abṣār, pp. 33, 37, 38, 42.

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⁶ Baranī, pp. 464-465.

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⁷ Firishtaḥ, i, p. 237.

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¹ Barani, pp. 67-68. ² Kaiqubad patronized Khusraw and Sawi, vide Qiran-u's-sa'dain, introduction; Barani, p. 195. ³ Barani, pp. 198-200; Firishtah, i, p. 156; Tarikh-i-Mubarakshahi, p. 65. ⁴ Barani, p. 365, Chapter VIII. Hasan and Khusraw praise the sultan for his liberality, e.g., Kulliyat-i-Hasan Sajzi, p. 503; Khaza'in-u'l-futuh, pp. 10-15.

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Of different calibre was Jalal-u'd-din Firuz Khalji whose reign was a worthy precursor of the literary glories of his nephew's régime. The old sultan himself, like several Muslim rulers, wrote poetry of some merit; his personal retinue contained men like the immortal Khusraw, Malik Sa'd-u'd-din, the logician; Taj-i-Khatib, the historian and political writer.³ 'Ala-u'd-din was singularly fortunate in the brilliance of his reign. The need which drove him to his great economic policy has led some historians to accuse him of niggardliness; yet he paid regular emoluments to the learned men of his empire, though on a reduced scale. Allowance should be made for the fact that a tankah bought much more in his reign than under normal conditions.⁴ No branch of religious or secular science was neglected at Dehli; Barani gives the names of forty-six professors in different subjects who excelled, according to the historian, any man in Turkistan, Persia, Turkey or Egypt. Foreigners of distinction in their own lands discovered that they had yet to learn a great deal at Dehli.⁵ Barani devotes more than fourteen pages to distinguished scholars and artists; the list contains pedagogues, poets, preachers, philosophers, physicians, astronomers and historians.⁶ Amir Khusraw wrote some of his best works in this reign. Another famous poet was Amir Hasan Sanjari, who was styled the Sa'di of India.⁷ There were several other authors whose works have mostly perished. Of the historians Amīr Arsalān Kohl and Kabīr-u'd-dīn have been mentioned; the latter is reported to have written an official history of 'Alā-u'd-dīn's reign which has unfortunately not survived. Nor were music and such arts as calligraphy neglected; some artists are mentioned by name. The sultan himself took a pride in the brilliance of his court and the enlightenment of his people.¹ Quṭb-u'd-dīn Mubārak Shāh could compose verse; he increased the scholarships and emoluments which had been curtailed in his father's time.²

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¹ Ghiyāth-u'd-dīn Tughluq took a personal interest in the scholars of his reign and was generous in helping them.

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² Muḥammad bin Tughluq.

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Ghiyāth-u'd-dīn Tughluq took a personal interest in the scholars of his reign and was generous in helping them.³ Nothing could, however, equal the extravagance of his son, Muḥammad, the stories of whose generosity sound almost fabulous; but they are based on authorities whose evidence cannot be questioned. Baranī records a list of some of his gifts, a justification for his remark that the sultan gave so much that the recipient was left wonderstruck. The fame of this generosity reached the four corners of the Muslim world and drew the talent of distant countries to Dehlī.⁴ The sultan was himself a great scholar; he possessed an extensive knowledge of the Persian classics, Islamic history, philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. He was a learned physician who practised the experimental method.⁵ His regular companions were philosophers and scholars with whom he held constant discussions; there were few who could withstand his penetrating cross-examination.⁶ In addition to the sciences, the sultan had a great passion for poetry. He himself was a poet; he possessed undoubted powers of criticism and appreciation.⁷ The most famous poet of his reign was Badr-i-Chāch whose odes are read even to-day. He is said to have composed a *Shāh-nāmah*, which has now perished, containing thirty thousand couplets recounting the exploits of his patron.¹ The *Riyāḍ-u’ṭ-ṭāhirīn* records a characteristic anecdote. When the poet ‘Ubaid Zākānī came to Dehlī and read the first couplet of his panegyric, the sultan cried, "No more! the treasury may not possess the money to reward thee for all thy couplets." He then ordered purses full of gold to be piled round the poet right up to the poet’s head and all this money was given to him in reward.² Ibn Baṭṭūṭah records similar instances of the sultan’s extravagant patronage of letters.³ Music was well represented at the court where singers and dancers graced the banquets.⁴ The difficulties towards the end of his reign, however, temporarily dimmed the glory of Dehlī.⁵

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³ Baranī, pp. 352-368; Firishtah, i, pp. 213-217. Kabīr-u'd-dīn's book is mentioned as Tārīkh-i-jahāngīrī in Tārīkh-i-ganjinah, f. 395b.

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⁴ Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī, i, p. 76; Baranī, p. 382; Firishtah, i, p. 220.

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⁵ Baranī, p. 435.

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⁶ Idem, pp. 460-462; Firishtah, i, p. 236; Masālik-u'l-abṣār, pp. 32, 42, 43.

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⁷ Baranī, pp. 463, 464; Firishtah, i, p. 237; Masālik-u'l-abṣār, pp. 33, 37, 38, 42.

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⁸ Baranī, pp. 464-465.

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⁹ Firishtah, i, p. 237.

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¹ Badā’ūnī, i, p. 241; *Mira’t-i-jahān-numā* says the *Shāh-nāmah* had 35,000 couplets (f. 440b).

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² *Riyāḍ-u’ṭ-ṭāhirīn*, f. 600a.

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³ I.B., ii, pp. 41-45.

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⁴ *Masālik-u’l-abṣār*, p. 32.

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⁵ Baranī, p. 474.

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Fīrūz, who once again brought peace and prosperity to the remaining part of the empire, devoted himself to repairing old colleges and establishing new ones. He put these institutions on a firm basis by making new grants of land and renewing old endowments.⁶ He also granted land to scholars and teachers; aid was given to poor students.⁷ Fīrūz Shāh had some Sanskrit books translated into Persian; a work on physics was named *Kitāb-i-Fīrūzshāhī*.⁸ Fīrūz Shāh himself was a learned lawyer, a student of anatomy and a successful physician. He compiled a book on medicine called *Ṭibb-i-Fīrūzshāhī*.⁹ He was also interested in astronomy: he built an observatory, improved the instruments and drew up new tables.¹ The restoration of peace revived confidence and there was a fresh stream of distinguished immigrants.² He was not so fortunate in poets, only a second rate poet Zāhir sang in praise of the new monarch.³ The new cultural centre at Jaunpūr, of Fīrūz Shāh’s creation, kept the torch burning during the days of anarchy.⁴ It is difficult to assess the extent of the loss sustained by the culture of the sultanate as the result of Tīmūr’s invasion; for the student of cultural history the centre of interest shifts from Dehlī to the provincial capitals until the establishment of the Lodī dynasty.⁵

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⁶ *Futūḥāt-i-Fīrūzshāhī*, pp. 18, 19.

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⁷ Baranī, p. 460; *Inshā-i-Mahrū*, Letter II. The *Sīrat-i-Fīrūzshāhī* (p. 148), says that nowhere else in the world was education supported so liberally.

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⁸ *Sujān Rāi*, f. 160b; Badā’ūnī, i, p. 429 calls it *Dalā’il-i-Fīrūzshāhī*.

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¹ Sīrat-i-Fīrūzshāhī, pp, 291-293, 297, 312-314, 340.

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² Idem, p. 286.

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³ Tārīkh-i-Muḥammadī (Biḥāmid Khānī), f. 413.

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⁴ Tārīkh-i-Jaunpūr, f. 4b.

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⁵ Tīmūr’s invasion probably drove the learned to the provincial courts; provincial cultural centres now come into prominence.

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A renaissance. Sultān Buhlūl’s energies were mainly directed towards the consolidation of his dominions, but he did not disdain the company of scholars.⁶ His son’s reign, however, saw a renaissance of learning in Dehlī.⁷ Sikandar’s example was followed by the nobles, and public taste was refined to such an extent that young men of birth thought of nothing except the pursuit of knowledge; a spiritual revival followed.⁸ The Hindus, who had generally held aloof from the new learning, now began to take an interest in it and very soon became apt pupils of the Muslims.⁹ A Hindu poet, whose takhalluṣ was Brahman, was a professor in a Muslim college.¹⁰ The sultan’s zeal for knowledge expressed itself in the translation of Sanskrit books into Persian; the granths of Vedic medicine were translated under the supervision of the learned minister, Miyān Buhwah, and named Ṭibb-i-Sikandarī.¹¹ The court poet was Jamālī Dehlawī, who lived to write odes in praise of Bābur and Humāyūn; his biography of saints, called the Siyar-u'l-auliyā, is well known and his tomb, near the Quṭb at Dehlī, still draws visitors.¹ Sulṭān Sikandar was a great patron of music and took pains in collecting musicians at his court.² Nor were handicrafts ignored; one master craftsman was Miyān Ṭahā whose skill discomfited his admirers.³ Miyān Buhwah, himself a scholar, spent all the time he could spare from the business of state in the company of the learned. His house was the meeting-place of philosophers and scholars belonging to the various Muslim countries from which his generosity had drawn them.⁴ Ibrāhīm Lodī's reign was too troubled to foster culture.⁵

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⁶ Dā’ūdī, f. 8a; Firishtah, i, p, 328.

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⁷ Dā’ūdī, f. 23a.

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⁸ Idem, ff. 23b-24a.

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⁹ Firishtah, i, p. 344.

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¹⁰ Badā’ūnī, i, p. 323.

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¹¹ Dā’ūdī, f. 24b.

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¹ Badā'ūnī, i, pp. 325-326. Badā'ūnī calls it Siyar-u'l-'ārifīn.

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² Dā'ūdī, f. 24.

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³ Idem, f. 24b. Khusraw speaks highly of Indian handicrafts, e.g., Qirān-u's-sa'dain, p. 34.

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⁴ Mushtāqī, f. 32b.

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⁵ Vide Chapter I.

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The interest which Bābur and Humāyūn took in learning is the special province of the historian of the Mughul Empire. The Memoirs of Bābur reveal, as is universally acknowledged, a prince, cultured and refined in taste, a critic and lover of belles lettres, poetry and the fine arts.⁶ Humāyūn's name will ever live as the founder of the Mughul school of painting in India. Even his misfortunes did not prevent him from going to Tabrīz to meet the master painters and poets of that celebrated city.⁷ Sher Shāh, who enjoyed authority for so short a time, considered it necessary to pass a part of his crowded life with men of learning.⁸ Islām Shāh Sūr provided pavilions near his own residence which were beautifully furnished; in these met the dilettanti of the age like Mīr Sayyid Manjhan, Shāh Muḥammad, Ḥayātī, Ṣaifī and Sūr Dās who recited poetry or debated literary and philosophic questions. Sometimes the sultan would appear and join them in their discussions; he pleaded that they should not rise to greet him when he entered.¹ Makhdūm-u’l-mulk Shaikh ‘Abd-u’llah and the sultan were once passing through a narrow lane when they saw an enraged elephant coming towards them. The divine wished to proceed but the sultan would not let him. The scholar said, “O emperor! let me step forward, for if thou art killed, the entire realm will fall into disorder.” The sultan replied, “Master, thou dost not realize that there are nine lacs of Afghāns to replace me; but if thou perisheth, another like thee may not be born in India for ages.”² This incident well illustrates the sultan’s respect for learning. A new trend was the interest taken by Muslim writers in Hindī poetry. Shaikh Rizq-u’llah Mushtāqī wrote poetry not only in Persian but also in Hindī; his nom de guerre for the latter was Rājan.³ Sulṭān ‘Adlī will live in history as a master musician, who counted among his disciples men like Bāz Bahādur of Mālwah and the immortal Miyān Tān Sen.⁴

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⁶ Memoirs of Bābur, preface, pp. vii, viii.

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⁷ Akbar-nāmah, i, pp. 219-221.

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⁸ Sarwānī, f. 69a.

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¹ Afsānah-i-shāhān, f. 150b.

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² Ibid.

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³ Risālah-i-‘Abd-u’l-Ḥaqq Dehlawī, ff. 84a, b.

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⁴ Badā’ūnī, i, p. 434.

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The sultans did not patronize learning simply to satisfy their vanity. It was realized that no polity could endure without philosophy and wisdom.⁵ The influence of the learned kept the people virtuous and law-abiding, and made them useful members of society.⁶ But men of learning were not to be subservient to kings and rulers, they were left free to make their contribution to human welfare.⁷ The success of the Dehlī sultans in education can be easily gauged from the writings of contemporary authors and travellers. Amīr Khusraw’s introduction to his Tuhfat-u’ṣ-ṣighar paints a picture of cultured assemblies of refined taste and literary acumen. In the introduction to his other book, Wasṭ-u’l-ḥayāt, he very picturesquely says that ‘every stone in Dehlī concealed a gem of literary brilliance’.⁸ The same story is repeated in different words in other works.¹ In Persian, Turkish and Arabic the masters of India could easily hold their own against the native savants of those countries ; foreign Muslims were surprised how well and eloquently their languages were spoken in India.² The sultanate of Dehlī rivalled the best contemporary centres of knowledge in all sciences.³ Nor can we be surprised at this eminence when we read as sober history that the capital alone possessed a thousand colleges.⁴ Besides, the mosques and khānqāhs in Dehlī and its vicinity are said to have numbered two thousand. Almost every mosque and khānqāh had a school attached to it ; hence the number of educational institutions in the city and province of Dehlī must have been large.⁵ Thousands of schoolmasters were employed by the state.⁶ Medieval figures must be treated with great caution ; yet the statements reveal a high standard of educational facilities in the sultanate. Probably the remote regions did not possess so many institutions ; yet they could not have been neglected.

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⁵ Tārīkh-i-Fakhr-u’d-dīn Mubārakshāh, pp. 9-10.

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⁶ Idem, p. 10.

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⁷ Idem, p. 11.

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¹ Ghurrat-u’l-kamāl (introduction) ; Nuh Sipihr (Sipihr-i-nuhum).

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² Ghurrat-u’l-kamāl (introduction).

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³ Nuh Sipihr (Sipihr-i-siwum) ; Masālik-u’l-abṣār, p. 11.

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⁴ Masalik-u’l-abṣār, p. 24 ; E. & D., iii, p. 576 ; S. A., p. 29.

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⁵ Ibid.

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⁶ Masālik-u’l-abṣār, p. 176.

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As regards the tradition of learning among the Hindus, Khusraw speaks with enthusiasm of their knowledge of science, mathematics and yoga.⁷ Indeed Hindu genius, sometimes under the patronage of Muslim rulers, sometimes quite independently, blossomed forth in a renaissance of literary and religious activity.⁸ Among names of Hindi writers of renown one comes across many Muslims like Mas‘ūd, Quṭb ‘Alī, Akram Faiḍī and Mullā Dā‘ūd.⁹ Khusraw has left some Hindī poetry which is regarded with respect even to-day.¹ Of greater merit as a Hindī poet was Malik Muḥammad Jaisī whose Padmāvat and Akhrāwat rank among the classics of the world owing to their vigour, beauty and imagery.² Muḥammad Shāh was an accomplished Hindī poet at Islām Shāh's court; when Kāmran suggested that he could gain international reputation if he wrote in Persian, he side-tracked the issue by a joke.³ Of deeper influence was Hindu culture in the realm of music. Khusraw and Ḥasan were both great musicians; their disciples were found in other Indian courts.⁴ Through these men a great tradition of the appreciation and knowledge of Indian music came to be established, which continues to this day.⁵

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⁷ Nuh Sipihr (Sipihr-i-nuhum).

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⁸ Hindi Literature (Keay) ; Local Self-government in Ancient India, pp. 14-18; History of Bengali Language and Literature, pp. 10-14; Aspects of Bengal Society, pp. 98-100. The Masālik-ul-abṣār (p. 32) speaks of the official patronage of Hindi poetry.

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⁹ Hindi Literature, pp. 12, 18.

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⁵ Masālik-u'l-abṣār (p. 32) mentions large numbers of musicians maintained by the court. ⁶ Tāj, f. 111a; Duwalrāni Khiḍr Khān, pp. 153, 154. ⁷ Havell, Indian Sculpture and Painting, pp. 190, 191. (The 1908 edition reproduces this picture in colours.)

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It is widely believed that the art of painting did not exist at the court of the sultans of Dehlī: this is a misconception. We read of mural paintings from the very beginning.⁶ The Calcutta Art Gallery possesses a picture of a music party at the court of Sulṭān Muḥammad bin Tughluq painted by Shāhpūr of Khurāsān in 1534; the artist describes his work as ‘a copy.’ A modern critic discovers in the picture “the simple delight in the beauty of Nature, and the whole-hearted desire to be one with it, which breathe in the paintings of Ajanta and the sculpture of Borobudur.”⁷ In fact Shāhpūr must have caught this spirit from the original, which, one may assume with confidence, was painted at Dehlī. Fīūrz Shāh mentions that he stopped the practice of painting the

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¹ Khusraw ki Hindī Kavita ² Hindī Literature, pp. 31-33. ³ Afsānah-i-shāhān, ff. 146a,b. ⁴ Khusraw himself says in Ghurrat-u'l-kamāl:

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نظم را کردم سه دفتر ور بتحریر آمدے
علم موسیقی سه دیگر بود ار باور بود

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likenesses of animate objects on the walls of the palaces. He also states that pictures were painted, embroidered or engraved on the robes of honour bestowed by former sultans, on harness, on tents and curtains, on utensils, and on furniture.¹ ‘Afīf mentions the paintings on the walls as well as brass, copper, silver and gold images; though possibly these are the designs referred to by the sultan himself as engraved on metal-ware.² The royal standards and banners also had images on them.³ The tradition of painting the walls of palaces dates back at least to the House of Ghaznah.⁴ When Akbar employed painters to adorn the walls of his palace at Fatḥpūr Sikrī, he was only awakening a sleeping tradition.

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¹ Futūḥāt i-Fīrūzshāhī, ff. 302b-303a. ² ‘Afīf, pp. 290, 374. ³ Idem, p. 384. ⁴ Baihaqī, p. 135. ⁵ Baranī, p.

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Closely allied to Art was Architecture. The sultans were great builders; the spirit of their rule has been preserved in the architectural achievements. Any detailed description or criticism of these buildings would be mostly a repetition of what that great archæologist and critic, Fergusson, has recorded; later writers have brought the information up to date. It is, however, necessary to say a few words about the Public Works Department in this age. Baranī applauds its efficiency in the time of ‘Alā-u’d-dīn Khaljī when it employed seventy thousand men on the building side alone.⁵ “These men,” the same authority affirms, “could build a palace in two or three days.” The chief engineer, styled mīr-i-‘imārat under Fīrūz Shāh, was an important officer. Each activity of the department was separately organized; for instance, there were distinctive officers over the stone-cutters, carpenters, blacksmiths.⁶ Dehlī with its thousand colleges, seventy hospitals, its extensive bazaars, public baths and palaces was the noblest city in the world of Islam under Muḥammad bin Tughluq.¹ Khusraw sings of beautiful palaces at Kilokhri, of edifices gleaming like jewels in the bright sunshine of India.² Ibn Baṭṭūṭah bears striking testimony by recording that the palace in Tughluqābād was covered with gilded tiles, so that when the sun rose, they glittered brightly and flashed with such a dazzling light that the eye could not rest on them.³ The city was guarded by a massive wall—eleven cubits in width—strengthened by numerous towers.⁴ On three sides of the city—the fourth was flanked by the river—extended gardens and orchards for twelve miles to supply the populace with fruits as well as to take the sting out of the hot summer winds.⁵ The people, drawn by the cooler air, thronged them on summer afternoons when, in the words of the immortal Khusraw, the melodies of the ‘ūd and the rubāb intoxicated the trees and made the fountains drowsy.⁶ Fīrūz extended the gardens and replanted those which were ruined during the exodus from the capital.⁷ Within this emerald ring lay that jewel of glittering brilliance, the metropolis of a great empire. It hardly sounds like an exaggeration when Khusraw calls the city ‘a twin sister of the blessed heaven, a very paradise on the earth.’⁸ Dehlī was the largest city in the Muslim world, combining strength with beauty, elegance with comfort.⁹ It covered a space of forty miles in circumference; the houses were built of stone or brick; the buildings were mostly two stories high, and their floors were paved with a marble-like white stone.¹⁰ The Public Works Department was autonomous but under the general direction and supervision of the wazīr.

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³⁴¹ This sultan was a great builder, Khazā’in-u’l-futūḥ, pp. 25-31. His reign has given us the ‘Alā’ī Darwāzah, a most exquisite monument ⁶ ‘Afīf, pp. 330-333.

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¹ S. A., pp. 27-30; Masālik-u’l-abṣār, p. 24.

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² Qirān-u’s-sa’dain, pp. 54-56; Ghurrat u’l-kamāl, f. 245b.

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³ I B., ii, p. 34.

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⁴ Idem, ii, p. 17.

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⁵ S. A., p. 29; Qirān-u’s-sa’dain, p. 33; Masālik-u’l-abṣār, p. 24.

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⁶ Tuhfat-u’s-ṣighar, (I O. Ethé, 1187) f. 51b.

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⁷ Vide Chapter VI. Fīrūz repaired a large number of old buildings and was himself a great builder; Futūḥāt-i-Fīrūzshāhī, pp. 14-18; Sirat-i-Fīrūzshāhī, pp. 154-159, 180-182, 210.

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⁸ Tuhfat-u’s-ṣighar, f 51b.

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⁹ I B., ii, p. 16.

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¹⁰ E & D., iii, p. 573.

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The patronage of colleges and schools was in the hands of the ṣadr-u’ṣ-ṣudūr, but he had no *Shaikh-u’l-Islām*. influence over the poets and musicians. Such men, if they happened to be attached to the court, were directly under the control of the royal household. A large number of artists were employed in the establishments of the nobles and provincial governors. The large number of ṣūfīs and faqīrs under the patronage of the state were under a *shaikh-u’l-Islām*.¹ In certain Muslim states he was responsible for the entire activities of the department of religious affairs; but in the sultanate of Dehli he enjoyed no such authority.² Probably it was on his recommendation that the state gave stipends to deserving ṣūfīs and faqīrs. Some shaikhs showed great independence and were not afraid of criticising the sultans; an outstanding example is the saint Niẓām-u’d-dīn whose sturdy independence is suspected by some modern writers who wrongly accuse him of participation in political intrigue.³ Shaikh Quṭb-u’d-dīn openly upbraided Fīrūz Shāh for drinking.⁴ This monarch held the *shaikh-u’l-Islām* in great respect; he was excused from attending the court and whenever he paid a visit to the sultan he was received with great humility.⁵ The *shaikh-u’l-Islām* enjoyed the same salary as the chief ṣadr under Muḥammad bin Tughluq, a stipend of sixty thousand tankahs.⁶ Some sultans bestowed large endowments for the upkeep of hospices and of the tombs of saints and kings; probably the administration of these institutions ultimately rested in the hands of the shaikh-u'l-Islām, because, in many cases, darwishes were included among the beneficiaries.¹ The shaikh-u'l-Islām was under the ṣadr-u'ṣ-ṣudūr.²

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¹ Minhāj, pp. 220, 226; Fawā’id-ul-fawā’id, p. 67; S. A. calls him *shaikh-u’sh-shuyūkh*, which is a better description of the office; p. 68; Masalik-u’l-abṣār, pp. 32, 33.

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² E.g., *Tuzukāt-i-Timūrī*, pp. 176-178; *Sulūk-u’l-mulūk*, ff. 20b-22a.

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³ *Firishtah*, i, p. 212 calls the saint *shaikh-u’l-Islām*; for the charge of intrigue, *vide* C. H. I., iii, p. 128.

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⁴ *Afif*, p. 79. Fīrūz Shāh held the faqīrs in great respect; *Sīrat-i-Fīrūzshāhī*, p. 160.

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⁵ *Idem*, pp. 286, 287.

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⁶ E. & D., iii, pp. 578, 579; S. A., p. 72.

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¹ E g., Futūḥāt-i-Fīrūzshāhī, f. 303a.

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² I. B., ii, p. 91.

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Guided by the principles of their Faith, which lays great stress on charity, the sultans of Dehlī spent large sums of money on the poor and the needy. In addition to the income derived from zakāt which was legally ear-marked for charitable purposes, large sums were given away from other sources.³ Quṭb-u'd-dīn Aibak was famous for his generosity to the poor.⁴ Īltutmish and his descendants did not neglect the poor; indeed Nāṣir-u'd-dīn Maḥmūd's name has passed from history into fable.⁵ There is hardly a sultan whose generosity has not been praised; it will be superfluous to mention them individually. Muḥammad bin Tughluq maintained a large number of the poor and prohibited begging.⁶ Fīrūz instituted a dīwān-i-khairāt to give financial aid to men who wanted to marry their daughters but did not possess the necessary means.⁷ He also brought up the children of public servants who died without making ample provision for their families.⁸ Sulṭān Sikandar Lodī, probably in accordance with an older custom, distributed cooked and raw food to the poor in his dominions. In winter blankets and clothes were given away. The raw foodstuffs must have been meant for his Hindu subjects who did not eat anything cooked by a Muslim.⁹ Humāyūn sat in public audience to bestow alms personally; such a session was announced to the public by beat of drum.¹⁰ Sher Shāh's alms amounted to five hundred tolas of gold every day;

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³ Tārīkh-i-Fakhr-u'd-dīn Mubārakshāh, p. 17.

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⁴ Idem, p. 35.

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⁵ Sujān Rāi, pp. 195, 196.

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⁶ Masālik-u'l-abṣār, p. 39.

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⁷ ‘Afīf, pp. 349-351.

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⁸ Sīrat-i-Fīrūzshāhī, p. 153.

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⁹ Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī, i, p. 336.

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¹⁰ Akbar-nāmah, i, p. 358.

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he ran a free kitchen as well.¹ Islām Shāh increased the number of these kitchens.² The example of their royal masters was followed by the nobles. Baranī speaks warmly of nobles vying with one another in acts of generosity under Balban.³ Ghiyāth-u’d-din Tughluq had earned a great reputation for charity during his governorship.⁴ Khawāṣ Khān, a trusted noble of Sher Shāh, is probably pre-eminent in this respect. Several thousand men and women lived in houses and tents put up by him; he himself served them at their meals. The Hindus received uncooked foodstuffs.⁵ Indeed Khawāṣ Khān’s charity almost rivalled the generosity of the famous Maḥmūd Gāwān, who, the virtual ruler of a kingdom himself, spent all his wealth on the poor and himself ate the coarse food of a peasant and slept on the ground with a straw mat for his bed.⁶ The khānqāhs, also, were centres of poor relief, for they maintained free kitchens and gave shelter to the wayfarer and the needy. Of the sums allotted to them by the state or given by private individuals, large amounts were spent on education, social service and poor relief.⁷ So widespread was this charity and so generous the alms that they were partially responsible for the existence of a class of professional beggars. In times of famine, royal granaries were opened and grain was sold at cheap rates. Large quantities were distributed free to the starving population.⁸ Ibn Baṭṭūṭah mentions the organization of a department which kept a list of needy men and women and provided them with rations. Men of learning and piety were appointed as supervisors to ensure impartiality.⁹ Muḥammad bin Tughluq expanded irrigation facilities and provided the cultivators with money and implements in famine-stricken areas.¹⁰ Fīrūz Shāh instructed his kotwāl to bring the unemployed to his presence. With the help of the muḥallahdārs—the men responsible for the various quarters—the kotwāl drew up a list of such men; they were produced before the sultan who found some employment for them¹ In doing this he was following the example of Sulṭān Ghiyāth-u'd-dīn Tughluq who held the view that crime was the result of want and, therefore, tried to find some profession or trade for the poor; he gave grants of land and money to enable them to set up as cultivators. This sultan made efforts to wipe out beggary from his dominions by inducing the beggars to take up some useful pursuit.²

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¹ Da’ūdī, f. 77.

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² Idem. f. 103a.

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³ Baranī, pp. 113-120; specially, pp. 119, 120.

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⁴ Firishtah, i, p. 232.

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⁵ Da’ūdī, p. 102a; Tārīkh-i-Khān Jahānī, f. 169.

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⁶ Firshtah, i, pp. 696, 697.

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⁷ E.g., idem, i, p. 161; Mushtāqī, ff. 48a, b.

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⁸ Fatāwā-i-jahāndārī, f. 91b; ‘Iṣāmī, pp. 211, 212.

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⁹ I. B., ii, p. 74.

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¹⁰ I. B., ii, p. 55.

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¹ 'Afīf, pp. 334-336.

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² Baranī, p. 436.

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The organization of medical help was not neglected. It has already been mentioned that the city of Dehlī possessed seventy hospitals under Muḥammad bin Tughluq.³ Most of these must have dated back to previous reigns. Fīrūz Shāh added to their number.⁴ 'Afīf gives us some insight into the working of a Dehlī hospital of those days. The staff consisted of physicians as well as surgeons; attendants served the sick and nursed them; medicines, food and drink were provided. Eye specialists formed part of the staff.⁵ Sher Shāh, whose reforms were mostly inspired by his reading of history and were often the revival of older traditions, had a physician resident in every sarāi, which indicates a widespread system of medical help.⁶

Linked texts (9)

Tārīkh-i Firishta — Muḥammad Qāsim Hindū Shāh Firishta 1606, Persian
Muntakhab al-tawārīkh — ʿAbd al-Qādir Badāʾūnī 1590, Persian
تحفة النظار في غرائب الأمصار وعجائب الأسفار — Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, Arabic
Tāj al-maʾāthir — Ḥasan Niẓāmī, Persian
Nuh sipihr — Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī
Khazāʾin al-futūḥ — Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī
Tārīkh-i Fīrūzshāhī — Shams-i Sirāj ʿAfīf
Ṭabaqāt-i Nāṣirī — Minhāj al-Dīn Jūzjānī
Tārīkh-i Mubārakshāhī — Yaḥyā b. Aḥmad Sirhindī