Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c19.s1: I. Bahādur Shāh (1707–1712)
Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c19.s1
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I. Bahādur Shāh (1707–1712)
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THE glory of the Muhammadan rule began to decline with the death of Aurangzib. Works of public utility of Emperors and private individuals became few and fewer since Bahādur Shāh came to the throne. He was well-educated and fond of the society of learned men;¹ yet during his reign we have two instances of colleges being established in Delhi. The first was the college founded by Ghāzīuddīn, and the second by Khān Fīrūz Jang who was buried in his own madrasah in 1120 A.H. (1711 A.D.).² Ghāzīuddīn, the father of Āṣaf Jāh the founder of the Niẓām Dynasty in the Deccan, was a favourite officer of Aurangzib and was one of the principal *Amīrs* in the court of Bahādur Shāh. Near the Ajmere Gate of Delhi, he constructed a college and also his own mausoleum and a mosque—all situated within the same enclosure. These نواب غازی الدین خان کی مدرسہ
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¹ *Zubdatul-Tawārīkh*, by 'Abdul Karīm, p. 70.
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² *Mir'āti-Aḥmadī*, vol. i, p. 410.
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Nawāb Ghāziuddīn’s Madrasah. (From Āṣārul-Ṣanādīd.)
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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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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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[Figure: Nawāb Ghāziuddin’s Tomb, to which his Madrasah is attached.
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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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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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superb structures were originally outside Shāh-Jahānābād, but were included within the modern Delhi when the walls were repaired by the British Government in 1803. A handsome gateway leads into the enclosure. There are arched rooms in the outer wall of the gateway which are supposed to have been the kitchen of the students of the madrasah. The college was closed in 1793 for want of funds.¹ The college, the mausoleum and the mosque of Ghāzīuddīn within the same enclosure form one of the few remaining specimens of religious endowment similar to those of the middle ages in Europe, combining in one spot a place of worship, a tomb of the founder, and a residence and place of instruction for those who were to have charge of them,—all built during his lifetime.² The college is now uninhabited.³
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¹ Stephen's *Archaeology of Delhi*, p. 264; Hearn's *Seven Cities of Delhi*, p. 44; Francklin's *Shāh 'Alam*, p. 200.
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² Fanshawe's *Delhi Past and Present*, p. 64.
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³ Francklin's *Shāh 'Alam*, p. 200.
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During the reign of this monarch, another college existed at Qanauj. This madrasah was called Fakhrul-Marābi'. Maulawī 'Alimuddīn and Maulawī Na'īmuddīn completed their education in this institution.⁴ This madrasah should not be confounded with the one of almost the same name, viz. Fakhrul-Marābi' Rub'ul Mafākhir, which was
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⁴ *Tārīkhi-Farrukhābādī*, MS. in ASB, leaf 227.
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founded afterwards in Farrukhābād by Muḥammad Walī-ullāh, the author of the *Tārīkhi-Farrukhābādī*.¹
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¹ *Tārīkhi-Farrukhābādī*, MS. in ASB, leaf 295.