Medieval Indian History

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The fifth Sikh guru Arjun Dev laid the foundation of the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar and compiled all of the past Gurus’ writings into one book , now the holy scripture: the Guru Granth Sahib. In 1606 AD, the Mughal emperor Jahangir ordered that he be tortured and sentenced to death after he refused to remove all Islamic and Hindu references from the Holy book, Guru Granth Sahib.

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The famous Golconda fort was built by Sultan Quli Qutub Shah.

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Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, a revered Sufi saint in the Chishti Order, was conferred with the titles ‘Mehboob -i-Illahi’ (the beloved of God) and Sutan-ul-Auliya. He established his Khanqah in Delhi and lived through the reign of seven Delhi sultans. Among his disciples were notable personalities like Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi, Amir Khusro, and Jalaluddin Bhandari. Shaikh Nizamuddin emphasized the discovery of divinity in humanity, practiced secularism and advocated kindness towards all.

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Miftah-ul-Futuh also known as “Key to the Victories” was composed by Amir Khusro in honour of Jalaluddin Firuz Khilji.

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The Battle of Haldighati was a battle fought on 18 June 1576 between cavalry and archers supporting the Rana of Mewar, Maharana Pratap; and the Mughal emperor Akbar’s forces, led by Man Singh I of Amber.

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The Akbarnama which translates to Book of Akbar, is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, commissioned by Akbar himself by his court historian and biographer, Abul-Fazl ibn Mubarak who was one of the nine jewels in Akbar’s court. It was written in Persian, the literary language of the Mughals.

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Wilayat was the territory governed by the governor or higher nobility called Wali , Muqti , Amir . Tarf denotes a subdivision of a wilayat . During the reign of Qutubuddin Aibak , Tarf was used to designate provinces.

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Abdur Razzak was a Persian ambassador who visited South India in the fifteenth century. His writings leave behind social, economic, political, administrative and cultural accounts of the Vijayanagar empire.

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Balban, who assumed that Sultan was God’s shadow on earth (Zil-i-Ilahi) and the recipient of divine grace introduced rigorous court discipline and new customs such as sijada also called prostration and paibos also called kissing the Sultan’s feet.

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In 1297, Gujarat was annexed to the Delhi Sultanate. In 1391, Muzaffar Khan became governor and founded the Gujarat Sultanate in 1407, declaring independence. He promoted trade and agriculture, leading to a prosperous era for Gujarat as a commerce and culture center in medieval India.