The wonder that was india

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from him and were his enemies. The Sultan was even prepared to abdicate, but his sense of prestige called him to crush all rebellion first.126

For three years the Sultan concentrated on chasing the elusive Taghi and reorganizing the provincial administration. Taghl took shelter with the Sumras of Thatta. The Sultan therefore moved towards Thatta via Kathiawar but on 20 March 1351 he died in a village en route. According to Bada'uni, the sixteenth-century historian, death liberated the Sultan from his people and freed them from him.127

Two daughters had been born to the Sultan, although a subsequent surgical operation had made him sexually impotent. According to 'Isami, the Sultan wished to see the whole world heirless like himself. The Sultan had, however, paid great attention to the education of Firuz, the son of his uncle Rajab. Flruz's mother was the daughter of the Jat chieftain Rai Ranmal Bhatti of Dipalpur, but Firuz inherited neither Jat tenacity nor Turkic ferocity. In private life Firuz continued to drink liquor on the sly, despite the remonstrances of such nobles as Tatar Khan. He was also passionately fond of music, which from the point of view of the Islamic orthodoxy was also a vice.

Sultan Muhammad had appointed Firuz a member of the council of regents. Before his death Muhammad summoned both Firuz and Shaykh NasIru'd-Din Chiragh-i Dihli,128 the famous Chishtiyya sufi of Delhi, to his camp. Following the Sultan's death, the Chaghatay Mongols of Transoxiana, who had joined his army to suppress the rebellion, combined with the Sindi rebels to plunder the Sultan's camp, which was now in a state of turmoil and confusion. The 'ulama' and sufis who were members of Sultan Muhammad's retinue raised Firuz to the throne and silenced his rivals. They believed correctly that a regent ruling in a puppet's name usually made the worst despot. A mature and experienced man who would rule under their guidance was best suited to the time. Firuz was crowned on 23 March 1351. His accession did not mark the restoration of the principle of election129 but was a triumph for the dominant clique of the religious classes and the bureaucracy.

The new Sultan led the army safely from Thatta to Delhi, paying his respects to the sufi monasteries (khanqahs) on the way, and showering gifts on them and on the 'ulama'. When Firuz arrived near Delhi the aged Khwaja-i Jahan, a member of the council of regents who had put a boy of six on the throne, calling him Muhammad's son, surrendered and begged for mercy. Firuz was only too willing to pardon him but acquiesced to the demand of the

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Khwaja's rivals to eliminate him. At the end of August 1351 the Sultan entered Delhi.

Firuz's long reign of thirty-seven years may be divided into two parts. The first period of about twenty years is marked by new legislation to restore peace and prosperity. The last seventeen years saw inanition and a precipitous decline in the strength and prosperity of the sultanate. Until he died in 1368-9 the unpretentious vizier Khan-i Jahan Maqbul, an Islamicized Telingani Hindu, successfully maintained the prestige of the Sultan and governed the country wisely.

Firuz set about reforming the administration. He sent the foreigners who had crowded Sultan Muhammad's court back to their own countries with rich rewards and gifts. The loans advanced by the previous administration for agricultural purposes were written off. Compensation was paid to the heirs of all those whom Sultan Muhammad had executed, and the letters of gratitude obtained from them were deposited in a box at the head of Sultan Muhammad's cenotaph. Pious Sunnis were not executed for treason or crimes against the state, but unorthodox Sunni leaders and Shi'is were annihilated. Painstaking reforms were made in the assessment and collection of land taxes. Newly dug wells and irrigation canals improved cultivation, enabling the government to overcome the food shortage. Gardens and orchards were planted under state patronage. In the early years of Firuz's reign prices were high compared with those of 'Ala'u'd-Din's time but gradually they stabilized. The special tax on some twenty-eight items of Urban trade and commerce deemed un-Islamic was abolished. The manufacturing centres (karkhanas) were developed rapidly by the army of slaves recruited by Firuz, and the promotion of urbanization and the establishment of new towns made the artisans prosperous. Artisans' wages increased, to the dismay of those dependent upon charity and gifts. The Sultan ordered that jobs be created for the unemployed. Free hospitals were established, as was a marriage bureau offering assistance to poor Muslim parents in meeting wedding expenses for their daughters.130

The Sultan paid his army and civil officials by assigning the revenue from iqta's to them. Only a small percentage of soldiers drew a cash salary. All positions were made hereditary, irrespective of competence. During his predecessor's reign the prestige of 'Ala'u'd-Din's once invincible army had vanished; under Firuz, manned by hereditary soldiers, it was reputed to be rotten to the core.

Firuz made little effort to regain lost territory. He led several feeble military expeditions to Bengal, Kangra, and Sind but only to

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assert the tottering central authority. In November 1353 he marched against Bengal. The Ra'is of Gorakhpur and Champaran paid their tribute, but the Raja of Tirhut angered the Sultan by refusing to accompany him on his expedition. In Bengal the rebel Hajji Ilyas fled to the Ikdala mud fort near Pandua in the Malda district. The Sultan was unable to capture the fort quickly and returned to Delhi in order to avoid the horrors of the Bengal monsoon. He reached Delhi in September 1354. Three years later Zafar Khan of Sonargaon visited Delhi to seek the Sultan's help against Hajji Ilyas. The Sultan bided his time and, after Ilyas's death in November 1358, invaded Bengal again. He had hoped to defeat Ilyas's successor, Sikandar, without much difficulty, but Sikandar also took refuge in the Ikdala fort. This time the Sultan succeeded in negotiating a peace settlement and persuaded Sikandar to accept his suzerainty. On his return to Delhi the Sultan decided to attack Raja Gajpati of Jajnagar in Orissa, who had allied himself with the rebellious Bengal sultans. Firuz seized Cuttack and destroyed the Jagannath temple at Purl. Gajpati surrendered, and the Sultan returned to Delhi in May or June 1361 accompanied by a booty of elephants.131

Firuz stayed in Delhi for four years. He then decided to invade the Deccan but wisely changed his mind and instead attacked Nagarkot in the Kangra region. The Raja submitted and offered to pay tribute. The Sultan collected 1,300 Sanskrit manuscripts from the Jwalamukhi and other temples. Some of these were translated into Persian.

The Sultan next marched to Thatta on the bank of the Indus in lower Sind. When the siege proved too protracted and epidemics had taken a heavy toll of his horses, Firuz moved to Gujarat. The Sindl guides misled the army, which suffered severe hardships in the Rann of Kacch. At home, in the absence of news from the army, Khan-i Jahan had wisely maintained the, peace. The Sultan ultimately reached Gujarat and re-equipped the army with the money he had received from Delhi. Again he invaded Thatta and destroyed the Sindi crops. The food shortage in Sind forced its rulers, Jam Unnar and Sadru'd-Din Banbhina, to surrender. Both were taken to Delhi. Banbhina's brother and one of Jam's sons were made governors in Thatta. The Sultan returned with his army after two and a half years' absence, occasioning great rejoicing in Delhi.132

The last years of the Sultan's reign were marked by a precipitous decline in central political control. In 1377-8 a rebellion erupted in Etawa. Another uprising in Katihar resulted in widespread destruction. The Sultan's eldest son, Fath Khan, had died in 1376.

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The new vizier, Khan-i Jahan II, enjoyed Firuz's confidence but he could not match his father's experience. In 1387 he was driven out of Delhi by the Sultan's son Prince Muhammad, who became vizier instead. Firuz abdicated in August 1387, crowning Prince Muhammad king. Two months later Firuz's slaves, numbering 100,000, who hated Muhammad, rebelled. Muhammad fled to the Sirmur hills. Firuz appointed his grandson, Tughluq Shah II, son of Fath Khan, his heir. On 20 September 1388 Firuz died, aged eighty-two.

The process of installing a puppet king from the Tughluq family had already been started by factions of the nobility. After Firuz's death the sultanate grew even weaker. In 1394 an independent kingdom was carved out in Jaunpur. The two important provinces of Malwa and Gujarat were also severed from the Delhi sultanate. Then Timur arrived upon the scene, and his invasion sealed the fate of the Tughluq dynasty.

Timur's family belonged to the Gorgan branch of the Barlas, a Turco-Mongol tribe. His father, Amir Taraghay, was the governor of Kash in Transoxiana. Timur was born on 8 April 1336. Struggling against heavy odds, he asserted his power in neighbouring areas. In 1363 he was wounded by an arrow while fighting in Sistan and was left permanently lame. He was known as Timur (Lang (Timur the Lame). Later the name was Anglicized as Tamerlane. Seven years later he made himself ruler of Balkh. In 1392 he began his five years' campaign that resulted in the conquest of the Caspian provinces, Fars, Armenia, Georgia, Mesopotamia, and south Russia.

In 1396-7 Timur's grandson Pir Muhammad quickly seized Uch and Dlpalpur, but his siege of Multan was protracted. Timur, who had set out on his Indian campaign from Samarqand in March 1398, overtook his grandson after Multan had at last surrendered. In September 1398 Timur crossed the Indus. The Hindu chiefs of the Salt Range gave him passage through their territory, and he met no serious obstacles in his Panjab journey. Only the Rajput fort of Bhatnir offered stiff resistance. The people of Fathabad, Kaythal, Samana, and Panipat fled to Delhi. Timur crossed the Jamuna near Delhi on 11 December. An army sent against him was easily routed, and the Delhi notables offered their allegiance. Nevertheless during the last three days of December 1398 Timur's army sacked Delhi and indiscriminately massacred both Hindus and Muslims.133 Early in January 1399, Timur reached Meerut and plundered it. Travelling through Haridvar, Nagarkot, and Jammu, he crossed the Chenab on 3 March. There he released large numbers of captives to facilitate his return journey. Skilled

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India in 1398

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artisans, masons, and builders were still detained, however, in order to work on his Samarqand monuments. After devoting seven more years to his restless campaigns, Timur died on 18 February 1405. He was buried in the tomb he had planned for his son in Samarqand. His Indian invasion was merely a plundering raid; according to his spurious Autobiographical Memoirs, his principal objective was to fight and pillage the infidels. His army, however, massacred and plundered both Hindus and Muslims. His invasion delivered the death blow to the Tughluq dynasty. Although Timur's ancestors had embraced Islam, his invasion was considered no different from the earlier 'accursed', 'infidel', and 'satanic' Mongol invasions.134

THE SAYYIDS

Before his departure from India, Timur had conferred Multan and Dipalpur on Khizr Khan, the son of Malik Sulayman. These territories were already under Sulayman's control, and after his death Khizr Khan ruled them. Timur's confirmation enhanced Khizr Khan's prestige. Khizr's position was challenged by the adventurer Mallu Iqbal, who rose to power in Delhi. He marched against Khizr Khan but was defeated near Ajodhan and killed in 1405. The kingless nobles of Delhi therefore invited Mahmud Tughluq, Firuz's younger son, to reclaim his ancestral throne. The independent rulers of Gujarat and Malwa refused to help Mahmud. Nevertheless, he ascended the throne but died in 1412. Thereupon Khizr Khan, who four years earlier had failed to capture Delhi, occupied it in June 1414.

It is said that the famous sufi Makhdum-i Jahaniyan had once referred to Khizr's father, Sulayman, as 'Sayyid' (a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad);135 this enabled him and his three successors to claim that lineage. Khizr tried to consolidate Delhi's control from Multan to Kanauj and from the foot of the Himalayas to the Malwa frontier. The dominance of his son and successor, Mubarak Shah (1421-33), however, was challenged by Jasrath, chief of the Khokkhar tribe, who ruled near Sialkot. Mubarak took the field personally, defeated the chief, and demolished some of his forts around Sialkot, but the Lahore iqta' dars failed to finish Jasrath off.

The Sultan's successful expeditions against Mewatis, Katihar, and the Gangetic doab enabled him to collect revenue from that region, although Delhi's authority over their chiefs was precarious.

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In February 1434 the Sultan was assassinated by the dominant faction at his own court.

His adopted son, Muhammad Shah (1434-43), was also unable to combat the intrigues among the leading nobles. In 1440 Mahmud Khalji of Malwa invaded Delhi. The Sultan asked Bahlul Lodi, the iqta'dar of Samana, to help him. Meanwhile, during Mahmud's absence the Sultan of Gujarat had invaded Mandu, the capital of Malwa. Mahmud therefore hastily made peace with Muhammad Shah and returned to Malwa. Bahlul was rewarded with the iqta's of Dipalpur and Lahore and was commissioned to crush Jasrath. Bahlul, however, accepted Jasrath's offers of peace and instead seized territories extending up to Panipat. He was unable to capture Delhi, but the Sultan was reduced to the pitiable position of ruling a territory which extended merely forty miles around his capital.

After Sultan Muhammad Shah's death, his son, Sultan 'Ala'u'd-Din 'Alam Shah (1443-76), came to the throne, but in 1447 he retired to Bada'un, which he had held earlier as an iqta'dar. Bahlul Lodi captured Delhi. 'Alam Shah did not contest Bahlul's usurpation and formally transferred the sovereignty of Delhi to him in 1451. He himself ruled over Bada'un and its neighbourhood until his death in 1476.

The Sayyids had ruled in name only, but the Lodis revived the prestige of the Delhi sultanate. Nevertheless the distant provinces continued to be independent until one by one they were annexed by Akbar the Great to his empire.

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II THE INDEPENDENT RULING DYNASTIES

BENGAL

The efforts of the Delhi sultans to assert their rule over all the conquered and annexed territories were unsuccessful except for a brief period during Sultan 'Ala'u'd-Din's Khalji's reign. In Bengal submission to the Delhi sultans had been nominal from the time of its conquest by Bakhtiyar Khalji to its complete independence. Sultan Ghiyasu'd-Din Tughluq of Delhi attempted to ensure the loyalty of Bengal by dividing it into three administrative divisions with capitals at Lakhnauti (North Bengal), Sonargaon (East Bengal), and Satgaon (South Bengal), but his measures failed. His successor Muhammad bin Tughluq was unable to assert his authority over Fakhru'd-Din Mubarak Shah (1336-49) of Sonargaon, who undauntedly assumed pretentious titles. In North Bengal, 'Ala'u'd-Din 'Ali Shah (1339-45) declared himself independent and transferred his capital from Lakhnauti to Pandua. Bengal was finally united under one independent rule by 'Ala'u'd-Din's foster-brother, Shamsu'd-Din Ilyas Shah (1345-58), and the Delhi Sultan, Flruz Shah Tughluq, had no alternative but to make peace with him. Ilyas's reign is marked by the development of an impressive coinage system and the number of monuments erected. His successor, Sikandar Shah (1358-90), also successfully defied Firuz's attempts to subdue him. Ghiyasu'd-Din A'zam Shah (1390-1410), who followed Sikandar, established diplomatic and cultural relations with China, and the growth of the port of Chittagong stimulated the increase in trade with the Far East.

In 1415 Raja Ganesa of Dinajpur (Rajshahi), originally a leading noble of the Ilyas Shahi rulers, assumed royal power. Subsequently, at the request of the outraged Bengali 'ulama' and sufis, who repudiated a non-Muslim ruler, Ibrahim Shah Sharqi from the neighbouring Muslim state of Jaunpur invaded Bengal. Peace was soon concluded, however, on the intercession of the leading Bengal sufi Nur Qutb-i 'Alam, and Ganesa's twelve-year-old son, Jadu, was converted to Islam and proclaimed king as Jalalu'd-Din. After Ibrahim Sharqi had returned to Jaunpur, Ganesa reappeared in Bengal and ruled in his son's name until he died in 1418. Upon his

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death in 1431, Jalalu-'d-Din was succeeded by his son, Shamsu'd-Din Ahmad Shah (1431-5). The Ilyas Shahi dynasty was restored in 1437. The second Ilyas Shahi ruler, Ruknu'd-Dln Barbak Shah (1459-74), organized a militia of Ethiopian slaves and recruited Arab soldiers as his palace guards. One of these, Isma'il Shah, conquered Kamrup for his master. Barbak's army also invaded regions as far north as Purnia district, and Bengal control over the Jessore-Khulna districts was strengthened. The Sultan is known as a patron of Bengali literature. The Chinese were deeply impressed by the wall of Pandua, the well-arranged bazaars, and the imposing royal palace.2

In 1487 the Ilyas Shahi dynasty was overthrown by Sultan Shahzada Barbak Shah, the commander of the Ethiopian guards. Bengal was then ruled by Ethiopians until 1494. They were eventually deposed by an Arab, 'Ala'u'd-Din Husayn Shah (1494-1519), who had risen to a high position in their service. After coming to the throne, Husayn replaced the Ethiopian soldiers and administrators with Bengali Hindus and Muslims. He was an indomitable warrior, and his generosity to both Hindus and Muslims has made him a legendary hero in Bengal. The rise of Sher Shah Sur ended the Husayn Shahi dynasty of Bengal, but the state's prosperity under their rule amazed both Portuguese and Chinese visitors. Barbosa tells us of luxury and extravagance among the Muslim aristocracy in whose hands the country's wealth was concentrated. In the cities they lived in brick-built houses with flat roofs and flights of ornamented steps. Bathing-tanks were attached to their houses. Their cuisine was sumptuous. Men wore very thin, long, white garments reaching to their ankles, with cloth girdles under them and silk scarves over them. The poor went around stark naked.3

The principal feature of Husayn Shahi rule in Bengal was a tendency towards unity among all classes of Hindus and Muslims. A genuine pride in Bengali culture and social values had emerged. The Muslim foreigners adopted Bengali customs, while the Hindus learned Persian to secure positions in the administration. This is reflected both in mystical works and in poetry. The movement towards cultural synthesis, however, had by no means eliminated all reactionary and revivalist tendencies.

ASSAM

On the eve of Bakhtiyar Khalji's conquest, Assam was ruled by two

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important Hindu kingdoms. In the western region was the kingdom of Kamata, known as Kamrup in Persian chronicles. Its capital, on the Brahmaputra, was either Gauhati or in its immediate neighbourhood. The other kingdom, Ahom, was in the north-east. There were also many independent chiefs, called bhuyans, who ruled small areas in the region.

At the end of the thirteenth century the Kamata kingdom became independent, but early in the fourteenth century the Bengal governors overran Mymensingh district and then, crossing the Brahmaputra, seized Sylhet (now in Bangladesh). Tippera and Chittagong were annexed as well. Later still Ilyas Shah of Bengal also invaded Assam, and numismatic evidence shows his dominion over it. Husayn Shah of Bengal subsequently annexed the whole of the Kamata kingdom as far as Barnadi. In 1515 the Koch tribe established its rule over Kamarupa. Mounting tensions between the King and his nobility during the 1570s forced him to divide the kingdom into two: Kooch Bihar and Kooch Hajo.

The Ahoms of north-eastern Assam consolidated their kingdom in the early thirteenth century. They were related to the Shans. Following Husayn Shah's conquest of Kamata, his son Nusrat Shah (1519-32) attempted to invade the upper Brahmaputra valley but was defeated. Four years later the Bengali sultans launched several naval attacks on the Ahoms but were repulsed. Then, in 1532, Nusrat Shah was assassinated, and the Bengali attacks on Ahom ceased. Finally the great Ahom ruler Suhungmung (1497-1539) crushed the Nagas of the north-eastern hills and made the Ahom kingdom very powerful.4

TIRHUT

Tirhut (Mithila or Videha), bounded by the Himalayas on the north and the Kosi, Gandak, and Ganga on the east, west, and south, was also frequently attacked by the thirteenth-century Turks, but the Karnataka kings of Mithila succeeded in retaining their independence. In 1324-5, however, the Delhi sultanate established its overlordship when Ghiyas'd-Din Tughluq conquered the Tirhut plains. His successor, Muhammad bin Tughluq, issued coins from Tirhut, now called Tughluqpur, while Firuz claimed suzerainty but left it under its Hindu ruler. Ilyas Shah of Bengal also invaded Tirhut and penetrated the interior of Nepal in 1349-50. Subsequently, Tirhut was constantly invaded - even Ibrahim Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur conquered it — and a mosque was

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built at Darbhanga in 1402-3. Yet Tirhut maintained its internal autonomy despite frequent invasions by the Jaunpur and Bengal sultans, until Nusrat Shah of Bengal finally annexed it and appointed his brother-in-law governor of the province. As an island of Hindu culture, the small state of Tirhut preserved ancient Sanskrit works and patronized Sanskrit scholars.5

ORISSA

The independence of Orissa, the coastal plain between the Ganga and the Godavari, was also threatened in Ghiyasu'd-Din Tugh-luq's reign, while Firuz Tughluq's invasion saw the desecration of the famous Jagannath temple at Puri. Bhanudeva III (1352-78) of Orissa submitted to Firuz, promising to send an annual tribute of elephants. Orissa's independence was equally endangered by the Sharqi kings of Jaunpur, the Bahmanids of the Deccan, the Reddis of Kondavidu (the region between the Krishna and the Godavari), and the Vijayanagara empire.

Kapilendra (c. 1434-67), the founder of the Gajapati dynasty of Orissa, defended his kingdom from both the Bahmani and Vijayanagara incursions. Purushottama (1467-97), his successor, lost the southern half of the territory from the Godavari downwards. Under his successors the kingdom was gradually eroded. In 1568 it was annexed by the independent Afghan kingdom of Bengal.6

RAJASTHAN

Rajasthan (the homeland of the Hindu rajas) was the land occupied by the royal families called rajputs (princes). It was composed of independent and semi-independent principalities which came into existence after their liberation from Khalji and Tughluq domination. The most important of these were Mewar and Marwar. Hammir (1314—78) of the Sisodia branch of the Guhilaputras (Guhilots) was the liberator of the medieval state of Mewar which had been conquered by 'Ala'u'd-Din Khalji. In the early fifteenth century the discovery of silver and lead greatly strengthened the kingdom's economy. A new system of weights and measures was introduced. Trade and commerce also increased. An artificial lake, now called Pichhola in modern Udaipur, was -excavated, and pilgrims were given state funds to travel to Hindu religious centres.7

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1. Jami' Masjid (Condregational Mosque), Delhi (p. 296)

2. Pietra Dura in the I'timadu'd-Dawla's tomb, Agra (pp. 293-4)

3. Screen in the Diwan-i Khass in the Red Fort, Delhi (p. 297)

4. Screen of the Sidi Sayyid Mosque, Ahmadabad, Gujarat (p. 286)

5. The Panch Mahal, Fathpur-Sikri (pp. 22-3)

6. The throne in the Diwan-i'Amm, in the Red Fort (p. 296)

7. Jami' Masjid at Mandu, pulpit with canopy (p. 284)

8. Sikri Mosque from the courtyard. The columns of Shaykh Salim Chishti's tomb may be seen in front (p. 291)