Get Complete Information on the Historians of Medieval India

Shortcomings of Historians:

The historians, who wrote these Chronicles, suffered from certain shortcomings. They were satisfied with nothing the source and authority for their statements, but did not discuss their reason and logic and made no scientific inquiry.

The contents of such histories were limited to wars and victories, appointment and dismissals of officials, and births and deaths, but there was no reflection on science and literature, on social conditions, on evolution of culture and on causes and effects of political circumstances.

The histories were uncritical. They were written with the desire to win the approval of their coreligionists and, therefore, they refrained from cirticising the Musalmans on the ground of faith and theology. They also sought to gain favours from men in power. Sabi, a historian of A1 Buyah, confesses, “I weave together a lot of lies, fiddle fuddle and silly non-sense.”

Odium theological provided strong motivation. It sometimes led to vulgarity and abuse. A vast majority of the Muslim Chroniclers belonged to the class of Ulama who can be divided into three categories. To the first category belonged the Sufis who were independent and refused to dance attendance upon the rulers. To the second category belonged the flatterers who received court patronage. To the third category belonged calumniators who were rebuffed in favour of their rivals. It is difficult to find among such writers scientific detachment like that of Al Beruni.

The conception of history of the Muslim Ulama was basically theological. They looked upon history as “the march of Providence upon earth.” They believed that Providence manifested itself in Islam. It was the eternal religion which existed from the beginning of the world and would continue to exist to the end till its destiny was fulfilled.

Travels of Marco Polo:

The travels of Marco Polo have been edited by Yule. It was during the 13th century that Marco Polo visited Southern Indian and he gives a contemporary account of what he saw in the country. Abdur Razzaq was a Persian who was an ambassador in the court of the King of Vijayanagar from 1442 to 1443 A.D. He gives us an account of the political, administrative, economic and cultural condition of Vijayanagar.

Equally useful in the account of India as given by Nicolo Conti, an Italian traveler, who visited India in 1520 A.D. Paes was a Portuguese traveler who visited Southern India at that time. His description of Vijaynagar is important. Barbosa visited India in 1516 and he has left a valuable account of the conditions prevailing in Southern India.

Some Arab geography scholars and merchants collected information on the countries in which they were interested and with which they traded and India was one of them. That contained a lot of material which is useful for purposes of writing the history of this period.

One important thing to be noticed about the writers and poets of Sultanate period is that they were mainly concerned with the court and particularly with the Sultans. They did not bother about life outside that narrow circle. Many of the writers enjoyed the patronage of the Sultans and could not be expected to write anything which might be unpalatable to them or the nobility; they would not mind twisting matters with a view to presenting them in a favourable light.

Moreover, they had as their models the historical writings of scholars from the Islamic world. Most of them regarded historical events as subordinate to Islam. Most of them explained the events as the will of God. The view of Barani was that God had forsaken the Sultanate owing to the eccentricities of some of the Sultans. This view was not shared by writers like Afif, Isami, Amir Khusrav, etc.

There are some useful references to the events of the Sultanate period in the writings of men like Ferishta and Badauni. Sufi literature has also some useful material.

Prithviraja Raso:

For many years, the Prithviraja Raso of Chand-Bardai enjoyed respect as a piece of sober history. However, recent researches have shown that its historical value is not much. Its importance lies only in the history of Hindi literature. However, Prithviraja-Vijaya Kavya, believed to have been written during the lifetime of the Chauhan Prince and only a fragment o which has so far been discovered, is more dependable work.

Likewise, the Hammira Mahakavya is also useful for historical purpose. It gives the achievements of Hammira, the Chauhan ruler o Ranthambor and d descendant of Prithviraj. It supplements the Muslim chronicles in a number o places and helps to form a clearer picture of the vicissitudes of Muslim hold on Rajputana. The Surjana Charita Kavya of Chandrasekhar is also valuable. It was written in the tenth century an’ it contains the history of the Chauhan family.

Rasmala:

The stories in Rasamala give us a lot of useful information. The Rasamala is continuous official chronicle of the ruling family of Tipperah. This work is in Bengali verse. I contain the hisotry of Muslim rule in Bengal in the 13th century. Jain writings of 13th and 14t centuries such as Puratana Pravandha Sangraha and Aitihasik Jaina Kavya Sangraha are also valuable. They contain incidental notices of Political affairs. The Shekasubhodaya contains kernerl of genuine history relating to early Muslim contact with Bengal in the time of Lakshman Sena. Many of the stories given in the book give us an idea of the social customs and manners of the people of that time.

Archaeological Sources:

Some information about the Sultanate period can be got from archaeological sources. The inscriptions of the Hindu rulers of Orissa, the Deccan and South India contain a lot of useful information on the history of those regions. They show that the Muslin Chronicles were written mostly from the point of view of Muslim rulers and they generally ignore the political activities of the Hindus who lived outside their dominions. These inscriptions have been published mostly in Epigraphia Indica, Epigraphia Carnatica, Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica another journals. The Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi by Edward Thomas deal with the coins of the period.

About the coins of this period, Lane-Poole observes. “As a rule we may look upon Mohammaden coins as the surest foundations for an exact history of the dynasties by which they were issued. The coins of a Muslim ruler generally go far to establish those outward data in regard to his reign which oriental historians too often neglect or mis-state.

The year of accession, the extent of his dominion, his relations with the neighbouring powers and with the spiritual chief of his religion are all facts for which we may look with confidence to his coins.” A large number of Pagodas of the rulers of Vijayanagara and the coins of the Sultans of Madura and Bahmani kingdom give us a lot of useful information. The monuments of the Sultanate period are also useful.