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Qutub Minar:
It was built in the memory of Shaikh Qutub-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki by
Qutubuddin Aibak. It was completed by lltutmish. Originally it was 4
storied and 225 feet in height. Firuz Tughluq replaced the fourth storey
which was damaged by lightening, by adding two smaller storey raising
its height to 240 feet.
Tomb of lltutmish:
It is located near Quwwat-ul-lslam Mosque,
Sultan Garhi:
lltutmish built it on the grave of his son Nasiruddin Mahmud.
Balbans Tomb:
Situated nearQila Rai Pithora.
AlaiDarwaza:
Alauddin Khilji built it. This door to the Qutub Minar contains a dome
which for the first time was built on correct scientific lines.
Siri:
Built by Alauddin Khilji, it was the second city of Delhi.
Hauz Khas:
It was built by Alauddin Khilji.
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Taj-ul-Masir:
Hasan Nizami. It is the first historical narrative which deals with the
beginning of the Muslim rule in India.
Tabqaat-i-Nasiri:
Minhaj-us-Siraj
Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi:
Ziauddin Barani
Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi:
Firuz Shah Tughlaq
Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi:
Yahiya Bin Ahmed Sirhindi (only history of Sayyid dynasty)
Tughlaqnamah:
Amir Khusrau
Tarikh-i-llahi:
Amir Khusrau
Khazain-ul-Futuh
Miftah-ul-futuh:
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Amir Khusrau
Nuh Sipihr
Futuhus Salatin Khwaja:
Abdullah Malik Isami
Kitab-ul-Rehla:
Ibn Batuta
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It was written by Yahya bin Ahmad of Sirhind who enjoyed the patronage
of the Sayyid ruler, Mubarak Shah. Yahya bin Ahmed began the history
from the accession to the throne by Muhammad of Ghur and finished at
the accession to the throne of Delhi by the third ruler of the Sayyid
dynasty, Sultan Muhammad Shah.
He took help of several texts for writing Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi which
is the only contemporary literary source material for knowing the history
of the rule of the Sayyids. It has been regarded as useful text and several
later historians took its help in their writings.
10. Tarjkh-i-Salatin-i-Afghana or Tarjkh-i-Shahi:
Its author was Ahmad Yadgar. Primarily, it is a history of the Afghan
rulers of Delhi and describes in detail the events of the reigns of the Lodi
and Sur Sultans of Delhi. The text begins with the rule of Sultan Bahlul
Lodi and ends with the death of Hemu.
11. Tuzuk-i-Baburi:
It is the autobiography of the Mughul emperor, Babur written in Turki. It
was translated by several persons in Persian during the period of the
Mughals. Afterwards, it has been translated into several European
languages including English and French.
Among these modern translations, the one translated by Madam
Beveridge in English from the original Turki- text has been regarded as
the best. The Tuzuk-i-Bahuri has been praised by all modern historians.
Elphinstone described it almost the only piece of real history in Asia.
The Tuzuk-i-Baburi or the memories of Babur has provided us
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information not only concerning the events of life of Babur but also
about his character, personality, knowledge, capability, weakness,
merriments etc. The description of Babur is quite authentic. It is possible
that Babur failed to understand particular individuals of circumstances
and, therefore, gave wrong descriptions as is the case with his
description of Indian affairs and people. It can be said, however, that he
tried his best to adhere to the truth.
Babur wrote frankly about the weaknesses of his own character and
failures as well. He described his use of alcohol and opium and festivities
among friends. He wrote about his friends and foes impartially. He
described quite fairly the character, personality and actions of Daulat
Khan Lodi, Ibrahim Lodi, Alam Khan Lodi, Rana Sangram Singh etc. He
also described in an impressive style the climate, hills, rivers, forests,
flora and fauna, trees and flowers, beauty of the nature etc. of the
countries he visited.
Babur also gave the description of India in the Tuzuk-i-Baburi. He
described its geographical condition, climate, rivers, political condition,
different states and their rulers as well as the clothings, food and living
condition of the people. He was not impressed by the Indians and their
living conditions when he first came in contact with them. He wrote:
Here the people are neither beautiful nor cultured.
We do not find either good horses, dogs, grapes, muskmelons or other
fruits. There is neither good bread nor cooked food in the markets. There
are no hot-baths and no good colleges. The people do not use candles or
torches here. In place of candles or torches, the people use oil-lamps
which are carried by servants. Rich people keep a large number of such
lampmen in their houses.
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Except large rivers, there is a shortage of water. Here the gardens have
no boundary walls. The houses are not well built and have no
arrangement for fresh air. The peasants and the poor people live
practically naked.
The males use mostly langote and the women cover their entire body
with one piece of cloth. Babur, however, appreciated several things in
India. He expressed that India was a vast country and had plenty of gold
and silver. He appreciated the rainy season of India but also pointed out
that everything was spoiled during that season because of the dampness.
Babur expressed that another good thing in Hindustan was that
workmen of every kind were available here in large number and
hundreds of workers worked daily on his buildings at Agra, Sikri, Bayana,
Dholpur, Gwalior and Kol.
He described that every group of workmen belonged to a particular caste
and every caste was pursuing his profession from generations. Babur
also described the political condition of India and also his battles against
his enemies here.
He gave description of the Muslim rulers of Delhi, Gujarat, Bahmani,
Malwa and Bengal and Hindu rulers of Mewar and Vijayanagar. He
described his battles against Daulat Khan Lodi, Ibrahim Lodi and Rana
Sangram Singh and gave the number of soldiers as well as the fighting
tactics of the contending parties and the causes of his success against
them.
The description of India by Babur is neither complete nor completely
correct. He did not mention several other states in India. There are
certain gaps also in his description. He also failed to form proper
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the events of the reign of the emperors but emphasized on the character,
personalities and family relations of the Emperors. Therefore, the
historical importance of the text is reduced.
14. Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi or Tauhfa-i-Akbar-Shahi:
It was written by Abbas Khan Sarwani in Persian at the instruction of
Akbar. Only a part of it is available. Abbas Khan Sarwani described only
those events which he could come to know from those of his close
relatives or other people who were in know of things.
He also described the source-material of every event which he
mentioned in the text so that its readers might not doubt the
authenticity of his writing. Therefore, Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi has been
regarded as an authentic source-material.
In the text, the lineage of Sher Shah, his career, the contest between Sher
Shah and Humayun, the administration of Sher Shah, his practices of
Dag and Huiiya, his care for the peasants, his public welfare works etc.
have been decribed in detail. However, the text suffers from one
weakness. The dates of different events have not been mentioned in it.
Yet, it is regarded as a very useful text.
15. Waqiyat-i-Mustaq:
Shaikh Rizakullah Mushtaqi wrote it in Persian. Mushtaqi did not write
elaborately concerning Sher Shah though he certainly described the
important events of his reign. We, however, find the description of Islam
Shah and his successors in his text.
He also described those circumstances which led to the establishment of
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the Mughal empire in India for the second time. Therefore, his text
provides useful information concerning Sher Shah, his successors and
Humayun.
16. Tarikh-i-Firishta:
Firishta wrote this text while he was in the service of Adil Shah II, the
ruler of Bijapur. His text is a history of India during the medieval period.
Firishta consulted several Persian texts while preparing his text. Tarikhi-Firishta has been regarded as a renowned historical text and an
authentic one.
17. Akbar-nama:
It was written by Abul-Fazal in Persian. It has been divided into three
parts. The first part deals with the history of the Mughals from the reign
of Amir Timur up to the reign of Humayun. In the second and the third
parts has been given the history of the rule of Akbar up to the year 1602
A.D.
While describing the events Abul-Fazal gave an introduction to each of
them in which he referred to the cause of that event, Describing the
history of the reign of Babur, he tried to cover the gaps of Tuzuk-iBaburi. He described the events of the reign of Humayun in detail and
gave the description of the contest of Humayun aginst Sher Shah.
Regarding Akbars reign, he described in detail the campaigns of Akbar,
his policies, their causes as well as their effects. Therefore, the Akbarnama is a very useful source material of knowing the history of the
Mughals. But it suffers from certain defects also.
He glorified the personalities of Babur, Humayun and particularly that of
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Akbar and belittled their enemies particularly Sher Shah and Islam Shah.
Besides, the language of Akbar-nama is full of verbosity. Therefore, one
has to observe caution while studying the Akbar-nama.
18. Ain-i-Akbari:
It has also been written in Persian by Abul-Fazal. In it Abul-Fazal has not
described the political events of the reign of Akbar but his
administration, laws, rules, regulations, etc. It has also been divided into
three parts.
Abul-Fazal narrated in it the facts concerning the royal treasury, the
coinage, the Harem, the royal-stable, court-ceremonies, salaries and
status of civil and military officers, justice and revenue administration,
sources of the income of the state and items of expenditure, Din-i-llahi
of Akbar, foreign aggressions, Hindu and Muslim saints and scholars,
etc. Therefore, the Ain-i-Akbari has been regarded a precious sourcematerial of knowing the culture and administration during the reign of
Akbar.
19. Tabaqat-i-Akbari:
It was written by Khvaja Nizam-ud-din Ahmad. It is a general history
from the beginning of the Muslim rule in India to the thirty-ninth year
of the reign of Akbar. It has been divided into three parts. In its first part,
Nizamuddin Ahmad described the beginning of the Muslim rule in India
and the history of the Sultans of Delhi.
In its second part, he described the history of the Mughal emperors in
India beginning from the rule of Babur to thirty-ninth year of Akbars
reign. In the third part, he narrated the history of provinces. Among the
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It was written by Mutamid Khan who wrote the later part of the
biography of Jahangir for nearly two years. The text has been divided
into three parts. In its first part, Mutamid Khan described the history of
the family of Amir Timur including the history of the reigns of Babur and
Humayun. In the second part, he narrated the history of the reign of
Akbar. In the third part, he narrated the history of the rule of Jahangir.
Mutamid Khan, being under the partronage of Jahangir, exaggerated the
personality of Jahangir and afterwards, when he got favour of
Shahjahan, expressed dissatisfaction against the activities of Begum Nur
Jahan. Thus, his description remained biased. Yet, the Iqbai-nama has
been regarded as a good source material.
23. Padshah-nama:
Written by Muhammad Amin Qazuini Shahjahan ordered Qazuini to
write the history of his reign. He wrote the history only of the first ten
yea of Shahjahans reign. He was then asked to discontinue the work.
Qazuini divided his texts into three parts. In its first part, he described
the life and career of Shahjahan from his childhood to his accession on
the throne.
In its second part, he described the history of the first ten years of the
reign of Shahjahan. In the third part, he gave a list of contemporary
scholars and saints. Qazuini was favourably inclined towards Shahjahan.
Therefore, his description cannot be accepted as it is. Yet, his text has
been found useful by modern historians.
24. Padshah-nama was written by Abdul Hamid Lahauri.
When Muhammad Amin Qazuini was asked to discontinue the writing of
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the history of the reign of Shahjahan. Abdul Hamid Lahauri was assigned
his task. He divided his text into two parts.
In the first part, he described briefly the history of Mughals from the
period of Amir Timur to the first ten years of the reign of Shahjahan. In
the second apart, he narrated the history of the next ten years of the
reign of Shahjahan. The second part is very much elaborate. It provides
useful information to modern historians.
25. Padshah-nama of Muhammad Waris:
When Abdul Hamid Lahauri became old, the responsibility of completing
the history of the rest of the period of Shahjahan was assigned to his
disciple Muhammad Waris. Muhammad Waris wrote the complete
history of the reign of Shahjahan.
His description of the first twenty years of the rule of Shahjahan was
based on Padshah-nama of Abdul Hamid Lahauri but the history of these
ten years was written independently.
He wrote the history of these ten years in good detail. His text has been
regarded as a good source-material of knowing the history of the reign of
Shahjahan.
26. Muntakhan-ul-Lubab or Tarikh-i-Khafi Khan:
Its author was Hashim Khafi Khan. Beginning with the attacks of Babur
on India, it described the history of the Mughals to the first fifteen years
of the rule of later Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. Khafi Khan
described the events of the reign of Aurangzeb in detail. He claimed that
he wrote an objective history of the period. Yet, his certain descriptions
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Accounts of Travellers:
Many European travellers visited India during the period of the Mughals.
Several of them described the condition of India which throw light on
the history of India. W. Hawkins, Sir Thomas Roe, De Leat, Peter Mundy,
Bernier, Manucci were such travellers who gave useful account of Indian
affairs and among them the accounts of Peter Mundy, Bernier and
Manucci have been found most extensive and serve the purpose of
source-material for the modern historians.
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