Historiography in the Sultanate Period of India

            

            Short History 

Salient features and Historiography in the Sultanate Period of India

During the Sultanate period the Muslim chronicles were not written by monks like Europe, but by the scholars and administrators who were the eye witnesses of the events which took place during this period. Originally the works of the Muslim chronicles were written in Arabic, but soon they switch over to Persian as a substitute language. The work were written from 1200 to 1440 A.D. were divided by the scholars in four divisions.  

1.   General History from the time of Adam- it is a history of Muslims in a particular land of rgion;

2.   The Manaquib or Fazail type of prose eulogy which is usually written about a king but it is not necessary.

3.   The Furstenspieged Didactic History

4.   Artistic forms of History

All the above mentioned type of history were already written in Muslim countries outside India but with the establishment of Turkish supremacy hey appeared in India .

The General History – In Northern India two general histories and one regional history of Islam was produced. They were (a) Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, (b) Tarikh-i-Muhhamadi and  (c) Tarikh-i-mubarakshahi was an example of general history of the Sultanate period.

a)   The Tabaqat-i-Nasiri written by Minhaj or Minhajus Siraj. He worked on different posts during the reign of Slave dynasty of Delhi. In his work he wrote about the prophets and Caliphs. He also traced about the Persian kings rulers of Islamic countries.

b)   The Tarikh-i-Muhhamadi written by Muhammad Bihamad Khani.  The author belonged to Ulma group. His father was an administrator. He worked as Muqti of Irich north of Jhansi in the reign of Sultan of Kalpi. Muhammad Bihamad Khani wrote his chronicle in praise of Sultan Muhammad. The description given in this book was like that of Tabaqat –i-Nasiri. Like the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri  the Tarikh-i-Muhhamadi also dose not have criticism and evaluation of historian.

c)   The Tarikh-i-mubarakshahi written byYahaya bin Ahmad Sarhindi was a significant example of regional history. The writer was a courtier of Sayyid Sultans of Delhi. He borrowed his source material of the works from the earlier writers like Minhaj, Amir Khusrau and Baraniand utilized them in a proper way and described the events in correct sequence.

2. The Manaquib or fazail History- the Manquib means ‘highly stylised prose eulogy’, usually of a ruler, noble learned man of saint in accordance with orthodox religious and ethical slandered. The Tarikh-i-Yamini of Utbi is an example of it. It generally admires Sultan Muhammad of Gazani. In India Shams-Siraj-Afif was the only writer who wrote two books on this style, viz the Sirat-i-Firozshahi and the Tarikh-i-Firozshahi.

The Sirat-i-Firozshahi was written in 1370 A.D. It was divided in four parts. The first part contained the events from the accession of Firoz Shah to his military campaigns to Thatta in Sindh, the second part refers to account of his charities, justice, walfare and other good qualities. The third, part describes about architecture and fourth throw light on the contemporary weapons and data on astronomy.  

In the outset of Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, Prophet Muhammad is praised. God bestowed power to Muhammad and he delegated his powers to two groups namely-(1) the Ulema and (2) Sufi Saints and God fearing Sultans, for the service of Islam. Both the works of Afif describe Firoz as an ideal Sultan.

3.   The Furstenspieged Didactic History – Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firozshahi is a clear example of dedicatic history. It contained account of the reigns of the kings of Delhi Sultanate from Balan to Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq. Barani depicts the reign of each Sultan as a moral melodrama and subordinates facts to effect and avoids detailed chronology of events.

4.   Artistic forms of History – There are three Indian Muslim scholars namely (1) Hasan Nizami, (2) Amir Khusrau and (3)  Isami who used poetry and rhymed prose in the completion of their works.

(1)          Hasan Nizami’s Taj-ul-Maasir. Hasan Nizami was a native of Nishapur. He came to India and produced his work Taj-ul-Maasir between 1206 to 12-17 A.D. In this work he gives a majestic and glorious account of the deeds of Ghori conquerors. Besides this Hasan Nizami throws light on the historical personalities as brave, generous, victorious and cultured heroes.  

(2)          Amir Khusrau and his Works- Amir Khusrau wrote poems in historical context. He was patronized by many Sultans of Delhi from prince Muhammad to Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. His excellent historic poems Quran-ul-Saddain which contained the account of meeting of Sultan Kaikubad and his father Bughra Khan, Quiran-ul-Sadain, Miftah-ul-Futuh Ashiqa, Nuh Sipihr and Tughlaq Mama are important example of it.

(3)          Isami’s Futuh-ul-Salatin-  Isami a great poet and scholar was the grand son of the chief huntsman in the reign of Sultan Muhammad-bin-tughlaq. Isami went fro Delhi to Daulatabad and there he composed this important work. The book contained the history of Delhi Sultans from Muhammad of Ghazni to Muhammad-bin-tughlaq. He had praised Alauddin Khilji very much. It has been composed on the basis of Shahnama of Firdausi.

Salient feature of Muslim Histrography- During Sultanate period history was supposed to be an auxiliary subject for the study of Hadith. Inspite of the fact that history was taught in the education of prince, it was not given place in the curriculam of Muslim schools and colleges.

The Muslim historians never collected accounts of different scholars of the same event nor they evaluated them carefully.

The Muslim historians of India in the Sultanate period depicted events, achievements, military campaigns and victories of the rulers and their officials in order to please their master for getting some royal reward. Hence their works cannot be said to be reliable and authentic. They merely tried to exaggerate the qualities of their master. historians of Delhi Sultanate wrote mostly biographies and personal accounts of the rulers. They did not pay any attention to social or economic description. Some of the Muslim historians had faith in the divine powers and they held God responsible for the existence and annihilation of human being. They considered God’s will after all the happenings.