The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c7.115

c7.115

A Dehlī caliph. What one of the greatest sultans hesitated to do openly, his son, Quṭb-u'd-dīn Mubārak Shāh, carried out without any tremor. He proclaimed to his subjects and the world that he was 'the great imām, the khalīfah of the Sustainer of the two worlds, the sultan, son of a sultan, al-Wāthiq-bi'llah, Commander of the Faithful, the Pole Star of the Faith and the world, Abū-l-Muẓaffar Mubārak Shāh.' From 717 A.H. (1317 A.C.) this legend appears on his coinage.² Before that year he was content, like his illustrious father, to style himself 'the right hand of the caliphate, the helper of the Commander of the Faithful.'³ Khusraw's works are in agreement with the numismatic evidence; there are numerous references to the sultan as caliph.⁴ It would be interesting to know whether the sultan's assumption of the supreme title was popular among his subjects. Either because it was unpopular, or because his own position was weak, Nāṣir-u'd-dīn Khusraw was content with the less lofty title of 'the Friend of the Commander of the Faithful.'⁵ His supplanter, Ghiyāth-u'd-dīn Tughluq reverted to the old title of *nāṣir-i-amīr-u'l-mu'minīn*.¹