Part 55 (2/2)

6. The blunder of calling the Sultans of Delhi by the name Pathan, due to the translators of Firishta's History, has been perpetuated by Thomas's well-known work, _The Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi_, and in countless other books. The name is quite wrong. The only Pathan Sultans were those of the Lodi dynasty, which immediately preceded Babur, and those of the Sur dynasty, the rivals of Babur's son. 'He (_scil._ Ghiyas-ud-din Balban) was a _Turk_ of the Ilbari tribe, but compilers of Indian Histories and Gazetteers, and archaeological experts, turn him, like many Turks, Tajziks, Jats, and Sayyids, into _Pathans_, which is synonymous with Afghan, it being the vitiated Hindi equivalent of Pushtun, the name by which the people generally known as Afghans call themselves, in their own language. . . . It is quite time to give up Dow and Briggs'

Ferishta.' (Raverty, in _J.A.S.B._, vol. lxi (1892), Part I, p. 164, note.)

7. The murder of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak by his son Fakhr-ud-din Juna, also called Ulugh Khan, occurred in the year A.H. 725, which began on 18th December, 1324 (o.s.). The testimony of the contemporary traveller Ibn Batuta establishes the fact that the fall of the pavilion was premeditated. (Thomas, _Chronicles_, pp. 187, 189.) The murderer, on his accession to the throne (1325), a.s.sumed the style of Muhammad bin Tughlak Shah.

8. Jalal-ud-din Firoz Shah Khilji was murdered by his son-in-law and nephew Ala-ud-din at Karra on the Ganges in July, A.D. 1296. The murderer reigned until A.D. 1315 under the t.i.tle of Ala-ud-din Muhammad Shah, Sikandar Sani.

9. As already noted, his proper style is Muhammad bin Tughlak Shah.

The word _bin_ means 'son of'. The Sultan is never called 'Muhammad the Third'.

10. A Muhammadan must, if he can, say his prayers with the prescribed forms five times in the twenty-four hours; and on Friday, which is their sabbath, he must, if he can, say three prayers in the church _masjid_. On other days he may say them where he pleases. Every prayer must begin with the first chapter of the Koran--this is the grace to every prayer. This said, the person may put in what other prayers of the Koran he pleases, and ask for that which he most wants, as long as it does not injure other Musalmans. This is the first chapter of the Koran: 'Praise be to G.o.d the Lord of all creatures--the most merciful--the King of the day of judgement. Thee do we wors.h.i.+p, and of Thee do we beg a.s.sistance. Direct us in the right way--in the way of those to whom Thou hast been gracious; not of those against whom Thou art incensed; nor of those who go astray.'

[W. H. S.] The quotation is from Sale's version. The last clause may also be rendered, 'The way of those to whom Thou hast been gracious, against whom Thou art not incensed, and who have not erred,' as Sale points out in his note.

11. This mad tyrant, among other horrible deeds, flayed his nephew alive. He attempted to invade China through the Himalayas, and for three years issued a forced currency of bra.s.s and copper, which he vainly tried to make people take as equal in value to silver. Strange to say, he was allowed to reign for nearly twenty-seven years, and to die peacefully in his bed. The hunts of the 'innocent and unoffending people' were organized rather to gain the benefit of 'sending infidels to h.e.l.l' than for 'mere amus.e.m.e.nt'. Daulatabad was the name given by Muhammad bin Tughlak to the ancient fortress of Deogir (Deogiri, Deoghur), situated about ten miles from Aurangabad, in what is now the Hyderabad State.

12. In the original edition the Moghal leader's name is printed as 'Turmachurn', the Tarmasharin (with variations in spelling) of Muhammadan authors (see E. and D., iii. 42, 450, 507; v. 485; vi.

222). The name Turghi is given by Thomas, who says he invested Delhi in A.H. 703, corresponding to A.D. 1303-4; and refers to an article in _J.A.S.B._, vol. x.x.xv (1866), Part I, pp. 199-218, ent.i.tled 'Notes on the History and Topography of the Ancient Cities of Delhi', by O.

Campbell. (_Chronicles_, p. 175, note.) Campbell writes the leader's name as Turghai Khan. Apparently Tarmasharin was identical with Turghi or Turghai Khan, but I am not sure that he was. The Moghals made several raids during the reign of Ala-ud-din Muhammad Shah.

13. The tomb of Nizam-ud-din is further noticed in the next chapter of this work. It is situated in an enclosure which contains other notable tombs. The following extract from the author's _Ramaseeana_ (p. 121) gives additional particulars concerning this saint of questionable sanct.i.ty: '_Nizam-ud-din Aulia_.--A saint of the Sunni sect of Muhammadans, said to have been a Thug of great note at some period of his life, and his tomb near Delhi is to this day visited as a place of pilgrimage by Thugs, who make votive offerings to it. He is said to have been of the Barsot cla.s.s, born in the month of Safar [633], Hijri, March A.D. 1236; died Rabi-ul-awwal, 725, October A.D.

1325. [The months as stated do not correspond.--_Ed_.] His tomb is visited by Muhammadan pilgrims from all parts as a place of great sanct.i.ty from containing the remains of so holy a man; but the Thugs, both Hindoo and Muhammadan, visit it as containing the remains of the most celebrated Thug of his day. He was of the Sunni sect, and those of the s.h.i.+a sect find no difficulty in believing that he was a Thug; but those of his own sect will never credit it. There are perhaps no sufficient grounds to p.r.o.nounce him one of the fraternity; but there are some to suspect that he was so at some period of his life. The Thugs say he gave it up early in life, but kept others employed in it till late, and derived an income from it; and the 'dast-ul-ghaib', or supernatural purse, with which he was supposed to be endowed, gives a colour to this. His lavish expenditure, so much beyond his ostensible means, gave rise to the belief that he was supplied from above with money.'

The 'old man of the mountains' with whom the author compares Nizam- ud-din (or at least the original 'old man of the mountains', Shaikh- ul Jabal), was Hasan-ibn-Sabbah (or, us-Sabbah), who founded the sect of so-called a.s.sa.s.sins in the mountains on the sh.o.r.es of the Caspian, and flourished from about A.D. 1089 to 1124. Hulaku the Mongol broke the power of the sect in A.D. 1256 (Thatcher, in _Encycl. Brit._, 11th ed., 1910, s. v. 'a.s.sa.s.sin').

14. Shams-ud-din iltutmish, who had been a slave, reigned from A.D.

1210 to 1235. His Turkish name is variously written as Yulteemush, Altamsh, Alitmish, &c. The form iltutmish is correct (_Z.D.M.G._, 1907, p. 192). His tomb is discussed _post_.

15. This is not quite accurate. A similar _minar_, or mosque tower, built in the middle of the thirteenth century, formerly existed at Koil in the Aligarh district (_A.S.R._, i. 191), and two mosques at Bayana in the Bharatpur State, have each only one _minar_, placed outside the courtyard (ibid., vol. iv, p. ix). Chitor in Rajputana possesses two n.o.ble Hindoo towers, one about 80 feet high, erected in connexion with Jain shrines, and the other, about 120 feet high, erected by k.u.mbha Rana as a tower or pillar of victory. (Fergusson, _Hist. of Indian and Eastern Architecture_, ed. 1910, vol. ii, pp.

57-61.)

16. The short life of James Prinsep extended only from August 20, 1799, to April 22, 1840, and practically terminated in 1838, when his brain began to fail from the undue strain caused by incessant and varied activity. His memorable discoveries in archaeology and numismatics are recorded in the seven volumes of the _J.A.S.B._ for the years 1832-8. His contributions to those volumes were edited by B. Thomas, and republished in 1868 under the t.i.tle of _Essays on Indian Antiquities_. Sir Alexander Cunningham, who was one of Prinsep's fellow workers, gives interesting details of the process by which the discoveries were made, in the Introduction to the first volume of the Reports of the Archaeological Survey. No adequate account of James Prinsep's remarkable career has been published. He was singularly modest and una.s.suming. A good summary of his life is given in Higginbotham's _Men whom India has Known_, 2nd ed., Madras, 1874. See also the editor's paper, 'James Prinsep', in East and West, Bombay, July, 1906.

17. The monolith pillars alluded to in the text are chiefly those of the great Emperor Piyadasi, Beloved of the G.o.ds, also known by the name of Asoka. So far from being memorials of a time when 'the mechanical arts were in a rude state', the Asoka columns exhibit the arts of the stone-cutter and sculptor in perfection. They were erected about 242 to 230 B.C., and the inscriptions on them contain a code of moral and religions precepts. They do not commemorate conquests, although the Asoka pillar at Allahabad has been utilized by later sovereigns for the recording of magniloquent inscriptions in praise of their grandeur. The best-known of the Asoka pillars are the two at Delhi, and the one at Allahabad. Many scholars have devoted themselves to the study of the inscriptions of Asoka, which may be said to form the foundation of authentic Indian history. The reader interested in the subject should consult Senart, _Les Inscriptions de Piyadasi_, t. I and II, Paris, 1881, 1886; V. A. Smith, _Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India_, 2nd ed.. Oxford, 1909; and 'The Monolithic Pillars or Columns of Asoka' (_Z.D.M.G._, 1911, pp. 221- 10). See also _E.H.I._, 3rd ed. (Oxford, 1914), chap. 6, 7, with Bibliography. Certain of the Gupta emperors in the fifth century A.C.

also erected monolith pillars. Some of the pillars of the Gupta period commemorate victories; others are merely religious monuments.

18. Fergusson thought the Kutb Minar superior to Giotto's campanile at Florence in 'poetry of design and exquisite finish of detail'. He also held it to excel its taller Egyptian rival, the minaret of the mosque of Hasan at Cairo, in its n.o.bler appearance, as well as in design and finish. To sum up, he held the Delhi monument to surpa.s.s any building of its cla.s.s in the whole world. (_Hist. of Indian and Eastern Architecture_, ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 206.)

19. Fergusson (ibid.) was mistaken in supposing that the Kutb Minar was intended for anything else than a _mazina_, or tower from which the call to prayers should be proclaimed. It is that and nothing else. Several examples of early mosques with only one _minar_ each are known, at Koil and Bayana, in India, as well as at Ghazni and Cairo. The unfinished _minar_ of Alauddin near the Kutb Minar was intended for a distinct building, namely, his addition to the original Kutb mosque. There was no 'other _minar_' connected with the Kutb Minar.(Cunningham, _A.S.R._ iv (1874), p. ix.)

The current name of the Kutb Minar refers to the saint Khwaja Kutb- ud-din of ush, who lies near the tower, and not to Sultan Kutb-ud-din Aibak or ibak. The _minar_ was erected, about A.D. 1232, by Sultan Shams-ud-din iltutmish (V. A. Smith, 'Who Built the Kutb Minar?'

_East and West_, Bombay, Dec. 1907, pp. 1200-5; B. N. Muns.h.i.+, _The Kutb Minar, Delhi_, Bombay, 1911).

All the important monuments at or near Delhi are now carefully conserved, Lord Curzon having organized effective arrangements for the purpose.

20. The original edition gives a coloured plate of the Kutb Minar.

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