The wonder that was india

9. Sher Shah's mosque in the old Fort, Delhi (p. 289)

10. Madrasa (college) of Mahmid Gawan in Bidar (p. 287)

11. Shaykh Ruknu'd-Din Multaril's tomb at Multan (p. 281)

12. Mandu, Jahaz Mahal (p. 284)

13. Humayun's tomb in New Delhi (p. 290)

14. The interior of the Jodh Ba'i's palace (p. 292)

In the fifteenth century Rana Kumbhakarana (1433-68) increased his army and built numerous forts to strengthen his defences. He took the petty Rajput states, which owed suzerainty to the Malwa sultans, under his protection. In 1437 he defeated Mahmud Khalji and built a victory tower in Chitor.

Kumbha seized Nagaur and gained many victories over his Rajput enemies. He also defended his territory from the incursions by Malwa and Gujarat on his eastern and western boundaries respectively.8 Kumbha was also a poet, a man of letters, and a musician, writing commentaries on several Sanskrit works. He built many temples, and his architect Mandana composed a treatise on house building, iconography, and ornamentation.9 The Jain community in his kingdom also erected several temples; the most famous are at Rangpur, Sirohi, and Chitor.

Kumbha was followed by two weak rulers, and then the greatest ruler of the dynasty, Rana Sanga (1508-28), ascended the throne. In 1518 Rana Sanga gained a resounding victory over Sultan Mahmud II of Malwa, although the latter had obtained assistance from the Sultan of Gujarat. Kalpi, Bhilsa, Ranthambhor, Sarangpur, and Chanderi, belonging to Malwa, were seized and assigned to chiefs who paid tribute to the Rana. Three years later a Gujarat army, which arrived at Idar to overthrow the local Rajput chief and install his protege on the throne, was driven off by the Rana and chased as far as Ahmadabad. Sultan Ibrahim Lodi's bid to annex Ranthambhor and Ajmir to the Delhi sultanate led Rana Sanga to make peace with the Sultan of Gujarat and to persuade Babur to invade Delhi.

The other leading Rajput state, Marwar, was ruled by the Rathors. Its enterprising ruler, Rao Chanda (1384—1423) seized Khattu, Didwana, Sambhar, Nagaur, and Ajmir. One of his successors, Jodha (1438-89) was a restless warrior who greatly extended his principality. In 1459 he built Jodhpur, naming it after himself, and later, Mandor fort.10 Rana Kumbha made an alliance with him, realistically fixing the Mewar and Marwar boundaries.'' The greatest Rathor ruler was Maldeva (1532-62).

KASHMIR

Kashmir was attacked even by Muhammad bin Qasim, the conqueror of Sind, but neither he nor other Arab invaders succeeded in conquering it. Mahmud of Ghazm's attempt to capture Kashmir also failed. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,

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however, Muslim families began to move to the Kashmir valley, where they obtained employment under its Hindu rulers. One of the settlers was Shah Mir, who arrived apparently from Swat with his family in 1313. Seven years later the Mongol invaders callously slaughtered most of the Kashmiri population and shook the foundations of Hindu rule. After the invaders had left the valley, Rinchana of the Ladakh ruling family, who served the commander-in-chief of Suhadeva, the Hindu ruler of Kashmir, seized the throne. Because he was a Tibetan Buddhist, Rinchana did not get much co-operation from the local Hindu noblemen. The rising wave of Mongol conversions to Islam in Iran and Transoxiana seems eventually to have prompted him to become Muslim, although Shah Mir played an important part in this decision. The stories surrounding Rinchana's conversion may be dismissed as stock-in-trade legends attributed to innumerable conversions.12 He adopted the name Sadru'd-Din. After his death in 1323, Hindu rule was re-established in Kashmir. Nevertheless Shah Mir retained his influence and became very popular when his followers repulsed a second Mongol invasion. He won over the leading Hindu noblemen to his side; imprisoned the widow of the Hindu raja, Kota Rani, whom he subsequently married; and became king in 1339 under the title Shamsu'd-Din. Thus the Shah Mir dynasty of Kashmir was founded. He changed the Hindu feudal framework to the Turkic system based on assigning iqta's which he gave to his loyal commanders, both Hindu and Muslim. Shamsu'd-Din fixed the land tax at 17 per cent on the gross produce and abolished a considerable number of imposts.

Sixteen more members of the Shah Mir dynasty ruled Kashmir between 1342 and 1561. One of them, 'Ala'u'd-Din (1343-54), transferred his capital from Indrakot to 'Ala'u'd-Din-pur (Srinagar). Sultan Shihabu'd-Din (1354-73) loved fighting. He conquered Pakhli, invaded Gilgit, defeated the Kashghari Mongols, and penetrated Ladakh and then Nagarkot. Regions from Kish-twar to Jammu were also conquered by him.14

His successor, Sultan Qutbu'd-Din (1373-89), conquered Punch. During the reign of his son Sikandar (1389-1413), Timur invaded India, but Sikandar was able to save Kashmir by diplomatic negotiations with the invaders. Sikandar also sent a successful expedition against the ruler of Ohind. During his reign a considerable number of Muslims, who had been displaced by Timur's invasions, migrated from Iran and Transoxiana to Srinagar. Their presence led the Sultan to Persianize the administration and the life of the Kashmiri Muslims. The process had already begun during his father's reign with the arrival of Mir Sayyid 'Ali Hamadani and

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his followers. Sikandar's prime minister, Suha Bhatta, who had embraced Islam, strove to Islamicize the country with the efficiency of a new broom. The Kashmiri brahmans were dismissed from top positions. Important temples, including the famous sun-temple of Martand, were desecrated and destroyed. For the first time jizya was imposed on the Hindus. Before his death, however, conscious of the problems resulting from his persecution of the brahmans, the Sultan 'fixed with some difficulty a limit to the advance of the great sea of yavanas (Muslims) and abolished turushkadanda (jizya)'.15

Sikandar's policy was completely reversed by his successor, Sultan Zaynu'l-'Abidin (1420-70). He rebuilt some of the temples destroyed by Sikandar and encouraged the brahmans who had left Kashmir to return to their homeland and resume their former high positions. Islamicized Hindus were also permitted to revert to their ancestral faith. Cremation tax (Hindus burned their dead) was abolished, and cow slaughter (which was contrary to Hinduism) was prohibited. Even sati (the Hindu custom of burning widows on their husband's funeral pyre), which Sikandar had abolished, was permitted. Muslims who supported these policies were also treated generously by the Sultan, and many eminent Muslim scholars moved to Kashmir from India and other Islamic countries. The wave of Islamicization which had been rising among the non-brahman classes did not, however, subside.

The Sultan was a patron of education and learning. He founded Muslim schools in Srinagar, staffed them with famous scholars, and offered grants to students. He established a department to translate Sanskrit works into Persian and vice versa. The translation of the Mahabbarata and Kalhana's Rajatarangini into Persian was its most outstanding achievement.

The Sultan was also interested in developing crafts. It would seem that paper had previously been imported into Kashmir from Samarqand, but the Sultan sent his own artisans there to learn paper making and book binding. Before long, Kashmir became an important centre for both these crafts. Under the Sultan's personal guidance, powder for fireworks was also manufactured in Kashmir. Crafts such as stone polishing, stone cutting, bottle making, window cutting, and gold beating developed in Kashmir because of Sultan Zaynu'l-'Abidln's patronage.16 The Sultan also fostered the development of agriculture; a number of new canals and tanks were dug, and dams were constructed. The Sultan appreciated the necessity of a strong army and stable government and forced xegions such as Ladakh and Baltistan to reacknowledge the suzerainty of the Kashmir sultans.17 Friendly relations were established with the Timurid rulers of Khurasan and Transoxiana, the

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kings of Gilan and Egypt, and the sherifs of Mecca. Many independent Hindu and Muslim rulers also exchanged envoys with him.

The Kashmiris gave Sultan Zaynu'l-'Abidln, the title Bad Shah (the Great King), and he is still remembered by it. His successors were unable to match his achievements, although they were interested in promoting the social and cultural life of the region. Eventually the weaker rulers fell under the domination of adventurers. In 1540 Mirza Haydar Dughlat, whose mother was the sister of Babur's mother, captured Kashmir with the help of disloyal Kashmiris. The Mirza began to rule in the name of Nazuk Shah of the Shah Mir dynasty. Although Haydar streamlined the administration and built many new monuments, he was unable to command the loyalty of the Kashmiri upper classes and in October 1551 he was killed whilst quelling a rebellion. Three rulers of the Shah Mir family succeeded him, but in 1561 the Kashmiri Chaks established a new dynasty and provided the next six rulers until 1588, when Akbar annexed Kashmir to the Mughal empire.

JAUNPUR

Among the dynasties founded by the governors appointed by Firuz Tughluq or his successors, a short-lived but brilliant line was that of the Sharqis of Jaunpur, north of Varanasi. It was founded by Malik Sarwar, a eunuch belonging to Sultan Firuz Tughluq. Malik Sarwar's remarkably rapid rise to power was due largely to the anarchy which followed Firuz's death. Firuz's younger son, Muhammad Shah (1390-3) eventually conferred the title Sultanu'sh-Sharq (Ruler of the Eastern Kingdom) upon him and made him his vizier.18 As a reward for his services he was in 1394 appointed governor of Jaunpur, where he firmly crushed uprisings by the Hindu chiefs of Avadh and Bihar. The chiefs of Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Champaran, and Tirhut acknowledged his over-lordship. When Timur left Delhi, Sarwar- proclaimed himself the independent ruler of Jaunpur. Before his death in November 1399 the western boundary of his kingdom had been extended to Kol (modern 'Aligarh), Sambhal (Muradabad), and Rapri (Mainpuri district). His eastern borders now ran along Bihar and Tirhut.19

Although Sultanu'sh-Sharq was succeeded by his adopted son Malik Mubarak Qaranfal (1399-1401), it was his younger brother, Ibrahim Shah Sharqi (1401-40) who made Jaunpur a powerful kingdom. He made an alliance with Kirti Singh of Tirhut. When

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Tirhut was attacked by a Muslim adventurer, he sent his forces to help him and also attended his coronation. Then he invaded Bengal to remove the Hindu ruler Ganesa from the throne and annexed the petty independent sultanate of Kalpi to his kingdom. He invaded Delhi too, forcing the Sayyid sultan there, Muhammad Shah (1435-46), to make peace with him and sealing the alliance with a marriage between his son and the Sultan's daughter.20

Ibrahim's son, Mahmud Shah Sharqi (1440-57), was also an ambitious ruler. In 1452 he captured Delhi but lost it through the treachery of his Afghan commander, Darya Khan, who supported Delhi's first Afghan ruler, Bahlul Lodi. Bahlul Lodi (1451-89) consolidated the eastern boundaries of the Delhi sultanate from Etawa to Shamsabad. In Jaunpur, Mahmud's successor, Muhammad, was deposed after a few months because of his excessive cruelty. The next ruler, Husayn Shah Sharql, made peace with Bahlul, strengthened the army, and forced Orissa and Gwalior to submit to him.21 In 1469 he invaded Delhi but was driven away before he could cross the Jamuna. In retaliation the Delhi Sultan Bahlul, not content with Etawa and Shamsabad as his eastern boundary, attacked Jaunpur. Husayn Shah had frittered away his resources in raising huge armies, but his three successive bids to defeat Bahlul.failed. In 1481-2 he sustained a crushing defeat near Kanauj. Bahlul reached Jaunpur in a series of forced marches and seized it, issuing coins there in 1483—4.22 Husayn made four more successive efforts to expel Bahlul's governor from Jaunpur, but Bahlul defeated Husayn and forced him to seek refuge in Bihar. The Rajputs, particularly the Bachgotis, were Husayn's staunch supporters and helped him to establish his rule over an area between Chunar and Bihar. In 1494 he suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of Bahlul's successor, Sultan Sikandar Lodi, near Banaras. Sikandar seized Bihar fort, while Husayn Shah took refuge with Sultan 'Ala'u'd-Din Husayn Shah (1493-1518) of Bengal. Sikandar stayed at Jaunpur for six months, demolishing the Sharql monuments in order to demonstrate his control of the district.23 Only the mosques were spared. Husayn Shah died in 1505.

The sultans of Jaunpur were frequently helped by the Hindu chiefs against their Muslim opponents, particularly the Lodis. The fall of the Sharqi kingdom was deemed a personal loss by these Hindu rulers. This short-lived kingdom surpassed others in helping the cause of cultural synthesis and social rapprochement.

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MALWA

The kingdom of Malwa was founded by Husayn Ghuri, whom Firuz Tughluq had made a noble, giving him the title Dilawar Khan. In 1390—1 Firuz's son, Sultan Nasiru'd-Din Muhammad, appointed Dilawar governor of Malwa. After Timur's departure from India, Dilawar proclaimed himself the independent ruler of Malwa with his capital at Dhar.24 His son, Alp Khan, reinforced the defences by completing the fortification of Mandu. Dilawar maintained a conciliatory religious policy which made both Rajputs and other Hindus friendly to him. He even settled Rajputs in his newly acquired territory of Nimar. Dilawar extended his kingdom by snatching Saugar and Damoh from the Delhi sultanate and making the ruler of Chanderi accept his overlordship.

After his death in 1406-7 his son, Alp Khan, became the Sultan of Malwa with the title Hushang Shah (1406-35). Almost immediately Sultan Muzaffar Shah of Gujarat invaded Malwa, defeating Hushang and taking him captive. Nusrat, Muzaffar's brother, who was appointed the governor of Malwa, was unable to control it and returned to Gujarat. Muzaffar intended to crush the popular uprising in Malwa by force, but good sense prevailed and he restored the throne to Hushang. Back in his kingdom, Hushang transferred his capital to Mandu. He then invaded Rai Narsingh Kherla's kingdom in the southern part of Gondvana in order to obtain military assistance and a supply of elephants.26 Profiting from Hushang's absence, Ahmad I of Gujarat besieged Mandu, but Hushang, eluding the invading army, returned to the city, forcing Ahmad to retreat. Hushang then seized Gagraun. His subsequent invasion of Gwalior, however, failed because Mubarak Shah of Delhi relieved the besieged fort. Hushang ensured his popularity with the majority Hindu population by introducing a policy of religious toleration, although he also encouraged the 'ulama' and sufis to settle in Mandu. Many Rajputs settled in his kingdom and served his army loyally. The Jains also supported him and proved an assest to the promotion of trade and commerce in Malwa. Although constant wars against the rulers of Gujarat, Jaunpur, Delhi, and the Bahmanids brought no material gains to his kingdom, they frustrated his neighbours' expansionist designs. Before his death in 1435 Hushang also founded a new town, Hushangabad, on the river Narbada.

His son and heir, Muhammad Shah, was an ineffectual ruler and was deposed by one of his nobles, who ascended the throne in 1436, with the title Mahmud Khalji (1436-69). He crushed Ghurid

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resistance and established the Khalji dynasty. In 1442 he invaded Delhi, but Ahmad Shah of Gujarat's invasion of Malwa forced him to make peace and return to Mandu. In 1443 Mahmud attacked Chitor but, finding the fort impregnable, retreated. The historians of Malwa kingdom nevertheless claim victory for their ruler. Mahmud next captured the Gagraun and Mandalgarh forts on the Malwa border and later, in 1457, again marched against Chitor, once more unsuccessfully. His wars against the Sultan of Gujarat were abortive, too, and he eventually concluded an agreement guaranteeing the integrity of their borders. The two rulers also divided Mewar between them into respective areas for future military operations. Thrice Mahmud's efforts to seize parts of the Bahmanld territory failed because the ruler received timely assistance from the Sultan of Gujarat. Mahmud was at length forced to make a treaty with the Bahmanids, cementing good neighbourly relations.27 Before his death in 1469 a realistic boundary had been established for Malwa on its Gujarat and Deccan borders.

Mahmud was interested in all aspects of community life. He actively promoted the development of agriculture and trade, established centres of Islamic learning, and encouraged scholars from other parts of India to move to Mandu. The hospital he founded there was a large establishment with provision for free medicine.

The reign of Mahmud's successor, Ghiyas Shah (1469-1501), saw a period of peace and prosperity. In 1482 he marched to the assistance of Rawal Jai Singh, the Raja of Champanir, when he was invaded by the Sultan of Gujarat. Realizing that he would actually have to fight the Sultan, however, he returned home on the pretext that the 'ulama' were opposed to him helping a Hindu ruler.28 Ghiyas Shah collected about 16,000 slave girls in his palace, including the daughters of many Hindu chieftains. An army of Ethiopians and Turkic slave girls was formed to act as guards. Another five hundred pretty girls were trained in state business, and a bazaar run by women was opened in the palace. Mahmud quaintly combined his voluptuous desires with nightly prayers and vigils. He was easily duped by people pretending to be religious.29 His elder son, 'Abdu'l Qadir Nasir Shah, whom he appointed his successor, had a very aggressive nature. He beheaded his younger brother and, although his father was still living, proclaimed himself king. Ghiyas abdicated, dying, possibly from poisoning, four months after surrendering the throne.30

Nasir Shah's despotic character and heavy drinking disgusted his nobles. His rule ended in 1510. His third son, who came to the throne as Mahmud II (1511-31), appointed Medini Rai, the

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Rajput chief of Chanderi, as his vizier, in order to frustrate the intrigues of his Muslim noblemen. Medinl Rai filled all the important positions with his own supporters. He also ordered that Muslim women be trained as dancing girls, in retaliation for Ghiyas's treatment of Hindu women. The Sultan ultimately grew to hate Medinl, and he escaped to Gujarat. Early in January 1518 he returned with Sultan Muzaffar Shah of Gujarat, and captured Mandu. Leaving a supportive Gujarat contingent, Muzaffar returned to his capital.31 Medinl then seized Gagraun. Mahmud besieged him but was defeated by Rana Sanga, who rushed to relieve Mandu. Rana Sanga captured the Sultan and took him to Chitor but when his wounds had healed the Rana sent him back to Mandu and restored him to his throne. Comparing Muzaffar's assistance to Mahmud Khalji with the Rana's magnanimity, a Mughal historian gives the greater credit to the Rana; for Muhammad had helped a refugee, while the Rana had restored his kingdom to his captive enemy.32 Muzaffar again sent a contingent to Mahmud's assistance, but the Sultan grew suspicious of his intentions and sent the Gujaratis back. Before long all the border region was taken from Mahmud. Medinl Rai seized Chanderi, while his associate Silahdi occupied Bhilsa and Raisen. Rana Sanga invaded Mandasor. Harauti, Khichiwara, and Satwas also became independent. Then Mahmud offended the Sultan of Gujarat by sheltering his rebellious brother. In March 1531 Bahadur Shah of Gujarat captured Mandu. Mahmud and his sons were sent as captives to Champanir but were killed on the way. For six years Malwa remained under the control of Gujarat but after Bahadur Shah's death in 1537 it regained its independence.

Malwa's new sultan was Mallu-Khan, who adopted the title Qadir Shah. He was a far-sighted ruler, making peace with Silahdi's sons, who ruled over Raisen, and improving relations with the Rajput chieftains. Sher Shah, the Sur ruler of Delhi, however, conquered Malwa and installed Afghan governors there.

KHANDESH

The kingdom of Khandesh, lying between the rivers Tapti and Narbada, was not very large, but the need to maintain the balance of power between the Gujarat, Malwa, and Bahmanid rulers ensured its independence. The kingdom's founder, Malik Raja or -Raja Ahmad, had been assigned Thalnir and Kuronda as an iqta' by Firuz Tughluq in 1370. Raja Ahmad subdued the local chief-tains

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and then became an independent ruler in 1382, making his capital Thalnir. He unsuccessfully attempted to take Sultanpur and Nandrbar from Gujarat, and this area always remained a bone of contention between the two neighbouring kingdoms. He married his daughter to Hushang, and his son married Dilawar's daughter. This brought him two strong allies. Before his death in April 1399 he had succeeded in firmly consolidating the Khandesh kingdom. He claimed descent from the Galiph 'Umar, whose title was Faruq, and the dynasty was therefore known as the Faruqi dynasty.33

Malik Raja's successor, Nasir Khan, captured the impregnable fort of Asirgarh by subterfuge. He built a new town by the river Tapti. Zaynu'd-Din, a disciple of the famous Chishtiyya. sufi Shaykh Burhanu'd-Din Gharib, suggested to Malik that the town should be named after his master, so Nasir Khan called it Burhanpur. Nasir was deeply devoted to Zaynu'd-Din, and the next town he founded was called Zaynabad after him. In 1417, reinforced by the Malwa army, he invaded the eastern region of Gujarat, but Sultan Ahmad Shad repulsed the attack and, following at the heels of the vanquished army, besieged Asirgarh. Ultimately Nasir concluded a peace treaty with Ahmad, who in turn recognized Nasir's right to rule over Khandesh. Nasir died in 1437.34 His successors, 'Adil Khan (d. 1441) and Mubarak Khan (d. 1457), accepted Gujarat's overlordship. 'Adil Khan II (d. 1501) was more enterprising and several times invaded regions belonging to the rajas of Gondvana and Jharkhand and the Kol and Bhil tribes. Under 'Adil Khan's successor, Khandesh was torn by dynastic rivalries which enabled Gujarat to tighten its control over the country.

GUJARAT

The independent kingdom of Gujarat was founded by Zafar Khan, son of Sadharan, a Jat convert to Islam. Sadharan's sister was married to Firuz Tughluq. Zafar Khan was appointed governor of Gujarat in 1391, with the title Muzaffar Khan. Despite his advanced age, he firmly suppressed the rebellious Muslim noblemen and Hindu chieftains. He remained loyal to the Delhi sultanate, even after Timur left India and anarchy prevailed there. In 1403-4 he was deposed by his son, Tatar Khan; but his uncle, Shams Khan Dandani, then poisoned Tatar Khan, and Zafar was restored to the throne.35 In 1407 Muzaffar declared his independence

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as Muzaffar Shah. He died in 1411 and was succeeded by Shihabu'd-Din Ahmad Shah (1411-42), the son of the dead Tatar Khan.36

Ahmad Shah's rule of thirty-one years was a period of relentless warfare but also saw the consolidation of the Gujarat sultanate. In 1416 he crushed a rebellious confederacy of Rajputs, reinforced by Hushang's army, in the north-west. Two years later Ahmad invaded Malwa, bringing home to Hushang that Malwa was no match for Gujarat. A truce was signed in 1419. Hushang subsequently invaded Jajnagar to obtain more elephants. His absence prompted Sultan Ahmad to make forced marches to Mandu, but the garrison there stoutly defended the fort. Hushang returned meanwhile and was defeated by Ahmad near Sarangpur. Ahmad was still unable to capture Mandu fort, returning to Gujarat in May 1423.37

After 1425 Gujarat entered upon an era of intermittent warfare with the Rajput Raja of Idar. Ahmad also exacted tribute from the Rajput chieftains of Champanir, Dungarpur, Kota, and Bund! to help finance his campaigns and enhance his power. He died in 1442.