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Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c12: Chapter VIII. The Minor Muslim Kingdoms

Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c12

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Chapter VIII. The Minor Muslim Kingdoms

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WE have thus far dwelt upon the contributions made by the Paṭhān kings towards the progress of Muhammadan education and learning in India. But Muslim culture was not promoted by the Delhi kings alone. All over India there sprang up many a small kingdom which was making its own contribution to the general progress of Islāmic learning in the country; and an account of Muhammadan education of the period would be incomplete without a survey of the achievements of those smaller kingdoms apart from the work of the paramount power enthroned at Delhi.

I. The Bahmanī Kingdom

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(1347–1526 A.D.)

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Some of the kings of the Bahmanī kingdom were great patrons of letters, and one of them was almost as great in literary enterprise as Sulṭān Fīrūz Tughlaq of the Imperial dynasty. The founder of the Bahmanī House, however, was not much noted either for his literary

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accomplishments or for his literary encouragement. But he knew Persian, and took care for the education of his sons. We learn that the *Bustān* of Sa’dī was a favourite book included in the course of study of the princes.¹

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¹ Maḥmūd, the youngest prince, being questioned by his father one day, replied that it was the *Bustān* that he was then reading with his tutor (*Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 296). Silsilahi-Āṣafiyah (vol. iii, p. 131), quoting Mullā Dā’ūd Bīdārī’s *Tuḥfatul-Salāṭīn* gives an interesting account of a son of Dā’ūd Shāh, who used to teach students three days in the week, viz. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. He was very fond of these books: *Zāhidī*, *Sharḥi-Tazkirah* and *Taḥrīri-Uqlidas* (Euclid) in mathematics; *Sharḥi-Maqāṣid* in theology; and *Mutawwal* in rhetoric; and made them the course of study of his pupils.

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At the time of Ferishta, it was the general belief that Ḥasan Gangu Bahmanī was the first Brāhmaṇa who accepted service under a Muhammadan prince, and that before his time the study of the *Vedas* and the duties of religion were the Brāhmaṇas’ only pursuit. Though as physicians, astronomers, metaphysicians or historians, they sometimes mixed with the rich and powerful, they never consented to take regular service. The acceptance of office by Gangu marks the period whence the management of the revenue was invariably entrusted to them by all the Deccan kings.²

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² *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 292.

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Mujāḥid Shāh Bahmanī, who ruled some twenty years after Ḥasan Gangu, was noted for the fluency

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with which he could speak the Turkish language;¹ but his successor had a better literary equipment, 1375-78 A.D. and made himself famous by his literary 1378-97 A.D. encouragement. This prince named Maḥmūd Shāh Bahmanī was himself a poet and wrote some elegant verses. He was also proficient in Persian and Arabic, which he spoke fluently. He was a patron of learning, and many poets of Arabia and Persia came to his Court and partook of his liberality. Mīr Faiẓullah Anjū, it is related, presented the King with an ode, for which he received a thousand pieces of gold, and, in appreciation of his poetic power, was loaded with wealth and distinction before his retirement to his native country.² The Sulṭān founded a *madrasah* in the Deccan in 1378 A.D., for the education of orphans. They were provided with board and lodging at Government expense, and learned professors were engaged for their tuition in the college.³

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 328.

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² *Ibid.*, p. 347.

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³ *Tārīkhi-Qandhāri-Dakhan*, by Munshī Muḥammad Amīr Hamzah, p. 44.

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The fame of this prince for his patronage of learning spread far and wide, and on the assurance given by the aforesaid Mīr Faiẓullah Anjū to Ḥāfiẓ, the Shīrāzī poet of world-wide renown, that he would have a cordial reception at the Court and a

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handsome reward if he came thither and also a safe conduct back, Ḥāfiẓ distributed away the presents sent by Maḥmūd Shāh Bahmanī and embarked on a royal vessel that had arrived at Ormuz from the Deccan. But no sooner did it weigh anchor than a gale arose and the ship had to return to the port. The poet suffered much owing to the storm and abandoned the voyage, but wrote a few stanzas which he sent to Faizullah. When these were read out to the King, he was much pleased, and as a reward for Ḥāfiẓ gave a thousand pieces of gold to Muḥammad Qāsim Mashhadī, a learned man of Gulburgah, to purchase for Ḥāfiẓ those products of Ind that would be most acceptable to the celebrated bard.¹

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. ii, pp. 347-349.

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This prince was the father of the poor and helpless, and for the education of orphans established *schools* in several cities of his dominion, viz. Gulbargah, Bīdar, Qandhār, Ellichpūr, Daulatābād, Chaul, Dabul, and in many other places; and supplied them with ample endowments for their maintenance.²

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² *Ibid.*, pp. 349, 350.

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This good prince was given the title of Aristotle by the Deccanese for his wise administration.

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Ghiyāṣuddīn Shāh and Shamsuddīn Shāh next succeeded, and were followed in their turn by the great Bahmanī king named Fīrūz. It was this

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prince whose literary enterprise can well bear comparison with that of his namesake of the Imperial Dynasty of Delhi. He was perhaps more learned than the erudite Muḥammad Tughlaq: he was a good linguist, and Ferishta records that in his harem there were ladies of various races, such as Arabians, Circassians, Georgians, Turks, Europeans, Chinese, Afghans, Rajputs, Bengalis, Gujrātīs, Telinganese, Marhattas and others, with each of whom he could converse in her own language.¹

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. ii, pp. 369, 370: "He could read the Bible. From this, it is probable he learned Hebrew from the Jews who had been settled on the Malabar coast for many ages."—Scott's *Deccan*, vol. i, p. 74.

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He also utilized his linguistic attainments in his conversation with the foreigners who came to his Court. He had a very retentive memory, which enabled him to acquire his many literary qualifications. On Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays, he used to hear lectures on *botany*, *geometry* and *logic*, generally during the day, but, if business intervened, at night. He was a good poet, and often composed extempore verses. He was well versed in many sciences and very fond of natural philosophy. Every fourth day he used to copy sixteen pages of the *Qur'ān* before engaging in public business. He spent most of his time in the society of divines, poets, reciters of history, readers

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of the *Shāh-Nāmah* and the most learned and witty among his courtiers. He took much pleasure in these pursuits; so that they were prolonged up to midnight.¹

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 365.

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Fīrūz used to send ships every year from the ports of Goa and Chaul to different countries particularly to invite to his Court men celebrated for their learning. This is a feature of literary ardour quite peculiar to him. It was his opinion that kings should draw around them the most learned men, in order that they might help them with information and advice. Of the many learned men assembled at his Court, we hear of Mullā Isḥāq Sarhindī, who was famous for his wit and scholarship.²

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² *Ibid.*, p. 366.

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Fīrūz was a great lover of astronomy, and for accurate stellar observations caused, in 1407 A.D., an observatory to be built on the summit of the pass near Daulatābād. The work was under the supervision of the astronomer Ḥakīm Ḥusain Gīlānī, whose death put a stop to its completion.³

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 388.

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Sayyid Muḥammad Gīsū Darāz had a great fame for his vast learning, and Fīrūz went to meet him. The King, with his natural keenness, could see through his learned veneer and found him deficient. However, the King's brother, Khān Khānān, had unstinted reverence for this Sayyid,

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and not only built a magnificent palace for him, but also spent a great part of his time in hearing his lectures.¹

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 388.

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Aḥmad Shāh Bahmanī followed the footsteps of his worthy brother, Fīrūz Shāh, showed great deference to the learned and did much for their benefit and advantage.

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The King gave several towns, villages and extensive lands near Gulbargah in perpetuity to Sayyid Muḥammad Gīsū Darāz, and built for him a magnificent college near Gulbargah.² But he was unfortunately not very well disposed towards the Hindus, and, when he attacked Bījāpūr, destroyed several colleges of the Brāhmaṇas³ in the open country near the town.

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² *Ibid.*, p. 398.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 402.

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The succeeding kings were not much noted for their literary enterprise or learning, until we reach Muḥammad Shāh Bahmanī II. The education of this prince was under the supervision of Khwājahi-Jahān, who appointed adri-Jahān Shūstarī, a celebrated scholar of that age, as his tutor. The prince made considerable progress in his studies, so that next to Fīrūz Bahmanī, he was the most learned king that ever wielded the sceptre in the Bahmanī kingdom.⁴

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⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 477.

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A noteworthy event of this reign is the literary munificence of Maḥmūd Gāwān, the minister. He

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was himself a very learned man, a good writer both in prose and verse, and had few equals in his knowledge of mathematics. The *Rauẓatul-Inshā* and some poems from his pen are still to be found in a few libraries of the Deccan. He used to send every year valuable presents to several learned men in Khurāsān and ’Irāq, for which the princes of those countries bestowed honours upon him. Maulānā ’Abdul Raḥmān’s letters to Maḥmūd Gāwān have been incorporated into the volumes of his works, and a poem by the Maulānā was written in praise of the minister. Maḥmūd Gāwān had the honour of having his biography written by Mullā ’Abdul Karīm Sindī.¹

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. ii, pp. 510, 511.

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His literary beneficence was, it is related, so widespread that there was scarcely a town or a city the learned men of which had not derived advantage from him. There are in the Deccan many remains of public works accomplished by him with his own resources, amongst which may be mentioned the famous college at Bīdar, built by him two years before his death.² Says Meadows Taylor—

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² *Ibid.*, p. 510; *Muntakhabul-Lubāb*, by Khāfī Khān (Bibl. Indica), pt. II., p. 452, tells us a story as to how the Imām of the Masjid attached to the madrasah escaped being struck by a thunder-bolt.

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“The noble college of Maḥmūd Gāwān in the city of Bīdar was perhaps the grandest completed work of the period. It consisted

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of a spacious square with arches all round it, of two storeys, divided into convenient rooms. The minarets at each corner of the front were upwards of 100 feet high, and also the front itself, covered with enamel tiles, on which were flowers on blue, yellow and red grounds and sentences of the *Qur'ān* in large kūfic letters, the effect of which was at once chaste and superb.” ¹

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¹ Meadows Taylor’s *Hist. of India*, p. 185.

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The college had a mosque attached to it in order that religion might go hand in hand with secular learning. At the time of Ferishta, the whole college was as entire as if just finished, but nowadays it has lost much of its beauty through mutilation by an explosion of gunpowder, which took place when Aurangzib used it as a magazine and a barrack.²

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² Briggs’ note : “After the capture of Bidar by Aurangzib, in the latter end of the seventeenth century, this splendid range of buildings was appropriated to the double purpose of a powder-magazine and barrack for a body of cavalry, when by accident, the powder, exploding, destroyed the greater part of the edifice, causing dreadful havoc around. Sufficient of the work remains, however, even at the present day, to afford some notion of its magnificence and beauty. The outline of the square, and some of the apartments, are yet entire and one of the minarets is still standing. It is more than 100 feet in height, ornamented with tablets, on which sentences of the *Qur'ān* in white letters, 3 feet in length, standing forth on a ground of green and gold, still exhibits to the spectator a good sample of what this superb edifice once was. The college is one of the many beautiful remains of the grandeur of the Bahmanī and Burīd dynasties, which flourished at Bīdar; and they render a visit to that city an object of lively interest to all travellers, but particularly to those who may peruse this history.”—*Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 510.

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The explosion of the powder-magazine is by some attributed to an exasperated soldier, who, in order to avenge himself upon a comrade with whom he was quarrelling, cast the burning *guls* from

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The college was equipped with a library for the use of its students, containing 3000 volumes.¹

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 514. Murtaẓā Ḥusain says, in his *Ḥadīqatul-Aqālīm*, a modern work (MS. in ASB, leaf 39) that from Maḥmūd Gāwān’s house, 35,000 books were obtained.

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These works of Maḥmūd Gāwān stand out as a brilliant example of what a single individual with his own unaided resources could achieve. He was imbued with a spirit of such great self-sacrifice as is rarely met with in a man. His income was very large, “equalling that of many kings,” but his beneficence was so great that after his death only a small sum was left in his treasury. He lived the life of an ascetic, sleeping on a bare mat and using earthen utensils, thus combining plain living with high thinking.

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Maḥmūd Shāh Bahmanī II.’s reign is a good example of the great extent to which the vitiated

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his *chīlam* into a powder cell. Thevenot the traveller gives a different account. According to him, a faithful commander of the place took his stand in the college along with his army, and refused to submit to Aurangzib. When, however, a breach was made in the wall and signal given for the assault, then suddenly by the fall of a rocket or by the order of the commander, who preferred death to subjection, the magazine blew up at a moment when the roof was covered with the garrison who had assembled there for selling themselves as dearly as possible [*Oriental Annual* (1840), by T. Bacon, pp. 189, 190; see also Fergusson’s *Architecture at Bījāpūr*, pp. 13 ff., and Thevenot’s *Travels into the Levant*]. There is a picture of Gāwān’s college in the *Archaeological Survey of Western India*, vol. iii, by Burgess (1875–76), but the one from the *Oriental Annual*, sketched by Meadows Taylor, has been reproduced in this work (see Frontispiece).

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taste of a king can spread its infection broadcast, so as to affect even those who have made education their profession. The king was much addicted to the baser pleasures, and his Court became the resort of magicians and dancers from Delhi, Lahore, Persia and Khurāsān. The only kind of pleasure that could lay a claim to greater refinement was that afforded by the story-tellers and reciters of the *Shāh-Nāmah*. The people caught the royal malady, which became so widespread and virulent that even "holy teachers quitting colleges retired to taverns and presided over the wine-flask, and reverend sages pawned their very garments at the wine-cellars."¹

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¹ Ferishta vol. ii, p. 535.

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The succeeding kings are not noteworthy from our standpoint. We should note here that the Bahmanī kings had a library at Aḥmadnagar, which Ferishta visited.²

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² *Ibid.*, p. 297 ; Scott's *Deccan*, vol. i, p. 226.

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We shall conclude this account of the Bahmanī kingdom with the remarks of a European gentleman who had occasion and opportunities for gaining detailed information and first-hand knowledge about the vanished glories of the kings of the Bahmanī Dynasty as well as their remnants that still survive in the ruined monuments they have left behind—

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"If we cannot compare the Bahmanī kings with their European contemporaries from Edward III to Henry VIII, yet there can be

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no doubt that high civilization according to the standard of Muhammadanism existed. . . . Education in Persian and Arabic literature was extended as much as possible by village schools, which were attached to mosques and endowed with lands sufficient for their maintenance. . . . The system tended as well to the spread of literature as of the faith of the ruling power, and its effects are still distinctly traceable throughout the wide extent of their dominion.” ¹

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¹ Fergusson’s *Architecture at Bījāpūr*, p. 12.

2. The Kingdom of Bījāpūr

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The name Bījāpūr is looked upon by some as a euphonized corruption of Vijaya Pura (city of victory), but according to another theory it is a different form of Vidyāpur (city of learning). The latter name, it is said, owes its origin to an old college ² still existing there, the original endowments of which by the Chalukya Dynasty of Kalyān are commemorated upon large stone pillars hard by. The inscriptions are not of very great antiquity, one being of the Chalukya Dynasty (1192 A.D.), and the other of the Yādava (1249 A.D.). The local tradition says that a band of Muhammadan fanatics who preceded the main Muhammadan army in the second invasion of Malik Kāfūr (’Alāuddīn’s general) killed or drove away the Brāhmaṇas of the college, and occupied it. The story is not improbable, since there are traces, as Mr. Fergusson says, of similar occupation in other parts of the Deccan. It was

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² Fergusson interprets *Agrahār* as “college.” It literally means a royal donation of land to Brāhmaṇas.

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probably converted into a mosque by the garrison left by Kāfūr in Bijāpūr.

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The college building, made of granite, is very extensive and the most venerable in Bijāpūr, consisting of an oblong, set out with rows. It is three-storied, and is still wonderfully perfect, though necessarily out of repair.¹

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¹ Vide Fergusson's *Architecture at Bijāpūr*, pp. 58, 60, 65, 66, where a detailed description of the college premises is found.

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With the disappearance of Hindu sovereignty, Bijāpūr did not cease to be a centre of learning. The Muhammadans took the place of the Hindus and kept up its literary reputation.

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'Ādil Shāh, the founder of the Muhammadan kingdom of Bijāpūr, was educated at Sava and had a good literary outfit. He was eloquent in speech, a good judge of poetical composition, and wrote both prose and poetry with elegance. He had a great taste for music, and his skill in it was superior to that of many a master-musician of the time whom he encouraged to attend his court by handsome rewards. He could perform admirably on two or three kinds of instruments, and in his delightful mood sang extempore compositions. Many learned men were invited to his court from Persia, Turkistan and Rūm, as also several eminent artists, all of whom lived under the king's patronage.²

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² *Ferishta* vol. iii, pp. 8, 30, 31.

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[Figure: An Ancient Hindu College at Bījāpūr belonging to the Twelfth Century A.D., (the three-storied building made of granite in the foreground). [From Fergusson’s Architecture at Bījāpūr (John Murray).] [Facing page 92.]

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Ismā'īl 'Ādil Shāh, the successor of 'Ādil, kept up the reputation of his house by his literary refinements and proficiency in the fine arts. In music and poetry he was a great adept, and combined a skill in varnishing, arrow-making and embroidering with his mastery in the art of painting. He was fond of the company of learned men and poets, a large number of whom was munificently supported at his court. He was a wit, and his brilliant humour often displayed itself in his conversation. He loved Turkish and Persian music and language more than the Deccanese. This bias was due to his being educated under the tuition of his aunt Dilshād, who by desire of his father kept him away from the company of the Deccanese.¹

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¹ Ferishta vol. iii, p. 72.

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1510-34 A.D.

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One noteworthy fact of the reign of Ibrāhīm 'Ādil Shāh I. was that public accounts began to be kept in Hindī instead of in Persian, and many Brāhmaṇas were appointed in charge of the accounts, so that they soon acquired a great influence in the government.² In the reign of Yūsuf 'Ādil Shāh, the Hindus had also been admitted to the exercise of considerable powers in his revenue department. This was probably due to the fact of his having married a Hindu lady—the daughter of a Mahratta chieftain.³ This shows

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² Ibid., p. 80.

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³ Ibid., p. 31.

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1534-57 A.D.

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how the Muhammadans while conquering the Hindus were at the same time being conquered themselves, and how the gradual linguistic intercourse was taking place.

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A fact to be noticed in the reign of Ibrāhīm ’Ādil Shāh II is that the great historian, Muḥammad Qāsim, the author of the *Tārīkhi-Firishtah*, lived in his court.

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A part of the royal ’Ādil Shāhī Library is still to be found at Bījāpūr in the Āṣāri Maḥal. Mr. Fergusson tells us—

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“Some of its books are curious and interesting to any one acquainted with Arabic and Persian literature. All the most valuable manuscripts were, it is said, taken away by Aurangzib in cart-loads, and what remain are literally only a remnant, but a precious one to the persons in charge of the building who show them with a mournful pride and regret.” ¹

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¹ Fergusson’s *Architecture at Bījāpūr*, p. 75.

3. The Kingdom of Aḥmadnagar

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Aḥmad Niẓām Shāh, the first King, was in his childhood taken prisoner by the army of Aḥmad Shāh Bahmanī, who educated him with his eldest son, Prince Maḥmūd. The boy-captive was of exceptional ability, and with the facilities for study placed within his reach, he soon attained eminence in Persian and Arabic literature.² the Athenians, who were already in the city, were not aware of the plot, but when they saw the Plataeans fighting, they did not wish to attack them, as they were friends, but when they saw that they were being attacked and killed in the city, they were at a loss what to do. They decided to run to the citadel, and some of them escaped there, while others were killed in the streets as they were caught by the Thebans. The women and slaves were screaming and wailing in the houses, and the Thebans, who were in the city, were throwing stones at them, as the confusion was great. In the meantime, the rest of the Thebans, who were outside, hearing the shouting, rushed into the city to help their comrades.

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² *Firishta* vol. iii, p. 190.

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The Plataeans, seeing that they were being attacked by the Thebans, and that the Thebans were already in the city, were in great fear. They opened the gates of the city, and let the Athenians, who were in the citadel, come out, and they also let the rest of the Plataeans, who were in the houses, come out. They then attacked the Thebans, and as they were fighting in the dark, and in the narrow streets, the Thebans were at a disadvantage. The Plataeans, who knew the city well, were able to attack them from the houses, and from the roofs, and they were able to kill many of them. The Thebans, seeing that they were being defeated, tried to escape, but the gates were closed, and they were trapped. Some of them climbed over the walls, and others were killed as they tried to escape.

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The Plataeans, having defeated the Thebans, sent a messenger to Athens to tell them what had happened, and to ask for help. The Athenians, hearing the news, sent a force to Plataea, and they also sent a message to the Thebans, telling them that if they did not release the prisoners, they would kill the Thebans who were in their hands. The Thebans, fearing for their men, agreed to release the prisoners, and the Plataeans, having received their men, released the Thebans. This was the beginning of the war between the Athenians and the Peloponnesians.

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the Athenians, and the Lacedaemonians, and the allies of both, were all of them in a state of great excitement, and many prophecies were being recited by the diviners, and were current even among those who were not at war. Besides this, there was an earthquake in Delos, which is said to have occurred only once before in the history of the Hellenes. It was said to be a portent of what was to come, and everything of this kind was interpreted as a sign of the approaching events.

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The majority of the Hellenes were on the side of the Lacedaemonians; for they were the liberators of Hellas. The Athenians, on the other hand, had ceased to be the liberators of the Hellenes from the Persians, and were now themselves the masters of the greater part of them. The Lacedaemonians were the leaders of the Peloponnesians, and the Athenians were the leaders of the rest of Hellas, or at least of those who were their allies.

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The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful of the Hellenes, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous. The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful on land, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous. The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful on land, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous.

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The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful on land, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous. The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful on land, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous. The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful on land, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous.

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The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful on land, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous. The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful on land, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous. The Lacedaemonians were the most powerful on land, and their allies were the most numerous. The Athenians were the most powerful at sea, and their allies were the most numerous.

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Chahār Minār at Ḥaidarābād, containing a Madrasah, built 1591 A.D. (From the Oriental Annual, 1840.)

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In the reign of King Aḥmad Niẓām Shāh, the practice of single-stick was introduced by the king when a boy. He was much skilled in this sort of sword play, and took much delight in the exercise. Accordingly, we are told, all men both high and low began to copy the prince, and “*instead of colleges, as is usual in Muhammadan cities*, schools for single-sword and wrestling were established in all quarters of the city of Aḥmadnagar.”

4. The Kingdom of Gulkandah

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In the royal dynasty of Gulkandah, the name of Muḥammad Qulī Quṭb Shāh stands high for his encouragement of education. In the middle of Ḥaidarābād, he built an elegant masjid and the *Chahār Minār*—the latter structure being a quadrangle with four arcades, each arch occupying the whole space between the minarets at its corners. Over the middle, there is a dome under which a fountain plays with its jets of clear water. Each minaret about 220 feet in height contains apartments for the use of the professors and students of the college there. It is one of the most splendid buildings in the city, and a brilliant specimen of Saracenic architecture. This college was seen by Thevenot the traveller, who visited India about 1666 A.D., and has admired it in his

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¹ Ferishta vol. iii, pp. 206, 207.

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work.¹ Besides this madrasah the king built several other colleges and public seminaries, all of which were properly furnished, and for which learned professors with liberal remunerations for their services were appointed.² One of the colleges stood in the vicinity of Ḥaidarābād.³

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¹ Thevenot's *Travels into the Levant*, Part iii, p. 95.

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² Ferishta vol. iii, p. 452; Caine's *Picturesque India*, p. 464; Maulawī 'Abdul 'Azīz's *Azīzi-Dakhan*, p. 20, gives the date of the establishment of Chahār Minār as 998 A.H. (1591 A.D.); see also *Oriental Annual* (1840), by T. Bacon, p. 168; and Fergusson's *Architecture at Bijāpūr*, p. 48.

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³ Ferishta vol. iii, p. 483.

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Over and above the bigger colleges, there were in Southern India the primary schools which were held in the houses of the masters. Shoberl gives some graphic details of these institutions :—

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The pupils sit cross-legged on a bench or on the floor. They write on paper with reed pens, or with tubes of some other kind. The paper mostly imported from China is not so good as that of Europe. It is smooth, very thin and easily tears.
The *Qur'ān*, he further informs us, " is chiefly read by the Musalmāns who also study the Persian language. Ṭīpū Ṣāhib, the last sovereign of Mysore, understood several oriental languages, and possessed a *library* enriched with all sorts of European and Eastern works."⁴

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⁴ Shoberl's *Hindustan in Miniature*, vol. iv, pp. 215, 216.

5. The Kingdom of Mālwa

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Sulṭān Maḥmūd Khiljī of the royal dynasty of Mālwa was a great promoter of learning and

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literature. During the whole of his long rule for over thirty years, he gave encouragement to learned men, so that Mālwa rose to a great resort of literary men. Many distinguished philosophers and maulānās not only came from other countries to the place but were also turned out by the many colleges that Maḥmūd founded in the different parts of his dominions. Mālwa, according to Ferishta, could bear a fair comparison with Shīrāz or Samarqand in literary excellence.¹

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¹ Ferishta vol. iv, pp. 196, 197.

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One of the many colleges that owed their existence to this ruler stood in Mandu opposite to the Masjid of Sulṭān Ḥūshang. It was in front of this college that he built a beautiful pillar seven storeys high after his return from a combat with Rānā Kumbha of Chitor.²

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² Ibid., p. 210.

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A very learned man of this time in Mālwa was Shaikh Chānd.³

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³ Ibid., vol. iv, p. 213. N.K.T. has S. Jā'ilda.

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Maḥmūd was of literary tastes. He used to devote his leisure hours to hearing histories, and memoirs of kings of the world.⁴

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⁴ Ibid., p. 234.

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In the reign of Ghiyāṣuddīn of Mālwa, we find that the education of the ladies in his harem was cared for. “Schoolmistresses” were appointed to instruct them.⁵

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⁵ Ibid., pp. 236, 237.

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This king was "righteous and religious," but at the same time enjoyed much the pleasures of the world. It was his practice, we are told, to sleep every night with some thousand gold *mohars* under his pillow, which in the day he gave away to deserving people.¹ In his harem there were seventy women who knew the *Qur'ān* by heart and had to recite it while the Sulṭān was putting on his clothes, and continue it until he finished dressing.²

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¹ N.K.T. has "100 gold *mohars*."

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² *Wāqi'āti-Mushtāqī*, Elliot iv, p. 554.

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Bāz Bahādur of Mālwa, the contemporary of Akbar, was noted for his taste for music. In Mālwa, this art reached its height at this time and the king devoted himself entirely to its cultivation and encouragement, to the neglect of State affairs. This ardent follower of Orpheus had to pay the penalty for this neglect by losing his kingdom, which was conquered by Akbar.³

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³ *Ferishta* vol. iv, pp. 277, 278.

6. The Kingdom of Khāndish

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Nāṣir Khān, the second sovereign of Khāndish, was fortunate in having Shaikh Zainuddīn, the disciple and successor of Burhānuddīn, as his priest. They were men of great repute in learning, being principals of the *Madrasah* at Daulatābād.⁴ Burhānpūr the capital

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⁴ *Oriental Annual* (1840), by T. Bacon, pp. 118, 119.

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of Khāndīsh had at least one madrasah. The city stands on the bank of the river Tāpti and the remains of the college were seen by the compiler of the *Oriental Annual* (1840).¹

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¹ *Oriental Annual* (1840), p. 112.

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The kingdom of Khāndīsh during its existence as an independent principality found a patron of letters in Nāṣir Khān Fārūqī who influenced its destiny for about forty years. He invited learned men from many countries and gave great encouragement to the promotion of literature.²

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² *Ferishta* vol. iv, p. 286.

7. The Kingdom of Jaunpūr

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While Khāndīsh was being thus raised to a high position in the literary world, Jaunpūr was becoming at the same time a great seat of learning under its famous king Ibrāhīm Sharqī.³ About this time under the Sayyids, Western Hindustan was passing through an era of confusion and anarchy. It is therefore gratifying to notice that Jaunpūr reared its head as a tower of light, shedding its lustre far and wide in spite of the successive waves of tumult and disorder that threatened to engulf it every moment. It was here that Farīd, afterwards called Shīr Shāh, received his education at one of its colleges about a century later, when Jaunpūr continued to be an educational centre. Farīd in a letter

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 363.

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to his father wrote that it was a better place of instruction than Sasarām.¹

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¹ Ferishta vol. ii, p. 100.

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Ibrāhīm Sharqī was a famous patron of literature and learning, to whom several books were dedicated by various authors.² In his time, there flourished many learned men such as Qāẓī Shahābuddīn Daulatābādī, who was called the “king of sages” by his contemporaries. After his demise, Maulānā Shaikh Ilāhdād Jaunpūrī made himself famous by his literary compositions. Another distinguished literary man was Ẓāhir Dihlawī, to whom a noble of the time of Sikandar Lūdī had given the title of Ẓāhir on account of his freshness of style. Maulānā Ḥasan Naqshī, Maulānā ’Alī Aḥmad Nishānī and Nūrul Ḥaqq were other famous literary magnates.³ Many books were written for him, e.g. *Fatāwa-Ibrāhīm-Shāhī*, *Irshād*, etc.⁴

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² *Ibid.*, vol. iv, p. 363.

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³ *’Abdul Ḥaqq Dihlawī*, Elliot vi, pp. 487 ff.

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⁴ *Ma’āsiri-Raḥīmī*, MS. in ASB, leaf 21.

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“During Ibrāhīm’s reign (1402-40 A.D.), the Court of Jaunpūr far outshone that of Delhi, and was the resort of all the learned men of the East.”⁵

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⁵ Lethbridge’s *Topography of the Mughal Empire* (transl. from the Latin of Laët), p. 53 n.

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During the reign of Fīrūz Tughlaq, the founder of the city,⁶ there lived in it many learned men

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⁶ Jaunpūr was founded by Fīrūz Tughlaq (Gladwin’s *Ā’īni-Akbarī*, p. 321). The date of its foundation according to the *Tazkiratul-’Ulamā*,

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and professors for whom Fīrūz fixed liberal stipends.¹

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¹ Jaunpūr-Nāmah, by Khairuddīn Ilāhābādī, MS. in ASB, leaf 4.

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Sulṭān Sikandar Lūdī was very cruel to the learned men of the city. After his conquest of Jaunpūr, he ordered the destruction of all the buildings of the Sharqī Nawābs of the place. At this, the learned men came to him and prayed for the cancellation of the order on the ground that there were many mosques which would be affected by his order. They expected that the reason shown by them would achieve their object and the whole order would be withdrawn. Sikandar, however, spared only the mosques, and the order remained in force in regard to the other buildings, including the madrasahs.²

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² Ibid., leaf 30.

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About the middle of the 15th century, Bībī Rājī, the wife of Maḥmūd Shāh (son of Sulṭān Ibrāhīm) built a Jāmi' Masjid, a college and a monastery, and gave them the name of Namāzgāh. She also allotted stipends for students and professors.³

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³ Ibid., leaf 33. In this MS. as well as in its translation by Pogson whom Cunningham quotes, the date of erection of the buildings is 806 A.H. (1403 A.D.), which is evidently an error. The true date according to Cunningham is either 846 or 856 A.H., i.e. during the period of her husband's reign (vide Arch. Survey Report, vol. xi, p. 116). See J.I., p. 52.

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by Khairuddīn Ilāhābādī, MS. in ASB, leaf 3, is 772 A.H. (1371 A.D.). See J.I., p. 5.

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It is related of Mun’im Khān, Khān Khānān, that for the residence and tuition-work of the learned man Shaikhū, he built apartments near the big Jaunpūr Bridge, the inner portions of which were used by his pupils and the outer were let out. The rents thus derived met the expenses of the students.¹

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¹ *Jaunpūr-Nāmah*, MS. in ASB, leaf 43. J.I., pp. 60 ff.

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The *Tazkiratul-’Ulamā* and the *Siyarul-Mulk* as quoted in the *Tazkira* give us interesting details about this university-city, which throw a flood of light not only on the inner life of the learned men and students who lived there, but also on many other points. We learn that from the time of the foundation of the city, people from all districts of Hindustan, specially from the Subahs of Oudh and Ilāhābād, used to flock thereto for education. In the time of Sulṭān Ibrāhīm Sharqī, it was his capital, and here hundreds of madrasahs and masjids lay scattered, and scholars and teachers were granted *altamgahs* and *jāgirs* in order that they might devote themselves to learning in complete freedom from material needs and anxieties.² During Humāyūn’s reign, Jaunpūr continued to enjoy its

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² This feature is also noticeable in some of the Muslim Universities outside India, *e.g.* the Azhar University at Cairo, as also those at Baghdād, Cordova, Damascus, Nishāpūr, etc. (*vide Encyclopaedia Britannica*, 11th ed.). The Mediaeval Universities of the Europeans seem to have differed from the Muslim Universities on this point (*vide* R. S. Rait’s *Life in the Mediaeval University*).

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high reputation as a centre of learning, and remained so through Jahāngīr’s reign up to the time of Shāh Jahān, who gave it the name of Shīrāzi-Hind. It appears that up to the reign of Muḥammad Shāh, it was the usual practice of Delhi emperors to send *farmans* to the *ḥakīms* of Jaunpūr in order that they might never be amiss in their duties towards the many students and professors in the city. Reports (*Wāqi‘ai-Nigar*)¹ had to be sent to them by the Reporter stationed at Jaunpūr after carefully inquiring into the state of every madrasah. Fresh grants were made if any madrasah appeared from the report to require them. Princes and Amīrs while passing by the city used to pay visits to its madrasahs and make donations to please thereby the Delhi Sulṭāns. About 1147 A.H. (1735 A.D.) Nawāb Sa‘ādat Khān Nishāpūrī was appointed Subādār of Oudh, Benares and Jaunpūr. On one occasion he visited the city but felt insulted for the reason that the learned men of the place did not come to see him. To avenge this wrong, he gave orders for the confiscation of their stipends and *jāgirs*. The orders were carried out, and a bad time set in for Jaunpūr. The students and professors were scattered and the madrasahs became empty.² In 1187 A.H. (1774) Nawāb Āṣafuddaulah, at the instance of Mukhtaruddaulah,

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¹ *Tazkiratul-‘Ulamā*, MS. in ASB, leaves 3 ff.

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² *Ibid.*, leaves 3 ff.

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ordered the *jāgirs* to be restored to their former holders, but one Ilāj Khān protested. Jaunpūr about this time came into the hands of the British.¹

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¹ *Tazkiratul-’Ulamā*, MS. in ASB, leaves 3 ff.

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“Warren Hastings may have visited the city, Sir Eyre Coote certainly did, while Duncan’s visit in 1788 is recorded in those volumes of *Proceedings* which are mouldering unnoticed on the record-shelves of the Commissioner and Collector of Benares. He writes too favourably of the site and laments the decay of the town, telling how it once was the seat of all Muhammadan learning, and the residence of many of their learned men in so much that it was known by the appellation of the Shīrāz of India. Though no trace be now left of the schools but the story of their past fame, we have better ground than Mr. Duncan’s for saying that this city was the Shīrāz or the mediaeval Paris of India. Fīrūz determined to make it a seat of learning worthy of his cousin’s fame. Each of the princes of Jaunpūr prided himself on patronizing science, and the troubles which in the early part of the fourteenth century scattered the doctors of the ancient imperial city were eminently favourable to the rise of a school of learning in the peaceful and secure Jaunpūr. Even in Muḥammad Shāh’s time, 20 famous schools existed in Jaunpūr of which now but the names are known—the founder of one having died in the middle of the fifteenth century, and another in the middle of the seventeenth century. Nor was scholastic learning only cultivated. Of the successful cultivation of the arts, let the noble masjids of Ibrāhīm and Ḥusain bear witness.”²

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² *Archaeological Survey of India* (New Series), vol. i, (*Sharqī Architecture of Jaunpūr*), by Führer (1889), pp. 21, 22.

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Like Jaunpūr, many a great Muslim University has now ceased to exist, leaving behind only a memory of its former glory. The days are past when the Indian Musalmān universities, as also those of Dimašq, Baghdād, Nišāpūr, Cairo, Kairawān, Seville, Cordova were thronged by thousands of

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students, when a professor had often hundreds of hearers, and when vast estates set apart for the purpose maintained both students and professors.

8. Multān

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Of the kings of Multān, the name of Ḥusain Langā will be remembered for the impetus he gave to education by erecting many col- leges, in which were appointed the most distinguished scholars of the time. This prince was himself a learned man, and manifested his love of learning by the patronage of learned authors.¹

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¹ Ferishta vol. iv, p. 385.

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It is stated in Ḥadīqatul-Aqālīm (MS. in ASB, leaf 69) that the Sulṭān once sent a man to Gujrāt to inspect its splendid buildings. When the person reported that with all his wealth, the Sulṭān could not erect similar buildings in Multān, he was much disappointed. But the Wazīr to console him said that though Gujrāt was noted for its buildings, Multān was superior to it in learning.

9. Sindh, Kashmīr and Gujrāt

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Of the royal house of Sindh, Shāh Beg Arghūn was exceedingly well read, and is men- tioned by many authors as a great promoter of literature,² while Kashmīr could about 50 years ago boast of its ruler Zainul 'Ābidīn, who had equally encouraged literature and fine arts. Under the latter many treatises on music were written, and a code of laws was framed, engraved on copper-plates, and placed in public markets and halls of justice in order to give it currency.¹

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² Ibid., p. 432.

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¹ *Ferishta* vol. iv, pp. 469, 470; *Ma'āṣiri-Raḥīmī*, MS. in ASB, leaf 59.

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We learn that during Akbar's reign, Ḥusain Khān, Walī of Kashmīr, built madrasahs there, and gave as endowment pergana Āsāpūr (974 A.H., 1567 A.D.).²

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² *Ma'āṣiri-Raḥīmī*, MS. in ASB, leaf 71. N.K.T., p. 363, mentions Ḥusain Chak giving pergana Zainpūr for *madrasah*, etc.

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Muẓaffar Shāh II was a royal Maecenas of Gujrāt. He promoted learning with great zeal, and men of letters from Persia, Arabia and Turkey found it worth while to settle in Gujrāt in his liberal reign.³

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³ *Ferishta* vol. iv, p. 97.

10. Bengal

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The colleges built by Bakhtiyār Khiljī have been referred to in another connection.

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Governor Ghiyāṣuddīn (1212-27 A.D.) built a superb mosque, a college and a caravansarai at Lucknauti soon after his election to the *masnad* of Bengal. He was a liberal encourager of arts and literature, and bestowed ample pensions upon the learned.⁴ Rajah Kānis (1385-92) granted pensions to the learned Muhammadans during the short time that he ruled Bengal. His motive

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⁴ Stewart's *History of Bengal*, pp. 56, 57.

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for the bestowal of such stipends was not, however, the promotion of learning pure and simple, but was mixed up with an ulterior political purpose.¹

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¹ Stewart's *History of Bengal*, p. 94.

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The efforts of the rulers of Bengal were not confined to the promotion of Muhammadan learning alone, for they also directed their fostering care for the advancement of letters into a new channel, which is of particular interest to the Bengali-speaking people. It may seem to them an anomaly that their language should owe its elevation to a literary status not to themselves but to the Muhammadans, whose interest in it was at first evoked by merely a sense of the curious, and was indirectly roused by its connection with Sanskrit, which formed a most cherished treasure of the vast Hindu population with whom they had to come into frequent contact. It was the epics—the *Ramāyāṇa* and the *Mahābhārata*—that first attracted the notice of the Muhammadan rulers of Bengal, at whose instance they were translated into Bengali—the language of their domicile. The first Bengali rendering of the *Mahābhārata* was ordered by Nāṣir Ṣhāh of Bengal (1282-1325 A.D.), who was a great patron of the vernacular of the province, and whom the great poet Vidyāpati has immortalized by dedicating to him one of his songs. Vidyāpati also makes a respectful reference to Sulṭān Ghiyāṣuddīn, most probably Sulṭān Ghiyāṣuddīn II

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of Bengal (1367-73 A.D.). [See Stewart's list of independent Kings of Bengal.]

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Moreover, we learn from the *Riyāẓu-s-Salāṭīn* that this Sulṭān was himself a poet, and once composed a verse which no one in his Court could make into a couplet. It was then sent to the famous poet Ḥāfiẓ, at Shīrāz, who, at the very sight of it, supplied the complementary verse.¹ Sulṭān Ghiyāṣuddin’s tutor of theology was Ḥamīduddīn of Nagore. The only fellow-student with whom he studied was the saint Quṭbul ’Ālam.² It is doubtful whether a Muslim ruler of Bengal or the Hindu Rājā Kansa Nārāyaṇa appointed Kīrttivāsa to translate the *Rāmāyaṇa* into Bengali; even if the latter story be true, it is undoubted that Muslim precedents influenced the action of the Rājā.³

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¹ English translation of *Riyāẓu-s-Salāṭīn* by ’Abdul Salām (*Bibl. Indica*), p. 109; Stewart’s *History of Bengal*, pp. 92, 93.

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² Stewart’s *History of Bengal*, p. 111.

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³ For the above information (p. 107 also), see Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen’s *History of Bengali Literature* (1911), pp. 10-12, 140, and 222.

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Near the village of ’Umārpūr there is a spot called *Darasbārī*, or the College. A very large inscription of the time of Yūsuf Shāh (dated 1479 A.D.), found at the place, refers to the building of a Masjid. “It is, however, very probable that the Masjid may have been attached to the college, as the stone is much too heavy to have been moved from its original site.”⁴ Many a madrasah like

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⁴ *Archaeological Survey Report*, vol. xv, p. 76.

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the present one is fast losing all its marks by which it can be identified as such. The madrasah, for instance, which was built by the Musalmāns at Asthipura (Place of Bones), where, it is said, the bodies of all the slain in the eighteen days' battle between the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas were collected and burnt, has already disappeared, leaving but a mound which can be recognized as the remnant of a college only by its name of Madrasah-Tilā.¹

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¹ *Archaeological Survey Report*, vol. xiv, p. 98.

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Emperor Ḥusain Shāh was a great patron of Bengali. Mālādhar Basu was appointed by him to translate the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa* into Bengali.² We also learn that he founded a college as a memorial to the famous saint Quṭbul 'Ālam, as will be found from the following extract:—

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² Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen's *Hist. of Bengali Litr.* (1911), pp. 14-12 and 222.

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"Amongst the numerous instances of his piety, he settled a grant of lands for the support of the tomb, college and hospital of the celebrated saint Quṭbul 'Ālam, which are continued to this day, and every year made a pilgrimage on foot from Akḍālā to Pāṇḍuyā to visit the holy shrine of the saint."³

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³ Stewart's *History of Bengal*, p. 113.

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There were ruins of a quadrangular building on the north bank of the Sāgar Dighī (a reservoir) in Gour, which are said to have been a madrasah probably built by Ḥusain Shāh. From the ruins it

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can be seen that the madrasah was of elegant shape and considerable size, and built of marble and granite different in character from those found in any other part of Gour.¹

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¹ Ravenshaw’s *Gour*, p. 34; and Blochmann’s contribution to *J.A.S.B.*, vol. xliii, pt. 1, p. 303.

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In his *Khurshīd-Jahān-Numāh*, Ilāhī Bakhsh-al-Ḥusainī mentions a madrasah in Ghūrāshāhīd, a quarter in Gour, in the neighbourhood of the residence of Ghulām Ḥusain, the well-known author of the *Riyāzul-Salāṭīn*.² An inscription ascribed to the madrasah mentions the founder as Ḥusain Shāh.³

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² *Khurshīd-Jahān-Numāh*, by Sayyid Ilāhī Bakhsh-al-Ḥusainī Āngrezābādī, MS. in ASB, pp. 130, 131. This madrasah is also mentioned in *Khurshīd-Jahān-Numāh* (translation of its fragments in *J.A.S.B.*, 1895, p. 198).

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³ The inscription is as follows :—" The Prophet (God’s blessings on him) has said, ‘Search after knowledge and if it were in China.’ This excellent Madrasah was ordered to be built by the great and generous King, the Sayyid of the Sayyids, the source of auspiciousness. . . . ’Alā’uddunyā Wauddīn Abul Muzaffar Ḥusain Shāh the King, the Ḥusainī—may God perpetuate his kingdom, for the teaching of the sciences of religion and instruction in those orders which alone are true . . . On the 1st Ramazān, 907 A.H. (10th March, 1502 A.D.)."—Ravenshaw’s *Gour*, p. 80.

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Parāgal Khān, a general of Ḥusain Shāh, and Parāgal’s son Chhuṭi Khān, have made themselves immortal by associating their names with the Bengali translation of a portion of the *Mahābhārata*.⁴

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⁴ Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen’s *Hist. of Bengali Lit.*, p. 12.

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Parāgal Khān used to invite his courtiers every evening to his palace at Parāgalpūr in Feni, to hear

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the recitation of the Bengali *Mahābhārata* by the translator Kavīndra Parameśvara. Under Parāgal, the epic was translated up to the *Strī Parva*, but Chhuṭi Khān, who succeeded Parāgal in the governorship of Chittagong, followed up the work by appointing a poet named Śrīkaraṇa Nandī, whom he ordered to translate the *Aśvamedha Parva*.

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Examples of Bengali translation of Sanskrit and Persian books at the instance of Musalmān chiefs are not rare. They served to remove the supercilious spirit in which Bengali was looked upon by the Sanskrit-loving Brāhmaṇas and the Hindu Rājās. The latter imitated the Muhammadan rulers and chiefs in giving their patronage to Bengali writers, and the institution of keeping "Bengali court-poets" grew into a fashion. Many distinguished Bengali poets and writers have since adorned the Courts of Hindu Rājās, which raised Bengali to a high place in the estimation of the people and made it a rival of the languages that had already established their footing.¹

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¹ Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen's *Hist. of Bengali Litr.*, p. 14.

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Nawāb Murshid Qulī Ja’far Khān (1704-25 A.D.) "possessed very extensive learning and paid great respect to men who were eminent for their piety or erudition : he wrote with great elegance, and was a remarkably fine penman."² Every morning

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² Stewart's *History of Bengal*, p. 408.

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he spent some time in copying the *Qur'ān*, so that every year he sent *Qur'āns* of his own writing with valuable offerings to Mecca, Medina and other holy places. "He maintained above two thousand readers, bards and chanters, who were constantly employed in reading the *Qur'ān* and in other acts of devotion."¹

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