HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Graduat e School of Arts and Sciences

DISSERTATION ACCEPTANCE CERTIFICATE
The undersigned, appointed by the
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
have examined a dissertation entitled
Symbols of Authority:
Religion, Islamic Legitimacy, and Historiography of the Sultans of Delhi
presented by Blain Howard Auer
candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and hereby
certify that it is worthy of acceptance.
Signature \
Typed name: Prof. Ali Asani (Advisor)
Signature j "W--^ ( A / ^ d / p ^ Wp L - ^
Typed name: Prof. Roy Mottahedeh
Signature \y^wJ| \ U c^i A*^
c %
Typed name: Prof. Sunil Sharma
Date: March 10, 2009
Symbols of Authority:
Religion, Islamic Legitimacy, and Historiography of the Sultans
of Delhi
A dissertation presented by
Blain Howard Auer
to
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the subject of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
February 2009
UMI Number: 3365503
INFORMATION TO USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy
submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations
and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper
alignment can adversely affect reproduction.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized
copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

UMI
UMI Microform 3365503
Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
ProQuest LLC
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346
2009 - Blain H. Auer
All rights reserved.
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Ali Asani Blain H. Auer
Symbols of Authority: Religion, Islamic Legitimacy and Historiography of the Sultans of
Delhi
Abstract
This dissertation explores the intersections between religion, Islamic legitimacy,
and historiography. It investigates the ways Muslim historians, living in India during a
dynamic and conflictual age, attempted to narrate the religious and ethical values of
Muslim courts and their sovereigns through the creative process of history writing.
The period I explore spans the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries,
a time when the history of Muslim communities takes a dramatic turn, ushering in an age
of wide-ranging social change. Significantly, it marks the first sustained political,
military, and cultural presence of Turko-Persian speaking Muslims in North India. With
the establishment of Muslim courts at Delhi, the sultans who ruled from there initiated a
process of empire building that eventually spread across the entirety of the Indian
subcontinent. While their political expansions were achieved through diplomacy, forged
alliances, and the sheer force of military arms, those gains were sustained by the careful
projection of Islamic religious symbols that legitimated their rule.
To propagate an ideology of imperialism the sultans of Delhi patronized history
writing. Historians of the Delhi Sultanate utilized historiography as a mode of
representation to legitimate the conquests of their patrons and demonstrate their affinity,
equality, and superiority to the exemplary religious figures of Islamic history. To
accomplish this, historians aligned the history of the sultans of Delhi with an idealized
and universal history of Islam. In the process, Islam was interpreted and projected as a
religion of empire with the mandate of divine guidance.
- iii -
The primary question that motivates this study is how did historians articulate
paradigmatic notions of religious and political authority in India through historiography?
By looking at historiography as a mode of representation this study seeks new avenues
for the interpretation of Islamic history writing. It approaches history writing as historical
consciousness shaped by religious and literary imaginations and offers new perspectives
on conceptions of political authority exemplified by pre-Islamic prophets, Muhammad,
the early caliphs, the friends of God, and sultans. By doing so it reveals the processes by
which ideologies of Islamic authority were reinvented and reinterpreted in the context of
India.
This work proposes to be the first monograph that applies readings of Qur'anic
exegesis, hadlth, stories of the prophets, sacred biography, and legal texts to
historiography of the Delhi Sultanate for a fuller and more complex understanding of the
forms of religious representation. By highlighting the Islamic ideals of religious and
political authority, this work furthers scholarship in a multidisciplinary way, in the fields
of religion, history, and Islamic studies.
- iv -
Table of Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: Religious Shapings of History 1
Delhi at the Center of Islamic Authority 7
Making the Image of the Sultan 8
The Makers of History 10
The Critique of History 14
The Triptych of Indo-Persian Historiography 21
Chapter One: Pre-Islamic Prophetic Paradigms in Indo-Persian Historiography 29
The Flood of Noah and the Origins of Indo-Persian Historiography 29
Moses and Miracles in the Representation of the Sultans of India 34
Historical Method and the Polemics of History in the Figure of Abraham 41
The Joseph Paradigm in the Example of the Sultan 46
The Structure of Universal Histories and Legitimacy 49
The Slave Becomes King: The Story of Joseph and the Legitimacy of Mamluk Rule..52
Putting the Story (Qissa) Back Into History 56
Joseph and the Just King 57
Prophetic Example as Advice and Warning to Sultans 59
Chapter Two: The Sultan of Prophets: Muhammad's Example as the Perfect Ruler 64
Patronage and the Prophetic Image of Muhammad 65
The Seal of Prophets and the Seal of Kings 67
Two Worlds: The Piety of the Sultan on the Model of Muhammad 76
Hadith and History: Traditionalism in Delhi Sultanate Historiography 83
The History of Historiography in the Eyes of the Delhi Sultanate 88
Activity of the Sultan on the Model of the Prophet Muhammad 92
The Footprint of the Prophet and the Location of Muslim Authority in South Asia... 103
Chapter Three: Historiographic Images of the Friends of God in the Lives of Sultans ..108
Historiography and Sacred Biography 108
Theology and Historiography: The Quran and the Protection of the Friends of God 113
- v -
From Theology to Historiography: The Concept of Walayah 118
Encounters with the Friends of God: Origins of Rule and Legitimating Sufi Narratives
125
Between Social History and Sacred Biography 132
My House has Two Doors 134
Pilgrimage and Sacred Geography in the Imperial Realm 138
The Historiographic Transformation of the Sultan into the Shaykh 144
Chapter Four: Caliphal Authority and Representation in the Delhi Sultanate 151
Ideologies of Caliphal and Sultanic Legitimacy in Historical Context 151
Caliphal Investiture and the Delhi Sultans 156
Styles of Legitimacy: Sultanic Titles in Historiography of the Delhi Sultanate 168
The Four Friends of the Chosen One: Caliphal Example and the Rashidun 182
Chapter Five: SharTah and Justice in Historiography of the Delhi Sultanate 194
Religious Authority and Kingly Power 197
Concepts of Punishment (Siydsa) 203
Rebellion and Execution 208
Historiographic Images of the Ignorant King 216
Historiographic Images of the SharVah King 218
Justice, Punishment, and Impartiality 224
The Cases for Capital Punishment under Firuz Shah's Clemency 227
"An Hour of Justice" 230
Conclusion 235
Bibliography 242
- vi -
Preface
At times tracing the narratives found in Islamic historiography is like
documenting from the work of Jorge Luis Borges. This struck me as I thumbed through
the pages of Borges' first collection of short stories evocatively titled Historia universal
de la infamia. I was particularly captivated by the title because it appears, on the surface,
to deal with "historical" subjects. Being a scholar of Islam I was drawn to the story
"Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv" for the nearly cinematic way it exudes Islamic
resonances.
1
Most unusual of all is the form this story takes. Expecting something that
would fall into the genres of short story or history as I understand them, my literary
expectations were derailed by finding Borges writing a biographical or encyclopedic
entry, something akin to what you might find in the Encyclopedia Britannica or the
Encyclopaedia of Islam.
I was further knocked off the road of expectations by the way Borges fronts his
scholarship and erudition. Borges begins his biographical sketch scrupulously detailing
the Arabic textual sources utilized to revive the life of the mysterious figure of Hakim. Of
those sources he lists The History of Caliphs by Baladhuri, the Manual of the Giant, or
Book of Precision and Revision by the
c
Abbasid historian Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur, and an
Arabic codex titled Annihilation of the Rose. Aside from experiencing a slight touch of
guarded curiosity about these works, I must admit I did not pay much attention to them at
first. Upon a second reading, I found I could not so easily skip past them without doing a
little investigating of my own. That was when I found the cause of my initial skeptical
For actual sources on the figure of Hakim the "veiled prophet" see 72, s.v. "al-Muqanna
c
" (Ed). Also
see Julie Scott Meisami, Persian Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century, Islamic Surveys
(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999), 32-33, 75, 197.
- vii -
twinge. None of these sources are actually historical.
2
When I stepped beyond my briefly
lived shock, bewilderment, and amusement, I came to understand Borges' intention.
Behind Borges' literary deception that subverts the lines between fact and fiction is a
simple but elegant point, that history itself is an act of writing.
This point was further driven home to me by a narrative of Amir Khusraw, an
author who, in fanciful fashion, could be considered the Borges of a different time and
place. Indisputably one of the greatest "Persian" authors of the seventh/thirteenth and
eighth/fourteenth centuries ("Persian" in the sense he wrote in Persian and "Indian" in
the sense of his place of birth), Amir Khusraw produced some of the most enduring
literary masterpieces of his era. The story that drew my attention to the meaning of
"history" comes from his work "The Nine Spheres" (Nuh Sipihr).
3
In it Amir Khusraw
documents Adam's first days on earth which were spent, not incidentally, in India, a land
Khusraw identifies as Paradise (jannah). According to Amir Khusraw one of the proofs
(s. hujjah), demonstrated with delightfully circular logic, that India was akin to Paradise
is that it was Adam's first abode on earth. From this genesis he narrates the events of
Adam's departure from India saying -
On this new journey he travelled for two or three days,
and had no food until he was within the borders of Syria.
The delicacies of Paradise which filled his stomach,
poured out onto that barren country.
That which flowed out from him came down,
and rose up like a tall mountain.
This would not come as a surprise or be a matter of concern to those familiar with Borges' narrative
technique. However, my suspicions of the dubious nature of Borges' sources were so utterly confounded by
his clever mixing of fact and fiction that I had to confirm them with an admittance of the author himself.
For the suspicions perked by Borges' Hakim and his literary confession see Norman Thomas Di Giovanni,
The Lesson of the Master: On Borges and his Work (New York: Continuum, 2003), 128-30.
Amir Khusraw's work frequently straddled the line between history and story. This fact has confounded
both historians and scholars of comparative literature.
- viii -
It became the fertile lands (ghutah) of Damascus,
as is known by everyone since that time.
Even though it was the delicacies of Paradise,
it did not fall in the land of India.
There is no doubt that it is a second Paradise,
it would have been bad to leave such a fermenting sign.
If all India were not a Paradise,
then why not let that burden fall within its bounds?
4
Permit me to overlook the humorous effect of this narrative for the moment to
focus on what I realized following my reading of Amir Khusraw. In his mythological
retelling of Adam's first days on earth, Khusraw hoped to convey something special to
his readers about his understanding of India. India is Paradise on earth and as such it
cannot be denied a central place in the sacred history of Islam, a place that had been
claimed by Arabs (remembering that Khusraw was just about as far from being Arab that
a Muslim could be for his time and place). The struggle over history is more about
meaning and narrative than fact. Amir Khusraw understands the centrality and originality
of India's place in Islamic history. This is of consequence to any "historical" reading of
the subcontinent of the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries.
What I discovered in Khusraw's retelling of sacred history was that the problem
of fact and fiction was not a problem at all; it was rather a problem of history or at least a
particular understanding of history. The confluence of discoveries brought on by an
unexpected reading of Borges and Khusraw ultimately instigated my inquiries into the
Amir Khusraw, Masnavl-yi Nuh Sipihr, ed. Mohammad Wahid Mirza (Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press,
1948), 154. Unless noted all translations are mine.
- IX -
relationship between religion, history, and historiography. These inquiries led to a fuller
understanding of what Hayden White meant by the "fictions of factual representation."
5
See Hayden White, "The Fictions of Factual Representation," in The Literature of Fact: Selected Papers
from the English Institute, ed. Angus Fletcher (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), 21-44.
- x -
Acknowledgments
After having reached the end of a long road of research and writing it is a great
pleasure to look back and acknowledge those who have made the journey less arduous
and in some cases, dare I say, pleasurable. First, I would like to show my deep
appreciation to Ali Asani who has closely supported and overseen this project from start
to finish. His comments to the early drafts of this work proved invaluable for conceiving
of the Delhi Sultanate within the broadest contexts of the Islamic world. I would like to
thank Sunil Sharma for adding his specialist eye of the Delhi Sultanate which I believe
gave the project a richer contextual flavor. He also proved invaluable when it came to
questions of Persian in the original texts. It was a great pleasure to have had discussions
with Cemal Kafadar who brought an indescribable quality of insight to his reading of my
early chapters. Finally, I want to thank Roy Mottahedeh whose depth of knowledge has
been a continuing reminder to look deeper into each question that arises along the way.
During my time at Harvard University I also had the great pleasure to work with a
number of scholars who deeply influenced my way of thinking about the study of
religion. David Carrasco was a constant source of inspiration and support. His seminar on
themes in the study of religion led me to look at religion in a new way. Kimberley Patton
broadened my perspective on comparison and was instrumental by teaching me the
meaning of furta sacra. Finally, it is a great pleasure to acknowledge Baber Johansen
who opened the doors of Islamic law for me and demonstrated an erudition that I have
found unparalleled.
In addition to those individuals there are a number of friends and colleagues who
have shared their valuable time and energy commenting on various portions of this work,
- xi -
and wittingly or unwittingly influenced it along the way to its conclusion. Recep Guptas
was very helpful in the area of hadlth scholarship and his comments and suggestions
proved invaluable. Christian Lange raised my awareness to questions of punishment and
provided incisive criticism in important areas. Travis Zadeh added useful comments and
sparked my imagination through conversations about wonders. A major thanks goes to
one of my oldest friends, Phong Tran, who applied his refined librarian's skills to realign
each crooked punctuation mark, jumbled phrase, and misplaced word.
Along the way there were a number of individuals who showed friendship and
support that I would like to mentionGreg White, Supriya Gandhi, Martin Nguyen,
Aliya Iqbal, Charles Stang, Licsi Szatmari, Luis Giron-Negron, Eric Beverley, Mana Kia,
Chanchal Dadlani, Michael Grossman, Dan Sheffield, and Hussein Rashid.
Finally, none of this would have been possible without the support of family. I
would particularly like to thank my mother-in-law, Linda Matthews, for flying out from
Sheboygan on numerous occasions to provide me with precious uninterrupted writing
time, following the birth of our daughter Camilla. A special thanks goes to Camilla for
stoking the fires of motivation higher and higher as the day of her arrival approached.
Lastly, my deepest appreciation goes to my wife, Amy, for her unwavering support,
unbounded optimism, and loving affection. Without her, the frequent late nights and early
mornings of writing and research would have all seemed mere drudgery.
- xn -
List of Abbreviations
EI2 The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Leiden: Brill, 1954-2004.
EI3 The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Leiden: Brill, 2007-
Elr Encyclopaedia Iranica, London: Routledge, 1982-
EQ The Encyclopaedia of the Qur
3
an, Leiden: Brill, 2001-2006.
ER The Encyclopedia of Religion, Detroit: Macmillan, 2005.
FJ Barani, Ziya
0
al-DIn. Fatava-yi Jahdndarl. Edited by Afsar Salim Khan. 1st ed.
Vol. 25, Intisharat-i Idarah-'i Tahqiqat-i Pakistan. Lahore: Research Society of
Pakistan, 1972.
KM Hujviri,
C
AH ibn
c
Usman . Kashf al-mahjub. Edited by V. A. Zhukovskii. 8 ed.
Vol. 89, Zaban va farhang-i Iran. Tehran: Tahuri, 1381.
TFS
c
Afif, Shams Siraj. Tarlkh-i Flruz Shahi. Edited by Vilayat Husayn. Vol. 119,
Bibliotheca Indica. Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1888.
TFS Barani, Ziya
D
al-DIn. Tarikh-i Flruz Shahi. Edited by Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Vol.
33, Bibliotheca Indica. Calcutta, 1862.
TN Juzjani, Minhaj Siraj. Tabaqat-i Nasirl. Edited by 'Abd al-Hayy Habibi. 2nd ed. 2
vols. Kabul: Anjuman-i Tarlkh-i Afghanistan, 1342-1343.
- xin -
Introduction: Religious Shapings of History
It is often remarked that history writing was a development of the rise of Islam as
there was no historiography in Arab societies prior to it.
1
This development is widely
credited to the Qur'anic sense of linear time and the meaning of history as a record of the
cumulative development and fulfillment of God's will, though it can be overstated when
one considers the backdrop of Byzantine and Sasanid modes of historiography.
2
In a
theological and absolute sense "Islam and history are coeval."
3
The purposeful time
imprint of the Quran is meant to demonstrate the interconnectedness of past action and
future event -
The Qur
D
an expounded a serious conception of the past, called attention to
the limitations of the Arabs' earlier recollections, and traced history back
to the beginnings of Creation. The Qur
3
an stressed the lessons and
warnings provided by the history of bygone times, and recalled the
experiences of past nations and peoples in order to emphasize the spiritual
and ethical precepts they involved.
4
In his study of Islamic historiography H. A. R. Gibb says that "the beginnings of scientific history in
Arabic are associated with the study of the life and activities of the Prophet." Hamilton A. R. Gibb,
"Tarikh," in Studies on the Civilization of Islam, ed. Stanford Shaw and William Polk (Boston: Beacon
Press, 1962), 111. Equally Chase Robinson writes in his own study of origins, "The rise of the
historiographic tradition is thus related to the rise of Islam." Chase F. Robinson, Islamic Historiography,
Themes in Islamic History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 13.
2
For an overview of the relationship between history and the Qur'an and the Qur'anic influence on
historiography see EQ, s.v. "History and the Qur'an" (F. Rozenthal). For a discussion of some of the
problems in understanding the relationship between the Qur'an and historiography see Angelika Neuwirth,
"Qur'an and History - A Disputed Relationship Some Reflections on Qur'anic History and History in the
Qur'an," Journal of Qur'anic Studies 5, no. 1 (2003): 1-18. For the theological and philosophical
dimensions of the Qur'anic vision of time see Gerhard Bowering, "The Concept of Time in Islam,"
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 141, no. 1 (1997): 55-66.
See Tarif Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period, ed. David Morgan, Cambridge
Studies in Islamic Civilization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 8.
c
Abd al-
c
Aziz Duri, The Rise of Historical Writing among the Arabs, ed. Lawrence I. Conrad, Modern
Classics in Near Eastern Studies (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), 20.
- 1 -
From the very beginnings of the historiographic enterprise of Islamic societies
historians put to use Qur'anic themes and motifs in their literary endeavors.
5
Qur
3
anic
narrative was an interpretive lens in the understanding of historical action, and it became
one of the most powerful arguments for the didactic purpose of history writing. In order
to underpin their histories with the Qur
D
anic ethos of morality and eschatology, historians
copiously adorned their narratives with direct quotation and indirect reference from the
Quran. This is demonstrated by the profusion of Qur'anic passages that punctuate the
pages of history.
To this end the Quran played a central role in the stylistics and symbolism of
Indo-Persian historiography. The frequent use of the Quran demonstrates that their
historical method was in certain ways more informed by an exegetical tradition than
previous historiographical example. Reading these passages from history writing often
requires a kind of exegesis of history, a knowledge of the history of interpretation of the
Quran. Quranic references can make explicit the intended meaning of what is only
implicit in the historical text and at times can supply readings at variance with exegetical
literature.
6
Overall, the Qur'an was inserted into histories to legitimate the actions of
sultans lending them an air of religiosity and authenticity, but also to attach specific
interpretive meaning to historical events.
5
R. Stephen Humphreys, "QurDanic Myth and Narrative Structure in Early Islamic Historiography," in
Tradition and Innovation in Late Antiquity, ed. Frank M. Clover and R. Stephen Humphreys, Wisconsin
Studies in Classics (Madison: University ofWisconsin Press, 1989), 271-90.
Hawting has demonstrated this with examples of the use of the Qur'an in early Muslim historiography.
See G. R. Hawting, "Two Citations of the Qur
3
an in 'Historical' Sources for Early Islam," in Approaches to
the Qur'an, ed. G. R. Hawting and Abdul-Kader A. Shareef, Routledge/SOAS Series on Contemporary
Politics and Culture in the Middle East (London: Routledge, 1993), 260-68.
- 2 -
One consequence of the Qur'anic vision that historically contextualized Islam as a
primordial religion originating with the "father of humanity" (abu 'l-bashar) Adam, was
the universal history, a core historical style employed by historians in their myth-making
enterprises.
7
The universal history represents one of the earliest attempts to connect
sacred history, exemplified in the Qur
D
an, with the beginnings of Islam and subsequent
political and social narratives arising in distinct contexts.
8
This was accomplished by
drawing on the narratives of pre-Islamic prophets that were largely transmitted orally but
also found their textual form in what would be known as the stories of the prophets (qisas
al-anbiya
D
). These stories out of time were linked with history (ta
D
rlkh), the dateable and
attributable reference to events in time. Sultanate historians consciously interwove
images, motifs, and narratives from the lives of prophets, splicing them into their own
histories.
An ideological partner to the Qur
D
an, universal history, and historiography was
the example of behavior (sunnah) set by the Prophet Muhammad. No other figure from
the annals of Islamic history served as historical exemplar to the same degree as
Muhammad. His example was definitive on the level of ethics, law, and custom. The
massive corpus of his sayings (hadlth) became the living embodiment of that example.
Historians drew extensively and selectively from the hadlth of Muhammad to authorize
and explain the actions of history. They used them to highlight the normative dimensions
of sultanic action and to create an affinity and likeness between sultans and the Prophet.
7
See Ell, s.v. "Adam" (J. Pedersen) and E13, s.v. "Adam" (Roberto Tottoli).
8
This style is most closely associated with al-Tabari's (224-5/839-310/923) The History of Prophets and
Kings (Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l-muluk). For the manner in which al-Tabarl combines theology and history see
Boaz Shoshan, Poetics of Islamic Historiography: Deconstructing Tabari's History, ed. Wadad Kadi and
Rotraud Wielandt, vol. 53, Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 85-97.
- 3 -
Understanding the manner historians employed hadlth in historiography reveals much
about the interpretation of prophetic sayings and the predominant religious and moral
standards by which sultans were judged.
After Muhammad, and in some cases equal to him, Sultanate historians utilized
the figure of the Sufi shaykh as a model of behavior for the sultans of Delhi. The
establishment of the Delhi Sultanate occurred during the critical and most expansive
phase in the evolution of Sufi orders (s. tariqah). During the seventh/thirteenth and
eighth/fourteenth centuries two of the major Sufi orders of South Asia were
institutionalized in the lineages of the Chishtiyya and Suhravardiyya, so named after their
eponymous "founders" Mu
c
in al-Din Chishti (536/1141-633/1236) and Shihab al-Dln
Abu Hafs
c
Umar Suhravardl (539/1145-632/1234).
9
Historians documented the manner
sultans paid homage to the great shaykhs through visitation and construction of their
tombs. They also attempted to create resonances between the figure of the sultan and the
shaykh by indicating, in a variety of ways, that sultans were like shaykhs.
Another important source of religious legitimacy for the sultans of Delhi was the
centuries-old idea of the Sunni caliphate. The ideology of the Sunni caliphate that traced
its own lineage to the first successor of Muhammad, Abu Bakr, and down through the
c
Abbasid caliphs, was the ultimate source of Islamic authority for those who chose to
recognize it. Over the course of their history, the Delhi sultans acknowledged the
authority of the
c
Abbasid caliphs, ascribing their names and titles onto their own coinage,
and seeking out their investiture {manshur) to secure their own authority along classical
Sunni lines. Some Delhi sultans even went the distance to declare themselves caliph as
For an overview of the history and impact of these orders in India see Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi, A
History ofSufism in India, 2 vols. (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1978), 1:114-300.
- 4 -
was the case during the short reign of Qutb al-Din Mubarak Shah (r. 716/1316-
720/1320?). Historians of the Delhi Sultanate were very careful to narrate the variety of
ways their sultans' authority was legitimate within this broadly cast Sunni understanding
of Islamic authority.
Finally, the propagation of a legal system based on the sharl
c
ah was another
means by which the sultans of Delhi established their Islamic credentials. Historians of
the Delhi Sultanate commented on those kings who were diligent in enforcing sharVah,
praising them as religion-protecting sultans and as the beacons of sharVah, while
excoriating those sultans who stretched the boundaries of their authority by preferring the
legal rules, known aszavabit, granted to them as kings. These rules were often seen to be
in conflict with sharVah, particularly in regard to the king's punishment (siydsa). Taken
together, the establishment of courts ruled according to sharVah, the recourse to Sunni
authority embodied in the caliphate, and the following of the exempla of Sufi shaykhs,
the Prophet Muhammad, and the pre-Islamic prophets, constituted the ideologies and
representations of Islamic rule that sustained the Delhi Sultanate.
The emphasis placed here on the religious models that sustained the legitimacy of
rule is not to suggest that religion was the only source of authority. In his monumental
work, The Venture of Islam, Marshall Hodgson coined the term "Islamicate" in an
attempt to capture the multudinous ways Islamic societies comprise and ethos beyond
what can be thought of as the religious dimensions of life.
10
In their quest for empire the
sultans of Delhi relied upon multiple sources of legitimation: ethnicity, social hierarchy,
genealogy, language, and force. One of the most dominant legitimating motifs of
See Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, pbk. ed., 3 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1977), 1:57-60.
- 5 -
Sultanate historiography is propagated through allusions, analogies, and narratives to pre-
Islamic Persian kingship exemplified by figures such as Jamshid and Anushlrvan.
11
This
tradition was transmitted through important Pahlavi works such as the Khvaddy-ndmag,
the "Book of Kings," and was translated from Pahlavi into Arabic most notably by Ibn al-
Muqaffa
c
(ca. 720/102-756/139) and is found in various later Persian recensions.
12
The
manner in which this pre-Islamic Persian epic poetic tradition made its way into Muslim
courts is best exemplified by Firdawsi's (ca. 329/940-411/1020) unparalleled Shdhndma,
and the Iskandarnama of Nizami (b. ca. 535/1141). This has been widely acknowledged
in secondary scholarship but unfortunately no monograph exits on the subject for the
Delhi Sultanate.
The pre-Islamic Persian tradition was also transmistted through the important
works of Pahlavi advice literature such as the the
c
Ahd Ardashir and the Tansar-ndma.
13
The ideas found in these works helped shape the political ideologies that sustained Seljuk
dynasties as is exemplified by the famous Siyasat-nama of Nizam al-Mulk (408/1018-
485/1092). The whole genre of advice literature is a giant repository of Islamicate modes
of legitimacy that were crafted in a variety of contexts. This is equally true of the Akhldq-
i Nasiri of Nasir al-Din Tusi (597/1201-672-1274) which, as Muzaffar Alam has
Sarah Savant has shown how during the third/ninth and fourth/tenth centuries Persian authors reinvented
pre-Islamic Persian genealogies to situate them in continuity with Islamic histories. See Sarah Bowen
Savant, "Finding Our Place in the Past: Genealogy and Ethnicity in Islam" (Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard,
2006).
12
See Edward Granville Browne, A Literary History of Persia: From the Earliest Times until Firdawsi (to
1000 A.D.), vol. 1, Classics of Persian Literature (Bethesda: Iranbooks, 1997), 123. See also Clifford
Edmund Bosworth, "The Persian Contribution to Islamic Historiography in the Pre-Mongol Period," in The
Persian Presence in the Islamic World (The Thirteenth Levi Delia Vida Conference, in Honour of
Professor Ehsan Yarshater), ed. Richard G. Havhanisian and Georges Sabagh (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1998), 221.
13
See Louise Marlow, Heirarchy and Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought, Cambridge Studies in Islamic
Civilization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 72-77.
- 6 -
effectively demonstrated, had a great impact on Mughal governance.
14
In the Delhi
Sultanate this tradition is represtented by important works such as the Adab al-harb of
Fakhr-i Mudabbir (d. ca. 633/1236) and the Zakhlrat al-muluk of
c
Ali HamadanI
(714/1314-786/1385).
Not always complimentary, each style of legitimization was carefully juggled in
relation to the other, sometimes with success and sometimes with failure. However, what
is referred to here as the Islamic modes of legitimacy - that which relied on the Qur
D
an,
hadlth, the teachings and lives of Sufi shaykhs, the caliphate, and shana - was at least
an equal, if not more important factor, in the complex web of legitimacies that sustained
the Delhi sultans. In this work I attempt to tease out the Islamic modes of legitimacy that
Sultanate historians used to craft their images of the sultans who ruled from this emerging
center of Islamic authority.
Delhi at the Center of Islamic Authority
The kernel of Delhi's enduring legacy as a center of Islamic authority dates back
to the Ghurid ruler Mu
c
izz al-Dln Muhammad b. Sam (r. 569/1173-602/1206) and his
victory at the Battle of Tara'in which led to the capture of Delhi in 588/1192. Over time
Delhi evolved from a peripheral outpost in a disintegrating imperial realm to become the
focal point of the establishment of a vast empire that would last, in one guise or another,
until Amir Timur's (r. 771/1370-807/1405) invasion, occupation, and ransacking of Delhi
in 801/1398. The two century period spanning these points of entry and exit remain the
formative phase in the expansion of Muslim political, social, and cultural hegemony in
14
See Muzaffar Alam, The Languages of Political Islam: India 1200-1800 (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2004), 46-54.
- 7 -
Northern India. The actions of Mu
c
izz al-Din Muhammad b. Sam helped initiate a period
of Islamic kingdoms centered in Delhi that would endure until the British colonial period,
ending in 1274/1858 with the deposal of the last Muslim "emperor" of Delhi, Bahadur
Shah II (r. 1253/1837-1274/1858).
When viewed in the light of the broader Islamic world the sultans of Delhi were
situated at a crossroads in time. Mongol rulers were spreading their influence across
Central Asia and the Middle East. At the hands of the men of Hulagu (ca. 613/1217-
663/1265), grandson of Chingiz Khan, the
e
Abbasid caliph al-Musta
c
sim (r. 640/1242-
656/1258) was executed, effectively issuing the death knell to the edifice of Sunni
authority and legitimacy. Anointed as the capital of Islamic courts in Northern India
during the disintegrating influence of Baghdad, the house of the caliphs, Delhi and its
sultans stood in a new elevated relationship of power to the Muslim world.
15
Amidst the
global shift in the centers of Islamic authority, Delhi became a new hub for the
development of Islamic societies.
Making the Image of the Sultan
Contributing to the reality of the Delhi Sultanate was an idea, an idea of Islamic
power embodied and united in the figure of the sultan.
16
In a Sunni context, and in
relation to the power and authority of God's representative on earth (khalifat Allah),
sultans were the right-hand of God's caliph (yamln-i khalifat Allah). In a more absolute
This was equally true for the sultans in Cairo. See Amalia Levanoni, "The Mamluk Conception of the
Sultanate," International Journal of Middle East Studies 26, no. 3 (1994).
For an overview of the term sultan and the growth of the office across the Muslim world see 72, s.v.
"Sultan" (J. H. Kramers, C. E. Bosworth, O. Schumann, Ousmane Kane).
- 8 -
sense they were the ultimate arbitrators of justice and punishment, nothing less than
God's shadow on earth (zill Allah ft 'l-
c
ard). This idea of Islamic power and authority
was invented and sustained in a number of writings prominently produced in the
fifth/eleventh century.
In the Delhi Sultanate the preeminent medium utilized to elevate the figure of the
sultan was history writing. The crafters of history employed historical writing for
rhetorical purposes to draw up an idea of the Islamic heritage and replicate, reinvent, and
reinterpret conceptions of Muslim authority. They were the crafters of the rhetoric of
Islamic empires. In light of the deeply entwined historiographical enterprise of Muslim
historians of the Delhi Sultanate, Richard Eaton comments, "It would seem that the
project for historians today has as much to do with unraveling complicated
historiographies as it does with writing histories. Perhaps one cannot even separate the
two."
17
This work attempts to navigate the foggy waters of writing and representation and
take up the challenge of understanding the relationship between history and
historiography.
One tool historians used to project an Islamic religious identity for their sultans
was to construct literary bridges made of symbols and metaphors that linked the present
to the sacred past. In historiography this was accomplished on an ideological level
through the appropriation and construction of ideal religious types, embodied in the
paradigmatic exempla of pre-Islamic prophets, Muhammad, the friends of God (awliya
0
),
and caliphs. To affect this they performed a kind of typological interpretation in their
renditions of history. In the language of comparative literature, a typological
Richard Maxwell Eaton, "The Articulation of Islamic Space in Medieval Deccan," in Essays on Islam
and Indian History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 159.
- 9 -
interpretation understands earlier events and individual to be "signs" of future events.
Such that, "The first term is a 'figure' (figura) and a 'foreshadowing' (umbra) of the
second which is its fulfillment, its clearer image (imago)."
1
* Thus, historians compared
the exemplary figures from the Islamic past to the sultans of Delhi. In the case of their
patrons this was meant to educate rulers on the proper exercise of power and to legitimate
their authority. In the case of the rivals of the sultans of Delhi, as well as for leaders who
failed in the eyes of history or at least in the eyes of historians, histories were crafted as a
warning against their failings and to delegitimize their rule.
In the language of history the sultans of Delhi became the "kings of Islam"
(padshahan-i Islam) who upheld the "rulings of shari
c
ah" (ahkam-i shari
c
ah). They were
the "religion-seeking sultans" (salatln-i taliban-i din) and the "religion-protecting
sultans" (sultdnan-i dln-parvar). At times their religious identity was given a more
specific sectarian flavor. In the sectarian mode of representation historians projected an
image of religious orthodoxy that took the form of Sunni Islam. Thus, the sultans of
Delhi were the "path-followers of the predecessors" (sunniyan-i salaf) who stand against
the "bad religionists" (bad mazhabari). Here the rhetoric of empire was coded with the
polemics of religious difference in which primarily Shi
c
a and Hindu identities were
marginalized and denigrated in discourse.
The Makers of History
As prominent leaders and holders of high office in the courts of Delhi, historians
were themselves collectively engaged in the sultans' imperial project. Although there was
See Joseph Mazzeo, "Allegorical Interpretation and History," Comparative Literature 30, no. 1 (1978): 3.
This literary mode is common to exegetical literatures.
- 10-
no titled position of court historian in the Delhi Sultanate (and in that limited sense there
were no "official" histories), historians held influential posts in the government and acted
as advisors to sultans. In the capacity of court councilor historians advised sultans on
matters of state from war to diplomacy, law, and the economy. They utilized their
understandings of history to influence the course of the sultan's judgment and they
shaped their own histories for these didactic purposes. Both sultans and historians
understood the power of historical narratives in establishing and sustaining political
rule.
19
In a very real sense historiographical production was deeply entangled with the
creation and maintenance of ruling institutions. Along with architecture, poetry, royal
ceremony, titles, and dress, historiography was a significant element in the "articulation
of authority" of the Delhi Sultanate.
20
Delhi courts were so successful in their
articulations of authority that the image of the sultan was adopted by "Hindu" courts of
South India. Rulers in the courts of Vijayanagara adopted the Sanskritized title of "Sultan
among Hindu kings" (himduraya suratrqna) and employed courtly dress in the fashion of
Delhi.
21
Describing other contexts Julie Meisami has discussed the important link between historians and Buyid,
Ghaznavid, and Saljuq courts. She surveys the historical works of Abu Ishaq al-Sabi
3
and his Kitab al-Tqji,
Abu Nasr
c
UtbI's Tarikh aUYamlni,
c
Abd al-Hayy Gardlzl and his Zayn al-Akhbdr, Abu '1-Fazl Bayhaqi's
Tarikh-i Bayhaqi, Zahlr al-Dln Nishapuri's Saljuqnama, and others. See Julie Scott Meisami, "Rulers and
the Writing of History," in Writers and Rulers: Perspectives on their Relationship from Abbasid to Safavid
Times, ed. Beatrice Gruendler and Louise Marlow, Literaturen im Kontext (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2004),
73-95.
Richard Eaton has ably discussed the "articulation of authority" on the Bengal frontier during the
formation of the Delhi Sultanate. See Richard Maxwell Eaton, The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier
1204-1760, ed. Barbara Metcalf, vol. 17, Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1993), 22-70. For the shapings of Islamic authority in South India see Eaton, "The
Articulation of Islamic Space in Medieval Deccan," 159-75.
For a fascinating description of the influence of Delhi's courtly articulations of authority on royal titles
and styles of dress at Vijayanagara see Phillip B. Wagoner, '"Sultan Among Hindu Kings': Dress, Titles,
and the Islamicization of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara," The Journal of Asian Studies 55, no. 4 (1996):
851-80.
-11 -
Historiography was exclusively the record of sultans, kings, princes, ministers,
religious leaders, in other words, the elite members of the institutions of authority. The
historical narratives of this privileged class of society were all created with the assistance
of court patronage. It was the affairs of great men and their accomplishments that
attracted the attention of historians. There is nothing subaltern about it.
22
Unfortunately, the biographical details on the historians of the Delhi Sultanate are
quite slim. In most cases we are limited to what can be gleamed from scattered notes
within the pages of their own writings. The dearth of information has often led to more
controversy than clarity. Therefore, it is tantalizing to look outside of the context of the
Delhi Sultanate for scholarly works that can be viewed in a comparative light, as no work
to date has written a social history of the literati of Delhi.
Richard Bulliet's excellent study, The Patricians of Nishapur, is an appropriate
starting point for comparison as it evocatively brings to life the social class he refers to as
the patriciate and the urban environment in which they flourished.
23
Having read this
work, the attentive reader would have understood something of the oligarchy of Nishapur
of the fourth/tenth through sixth/twelfth centuries, dominated as it was by landholders,
merchants, and clerics. She would have gained insight into the exclusive and inbred
Subaltern is an expression that came out of the post-colonial scholarly critique of the manner
"subordinate" social groups were effectively written out of history in South Asia. For a strident example of
this critique from one of the founders of Subaltern Studies see Ranajit Guha, "On Some Aspects of the
Historiography of Colonial India," Subaltern Studies 1 (1982): 1-8. At least one author has leveled this
critique directly at pre-modern Indo-Persian historiography. See Shall Mayaram, Against History, Against
State: Counter Perspectives from the Margins (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), 74-96.
Bulliet says of his choice of the term patrician, the individual component in the social class called the
patriciate, "Thus, the word 'patrician' was arrived at by the elimination of the usual alternatives and by the
desire to denote high social rank combined with local identification and loyalty." See Richard W. Bulliet,
The Patricians of Nishapur: A Study in Medieval Islamic Social History, vol. 16, Harvard Middle Eastern
Studies (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), x.
- 12-
nature of a small elite segment of society that sustains itself on heredity, loyalty, and
wealth. She would have seen example upon example of the substantial political power
and influence the patriciate wielded, as individuals and as a collective, on the decision
making of rulers. She would have been brought into the educational world that supported
the nobles with etiquette and learning. Finally, she would have been made aware of the
sectarian dimensions of that knowledge that segmented the patriciate between Hanafi,
Shafi
c
I, and KarramI schools of legal thought. Certainly much of this social history of a
class of society is relevant to the understanding of a class of cosmopolitan elite that
sustained the historians of the Delhi Sultanate and to which they themselves belonged.
Similarly, one might look to the singular work, Bureaucrat and Intellectual in the
Ottoman Empire, by Cornell Fleischer who reconstructs the career of the noted Ottoman
historian Mustafa
c
Ali (948/1541-1008/1600). In this work we gain access to the inner
workings of an empire seen through the eyes of one of its most talented bureaucrats.
Pulling back the veils of time we get to see behind the life and into the mind that created
the Essence of History, the most important Ottoman historiographical work of the
tenth/sixteenth century. We learn of the institutional functions and constraints of a
professionalized bureaucracy that managed one of the largest imperial projects of its age
and of all history. Although of a later period than the historians considered for this study
we come to understand the ideological proclivities that motivated an acute thinker and
shaper of historical ideas.
At the same time that these comparisons are alluring and instructive they can also
be distorting and deceptive. This was readily acknowledged at the outset by Richard
Buillet who wrote of the patriciate of Nishapur -
- 13-
Of course, the existence of a similar class in the cities of western Iran,
Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa has been abundantly demonstrated...
It would take an extensive comparative study to show just how the
Nishapur patriciate differed in composition and function from the
Damascus patriciate, if the use of that term could be justified in
Damascus; but there seems to be sufficient evidence that important
differences did exist."
24
Concerns over comparisons between the Ottoman Empire, its master historian,
and of the Delhi Sultanate, and their historians, hold as well. While there are certainly
important resemblances between these different contexts, it is vital to recognize the
distinctive context of North India and the unique place of Delhi in the broader Muslim
world. This is an argument for historicism when discussing historiography, historians,
and the Delhi Sultanate.
25
Time awaits a definitive social history of the Delhi Sultanate,
one that will require the ingenuity and inventiveness of yet to be explored methods and
approaches. Until then we will have to be satisfied with glimpses taken askance into the
courtly lives of Sultanate historians. Though the sources for the social history of
historians may be lacking, it is hoped that a study of historiography will reveal the
ideologies that sustained and motivated these men.
The Critique of History
There are a number of obstacles that remain to a deeper understanding of the way
religion is mobilized ideologically in historiography. Some of these obstacles are a
24
Ibid.
5
1 am using the term historicism in the sense that argues for the "prime importance of historical context to
the interpretation of texts of all kinds." Paul Hamilton, Historicism (London: Routledge, 1996), 2.
- 14-
byproduct of the modern critique of pre-modern historical writings.
26
Many historians
beginning with the nineteenth century, when looking back at historiography produced
centuries earlier, saw a style of writing history no longer acceptable to their standards of
fact or palatable to their sensibilities of scholarship.
27
On the whole the perceived failings
of pre-modern historiography are neatly summed up by Gabrielle Spiegel: (1)
historiography's literary alliance with rhetoric, (2) the stereotypical use of historical
events and persons, (3) the use of experience, custom, and repetition against reason,
individuality, and process, and (4) its absence from the curriculum of medieval
pedagogy.
28
These concerns over what boils down to a question of fact vs. fiction, in
essence a question of genre, have severely limited the modern historian's range of
approaches to pre-modern historical texts. In his study of early hadlth and maghazl texts
Muhammad Qasim Zaman has noted, "That works of a particular genre can and often do
differ quite significantly from one another in how they treat their subject matter and to
what end, even as they discuss the same subjects or handle similar materials, is a
realization that has been slow in coming to many areas of Islamic Studies."
29
The lack of
There are two terms used here with a sense of unease. One is the term pre-modern. I retain the term in its
most general sense to refer to the time prior to the mid-thirteenth/nineteenth century. The second term is
medieval. To the degree possible I have avoided the use of the term being persuaded by Daniel Martin
Varisco who argued persuasively that the term, when used in relation to Islamic history between the
seventh and fifteenth centuries, is "anachronistic, misleading, and disorienting." See Daniel Martin Varisco,
"Making 'Medieval' Islam Meaningful," Medieval Encounters 13 (2007): 386. Where retained, I use the
term to refer specifically to the period of the sixth/twelfth through eighth/fourteenth centuries.
7
The critique of this shift in historical sensibility is best summarized in White, "The Fictions of Factual
Representation," 21-44.
See Gabrielle M. Spiegel, The Past as Text: The Theory and Practice of Medieval Historiography
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), 99-100.
Muhammad Qasim Zaman, "Maghazi and the Muhaddithun: Reconsidering the Treatment of 'Historical'
Materials in Early Collections of Hadith," International Journal of Middle East Studies 28, no. 1 (1996): 2.
- 15-
sensibility to genre is on display in a plethora of statements on the "quality" of Indo-
Persian historiography.
One of the greatest victims in the modern revision of historiography was the near
complete excision of myth and along with it the religious modes of expression found in
historiography.
30
In the process narratives, motifs, and themes drawn from the Quran,
hadlth, tales of the prophets, and exegesis were decried, ignored, and overlooked. One
need only look at the early English translations of Indo-Persian histories to see that
translators saw no need to include religious narratives within their translations. For
example, Henry Raverty (1825-1906) completely ignored the first chapter of the all
important Tabaqat-i Nasirl of Minhaj Siraj JuzjanI (b. 589/1193) because it dealt
exclusively with narratives of pre-Islamic prophets such as Noah, Moses, and Abraham.
In fact, Raverty left out the first six chapters of JuzjanI's Tabaqat-i Nasirl that include the
histories of the "rightly-guided" caliphs (Rashiduri), the Ummayad caliphs, the
c
Abbasid
caliphs, the pre-Islamic Persian kings, and the pre-Islamic kings of Yemen. Raverty
provides poor explanation for excluding them saying, "The first six, with the exception of
the History of the early kings of Iran, are not of much importance by reason of their
brevity."
31
As Hayden White noted in his critique of the ninteenth century growth of European and American
positivist historiography, "In order to understand this development in historical thinking, it must be
recognized that historiography took shape as a distinct scholarly discipline in the West in the nineteenth
century against a background of a profound hostility to all forms of myth." White, "The Fictions of Factual
Representation," 25.
See Minhaj Siraj JuzjanI, Tabakat-i Nasirl: A General History of the Muhammadan Dynasties of Asia,
including Hindustan; from A. H 194 (810 A.D.) to A.H. 658 (1260 A.D.) and the Irruption of the Infidel
Mughals into Islam, trans. H. G. Raverty, 2 vols. (New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, 1970),
1: xiv.
- 16-
This was equally the case for the monumental work The History of India as Told
by its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period carried out by Henry Elliot (1808-
1853) and John Dowson (1820-1881). Henry Elliot, who began the task of selectively
translating passages from historiography written by Muslims that dealt with India,
deliberately and totally excised all Quran and hadlth quotation from his collection.
Neither Elliot nor Dowson provided a rationale for their chosen historical selections. In
this connection it is important to understand the low esteem with which Elliot held Indo-
Persian historiography. It is best summed up by the educational purpose he assigns to this
random collection of historical writings saying, "They will make our native subjects more
sensible of the immense advantages accruing to them under the mildness and equity of
our rule."
32
A related shortcoming has been to approach historiographical texts with a
scholastic naivete, applying little or no critical acumen to the analysis of history writing.
Frequently, texts of history are read at face value and utilized as direct sources, assuming
in some fashion or another that pre-modern historical narratives represented the "real."
Carl Ernst astutely summed up this critique that he directs at modern historians saying,
"Modern historians of medieval India, whether British or Indian, have tended to focus on
medieval historical chronicles from an exclusively political point of view, treating these
works as 'sources' and 'authorities' from which history may be constructed by the 'cut
and paste' method."
33
This myopic approach to historiography has also led contemporary
H. M. Elliot and John Dowson, The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: The Muhammadan
Period, 8 vols. (London: Triibner and Co., 1867-1877), 1: xxii.
33
See Carl W. Ernst, Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center, ed.
Annemarie Schimmel, SUNY Series in Muslim Spirituality in South Asia (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1992), 18.
- 17-
historians of South Asia to assign modern cultural and religious controversies onto the
pre-modern period. This is particularly evident in the construction of Indian and Pakistani
"nationalist" historiography produced in the mid to late twentieth century.
34
Another shortcoming was to completely miss the didactic content of pre-modern
historiography. This deficiency in critical approach is demonstrated in statements such as,
"The general disposition of Persian historians was to record not to explain. This was
perhaps partly due to the assumption that divine sanction corroborated world orderthat
God's cause triumphs in Islam."
35
Statements such as these fail to see the pervasive
interpretive and thus explanatory dimension of that understanding of history. Indeed,
Muslim historians on the whole saw the historical process as the fulfillment of divine
will. The fact (in the historian's mind) that "God's cause triumphs in Islam" is not only
an explanation of history, it is the reason for history. Even now the understanding of
historiography produced in the pre-modern Muslim world has been largely confined to
the "sources" approach, an approach that has been largely excised from studies of
Christianity in pre-modern Europe but is still being revised for Islamic history. Very little
of the historical critical method that is exemplified by Hayden White's noted work
Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe has impacted
scholarship of Islamic history.
The study of Islamic historiography can be thought of as beginning with Franz
Rosenthal who pioneered work in the field with the publication of A History of Muslim
See Ernst's discussion of the "problem of nationalist historiography." Ibid, 18-22.
5
It is curious that this statement is applied specifically to history writing in Persian. 72, s.v. "Ta
3
rikh" (B.
van Dalen and others).
- 1 8 -
Historiography in 1952. This was his attempt to understand "Muslim historiography as a
whole."
36
However, Rosenthal was not immune to a factual approach to his understanding
of the purpose of historiography. He concluded his study saying, "And if there is a basic
truth which Muslim historiography could teach us after all historiographical efforts,
would it not be that the simple approach to history as a source of facts and examples, both
useful and informative, might still be the best key to historical understanding?"
37
The historical critical method of Islamic historiography may be thought of as
beginning with Marilyn Waldman's Toward a Theory of Historical Narrative: A Case
Study in Perso-Islamicate Historiography. More recently scholars have benefited from
the work of Tarif Khalidi and Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period, Fred
Donner's Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing,
Julie Meisami's Persian Historiography to the End to the Twelfth Century, and most
recently Chase Robinson's Islamic Historiography, just to name a few. This collective
effort promises to open new avenues for the interpretation of history writing of the pre-
modern period.
The standard works on Indo-Persian historiography remain Peter Hardy's
Historians of Medieval India: Studies in Indo-Muslim Historical Writing and Khaliq
Ahmad Nizami's On History and Historians of Medieval India. Carl Ernst has made an
important contribution to the critical understanding of Sultanate historiography in the
section noted earlier from the Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a
South Asian Sufi Center. Sunil Kumar has contributed to the understanding of the
See Franz Rosenthal, A History of Muslim Historiography, 2nd rev. ed. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1968), vi.
37
Ibid., 197.
- 19-
constructed nature of historical narratives on the Delhi Sultanate in an appendix to The
Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate 1192-1286 titled "Persian Literary Traditions and
Narrativizing the Delhi Sultanate."
38
Reference to a number of other important
contributions will be made throughout this work.
The approach adopted here differs from all these works. I attempt to look at
historiography as a mode of representation by focusing on the rhetorical and didactic
contents of historical religious narratives that in the eyes of this author, offer the key to
understanding the fundamental ideals of Islamic rule. Making a step in this direction this
work proposes to be the first monograph that applies these methods to historiography of
the Sultanate period for a reading of religious representations and Islamic ideologies of
rule. I believe applying this approach to a reading of Indo-Persian texts of history holds
the greatest promise of uncovering the ideals of Islamic authority displayed in
historiography.
Understanding that one of the basic functions of Persian historical writing is
didactic, I pose the question: What do Muslim historians of the Delhi Sultanate hope to
teach the reader - the sultan, members of the court, and "posterity" - about the
relationship between religion and Islamic authority, essentially the proper order (and
improper order) of the world? If historiography, of the sort under consideration, is
primarily a mode of representation, much can be added to our understanding of how the
representatives of Muslim authority were idealized and reified in historical writings. At
the same time that Muslim historiography of the Delhi Sultanate was a "record" of the
past; it was also a "tale" that shares the structures and powers of "myth." It is the
See Sunil Kumar, The Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate 1192-1286 (New Delhi: Permanent Black,
2007), 362-77.
- 2 0 -
embellishment of "mundane" events with the heightened dramatics of "sacred" history.
The significance of "myth-making" in the sub-continental history of seventh/thirteenth
and eighth/fourteenth centuries, a period of conquest and cultural contact, cannot be
overemphasized. This has not always been readily acknowledged. The historian's success
in the production of stable forms of Islamic identity through representative histories,
particularly of a political order, was integral to the process of creating and sustaining
social cohesion during a period of great change.
The Triptych of Indo-Persian Historiography
To better understand the Islamic rhetoric produced during the Delhi Sultanate this
work focuses on the triptych of Indo-Persian historiography. Indo-Persian historiography
of the Delhi Sultanate offers a unique case of history writing. From the Delhi Sultanate
there are three works, from three authors that have defined the alpha and omega of the
formative period of Islamic courts in South Asia. These three authors engaged, wittingly
and unwittingly, in a common literary goal of writing a collective history of Delhi and the
sultans who ruled from there. As with any triptych there is an underlying theme and mode
of presentation achieved throughout, though each panel is distinct and can stand alone as
a piece of its own. In this case one has to imagine a triptych in which each panel is the
child of a distinct artist, each a master at his trade with a unique style and technique.
The first panel in the triptych of Indo-Persian historiography was crafted by
Minhaj Siraj JuzjanI, and titled the Tabaqat-i Nasirl
39
He began his court service under
39
For introductory biographical material on Minhaj Siraj JuzjanI see 72, s.v. "al-Djuzjam" (A.S. Bazmee
Ansari). Also see section from Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, On History and Historians of Medieval India (New
Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1983), 76-80. Also see Moin, Mumtaz. "Qadi Minhaj al-Din Siraj al-
Juzjani." Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society 15 (1967): 163-74.
-21 -
Ghurid rule and witnessed the foundation of Delhi finishing a long career applying his
skills in service of the progenitor of the first Muslim dynasty of Delhi, Shams al-Din
Iltutmish (r. 607/1210-633/1236) and his son Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah (r. 644/1246-
664/1266). Holding the high offices of chief judge (qqzi al -quzat) and sadr-i jahan,
Juzjani was the most accomplished of the historians of the early Delhi Sultanate. Juzjani
produced the Tabaqat at the end of his life, a work he dedicates to Sultan Nasir al-Din. It
remains the most important historiographical piece from the early Sultanate period.
The impulse to universalize history in a specific context found a willing author in
Juzjani. Juzjani's Tabaqat fits squarely into the category of universal history in that he
weaves a narrative beginning with pre-Islamic prophetic history and concludes with the
history of Muslim rule in India, ending his narrative in the year 658/1260. As mentioned
earlier, the need to recreate or reorient the historical identity in relation to sacred
narrative appears at a number of entry points of Muslim conquest, migration, and
transition across the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Once Juzjani had
achieved the goals of universal history, subsequent Delhi historians did not see the need
to produce universal histories until the ninth/fifteenth century.
40
Understandably, because
of its breadth, the Tabaqat is the most corpulent of the Sultanate histories. The work is
comprised of twenty-three chapters (tabaqa) and is composed in a succinct and clear
Persian.
Indo-Persian universal history writing is not taken up again until after Amir Tlmur's conquest of Delhi in
Muhammad Bihamadkhanfs Tarlkh-i MuhammadI, a history that begins with the life of the Prophet and
ends in the year 842/1438. This begins a new cycle of historiography of Muslim rule in India. For an
overview of this work see Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui, "Intellectual Dimension of the Tabaqat Form of Persian
Historiography, Produced in Pre-Mughal India," in Islamic Heritage in South Asian Subcontinent, ed.
Ahmad Nazir and Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui (Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 1998), 130-39.
- 2 2 -
Ziya
D
al-Dln Barani (ca. 684/1285-758/1357) picked up Juzjani's literary strand
and became an author who equally, and in some ways more significantly, contributed to
the historiography of the Delhi Sultanate. Barani is noted not only as a genuine historical
thinker, but someone who has contributed to historiography as both compiler and theorist.
Scholars of his Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shahl have generally agreed with Barani's own versified
bravado -
There is no use in saying there is no history like mine in this world,
When there is no scholar in this field of study who can affirm my claim.
41
Like Juzjani, Barani had unique access to the inner workings of court life and the
decision making of sultans and their subordinates, holding the position of court counselor
(nadlm) to Muhammad b. Tughluq (r. 724/1324-752/1351) during seventeen years of his
reign. Unlike Juzjani, who migrated to North India from Ghur being born into a family of
high officials serving in the Ghurid imperial project, Barani was a representative of the
first generation of Muslim historians born in North India. Like his predecessor he was
born into a family of patricians who had long served in the courts of Muslim kings. His
definitive history, the Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shahl, was completed in 758/1357.
42
The Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shahl is a history of the sultans of Delhi from Ghiyas al-Dln
Balban (r. 664/1266-685/1287) to the sixth regnal year of Flruz Shah (r. 752/1351-
790/1388). Barani was the author who initiated the collective historiographical enterprise
41
Ziya
D
al -Din Barani, Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shahl, ed. Sayyid Ahmad Khan, vol. 33, Bibliotheca Indica
(Calcutta: 1862), 23. Gar biguyam kih rust dar
c
dlam misl-i tdrlkh-i man kitdb-i digar Chun darln
c
ilm
c
dliml nabud kih kunad guftah-yi mard bdvar. Peter Hardy, British historian of Muslim India, wrote of
Barani's History saying the, "Ta'rikh-i Firuz Shahl, completed in 758/1357, is the vigorous and trenchant
expression of a conscious philosophy of history which lifts Barani right out of the ranks of mere compilers
of chronicles and annals." See Peter Hardy, Historians of Medieval India: Studies in Indo-Muslim
Historical Writing (London: Luzac, 1960), 20.
Barani dates his history. See Barani, TFS, 23.
- 2 3 -
of the Delhi Sultanate by drawing in JuzjanI, acknowledging his great contribution of the
Tabaqat-i Nasirl and indicating that he would begin were JuzjanI left off as to not overlap
with his good work.
43
In this way, Barani saw himself engaged in something more than a
collective dynastic historiographical enterprise, but effectively instigating a coherent
historiographical tradition that extended the ongoing historical project of Islam. Of all the
historians of the Delhi Sultanate, Barani has been the most studied but remains the least
understood and he has received little attention in the broader fields of Islamic Studies and
History. He stands out for his richly theoretical approach to historiography which has
been recognized within the field of South Asian studies.
44
His history has a richly
contextualized style with complex narrative frameworks.
While speaking of the historiographical work of Barani it would be a significant
oversight not to mention the Fatavd-yi Jahandarl, his contribution to the important genre
of Persian advice literature in which he attempts to design a blueprint for the
administration of Muslim dynasties.
45
In it Barani relates discourses on a wide variety of
subjects from kingship, economics, citizen rights, religion, politics, justice and
punishment.
46
The work forms an important companion to the Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shdhl and
43
See Barani, TFS, 20-22.
I list just few studies of note on Barani and his writing. For Barani's treatment of history see Hardy,
Historians of Medieval India: Studies in Indo-Muslim Historical Writing, 20-39. Khaliq Ahmad Nizami,
"Ziya-ud-din Barani," in Historians of Medieval India, ed. Mohibbul Hasan (Meerut: Meenakshi
Prakashan, 1968), 37-52. Man Habib, "Baram's Theory of the History of the Delhi Sultanate," Indian
Historical Review 1 (1981): 99-115. Man Habib, "Ziya Barani's Vision of the State," Medieval History
Journal 2, no. 1 (1999): 19-36. Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui, "Fresh Light on Diya' al-Dln Barani: The Doyen of
Indo-Persian Historians," Islamic Culture 63, no. 1-2 (1989): 69-94. For references to the manuscript
tradition of Barani's works see C. A. Storey and Francois de Blois, Persian Literature: A Bio-Biographical
Survey, 5 vols. (London: Luzac & Co., 1970), 1:505-08.
For an overview of Persian advice literature see EI3, s.v. "Advice and Advice Literature" (L. Marlow).
Afsar Sallm Khan has provided the most comprehensive overview of the Fatava-yi Jahandarl in his
critical edition of the same work. See Ziya
3
al-Dln Barani, Fatava-yi Jahandarl, ed. Afsar Sallm Khan, 1st
- 24 -
gives insight into the seeds of the ideas behind Barani's historiographical narratives.
There are only two other works extant from Baranl's pen: the Akhbdr-i Barmakiyan, a
history of the Barmakids whose story served as an example of the dangers faced by high-
officials in the court, and the Sahlfah-yi Na
c
t-i Muhammadl, a work of praise dedicated to
the Prophet Muhammad.
47
The final panel in this historiographical triptych comes from the historian Shams
al-Din Siraj
c
AfIf (b. 757/1356). Like Juzjani and BaranI,
c
Afif was an affiliate of the
court at Delhi, a status achieved through hereditary privilege finding work through the
high posts held by his father and uncle. For generations, members of his family held high
posts under the reigns of
c
Ala al-Din Muhammad Shah (r. 695/1296-715/1316), Ghiyas
al-Din Tughluq Shah (r. 720/1320-724/1324), and Flruz Shah. As a young man he
worked in the royal storehouses (kdr khana-hd) of the imperial standards, horse and
elephant stables.
48 c
Afif never had the chance to rise to the level of his intellect and ability
ed., vol. 25, Intisharat-i Idarah-yi Tahqlqat-i Pakistan (Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan, 1972), 1-133.
Earlier Mohammad Habib wrote the introduction to the translation of the Fatav'a-yi Jahandarl. See Ziya
3
al-Din BaranI, The Political Theory of the Delhi Sultanate (including a translation of Ziauddin Barani's
Fatawa-i Jahandarl, circa, 1358-9 A.D.), ed. Mohammad Habib and Afsar Umar Salim Khan, trans. Afsar
Umar Salim Khan (Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1961), i-xii. These authors' comments on this work, as well
Khan's translation now require significant revision. More recently Muzaffar Alam has provided some
interesting comments on the Fatav'a-yi Jahandarl. See Alam, The Languages of Political Islam: India
1200-1800,31-43.
Neither of these works have been properly studied and are only available in manuscript. For
bibliographical references to the Akhbar-i Barmakiyan see Habib, "Ziya Barani's Vision of the State,"
23n21. For a brief description of the Sahlfah-yi Na
c
t-i Muhammadl along with an excerpt see Nural Hasan,
"Sahifa-i Na't-i Muhammadi of Zia-ud-Din Barani," Medieval India Quarterly 1, no. 3 & 4 (1950): 100-05.
For a summary of Baranl's works along with a list of the titles of those lost see Khaliq Ahmad Nizami,
Supplement to Elliot & Dowson's History of India: Vol. Ill The Khaljis and the Tughluqs, vol. 16, IAD
Oriental (Original) Series (Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli, 1981), 43-45.
Shams Siraj
c
AfIf, Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shahl, ed. Vilayat Husayn, vol. 119, Bibliotheca Indica (Calcutta:
Asiatic Society, 1888), 339.
- 2 5 -
as he had the misfortune to live during the demise of the Delhi Sultanate that was given
its final blow at the hands of Amir Tlmur's armies.
49
c
Afif picked up the historiographical thread left by his predecessors just as BaranI
had done.
50
He assumed the position of the final link in the chain of history writing on the
sultans of Delhi bringing the collective narrative to a conclusion. The Tarlkh-i Firiiz-
Shdhi covers the important period of Firuz Shah's thirty-seven year reign, distinctly a
history of the career of a single ruler.
51 c
Afif composed his history using the form
common to mandqib literatures, a genre that generally focuses on the pious traits of
religious figures.
c
Afif's was apparently the first author to apply this genre to the life of a
sultan.
52
Nevertheless, this work has not received the same critical attention of BaranI's
history partially due to its restricted time frame which made it less useful as a "source"
and also because of its perceived failings of literary style.
53
This is because
c
Afif
gravitates towards the dramatic elements of narrative style, punctuating his tales with
poetic verses utilized to summarize the point of his story, a technique he employs with
For further details in
c
Afif s biography see Shams Siraj
c
Afif, Medieval India in Transition - Tarikh-i
Firoz Shahi: A First Hand Account, trans. R. C. Jauhri (New Delhi: Sundeep Prakashan, 2001), 279-81.
50
See
c
Af!f, TFS, 29-30.
There are a few short studies of
c
Afif s history. See Hardy, Historians of Medieval India: Studies in
Indo-Muslim Historical Writing, 40-55. Also see the section following R. C. Jauhri's translation of the
history
c
Afif, Medieval India in Transition - Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi: A First Hand Account, 281-90. This
brief study on the history greatly improves on his earlier article R.C. Jauhri, "Shams Siraj
c
Afif and his
Tarikh-i-Firuzshah: A Study in Persian Tradition of Writing History," in Indo-Persian Cultural
Perspectives: Prof. Bhagwat Saroop Memorial Volume, ed. Mohammad Aslam Khan and Ravinder
Gargesh Chander Shekhar (Delhi: Saud Ahmad Dehlavi, 1998), 65-79.
52
Peter Hardy noted that "Of the twenty-six separate works having manaqib as part of the title, listed by
Storey in Bio-biographical Guide to Persian Literature, London, 1953, p. 1369, twenty-three relate to the
lives of sufis, other members of the religious classes , prophets, and
c
Ali ibn Talib and none to those of
sultans." See Hardy, Historians of Medieval India: Studies in Indo-Muslim Historical Writing, 41n5.
53
For instance, it is said of this pre-modern Muslim historian that he "manages to be factual (though
somewhat weak in dates) despite much rhetoric." For this tepid literary criticism see EI2, s.v. "Ta'rikh" (M.
Athar Ali).
- 2 6 -
greater frequency than JuzjanI and Baranl. It is the shortest of the histories under
consideration here.
c
Afif divided his history into five parts (s. qism), each with eighteen
sections (s. muqaddama). The last three sections of part five are no longer extant in the
manuscript tradition.
c
Afif wrote the Tarlkh-i Flruz-Shdhi in 800/1396.
54
He is
responsible for at least four other historical works all now lost.
55
All told the cumulative
reigns of those sultans who received dedications in this historiographical triptych add up
to eighty-three years, nearly half of the roughly one-hundred and ninety year duration of
the Delhi Sultanate.
Before concluding my sketch of the triumvirate of Indo-Persian historiography I
must anticipate criticism for the fact that I have skipped over the description of other
important historical works. For instance, there is a whole genre of historical narratives in
verse exemplified by the likes of
c
Abd al-Malik
c
Isami (b. ca. 711/1310-11) and Amir
Khusraw that I do not detail.
56
There is also the important, largely prose narrative, the
Khazain al-futuh by Amir Khusraw. No work would be complete without mention of
Hasan Nizami (fl. 602/1206), court historian to Mu
c
izz al-Din Muhammad b. Sam, Qutb
al-Din Aybeg (r. 602/1207-607/1210), and Shams al-Din Iltutmish, and his famous, also
largely prose history, the Taj al-madsir.
Although most historiographical works of the Delhi Sultanate find space for
comment, their absence from the introduction was a deliberate omission. It is meant to
For dating the work see EI2, s.v. "Abu
C
A1I Qalandar" (Nurul Hasan).
55
R. C. Jauhri gives the titles of these works culled from the Tarikh-i Firuz Shahl footnoting the relevant
passages.
c
AfIf, Medieval India in Transition - Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi: A First Hand Account, 281.
56
See Sunil Sharma, "Amir Khusraw and the Genre of Historical Narratives in Verse," Comparative
Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 22, no. 1&2 (2002): 112-18.
- 27 -
highlight the importance of understanding the forms history takes to our understanding
the styles of legitimacy they express. Certainly, there is no single convenient category
under which to subsume all of Islamic historiography from which to commence a
comprehensive study of Indo-Persian historiography. Historiography produced during the
Delhi Sultanate is a confluence of literary styles. On one end of the spectrum, if this can
be considered a spectrum at all, there is tdrlkh in the strict sense of chronicle. On the
other end of the spectrum there is tabaqat, manaqib, and slrah, all which indicate
varieties of biographical forms. However, because of the conscious efforts of these three
historians to participate in a collective literary endeavor, the histories under primary
consideration here form a historiographical piece, enabling a study of them as a whole.
Where significant narrative and stylistic differences appear between them, they are noted
for their influence on the religious representations they express.
- 2 8 -
Chapter One: Pre-Islamic Prophetic Paradigms in Indo-Persian
Historiography
The Flood of Noah and the Origins of Indo-Persian Historiography
In 601/1204 Mu
c
izz al-Din Muhammad b. Sam, the last Ghurid sultan ruling from
Ghazna, was returning from Khwarazm when he suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of
the Qara Khitai on the battlefield of Andkhud along the banks of the Oxus river.
1
Mu
c
izz
al-Din managed to return to Ghazna, but news of his defeat spread and rebellion broke
out in southern areas of his kingdom in a region along the Jhelum River occupied by
Khokar tribes.
2
In order to put down the challenge to his authority he gathered his troops
and set out from Ghazna in the autumn of 601/1205. He commanded his client Qutb al-
Dln Aybeg to gather the armies from Hindustan.
3
Shams al-Din Iltutmish, the "slave
soldier" (ghuldm) of Qutb al-Din, was to join them from Bada
D
un, the valued province
Qutb al-Din had conferred upon Iltutmish for his able service.
In the ensuing confrontation between the Ghurid armies and the Khokar tribes it is
reported that Iltutmish distinguished himself with valor and bravery. At the turning point
Raverty's translation of this event leads to some confusion which he attempts to clarify by quoting
extensively from the Tafikh-i Alfi, a historical collective work produced nearly three hundred years later
under the patronage of the great Mughal ruler Akbar (963/1556-1014/1605). See JuzjanI, Tabakat-i Nasiri:
A General History of the Muhammadan Dynasties of Asia, including Hindustan; from A. H. 194 (810 A.D.)
to A.H. 658 (1260 A.D.) and the Irruption of the Infidel Mughals into Islam, 1:604-05, 481nl. For a useful
cadastral reference to the period of the Delhi Sultanate along with the Central Asian dynasties, see Joseph
Schwartzberg, A Historical Atlas of South Asia, 2 ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), 37a, 138,
96a. For a fuller discussion of the Qara Khitai ("The Black Cathay"), see EI2, s.v. "Kara Khitay," (C.E.
Bosworth) and David Morgan, The Mongols, ed. James Campbell and Barry Cunliffe, The Peoples of
Europe (Oxford: Blackwell, 1990), 48-50.
JuzjanI refers to the qaba
D
il-i kukaran. See Minhaj Siraj JuzjanI, Tabaqat-i Nasiri, ed.
c
Abd al-Hayy
Hablbl, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (Kabul: Anjuman-i Tarikh-i Afghanistan, 1342-1343), 1:443. For the appearance of
the Khokar in Indo-Persian historical writing, see EI2, s.v. "Khokars," (Abdus Subhan).
Peter Jackson discusses the ambiguous status of Qutb al-DIn Aybeg during the rule of Mu
c
izz al-Din. See
Peter Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, Cambridge Studies in Islamic
Civilization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 26-29.
- 29 -
of the battle Iltutmish rode his steed into the Jhelum River in full armor to confront the
rabble (makhdzll) who had made camp there.
4
He sallied forth against his enemy and
drove them off with great force. He routed the infidels (kuffdr) with wounds he inflicted
with his arrows. His charge was so great that "the crest of the wave sent the infidels
(kuffdr) down to the bowels of hell."
5
Adding a literary flourish to his tale the chronicler
concludes his narrative citing from the Qur
D
an -
* - f >t: ' J
"They were drowned and brought into the fire."
6
This is the lively description of Minhaj Siraj JuzjanI, court historian, high official,
qqzl, and imam to Iltutmish and subsequent sultans of Delhi. JuzjanI was not eyewitness
to the events described. He would have been a young boy at the time. It is possible and
even likely that he heard about Iltutmish's battle with the Khokar tribes from individuals
present. Yet, there is much more at stake here in the recollection of the past than the
establishment of the historicity of events. Behind the evocative imagery and stylistic
writing there is a very carefully crafted narrative. Style, narrative, and symbolism are part
and parcel of the rhetoric of history that accompanied and assisted in the promulgation of
an ideology of power integral to the construction of the Delhi Sultanate. We can see in
this "historical" tale of battle just a few of the central motifs found in "canonical" or at
least "institutional" accounts of Muslim political authority in India.
Makhdzll is used widely and pejoratively in Indo-Persian historiography to describe any enemy of the
state. See JuzjanI, TN, 1:443.
Ibid. The Persian reads kuffdr rd at awj-i mawj bi hazlz-i diizakh mifiristdd.
6
Ibid. Q71:25 quoted directly by JuzjanI.
- 3 0 -
The most obvious and outstanding feature of this passage is that it is a skillful
treatment of the conquest motif exemplified in imagery of the fearless warrior hero who
spurs the charge against the forces of rebellion and chaos and leads the soldiers of Islam
to victory over the infidels.
7
But it is not so much the element of conquest that I want to
focus on. Rather, it is the way the Qur
3
an and prophetic example are used in the
representation of Shams al-Dln Iltutmish, the future sultan of Delhi.
8
Looked at in this
manner, the preceding section retold from the history of Juzjam should provide a useful
case for understanding the intersection between religion, legitimacy, and historiography.
First, the victories of Islam are represented in the heroic deeds of the idealized
ghdzl warrior.
9
The institution of the ghdzl sultan was integral to notions of Muslim
authority during the Delhi Sultanate and in the hands of historians it was given Quranic
proportions. The occasion of his victory over the forces of rebellion is sacralized by
John Renard has described the social functions of heroic tales in Islamicate societies. Significantly he
points out, "Such heroic accounts supply a great deal of what many Muslims know about their faith
traditions." See John Renard, Islam and the Heroic Image: Themes in Literature and the Visual Arts, ed.
Frederick M. Denny, Studies in Comparative Religion (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press,
1993), 11.
In an earlier account of the same event Hasan Nizami used this imagery regarding the military prowess of
Iltutmish. He describes Iltutmish as sending the enemies to the "fires of hell" (atish-i duzakh) and causing
"waves of a river of blood" (mawj-i darya-yi khuri) to reach up into the sky. However, he does not make a
direct Qur
3
anic reference. Rather, Nizami elevates Iltutmish's skills on the battle field by referring to him
as "Alexander the Second" (Iskandar-i sani). It is clear that Juzjam read the Taj al-ma^athir and was
inspired by elements of Nizami's narrative but chose to go one step further and give it Qur
D
anic
proportions. For the passage from Nizami see, Hasan Nizami, "Taj al-ma
3
asir," in India Office Collection
British Library (London), Ms. 67-68.
9
Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavl (r. 388/998-421/1030) is the paragon of the ghdzl warriors and his figure is
taken up in a number of places in Sultanate historiography. For representations of Mahmud in the broader
Persianate historiographical tradition see Clifford Edmund Bosworth, "Mahmud of Ghazna in
Contemporary Eyes and Later Persian Literature," Iran 4 (1966): 85-92. For a more recent study of the
representations of Mahmud that touches on the genre of mirrors-for-princes see Nilanjan Sarkar, "The
Voice of Mahmud': The Hero in Ziya Baranfs Fatdwd-i Jahdnddrl" The Medieval History Journal 9, no. 2
(2006): 327-56. Peter Hardy discusses the various uses European historians have made of the images of
Mahmud. See Peter Hardy, "Mahmud of Ghazna and the Historian," Journal of the Punjab University
Historical Society 14(1962): 1-36.
-31 -
analogy to the overwhelming power of divine retribution. It takes the form of the great
"biblical" flood signified by the direct quote from Surah Nuh. Juzjani's punctuation of
the battle scene on the banks of the Jhelum River with a Qur
D
anic dya raises the military
prowess of Iltutmish to the strength carried in the apocalyptic destruction of the flood
sent by God. In judicious fashion Juzjani evokes two pervasive and didactic elements of
the Qur
3
anic narrative: the sure triumph for those who stand fast in their obedience to
God's will, and the swift punishment for those who chose to ignore God's warnings. In
the same way that the flood served as a validating miracle for the prophet Noah (Nuh),
Iltutmish's victory over the forces of disbelief is given supernatural proportions.
That the Quran played a central role in Muslim historiography was certainly not
new. Stephen Humphreys has discussed the way in which Quranic motifs and narrative
structures were influential in early Islamic historiography. According to Humphreys the
core of early Islamic historiography is organized around a set group of paradigmatic
events crafted in an idealized form. One of the primary Qur
D
anic themes he notes is that
the emergence of Islam is represented as "a decisive break in world history."
10
Iltutmish's
battle against the Khokar and his demonstrative victory likewise functions as one of those
paradigmatic events. Juzjani appropriates the motif of the "decisive break" with history
by drawing on the imagery of the great flood of Noah. In terms of Sultanate
historiography it is the reversal of one social order for another, achieved through the
divine will of God, but enacted at the hands of men. In this way QurDanic motifs were
utilized ideologically and politically in the literary constructions of the personae of the
rulers of Delhi.
10
Humphreys, "Qur'anic Myth and Narrative Structure in Early Islamic Historiography," 274.
- 3 2 -
Juzjani follows up the "story" of the battle with the Khokar by giving the
background to how Iltutmish would be raised to his exalted position as sultan of Delhi.
Mu
c
izz al-Dln was obviously impressed with Iltutmish's exploits on the battlefield.
Juzjani records that he called Qutb al-Dln before him and commended the "bravery"
(jaladah) and "boldness" (shdhamah) of his "slave" Iltutmish. He ordered him to prepare
Iltutmish's "papers of manumission" (khatt-i
c
itq). Juzjani says that in this way his
esteem was "raised" (malhuz gardarild) in the "eyes of kings" (bi-nazar-i padshdhari).
u
Not long after these events both Qutb al-Din and Mu
c
izz al-Dln died leaving Iltutmish
with the reins of power. Peter Jackson refers to the consequences of Iltutmish's
succession to power and the evolving political order of Islamic kingdoms in India saying,
"Aybeg's action marks the emergence of an independent Muslim power in India; that of
Iltutmish, the creation of the Delhi Sultanate."
12
To this end Juzjani's narrative of
Iltutmish's bravery is part of the "invention of tradition" that appropriated the old for the
creation of new individual and communal identities.
13
As an author Juzjani played a crucial role in formulating an image of the sultan
that contributed to the maintenance of the state. Whether or not Iltutmish really was a
charismatic ghazl warrior striding headlong into the Jhelum to confront the "rabble" and
11
Juzjani, TN, 1:444.
12
Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, 13.
I draw on the idea of the "invention of tradition" from the collection of thematic essays edited by Eric
Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger. In the introductory essay Hobsbawm discusses the relationship of
historians to the "invention of tradition" saying, "Yet all historians, whatever else their objectives, are
engaged in this process inasmuch as they contribute, consciously or not, to the creation, dismantling and
restructuring of images of the past which belong not only to the world of specialist investigation but to the
public sphere of man as a political being." Eric Hobsbawm, "Introduction: Inventing Traditions," in The
Invention of Tradition, ed. Eric Hobsbawm and T. O. Ranger (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1992), 13.
- 3 3 -
the "infidel" is incidental. He becomes so through a literary process of "routinization"
that legitimates his authority through the figure of the courageous and victorious sultan.
14
This literary process, carried out in history writing, significantly contributed to the
successful development and persistence of ideal types in the various representations of
Muslim authority. With a rhetorical flourish of the pen JuzjanI put an exclamation point
at the origins of historiography of the Delhi Sultanate. He initiated the historical narrative
of Delhi and the sultans who endeavored to make it and themselves the center of Muslim
authority in the "eastern" Islamicate world.
Moses and Miracles in the Representation of the Sultans of India
Long after the recording of Iltutmish's great victory in the Punjab, at the other end
of Sultanate historiography, Shams al-Dln Siraj
c
Afif crafted a related interpolation of
prophetic imagery and sultanic action. In contrast to Juzjanl's narrative of conquest and
victory written at the very inception of the Delhi Sultanate,
c
Afif composed a story of
defeat that required a very different appropriation of prophetic paradigms. Instead of the
flood imagery associated with the military prowess of Iltutmish,
c
Afif employed a desert
motif that drew upon tales of the Jewish exodus from Egypt and the legendary exploits of
the figure of the prophet Moses {Musd).
I am using Max Weber's terminology in a different fashion as he speaks of routinization in relation to the
communal need for charismatic leadership and its perpetuation in structured forms of social institutions.
Weber speaks to the organizational and structural dimensions in the process of routinization without
mention of the literary dimensions. For the classic treatment of charisma and routinization see Max Weber,
The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, ed. Talcott Parsons, trans. A. M. Henderson and Talcott
Parsons, 1st American ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1947), 358-72. I am arguing for a better
understanding of the important function that history writing plays in establishing and perpetuating
routinized forms of social organization.
- 3 4 -
The historical event crafted by the pen of
c
Afif concerned Sultan Firuz Shah who
was in the fourth year of his reign as the "Supreme Sultan" {Sultan al-A^zam) of Delhi.
15
It was sometime around 767/1365-6 that Sultan Firuz Shah decided to embark on a major
military campaign to Sind. Both during and before Sultan Firuz Shah's reign the eastern
and western frontiers of the Sultanate had only fitfully remained within the orbit of
Delhi's authority. Earlier the eastern frontier of Bengal was integrated for a time into the
Delhi Sultanate during the reign of Muhammad b. Tughluq. However, by 743/1342
Shams al-Din Ilyas Shah (r. 743/1342-759/1358) had secured its autonomy and Frruz
Shah attempted to rectify that situation by inaugurating his first major military campaign
with an assault against Bengal. In 754/1353 Firuz Shah tried to dislodge Shams al-Din
Ilyas Shah but did not achieve much success.
16
On the western frontier, independent kingdoms in southern Sind had largely
eluded Firuz Shah's predecessor's grasp. The capital of a regional kingdom at Thatta was
established by the Sumra. According to the contemporary account of the renowned
traveler and qqzl to the court at Delhi Ibn Battuta (703/1304-770/1368-9 or 779/1377),
the Sumra rulers had accepted at least a degree of Muhammad b. Tughluq's sovereignty.
17
The title of the "Supreme Sultan" is appended to Firuz Shah by
c
Afff in the very first mention of his
reign as sultan of Delhi.
c
Afif, TFS, 19.
For a discussion of the early Bengal Sultanate and the relations with Delhi see Eaton, The Rise of Islam
and the Bengal Frontier 1204-1760, 40-50.
Riazul Islam, "The Rise of the Sammas in Sind," Islamic Culture 22 (1948): 366. Islam was the first to
give a full account of the Sumra and Samma as discussed in contemporary Arabic and Persian sources. For
a more resent study see Nazir Ahmad, "Diplomatic Relations Between the Sultans of Delhi and the II-
Khans of Iran," in Islamic Heritage in South Asian Subcontinent, ed. Nazir Ahmad and I.H.Siddiqui
(Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 1998), 69-78. Also see A. K. Majumdar, "Sind," in The Delhi Sultanate, ed.
Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, The History and Culture of the Indian People (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, 1967), 221-27.
- 3 5 -
However, it is likely that they broke off from Delhi after that time.
18
By 752/1351 the
Samma. Dynasty (r. 752/1351-926/1520) had usurped the Sumra throne and established
their court at Thatta. During Firuz Shah's reign the region was in the control of the
Samma rulers
c
Ala
D
al-Dm Jam and his nephew Sadr al-Dln Banblna.
c
AfIf describes the
Sultan's enemies in unusually flattering terms, such that he reports, "their strength and
bravery was known throughout the world."
19
As this campaign of Firuz Shah was against
an independent "Muslim" kingdom
c
Afif's conquest narrative is devoid of any of the
rhetoric of religious war that accompanies Juzjanl's narrative.
c
Afif describes how the Sultan's forces were not prepared to encounter such a
hardy enemy during their siege of Thatta. Consequently, the assault on the Samma rulers
did not go well and Firuz Shah was forced into a long retreat into Gujarat to replenish his
army's supplies and prepare for a second battle.
20
Things went from bad to worse as
precious quantities of grain stocks became scarce and the cavalry's horses were afflicted
with disease.
c
AfIf narrates that the situation had become so dire that the soldiers were
forced to feed off the dead horses. On top of these hardships the army's guides
(rahbaran), who were from Sind, deceived the soldiers and the Sultan leading them into
the Rann of Kutch (kunchl ran), a vast deserted and desolate salt marsh. The Gazetteer of
Sind describes the region in this fashion, "It forms the southern or south eastern boundary
of Sind from Rajputana to the sea. It is now a vast salt waste flooded a great extent for
1
Islam, "The Rise of the Sammas in Sind," 367.
19 c
AfTf, TFS, 199.
20
For further descriptions of these events see Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military
History, 300-01. Also see Jamini Mohan Banerjee, History of Firuz Shah Tughluq (Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 1967), 36-40.
- 3 6 -
several months of the year by waters of the sea driven into it by the force of the south
west monsoon, which converts it into a salt lake. At other season, it is a desert flat, firm
and quite bare except for a few islands, where there is scant herbage."
21
In this vast
deserted wasteland
c
AfIf lists four great calamities (bald") that afflicted the Sultan's
party: starvation (qaht), marching on foot (piyddagi), the life-consuming desert (sahrd-i
jan-gudaz), the abandonment of friends (furqat-i ahbab).
22
Faced with dire straits the
soldiers lost all hope and
c
Aflf describes that upon realizing his situation the Sultan shed
tears (db dar chashm migarddnld).
23
c
Afif reaches the climax of his dramatic narrative with a pointed observation that
he fleshes out with the help of an analogy. He equates the calamitous events of Flruz
Shah's disastrous adventure in the Rann of Kutch to the wanderings of Moses in the
desert following the exodus from Egypt. He writes, "What a wondrous secret, [it is] just
as the Elder Moses faced the desolate land (
c
dlam-i tlh) whose tales are mentioned in the
celebrated commentaries."
24
Confronted by a hopeless situation,
c
Afif narrates that the
Sultan, being divinely inspired (bi-ilhdm-i ildhl), began a night of vigil. He cried out to
heaven, "Oh God! Send the rain of mercy out of the blessing of the merit of someone in
the army, he who is of the rank of the people of holiness. Deliver [us] out of this desolate
land through the blessings of his merit and the grandeur of the dust of his feet!"
25
21
Gazetteer ofSind quoted in Banerjee, History ofFiruz Shah Tughluq, 56nl25.
22c
Afif, TFS, 211.
23
For the imagery of the tears of the Sultan see Ibid., 215.
Ibid., 217. Arlbu 'l-
c
ajab asrarl chunanchih mihtar musa
c
ala nablna wa
c
alayhi al-salam rd 'alam-i tlh
pish amad kih an qissa-ha dar tafasir-i mashhur mqzkiir ast.
c
Afif often begins or ends a narrative that
includes miraculous events with the tale-telling marker "what a wondrous secret" (arlbu 'l-
c
ajab asrarl).
25
Ibid., 217-18.
- 3 7 -
Immediately following the prayer of the Sultan the skies clouded over and the "rain of
mercy" (bdrdn-i rahmah) came down. The Sultan's struggles in the desert of the Rann of
Kutch end with a miraculous act of divine intervention.
Translators of
c
Afif s tale have shrewdly chosen to ignore the details of Flruz
Shah's conversation with God, an event that in their minds clearly defied credulity and
thus did not merit treatment.
26
However, in the process they glossed over one of
c
AfIf s
most important narrative moments, one that served to legitimate the authority of the
Sultan.
c
Afif envisioned a portrait of Flruz Shah that embodied certain prophetic traits
valorized from the pre-Islamic past.
c
Afif's reference to Moses in the desert supplies the entire narrative framework
for the "historical" events of Flruz Shah's own desert wanderings.
27
Simply by employing
the desert motif the historian is able to evoke a number of Qur'anic themes that tie into
the story of Moses that also have long been the subject of Muslim exegetical writings.
28
The major themes taken from the Qur
3
an and exegesis that highlight the prophetic
qualities of Moses are his patience, his guidance, and his miraculous signs that evidence
There are two translations of the Tarikh-i Flruz Shahi of
c
Afff and both neglect the passage provided in
translation above. See Elliot and Dowson, The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: The
Muhammadan Period, 3:326. Also
c
AfTf, Medieval India in Transition - Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi: A First Hand
Account, 133.
For an exploration of the "desert motif in Biblical literature see Shemaryahu Talmon, "The 'Desert
Motif in the Bible and in Qumran Literature," in Biblical Motifs: Origins and Transformations, ed.
Alexander Altmann, Philip W. Lown Institute of Advanced Judaic Studies Brandeis University Studies and
Texts (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966), 31-63. For a discussion of Qur
D
anic representations of
Moses see M. Causse, "The Theology of Separation and the Theology of Community: A Study of the
Prophetic Career of Moses According to the Qur
D
an," in The Qur'an: Style and Contents, ed. Andrew
Rippin, The Formation of the Classical Islamic World (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001), 323-44.
For a detailed discussion of interpretations of the Qur
3
anic story of Moses see Brannon M. Wheeler,
Moses in the Quran and Islamic Exegesis, RoutledgeCurzon Studies in the Quran (London:
RoutledgeCurzon, 2002).
- 38 -
his divine calling.
29
These are carefully grafted on to the image of Flruz Shah. Even
though there is no direct parallel to the rainmaking prayer to be found in the Quranic
account,
c
Afif simultaneously evokes two other Qur'anic events with interlinking themes.
One is the striking of the rock with the rod that brings water and the other is the raining
of food down from the sky through prayer in Q7:160.
30
In this way the prayer of Firiiz
Shah that brings rain to the desert is interpolated with the Qur
D
anic narrative of Moses.
The Quranic subtext of the sojourn through the desert in search of the promised-
land is one of punishment for the Israelites who are not obedient to Moses, "God said,
'Therefore, it will be forbidden to them for forty years. They will wander through the
land.'"
31
By framing Flruz Shah's own trial in the narrative structure of the "wilderness of
wandering"
c
Afif is able to associate the Sultan's authority with prophetic nature. Indeed,
it is surely the very concept of leadership and authority embodied in the figure of Moses
that
c
Afif hoped to evoke in the imagination of his readers. The Qur
D
an itself is clear on
this point. Moses' role as guide and leader to the community is founded on his "clear
authority" (sultan mublri). Evidence for this is given in Q23:45 which says, "Then we
sent Moses and his brother Aaron with our signs and clear authority (sultan mubin)'' This
authority is also reiterated in Q28:35, "He said, 'We will certainly strengthen thy arm
through thy brother, and invest you both with authority (sultan).'" This particular verse
EQ, s.v. "Moses," (Cornelia Shock).
These events are also narrated in Q2:57-60.
31
Q5:26.
- 3 9 -
was appropriated by Amir Khusraw who recognized its usefulness in augmenting the
ascension of ''Ala
3
al-Din Muhammad Shah.
32
Another goal of
c
Afif in creating this narrative is to establish the piety of the
Sultan. Fred Donner has studied the translation of Qur'anie piety into historiography of
the early Islamic period. His work focuses on the project of historicizing legitimacy in
early historical works, and he points out that establishing the piety of the figures of
history was a major project of early historiographers. He writes, "In the early community
of Believers piety became a crucial determinant of one's standing in the community in
this world, no less than one's standing in the next."
33
By highlighting Firuz Shah's
constant prayers and supplications to the divine
c
Afif is participating in a creative
endeavor that Donner has termed "theocratic legitimization."
34
That is the process by
which one's authority is secured through evidence of the involvement of the divine in the
events of mundane life.
In
c
Afif's reproduction and reappropriation of an "ancient" literary motif he
affectively transforms "history" into "myth." Or to reverse the proposition he uses myth
to interpret contemporary events. With Firuz Shah's rainmaking ability
c
Afif achieves the
effect of what Mircea Eliade called the "suspension of profane time."
35
Amir Khusraw, Kliazain al-futuh, ed. Mohammad Wahid Mirza, 2nd ed., Bibliotheca Indica (Islamabad:
National Book Foundation of Pakistan, 1976), 10.
33
Fred McGraw Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing, vol.
14, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam (Princeton: Darwin Press, 1998), 98.
Fred Donner has supplied a number of useful concepts he applies to a reading of early Islamic
historiography that I believe are applicable to a reading of Sultanate historiography as well. For his
important discussion of "styles of legitimation" see Ibid., 98-122.
35
Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History, 2nd pbk. ed., vol. 46, Bollingen
Series (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005), 36-37.
- 4 0 -
In his allusion to miracles as signs of the divinely ordained right to command,
c
Afif utilizes a major support in medieval Muslim legitimacy.
36
In the projection of piety,
images of the friends of God {awliya
0
) as well as prophets (anbiyd
0
) are appropriated and
assimilated into the figures of sultans. Thus,
c
AfIf links Flruz Shah's miraculous
rainmaking ability to a capacity also possessed by Dhu '1-Nun Misri (ca. 180/796-
246/861), the itinerant traveler, ascetic and early "Sufi," a subject for further discussion
in the chapter on representations of the friends of God and sultans. While the sultan is not
a prophet, according to
c
Afif he is like a prophet with his miraculous ability and sincere
piety. For a medieval Muslim historian such as
c
Afif the association of prophethood with
political authority is a theological issue only in as much as it legitimates the Sultan's
authority by placing it in line with God's design.
37
The prophetic nature of sultans as
depicted in Indo-Persian historiography becomes even more pronounced in
historiographic representations of Muhammad, a subject that I will discuss in detail in the
next chapter.
Historical Method and the Polemics of History in the Figure of Abraham
In the prolegomena to his history of the sultans of Delhi, a distinct contribution to
medieval writings on historiography, Ziya
D
al-DIn BaranI delineated seven "precious
Sarah Stroumsa has discussed the way in which the signs of prophecy became a central motif in kalam
literature. She specifically notes that the story of Moses was a "favored piece" for authors on this topic. See
Sarah Stroumsa, "The Signs of Prophecy: The Emergence and Early Development of a Theme in Arabic
Theological Literature," The Harvard Theological Review 78, no. 1/2 (1985): 103.
37
For a discussion of divine kingship and the likeness between prophets and kings in Persian advice
literature see Louise Marlow, "Kings, Prophets, and the
c
Ulama
c
' in Mediaeval Islamic Advice Literature,"
Studia Islamica 81 (1995): 101-20.
-41 -
qualities" (nafasat) indispensable to the "knowledge of history" (
c
ilm-i tarlkh).
i&
In his
theory of knowledge, BaranI gives historiography high-standing among the "fields of
knowledge" (
c
ulum). One of the claims of BaranI is that the knowledge of history
provides scholars with an ability to distinguish out of the past the correct and incorrect
record of the early events of Islam. Thus, according to his analysis, if the "scholar of
hadls" (muhaddis) is not a "historian" (muvarrikh) he does not recognize the "original
narrators" (asl ruvdt) of the actions of the Prophet nor distinguishes between the
"sincere" (mukhlisdn) and "insincere" (ghayr mukhlisdn) of the "companions" (sahdba).
39
Barani continues this overall train of thought in his discussion of the seventh and
final quality of history. Reporting on the authority of the "great men of religion and rule"
(buzurgdn-i din va dawlah), a standard formula that Barani uses to appeal to past
authority, he says that the knowledge of history is based on "truth" (sidq).
40
To give proof
for this statement he draws on Qur^anic precedent and prophetic example. He elevates the
principle of historical truth using the authoritative voice of Abraham (Ibrahim) who
prayed to God in Q26:84 -
"Let me be honest in all I say to others."
41
38
For Barani's seven precious qualities {nafasat) of the knowledge of history (
c
ilm-i tankh) see Barani,
TFS, 10-13. Franz Rosenthal credits Muhyi al-Din Muhammad b. Sulayman al-KafiyajI (788/1386-87-
879/1474) with the authorship of the "oldest Muslim monograph on the theory of historiography known to
us." Rosenthal, A History of Muslim Historiography, 245. Muhyi al-Din (d. 879/1474) al-KafiyajI, Al-
Mukhtasarfi
c
ilm al-ta^rlkh, ed. Muhammad Kamal al-Din
c
Izz al-Din (Beirut:
c
Alam al-Kutub, 1990).
39
Barani, TFS, 11-12.
40
Ibid., 12.
Ibid. The translation closest to the meaning taken by BaranI is found in Kenneth Cragg, Readings in the
Qur^an (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2004), 118. Arberry's translation is along the same lines, "and
- 4 2 -
In both the Qur
D
an and exegesis Abraham is the paragon of truth. He is referred to
as a "man of truth" (siddlq) in Q 19:41. This is just one of the multiple identities attached
to Abraham who is also valorized as the devoted monotheist (hanif), obedient servant of
God, builder of the Kaaba, and patriarch.
42
According to qisas al-anbiya traditions his
trustworthiness is attested to by wild animals who witness to it. Al-Kisa
D
I, the
"legendary" author of the Qisas al-anbiya
0
, narrates that when Abraham was called to the
court of Nimrod (Nimrud), the world conqueror and Abraham's antagonist, he was
compelled to worship before him as if he were a god. When Abraham refused Nimrod
grew angry and questioned him about the God he worshiped. Abraham described his God
as the "Lord of the Universe." Nimrod called him a liar but a cock approached and said,
"Nimrod, Abraham is the apostle of the Lord of the Universe, and what he says is the
truth."
43
BaranI makes reference to Abraham's plea to God in Q26:84 to evoke the
interpretive life of these prophetic tales and to define his historical method as based on
Abrahamic truth. In this way, Barani's usage of prophetic examples differed from the
panegyric mode of Juzjani and
c
Afif. His appropriation was in line with the reflections on
appoint me a tongue of truthfulness among the others." However, Dawood and Yusuf Ali produce different
meanings in their translations of this dya. Q26:84 has a related verse Q19:50.
42
For insight into some of the multiple representations of the figure of Abraham in the Qur'an and
exegetical literature see Norman Calder, "Tafslr from Tabarl to Ibn Kathir: Problems in the Description of a
Genre, Illustrated with Reference to the Story of Abraham," in Approaches to tlie Qur'an, ed. G. R.
Hawting and Abdul-Kader A. Shareef, Routledge/SOAS Series on Contemporary Politics and Culture in
the Middle East (London: Routledge, 1993), 101-40. Also see Shari L. Lowin, The Making of a Forefather:
Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegetical Narratives, ed. Wadad Kadi and Rotraud Wielandt, vol. 65,
Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts (Leiden: Brill, 2006).
43
Muhammad ibn
c
Abd Allah Kisa
3
!, The Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisa^i, ed. Use Lichtenstadter, trans.
Wheeler Thackston, vol. 2, Library of Classical Arabic Literature (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1978), 142.
- 4 3 -
history that underscore much of his literary production.
44
Barani was well aware that the
success of one's history depended upon the ability to claim access to "true" events. To
this end Barani employed historiography as a tool to generate a sectarian polemic. In
Barani's time as well as from early Islamic history there were multiple competing
narratives of the past.
45
Just to give one prominent example, Abu
C
AH Bal
c
ami (d.
363/974) utilized his "translation" of al-Tabari's History polemically in a way that suited
the court politics of Mansur ibn Nuh (r. 350/961-365/976) countering the contesting
narratives of Batini and Karramiyya ideology prevalent in Khurasan and Transoxiana of
the fourth/tenth century.
46
Barani inserted himself into the polemics of history with the following quote from
Q4:46 -
"They rob words of their true meaning."
47
This appropriation of the Qiu^an is situated in the context of Barani's reference to
Abraham and his discourse on the seventh precious quality of history. Q4:46 is itself part
of an extended discussion of the "enemies" of those who "believe." These verses have
44
This is of particular relevance to his valuable contribution to the genre of "mirrors for princes" in his
"Edicts of World Rule" (Fatava-i Jahandart). The didacticism of Barani has been commented on by a
number of scholars. See Peter Hardy, "Didactic Historical Writing in Indian Islam: Ziya al-Dln Barani's
Treatment of the Reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq (1324-1351)," in Islam in Asia, ed. Yohanan
Friedmann (Jerusalem: 1984).
Wansbrough refers to early "salvation history" as "kerygmatic" and he argues that early Islamic
historiography is essentially polemical, a straggle for "authority" during a "sectarian milieu." See John E.
Wansbrough, The Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic Salvation History, vol. 34,
London Oriental Series (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978).
For a discussion of the polemics of history in Samanid politics of the court of Mansur ibn Nuh (r.
350/961-365/976) see Meisami, Persian Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century, 24-37.
Barani, TFS, 12. See also identical wording in Q5:13.
- 4 4 -
been taken as an invective against the Jews who "twist words and expressions."
48
In
Baranl's phrasing they "make lies look like truths."
49
Here BaranI does not make an
immediate attack against any specific group but sets out to warn historians that God has
punishment in store for those who lie.
50
Slightly later in his prolegomena BaranI becomes more pointed in his polemics of
history by questioning the historical truth produced in early "communal histories." He
says that the "protection" (salamati) of "religion" (din va maghab) is a "condition"
(shart) of writing history. In this context BaranI mentions those of "bad faith" (bad
mazhabari) who out of zealous partisanship regarding "hereditary succession" (
c
asabiyat-
i muras) weave "tales of lies" (qissa-ha-yi durugh) about the "companions" (sahaba).
51
He makes specific mention of the "extremists" (ghuldf) of the "dissenters" (ravdfiz) and
"dissidents" (khavdrij), a disparaging reference to early ShTa communities and
Kharijites, emphasizing that they mix "truth and lies" (sidq va kazb) in their own
histories.
52
As a result readers can become easily deceived falling onto the wrong path
Yusuf Ali is conspicuously vociferous on this point in his translation of this verse. Abdullah Yusuf Ali,
The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary (Elmhurst: Tahrike Tarsile Qur
3
an, 1987), 194n565.
Durugh-hd bi-rdstl manand kunad. BaranI, TFS, 13.
BaranI says that "on the day of judgment the lying author will receive the severest of punishments"
(fardd-yi qiydmat mu^allif-i kqzdb bisakht-tarln
c
azab va
c
iqdb darmdnad). Ibid., 16.
51
Ibid., 14-15.
Sultan Flruz Shah made the ravdfiz a subject of attack in his own unique literary contribution, the self-
laudatory "Victories of Flruz Shah" (Futuhdt-i Firuz ShdhT). He reports of the ravdfiz that "they furbished
treatises and books about this religion and they pandered their teachings." See FTruz Shah Tughluq,
Futuhdt-i Flruz ShdhT, ed. Abdur Rashid (Aligarh: Department of History Aligarh Muslim University,
1954), 6. While the sobriquet ravdfiz as used by BaranI and Sultan Flruz Shah is meant to be a pejorative
term (literally meaning "rejectors") it was adopted by early Shl
c
a communities who reappropriated the
meaning for themselves. For this discussion and further description see Ell, s.v. "al-Rafida or al-Rawafid"
(E. Kohlberg). For an overview of the term "extremists" (ghulat) see EI2, s.v. "Ghulat" (M.G.S. Hodgson).
Also see Wadad al-Qadl, "The Development of the Term Ghulat in Muslim Literature with Special
Reference to the Kaysaniyya," in Akten des VII. Kongresses fur Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft,
Gottingen, 15. bis 22. August 1974, ed. Albert Dietrich (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1976), 295-
- 4 5 -
through the deception of historians from those communities. Ironically, Barani serves
warning about the way in which history itself is a tool for the spreading of ideology and
religion, a project which he was himself fully engaged.
However, according to Barani, one of the great advantages of having "knowledge
of history" (
c
ilm-i tarikh) is the ability to distinguish between those "who follow the path
of the predecessors" (sunniyan-i salaf) from the "bad religionists" (bad maghaban). In
this sense Barani's vision of history was a Sunni vision of history, just as the sultans of
Delhi built their authority through associations with a Sunni version of "traditionalism."
For Barani it is a condition of history writing that the "historian" (muvarrikh) exhibit
"religiosity" (dinddrl), document the good qualities of "kingship" (badshdhi), "greatness"
(buzurgl), and not conceal their failings. Thus Barani's invocation of Abraham served the
dual purpose of providing authenticity to the precious qualities of the knowledge of
history and an indictment against historiography for which he did not approve.
The Joseph Paradigm in the Example of the Sultan
S 1 / / O * / I fi| / W S } O S
"We tell you the most beautiful of tales."
53
319. Sunni-Shi
c
a polemics is an important facet of much of Islamic historiography. For an insightful
discussion of the sectarian religious polemics developed in Safavid historiography see Kathryn Babayan,
Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran (Cambridge: Harvard Center
for Middle Eastern Studies, 2002).
53
Sura Yusuf 12:3 quoted in the prolegomena of Barani, TFS, 1.
- 4 6 -
In general the Qur
D
an is seen as the apex of all literary achievements in Arabic.
Needless to say it has served as a source of inspiration for authors in variety of literary
genres and its repertoire of images and mythical themes has spread far beyond the Arabic
speaking world. As has been shown historians of the Delhi Sultanate found numerous
uses for the Qur
D
an in historiography through direct quotation, allusion, and illustration.
However, in terms of narrative structure, the historian has been rather at a loss to fulfill
the dictates of the "knowledge of history" (
c
ilm-i tarlkh) by drawing on the apocopated
narrative strains found in the Qur
D
an. In contrast, Surah Yusuf has been given special
attention in historiography. Being the most complete narrative recorded in the Qur
D
an,
this locus classicus has lent itself to a complex variety of usages in historical writings.
54
The proverbial story of Joseph {Yusuf) had long been a central narrative to Jewish
and Christian writings before the story of this prophetic life spread widely in Islamicate
literatures.
55
The primary narrative is contained within the twelfth Surah of the Qur
D
an.
The story of Joseph found extensive treatment in early Qur'anic exegetical literature
(tafsir) as well as the tales of the prophets (qisas al-anbiya
0
) tradition. At the same time it
Fred Donner has focused on piety in his discussion of the Qur'an and history where he also includes a
discussion of the story of Joseph. See Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic
Historical Writing, 75-85.
It would be near impossible to fully document even one stage in the literary journey of the story of
Joseph, which has both oral and written dimensions, as it found extensive treatment in the literary cultures
of Muslim societies. I will list just a few studies and some important contributions to the growth of the
story of Joseph. For a cross reading of the Joseph narrative in Biblical and Qur'anic sources see John
Kaltner, Inquiring of Joseph: Getting to Know a Biblical Character through the QurDan, Interfaces
(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2003). For the treatment of Joseph in the writings of Jalal al-Din Rum! see
Annemarie Schimmel, "Yusuf in Mawlana Rumi's Poetry," in The Heritage of Sufism: The Legacy of
Medieval Persian Sufism (1150-1500), ed. Leonard Lewisohn (Oxford: Oneworld, 1999), 45-59. In Persian,
the most famous example is Nur al-Din
c
Abd al-Rahman Jami's ninth/fifteenth century poem Yusuf va
Zulaykha. For a retelling of the story in Swahili see Jan Knappert, Islamic Legends: Histories of the Heroes,
Saints, and Prophets of Islam, vol. 15:1, Religious Texts in Translation Series Nisaba (Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1985), 85-104. For an early Urdu version see Ahmad Sharif Gujarat!, Yusuf Zulaikha, 1580-1585:
Dabistan-i Golkundah ki PahlT Masnavl, ed. Sayyidah Ja
c
far (Haidarabad, Ae. PL: Milne ka patah
Sayyidah Ja
c
far, 1983).
- 47-
made its way into historical writings. From the writings of al-Tabarl in The History of
Prophets and Kings (Jankh al-rusul wa 'l-muluk) to Ibn al-Athir (555/1160-630/1233)
in The Complete History (al-Kdmil fi al-tarikh), the story of Joseph was incorporated
into universal histories along with the stories of other pre-Islamic prophetic figures.
56
The
tradition of universal history writing passed quickly into Persian with the "translation" of
al-Tabari's History in the edition produced under the patronage of the Samanid ruler
Mansur ibn Nuh in 352/963. The project was carried out by his "minister" (vazir) Abu
c
Ali Bal
c
ami (d. 363/974) from which he gained his fame.
57
By this time pre-Islamic
narratives had been recognized as standard representations in Islamic history and as such
were employed in early Persian courts as a form of legitimacy.
58
The projection of history
into a prophetic past helped bolster a court's claims to Islamic legitimacy and the usage
of Qur'anic and exegetical literature greatly aided in that project. The story of Joseph was
a critical tool in that endeavor.
The significance of the story of Joseph was not lost on the historians of the Delhi
Sultanate either. From Juzjam to BaranI and
c
Afif, all three historians utilized the story of
Joseph in both stylistic and didactic ways while writing their histories. These historians
incorporated the story of Joseph into Delhi Sultanate histories conceptually as well as for
the purpose of illustration and analogy. The character of Joseph was brought to life again
For a treatment of the importance of the model of Joseph in the life of Muhammad, see M. S. Stern,
"Muhammad and Joseph: A Study of Koranic Narrative," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 44, no. 3 (1985):
193-204.
For a discussion of the place of al-Tabari's History in the court of Mansur ibn Nuh, see Meisami, Persian
Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century, 23-37.
58
A.C.S. Peacock writes of the patronage of Persian in the Samanid courts saying, "Persian prose seems to
have emerged from the state's desire to propagate conservative Islamic values amongst the pious
Transoxianan public." See A. C. S. Peacock, Mediaeval Islamic Historiography and Political Legitimacy:
BaVami's Tdrikhndma, Routledge Studies in the History of Iran and Turkey (London: Routledge, 2007), 48.
- 4 8 -
at the pens of historians who sought Qur
D
anic parallels to the lives of the sultans they
eulogize. Though Joseph became a stock figure of Delhi Sultanate historiography,
historians felt no need to represent him in uniform or typical ways.
The Structure of Universal Histories and Legitimacy
The first usage of the story of Joseph in Delhi Sultanate historiography is
recorded in the Tabaqat-i Ndsiri of Juzjanl. Composed in the style of a universal history,
Juzjani's Tabaqat is both history and genealogy.
59
It establishes the sultans of India
within a "traditional" narrative of Islamic lineages that wind their way back to the "father
of humanity" (abu 'l-bashar) Adam.
60
In the broad pre-Islamic narrative of prophets and
patriarchs, Juzjanl gives the story of Joseph greater treatment than the stories of other
prominent figures like Noah, Abraham, Moses and more than thirty other prophetic
figures that make up his "history" of Islam before the life of Muhammad. In terms of
literary structure it is one section of the first chapter (tabaqa) on prophets (anbiya
0
), a
section that culminates in the life of Muhammad; the second tabaqa being dedicated to
the "rightly-guided" caliphs (khulafa
D
-i rashidln).
In addition to histories works specifically dedicated to genealogies were produced in the early courts of
the sultans of Delhi. The Shajarah-yi Ansdb of Fakhr-i Mudabbir (b. ca. 552/1157), author of the important
book of military advice Adab al-Harb, was presented to Qutb al-Dln Aybeg in 602/1206. This work
contains some 136 genealogical tables. For an overview of Shajarah-yi Ansdb see M. S. Khan, "The Life
and Works of Fakhr-i Mudabbir," Islamic Culture 51, no. 2 (1977): 127-40.
For a discussion of Adam as the progenitor of humankind in tafslr and hadlth literature see M.J. Kister,
"Legends in tafslr and hadlth Literature: The Creation of Adam and Related Stories," in Approaches to the
History of the Interpretation of the Quran, ed. Andrew Rippin (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), 82-114.
While this historical genealogy conforms to the format of universal histories such as al-Tabari's Ta
D
rlkh, it
should be seen in contrast to an equally strong thematic narrative that links Muslims to a pre-Islamic past
with an orientation to Persian origins. Consider Abu Hanlfah Ahmad ibn Dawud al-Dlnawari's al-Akhbdr
al-tiwal (3^/9^ c) ,
c
Abd al-Hayy GardlzT's Zayn al-akhbar (5
th
/l 1
th
a) , Abu Mansur al-Tha
c
alibf s Ghurar
al-siyar (5
m
/ll
m
c. )andof course Firdawsfs Shahnama.
- 49-
Shorn of most of the apparatus of the isnad that accompanies al-Tabari's
narrative, Juzjani conventionally discusses Joseph's beauty and status as the favored son
of Jacob (Ya
c
qub). In many respects he follows closely the outline of the Qur
D
anic
narrative.
61
More importantly, Juzjani liberally draws on the qisas al-anbiya
3
tradition in
relating the details of Joseph's death, his initial burial in Egypt entombed in a marble
coffin, and final translatio of his body to Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis) at the hands of
Moses.
62
This portion of Juzjani's history forms part of the project of establishing the real
and imagined genealogies of legitimacy that are a major function of "universal" histories.
It establishes, in an indirect manner, the transmission of Islamic authority by connecting
the pre-Islamic past to the present. This chain of authority, beginning with the life of the
"father of humanity" (abu 'l-bashar) and ending with the sultans of Delhi, conceived of
in linear fashion, the direct descent of the Muslim community. The structural composition
of universal Islamic history was certainly a powerful symbolic tool in conceiving the rule
of the sultans of Delhi as an outcome and continuation of sacred history, sultans who
were by and large of Central Asian Turkish descent.
James Lindsay has shown the way that sacred history forms part of universal
history by mixing with the genre of qisas al-anbiya
1
\
63
One particularly illustrative
61
Cf. Q12:l-101 and Juzjani, TN, 1:29-30.
6
This account is not present in al-Tabari or Kisa'i but similar details of Yusuf s burial and translatio are
given in Ahmad ibn Muhammad Tha'labi, Ara'is al-majdlis fi qisas al-anbiya', or, Lives of the Prophets,
ed. Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych, trans. William M. Brinner, vol. 23, Studies in Arabic Literature (Leiden:
Brill, 2002), 234-35. For a discussion of the sub-genre of translatio in medieval Christian hagiographical
writings that is an interesting basis of comparison with Islamic materials see Patrick J. Geary, Furta Sacra:
Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages, rev. ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 9-15.
See James Lindsay, "
C
A1T Ibn
c
Asakir as a Preserver of Qisas al-Anbiya*: The Case of David b. Jesse,"
Studia Islamica 82 (1995): 45-82. For a fuller treatment on Ibn
c
Asakir's Ta
D
rlkh madlnat dimashq see
James Lindsay, "Professors, Prophets and Politicians:
C
A1I ibn
c
Asakir's Ta'rikh madlnat dimashq" (Ph. D.,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994).
- 5 0 -
example can be found in the monumental work Ta
3
rikh madlnat dimashq composed by
the sixth/twelfth century biographer and historian
C
A1I ibn
c
Asakir (499/1105-571/1176).
A work that fits broadly, as many of these early works, into the mixed genre of
biographical dictionary and history, and contains the record of influential scholars and
government officials connected with Damascus and greater Syria.
64
Like the universal
histories of al-Tabari and Juzjani, Ibn
c
Asakir's biographical dictionary, though limited in
geographical scope, extends itself into pre-Islamic time back to the origins of humankind
in the life of Adam. Lindsay describes Ibn
c
Asakir's understanding of history as
"Heilsgeschichte or sacred history - that is, an account of God working through His
agents to accomplish His will in Damascus specifically and Syria more broadly."
65
To
this effect, Ibn
c
Asakir provides biographical entries for more than thirty prophetic
figures.
On one level the introduction of the lives of prophets into historiography was an
attempt to root prophetic authority into a historical paradigm, in this case to establish pre-
Islamic prophetic continuity with Muhammad. On another level it moves the prophetic
narrative forward in time to substantiate the historical narrative of contemporary Muslim
personages of power. In
c
Ali Ibn
c
Asakir's Tarlkh madlnat dimashq, the trajectory of
For an overview of inter-linkages of history and biography see Michael Cooperson, Classical Arabic
Biography: The Heirs of the Prophets in the Age of al-Ma^mun, Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 1-23. Hamilton A. R. Gibb, "Islamic Biographical
Literature," in Historians of the Middle East, ed. Bernard Lewis and P. M. Holt, Historical Writings of the
Peoples of Asia (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), 54-58. Wadad al-Qadi, "Biographical
Dictionaries: Inner Structure and Cultural Significance," in The Book in the Islamic World: The Written
Word and Communication in the Middle East, ed. George N. Atiyeh (Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1995), 93-122. George Makdisi, "The Diary in Islamic Historiography: Some Notes," History
and Theory 25, no. 2 (1986): 173-85.
65
Lindsay, "
C
A1I Ibn
c
Asakir as a Preserver of Qisas al-Anbiyd*: The Case of David b. Jesse," 53.
- 5 1 -
sacred history is coterminous with contemporary history and qisas al-anbiya* is part and
parcel of ta^rlkh.
66
The concern for contemporary history as a segment and continuation
of sacred history is also a distinctive feature of Delhi Sultanate historiography. The qisas
al-anbiya
3
tradition is written into history as subtext for the project of legitimization and
historicization of the Delhi Sultanate.
The Slave Becomes King: The Story of Joseph and the Legitimacy of Mamluk Rule
It is of course understandable that Joseph would make his way into the universal
history of Juzjani. The inclusion of the stories of pre-Islamic prophets was the very
definition of universal history. Juzjani's use of the Joseph story, as part of the chapter on
prophets, succeeds in the structural goal of situating the present, the Delhi Sultanate, in
relation to a specific yet distant past, the world of sacred history. What of Joseph's
appearance in the histories of Juzjani, Barani, and
c
Afif, in areas that do not reach back
into sacred history but are confined to discussions of Sultanate dynasties? In other words,
what is the place of the Joseph story in the reign of a sultan of Delhi?
Beyond the universal dimensions of the Tabaqat, Juzjani made use of the Joseph
story in relation to the history of the Delhi Sultanate when it came to his representation of
the figure of Shams al-Dln Iltutmish, who succeeded to the throne of Delhi.
67
Qutb al-Din
Aybeg was the reigning sultan of Delhi when he died in a bizarre polo game accident.
Tilman Nagel credits Ahmad ibn Muhammad Tha'labi (d. 427/1036), producer of one of the widest
circulating collections of qisas al-anbiya', for being the first to formally separate the qisas al-anbiya
3
from
history which further enhanced the didactic character of the genre. E12, s.v. "Kisas al-Anbiya'," (Tilman
Nagel).
For a description of the succession of Iltutmish and subsequent events of his reign see the following:
Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, 29-43. Kumar, The Emergence of the Delhi
Sultanate 1192-1286, 130-46. Andre Wink, Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, vol. II, The
Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquests 1 lth-13th Centuries (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 152-58, 84-92.
- 5 2 -
The resulting power vacuum led to a dynastic struggle between two primary claimants to
the throne, Aram Shah the "son" of Qutb al-Dln and Shams al-Dln Iltutmish, his "military
slave" (ghulam).
6i
It remains unclear as to the circumstances but Aram Shah was killed in
his attempt to accede to the throne and Iltutmish eventually took control.
69
In what was
the outcome of an ironic twist of fate, the resulting dynastic change gradually led to a
consolidation of the Delhi Sultanate. This early period was formative for the Muslim
polity in North India. During the reign of Iltutmish, Delhi's centrality was extended to
disparate Muslim kingdoms across the Indian subcontinent. In this expansion historians
played a significant role in canonizing the outcome of each interregnum, successful or
not, to help paint a cohesive picture of the early Delhi Sultanate.
70
In the Tabaqat-i NasirT, JuzjanI marked the dynastic change from the
Mu
c
izziyyah, the lineage that ended with Qutb al-Dln Aybeg, to the Shamsiyyah, the
lineage initiated by Iltutmish, by inserting a new chapter (tabaqa) and chapter heading
titled "in reference to the Shamsiyyah sultans of India" (ft dhikr al-salatln al-Shamsiyyah
bi 'l-Hind).
71
JuzjanI frames the occasion of dynastic change in Quranic terms by
recalling the story of the life of Joseph. Iltutmish's story as the "slave" (ghuldm) of Qutb
al-Din Aybeg presented a logical opportunity for some apt intertextual play. The way in
As Iltutmish was already manumitted at the time of Qutb al-Din's death Peter Jackson prefers to refer to
his dynasty as the "Shamsid dynasty" rather than "MamlQk or Slave dynasty." For a preliminary study of
the mamluk institution that compares India and Egypt see Peter Jackson, "The Mamluk Institution in Early
Muslim India," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, no. 2 (1990): 340-58. For a comparison with similar
developments that just concern Egypt see Levanoni, "The Mamluk Conception of the Sultanate," 373-92.
Peter Jackson discusses the ambivalent historical record related to the occasion of Aram Shah's death.
Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, 29.
70
Sunil Kumar notes the way in which JuzjanI glossed over the confusion and power grabbing that
accompanied Dtutmish's succession to present a "seamless continuity of the Sultanate from one lineage to
another." See Kumar, The Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate 1192-1286, 135.
71
JuzjanI, TN, 1:439.
- 5 3 -
which JuzjanI has chosen to open this chapter with the story of Joseph is significant for
the understanding of historiography of the Delhi Sultanate, for it is likely that JuzjanI
inspired the relevance of "the most beautiful of tales" for Delhi Sultanate history writing.
JuzjanI begins his twenty-first chapter, characteristically, with an invocatory
passage speaking generally about individuals who are selected out for rule through the
will of God. In JuzjanI's eyes leaders may rise up from any station in life, high or low.
Regardless of origins they are blessed whom God has chosen. JuzjanI writes -
If his neck should be placed in the collar of servitude, his master becomes
the possessor of affluence; and, if his footsteps traverse the paths of
halting-places and inns, he will cause his companions to become people of
wealth. Just as the patriarch Joseph was sold to Malik Du
c
r, at his prayer,
twenty sons like royal pearls were added to the necklace of his lineage.
72
If
he fell into the house of
c
Aziz, in the end he was made king of Egypt. And
if the child in the cradle gave witness to his purity and - there was a
witness from her family [direct quote from Q 12:26] - in the end he became
the minister of the kingdom in his service.
73
The creative retelling in florid prose of the Joseph story drawn from the qisas al-
anbiya
0
tradition is merely a prelude to Juzjanl's efforts to situate the ascension of
Iltutmish to the throne in Delhi. First, he highlights the humble origins of greatness.
Second, he provides the reader with the tell-tale signs of those who are chosen by God to
There are multiple variations on the name of the figure, not mentioned by name in the Quran, who
rescues Joseph from the well after being abandoned by his brothers. Francis Steingass notes under his entry
for du
c
r that it is the "name of the father of Malik the Khuza
c
ite, who drew Joseph from the well." See A
Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, 8 ed., s.v. "du
c
r." Wheeler Thackston transcribed his name as
Malik ibn Dhu
c
r in his translation of Kisai, The Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisa'i, 171-72. William
Brinner lists his name as Malik ibn Da
c
ar in Abu Ja
c
far Muhammad bin Jarir al-Tabarl, The History of al-
Tabarl (Ta
D
rlkh al-rusul wa 'l-muluk), ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, 40 vols., Bibliotheca Persica (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1986-2007), 2:153. The discrepancy concerning the name of Joseph's
rescuer was also noted by
c
Abd al-Hayy Hablbi in his edition of Juzjanl's Tabaqat-i Nasiri, particularly as
the manuscript reads "malik zu
c
r." See Juzjani, 77V, 1:30n2.
73
JuzjanI, 77V, 1:439. Al-Kisa
3
! gives the reference to a six-month old child who bore witness to the
seduction and spoke out on behalf of Joseph. See Kisai, The Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisa'i, 175. Tabari
lists some traditions about the seduction of Joseph that it was a young child who proposed the solution to
the conflicting testimony of Ra
c
il the wife of Potiphar, and Joseph. See al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabarl
(Ta^rlkh al-rusul wa 'l-muluk), 2:156-58.
- 54-
rule. For we come to learn that like Joseph, Iltutmish too was sold into slavery as a child.
In the hands of JuzjanI, Joseph becomes a symbol in the dynastic lineage of "slave" kings
and JuzjanI carefully cultivates this genealogy. JuzjanI reports skillfully playing off the
traditional accounts of the Joseph story on the authority of "trustworthy narrators" (siqat
ruvdt), a convention of Sultanate historiography, that Iltutmish's father Iyal Khan had
numerous followers and kindred relations. He writes that his son was blessed with
"beauty" ijamal), "ingenuity" (kaydst), and was "good natured" (husn khilqat) such that
his brothers became "envious" (hasad). Therefore, they devised a plan to take Iltutmish
away from his father and mother. And here is where JuzjanI's use of the narrative
becomes the most evocative. JuzjanI places the deception of Iltutmish's brothers in the
very Qur
3
anic words of the brothers of Joseph -
They said, "Oh, Father! Why do you not trust us with Joseph? Indeed, we wish him well.
Send him with us tomorrow to enjoy and play. Surely we will protect him."
74
Of course, just as with Joseph, Iltutmish was misled by his brothers and he was sold to
merchants at market and then brought by them to Bukhara.
75
The Quranic basis of the narrative ends here and JuzjanI continues in another
miraculous vein of the life of Iltutmish that I will save for later discussion. It is too much
of a coincidence that the life of Iltutmish so closely parallels that of the Prophet Joseph.
In one way JuzjanI contributes to the "interpretive life" of sacred texts by including the
74
JuzjanI, TN, 1:441. Sura Yusuf 12:12-13.
For the full text of Iltutmish's journey into slavery see Ibid, 1:439-42 (tr. 1:597-602).
- 5 5 -
story of Joseph in historiography.
76
By inserting direct quotes from the Qur
D
an he is
adding its symbolic and oral presence to the narrative of mundane events. More
importantly, he is legitimating a dynastic change with the sanction of the sacred that
produced dramatic and lasting effects in North India for the period of the nearly sixty-
year rule of the Shamsiyyah sultans.
Putting the Story (Qissa) Back Into History
Barani was perhaps the first to make full use of the richly theoretical implications
of "the most beautiful of tales." He did this by including those emblematic Qur
3
anic
words at the very beginning of his prolegomena to history. Barani opens his History with
a conventional invocatory preface of encomia to God (khuday), but quickly turns this
convention into the meaning of writing history, a subject for which he shows great
concern. His praise to God is that he revealed to "humanity" (bandagan) the affairs of
"those who went before" (maqbuldri), and he made evident the "virtues and vices"
(faz,dil va razjxil) of the "ancient peoples" (dur uftddagdn) who preceded "Muhammad's
community" (ummat-i Muhammadt). Barani thus praises God for giving to the world a
history in the form of "divine revelation" (wahy samdvl), referring to the Qur
D
an. He
solidifies this view with the following direct quote from Surah Ya-Sin verse 36:12
> ' , C T ' I ' * - . ' - ' : '
James Kugel has given the most detailed account of the Joseph story in biblical texts. He discusses the
"interpretive life" of this story through a number of "exegetical motifs" that are a way of explaining the
underlying meaning of a text. Thus in one fashion Juzjanf s inclusion of Qur'anic quotes along with a
Persian retelling of the story of Joseph represents a form of exegesis. See James L. Kugel, In Potiphar's
House: The Interpretive Life of Biblical Texts, 1st pbk. ed. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994).
- 5 6 -
"We record that which they send forward and what they leave behind."
77
Barani's selective use of Quranic quotation makes subtly clear to the reader the
significance to historiography. Fronting the "the most beautiful of tales" in the
prolegomena to history serves a dual meaning for Barani. One, that the Qur'an as a whole
is a profound and consequential retelling of stories from the past. Two, the story of
Joseph in particular represents the didactic function of historiography - narrating the past
for the edification of the future.
For Barani Surah Yusuf was more than an effective retelling of the events of a
prophetic life. It is important for what it reveals about human nature and the human
relationship to the divine. Thus history is not merely a chronological record of random
events but rather a selected and representative sample of illustrative moments and
exemplary individuals. In typical style of an author who imbued his historical writings
with political and religious purpose, Barani was only making tangential reference to the
actual story of Joseph. Rather, Barani was staking a theological claim that the Qur'an is
the primary lens through which history is to be viewed.
78
What is clearly the purpose and
meaning of the Qur'an for Muslims becomes, in the hands of Barani, the intimated
significance of historiography.
Joseph and the Just King
Barani, TFS, 1.
78
The degree of Barani's "theological" and alternatively "secular" outlook on history has been the subject
of controversy. Peter Hardy tended to stress the theological tenor of Barani's history writing, a position that
elicited strong reaction in scholarship. See Habib, "Barani's Theory of the History of the Delhi Sultanate,"
99, 11 ln5. Also see Nizami, On History and Historians of Medieval India, 136.
- 5 7-
The penultimate case of the inclusion of the Joseph story in Sultanate
historiography comes in the writings of
c
Afff, a literary case which I believe illustrates
the maturity of the Delhi Sultanate in the age of Firiiz Shah. He refers to the Joseph story
by employing the Qur'anic phraseology of "the most beautiful of tales," the same verse
utilized by BaranI in his history.
79
Though Barani refers to "the most beautiful of tales" in
order to discuss the very meaning and purpose of historiography,
c
Afif alters its use.
On the whole,
c
Afif sticks close to the narrative framework of the Quran but in
even more summary fashion than Juzjanl. He broadly sketches out the familiar lines of
the Joseph narrative. Joseph is betrayed by his brothers and separated from his father. He
is thrown into a well and then sold into slavery. But
c
Afif supplies a particular ideological
focus and places special emphasis on the primary narrative as one of "great pain"
(mashaqqat) and "misery" (mihnat).
c
Afif highlights the suffering of Joseph to praise the
exalted level of his justice noting that once Joseph had passed his trial phase and reached
the land of Egypt he is elevated to the status of a ruler. Not knowing that Joseph is still
alive and having achieved such a lofty state, his brothers come before him seeking aid
because of the famine in Canaan. In the manner of a just king and despite their early
deception Joseph forgives his brothers for all their evil transgressions against him.
According to
c
AfTf had he sought retribution in this situation against his brothers' crimes
it would have been good. Yet in the face of their crimes he showed clemency (hilm) and
for
c
Afif that is why God called it the "most beautiful of stories."
In choosing to employ the story of Joseph in the sense of the ultimate expression
of justice (
c
adl),
c
Afif turns his usage of the Qur
D
anic tale into a form of narrative
Unlike Barani who initiates his discussion with "the most beautiful of tales,"
c
Afif concludes his retelling
of the story of Joseph with the QurDanic quote. See
c
Afff, TFS, 24.
- 5 8 -
exegesis. Joseph's sense of justice and forbearance in forgiving his brothers, even after
the offenses they had committed against him, is equated with that exhibited by the sultan.
c
Afif turns the tale of Joseph into a commentary of the justice of sultans, in this case
Sultan Rruz Shah.
c
Afff goes so far as to say that FTruz Shall's clemency (hilm) was so
great the he would even forgive a "criminal" (mujrim) who had committed a hundred
crimes.
80
The theme of the benevolent justice of the ruler is proverbial in Sultanate
historiography as well as in the genre of mirrors-for-princes, with one of its most detailed
expressions found in the final chapter of the Fatava-yi Jahdndarl of Ziya
3
al -Din
Barani.
81
By turning the tale of Joseph into a statement on the justice of rulers,
c
Afif
employs prophetic precedent in the example of sultans.
Prophetic Example as Advice and Warning to Sultans
c
Afif employed the Joseph story more than once in his history. The second and
final example offers an opportunity to further demonstrate the way Delhi Sultanate
historiography was part of the mirrors-for-princes tradition, and was thus a didactic
enterprise.
82
Like Barani,
c
Afif interlaces his historical narrative with pointed remarks on
bU
Ibid., 25.
81
Barani's vision of the justice (
c
adl) of the sultan is complex and he lays out twenty characteristics of the
"natural disposition to justice" {
c
adl-i jibilll) of sultans in his thirteenth advice {naslhat). Barani, FJ, 182-
84.
82
For a survey of mirrors-for-princes literature see A. K. S. Lambton, "Islamic Mirrors for Princes," in
Convegno internazionale sul tenia la Persia nel Medioevo (Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1970).
Here she discusses some of the major contributions to the genre of advice literature: the Kitdb al-sahaba of
Ibn al-Muqaffa
c
(d. 139/757), which she considers a "manual of statecraft," the Adah al-kablr and Adab al-
saghlr, designating those as "mirrors," the work of Nizam al-Mulk (408/1018-485/1092) in the famous
Siyasat-nama, which she regards as an "administrative handbook," the work of Kay Ka
D
us the Qabus-
nama, written in 475/1082-3, the Naslhat al-muluk al-Ghazall (450/1058-505/1111), the Siraj al-muluk of
al-Turtushi (d. ca. 520/1126), the Bahr al-fawa^id, written between 552/1157-557/1161 by an anonymous
author dedicated to Alp Qutlugh Jabugha Ulugh, the Adab al-harb wa 'I shuja
L
ah of Fakhr-i Mudabbir,
dedicated to Iltutmish and written sometime after 626/1228, and the much later Akhlaq-i muhsinl of Husayn
- 5 9 -
the proper and improper handlings of the affairs of state.
c
Afif was particularly concerned
to provide a warning to sultans on the need to be lenient with their subjects when they fail
in their service. In their role as judges they needed to show clemency because, according
to
c
Afif, they too would be judged in due time.
c
Afif states that "in God's wisdom the
accounting (hisab) of those who are given rule over men in this world will be great in the
after-life."
83 c
Afif illustrates this advice to sultans by creating a narrative expansion of the
Qur
D
anic story of the death of Joseph.
84
He reports that once Joseph left this world for the
next his body was brought from Egypt to the temple in Jerusalem (Bayt al-Makdis).
However,
c
Afif reports that as the funeral procession approached the temple to bury him,
inside a voice called out saying, "Joseph's body should be buried outside the temple and
be entrusted to the earth (dar khak) because he was the King of Egypt (padshdh-i Misr).
Even though he showed all manner of justice (
c
adl), nevertheless there is a long
accounting {muhasabah) to be had for him."
85
c
Afif follows up his narrative with further discussions on the virtues of Joseph's
rule but also how rulers would be judged differently from the rest of God's children. In
this account
c
Afif highlights Joseph's behavior during the time of great hardship for the
people of Egypt when they experienced seven years of famine.
c
Afif reports that during
Va
c
iz Kashifi, composed in 900/1494-5 and dedicated to Husayn Bayqara. In her survey Lambton does not
discuss the important contribution of Baranl's Fatav'a-yi Jahandarl to the genre of advice literature.
83 c
Afif, TFS, 342.
4 c
Afif s narration of the story of Joseph builds off of fragments of the Qur'anic narrative and the qisas al-
anbiya
D
. Ibid., 342-43 (tr. 194-95).
85
Ibid., 342. The cautionary message that this tradition of Joseph was meant to convey to rulers is clearly
established as early as Nizam al-Mulk in the Siyasatnama. See Nizam al- Mulk, Siyasatnama, ed. Hubert
Darke (Tehran: Bungah-i Tarjamah va Nashr-i Kitab, 1962), 17. In Nizam al-Mulk's version the voice from
above is the voice of the angel Gabriel (Jabra'fl).
- 60-
that period Joseph did not take food to satisfy his hunger. When asked why he was not
eating he replied, "If I ate to my fill, I would forget those who are hungry."
86
Even so,
c
AfIf reports on the authority of a saying from the Prophet Muhammad, which he
summarizes in Persian, that Joseph would enter into paradise six months after all other
prophets.
87
This delay would be for the purpose of scrutinizing the "account" (hisab) of
his actions in this life. The implications of this telling of the story of Joseph should have
been clear enough to the sultans of Delhi. The threat of punishment in the afterlife was
meant to be a check against the abuse of unbridled power.
c
Afif notes in rhetorical style
that Flruz Shah "shook like a leaf (hamchun barg bi-yad larzld) with fear of the "final
reckoning" (hisdb-i akhirat).
ss
Thus when
c
Afif reached the end of his narrative, detailed in the fourteenth
section (muqaddama) of the fifth part (qism) of the Tdrikh-i Flruz Shahi, he adds a
description of the charitable activities of Sultan Flruz Shah who was in the thirty-eighth
year of his reign.
89 c
AfIf lists three activities of the Sultan carried out at the end of his life.
Having already established the fate of kings on the day of judgment,
c
Afif notes that upon
reaching the end of his life the Sultan now conducted charitable activities "out of fear"
(aztaslr-i khawf). The first activity of the Sultan was the attention to prisoners, the
second was the Sultan's repair of mosques, and the third theme of the Sultan's end-of-life
activities was administering justice to the oppressed. I detail the second and third of these
c
AfTf, TFS, 343.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid., 509-11.
-61 -
activities in the chapter on representations of Muhammad in the life of the sultans of
Delhi.
The first of the Sultan's charitable activities was the care of unfortunate prisoners
(bandiyan-i bi-chdrah). He released those who were deserving of release (raha) and he
exiled those who were deserving of exile (jala).
c
Afif links the Sultan's release of
prisoners to the incarceration of Joseph under the rule of
c
Aziz of Egypt. In this he draws
largely from a retelling of the Quranic passages that relate to Joseph's dream-
interpreting abilities.
c
Afif narrates that King
c
Aziz had a "nightmare" (khvab-i
sahmnak). He called together his advisors but none were able to provide an interpretation
of its meaning. Among that group was the King's cupbearer (sharabdar), who formerly
shared a cell with Joseph in prison. He informed the king of Joseph's skill in interpreting
dreams and
c
AzIz sends him to Joseph to seek out an interpretation of his dream. Joseph
warns the king of an impending famine that will bring suffering upon his land, a
prophecy which comes true.
90
In narrating this tale along Qur
D
anic lines
c
Afif points to an element of the story
that merely suggests itself to the reader though is not stated in any fashion explicitly. He
reports on the authority of Muhammad that the miraculous thing about Joseph's behavior
in this case is that he responds immediately to the request of the king even though he was
in prison. Muhammad says of himself that he would have waited to be released from
prison before providing his interpretation of
c
Aziz's dream. The meaning
c
Afif extracts
from this parable and imparts to his readers is that imprisonment is a severe hardship
Cf. Q12:43-54 with Ibid., 510-11.
- 6 2 -
(sakht bald
0
).
91
As a result,
c
AfIf relates that Sultan Flriiz Shah closely supervised the
condition of prisoners. Here in the narrative of
c
Afif the life of Joseph and the prophetic
example of Muhammad come together to illustrate the piety, justice and benevolence of
the Sultan Flriiz Shall.
Retelling tales from the lives of Noah, Moses, Abraham, and Joseph was central
to historiographic narratives concerning the lives of the sultans of Delhi. Quranic themes
and tales of the prophets were the historical measure by which the crafters of history
understood their time and place. It was the means by which historians attempted to
convey the values of leadership they desired to see reflected in the behavior of their own
rulers. This could not hold more true than for narratives of the lives of the Prophet
Muhammad, the subject of the next chapter.
91
Ibid, 511.
- 6 3 -
Chapter Two: The Sultan of Prophets: Muhammad' s Example as the
Perfect Ruler
"Submitting to the sayings and following the deeds of that sultan of prophets (sultan-i
payghambaran) became a means of salvation for all of his people."
1
~ Ziya
D
al-Dln BaranI
No single figure is as central to conceptions of Muslim political authority as the
Prophet Muhammad. In fact, his model has served as the standard for all areas of life,
from the legal, ethical, and mystical to his role as statesman, patriarch, and warrior.
2
The
Prophet is admired for the number of virtues he embodied, such as submission to God's
will, ethical and moral excellence, humility, and courage. He is referred to in the Quran
as "the beautiful model" (uswa hasana).
3
Whether in success or failure nearly all Muslim
leaders, especially those who adopted the mantle of religious identity, have been judged
according to a model of behavior derived from the story of the deeds of Muhammad.
4
His
example of behavior (sunnah) has served as the paradigmatic and perfect model of
human action to be imitated to the minutest detail in the lives of pious Muslims.
5
The
1
BaranI, TFS, 2.
For the comprehensive survey of the myriad ways the example of the Prophet has been revered in Muslim
societies see Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in
Islamic Piety (Lahore: Vanguard Books Ltd., 1987).
3
Q33:21.
The story of the early life of Muhammad up through the early Meccan period has been studied in detail by
Uri Rubin. Of the textual tradition that records those events and his methodology he says, "The bulk of the
texts about the Prophet embody the literary product of Islamic religious devotion, and therefore they will be
treated in this book not as a door opening into the 'historical' events which are described in them, but rather
as a mirror reflecting the state of mind of the believers among whom these texts were created, preserved,
and circulated through the ages." Uri Rubin, The Eye of the Beholder: The Life of Muhammad as Viewed by
the Early Muslims (Princeton: 1995), 3.
5
G. H. A. Junyboll summarizes the general scholarly consensus that the pre-Islamic concept of sunnah as
the "normative" behavior of exemplary personages from the past was applied to Muhammad during his
- 64-
period of his life has been unanimously praised by Muslim historians as a unique moment
of harmony between religion and politics. Claim to the Prophet's sunnah is a claim to
orthodoxy, orthopraxy, and tradition. For the ruling elite this meant that a properly
cultivated public image, in line with the exemplary actions of the Prophet, offered the
promise of legitimate rule. To accomplish this, Muslim rulers employed court historians
to craft literary images that assimilated their personae with the example of the Prophet.
The degree to which sultans actually followed the dictates of the sunnah is the subject of
another debate. What is beyond question is the fact that the sultans of Delhi sought to
legitimate their rule by having images created that show them imitating the sunnah of the
Prophet. In this chapter I explore the various historical representations of sultans that
relied on the imagery of Muhammad to establish the legitimacy of their rule.
Patronage and the Prophetic Image of Muhammad
Juzjani was the first to construct the legitimacy of a sultan of Delhi on the
example of the Prophet and not surprisingly he singles out Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah
for encomium in this regard. Each historian of the Delhi Sultanate attempted, above all,
to represent their patron in the most favorable light and Juzjani succeeded in this area in
multiple ways, in terms of rhetoric, narrative structure, and symbolism. Though Juzjani
makes no direct comparison between Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah and the Prophet, he
makes allusions to the way in which the Sultan possessed character traits common to
those shared by prophets. He describes Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah as a king who
own lifetime. He adds, however, that the process by which the concept of sunnah was applied nearly solely
to that of the behavior of the Prophet {sunnat al-nabl) occurred only after the early third/ninth century. G.
H. A. Juynboll, "Some New Ideas on the Development of Sunna as a Technical Term in Early Islam,"
Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 10 (1987): 97-118.
- 6 5 -
possessed the "qualities of the friends of God" (awsaf-i awliya
0
) and the "virtues of
prophets" (akhldq-i anbiya
0
).
6
At the top of his extensive list of desirable prophetic
qualities are: fear of God (taqvd), adhering to religion (diydnat), abstaining from worldly
things (zahadat), defending religion (siydnat), compassion (shafaqat), mercy
(marhamat), doing good (ihsdn), being just (ma
c
dalat), and benefaction (in
c
dm)J Here it
is more by association that Juzjani manufactures a parallelism between the admirable
qualities displayed by his Sultan and those of Muhammad, a project that was clearly
meant for the flattery of Nasir al-DIn Mahmud Shah.
Perhaps, the most pleasing literary gift Juzjani showered on his patron was the
amount of attention he dedicated to his reign in the scope of his universal history. His
treatment of the Prophet is the lengthiest of all the figures detailed in his entire history,
barring one, that of his patron Nasir al-DIn Mahmud Shah. Juzjani placed his narrative of
the Prophet Muhammad at the conclusion to the first tabaqa, the section which details the
lives of pre-Islamic prophets leading from Adam to the father of Muhammad,
c
Abd Allah
b.
c
Abd al-Muttalib (d. ca. 570 C.E.). Juzjani's account of Muhammad consists of the
major events of his life outlined in skeletal form. He devotes more attention to events
beginning with the hijrl calendar giving each year its own section and arranged in
chronological order. Preceding this chronological arrangement he dedicates two sections
to a description of the qualities (sifdt) and miracles (mu
c
jizdt) of the Prophet. Juzjani
emphasizes the special place Muhammad holds in relation to the previous prophets by
referring to him as the "leader of prophets" (imam al-anbiyd
0
) and "crown of the pure
6
Juzjani, TN, 1:477.
7
Ibid., 1:477 (tr. 674).
- 6 6 -
ones" (tdj al-asfiya).
s
Just as Juzjanl concluded his narrative of prophetic lives with
Muhammad, he concluded his narrative of the lives of sultans with Nasir al-Dln Mahmud
Shah. He was the only historical figure Juzjanl viewed to be significant enough to include
a year-by-year account of his rule, an arrangement identical to that given to Muhammad.
Overall, Juzjani's structuring of history and flattering rhetoric was of a kind that
ensured great rewards for the historian as it served the interest of the Sultan in
constructing his legitimacy. The power of patronage was certainly a determining factor in
the favorable reception sultans received in historiography. However, the form and content
of that imagery was a product of an ideology of governance whose perfect model was
that of Muhammad. Following Juzjanl, depictions of sultans as bearers of prophetic
virtues became a standard form of praise in Sultanate historiography. Later historians saw
an even broader range of comparisons to be made between the prophetic career of
Muhammad and the lives of sultans. In their efforts to compliment rulers through the
medium of historiography, historians of the eighth/fourteenth century went much further
than Juzjani and appropriated well-established representations of Muhammad, utilizing
them in the imagery of the sultan.
The Seal of Prophets and the Seal of Kings
One of the central images of the exemplary ruler crafted by historians of the Delhi
Sultanate derived from one of Muhammad's titles, "seal of the prophets" (khatam al-
nabiyyln). This title is found in Q33:40 and had been used for centuries to refer to the
Ibid, 1:56.
- 67-
Prophet Muhammad.
9
The language of the "seal" produces a number of complex
theological conversations on prophethood (nubuwwa) that developed from this Qur
3
anic
verse -
U_ 1P fr^i JiC <dJ\jlS'j jwlil p-^J ^ ' dj~*j 6*^3 p-^-^'j ir* ^ ^ *<>^-* $& ^
"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the messenger of God and the
seal of prophets. God has knowledge of all things."
From this reference and related hadlth Muslim theologians developed a theory about the
nature of Muhammad's prophethood that situated Muhammad at the end of the line of
prophets that were sent by God to guide humanity. Muhammad as the seal of
prophethood brought confirmation and closure to God's message.
In recognition of theological developments concerning the nature of prophethood,
historians like Juzjani specifically name the seal of the prophets as one in a long list of
Muhammad's titles.
10
However, later historians saw an opportunity in the doctrinal
implications of the seal of the prophets to produce a correspondence between Muhammad
and sultans.
c
Afif did this by creating a parallel title, the "seal of the sultans" {khatm-i
salatlri) found in the fourth book, third chapter of his Tarlkh-i Flruz Shahl.
n
In this section
c
Afif compares two significant historical events situated some six
hundred years apart: first the caliphal investiture of Flruz Shah and second the origins of
For a survey of the development of the idea of the seal of the prophets see Yohanan Friedmann, "Finality
of Prophethood in Sunni Islam," Jerusalem Studies in Arabic andlslam 7 (1986): 177-215.
10
Juzjani, 77V, 1:62.
Arabic and Persian usage of the term "seal" has a number of possible variations from khatam, to khatim,
and khatm. There appears to be no perceptible distinction of connotation between these readings in
historiographical usage from the Delhi Sultanate.
- 6 8 -
revelation to Muhammad.
12 c
Afff notes that Firuz Shah received the symbol of caliphal
investiture, the caliphal robe (jdma-yi khildfat), without petition (bi-ghayr iltimds). At the
time of the event, al-Mu
c
tadid (r. 753/1352-763/1362) the
c
Abbasid "shadow caliph" was
seated in Cairo under the Mamliiks of Egypt. The humility of the Sultan in not requesting
caliphal investiture is represented by
c
Aflf as a manifestation of one of the "qualities of
prophets and the friends of God" (khisdl-i anbiya
3
va af
c
dl-i awliyd
3
). In a similar manner
he goes on to state that when the Prophet turned the age of forty he received revelation
(wahy) but for six months did not consider himself worthy of being a prophet. Because he
turned away from arrogance (khud blnl), God opened the "doors of kindness" (abvdb-i
karam) and made him the "seal of the prophets" (khatm-i anbiya
3
).
Similarly,
c
Afif goes on to say that Firuz Shah in not seeking caliphal investiture
and turning away from arrogance was made the "seal of the sultans" (khatm-i salatiri).
Thus God "mysteriously" (az ghayb) sent Firuz Shah the caliphal robe (jama).
c
Afif
carries out this effect by referring to Firuz Shah throughout his work in variations on this
title, such as the "seal of the crown bearers" (khatm-i tdjddran) and the "seal of the
fortunate" (khdtam-i bakhtlyarari).
13
To complete the circle of prophetic authority and
sultanic legitimacy,
c
Afif inverts the comparison by applying Persian titles, customarily
associated with temporal rulers, to Muhammad. He does this by referring to him as the
"king of prophets" (shdh-i anbiya
3
) and the "king of kings of the pure ones"
(shahanshah-i asfiyd
0
). The title of the "king of kings" (shdhdnshdh) conjured Persianate
1Z c
AfTf, TFS, 273 (tr. 161).
13
Ibid., 19. This includes a long list of the titles given by
c
Afif to Firuz Shah.
- 6 9 -
images of kingship that were resurrected in the third/tenth century under Buyid rule.
14
Such comparisons equally tied imagery of Muhammad back to pre-Islamic Persian
traditions of kingship.
Early sources indicate that the seal of the prophets doctrine developed gradually
and was accorded multiple senses. The first and perhaps oldest dimension of this doctrine
emphasized the "confirmation" of his prophecy. In this interpretation the seal of the
prophets represented the authenticity of his prophecy. By the late second/third and early
eighth/ninth centuries the preponderance of interpretation in the reception of the "seal of
the prophet" began to crystallize around the idea of the "finality" of Muhammad's
prophecy.
15
It emphasized the idea that Muhammad was selected to bring fulfillment to
the prophetic message. From this view of prophetic history, God has provided revelations
to a number of different communities over the expanse of time, each drawn from a great
"celestial book" (umm al-kitdb). However, this process of divine communication was
completed in the shape of the Qur
D
an. Thus, in his role as messenger of God (rasiil
Allah), Muhammad was accorded special standing amongst the pantheon of prophets as
bearer of the last and most complete message.
The theological developments surrounding the concept of the seal of the prophets
were to have profound consequences for the understanding of history.
c
Abd al-
c
Aziz Duri
noted that, "It set forth a universal view which conceived of history as a succession of
Ibid., 3. See Wilferd Madelung, "The Assumption of the Title Shahanshah by the Buyids and 'The Reign
of the Daylam (Dawlat al-Daylam)'," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 28, no. 2 (1969): 84-108; 68-83.
Simeon Evstatiev, "On the Perception of the Khatam an-nabiyyin Doctrine in Arabic Historical Thought:
Confirmation or Finality," in Studies in Arabic and Islam, ed. S. Leder, et al., Proceedings of the 19th
Congress, Union Europeenne des Arabisants et Islamisants, Halle 1998, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta
108 (Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2002), 455-67.
- 7 0 -
prophetic missions - all essentially a single message preached by various prophets, the
last of whom, Muhammad, was the khatam, or 'seal,' of the prophets and messengers."
16
The finality of the Prophet's message situated early Muslim communities at the onset of a
new era, essentially placing them at the beginning of history. The message sent by God
brought the Arabs out of their "age of ignorance" (jahiliyya), a time without history. The
idea of the jahiliyya has been used in a pejorative sense to indicate the time when the
Arabs followed "pagan" religious practices. It has also been used negatively in terms of
ignorance of written literature and thus without history, even though pre-Islamic Arab
communities had a culture of oral literacy.
With this background historians saw the potential for the concept of seal of the
prophets and freely applied it to the lives of sultans. Certain rulers who achieved
extraordinary success during their rule were said to have brought to fulfillment the best
possible results in governance and thus were referred to by the title the "seal of the
sultans," in essence completing the work of a ruler. The overlapping of prophetic and
royal titles illustrates the impact theological understandings of the role of Muhammad
had upon conceptions of Muslim rule during the Delhi Sultanate.
It is also important in this context to understand the limitations to the legitimacy
of the authority of the Delhi sultans and some of the reasons for the employment of the
title the "seal of the sultans." Delhi sultans were challenged in their office as they lacked
traditional claims to authority. Aside from caliphal designation, association with
Muhammad through blood lineage had served as a powerful source of legitimacy and
16
M. Athar Ali, "Capital of the Sultans: Delhi during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries," in Delhi
through the Ages: Essays in Urban History, Culture and Society, ed. R. E. Frykenberg (Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 1986), 20-21.
-71 -
formed a basis for rule.
17
The
c
Abbasids in Baghdad (132/750-656/1258) were the first
Muslim empire to fully capitalize on a principle of legitimacy based on a "chosen one
from the family of the Muhammad" {rida min al Muhammad).
1
*
Due to their predominantly Turkish ethnicity and slave origins, Delhi sultans
could not convincingly lay claim to the title of sayyid or descent from the family of the
Prophet, a move that had served to provide legitimacy to earlier Muslim rulers. It was not
until after the demise of the Tughluq dynasty following Timur's sack of Delhi that the
Sayyid sultans of Delhi (r. 817/1414 - 855/1451) made a bold claim to descent from the
Prophet, as is indicated by the title of the dynasty by which they are known. The claim to
sayyid status was made by Khizr Khan who ruled from Delhi between 817/1414-
823/1421 and this claim was projected as a source of his legitimacy to rule by the
historian Yahya b. Ahmad Sirhindl in his Tankh-i Mubarak Shahl.
19
However, from Qutb
al-Dln Aybeg's time to Flruz Shah, the sultans of Delhi were not so fortunate as to
possess a claim to an association with Muhammad through blood lineage.
The sultans of Delhi also suffered from ruling during a time when the status of the
caliphate was in question, even though a number of sultans succeeded in receiving the
investiture of the caliph, thus providing them with yet another basis for their legitimacy.
Only one ruler of Delhi was so audacious as to declare himself caliph, Qutb al-DIn Mubarak Shah (r.
716/1316-720/1320). Had he survived longer historians may be speaking of the Indian caliphate.
Hugh Kennedy describes the establishment of
c
Abbasid authority as a restructuring of the legitimacy of
Muslim rule saying, "The Abbasid revolution was not a coup d'etat led by one faction in the ruling elite
against another; it was rather an attempt to reconstruct the Islamic polity, to reintegrate rulers and the ruled
in the umma under the leadership of the Family of the Prophet." See Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the
Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century, ed. P. M. Holt, A
History of the Near East (London: Longman, 1986), 127.
See Yahya b. Ahmad Sirhindl, Tankh-i Mubarak Shahl, ed. Hidayat Husain, vol. 254, Bibliotheca Indica
(Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1931), 182.
- 7 2 -
This was especially difficult for mamluk sultans, such as Qutb al-Din, Iltutmish, and
Ghiyas al -Dm Balban who required "non-traditional" forms of legitimization. Peter
Jackson writes of historians such as JuzjanI who attempted to resolve this inadequacy
saying, "In crafting a more respectable ancestry for such patrons and in seeking,
eventually, to rewrite the process by which they had attained power, the Persian literati
who dedicated their works to them were perhaps registering a belief that Turkish
paramountcy was there to stay."
20
The application of titles such as the "seal of the
sultans" was another means by which to invent associations with Muhammad and support
a sultan's claims to legitimacy. Clearly by the seventh/thirteenth century the "seal of
sultans" had become a bistoriographical trope across the Persianate world.
21
In another usage, the seal of the prophets appeared outside of the theological
discussions relating to Q33:40. It came to refer to a physical "seal" that marked the body
of Muhammad to be a sign of his prophethood.
22
It has been noted in studies of writings
on prophets and heroes that there is a recurring motif of special markings that accompany
these exemplary figures. As there can be false prophets, true prophets are said to have
accompanying signs and special markings that serve as proof of the authenticity of their
divine mission. John Renard says that a sign was often indicated by "a birthmark that the
Peter Jackson, "Turkish Slaves on Islam's Indian Frontier," in Slavery & South Asian History, ed. Indrani
Chatterjee and Richard Maxwell Eaton (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), 75.
21
Muhammad ibn
C
AH Ravandi (fl. 599/1202), in a retrospective view of the reign of Tughril Beg (447-
55/1055-63) referred to the great Saljuq ruler as the "seal of kinship." As quoted from the Rahat al-sudur in
Omid Safi, The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry, ed.
Carl W. Ernst and Bruce B. Lawrence, Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks (Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 2006), 136.
22
Evstatiev, "On the Perception of the Khdtam an-nabiyyln Doctrine in Arabic Historical Thought:
Confirmation or Finality," 463-64.
- 7 3 -
hero does not ordinarily leave open to view."
23
This was the case with the Prophet
Muhammad. According to the Slra al-nabawiyya of Ibn Ishaq (b. 85/704) the physical
seal of the Prophet was located on the back of Muhammad between his shoulders. The
seal was identified in a dramatic scene in the Slra al-nabawiyya when the young
Muhammad was singled out during a chance encounter by the Christian monk Bahira.
24
The subject of the signs of prophethood developed into a major topic in kalam literature
as is demonstrated in one of the earliest works on this subject, The Proofs of Prophethood
(Kitdb hujaj al-nubuwwa) written by the polymath al-Jahiz (ca. 160/776-255/868).
25
In a case of the physical signs of prophethood that were conferred upon sultans,
Juzjani makes reference to the "signs of rule" (asdr-i dawlat) that precede the birth of a
child who is destined to be king. Narratives about the birth of heroes and prophets are
frequently accompanied by the miraculous, a recurrent motif in events that are "nearly
always unusual."
26
Juzjani writes that if God decides to mark the forehead of someone
with the "signs of power and the lights of sovereignty" (asar-i dawlat va anvdr-i
mamlakat), that will be seen on the brow of the mother who carries that child.
27
Here
Juzjani is making reference to the auspicious events that accompanied the birth and early
life of Sultan Iltutmish. The connection is made between the light (nur) transmitted from
Renard, Islam and the Heroic Image: Themes in Literature and the Visual Arts, 144.
Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Slrat Rasul Allah, trans.
Alfred Guillaume (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2004), 80.
For a discussion of the origins of theological discussions on the signs of prophethood see Stroumsa, "The
Signs of Prophecy: The Emergence and Early Development of a Theme in Arabic Theological Literature,"
101-14.
Renard, Islam and the Heroic Image: Themes in Literature and the Visual Arts, 135-36.
27
Juzjani, 77V, 1:439 (tr. 596). The "signs of rule" (asar-i dawlat) may be seen to parallel the "signs of the
noble one" (athdr al-sharlf) which refers to the relics of the Prophet Muhammad.
- 74-
Adam down to Muhammad.
28
This light was presumably passed on to the Muslim kings
of India.
29
In another example of miraculous birth stories BaranI relates a tale of
c
All's
early devotion to monotheism. He says that while
C
AH was still in his mother's womb,
she went to pray before an idol, but the unborn
c
Ali caused her so much pain that she was
not able to bow before it.
30
Finally, the doctrine of the seal of the prophets was disseminated widely
throughout North Indian society as the sultans of Delhi made it a permanent fixture of
their coinage. Beyond their material value, coins were powerful symbolic vehicles for the
expression of imperial authority and the sultans of Delhi were extremely adept at
employing them in their favor.
31
The coinage of Muhammad b. Tughluq's reign bears the
inscription "reviver of the way of the seal of the prophets" (muhyl-yi sunan-i khdtam al-
nabiyylri) with the obverse bearing his name Muhammad b. Tughluq Shah.
32
Other
On the light of Muhammad see Uri Rubin, "Pre-existence and Light: Aspects of the Concept of Nur
Muhammad," Israel Oriental Studies 5 (1975): 62-119.
29 _ _ _ _ _
It is interesting to note the offence taken by Raverty in his translation of the Tabaqat-i Nasin to Juzjanl's
allusion to the prophetic qualities of sultans. He writes of JuzjanI saying, "Our author here follows the life
of men destined for sovereignty from the conception, and applies to them, somewhat blasphemously, the
theory of nur Pight, &c] of Muhammad." It is more than slightly ironic that Raverty would consider the
literary output of one of the leading religious leaders of the day to be "blasphemous." However, perhaps it
explains why few scholars, if any, have acknowledged the overt comparison made between sultans and
prophets and even more so Muhammad. Yet, it fails to recognize the obvious fact that historians saw no
contradictions making such allusions. On the contrary they saw it as a natural component of the praise of a
just ruler. See JuzjanI, Tabakdt-i Nasirl: A General History of the Muhammadan Dynasties of Asia,
including Hindustan; from A. H. 194 (810 A.D.) to A.H. 658 (1260 A.D.) and the Irruption of the Infidel
Mughals into Islam, l:596nl.
30
Barani, TFS, 7.
31
S. Jabir Raza, "Nomenclature and Titulature of the Early Turkish Sultans of Delhi Found in Numismatic
Legends," in Medieval Indian Coinages: A Historical and Economic Perspective, ed. Amiteshwar Jha
(Nasik: Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, 2001), 85-96.
H. Nelson Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the Cabinet of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. 2 (Oxford: Published for the Trustees of the Indian Museum at the
Clarendon Press, 1907), 52.
- 7 5 -
Tughluq coinage is significant as well in designating authority through Muhammad to the
sultans of Delhi, for instance in the usage of Q4:59, "Obey God, obey the Messenger, and
those with authority among you."
33
This is representative, in a general way, of a
supporting ideology that legitimated sultanic authority by creating a direct lineage from
God through Muhammad and down to the sultans of Delhi.
Two Worlds: The Piety of the Sultan on the Model of Muhammad
Representations of Delhi sultans as standard-bearers of the prophetic model were
partially an expression of the didactic mode prevalent in Delhi Sultanate historiography.
This is best exemplified in the writings of Barani who believed that the knowledge of
good (khayr) and evil (sharr) is found in the example of the ancestors (pishinan) and the
record (akhbar) of the predecessors (salaf) and it is a blessing (ni
c
mat) that God bestows
on whom he wishes. Barani highlights the divine role that God plays in the lives of rulers
making reference to the following Qur
D
anic verse found in identical formulation in
Q57:21andQ62:4-
(*-t*J! J- i i i l j i <UJlj $.\2S -St AJJJ 4JJI J - i * i l i i
"That is the grace of God and he gives it to whom he wishes and God is the possessor of
the greatest grace."
34
Ibid., 60. This Qur
D
anic passage became part of the repertoire of pre-modern Muslim advice literature.
For a discussion of al-Ghazali's usage of this verse in the Nasiliat al-muluk see A. K. S. Lambton, "The
Theory of Kingship in the Naslhat ul-Muluk of Ghazali," Islamic Quarterly 1 (1954): 51-52. Fakhr-i
Mudabbir and
c
Afif both made use of this passage to similar effect. See Muhammad ibn Mansur (Fakhr-i
Mudabbir) Mubarak Shah, Ta'rikh-i Fakhru'd-Din Mubdrakshdh being The Historical Introduction to the
Book of Genealogies of Fakhru 'd-Din Mubdrakshdh Marvar-rudl [sic] completed in A.D. 1206, ed. E.
Denison Ross, vol. 4, James G. Forlong Fund (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1927), 12. This work formed
the introduction to the genealogies produced in the Shajarah-yi Ansdb dedicated to Qutb al-Din Aybeg (r.
602/1207-607/1210). Also see
c
Afff, TFS, 23.
Barani, TFS, 2.
- 76-
For him all of the blessings from God (khuda), the prophets (anbiyd
0
), the angels of God
(mald
D
ik-i khuda), the friends of God and the pure ones (awliyd
0
va asfiyd
0
) were
conferred upon Muhammad, master of all prophets (sayyid al-anbiyd
0
). BaranI notes that
his praise-worthy sayings (mahdmid aqvdl) and his illustrious acts (mad_sir afdl) are
contained within the hadlth collections (mujalladdt-i ahadlth) and histories (tavdrlkh).
BaranI sees the didactic content of Muhammad's prophetic example in sayings and
actions as providing the basis for the "rulings of sharl
c
ah" (ahkdm-i sharl
c
ah) and to the
"prescriptions of the Sufi path" (
c
azdim-i tarlqah).
Through Muhammad's prophetic paradigm, Barani builds his case for the
legitimacy of kingship that derives from his example. He makes specific use of a
descriptive vocabulary that connects Muhammad to the sultans of Delhi. In fact, he
makes reference to Muhammad as a sultan himself. In a discussion of Muhammad's
praiseworthy deeds Barani calls him the "sultan of the prophets" (sultdn-i
payghambardn). He writes, "The edifice of world-rule (jahdnddrf) of the kings of Islam
(pddshdhdn-i Islam) and the seat of world-keeping (jahdnbdnl) of the religion-protecting
sultans (sultdndn-i dln-parvar) was built on the rulings of sharl
c
ah (ahkdm-i sharVah)
and the precedent of the custom (sunnah) of that king of messengers (shdh-i rusul)."
35
Barani's historical view of a world ruled by prophet-like sultans whose highest
model is Muhammad should not only be attributed to political calculation or to the
constructs of political legitimacy. His total dedication to an Islamic vision based on the
example of the Prophet Muhammad is illustrated by another of his literary productions,
35
Ibid, 2-3.
- 77-
the Sahlfah-yi Na
c
t-i Muhammad! also referred to as the Sana-i Muhammadi, a work of
praise and exaltation of the very perfect model of Muhammad.
36
The book is divided into
five chapters, the fifth of which is dedicated to an "account of the obligations which the
followers (ummat) have towards the Prophet, including obedience to his positive and
negative commands, ensuring and maintaining veneration of, and respectfulness towards
the Prophet."
37
This is clearly the same philosophy that grounds his view of kingship as
properly based on the model of the Prophet's sunnah.
The work was completed late in Barani's life sometime around 750/1350 and was
composed in the period following the death of Muhammad b. Tughluq when Barani's
allegiances fell into suspicion and he was placed in confinement under Flriiz Shah
Tughluq. He attributes the composition of this work to his old age and the need to
produce something that would aid in his salvation. In other words, it was the activity of a
man in the twilight of his life, an act of piety and devotion. Most likely, in his view, it
guaranteed prophetic intercession for him after his death. On another level it can be seen
as an act of submission to the rise of a new political authority.
The rule he envisioned for those who follow in Muhammad's footsteps is framed
in ideals that seem contradictory to kingship, particularly Muhammad's example of
poverty. Throughout his history, Barani makes comparisons between the life of religious
persons and political rulers, a topic that is also the subject of a major discussion in the
Fatava-yi Jahandarl. Perhaps unlike sultans, Barani speaks of Muhammad as "ruling"
As far as is known the only surviving manuscript of the Sahlfah-yi Na
c
t-i Muhammadi is located in the
Rampur Library in India. The manuscript dates from 1002/1593-4. Ziya
3
al-Dln Barani, "Sahlfah-yi Na
c
t-i
Muhammadi," in Raza Library (Rampur).
Hasan, "Sahifa-i Na't-i Muhammadi of Zia-ud-Din Barani," 101.
- 78 -
(zabt kardari) the "inhabitable world" (amr-i rub
c
-i maskuri) from "perfect piety" (kamdl-
i taqv'a) with "torn robe" (khirqah-yi pdrah) and "shabby carpet" (galim-i zhandah). He
particularly wished to demonstrate how the career of the Prophet was miraculous for
combining world rule with religion. Speaking of Muhammad, Barani writes, "And he
tempered (db dddari) the affairs of world rule (jahdnddrt) from the miracles of the chosen
one {mu
c
jizat-i Mustafa) with the habit of poverty {varzish-i faqr va misklnat)."
39
For Barani, it was through successfully combining humility, poverty, and rule that the
knowledge of Islam (
c
ilm-i Islam) spread throughout the world.
This imagery of the world being bifurcated into two spheres, one of the material
and the other of the spiritual is an equally dominant theme in the work of
c
AfIf. One
dimension of the universe is the "kingdom of the world" (mamlakat-i dunydvl), dazzling
to the senses with all of its sounds, sights and tastes. In
c
Afif's language of metaphor the
story of the world is like the story of the two sorcerers of Babylon (sdhirdn-i bdbil), a
reference to the figures of Harut and Marut mentioned in Q2:102. According to the qisas
al-anbiyd
0
tradition, Harut and Marut were two fallen angels who were victims of their
captivation for the world.
40
They were tested by God when they mocked humans for
falling into sin. God's challenge to them was to fare better and live on earth without
performing the customary sinful transgressions of idolatry, fornication, murder, and wine
drinking. However, after their descent to earth they quickly proved themselves to be
equally fooled by the temptations offered by the world. They were captivated by the
38
Barani, TFS, 3.
39
Ibid.
40
EI2, s.v. "Harut wa Marut" (G. Vajda). See also EQ, s.v. "Harut and Marut" (William M. Brinner).
- 79-
beauty of a woman referred to as al-Zuhara and for fear of being uncovered they killed a
man who was witness to their sexual improprieties. Thus,
c
AfIf argues that the world with
all of its enticements is merely "fertile ground for the next world" (al-dunya mazra
c
at al-
akhirai), a point he illustrates with the hadith.
41
The second world is the "kingdom of the afterlife" (mamlakat-i akhirai) full of
innumerable blessings. It is especially set aside for those of pious nature who long for
God, as was made clear in the following verse Q3:152 quoted by
c
Afif in part -
"Some long for the world."
42
The kingdom of the world is for those who are enamored with material things as
c
Afif
further demonstrates with a quote from Q3:14 -
IJJJI iUkJl i l. iUi djJ*l\'j
"Fair in the eyes of men is the love of things they covet: women and sons, heaped-up
hoards of gold and silver, horses branded, cattle, and well-tilled land. Such are the
possessions of this world's life."
43
But the world hereafter is greater. The world now is ephemeral and the world after is
eternal (Q98:8) -
(Jul l^J /,jjJli- jl i t !I \^Z>J -jA tSjz p j i CJUJT
"Gardens of eternity, beneath which rivers flow; they will dwell there forever."
44
41 c
Afif, TFS, 2.
42
Ibid.
43
Ibid.
-80
In the context of "two kingdoms" (du mamlakai)
c
Afif constructs his Utopian vision of
the ideal ruler.
c
Afif says that God put the "crown of both kingdoms on the head of the
king of prophets" (tdj-i badshahi-yi du mamlakat bar farq-i shdh-i anbiyd
0
).
45
In
describing the qualities of the Prophet
c
Afif says that he took no interest in this world or
the next except to be in the search of God. This he illustrates with Q53:17, a verse linked
to Muhammad's night journey -
"His sight never swerved, nor did he go wrong."
46
c
Afif believed this vision was passed down to sultans whose legitimacy of rule
was based in divine inspiration, a concept of Muslim authority that was in full bloom in
India during the eighth/fourteenth century.
c
Afif grounds his concept of the divine
inspiration of the rule of sultans in divine revelation and prophetic speech. First he quotes
fromQ3: 7-
"No one knows its meanings except God. And those who are firmly grounded in
knowledge say, 'We believe in it. It is all from our Lord.' Yet no one understands, but
those who possess intelligence."
47
Then he relates the above message to the saying of the Prophet -
quliib al-muluk mulhamun
Ibid, 3.
Ibid.
Ibid., 1.
-81 -
"The hearts of kings are divinely inspired."
48
In the context of exegesis the Qur'anic passage quoted above relates to a
discussion of the understanding and interpretation of revelation. When the verse is taken
as a whole it refers to two levels of meaning commonly recognized in the study of the
Quran, those verses which are established in meaning (muhkam) and those which are
allegorical (mutashabih).
49
These levels of meaning are not easily discernable by all.
c
Afif's makes clear his personal exegesis of this verse by including the hadith which
states, "The hearts of kings are divinely inspired." The implication being that God makes
all of the meanings of the Quran accessible to kings. It was not only God who opened
the sultans' eyes and minds to divine inspiration but also Muhammad.
c
Afif notes that the
Prophet nourished two groups from the same cup, the "clerics and sheikhs of certainty"
('ulama
3
va masha
3
ikh-i yaqln) and the "religion-seeking sultans" (salatin-i taliban-i
din). For the preservation of the two kingdoms he cloaked them in the "robe of the station
of sovereignty" (khil
c
at-i maqdmat-i saltanai).
c
Afff's dualistic understanding of the universe as divided between the worldly and
the otherworldly was a theme widely utilized in Sultanate historiography. Its usage was
so integral to conceptions of Muslim authority that it was simply invoked by the phrases
"religion and the world" {din va duniya) or "religion and governance" {din va dawlat).
The sultans of Delhi unanimously carried these honorific titles to show they possessed
For a discussion of this subject in Qur
3
anic exegesis see Leah Kinberg, "Muhkamat and Mutashabihat
(Koran 3/7): Implications of a Koranic Pair of Terms in Medieval Exegesis," Arabica 35, no. 3 (1988):
143-72.
- 8 2 -
authority over both spheres, a practice that went back earlier to the fourth/tenth century.
50
c
Afif s distinctive contribution to this discourse was his systematic introduction of the
concept of "two kingdoms" as a foundation for historiography and basis for the ethical
and political standing of a sultan of Delhi.
Hadith and History: Traditionalism in Delhi Sultanate Historiography
As has been seen, attention to the legitimization of political authority is subtly
imbedded in the narrative structure of history and overtly present in the associations and
comparisons of Delhi sultans to the exemplary figure of Muhammad. The imagery of
Muhammad, as the preeminent standard bearer of ethical behavior and righteous action,
becomes central to the representations of the activities of sultans. One dimension of the
veneration of Muhammad is expressed through the preservation and proverbial usage of
his sayings (hadith). Thus the sayings of the Prophet figure prominently in the historical
narratives of the Delhi Sultanate and historians appropriated hadith for their moral and
ethical precepts that are meant to serve as a commentary on the careers of the sultans of
Delhi.
The prolific usage of the sayings of the Prophet, as manifest in historiography, is
an expression, in literary form, of Muslim traditionalism. It is the expressed need to
reproduce the modes of religious and political authority on a pattern connected with early
Islamic history. For historians of the Delhi Sultanate it meant the representation of sultans
as preservers of the religion of Islam (dln-i Islam). This was primarily achieved by
authors who represented certain sultans of Delhi as following the path of Muhammad.
Clifford Edmund Bosworth, "The Titulature of the Early Ghaznavids," Oriens 15 (1962): 210.
- 8 3 -
For example, Hasan Nizami praised Qutb al-Dln Aybeg for bringing about the "revival of
the signs of sharl
c
ah and the raising aloft the banners of the sunnah."
51
The sunnah of
Muhammad transposed onto the lives of the Muslim leaders of Delhi becomes the sunnah
of sultans at the hands of historians.
William Graham has discussed the notion of traditionalism as produced out of the
combination of the formative Islamic religious texts saying, "The hadith genre and the
concept of Sunnah, when joined to the fundamental fact of the Qur
D
an, supply the
functional and ideological bases of Muslim traditionalism."
52
Traditionalism was
sustained by a system of transmission that linked generations of transmitters of the
sayings of Muhammad back to their ideal original source. In a structural way,
transmission took shape in a unique literary form called the isndd, the literal chain of
transmitters and sources for the sayings of the Prophet. The historical literary
development of the isndd and the compilation of hadith contributed to a style of
transmission of knowledge which became, for a period, a characteristic feature of a wide
variety of genres from exegesis (tafsif), biography (slrah), to history (tarikh). Thus,
hadith and history were intimately linked with each other beginning with the third/ninth
century and developed a common scholarly apparatus that accompanied the early
documenting of the records of the past (variously referred to as khabar and hadith).
57,
Nizami, "Taj al-ma'asir," fol. 10.
52
William Graham, "Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation," Journal of Interdisciplinary
History 23, no. 3 (1993): 506.
A number of scholars have commented on the overlapping literary development of hadith and history
beginning with Franz Rosenthal's discussion of khabar as an early historical literary form. See Rosenthal,
A History of Muslim Historiography, 66-71. These ideas are additionally treated by Graham,
"Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation," 509-10. For a more detailed discussion of the
relationship between hadith and history see Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period, 17-
30. For a specific discussion of khabar see Stefan Leder, "The Literary Use of the Khabar: A Basic Form
- 8 4 -
From this early stage the collecting and codifying of the sayings of the Prophet had a
tremendous effect on the early evolution and development of historiography. In terms of
history writing, al-Tabari's magnum opus, the Ta'rlkh al-rusul wa 'l-muluk, epitomized
the standard for history constructed in the traditionist mode, each historical event
copiously supplied with its own chain of transmitters.
By the sixth/twelfth and seventh/thirteenth century authors of histories moved
away from the formal and structural literary parameters of traditionalism. In Islamic
Historiography Chase Robinson writes about this transition saying, "Historiography was
becoming an altogether more assertive activity, and its practitioners now possessed the
confidence to generate new forms and explore new themes. It is starting in this period
that many historians began to free themselves from the traditionists' sensitivities and
taboos."
54
The same argument may be made for Sultanate historians who did not show a
great concern for establishing transmission for the narration of the historical events,
where there is no formal isnad per se.
Rather, traditionalism was reproduced in North Indian courts on a metahistorical
level, through narratives that championed the sultan's ability to reenact the model of the
Prophet. The structural elements of the isnad paradigm were severed from the hadith
which now served the sole legitimating function. It also preserved an Islamic lineage that
connected the past to the present. In terms of the development of historiography in the
Delhi Sultanate, the incorporation of hadith in historical narratives was a vestige of the
earliest forms of Muslim history writing. At the same time it became a convention of
of Historical Writing," in The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, ed. A. Cameron and L. Conrad,
Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam (Princeton: Darwin Press, 1992), 277-315.
See Robinson, Islamic Historiography, 98.
- 8 5 -
Sultanate historiography. Thus historiographical traditionalism present in the Delhi
Sultanate was not one of form but of content.
On another level, historians of the Delhi Sultanate were concerned to connect
their form of historiography to the earlier historiographical tradition. This is made
explicit by a statement of Juzjani in the Tabaqat-i Nasirl when he concludes the major
section on the sultans of India noting that everything included in his history was read and
recorded from the "stories and records of the prophets and kings" (qisas va akhbdr-i
anbiya
0
va muluk).
55
This admission of Juzjani is placed within a section where historians
conventionally requested the indulgence of their readers for any errors they might
perceive in their work. However, Juzjani utilizes this convention to emphasize his
credentials as an eye-witness to historical events and situate himself as a scholar of
history and a link in the chain of the transmission of traditionalism.
As a historian of the eighth/fourteenth century Delhi Sultanate, Ziya
D
al-Din
Barani was significantly more systematic in establishing his own form of literary
traditionalism. Like Juzjani he clearly imagined his history as an extension of the
traditional accounts of the SunnI persuasion. In the prolegomena to the Tarikh-i Firuz
Shdhl, Barani is particularly concerned to link the knowledge of history (
c
ilm-i tdrlkh) to
other Islamic systems of knowledge and he lists the knowledge of history along with
exegesis itafslr), hadlth, law (fiqh), and Sufism (tarlqat-i mashd^ikh).
56
Barani claims his
own literary genealogy on the authority of "the Imams of hadlth" (aimma-yi hadls) who
say that "the knowledge of the sayings of the Prophet and the knowledge of history are
55
Juzjani, TN, 497 (tr. 716).
56
Barani, TFS, 9.
- 86-
twins."
57
The continued awareness of the connectedness between history and hadlth in the
eighth/fourteenth century is a testament to the preservation of a scholastic tradition across
vast geographic and cultural landscapes.
For BaranI the connectedness of history that binds the present to the past has a
didactic purpose and he lists seven qualities of history that contribute to traditionalism.
58
According to BaranI, the principle quality of historiography is that it is a means to profit
from the "possessors of insight" {ulu 'l-absdr), to have access to the "heavenly books"
(kutub-i samavi) which are filled with the records of the affairs of prophets (anbiya
D
) and
the sultans (salatln) who have ruled over the sons of Adam (ban! Adam). As a court
historian BaranI was concerned to stress the importance of history as a guide to rulers
who should benefit from the lessons the past has to teach. BaranI argues that the study of
history enables one to properly understand the sacred and mundane events of the past.
To properly situate history (tarikh) among other fields of knowledge, BaranI
begins his description of the second of history's qualities by noting the scholastic
relationship between the knowledge of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (
c
ilm-i
hadls) and the knowledge of history (
c
ilm-i tarikh).
59
The knowledge of history is similar
to the knowledge of hadlth in the way it criticizes and praises the narrators (ruvat) and
the occasions (ma-jard-yi vurud) of the sayings (ahadlth) and deeds (mu
c
amaldi) of the
Prophet. In his view the scholar of hadlth (muhaddith) must wear the hat of the historian
57
Ibid, 10. BaranI uses the Arabic phrase here
c
ilm al-lmdith wa
c
ilm al-ta'rikh taw
J
aman, making a clever
turn on an ubiquitous saying found in history writing across the Muslim world. For further discussion on
the related apothegm "religion and kingship are twins" see chapter five.
58
For Baram's seven qualities of history see Ibid., 10-13.
59
For a comprehensive treatment of the concept of knowledge (
c
ilm) in the history of Islam see Franz
Rosenthal, Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1970).
- 8 7 -
{muvarrikh) as well; otherwise he would be unaware of the original (asl) narrators of the
actions of the Prophet and the companions. For Barani, history is knowing the record
(asarva akhbdr) of the prophets (anbiya
0
), caliphs (khulafa
D
), sultans (salatin), and the
"great men of religion and rule" (buzurgdn-i din va dawlat). One can see how this
perspective on the relationship between history and hadith has implications for exegesis.
In this regard, for Barani, the principle of abrogation {ndsikh va mansukh) of the sayings
of the prophet (ahadith) is dependent upon the knowledge of history.
60
The History of Historiography in the Eyes of the Delhi Sultanate
To further strengthen the assertion that the knowledge of history is essential for
understanding the sayings of the Prophet, Barani created a literary genealogy for himself,
and for historians in general, by placing them in the lineage of hadith scholars. He traces
the history of historiography through personages recognized as the doyens of Islamic
learning. He names Ibn Ishaq (85/704-150/767) first among those who have contributed
to the Arab and Persian histories (tavarikh-i
c
Arabiva Parsi). Barani refers specifically to
the Siyar al-nabi va asar-i sahdbah, so that it is not clear if he was aware of Ibn Ishaq's
history of the caliphs, the Tankh al-khulafa
0
'.
61
Barani mentions that he was the son of a
descendent of a companion and he was counted among the hadith scholars {aimma-yi
For a discussion of the principle of abrogation see EI2, s.v. "Naskh (a.), or al-Nasikh wa '1-Mansukh" (J.
Burton). Also see David S. Powers, "The Exegetical Genre ndsikh al-Qur'an wa mansukhuhu," in
Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Qur
3
an, ed. Andrew Rippin (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1988), 117-38.
The one extant record of the Tcfrlkh al-khulafd" of Ibn Ishaq is found in a fragment of papyrus. Nabia
Abbott, Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri, vol. 1, The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Publications
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), 80-99.
- 8 8 -
hadis).
62
He mentions Muhammad b.
c
Umar b. Waqid (130/747-8-207/822) the great
specialist in maghdzl literature who served in the
e
Abbasid courts of al-Ma'mun and
Harun al-Rashid. Like Ibn Ishaq, Barani counted him among the great hadlth scholars
and also a child of a descendent of a companion of the Prophet. Although not a hadlth
specialist, Barani mentions Abu Sa
c
Id
c
Abd al-Malik b. Qurayb al-Asma
c
I (d. 213/828)
who was, according to Barani, the greatest exemplar in the knowledge of the Qur'an
(
c
ilm-i Qurdn). The next figure in his list of luminaries is Imam Bukhari (194/810-
256/870) who Barani refers to as "the greatest of hadlth scholars and of equal rank with
exemplars of historiography, the credibility of his narration (itibdr-i rivdyat-i u) is
beyond doubt."
63
It is likely that Barani was aware of his al-Ta'rlkh al-kablr, a
history/biographical dictionary of those men who appear in his chain of transmitters, in
addition to the maghdzl and other relevant sections from the Sahlh.
Perhaps, it should come as no surprise that Barani would make specific reference
to some of the most noteworthy hadlth scholars in Islamic history. However, it is
important to see the ways in which a historian writing in Persian and living in
eighth/fourteenth century Delhi produced an authenticity and legitimacy for himself
through the linking of genres and authors of hadlth and historiography dating back more
than five hundred years to the second/eighth and third/ninth centuries.
General consensus has it that he was a child in a family of manumitted slaves (mawali) under Qays b.
Makhrama b. al-Muttalib b.
c
Abd Manaf b. Qusayy. See EI2, s.v. "Ibn Ishak, Muhammad b. Ishak b. Yasar
b. Khiyar (according to some sources, b. Khabbar, or Kuman, or Kutan)" (J. M. B. Jones). Barani's
attributions of descent from companions of the Prophet (in the case of Muhammad b.
c
Umar b. Waqid as
well) appears to be a means of elevating and sanctifying the stature of the authors he cites.
63
Barani, TFS, 14.
- 89-
Following his excursion into the history of hadith authorship, Barani goes on to
name his list of notable historians (muvarrikhdn) who wrote in Arabic from the early
period of Islam. First on his list is Abu Mansur al-Tha
c
alibi (350/961-429/1038) the
author of Ghurar al-Siyar also known as Ghurar Akhbdr Muluk al-Fars a universal
history. He follows this by mentioning al-Mutahhar b. Tahir al-Maqdisi, the author of
Kitdb al-bad wa 'l-tarlkh, a work composed under Samanid rule around the year
355/966. Barani refers to Abu Hanlfa Ahmad b. Dawud al- Dinawarl (d. 281-2/894-5 or
before 290/902-3) author of the historical work al-Akhbdr al-tiwdl, and finally Abu Jafar
Muhammad b. Jarir b. Yazid al-Tabari (b. 224-5/839).
64
Barani cites al-Tha
c
alibi as saying in his history Ghurar al-Siyar that in the early
period of the
c
Abbasid caliphs {khulafd
3
-i
c
Abbdsl), "caliphs, sultans, and nobles alike
took great pleasure in history."
65
Harun al-Rashld (r. 170/786-193/809) was said to have
an extreme passion for the knowledge of history (
c
ilm-i tdrlkh) and for Barani proof of
this was demonstrated by the fact that he employed the great Hanafl jurist Abu Yusuf (d.
182/798), and his disciple Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Shaybanl (132/750-187/803 or
189/805). The fact that neither of these two figures were historians was not what Barani
had in mind when singling out the
c
Abbasid caliph for his appreciation for the knowledge
of history. Their reference can perhaps best be understood by the fact that Barani was
himself a Hanafl. Barani also mentions that Harun al-Rashld listened to the stories about
the life of the Prophet from al-Waqidl in his court. In this vision, the knowledge of
Ibid. The text makes reference to one f* ^ leaving speculation as to which historian Barani intended.
Perhaps it is a reference to the great Andalusian historian Abu Muhammad
C
A1T b. Ahmad b. Sa
c
id Ibn
Hazm (384/994-465/1064).
65
Ibid., 17.
- 90-
history is based upon the secure foundation of the understanding of the great deeds of
Muhammad.
In one way Barani's attempt to link historiography with a specific tradition of
recording the sayings of the Prophet is a legitimating enterprise. Documenting the
pronouncements and activities of Muhammad was an exercise in creating a lasting
historical record for the edification of not only Muslims but for humankind.
Historiography is a similar endeavor in that it extends its record of prophets into the age
of caliphs (khulafa
0
), and onto the time of kings {muluk) and the friends of God
(awliya
0
). In another way BaranI is demonstrating his understanding of the complex
literary relationships that link one genre to another as literary history. For comparison to
history and hadlth consider
c
ilm al-rijal or "knowledge of men." Rijal literature
developed from the need to document the lives of men (and women in more limited
cases) who were responsible for passing on the sayings of the Prophet and who form part
of the chain of transmission (isnad) essential to the preservation of traditionalism.
66
In the
early Islamic period in fact, the terms tarlkh, tabaqat, and rijal were used nearly
interchangeably.
67
For example, the Great Book of Classes {Kitab al-tabaqat al-kablr) by
Ibn Sa
c
d (b. ca. 168/784 - 230/845) is a narrative of the narrators of the hadlth traditions
as well as a biography of the Prophet.
68
In addition to the rijal literature also consider the genre of maghdzi texts, the
earliest transmission of events from the life of the Muhammad. As was mentioned,
66
For an overview of the relationship between the development of hadlth collections and the genre of
c
ilm
al-rijal see Graham, "Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation," 507-09.
67
EI2, s.v. "Ridjal" (G.H.A. Juynboll).
68
EI2, s.v. "Ibn Sa
c
d" (J.W. Fuck).
- 9 1 -
BaranI specifically references Ibn Sa
c
d's mentor Muhammad b.
c
Umar bin Waqid as the
specialist in maghazl literature. Consider also the work of Khalifa ibn Khayyat al-
c
Usfuri
(d. 240/854), author of al-Ta
3
rikh, a history from the birth of the Prophet, considered to
be "the oldest complete Islamic survey of events which has reached us."
69
Al-
c
Usfuri was
also author of an important early biographical work al-Tabaqat, a work of similar nature
to Ibn Sa
c
d's Kitdb al-tabaqat al-kablr though each author produced a different
categorization scheme. These early works of tabaqat were organized in terms of men and
women described according to their relationship to the Prophet or specifically their role
as transmitters of hadlth, one basis for the creation of this genre.
70
By the time of Juzjani,
the tabaqat genre had been transformed into a historical narrative of sultans. In terms of
content and structure then it is possible to see how traditionalism took shape in Muslim
historiography produced during the Delhi Sultanate.
Activity of the Sultan on the Model of the Prophet Muhammad
As history writing in Islamicate societies evolved from early historical treatments
of the life of Muhammad, the modes of that prophetic life were revisited by later
historians to craft narratives of their new subjects, the lives of sultans. Take for example
the conquest narrative of Afif on the occasion of Flruz Shah Tughluq's second battle
69
EI2, s.v. "Ibn Khayyat al-
c
Usfuri, Khalifa" (S. Zakkar). For a more detailed treatment and partial
translation of Ibn Khayyat's al-Ta
D
nkh see the dissertation of Carl Wurtzel, "The Umayyads in the History
of Khalifa b. Khayyat" (Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale University, 1977).
70
For an overview of the genre of tabaqat see Ibrahim Hafsi, "Recherches sur le Genre Tabaqat dans la
Litterature Arabe," Arabica 23-24 (1976-7). For the introduction of the tabaqat form of historiography in
the subcontinent see Ahmad, "Diplomatic Relations Between the Sultans of Delhi and the Il-Khans of
Iran," 125-50. For the development of tabaqat literature as it relates to Sufism and the evolution of
hagiographical literature in Islam see Jawid A. Mojaddedi, The Biographical Tradition in Sufism: The
tabaqat Genre from al-Sulami to Jdrni, ed. Sue Hamilton, Curzon Studies in Asian Religion (Richmond:
Curzon Press, 2001).
- 9 2 -
against the Samma rulers of Thatta. On this march to Sindh there were a number of
desertions from the army. This was due to the fact that the first siege of Thatta had
resulted in a resounding defeat for the Sultan and as a consequence there were a number
of casualties and dead. Defeat was a severe blow to soldiers in the Sultan's army as their
financial fortunes as well as their physical well-being depended upon victory. Campaigns
that offered little or no monetary rewards could greatly diminish the number of army
enlistees. In order to keep the troops in order and bring the deserters to justice, Firuz Shah
ordered an investigation to be carried out from Delhi to ascertain who had returned
without authorized leave from their post. However, in an unusual move, at least
according to
c
Afif, the Sultan limited the severity of his punishment for desertion. In his
clemency he ordered a reduced "punishment of public shaming" (tadaruk-i ma
c
navi) for
the guilty in lieu of the much harsher "punishment of exile or death" (tadaruk-i khusravl).
c
Afif takes the opportunity on this occasion to compare the magnanimity of the
Sultan's forgiveness to the Prophet's sunnah displayed following a particularly difficult
military campaign of his own.
c
Afif recounts, in a generic manner, an event in which the
Prophet set out to wage a war (jangi). Rather than raising their banners and joining
Muhammad, some of his companions abandoned him and remained behind in Medina to
look after their household affairs. When the Prophet heard this news on the return from
his military campaign he called the derelict stragglers to account for their inaction. They
made excuses that are recorded in Q48:11, the passage cited by
c
Afif in his history -
' i * i '
- 9 3 -
"We were busy with our affairs and families."
71
c
AfIf reports that the Prophet was dissatisfied with their explanation and he
decreed that they be subjected to the tadaruk-i ma
c
navi which consisted of public
shaming in the mosque by removing their turbans and tying them to a pillar. Due to their
embarrassment the guilty offered their wealth to the Prophet in hope of receiving
forgiveness. At first the Prophet was unmoved. However, after receiving the revelation
found in Q9:103 he accepted their repentance and forgave them -
"Take of their goods a charitable gift so that you purify and sanctify them."
72
c
Afif appears to thematically interpolate two unrelated events from the life of the
Prophet, one event that occurs following the expedition to Tabuk, and the other the affair
of Abu Lubabah who tied himself to a pillar in the mosque of Medina. For instance, in
Ibn Ishaq's account of the punishments meted out to Ka
c
b bin Malik (who did not
accompany the Prophet on the campaign to Tabuk) this consisted of public shunning for
fifty days, as well as ten days in which he was denied the company of his wife.
73
In
reference to the punishment of being tied to a pillar of a mosque, it was Abu Lubabah
who tied himself to the pillar as a form of penance and self-humiliation for having
doubted the Prophet and his message.
74
It is perhaps of little significance that
c
Afif's
c
Af!f, TFS, 227-28 (tr. 138). Classical commentaries of this verse relate it to the events of the attempted
pilgrimage from Medina to Mecca that resulted in the treaty of al-Hudaybiya. Abu Ja
c
far Muhammad ibn
Jarir al-Tabari, Jami
c
al-bayan
c
an tawU ay al-Qur
D
an, 2nd ed., 30 vols. (Misr: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabl,
1954-1968), 26:76-77.
72 c
Afif, TFS, 229.
Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Slrat Rasul Allah, 610-14.
74
Ibid., 462.
- 94-
"historical" account from the life of Muhammad differs from traditional accounts
associated with the two Qur'anic verses quoted above. The differences between Ibn Ishaq
and
c
Afif s narrative illustrates the purpose to which
c
Afif utilized the prophetic sunnah
in comparison with the activities of the Sultan. The historical facts surrounding a
particular action of the Prophet were not a main concern. Rather, the historian wished to
highlight the meaning behind that action. This important detail seems to have escaped the
comprehension of modern scholars who vocalized their criticism of pre-modern
historiography which was so cavalier with historical truth. However,
c
Afif defended
himself against this critique with another anecdote from his history.
c
AfIf writes that one day a man who was accused of embezzlement (khiyanat)
was brought before the court of Sultan Firuz Shah to answer for his crime. He was
questioned by Shams al-Din Abu Raja who served as the auditor-general (mustawfi-yi
mamalik) in the imperial revenue ministry (dlvdn-i vizdrat) of the Sultan. Khan-i Jahan,
the highest minister in the Sultan's service, appeared on the scene and objected to the
handling of the accused, paraphrasing in Persian Q35:45 "Don't torment the slaves of
God. If God were to judge (
c
adl kardari) his slaves, no trace of their existence would be
left." Then the Khan-i Jahan elaborated further on this principle of benevolence saying
the Prophet himself has said -
jCJ-Ji ill jCJ-lil *f- Ji
"Is there any repayment for good other than good?" (Q55:60)
Shams al-Din Abu Raja corrected the great vizier saying he had mistaken this passage
from the Qur
3
an for a hadlth. The vizier sharply retorted, "Whether this is a saying of the
- 9 5 -
Prophet or a verse from the Qur'an, in every case it is always good to do what is right."
75
c
Afif s purpose in relating this anecdote of court life was not to belittle the vizier of the
Sultan based on a comment of Shams al-Din Abu Raja who he derides elsewhere. The
moral of the anecdote was that the recognition of the spirit behind the actions of the
Prophet and the understanding the meaning of the Quran supersedes the historical
record.
The Charitable Example of the Prophet in the Lives of Sultans
c
Afif was particularly concerned to show the multiple ways Firuz Shah embodied
the perfect example of the Prophet. This is illustrated by the way he dedicates the
fourteenth section (muqaddama) of the fifth part (qism) of the Tdnkh-i Firuz Shdhi to the
activities Sultan Firuz Shah performed in the last years of his thirty-eight year reign.
76
Each of the three end-of-life activities is punctuated with an injunction of the Prophet
supplied to illustrate the way in which the Sultan followed this example.
For example, one of the Sultan's end-of-life activities was the restoration of
mosques.
c
Afif narrates that the Sultan ordered a survey of all the mosques located in the
four cities of Delhi. He appointed imams and muezzin in each as well as provided for the
expenditure for lamps and prayer mats. Those mosques that were in need of repair were
all restored to their original glory. Then
c
Afif reports a hadlth which says that before the
Day of Judgment (qiyamat) all the mosques of the world will become silvery (nuqrahgin)
and will be brought to heaven. After this the Day of Judgment will begin. In addition,
75 c
Afif, TFS, 476 (tr. 258).
76
Ibid., 509-11.
- 9 6 -
c
Afif quotes the hadlth, "He who builds a mosque for God, God builds for him a castle in
heaven" {man band masjid lilldh band Allah la-hu qasrfi 'l-jannah).
71
Along these lines
c
Afif commends the Sultan for administering justice to the
oppressed in a move that perhaps best illustrates the historian's project.
c
Afif summarizes
the great value of kings through the story of a conversation between Muhammad and the
angel Gabriel. Muhammad questions Gabriel on what he would chose to do on earth if
God sent him there. Gabriel replies that he would choose to serve kings because it is their
duty to serve the needy. In this regard,
c
Afif says that Firuz Shah possessed all the
qualities of kings and many of the qualities of friends of God (awliya*).
In another section,
c
Afif details the Sultan's good deeds in creating a "public
charity office" (divdn-i khayrdt) for the purposes of supplying money to needy families
who have daughters they cannot marry because of the high costs of dowry.
c
Afif
discusses the Sultan's charitable actions in light of the saying attributed to Prophet, "The
father of daughters is blessed" (abu 'l-banat marztiq).
c
AfIf also quotes from Q18:46 to
further illustrate his point -
"Wealth and sons are the ornament of this life. But deeds of lasting merit are better
rewarded."
79
"i bi d, 512.
78
Ibid., 351 (tr. 198).
79
Ibid., 351.
- 9 7 -
Following this quotation
c
Afif goes on to give further evidence from a hadlth that
he cites in Persian, "Do right with [your] daughters even if that be a speck/smidgen of a
date."
80 c
Afff s digression into the social dynamics of the marriage of daughters and its
relation to economic class provides an unusual and fascinating glance into the social life
of a highly patriarchal medieval society. It also is another example of the way the model
of the Prophet serves as a paradigm for the behavior of the Sultan.
In another example of following the sunnah of the Prophet,
c
Afif describes the
Sultan's activities in constructing hospitals {shifa
0
khana, dar al-shifa
3
, or sihhat
khana)}
1 c
Afif says that humankind is afflicted with eighteen thousand diseases (
c
illat).
They are so vast and various in number that physicians (atibba
D
) neither know their
names nor have discovered a cure. In
c
Afif's view illness is not a defect of an individual
due to some fault of their own nor is it the outgrowth of a sin or deficiency of character.
He illustrates this with a quote from Q24:61 -
"It is no fault in the blind, nor in one born lame, nor in one afflicted with illness."
82
The sick are doubly unfortunate as they are weak and cannot work and suffer both
physical and financial hardships.
c
Afif quotes the following hadlth saying "There are two
kinds of knowledge, knowledge of the body and knowledge of religions" (al-
c
ilm
c
ilmdn
81
For a brief discussion of medicine during the Delhi Sultanate see Altaf Ahmad Azmi, "Islamic Medicine
in India during the Sultanate Period (1206-1413)," Studies in History of Medicine and Science 18, no. 1
(2002): 1-15.
82 c
AfTf, TFS, 353.
- 9 8 -
c
ilm al-abddn wa
c
ilm al-adydn).
c
AfIf then goes on to discuss how kings have
attempted to alleviate these illnesses through the establishment of hospitals. He cites
Hippocrates (Buqrat) and Socrates (Suqrdt) on this account. Thus, Flruz Shah is said to
have appointed doctors for the treatment of the sick. He arranged for the purchased
medicine and for the provisions of food and drink for patients. As a result the patients
repaid the Sultan with their prayers wishing him long life which he demonstrates by
quoting Q39:73 -
"Peace be upon you! You have done well. Enter here and dwell forever."
84
c
Afif reinforces this sentiment with the following hadlth, "To provide happiness to the
hearts of believers is charity."
85
c
Afif further illustrates the correspondence between prophetic and sultanic
examples in a list of ten "attributes" (maqdmat).
S6 c
Afif dedicates a large portion of his
prolegomena to history describing the abstract qualities necessary for effective rule. He
begins with further emphasizing, in a subtle manner, the fact that sultans are rightful
inheritors of the authority that was transmitted down through the prophets, culminating in
the example of Muhammad. He does this by making reference to Q7:142 -
83
Ibid, 354.
84
Ibid, 357.
Ibid., 359. idkhal al-sururfi qulub al-muminin sadaqah. This hadlth is also utilized in
c
Afif s ten traits
of kingship.
c
Afif, TFS, 12.
c
Afif appropriates the language of maqamdt from the discourse of Sufism. Here I have translated it as
"attributes" to best fit the sense utilized by
c
Afif in his prolegomena. However, in the context of Sufism the
term is more commonly translated as "stages" or "stations" which refers to the progression a religious
practitioner makes on a spiritual path while being guided by a shaykh. For a further discussion of these
issues see chapter three.
- 9 9 -
"We completed it with ten so that the appointment with his Lord was after forty nights.
Then Moses said to his brother Aaron, 'Take my place among my people and do right
and do not follow the path of the wrongdoers.'"
This passage deals with Moses' time in seclusion with God on Mt. Sinai and the
transmission of revelation in the tablets and Moses' vision of God. At the same time Afif
plays off the number of ten referenced in this passage of the Qur'an, he also invokes the
broader implications of this verse which narrates the transfer of authority from Moses to
Aaron, who is deputed to lead the community.
The first character trait is compassion (shafaqat) for which he quotes Q39:53 -
2 a 2 , t o y
by^ojsr (_-> aJJul j - i *J 41)1 0\ 4Ju! AJ^>-j /y> \j}sljij U
"Do not despair of the mercy of God, for God forgives all sins."
In the quality of compassion
c
Afif goes on to distinguish between the
c
ulama, shaykhs,
and the sultans. The only people who understand the value of compassion are the
"shaykhs of the people of certainty" {masha
0
ikh-i ahl-i yaqln) and the "religion-seeking
sultans" {salatln-i taliban-i din). The hadlth quoted by
c
Afif on compassion is "The glory
is to God's command and the compassion is on what God created."
87
The second quality is "forgiveness" (
c
afv) for which he quotes Q23:115 -
The Arabic reads al-ta
c
zlm li-amr Allah wa 'l-shafaqah
c
ald khalq Allah.
c
AfTf, TFS, 6. The above quote
is found in Fath al-bari bi-sharh Sahlh al-Bukharl from the great hadlth scholar Ibn Hajar
c
AsqalanI
(773/1372-852/1449), though not directly attributed to Muhammad. See Ibn Hajar al-
c
AsqalanI, Fath al-
bari: Sharh Sahlh al-Bukhari, 1st ed., 15 vols. (al-Riyad: Dar al-Islam, 2000), 11:552.
-100-
"Did you think we created you in jest and would not bring you back to us?"
First
c
Afif provides a description of what this means for the
c
ulama and mashaikh.
Their adherence to forgiveness is brought to focus by prayer (du
c
a) and he uses this
hadlth, "Prayer is the best part of worship."
88
Likewise, sultans make forgiveness both their upper and lower garment for which
c
Afif supplies an anecdote from the reign of the caliph Harun al-Rashld. All kings who
have achieved success have done so by adopting a policy of forgiveness and clemency
(Mm). This is further substantiated by a second hadlth, "If you listen [to others], you will
be heard."
89
The third trait is justice (
c
adl) and bounty (fagl) and he quotes the Q 17:35 -
"Measure with a straight balance!"
As in the previous section he gives an anecdote from the life of another ruler, Shah
c
Izz
al-Dawlah, to illustrate his concept of justice and grace. It is said that during the life of
c
Izz al-Dawlah some of his servants killed the she-cow of one of his subjects. As
recompense he replaced the one cow with eleven, one for justice (
c
adl) and ten out of his
bounty (fail).
90
He highlights this act of the just ruler first with a quote Q25:70 -
The Arabic reads al-du
c
a
3
mukhkh al-
c
ibadah.
c
Afif, TFS, 1.
The Arabic is idha tasma' tusma\ Ibid, 8.
90
Ibid, 8-9.
- 1 0 1 -
"God will turn their evil deeds into good."
91
Then he concludes this section utilizing a widely quoted hadlth used by historians in
discussions of justice (
c
adl) -
"The justice of one hour is better than sixty years of worship."
92
As well as in his actions the very physical stature of the sultan should mirror that
of the Prophet. Even in terms of physical appearance
c
Afif did not hesitate to describe
Flriiz Shah in a manner that bears a striking resemblance to descriptions of Muhammad
found in literature dedicated to the veneration of the Prophet known as shamdHl and
dalail. For instance, compare the framework of the Prophet's description epitomized in
the Kitdb shamdU al-Mustafa by Abu
c
Isa Tirmidhi (d. 279/892). He says, "Muhammad
was middle-sized, did not have lank or crisp hair, was not fat, had a white circular face,
wide black eyes, and long eye-lashes ... he was taller than middling stature but shorter
than conspicuous tallness ... the upper part of his nose hooked; he was thick bearded."
93
c
AfIf describes Firuz Shah in strikingly similar fashion as being "white skinned, high-
nosed and having a long beard. He was not too tall, nor too short and neither too
corpulent, nor too thin."
94
91
Ibid., 9.
92
Ibid.
93
The passage from Tirmidhi is quoted in Schimmel, And Muhammad is His Messenger: The Veneration of
the Prophet in Islamic Piety, 34.
94 c
Afif, TFS, 20.
- 102-
The Footprint of the Prophet and the Location of Muslim Authority in South Asia
What sultans attempted to realize through the patronage of history writing, in
terms of constructing their legitimacy on imagery of Muhammad, they immortalized
architecturally. Even prior to the sixth/twelfth century, possession of the relics of the
Prophet Muhammad (hair, fingernails, clothing, and footprints) had long served as
sources for legitimating the rule of Muslim leaders. Housed in tombs, mosques, and
madrasas across the Muslim world, Muhammad's relics produced a powerful symbolic
environment that "served to mark and signify the territorial boundaries of civilization and
the law of revelation."
95
These relics provided important links to the paradigmatic
moments at the origins of Muslim communities.
Footprints of the prophet were enshrined across the Muslim world in major city
centers such as Damascus, Istanbul, and Cairo. Perween Hasan has discussed the broader
tradition of the enshrinement of the footprint of the Prophet at Jerusalem, Damascus, and
Egypt as well as comparable traditions of the veneration of the footprint of Christ and the
Buddha.
96
The ultimate example of the enshrinement of the footprint of the Prophet
Muhammad is located at the Dome of the Rock complex in Jerusalem. This architectural
monument, built under the patronage of the Umayyad ruler
c
Abd al-Malik (65-86/685-
705), represents both the sacralization of space and mythologizing of history, linking this
world to the next through the association with the Night Journey (isrd
D
) and Ascension
(mi
c
raj) of the Prophet Muhammad. Nasser Rabbat traces the origin of the belief of the
association of the Dome of the Rock complex with Muhammad's Night Journey and
Brannon M. Wheeler, Mecca and Eden: Ritual, Relics, and Territory in Islam (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2006), 81.
96
See Perween Hasan, "The Footprint of the Prophet," Muqarnas 10 (1993): 335-43.
- 103-
Ascension to the second/eighth century, citing the Sira al-nabawiyya of Ibn Ishaq, but
notes that
c
Abd al-Malik must have had some purpose in constructing the mosque "other
than just to celebrate the Prophet's Ascension to Heaven, since such an association
appears not to have been fully formulated by his time."
97
In the Futuhat-i Firuz Shahl the sultan Firuz Shah himself gives special reference
to the footprint (mawti) as one of the insignia that accompanied his caliphal investiture
brought by emissaries of the "commander of the faithful" (amir al-muminln)?
%
The holy
footprint, known as qadam sharlf or "noble footprint," was situated in a citadel complex
that contained a mosque and a madrasa. The relic found a resting place over the tomb of
the Sultan Firuz Shah's son Prince Fath Khan who died at a young age. The persistent
significance of this site can be observed from the fact that high Mughal officials chose to
build their tombs within the same vicinity during the eleventh/seventeenth century."
Sultan Firuz Shah's patronage of the shrine of the footprints of Muhammad can
be seen as part of the broader effort to establish Delhi as a center of Muslim authority for
the subcontinent as well as within the context of the broader Muslim world. Delhi had
served as the capital of various Muslim dynasties from the late sixth/twelfth century to
See Nasser Rabbat, "The Meaning of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock," Muqarnas 6 (1989): 12. For a
discussion of the Night Journey and Ascension in literary sources and the relationship to Jerusalem see
Heribert Busse, "Jerusalem in the Story of Muhammad's Night Journey and Ascension," Jerusalem Studies
in Arabic and Islam 14(1991): 1-40.
98
The symbols of rule conferred upon Firuz Shah were robes (khil
c
at-ha), standard (
c
alam), signet ring
(klidtam), sword (sayf) and the footprint of the prophet (mawti). Tughluq, Futuhat-i Firuz Shdhi, 18-19.
There is some discrepancy between the early accounts that indicate the footprint was brought as part of the
caliphal investiture while a later tradition documented by Sir Thomas Metcalfe who was British Resident in
the court of the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah says that Firuz Shah sent his own emissary to Mecca to
procure caliphal investiture where the relic was also obtained. See Anthony Welch, "The Shrine of the Holy
Footprint in Delhi," Muqarnas 14 (1997): 166.
99 _
For an overview of the architectural history of the qadam shanf complex see Welch, "The Shrine of the
Holy Footprint in Delhi," 166-78.
-104-
the mid-thirteen/nineteenth century. As a practical matter Delhi was selected as a capital
for Muslim rule because of its promising location for access to resources and suitable
terrain ideal for trade and defense.
100
Along with the establishment of Delhi as an early
center of Muslim authority in North India, court historians invented a language of
centrality and territory that was based in a cosmological view of the world. Juzjani
describes Delhi in religious and universal terms as "The center of the circle of Islam, the
cradle of the commandments and prohibitions of sharVah, the territory of the religion of
Muhammad (dln-i Muhammadi), the bridal bed (manassa) of the Muslim community
(millat-i Ahmadl), and the dome of Islam (qubbat-i Islam) of the eastern part of the
world."
101
Juzjani was fond of referring to Nasir al-Dln Mahmud Shah as the Sultan of
Islam (sultan-i Islam) striking both a claim to his legitimacy as a Muslim king but also
casting the orbit of his rule into a global sphere of politics.
102
This language of centrality formed part of the larger effort to consolidate and
legitimate the Sultanate at Delhi in terms of its authenticity and relationship to the
religious narratives of the Muslim community. While Delhi strove to be a major center of
political, military, economic, and cultural power during the seventh/thirteenth and
eighth/fourteenth centuries it was one of a number of competing centers of authority
across the Indian subcontinent. Evidence suggests there was a great deal of
provincialization during the eighth/fourteenth century that allowed a large degree of
autonomy for individual kingdoms that remained in a tributary relationship with the
100
See Ali, "Capital of the Sultans: Delhi during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries," 34-44.
101
Juzjani, TN, 1:440 (tr. 599).
102
Ibid., 1:698 (tr. 76).
- 105-
sultans of Delhi.
103
The relationship between regional powers formed a kind of "galactic
polity" of courts situated within shifting gravitational fields of power emanating from
multiple centers and peripheries; in the words of Stanley Tambiah, "a complex of
satellites arranged around a center."
104
Through the construction of a pilgrimage center located at the footprint of the
Prophet, Sultan Flriiz Shah attempted to draw the periphery closer into Delhi's orbit and
confer upon it a status comparable to other sacred centers in the larger Muslim world. As
it did for cities like Mecca, Cairo, and Jerusalem, the establishment of reliquaries
produces a lasting status, elevating the local to a regional and even trans-regional stage of
importance. Locating relics was a means to laying greater claim to authority when the
universality of sacred space is reoriented and localized in the site of Delhi.
105
Intentionally
or unintentionally the qadam sharlf also fit into a broader South Asian complex of
religious symbols; footprints being revered in the context of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain
communities. This was all part of the larger symbolic system of power embedded in
Sultanate urban architecture and in the language of historiography. In addition to
heightening the centrality of Delhi to Muslim rule in the Indian subcontinent, history and
architecture were mobilized to confer upon the rulers of Delhi a symbolic genealogical
Simon Digby, "Before Timur Came: Provincialization of the Delhi Sultanate through the Fourteenth
Century," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 47, no. 3 (2004): 298-356.
Stanley Tambiah utilized the metaphor of the "galactic polity" to characterize traditional Southeast
Asian kingdoms. I have appropriated this term for application to the Delhi Sultanate. Stanley Jeyaraja
Tambiah, Culture, Thought, and Social Action: An Anthropological Perspective (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1985), 252-S6.
The sultans of Delhi also immortalized this status through coinage by referring to Delhi as "the abode of
Islam" (dar al-lslam). Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the
Cabinet of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 61.
- 106-
connection to the Prophet, a lineage that substantiated their claims to be in the ranks of
the caretakers of the Islamic heritage.
-107-
Chapter Three: Historiographic Images of the Friends of God in the
Lives of Sultans
Historiography and Sacred Biography
It was some time following the uncertainty of the regnal transfer from
Muhammad b. Tughluq to Flruz Shah that Ziya
3
al -Din Barani lost favor with the royal
court and was imprisoned, likely in relation to the machinations of the former chief
minister Khvajah-i Jahan. Ostracized from the court but still intellectually engaged in the
project of imperialism, Barani took to the pen and began his composition of what would
become the most noted historiographical piece of the Delhi Sultanate era, the Tdrikh-i
Flruz Shdhl. At the same time, another courtier with better fortunes, Amir Khvurd (fl.
752/1351-790/1382) was engaged in a different sort of historiographical project.
1
He was
writing the Siyar al-Awliyd
D
, a history of the Chishtiyya, the most influential Sufi order of
the subcontinent. The Chishtiyya were "founded" in India by Mu
c
In al-Dln Chishtl
(536/1141-633/1236). However, the origins of this development are shrouded by the lack
of any writings from Mu
c
in al-DIn Chishtl.
2
If the court at Delhi and their satellite
territories scattered across al-Hind represented the apogee of political and military power,
then the friends of God (awliya
0
), as shaykhs identified with the mystical path were
His full name was Muhammad Mubarak al-
c
Alavi al-Kirmani but he is better known by the pseudonym
Amir Khvurd. For an overview of his famous work the Siyar al-Awliya
3
see Mahmud Husain Siddiqui, The
Memoirs of Sufis Written in India: Reference to Kashaf-ul-mahjub, Siyar-ul-Auliya, and Siyar-ul-Arifin, 1st
ed. (Baroda: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Press, 1979), 56-81. Also see Ernst, Eternal Garden:
Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center, 85-87.
K. A. Nizami writes, "The pre-Indian history of the Cishti order cannot be reconstructed on the basis of
any authentic historical data." See Ell, s.v. "Cishtiyya" (K. A. Nizami). For a comprehensive study of the
Chishtiyya and their historical impact see Carl W. Ernst and Bruce B. Lawrence, Sufi Martyrs of Love: The
Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond, 1 st ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002).
-108-
known, were the epitome of religious power.
3
Sufism spread throughout urban and rural
landscapes across South Asia through the influence of leading shaykhs, their successors,
and followers. Along with the Chishtiyya, the Suhravardiyya, established in South Asia
under the direction of Baha" al-Din Zakariya
3
(578/1182-83-661/1262), developed a vast
institutional network of shaykhs and followers that had a definitive impact on social and
cultural life.
4
As prominent authors who lived through this critical time, Ziya
0
al -Din
Baranl and Amir Khvurd were situated at the epicenter of these two most pervasive and
influential social and cultural forces of the eighth/fourteenth century, the sultans and the
friends of God.
The development of Sufism (tasavvuf) in the sixth/twelfth century from
metaphysics and individual asceticism into organized orders with transmittable systems
of authority had a profound impact on the establishment and use of political authority in
the Delhi Sultanate.
5
As early as the sixth/twelfth century, Muslim courts in South Asia
3
For an overview of the term awliya
0
see Frederick Denny, '"God's Friends:' The Sanctity of Persons in
Islam," in Sainthood: Its Manifestations in World Religions, ed. Richard Kieckhefer and George Doherty
Bond (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), 69-97.
For an outline of the growth of the influence of Sufi shaykhs in South Asia see Simon Digby, "The Sufi
Shaikh as a Source of Authority in Mediaeval India," in Islam et Societe en Asie du Sud (Collection
Purusartha, 9), ed. Marc Gaborieau (Paris: Editions de 1 'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales,
1986), 57-77.
Various phases in this development have been identified under the broad category of Sufism and yet there
appears to be no real consensus on the origin and development of the Sufi order. This is partially due to the
lack of any definitive monograph on the subject. The standard work has been J. Spencer Trimingham, The
Sufi Orders in Islam (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971). However, early on this study came under severe
criticism for its lack of theoretical sophistication. For its critics see Simon Digby, "Review Article: The
Sufi Order in Islam," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 36, no. 1 (1973): 136-39. Also
see comments by Bruce Lawrence, "Review Article," Religious Studies Review 4, no. 3 (1978): 171-79.
More recently, Erik Ohlander has provided a nice summary of the major positions on the question of
origins. See Erik S. Ohlander, Sufism in an Age of Transition:
c
Umar al-Suhrawardl and the Rise of the
Islamic Mystical Brotherhoods, vol. 71, Islamic History and Civilization (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 1-6.
Part of the difficulty in isolating the evolution of the Sufi order is the global nature of the phenomena. For
developments in Khurasan see Margaret Malamud, "Sufi Organizations and Structures of Authority in
Medieval Nishapur," IJMES 26, no. 3 (1994): 427-42. For Egypt see Leonor E. Fernandes, The Evolution of
a Sufi Institution in Mamluk Egypt: The Khanqah, ed. Klaus Schwarz, vol. 134, Islamkundliche
- 109-
were developing in tandem with the emerging social power of Sufi shaykhs.
6
It is clear
that by the late seventh/thirteenth century a massive trans-regional network of organized
Sufi groups had spread across the subcontinent. Situated historically with the emergence
of this new religious polity, the sultans of Delhi often collaborated and at times competed
with the power and influence of the growing number of Sufi shaykhs and their followers.
7
One outcome of the growth of this new religious polity was a literary culture
created by the devoted followers of Sufi shaykhs. This was defined in part by
biographical works that detailed the lives of Sufi shaykhs. This literary tradition is best
exemplified by works such as the Tabaqat al-Sufiyya of al-Sulaml (d. 412/1021), the
Hilyat al-Awliya
D
of Abu Nu
c
aym al-Isfahanl (d. 430/1038), and later in South Asia the
Siyar al-Awliya of Amir Khvurd.
8
A second dimension of the literary production of the
followers of Sufi shaykhs was the recorded conversations of the shaykhs, what came to
Untersuchungen (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1988). For Anatolia see Ethel Sara Wolper, Cities and
Saints: Sufism and the Transformation of Urban Space in Medieval Anatolia (University Park: The
Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003).
6
The early evidence of the influence of the Sufi shaykh on the religious, cultural, and political geography
of South Asia dates from the Ghurid period. Finbarr Flood, writing of Ghurid patronage of monumental
tomb architecture dedicated to shaykhs, says that "The provision of acceptable foci for pilgrimage in the
form of shrines of saints and mystics would be one means of encouraging visible expressions of Sunnl
orthodoxy." See Finbarr Flood, "Ghurid Architecture in the Indus Valley: The Tomb of Shaykh Sadan
Shahld," Ars Orientalis 31 (2001): 156.
For a look at the sometimes conflictual relations between the sultans of Delhi and Sufi shaykhs due to
their overlapping spheres of influence see Simon Digby, "The Sufi Shaykh and the Sultan: A Conflict of
Claims to Authority in Medieval India," Iran 28 (1990): 71-81.
Writing of what he considered the "main tradition of Sufi historiography," Javid Mojaddedi has provided
a useful study of six major works in the Sufi biographical tradition. See Mojaddedi, The Biographical
Tradition in Sufism: The tabaqat Genre from al-Sulaml to Jaml. Even earlier than these works is the Kitab
al-Awliya" of Ibn Abl '1-Dunya (208/823-281/894). This compilation of the sayings and anecdotes of
awliya
0
is among the earliest of its kind and represents the beginning stages in their literary construction.
See Muhammad ibn
c
All Hakim al-Tirmidhl, The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism: Two
Works by Al-Hakim Al-Tirmidhl, ed. Ian Richard Netton, trans. Bernd Radtke and John O'Kane, Curzon
Sufi Series (Richmond Surrey: Curzon Press, 1996), 8.
-110-
be known as the malfuzat/majdlis textual traditions.
9
Out of these two literary genres
developed the stock imagery of the Sufi shaykh that emphasized his divine inspiration
(ilhdm), renunciation (darvlshi), the protection (walayah) he offered through God, his
closeness by God, and Ms marvelous powers (karamat).
]0
One consequence of the coevolution of Sufi polities and the Delhi Sultanate was
that images of shaykhs were crafted with literary techniques found in the historiography
of sultans and vice versa. Shaykhs were themselves recipients of the same types of
panegyric treatment sultans received in the works they patronized. This is evident in
writings mat address the most influential shaykh of Delhi in the eighth/fourteenth
century, Nizam al-Din Awliya
D
.
n
The confluence of the imagery of sultans and shaykhs
had grown to the extent that Nizam al-Din was referred to as the "sultan of shaykhs"
(sultan al-mashaikh).
n
Carl Ernst has made a note of this feature in historical and Sufi
For an overview of the malfuzat textual tradition see Nizami, On History and Historians of Medieval
India, 163-97. For its development in the context of the Chishtiyya see Carl W. Ernst, "The Textual
Formation of Oral Teachings in Early Chishtl Sufism," in Texts in Context: Traditional Hermeneutics ed.
Jeffrey R. Tirran (Albany: State University of New York, 1992), 271-97.
The concept of protection (walayah) is discussed in detail in this chapter. Wilayah is also common but as
noted by Hermann Landolt "... the vocalization is not normally indicated in the texts, and the classical
Arab lexicographers are not unamimous on this point." See ER, s.v. "Walayah" (Hermann Landolt). For
examples of the distinction made in Sufism between walayah and wilayah see Vincent J. Cornell, Realm of
the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism, 1 ed. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998), xvii-
xix. For the sake of consistency I have chosen to utilize the Arabic transliteration walayah as to avoid
confusion with the Persian transliteration vilayah.
The most notable authors of the Shaykh's lifetime, Amir Hasan, Amir Khvurd, and Barani, writting
about him in a favorable manner added to the prestige of Nizam al-DIn,. Amir Khusraw was the most
effervescent in relation to Nizam al-DIn dedicating a prefatory section of praise to the Shaykh in a number
of his major works. Simon Digby gives the references for the sections of Khusraw's works dedicated to
eulogizing the Shaykh. See Digby, "The Sufi Shaikh as a Source of Authority in Mediaeval India," 70n77.
For a study of the relationship between Amir Khusraw and Nizam al-Din see Nisar Ahmed Faruqi, "Amir
Khusraw in the Presence of his Mentor Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya," Hamdard Islamicus 16, no. 2
(1993): 5-24.
12
For the various references to the Shaykh as a sultan see Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, The Life and Times of
Shaikh Nizam-u'd-din Auliya, ed. Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Muslim Religious Thinkers of South Asia (Delhi:
Idarah-i Adabyat-i Delli, 1991), 182-84. The title of sultan applied to mystics was in vogue earlier than its
-111 -
biographical literatures saying, "The polarity between mystical and royal historiographies
should not be taken as absolute and exclusive, but as a symbiotic relationship."
13
The idea
that hagiography was different from historiography was born in the context of a
"nineteenth-century transformation in historiographic conceptions."
14
A reciprocal literary development was in process as well during the Delhi
Sultanate. As the success of Sufi shaykhs grew in South Asia, historians of the Delhi
Sultanate increasingly modeled the imagery of sultans on that developed for the friends
of God. Of the sultans who patronized history writing, all were referred to as having the
characteristics and traits of the awliya'. It is clear that historians were greatly influenced
by the images of piety that surrounded the sanctified figure of the Sufi shaykh. They had
also absorbed the theological underpinnings that extended religious authority from pre-
Islamic prophets to Muhammad and then onto the friends of God.
15
However, from the
time of the composition of the Tabaqat-i Ndsirl of JuzjanI till the Tarikh-i Flruz Shahl of
use by Amir Khvurd. Farld al-DIn
c
Attar (d. ca. 617/1220) supplies a biographical tale of the life of the
early and noted mystic Bayazld al-Bistaml (d. ca. 261/874) in which he is conferred, by a celestial voice,
the title of sultan al- 'arifin. See Farid al-DIn
c
Attar, Tazkirat al-Awliya*, ed. Reynold A. Nicholson, 2 vols.,
Persian Historical Texts (London: Luzac & Co., 1905-1907), 1:156.
13
Ernst, Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center, 88.
See Felice Lifshitz, "Beyond Positivism and Genre: 'Hagiographical' Texts as Historical Narrative,"
Viator25 (1994): 111.
BaranI, TFS, 346. Barani has conveniently provided us with a list of what he considered the most popular
books circulating in this vein: Qut al-quliib of Abu Talib Muhammad ibn of
C
A1I Makkl (d.386/998); Ihya
al-
c
ulum of al-Ghazzali; Tarjamah-yi ihya
0
al-
c
ulum (likely the Kimiya-yi sa
c
ddat, al-Ghazzali's own
Persian translation/abridgement of the Ihya
D
);
c
Awdrif al-ma
c
arif of Shihab al-DIn Abu Hafs
c
Umar
SuhravardT (539/1145-632/1234); Kashf al-mahjub; Sharh-i ta
c
arruf (also known as Nur al-muridin wa
fadihat al-mudda
c
in) the commentary in Persian by Isma
c
Il b. Muhammad Mustamll Bukhari (d. 434/1042)
on the Kitdb al-ta
c
arrufli madhhab ahl al-tasawwuf of Muhammad b. Ibrahim Kalabadhi (d. ca. 384/994);
Risdlah Qushayri of
c
Abd al-Karim ibn Hawazin Qushayri (376/986- 465/1072); Mirsad al-
c
ibdd of Najm
al-DIn RazI (573/1177-654/1256); Maktubdt-i
c
Ayn al-Quzdt of HamadhanI (492/1098-526/1131); Lava'ih
va Lavdmi
c
of Hamld al-DIn Nagawri (d. 641/1244); FavaHd al-fu'dd of Amir Hasan Sijzl (655/1257-
737/1336).
- 112-
c
Afif there is a discernable historiographical trend in which the figure of the sultan was
increasingly crafted with religious imagery resembling the Sufi shaykh.
Theology and Historiography: The Qur'an and the Protection of the Friends of God
The developmental conjunction of historiography and sacred biography during the
Delhi Sultanate is revealed in the manner that theological principles relate to the
character, role, and function of the friends of God in Muslim societies. These principles
were integral to historiographic narratives relating the pious character of the sultan. One
of the key concepts produced in theological arguments relating to the friends of God that
entered the vocabulary of historians of the Delhi Sultanate was walayah.
16
The term
appears only twice in the Qur
D
an and is used in the sense of protection. This is conveyed
in the Medinan Surat al-Anfal "The Spoils of War" Q8:72 -
dls-Jji \J^J \jj\ 'jijlfj jUi J^l ^ j U^O ^y\ ijaili.} ij>li} i>*T ^.iii 01
Those who believed and adopted exile, and fought for the faith with their
property and their persons in God's cause, as well as those who gave them
asylum and aid, they are protectors (awliya
3
) of one another. As to those
who believe but came not into exile, you do not owe them protection
{walayah) until they come into exile.
Some difficulties have arisen in the interpretation and translation of walayah in modern scholarship due
to the breadth of connotations and usages found in writings over time. In translation walayah has frequently
been rendered as "sainthood" derived from the Arabic root wa-la-ya shared by the term awliya' which had
widely been rendered as "saints." Vincent Cornell has provided the strongest argument for the usage of the
terms sainthood and saints in the contexts of Muslim societies. See Cornell, Realm of the Saint: Power and
Authority in Moroccan Sufism, xx-xxi. However, restricted usage of these terms in favor of protection and
friends of God more accurately conveys the distinctiveness of these categories as is demonstrated by John
Renard who is the first scholar to employ these terms systematically in a monograph. See usage throughout
John Renard, Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2008).
- 113-
The specific reference to exile derives from the historical context of the hijra, the
migration of the nascent Muslim community from the city of Mecca to Medina. The
protection due was for those who chose to adopt Islam and leave their homes to join the
Muslims gathered in Medina. In this passage the use of the term awliyd
0
refers to the
protectors, an indirect reference to the ansdr, the people of Medina who welcomed the
persecuted Muslim community. Since the ansdr of Medina are referred to as the awliyd
0
,
it proved suggestive for later usage that referred to Sufis, particularly as they were
frequently positioned at the frontiers of Muslim communities and served as protectors of
the faith in lands where Muslims were a minority.
A similar usage of waldyah as protection is found in the only other Qur
D
anic
passage to contain the term. This is found in Q18:44 of Surat al-Kahf "the Cave." The
subtext is the ephemeral and uncertain nature of the world, a point illustrated through a
number of parables. In the condition of uncertainty and insecurity humanity should seek
God's protection -
In such ordeals protection (al-waldyah) comes only from God, the true
God. He is the best reward and the best outcome.
Here, waldyah indicates the ultimate nature of God's protection provided on the Day of
Judgment (yawm al-qiydmah). Although the final protection can only be given by God, in
later exegesis waldyah may be conferred upon the wall, or protector, to act in an
intercessory role on the Day of Judgment. Muhammad ibn
C
A1I Hakim al-Tirmidhi (d. ca.
318/936) developed the concept of the "seal of protection" (khdtim al-waldyah) in the
Slrat al-Awliyd
0
based on his understanding of Muhammad as possessing the "seal of the
-114-
prophethood" (khdtim al-nubuwwa). In Tirmidhi's soteriology the possessor of the seal of
protection will serve as intercessor (shafi
c
) on the Day of Judgment.
17
Tirmidhl, a resident
of Khurasan, had a significant influence on later mystics and represented the first stages
of what has been called "neo-Platonism" in Islamic mysticism that was later exemplified
by figures like Ibn al-
c
Arabi (560/1165-638/1240).
18
It should also be mentioned that Surat al-Kahf contains the account of the
inscrutable actions of a mysterious figure identified in exegesis as the mystic and spiritual
guide Khizr who reveals to Moses the esoteric meaning of his teaching during their
travels to the "junction of the two seas" (majma
0
al-bahrayn). This parable was
frequently used by Sufis to justify esoteric interpretations of Quranic passages and
demonstrates the need for a spiritual guide.
Taken together these Qur
D
anic passages illustrate the dual nature of waldyah, both
in this world and in the next, of God and of those appointed by God for the purpose of
protection. However, on its own, the Qur'anic concept of waldyah did not produce
immediate theological consequences. Early development of the concept of waldyah has
been traced to Shl
c
a writings and it has been suggested that this may have begun as early
as the Shl
c
a Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 113/732).
19
It took more than three centuries
for the concept to begin to show its full potential for Sufism. For that development the
credit goes to Muhammad ibn
c
Ali Hakim al-Tirmidhi, the individual widely
See al-Tirmidhi, The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism: Two Works by Al-Haklm Al-
Tirmidhi, 109.
18
See EI2, s.v. "al-Tirmidhi" (Y. Marquet).
See Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina, The Just Ruler in Shi'ite Islam: The Comprehensive Authority of
the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 33.
- 115-
acknowledged as having the greatest impact on the growth and acceptance of the concept
of walayah.
20
His most systematic arguments on the concept of walayah are expressed in the
work appropriately known as The Seal of Friendship with God (Khatm al-wilayah)
21
In
this work Tirmidhi established his concept of walayah on the basis of a reinterpretation of
the concept of prophethood (nubuwwa). He hypothesized that even though Muhammad
was the seal of the prophets (khatam al-nabiyyin) and the last human vehicle in the chain
of divine revelations, there still remained a need for humanity to receive communications
from God. In the absence of nubuwwa, Tirmidhi saw walayah as fulfilling that role.
Tirmidhi concluded from this assessment that just as there was a "seal of prophethood"
(khatim al-nubuwwa) so too there is a "seal of friendship with God" (khatim al-
walayah)
22
To support this theological stance he differentiated between two kinds of
speech from God, one received by prophets referred to as kalam and the other reserved
for the friends of God referred to as hadith. This is best summed up in a lecture Tirmidhi
There certainly was a degree of cross-pollination of the concept of walayah as it was conceived in Shi
c
a
and Sufi circles and it is likely that al-Tirmidhi was greatly influenced by these ideas.
Muhammad ibn
C
A1I Hakim al-Tirmidhi, Kitdb khatm al-Awliyd\ ed.
c
Uthman Yahya, vol. 19, Buhuth
wa-dirasat (Beirut: al-Matba
c
ah al-kathulikiyah, 1965). Bernd Radtke has noted that the titles Khatm al-
awliyd
3
and Khatm al-wilayah are of later origin and argues that the original title was Slrat al-Awliyd
0
. See
Bernd Radtke, "The Concept of Wilaya in Early Sufism," in The Heritage of Sufism: Classical Persian
Sufism from its Origins to Rumi (700-1300), ed. Leonard Lewisohn (Oxford: Oneworld, 1999), 484.
Nevertheless, Hujviri refers to the text as Khatm al-wilayah and ranks it as one of Tirmidhi's major
contributions. See
C
A1I ibn
c
Usman Hujviri, Kashf al-mahjub, ed. V. A. Zhukovskii, 8th ed., vol. 89, Zaban
va farhang-i Iran (Tehran: Tahuri, 1381), 188.
22
See al-Tirmidhi, The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism: Two Works by Al-Hakim Al-
Tirmidhi, 96-97. For an overview of the idea of the seal of friendship with God see Gerald T. Elmore,
Islamic Sainthood in the Fullness of Time: Ibn al-
c
Arabl's Book of the Fabulous Gryphon, ed. H. Daiber
and D. Pingree, vol. 32, Islamic Philosophy, Theology, and Science: Texts and Studies (Leiden: Brill,
1999), 131-62. For a comprehensive discussion of the concept as it was picked up by Ibn al-'Arabi see
Michel Chodkiewicz, Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn Arabi, trans.
Liadain Sherrard, Golden Palm Series (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1993).
-116-
gave in response to the inquiry of one of his students who asked about the difference
between friendship with God and prophethood. TirmidhI is reported to have said -
The difference between prophethood and Friendship with God is that
prophethood consists of speech (kalam) which detaches itself from God as
revelation (wahy), and it is accompanied by a spirit (ruh) from God.
Revelation comes to an end and God seals it with the spirit and the spirit
causes [a prophet] to accept it ... As for the one possessed of Friendship
with God - God is in charge of the speech (hadlth) [he hears] from the
celestial treasure chambers, and God causes it to reach him. Thus he
receives supernatural speech.
23
This theological position earned him the denunciation of the authorities of Balkh where
he was in residence at the time.
24
TirmidhI's theological conception of walayah is
illustrative of the transformation of the sources of religious authority that parallel
developments in concepts of political authority developed in the late
c
Abbasid period
found in the writings of al-Ghazall (450/1058-505/1111) and Nizam al-Mulk (408/1018-
485/1092).
TirmidhI's conception of walayah was transmitted and transformed in the context
of South Asia at the hands of
C
AH ibn
c
Usman Hujviri (d. ca. 465/1072), known by the
epithet Data Ganj Bakhsh. His treatment of the concept of walayah is the earliest known
in South Asia and is recorded in Kashf al-mahjub.
25
Significantly, Hujviri lived during the
early impact of Islam in South Asia that occurred along with the territorial expansion of
Muslim empires to the Punjab region under the military campaigns of Mahmud of
Ghazna (r. 388/998-421/1030). Under pressure from the Great Saljuqs, Ghaznavid rulers
See al-Tirmidhi, The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism: Two Works by Al-Hakim Al-
TirmidhT, 111.
Elmore, Islamic Sainthood in the Fullness of Time: Ibn al-
c
Arabl's Book of the Fabulous Gryphon,
138n46.
For an overview of the Kashf al-mahjub see Mojaddedi, The Biographical Tradition in Sufism: The
tabaqat Genre from al-Sulaml to Jami, 125-47.
-117-
who once controlled provinces to Khurasan in the west were forced to direct their
military activities east into the Indian subcontinent. It was in this context of conflict and
conquest that Hujvirl set out from Ghazna to the regional capital of Lahore.
HujvM credited TirmidhI with placing the foundations of Sufism on a theory of
walayah. HujvM notes that God conferred upon tfie wall a special protection {walayah)
that enables the wall to carry out his religious practices and find protection from Satan.
26
He placed this concept at the very center of his understanding of Sufism saying -
The foundation of the Sufi path and mystic knowledge (tarlqat-i tasavvuf
va ma
c
arifat), all of it, rests on walayah. The proof of this is that all
shaykhs are in agreement on it, though each expresses it in his own way.
Muhammad ibn
C
AH Hakim al-Tirmidhl is unique for ascribing to it the
expression 'the reality of the way' (haqlqat-i tarlqat).
27
Reiterating these points HujvM writes, "God has friends (awliya
3
) whom he has
especially gifted with 'friendship and protection' (dustl va walayah) and whom he has
chosen to be the 'protectors of the kingdom' (valiydn-i mulk).
,m
From Theology to Historiography: The Concept of Walayah
The Qur
D
anic concept of walayah as developed in the exegesis of TirmidhI and
HujvM had a profound intellectual impact on the writing of history during the Delhi
Sultanate. The idea that Sufi shaykhs had a special guardianship over the members of
their communities was critical in the exposition of history. In this sense historiography
HujvM, KM, 268. These ideas are largely a reflection of TirmidhI's. See Radtke, "The Concept of Wilaya
in Early Sufism," 488-89.
27
HujvM, KM, 265-66.
28 -
Ibid., 268. HujvM supported this idea by reference to the following Qur
3
anic proof texts: 10:62, 41:31,
2:257.
- 118-
became an expression of theology. For instance, consider the narrative of Sultan Flruz
Shah's trip to Hansi to meet Shaykh Nur al-Dln, the son and successor of Qutb al-DIn
Munavvar.
c
AfIf describes their encounter as a discussion between two kings (du
bddshah) during which the Sultan asked the Shaykh to move to Hisar Flruzah (a citadel
in the Punjab, west of Hansi) where he promised to build a new Sufi hospice (khdngdh)
and provide for its expenditures.
29
This was at a time when Delhi was challenged by the
political and military designs of the Central Asian Chaghatay Khanate. This threat was
greatest during the reign of
c
Ala
0
al-DIn Muhammad Shah and then resurfaced during the
time of Muhammad b. Tughluq.
30
According to the historian, the Sultan hoped that
through the Shaykh's blessing (az barakat-i qadam-i khidmat-i shaykh), Hisar Flruzah
would remain safe from the incursions of Mongol armies threatening the stability of the
Sultan's rule.
The Shaykh declined the offer on the grounds that the area of Hansi was
traditionally conferred on him and his ancestors by Baba Farid and Nizam al-DIn,
implying that he had an obligation to remain there. In light of Nur al-Din's rejection the
Sultan requested that the Shaykh extend his blessing (barakah) to Hisar Flruzah.
c
Afif
claims that the wish of the Sultan came true saying that in the final days (dawr-i dkhirln)
when the cursed (mald
c
ln) sacked Delhi (referring to Timur's invasion in 801/1398), the
29 c
Afif, TFS, 131 (tr. 94-96). By the seventh/thirteenth century, patronage of the Sufi hospice was
producing a lasting impact on Muslim polities of South Asia in terms of social organization and culture.
For a look at the social life and organization of the khdngdh during the Sultanate period see Khaliq Ahmad
Nizami, "Some Aspects of Khanqah Life in Medieval India," Studia Islamica 8 (1957): 51-69. For a study
in comparison see the useful work of Leonor Fernandes which focuses on concurrent developments in
Egypt. It is particularly useful for his analysis on the contribution of endowments (s. waqf) and patronage
that were central to the institutionalization of Sufism in Egypt during the seventh/thirteenth through
tenth/sixteenth. See Fernandes, The Evolution of a Sufi Institution in Mamluk Egypt: The Khanqah.
30
See Peter Jackson, "The Mongols and the Delhi Sultanate in the Reign of Muhammad Tughluq (1325-
1351)," Central Asiatic Journal 19, no. 1-2 (1975): 118-57.
-119-
areas of Hansi and Hisar Ffruzah were saved "through the blessings of the protection of
the shaykh" (az barakat-i walayat-i hazrat).
31
Hujvirl further legitimized Tirmidhi's originating idea that in the absence of
prophets, the friends of God (awliya
3
) were appointed by God to guide humanity saying,
"God, then, has caused the prophetic evidence (burhdn-i nabavl) to remain down to the
present day, and has made the friends of God (awliya
0
) the means whereby it is
manifested, so that the signs of the truth and the proof of Muhammad's veracity may
continue to be clearly seen."
32
While the defining leaders (a
D
imma) of the past are gone,
Hujvirl is assured that "God would never leave the land without a proof (hujjat) of his
existence, nor would he leave the Muslim community (ummah) without a protector
(vra/f)."
33
As will be seen, the impact of this theological stance clearly spread to the
writings of
c
Afif who summed up its contents with reference to the apocryphal hadlth
"the shaykh for his people is like the Prophet for his community" (al-shaykh fi qawmihi
ka 'l-nablfi ummatihi).
34
A further theological parallel made between prophets and the friends of God was
their mutual ability to perform supernatural acts: the ability to ward off drought, to
defend their community against invaders, teleportation, and clairvoyance. Prophets had
31 c
Aftf, TFS, 133.
c
Afif traced the safety of Hansi, achieved through the presence of the Chishtl shaykhs in
the region, as beginning with Qutb al-Dln Munavvar. See
c
Afif, TFS, 82.
32
Hujvlri, KM, 269.
Ibid., 202. This idea is then supported with two sayings of the Prophet. First, "There will always remain a
group from my community that follow what is good and right till the end of time." (La yazal taifah min
ummatl
c
ald al-kliayr wa 'l-haqq hattd taqawwam al-sa
c
ah). Second, "There will always remain forty
among my community who follow the manner of Abraham" (La yazal min ummatl arba
c
un
c
ald khulq
Ibrahim).
34 c
Af!f, TFS, 4. It is similarly quoted by Hujvirl, KM, 62.
- 120-
long been recognized to possess the power to perform miracles referred to as mu
c
jizat.
However, Sufi shaykhs were believed to have access to an analogous power referred to as
karamat^ This was recognized by HujvM who said that the awliya
0
have been especially
gifted with various kinds of marvels (karamdt).
36
Marvels form a consistent theme in the
sacred biography of the friends of God and were perceived to be a necessary character
trait of the charismatic spiritual guide.
37
One prominent historiographic expression of this
theological principle is found in the writings of BaranI who was himself deeply
influenced by his contemporary the most famous Sufi shaykh in North India of the
eighth/fourteenth century, Nizam al-Dln Awliya
0
.
BaranI wrote of a particular military entanglement of
c
Ala
D
al-Dln Muhammad
Shah in regions far south of the capital at Delhi. In the year 709/1309 Sultan
c
Ala
D
al-Dln
sent Malik Naib on a military expedition to capture the mud fort of Warangal, the capital
Again TirmidhI was at the forefront of theological exposition on the subject of prophetic miracles and the
wonders of shaykhs. For his contribution see Bernd Radtke, "Al-Haklm al-Tirmidhl on Miracles," in
Miracle et Karama: Hagiographies Medievales Comparees, ed. Denise Aigle (Tumhout: Brepols, 2000),
287-99. This theological principle was never swallowed in all quarters and debates surrounding its validity
persisted over time. For the vigorous expression of this debate in al-Andalus see Maribel Fierro, "The
Polemic about the Karamat al-cwliya
0
and the Development of Sufism in al-Andalus (Fourth/Tenth-
Fifth/Eleventh Centuries)," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 55, no. 2 (1992): 236-49.
HujvM, KM, 268. John Renard has chosen to make the simple but useful distinction between prophetic
"miracles" (mu
c
jizat) and the "marvels" {karamdt) of Sufi shaykhs, acknowledging the important
distinction made in Muslim theological writings. See Renard, Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety,
Commitment, and Servanthood, 95, 267-75.
For a discussion of the stories of marvels {karamdt) in sacred biography of the Delhi Sultanate see
Raziuddin Aquil, "Miracles, Authority, and Benevolence: Stories of Karamat in Sufi Literature of the Delhi
Sultanate," in Sufi Cults and the Evolution of Medieval Indian Culture, ed. Anup Taneja (Delhi: Indian
Council of Historical Research, 2003), 109-38. In a comparative way see the analysis of the miracle stories
of the famous Naqshbandi shaykh Khvajah Ahrar (d. 895/1490) in Jo-Ann Gross, "Authority and
Miraculous Behaviour: Reflections on Karamat Stories of Khwaja
c
Ubaydullah Ahrar," in The Heritage of
Sufism: The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism (1150-1500), ed. Leonard Lewisohn (Oxford: Oneworld,
1999), 159-71.
- 121 -
of the Kakatiya kingdom under the reign of King Prataparudra (r. 1289-1323 C.E.).
38
During such expeditions it was a precautionary measure of the Sultan to establish
outposts (thana) along the army's route to maintain communications between Delhi and
his forces. However, along the journey south the Sultan's army was forced to traverse
difficult terrain forging a number of rivers likely swollen from torrential rains. As a result
of the harsh conditions several of the outposts were washed out severing all connections
with the capital. Due to the lack of reports from the battle front the Sultan assumed the
worst but sought reassurance from Nizam al-Dln Awliya
0
. He dispatched Malik Qirabeg
and Qazi Mughis al -Din Bayana to acquire from the Shaykh a prophecy (bisharati)
concerning the fate of his armies and to detail every gesture and response of the Shaykh.
They were not disappointed and received from Nizam al-Din the good news of victory as
well as other victories to come and returned to make their report which was happily
received by
c
Ala al-Dln. Afterwards the Sultan came out and made a public statement.
He pulled out his handkerchief (dastarchah), a symbol of royalty, and tied a knot in it
saying, "I have taken an omen in the words of the Shaykh which do not come out in vain.
Warangal has been conquered."
39
This narrative was clearly meant to elevate the status of Nizam al-Dln Awliya
0
in
relation to Sultan
c
Ala al-Dln. Elsewhere in the Tarlkh-i Firuz Shahi Barani attributed
the spread of the knowledge of Islam (
c
ilm-i Islam), the care for the subjects of the
kingdom, and all of the order that was created during the reign of Sultan
c
Ala al-Din to
For a discussion of the history of relations between Kakatiya and Delhi and the architectural heritage
born out of that encounter see Phillip B. Wagoner and John Henry Rice "From Delhi to the Deccarn Newly
Discovered Tughluq monuments at WarangalSultanpur and the Beginnings of Indo-Islamic Architecture in
Southern India," Artibus Asiae 61, no. 1 (2001): 77-117.
39
Barani, TFS, 332.
- 122-
the good wishes and blessings (maydmin va barakdt) of Nizam al-Din Awliya
3
.
40
In this
case the motif reiterates the perspicacity of the friends of God. Nizam al-Din not only
accurately predicted events unseen but by implication was the very cause of the success
of the armies of the Sultan and by extension the victory of Islam. It is another example of
the influence theological views on the concept of waldyah had on historiography. This
ability to perform marvels was then added to the special characteristics of the religion
preserving Sultans found in
c
Afif's portrait of Firuz Shah discussed in full later in this
chapter.
Another special ability said to be unique in the case of certain Sufi shaykhs was
their ability to understand the world in a manner inaccessible to ordinary human beings.
In Hujviri's mind the friends of God (awliya
3
) were appointed by God and given various
ranks (darajat) and that God "opened a door for them to understand mystical meanings
{ma
c
ani)^
x
In furthering the parallel between prophethood and friendship with God,
Hujviri, following TirmidhI, postulated that the wall had access to divine inspiration
(ilham) in a manner comparable to the prophets who had access to revelation (wahy).
42
Like the Sufi shaykh's ability to perform marvels, divine inspiration and the
understanding of mystical meanings was central to early constructions of the special
characteristics of the friends of God. Again, this idea was appropriated by historians who
wished to extend that ability to Sultans.
c
Afif employed this line of argumentation and
4U
Ibid., 325.
41
Hujviri, KM, 265.
In TirmidhI's conception the Sufi parallel to prophetic revelation (wahy) is inspiration (ilham). See
Radtke, "The Concept of Wilaya in Early Sufism," 492.
- 123-
transposed the ability onto Ffruz Shah who was said to have possessed divine inspiration
(ilhdm-i ildhT).
43
Finally, Hujviri's conception of the historical development of Sufism derived
from an understanding of religious authority and legitimacy that he traced back to the
Prophet, the "successors of the Prophet" {khallfat-i payghambar), Abu Bakr,
c
Umar,
c
Uthman,
c
Ali, and the descendents from the "family of Muhammad" (ahl al-bayt).
HujvM notes how the lives of these figures were a source of inspiration and direction for
later Sufis and that each produced a number of sayings that indicated their own proclivity
toward Sufism. From them HujvM traced a genealogical legacy from the Prophet through
the generations down to the Sufi shaykhs.
44
Hujviri's genealogical construction linked
him and his contemporaries in a succession of spiritual inheritance that traced itself back
to the origins of Islam. One of the primary traits said to elevate the early Muslim
leadership was their ability to live a life of poverty ifaqr) and humility.
45
In Barani's
vision, the first four caliphs were unmatched in their ability to combine proper religious
practices with just governance. He writes, "They succeeded, among the early and later
generations, in combining renunciation (darvishT) with kingship (jamshldl)."
46
Barani utilizes this characterization of the early caliphs to decry the state of Islamic
leadership during his age which he saw as enslaved to wealth and luxury.
c
Afif, TFS, 73 (tr. 63) also 217 among numerous other instances.
For a complete discussion of Hujviri's genealogy from the successors of the Prophet to the Sufis (rijdl al-
sufiyah) see HujvM, KM, 78-218.
HujvTri devotes an entire chapter (bab) to highlighting the virtues of self-imposed poverty ifaqr). See
Ibid., 21-34.
46
Barani, FJ, 140.
-124-
Encounters with the Friends of God: Origins of Rule and Legitimating Sufi
Narratives
Historiographic narratives of the encounters between the friends of God and
sultans demonstrate the need historians felt to establish the legitimacy of a sultan's rule
through the blessings of shaykhs. The acknowledgment of Sufi shaykhs was an explicit
blessing and sanction of the divine. Sunil Kumar has noted how modern historians have
largely ignored the rhetorical dimensions of the historiographic encounters between
sultans and the friends of God saying, "They have frequently assumed that these reports
described the 'actual' nature of the relationship between the two groups, ignoring the
discursive, rhetorical content of the narratives."
47
Behind the origins of the pious ruler there was frequently a narrative in which the
future stature of the youth was recognized by a Sufi shaykh. The Sufi shaykh who
identified an adolescent as a future ruler not only displayed his prescience but conferred
the ability of rule on sultans. Omid Safi recognized this as a pattern in sacred biography
saying, "The first pattern is that of the firasat-designating narratives in which the saint
uses his divinely bestowed insight and clairvoyance (firasat) to forecast great success for
figures well before they have achieved notoriety."
48
Juzjani relates one such narrative
from the life of Iltutmish, the future sultan of India and founder of the Delhi Sultanate.
This marvelous and legitimating narrative reportedly came from the mouth of the Sultan
himself.
See Sunil Kumar, "Assertions of Authority: A Study of the Discursive Statements of Two Sultans of
Delhi," in The Making of Indo-Persian Culture: Indian and French Studies, ed. Muzaffar Alam, Francoise
'Nalini' Delvoye, and Marc Gaborieau (New Delhi: Manohar, 2000), 39.
Safi, The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry, 129.
- 125-
It happened while Iltutmish was still an adolescent in Bukhara where he had been
sold by slave merchants to relatives of the sadr-i jahdn of that city, likely the family
known as Al-i Burhan.
49
One day the young Iltutmish was sent out of the house with a bit
of gold on a market errand to buy some grapes. Unfortunately, because of his age and
innocence, he lost the gold before he reached the market to complete his task. Frightened
by the situation he began to cry. While he was sitting dejected with tears streaming down
his face a dervish approached him and took him by the hand. He bought him some grapes
and made him a promise (
c
ahd) saying, "When you achieve power (dawlat va mulk)
show respect to those who have accepted voluntary poverty (fuqara
3
) and the people of
goodness (ahl al-khayr) and give them their right (haqq)."
50
The young Iltutmish gave his
promise to the dervish. JuzjanI completed this tale saying that Iltutmish claimed that
whatever power (dawlat va saltanai) he achieved in life was through the favor/gaze
(nazar) of that dervish.
51
From beginning to end this anecdote bears the hallmarks of mystical initiatory
narratives. The conditions of the encounter between the future Sultan and the mysterious
dervish are those of loss, confusion, and innocence. The dervish appears as the archetypal
guide who leads those who have gone astray to their desired goal. In fact the very
language of the master-disciple relationship indicates this function. The shaykh as
For the influence of this family in Bukhara during the sixth/twelfth century see Omeljan Pritsak, "Al-i
Burhan," Der Islam 30 (1952): 81-96.
50
JuzjanI, TN, 1:442 (tr. 600).
A similar narrative of later origin is found in the Fava'id al-fu
D
ad of Amir Hasan Sijzi. In this narrative
Iltutmish is said to have been foretold by either Shihab al-Dln Suhravardi (539/1145-632/1234) or Awhad
Kirmanl (d. ca. 635/1238), "You will be king!" Amir Hasan Sijzi, Fava
D
id al-fu
D
ad, 1 ed. (Lahore: Malik
Siraj al-Dln 1966), 358.
-126-
murshid is literally "guide to the right way" and the disciple as murid is "one who desires
or seeks."
52
When looked at metaphorically the object of loss is evocative of the theme of
divine union central to mystical literature. Grapes and their product wine are the symbols
of the "intoxicated" state achieved through direct encounters with God.
53
Here the grapes
in their raw and natural state also indicate the unrefined and uninitiated state of the young
Iltutmish.
Another level in the mystical dimensions of Juzjanfs historical narrative is the
theme of the clairvoyance of the dervish. The ability of the Sufi practitioner to predict the
future was a theme common to the genre of sacred biography. John Renard refers the
ability of the friends of God to predict the future as one category within the "marvels of
knowledge."
54
The dervish's prediction also served the function of a blessing that confers
legitimacy upon Iltutmish and transmits authority from the dervish to the future Sultan.
When the dervish resolves the child's dilemma by providing him with fruit from the
market Iltutmish says that he gave him a "promise" (
c
ahd). An etymological study of the
term
c
ahd shows that in addition to the connotation of promise, "In later usage, the latter
term is commonly used of civil engagements and contracts, whereas
c
ahd is generally
restricted to political enactments and treaties, in particular to the appointment of a
For a description of the etiquette of this relationship see Mohammad Ajmal, "A Note on Adab in the
Murshid-Murid Relationship," in Moral Conduct and Authority: The Place of Adab in South Asian Islam,
ed. Barbara Daly Metcalf (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984), 241-51.
For a discussion of the usage of the imagery of wine in early Persian poetry see E. Yarshater, "The
Theme of Wine-Drinking and the Concept of the Beloved in Early Persian Poetry," Studia Islamica, no. 13
(1960): 43-53.
For acts of clairvoyance see Renard, Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and
Servanthood, 112-15. This also places it in the mold of heroic narratives of childhood in which future
greatness is predicted in youth by a religious figure or sign. As was described in chapter one this narrative
accompanies the signs of greatness that were perceptible on the forehead of the mother of Iltutmish while
he was still in the womb.
- 127-
successor, a wall al-
c
ahd [q.v.], by a ruler ..." The usage of the term
c
ahd points to an
idea of the succession of rule, transmitting authority from the shaykh to the sultan.
The loss of wealth and power symbolized by the loss of the sliver of gold and that
regained through the intercession of the dervish highlights the important connections
between the circles of Sufis and the courts of sultans. Thus, Iltutmish says that all of his
success in attaining wealth and power came through the favor of that dervish. Even the
term used here for "favor" {nazar) has Sufi connotations, "Nazar, 'looking,' is one of the
central topics of mystical love experience. The mystic who is completely absorbed in his
love contemplates in the human beloved only the perfect manifestation of divine beauty,
which is as distant from him as God Himself."
56
Here the implication is that the dervish
recognized the divinely inspired child. It is from this anecdote that Juzjani describes
Iltutmish as being first amongst kings in respect and reverence for the
c
ulama
:>
and
shaykhs.
57
The recurrence of this kind of legitimating narrative in historiography is further
demonstrated by Juzjani who described an encounter between two dervishes and Malik
Husam al-Din, later known as Ghiyas al -Din Tvaz (r. 610/1213-624/1227) the sultan of
Bengal. Juzjani says that while walking along the borderlands of the foothills of Ghur,
Malik Husam al-Din crossed paths with two wandering dervishes. They were hungry and
55
EI2, s.v. "
c
Ahd" (J. Schacht).
56
Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
1975), 290.
57
This historical tale of the encounter between Iltutmish and the itinerant dervish was read uncritically by
K. A. Nizami, along with other narratives of a much later period. His study of Iltutmish's relationships with
shaykhs related in historiography and sacred biography led him to write a short biographical sketch of
Iltutmish that attempted to produce an image of the Sultan as a mystic, see Khaliq Ahmad Nizami,
"Iltutmish the Mystic," Islamic Culture 20, no. 2 (1946): 165-80.
- 128-
asked if he had any food to eat. Without hesitating Malik Husam al-Din spread out food
and drink to satisfy their hunger. JuzjanI casually reports, as if verbatim, the following
conversation between the dervishes. They said to each other '"this good man has served
us. His right should not be denied him.' Then facing Husam al-Din they said, 'Prince, go
to India as far as there are Muslims (musulmdnt). That we have given to you.'"
58
Following their encounter, JuzjanI reports that Husam al-Din took his family and
established the capital of Lakhnawti. The clear implication of this story is that the power
of the Sultan was acquired though the blessings of dervishes.
59
The early Sufi narratives on the legitimization of the authority of the sultan
typified by JuzjanI reach a crescendo in the writings of
c
Afif concerning the reign of
Sultan Firuz Shah.
c
Aflf reports that before ascending to the throne of Delhi, Firuz Shah
heard the "prophesy of kingship" {bisharat-i mulk va saltanat) from four celebrated
shaykhs. First he heard this prophecy from
c
Ala
D
al-Din (grandson of Farid al-Din).
60
In
this
c
Afif narrated the story of a visit of Ghiyas al -Din Tughluq Shah, governor (muqta
0
)
of Dlpalpur, to
c
Ala
0
al-Din before he was to rule as sultan of Delhi. He brought along
Muhammad b. Tughluq and Firuz Shah who were still in their youth. During this meeting
the shaykh performed a ritual of initiation distributing various lengths of untailored fine
58
JuzjanI, TN, 1:435 (tr. 581). This exemplary narrative has been noted by Richard Eaton in his treatment
of the role of Sufis in the expansion of Islam into Bengal. Eaton, The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier
1204-1760, 83-84.
Omid Safi provides an insightful analysis of Ravandl's (began writing the Rahat al-sudur in 599/1202)
much commented-upon legitimating narrative of the encounter between Saljuk Sultan Tughril Beg (r.
431/1040-445/1063) and Baba Tahir. Safi, The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating
Ideology and Religious Inquiry, 132-36. For an overview of narratives relating to sultans and shaykhs of
the Saljuk period see Hamid Dabashi, "Historical Conditions of Persian Sufism during the Seljuk Period,"
in The Heritage of Sufism: Classical Persian Sufism from its Origins to Rumi (700-1300), ed. Leonard
Lewisohn (Oxford: Oneworld, 1999), 137-74.
60 c
AfIf, TFS, 27-28 (tr. 39).
-129-
linen so that turbans could be made for each individual. Ghiyas al-Din was given four and
one-half meters (gaz) of cloth, Muhammad b. Tughluq twenty-seven, and Firuz Shah
forty. Once
c
Ala al-Din had distributed the cloth he proclaimed that each of these three
men would become king (sahab-i taj va takht).
c
Afif concluded his visionary tale saying
that it was due to the blessing of the Shaykh that these three men did indeed become king.
As Firuz Shah received the last portion of the cloth
c
Afif says that he was the "seal of
kingship" (khatam-i padshahT) noting that after him Delhi was destroyed.
The second prophecy (bisharat) came from Sharaf al-Din Panipati, also known as
Bu
C
AH Qalandar (d. 724/1324). As in the previous tale the three future rulers went to
visit the revered Shaykh. The Shaykh ordered that food be brought. Just as the three men
sat down to eat the Shaykh called out, "Three kings are eating from one plate!"
61
This
narrative, when paired with the previous one involving Ghiyas al -Din, Muhammad b.
Tughluq, and Firuz Shah, legitimated in retrospect, the transmission of the throne down
through this specific dynastic lineage against rivals with equal if not better genealogical
claims to rule.
A third prophecy (bisharat) came from Nizam al-Din Awliya
0
(ca. 640-1/1243-4-
725/1325).
e
Afif reports that when Firuz Shah was young he went to Ghiyaspur to pay
respects to Nizam al-Din. During their encounter Nizam al-Din was impressed with Firuz
Shah's humility (tavazu
c
). Nizam al-Din enquired of Firuz Shah's name who responded
by saying his name was Kamal al-Din (kamal meaning perfect) that being one of his
Ibid., 28 (tr. 39).
- 130-
nicknames. The Shaykh replied, "He is perfect in age (
c
umr), perfect in fortune (dawlai),
and perfect in blessing (ni
c
mat).
,,(
'
2
The fourth and final prophecy (bisharat) was said to come from Naslr al-Dln
Mahmud Chiragh-i Dihli (d. 757/1356) who was traveling with Muhammad b. Tughluq
to Thatta when he died. Naslr al-Dln sent a message to FTrQz Shah asking him to assume
the throne on the condition that he would be just (
c
adl va insaf) to his subjects, otherwise
another protector (valT) would be sought from God. Firuz Shah replied that he would
show clemency (hilm) to his subjects. Satisfied with this answer the Shaykh responded
saying that he would pray to God that he become king for forty years.
63
In another instance of the blessing of the shaykh on the sultan,
c
Afif reports a
conversation between the Sultan and Shaykh Naslr al-Dln Mahmud Chiragh-i Dihli who
advises him to pay homage to Qutb al-Dln Munavvar (another important disciple of
Nizam al-Dln Awliya
D
), through whose walayah he was to pass on the Sultan's way to
Delhi. Through an exchange of letters the Sultan requested to be put in the shaykh's
charge (havdla). Qutb al-Dln replied, "As my brother Naslr al-Dln has charged me with
your care I hope in the generosity of God the Almighty that Delhi would come to you as
well."
64
This entire passage was meant to demonstrate how the accession of Flriiz Shah
rested upon the blessing of the shaykhs.
c
Afif cleverly links together this chain of events
over ten pages in the history by concluding his narrative of Firuz Shah's marvelous and
triumphal entrance to Delhi recalling the blessings of Qutb al-Dln Munavvar and his
Ibid, 28-29 (tr. 39-40).
Ibid., 61-62.
- 1 3 1 -
prediction of Firuz Shah's ascendancy to the throne.
65
This story was picked up to such an
extent that according to Mughal historiographical tradition it was Nasir al-Din himself
who arranged for Firuz Shah's installation on the throne.
66
Tales of the blessings of shaykhs went beyond the figure of the sultan and
extended to close members of the court.
c
Afif reports that Malik Sayyid al-Hujjab Ma
c
ruf
(nadim to Firuz Shah) and his father Vahid Qurayshi were disciples (muridan) of Nizam
al-Din Awliya
0
. After birth Vahid Qurayshi brought his son to be seen inazaf) by Nizam
al-Din. At the time the Shaykh was performing his ablutions. As soon as he saw the
young child he said, "Khvajah Vahid! Bring forward that notable (ma
c
ruf) of both worlds
and famous one of the universe."
67
Nizam al-Din took a drop of ablution water and placed
it into the mouth of the infant Malik Sayyid al-Hujjab.
c
Afff says that it was the intention
to have his child named by Nizam al-Din and as he referred to him as ma
c
ruf that became
his name.
Between Social History and Sacred Biography
Narratives of the blessings of Sufi shaykhs on sultans were clearly a reflection of
the real and significant levels of codependence and mutual benefit shared between the
spheres of the royal court and the Sufi circle. In many cases sultans directly contributed
to the patronage and prestige of Sufi orders, an economic support that greatly aided the
"institutionalization" of Sufism in South Asia. An anecdotal narrative given by Nizam al-
65
Ibid, 71.
66 c
Abd al-Qadir ibn Muluk Shah Bada'uni, Muntakhab al-tavarikh, ed. Mawlavi Ahmad
C
A1I, 3 vols.,
Bibliotheca Indica (Calcutta: College Press, 1865-1869), 1:241-42.
67 c
Af!f, TFS, 446 (tr. 243-44).
-132-
Din Awliya
3
and recorded in the Fava
D
id al-fuad relates that Ulugh Khan, then governor
of the province of Lahore, and later Sultan Ghiyas al-Dln Balban (r. 664/1266-685/1287),
while passing through Ajudhan on the way to Multan, went to meet with Farid al-Dln
Ganj-i Shakar, the shaykh of Nizam al-Din Awliya
3
. There he donated a large sum of
money {naqdana), which Farid al-Din accepted, though he rejected the land grants
(misal) that were offered along with it.
68
There was also an intense amount of interaction
between members of the royal court and Sufi circles that helped to cement relations
between Sufi shaykhs and sultans . Khizr Khan, son of
c
Ala
3
al-Din Muhammad Shah,
along with Amir Khusraw, Amir Hasan, and Amir Khvurd all frequented the hospice of
Nizam al-Dln Awliya
0
while performing service in courts of the kings in the Khilji and
Tughluq dynasties.
Narratives of the interaction between Jalal al-Din Bukhari (707/1308-785/1384),
also known as Makhdum-i Jahaniyan, and Sultan Firuz Shah depict the amicable relations
that existed between sultan and shaykh. Jalal al-Din was a descendent in a family of the
Suhravardi shaykhs, grandson to Jalal al-Dln Surkh a disciple of Baha
3
al-Din Zakariya
3
.
His sayings are collected in a work titled Jdmi
c
al-
c
ulum compiled by
c
Ala
3
Dm
c
Ala b.
Sa
c
d al-Hasani in 782/1380.
69
He is said to have been appointed Shaykh al-Islam during
Muhammad b. Tughluq's reign.
70
The Shaykh al-Islam during the Delhi Sultanate was
Sijzi, Fava'id al-fiSad, 171. Naqdana suggests an "annual stipend" indicating a regular distribution of
wealth from the Delhi courts to the Sufi retreats.
""Ala
3
Din
c
Ala
3
b. Sa
c
d al-Hasani, Jdmi
c
al-
c
ulum, ed. Sajjad Husain (New Delhi: Indian Council of
Historical Research, 1987).
72, s.v. "Djalal al-Dfn Husayn al-Bukhari" (A.S. Bazmee Ansari).
- 133-
head of the endowments allocated for Sufis who received patronage from the sultan.
71
Also, he is said to have served as a guide to Firuz Shah.
c
Afif reports that during Firuz
Shah's reign he spent much time advising and meeting with Firuz Shah.
72
During Firuz
Shah's second siege of Thattahe acted as arbitrator securing the peace.
73
My House has Two Doors
While there are a number of examples of narratives in which the Sufi shaykh
legitimated the rule of the sultan, there are others that detail tensions between Sufis and
sultans. One prominent dimension in narratives of sultan and Sufi relations emphasized
the desire of the friends of God to remain free of the worldly baggage that accompanied
close association with the sultan's court. This conflict was an outgrowth of theological
principles that established the moral quality of Sufi shaykhs on their outward expression
of voluntary poverty ifaqr). This was particularly true of narratives depicting the Chishti
shaykhs. Numerous examples abound in history writing, sacred biography, and
malfu7,dtlmajdlis texts of the pious Chishti shaykh refusing service to the sultan or
making quippy remarks about the need to keep a healthy distance from the corrupting
influences of political power.
These literary tropes had a tremendous influence on twentieth century scholarly
depictions of relations between sultans and shaykhs and has led to the problematic
generalization that Sufi shaykhs shunned contact with the rulers of their day, particularly
See Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi, The Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi, 2nd revised ed. (Lahore: Sh.
Muhammad Ashraf, 1944), 190-91. For an overview of the office of the Shaykh al-Islam as it evolved over
time and across the Muslim world see Richard W. Bulliet, "The Shaikh Al-Islam and the Evolution of
Islamic Society," Studia Islamica, no. 35 (1972): 53-67.
72 c
Afif, TFS, 514-16 (tr. 277-78).
73
Ibid., 240-41 (tr. 143-44).
-134-
in reference to the Chishtl order. This is evident in the widely cited article by Aziz
Ahmad which uncritically relies on the statements recorded by devotees of Chishtl
shaykhs and later Indo-Persian tazkirah literature produced for the purpose of
retrospectively praising the legendary shaykhs of the seventh/thirteenth and
eighth/fourteenth centuries. Speaking of Mu
c
In al-Din Chishtl's dedication to faqr
Ahmad writes, "He inaugurated the Chishtl tradition of devotion to a life of poverty, with
an attitude of dissociation from the ruler and the state."
74
While the piety of the Sufi
shaykh and his distain for worldly affairs is certainly alluded to in the rhetoric of tazkirah
and malfuzat/majalis texts and is also supported by some prominent examples in
historiography, it is far from clear what that piety meant in actual practice, particularly as
there are a number of examples that show the ways prominent Chishtl shaykhs were
deeply entangled in the affairs of the royal court.
The memorable statement that has long epitomized this kind of pious rhetoric is
attributed to Nizam al-Din Awliya
3
and recorded in the Siyar al-Awliya
3
of Amir Khvurd.
It was instigated by the occasion of an attempted visit of Sultan
c
Ala
D
al-Din to the
hospice of Nizam al-Din.
75
Amir Khvurd records the thoughts of Nizam al-Din on the
Sultan's visit who is reported to have said, "The house of this fragile old man has two
See Aziz Ahmad, "The Sufi and the Sultan in Pre-Mughal Muslim India," Der Islam 38, no. 1-2 (1963):
142-53.
There is some dispute on the question of which sultan came to visit Nizam al-Din Awliya
3
. Bruce
Lawrence disagrees with the text edited by Nizami and says that it was Jalal al-Din Ffruz Shah (r.
689/1290-695/1296). See introduction to Amir Hasan Sijzi, Nizam ad-din Awliya: Morals for the Heart, ed.
Bernard McGinn, trans. Bruce B. Lawrence, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press,
1992), 35nl38. Riazul Islam disagrees with this change. See Riazul Islam, Sufism in South Asia: Impact on
Fourteenth Century Muslim Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 245n31.
- 135-
doors. If he [the Sultan] enters through one door, I exit through the other."
76
This quippy
remark of the Shaykh has been taken as the definitive proclamation on the Sufi distain for
the affairs of Islamic courts that is based on ethical principles of asceticism, seclusion,
and voluntary poverty, the standard tools of the shaykh's practice to achieve closeness to
God. The implicit warning here is against the enticements of the affairs of the world. To
ignore the principles of asceticism was to flirt with disaster, risking the special
relationship with the divine and in the process risking one's own life.
This was the lesson Barani attempted to demonstrate in his narrative of the death
of Sidi Muwallih. Sidi Muwallih was a prominent shaykh living in Delhi who had
attracted a number of followers from the court of Jalal al -Din Flruz Shah. Among them
was Qazi Jalal KashanI a scholar and judge of some repute . Barani says that he held
nightly private meetings with Sidi Muwallih along with members of the family of Balban
who had been displaced during the transition of power to the Khilji dynasty that took
place under Jalal al-Din. Barani unveils an elaborate plot concocted by this rebellious
group. The diabolic plan of this group was to assassinate Jalal al-Din and install Sidi
Muwallih as caliph (khallfah) who would marry the daughter of Sultan Nasir al-Din and
reestablish the lineage of the former dynasty. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for
Sultan Jalal al-Din, one of the members of the scheming group deserted and brought the
plans of their conspiracy to the attention of the Sultan. Most of the conspirators were
Muhammad b. Mubarak Kirmanl, Siyar al-Awliya
0
(Lahore: Mu'assasah-yi Intisharat-i IslamI, 1978),
145. Riazul Islam has noted an important account that contradicts the need for Nizam al-Din to make such a
statement. Barani lamented the fact that while living in Delhi, Sultan
c
Ala
3
al-Din never made the effort or
express a desire to visit the Shaykh. See Islam, Sufism in South Asia: Impact on Fourteenth Century
Muslim Society, 11.
-136-
executed but a special death was reserved for Sldl Muwallih who was trampled to death
under the feet of an elephant.
77
Evidence for the fact that the purpose of retelling the dramatic events of the
execution of Sidi Muwallih served more than a purely historical function is found just
pages earlier. Barani preceded this story with a narrative foreshadowing these events in
an encounter between Baba Farid and Sidi Muwallih. In this meeting Baba Farid doled
out some prescient advice to Sidi Muwallih. He is reported to have said, "Do not mix
(ikhtilaf) with kings and emirs {muluk va umara
D
). Imagine their coming and going to
your house as a deadly place to inhabit. Every dervish who has mixed with kings and
emirs has had a disastrous end."
78
By ignoring this advice Sidi Muwallih essentially went
against the natural order of things, an act which according to Barani led to unnatural
events. He reports that following the brutal execution of Sidi Muwallih the sky turned
black and drought and famine spread throughout the land.
79
The death of the shaykh is
depicted as bringing divine retribution down upon Delhi, retribution that takes shape in
the literary topos of a natural disaster.
Finally, the didactic nature of historiographical narratives of encounters between
sultans and shaykhs is further highlighted when the shaykh asserts his superior moral
authority and reprimands the sultan for behavior unbefitting his high status. This was the
case of the meeting between Shaykh Qutb al-Dln Munavvar and Flruz Shah just
following his ascension to the throne. In the Tarikh-i Flruz Shdhl
c
Afif reported that the
The entirety of this narrative is in Barani, TFS, 210-12.
78
Ibid., 209.
79
Ibid, 212.
-137-
Sultan was admonished by Qutb al-DIn for excessive drinking and hunting and in a final
slight he refused to accept an improper gift from the Sultan.
80
The Sultan's first faux pas
was to arrive for his meeting with the Shaykh before the Friday prayer surprising him as
he was leaving his house to attend the mosque. As a consequence, Qutb al-Din proceeded
to scold the Sultan for his improper drinking and hunting habits. The awkwardness of the
situation is exacerbated in a scene that takes place inside the mosque where the Shaykh
rejects the gift of a robe from the Sultan because the cloth was not allowed according to
the sharl
c
ah. In declining the king's robe and admonishing him for his behavior, the
shaykh was shown to establish his superior piety and ethical command over the figure of
the sultan.
Pilgrimage and Sacred Geography in the Imperial Realm
In addition to the narratives detailing face-to-face encounters between sultans and
shaykhs there are numerous accounts of sultans visiting the tombs of the friends of God.
These narratives tend to emphasize the intercessory role of deceased shaykhs, the
persistence of barakah following death, and the piety of pilgrims. The Muslim world of
the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries was defined by the tremendous
popularity of the visitation (ziyarah) of the tombs of shaykhs.
81
This is reflected in the
6U c
Af!f, TFS, 78-82 (tr. 65-67).
81
Studies on the development and evolution of ziyarah exist for specific geographical contexts and the
work of Christopher Taylor is a good example of this. See Christopher Schurman Taylor, In the Vicinity of
the Righteous: Ziydra and the Veneration of Muslim Saints in Late Medieval Egypt, ed. Ulrich Haarman
and Wadad Kadi, vol. 22, Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts (Leiden: Brill, 1999). To my
knowledge no single work has achieved for the Muslim world what Peter Brown achieved for Latin
Christianity, that is to galvanize the study of the veneration of the special dead. See Peter Brown, The Cult
of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity, ed. Joseph M. Kitagawa, vol. 2, Haskell Lectures
on History of Religions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981). Granted it is a much larger task for
-138-
extensive archeological record demonstrating a growth in monumental tomb architecture,
as well as an extensive body of literature documenting visitation to these sacred sites.
From Morocco to Egypt, Iran, Central Asia, and India, the architectural landscapes were
populated by mausoleum complexes that supported, with food and lodging, the
predominant visitation religious culture of the day. The vast travels of Ibn Battuta
demonstrated the ubiquity and function of these shrines in the Muslim world as his
voyage was largely subsidized through endowments that provided the economic
backbone of these institutions.
82
The earliest Muslim funerary architecture dedicated to shaykhs in South Asia
likely dates from the late sixth/twelfth century and was an expression of establishment of
Ghurid rule in the Punjab.
83
Over the course of the seventh/thirteenth and
eighth/fourteenth centuries the establishment of tomb complexes, through the patronage
of successive Muslim courts across South Asia, sprouted a vast network of
interconnected pilgrimage routes. These routes can be roughly traced in pilgrimage paths
described by Juzjani, Barani, and
c
Afff. Information about the routes of pilgrimage and
the rituals that accompany them were detailed in a genre of literature known as the
the scholar of Islam. Nevertheless, this lacuna in scholarship remains one of the greatest obstacles for our
understanding of the social and cultural dimensions of Muslim societies.
82
For a comparative analysis and description of the architectural elements of three shrine complexes of the
eighth/fourteenth century, located across the Muslim world from Morocco to Egypt and Iran, where Ibn
Battuta might have stayed, see Sheila S. Blair, "Sufi Saints and Shrine Architecture in the Early Fourteenth
Century," Muqarnas 7 (1990): 35-49.
83
For specific reference to the difficulty of properly dating early Muslim funerary architecture in the Indian
subcontinent see Flood, "Ghurid Architecture in the Indus Valley: The Tomb of Shaykh Sadan Shahld,"
131n3.
-139-
"books of visitation" (kutub al-ziydrah) that functioned as manuals/travel guides for
pilgrims.
84
The sultans of Delhi were great patrons in the building of mausolea that in turn
grew to support one of the most pervasive ritualistic practices of Muslim communities of
South Asia during the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries. It is likely that
the most intense phase of this kind of construction was accomplished under the reign of
Tughluq sultans. Anthony Welch and Howard Crane write of the architectural
achievements of the Tughluq sultans saying, "While earlier Mu
c
izzl and Khaljl
architecture of the late twelfth through early fourteenth centuries can be discussed only in
terms of a small number of buildings, the extant corpus of Tughluq architecture is very
large."
85
The Tughluq dynasty was situated at the cusp of a new phase in the evolution
and growth of the major Sufi orders of India. Indeed, it played a significant role in
bringing about their transformation from the living practice of individual shaykhs and
their followers to the veneration of the friends of God following their death.
The first historical narratives relating to this development come from Barani who
documents Muhammad b. Tughluq's ziyarah to the tomb of the legendary figure Sayyid
To my knowledge there are no books of visitation extant from the early Delhi Sultanate period. For a
discussion and partial translation of the twelfth/eighteenth century Indo-Persian pilgrim's guide Makhzan-i
a'ras see Carl W. Ernst, "An Indo-Persian Guide to Sufi Shrine Pilgrimage," in Manifestations of
Sainthood in Islam, ed. Grace Martin Smith and Carl W. Ernst (Istanbul: The Isis Press, 1993), 43-67. For a
description of pilgrim's guides of Egypt produced between the 1200 and 1500 C.E. see Taylor, In the
Vicinity of the Righteous: Ziydra and the Veneration of Muslim Saints in Late Medieval Egypt, 229-34.
5
See Anthony Welch and Howard Crane, "The Tughluqs: Master Builders of the Delhi Sultanate,"
Muqarnas 1 (1983): 123. For architectural studies of monumental funerary architecture dedicated to
shaykhs see J. Burton-Page, "The Tomb of Rukn-i Alam in Multan," in Splendors of the East, ed. Mortimer
Wheeler (London: Putnam, 1965), 72-81. Also see Ahmad Nabi Khan, "The Mausoleum of Saih 'Ala' al-
Din at Pakpattan (Punjab): A Significant Example of the Tugluq Style of Architecture," East and West 24,
no. 3-4 (1974): 311-26.
-140-
Sipah Salar Mas
c
ud Ghazi of Bahraich. This pilgrimage followed the Sultan's victory
over
c
Ayn al-Mulk who, while governor of Avadh, had broken out in rebellion. His visit
to the shrine suggests that the Sultan was seeking to honor Mas
c
ud Ghazi in return for his
good fortune. BaranI notes that upon Ms arrival Muhammad b. Tughluq generously
distributed alms (sadaqat) to the "caretakers of the tomb" (mujaviran-i rawzah).*
1
By
c
Afff's time the composition of narratives of imperial ziyarah had become an
elaborate affair. Not only did
c
Aflf document the numerous instances of pilgrimage and
patronage in the actions of Sultan Firuz Shah, he also created a narrative style that spoke
to the inner dimensions and personal relationships created between deceased shaykhs and
living sultans.
88 c
Afif described that it was in the year 776/1374 that Firuz Shah went to
Bahraich to visit the tomb of Sipah Salar Mas
c
ud Ghazi.
89
One night the deceased shaykh
Mas
c
ud Ghazi appeared to Flrfiz Shah in a dream {dar khvdb). In the dream Mas
c
ud
Ghazi stroked his beard indicating the Sultan's advanced age, a gesture meant to
encourage him to think about how he should spend his autumn years and to make
preparations for the afterlife (dkhirat).
For a description of this shrine as well as its ritual life and history see Tahir Mahmood, "The Dargah of
Sayyid Salar Mas
c
ud Ghazi in Bahraich: Legend, Tradition and Reality," in Muslim Shrines in India: Their
Character, History and Significance, ed. Christian W. Troll (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003),
24-43. Also see Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui, "A Note on the Dargah of Salar Mas
c
ud in Bahraich in Light of
the Standard Historical Sources," in Muslim Shrines in India: Their Character, History and Significance,
ed. Christian W. Troll (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003), 44-47.
87
BaranI, TFS, 491.
88
On the Sultan's ascension to the throne of Delhi he stops in Multan to honor the shaykhs there and in
Ajtidhan at the shrine of Baba Farid. See
c
AfIf, TFS, 60-61 (tr. 57). For the importance of pilgrimage to the
shrine of Baha
3
al-Dln^akariya
0
at the suggestion of Shaykh al-Islam Sadr al-Dln (grandson of Baha' al-
Dln_ Zakariya
3
), see
c
Aflf, TFS, 230 (tr. 139).
89 c
AfIf, TFS, 372-3 (tr.209-10).
- 141 -
Oneiromancy, or dream interpretation, is a significant cultural dimension of
Muslim societies. The popularity of dream interpretation reached such a degree that by
the fifth/eleventh century it developed into a literary genre of its own.
90
The motif of
Mas
c
ud Ghazl's dream visitations continued beyond
c
Afif in other forms and is the
purported inspiration for the eleventh/seventeenth century account the his life found in
the Mirat-i Mas
c
udl composed by
c
Abd al-Rahman Chishti (fl. 1065/1664).
91
On one
level
c
Afifs dream narrative can be read as an account of the Sultan's reverence for the
piety of Sufi shaykhs. In a more critical way it can be seen as a legitimating ploy of the
Sultan who in doing so makes a public statement of his own piety. This "live" encounter
with the dead Shaykh was a major departure in historiography of the Delhi Sultanate.
Until
c
Afif, these narratives were largely restricted to the patronage and devotion of
sultans to shaykhs.
c
Afif says it was the practice of Sultan Firuz Shah to perform pilgrimage
(ziyarah) to the shrines of "religion-possessing shaykhs" {mashaikh-i dindar) and
"notable sultans" {salatln-i namdar) located in the area of Delhi before any excursion
outside of the capital.
92
He claims that it was a Sunni custom (sunnat-i sunniyah) and it
was a characteristic of the friends of God (sifat-i awliyd
0
), for which he supplied the
following hadlth, "If you are troubled with a problem ask help from those in the grave."
93
This is exemplified in the work of al-DInawarf al-Qddiri ft al-ta
c
blr considered to be "The most
important treatise on Arab-Muslim oneirocritics." See Toufic Fahd, "The Dream in Medieval Islamic
Society," in The Dream and Human Societies, ed. Roger Caillois and Gustave E. von Grunebaum
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966), 359.
For a description of this work see Rizvi, A History of Sufism in India, 1:312-14. Also see N. R. Farooqi,
"The Legend of Sayyid Salar Mas'ud Ghazi," Islamic Culture 75, no. 3 (1993): 73-84.
92 c
Afif, TFS, 194.
93 _ _ - _ _ _
Ibid., 195. Wa idha tahirtum fial-umurfa asta
c
inu min ahl al-qubur.
-142-
He used the occasion for the narrative of this historical event to describe not only the
ritual element of pilgrimages to shrines of the friends of God but also to highlight the
piety of the Sultan in seeking blessings from the respected shaykhs of the past.
The occasion for this particular round of visits to the tombs in and around Delhi
was the launch of his military expedition to battle the Samma rulers of Thatta. To ensure
his good fortune FIruz Shah visited the burial place of Nizam al-Din Awliya
0
.
c
Afif
provided a detailed description of the Sultan's activities during the pilgrimage. He
narrated the humble manner in which the Sultan approached the tomb of Nizam al-Din
Awliya
3
bowing his head and touching it to the ground, actions which the historian
witnessed with his own eyes.
c
Afif also notes that he prayed at the tomb doing a number
of Qur
D
anic readings (khvandanl) as was prescribed by shari
c
ah.
9A c
Afif's emphasis on
the Sultan's activities while on ziyarah as conforming to sharVah and in line with Sunni
custom, as demonstrated by the inclusion of a hadlth relevant to the subject, was a
conscious rebuttal to accusations concerning the illicit nature of the practice that were
swirling in the current of theological debates of the seventh/thirteenth and
eighth/fourteenth centuries.
95
c
Afif goes on to narrate how the Sultan patronized the tombs of the friends of
God. The royal treasurers would distribute a fixed amount for the care of the poor and
misfortunate. Following his pilgrimage to the shrine of Nizam al-Din Awliya
3
he made
another stop in Ajudhan to pay respect at the tomb of Baba Farid. One reason
c
Afif
Ibid., 196. Khvandanl is a portion of the Qur^an (1/30*) appointed for daily reading.
For a review of some pro and con arguments on the topic of the licit nature of the veneration of the dead
and shrine visitation see Joseph W. Meri, "The Etiquette of Devotion in the Islamic Cult of Saints," in The
Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Essays on the Contribution of Peter Brown, ed. James
Howard-Johnston and Paul Antony Hay ward (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 273-86.
- 143-
documents numerous instances of pilgrimages in his history is that his father and his
father's brother were appointed to tombs for administrative purposes.
96
The Historiographic Transformation of the Sultan into the Shaykh
With
c
Afif's composition of the Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shahi the transformation of the
sultan's image from a seeker and recipient of the blessings of shaykhs, to a producer of
his own charismatic religious authority was complete. There were inklings of this
protracted development of the image of the sultan in earlier historiography. Juzjani in the
Tabaqat-i Nasirl referred to his patron Nasir al-Dln Mahmud Shah by employing the
literary imagery of the Sufi shaykh saying that God had planted in him the "attributes of
the friends of God" (awsdf-i awliya
3
).
91
However,
c
AfIf went beyond mere comparison
and simile. More than any other historian he created a portrait of his patron that
effectively merged the image of the sultan into the shaykh, a literary feat he
accomplished in both subtle and overt ways.
First, he constructed his image of the perfect king based on the ethical and moral
attributes of Sufi shaykhs. In the prolegomena to the Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shdhl he describes
ten attributes of the ideal ruler.
98
Each attribute is referred to by the technical term
maqdmdt or stages, a term common in Sufi literature for the stages an individual traverses
on the Sufi path.
c
Afff elaborates on the ten throughout the introduction to the Tdrlkh-i
Flruz Shdhl and this list is at the core of his understanding of the role of the Sultan in
96 c
Afif, TFS, 196 (tr. 24).
97
Juzjani, 77V, 1:477.
98
See
c
Afif, TFS, 4-19.
-144-
society. The ten are (1) mercy (shafaqat), (2) forgiveness (
c
afv), (3) justice and grace
(
c
adl va fa^l), (4) fight and combat (muqdtalah va muharabah), (5) generosity in
bestowing gifts (Tsar va iftikhar), (6) grandeur and awe (
c
aimat va r
c
ub), (7) intelligence
and insight (hushiydrl va biddri), (8) wakefulness and vigilance (inlbdh va 'ibrat), (9)
conquest and victory (fath va nusrat), and (10) wisdom and discernment (kiydsat va
firasat). Each stage is understood symbolically as a chapter in the spiritual journey to
nearness with God. These stages form a major topic of Sufi literature as is demonstrated
by the length of discussion Abu '1-Qasim al-Qushayri (376/986-465/1072) dedicated to
the maqdmat in his famous treatise on Sufism, the Risdlah."
The first stage (maqdm) in
c
Af!f s understanding of the ideal attributes of the
perfect ruler is compassion (shafaqat). He imbued this stage with Sufi meaning saying
that only the "shaykhs of the people of certainty" (mashd
3
ikh-i ahl-i yaqin) and the
religion-seeking sultans (saldtln-i tdliban-i din) understand the value of compassion.
100
He accompanies each of the following nine stages of kingship with an interpretation that
fleshes out their meaning in a sense applicable to Sufism. By employing maqdmat in his
description of the attributes of ideal kingship,
c
Afif shifts the image of the Sufi shaykh
onto the image of the sultan.
In a number of cases
c
Afif does not simply refer to sultans as having the
characteristics of shaykhs but to actually being a shaykh or a friend of God (awliyd
0
).
This was the case with his treatment of Flruz Shah.
c
Afif legitimated his characterization
of the Sultan as a shaykh saying it had been recognized by the reputed shaykh Qutb al-
See part two of
c
Abd al-Karim ibn Hawazin Qushayri, al-Risalah al-Qushayriyahfi
c
ilm al-tasawwuf, ed.
Muhammad
c
Abd al-Rahman Mar
c
ashli (Beirut: Dar Ihya
3
al-Turath al-
c
Arabi, 1998).
100 c
Afif, TFS, 6.
- 145-
Din Munavvar who is reported to have said that Firuz Shah was one of the "shaykhs of
the path" (mashaikh-i tarlqah), a representation that was predicated on his ability to rule
"without the use of the sword" (bi-ghayr-i tigh).
m
c
Afif attempted to show that Firuz Shah displayed the characteristics of the
friends of God early on in his career.
c
Afif narrates events following the death of
Muhammad b. Tughluq that happened to coincide with some effective military raids of
the Mongols that greatly threatened the stability of the Sultanate. Firuz Shah was called
upon by the notables of his day to assume the throne and wield power. Showing humility
and fear of God, young Ffruz Shah replied mat he had the intention of going on
pilgrimage to Mecca, a common destination for individuals who wished to avoid the
political complications of their day.
102 c
Afif compared this refusal of power to the custom
referred to as the "robe of succession" (khirqah-yi tahklm) in which successorship from
the shaykh to the disciple is refused until after the death of the shaykh.
103
As was seen earlier, one of the special abilities of the Sufi shaykh was to offer his
protection (walayah) to the communities and surrounding area where he lived in the face
of invading armies.
c
Afif applied this motif taken from the lives of shaykhs to the figure
of the Sultan in light of the military incursions of the Mongols. He said that Firuz Shah
had a positive impact on the kingdom over the forty-year duration of his reign because
The literary trope of the refusal of great power is traceable to biblical literature. See A. J. Wensinck,
"The Refused Dignity," in
c
Ajab-Nama: A Volume of Oriental Studies Presented to Edward G. Browne
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1922), 491-99.
103
c
Afif, TFS, 43-44. For the symbolism of the Sufi robe (khirqah) and its role in the transmission of
authority see Jamal Elias, "The Sufi Robe (Khirqa) as a Vehicle of Spiritual Authority," in Robes and
Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture, ed. Stewart Gordon, The New Middle Ages (New York:
Palgrave, 2001), 275-89.
-146-
God had conferred upon him the "protection of the peoples of the world" (waldyat-i
admiyan-i jahdn). Thus he had received the divine right to rule. This he claims was due to
the fact that the Sultan was "one of the friends of God" (yaki az awliya-i Allah).
104 c
Afif
found proof for this, with the benefit of hindsight, in the manner the kingdom fell into
chaos following the Sultan's death. This view differs significantly from later Sufi
biographical literature, such as the Mirat al-asrdr by
c
Abd al-Rahman Chishtl (d.
1094/1683) and Shu
c
ayb Firdawsi's Mandqib al-Asfiya', where Flruz Shah is accused of
inviting divine punishment in the form of Timur's invasion of Delhi because of his
execution of two Sufi figures.
105
In another literary marker of the transformation of the sultan into a shaykh
c
Afif
discusses FTruz Shah's end-of-life activities. As was seen earlier,
c
Afif narrated that
during the end of his life the Sultan went on ziydrah to the tomb of Mas
c
ud Ghazi in
Bahraich, during which time he was visited by the deceased shaykh in a dream. It was
following his night-time encounter that the Sultan shaved his head (mahluq) in a public
ceremony where he was joined by the khans and maliks of the kingdom.
106
In doing so he
establishes an initiatory narrative of Sufi shaykhs that sets them on the path of religious
devotion. In this narrative
c
Afif utilized a trope from the stories of Sufi shaykhs where
novices receive their initiation on the Sufi path through a dream. This tradition of dream
initiation was exemplified in the legendary figure of Uways al-Qarani (d. 37/657), who
c
Afif, TFS, 22.
c
Afff repeats the formula "one of the friends of God" in relation to Flruz Shah. See
c
Afif,
TFS, 95.
See Carl W. Ernst, "From Hagiography to Martyrology: Conflicting Testimonies to a Sufi Martyr of the
Delhi Sultanate," History of Religions 24, no. 4 (1985): 325-26.
106 c
Afif, TFS, 372-3 (tr. 209-10).
-147-
was said to have communicated with Muhammad by telepathy, a tale passed down in a
number of stories of the Prophet and made widely known in Sufi literature by Farid al-
Dln
c
Attar in the Taikirat al-Awliyd
3
.
l07
c
AfIf makes multiple uses of this narrative. He goes on to compare the Sultan's
actions with those of the Prophet at the end of his life. He does this by quoting from
Q48:27 the verse revealed to Muhammad about entering Mecca following the treaty of
Hudaybiya -
With their heads shaved and hair cut short, they will not fear.
108
Here
c
Afif makes an analogy between the life of Muhammad and the life of Firuz
Shah. The Sultan's dream foreseeing the end of his life parallels Muhammad's dream of
entering Mecca.
109 c
Afif reiterated the point that the Sultan shaved his head like the
"shaykhs of the people of discernment" (mashaikh-i ahl-i tamylz).
c
Afif describes how
the Sultan was blessed by God with the "light of the protection of the friends of God"
{anvar-i walayat-i awliya
3
) and that he looked like a shaykh with a prayer carpet. To
which he added the hadlth "Those who sit in assembly are not troubled" (la yashqd
jallsuhum).
110
Following this
c
Afif goes on to say that the Sultan abolished everything not
107 c
Attar, Tazkirat al-Awliyd
0
, 1:15-24.
108 c
Af!f, TFS, 372.
For a reference to the Prophet's "vision" and the shaving of his head see Ibn Ishaq, The Life of
Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Islidq's Slrat Rasiil Allah, 505 and 07.
Found in various formulations in hadlth collections. In the Sahih of Muslim, in the section on the merits
of the assemblies from the remembrance of God, God receives a report from the angels who observe the
doings of those who sit in the assemblies for the remembrance of God. God is pleased with their devotion
and offers them his forgiveness and protection. The angels note that one individual was present by mistake
and God extended his forgiveness to him as well saying that "He is pardoned him as well because those
- 148-
according the sharVah. Clearly the purpose of such narratives was not merely to elevate
the status of sultans but also to show that they too followed the dominant ethical and
moral values of their day making them a model of behavior.
Finally,
c
AfIf conferred upon Firuz Shah the ability to perform marvels
(karamat). The occasion of Firuz Shah's miracle was the disastrous episode of the
wanderings lost in the Rann of Kutch following the Sultan's defeat at Thatta. Starved and
without water
c
Afif says that the Sultan went into meditative seclusion (khalvat).
Immediately following the Sultan's silent prayers (reported by
c
Afif without any sense of
irony), clouds covered the sky and the "rain of mercy" (bardn-i rahmai) fell to provide
water to the desperate army. All of this
c
Afif says was born out of the "blessing of the
prayer of the Sultan" (barakat-i du
c
a-yi Sultan)}
u
Completing his portrait of the Sultan
on the image of the Sufi shaykh
c
Afif notes a story from Farid al-Dln
c
Attar's Tazkirat
al-Awliya
0
in which the noted Egyptian Sufi shaykh Dhu '1-Nun Misri (180/796-246/861)
prayed for the rain during a period of drought and his prayer was granted.
112
The marvelous powers of the sultan are made even more explicit in the writings of
Amir Khusraw. He attributed the victorious march of the army from Delhi and their
ability to overcome the dangers laid out before them, not to the blessings of Nizam al-
who sit in the assemblies are without trouble." (wa lahu ghafrat hum al-qawm la yashqd bi-him jahsuhum)
See Abu 1-Husayn b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-NIsaburi Muslim (d. 261/875), Sahlh, ed. Muhammad Fuad
c
Abd al-Baql, 5 vols. (Cairo: Dar Ihya al-Kutub al-
c
Arabiyah, 1955-56), 4:2070.
111 c
Af!f, TFS, 218.
112
Ibid. This marvel-filled tale of Dhu '1-Nun Misri did not make it into Reynold Nicholson's critical
edition of the Tazkirat al-Awliya
0
.
c
Afif makes the manifestation of the marvel of Sultan Firuz Shah {izhdr-
i karamat-i Sultan Firuz Shah) the heading for the twelfth chapter of the fifth book. See
c
Afif, TFS, 492 (tr.
266). However, the chapter does not appear to make any clear reference to the marvel of the Sultan, leaving
open the possibility of a lacuna in the manuscript record.
-149-
Din, as did BaranI, but rather to the "marvel of the Sultan" (kardmat-i sultan).
m
The
force of the flooding of the Narmada River is compared to the universal deluge caused by
the flood of Noah. That divine power was only contravened by the marvel of the Sultan
that dried up the swirling deep waters just as the army arrived.
All in all the recorded instances of Firuz Shah's respect and veneration for the
living shaykhs of his day, the pilgrimage and patronage of the friends of God, his own
temperament of humility and benevolence, the shaving of his head as he reached an
autumn age, and finally his marvelous ability to bring rain through seclusion and prayer,
reflect the moral imagination of the historian and the society in which he lived.
114
113
Khusraw, Khaza
J
in al-futuh, 77'.
Nimrod Hurvitz has shown how the genre of biography acts as a "cultural code" which can be
deciphered to trace the moral and ethic constructs that predominate in a given society in a given situation.
Speaking of biographies he writes, "It is no novelty to argue that they were constructed for the sake of
conveying behavioral patterns." Nimrod Hurvitz, "Biographies and Mild Asceticism: A Study of Islamic
Moral Imagination," Studia Islamica, no. 85 (1997): 43. This clearly holds true for historiography as well.
-150-
Chapter Four: Caliphal Authority and Representation in the Delhi
Sultanate
Ideologies of Caliphal and Sultanic Legitimacy in Historical Context
As with representations of pre-Islamic prophets, Muhammad, and the friends of
God, historians of the Delhi Sultanate incorporated imagery, narratives, and motifs of
caliphs into their history writing. When historians of the Delhi Sultanate raised the
subject of the caliphate it was often an occasion to reflect on the power and ideals of
Muslim authority, to note the legitimacy of the sultan, and even on occasion to lament the
coming of the end of the world. On one level Sultanate historians were participating in a
historiographical tradition of documenting the lives of caliphs. "Biographies of caliphs"
(sirat al-khulafd
0
) were an early form of historical writing in Arabic.
1
More than
anything, the appearance of caliphal narratives in Sultanate historiography was a sign of
the profound impact that Sunni political and religious ideologies which sustained the
notion of the caliphate had on Muslim rulers of Delhi and their historians. A brief
discussion of caliphal and sultanic historical relations along with reference to earlier legal
texts and advice literature will bring to light the way caliphal legitimating ideologies are
reflected in historiography of the Delhi Sultanate.
2
Albrecht Noth has identified early caliphal narratives as sirat al-khulafd
0
. See Albrecht Noth and
Lawrence I. Conrad, The Early Arabic Historical Tradition: A Source-Critical Study, trans. Michael
Bonner, 2nd ed., vol. 3, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam (Princeton: Darwin Press, 1994), 37. For
a discussion of the legitimating function of early sirat al-khulafd
0
traditions see Donner, Narratives of
Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing, 190-95.
Early studies that have dealt with the relationship between caliphs and sultans are significantly aided by
newer scholarship that offers a more critical approach to historical and theological texts. However, the field
is still waiting for a full treatment of this subject in light of these methods. For some earlier studies see V.
V. Bartold, "Khalif i Sultan," Mir Islama 1 (1912): 202-26, 345-400. This article was later translated into
English from the Russian by N. S. Doniach and reprinted incomplete as V. V. Bartold, "Caliph and Sultan,"
Islamic Quarterly 7, no. 3 and 4 (1963): 117-35. Also Amir Hasan Siddiqi, Caliphate and Kingship in
Medieval Persia, vol. 14, Studies in Islamic History (Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1977). This is a
-151 -
The parameters and jurisdictions of caliphal authority were detailed in a body of
normative texts that were part of the long-standing and prescriptive legal tradition of
Sunnl scholarly circles. The theories behind caliphal authority were discussed and
debated by a number of major authors whose writings spanned the second/eighth to
eighth/fourteenth centuries.
3
In principle, caliphal authority was based on a universal
model of Muslim authority and a universal conception of the Muslim community
(ummah). In reality, caliphal authority was never universal but a product of an evolving
historical relationship between the center and periphery, between the existence of
authority and the exercise of power.
Actual sovereignty exercised by
c
Abbasid caliphs was curtailed as early as the
third/ninth century under the influence of the Turkish ghilmdn and further significantly
reduced in the fourth/tenth and fifth/eleventh with the rise of Buyid and then Saljuq
regimes. Developments that led to the decentralization of the caliphate came out of the
area just south of the Caspian Sea. Under the leadership of
c
Ali b. Buya (320/932-
338/949) and his two brothers, Buyid rule effectively marginalized the caliphate of al-
Mustakfi (333/944-334/946) and al-MutI
c
(334/946-363/974). As early as 322/934 the
shift of actual authority from Baghdad to the province of Fars and its major city Shiraz
reprinted edition in one volume of his serialized article Amir Hasan Siddiqi, "Caliphate and Kingship in
Mediaeval Persia," Islamic Culture 9-11 (1935-1937). Siddiqi initiated this study in his doctoral thesis at
London University in 1934 and revisited this subject over the course of a number of years culminating this
work in Amir Hasan Siddiqi, Caliphate and Sultanate, 2nd ed. (Karachi: Jamiyat ul-Falah Publication,
1963).
Ann Lambton has provided comprehensive summaries of a number of the major authors. She has
discussed the writing of luminaries from Abu Yusuf (d. 182/798), Ibn al-Muqaffa
c
(d. 139/757), al-Jahiz
(160/776-255/ 868-869), Ibn al-Qutayba (213/828-276/889), al-Baqillani (d. 403/1013), and al-Baghdadi
(d. 429/1037), al-Mawardi (364/974-450/1058), al-Juvayn! (419/1028-478/1085), al-Ghazali (450/1058-
505/1111), Fakhr al-DTn Razi (543/1149-606/1209), Ibn Jama
c
a (639/1241-733/1333), and Ibn Taymiyya
(661/1263-728/1328). See A. K. S. Lambton, State and Government in Medieval Islam: An Introduction to
the Study of Islamic Political Theory: The Jurists, vol. 36, London Oriental Series (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1981), 43-151.
-152-
was complete. While the caliph remained in "power" in Baghdad and the Bfiyid family
ruled nominally as governors, in actuality the caliph's functions had been diminished to a
mere ceremonial role.
4
In the context of changing historical circumstances Sunni ideologies of caliphal
authority had to be modified with the times. This is particularly evident in the writings of
authors who faced a substantial diminution of caliphal power. Al-Mawardi (364/974-
450/1058) is most frequently cited in this area because of the way his life and writings
bring together the evolving history and ideology of caliphal authority. As a man who
lived and died in Baghdad under
c
Abbasid caliphs during a period of de facto rule of
Buyid emirs, al-Mawardi was inspired to produce some of the most salient arguments on
the extent and limit of caliphal authority. In his famous work on the parameters of
caliphal authority, Ahkam al-sultdniyya, al-Mawardi attempted to reassert caliphal
authority, modifying it to the political circumstances of his day. He queried the
conditions for the forfeiture of the leadership (imama) of the Muslim community under
the circumstances of the curtailment of caliphal liberties. Considering the historical
realities of his day al-Mawardi concluded that the caliph can maintain his position as long
as those in actual power adhere to the requirements of religion and justice.
5
A central dilemma arising out of the loss of caliphal authority was the situation
where a Muslim ruler takes control of a province without a formal caliphal appointment,
Eric Hanne stresses the fact that the emergence of Buyid rule is not an endpoint for the
c
Abbasid caliphate
but rather a moment in the constantly shifting balance of power for control over the central Islamic lands.
Eric J. Hanne, Putting the Caliph in his Place: Power, Authority, and the Late Abbasid Caliphate
(Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2007), 43.
For specific arguments made by al-Mawardi along with useful commentary by Gibb see Hamilton A. R.
Gibb, "Al-Mawardi's Theory of the Caliphate," in Studies on the Civilization of Islam, ed. Stanford Shaw
and William Polk (Boston: Beacon Press, 1962), 159-60.
- 153-
a situation referred to as the "emirate of seizure" {imarat al-istlla
0
).
6
Under such
circumstances al-Mawardi concluded that the legitimacy of the rule of a province taken
by force is dependent upon the ex post facto investiture of the caliph.
7
It was a pragmatic
approach to historical conditions in which Muslim courts spread far beyond the control of
a centralized caliphal authority. In effect al-Mawardi's views allowed for a split in the
functions of a globalized Muslim authority between the caliph, who retained a titular and
symbolic role, and the sultan who controlled the exercise of power. This type of thinking
clearly had relevance to the historical circumstances of the sultans ruling from Delhi.
As an author who very much sought to sustain caliphal authority, al-Mawardi and
his ideas came under scrutiny from some writers who, clearly seeing the handwriting on
the wall, went beyond the question of the emirate of seizure to directly confront the actual
disappearance of the office of the caliph. In the Ghiydth al-Umam, al-Juvaynl (419/1028-
478/1085) lays out systematically the rational arguments that deal with such an
eventuality.
8
His writings when paired with those of al-Mawardi are a perfect example of
the shifting nature of the ideological bases for authority in Muslim societies in the
fifth/eleventh century.
Juvayni's political attitudes were formulated under the specific circumstances of
Saljuq rule (431/1040-590/1194). His views were shaped in this context as he directly
benefited from Saljuq patronage, receiving an appointment to the Nizamiyya madrasa in
6
Ibid., 162-64.
Hanna Mikhail, Politics and Revelation: MawardI and After (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
1995), 28.
Wael B. Hallaq, "Caliphs, Jurists and the Saljuqs in the Political Thought of Juwaynl," Muslim World 74,
no. 1 (1984): 26-41.
-154-
Nishapur. Analyzing the diminished stature of the caliph he argues that although there are
a number of requirements for the appointment and support of the leader of the Muslim
community, they each have a relative value. Juvayni concludes mat it is really the
requirement of power that holds precedence over all other requirements to rule.
9
That is
to say the ability of the imam to control, defend, and be a unifying force for the Muslim
community is paramount to his legitimacy. Failure to carry out that duty should result in
the deposition of the imam.
While this sketch of the ideologies of authority constructed during the period of
Buyid and Saljuq rule forms a basis of comparison with the ideologies at work in North
India during the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries, it is important to keep
in mind that the Delhi Sultanate existed in a very different historical context. First, the
Buyid and the Saljuq dynasties existed within the living context of the
c
Abbasid caliph in
Baghdad. They also controlled, shared, and competed for authority over a common
geographical region. In contrast, the Delhi Sultanate spanned a time of the complete
destruction of the
c
Abbasid caliphate and the sultans of Delhi controlled regions far from
any boundaries held by the
c
Abbasids or their vassals.
As a product of a unique historical moment, the sultans of Delhi chose to align
themselves with a Sunni vision of rule. This bound their fortunes to caliphal authority and
legitimization, but redesigned for their own purposes. It is in the histories of the Delhi
Sultanate that the styles of legitimization grounded in caliphal imagery are most clearly
revealed. Even though historians writing on the Delhi Sultanate were confronted with an
Hallaq credits Juvayni for being original in his ideology of power in relation to the imam and
acknowledges Tilman Nagel for making this observation in his Stoat und Glaubensgemeinschaft im Islam.
Ibid.: 39n38.
- 155-
interregnum and transitional period in Sunni Muslim authority more dramatic than their
predecessors writing a century or two before them, they preserved an integrated narrative
of caliphal authority and sultanic legitimacy. This is particularly evident in the
historiographical narratives that document the caliphal investiture of sultanic authority.
Caliphal Investiture and the Delhi Sultans
The most important historical narratives for understanding the legitimization of
sultanic authority were the occasions of the reception of the deed of caliphal investiture
(manshur) and the caliphal robe (khil
c
at).
10
Caliphal legitimization of sultanic authority
was symbolically transmitted in formal documents of attestation and the accoutrement of
rule and Sultanate historians were keen to document the events surrounding their arrival.
Historical narratives of caliphal investiture show that the sultans of Delhi who received
them considered these significant occasions to have their authority and legitimacy
acknowledged in public ceremonial displays. JuzjanI, Barani, and
c
AfIf, all took up the
opportunity to describe this legitimating event. Their narratives resemble each other in
striking ways, albeit with significant points that distinguish them. Each narrative reveals
the explicit ways sultans of Delhi aligned themselves with Sunni caliphal legitimacy
represented by the
c
Abbasids.
10
For a descriptive historical survey of the usage of robes in conferring authority from the early
c
Abbasid
period through the Delhi Sultanate see Gavin R. G. Hambly, "From Baghdad to Bukhara, from Ghazna to
Delhi: The khil'a Ceremony in the Transmission of Kingly Pomp and Circumstance," in Robes and Honor:
The Medieval World of Investiture, ed. Stewart Gordon, The New Middle Ages (New York: Palgrave,
2001), 193-222.
-156-
Juzjani laid the groundwork by producing the first historical narrative of the
caliphal investiture of a sultan from Delhi, that of Iltutmish.
11
The
c
Abbasid caliph at the
time was al-Mustansir (r. 623/1226-640/1242), the penultimate caliph of Baghdad.
12
Juzjani says that emissaries {rusul) from the "house of the caliphate" (ddr al-khildfat),
bearing luxurious presents (tashrlfdt-i vdfirah), arrived in Delhi on the twenty-second of
Rabi
c
al-awwal 626/eighteenth of February 1229. Juzjani briefly mentions the elaborate
ceremonies arranged for the occasion noting that the city of Delhi was decorated and
there was much rejoicing and celebration.
13
Juzjani's description of the elaborate pomp
and circumstance generated for the reception of the formal documents and symbols of
caliphal investiture was a useful tool for further establishing the legitimacy of the reign of
Iltutmish and reveals something of the theatrical nature of the Delhi Sultanate.
Juzjani, 77V, 1:447 (tr. 616). There appears to be an unresolved dispute over whether or not the events of
Iltutmish's caliphal investiture were also recorded by Hasan Nizami in the Taj al-Maasir. Elliot was the
first to recognize a significant discrepancy in the manuscript tradition of the Taj al-Ma^asir noting that
some copies concluded with events of the year 614/1217, while others continued until 626/1228-1229. See
Elliot and Dowson, The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, 2:210.
However, he did not investigate the authenticity of the versions which contained the additional twelve
years. Later Hodivala was the first scholar to dismiss the additional years as "fake." See Shahpurshah
Hormasji Hodivala, Studies in Indo-Muslim History: A Critical Commentary on Elliot and Dowson's
History of India as Told by its own Historians, 2 vols. (Bombay: 1939-1957), 2:46-47. This was
corroborated by S. A. H. Abidi. See introduction to Hasan Nizami, Taj ul ma'athir: The Crown of Glorious
Deeds, ed. M. Aslam Khan and Chander Shekar, trans. Bhagwat Saroop (Delhi: Saud Ahmad Dehlavi,
1998), xxx-xxxi. However, some scholars of note have uncritically included those portions as authentic
leaving the debate open for clarification. See Nizami, On History and Historians of Medieval India, 60.
Also see Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, 38n67.
1
For coinage that indicates the relationship between al-Mustansir and Iltutmish see Wright, Catalogue of
the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the Cabinet of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 20-21.
The manuscript tradition here has led to some confusion as there is a discrepancy between a version
which reads robe (khil
c
at) for service (khidmat). One translation would read, "The king (badshah),
governors (muluk), and his sons may God bless them, as well as other governors (muluk), servants
(khadam), and slaves (bandagan), all were honored with robes (khil
c
at) from the house of the caliph." The
other version reading "... all were honored in service {khidmat) of the house of the caliph." Raverty noted
this and favors the reading of khidmat. Juzjani, Tabakat-i Nasiri: A General History of the Muhammadan
Dynasties of Asia, including Hindustan; from A. H. 194 (810 A.D.) to A.H. 658 (1260 A.D.) and the
Irruption of the Infidel Mughals into Islam, 616-17n4. However, Habibi has chosen the reading of khil
c
at.
Juzjani, 77V, 1:447.
-157-
Following Juzjani, caliphal narratives of investiture in the Delhi Sultanate would
have to wait more than one hundred years to reappear, the time between the formal
investiture of Iltutmish and the time of Muhammad b. Tughluq. The ongoing Mongol
invasions from Central Asian and the destruction of the
c
Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad,
discussed in detail later in this chapter, had a profound impact on relations between the
c
Abbasid caliphs and the Delhi sultans. In the time between the investiture of Iltutmish
and the sack of Baghdad in 656/1258 there is no record of a sultan of Delhi receiving the
investiture. Subsequent sultans retained the name of the caliph in their coinage. Even
after the death of al-Musta
c
sim, the last
c
Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, Juzjani notes that
Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah continued to read the khutba and mint coins in the name of
the fallen caliph.
14
Following the numismatic trail, Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi has determined that the
name of the caliph al-Musta
c
sim remained on coinage of the sultans of Delhi until the
reign of the Khiljl ruler Jalal al-Din Flruz Shah, a period of nearly forty years.
15
On one
hand the idea of
c
Abbasid authority owed its persistence to a powerful concept of
legitimacy carefully cultivated over a period of five hundred years. In another vein Carl
Ernst has originally argued that although there was an element of seeking "religious
respectability," particularly in the later cases of Muhammad b. Tughluq and FEruz Shah's
caliphal investitures, the primary motive of the early sultans of Delhi in maintaining the
Juzjani, TN, 2:199 (tr. 1259). For a discussion of the khutba as well as other symbols of rule produced in
relation to the caliphate see Amir Hasan Siddiqi, "Insignia of Sovereignty during the Caliphate,"
Proceedings of the Pakistan History Conference 3 (1953): 67-75.
Qureshi, The Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi, 29.
- 158-
pretense of caliphal authority was as "a challenge to the Mongol claims to world
domination."
16
Muhammad b. Tughluq was the first sultan of Delhi to actively seek caliphal
recognition following the resurrection of the
c
Abbasids in Cairo.
c
Abbasid claimants
sought to reestablish their authority and found their fortunes under the supervision of the
Mamluk sultans of Egypt. As early as 648/1250, Turkish Mamluk sultans had begun to
assert their authority over the provinces of Egypt and Syria, subsuming the Ayyubid
dynasty (r. 564/1169-648/1250), and ruling until 922/1517. Out of a "desire for
legitimacy," the
c
Abbasid caliphate was reinstated in 659/1261 through the leadership of
the Sultan, al-Zahir Baybars (r. 658/1260-676/1277).
17
It has been argued that the
relationship between Mamluk sultans of Egypt and the installed
c
Abbasid caliph was one
of accommodation, mutual benefit, and shifting power relations. P. M. Holt's
observations on this marriage of convenience deserves a lengthier comment -
The caliph's principal functions were ceremonial, and in one respect at
least his role grew in importance some decades after the restoration of the
caliphate, namely in legitimating by his presence, and sometimes by his
word and act, the accession of a new sultan. The necessity for such
symbolic and public legitimation seems to have been a consequence of the
installation of sultans by rival factions of magnates from the late
seventh/thirteenth century onwards.
18
Ernst, Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center, 56.
P. M. Holt, "Some Observations on the
c
Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo," Bulletin of the School of Oriental
and African Studies 47, no. 3 (1984): 502.
Ibid.: 504. For further comment on the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt see P. M. Holt, "The Position and
Power of the Mamluk Sultan," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 38, no. 2 (1975): 237-
-159-
It was in the global context of shifting spheres of Muslim political authority that
Muhammad b. Tughluq, the sultan of a land much further east, contemplated his own
source of legitimacy.
It is curious to understand why Muhammad b. Tughluq made any effort to secure
formal caliphal investiture after what amounted to a hundred-year hiatus.
19
BaranI makes
comments in his history that Muhammad b. Tughluq had to make numerous inquiries just
to learn that the
c
Abbasid caliph was now ruling from Egypt. In Barani's recollection it
would appear, as if out of the blue, the Sultan was struck by the idea that -
The Sultanate (saltanat) and the government of sultans (imarat-i salatlri)
is not valid (durust) without the order of the caliph of the family of
c
Abbas
(dl-i
c
Abbas). Any king (badshahl) who has ruled or rules without the
investiture (bi-manshur) of the
c
Abbasid caliphs (khulafa
0
-i
c
AbbasT) was
a usurper {mutaghallib) or is a usurper.
20
Partially in an attempt to understand why, after a period of one hundred years, Muhammad b. Tughluq
chose to make such a public display of his allegiance to the caliph, K. A. Nizami has speculated that the
Sultan was influenced by the ideas of Ibn Taymiyya. K. A. Nizami, "The Impact of Ibn Taimiyya on South
Asia," Journal of Islamic Studies 1, no. 1 (1990): 129. Nizami claims that there is "direct evidence" for
Muhammad b. Tughluq's "admiration" for Ibn Taymiyya's ideas. He bases this claim on the single visit of
c
Abd al-
c
Aziz Ardabill to the court of the Sultan recorded in the Rihla of Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta mentions
that Ardabill was a hadlth expert (muhaddith) and studied under Ibn Taymiyya along with three other
scholars who he specifically names: Burhan al-DIn b. al-Barakah, Jamal al-Din al-Mizzi (654/1256-
742/1341), and Shams al-DIn Dhahabi (673/1274-753/1352-3). In their encounter the Sultan was
particularly impressed with Ardabill's knowledge of hadlth regarding the good attributes of the family of
c
Abbas and conferred upon him corresponding honors. Ibn Battuta, Rihlat Ibn Battuta, 2 in 1 vols. (Cairo:
al-Matba
c
ah al-Azhariyah, 1928), 2:44. However, there is no indication of the length of their relationship
nor any discussion of the ideas of Ibn Taymiyya. Further, the anecdote about Ardabill is in a section of the
Rihla dealing with a number of court visits where the Sultan showed his generosity, indicating it was a
short-lived encounter. The fact that BaranI does not mention Ardabill gives further credence to this view.
Nizami's ideas on this topic are further undercut by the perceptibly laudatory and ebullient tone he adopts
in relation to the biography of Ibn Taymiyya. Because of this I disagree with Nizami and Peter Jackson
who has accepted his view. Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, 163.
On the other hand, there clearly was a powerful resurgence of ideas in the eighth/fourteenth
century regarding the legitimacy of Muslim authority, of which Ibn Taymiyya was not only a producer but
also a follower, ideas that swayed figures like al-Zahir Baybars in Cairo and Muhammad b. Tughluq in
Delhi to so actively pursue caliphal legitimacy.
2
BaranI, TFS, 491. Mutaghallib is a legal term applied to rulers who have taken power without
authorization, rendering their rule illegal and illegitimate. This idea was clearly a concern during the
Tughluq era as a similar mention of this problem of power and legitimacy is made in the Slrat-i Flruz
Shahi. See Anon, Slrat-i Flruzshahl: Nuskhah-yi Khudd Bakhsh, ed. S. H. Askari (Patna: Khuda Bakhsh
Oriental Public Library, 1999), 269.
- 160-
In all likelihood and in contrast to Baranl's depiction, Muhammad b. Tughluq's efforts to
reconnect the Delhi Sultanate with the
c
Abbasid caliphate were actually part of a longer
more sustained project of establishing the legitimacy of his rule. Even before he received
official caliphal investiture he had minted coins in the name of the caliph in Cairo al-
Mustakfi (r. 701/1302-740/1340).
21
Following Muhammad b. Tughluq's "revelation" BaranI notes that the Sultan
made an oath of allegiance (bay
c
a) to the Caliph. The bay
c
a was a means by which rulers
signified, in a public manner, hierarchy and subservience, a method of maintaining social
order and cohesion, and historians carefully document the occasions of their
performance.
22
Relationships of authority and dominance were developed and sustained
through a complex set of personal contracts and obligations meant to establish loyalty.
23
Loyalties were symbolically acquired by men through "deliberate acts and not through
the ascription of those men to a category."
24
The bay
c
a was the primary mode by which a
The sultans minted coins in the name of the
c
Abbasid caliph as early as 741/1340. See Stanley Lane-
Poole, The Coins of the Sultans of Dehli in the British Museum, ed. Reginald Stuart Poole, Catalogue of
Indian Coins in the British Museum (London: Gilbert & Rivington, 1884), 69.
The ability to take a verbal act and make it transformative has been richly discussed by Roy Rappaport.
He has referred to the ritual process of transforming something meaningful into something physical as
"enactments of meaning," following terminology developed from J. F. Austin's "performative utterances"
to J. R. Searle's "speech acts." He particularly applies this line of thought to the English performative act
of dubbing, words which transform an ordinary individual into a knight. Roy A. Rappaport, "Enactments of
Meaning," in Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity, Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural
Anthropology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 104-38.
" This was the case between the Buyid emir Mu
c
izz al-Dawla and the
c
Abbasid caliph al-Mustakfi. Roy P.
Mottahedeh, Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society, revised ed. (London: LB. Tauris, 2001),
54-55. Tracing the legitimating relationship between sultans and caliphs in Egypt under Mamliik sultans
Holt notes of the bay
c
a ceremony that "When al-Mustansir was installed in 659/1261, Baybars performed
the bay
c
a to him as the head of the Muslim community. In 922/1516 by contrast, as on some (perhaps all)
previous occasions since at least the accession of al-Nasir Ahmad in 742/1342, the roles were reversed, and
the caliph performed the bay
c
a to the sultan." See Holt, "Some Observations on the
c
Abbasid Caliphate of
Cairo," 504.
Mottahedeh, Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society, 6.
- 1 6 1 -
sultan obtained from the caliph his symbols of authority and simultaneously procured the
submission and assent of members of his own echelon.
BaranI notes that in order to act on his declared allegiance to the caliph,
Muhammad b. Tughluq dispatched emissaries to Egypt, he stopped the Friday and
c
Id
prayers, and he removed his own name and titles on his coins in favor of those of the
caliph al-Hakim II (741/1341-753/1352).
25
In the year of 744/1343 Hajji Sa
c
Id Sarsari
brought the deed of investiture (manshur), banner (liva
3
), and robe (khil
c
at) to the Sultan.
To enhance the lavish celebrations arranged for the formal investiture, the court poet
Badr-i Chach composed lyric poems {qaslda, pi. qasa
D
id) in praise of the Caliph and the
Sultan to honor the occasion.
26
The final case of a sultan of Delhi receiving the caliphal investiture is that of
FTruz Shah. According to BaranI, Ffruz Shah received the symbols of authority from the
c
Abbasid caliph in Cairo on two occasions.
27
BaranI states these were the "robe of the
masters of the command" (khil
c
at-i ulu 'l-amn), the "deed of authorization" (manshur-i
izn), and the "banner of kingship" {liva
D
-i badshahl). What distinguished BaranI's
narrative from that of Juzjanl's before him is that he gives a miraculous tinge to it saying
that the symbols of authority descended from heaven (dsmdn) and were delivered from
the court (dargdh) of the chosen one, making reference to the Prophet and not the caliph
Baram, TFS, 492. Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the Cabinet
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 53.
Badr-i Chach, Qasa'id-i Badr-i Chach, ed. Muhammad Had! 'All Ashk (Kanpur: Naval Kishur, 1877),
13-18.
27
BaranI, TFS, 598.
-162-
of the time.
28
In Barani's view the reception of the caliphal symbols of authority was an
event permeated with celestial blessings and good tidings. In his words, "the heavenly
bounty (fayz-i asmara) was spread over the land and the exalted heavenly doors (abvdb-i
bala-ha-yi dsmdni) were closed to drought (qaht) and pestilence (vaba)"
29
Prior to his investiture
c
Afif says that Firuz Shah had his own name read in the
khutba along with previous sultans beginning with Mu
c
izz al-Dln Muhammad b. Sam.
30
He makes no mention of any of the caliphs' names being read at the Friday sermon or
during the
c
Id prayers, suggesting he saw no need for such a basis of legitimization.
However,
c
Afif states that Firiiz Shah received the caliphal robe (jdma-yi khilafai) from
Abu '1-Fath Abu Bakr al-Mu
c
tadid b. Abu RabI Sulayman (r. 753/1352-763/1362), the
c
Abbasid caliph ruling under the auspices of the Mamluks of Egypt.
What distinguishes
c
Afifs narrative from Barani's is that it was primarily
constructed to highlight the piety of Firuz Shah. For
c
Afif, Firuz Shah was the epitome of
the ideal ruler. The excellence and even miraculous nature of his rule, according to
c
Afif,
is further attested to in light of the fact that he received the caliphal investiture without
petition (bi-ghayr iltimas). Both Muhammad b. Tughluq and Iltutmish had made a formal
request for recognition. Juzjani notes that caliphal investiture was actively sought by
Iltutmish who sent the emissary Rashid al-Dln Abu Bakr Habash bearing gifts to the
court in Baghdad.
31
In the Javami
c
al-hikayat va lavdmi
c
al-rivdydt, Sadid al-Dln
zy
Ibid, 598-99.
30 c
Af!f, TFS, 105-07 (tr. 78-80).
Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui, Authority and Kingship under the Sultans of Delhi (Thirteenth-Fourteenth
Centuries) (Delhi: Manohar, 2006), 58. Juzjani, 77V, 2:45.
- 163-
Muhammad
c
AwfI (fl. 625/1228) credited the vizier Nizam al-Mulk Junaydi with the
clever initiative to send gifts to the caliph in Baghdad in order to secure investiture during
the reign of Iltutmish.
32
Thus, for
c
Afif, caliphal recognition of Flruz Shah was a sign of
divine acknowledgment.
Like Barani and Juzjani,
c
Afif describes the reception of caliphal robes as an
immensely public and formal display. The Sultan would go out of the city to greet the
delegation on the road where he would show the greatest respect before donning the robe.
The manshur from the Caliph conferred upon Ffruz Shah the title of Chief of Sultans
(sayyid al-salatln).
33
As with the robes, the manshur was handled with total deference.
c
Afif describes him holding it carefully with both hands, kissing it and raising it to both
of his eyes. According to
c
Afif, once this ceremony was over the Sultan would bow down
to the ground in the direction of the house of the caliphate (ddr al-khilafat) and the court
chamberlains (hujjdb-i bdrgdh) would call out happy tidings.
c
Afif indicates that the
reception of caliphal robes happened on multiple occasions and that each time three sets
of robes were sent: one for the Sultan, a second for his son Fath Khan, and a third for his
vizier Khan Jahan. Robes were distributed by the Sultan to the emissaries from the caliph
and the nobles of the court. The caliphal robes were then stored in the royal wardrobe and
the other symbols of rank were deposited in the royal standard storehouse. On the same
day a feast was held for the general populace of the city.
Further details of these events are compiled in the anonymous work Slrat-i Flruz
Shdhl, completed in 772/1370-71. According to this work the first caliphal investiture
32
Siddiqui, Authority and Kingship under the Sultans of Delhi (Thirteenth-Fourteenth Centuries), 58.
33c
AfIf, TFS, 275 (tr. 160).
-164-
was brought by Shaykh Shahab al-Din Ahmad Samit in 754/1353.
34
In a portion of the
Slrat-i Flruz Shahi that is likely a reproduction of the actual document of investiture, the
Sultan was conferred the titles: the Sword of the Caliphate (sayf al-khilafat) and the
Partner of the Commander of the Faithful (qaslm-i amir al-muminln). Subsequently,
robes and other symbols of authority were received from Abu
c
Abdallah al-Mutawakkil
(763/1362-779/1377) in 764/1363. The author notes the expanse of territory conferred
upon Flruz Shah that he calls the "kingdom of the regions of India" (mamlakat-i aqdlim-i
Hind). He said this domain spanned the island of Sri Lanka and the coastal lands of
Ma
c
bar and Kollam in the south, Bengal in the east and Sind in the west, the Himalayan
mountains, and all the way to the borders of Turkistan and Transoxiana.
35
He received
envoys bearing the investiture again in 766/1365 and 771/1370.
In addition to symbolically demonstrating the authority and legitimacy of the
sultans of Delhi, caliphal investiture had a secondary purpose. It could be shared and
transmitted to subordinates or potential rivals in the form of a symbolic designation of
authority. Acting as the reigning sultan of Delhi, Iltutmish designated his own authority
acknowledging Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah's victory over Sultan Ghiyas al -Din
c
Ivaz in
Bengal. Thus Juzjani notes that he selected a precious robe (tashrlf-i girdn mdya)
received from Baghdad and sent it as a gift to his son the future ruler of Delhi, along with
a ruby-studded parasol (chatr-i la
c
l), another symbol of sultanic authority.
36
In a reverse
Anon, Sirat-i Firuzshahi: Nuskhah-yi Khuda Bakhsh, 275.
35
Ibid., 276.
Juzjani, TN, 1:454 (tr.629-30). For the symbolism and emblematic use of the royal parasol (chatr) in the
Delhi Sultanate see Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Royalty in Medieval India (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal
Publishers, 1997), 50-53.
- 165-
action various sultans of Bengal eluded acknowledging the central authority of Delhi by
directly recognizing the authority of the caliph.
37
This was also the case with the
independent ruler of Ma
c
bar, Nasir al-Dln Mahmud Damghan Shah (r. 745/1344-
757/1356) and the BahmanI sultan Muhammad (r. 759/1358-776/1375).
38
Caliphal investiture was also a means of building and sustaining pan-Islamic
networks as delegations were exchanged between courts in the process of the
transmission of authority. Emissaries in these delegations provided a physical link
connecting the vast distances that separated Muslim polities. For instance, al-Hasan b.
Muhammad al-Saghanl (577/1181-650/1252), the famous lexicographer and compiler of
hadlth, had been sent to India as an emissary of the caliph al-Nasir li Din Allah (r.
575/1180-622/1225) in 617/1220. He remained there till 624/1226-7 when he returned to
Baghdad. Then he made a second journey to India in the same year at the behest of al-
Mustansir and stayed until 630/1232-3.
39
It is said that when Muhammad b. Tughluq took
the oath of allegiance (bay
c
a) after receiving caliphal investiture he had the Quran and
the Mashdriq al-anwar of al-Saghani with him.
40
The effective transregional networks that were produced through the exchange of
emissaries are also evidenced by luzjanl. In one section of his history he discusses the
several occasions in which Ghiyas al-Dln Muhammad of Ghur (558/1163-599/1203) was
Abdul Karim, "The Khalifa as Recognized in the Coins of Bengal Sultans," Journal of the Numismatic
Society of India 17, no. 2 (1955): 86-91.
38
Ernst, Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center, 59.
39 -
EI2, s.v. "al-Sagham," (Ramzi Baalbaki).
Barani, TFS, 495. The Mashdriq al-anwar combines the hadlth collections of Bukhari and Muslim. For
further discussion of Saghani's contribution to hadlth studies see Muhammad Ishaq, India's Contribution to
the Study of Hadith Literature, 2nded. (Dacca: University of Dacca, 1976), 218-21, 26-31.
-166-
honored with precious investiary robes of honor (khil
c
at-i fakhirah) from both al-Mustazi
(566/1170-575/1180) and al-Nasir li Din Allah. On the second occasion an emissary
named Ibn al-Khatib came in the entourage bearing the caliphal documents and symbols
of investiture. On his return Juzjani's father Siraj al-Dln was appointed to accompany
him back to the court of the caliph.
41
In the end perhaps the credit for the sustained relevance of the
c
Abbasid caliphate
in the Delhi Sultanate goes to Iltutmish for procuring caliphal investiture and establishing
Sultanate authority on that basis. It might be said that Iltutmish was merely following
precedent crafting his authority on the model of Sunn! rulers before him by making
claims to authority based on a symbolic relationship with
c
Abbasid caliphs just as Saljuq
rulers had propagated an image of themselves as "obedient to (Sunni) Islamic principles"
and "loyal to the
c
Abbasid Caliphs." In painting literary portraits of their benefactors,
Saljuq historians adopted imagery of the loyal, upright, Sunni ruler, imagery Omid Safi
has called the "Great Saljuq Myth."
42
In actuality relations between
c
Abbasid caliphs and
Saljuq sultans were quite different than ideally depicted in history writing and are better
characterized as strained by a struggle over power and authority.
43
41
Juzjani, 77V, 1:361 (tr.82-83). The text reads al-Muqtaf! bi amr Allah (350/1136-555/1160) but his dates
do not match the reign of Ghiyath al-DIn Muhammad. Both Raverty and HabibT noted this discrepancy and
favored the reading of al-Mustazi.
See Safi, The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry, 1-
9. This style of legitimization was espoused in works such as the Saljuq-nama of Zahir al-DIn Nishapuri (d.
ca. 580/1184-5), and later picked up in the Rdhat al-sudur of Muhammad b.
c
Ali Ravandl, and the Jami'al-
Tawarikh of Rashld al-DIn Faz 1 Allah Tabib (ca. 645/1247-718/1318). For a succinct overview of
historiography of the reign of the Saljuqs see Claude Cahen, "The Historiography of the Seljuqid Period,"
in Historians of the Middle East, ed. Bernard Lewis and P. M. Holt, Historical Writings of the Peoples of
Asia (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), 59-78.
Safi, The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry, 35-42.
For a thoughtful and critical review of Safi's work see Devin DeWeese, "Untitled," review of The Politics
of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry, by Omid Safi, Journal of
the American Academy of Religion 16, no. 1 (2008): 177-83.
-167-
Finally, it could be said that Iltutmish was responding to the historical currents of
his day.
c
Abbasid caliphs had regained some of their temporal authority in the period
following the decline of the Saljuqs in the late sixth/twelfth and early seventh/thirteenth
centuries. Al-Nasir li Din Allah was particularly effective in restoring
c
Abbasid authority
and reorienting attention back onto the caliphate, and Iltutmish acknowledged this by
placing his name on the coinage of Delhi.
44
A degree of credit should go to Juzjani who wrote the investiture narrative into
Sultanate historiography. His simple narrative clearly became a model for subsequent
historians as Barani and
c
Afif picked up, modified, and retold that narrative in their own
histories enhancing it with a miraculous aura. Barani divinized the investiture narrative
not just to elevate the status of Firuz Shah but rather to sanctify the genealogy of Muslim
authority linking it back to the Prophet Muhammad.
c
Afif takes the opportunity of the
events of FTruz Shah's investiture to eulogize the Sultan and to establish his rule not so
much on caliphal authority but on divine consent. In the broadest view, their investiture
narratives reveal the explicit ways sultans of Delhi aligned themselves with Sunni
caliphal legitimacy.
Styles of Legitimacy: Sultanic Titles in Historiography of the Delhi Sultanate
Titles indicating sovereignty appear in a dizzying array of formulations in
Sultanate historiography and they form a basic ingredient in the state apparatus of
44
EI2, s.v. "al-Nasir li-Din Allah, Abu 'l-
c
Abbas Ahmad" (Angelika Hartmann). For her exhaustive and
laudable study of the reign of al-Nasir see Angelika Hartmann, an-Nasir li-Din Allah (1180-1225): Politik,
Religion, Kultur in der spdten 'Abbasidenzeit, vol. 8, Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur des
Islamischen Orients (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1975). For coinage of Iltutmish's recognition of al-Nasir li
Din Allah see Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the Cabinet of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, 20.
-168-
hierarchical structures. This is evident in the pages upon pages dedicated in history books
to the titles of rulers. The sultans of Delhi employed a plethora of titles, some which they
invented on their own, others adopted from a variety of sources that formed the basic
vocabularies of authority: pre-Islamic Persian notions of kingship (shdhanshah,
khusraw), Arabic titles (malik, amir), and Turkish honorifics (atabeg, khan).
45
Titles
appeared as more than a prefix or suffix indicating status and rank but as concepts of rule
that served a number of functions.
46
They were used to signify association to a group,
emphasize a political philosophy of rule, establish a connection with the past, produce an
aura of power, or mark a change in authority.
47
Historians utilized titles to convey a grand and all-encompassing concept of
Sultanate authority. For instance, Juzjanl refers to Nasir al-Dln Mahmud Shah, Iltutmish,
and Balban as the "shadow of God in the worlds" (gill Allah fi 'l-
c
alamln), a title which
created the allusion that God provides refuge through the protection of sultans.
48
C. E.
Luke Treadwell discusses the title of malik during the reign of the Samanid "king" Nuh b. Nasr
(331/943-343/954), one of the earliest usages by a Muslim ruler. He says that Nuh b. Nasr's adoption of the
title of malik was to elevate his status in contradistinction to the authority of the caliph al-Muti' (334/946-
363/973). Luke Treadwell, "Shdhanshah and al-Malik al-Mu'ayyad: The Legitimization of Power in
Samanid and Buyid Iran," in Culture and Memory in Medieval Islam: Essays in Honour of Wilfred
Madelung, ed. F. Daftary and J. W. Meri (London: I. B. Tauris, 2003), 324-25.
For a general discussion of titulature of the Delhi Sultanate see Raza, "Nomenclature and Titulature of
the Early Turkish Sultans of Delhi Found in Numismatic Legends," 85-96.
An early example of this last case in the
c
Abbasid period is analyzed by Michael Bonner, "Al-Khallfa al-
Mardi: The Accession of Harun al-Rashid," Journal of the American Oriental Society 108, no. 1 (1988):
79-91.
48
Juzjanl, 77V, 1:353, 440 (tr.597) and 2:2 respectively. This title was in wide usage across the Muslim
world during the sixth/thirteenth century. It has been attributed to a saying of the prophet, "The sultan is
God's shadow on earth" (al-sultan lill Allah fi 'l-
c
ard). See Riad Aziz Kassis, The Book of Proverbs and
Arabic Proverbial Works, vol. 74, Supplements to Vetus Testamentum (1999), 65-68. Fakhr al-Din
Mudabbir utilizes it in the Tarikh-i Fakhr al-Dln Mubarak Shah. See Mubarak Shah, Ta'rikh-i Fakhru'd-
Din Mubdrakshdh being The Historical Introduction to the Book of Genealogies of Fakhru 'd-Din
Mubdrakshdh Marvar-nidi [sic] completed in A.D. 1206, 13. For this title's usage in Anatolia of the same
period see J. M. Rogers, "Waqf and Patronage in Seljuk Anatolia: The Epigraphic Evidence," Anatolian
Studies 26 (1976): 72,79.
-169-
Bosworth noted in his study of titulature that "the wide dissemination of honorific titles
in the Islamic world began at the top, with the adoption of regnal titles by the caliphs."
49
This was transferred to the Delhi Sultanate, via the earlier practices of the Ghaznavid and
Ghurid rulers, in titles symbolizing caliphal legitimization that were nearly universally
adopted by the sultans of Delhi. A number of these titles, conferred or co-opted, indicated
the role of someone who aids and assists the caliph. This is on display in the title the
"right hand of God's caliph" (yamln-i khalifat Allah) and is found widely in
historiography of the period.
50
It represented the role of the sultan as executor of the will
of the caliph and Juzjani used it in relation to the reign of Nasir al-Dln Mahmud Shah as
well as Iltutmish.
51
With similar connotations, in some cases, sultans of Delhi are referred
to as the "helper of the commander of the faithful" {nasir-i amir al-mu
J
minln).
52
Of
course tradition has long ascribed the title "commander of the faithful" as dating back to
c
Umar's caliphate. In another variation Juzjani refers to Balban as the "assistant to the
lord of the faithful" {zahlr-i amir al-muminiri)P
One of the titles frequently used in the Tabaqat-i Ndsiri is qaslm-i amir al-
muminln. Part of its historical interest lies in the fact that Juzjani supplies a story about
4y
Ell, s.v. "lakab," (C. E. Bosworth).
Bosworth notes that the title of yamin al-dawlah was one of the first and favored titles that Sultan
Mahmud received from Baghdad. See Bosworth, "The Titulature of the Early Ghaznavids," 217.
Juzjani, 77V, 1:475 (tr.671) and 2:440 (tr.597) respectively. Hasan Nizami refers to Qutb al-Din Aybeg as
the "arm of the caliphate" (
c
azud al-khilafah) which also has the connotations of companion, aid, and
assistant. See Nizami, "Taj al-ma'asir," fol. 10a.
Juzjani, 77V, 1:450 (tr.624). Fakhr-i Mudabbir says that the caliph al-Mustansir granted Iltutmish the title
of nasir-i amir al-mu 'minin in 626/1229. Muhammad ibn Mansur (Fakhr-i Mudabbir) Mubarak Shah, Adab
al-harb wa 7 shuja
c
ah, ed. Ahmad Suhayli Khvansarl (Tehran: Intisharat-i Iqbal, 1346/1967), 10-11.
53
Juzjani, 77V, 2:2.
- 170-
its origins.
54
He gives an anecdote of how the title was first conferred upon the
Shansabaniyyah during the reign of the
c
Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashld (170/786-
193/809).
55
In his eyes the credit for the appearance of this title goes to the good qualities
of early the Ghurid ruler Amir BanjI b. Naharan Shansabanl. According to JuzjanI, Amir
Banji was particularly handsome (khub-ruy) and of the highest moral character (guzldah-
yi akhlaq). In order to settle a dispute between his own tribe and that of the rival
Shishaniyan it is said that Amir Banji approached Harun al-Rashld. JuzjanI says he was
the first amongst that tribe (dudman) of Ghur to visit the capital (dar al-khilafah) and
acquire the mandate (
c
ahd) and banner (liva
0
) of the caliph.
56
JuzjanI notes that upon
meeting and hearing his speech, the caliph was greatly impressed by Amir Banji and said
that he was qaslm, meaning in JuzjanI's version that he was good-looking. In recognition
of his good qualities he was given shared authority over the territories of Ghur.
This anecdote establishes the idea that Muslim authority is only transmitted
through the formal investiture of the caliph, in this case legitimating the authority of
Ghurid dynasties. JuzjanI also suggests that titles were not merely symbolic but were
meant to embody the real qualities of rulers. As was mentioned previously, Nasir al-Dln
Mahmud Shah's early reign pre-dated the destruction of the Abbasid caliphate in
54
Ibid., 1:324-27 (tr. 11-16).
55
The caliphate of Harun al-Rashid has long ignited the imagination of historians as a "golden age" in the
history of Islamic societies. For the projection and creation of the literary images of Harun al-Rashid see
chapter two of Tayeb El-Hibri, Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashld and the Narrative
of the
c
Abbasid Calipliate, ed. David Morgan, Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1999), 17-58.
56
Earlier, JuzjanI speculates that the founder of the Shansabanl, Shansab was converted by the fourth caliph
'All and that he received the investiture from him. JuzjanI, 77V, 1:319-20 (tr. 02). Bosworth discusses these
stories of conversion and legitimacy as fitting into a pattern of familiar myths. Clifford Edmund Bosworth,
"The Early Islamic History of Ghur," Central Asiatic Journal 6, no. 2 (1961): 125-27.
-171 -
Baghdad and he never received any official delegation from the caliph. Nevertheless,
Juzjani provided his patron with the title of qaslm-i amir al-muminln, a title previously
acquired through the formal caliphal investiture of sultanic authority.
57
Some sultans of Delhi took their claims of authority a step further and in both
subtle and overt ways appropriated caliphal symbolism for themselves. Qureshi argues
that
c
Ala
D
al-Dln Muhammad Shah (r. 695/1296-715/1316) flirted with adopting the title
of caliph for himself or at least was not averse to being praised as such.
58
Thus his court
historian and panegyrist Amir Khusraw described his rule as raising the "banners of his
own caliphate" (
c
alamat-i khildfat-i khvish) following the demise of the
c
Abbasid
caliphs.
59
Similarly he goes further referring to
c
Ala
D
al-Din Muhammad Shah as carrying
the "banner of the Prophet's caliphate" (
c
alam-i khildfat-i MuhammadT) and to Delhi as
the city of Islam (madlnat al-Islam), an epithet Juzjani used to refer to Baghdad which
was still the seat of the
c
Abbasid caliphate.
60
Amir Khusraw goes further to refer to
c
Ala
al-Din Muhammad Shah as caliph, a fact he believes should be acknowledged by those of
the Sunni persuasion (sunniyari) for his victories over the infidels (kuffar) and
suppression of the dissenters (s. rafiz, pi. ravafiz). The maintenance of religious order
was one of the most important functions of any ruler who was to hold the title of imam.
61
3/
Juzjani, 77V, 1: 323 (tr.10), 66 (tr.88), 471, 75.
For a discussion of the "caliphate" of
c
Ala
D
al-Din Muhammad Shah see Qureshi, The Administration of
the Sultanate of Delhi, 29-32.
Khusraw, Kltaza
J
in al-fiituh, 6.
60
Ibid., 64 (tr. 49-50). And Juzjani, TN, 2:193 (tr.1234).
This was at least the view of Juvayni along with Amir Khusraw. Hallaq, "Caliphs, Jurists and the Saljflqs
in the Political Thought of Juwayni," 36.
-172-
Some modern scholars have not so comfortably acknowledged the language
applied to
c
Ala
D
al-Din Muhammad Shah, arguing against a literal reading of the texts.
Aziz Ahmad suggested that there was a "loosening of meaning" in the Persian usage of
khalifah and sultan.
62
Khaliq Ahmad Nizami similarly dismisses any suggestion that
Amir Khusraw, as well as Amir Hasan Sijzi (655/1275-737/1336), could have meant
anything other than sultan in applying the title of caliph to ''Ala
3
al-Din Muhammad
Shah.
63
However, it is unlikely that literary figures of the stature of Amir Khusraw and
Amir Hasan Sijzi simply substituted the term khalifah for sultan in their panegyrics of
c
Ala
D
al-Din Muhammad Shah. It is clearly a literary devise used to praise the Sultan.
The most undeniable case of a sultan of Delhi appropriating caliphal authority
was
c
Ala
D
al-Din Muhammad Shah's son Qutb al-Din Mubarak Shah (r. 716/1316-
720/1320?) who was not so demure as his father and outright proclaimed himself caliph.
By 717/1317 he had immortalized his status as caliph in the inscriptions of his coins. He
adopted the traditional titles of the caliph such as the exalted leader (al-imam al-a
c
azam),
the caliph of God {khalifat Allah), and the commander of the faithful (amir al-
mu^minln).
64
Again Amir Khusraw played the role of court panegyrist and assigns Qutb
al-Din Mubarak Shah the title of caliph.
65
Barani makes no mention of Qutb al-Din's
See Ahmad Aziz, Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment, 1966 ed. (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1964), 7.
See Nizami, Royalty in Medieval India, 22-23.
Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the Cabinet of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, 43-44.
Qureshi gives a number of references of this scattered in Khusraw's various works. See Qureshi, The
Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi, 32n4.
- 173-
pretensions in his history, perhaps not so eager to acknowledge this controversial act of a
sultan of Delhi.
Qutb al-Dm's proclamation of caliphal authority over and against the
c
Abbasid
family was not unusual in Islamic history. Umayyad rulers of Spain (316/929-422/1031)
and Fatimid rulers of North Africa and Egypt (297/909-567/1171) were two of the more
successful dynasties to establish claims of authority over the office of caliphate.
c
Abd al-
Rahman III (300/912-350/961) established his authority by linking his genealogy back to
the Umayyad caliphs of Damascus. To this end historiography played a role in "staking
the claim" to caliphal legitimacy during the forth/tenth century in Andalusia. Spanish
Umayyad rulers patronized historians such as
c
Umar ibn al-Qutiyya (d. 367/977), author
of Tarlkh iftitah al-Andalus in an attempt to universalize their local history and establish
the authority of Andalusian kings through the conquest narrative and the fulfillment of
divine will.
66
The same can be said of the Fatimid caliphate. Fatimid rulers offered a
narrative of succession, tracing their genealogy through a concept of the imamate that
stemmed from the line of
c
Ali and Fatima,
c
All's wife and daughter of Muhammad.
67
Fatimid caliphs patronized history writing that crafted a powerful historical narrative
closely allying political ideology with their claims to authority. This is perfectly
exemplified in the Iftitah al-da
c
wa of al-Qadi al-Nu
c
man (d. 363/974), a figure intimately
Janina M. Safran, The Second Umayyad Caliphate: The Articulation of Caliphal Legitimacy in al-
Andalus, vol. 33, Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs (Cambridge: Distributed for the Center for Middle
Eastern Studies of Harvard University by Harvard University Press, 2000), 111 -83.
Michael Brett, The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the
Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century CE, ed. Hugh Kennedy, et al., vol. 30, The Medieval
Mediterranean (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 31-33.
-174-
linked to the reign of the first four Fatimid caliphs and a major contributor to the ideology
of the Fatimid state.
68
While no sultan of Delhi had sustained success in laying claim to the caliphate, as
did the Spanish Umayyad and Fatimid rulers (Qutb al-Dln Mubarak Shah's reign lasted
only four years), it is tantalizing to imagine that possibility. Their dynasties spanned a
period of the greatest uncertainty for the relevance of the office of the caliph to the global
Muslim community. On the whole they chose to support, or at least nominally accept, the
authority of
c
Abbasid caliphs regardless of their real power. This was even in the face of
the greatest calamity for the
c
Abbasid caliphate, the victories of the Mongols. The
historiographical record appears to show that in aligning themselves with the
c
Abbasid
concept of Muslim authority, the sultans of Delhi benefited in unexpected ways, even
following the sack of Baghdad and the destruction of the caliphate in 656/1258. This is
evident in one of the single most important historical narratives of the dramatic events of
the fall of the house of
c
Abbas.
The Refuge in India: Apocalyptic Vision, Caliphal Authority, and the Advent of the
Mongols
Juzjani's historical narrative of the downfall of the
c
Abbasid caliphate is one of
the most important for its contemporaneity, length and detail. Juzjani was not an eye-
witness to the demise of the caliphate but was a contemporary. Around this event there
are a number of conflicting stories documented by a variety of medieval Muslim
historians, one of the most remarkable being that of Nasir al-Dln Tusi (597/1201-
6
Hamid Haji, Founding the Fatimid State: The Rise of an Early Islamic Empire - An annotated English
translation of al-Qadl al-Nu'man's Iftitah al-Da'wa, ed. Farhad Daftary, vol. 6, Ismaili Texts and
Translations Series (London: LB. Tauris, 2006), 1-15.
- 175-
672/1274), who was in the company of Hulagu at the fall of Baghdad.
69
However, his tale
of holy war (jihad), the infidelity (kufr) of the Mongols, the treachery and deception
perpetrated by the ShTa (rafizt) vizier of the
c
Abbasid caliph al-Musta
c
sim (r. 640/1242-
656/1258), and his dramatic execution trampled to death under the feet of the men of
Hulagu (ca. 613/1217- 663/1265), the grandson of Chingiz Khan and conqueror of the
throne at Baghdad, is perhaps one of the greatest historiographical achievements of his
age.
70
As Juzjani frames the narrative and documents the momentous events of the
engagement and advance of the Mongol armies west into territories controlled by Muslim
rulers he speaks of the portents of the coming of the end of the world. For Juzjani, it was
from fateful beginnings that the seeds of the ultimate destruction of Islam were sown, a
tragedy that culminated in the execution of the
c
Abbasid Caliph.
Traditions concerning the apocalyptic destruction of the world were often
attributed to the sayings of the Prophet in historical writings. Thus, Juzjani reports a
tradition about the time when a group of Muhammad's companions questioned him about
the hour (al-sa
c
at), the end of time.
71
He says, in Persian, that the Prophet predicted that
the world would come to a close, "After six hundred and some years."
72
The ambiguity of
"some" leads Juzjani into an understandable spurt of etymological investigation and he
concludes that indeed the signs of the end were at hand. For Juzjani this was evidenced
6
See John Andrew Boyle, "The Death of the Last
c
Abbasid Caliph: A Contemporary Muslim Account,"
Journal of Semitic Studies 6, no. 2 (1961): 145-61. Also see G. M. Wickens, "Nasir ad-din Tusi on the Fall
of Baghdad: A Further Study," Journal of Semitic Studies 7, no. 1 (1962): 23-35.
70
Juzjani, 77V, 2:189-200 (tr. 1225-61).
For a discussion of "the hour" (al-sa
c
at) in the Qur
3
an and hadith see Suliman Bashear, "Muslim
Apocalypses and the Hour: A Case Study in Traditional Interpretation," Israel Oriental Studies 13 (1993):
75-99.
72
Juzjani, 77V, 2:97.
-176-
in the death of Mu
c
izz al-Dln Muhammad b. Sam who, coincidentally, died in 602/1206,
the same year the great Mongol leader Chingiz Khan (1167-1227) initiated his military
campaign from China.
73
He refers to the conquests of the Mongols as the "interruption of
the infidels" (khuruj al-kuffar).
14
Aside from the tragedies that befell Muslim rulers during this period, the early
Mongol conquests led to large scale Muslim migrations from Central Asia to South Asia
and Anatolia. These individuals brought with them stories of death and destruction that
were then extensively and sorrowfully commented on by Sultanate historians. Juzjani
likely picked up on the tales he heard from refugees and describes these events with
apocalyptic visions. He notes ominously that "the first sign of the resurrection (qiydmat)
is the coming of the Turks (turk)."
15
Juzjani was not the first Muslim author to formulate
the cataclysmic events of his day in terms of a doomsday scenario. Clearly, his writings
reflect a broader trend in apocalypticism that pervaded the Muslim world during this
period.
76
Apocalyptic visions produced in the context of invading nomadic tribes from the
Central Asian steppe can be traced back to the early
c
Abbasid period and were often
16
Ibid., 2:97-98 (tr.935).
He dedicates his twenty-third and final tabaqa to this discussion. Ibid., 2:90-221.
75
Ibid., 2:98 (tr.935).
In addition to providing interesting commentary on histories produced during the period of Mongol
invasions, David Morgan points out that Najm al-Dln RazT (573-654/1177-1256) had a similar vision of the
end times detailed in his Marmuzat-i Asadl dar Mazmurat-i Davudl. See David Morgan, "Persian
Historians and the Mongols," in Medieval Historical Writing in the Christian and Islamic Worlds, ed.
David Morgan (London: School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, 1982), 112nl3.
-177-
interwoven with the ancient myth of Gog and Magog (Yajtij wa Majuj) J
1
JuzjanI wished
to evoke this imagery in his apocalyptic tale without stating it explicitly. To accomplish
this he makes subtle allusion to a Quranic narrative by referring to Mu
c
izz al-Dln
Muhammad b. Sam as a barrier (saddl) against the rebellions of the final time (fitna-ha-yi
dkhir al-zaman) and the appearance of the signs of the resurrection (zahur-i
c
alamat-i
qiyamat).
1
* The reference to the barrier evokes accounts of Gog and Magog that involve
the heroic feats of Alexander, referred to in the Qur'an as Dhu '1-Qarnayn, "the two-
horned," who enclosed them "between two mountains and shut them behind the Caspian
Gates."
79
This is discussed in Surat al-Kahf verses 93 and 94 saying -
Till when he reached [a place] between the two barriers (saddayn), he found beneath
them a people who could scarcely understand a word.
S S S S f O S SO ' "
C
9 9 * S O S } S
O f sQ ss , ssQ s , ssO t i s & o s s . i 1 '*
c
* \"" t 11 " I s f f s s s "* | '*' I ^ " t ( I * t ^ t 1 I **
til*
For a treatment of some of the apocalyptic views of "Turks" produced during this time see David Cook,
Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, vol. 21, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam (Princeton: Darwin Press,
2002), 84-91. The understanding of the peoples of Gog and Magog comes from a long standing pre-Islamic
eschatological tradition and was later adopted in Muslim apocalyptic writings. Qur'anic reference to Yqjuj
wa Majuj is found in Q18:93-98 and Q21:96. See Ell, s.v. "Yadjudj wa-Madjudj" (E. Van Donzel and
Claudia Ott) and EQ, s.v. "Gog and Magog" (Keith Lewinstein). For a more recent and fascination study of
Gog and Magog see Travis Zadeh, "Translation, Geography and the Divine Word: Mediating Frontiers in
Pre-modern Islam" (Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 2007), 168-284.
78
JuzjanI, 77V, 2:98 (tr.935).
C. S. F. Burnett, "An Apocryphal Letter from the Arabic Philosopher Al-Kindi to Theodore, Frederick
II's Astrologer, Concerning Gog and Magog, the Enclosed Nations, and the Scourge of the Mongols,"
Viator, no. 15 (1984): 151-52. For further treatment of the origins and permutations of this myth see Ruth I.
Meserve, "The Inhospitable Land of the Barbarian. (1. Chinese views; 2. Indian views; 3. Persian and
Arabic views; 4. The Land of Gog and Magog: Islamic, Christian, and Talmudic views; 5. Greek, Roman
and Byzantine views.)," Journal of Asian History 1, no. 16 (1982): 75-82. Also see C. E. Wilson, "The
Wall of Alexander against Gog and Magog; and the Expedition Sent Out to Find It by the Khalif Wathiq in
842 A.D.," Hirth Anniversary Volume (1923): 575-612.
- 178-
They said: "Oh Dhu '1-Qarnayn! Behold, Gog and Magog are spoiling the earth. May we,
then, pay you a tribute on the understanding that you will erect a barrier (sadd) between
us and them?"
By giving a literary nod to the Quran JuzjanI succeeded in comparing the heroic military
exploits of Mu
c
izz al-DIn Muhammad b. Sam to those of Alexander. He reoriented the
imaginative geography of the barrier, traditionally associated with the Caucasus region,
to that of the world of Central Asia and the impact of armies of Chingiz Khan. He shifted
the Qur
D
anic vision of the conquests of God and Magog onto the border regions
controlled by the sultans of Delhi.
JuzjanI's narrative leading up to the fall of the
c
Abbasid caliphate displays
elements of a theology of pre-destination and free will for he assigns a degree of
responsibility for setting in motion the fateful events to the greed of a Muslim ruler. He
retells the tale of the early encounter between Muslims and Mongols as follows. When
Sultan Muhammad Khwarazm Shah (596/1200-617/1220) learned of the early conquests
of Chingiz Khan he wanted to acquire some intelligence on his forces and their
movements. He commissioned the emissary Baha
D
al-DIn Razi to lead a mission to
Chingiz Khan on the Shah's behalf. JuzjanI makes special mention of the fact that he
received the details of these events directly from him.
80
On his journey east on the edge of the region of Tamghaj, Baha
D
al-DIn Razi, and
his group saw a peculiar sight across a vast distance. At first, to those who beheld the
vision, it looked like a snowy mountain. Horrified they learned from their guides that it
was in reality a mountain of human bones. As they progressed they crossed a distance of
three stages where the ground was soaked with human fat. At the end of this frightening
80
JuzjanI, TN, 2:102 (tr.963).
-179-
journey they encountered Chingiz Khan. The Great Khan offered the emissaries of Sultan
Muhammad Khwarazm a pact of trade and peace. To cement the deal he distributed to
their party precious gifts and dispatched a caravan loaded with valuable goods for trade.
However, the caravan was sacked by Qadr Khan, apparently with the permission of the
Khwarazm Shah. Everyone in the trading company was killed except for one camel
driver, who happened to be taking a bath at the time of the attack. He escaped through the
stove of the batiihouse and by way of the desert returned to Chingiz Khan to report the
terrible news. Juzjanl reports that it was by means of this treachery (ghadr) that the fate
of Islam was sealed, a fate that was predestined in the divine will of God. Juzjanl
emphatically drives home this point by inserting the following verse from Q33:38 -
,* > .
s
,* - - f i , * f ' . i ^ "
\JJAJLA \jAi Al}\ y \ OlS j
"God's decrees are preordained."
81
From this point forward Juzjanl narrates the steady advances and ruthless
successes of Chingiz Khan. He says that for every piece of gold and coin that belonged to
the traders that fell in Chingiz Khan's caravan each and every bit was recovered by his
armies and wherever they were found, each treasury, kingdom, and country was
conquered by him, a "fact" that Juzjanl attempts to authenticate by saying his informants
swore to its veracity.
It is out of his eschatological imagination that Juzjanl constructs the historical role
and salvific function of the Delhi Sultanate in relation to the broader Muslim world
81
Ibid., 2:104.
82
Ibid., 2:104 (tr.967-68).
-180-
following the destruction of the
c
Abbasid caliphate. Since during JuzjanI's lifetime a vast
swath of the territories previously held under the control of Muslim authority were
usurped by Mongol armies, the Delhi sultans became a source of deliverance in his
historical vision. JuzjanI writes -
The kingdom of Hindustan (mamalik-i Hindustan), by the grace of the
divine bounty and the favor of heavenly benevolence, became the center
of the people of Islam (hawzah-yi ahl-i Islam) and the circle of the
companions of the faith (dd
D
irah-yi ashab-i Man) under the protection of
the shade of the Shams! family and the care of the illustrious house of
Iltutmish.
He completes this thought with a quote from Q62:4, adding divine sanction to the rule of
the Delhi Sultanate -
Such is the grace of the God, he bestows it on whom he wills and God is the
possessor of the greatest grace.
83
JuzjanI further solidified Delhi's predestined role as defender of Islam in his
account of the death of Ogedei in 639/1241, the son of Chingiz Khan. JuzjanI details a
separate prophetic tradition that told that when the Turks come out (khuruj-i Turk) and
the narrow-eyed (tang chashmdn) seize the world and destroy the Persian lands, the
power of their armies would diminish when they reached Lahore.
84
For JuzjanI this
prediction came true in the case of Ogedei who made it as far as Lahore but unexpectedly
died two days after its conquest leaving the Mongol armies disunited and in disarray.
83
Ibid., 2:90.
Ibid., 2:166 (tr. 1136-39).
- 181 -
Overall, Juzjanl saw the land of India and the Muslim kings who inhabit it as a
bulwark against the forces of chaos, a standard holding firm against the winds of the
destruction of the world. For him, as well as for the many Muslim refugees who made
their way to India following Mongol invasions, the destruction of the caliphate was
simultaneously the formation of the Delhi Sultanate as a refuge for the Muslim world.
The Four Friends of the Chosen One: Caliphal Example and the Rashidun
Aside from the political relations of the day that inspired historical narratives
relating the Delhi Sultanate to the
c
Abbasid caliphate, historians drew from the past to
craft narratives around the earliest caliphs, known to them as the "rightly-guided caliphs"
{khulafd
3
-i Rashidun). The first four caliphs were recognized as the paragons of Islamic
rule and sultans of Delhi acknowledged this in a variety of ways, in their coinage and
inscriptions.
85
Historians of the Delhi Sultanate acknowledged the elevated status of the
Rashidun in their narratives of the early caliphs. Juzjanl's own treatment of the Rashidun
fits clearly within the frame of universal history dedicating the second chapter (tabaqa)
of his history to discussions of the early caliphs: Abu Bakr,
c
Umar,
c
Uthman, and
C
AH.
For each he gives a brief description of their physical attributes, genealogy and progeny,
their precedence in accepting Islam (sabiqa), their ascension to the caliphate, and
conquests. Juzjanl devotes the lengthiest description to the caliphate of
c
Ali for which he
credits al-Waqidl and Ibn Ishaq for many of the details.
In coins struck in 725/1325, the second year of his reign, Muhammad b. Tughluq surrounded his own
name with the names of the first four caliphs Abu Bakr,
c
Umar,
c
Uthman and
c
Ali, the reverse reading the
shahada. Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the Cabinet of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, 50.
- 182-
Historiographical arrangements according to caliphates developed in the late
second/early ninth century. According the Albrecht Noth it was part of a gradual trend in
"the establishment of an official historiography under a strong, central, caliphal
government."
86
As early as the second/ninth century authors were dedicating large
portions of the early styles of the manaqib literature to the praiseworthy actions and noble
qualities of the Rashidun. The virtues most notably on display in works dedicated to the
Rashidun were "courage, truthfulness, abstemiousness, and generosity."
87
What also can
be said about narratives of the lives of the early caliphs is that they are fraught with
theological and political implications and display polemics on a large number of issues:
from precedence in accepting Islam (sabiqa), to disputes over the designation of
authority, to the struggle for control over the definition of the family of the prophet (ahl
al-bayt).**
BaranI does much more in treating the subject of the Rashidun. He makes it a
central piece in his introduction (dlbacha) to the Tdrlkh-i Flruz Shahl. Unlike the place of
the first four caliphs in a universal history like Juzjani's, BaranI's inclusion of the tales of
the Rashidun in a dynastic history of the Delhi Sultanate may be viewed as an innovative
approach to historiography, again a consequence of his careful mingling of the genres of
history and advice literature. Barani's sense of global Islamic history comes from the
early stories of the caliphs as he mentions in numerous instances that they were recorded
in history books (kutub-i tarikh). In documenting the history of the early caliphs, BaranI
Noth and Conrad, The Early Arabic Historical Tradition: A Source-Critical Study, 47.
Asma Afsaruddin, "In Praise of the Caliphs: Re-Creating History from the Manaqib Literature,"
International Journal of Middle East Studies 31, no. 3 (1999): 330.
88
Ibid.: 329-50.
- 183-
foraged into the genre of manaqib literature, picking bits and pieces of biographical
highlights from the lives of the first caliphs.
89
BaranI participates in disputes generated in
the second/ninth century utilizing narrative strategies, selections of facts, and panegyric
language to both subtly and overtly advance his ideological agenda. Above all it is the
qualities of the "four friends of the Chosen One" {chaharyar-i Mustafa), the epithet
BaranI assigns the Rashidun, that he argues requires our attention. BaranI inserts a quote
from Q9:100 to illustrate the encomium reserved for them in the Qur'an -
<ui- \J*0JJ *4^- *^\ {j^J p^^"k r-*jV tji^J j'^^J Jij^^^'
1
J* OJJJ j/l j ^ i i L J l j
"Those with precedence are the first of the muhajirin and the ansar, and those who
followed them in doing good, God is pleased with them and they are pleased with him."
90
BaranI says that ultimate praise goes to them in Surat al-Anfal 8:64 -
^ O ^ f , * ,s s& , s J?. s .to s i , y H y
JU^J^JI -jA JJj*JI -jAJ 41)1 i l l * - ^ ~j l Igjl b
"Oh Prophet, God suffices you, and those who follow you among the believers."
91
Aligning his praise with that given in the Qur
D
an, BaranI elevates the literary status of his
narrative of the early caliphs.
BaranI begins his narrative with the caliphate of Abu Bakr (r. 11/632-13/634)
saying, "From the time of Abu Bakr the affairs of world rule were put in order and the
pretenders to prophethood (mutanabbiyan-i nubuvvah) and the opponents of religion
BaranI makes reference to the "virtues of the four friends of the Chosen One" (mandqib-i chahdr ydr-i
Mustafa). BaranI, TFS, 8-9.
90
BaranI, TFS, 3.
Ibid. BaranI skirts any notice of the disputes around the succession to Muhammad at the time of his
death, and the questions they raise about the transmission of authority over the Muslim community. For a
discussion of how the early historiographical tradition of these events reflect a political philosophy on
legitimacy and authority see Abdelkader Tayob, "Political Theory in Tabari and his Contemporaries:
Deliberations on the First Caliph in Islam," Journal for Islamic Studies 18-19 (1998-9): 24-50.
-184-
{muanidan-i din) were destroyed." Here BaranI is making reference to groups engaged
in conflict with the early Muslim community, groups that historians writing in Arabic
have collectively called ridda, literally "turning away" or apostasy.
93
BaranI recalls the
conquest of Syria and Iraq when the armies of Islam {
c
asakir-i Islam) confronted the
kings without religion (bddshahan-i bl-diri).
It is during the period of Abu Bakr that BaranI champions the process by which
those who sewed strife (fitna) and those who rejected Islam (murtaddan-i Islam) were
destroyed and their wealth and children and women were made the booty of the strivers
for religion (mujahidan-i din). It was also a period when the custom of the chosen one
(sunnat-i Mustafa) gained ascendancy. BaranI's grand narrative of the caliphate of Abu
Bakr is one of conquest and victory of the forces of Islam over those of irreligion. In the
same manner, conflict narratives structured according to battles between religion and
irreligion is the broad historiographical framework of the expansion of Islam in India.
Following Abu Bakr, BaranI discusses the succession as it fell to
c
Umar b. al-
Khattab (r. 13/634-23/644) who took his place on the "seat of the caliphate" {masnad-i
khildfat). According to BaranI, it was during his reign that all of the inhabitable realms of
the world were conquered, a fact which he says was among the "signs of the eternal
miracles" (dsar-i mu
c
jizdt-i abad) of Muhammad.
94
He describes it as a time when the
92
BaranI, TFS, 3-4.
93
For background on this early period of Islamic history see the essential Fred McGraw Donner, The Early
Islamic Conquests (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981), 82-90. Donner has identified early ridda
historiography dating from the late second century. See Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origins: The
Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing, 200-02.
4
For the classic Arabic work praising the exploits of
c
Umar by the famous Hanbali jurist Ibn al-Jawzi
(510/1126-597/1200) see Abu al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Khalifah al-
c
adil
c
Umar ibn al-Khattab: Amir al-
mu^minln, 1st ed. (Amman: Dar al-Isra
3
, 2004).
- 185-
rulings of shari
c
ah (ahkdm-i sharl
c
ah) and the knowledge of Islam (
c
ilm-i Islam) was
spread to the world's inhabitants (
c
alamiyan). For the purposes of Barani's narrative this
included all the tribes (qabdil) of Arabia, Hijaz, Yemen, Bahrain, the kingdoms
(mamdlik) of Iraq and Syria, and Egypt, most of Khurasan and Transoxania (md ward"
al-nahr), and some of the regions of Byzantium {rum). All of these regions were opened
by the "sword of struggle" (tigh-i jihad) during the "
c
Umarian caliphate" (khildfat-i
c
Umart). In his vision he sees an old world order being overturned for a new order during
the expansion of Islam.
On one hand Barani saw the rule established by the Rashidun as a political
revolution. The new order was distinguished by its humility which he juxtaposes with the
pomp and circumstance of royal courts. In his own words, "The poor of the companions
(fuqard
3
-i sahaba) who were close to the doorstep (dargdh) of Muhammad ascended to
the throne of Khusraw (Kasra), Caesar (Qaysar), and the sultans (saldtin), to become
commander (amir), and governor (wall)."
95
On the other hand it was a religious
revolution in which infidelity (kufr), polytheism (shirk), and fire worship (dtish parastl)
were removed from the realms of Iraq and other places, along with the religion of the
Zoroastrians and the cult of the Magi (din-i Majus va maghab-i Mughan)."
96
It was a time of construction when the cities of Islam (shahr-hd-yi Islam) were
built. According to Barani, it was a wonder of wonders (
c
ajab al-
c
ajdib) in the seven
thousand years since the life of Adam that
c
Umar b. Khattab ruled (sulaymdnl va
sikandarl kardan) by combining the way of Muhammad with the fourteen robes
Kasra is the arabized form of the Persian khusraw, title of the kings of the Sasanid dynasty especially of
Anushfrvan.
96
Barani, TFS, 5.
-186-
{khirqah-yi chahdrdah). It was a time when the rebellious submitted out of fear of the
scourge of
c
Umar (az rub-i dirra-yi
c
Umari)?
1
Also, the wealth of the kings of Persia the
Khosroes (akdsira) and the Caesars (qayasira) fell into the hands of Islam and was
distributed to the noble and the common in the mosque of the chosen one (masjid-i
Mustafa) and on the plain of Medina (sahrd-i Madlna). Barani narrates the humility and
lack of greed of
c
Umar who only took two handfuls of wealth from the conquest to his
house. For his wages he made a living for himself and his family from brick-making
(khisht zani) which greatly enhanced his respect amongst the companions.
Barani goes on to praise
c
Umar by comparing him with pre-Islamic Persian kings.
According to Barani even Jamshld, Kayqubad, and Kaykhusraw were not capable of
handling rebellions and upheaval. Except for the prophets and messengers in seven
thousand years no king (bddshdhl) or caliph (khallfah) of such capacity has appeared.
With heightened rhetoric Barani would claim that the world saw such justice (
c
adl) and
generosity (
c
atd) in
c
Umar that was not seen in one hundred Anushlrvans the Just, nor
Hatim al-Ta
3
!.
98 c
Umar's justice is a recurrent motif in Delhi Sultanate historiography and
his model was utilized as a simile for certain sultans of Delhi. In praise of Balban, JuzjanI
says that no one has heard a more beautiful story of imperial strength, whose justice
The scourge (dirra) of
c
Umar is a symbol of his retributive justice and appears to be a broader theme of
Persian literature. For a discussion of the dirra as a form of punishment see Christian Lange, Justice,
Punishment and the Medieval Muslim Imagination, Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2008), 77-79. Here Lange also provides a reference to the dirra and
c
Umar in
the writings of the great Persian poet Sana
3
! (fl. 467/1075-525/1131). For a further discussion of
c
Umar and
his scourge see discussion in the following chapter.
The figure of Anushlrvan as the paradigm of the just ruler, the Sasanid king who ruled from 531-578/9,
originated in Pahlavi advice literature. For the appearance of the mythologized figure of Anushlrvan and its
transmission over time into Arabic and Persian literatures see Roxanne D. Marcotte, "Anushlrvan and
Buzurgmihr - The Just Ruler and the Wise Counselor: Two Figures of Persian Traditional Moral
Literature," Rocznik Orientalistyczny 51, no. 2 (1998): 69-90. For a brief description of Hatim al-Ta
3
i see
EI2, s.v. "
c
AdI b. Hatim b.
c
Abd Allah b. Sa
c
d al-Ta
3
I, Abu Tarif' (A. Schaade).
-187-
resembles that of the legacy of
c
Umar.
c
Umar's justice and style of rule becomes an
example in Baranl's model that attempts to strike a balance between shari
c
ah and
siyasa.
100
To this end Barani says that he successfully combined kingship (jamshidi) with
renunciation (darvlsht), one of the central challenges of Muslim authority according to
Barani.
Barani goes on to list a series of first accomplishments of
c
Umar. This section
comes out of the awdil tradition, a literature dedicated to "firsts." He was the first caliph
to be called the commander of the faithful (amir al-mu
D
minin). He was the first caliph to
set aside financial assistance (rizq) for the "warriors" (mujdhiddn) and people who have
just claims (ahl-i huquq). He was the first caliph to construct cities. He was the first
caliph to put up dwellings for the companions (sahaba) and followers (tdba
c
Tn). He was
the first caliph to establish the tax (kharaj) on the people of Islam {ahl-i Islam). He was
the first caliph to appoint judges (quzat) in the cities of Islam. He was the first caliph to
chastise (adab kardan) the people with the scourge (dirra). He was the first caliph of
Islam to be martyred (shahld shudan).
Barani gives a shorter and quite different depiction of
c
Uthman that contrasts to
the strength and battle readiness of Abu Bakr and
c
Umar.
101
He says
c
Uthman was known
for his gentility and modesty (hilm va haya
3
). He collected the Qur'an in one book
99
Juzjanl, TN, 2:2-3 (tr.721).
For further treatment of this subject see chapter five.
Fred Donner has done an analysis of the narrative strategies found in Ibn
c
Asakir's treatment of
c
Uthman in the Ta'rlkh madlnat Dimashq. He has shown how using the strategies of placement, repetition,
and manipulation, Ibn
c
Asakir countered Shi
c
T claims to produce a pro-Umayyad view of the caliphate.
Fred McGraw Donner, "
c
Uthman and the Rashidun Caliphs in Ibn
c
Asakir's Ta^iikh madlnat Dimashq: A
Study of Strategies of Compilation," in Ibn
c
Asakir and Early Islamic History, ed. James E. Lindsay,
Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam (Princeton: Darwin Press, 2001), 44-61.
-188-
(sahlfa) and there was a consensus of the companions (ijma^-i sahaba) on his
compilation (jam
c
). He was a scribe of prophesy (kdtib-i wahy) and preserver of the
Qur'an (hafiz-i Qurari). He married two of the Prophet's daughters and thus he was
called the "possessor of two lights" {zu 'l-nurain), stressing how he was favored by the
Prophet. Without discussing this period as one of conquest Barani is content to say that
under
c
Uthman the provinces of
c
Umar remained obedient to him and all of Khurasan
and Transoxiana were put under control. Conspicuously, Barani makes no mention of the
assassination of
c
Uthman, a transformative historical moment that produced vast
quantities of historiographical activity for the questions it raised on the succession to the
caliphate. His excision of this narrative helps preserve a unified concept of the period of
the Rashidun.
Barani quickly moves from his brief narrative of the caliphate of
c
Uthman to
discuss the life and character of
c
AIL He says that after the prophets and messengers from
the time of Adam till the end of the world he is extraordinary in knowledge (
c
ilm). In
courage (shaja
c
at) he was second only to Hamza b.
c
Abd al-Muttalib, the paternal uncle
of the Prophet. Hamza has been valorized in both poetry and prose for his bravery at the
battle of Badr and his display of fighting prowess in single challenge combat.
102
The
theme of
c
All's courage was incorporated into imagery of the sultan in earlier Sultanate
historiography. In courage (shajd
c
at), JuzjanI describes Iltutmish as a second
C
AH.
103
The stories of Hamza as an adventurer and hero of battle spread widely throughout the Persianate world
and achieved epic proportions in the Ddstdn-i Amir Hamza produced under the patronage of the Mughal
emperor Akbar and fully illuminated with his legendary exploits. For an overview of the literary life and
summary of the story of Hamza see the introduction to Frances W. Pritchett, The Romance Tradition in
Urdu: Adventures from the Dastan of Amir Hamzah (New York: Columbia University Press, 1991), 1-58.
103
JuzjanI, 77V, 1:440 (tr.598).
-189-
Similarly, he refers to Sultan Taj al-Dln Yildiz al-Mu
c
izzi (d. ca. 611/1215), Ghurid
commander and ultimately rival to Iltutmish, as being a second
c
Ali in bravery
(dilavarT).
104
BaranI dedicates a conspicuous amount of time providing reasons for the
reverence paid to
c
Ali, listing point by point the characteristics that legitimated his
succession to the caliphate. He says the honor of the one who is pleasing (murtaza), an
epithet traditionally applied to
c
Ali, was proven in every respect amongst the
companions. First, he was the son of the uncle of the chosen one (Mustafa) and was
among the exiled of the Banl Hashim.
105
Second, Muhammad found protection in the care
of the parent of
c
Ali. Third, he was father to Hasan and Hussayn. Fourth, he was called
the most abstemious (azhad) by the Prophet and he was the most abstemious of the
companions. Fifth, none of the companions resembled him in his abundance of learning
(vufur-i
c
ilm). Sixth, he never flinched in the face of infidelity (kufr) and polytheism
(shirk) even before taking the oath (bay
c
a).
W6
Seventh, in reference to him several verses
from the Quran were revealed.
BaranI reports that he heard that during
c
All's caliphate, the brothers of
c
Uthman
who had become the governors of the provinces of Islam (mamalikat-i Islam), gave birth
1U4
Ibid., 1:410 (tr.96).
The claim to a shared familial genealogy with Muhammad was one of the most important bases of
authority available for descendents of
C
A1I. In the broader context of Islamic legitimacy this became
subsumed under the concept of people of the house (ahl al-bayt). The boundaries of descent were
particularly contested in Umayyad,
c
Abbasid, and
c
Alid competing claims to leadership of the Muslim
community. See Moshe Sharon, "The Umayyads as Ahl al-Bayt," Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 14
(1992): 115-52.
Barani's usage of kufr and shirk is in the broadest sense of idolatry.
-190-
to a number of innovations (bidat-ha)}
7 C
AH wanted to change those innovations back
into the custom of the Prophet (sunnah). He put truth in the central place and he adorned
it with the customs of the Prophet (sunan-i Muhammadi) and the rule of
c
Umar (zabt-i
c
Umarl). Mu
c
awiya (r. ca. 41/661-60/680), the first Umayyad caliph, and the brothers of
c
Uthman confronted
c
Ali with rebellion (baghl) and tyranny (shatat) and they did not
give their oath to him.
108
For BaranI this signified the end of the power and strength that
existed during the age of the shaykhs (
c
ahd-i shaykhln).
BaranI then narrates the death of
c
Ali.
C
A1I set out for Iraq from Medina stopping
in Kufa with two hundred and fifty companions. There he was under siege from an army
not made up of companions for four years and four months. Many of the companions
were killed by the rebellious army. Finally he was assassinated in 40/661 by the KharijI
leader Ibn Muljam, "the Cursed" (maFun) as BaranI refers to him, who stabbed
C
A1I with
a dagger and killed the caliphate of prophethood (khildfat-i nubuvvah). The idea of the
caliphate of prophethood reveals BaranI's ultimate understanding of succession to
Muhammad. In his view there was only a short-lived continuation of Muslim rule that
achieved the example set by Muhammad, one that ended with the caliphate of
C
A1I.
The coming to the end of the caliphate of prophethood signified for BaranI the
fact that the period of the sharing of religious and political authority in the figure of the
For the early development and evolution of historical imagery surrounding the conflict between
c
Ali and
Mu
c
awiya see Erling Ladewig Petersen,
c
All and Mu
c
awiya in Early Arabic Tradition: Studies on the
Genesis and Growth of Islamic Historical Writing until the End of the Ninth Century, trans. P. Lampe
Christensen (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1964).
108
Abdelkader Tayoub has discussed the manner in which Tabari framed the "first fitna" reveals the
ideological and theological attitudes towards the succession of
C
AH and Mu
c
awiya. Abdelkader Tayob,
"Tabari on the Companions of the Prophet: Moral and Political Contours in Islamic Historical Writing,"
Journal of the American Oriental Society 119, no. 2 Apr.-Jun. (1999): 203-10.
-191 -
caliph was terminated. He emphasized this view by quoting the following oracular hadith
j y/2J *-X*> J 4_U* j j J j U <_-l*J *Sj*j>-\
"The caliphate after me will be thirty years and after that the age of kings."
109
Such an early termination of the caliphal ideal certainly goes against what both the
Umayyads and the
c
Abbasids attempted to perpetuate about the function of caliphs in
Muslim societies. It also goes against current scholarship on the dual religious and
political authority wielded by caliphs following the Rashidun. Patricia Crone and Martin
Hinds views on the religious authority invested in the Umayyad and
c
Abbasid caliphates
are well known on this subject.
110
The inclusion of the thirty-year hadith as a concluding flourish to Barani's
caliphal narrative has a dual purpose. It serves to legitimate the reign of sultans by linking
them back in a chain of transmitted authority that passed from the Prophet, down through
the caliphs onto the Delhi Sultanate. Sultanic authority had no Qur
D
anic sanction and the
inclusion of a legitimating hadith lent a degree an authenticity to the rule of Delhi sultans.
Read in another way, narrating the early transmission of authority from Muhammad to
the early caliphs might be viewed as implied criticism of sultans. The concept of kingship
(mulk), in some contexts, carried with it a negative connotation of the abuse of power and
109
Muhammad Qasim Zaman has shown that the usage of this hadith in the early
c
Abbasid period served to
legitimate the caliphate of
C
AH as belonging to the "golden age" of the rightly-guided caliphs (Rashidun).
For a full discussion of the relevance of the thirty-year hadith in the early
c
Abbasid period see Muhammad
Qasim Zaman, Religion and Politics under the Early
c
Abbasids: The Emergence of the Proto -Sunn! Elite,
ed. Ulrich Haarmann and Wadad Kadi, vol. 16, Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts
(Leiden: Brill, 1997), 170-78.
Their views extend caliphal religious authority through the period of the Umayyad and on into early
c
Abbasid period. For a concise statement of their view see Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds, God's Caliph:
Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam, vol. 37, University of Cambridge Oriental Publications
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 1.
-192-
the extravagance of wealth. The sultan acting as a king evoked narratives of Umayyad
dynasties that had been vilified in historiography produced under patronage of
c
Abbasid
courts.
Clearly caliphal narratives transcribed onto the pages of Sultanate historiography
were a double-edged sword. Acquiring caliphal investiture and adopting titles indicating
submission to a normative Sunni ideology of Muslim authority sanctioned by
c
Abbasid
caliphs proved to be a reliable source of legitimacy for the sultans of Delhi. They
legitimated the authority of the sultans of Delhi fitting their rule into the larger scheme of
the global Muslim community. Looked at from another perspective caliphal narratives
were a challenge to sultanic power. They constrained sultans to behave according to a
certain set of rules that restricted their power and required them to elevate their sense of
humility and justice.
- 193-
Chapter Five: Shan
c
ah and Justice in Historiography of the Delhi
Sultanate
"Delhi is the ... cradle of the rulings and prohibitions of shari
c
ah."
1
Minhaj Siraj Juzjani
"Religion and justice are twins."
2
Ziya
D
al-Dln Barani
One of the primary legitimating motifs of early Sultanate historiography was the
justice (
c
adl) of the sultan. Justice was portrayed as a key component of kingship and as
such was the foundation on which conceptions of Muslim rule were built.
3
In
historiography of the period, the sources of justice were depicted as flowing from two
distinct and ideally complimentary structures of authority. One structure drew its
legitimacy from Islamic constructions of authority defined by shari
c
ah, codified in a
restricted body of legal rules monitored by the
c
ulamd
3
who were viewed as its ultimate
arbitrators.
4
The second structure was built on ideas of pre-Islamic Persian kingship,
formalized in a set of rules {gavabit) that afforded the sultan a wide range of discretion in
executing the prerogatives of his high office. These dichotomous sources of political
legitimacy perpetuated distinct legal categories that called into question the
understanding of ultimate justice during the Delhi Sultanate. Historians of the period
1
Juzjani, 77V, 1:440.
Barani, FJ, 66.
3
Ann Lambton's article on justice and kingship in medieval Muslim political theory is still a good survey
of the topic. She gives examples for works of political theory that fall into four general categories: legal
works, administrative handbooks, mirrors-for-princes, and philosophical works. See A. K. S. Lambton,
"Justice in the Medieval Theory of Persian Kingship," Studia Islamica 17 (1962): 91-119.
For a discussion of the relationship between the
c
ulama
:
' and sultans in the Delhi Sultanate see Mi
c
raj
Muhammad Sharif, "The Sultan and the "Ulama
3
in the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi (1206-1413)," Iqbal 13,
no. 3 (1965): 31-58.
-194-
utilized the occasions of the sultan's justice to reflect on the nature of the relationship
between religion and Muslim kingship and the sources of legitimacy.
The quest for a political legitimacy based on sharVah in the Delhi Sultanate was
not a new challenge to the authority of Muslim rulers. Earlier than the period in question,
issues of the religious legitimacy of kings, sultans and caliphs were adequately on display
in numerous prominent writings. As was demonstrated in the previous chapter,
justifications for new forms of absolute Muslim authority ran particularly high in the
fifth/eleventh and sixth/twelfth centuries following the period when caliphal notions of
Muslim authority were greatly challenged. Al-Mawardi (d. 450/1058), in his Ahkam al-
sultaniyya, attempted to resolve questions about the relationship between sharl
c
ah and
sultanic authority presented by the dilution of caliphal authority under Buyid ascendancy.
Marshall Hodgson acutely sums up the efforts of al-Mawardi saying that "He was
especially concerned to formulate, in terms of the SharTah, conditions under which
caliphal authority could be delegated to subordinates - and tried to bring order and legal
legitimacy into such delegation - which seemed likely to prove continuingly necessary."
5
Around the same time Nizam al-Mulk was laying out the principles of medieval
Muslim governance in his famed Siyasat-nama, combining pre-Islamic Persian kingship
with sharVah.
6
In historiography, Roy Mottahedeh has pointed out the way the historian
Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, 2:55.
For a discussion of the legitimacy of Muslim kingship in the Siyasat-nama see Marta Simidchieva,
"Kingship and Legitimacy in Nizam al-Mulk's Siyasatnama, Fifth/Eleventh Century," in Writers and
Rulers: Perspectives on their Relationship from Abbasid to Safavid Times, ed. Beatrice Gruendler and
Louise Marlow, Literaturen im Kontext (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2004), 97-131. Lambton claims that Nizam
al-Mulk failed to succeed in combining pre-Islamic Persian governance with sharl
c
a saying, "By restating
the old Persian tradition of monarchy, with its independent ethical standards based on force and
opportunism, he reaffirmed the duality between the ruling and the religious institutions." See A. K. S.
Lambton, "The Dilemma of Government in Islamic Persia: The Siyasat-Ndma of Nizam al-Mulk," Iran 22
(1984): 64.
- 195-
Abu T-Fazl Bayhaqi (385/995-470/1077) attempted to legitimate a model of Muslim
kingship intimating at the divine providence of Muslim authority.
7
Utilizing Quranic
precedent Bayhaqi supported Ghaznavid claims to authority "as part of God's decree."
t Qi JL* i l O * j j } *Qi J* i l O j$ diilJl ^}K* 14^1 J5
j j j j ^^j-i JJ ( ^1P dJJJ j t ^ ' -J^ri s.UiJ /^ JJJj .LiJ ^ jxjj
"Say, oh God, possessor of sovereignty, you give sovereignty to whomever you choose
and take it from whomever you choose, and exalt whom you chose and abase whom you
choose. In your hand is the good; surely, you have power over all things."
8
By the seventh/eleventh and eighth/fourteenth centuries the sources for legitimacy
in relation to shari
c
ah had become a primary concern of historians of the Delhi Sultanate
who attempted to judge, in light of history, the sultan's ability to reconcile diverging
systems of Muslim kingship, caliphal authority, and sharl
c
ah. What is most revealing
about their discussions is the way historians of the Delhi Sultanate devoted particular
attention to questions on the legitimacy of kingship on the occasions of punishment,
particularly in the fashion of the most absolute form of punishment, the death penalty.
Sultanate historians devoted significant attention to punishments meted out to officials,
nobles, soldiers, the
c
ulama, and sultans themselves within the Delhi royal courts. They
narrated and commented on the cases of the death penalty for individuals not just in the
limited cases made clear according to sharVah. Rather, they were preoccupied with the
dilemma presented by punishments not covered by or alternative to those of the shan
c
ah,
those that found legitimacy in the independent body of state rules. These rules and their
Roy P. Mottahedeh, "Some Attitudes Towards Monarchy and Absolutism in the Eastern Islamic World of
the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries A.D.," Israel Oriental Studies 10 (1980): 88-89.
8
Q3:26.
-196-
associated punishments, referred to in the sources as siyasa, represented one of the great
challenges to claims of political legitimacy of sultans ruling from Delhi.
9
Religious Authority and Kingly Power
Narratives on the role and function of sharVah in the Delhi Sultanate reveal the
extent and limits of sultanic authority. They show a system of governance that allowed
for the delegation of authority, particularly in the area of the judiciary, from the sultan
down to viziers and judges (quzat).
10
However, as the sultan controlled the greatest power
through his effective role as the chief military officer, an ambiguity remained concerning
his role and function in relation to the judiciary. It is through questions of the respective
roles of the authority of kings and the
c
ulama
D
in relation to the parameters of sharVah
that the inherent tensions and ambiguities in the structures of power reveal themselves.
In one view from the Delhi Sultanate sharVah was seen as quite expansive in
relation to the sultan's authority. In the Tdrlkh-i Fakhr al-Dln Mubarak Shah, Fakhr-i
Mudabbir lists the specific and broad-ranging rulings of sharl
c
ah (ahkdm-i shar
c
) that
relate to the person and command of kings (bi-zdt vafarmdn -i badshahan): address the
Friday prayer and the two holidays {khutbah-yi jum
c
ah va
c
ldayri), uphold the hadd
punishments (iqdmat-i hudud), collect the taxes and alms (jihdt-i khardj va sadaqdt),
make war (ghazv kardari), judge between litigants (hukm kardan miydn-i khusmdn), hear
It is Tarif Khalidi's contention that Muslim historiography on the whole experienced a shift beginning
roughly in the fifth/eleventh century that brought about an era of ",s/y<2.sa-oriented historiography"
epitomized by the Mamluk chronicles of the seventh/thirteenth century. See Khalidi, Arabic Historical
Thought in the Classical Period, 182-84, 93-200.
For a discussion of the relationship of sultans and the
c
ulama
:
' as depicted in the mirrors-for-princes
tradition see Marlow, "Kings, Prophets, and the 'Ulama
3
in Mediaeval Islamic Advice Literature," 101-20.
-197-
petition (da
c
vd shanidan), protect the domain against foreign armies (hifz-i vildyat az
lashkar-hd-yi bigdnah), form the armies (murattab ddshtan-i lashkar-hd), provide
remuneration for those who wage war (dddan-i arzdq-i muqdtilah), carry out punishment
for the welfare of the populace (siydsat farmudan bard-yi masdlih-i ra
c
dyd), judge
between people (
c
adl kardan miydn-i khalq), and exact justice for victims (insdf sitddan-i
mazlumdn).
11
In Fakhr-i Mudabbir's estimation the king's overall duties as judge,
preserver of justice, and protector of the kingdom were wholly dictated by the sharVah.
On the level of rhetoric, an attempt to reconcile the authority embodied in the
sharl
c
ah and exercised by the
c
ulamd with the power wielded by the sultan was
illustrated in the oft-repeated mantra "religion and kingship are twins."
12
This apothegm
was copiously reported in multiple variations throughout medieval Muslim
historiography and was traditionally attributed to the Sasanid ruler of Persia Ardashir-i
Babakan (226-241 C.E.).
13
The most explicit effort from the Delhi Sultanate to confront
issues of kingly power and religious authority is provocatively on display in the title of
Baranl's mirror-for-princes the Fatdvd-yi Jahdnddri (Edicts of World Rule), a work that
Mubarak Shah, Ta'rikh-i Fakhru'd-Din Mubdrakshdh being The Historical Introduction to the Book of
Genealogies of Fakhru'd-Din Mubdrakshdh Marvar-rudi [sic] completed in A.D. 1206, 13.
Hasan Nizaml used a variation of this saying, "The continuation of the customs of religion and the
establishment of the regulations of the kingdom are twins (istimrar-i mardsim-i din va istiqrdr-i qavd
c
id-i
mulk taw
D
aman and)." He illustrated this further with the hadith, "Religion is a foundation and kingship is
a guardian. That which has no foundation is destroyed and that which has no guardian is lost (al-din uss wa
'l-mulk hdris wa ma la uss la-hu fa-huwa mahdum wa ma la haris la-hu fa-huwa ddi
c
)." See Nizaml, "Taj
al-ma
3
asir," fol. 9. Peter Hardy has given further examples found in Persian historiography. Hardy,
Historians of Medieval India: Studies in Indo-Muslim Historical Writing, 25n3. Baram also utilized a
related phrase "religion and justice are twins" (al-din wa 7-
c
adl taw^amari) in his Fatava-yi Jahdnddri.
Baram, FJ, 66.
Al-Mas
c
udl (fl. 332/943) in the Muruj al-Dhahab attributed this saying to the founder of the Sasanid
dynasty and linked its didactic implications to the hadith of Muhammad. See Lambton, "Justice in the
Medieval Theory of Persian Kingship," 96. Julie Meisami gives a later example that also contains the
hadith reference in the Ta^rikh al-Yamini of Abu Nasr
c
UfbI (b. ca. 350/961), historian to Ghaznavid
courts. See Meisami, Persian Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century, 55.
-198-
attempts to combine religion and rule, executive and judicial authority.
14
These axioms on
the relationship between sharVah and zavabit are a challenge to contemporary
understandings of the Delhi Sultanate. They require a renewed critical awareness of the
forms of historiography.
Based on readings of histories, advice literature, and legal texts, scholars of Islam
have long struggled to understand the expressed relationships between religious authority
and political power in Muslim societies.
15
Ira Lapidus noted in his discussion of the
relationship between religion and the state in Muslim societies that "there are ambiguities
concerning the distribution of authority, functions and relations among institutions."
16
He
stressed the basic point that there is a significant differentiation to be made between state
and religious institutions. The lack of recognition of the fundamental ambiguities of
authority has led to significant discrepancies and deficiencies in our understandings of the
relationships between religious authority and Muslim kingship in a variety of historical
contexts. This is equally true of the Delhi Sultanate where overgeneralizations on this
question have produced stereotypical and opposing pictures of the nature of governance.
Frequently, the complex set of relations that existed between religious institutions and
Muzaffar Alam describes Barani's Fatava-yi Jahdnddri as an intervention in the standing debate on the
relationship between religion and politics in Muslim societies. He says of BaranI, "He intervenes instead to
try to resolve the dilemma posed by the conflict between the concrete realities of Muslim politics and the
theory of the shari'a." See Muzaffar Alam, "Shari
c
a and Governance in the Indo-Islamic Context," in
Beyond Turk and Hindu: Rethinking Religious Identities in Islamicate South Asia, ed. David Gilmartin and
Bruce Lawrence (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000), 223. Commenting on the tensions
underlying narratives that deal with relations between the
c
ulama and kings in advice literature Louise
Marlow says, "It is rare, however, for an author to admit the existence of any theoretical tension between
kings and scholars." See Marlow, "Kings, Prophets, and the
c
Ulama
D
in Mediaeval Islamic Advice
Literature," 112.
For a discussion of the relationship between religious and political authority in the early "Abbasid period
see Muhammad Qasim Zaman, "The Caliphs, the 'Ulama
3
, and the Law: Defining the Role and Function of
the Caliph in the Early
c
Abbasid Period," Islamic Law and Society 4, no. 1 (1997): 1-36.
16
Ira M. Lapidus, "State and Religion in Islamic Societies," Past and Present 151 (1996): 4.
-199-
Muslim courts have been overlooked in favor of a simplistic debate framed in the false
and misleading terminology of the "secular" vs. the "religious."
One prominent political and historical view is the "secularist theory," a view that
divests the Delhi Sultanate of any involvement with religion. K.A. Nizami, the major
proponent of this view, gives an anachronistic historical perspective on the relationship
between religion and politics in Muslim societies by making the sweeping generalization
that "all Muslim governments from the time of the Umayyads have been secular
organizations."
17
This position is central to Nizami's whole concept of the Sultanate.
Following this statement he espouses a related view that reflects his understanding of the
legitimacy of the Delhi Sultanate. He says, "It had no sanction in Shari
c
at; nay, it was a
non-legal institution."
18
When viewed in light of the clear and persistent relationship
created between
c
Abbasid caliphs and Delhi sultans detailed in the previous chapter,
Nizami's views on this subject require a complete revision.
Another prominent example of the "secularist theory" can be seen in the
scholarship of Mohammad Habib who writes of the Delhi Sultanate, "It was not a
theocratic state in any sense of the word. Its basis was not the sharVat of Islam but the
zawabit of state-laws made by the king."
19
This idea was taken up and perpetuated in later
Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Some Aspects of Religion and Politics in India during the Thirteenth Century
(Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1961), 89. This work is one of the most frequently cited historical
studies on the Delhi Sultanate and as such his views on "secularism" have been widely and uncritically
disseminated.
Ibid. He clearly held on to that view as he reiterated it in another work produced more that thirty years
later. See Nizami, Royalty in Medieval India, 21.
See introduction to Barani, The Political Theory of the Delhi Sultanate (including a translation of
Ziauddin Barani's Fatawa-i Jahandari, circa, 1358-9 A.D.),V\.
- 200-
scholarship in such hyperbolic and laudatory terms that in one view the modern
"secularization of the Indian state" was seen as originating in the Delhi Sultanate.
20
On the other side of this debate some scholars have staked out a "shan
c
ah
position" that contradicts the prior view. Simple proclamations such as, "The Sultanate of
Delhi was a theocracy and not a secular state," litter the pages of secondary literature on
the subject.
21
One prominent example of the "shan
c
ah position" comes from Aziz Ahmad
who wrote speaking more specifically of the later Sultanate, "The Tughluq revolution
(1320), which overthrew the apostate usurper Khusraw Khan, was to some extent
basically pietistic."
22
He goes on, conveniently skipping over the "enigmatic" Muhammad
b. Tughluq to discuss the reign of Firuz Shah in the following manner, "Firuz Tughluq's
theocracy could not have existed in theory or in practice without the assistance of the
c
ulamd
D
. The very theocratic nature of his regime presupposes their preponderant
influence on the state administration under him."
23
The question of a strictly "theocratic" or "secular" concept of authority in the
Delhi Sultanate is really not a question as should be clear from a reading of historical
sources from the period. Particularly, the term secular when used in relation to the Delhi
Sultanate is clearly a distorting anachronism, in fact perhaps for all pre-modern
For example see Iqtidar Alam Khan, "Medieval Indian Notions of Secular Statecraft in Retrospect,"
Social Scientist 14, no. 1 (1986): 6.
Ashirbadi Lai Srivastava, The Sultanate of Delhi: Including the Arab Invasion ofSindh 711-1526 A.D., 1
ed. (Agra: Shiva Lai Agarwala, 1950), 422.
Aziz Ahmad, "The Role of the Ulema in Indo-Muslim History," Studia Islamica 31 (1970): 5.
23
Ibid., 5.
-201 -
societies.
24
The sultans of Delhi appropriated both sharVah and gavabit judicial systems
for their own political purposes. While the influence of the
c
ulama on the sultan and his
decision making varied, there was no purging of the
c
ulama from the court and their
presence remained more or less constant from one regime to the next. However, the
representation of that relationship varied dramatically in historiography of the Delhi
Sultanate and represented the ideological propensities of historians and sultans who
wished to project an image of themselves as being in some cases more, and in other cases
less dependent upon sharVah.
Another challenge to a better understanding of the relationship between the
various spheres of authority that constituted the Delhi Sultanate is the fact that few
secondary writings discuss the sultan's punishments.
25
While the topic of "violence" has
found an awkward space in scholarship of the Delhi Sultanate, it is primarily discussed in
the context of scholars trying to understand the condition of Hindu subjects under
Muslim rule.
26
Much of the difficulty lies in the fact that this scholarship was produced
through uncritical readings of Indo-Persian historiography and failed to understand the
rhetoric of history as a style of legitimization. These scholars put Sultanate
For a discussion of some of the problems in the usage of the term secular see Richard Vernon, "The
Secular Political Culture: Three Views," The Review of Politics 37, no. 4 (1975): 490-512.
5
The sole work on the topic of punishment in the Delhi Sultanate is Muhammad Qamaruddin, Crime and
Punishment in the Delhi Sultanate, 1206-1526, 1st ed. (Delhi: Adam Publishers & Distributors, 1992).
Qamaruddin has read the cases of punishment of the Delhi Sultanate through the lens of HanafT
jurisprudence with particular attention to the Hidaya of Marghfnanl. Overall, the work suffers from a lack
of historicizing and critical reading of history in relation to legal principles.
Peter Hardy, "Force and Violence in Indo-Persian Writing on History and Government in Medieval
South Asia," in Islamic Society and Culture: Essays in Honour of Professor Aziz Ahmad, ed. Milton Israel
and N. K. Wagle (New Delhi: Manohar, 1983), 165-208.
- 202-
historiography in the service of communal politics in South Asia, interpreting
contemporary events in light of what is, in many cases, an imagined past.
27
On one hand, the absence of scholarship on punishment may largely be due to the
understanding of punishment as legitimate violence, one person's punishment being
another's violence. However, this does not fully explain the lack of scholarly
commentary on the ubiquitous examples of punishment narrated in the historiography of
the Delhi Sultanate. A reevaluation of Sultanate historiography that looks closely at
narratives of justice and punishment will show the flexibility of the Delhi Sultanate's
political system that relied on two sometimes complimentary and sometimes conflictual
sources of legitimacy. It requires a renewed approach to the concept of siydsa expressed
in historical writings of the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth.
Concepts of Punishment (Siydsa)
"Kings should know that the meaning of siydsa is making right the affairs of the world."
Ziya
3
al-Dln Barani
Etymological studies of the word siydsa show an evolution of its usage and
connotation from its earliest meaning "to manage, tend or train animals, more particularly
horses" to "statecraft" and "punishment."
28
Siydsa first came to be used to describe a split
between kingship and religious law as early as the fourth/tenth century. Bernard Lewis
For a critique of the communalist reinterpretation of historic violence see Richard Maxwell Eaton,
"Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States," in Essays on Islam and Indian History (New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2000), 94-132. Also see Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui, "The Sultan and the Hindus: A Re-
appraisal of Hindu Muslim Relations in the Sultanate of Delhi during the 13th Century," Journal of
Objective Studies 6, no. 2 (1994): 39-49.
28
Bernard Lewis, "Siyasa," in In Quest of an Islamic Humanism: Arabic and Islamic Studies in Memory of
Mohamed al-Nowaihi, ed. Arnold H. Green (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1984), 3-14. Also
see, EI2, s.v. "Siyasa" (C.E. Bosworth, I.R. Netton, RE. Vogel).
- 2 0 3 -
traced this development to a purported conversation between the Caliph al-Hadi (r.
169/785-170/786) and his mother Lady Khayzuran, detailed by al-Mas
c
udI (d. 345/956)
in the Muruj al-dhahab. Here al-Hadi is reported as defending his caliphal authority by
claiming to have ruled, "in accordance with the requirements of the statecraft of kingship
(siydsat al-mulk) and not the prescriptions of the holy law."
29
According to Lewis, this
"historic" conversation represented an idea that "the Caliph was at liberty to exercise his
own discretion as well as to establish and to codify his own rules and regulations."
30
The word siydsa was used in a variety of senses in writings produced during the
Delhi Sultanate. The range of meanings employed in the use of the term spanned from
statecraft to punishment and in the most specific sense capital punishment. The first
detailed accounts of punishments carried out during the Delhi Sultanate come in the
writings of Ziya
3
al -Din Barani. In a number of cases, BaranI refers to siydsa in its
broadest sense before he deals with the functions and specific cases of punishment. This
is particularly the case found in the Fatdva-yi Jahdnddrl. In the Fatdva-yi Jahdnddrl,
Barani defines siydsa saying, "Kings should know that the meaning of siydsa is making
right the affairs of the world (rdst kardan-i umur-i jahdn).
,m
On an abstract level the
concept of siydsa refers to the role of sultans in society as preservers of order, a view
highlighted in a conversation between Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq and Barani detailed
later.
Ibid., 6. Taken from the Muruj al-dhahab, ed. C. Barbier de Meynard (Paris, 1861-1877) VI, 221.
30
Lewis, "Siyasa," 6.
31
Barani, FJ, 194.
- 204-
For Barani siydsa had two dimensions. The first dimension of siydsa is the
establishment of justice (
c
adl va insdf). This justice is said to be comprised of various
elements that include gentility (luff), compassion (shafaqai), courtesy (navdzish),
generosity (i
c
ta), respect (ikram), benefaction (in
c
dm), and doing good (ihsdn). The
second dimension of siydsa is punishment and Barani lists these punishments in concrete
form. The first kind (qism) of punishment is scoffing (tawhlri), humiliation (tazlll),
removal from office (
c
azl), disregarding (
c
adam-i iltifat), and the confiscation of property
(salb-i mal). A second kind of punishment is to be put in chains (band va zanjlr) and
imprisonment (habs va bdz ddsht). A third kind is exile (jald
D
) for which there are various
types. According to Barani they are all forms of state punishments (siydsdt-i mulki).
32
Barani does not address the question of capital punishment directly in this section.
Rather, he prefers to constrain the unnecessary "shedding of the blood of a believer"
(rlkhtan-i khun-i mumiri) which he argues was "not sanctioned according to shari
c
ah"
(rukhsat-i shar
c
f nabud).
Barani was systematic in his legal thinking with regard to sharVah and the
question of punishment. He specifically notes that the categories of punishment covered
under shari
c
ah are ta
c
zlr, hadd, and qisas. Barani's categories fit the "classical" doctrine
of criminal law. In general, fiqh textbooks subdivide criminal law into three sections: (1)
offenses against persons under which qisas falls, (2) offenses against God (huquq Allah)
which carry the hadd punishments, and (3) offences against the state listed under ta
c
zlr
Ibid. Here Barani lays out the details on punishment. It is not a complete list as there is a lacuna in the
manuscript at this point. For the most comprehensive treatment of the types of punishments carried out the
fifth/eleventh and sixth/twelfth centuries of the medieval Islamic period see Christian Lange, "Executing
Justice in Sunni Islam: Historical, Poetical, Eschatological and Legal Dimensions of Punishments under the
Saljuqs (1055-1194 CE)" (Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 2006).
- 2 0 5 -
and siyasa.
33.
Prior to the period in question a distinction was made between corrective
punishment (ta
c
zir), a broad range of undefined punishments that do not exceed the hadd
punishments, and siyasa, an administrative justice designed for public order that imposed
the death penalty. During the period of the formation of the Delhi Sultanate there was a
corresponding development in Islamic legal theory in which the legal categories of ta
c
zir
and siyasa were collapsed.
34
According to Barani, these rules are such that it is the duty of the sultan to appoint
those "upright in religion" (mutadayyindn) to carry out the dictates of shan
c
ah. They
would handle all the cases covered by sharVah and bring those they cannot dispatch to
the king. In this area of judicial matters Barani faced the more difficult challenge of
defining the categories under which the sultan has authority to execute punishment.
According to him no clear legal precept (rivdyati) had come down from the four law
schools (mazhab-i arba
c
ah) concerning the rules governing punishment {siydsdt va
ta
c
zirdt), only that state punishment (siydsdt-i mulki) is reserved (makhsus) for the king
(badshah).
35
Here Barani displays his concern over the fact that siyasa is a punishment
not prescribed for by the sharVah. Thus kings, in Barani's view, are put in the difficult
position of potentially "turning their backs" ipusht dihand) on the rule (hukm) of what
God and the Prophet have said.
See Rudolph Peters, Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to
the Twenty-first Century, ed. Wael B. Hallaq, Themes in Islamic Law 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2005), 7.
Baber Johansen situates this development in the late seventh/twelfth century and finds evidence in the
writings of Marghlnani (d. 593/1197). Baber Johansen, "Eigentum, Familie und Obrigkeit im hanafitischen
Strafrecht: Das Verhaltnis der privaten Rechte zu den Forderungen der Allgemeinheit in hanafitischen
Rechtskommentaren," Die Welt des Islams 19, no. 1/4 (1979): 54-55.
35
Barani, FJ, 202.
- 2 0 6 -
BaranI substantiates his view on the need for kings to restrain their punishments
particularly in regard to the death penalty by a subtle appeal to the Qur
D
an. He says that
the "great men (of former times) of the religion and government of Mustafa (i.e. the
Prophet)" (buzurgdn-i din va dawlat-i Mustafa) have truly comprehended Q40:3 -
> , , . - * --
i_->lixJi ^i^ ^ ^ t\^3 ' '^ j ^
"The Forgiver of sin and Accepter of repentance is severe in punishment."
36
If taken literally this quote seems to legitimate a kind of absolute power to administer
punishment. However, Barani uses this Qur
3
anic verse to substantiate his claim that the
just sultan understands the "proper place for forgiveness and punishment" (mahall-i
c
afv
va mawzi
c
-i siydsa). BaranI reiterates the importance of the forgiveness of the sultan
further quoting from the Quran -
"If God were to punish men according to what they deserve, He would not leave on the
back of the [earth] a single living creature."
37
By framing his commentary on the justice of the sultan in Quranic terms, Barani's
discourse on shari
c
ah and siydsa is actually a check on sultanic authority. The boundaries
of the sultan's authority are literary defined by his justice and the execution of his
punishment. Historical narratives of the sultan's punishments underscored a structural
ambiguity in the legal system of the Delhi Sultanate.
38
Understanding Barani's theory of
36
Ibid., 196.
37
Q35:45. Ibid., 199.
38
Baber Johansen argues that this ambiguity in law derived from the "private and individualistic character
of Hanafite law. Hanafite law is based on the rights of the individual and gets into difficulties whenever it
- 2 0 7 -
kinship stated explicitly in the Fatava-yi Jahandarl throws light on the palpable fashion
in which ideology and history are woven together. This is on full view in the manner
Barani inserted his ideas about sharVah and siyasa into a "historic" conversation between
himself and his patron Muhammad b. Tughluq.
Rebellion and Execution
Barani situates one of the most important conversations on the relationship
between shar
c
la and siyasa on the occasion of an outbreak of resistance to the rule of
Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq. The general term for rebellion utilized in historiography
of the period was fitna (also baghy, and shatat meaning deviation or excess). It was a
symbolic expression as well as historic reality that represented the ultimate threat to the
order of society brought about by the splintering of the Muslim community.
39
In terms of
court history resistance to rule could only be understood as rebellion. Narratives of fitna
had become a primary theme of Arabic historiography as early as the third/ninth
century.
40
Whether by serendipity or sheer narrative inventiveness Barani takes up his
own narrative of fitna in the following manner.
tries to reconcile these rights with the public interest." Baber Johansen, "Sacred and Religious Elements in
Hanafite Law: Functions and Limits of the Absolute Character of Government Authority," in Islam et
Politique au Maghreb, ed. Ernest Gellner and Jean-Claude Vatin (Paris: Editions de Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, 1981), 302.
Historiographic narratives of rebellion reflect a concern for the long standing legal principles covering
rebellion known as ahkam al-bughah. Khalid Abou El Fadl has produced the most comprehensive study of
the legal discourses on rebellion and remarks that ahkam al-bughah was "a very crucial part, of the total
framework that informs our understanding of how Muslim jurists understood and dealt with issues of power
and authority." Khalid Abou El Fadl, Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001), 20.
For reference to some of the earliest narratives of rebellion (fitna) in Islamic historiography see Noth and
Conrad, The Early Arabic Historical Tradition: A Source-Critical Study, 33-5. For Qur
3
anic and exegetical
readings of the term fitna see Abdelkader Tayob, "An Analytical Survey of al-Tabari's Exegesis of the
Cultural Symbolic Construct of fitna," in Approaches to the Qur^an, ed. G. R. Hawting and Abdul-Kader
A. Shareef, Routledge/SOAS Series on Contemporary Politics and Culture in the Middle East (London:
Routledge, 1993), 157-72.
- 2 0 8 -
During the month of Ramadan in 745/1345 Muqbil Ghulam Ahmad Ayaz, the
deputy minister {naib-vazlr) of Gujarat, set off to meet with Sultan Muhammad b.
Tughluq. In his caravan were a number of horses from the royal stables and valuables
procured from government coffers and merchants. When he reached the borders of
Dabhoi and Baroda his caravan was attacked by the "emirs of one-hundred" (amiran-i
sadah), a group of influential nobles who had broken out in rebellion due to the cruel
punishments of
c
Aziz Khammar "the Wine-Seller," an appointee of Sultan Muhammad b.
Tughluq. They looted the horses and wealth of Muqbil as well as the valuable goods and
commodities of the merchants of Gujarat that had been entrusted to him. News of the
event of this rebellion (fitna) spread and quickly reached the Sultan.
41
Qutlugh Khan, who was formerly the preceptor of Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq
and governor of the provinces now in rebellion, sent for Ziya
3
al -Din BaranI and
employed him to act as envoy and deliver a letter to the Sultan. Having received news of
the humiliation suffered by an official of the state, Qutlugh Khan was seeking permission
to bring restitution to the Sultan and reestablish order in Dabhoi and Baroda. Under these
circumstances BaranI was dispatched to Sultanpur to meet with Muhammad b. Tughluq
bearing the message from Qutlugh Khan. After his arrival in Sultanpur the Sultan
Peter Jackson details the events leading up to the raid on Muqbil's caravan and the "insurrection"
mounted by the amiran-i sadah. See Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, 272-
11. Our understanding of these events is largely dependent upon the narrative of Barani. It is important to
note that BaranI links the causes of rebellion under Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq to his liberally
appointing low-born {bad asl) individuals to high office, such as was the case with
c
Aziz Khammar "the
Wine-Seller." His invective against lower classes of society takes up a significant portion of the discussion
of the spread of rebellion during 745/1345. See Barani, TFS, 504-506. Sunil Kumar has discussed the
historiographical significance of the class consciousness exhibited by Juzjani and Barani. See Kumar, The
Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate 1192-1286, 305-24.
-209-
summoned Barani to his audience late one night during the end of the month of
Ramadan.
42
In his narrative Barani makes a dramatic literary choice to report the following
conversation with the Sultan as if verbatim, giving it the flavor of a hikdyat or didactic
tale, a literary device common in historiography and mirrors-for-princes that balances
theory and practice in the form of an example.
43
He writes using the first person in the
voice of Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq saying, "You have seen how far rebellion (fitna)
has spread and this does not please me. But people are wont to say that all of this
rebellion is because of excessive capital punishment (siyasa)." Barani adds to the
dramatic flair and tense atmosphere of the narrative moment by describing the physical
movements of Muhammad b. Tughluq saying that the "Sultan stood up and said, 'I will
not turn away from capital punishment (siyasa) because of what people say or because of
rebellion!'" Then the Sultan posed a question to the historian, "You have read many
histories (tavdrlkh). Have you seen a place that describes for which crimes (chandjurm)
the kings of history have issued capital punishment (siyasa)!" Barani replied, "I have
read in the Tarlkh-i Kisravt
4
that it is not possible to rule without capital punishment
(siyasa) because if the king (badshah) is not an executioner (sa'is) then only God knows
The following conversation is reported in Barani, TFS, 509-10.
While Barani reports that he had been in the service of Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq for seventeen
years there are only two conversations between Sultan Muhammad b . Tughluq and Z iya
D
al-DIn Barani
recorded in the Tarlkh-i Flruz Shahl. Ibid., 509-11 and 21-22. Interestingly, both conversations deal with
questions of punishment. These two conversations are noted in Peter Hardy, "The 'oratio recta' of Barani's
'Ta
3
rikh-i-Firuz Shahi' Fact or Fiction?," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 20, no.
1/3 (1957): 321.
The Tarlkh-i Kisravl referred to by Barani is most likely the same as the Khwaday-namag the "Book of
Kings" from Sasanid Persia.
- 2 1 0 -
what rebellion would spread from the rebellious and how immorality ifasq) and
debauchery ifajur) would be born amongst those who obey (mati
c
an).
,,A5
Much can be said about the theatrical beginnings to this weighty conversation
between the Sultan and the historian. First, it is important to note the appeal to
historiography as a source for understanding the proper exercise of kingly authority
during the Delhi Sultanate, particularly in regard to capital punishment. If anything it is
consistent with Barani's view that history is a window to the past that teaches rulers how
to behave in the present. Second, Barani reproduces a conventional position in medieval
political thought that a government's principal duty is to maintain order and that without
strong rule societies devolve into chaos.
46
Barani addresses this topic more fully in the
Fatdva-yi Jahdndarl in a chapter on the "forgiveness and punishment of the king" (
c
afv
va siydsat-i bddshdh) using the oratio recta of Mahmud of Ghazna.
47
In Barani's writings
Mahmud is the representative and paradigmatic Muslim king and thus was an appropriate
vehicle for delivering his own theory of kingship.
48
He stated the situation as such -
If the king does not subject the wicked, the rebellious, thieves, the
haughty, usurpers, the impudent, the shameless, the heedless and designers
of wickedness to capital punishment (siydsa), punishments prescribed by
the shan
c
ah (hudud), discretionary punishment (ta
c
zir), and imprisonment
"Barani, TFS, 509-10.
This thought was expressed prominently in the classic work Siyasat-nama of Nizam al-Mulk. Ann
Lambton treats this subject in her study of the same work. See Lambton, "The Dilemma of Government in
Islamic Persia: The Siyasat-Natna of Nizam al-Mulk," 57.
Barani was fond of inserting his own political and historical ideas into the mouths of sultans. Peter Hardy
has dubbed this literary device oratio recta ("direct speech"). See Hardy, "The 'oratio recta' of Barani's
'Ta'rikh-i-Firuz Shahi' - Fact or Fiction?," 315-21.
48
The image of Mahmud of Ghazna as the pious and just ruler was produced before Barani in the writings
of Nizam al-Mulk and Sadld al-Dln Muhammad
c
Awfi (fl. 617/1220). See Bosworth, "Mahmud of Ghazna
in Contemporary Eyes and Later Persian Literature," 89.
-211 -
(band zanjir), men will eat each other alive and no one's property, women
or children will be safe.
49
Barani's realpolitik posing as a speech of the Sultan was a paraphrase of an apocryphal
hadlth frequently cited in earlier and later historiography -
"If there were no Sultan, mankind would eat each other."
50
The appeal to this prophetic saying was ubiquitous enough that Muhammad b. Tughluq
chose to have it stamped onto his coinage in 730/1330, the sixth year of his reign.
51
Barani's conversation with Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq also shows how the
understanding of authority of the Delhi Sultanate was largely dependent upon a
legitimacy reconstructed from pre-Islamic Persian notions of kingship exemplified in
Barani's listing of the Tdrlkh-i Kisravl as his authoritative source on the question of
capital punishment.
52
To accomplish this Barani shifts the rhetorical framework of his
discussion using the oratio recta of Jamshld, the mythic Persian king of ancient legend.
4y
Barani, FJ, 193 (tr. 55-56).
50
Fakhr-i Mudabbir (d. ca. 633/1236) made use of this apocryphal hadlth in the introduction to his
Shajarah-yi Ansdb. See Mubarak Shah, Ta'rikh-i Fakhru 'd-Din Mubdrakshdh being The Historical
Introduction to the Book of Genealogies of Fakhru d-Din Mubdrakshdh Marvar -nidi [sic] completed in
A.D. 1206, 13.
c
Afif utilized it as well in the prolegomena to the Tdrikh-i Flruz Shahl.
c
Afif, TFS, 4.
Siddiqui takes offence at this hadlth and others arguing that they were "concoctions" of "scholars
associated with the royal courts" adding, "Monarchy was, indeed, repugnant to Islam." See Iqtidar Husain
Siddiqui, "The Origin and Growth of Islamicate Historiography in India: Analysis of the Thirteenth
Century Indo-Persian Historians' Approach to the History of the Foundation of Muslim Rule in South
Asian Sub-Continent," Journal of Objective Studies 1, no. 1 and 2 (1989): 68. This does not change the fact
that they remained some of the most powerful arguments for the legitimacy of kingship.
1
See Wright, Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the Cabinet of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, 60. Tughluq also employed in his coinage the hadlth "He who obeys the Sultan obeys
God" (man atd
c
al-sultdn fa qadatd
c
al-rahmdn). Ibid., 59.
For his discussion of the continuity of systems of governance between the Sasanid and early Islamic
period see Clifford Edmund Bosworth, "The Heritage of Rulership in Early Islamic Iran and the Search for
Dynastic Connections with the Past," Iran 9 (1973): 51-62.
- 2 1 2 -
Jamshid in Indo-Persian historiography represented the paradigm of the just ruler
recognized to such a degree that kingship is referred to as jamshid! in Sultanate
historiography.
BaranI continues his conversation with Muhammad b. Tughluq in the form of an
anecdote supposedly taken from the Tdrikh-i Kisravi. BaranI says to the Sultan -
A courtier once asked Jamshid, "How many crimes fall under the king's
punishment (siydsat-i bddshdK)T Jamshid replied, "The king's
punishment (siydsat-i bddshdh) is applicable in response to seven [types
of] crimes, and [is applicable] to whatever meets and exceeds these
conditions in causing discord and confusion {takhallul va-tashattut uftad),
in instigating revolts (fitna-hd zdyid), and in harming the state."
53
Continuing in the voice of Jamshid, BaranI lists the seven specific cases where the
death penalty is permitted according to pre-Islamic Persian notions of justice and rule: (1)
apostasy (az dln-i haqq bigardad) and persisting in it, (2) first-degree murder (yakl-rd
c
amdan az muti
c
dn bikushad), (3) anyone who is married and commits adultery with
another married woman (har kird zani bdshad va-u bd zan-i dlgarl sifdh kunad),
54
(4)
anyone who conspires and whose conspiracy is proven (har kih ghadr andlshlda va
ghadr-i u tahqlq shavad), (5) anyone who heads a rebellion and causes someone to
become a rebel (har kih sarghana-yi baghy shavad va baghl-rd mubdsharat namdyad),
(6) any subject of the king who becomes a friend of the enemies of the king and provides
them with information and weapons, or otherwise provides assistance and aid and whose
aid is proven (har kih az ra
c
dyat-i bddshdh ydr-i dushman va mukhdlif va hamsar-i
bddshdh shavad va u rd birasdnidan-i khabar va asliha va juz an madad va ma
c
unat
53
BaranI, TFS, 510.
Peter Hardy translates this as "adultery where both parties are married." A more literal translation would
restrict the punishment to the male perpetrator of adultery. Hardy, "The 'oratio recta' of Barani's 'Ta^rikh-i-
Firuz Shahi' Fact or Fiction?," 321.
- 2 1 3 -
kunad va ma
c
unat-i u muhaqqaq gardad), and (7) disobeying the commands of the king
that result in injury to the king's domain (bl-farmdnl-yi bddshdh kunad, bl-farmdnl kih
samardt-i bl-farmdnl ziydn-i mulk-i bddshdh bdshad).
55
BaranI does not conclude his discourse on the cases for commanding the death
penalty according to Persian notions of punishment. Rather, according to the narrative, he
is then asked to describe the cases for which capital punishment is permissible within
Islam. This issue is one of the consistent themes of Sultanate historiography and
represents one of the classic dilemmas of the rule of the sultan. Under what conditions is
the appeal for a sultan's authority legitimated according to pre-Islamic Persian notions of
kingship or Islamic notions of Muslim authority? BaranI reports that the Sultan went on
to inquire, "Of those seven cases for capital punishment how many have come down in
the hadls of Mustafa and how many have application for kings ?"
56
BaranI points out to
Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq that there are three cases that merit capital punishment
according to the hadls of Muhammad: (1) apostasy (irtiddd),
57
(2) killing a Muslim (qatl-i
Muslim), and (3) adultery (zind-yi muhsan).
5
*
It is rather inconceivable that Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq was ignorant of the
cases covered under sharVah for carrying out the death penalty. It is more likely that
BaranI shaped this historical event to produce a critique of the reign of Muhammad b.
Tughluq. In contrast to his depiction of Muhammad b. Tughluq's ignorance of sharfah,
55
BaranI, BaranI, TFS, 510.
56
Ibid, 511.
For the legal principles developed around apostasy in Islam see Rudolph Peters and Gert J. J. De Vries,
"Apostasy in Islam," Die Welt des Islams 17, no. 1-4 (1977): 1-25.
58
BaranI, TFS, 510-11. This is briefly discussed by Peter Hardy. See Hardy, "The 'oratio recta' of Barani's
'Ta
3
riHi-i-Firuz Shahi' Fact or Fiction?," 321.
- 2 1 4 -
Zafarul Islam notes that Muhammad b. Tughluq exhibited a greater concern for Islamic
law than acknowledged by Barani as well as later historians.
59
However that may be, the
narrative on the cases for the death penalty highlights a noticeable tension in the
structures of authority that supported the sultans of Delhi. Narratives about punishment
were not about punishment. They were intended to confront, and in some cases cover up,
fundamental imbalances in the relationship between legitimacy and justice. Though the
Sultan goes on to reject both standards by which the death penalty can be issued, a
dissonance clearly remained between the rules of pre-Islamic Persian kingship and the
sharl
c
ah. This dissonance will become more apparent with further examples.
Barani concluded his oration of advice to the Sultan with the benefits of
appointing viziers to high posts. In his estimation they keep order in the kingdom by
establishing rules {zavabit) so that kings are not "soiled by the blood of anyone" (dar
khun-i dfrldah nagashtah ast). Again, the above opinion is attributed to Jamshld.
However, it is an expression of Barani's own views on the limits of the executive and
legislative power of the Sultan. Barani added the response of Muhammad b. Tughluq
who concludes that he is in no need for such a vizier to establish rules for his kingdom
and that he would continue issuing the orders for capital punishment himself regardless
of how sullied he would be by the blood of anyone.
The form of Baranfs historical representation of Muhammad b. Tughluq as a
sultan who brashly ignored the principles of governance drawn from pre-Islamic Persian
Islam argues that the Sultan was well versed in sharfa and reports that according to Shihab al-Din al-
c
Umari (697/1297-749/1348), another historian of the same period, he had memorized the Hidaya of
Marghinani, as well as encouraged the discussion of shari
c
a and procured fiqh texts for his court. Zafarul
Islam, "Development of Fiqh Literature in the Sultanate Period," in Islamic Heritage in South Asian
Subcontinent, ed. Nazir Ahmad and I. H. Siddiqui (Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 2000), 87.
- 2 1 5 -
notions of kingship, as well as the dictates of sharVah, makes an assessment of their
historicity complex. However, it is certainly clear that Barani saw the legitimacy of the
Delhi sultans as established on at least two foundations simultaneously, and while a
sultan may choose to emphasize different aspects of his legitimacy, on an abstract level
no sultan should willfully ignore either the heritage of Persian kingship or the principles
of sharl
c
ah.
Historiographic Images of the Ignorant King
As with the case of Muhammad b. Tughluq, Barani portrays the reign of Sultan
c
Ala
3
al-Din Muhammad Shah as failing to follow the principles of sharVah due to his
excessive punishments. In Barani's estimation
c
Ala
:>
al-Din Muhammad Shah was "not a
man of learning" (khabar az
c
ilm nadashi) primarily because the Sultan was of the
uninformed opinion that kingship (mulkdarl va jahdnba.nl) was separate from the
traditions and rulings of shari
c
ah (rivayah va ahkam-i shari
c
ah) and that the rulings of
kingship (ahkam-i bddshahi) were in relation to the king (badshah) and the rulings of
shari
c
ah (ahkam-i sharl
c
ah) were consigned to judges (qaziyan) and legal experts
(muftiyan). Therefore when it came to affairs of the kingdom
c
Ala
D
al-Din Muhammad
Shah looked toward the well-being of the state (salah-i mulk) and did not consider
whether his actions were in accordance with the sharl
c
ah.
60
Barani gives an anecdote
meant to illustrate the Sultan's ignorance.
61
6
Barani, TFS, 289. Sunil Kumar has discussed they way in which
c
Ala
3
al-Din Muhammad Shah
attempted to construct an image of himself as a reviver of sharl
c
a particularly in inscriptions he
commissioned for the congregational mosque in Delhi, an image that was expressed through the great
panegyrist and court litterateur Arrir Khusraw. Kumar notes how Barani subverts that image in his history.
See Kumar, "Assertions of Authority: A Study of the Discursive Statements of Two Sultans of Delhi," 43-
52.
- 2 1 6 -
There were a number of legal experts in the circle of
c
Ala
0
al -Din Muhammad
Shah and BaranI names them : Qazi Ziya
D
al -Din Bayana, Mawlana Zahir Lang, and
Mawlana Mashayad Kuhrami.
62
Barani highlights one particular interaction between the
Hanafi Qazi Mughis al-Din Bayana and the Sultan. The Sultan consulted the qqzi on legal
questions concerning jizya, corruption, whether or not wealth acquired by bloody warfare
belongs to the sultan or the "public treasury" (bayt al-mdl), and what are the rights of the
sultan and his children to the public treasury . On the whole Barani reports that Qazi
Mughis al-Din Bayana's opinions on these matters contradicted the Sultan's actions for
which he voiced his great displeasure sending the qqzi away. But on the following day he
called the qqzi back to reward him for his honesty and to explain to him that his actions,
whether in accordance with shan
c
ah or not, were for the well-being of the kingdom
(salah-i mulk).
63
Barani's representation of
c
Ala al-Din Muhammad Shah as a sultan beyond the
pale when it came to Islamic law may have come from his displeasure at the punishments
meted out by him. In particular, he reacts strongly to
c
Ala
D
al-Dln's punishments of the
"new Muslims" (nau Musulmdndn), Mongol immigrants to North India who converted to
Islam, whose women and children were imprisoned, a practice which Barani insists had
61
Iqtidar Siddiqui notes, discussing this same passage, the way in which modern scholars have uncritically
picked up on Barani's subtle critique of ''Ala
3
al-Din Muhammad Shah and reproduced it in full in their
own histories. Siddiqui, Authority and Kingship under the Sultans of Delhi (Thirteenth-Fourteenth
Centuries), 103n54.
62
Barani, TFS, 289.
Ibid., 289-96. Barani puts nearly identical phrasing into the mouth of Balban. See Barani, TFS, 47. It is
interesting to note as well the narrative affiliations between these historical events and those described in
the previous section between Barani and Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq. The common thread in these
narratives of justice and punishment is that above and beyond the sharVa, the sultan considered the well-
being of the kingdom (salah-yi mulk) his top priority.
- 2 1 7 -
never been done before. The Sultan ordered that they all be killed, a horrific act Barani
compares to the ruling of Pharaoh and Nimrod (hukm-i u Far
c
urii va Namrudi bud).
M
He
also describes the "most horrible punishments" {bad-tarln siydsa) administered to the
ibdhatiydn and budhakdn, members of a Hindu Tantric group, whose heads where cut off
with the "saw of punishment" (arrah-yi siydsa).
65
Historiographic Images of the Shari
c
ah King
In Barani's vision the ideal sultan would be capable of integrating both religion
and kinship into a single system of governance. In Barani's estimation this did not occur
as it was an ideal achieved only during the existence of the early caliphate. It was
exemplified by rulers who put truth in the central place and adroitly balanced the
"customs of the Prophet" (sunan-i Muhammadt) and the "rule of
c
Umar" dabt-i
c
Umarl),
in reference to the second caliph
c
Umar b. al-Khattab.
66
One sultan in particular was
successful in this historian's mind for his ability to follow a course of action that
balanced religion and rule and that was Sultan Firuz Shah. Unlike the imagery employed
in the depictions of Muhammad b. Tughluq and
c
Ala al-Dln Muhammad Shah, in the
case of Firuz Shah Barani paints the picture of a sharl
c
ah-mmded ruler. When discussing
Barani, TFS, 336. For a discussion of representations of Pharaoh in the writings of al-Tabari see Shoshan,
Poetics of Islamic Historiography: Deconstructing Tabari's History, 92-94.
65
In contrast to Barani's scorn of
c
Ala
3
al-Dln Muhammad Shah's repugnant tactics his contemporary and
acquaintance Amir Khusraw (651/1253-725/1325) describes with poetic relish the punishments meted out
to the ibdhatiydn. Amir Khusraw refers to their punishment delivered by
c
Ala
3
al-Dln Muhammad Shah
saying, "Over the heads of all of them, men as well as women, the saw of punishment was drawn ... the
saw with its heart of iron loudly laughed over their heads with tears of blood. Those, who by a secret stroke
(zarb-i pinhdn) had become one, were now openly sawed into two, and the soul that had sought union with
another soul was now compelled to leave its own body." See Amir Khusraw, Tlie Campaigns of 'Ald'u'd-
Din Khiljl: Being the Khaza'inul futuh (Treasures of Victory), trans. Mohammad Habib (Madras: D. B.
Taraporewala Sons & Co., 1931), 12.
66
Barani, TFS, 8.
- 2 1 8 -
the transition between the reign of Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq and Sultan Firuz Shah,
Barani lists three rules (zavdbit) that were established by Firuz Shah that were meant to
achieve a greater reliance on sharVah. The first rule (zdbitah) noted by Barani is that he
abandoned capital punishment (tark-i siydsa) that had multiplied in previous days.
67
The
second rule was that he arranged the economic affairs of the state by developing lands for
cultivation to draw revenue from them.
68
The third rule was that he established justice and
beneficence (
c
adl va ihsari) throughout the kingdom.
69
In the case of Firiiz Shah, the claim to abolish siydsa during his reign aided in
developing an image of his rule as being firmly based on sharVah. As has been seen in
the case of Muhammad b. Tughluq, certain sultans were depicted as ignoring the precepts
of sharl
c
ah. In contrast, Firuz Shah was the most successful in producing an image of
himself as a sultan who ruled according to sharl
c
ah. The theme of Firuz Shah's
adherence to sharl
c
ah is found most prominently in
c
Afif's Tdrikh-i Firuz Shdhl. In
chapter sixteen of the first book,
c
Afif dedicated discussion to the rule of Firuz Shah in
relation to shari
c
ah. Under the virtues of Firuz Shah he refers to him as the "beacon of
sharl
c
ah" (rawshan kunandah-yi shan
c
ah).
10
He says that in the age of past sultans the
"laws were not measured" (qanundt ghayr-i qiyds bud). But that -
Sultan Firuz Shah in the time of his reign made the shari
c
ah of
Muhammad the messenger of God (sharl
c
at-i Muhammad rasul Allah)
foremost. He planted trees of compassion (ashjdr-i marahim) in the rose
garden (sahn-i gulzdr) of the enslaved and the free (banda va ahrar). He
Ibid., 572-74. The "fact" of Firuz Shah's clemency in punishment first appears in Barani and then is
picked up fully in
c
Afif.
68
Ibid., 574-75.
69
Ibid., 575.
70 c
AfIf, TFS, 19.
- 2 1 9 -
removed all that was unlawful (na-mashru
c
at) and he tightened all that
was lawful (mashru
c
)."
71
It is clear from the historiographical record that Firuz Shah made the elevation of
sharVah, at least in rhetoric, a priority during his reign. It was a central topic in the
Futuhat-i Flruz Shahl of Sultan Firuz Shah, a remarkable record of its day and indeed of
the medieval Islamic era.
72
What is now preserved as a "text" of the "Victories of Firuz
Shah" was originally a stone inscription that adorned the dome of the congregational
mosque in the city of Firuzabad constructed under the author's patronage. In this work,
Firuz Shah Tughluq, successor to Muhammad b. Tughluq, "inscribed" his own
history/autobiography.
73
In it he listed the principles of his reign and numbered his
accomplishments.
Following invocatory praises for God and the Prophet, Firuz Shah discusses past
ages when there was a prevalence of cruel punishments that contradicted just rule. He
prefaces this discussion by situating his reign as emerging from a period when all kinds
of innovations (bid
c
at-ha) and unlawful things (munkarat) had spread (shaH
0
shuda)
throughout the land of India {Hindustan). Specifically he says that people had turned
71
Ibid., 98-99.
The first printed edition of the Futuhat-i Flruz Shahl was Firuz Shah Tughluq, Futuhat-i Firuz Shahl, ed.
Mir Hasan (Delhi: Rizvi Press, 1885). The next printing with a translation that followed was produced in
1941. See Firuz Shah Tughluq, "Futuhat-i Firuzshahl," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal 7, no.
1 (1941): 61-89. For the translation of N.B. Roy see Flruz Shah Tughluq, "The Victories of Sultan Firuz
Shah of Tughluq Dynasty: English Translation of Futuhat-i Flruz Shahl by N.B. Roy," Islamic Culture 15,
no. 1 (1941): 449-64. I have relied on the Aligarh edition, Tughluq, Futuhat-i Flruz Shahl. For an
introduction overview to the Futuhat-i Flruz Shahl that includes a Persian edition and translation see Firuz
Shah Tughluq, The Futuhat-i Firuz Shahi, ed. Azra Alavi, trans. Azra Alavi (Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i
Delli, 1996).
Khaliq Ahmad Nizami has argued for the importance of reading the Futuhat-i Flruz Shahl as an
inscription rather than "text" paying particular attention to the place of that inscription which determined to
a large degree its content. See Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, "The Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi as a Medieval
Inscription" (paper presented at the Seminar on Medieval Inscriptions, Aligarh, India, February 6-8, 1970),
28-35.
- 220-
away from the "the ways of the SunnI" (sunan-i sunniyah) and he saw it as an obligation
(wdjib) to completely eradicate the false customs that were against sharVah (khildf-i
shar
c
). In the Futuhat-i Firuz Shahl, Firuz Shah singles out ShTa communities, referred
to as the ravafiz of the shi
c
l mazhaban and the mulhidan and ibahatiyan for specific
punishment, a literary strategy that reveals the sectarian nature of the Sultanate.
74
The first innovation to be extinguished on the Sultan's list was the death penalty
in cases where his Muslim subjects were concerned. He writes, "In the past much Muslim
blood {khun-i Musulmdndn) used to be spilt and many kinds of torture (ta
c
_zib) were
carried out."
75
To great effect he provides a lengthy and gruesome list -
Hands, feet, ears, and noses were cut off; eyes were gouged out; molten
lead was poured down people's throats; the bones of the hands, feet, and
chest were smashed with mallets; skin was burnt with fire; nails were
driven into the hands, feet, and chest; flesh was torn away; beatings with a
scourge spiked with iron nails; chopping off of feet and men were sawn in
half.
76
Sultan Firuz Shah goes on to say the he will endeavor to halt the spilling of
Muslim blood unjustly and end all forms of torture. He says that the justification
for spreading terror {ru
c
b) and fear (khawf) in the hearts of people was to keep the
affairs of the Sultanate in order, a principle that according to him was commonly
illustrated by the following verse -
"If you wish the kingdom to be at peace,
Tughluq, Futuhat-i Firuz Shahi, 6-7. For discussion of the ibahatiyan see BaranI, FJ, 66.
Tughluq, Futuhat-i Firuz Shahl, 2.
76
Ibid.
-221 -
Then keep the sword at war."
However, Flruz Shah claims to have rejected this principle and with the "grace of
God" (fqzl-i IlahT) changed "severities" (tashaddudai) and "threats" (takhwlfdt) into
"benevolence" (rifq), "kindness" (karam), and "doing good" (ihsdn). For Flruz Shah this
meant that those who deviate from the "path of the sharVah" (rdh-i shar
c
) will receive
their due according to "rule of the Qur
D
an" (hukm-i kitdb) and the "judgment of the qqzt"
(qqza-yi qqzt). This was a significant claim for a sultan of Delhi. It represented an attempt
to delegate the broadest range of legal matters to the court of judges. Yet, it did not
explicitly impinge on his ability to handle a whole variety of crimes that could be
considered matters of the state.
The concern for the killing of Muslims by Muslim kings displayed so prominently
in the Sultan's inscription was also a recurrent theme in historiography of the period.
c
Afif discussed the awareness of the disapproval of the violence of Muslim against
Muslim in a number of places in his history. This issue is raised prominently after Flruz
Shah considered invading Dawlatabad, the independent Muslim kingdom in south India.
The advice he received on this military adventure is put in the voice of his vizier Khan-i
Jahan who lists no less than ten disadvantages of attacking the "people of Islam" (ahl-i
Islam).
7
* This discourse is punctuated with a hadlth that quotes the Prophet saying that
shame comes to Muslims who attack other Muslims because "the believers are brothers"
Ibid., 3.
c
Afif reproduces this attitude of the Sultan wholeheartedly and uncritically in his history of Firuz
Shah's reign. He quotes the same verse in the opening to his section on Flruz Shah to illustrate his great
benevolence and justice.
c
Af!f, TFS, 20. Hasan Nizami utilized this same verse to justify an ideology of
jihad during the early Delhi Sultanate. See Nizami, "Taj al-maasir," fol. 9.
78 c
AfIf, TFS, 265.
- 2 2 2 -
(innamd al-muminun akhuhu).
19
Historians were challenged to represent the justice of
Muslim kings as striking the proper balance between distinct legal categories, those
embodied in the gavabit of sultans and the sharl
c
ah under the purview of the
c
ulamd
:
'.
The occasions of intra-communal punishment made that challenge all the more difficult.
When looked at over time, narrative developments in Sultanate historiography
concerning the cases for punishment, and in particular the death penalty, signify an
increased legalism and thus preoccupation with juridical processes. The detail accorded
to narratives of punishment was an expression of the concern for law exhibited during the
Delhi Sultanate. It has been noted that the Tughluq Sultans greatly increased the
patronage and development of legal writings.
80
Zafarul Islam commented that "it may be
said with certainty that the reign of the Tughluq sultans (fourteenth century C.E.) is a
formative period of the fiqh literature in India."
81
The two most significant legal texts
were produced under the patronage of Firuz Shah, the Fiqh-i Firuz Shdhl and the Fatdva
al- Tdtdrkhdnlyah?
2
The increased concern and awareness of legal matters can also be seen in the
monumental architecture constructed during the reign of the Tughluq sultans. Of
,v
Ibid., 266.
See Zafarul Islam, "The Contribution of the Tughluq Sultans to Islamic Jurisprudence," Majallat al-
Ta
3
rlkhal-Islaml2, no. 3-4 (1997): 516-28.
1
Islam, "Development of Fiqh Literature in the Sultanate Period," 87.
82


The Fatdvd al-Tatarkhamyah is available in a Beirut edition. See
c
Alim ibn
c
Ala
:
', al-Fatawd al-
tdtdrkhdnlyahfi al-fiqh al-hanafi, ed.
c
Abd al-Latif Hasan
c
Abd al-Rahman, 1st ed., 4 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-
Kutub al-
c
IlmTyah, 2005). The Fiqh-i Firuz Shdhi is still only available in manuscript. See Sadr al-DIn
Ya
c
qub Muzaffar Kuhrami, "Fiqh-i Firuz Shahl," in India Office Collection British Library (London).
- 2 2 3 -
prominent note was the HawzKhass Madrasa patronized by Firuz Shah.
83
The concern
for the patronage of institutions where legal matters were studied was emphasized in
historiography of the period particularly depicting Firuz Shah's efforts to build new and
restore existing madrasas.
M
Justice, Punishment, and Impartiality
One framework for reconciling sharVah and siydsa was to emphasize the
impartiality of the sultan in administering justice. This theme is taken up by Barani in two
sequential chapters found in the Fatdvd-yi Jahandarl. He begins his section on justice
through the oratio recta of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna saying, "Justice is a balance on
which the affairs of the truth and the false are weighed out. In justice the rightful and
wrongful claims are born out. It exposes cruelty and oppression, wrath and destruction so
that there is no stability in the affairs of men without justice."
85
Thus justice provides the
ultimate order of society without which it would devolve into chaos. For Barani, a king
must have a "natural disposition to justice" (adl-i jibillt) for which Barani lists twenty
identifying traits. He highlights one saying, "No one can influence him (the king) where
the administration of justice is concerned."
86
To illustrate the natural disposition toward justice he gives an anecdote in the
form of a hikdyat. As was seen earlier, Barani's views of justice were particularly tested
83
See Anthony Welch, "A Medieval Center of Learning in India: The Hauz Khas Madrasa in Delhi,"
Muqarnas 13 (1996): 165-90.
84
This was the case with
c
Afif who documented the Sultan's efforts. See
c
Afif, TFS, 511-12.
Barani, FJ, 66.
86
Ibid., 182 (tr. 52).
- 2 2 4 -
by the question of capital punishment and the shedding of the blood of Muslims (khun-i
Musulmdnari). He attempts to resolve this with an example from the caliphate of
c
Umar
b. al-Khattab (r. 13/634-23/644) that he uses to illustrate his vision of the relationship
between justice, punishment, and the impartiality of the ruler.
c
Umar, as represented by
BaranI, is the paradigmatic example of the just ruler, a position he says he occupies along
with the pre-Islamic Sasanid ruler Nushlrvan (r. 531-579 C.E.) further emphasizing the
dichotomous nature of the sources of legitimacy for sultanic authority.
The particular anecdote BaranI chose from the life of
c
Umar was the sentencing
of his son Abu Shahma to be flogged for drinking alcohol, a punishment that led to his
son's death. Saying of
c
Umar -
He did not give special treatment to his son in giving a right judgment, and
his paternal affection did not prevent him from enforcing the punishment
according to hadd shar
c
l. Wise men know that such a perfect and innately
justice man who let his own son die according to hadd shar
c
l would not
allow any relationship to catch hold of his hand or to restrain him in
enforcing the orders of the shar
c
.
S7
Here
c
Umar's execution of his own son serves as the ultimate example of the
impartial justice of a ruler. BaranI stresses necessity of strict adherence to the letter of the
law, an attitude that has significant implications for the overall treatment of capital
punishment and the activity of the ruler in maintaining self-discipline in the Muslim
community. Even though BaranI argues that this specific case was covered by sharl
c
ah
he goes on to deal with the cases for punishment not covered under sharVah and makes
an argument for an independent body of legal justifications.
Ibid., 188 (tr. 55).
- 2 2 5 -
The theme of the impartiality of the king in administering justice and punishment
can be seen in a number of other places in Sultanate historiography. BaranI discusses the
impartiality of the justice delivered by Ghiyas al-Din Balban (r. 664/1266-685/1287). He
says that he did not give special treatment for his family, associates, or nobles when they
would commit an offence (mazlumat kardl). This is illustrated by the punishment meted
out to Malik Baq-baq for the killing of a servant while drunk during Balban's reign.
88
Malik Baq-baq, father of Malik Qira-beg who was a slave ibanda) of the Sultan, killed a
servant (farrdshi) with his own hands by means of the scourge (dirra). Malik Baq-baq
held high court appointment and at the time possessed the iqtd
c
of Bada'un, one of the
most prized possessions of the Delhi Sultanate. When Sultan Balban found out about this
brutal and senseless act of violence he ordered that Malik Baq-baq be scourged before the
eyes of the wife of the murdered servant. The intelligence officer (band) of Bada
3
un who
was negligent in reporting the incident was hung from the gates of city.
BaranI also goes on to narrate a related incident that involved Haybat Khan the
father of Qlran
c
Ala
c,
i who was a slave (banda) and qorabeg of the Sultan. He likewise
killed a man while being drunk and the Sultan ordered that he be given five-hundred
blows with the scourge {dirra) before his own eyes. He then ordered that Haybat Khan be
turned over to the wife of the murdered man to execute him herself. However, through
negotiations Haybat Khan was able to purchase his release for twenty-thousand coins
(tanka).*
9
Both of these anecdotes are positioned within Baranfs narrative to illustrate the
impartiality of the Sultan in administering justice.
88
BaranI, TFS, 40.
89
Ibid., 40-41.
- 2 2 6 -
The Cases for Capital Punishment under Firuz Shah's Clemency
From a general perspective, narratives of punishment in Sultanate historiography
depict the swiftness and retributive aspect of the sultan's authority. This was less the case
with representations of the reign of Sultan Firuz Shah who was more frequently described
as possessing clemency and forgiveness. This is largely due to the efforts of
c
Afif who
overall saw these characteristics as ranking highest amongst the qualities and traits of
sultans. As noted earlier,
c
Afif describes in great detail the ten attributes (maqdmdt) of
kingship, adopting terminology common to the circles of Sufi mystics.
90
The first three of
these attributes figure prominently in historiographic representations of Firuz Shah
particularly in regard to punishment: mercy (shafaqat), forgiveness (
c
afv), justice and
grace (
c
adl va fazl).
c
Afif says that the sultans of old (saldtln-i plshin) did not show
clemency (hilm) in the affairs of world-rule (jahdndarl), because it was believed that
excessive clemency (hilm) caused much harm (ziydn). But Sultan Firuz Shah had a
sincere heart (ikhlds-i dil)
c
Afif argued and was honest in intent (niyat-i sadiq). He says
with God's help the Sultan displayed clemency during his forty-year reign.
However,
c
Afif lists two crimes for which Sultan Firuz Shah was strict in issuing
punishment. One was theft (duzd-i birilni) and the other murder (ashkhds-i khurii).
c
Afif's
reasoning for this is that those two crimes infringe on the rights of others (huquq-i
dlgardn). Therefore, the Sultan issued capital punishment (siydsat kardah) to both of
Again the ten are (1) mercy (shafaqat), (2) forgiveness (
c
afv), (3) justice and grace (
c
adl va fazl), (4)
fight and combat (muqatala va muharaba), (5) generosity in bestowing gifts (Jsar va iftikhdr), (6) grandeur
and awe (
c
azmat va r
c
ub), (7) intelligence and insight (hushiyari va bldarT), (8) wakefulness and vigilance
(intbah va 'ibrat), (9) conquest and victory (fath va nusrat), and (10) wisdom and discernment (kiyasat va
firasat).
c
Affi,TFS,4-l9.
-227 -
those groups of criminals.
91
In one special case meant to exhibit the strictness of Firuz
Shah in punishing a murderer (khuni),
c
Afif highlights Firuz Shah's ability to be swift in
punishment, a trait which he legitimates by saying it is in accordance with rules of kings
{aln-i jahanddran va qavanin-i tajdaran). This case involved the sons of Malik Yusuf
Bughra a high official in the court of Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq. These sons had been
born from different mothers and the elder brother killed the younger brother presumably
to ensure his full inheritance.
c
Afif reports that the Sultan was "shocked" (mutahayyir
monad) to hear of the murder. After much deliberation and careful consideration he
ordered the execution (qasas farmud) of the elder son, despite the fact that according to
c
Afif the Sultan had mercy (shafaqat) for him.
92
Another important example of the benevolence and impartiality of the Sultan is
illustrated by the events just following his ascension to the throne in Delhi following the
death of Muhammad b. Tughluq.
c
Afif s narrative of the inauguration of Firuz Shah's
rule culminates with the surreptitious execution of Ahmad b. Ayaz, the vazir to
Muhammad b. Tughluq and bearer of the title of Khvajah-i Jahan. The full details of the
transition of authority from Muhammad b. Tughluq to Firuz Shah are difficult to discern
because of the variety and discrepancy of historiographic accounts.
93
However,
c
AfIf s
account of the rise of the new Sultan and execution of the head representative of the
yz
Ibid., 503-04.
Both Peter Jackson and Iqtidar Siddiqui have closely studied the various narratives of the ascension of
Firuz Shah highlighting the difficulty of reconstructing this event. See Siddiqui, Authority and Kingship
under the Sultans of Delhi (Thirteenth-Fourteenth Centuries), 163-69. Cf. Jackson, The Delhi Sultanate: A
Political and Military History, 166-67.
- 2 2 8 -
former regime shows the precarious nature of sultanic authority of the Delhi Sultanate
and the cross-purposes served by the Sultan's justice and punishment.
At the time of Muhammad b. Tughluq's death in 752/1351 Firuz Shah was in
Sind, far from the ensuing struggles over the future of the Sultanate being carried out in
Delhi. Ahmad b. Ayaz was at the center of this conflict holding the highest office in the
empire. In the confusion following the death of Sultan Muhammad b. Tughluq, the
Khvajah-i Jahan had evidently received poor intelligence about the fate of Firuz Shah
who was presumed killed or captured in a battle with Mongol (mughalari) armies.
94
Sensing the urgency of the situation the Khvajah-i Jahan installed the infant son of
Muhammad b. Tughluq on the throne to provide stability at the capital. This proved to be
a mistake and when he learned that Firuz Shah was approaching Delhi he set out to
surrender himself to Firuz Shah.
The subsequent trial and execution of the Khvajah-i Jahan followed an interesting
course of events. According to
c
AfIf, a heated debate ensued amongst the courtiers about
the crime of the "betrayal of enemies" (khiyanat-i a
c
da) committed by the Khvajah-i
Jahan, the bulk of advisors favoring his execution. Firuz Shah adopted the minority
position of clemency in light of the Khvajah-i Jahan's actions but was unable to sway the
members of his court who were unanimous in their position on the execution of the
Khvajah-i Jahan. A compromise was made and me Sultan washed his hands of the affair
by turning the fate of the Khvajah-i Jahan over to the members of his court.
95
According
to
c
Afif the Khvajah-i Jahan was told to leave Delhi and manage the iqta
c
of Samana but
94c
Aftf, 775, 51.
It is interesting to compare this to the advice given by BaranT to Sultan Muhammad on the value of
delegating authority to members of the court.
- 2 2 9 -
was overtaken on the road and executed.
96
Whether or not Firuz Shah was complicit in
the execution of the former vizier will remain the subject of debate. However,
c
Afif
utilized this narrative to highlight the compassion of the newly appointed Sultan in light
of his role as the executor of punishment.
"An Hour of Justice"
I conclude this chapter with a special case for the death penalty from the Delhi
Sultanate that I believe illustrates not only the ways in which justice and punishment are
interwoven together in medieval Muslim histories but also the tensions between the
categories of punishment justified by sharVah and those by the king's rule.
c
Afif narrates a case of capital punishment meted out to a Muslim accused of
first-degree murder. It is the story of one Khvajah Ahmad, a scribe (navisandah) working
in the royal treasury (khazanah). He had employed a tutor in his home to teach the
children at his residence. In the course of their acquaintance their relationship developed
into a love affair {qaziyah-yi muhabbat). Khvajah Ahmad developed misgivings about the
tutor and felt betrayed when he discovered that the tutor had fallen in love with a woman.
The Khvajah in his jealousy conspired to have the tutor killed with the help of two sons
of his slaves. He invited the tutor for drinking and with the help of the others
overpowered him and slit his throat (halq-ash burldand) and disposed of the corpse by
throwing it over the Malik Bridge. Unfortunately for the Khvajah, by chance on the next
day the Sultan Firuz Shah took a walk on that bridge only to discover the corpse. The
Sultan ordered a full investigation of the incident. The body was identified and witnesses
were called. Khvajah Ahmad was summoned to be present before the magistrate but the
96 c
Afif, TFS, 76-78.
- 2 3 0 -
culprit flatly denied the allegation. However, after testimony that included eyewitness
accounts to the murder, the Khvajah was sentenced to death.
c
Afif provides copious details about witnesses, their testimony, and other
evidence produced during the trial that displays a concern for procedural care. It indicates
that the trial of high officials was something of a public spectacle and that the details
were widely known, at least to people of the court.
To escape his punishment Khvajah Ahmad appealed to the Khan-i Jahan to
commute his sentence by way of eighty-thousand coins (tanka) to be paid in blood-
money (baha-yi khuri). The Khan-i Jahan brought this plea of Khvajah Ahmad to the
notice of the Sultan.
c
Afif reports the Sultan's response as if verbatim saying -
Oh foolish Vizier! Anyone with wealth would shed blood with the power
of wealth. If money were taken and heads were turned away from the
spilling of Muslim blood then the state of the opinion of humanity would
fall into difficulty. And one would be ashamed before the chair of
judgment (kursi-yi qqza) on the day of resurrection (fardd-yi qiydmat).
97
The Khan-i Jahan attempted another tactic to dissuade the Sultan by explaining that there
was a problem of thousands of tankas to be accounted for by the Khvajah and some
postponement of the execution was necessary to get the accounts cleared so that the royal
treasury may not suffer the loss. The Sultan was undeterred and ordered the execution
(siydsat). In short, Khvajah Ahmad was put to death in public view along with his two
accomplices.
c
Afif completes this narrative by saying in the words of the Prophet
Muhammad -
if JI
97
Ibid, 508.
- 2 3 1 -
"The justice of one hour is better than sixty years of worship."
98
Here prophetic example served in the projection of the concept of justice during
the Delhi Sultanate. The above apothegm of Arabic and Persian literature in particular is
scattered in desultory forms in historical as well as mirror-for-princes writings, though
without a traceable isndd." Al-Ghazali utilized it in a letter written to Mu
c
izz al-DIn
Ahmad Sanjar in 503/1109-1110, future Sultan of the Great Seljuks. Al-Ghazali wrote,
"The justice of one hour was better than the worship of sixty years." Though obviously
dissatisfied with the political situation of the day he was quick to add saying, "Today
affairs have reached such lengths that the justice of one hour is equal to the worship of
one hundred years."
100
Hasan Nizami was the first to appropriate this prophetic tradition in Indo-Persian
literature using it to highlight the central role of justice in the reign of Shams al-DIn
Iltutmish.
101
Fakhr-i Mudabbir employs it in a section of the Tankh-i Fakhr-i Mudabbir
on the responsibility of the sultan to "order battle and punishment" (muqdtala va siydsat
Ibid. He also quotes this same hadlth in the prolegomena to his history.
c
Af!f, TFS, 9.
Isma
c
Il ibn Muhammad al-
c
AjlunI (d. 1162/1749), the influential late medieval hadith compiler, only
traced this saying back to Abu Nu
c
aym al-Isfaham (336/948-430/1038). See Isma
c
il ibn Muhammad al-
c
AjlunI, Kashf al-kltafa
0
wa-muzU al-ilbds
c
amma ishtahara min al-ahadith
c
ala alsinat al -nas, 2 vols.
(Beirut: Dar Ihya
3
al-Turath al-
c
Arabi, 1351), 2:57.
Quoted in A. K. S. Lambton, "Changing Concepts of Justice and Injustice from the 5th/l 1th Century to
the 8th/14th Century in Persia: The Saljuq Empire and the Ukhanate," Studia Islamica, no. 68 (1988): 39-
40. The phrase "justice of one hour" was also used by the author of the anonymous work Bahr al-Fawd
D
id,
a mirror-for-princes dedicated to the son of the Seljuk ruler of Aleppo, Aq Sunqur. See Lambton, "Islamic
Mirrors for Princes," 421. A further reference to this liadlth in relation to FTruz Shah is found in a letter
from Shaykh Sharaf al-DIn Yahya Maniri (d. ca. 782/1381) advising the Sultan to "be impartial in
dispensing justice." Cited in Rizvi, A History ofSufism in India, 1:231.
NizamT, "Taj al-ma'asir," fol. 97.
- 2 3 2 -
farmudan) and "administer justice" (
c
adl kardari)}
02
In the Adab al-Harb Fakhr-i
Mudabbir makes a second use of this hadlth translating it into Persian and altering the
phrase to suit a different context. Speaking about the virtues of jihad and the fight against
"infidelity" ikufr) on the borderlands of the Muslim world in the regions of Hind, Fakhr-i
Mudabbir creatively remakes the original saying, "One hour spent in the line of the holy
warriors (ghaziyan) is better than sixty years of worship."
103
Barani also employed a
slight variation and Persian translation of this apothegm. He used it to help illustrate the
Hanafi legal principle of the "particular requisite of equitable treatment" (musavat-i
talabl khass), a phrase Barani defines as the equality of litigants before the ruler.
Specifying a justice which adheres to the principle of equality before the law Barani says,
"The reward for one hour of justice ... is greater than seventy years of devotions."
104
The purpose of tracing the peregrinations of this hadlth attributed to the Prophet is
to show how prophetic saying was used in various contexts in the attempt to propagate a
concept of justice that legitimated a variety of actions of sultans.
c
Aflf had employed this
hadlth to legitimate the execution of a prominent Muslim subject functioning in the
service of the Sultan's court in Delhi. He carefully deflects the attention of his readers
away from the fact of the execution to highlight the impartiality and justice of the Sultan.
It has been seen in the preceding discussion that the boundaries between religious
and political legitimacy were in flux throughout the seventh/thirteenth and
eighth/fourteenth century in Northern India. In an age that saw the Delhi Sultanate
102
Mubarak Shah, Ta'rikh-i Fakhru'd-Din Mubdrakshdh being The Historical Introduction to the Book of
Genealogies of Fakhru'd-Din Mubdrakshdh Marvar-riidi [sic] completed in A.D. 1206, 14.
103 - -

_ -
Mubarak Shah, Adab al-harb wa 7 shuja
c
ah, 388.
104
Barani, FJ, 184-85 (tr. 53).
- 2 3 3 -
expand its rule to nearly the entire Indian subcontinent, the sources for legitimacy were
deeply contested in historical writings and were particularly acute in narratives
highlighting the justice and punishment of kings. It is clear that the Delhi Sultanate
cannot be described as possessing either a theocratic or secular form of governance.
While sharl
c
ah was integral to judicial systems necessary to the proper functioning of the
Sultanate it was in the balance with the executive authority of the sultan who, within
certain limits, was capable of exceeding those legal boundaries.
- 2 3 4 -
Conclusion
In the month of Safar of the year 801/1398 Amir Timur was on a bold march
across Punjab steadily making an advance on Delhi. This world-conqueror was already in
the thirtieth year of his reign. Ruling from Samarqand, Timur had extended his influence
to regions spanning from the Black Sea, to the Persian Gulf, and the plateaus of Central
Asia. The purpose of Amir Timur's incursion into South Asia was not to establish any
lasting legacy in the region. As was his war policy elsewhere, "In many of the territories
he conquered, such as northern India, Syria, Anatolia, Mughulistan, and the Qipchaq
steppe, Temur contended himself with the collection of ransom money and the
destruction or chastisement of unfriendly leaders, leaving no permanent administration
behind him."
1
Although the reigning sultan of Delhi, Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah
(796/1394-815/1412), put up resistance, his forces were quickly overrun by the superior
power and numbers of Timur's armies. The Sultan managed to escape but Delhi was not
spared. As historian Muhammad Bihamad Khani noted with deep regret, "All the people,
high and low, young and old, were imprisoned and put to martyrdom."
2
By 801/1398 when Timur invaded Delhi, Firuz Shah, the last great ruler in the
Tughluq dynasty had been dead for ten years. In those ten years no less than five sultans
sat on the throne in Delhi. The fractured continuity of rule in that decade stood in stark
contrast to the lengthy thirty-eight year reign of Firuz Shah. This period of instability
gradually eroded Delhi's centrality and elevated the status of regional kingdoms.
Beatrice Forbes Manz, The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane, Canto ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999), 90.
Muhammad Bihamad Khani, Tarikh-i Muhammadi: Portion Dealing with the Account of Sultan Firoz
Shah, His Successors, and the Minor Kingdoms, from AH 752/AD 1351 to AH 842/AD 1438, trans.
Muhammad Zaki (Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University Press, 1972), 93.
- 2 3 5 -
Succinctly put, "The centralizing authority of the Delhi sultan that had been asserted with
varying success since the time of Muhammad Ghuri (d. 1206) ceased to be a paramount
factor in Indian political life, and its place was taken by kingdoms, many of which were
centers of great artistic achievement, and some of which were better organized and more
powerful than Delhi."
3
Following Tlmur's invasion rulers from Delhi essentially functioned as vassals to
Timur and his offspring. This situation would essentially continue through the Sayyid
dynasty of Muhammad Shah (837/1434-849/1445) who maintained a subservient position
under Tlmur's successor Shah Rukh (811/1409-850/1447). As a result, historians of
Muslim political life in South Asia generally regard the period following Firuz Shah's
death as a margin in time. The relative obscurity of Delhi would begin to change with
Babur's victory at the Battle of Panipat in 932/1526, an event that signified the early
development of the Mughal dynasty, perhaps the greatest Muslim dynasty to rule India.
On Tuesday the twelfth of Rajab/ twenty-fourth of April of that same year, Babur entered
the Delhi fort and by Friday his name was being read at the congregational mosque.
4
It is
quite an ironic twist of fate that Babur, the inheritor of the Timurid legacy, would help to
bring about the revitalization of Delhi. Writing in his memoir Babur acknowledged
Delhi's central status saying, "The capital of all Hindustan is Delhi."
5
This turn of events
would have been a profound shock to
c
AfIf whose only associations with the word
S. M. Ikram, Muslim Civilization in India (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964), 76.
Babur, Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, trans. Wheeler Thackston (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1996), 327.
5
Ibid., 330.
- 2 3 6 -
"Mughal" were fearsome expressions like "plunder" (nahb), "calamity" (hddisa), and the
"cursed" imaWlri).
Delhi's worsening fortunes of the ninth/fifteenth century had a profound effect on
history writing. The major prose history of the post-Flruz Shah era written from the Delhi
perspective is the Tarlkh-i Mubarak Shah! of Yahya b. Ahmad Sirhindi, a work that
covers the period up to 838/1434. Sirhindi deeply lamented the passing of the last great
Tughluq ruler. He eulogized his reign saying, "It has been recorded by veracious
historians and truthful chroniclers of venerable age that, since the time of Nasir al-Din,
son of the late Sultan Shams al-Din Iltutmish, who was a second Naushirwan, there has
been no king (in Delhi) so just, so kind, so courteous and God-fearing, or such a builder
like late FTruz Shah." In writing his history, Sirhindi was confronted with the greatest
disintegration of a centralized Indo-Islamic authority to have occurred since the founding
of the Delhi Sultanate. Sirhindi found himself documenting the famine, plague,
destruction, and pestilence that visited Delhi in his age. Although the history of the Delhi
Sultanate in the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries was not the record of
one seamless transition of rule to another, nor were times always good. Nevertheless, the
disruptive circumstances of the ninth/fifteenth century were definitely unprecedented for
the urbane populace of Delhi.
The fractured nature of Delhi's rule in this period is reflected in the very style of
historiography adopted by Sirhindi. To compensate for the historical break in continuity
he attempts a reorientation and reordering of history through a return to origins. Sirhindi
composed his work for the Sayyid ruler of Delhi, Mubarak Shah (r. 824/1421-837/1434)
Sirhindi, Tankh-i Mubarak Shahl, 140, Yahya b. Ahmad Sirhindi, The Tarlkh-i-Mubarakshahl, trans. K.
K. Basu, vol. 63, Gaekwad's Oriental Series (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1932), 148.
- 2 3 7 -
and titled it appropriately for as he wrote, "If it be accepted by His Majesty, it is hoped
that this slave will be sufficiently pitied for and sympathized, and that the head of his
prosperity will touch the sky of beatitude and felicity."
7
He begins the Tankh-i Mubarak
Shdhl with the Ghurid ruler Mu
c
izz al-Dln Muhammad b. Sam, a figure who he sees as
the founder of the Delhi Sultanate. Just as Juzjani had done for his patron, Sirhindl
intertwines Mubarak Shah's genealogy with Mu
c
izz al-Dln Muhammad b. Sam. He
writes -
When the Great and Glorious God handed over the reins of sovereignty
over Hindustan to Mu
c
izz al-Duniya wa '1-Din Abu '1-Fath Hazrat
Mubarak Shah al-Sultan - may Allah perpetuate his kingdom, his
sovereignty, and may He increase his dignity - the powerful lord of the
universe, the ruler over the sons and daughters of Adam, the lord of the
Persian and Arab king, the potent royal personality befriended by the
Merciful, and the son of Nasir al-Dawlah wa '1-Dln Khizr Khan, the great
and the bountiful and of revered memory - may his tomb be sanctified,
and may he dwell in paradise - and He installed him upon the throne of
the capital city, Delhi, which had been the chief seat of many a great and
noteworthy ruler, the world and its denizens, owing to the immense
benignity and justice of the heavenly-exalted king, were honored with the
gift of law and order.
8
Uniting the Sayyid dynasty with that of the Ghurid rulers of India, Sirhindl was seeking
to bridge the gap in legitimacy created by the troubled successions following Firuz
Shah's death.
Kishori Lai picked up on Sirhindl's negative depiction of this period referring to
the century and a quarter following Amir Timur's sack of Delhi as the "twilight of the
Sultanate." While sounding full of doom and gloom he inserts a note of optimism
concerning the era, "In the political sphere it is a period of disintegration and decay,
Sirhindl, Tankh-i Mubarak Shahi, 4 (tr. 4).
8
Ibid., 2-3 (tr. 3).
- 2 3 8 -
while in the social and cultural spheres it is an age of sustained progress and great
achievement."
9
Of course from the view of Delhi things certainly had gotten worse. From
the perspective of other regions, Delhi's decline offered an opportunity for expansion and
development and this was the case from Gujarat to Bengal, to the Deccan. Kingdoms
which had overtime been subservient to Delhi now consolidated their increasing
independence. As a result, a regionalized historiographical tradition was born out of the
political and cultural efflorescence of this period. Regional histories now adopted the
form of history that inaugurated the Delhi Sultanate, the universal history. It is tantalizing
to consider that the way history was regionalized and universalized was an integral part
of the growth of vernacular literary cultures that were a social and cultural outcome of
this period.
10
In the kingdom of Kalpi southeast of Delhi, Muhammad Bihamad Khani was
producing the Tarlkh-i Muhammad!.
11
Kalpi was one of those princely states to benefit
from the disintegrating influence of Delhi. Scholars, merchants, poets, and craftsmen
sought refuge away from the turmoil. In the process of their migration and resettlement
they greatly elevated the social and cultural life of smaller kingdoms.
12
In the
environment of cultural evolution, Khani's history was the prime example of a return to
origins. It is a universal history in line with that created by JuzjanI, essentially a
Kishori Saran Lai, Twilight of the Sultanate: A Political, Social and Cultural History of the Sultanate of
Delhi from the Invasion ofTimur to the Conquest ofBabur 1398-1526 (New York: Asia Publishing House,
1963), 1.
On the idea of literary cultures see the introduction to Sheldon Pollock, ed., Literary Cultures in History:
Reconstructions from South Asia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 1-36.
Muhammad Bihamad Khani, "Tarikh-i MuhammadI," in British Museum (London).
See Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui, "Kalpi in the 15th Century," Islamic Culture 61, no. 3 (1987): 90-120.
- 2 3 9 -
genealogy that weaves its way back to the origins of the Islamic community, brought up
to the year 842/1438. The work is divided into four parts. The first part details the life of
the Prophet Muhammad, the second the lives of the caliphs through the
c
Abbasids as well
a history of Sufi shaykhs, the third part is dedicated to the rule of Central Asian kings,
and the fourth to the sultans of India.
On the opposite end of the former realms of the Delhi Sultanate, Fayz Allah
BinbanI was composing the Tabaqat-i Mahmud Shdhl, also known as Tarlkh-i Sadr-i
1 T
Jahdn. He served as chief judge (qqzl al-quzdi) and sadr-i jahdn under the sultan of
Gujarat Mahmud Shah (862/1458-917/1511). He was born into a family of scholars who
were dedicated to the sultans of Gujarat. Like Juzjani, he composed a universal history,
beginning with the life of Adam.
As these new histories were written, historiography retained its role in the
manufacture of the symbols of authority. The histories produced during the Delhi
Sultnanate had a profound influence on the view of history from subsequent eras. Mughal
historians reconstructed their view of the Delhi Sultanate from these earlier histories.
14
This was the case of
e
Abd al-Qadir ibn MulQk Shah Badauni (947/1540-1024/1615) and
his major historical work the Muntakhab al-tavdrlkh. There is also the Gulshan-i
Ibrahlml of Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah Astarabadl (ca. 980/1572-1033/1623-4),
known by his pen-name Firishta. Finally, there was the imperial historical project Tarlkh-
Fayz Allah BinbanI, Tarlkh-i Sadr-i Jahdn, ed. Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui (Aligarh: Academic Books,
1988). For brief discussion of this work and some biographical details of Binbanf s life see Siddiqui,
"Intellectual Dimension of the Tabaqat Form of Persian Historiography, Produced in Pre-Mughal India,"
139-46.
For an example of how historians of the Mughal court read histories from the Delhi Sultanate to
reconstruct the tragic events of the accidental death of Ghiyas al-Dln Tughluq Shah see M. Athar Ali, "The
Use of Sources in Mughal Historiography," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 5, no. 3 (1995): 362-64.
- 240-
/ Alfi, a history written to honor the Islamic millennium commissioned under Akbar.
15
The compilation of these works relied heavily on their readings of history from JuzjanI,
Barani, and
c
Afff.
In addition, these histories became the major frame of reference for British
imperialists who saw in them the record of an "Asiatic despotism" that legitimated their
colonial endeavor. Finally, Hindu nationalists on the side of India and Muslim
nationalists on the side of Pakistan each found arguments in histories from the Delhi
Sultanate to support their version of history that fanned the flames and continues to fan
the flames of communalism.
To reassert, the command of history is as much the power over the present and
future, as it is of the past. In it historians make claims to both the "real" and the "ideal."
What we learn from investigating the relationship between religion, politics, and history
in pre-modern South Asia is that early Indo-Persian historiography is as much an
enterprise in representation and identity construction, as a record of dynastic action. In
the end, we will never know if the Delhi Sultanate was actually ninety percent image and
ten percent action. Whatever the answer, there is no doubt that historians played a major
role in the production of the ideas of the pre-modern state. It is also certain that the
interpretation of history writing produced in the Delhi Sultanate will continue to play a
major role in the formation of social and political identity in the present.
15
On Bada
3
uni see Harbans Mukhia, Historians and Historiography during the Reign of Akbar, Vikas
History Series (New Delhi: Vikas Publications House, 1976), 89-131. For Firishta see EIr, s.v. "Feresta,
Tarik-e" (Gavin R. G. Hambly). On the Tdrikh-i Alfi see Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi, "Tarikh-i-Alfi," in
Historians of Medieval India, ed. Mohibbul Hasan (Meerut: Meenakshi Prakashan, 1968; reprint, 1982),
119-28.
-241 -
Bibliography
Abbott, Nabia. Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri. Vol. 1, The University of Chicago
Oriental Institute Publications. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957.
Abou El Fadl, Khalid. Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001.
c
Afif, Shams Siraj. Medieval India in Transition - Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi: A First Hand
Account. Translated by R. C. Jauhri. New Delhi: Sundeep Prakashan, 2001.
. Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi. Edited by Vilayat Husayn. Vol. 119, Bibliotheca Indica.
Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1888.
Afsaruddin, Asma. "In Praise of the Caliphs: Re-Creating History from the Manaqib
Literature." International Journal of Middle East Studies 31, no. 3 (1999): 329-
50.
Ahmad, Aziz. "The Role of the Ulema in Indo-Muslim History." Studia Islamica 31
(1970): 1-13.
. "The Sufi and the Sultan in Pre-Mughal Muslim India." Der Islam 38, no. 1-2
(1963): 142-53.
Ahmad, Nazir. "Diplomatic Relations Between the Sultans of Delhi and the Il-Khans of
Iran." In Islamic Heritage in South Asian Subcontinent, edited by Nazir Ahmad
and I.H.Siddiqui, 60-75. Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 1998.
Ajmal, Mohammad. "A Note on Adab in the Murshid-Murld Relationship." In Moral
Conduct and Authority: The Place of Adab in South Asian Islam, edited by
Barbara Daly Metcalf, 241-51. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
al-
c
AjlunI, Isma
c
Il ibn Muhammad. Kashf al-khafa
0
wa-muzll al-ilbas
c
amma ishtahara
min al-ahddlth
c
ala alsinat al -nds. 2 vols. Beirut: Dar Ihya
0
al-Turath al-
c
Arabi,
1351.
al-
c
AsqalanI, Ibn Hajar. Fath al-barl: Sharh Sahlh al-Bukhan. 1st ed. 15 vols. al-Riyad:
Dar al-Islam, 2000.
- 242-
al-Hasani,
c
Ala Dm ''Ala
3
b. Sa
c
d. Jami
c
al-
c
ulum. Edited by Sajjad Husain. New Delhi:
Indian Council of Historical Research, 1987.
al-Kafiyaji, Muhyi al-Dln (d. 879/1474). Al-Mukhtasar fi
c
ilm al-ta
D
rlkh. Edited by
Muhammad Kamal al-Dln
c
Izz al-Dln. Beirut:
c
Alam al-Kutub, 1990.
al-Qadi, Wadad. "Biographical Dictionaries: Inner Structure and Cultural Significance."
In The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the
Middle East, edited by George N. Atiyeh, 93-122. Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1995.
. "The Development of the Term Ghuldt in Muslim Literature with Special
Reference to the Kaysaniyya." In Akten des VII. Kongresses fiir Arabistik und
Islamwissenschaft, Gottingen, 15. bis 22. August 1974, edited by Albert Dietrich,
295-319. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1976.
al-Tabari, Abu JaTar Muhammad bin Jarlr. The History of al-Tabarl (Ta
D
rlkh al-rusul wa
'l-muluk). Edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater. 40 vols, Bibliotheca Persica. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1986-2007.
al-Tabari, Abu Ja
c
far Muhammad ibn Jarir. Jami
c
al-baydn
c
an ta
D
wll ay al-Qur
D
an. 2nd
ed. 30 vols. Misr: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, 1954-1968.
al-Tirmidhi, Muhammad ibn
C
A1I Hakim. Kitab khatm al-Awliyd
0
. Edited by
c
Uthman
Yahya. Vol. 19, Buhuth wa-dirasat. Beirut: al-Matba
c
ah al-kathullkiyah, 1965.
al-Tirmidhi, Muhammad ibn
c
Ali Hakim The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic
Mysticism: Two Works by Al-Haklm Al-Tirmidhl. Translated by Bernd Radtke and
John O'Kane. Edited by Ian Richard Netton, Curzon Sufi Series. Richmond
Surrey: Curzon Press, 1996.
c
Ala
3
,
c
Alim ibn. al-Fatdwd al-tatarkhaniyah ft al-fiqh al-hanafi. Edited by
c
Abd al-Latif
Hasan
c
Abd al-Rahman. 1st ed. 4 vols. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-
c
Ilmiyah, 2005.
Alam, Muzaffar. The Languages of Political Islam: India 1200-1800. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2004.
. "Shari
c
a and Governance in the Indo-Islamic Context." In Beyond Turk and
Hindu: Rethinking Religious Identities in Islamicate South Asia, edited by David
- 243-
Gilmartin and Bruce Lawrence, 216-45. Gainesville: University Press of Florida,
2000.
Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Holy Quran: Text, Translation and Commentary. Elmhurst:
Tahrike Tarsile Qur
D
an, 1987.
Ali, M. Athar. "Capital of the Sultans: Delhi during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Centuries." In Delhi through the Ages: Essays in Urban History, Culture and
Society, edited by R. E. Frykenberg, 34-44. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986.
. "The Use of Sources in Mughal Historiography." Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society 5, no. 3 (1995): 361-73.
Anon. Slrat-i Flruzshahi: Nuskhah-yi Khuda Bakhsh. Edited by S. H. Askari. Patna:
Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, 1999.
Aquil, Raziuddin. "Miracles, Authority, and Benevolence: Stories of Karamat in Sufi
Literature of the Delhi Sultanate." In Sufi Cults and the Evolution of Medieval
Indian Culture, edited by Anup Taneja, 109-38. Delhi: Indian Council of
Historical Research, 2003.
c
Attar, Farld al-Din. Tazkirat al -Awliya
0
. Edited by Reynold A. Nicholson. 2 vols,
Persian Historical Texts. London: Luzac & Co., 1905-1907.
Aziz, Ahmad. Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment. 1966 ed. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1964.
Azmi, Altaf Ahmad. "Islamic Medicine in India during the Sultanate Period (1206-
1413)." Studies in History of Medicine and Science 18, no. 1 (2002): 1-15.
Babayan, Kathryn. Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early
Modern Iran. Cambridge: Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 2002.
Babur. Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. Translated by Wheeler
Thackston. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Badaunl,
c
Abd al-Qadir ibn Muluk Shah. Muntakhab al-tavarlkh. Edited by Mawlavi
Ahmad
c
Ali. 3 vols, Bibliotheca Indica. Calcutta: College Press, 1865-1869.
- 244-
Banerjee, Jamini Mohan. History of Firuz Shah Tughluq. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal,
1967.
BaranI, Ziya
D
al-Dln. Fatava-yi Jahandari. Edited by Afsar Salim Khan. 1st ed. Vol. 25,
Intisharat-i Idarah-yi Tahqiqat-i Pakistan. Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan,
1972.
. The Political Theory of the Delhi Sultanate {including a translation ofZiauddin
Barani's Fatawa-i Jahandari, circa, 1358-9 A.D.). Translated by Afsar Umar
Salim Khan. Edited by Mohammad Habib and Afsar Umar Salim Khan.
Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1961.
-. "Sahifah-yi Na
c
t-i Muhammadi." In Raza Library. Rampur.
-. Tarlkh-i Firuz Shahl. Edited by Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Vol. 33, Bibliotheca
Indica. Calcutta, 1862.
Bartold, V. V. "Caliph and Sultan." Islamic Quarterly 7, no. 3 and 4 (1963): 117-35.
. "Khalifi Sultan." MirIslama 1 (1912): 202-26, 345-400.
Bashear, Suliman. "Muslim Apocalypses and the Hour: A Case Study in Traditional
Interpretation." Israel Oriental Studies 13 (1993): 75-99.
Battuta, Ibn. Rihlatlbn Battuta. 2 in 1 vols. Cairo: al-Matba
c
ah al-Azharlyah, 1928.
BinbanI, Fayz Allah. Tarlkh-i Sadr-i Jahan. Edited by Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui. Aligarh:
Academic Books, 1988.
Blair, Sheila S. "Sufi Saints and Shrine Architecture in the Early Fourteenth Century."
Muqarnas 7 (1990): 35-49.
Bonner, Michael. "Al-Khalifa al-Mardi: The Accession of Harun al-Rashid." Journal of
the American Oriental Society 108, no. 1 (1988): 79-91.
Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. "The Early Islamic History of Ghur." Central Asiatic
Journal 6, no. 2 (1961): 116-33.
- 245-
. "The Heritage of Rulership in Early Islamic Iran and the Search for Dynastic
Connections with the Past." Iran 9 (1973): 51-62.
. "Mahmud of Ghazna in Contemporary Eyes and Later Persian Literature." Iran 4
(1966): 85-92.
. "The Persian Contribution to Islamic Historiography in the Pre-Mongol Period."
In The Persian Presence in the Islamic World (The Thirteenth Levi Delia Vida
Conference, in Honour of Professor Ehsan Yarshater), edited by Richard G.
Havhanisian and Georges Sabagh, 218-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1998.
. "The Titulature of the Early Ghaznavids." Oriens 15 (1962): 210-33.
Bowering, Gerhard. "The Concept of Time in Islam." Proceedings of the American
Philosophical Society 141, no. 1 (1997): 55-66.
Boyle, John Andrew. "The Death of the Last
c
Abbasid Caliph: A Contemporary Muslim
Account." Journal of Semitic Studies 6, no. 2 (1961): 145-61.
Brett, Michael. The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle
East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century CE. Edited by Hugh
Kennedy, Paul Magdalino, David Abulafia, Benjamin Arbel, Mark Meyerson and
Larry Simon. Vol. 30, The Medieval Mediterranean. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
Brown, Peter. The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity. Edited
by Joseph M. Kitagawa. Vol. 2, Haskell Lectures on History of Religions.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
Browne, Edward Granville. A Literary History of Persia: From the Earliest Times until
Firdawsi (to 1000 A.D.). Vol. 1, Classics of Persian Literature. Bethesda:
Iranbooks, 1997.
Bulliet, Richard W. The Patricians of Nishapur: A Study in Medieval Islamic Social
History. Vol. 16, Harvard Middle Eastern Studies. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1972.
. "The Shaikh Al-Islam and the Evolution of Islamic Society." Studia Islamica,
no. 35 (1972): 53-67.
-246-
Burnett, C. S. F. "An Apocryphal Letter from the Arabic Philosopher Al-Kindi to
Theodore, Frederick II's Astrologer, Concerning Gog and Magog, the Enclosed
Nations, and the Scourge of the Mongols." Viator, no. 15 (1984): 151-67.
Burton-Page, J. "The Tomb of Rukn-i Alam in Multan." In Splendors of the East, edited
by Mortimer Wheeler, 72-81. London: Putnam, 1965.
Busse, Heribert. "Jerusalem in the Story of Muhammad's Night Journey and Ascension."
Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 14 (1991): 1-40.
Cahen, Claude. "The Historiography of the Seljuqid Period." In Historians of the Middle
East, edited by Bernard Lewis and P. M. Holt, 59-78. London: Oxford University
Press, 1962.
Calder, Norman. "TafsTr from Tabari to Ibn Kathir: Problems in the Description of a
Genre, Illustrated with Reference to the Story of Abraham." In Approaches to the
Quran, edited by G. R. Hawting and Abdul-Kader A. Shareef, 101-40. London:
Routledge, 1993.
Causse, M. "The Theology of Separation and the Theology of Community: A Study of
the Prophetic Career of Moses According to the Qur
3
an." In The Quran: Style
and Contents, edited by Andrew Rippin, 37-60. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001.
Chach, Badr-i. Qasa'id-i Badr-i Chdch. Edited by Muhammad Had! 'All Ashk. Kanpur:
Naval Kishur, 1877.
Chodkiewicz, Michel. Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of
Ibn Arabl. Translated by Liadain Sherrard, Golden Palm Series. Cambridge:
Islamic Texts Society, 1993.
Cook, David. Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic. Vol. 21, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early
Islam. Princeton: Darwin Press, 2002.
Cooperson, Michael. Classical Arabic Biography: The Heirs of the Prophets in the Age
of al-Mamun, Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2000.
Cornell, Vincent J. Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism. 1 ed.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998.
- 247-
Cragg, Kenneth. Readings in the Quran. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2004.
Crone, Patricia, and Martin Hinds. God's Caliph: Religious Authority in the First
Centuries of Islam. Vol. 37, University of Cambridge Oriental Publications.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Dabashi, Hamid. "Historical Conditions of Persian Sufism during the Seljuk Period." In
The Heritage of Sufism: Classical Persian Sufism from its Origins to Rumi (700-
1300), edited by Leonard Lewisohn, 137-74. Oxford: Oneworld, 1999.
Denny, Frederick. '"God's Friends:' The Sanctity of Persons in Islam." In Sainthood: Its
Manifestations in World Religions, edited by Richard Kieckhefer and George
Doherty Bond, 69-97. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
DeWeese, Devin. "Untitled." Review of The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam:
Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry, by Omid Safi. Journal of the
American Academy of Religion 76, no. 1 (2008): 177-83.
Di Giovanni, Norman Thomas. The Lesson of the Master: On Borges and his Work. New
York: Continuum, 2003.
Digby, Simon. "Before Timur Came: Provincialization of the Delhi Sultanate through the
Fourteenth Century." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
47, no. 3 (2004): 298-356.
. "Review Article: The Sufi Order in Islam." Bulletin of the School of Oriental
and African Studies 36, no. 1 (1973): 136-39.
. "The Sufi Shaikh as a Source of Authority in Mediaeval India." In Islam et
Societe en Asie du Sud (Collection Purusdrtha, 9), edited by Marc Gaborieau, 57-
77. Paris: Editions de 1'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 1986.
. "The Sufi Shaykh and the Sultan: A Conflict of Claims to Authority in Medieval
India. "Iran 28 (1990): 71-81.
Donner, Fred McGraw. The Early Islamic Conquests. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1981.
- 2 4 8 -
. Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing.
Vol. 14, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam. Princeton: Darwin Press,
1998.
. "
c
Uthman and the Rashidun Caliphs in Ibn
c
Asakir's Tarikh madlnat Dimashq:
A Study of Strategies of Compilation." In Ibn
c
Asakir and Early Islamic History,
edited by James E. Lindsay, 44-61. Princeton: Darwin Press, 2001.
Duri,
c
Abd al-
c
Aziz. The Rise of Historical Writing among the Arabs. Edited by
Lawrence I. Conrad, Modern Classics in Near Eastern Studies. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1983.
Eaton, Richard Maxwell. "The Articulation of Islamic Space in Medieval Deccan." In
Essays on Islam and Indian History, 159-75. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2000.
. The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier 1204-1760. Edited by Barbara
Metcalf. Vol. 17, Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies. Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1993.
. "Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States." In Essays on Islam and Indian
History, 94-132. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000.
El-Hibri, Tayeb. Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the
Narrative of the
c
Abbasid Caliphate. Edited by David Morgan, Cambridge
Studies in Islamic Civilization. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Eliade, Mircea. The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History. 2nd pbk. ed. Vol.
46, Bollingen Series. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Elias, Jamal. "The Sufi Robe (Khirqa) as a Vehicle of Spiritual Authority." In Robes and
Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture, edited by Stewart Gordon, 275-89.
New York: Palgrave, 2001.
Elliot, H. M., and John Dowson. The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: The
Muhammadan Period. 8 vols. London: Triibner and Co., 1867-1877.
-249-
Elmore, Gerald T. Islamic Sainthood in the Fullness of Time: Ibn al-
c
Arabts Book of the
Fabulous Gryphon. Edited by H. Daiber and D. Pingree. Vol. 32, Islamic
Philosophy, Theology, and Science: Texts and Studies Leiden: Brill, 1999.
Ernst, Carl W. Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi
Center. Edited by Annemarie Schimmel, SUNY Series in Muslim Spirituality in
South Asia. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.
. "From Hagiography to Martyrology: Conflicting Testimonies to a Sufi Martyr of
the Delhi Sultanate." History of Religions 24, no. 4 (1985): 308-27.
. "An Indo-Persian Guide to Sufi Shrine Pilgrimage." In Manifestations of
Sainthood in Islam, edited by Grace Martin Smith and Carl W. Ernst, 43-67.
Istanbul: The Isis Press, 1993.
. "The Textual Formation of Oral Teachings in Early Chishtl Sufism." In Texts in
Context: Traditional Hermeneutics edited by Jeffrey R. Timm, 271-97'. Albany:
State University of New York, 1992.
Ernst, Carl W., and Bruce B. Lawrence. Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South
Asia and Beyond. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Evstatiev, Simeon. "On the Perception of the Khatam an-nabiyyln Doctrine in Arabic
Historical Thought: Confirmation or Finality." In Studies in Arabic and Islam,
edited by S. Leder, H.Kilpatrick, B.Martel-Thoumian and H.Schonig, 455-67.
Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2002.
Fahd, Toufic. "The Dream in Medieval Islamic Society." In The Dream and Human
Societies, edited by Roger Caillois and Gustave E. von Grunebaum, 351-63.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.
Farooqi, N. R. "The Legend of Sayyid Salar Mas'ud Ghazi." Islamic Culture 75, no. 3
(1993): 73-84.
Faruqi, Nisar Ahmed. "Amir Khusraw in the Presence of his Mentor Hadrat Nizam al-
Din Awliya." Hamdard Islamicus 16, no. 2 (1993): 5-24.
-250-
Fernandes, Leonor E. The Evolution of a Sufi Institution in Mamluk Egypt: The Khanqah.
Edited by Klaus Schwarz. Vol. 134, Islamkundliche Untersuchungen. Berlin:
Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1988.
Fierro, Maribel. "The Polemic about the Karamat al-awliya
0
and the Development of
Sufism in al-Andalus (Fourth/Tenth-Fifth/Eleventh Centuries)." Bulletin of the
School of Oriental and African Studies 55, no. 2 (1992): 236-49.
Flood, Finbarr. "Ghurid Architecture in the Indus Valley: The Tomb of Shaykh Sadan
ShaMd." Ars Orientalis 3\ (2001): 129-66.
Friedmann, Yohanan. "Finality of Prophethood in Sunni Islam." Jerusalem Studies in
Arabic and Islam 7 (1986): 177-215.
Geary, Patrick J. Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages. rev. ed.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Gibb, Hamilton A. R. "Al-Mawardi's Theory of the Caliphate." In Studies on the
Civilization of Islam, edited by Stanford Shaw and William Polk, 151-65. Boston:
Beacon Press, 1962.
. "Islamic Biographical Literature." In Historians of the Middle East, edited by
Bernard Lewis and P. M. Holt, 54-58. London: Oxford University Press, 1962.
. "Tarikh." In Studies on the Civilization of Islam, edited by Stanford Shaw and
William Polk, 108-37. Boston: Beacon Press, 1962.
Graham, William. "Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation." Journal of
Interdisciplinary History 23, no. 3 (1993): 495-522.
Gross, Jo-Ann. "Authority and Miraculous Behaviour: Reflections on Karamat Stories of
Khwaja
c
Ubaydullah Ahrar." In The Heritage of Sufism: The Legacy of Medieval
Persian Sufism (1150-1500), edited by Leonard Lewisohn, 159-71. Oxford:
Oneworld, 1999.
Guha, Ranajit. "On Some Aspects of the Historiography of Colonial India." Subaltern
Studies 1 (1982): 1-8.
-251 -
Gujarati, Ahmad Sharif. Yusuf Zulaikha, 1580-1585: Dabistan-i Golkundah kl Pahh
Masnavi. Edited by Sayyidah Ja
c
far . Haidarabad, Ae. Pi.: Milne ka patah
Sayyidah Ja
c
far, 1983.
Habib, Man. "Barani's Theory of the History of the Delhi Sultanate." Indian Historical
Review 7 (1981): 99-115.
. "Ziya Barani's Vision of the State." Medieval History Journal 2, no. 1 (1999):
19-36.
Hafsi, Ibrahim. "Recherches sur le Genre Tabaqdt dans la Litterature Arabe." Arabica
23-24(1976-7).
Haji, Hamid. Founding the Fatimid State: The Rise of an Early Islamic Empire - An
annotated English translation of al-Qadi al-Nu'mdn's Iftitah al-Da'wa. Edited by
Farhad Daftary. Vol. 6, Ismaili Texts and Translations Series. London: LB.
Tauris, 2006.
Hallaq, Wael B. "Caliphs, Jurists and the Saljuqs in the Political Thought of Juwayni."
Muslim World 1A, no. 1 (1984): 26-41.
Hambly, Gavin R. G. "From Baghdad to Bukhara, from Ghazna to Delhi: The khil'a
Ceremony in the Transmission of Kingly Pomp and Circumstance." In Robes and
Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture, edited by Stewart Gordon, 193-222.
New York: Palgrave, 2001.
Hamilton, Paul. Historicism. London: Routledge, 1996.
Hanne, Eric J. Putting the Caliph in his Place: Power, Authority, and the Late Abbasid
Caliphate. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2007.
Hardy, Peter. "Didactic Historical Writing in Indian Islam: Ziya al-Din Barani's
Treatment of the Reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq (1324-1351)." In Islam in
Asia, edited by Yohanan Friedmann, 38-59. Jerusalem, 1984.
. "Force and Violence in Indo-Persian Writing on History and Government in
Medieval South Asia." In Islamic Society and Culture: Essays in Honour of
Professor Aziz Ahmad, edited by Milton Israel and N. K. Wagle, 165 -208. New
Delhi: Manohar, 1983.
-252-
-. Historians of Medieval India: Studies in Indo-Muslim Historical Writing.
London: Luzac, 1960.
-. "Mahmud of Ghazna and the Historian." Journal of the Punjab University
Historical Society 14 (1962): 1-36.
. "The 'oratio recta' of Barani's Ta
D
rikh-i-Firuz Shahi' Fact or Fiction?" Bulletin
of the School of Oriental and African Studies 20, no. 1/3 (1957): 315-21.
Hartmann, Angelika. an-Ndsir li-Dln Allah (1180-1225): Politik, Religion, Kultur in der
spdten
c
Abbasidenzeit. Vol. 8, Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur des
Islamischen Orients. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1975.
Hasan, Nurul. "Sahifa-i Na't-i Muhammadi of Zia-ud-Din Barani." Medieval India
Quarterly 1, no. 3 & 4 (1950): 100-05.
Hasan, Perween. "The Footprint of the Prophet." Muqarnas 10 (1993): 335-43.
Hawting, G. R. "Two Citations of the Qur
D
an in 'Historical' Sources for Early Islam." In
Approaches to the Qur
3
dn, edited by G. R. Hawting and Abdul-Kader A. Shareef,
260-68. London: Routledge, 1993.
Hobsbawm, Eric. "Introduction: Inventing Traditions." In The Invention of Tradition,
edited by Eric Hobsbawm and T. O. Ranger, 1-14. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1992.
Hodgson, Marshall G. S. The Venture of Islam, pbk. ed. 3 vols. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1977.
Hodivala, Shahpurshah Hormasji. Studies in Indo-Muslim History: A Critical
Commentary on Elliot and Dowson's History of India as Told by its own
Historians. 2 vols. Bombay, 1939-1957.
Holt, P. M. "The Position and Power of the Mamluk Sultan." Bulletin of the School of
Oriental and African Studies 38, no. 2 (1975): 237-49.
-. "Some Observations on the
c
Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo." Bulletin of the School
of Oriental and African Studies 47, no. 3 (1984): 501-07.
- 2 5 3 -
Hujviri,
c
Ah ibn
c
U_sman. Kashf al-mahjub. Edited by V. A. Zhukovskii. 8th ed. Vol. 89,
Zaban va farhang-i Iran. Tehran: Tahuri, 1381.
Humphreys, R. Stephen. "Qur
D
anic Myth and Narrative Structure in Early Islamic
Historiography." In Tradition and Innovation in Late Antiquity, edited by Frank
M. Clover and R. Stephen Humphreys, 271-90. Madison: University of Wisconsin
Press, 1989.
Hurvitz, Nimrod. "Biographies and Mild Asceticism: A Study of Islamic Moral
Imagination." Studia Islamica, no. 85 (1997): 41-65.
Ibn al-JawzI, Abu al-Faraj. al-Khalifah al-
c
adil
c
Umar ibn al-Khattab: Amir al-
muminln. 1st ed. Amman: Dar al-Isra
D
, 2004.
Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad. The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul
Allah. Translated by Alfred Guillaume. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ikram, S. M. Muslim Civilization in India. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964.
Ishaq, Muhammad. India's Contribution to the Study ofHadith Literature. 2nd ed. Dacca:
University of Dacca, 1976.
Islam, Riazul. "The Rise of the Sammas in Sind." Islamic Culture 22 (1948): 359-82.
. Sufism in South Asia: Impact on Fourteenth Century Muslim Society. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2002.
Islam, Zafarul. "The Contribution of the Tughluq Sultans to Islamic Jurisprudence."
Majallat al-Tarlkh al-Islaml2, no. 3-4 (1997): 516-28.
. "Development of Fiqh Literature in the Sultanate Period." In Islamic Heritage in
South Asian Subcontinent, edited by Nazir Ahmad and I. H. Siddiqui, 83-111.
Jaipur: Publication Scheme, 2000.
Jackson, Peter. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History, Cambridge Studies
in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
- 2 5 4 -
. "The Mamluk Institution in Early Muslim India." Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, no. 2 (1990): 340-58.
. "The Mongols and the Delhi Sultanate in the Reign of Muhammad Tughluq
(1325-1351)." Central Asiatic Journal 19, no. 1-2(1975): 118-57.
. "Turkish Slaves on Islam's Indian Frontier." In Slavery & South Asian History,
edited by Indrani Chatterjee and Richard Maxwell Eaton, 63-82. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 2006.
Jauhri, R.C. "Shams Siraj
c
Afif and his Tarikh-i-Firuzshah: A Study in Persian Tradition
of Writing History." In Indo-Persian Cultural Perspectives: Prof. Bhagwat
Saroop Memorial Volume, edited by Mohammad Aslam Khan and Ravinder
Gargesh Chander Shekhar, 65-79. Delhi: Saud Ahmad Dehlavi, 1998.
Johansen, Baber. "Eigentum, Familie und Obrigkeit im hanafitischen Strafrecht: Das
Verhaltnis der privaten Rechte zu den Forderungen der Allgemeinheit in
hanafitischen Rechtskommentaren." Die Welt des Islams 19, no. 1/4 (1979): 1-73.
. "Sacred and Religious Elements in Hanafite Law: Functions and Limits of the
Absolute Character of Government Authority." In Islam et Politique au Maghreb,
edited by Ernest Gellner and Jean -Claude Vatin , 281-303. Paris: Editions de
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1981.
Juynboll, G. H. A. "Some New Ideas on the Development of Sunna as a Technical Term
in Early Islam." Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 10 (1987): 97-118.
Juzjam, Minhaj Siraj. Tabakat-i Nasirl: A General History of the Muhammadan
Dynasties of Asia, including Hindustan; from A. H. 194 (810 A.D.) to A.H. 658
(1260 A.D.) and the Irruption of the Infidel Mughals into Islam. Translated by H.
G. Raverty. 2 vols. New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, 1970.
. Tabaqdt-i Nasirl. Edited by
c
Abd al-Hayy Habibi. 2nd ed. 2 vols. Kabul:
Anjuman-i Tarikh-i Afghanistan, 1342-1343.
Kaltner, John. Inquiring of Joseph: Getting to Know a Biblical Character through the
Qur
3
an, Interfaces. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2003.
- 255-
Karim, Abdul. "The Khalifa as Recognized in the Coins of Bengal Sultans." Journal of
the Numismatic Society of India 17, no. 2 (1955): 86-91.
Kassis, Riad Aziz. The Book of Proverbs and Arabic Proverbial Works. Vol. 74,
Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, 1999.
Kennedy, Hugh. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from
the Sixth to the Eleventh Century. Edited by P. M. Holt, A History of the Near
East. London: Longman, 1986.
Khalidi, Tarif. Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period. Edited by David
Morgan, Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1994.
Khan, Ahmad Nabi. "The Mausoleum of Saih 'Ala' al-Din at Pakpattan (Punjab): A
Significant Example of the Tugluq Style of Architecture." East and West 24, no.
3-4 (1974): 311-26.
Khan, Iqtidar Alam. "Medieval Indian Notions of Secular Statecraft in Retrospect."
Social Scientist 14, no. 1 (1986): 3-15.
Khan, M. S. "The Life and Works of Fakhr-i Mudabbir." Islamic Culture 51, no. 2
(1977): 127-40.
Khani, Muhammad Bihamad. "Tarikh-i Muhammadl." In British Museum. London.
. Tarikh-i Muhammadi: Portion Dealing with the Account of Sultan Firoz Shah,
His Successors, and the Minor Kingdoms, from AH 752/AD 1351 to AH 842/AD
1438. Translated by Muhammad Zaki. Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University Press,
1972.
Khusraw, Amir. The Campaigns of Ala'u'd-Dln Khiljl: Being the Khazd'inul futuh
(Treasures of Victory). Translated by Mohammad Habib. Madras: D. B.
Taraporewala Sons & Co., 1931.
. Khaza'in al-futiih. Edited by Mohammad Wahid Mirza. 2nd ed, Bibliotheca
Indica. Islamabad: National Book Foundation of Pakistan, 1976.
-256-
. Masnavi-yi Nuh Sipihr. Edited by Mohammad Wahid Mirza. Calcutta: Baptist
Mission Press, 1948.
Kinberg, Leah. "Muhkamat and Mutashabihat (Koran 3/7): Implications of a Koranic Pair
of Terms in Medieval Exegesis." Arabica 35, no. 3 (1988): 143-72.
Kirmani, Muhammad b. Mubarak. Siyar al-Awliya
0
. Lahore: Mu
3
assasah-yi Intisharat-i
Islami, 1978.
Kisai, Muhammad ibn
c
Abd Allah. The Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisdi. Translated by
Wheeler Thackston. Edited by Use Lichtenstadter. Vol. 2, Library of Classical
Arabic Literature. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1978.
Kister, M.J. "Legends in tafslr and hadlth Literature: The Creation of Adam and Related
Stories." In Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Quran, edited
by Andrew Rippin, xi, 334. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988.
Knappert, Jan. Islamic Legends: Histories of the Heroes, Saints, and Prophets of Islam.
Vol. 15:1, Religious Texts in Translation Series Nisaba. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1985.
Kugel, James L. In Potiphar's House: The Interpretive Life of Biblical Texts. 1st pbk. ed.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994.
Kuhrami, Sadr al-Dln Ya
c
qub Muzaffar. "Fiqh-i Flruz Shahl." In India Office Collection
British Library. London.
Kumar, Sunil. "Assertions of Authority: A Study of the Discursive Statements of Two
Sultans of Delhi." In The Making of Indo-Persian Culture: Indian and French
Studies, edited by Muzaffar Alam, Francoise 'Nalini' Delvoye and Marc
Gaborieau, 37-65. New Delhi: Manohar, 2000.
. The Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate 1192-1286. New Delhi: Permanent Black,
2007.
Lai, Kishori Saran. Twilight of the Sultanate: A Political, Social and Cultural History of
the Sultanate of Delhi from the Invasion ofTimur to the Conquest ofBabur 1398-
1526. New York: Asia Publishing House, 1963.
- 2 5 7 -
Lambton, A. K. S. "Changing Concepts of Justice and Injustice from the 5th/llth
Century to the 8th/14th Century in Persia: The Saljuq Empire and the Ilkhanate."
Studia Islamica, no. 68 (1988): 27-60.
. "The Dilemma of Government in Islamic Persia: The Siyasat-Nama of Nizam al-
Mulk." Iran 22 (1984): 55-66.
. "Islamic Mirrors for Princes." In Convegno internazionale sul tema la Persia nel
Medioevo, 419-42. Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1970.
. "Justice in the Medieval Theory of Persian Kingship." Studia Islamica 17
(1962): 91-119.
. State and Government in Medieval Islam: An Introduction to the Study of
Islamic Political Theory: The Jurists. Vol. 36, London Oriental Series. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1981.
. "The Theory of Kingship in the Naslhat ul-Muluk of Ghazali." Islamic Quarterly
1 (1954): 47-55.
Lane-Poole, Stanley. The Coins of the Sultans ofDehliin the British Museum. Edited by
Reginald Stuart Poole, Catalogue of Indian Coins in the British Museum. London:
Gilbert & Rivington, 1884.
Lange, Christian. "Executing Justice in SunnI Islam: Historical, Poetical, Eschatological
and Legal Dimensions of Punishments under the Saljuqs (1055-1194 CE)." Ph.D.
Dissertation, Harvard University, 2006.
. Justice, Punishment and the Medieval Muslim Imagination, Cambridge Studies
in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Lapidus, Ira M. "State and Religion in Islamic Societies." Past and Present 151 (1996):
3-27.
Lawrence, Bruce. "Review Article." Religious Studies Review 4, no. 3 (1978): 171-79.
- 258-
Leder, Stefan. "The Literary Use of the Khabar. A Basic Form of Historical Writing." In
The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, edited by A. Cameron and L. Conrad,
277-315. Princeton: Darwin Press, 1992.
Levanoni, Amalia. "The Mamluk Conception of the Sultanate." International Journal of
Middle East Studies 26, no. 3 (1994): 373-92.
Lewis, Bernard. "Siyasa." In In Quest of an Islamic Humanism: Arabic and Islamic
Studies in Memory of Mohamed al-Nowaihi, edited by Arnold H. Green, 3-14.
Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1984.
Lifshitz, Felice. "Beyond Positivism and Genre: 'Hagiographical' Texts as Historical
Narrative." Viator 25 (1994): 95-114.
Lindsay, James. "
C
AH Ibn
c
Asakir as a Preserver of Qisas al-Anbiya
3
: The Case of David
b. Jesse." Studia Islamica 82 (1995): 45-82.
. "Professors, Prophets and Politicians:
C
A1I ibn
c
Asakir's TarTkh madlnat
dimashq." Ph. D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994.
Lowin, Shari L. The Making of a Forefather: Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegetical
Narratives. Edited by Wadad Kadi and Rotraud Wielandt. Vol. 65, Islamic
History and Civilization: Studies and Texts. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
Madelung, Wilferd. "The Assumption of the Title Shahanshah by the Buyids and 'The
Reign of the Daylam (Dawlat al-Daylam)'." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 28,
no. 2 (1969): 84-108; 68-83.
Mahmood, Tahir. "The Dargah of Sayyid Salar Mas
c
ud Ghazi in Bahraich: Legend,
Tradition and Reality." In Muslim Shrines in India: Their Character, History and
Significance, edited by Christian W. Troll, 24-43. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 2003.
Majumdar, A. K. "Sind." In The Delhi Sultanate, edited by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar,
221-27. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1967.
Makdisi, George. "The Diary in Islamic Historiography: Some Notes." History and
Theory 25, no. 2 (1986): 173-85.
- 259-
Malamud, Margaret. "Sufi Organizations and Structures of Authority in Medieval
Nishapur." IJMES 26, no. 3 (1994): 427-42.
Manz, Beatrice Forbes. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Canto ed. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Marcotte, Roxanne D. "Anushirvan and Buzurgmihr - The Just Ruler and the Wise
Counselor: Two Figures of Persian Traditional Moral Literature." Rocznik
Orientalistyczny 51, no. 2 (1998): 69-90.
Marlow, Louise. Heirarchy and Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought, Cambridge Studies in
Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
. "Kings, Prophets, and the
c
Ulama
D
in Mediaeval Islamic Advice Literature."
Stadia Islamica 81 (1995): 101-20.
Mayaram, Shail. Against History, Against State: Counter Perspectives from the Margins.
New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.
Mazzeo, Joseph. "Allegorical Interpretation and History." Comparative Literature 30, no.
1 (1978): 1-21.
Meisami, Julie Scott. Persian Historiography to the End of the Twelfth Century, Islamic
Surveys. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999.
. "Rulers and the Writing of History." In Writers and Rulers: Perspectives on
their Relationship from Abbasid to Safavid Times, edited by Beatrice Gruendler
and Louise Marlow, 73-95. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2004.
Meri, Joseph W. "The Etiquette of Devotion in the Islamic Cult of Saints." In The Cult of
Saints in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Essays on the Contribution of Peter
Brown, edited by James Howard-Johnston and Paul Antony Hay ward, 263-86.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Meserve, Ruth I. "The Inhospitable Land of the Barbarian. (1. Chinese views; 2. Indian
views; 3. Persian and Arabic views; 4. The Land of Gog and Magog: Islamic,
Christian, and Talmudic views; 5. Greek, Roman and Byzantine views.)." Journal
of Asian History 1, no. 16 (1982): 51-89.
-260-
Mikhail, Hanna. Politics and Revelation: Mawardi and After. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 1995.
Mojaddedi, Jawid A. The Biographical Tradition in Sufism: The tabaqat Genre from al-
Sulami to Jdml. Edited by Sue Hamilton, Curzon Studies in Asian Religion.
Richmond: Curzon Press, 2001.
Morgan, David. The Mongols. Edited by James Campbell and Barry Cunliffe, The
Peoples of Europe. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.
. "Persian Historians and the Mongols." In Medieval Historical Writing in the
Christian and Islamic Worlds, edited by David Morgan, 109-24. London: School
of Oriental and African Studies University of London, 1982.
Mottahedeh, Roy P. Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society, revised ed.
London: LB. Tauris, 2001.
. "Some Attitudes Towards Monarchy and Absolutism in the Eastern Islamic
World of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries A.D." Israel Oriental Studies 10
(1980): 86-91.
Mubarak Shah, Muhammad ibn Mansur (Fakhr-i Mudabbir). Adah al-harb wa 7
shujd
c
ah. Edited by Ahmad Suhayll Khvansari. Tehran: Intisharat-i Iqbal,
1346/1967.
. Ta'rikh-i Fakhra 'd-Din Mubdrakshdh being The Historical Introduction to the
Book of Genealogies ofFakhru 'd-Din Mubdrakshdh Marvar-rudi [sic] completed
in A.D. 1206. Edited by E. Denison Ross. Vol. 4, James G. Forlong Fund.
London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1927.
Mukhia, Harbans. Historians and Historiography during the Reign of Akbar, Vikas
History Series. New Delhi: Vikas Publications House, 1976.
Mulk, Nizam al-. Siyasatnama. Edited by Hubert Darke. Tehran: Bungah-i Tarjamah va
Nashr-i Kitab, 1962.
Muslim (d. 261/875), Abu 1-Husayn b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayrl al-Nlsaburi. Sahlh. Edited
by Muhammad Fu
D
ad
c
Abd al-Baql. 5 vols. Cairo: Dar Ihya al-Kutub al-
c
Arabiyah, 1955-56.
-261 -
Neuwirth, Angelika. "Qur'an and History - A Disputed Relationship Some Reflections on
Qur'anic History and History in the Qur'an." Journal of Qur'anic Studies 5, no. 1
(2003): 1-18.
Nizami, Hasan. "Taj al-ma'asir." In India Office Collection British Library. London.
. Taj ul ma'athir: The Crown of Glorious Deeds. Translated by Bhagwat Saroop.
Edited by M. Aslam Khan and Chander Shekar. Delhi: Saud Ahmad Dehlavi,
1998.
Nizami, K. A. "The Impact of Ibn Taimiyya on South Asia." Journal of Islamic Studies 1,
no. 1 (1990): 120-49.
Nizami, Khaliq Ahmad. "The Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi as a Medieval Inscription." Paper
presented at the Seminar on Medieval Inscriptions, Aligarh, India, February 6-8
1970.
. "Iltutmish the Mystic." Islamic Culture 20, no. 2 (1946): 165-80.
. The Life and Times of Shaikh Nizam-u'd-din Auliya. Edited by Khaliq Ahmad
Nizami, Muslim Religious Thinkers of South Asia. Delhi: Idarah-i Adabyat-i
Delli, 1991.
. On History and Historians of Medieval India. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 1983.
. Royalty in Medieval India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1997.
. "Some Aspects of Khanqah Life in Medieval India." Studia Islamica 8 (1957):
51-69.
. Some Aspects of Religion and Politics in India during the Thirteenth Century.
Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1961.
. Supplement to Elliot & Dowson's History of India: Vol. Ill The Khaljis and the
Tughluqs. Vol. 16, IAD Oriental (Original) Series. Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i
Delli, 1981.
-262-
. "Ziya-ud-din Barani." In Historians of Medieval India, edited by Mohibbul
Hasan, 37-52. Meerut: Meenakshi Prakashan, 1968.
Noth, Albrecht, and Lawrence I. Conrad. The Early Arabic Historical Tradition: A
Source-Critical Study. Translated by Michael Bonner. 2nd ed. Vol. 3, Studies in
Late Antiquity and Early Islam. Princeton: Darwin Press, 1994.
Ohlander, Erik S. Sufism in an Age of Transition:
c
Umar al-Suhrawardi and the Rise of
the Islamic Mystical Brotherhoods. Vol. 71, Islamic History and Civilization.
Leiden: Brill, 2008.
Peacock, A. C. S. Mediaeval Islamic Historiography and Political Legitimacy: Bal'ami's
Tarlkhnama, Routledge Studies in the History of Iran and Turkey. London:
Routledge, 2007.
Peters, Rudolph. Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the
Sixteenth to the Twenty-first Century. Edited by Wael B. Hallaq, Themes in
Islamic Law 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Peters, Rudolph, and Gert J. J. De Vries. "Apostasy in Islam." Die Welt des Islams 17, no.
1-4(1977): 1-25.
Petersen, Erling Ladewig.
c
All and Mu
c
awiya in Early Arabic Tradition: Studies on the
Genesis and Growth of Islamic Historical Writing until the End of the Ninth
Century. Translated by P. Lampe Christensen. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1964.
Pollock, Sheldon, ed. Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
Powers, David S. "The Exegetical Genre nasikh al-Qurdn wa mansukhuhu." In
Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Quran, edited by Andrew
Rippin, 117-38. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988.
Pritchett, Frances W. The Romance Tradition in Urdu: Adventures from the Dastan of
Amir Hamzah. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.
Pritsak, Omeljan. "Al-i Burhan." Der Islam 30 (1952): 81-96.
- 263-
Qamaruddin, Muhammad. Crime and Punishment in the Delhi Sultanate, 1206-1526. 1st
ed. Delhi: Adam Publishers & Distributors, 1992.
Qureshi, Ishtiaq Husain. The Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi. 2nd revised ed.
Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1944.
Qushayri,
c
Abd al-Karim ibn Hawazin. al-Risdlah al-Qushayriyah ft Him al-tasawwuf.
Edited by Muhammad
c
Abd al-Rahman Marashli. Beirut: Dar Ihya
3
al-Turath al-
c
ArabI, 1998.
Rabbat, Nasser. "The Meaning of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock." Muqarnas 6 (1989):
12-21.
Radtke, Bernd. "Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi on Miracles." In Miracle et Karama:
Hagiographies Medievales Comparees, edited by Denise Aigle, 287-99.
Turnhout: Brepols, 2000.
. "The Concept of Wilaya in Early Sufism." In The Heritage of Sufism: Classical
Persian Sufism from its Origins to Rumi (700-1300), edited by Leonard
Lewisohn, 483-96. Oxford: Oneworld, 1999.
Rappaport, Roy A. "Enactments of Meaning." In Ritual and Religion in the Making of
Humanity, 104-38. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Raza, S. Jabir. "Nomenclature and Titulature of the Early Turkish Sultans of Delhi Found
in Numismatic Legends." In Medieval Indian Coinages: A Historical and
Economic Perspective, edited by Amiteshwar Jha, 85-96. Nasik: Indian Institute
of Research in Numismatic Studies, 2001.
Renard, John. Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.
. Islam and the Heroic Image: Themes in Literature and the Visual Arts. Edited by
Frederick M. Denny, Studies in Comparative Religion. Columbia: University of
South Carolina Press, 1993.
Rizvi, Saiyid Athar Abbas. A History of Sufism in India. 2 vols. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 1978.
-264-
. "Tarikh-i-Alfi." In Historians of Medieval India, edited by Mohibbul Hasan,
119-28. Meerut: Meenakshi Prakashan, 1968. Reprint, 1982.
Robinson, Chase F. Islamic Historiography, Themes in Islamic History. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Rogers, J. M. "Waqf and Patronage in Seljuk Anatolia: The Epigraphic Evidence."
Anatolian Studies 26 (1976): 69-103.
Rosenthal, Franz. A History of Muslim Historiography. 2nd rev. ed. Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1968.
. Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam. Leiden:
Brill, 1970.
Rubin, Uri. The Eye of the Beholder: The Life of Muhammad as Viewed by the Early
Muslims. Princeton, 1995.
. "Pre-existence and Light: Aspects of the Concept of Nur Muhammad." Israel
Oriental Studies 5 (1975): 62-119.
Sachedina, Abdulaziz Abdulhussein. The Just Ruler in Shi'ite Islam: The Comprehensive
Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1998.
Safi, Omid. The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and
Religious Inquiry. Edited by Carl W. Ernst and Bruce B. Lawrence, Islamic
Civilization and Muslim Networks. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 2006.
Safran, Janina M. The Second Umayyad Caliphate: The Articulation of Caliphal
Legitimacy in al-Andalus. Vol. 33, Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs.
Cambridge: Distributed for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Harvard
University by Harvard University Press, 2000.
Sarkar, Nilanjan. "The Voice of Mahmud': The Hero in Ziya Baram's Fatdwd-i
Jahdnddrl." The Medieval History Journal 9, no. 2 (2006): 327-56.
- 265-
Savant, Sarah Bowen. "Finding Our Place in the Past: Genealogy and Ethnicity in Islam."
Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard, 2006.
Schimmel, Annemarie. And Muhammad is His Messenger: The Veneration of the
Prophet in Islamic Piety. Lahore: Vanguard Books Ltd., 1987.
. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
1975.
. "Yusuf in Mawlana Rumi's Poetry." In The Heritage of Sufism: The Legacy of
Medieval Persian Sufism (1150-1500), edited by Leonard Lewisohn, 45-59.
Oxford: Oneworld, 1999.
Schwartzberg, Joseph. A Historical Atlas of South Asia. 2 ed. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1992.
Sharif, Mi
c
raj Muhammad. "The Sultan and the
c
Ulama in the Turkish Sultanate of
Delhi (1206-1413)." Iqbal 13, no. 3 (1965): 31-58.
Sharma, Sunil. "Amir Khusraw and the Genre of Historical Narratives in Verse."
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 22, no. 1&2
(2002): 112-18.
Sharon, Moshe. "The Umayyads as AM al-Bayt." Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
14(1992): 115-52.
Shoshan, Boaz. Poetics of Islamic Historiography: Deconstructing Tabari's History.
Edited by Wadad Kadi and Rotraud Wielandt. Vol. 53, Islamic History and
Civilization: Studies and Texts. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
Siddiqi, Amir Hasan. "Caliphate and Kingship in Mediaeval Persia." Islamic Culture 9-11
(1935-1937): 560-79, 97-126, 260-79, 390-408, 37-59.
. Caliphate and Kingship in Medieval Persia. Vol. 14, Studies in Islamic History.
Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1977.
. Caliphate and Sultanate. 2nd ed. Karachi: Jamiyat ul-Falah Publication, 1963.
-266-
. "Insignia of Sovereignty during the Caliphate." Proceedings of the Pakistan
History Conference 3 (1953): 67-75.
Siddiqui, Iqtidar Husain. Authority and Kingship under the Sultans of Delhi (Thirteenth-
Fourteenth Centuries). Delhi: Manohar, 2006.
. "Fresh Light on Diva' al-Dln BaranI: The Doyen of Indo-Persian Historians."
Islamic Culture 63, no. 1-2 (1989): 69-94.
. "Intellectual Dimension of the Tabaqat Form of Persian Historiography,
Produced in Pre-Mughal India." In Islamic Heritage in South Asian Subcontinent,
edited by Ahmad Nazir and Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui, 125-50. Jaipur: Publication
Scheme, 1998.
. "Kalpi in the 15th Century." Islamic Culture 61, no. 3 (1987): 90-120.
. "A Note on the Dargah of Salar Masud in Bahraich in Light of the Standard
Historical Sources." In Muslim Shrines in India: Their Character, History and
Significance, edited by Christian W. Troll, 44-47. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 2003.
. "The Origin and Growth of Islamicate Historiography in India: Analysis of the
Thirteenth Century Indo-Persian Historians' Approach to the History of the
Foundation of Muslim Rule in South Asian Sub-Continent." Journal of Objective
Studies 1, no. 1 and 2 (1989): 65-88.
. "The Sultan and the Hindus: A Re-appraisal of Hindu Muslim Relations in the
Sultanate of Delhi during the 13th Century." Journal of Objective Studies 6, no. 2
(1994): 39-49.
Siddiqui, Mahmud Husain. The Memoirs of Sufis Written in India: Reference to Kashaf-
ul-mahjub, Siyar-ul-Auliya, and Siyar-ul-Arifin. 1st ed. Baroda: Maharaja
Sayajirao University of Baroda Press, 1979.
Sijzl, Amir Hasan. Favaid al-fudd. 1 ed. Lahore: Malik Siraj al-Dln 1966.
. Nizam ad-din Awliya: Morals for the Heart. Translated by Bruce B. Lawrence.
Edited by Bernard McGinn, Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist
Press, 1992.
-267-
Simidchieva, Marta. "Kingship and Legitimacy in Nizam al-Mulk's Siyasatnama,
Fifth/Eleventh Century." In Writers and Rulers: Perspectives on their
Relationship from Abbasid to Safavid Times, edited by Beatrice Gruendler and
Louise Marlow, 97-131. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2004.
Sirhindl, Yahya b. Ahmad. The Tarlkh-i-Mubarakshahi. Translated by K. K. Basu. Vol.
63, Gaekwad's Oriental Series. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1932.
. Tdrlkh-i Mubarak Shahi. Edited by Hidayat Husain. Vol. 254, Bibliotheca
Indica. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1931.
Spiegel, Gabrielle M. The Past as Text: The Theory and Practice of Medieval
Historiography. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lai. The Sultanate of Delhi: Including the Arab Invasion of Sindh
711-1526 A.D. 1 ed. Agra: Shiva Lai Agarwala, 1950.
Stern, M. S. "Muhammad and Joseph: A Study of Koranic Narrative." Journal of Near
Eastern Studies 44, no. 3 (1985): 193-204.
Storey, C. A., and Francois de Blois. Persian Literature: A Bio-Biographical Survey. 5
vols. London: Luzac & Co., 1970.
Stroumsa, Sarah. "The Signs of Prophecy: The Emergence and Early Development of a
Theme in Arabic Theological Literature." The Harvard Theological Review 78,
no. 1/2 (1985): 101-14.
Talmon, Shemaryahu. "The 'Desert Motif in the Bible and in Qumran Literature." In
Biblical Motifs: Origins and Transformations, edited by Alexander Altmann, 31-
63. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966.
Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. Culture, Thought, and Social Action: An Anthropological
Perspective. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985.
Taylor, Christopher Schurman. In the Vicinity of the Righteous: Ziyara and the
Veneration of Muslim Saints in Late Medieval Egypt. Edited by Ulrich Haarman
and Wadad Kadi. Vol. 22, Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts.
Leiden: Brill, 1999.
- 268-
Tayob, Abdelkader. "An Analytical Survey of al-Tabarfs Exegesis of the Cultural
Symbolic Construct of fitna." In Approaches to the Quran, edited by G. R.
Hawting and Abdul-Kader A. Shareef, 157-72. London: Routledge, 1993.
. "Political Theory in Tabari and his Contemporaries: Deliberations on the First
Caliph in Islam." Journal for Islamic Studies 18-19 (1998-9): 24-50.
. "Tabari on the Companions of the Prophet: Moral and Political Contours in
Islamic Historical Writing." Journal of the American Oriental Society 119, no. 2
Apr.-Jun. (1999): 203-10.
Tha'labi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad. Ara'is al-majdlis fi qisas al-anbiya', or, Lives of the
Prophets. Translated by William M. Brinner. Edited by Suzanne Pinckney
Stetkevych. Vol. 23, Studies in Arabic Literature. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
Treadwell, Luke. "Shahanshdh and al-Malik al-Mu'ayyad: The Legitimization of Power
in Samanid and Buyid Iran." In Culture and Memory in Medieval Islam: Essays in
Honour of Wilfred Madelung, edited by F. Daftary and J. W. Meri, 318-37.
London: I. B. Tauris, 2003.
Trimingham, J. Spencer. The Sufi Orders in Islam. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971.
Tughluq, Firuz Shah. The Futuhat-i Firuz Shahi. Translated by Azra Alavi. Edited by
Azra Alavi. Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli, 1996.
. Futuhat-i Firuz Shahi. Edited by Mir Hasan. Delhi: Rizvi Press, 1885.
. Futuhat-i Firuz Shahi. Edited by Abdur Rashid. Aligarh: Department of History
Aligarh Muslim University, 1954.
. "Futuhat-i Flruzshahi." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal 7, no. 1
(1941): 61-89.
. "The Victories of Sultan Firuz Shah of Tughluq Dynasty: English Translation of
Futuhat-i Firuz Shdhiby N.B. Roy." Islamic Culture 15, no. 1 (1941): 449-64.
Varisco, Daniel Martin. "Making 'Medieval' Islam Meaningful." Medieval Encounters 13
(2007): 385-412.
-269-
Vernon, Richard. "The Secular Political Culture: Three Views." The Review of Politics
37, no. 4 (1975): 490-512.
Wagoner, Phillip B. '"Sultan Among Hindu Kings': Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization
of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara." The Journal of Asian Studies 55, no. 4 (1996):
851-80.
Wagoner, Phillip B ., and John Henry Rice . " From Delhi to the Deccan : Newly
Discovered Tughluq monuments at Warangal -Sultanpur and the Beginnings of
Indo-Islamic Architecture in Southern India." Artibus Asiae 61, no. 1 (2001): 77-
117.
Wansbrough, John E. The Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic
Salvation History. Vol. 34, London Oriental Series. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1978.
Weber, Max. The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. Translated by A. M.
Henderson and Talcott Parsons. Edited by Talcott Parsons. 1st American ed. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1947.
Welch, Anthony. "A Medieval Center of Learning in India: The Hauz Khas Madrasa in
Delhi." Muqarnas 13 (1996): 165-90.
. "The Shrine of the Holy Footprint in Delhi." Muqarnas 14 (1997): 166-78.
Welch, Anthony, and Howard Crane. "The Tughluqs: Master Builders of the Delhi
Sultanate." Muqarnas 1 (1983): 123-66.
Wensinck, A. J. "The Refused Dignity." In
c
Ajab-Nama: A Volume of Oriental Studies
Presented to Edward G. Browne, 491-99. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1922.
Wheeler, Brannon M. Mecca and Eden: Ritual, Relics, and Territory in Islam. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2006.
. Moses in the Quran and Islamic Exegesis, RoutledgeCurzon Studies in the
Quran. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002.
- 270-
White, Hay den. "The Fictions of Factual Representation." In The Literature of Fact:
Selected Papers from the English Institute, edited by Angus Fletcher, 21-44. New
York: Columbia University Press, 1976.
Wickens, G. M. "Nasir ad-din Tusi on the Fall of Baghdad: A Further Study." Journal of
Semitic Studies 1, no. 1 (1962): 23-35.
Wilson, C. E. "The Wall of Alexander against Gog and Magog; and the Expedition Sent
Out to Find It by the Khalif Wathiq in 842 A.D." Hirth Anniversary Volume
(1923): 575-612.
Wink, Andre. Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Vol. II, The Slave Kings
and the Islamic Conquests 11th-13th Centuries. Leiden: Brill, 1997.
Wolper, Ethel Sara. Cities and Saints: Sufism and the Transformation of Urban Space in
Medieval Anatolia. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press,
2003.
Wright, H. Nelson. Catalogue of the Coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta: Including the
Cabinet of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Vol. 2. Oxford: Published for the
Trustees of the Indian Museum at the Clarendon Press, 1907.
Wurtzel, Carl. "The Umayyads in the History of Khalifa b. Khayyat." Ph.D. Dissertation,
Yale University, 1977.
Yarshater, E. "The Theme of Wine-Drinking and the Concept of the Beloved in Early
Persian Poetry." Studia Islamica, no. 13 (1960): 43-53.
Zadeh, Travis. "Translation, Geography and the Divine Word: Mediating Frontiers in
Pre-modern Islam." Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 2007.
Zaman, Muhammad Qasim. "The Caliphs, the
c
Ulama
D
, and the Law: Defining the Role
and Function of the Caliph in the Early
c
Abbasid Period." Islamic Law and
Society 4, no. 1 (1997): 1-36.
. "Maghazi and the Muhaddithun: Reconsidering the Treatment of 'Historical'
Materials in Early Collections of Hadith." International Journal of Middle East
Studies 28, no. 1 (1996): 1-18.
-271 -
-. Religion and Politics under the Early
c
Abbasids: The Emergence of the Proto-
Sunni Elite. Edited by Ulrich Haarmann and Wadad Kadi. Vol. 16, Islamic
History and Civilization: Studies and Texts. Leiden: Brill, 1997.
- 2 7 2 -