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1. DR. BHIM RAO AMBEDKAR COLLEGE
(UNIVERSITY OF DELHI)
Topic :- Critically evaluate the significance of the Persian Tarikh Tradition
with special reference to Zia Barani in the history writing of the Delhi
Sultanate
Name :- Piyush Raj
Roll No. :- 1966/20
Course :- B.A. History Honors
Year/Sem :- 2nd
Year /3rd
Sem
Subject :- History of India (c.1200-1500)
Name of Paper :-
Contact No. :- 9955271469
Submitted to :- M.K. Singh

2. INTRODUCTION
‘Tarikh’ is a general history or court chronicle which follows a chronological narrative style
and is thus focused on state craft, personalities, events and the politics of Sultans and
nobles. It had no pre-Islamic origin. If we look at the medieval historiography, it was
influenced by Arab-Islamic and Mongol-Persian tradition and had no notion of historical
periodisation or ‘tarikh’. Although, we notice that these 2 traditions mention the “Hijri era”
which is a centre point between the 2 phases that these traditions talk of, i.e. pre-Islamic or
the age of jahiliya represented by ignorance and savagery, and Islamic or the age marked by
the coming of Muhammad who was chosen by God to reveal the Ultimate Truth to the
people. The understanding that history began with Islam continued to cast a predominant
shadow on India’s medieval centuries. Such patterns are noticed in the works of orthodox
historians like Zia al-Din Barani (14th century CE) and also in the works of mildly ‘liberal’
Muslim historians like Shams Siraj Afif (14th century CE).
Contributions to tarikh or history writing were first made by the murids of Muhammad
when they recorded His hadis in Mawazhi literature. When they wrote Mawazhi literature,
they not only wrote about the traditions of the Prophet, i.e. hadis but also wrote in praise of
the Prophet. This methodology of Mawazhi literature had a great impact on the history
writing in Medieval Indian historiography. An important aspect of Mawazhi literature was
asnad/isnad. The disciples claimed that every hadi they wrote about had an asnad, i.e. a
source. Asnad was important in every history writing to check historical validity of
information.
The theologians influenced by Islam encouraged the idea of Universal history. But with the
decline of the Abbasid caliphate in the mid-10th century and the establishments of various
Sultanates, this idea of Universal history was channelized into regional history. Thus, it was
gradually written by the courtiers. These courtiers wrote for occasions, for instance, they
wrote for ‘fatah’, or whenever through fatah, a new society was established. For instance,
Al-beruni writes about the opening up of new societies.
In the history of the medieval chroniclers, 2 traditions of history writing can be determined,
Arab and Persian. The Arab tradition was a more democratic one since it wrote history as a
biography of nations. They would write about the entire society including the peasants. On
the other hand, the Persian tradition was influenced by the concept of kingship and divinity
of kingship. Therefore, history was written as a biography of the sultan. The historians
writing in the Arab tradition did not dedicate their work to the rulers whereas for the
historians writing in the Persian tradition, dedication to the Sultan was important because
they believed that by doing this, they could win the patronage of the ruler. Till the 10th
century, the Arab tradition dominated the history writing. But after the 10th century, we
notice the strengthening of the Persian renaissance. It affected the lifestyle and thought
patterns of the ruling elite. Thus, from the 10th century onwards, Persian tradition was
adopted by the rulers. The Delhi sultans were also influenced and they urged their courtiers
to abandon the Arab tradition and write history in eulogy of the sultan.
The Tawarikh belonged to the literary genre mostly written in Persia, were written as long

3. narrative human experience, generally history which either began with Adam (1st Prophet)
or with Muhammad (the last Prophet) and end with the eulogies of the patrons of the
chroniclers and their lifestyle. Persian language emerged as the language of power during
the medieval period. It became the language of the political and cultural dialogues and
therefore, it created a legacy for ‘Indian style Persian’.
Ziauddin Barani
Ziauddin Barani (1285–1358 CE) was a Muslim political thinker of the Delhi Sultanate
located in present-day Northern India during Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Firuz Shah's
reign. He was best known for composing the Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi (also called Tarikh-i-
Firuz Shahi), a work on medieval India, which covers the period from the reign of Ghiyas
ud din Balban to the first six years of reign of Firoz Shah Tughluq and the Fatwa-i-
Jahandari which promoted a hierarchy among Muslim communities in the Indian
Subcontinent
Zia al-Din Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi covers a period of 95 years starting from the
accession of Balban in 1266 to the first 6 six years of the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
Barani was a contemporary scholar of Delhi Sultanate, coming from aristocratic
background. Barani’s family had served three dynasties of Delhi Sultanate – The Mamluks,
the Khaljis and the Tughlaqs. Barani’s maternal grandfather was a Sipahsalar in the court of
Balban.
Barani joined the court of Muhammad bin Tughlaq and remained his ‘nadeem’ for 17 years.
The honour of ‘nadeem’ was only given to men with exceptional qualities of head and heart.
Sultan consulted him on all important matters but more importantly recognized his sense of
history. When Firoz Shah ascended the throne, Barani lost all his influence. He was
imprisoned and his property was confiscated. Thus, in his old age, reduced to poverty,
Barani decided to write a narrative of the period to attract the attention of the Sultan. It is
significant that Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi was his 1st narrative and it is believed that he wrote
only from his memory. His other works include Fatwa-iJahandari and Hazratnama. He also
wrote the biography of the Prophet known as Sanai-Muhammadi.
Different scholars have analysed Barani’s work. Scholars like Mohib-ul-Hasan and
Habibullah call him a ‘valuable and principal authority’ for the 95 years of Delhi Sultanate
that he has covered. Others like W.H.Moreland and I.H.Qureshi have attributed his
significance with his narrative of agrarian administrative in all types of economic
institutions.
While reading Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi, it appears that he did not follow any chronology.
Instead, he wrote what he remembered, and he remembered what impressed him. But his
account is exhaustive and informative. Juzjani, on the other hand, adhered to chronology but
gave a very dull account talking only about the military achievements and not relating it
with socio-economic events. What distinguished Barani from other contemporary historians
was his administrative knowledge, historical sense and religious knowledge. He was a
conservative orthodox who represented the Ulama. Yet, he favored monarchy and believed
that Shari ‘at couldn’t be implemented. Like most medieval Ulama, he traced his origins of
history to Quran. This methodology, thus, gave his history a theological orientation. He
argues that history should be based on truthfulness and not exaggeration. His style was

4. influenced by religious but pragmatic consideration. He was a true believer of the fact that
all histories should be based on asnad.
The Arabo-Persian tradition of History writing as a context to the emergence of
Persianate tarikh traditions in South Asia
The Persian language in the Indian subcontinent before the British colonisation, was the
region's lingua franca and a widely used official language in North India. The language was
brought into South Asia by various Turkic and Afghan dynasties from the 11th century
onwards, notable of which were the Ghaznavids, Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Dynasty.
Persian held official status in the court and the administration within these empires. It
largely replaced Sanskrit as the language of politics, literature, education, and social status
in the subcontinent.
The spread of Persian closely followed the political and religious growth of islam in the
Indian subcontinent. However Persian historically played the role of an overarching, often
non-sectarian language connecting the diverse people of the region. It also helped construct
a Persian identity, incorporating the Indian subcontinent into the transnational world of
Greater Iran, or Ajam.Persian's historical role and functions in the subcontinent have caused
the language to be compared to English in the modern-day region.
Persian began to decline with the gradual deterioration of the Mughal Empire.Hindustani
(Hindi-Urdu) and English overshadowed Persian in importance as British authority grew in
the Indian subcontinent. Persian's official status was displaced by English in 1835 by the
British East India Company, and Persian fell out of currency in the subsequent British Raj.
Persian's linguistic legacy in the region is apparent through its impact on the Indo-Aryan
languages. It played a formative role in the emergence of Hindustani, and had a relatively
strong influence on Punjabi, Sindhi, and Kashmiri. Other languages like Gujarati,
Marathi,Bengali, Rajasthani, and Odia also have a considerable amount of loan words from
Persian.
However, the beginning of scientific historiography in Arabic may be traced to the second
century of Islam (8th century AD) and is associated with the life and activities of the
Prophet. Before it, there was a memory bank to serve as a source of information. In other
religious traditions the memory banks existed for thousands of years but in Islamic tradition
it was replaced by written sources after the end of the first century of Islam. No doubt,
human brain has astonishing capacities to preserve information about the past, yet the long
passage of time could distort the information and events. This distortion or different version
of the events and actions of individuals made the task of scholars difficult. In view of this
scholars tried their best to preclude that eventuality by various means of scrutiny.
A large corpus of historical literature was produced by the Muslim scholars in Arabic during
the second century of Islam. Efforts were made to collect all oral traditions floating down
the stream of time. The oral traditions were critically examined and incorporated after their
veracity had been ascertained on the basis of source criterion. As the writers were motivated
by religious spirit to compile their works on the history of Prophet for the benefit and
guidance of their contemporaries and the posterity, their works are valuable because the

5. historical information contained therein was carefully sifted, separating facts from popular
legends and fiction. In other words, the historians took pains to separate historical jewels
from dust and pebbles. Of the early historians, mention may be made of Ali bin Muhammad
al-Madaini (died: 840 A.D.). He was a prolific writer, reported to have composed hundreds
of books. His works on the history of Caliphate and monographs on the history of Basra and
Khurasan are of great importance. Though none of his works have survived the ravages of
time, the passages quoted by other writes in their works testify to the importance of his
pioneering efforts. By applying the sound methods of criticism, he gained fame for his work
and it served as a source for the compilations of the succeeding period.
As regards the beginning of history writing in Persian language, it was prompted by the
emergence of Persian-speaking intelligentsia, which was not conversant with Arabic in the
eastern part of the Islamic world. By the close of the tenth century A.D., the nonArab
Muslims in Iran and Central Asia felt the need to produce literature on Islam and its history
in Persian language for the enlightenment of people. It is noteworthy that many of the
earliest works were translations and abridgments of Arabic classics, beginning with the
translation of Tabari’s Tarikh in 963 A.D. by the Samanid Wazir Abu Ali al-Balami.
Inspired by the Quran and Hadis, the Arabic scholars began writing history in the 8th
century. Apart from what was available in the Quran and other Islamic texts, efforts were
made to collect the material from oral traditions also. The life and activities of the Prophet
and his followers formed the main theme of these early histories in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Later on, along with these earlier themes, certain different themes such as history of
religion, of conquests and of Islamic rulers were also taken up. With the development of
local dynasties, the dynastic histories acquired prominence and became the main theme of
the later Arabic and Persian historiographies.
BRIFE DISCUSSIONS ON HASAN NAZAMI, MINHAJ, ISAMI, MUSHTAQI.
Hasan Nizami was a Persian language poet and historian, who lived in the 12th and 13th
centuries. He migrated from Nishapur to Delhi in India, where he wrote Tajul-Ma'asir, the
first official history of the Delhi Sultanate.
The historians who wrote under Persian Tarikh traditions, it is important to talk about Sadr-
ud-din Hasan Nizami who believed that history could only be written in Arabic but was
forced by Iltutmish to write in Persian. Hasan Nizami came from Khurasan to India in
search of work in 1206. In India he was urged by Qutub-ud-din-Aibak to write about the
fatah of Muizzuddin as well as his own. Nizami then becomes the first official historian of
the Delhi Sultanate who wrote the 1st official history called Taj-ul-Ma’asir. It begins with
the 1st battle of Tarain in 1191 and ends in 1229 when Iltutmish had applied for investiture
to the Caliph. He got the title ‘Nasir-amir-ul-Mominin’.
While reading Taj-ul-Ma’asir, we notice that it is episodic which means that Nizami has
only given details about military achievements of the Sultan and has not mentioned anything
about the social, political and cultural interactions. Nevertheless, his work is characterized
by metaphors, similes and records. And whatever his methodology, Zia al-Din Barani

6. considered him to be the most ‘trustworthy’ historian of the Delhi Sultanate because he gave
details about the time period 1191-1229.
Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani (born 1193), full name Abu Osman Minhajuddin bin
Sirajuddin, was a 13th-century Persian historian born in the region ofGhur.
In 1227, Juzjani migrated to Ucch then to Delhi. Juzjani was the principal historian for the
Mamluk Sultanate of Delhi in northern India. and wrote of the Ghurid dynasty. He also
wrote the Tabaqat-i Nasiri(1260 CE) for Sultan NasiruddinMahmud Shah of Delhi.
If we compare Nizami’s account to some other contemporary chroniclers, we don’t find
details about the Turkish campaigns in his account. In this context, we must mention
Minhaj-us-Siraj-Juzjani who began the trend of dynastic history using the genre of Tabaqat,
which literally means ‘layers’. His work is called ‘Tabaqat-i-Nasiri’. He dedicated his
chronicle to Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud. His account begins with Iltutmish and ends in
1260.
There is no doubt that he gives detailed account of the early Turkish rulers but the entire
narrative reads monotonous and dull. He does not talk about the Indian resistance to the
Ghurid conquest. If we read Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, it appears that Juzjani lacked the historical
perception and perhaps that is why he was not able to talk about historical changes. But he
can be assessed as an erudite scholar, a convincing speaker who could keep his audience
spellbound.
Abdul Malik Isami (1311–?) was a 14th-century Indian historian and court poet. He wrote
in Persian language , under the patronage of Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah, the founder of the
Bahmani Sultanate. He is best known for Futuh-us-Salatin (c. 1350), a poetic history of the
Muslim conquest of India.
‘Isami’s ‘Futuh-us-Salatin’ is an account of the Ghaznavide and the Ghoride conquest of
India and the history of the Delhi Sultanate down to ‘Isami’s own day – 1349. He was most
vigorous in writing about the military events and the political triumphs of the Sultans. His
importance is that he served as a valuable supplement to Juzjani’s Tabaqati-Nasiri and
Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi.
Waqiyat-i-Mushtaqi
Shaikh Rizkullah Mushtaqi wrote this book in Persian. The learned author has written
about Sher Shah’s expedition to Bengal, death of Qutub Khan and campaign of Humayun
in Bengal and his coming back from the expedition. The author has not only referred to the
minute details of the reign of Sher Shah but he has also supplied some fresh information
which has not been mentioned by other writers.
Besides the details of the reign of Sher Shah we get information about his successor Islam
Shah through this book. War of succession between Islam Shah and Adil Shah has been
dealt with in this book. He has also thrown ample light on establishment of the Mughal
Empire in India for the second time.

7. HISRORIOGRAPHYCAL DEBATE ON BARANI
Medieval Indian history is replete with sources, be it archaeological, numismatic, literary.
Unlike many other sultanates, one of the largest Sultanates of India is fortunately covered by
a vast expanse of literary sources, not only in Persian but also other languages like Arabic.
Fortunately for us, most of these literary texts have survived though not always in complete
and usable forms. However, they are extremely precious sources of us to be used with
extreme caution keeping in mind the context and position of the author. As the questions
asks us to focus on Persian chronicles of the time, I'll be giving a brief description and
viewpoints of various historians on the works and talking in details about Zia-ul-din Barani.
Now that we have talked about the chroniclers we will be further discussing. I would also
like to point out that my answer is primarily based on the discussions and viewpoints put
forth by
I. Harbans Mukhia,
II. Peter Hary,
III. Sunil Kumar,
IV. Irfan Habib,
V. Muhammad Habib,
VI. Muzaffar Alam ,
VII. I.H Qureshi, and
VIII. Nilanjan Sankar.
All the above historians rarely agree on a lot of things, but it is really interesting to see how
each one's argument gives a totally new facet to the work of the chroniclers. They view the
texts with their own perceived judgements, and though they try to keep their views free of
any bias, certain of them do tend to creep in. Even still, they are extremely interesting and
provide a great leaming basis and introduction to the Persian Chronicles.
Lets begin discussing the Persian chroniclers and their texts.
I. Harbans Mukhia gives an extensive description of Barani's work. Barani wrote in
succession of rulers, and dynasties. It's similar to Minhaj in the sense that there were
chapters, which were divided into sub-chapters though unlike Minhaj, the sub-chapters did
not deal with rulers; instead they dealt with important events. His book, Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi
covers six reigns in eleven muqaddamas (chapters) in which he deals with various aspects.
Barani's coverage of Ala-ud-din Khalji's economic reforms are popular world wide and he
focuses heavily on society. He refers to zamindars, khuts repeatedly in his texts, signifying
their importance. Though he relies himself to provide for much of the information, he is one
of the few historians who take special measure to mention all the reforms, whether
successful or not, policies, good or bad, administrative measures, everything.
Mukhia points out that Barani's narrative is party interpretive which I believe is also one of
the reasons for his popularity. He treats History as something to derive lessons from and he
believes the role of a historian is to make the lessons of history intelligible to its readers.
Barani continuously studies history in a conscious historical framework which is cognisant
of historical change. But, it is also overridden with limitations. Barani's central theme for

8. the most part is aristocratic birth, he doesn't believe in rights for the low-borns. He is
indifferent towards chronology and though he is outspoken, he is fixed on his personal
beliefs Barani, though extremely religious can accept history even if it goes against Islam
but not if it goes againt his own beliefs.
II. Peter Hardy is another historian who discusses Afif in some detail. Hardy mentions that
Afifi never treated his book as Tarikh (History), instead he treated it as part of a large
historical composition in which he dealt with Tuglaq's good qualities for edification of
future generations. Hardy goes to describe Afif's life and also brings life to the belief that
Afif covered up for his historical shortcomings by making use of his literary expertise.
I am amazed by the fact that Afif chose his sources on the basis of religious/personal
preference, extremely unbefitting to a historian. But then again, it might be controversial to
say that Afif considered himself a historian. He also differed from other chroniclers in what
he thought history to be. To quote Hardy Afif believes that "past is a spectacle of a true
religion but not a school of true religion".Peter Hardy pays a lot of attention to the personal
predicament of Barani while writing the Tar i-Firuz Shahi and it seems like he is questioning
the authenticity of the text considering how it was written at a time when the author fell on
evil days and needed the sympathies and respect of the ruler. There is a chance of a bias in
his text for the ruler. Hardy also mentions Barani's
seven benefits of studying History which help us understand Barani's motives as well as his
thought while writing history: acquaintance with heavenly books, considered them as twin
brothers of Prophet Muhammad, strengthening reason and judgement, adopt strategies, give
patience, proves the fruit of good action while encouraging others to indulge in same
History Barani had a didactec purpose and his Fatwa--Jahandari mentions coherent politico-
religious philosophy Divine intervention and divine punishment are commonly mentioned
by Barani, his emphasis on religion and his anti-Hindu sentiments are not exactly surprising
to me. Hardy believes it is important to separate Barani's data from his interpretation of
them.
Barani in Tarikh--Firuz Shahi gives a very vivid description of rulers and their kingdoms
beginning from Balban to Muhammad bin Tuglaq. A common theme in all of them is how
as la as the rulers agreed to Baran's thoughts, followed his beliefs they would succeed, but if
they c not, misfortune would befall them, their families and their kingdoms Hardy gives a
detailed descriptions of each of the chapters which provides rich insight into the book and
the author's style of writing history
III. Sunil Kumar describes his huge account as a history in three verses, Ghaznavid,
Ghurid and Persian. Mukhia talks about the consistent pattern that Isami follows and how
unlike Amir, he depicts victories as well as the failures of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. This
might have an ulterior motive of glorifying his patron. There are also details of events not
found elsewhere and whichare found to be mostly correct. His writing displays his personal
frustration and his stereotypical ways. He was always unsatisfied with his life and tends to
beautify the past in order to put emphasis on the horrors of the present. Mukhia portrays
Isami as a cool, calculative man who has very deliberate strategies.
Sunil Kumar considers Barani a sophisticated, urbane Muslim who was strongly influenced
by traditions of normative literature (adab literature) though this is very clear as the author

9. himself makes this glaim. Kumar thinks that Barani's greatest merit was his attempt to
structure a historical narrative around his personal general moral maxims, which he
manages to do pretty well. Like Hardy, Kumar also seems to be questioning the motives
behind his writing, often thinking was Barani asking for his lost respect and recognition
while writing the Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi.
IV. Irfan Habib, has also done extensive study on Barani, who he considers well read in
Islamic Law and other traditional reviews and he points out that the chronicler's point of
view is geared primarily towards the nobles. Barani himself says that is historians can't talk
about the present due to some dangerous circumstances in totality (Might be referring to his
own case), they should at least present the past truthfully.Also, Habib brings to our notice
that in his book, each event is covered by a grim eclipse, this might be a representation of
his real life. Barani is a historian with an openly declared class bias, and it's best to deal with
him on his terms. Personally, I agree with Habib's view that Barani's addiction the principle
of birth doesn't derive from any theory of blue blood, but comes from a carving for security
and stability for those who are already in possession. Barani's main content of political
history consists of growth of despotic power, greater and greater use of terror, successful
wholesale changes in composition of nobility. Habib views Barani as a man of vision, who
detests changes and has a mind of immense comprehension and lucidity.
V. Muzaffar Alam
According to Muzaffar Alam Zia Barani was the most important political thinker of the
Delhi Sultanate, particularly during the reigns of Alauddin Khalji, Muhammad bin Tughlaq
and Firoz Tughlaq. He represented the idea of political expediency in the Islamic history.
His Fatawa-i-Jahandari (AD 1357), written as nasihat (advices) for the Muslim kings, is a
classic work on statecraft which can be compared with Kautilya’s Arthashastra and
Machiavelli’s Prince. For his emphasis on following the Shariat (laws of the Quran and the
Prophet’s tradition) (Advice II) and his views on the Hindus (Advice XI.2), however, he has
been called a conservative, a fundamentalist and a bigot as compared to relatively liberal
thinkers like Abul Fazl.

10. Conclusion
Barani confesses, though, that he did not have the courage to speak the truth. He was limited
by the notions of royalty. He was looking for patronage. While he wrote about Muhammad
bin Tughlaq, we must note that both the Sultan and Barani were two fundamentally different
individuals where the former was a rationalist and the latter was an orthodox. Despite this
ideological difference, the credit to Barani is that he was able to provide information on the
Sultan’s entire reign, but of course, his account has to be supplemented with the accounts of
his contemporaries such as Juzjani and ‘Isami. Barani, in his Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi, gives an
account of 9 Sultans starting from Balban and ending with Firoz Shah Tughlaq. In the latter
part of his chronicle, he reflects his staunch sycophancy. He speaks of divine qualities in
Firoz Shah. He sees his court as the court of Allah. But also, he used his writings to warn the
Sultan against his nobility. In another chronicle, Fatwa-i-Jahandari, Barani talks about
political philosophy. He deals with the concept of divinity of kingship. He clearly exposes
the contradiction between the institution of kingship and the principles of Islam but
recognizes and approves of the necessity of kingship, because “the world had returned to its
old wickedness”. Similarly, he allows the Sultan to adapt old laws or frame new ones in
accordance with changing circumstances. As we read the 2 works, we notice the similarity
between the 2. Both of them were written by Barani to give directions to the Sultan, one in
the form of history and the other in the form of philosophy. This means that Barani
combined theory/philosophy with analytical study of history.
Barani, and presumably others, were conscious of the contradiction between the principles
of Islam and the institution of kingship. At the same time, they recognized the necessity of
kingship. They understood that this institution was needed in the existing social structure.
Also, while writing under Persian tradition, they were keen in gaining patronage of the
Sultan to fulfill their economic needs. Thus, they always wrote in eulogy of the Sultans in
the most ornamental language possible.
Inspired by the Quran and Hadis, the Arabic scholars began writing history in the 8th
century. Apart from what was available in the Quran and other Islamic texts, efforts were
made to collect the material from oral traditions also. The life and activities of the Prophet
and his followers formed the main theme of these early histories in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Later on, along with these earlier themes, certain different themes such as history of
religion, of conquests and of Islamic rulers were also taken up. With the development of
local dynasties, the dynastic histories acquired prominence and became the main theme of
the later Arabic and Persian historiographies.
The Indian subcontinent has contained a vast array of ethnicities, cultures, traditions and
languages since the beginning of civilisation. While classical Indian civilisation was based
on Sanskrit, the sacerdotal language of the Brahmins, this sacred language did not affect the
general mass of people, nor literature beyond a privileged elite. The first true lingua franca
that transcended caste barriers to a certain extent was Persian, which was adopted by the
ruling dynasties of Muslim India (who themselves were generally Turks or indigenous
Indians rather than Persians), their Hindu peers, as well as the civil servants. However, from
the beginning of the seventeenth century Urdu began to form around the lower echelons of

11. society as a pidgin common tongue to enable communication between the myriad ethnicities
of the Mughal Empire, ultimately restricting Persian to a refined language of culture and
courtly life in the Mughal court and becoming a vibrant and dynamic language in its own
right, thus becoming the first literary language with a substantial original contribution from
Indians since ancient Sanskrit. This article charts the adoption of Persian and later the
emergence of Urdu as spoken and literary languages in the Indian subcontinent using
original sources in those languages.
Bibliography
Ancient and Medieval India by Poonam Dalal Dahiya
Kumar, S. The Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate.
Mukhiya, H. Historians and Historiographies during the reign of Akbar.
Bhargava, M. Exploring Medieval India, Vol.1
Nizami, K.A. On history and historians of Medieval India
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Siddique, I.H. Indo-Persian Historiography to the 13th Century.
Vanina, E. Mind over Matter
Wikipedia
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