The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c13.83

c13.83

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