Studies in Thought, Polity and Economy of Medieval India 1000-1500

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Studies in Thought, Polity and Economy of Medieval India, 1000-1500 attempts to comprehend the history of the Delhi Sultanate with reference to its Islamic identity. The Turkish chiefs, despite having a military advantage due to their expertise in horsemanship, could only consolidate their rule through adjustment and sharing of power with local kshatriya rulers, and, therefore, tended to incorporate an increasing number of Hindu chiefs in the ruling establishment. This process was sought to be made durable by conceding to the chiefs many of the pecuniary gains and social clout they had enjoyed before the conquests.
According to Barani, the ulema endorsed the view that in the given situation, provisions of fiqah evolved in Arabia were not practicable in the Delhi Sultanate. By the same logic, settlements conceding to the village chiefs important roles in the fiscal administration of rural tracts were justified. Additionally, the Islamic characteristics of the State system in the Delhi Sultanate were profoundly impacted by Sassanid and Turkish traditions of statecraft, inherited through its Ghaznavid and Ghorid predecessors. With the passage of time many notions of Hindu caste culture also became influential in the mental makeup of the ruling elites of the Delhi Sultanate.

Iqtidar Alam Khan, who retired as a Professor from Aligarh Muslim University in 1994, has done extensive research in different aspects of medieval Indian history, particularly the reign of Emperor Akbar and the history of the use of gunpowder and firearms, and he has published A Historical Dictionary of Medieval India.

ESSAYS THIS VOLUME carries represent an attempt at comprehending the history of the Delhi Sultanate with reference to its Islamic identity and tendency to incorporate in the ruling establishment an increasing number of Hindu chiefs as well as rural magnets and technical personnel (Patwaries for example) having expertise pertaining to the practice of agriculture.
The bulk of the source material used for this study was collected at the Research Library of the Center of Advance Studies in History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, where besides a rich collection of published texts, are available xerox or photocopies of a large number of relevant texts and documents preserved at different places.
While writing these essays I always had the benefit of Professor Irfan Habib's guidance and critical comments as well as suggestions towards improving my presentation. To Professor Shireen Moosvi, I am grateful for her agreeing to have my book sponsored by the Aligarh History Society. The book was made ready for publication by Mr Barkatullah.
For transliterating Persian and Hindustani terms/ words, I have generally followed Steingass, retaining the raised comma and inverted comma for alif-hamza and 'ain respectively. Only where highlighting the sound of alif and ye appeared important were diacritics added. For place names and ordinary Hindustani terms/names, spellings given in Survey of India reports and official documents are preferred.
As always, my wife Kamo has been the source of strength and inspiration, throughout the preparation of this volume.