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Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c15: Chapter I. The Mughal Dynasty

Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c15

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Contents

Chapter I. The Mughal Dynasty

I. Bābar

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BĀBAR had some of the sturdier qualities that characterized his ancestor Tīmūr; but he was more refined and accomplished than that monarch. The high encomiums showered by Mr. Erskine on this Sulṭān have not been misplaced:—

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“Upon the whole, if we review with impartiality the history of Asia, we shall find few princes who are entitled to rank higher than Bābar in genius and accomplishments. His grandson Akbar may perhaps be placed above him for profound and benevolent policy. The crooked artifice of Aurangzib is not entitled to the same distinction. The merit of Changīz Khān and Tamerlaine (Tīmūr-i-Lang) terminated in their splendid conquests, which far excelled the achievements of Bābar, but in activity of mind, in his gay equanimity and in the possession of manly and social virtues, we shall probably find no other Asiatic prince who can justly be placed beside him.”¹

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¹ Erskine’s *Memoirs of Bābar*, p. 432.

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To these qualities should, however, be added his literary accomplishments. He was a great scholar in Arabic, Persian and Turkī, and a fastidious critic.² He cultivated the art of poetry from his early years and is mentioned as the author

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² *Tūzaki-Bābarī*, Elliot iv, p. 219.

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of a collection of Turkī poems, many of which are quoted in his *Memoirs*. Abul Faẓl speaks of a Persian *Maṣnawī* of his composition, which had a large circulation. He was also the author of a work on prosody and a few other smaller books. But the greatest of all his works is his *Memoirs*,¹ written in the Turkish language.² He also transposed into poetry the work of Khwājah Aḥrār. He was an adept both in prose and verse, and his skill in music on which he wrote a treatise was also of a high order.³ Mīrzā Muḥammad Ḥaidar, the author of the *Tārīkhi-Rashīdī*, says—

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¹ *Bābar’s Memoirs* was translated into Persian by Khān Khānān at the instance of Akbar ; *vide* Mir’ātul-’Ālam MS. in the Boh. Coll., leaf 179.

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² Erskine’s *Memoirs of Bābar*, p. 431; also Ferishta vol. ii, pp. 61 and 65.

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³ *Ibid.*

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“In the composition of Turkī poetry he was second only to Amīr ’Alī Shīr. . . . He invented a style of verse called Mubaiyan, and was the author of a most useful treatise on Jurisprudence, which has been adopted generally. He also wrote a tract on Turkish prosody, superior in elegance to any other, and put into verse the Risālah-i-Walidīyah of his Holiness.”⁴

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⁴ Translation by E. D. Ross and N. Elias, pp. 173, 174. See also *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, vol. i, (Ranking), p. 449.

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We also learn from the *Tārīkhi-Muẓaffarī* that he versified a small religious tract written in honour of ’Ubaidullāh’s parents. He also composed a book on prosody, entitled *Mufaṣṣal*.⁵

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⁵ *Tārīkhi-Muẓaffarī*, by Muḥammad ’Alī Khān Anṣārī, MS. in ASB, pp. 14, 15.

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In 1504 A.D., he initiated a kind of handwriting called the Bābarī hand.¹ He indited a copy of the *Qur'ān* in that script and sent it to Mecca.²

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¹ Talbot's *Memoirs of Bābar*, p. 97.

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² *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, vol. i, (Ranking), p. 449.

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Regarding Bābar's education, Mr. Lanepoole says—

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“At the age of five the child (Bābar) was taken on a visit to Samarqand. . . . The next six years must have been spent in education and well spent, for he had little leisure (later on) to improve himself, and his remarkable attainments in the two languages he wrote imply steady application. Of his early training we hear nothing, but it is reasonable to suppose that an important part of it was due to the women of his family.”³

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³ Lanepoole's *Bābar*, p. 22; p. 30 mentions “Sk. Mazīd” as Bābar's tutor.

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A jovial man as he was, he used to hold frequent parties, in which extempore verses and recitations in Turkish and Persian often came as a ballast to the coarseness that at times tainted them. However, many literary men were his companions, and his *Memoirs* describes a party of literary men on a boat in which they and Bābar amused themselves by making verses.⁴

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⁴ Erskine's *Memoirs of Bābar*, p. 291.

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Some of the literary men who came into contact with Bābar and received reward and encouragement were Khundamīr, grandson of the illustrious Mīrkhund and the author of the *Ḥabībul-Siyar*, Maulānā Shahābuddīn the enigmatist, and Mīrzā Ibrāhīm of Hirāt. They were directed by the

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Sultān to live at his court. Khundamīr had to leave Hirāt owing to troubles raging there, and came to Hindustan, where he was introduced to Emperor Bābar at Agra. He accompanied the Emperor to Bengal in his expedition, and upon his death was favoured by Humāyūn, in whose name he wrote the *Qānūni-Humāyūn*, quoted by Abul Fazl in the *Akbar-Nāmah*. He accompanied Humāyūn to Gujrāt, where he died (1534-35 A.D.), and his body was buried in Delhi by the side of Nizāmuddīn Auliyā and Amīr Khusrau.¹

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¹ Elliot iv, pp. 141, 143. ² Ibid. ³ *Bābar's Memoirs*, p. 333 (or Talbot's *Memoirs of Bābar*, p. 190).

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In his early career as an author, he had been much helped by the learned minister of Sultān Ḥusain of Hirāt, who collected a valuable library of the most esteemed works of the time, and placed him in charge of it.²

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However great might be the reputation of Bābar's *Memoirs* for accuracy of statement, it certainly fails in this respect, when it says that *Hindustan had no college in it*. The passage runs thus: "The people of Hindustan have no good horses, no good flesh, no grapes or musk-melons, no good fruits, no ice or cold water, no good food or bread in their bāzārs, no baths or colleges, no candles, no torches, not a candle-stick." The statement will, of course, be taken for what it is worth.³

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Regarding the Hindu astronomical science as cultivated in India, and the calculations made under it, Bābar makes the following remarks in his *Memoirs* in connection with the observatory which existed at that time in Samarqand, the calculations of which were followed by the Muhammadans in India.

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“By means of this observatory, Ulugh Beg Mīrzā composed the Kūrkānī Astronomical Tables, which are followed at the present time, scarcely any other being used. Before they were published, the Īlkhānī Astronomical Tables were in general use, constructed by Khwājah Naṣr in the time of Halākū, in an observatory built at Marāgha. Halākū Khān was also denominated Īlkhānī. Not more than seven or eight observatories have been constructed in the world. Among these, one was erected by Khalīf Māmūn, in which the Astronomical Tables entitled ‘Zīch Māmūnī’ were drawn up. Another was built by Baṭlmīūs (Ptolemy). Another was the observatory erected in Hindustan in the time of Rājah Vikramājit, a Hindu, in Ujjain and Dhar in the kingdom of Mālwa, now known as the kingdom of Mandu. The Hindus still follow the Tables that were then constructed. These Tables are, however, more imperfect than any of the others. Since the building of that observatory till the present time is 1584 years.” ¹

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¹ Erskine’s *Memoirs of Bābar*, pp. 50, 51. The task of framing the Tables was given by Ulugh Beg Mīrzā first to Qāẓīzādah Rūmī, and on his death to Maulānā Ghiyāṣuddīn Jamshīd, and then to Ibn ’Alī Muḥammad Koshjī.

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Ghāzī Khān, the Afghān noble of the Punjāb, who invited Bābar to deliver the Afghāns from the Emperor Ibrāhīm, had a good library, containing a number of valuable books. Bābar imprisoned him for treachery, and after his escape, examined the library in 1525 A.D., and sent some of its books to

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Humāyūn and Kāmrān for their use. The library had in it a few theological books which also attracted the notice of the Sulṭān. However, Bābar was not satisfied with the collection, for says he: "I did not on the whole find so many books of value as, from their appearance, I had expected."¹

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¹ Talbot's *Memoirs of Bābar*, p. 176; also *Tazkiratul-Salāṭīn*, MS. in Boh. Coll., leaf 104.

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The practice of making a book more lucid and interesting by the insertion of illustrations in it, is at least as old in Muhammadan India as the time of Bābar. His *Memoirs* was embellished with coloured representations of animals described therein, which formed an attractive feature of the book. Jahāngīr, however, finds fault with them, for most probably the painters did not draw them from life. This defect he avoided in his own *Jahāngīr-Nāmah*.²

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² *Wāqi'āti-Jahāngīrī*, Elliot vi, p. 331.

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Bābar was interested in painting and took with him to India all the specimens he could collect from the library of his ancestors (the Timurides), some of which were taken back to Persia by Nādir Shāh after the conquest of Delhi. These manuscripts exercised the greatest influence on the art of India.³

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³ Martin's *Miniature Painting and Painters of India, Persia and Turkey*, vol. i, p. 79.

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We learn from the *Tawārīkh* of Sayyid Maqbar 'Alī, a minister of Bābar, that the Public Works

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Department (Shuhrati 'Ām) of the time, which continued through the reigns of the succeeding Mughal emperors, was entrusted, among other duties, with that of conducting postal service, *the publication of a Gazette*, and the building of *schools and colleges*. That the educational works received attention of Government, appears from their being made into an item of duty of a state department.¹

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¹ G. Śāstrī's article in the *Navya Bhārata*, 1305 B.S., p. 71.

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Of the learned men of Bābar's time may be mentioned Shaikh Zain Khwāfī, who translated the *Wāqi'āti-Bābarī*, Maulānā Baqā'ī and Maulānā Shahābuddīn, the enigmatist.²

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² *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, vol. i, (Ranking), p. 449; A.N., I., pp. 280 ff,

2. Humāyūn

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Humāyūn followed up the traditions of his father and used to spend his time in social intercourse and amusements, in State duties and studies. *He loved to study astronomy and geography, and wrote dissertations on the nature of the elements. For his own use, he caused to be constructed both terrestrial and celestial globes.*³ He was fond of

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³ Ferishta vol. ii, pp. 70, 71; *Tārikhi-Akbarī*, MS. in ASB, leaf 19; *Tārikhi-Salātīni-Afaghinah*, MS. in ASB, by Aḥmad Yādgār, leaf 208; Abūl Faẓl, in his *Akbar-Nāmah*, vol. i, p. 287 (Beveridge), says: "His noble nature was marked by the combination of the energy of Alexander and the learning of Aristotle."

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the company of learned men, poets and philosophers, and used to discuss literary subjects with them. He was fond of poetry, and himself composed good verses.¹

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¹ *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, vol. i, (Ranking), p. 602; *Ferishta* vol. ii, pp. 178-180.

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When Humāyūn was four years, four months and four days old, a ceremony was gone through for celebrating the occasion of his being first put under tutors. The child Sulṭān was seated in the school-house and formally made over to the care of the tutors.² *Shāh-Jahān-Nāmah* calls it "maktab ceremony."³

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² *Tazkiratul-Salātīn*, MS. in Boh. Coll., vol. i, leaf 169.

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³ *Shāh-Jahān-Nāmah*, MS. in ASB, leaf 45. The ceremony looks very much like the *Hāte Khaṛi* (হাতে খড়ি) of the Hindus.

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Mr. L. F. Smith saw this ceremony in 1801 among the Muhammadans in N.W.P., and in a letter, gives the following details of the same:— "When the boy is four years, four months, four days old, for him a silver slate is made, and they write on it the Sūrahi-Iqra', a chapter of the *Qur'ān*, and make him repeat it; at this time, a master is kept for him."⁴

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⁴ L. F. Smith's Appendix to *Chahār Darwīsh*, p. 253.

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This Sulṭān was fond of magnificence in his court, and made classifications of the inhabitants of his empire, created gradations of rank, built several halls for the receptions of the separate classes, and had fixed days for giving them

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audience. In this arrangement it is interesting to notice how the literary men were treated, and what place was assigned to them.

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The people of his empire were divided into three classes:—

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(i) The holy men, the *literati*, the law-officers and scientists formed a class called Ahli-Sa’ādat, because to associate with such men, to honour and regard them would bring eternal prosperity.

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(ii) The relations of the Sulṭān, the nobles and ministers as well as the military, formed the group called Ahli-Daulat, for no wealth could be attained without them.

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(iii) Those who possessed beauty and elegance, were young and lovely, as also the musicians and singers, formed another class to which the appellation of Ahli-Murād (people of pleasure) was given.¹

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¹ *Humāyūn-Nāmah*, Elliot v, pp. 119, 120.

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The king also divided the days of the week and appointed two days for each of these three classes. Saturdays and Thursdays were allotted to class (i), the reason being that Saturday is ascribed to Saturn, and Thursday to Jupiter—the planets that protect and preserve the men comprised in the class. Sundays and Tuesdays were fixed for class (ii), for Sunday belongs to the Sun, to which is attached the fate of all rulers, and

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Tuesday to Mars, the patron of warriors and brave men. Mondays and Wednesdays were set apart for class (iii), because Monday is the day of the Moon and Wednesday of Mercury, and it was thought reasonable that the king should keep company on those days with “young men beautiful as the moon, and hear sweet songs and delightful music.”

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On Fridays, as the name (Jamu’ah) signifies, he called together all the three classes, and sat with them as long as his leisure allowed.¹

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¹ *Humāyūn-Nāmah*, Elliot v, pp. 121, 122.

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The above three classes do not show the place that men of letters occupied in his estimation, but the subdivisions that he introduced leave no doubt on the point. He distributed arrows of gold with different proportions of alloy to indicate the ranks of their possessors. The three classes were divided into twelve sub-classes of *Arrows*. The twelfth arrow, which was made of the purest gold, was put in the quiver of the king himself, giving him the highest rank. The eleventh arrow belonged to His Majesty’s relations and all the “Sulṭans” in the government employ. The tenth to the *learned* and religious, the ninth to the great nobles, the eighth to the courtiers and some of the king’s personal attendants, the seventh to the attendants in general, the sixth to the harems and well-behaved female

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attendants, the fifth to young maid-servants, the fourth to the treasurers and stewards, the third to the soldiers, the second to the menial servants, and the first to the palace-guards, camel-drivers and the like.

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Each of these *arrows* or orders had, moreover, three grades, the highest, the middle and the lowest.¹

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¹ *Humāyūn-Nāmah*, Elliot v, p. 123.

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Ferishta records that the Sulṭān built seven halls of audience, in which he received distinct classes of persons. The seven halls were respectively named after the seven planets. In the Palace of the Moon he gave audience to travellers, ambassadors, etc. The Palace of 'Utārid or Mercury was for civil officers, and so on. *The learned men were received in the Saturn and Jupiter halls.* He gave public audience according to the planet of the day, and the furniture and paintings, as also the dresses of the attendants, bore symbols emblematic of the planet. In each of these palaces he transacted business one day in the week by rotation.²

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² *Ferishta* vol. ii, p. 71. Briggs' note: "Among the Hindus, cities are usually subdivided into *puras* (wards) called after each day of the week, by which markets are regulated and equally distributed throughout the town; palaces sometimes derive their names from these wards." N.K.T. does not mention seven halls, but seven receptions.

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Mīr 'Abdul Laṭīf, the author of the *Lubbul-Tawārīkh*, was invited by the Sulṭān, but he

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reached the royal court after Humāyūn’s death. As he was a great philosopher, theologian and historian, he was appointed a preceptor to Akbar in the second year of his reign.¹

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¹ Elliot iv, p. 294.

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The distinguished Persian historian, Khundamīr, who died in the Emperor’s camp in Gujrāt, was one of his literary associates.

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Jauhar, the well-known author of the *Tazkiratul-Wāqi’āt* (*Private Memoirs of Humāyūn*) was a menial servant of the Emperor, in which position he had the opportunity of observing all that he recorded.²

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² Elliot v, p. 136.

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Humāyūn was fond of books, and even during expedition carried a select library with him. While fleeing as a fugitive, Count Noer says, he took with him his librarian and a few of his favourite books.³ While he was encamped at Cambay he had with him several books, among which was a remarkable copy of the *History of Tamerlane*, which was taken away by a body of Qulis, a forest tribe, in a night attack upon his camp. This book, however, was subsequently recovered.⁴ Niẓām, father of Lāla Beg, styled Bāz Bahādur, was a librarian to the Sulṭān.⁵

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³ Noer’s *Akbar*, p. 136 (transl. by Annette S. Beveridge)

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⁴ Elphinstone, vol. ii, p. 126 (ed. 1841). *Tazkiratul-Salātīn*, MS. in Boh. Coll., vol. i, leaf 125, adds that the *Tīmūr-Nāmah* was copied by one Mullā Sulṭān ’Alī; *Akbar-Nāmah*, vol. i, p. 309 (Beveridge), informs us that it was illustrated by Ustād Bihzād.

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⁵ *Tūzaki-Jahāngīrī*, by Rogers and Beveridge, p. 21.

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[Figure: Humāyūn’s Library (the two-storied stone building in the middle).

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Humāyūn’s literary turn of mind is further manifested by the use he made of the Shīr Manḍal. It was built by Shīr Shāh in the Purāna Qil’ah, and used as a house of pleasure. But when Humāyūn came to the throne of Delhi the second time, he transformed it into a library. It was here that he met with his death.

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“One day,” says the author of the *Siyarul-Mutaakhkhirīn*, “there was a conjecture that Venus would rise somewhat later. In the evening, in order that he (Humāyūn) might see that planet,¹ he went on the top of the roof of his library. There, standing for a moment, he wished to descend. The *mu’azzan* called to prayers. Humāyūn, in order to show respect to the *azān*, desired to sit down on the second step. The steps of the staircase, by reason of their cleanliness, were very slippery. The ferrule of his staff slipped, and Humāyūn, falling headlong, rolled downstairs on to the ground.² His limbs and joints were much hurt, and the right side of his head received a great blow. He became altogether insensible”³ and died some time after (Jan. 1556 A.D.).

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¹ Sayyid Aḥmad (Garcin’s Transl., p. 129) confirms the story, but Ferishta differs, and says that the Emperor went there for an airing. See also *Ferishta* vol. ii, pp. 177, 178. Hearn says, “His death was due to his astrological studies. One evening he was told that Venus ought to be visible, and he determined, if he saw the planet, to promote certain nobles, as it would be fortunate to do so.”—Hearn’s *Seven Cities of Delhi*, p. 218.

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² The fact of Humāyūn’s “rolling downstairs on to the ground” has been taken as improbable by some writers, *e.g.* Elphinstone, Marshman, etc., though that is the story told by Ferishta, *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, *Ṭabaqāt-i-Akbarī*, *Mir’ātul-’Ālam*, *Shāh-Jahān-Nāmah*, *etc.* That Humāyūn fell headlong over the parapet is taken by them as more likely.

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³ *Siyarul-Mutaakhkhirīn*, as quoted in C. Stephen’s *Archaeology of Delhi*, p. 194.

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We hear of a madrasah built by Humāyūn

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at Delhi, of which Shaikh Ḥusain was a professor.¹

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¹ Blochmann’s *Ā’īn-i-Akbarī*, vol. i, p. 538.

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Shaikh Zainuddīn Khāfī, who "was unapproachable in his age in the construction of enigmas and chronograms, in extempore versification and in all the *minutiae* of poetry and prose," died in 1534 A.D. near Chinhar (Chunar), and was buried within the precincts of a college founded by him.² *A school was built on the side of the Jumna, opposite to Agra, to perpetuate his memory.*³ These are two examples of educational institutions founded by private individuals during Humāyūn’s reign.

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² *Muntakhabul-Tawārīkh*, vol. i, (Ranking), pp. 610, 611.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 610.

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It is not generally known that the famous Humāyūn’s Tomb, in the vicinity of New Delhi, *was at one time used as a place of instruction.* That it has not always been a mere tenement beautiful and imposing for sheltering the sarcophagus of the Emperor, and that it housed a madrasah in its bosom, fulfilling a task in addition to the one for which it was built, is testified to by C. Stephen :—

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"The college, which is on the roof of the tomb, was at one time an institution of some importance, and men of learning and influence used to be appointed to the charge of the place. It has, however, long ceased to maintain its reputation, and for the last 150

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[Figure: Humāyūn’s Tomb, which housed a Madrasah.

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[The page is blank]

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years, the once probably well-filled rooms have been completely abandoned."¹

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¹ C. Stephen's *Archaeology of Delhi*, p. 207; also Fanshawe's *Delhi Past and Present*, p. 232: "On the top of the building, round the drum below the dome, are a number of rooms and pavilions once occupied by a college attached to the mausoleum, and reminding one of the colony of St. Peter's Dome."

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