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    Court Cultures in the Muslim World Seventh to nineteenth centuries Edited by Albrecht Fuess and Jan-Peter Hartung £2 Routledge Thrice Fis pubished 2011 Routledge 2 Pask Squat. Mion Park, Abingdon. Oxon OX 48ND Simtancous published inthe USA an Canada bs Routledge 770 Madison Avenue, New York, SY 10016 Routledge sa imprint of te Taslar & Francs Group ‘2 forma buiose {©2014 eto selection and mane, Albrecht Fuess an Jan Pete Honing indivi charter te conto, The right of Atrectz Pues and Jan Peter Harn 1o be identified as ‘sors of his wack has been asserted bs th cco Gae mh sections 77 and 78 ofthe Copsriht, Designs nd Paes Act 1988 Tspeset in Fines New Roms bs ReineCatch Limited. Bunga. SufTth Ponca ane bod n Great Brains CPL Amon Rowe. Chpocahs, Nise All sighs reserved. No pf this Book may be eprint ce reproduced oiled in ars form orbs an econ mechanical rather meats, ow known or heteaier invented, ncning phocopng and eecordin. oa Information storage er rerseval stem, tus perme in srriting om the psher Brisk Litany Catone Publication Ba ‘A catalog coed for his iv aval from the Bash Litas Library of Congress Coaloging in Publication Data Cour cuts inthe Mastin word seventh onieterh cents / ‘sted by Alves Fuse and Jan Pete aan cm. ~(SOASmonsledze sts onthe Mile Est: 13) Includes bibliographical reernce” inde. 1 Islamic Empte=Cour and courtiers 2 Couns and courtiers 1. Fest. alec i Hartung. JP. S36 355.c68 2010 956-014? oroo1 186s {SBN 978-0-415-57319-1 hu) ‘SBN 978-0-205-€4410-6 eb) Contents List of figures List of Contributors Introduction ALDRECHT FUESS AND JAN-PETER HARTLNG ‘The Prophet and the early Caliphates 1 Did the Prophet Mula MICHAEL COOK nad keep court? 2 ‘The representation of the early Islamic Empire and its religion on coin imagery 3 Great estates and elite lifestyles in the Fertile Crescent from Byzantium and Sasanian Iran to Islam 4 Court and courtiers: A preliminary investigation of Abbasid terminology Muslim court cultures of the Middle Ages S._ Redressing injustice: Mfazalim jurisdictions at the Umayyad court of Cérdoba (cighth-eleventh centuries cr) CHRISTIAN MOLLER 9 80 oO 122 Paul E. Walker Madelung W. and Walker, PIE. (ds and transh) (2000) The Advent of the Farimids: 1A Contemporary Witness. An Editon and English Translation of lin al-Havtham’s Kitab al-Munizarat, London: LB, Tats, al-Maqral, Ahmad bn "AW (1967-73) fia al-Pumaf Bi-akbar al-a imma al-Rhulafa’ ed. Samal al-Din a-ShayvAl (sol 1) and Mubammad Hilmi Mubammad ‘Ahmad (vols. 2 and 3).3 vols. a-Qahira:al-Majls alata li'-shu'n ab-stimiyya, (2002-8) al- Maw wal vbar B-dlaky l-Rhitar wa I-ahdr, 3 vols, 8. Ayman Fu'ad Savsid, London: a-Furga Islamic Heritage Foundation. l-Musabbii, al-Amie al- Mokhtlr'Tzzal-Mulk Mubaramad (1978) alt a-arb in min ‘abba Mir, ed. Asman Fuad Sayyid and T. Bianguls, Le Cai: Inst. frangais 4'archéolopie orientale ja'min iin Mubammad, Qigi (1948) Kitz al-himma ff aad atbd al-a'immo, fed, Mubammad Kamil Husayn,al-Qahira: Dar al-keal-"arab (978) Kitab ar majais wa Tomussyarate€.al-Habib al-Fagh tcbim Shabbah and ‘Mubammadal-Ya law, Tans: Matha aal-rasmis a I'l-jumhtrisyatabtinisiss al-Nawayr Shihab al-Din Abmad (1992) Nika al-ara fi fiontinal-adab ed. Muhanad Mohammad Amin and Muhammad Hilmt Mubammad Ahmad, vol, 28, al-Qahire allay’ almigriyal-amms i-hitb al-Qalgashandi, Abi “Abbi Ahmad (191 a-Qihirs: Dir al-hutub al-nigrssa Sanders, P. (1994) Ritual, Politics and the City in Favimid Cairo, Albans. NY: SUNY Press. Sayyid, AF. (1982) "Nuss d's nin ARhbar Mige et Musabbihi", Annales Ilamiques V7. pp. I-54 ‘Smoot. P. (1985) “al-Maghsiti, Bano’, in: Enevelopedia of Islan New Edition, vo. 5. Leiden: Bail pp. 1210-12. Walker, P.(1995) “Succession to Rule in the Shite Caliphate’, Journal ofthe American ‘Research Cenre in Egypt 32, pp. 239-64 —(1997) “Fatimid Institutions of Learning’ Journal of the American Research Centre fn Egypt 34, pp. 179-200. 2000) “Another Family of Fatimid Chief Qaéis: The al-Farigis’, Journal of Drase Studies 1, pp. 49-69. (2006) “The Relationship. between Chief Qadi and Chief aT under the Fatimids’ in: G, Krimer and S. Schmid (eds) Religious Authoritvin Middle Easter Islam, Leiden: Bail, pp. 70-98 19) Sub alsa‘ sind a a-insha’ 14 vos, 7 Courts, capitals and kingship Delhi and its sultans in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries cE Sunil Kumar The Arab intellectual Toa. Khaldin (4, 808/1406) had remarked on the close ‘connection berween the fortunes of @ dynasty andthe city, The scholar had linked the civilizational glory of a city the political compulsion to endow it with great architectural marvels, and the gradual ebb in its fortunes to his eyslcal theory of the rise and decline of states and the waxing and waning of the ‘aia, the group solidarity ofthe ruling classes. in his interpretation, as political ineurabents were replaced by parvenu adventurers with greater political cohesion, they scripted thei seizure of power with great monumental constructions honouring their achievements.” Although few intellectuals of his time were able to theorize on the politcal conditions of their age with equal facility, some of fbn Khaldin's more narrow observations regarding the extreme temporality of political authority were also Present in the writings of the courier of the Delhi sultans, Ziya’ Din Baran {(6-c. 7161/1360), himself a victim of regime-change. Unlike Ibn Ktalin's socio ‘ogy, Barant's reading of statecraft was conceptualized within a juridical vocabu- lary’ and articulated as a didactic text on politcal conduct. Not surprisingly, therefore, he gave a scathing review of the vanity of Sultanate muers in their search for selfglorfication and absolutist rule But equally, the pragmatix of the courtier was also on display: Barani grudgingly acknowledged the need to accommodate administrative non-shari'ati laws and courtly behaviour for the security and prosperity of the Muslim community.* Absolutist rile and its accoutrements, the display of authority through monumental architecture and the pomp of courtly ceremony were evils that Muslims had to therefore acceptin an imperfect world This was a double-edged sword: in Barani’s reasoning the tradi- tions oF absoluist vovernance followed by Delhi sultans were desived from Iran, a land that also produced many positive principles of social ordering and urbane conduct, These were, however, disassociated in his mind from its waditions of governance: the conduct ofits rulers, the “Khusrovan", should be emulated only in their pursuit of justice, not in ther practice of despotic power:* If we read ton Khaldin and Ziv’ al-Din Barant wogether, itis possible to isolate three characteristics of Sultanate governance: an insecure political ‘environment marked by the cyclical nse and fll of dynasties; a Persianate model ‘of absolute kingship with its attendant rituals that were de rigueur for the practice 124 Suni! Kumar of monarchies ue; and an Islamic paradigm that ecognzed he sovereignty of Govt and was hence rl of kings and their ptnsions of absotetemporat author The problem with this characterization, of couse, fH eteme feeralization —itcold apply equal well to nearly Sultana regimes lcsted inthe Persanate mica without developing any ne of thee salen harsceris tics, In this paper I use ts general template a «Point of anata departure fora more inetd study ofthe politica trations and courtly patie of te Dea sultans, The ist hee section of my paper focus onthe turbulent poi history af hs DE sins an tr aes aha esas i Deb Mo historians have followed eolonal historiography in reading Sultanate contac tion of capitals, palaces and mosques as a statement of power and authority (bs wasteful despas) over vanquished foes? Additionally, this huge amount of constuction acy was also interpreted as stiking evidence ofthe material resources available tothe Deli sutans—a visible estarent oftheir abit ie ‘hile eratsmen, mobi slaves and fred abr, empoy new tecnoloies to expedite constuction and use their military might to size we materia Shorage of water an increase in population and search for secur were also reasons provied for the fequent shifts in oval esidences? ‘Although this Nstororphy is perfectly corect in pointing ou hat hinecath eotury Sultanate Delhi vas hardly an “organic iy, my analysis sis the ground to relate the sti constition and transferring of capitals 0 est the epi ton the sultans of Dell but asa response othe challenges posed byte poli conditions oftheir age. As newly enthroned monarchs sought to cotaltethek authority tro the ecraltment and depoyent of lity personel, there ws fn urgent sed ("house the new politcal dispensation as wel. nar words in the competitive polities of the thitecnth and fourtenth century Cr, any ff at Consolidating autor aplied both the deployment of miltary eae bal othe sew monarch and an ambtious building programme where the nowy constituted Court could assemble. By corelating consttion activity with he ule pli tes ofthe thiteenh and fourteenth centuries, argue that its posit notice how the reproduction of new capitals and cours te Deli region was ot jot a bar othe period's cult expectations: twas necessity ditty the ways Stich society and polis were structured a this tne, Since would be impos ble for me wo coer the two centuries within the confines of hit paper Ihave reset my study to spcitc examples unt the begining of the foucenth entry cr and the dyaste change tat brovpt the Tughlugs to power The last section of ny paper revisits the turbulent police ofthe Delhi Sultanate in alight ferent way I focuses onthe transitions in the compos ton of Sultanate eles ard the nyct his might have had on politcal are and courtly rials. Conventonaly change inthe Delhi Sultanate isnt a subject Stadio by many historians, past or preset. Delhi sultans wer eter good and Song or bad and weak monarchs, Ter personal qualis were farther grafted onto larger evilzationatenpateso ascertain how Must (oe not) ey were a an attempt to breakout of ths subjective evasion of indvidal nonrchs and ee Coucts, capitals and kingship 125 ‘an inherently synchronic reading of Islam and Sultanate history, I focus on a period of dynastic change and the establishmert of the Khalaj? and Tughlug regimes. Although we know thatthe founders ofthese regimes had theie origins as political adventurers in the marches of Afghanistan, we actually have very lito information about their social backgrounds, Other than the political stress caused by regime-change, l wy to identify whether the arival of new military personne! from the frontier marches brought any cultural or social change in the life ofthe court and the capital. To elaborate on this poiat. study an unusual accession episode from the Khalajt dynasty and a politisal ritual from the Tughludy Although the events and ceremonies that I discuss were obviously a part of public discussion and the rituals were integral in the making of monarchical charisma, the significance of these traditions was completely clided in the homogenizing impulse present in the Persian chronicles {cis hardly surprising that this homogenization led many’ scholars to unreflec tively deseribe the Delhi Sultanate as a Muslim state. The monolithic character ascribed to it by Persian chroniclers was uncritical y accepted and a linear history of “Persianization” extended to incorporate the diffusion of Islam in the auly continent."* As | ty to bring out in this paper however, the turbulent politics of ‘migrations, dynastic changes and rebellions, which were an intrinsic part of the political history ofthe thirteenth and fourteenth century Sultanate, need to be read ‘back into the social processes of constituting and reconstituting Musi identities and structures of governance. Through a study of tie polities involved in the von struction of the capitals of the Delhi sultans and the traditions of accession and royal pageantry | have tried to recreate th: fragie political world of the early Delhi Sultanate when slave ora humble frontier commander equld become kine {Lam also interested in assessing the narratives of the urbane litterateurs in Delhi for their descriptions of a world that was so distant from their ideal-a world fraught with violence and instability where “royalty” was not the creation of » Patrician, aristocratic class, but was seized by humble warriors of plebeian origin {In my attempt to access this world, I begin my paper by introducing readers to the various courts and capitals constructed in Delhi in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries ce, and correlating the spatial dispersal of these capitals with the changes in the poliieal dispensatious uf the various sultans. Sultanate capitals in the Plain of Dethi We have few details about the nature of the pre-Suhanate city of Delhi or its political, cultural and economic life. Delhi was the capital of the Tomara Rajputs in the eleventh century CE and a frontier outpost ofthe Chauhins in the twelfth. At this time, Delhi's commercial importance certainly enhanced its significance in the region, It housed an indeterminate number of Jain merchants, wealthy enough to construct several small stone temples in the neighbourhood: The commercial importance of the city is also suggested by the presence of a mint and ‘the base illon coin, the dihirval, which had a very wide circulatory ambit and was ‘eponymously known after the city.” 126 Sunil Kumar cl sn Mu'iz al-Din Ghawrl ‘At the tum ofthe eweltth century CE, the anmy of sultan Mi (61173-1206 cr) ofthe Shansabanid dynasty of Ghir eaprured Delhi but it was rot until the mid-1220s that Shams al-Din Iuumish (¢. 1210-36 cr) established. the paramount authority ofthe city over distant areas of noth Inia, Trough the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, successive sultans constructed their capitals fon 2 triangular-shaped riverine plain, bounded on the east by the River Yamuna and on the north-west, west and south by the outlying spurs of the Aravall ill. ‘The table below lists the Sultanate capitals constructed on the riverine plain during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries - Te first Sultanate capital was constructed around the old Tomara-Chauhin fort on the south-west edge of this plain and referred to as “Dihif” in the Persian ‘chronicles ofthe thiteenth century CF. Late sultans also constructed their capitals fon the riverine plain and these settlements included Kilokhe, Si, Tughlugabad, ‘Adilad, Jhinpenth and Firabid. Medieval chronicles sometimes used “Dihfr®, the name of the first city, quite generically for any or al of the later Sultanate capitals." To distinguish the first Sultanate capital from the subsequent Settlements, | have always referred to it as “Dihli-yi kuhnah”, literally “Old Delhi tern coined for the firs city inthe beginning of the fifteenth century by the Timurid chronicler Sharaf al-Din “Ali Yazdi(d. 58/1454). ‘The table provides sufficient information to correlate the frequent shifting of the Sultanate eapital to moments of areat politica stress and conflict among the THE CAPITALS OF THE DELHI SULTANS, circa Name of monarch Name of capital oo ce ; Firie Shah Khalai Kilokhet 1296-1316 “Als al-Din Kh i ohh > Set 1316-20 Quib al-Din Mubarak 1320 Khusra Khan Barwast 1320-2 ‘Ghigas al-Din Tuohlng > Tushlugsbd 1324-31 Mubaramad Toehlg Tughluga Difli-st kuhnah ?> Jabsnpansh ? Jahanpanah ?> Fizabsd 1351-88 Faraz Shah Tughlug (©) denotes capil ouside te ven plain of Deli {Cena metpl apa vation fom ae epi 0 ate: SERS Refers con eal ce dt of traston Courts, capitals and kingship 127 political elites especially in the context of regnal change. But it also highlights the fact that the establishment of a new capil did not have a mechanical correla- tion with the monarch’s ability to impose bisther authority or mobilize material resources. Both Ghiyas al-Din Balban (¢. 1266-87 cr) and ‘Als’ al-Din Khalaji (r. 1296-1316 ce) were among the most powerful and authoritarian of the Delhi sultans; yet neither constructed “new” capitals for themselves, choosing instead to reside in Dihfi-vi kuhnah, the old city. Ia the following two sections 1 study the history of DihtT-yi kuhnah and that of Kildkhrt and Sis. Ihave tried to underline how the history of these capitals was shaped by the structure of politi- cca relationships and networks in which they were located. In the following two sections I elaborate how the capitals of the Delhi sultans were splendorous signs of royal power, pomp and majesty, as well as vital arenas of conflict that could. in differing contexts, incarcerate or empower their resident monarchs. Even as, they provide an insight into the construction of authority, the capitals of the sultans in Dethi also provide an unusual insight into the forces that challenged their power. DihtF-yi kuboah, KitokhrT and the dispensations of the sultans 11s sometimes forgotten that atthe moment of sultan Tutmis’s accession in 1210 CE, the capital ofthe “Delhi” sultans was Lahore, not Delhi Lahore was the old capital ofthe Ghaznavids and carried with it the prestige of pas association ‘ith one of the most posterful empires 0” the easter Iranian world. The old Rajput heritage of Dethi was hard a marketable tribute by comparison Through the duration of his reign Itutmish piloted the city towards @ new Sultanate identity. By the time of his death i 1236 cr, he had constructed form dable political enterprise throvah the deployment of a cadre of carefully trained and trusted military slaves (bandagan) and used them to cobere the distant provinces of nth India around Delhi. He had also gained considerable stature as 2 pious Muslim sovereign who befriended te leamed ata time when the Ching. isid invasions were destroying the cultural and religious centres of Islam. The Sultanate of Delhi and the world of Islam kad altered during the duration of the rmonareh’s rule and Minhaj- Sirs azjani (d¢.1270) the saltan's chronicler, rer to communicate its new character when he referred o the city as Qubbar al-Islam, ‘or the sanetuary/axis of Islam. Fom one ofthe garrison camps of sultan Mu'iza al-Din Ghawri, Mtutmish tuned Dihfeyi kuhnah into a city without a rival fn nor India In 1260 ce Jozi was already referring to it asthe “sacred” city, haztats Diy, an appellation that would be its leemonf into the nineteenth century. These accolades notwithstanding, Hrutmish’s successor, sultan Rukn al-Din (. 1236 ce), was quite emphatic about not wanting his father’s political anange- ‘ments fo contin into his eign. * Rukn al-Din was an ambitious young sovereign and before his accession had served several years as a govemor in his father's dispensation. His household included a larg: military retinue and secretarial help tnd these stayed with him when he becane sultan. The introduction of new 128 Swait Kumar inthe court meant challenging the entrenched might of hs father's {ine commandes who would resi any flow at marginalization. In shor {Fake atm fad to function with any degice of independence, the old pensation of power ha ive wa) tthe ne oe futur of DIM kaa wos deeply ed up with he conics among the c's lica ee niet tear crane ong Imonath’s eps was oss apt ot of Diy ao KAA the Tat of acter ecifns wen te sua’s cou wo Teave the OM Ci. The new capital Ritu, was Toad on 4 Yow hillock by the tank of the Rive ‘Vanana, a dy"s march to tne norteast of the OW City. allan abn ab Din ‘eben hoops ee an sre nc erence te as weCOuCycoklnn vereexecd an aero aati ans Commanders 1 om the Rok dpensaton The Shams Bandapon esponde Gockly tothe calnge hey sic and excoued Ru a-Din, placed ster Karp ede nbc Pe ka hough he crews ver within te yes in placing a woman one oe, thc Shuma sles merely enforced theater conventional seach fr lable Pret rs whines bushi” Ragnyah was dep wen he {Mane si feeling agit her peers sd wa followed ck secresion by thee more, Shanst descendants. These Shams Prine prooaic bu unsuccesfl ater to esaliah independence Dt Tinuishing ince was eflecvely parodied by 4 cou croc 2 ilo te amy ifs and Jc (Nv, 1246-66 ce] sought the gol Satya cach one af them well He dd nt tke ay decison [rst toa ii nosedpe (ns kino ose fot witht Miers na nha sepa it ae op ot wor sleep a moment witout rine ing the pit initiative Wile amish’ escendants were unsscessfl inne p Crete Sans dana sis htt ey me a ile tosh whe capa o te Satna out of Dia (se abe above) ei aaa eta tat thee ales sy ni ances Shans Capa oto che ty were more appropri incarcerated nthe ty Byte Stars nda te lhe Stat nee ce 1 newt season in ons ban in 2c we i ans ne Debt inch Tones sey Inthe ery yas of is ter he was 2 falcons amiss eins of mtr ves and sgl with he piel sony tha cae with he humble poston” alban st zea polis appt ment occured i 124073 CF when he was ae cout haben on) Right wo ing ect ease hese Bw the Sree! bandon (120-34 cee nsably eed ater than dee Balban's rise to political stardom.” By 1249 cE he had consolidated his pesition in to cau soleaty tote apie he dap 8) 0 ie state, poles ® & Courts, copitals and kingship 129 But the real tanstions in Kikhrt only occurred in the 1280s, under sultan Kaygubéd’s patronage. At that time Baraat and Had! Qalandar (2641/1244) describe how Kihei came to porese the bazaars, the congscentional mos, the complex of neighbourhoods and leisure activities that histortans today associate With an urban miley. Over a half century late, in the middle of the fourteenth ‘eentury Ce, Barat reminisced about his joyous youth spent in the New City." Sultan Kayqubéd’s own fortune did not prosper in the same measue as his capital. In dealing with Nizim al-Din and a succession of overbearing military ‘commanders Kaygubid looked for subordinates outside the entrenched vtcle of Deh’ elites He seized upon Jal al-Din Khalaf, the military commander ofthe frontcrdsticts of Sémna, a great candidate because together with his abilities a3 ‘general he was viral foreigner in Delhi. Although the Khalajs had long served in Sultanate armies, their presence in the higher echelons of power was sll a ‘arity; even as late as Balban’s reign pointed allusions were made towards a Khalajt ambassador's rustcity by Delhi courtiers Even if ras 28 frontiersman to a 130. Sunil Kumar position of political eminence was a source of some consteratin in politicilly Conservative circles in Sultanate politics, it was completly i ine withthe consis- tent patronage offered to socal menials and déraciné marginals by Det sultans.” Sultan Kaygubid's effor at establishing his independence was challenged by members of the old Ghiyist dispensation, led by the slave commanders Aytemtr Kachchan and Surkha and they moved to replase the monarch with his init nephews. This was an immediate threat tothe balance of power inthe court ard it forced Jalal al-Din Khalat into precipitous intervention to protect his interests. Nalal al-Din was actually well sted by this time to counter the Ghiast challenge. He had rallied his family members and other Khalai groups arcund himself, gradually insinuating his family members and alles in Delhi poltics Lunt he had negated the denatalized condition that had originally made him an attractive subordinate to sultan Kayqubsd. The frontiersman bad struck roots in the capital quickly enough to challenge its power brokers. By the time the dust Settled fom the ensuing confit, Kayqubsi had been murdered: he infant prince, Kaytimars and his promoters, Aytemiir Kachchan and Surkha, were also dead The intra-dispensational conflict of 1290 C€ left Jalal al-Din Khalai as the ness aster of Kifokhe, but some members of Balban’s Family and retinue were still alive and present in Dibi-yi kuhnah” “According to Baran, because ofthe hostility of the city-residents (shahrivn) to the new rulers, Jalal al-Din Khalai elit prudent to stay away from the Old City and reside instead at KiV6khr Barani's narrative explained that since che residents Of the Dikiryi kuhnah inclided high officers of the deposed dynasy. they had eason tbe unhappy about how kingship had passed from the lineage ofthe Turks to anothes (2s asi urkin dar asl digar) * Baran's reportage is particulatty valu able forthe way in which it inserts spatial dimension to a eoafict between rival Jispensations, This conflict was between the “ols” Balbanid coterie of command. ers located in Dihl-yi Kuhnah and the “ne” Khalai dispensation of power based inthe shalt nave: 40 cites in the riverine plain of Delhi hosting val dispensa- tions of power, Baran explained hat Jalal a-Din Khalai visited Dihf-yi Kula but did not feel welcome enous to situate his court and eapital in tha city ‘We should, however. not misinterpret Barani’s narrative ofthese events 25 the mark of an exceptional moment in the history’ of the Sultanate tn 1290 ce sukans Df Turkish, slave descent were removed from the throne of Delhibut these changes did not alter the structure of Sultanate governance or the contents in which these ‘monarchs shifted or stayed in their new and old capitals inthe riverine plan of Delhi. nan effort to undertine this point, te next section focuses on the tam of the thirteenth century cr and a renovated Dibi-yikubmah andits relationship with the new Sultanate capital of Si DibW-yi kubnah, Siri and the dispensations of the sultans Jalal al-Dia Khalaj's rule (1290-6 cE) was abruptly terminated when the monarch \was assassinated by his nephew, Ala’ al-Din Khalai who became the next sultan of Dethi (¢. 1296-1316 cE), AtAIB’ al-Din’s accession Koki was inhabited by | i Courts, capitals and kingship 134 ing activity, considerable renovation and repair, a huge increase in population anc ‘course of his reign.” Correlating these transitions with the more general develop. Ia a a asso, ns ent ennai ce pee eens lined when Dih-yi kuhnah was chosen as capital: just as sultan Jalil al-Din lacked ee Eee ee enone een enced 132 Sunil Kumar was fa faster than Balban’s and despite his energetic interventions he was unable {o marginalize elite household in the Old City or silence opposition this athor- itarian rule. Is important to note that despite his investments in Diy Kuhns, Barani mentioned that ‘Als’ al-Din Khalai did not lke living inthe Old City. He vas fed up withthe resistance that he faced from its old houscholds and chose to live outside the city in the vicinity of Siri which he eventually developed as a cantonment (lashkargah) and altemate residence.™ Sif was critical in preserving ‘AIA al-Din’s authority: tallow him the chance to escape from Dihil-yikuhnal, it became the cantonment where his huge standing army could be garrisoned to counter the threat of Mongol invasions: and it was the site from ‘where the sultan could monitor polities inthe Old City The historia! antecedents of Siti, like Kilbkhr, are not very clear, The first, references in Sultanate literature to Sint appears in the context of sultan Jala Din Khalajt’s campaigns in 1290-1 ce, during the frst year of his eign, Amiri Khhusraw mentions Siri as a site that existed between Dinliyi kubaah and Kiokhet2” Apparently the Khalaf sultan used Siri as a mustering point, an encampment outside the Old City. ‘Als’ al-Din used the site in a similar fashion: he camped there after assassinating Jalal al-Din Khalaj and provided ths encamp- ‘ment with frttications sometime during 1300 to 1303 Ce in response vo the inva- sions of the Mongol commanders Quilugh Qocha and Taraghay.™ Effectively, ‘Ala al-Din’s court and politcal base oscillated between Ditil-yikunah and Si. “The later was of great strategic importance to him and he spent a considerable amount of time there with his army. Itmay not have been his formal rsidenes or capital” but itwas an important adjunct to Dibi-yi kuhmab and significant to the construction ofthe monarch's authori. “Towards the end of his reign ‘Als’ al-Din had become increasingly reliant upon his mittary slave Malik Kafr “Hazirdinde” (killed 715/1316),the general who had led Khalajt expeditions into South India.” The ‘AIT slave exploited his posisoa of trust with the sultan and consolidated his position in the court. When the sultan fell sick in 1316 ce Malik Kafr eame into coniict with other important ‘Alt'T com- manders, especially Alp Khan, and in the inta-dispensationa cont Khalit princes like Khigr Kh and Shih al-Din ‘Umar were fronted” by rival camps. ‘Qutb al-Din Mubirak Shah Khalajt (e. 1316-20 ce), a third candidate, tviumphed inthe succession conflict and the death ofthe major combatants in the year of intr-dispensational strife gave him the opportunity to consolidate his position. He proceeded to do so by deploying senior ‘AI commanders as ‘wovincial goveraors and creating a cadre of loyal military slaves to dominate the Delhi region. Concurrently Mabirak Shah Khalajt developed Sit as his capital and the home of his dispensation while quite deliberately diminishing the influence of Dihf-yi kubnab.* ‘At this time the relationship between Sit and the Old City was somewhat similae tothe one that had existed between Kilokh and Dibl-yi kuna, although Mubarak Shih Khalaj's political independence and initiative far exceeded Kayqubid’s*” Mubarak Shah seems to have expended considerable effort at giving Siri an urban character: like Kilokh, it was filed with a new congregational Courts, capitals and kingship 133 ‘mosque and its fortifications were refurbished. In keeping with the grandifoquent title of Khallfah assumed by Mubarak Shah, Sifi was also ceremoniously referred to as the “residence of the caliph” (dr al-thilafat), even though its more non: desert identity as “army camp" (lashkargah) continued to linger. ‘Mubarak Shah Khalai was murdered in Sift in 1320 ce by his slave Khusraw Khan Barwart/Parwart who had gained the sultans intimacy and trust" In eon- structing his own dispensation of power Mubirak Shih had allowed Khusraw Khan to bring his kinsmen and other Barwarids/Parwarids to Delhi, Much like Kaygubad’s recruitment of the déraciné fromtier commander Jalal al-Din Khalai ‘Mubarak Shah relied upon the denatalized slave Khusraw Khia to construct his authority. The efforts of both sultans were negated when their subordinates brought their associates to the capital and used their support to gain the throne. Despite Barani and Amir-i Khusraw’s vitriolic attack on the apostate character ‘of Khusraw Khn, the newly enthroned slave actually won considerable suppoct in Delhi.” Tes important to keep in mind that Khusraw Khin was not challenged by any member of the Khalajt dispensation in the Dethi region; it was Ghiy’s al-Din Tughlug, the frontier commander of Dipalpur who was appareatly most aggrieved by events in Si. Ghiylsal-Din's attempts to rally support from Khalajt ‘commanders in Delhi were spurned and he led a motley crew of frontiersmen 19 Dethi. In the Tughlugnamah, Amiri Khusraw's eulogy to the future monarch, the author noted: {Ghiyas al-Di’s] woopers were mainly from the upper-tands [iglin-i bald; i.e. a euphemism for Khurasan and Transoxiana] and not Hindustanis or local chieflains. They included Ghuzz, Turks and Mongols from Ram and Ris and ‘some Khurasani Persians {cit} of pure stock {pak asi}* To this motley crowd, Abd 'I-Malik ‘Isimi (d. 761/1360) added the Khokars, a body of frontier pastoralists, forever in conflict with Sultanate armies and atleast ‘one Afghan commander. Ghiyas al-Din Tughlug (¢. 1320-4 cr) won the battle for Dethi and, lke Jalal al-Din and ‘Ala’ al-Din Khslaj, commenced his rule on an accommodative note, reinstalling a large number of the old Khalajt commanders to office. He kept his capital at Sir because he wanted to emphasize continuity with the Khalaji regime and gain support from a political elite who greeted the new frontiersman-tumed- sultan with some ambivalence. While accommodating a large element of the old Khhalaj elite, Ghiyas al-Din's political dispensation included members of his frontier entourage. Barant commented: ‘The maliks,emirs and other officers ofhis predecessors, he confirmed in their possessions and appointments. When he attained the throne, his nobleness and generosity of character made him distinguish and reward all those he had known and been connected with, and all those who in former days had shown him kindness or rendered bin serve, No act of kindness was passed 134 Sunil Kumar For a frontier commander new to Dethi polities, Ghiyas al-Din Tughlug moved with remarkable assurance in his early search for political stability. Quite signifi- cantly this phase of his reign coincided with the duration of his residence at Si By 1323 ce construction in his new capital of Tughlugabad had progressed sufficiently foe Ghiyis al-Din to shift his court there. Apparently, the great AIU‘T Commanders were aware of the changes thar were occuring in the power equa- tions in his realm, While campaigning in South India they were ready to believe a rumour thatthe sultan had ordered their execution. They rebelled, were captured land executed.” The episode is significant fora variety of related factors that the nature of developments in Ghiyds al-Din's reign could warn ‘Al8'T commanders ‘and sway them into rebellion; that their execution marked the final dissolution of the old Khalat dispensation: and finally that the news of the suppression of the Khalajt revolt was sent to Ghiyls al-Din's new court at Taghlugabad, By 1323 ct the new dispensation of passer in Dethi had a residence all to its own Like Dihteyi kuknah and Kil0khr, Sit would never again be used asa capital by a Delhi monarch. The following sultans of the Tughlog dynasty stated another round of construction activity in the riverine plain: Tughlugabsd was followed bby “Adilabad and Jahanpanah when Muhammad Tughlug became monarch (7 1324-51 ce) and Firdz Shab Tughlag (r. 1351-88 CF) constructed the new capital of Firzabe, all in the fourteenth century CE. ‘When medieval chroniclers narrated the coming and going of Delhi sultans with such rapidity they found in it lessons about fate and destiny, the transitory nature Of material suceess and a reminder of God's sovereignty in the affairs of mortals, slim? constructed his whole versfied epic oa the Dethi sullans, Fuss al-satarin, as a reminder of God's sovereign will embodied in Qur’n 3:26: *O Allah! Posses- sor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the Kingdom from whem You will ... .” The theme had wide currency and it ini trated an anecdote reported by lba Barta (d.779/1377). the Moroccan traveller to the court of Mubammad Shih Tughhag, explaining the construction of the capital fof Tughlugabid. The story concemed a conversation between sultan Mubirake ‘Shah Khalajt and his military commander Ghiyas sl-Din Tughlug which occurred ‘during a hunting expedition near the Aravatl hills at the south-eastern edge of the Deli plain, The sultan's servant, Ghivas al-Din Tuohlu, initiated the conversa tion by remarking on the excellent quclites of the escarped land where they had Stopped to rest. He suggested that it was an appropriate site for Mubarak Shah Khalaji to construct his capital. With 2 touch of prescience, Ibn Bauita’s story had Mubarak Shih Khalajt reply: “When you are sultan, build it” Yon Bargita con- cluded the aneedate thus: “It came to pass by the decree of God that (Ghiyas al-Din] became sultan, so he built {his capital there} .. . and called it by his name."* Just ‘as destiny had decreed that Ghiyas al-Din Tughlug would be sultan, so too had God identified Tughlugibad asa site for a Sultanate capital “The insertion of divine agency took the historical element out ofthe prosaic temporal woeld of mortals and added to the prestige of a monarch and, indeed, his ‘capital, This was necessary, of course, because as we have noticed, the frequent transitions in kingship and capitals through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Courts, coptals andkingship 135 nad realy dif frtitertus to gat any semblance of yay on the Carer of hel protagonists. Only panic ie erreur someon ike ‘nie Kiera poser as aclogt in his worl ver ean rao Sice the eonsioction of power, kingship and capitals way not sma with Sight they bad to be sserbled ash neath generation A monarch that Heo st ito hopped nc etc ey Flexing plea inepedence, achat ene (em incurred vain boundaries of their predecessor's capital. a ‘adios Implicit inthe std ofthe constant shifting of pital in the Deh lin the recon thatthe ez of plea! powet by pervene miltaryconsanders ot avs soil ad cll backround avo perodallyreeonstne Slate {ook atthe highest levels Even as hisora undetin the eet poli fc and discontinuities ofthe Sultanate pried the donot esearch social ad Cala coneqnces hat ths cont dung crete in makings repro ing Muslim soe thoueh the tien and ureenth centres. The ext sevon sists ue fom th pespecive of pola aditemendeustons brought to Debby new ling ou andthe response the Pensa erste tothe plea cules o te tases Persianate literati, parvenu lords and courtly culture 1280s Nizam al-Din was only an impoverished student, reliant upon his friends its crowded, diny environs distasteful. Nigim al-Din spent much of his waking hours outside the ety in the envio ofthe nearby reservoi, the ha! ron before leaving the precincts altogether and setting up his hospice some distance ‘with the Old City had a lotto do with Nizam al-Din Awliy"s ideological ambiv. ‘lence towards material life and comfort, elements that were quite unambiguously associated with the court of the Dethi sultans. - a ee yer 136° Sunil Kumar oe ee ee ee omen wanistan suffered devastation, a large number of littérateurs, secretaries, ares Sassen soup saneuagy in Dei. The embers ray ene oa ea menraes| Ce ech ps oe ey er ee served the Sultanate regimes in high administrative positions, these Mongol Cee ee ate see nes Set Sc ead tana eoe sere pf er cessor and society.” These individuals and groups were described as “base born” (bad re nanaaere Fee aerate stays af Debt andthe commanders ey oer eee sta at eater asa ent ean ake domter Htc the Khalai or he Tuehiigy Both a a-DIn er ee annua en of eee, tt a as ee reer reer Be Hi ee oe fo uate Te Oe acy tal cp ad Sa ae eens ie ne Pe Sr Tbs ee Courts, capitals and kingship 137 The first example concems traditions of succession followed by members of the Khalajt dynasty during the short 30-year duration of their rule (1290-1320 cE), At the outset, these traditions were evident at the time of Jalal al-Din's murder in 67/1296. At his death the Dethi sultan had two sons: the older one, Arkali Khin, who had the monarch’ trust, was given considerable authority over aries, territories and in the punishment of rebels." Jalal al-Din’s younger son, Qadir Khan, was too young to have received any prior political appointment. At Jalil al-Din Khalaji’s murder Baranl expected that the competent Arkali Khin would succeed his father and could not restrain his surprise when the Queen mother, ‘Malikah-yi Jahan placed the younger sibling on the throne. * Barani's inability to comprehend these developments is apparent from his clichéd, gendered remarks about Malikah-yi Jahan, She was somewhat ofa shrew, Barant informs us, a stubborn, willful person who had dominated her hustand while he was alive:* The impetuous act of placing the young Qadr Khin or the throne and assuming the regency herself was in keeping with her naive, foolish character. She did not consult anyone and as her experiment led the dynasty into disaster, Barant had Malikah-yi Jahan confess the folly of her actions. Acconding to Barani the qucen admitted: ‘I am a woman and women are deficient in judge- ‘ment [nagisar-i‘ag(}’%* Tenuous as the gendered explanations provided by the author may be, they are rendered even more fragile at Baran’ recounting of the ‘older son’s reactions tthe loss ofthe throne. The energetic, valiant Arkali Khan who had once had the Sufi saint Sidi Muwallih crushed by an elephant, accepted his exclusion from the throne as a fait sccompli. Instead of disputing the succes- sion, he retreated to his appanage in Multin. There he renuained despite Barzat’s account that the queen apologized repeatedly for her actions and entreated the ‘older son to return to Dethi to oppose the rebel ‘Ala’ al-Din Khalaji.” ‘The Khalajis ruled for three generations and every succession during theirnile ‘of 30 years was disputed. Obviously the assumption of high office was never resolved to the satisfaction of rival claimants, Important to keep in mind is the fact that these claimants were always members ofthe ruling family and in attempting to curiil_ intra-tineage conflict, the founh dynast, Mubsrak Shah Khalai (716-2011316-20), incarcerated many of his siblings, eventually blinding and ‘executing them.* In this milieu, Mafikah-vi Jaban’s placing of young Oadr Khia fon the throne~Barani's horror notwithstanding—was one accession tht remained unchallenged, The older brother seemed to accept—for the manent ‘anyway—the right of his younger sibling to the throne This was in contrast to ‘Ale’ al-Din Khalaj's own experience. After seizing the throne he was generous to many of his relatives and gave them high positions but as we have already seen, thro.zh the duration of his reign he progressively segre- gated authority in his own person. Sometime around 700/1301 an altempt was made oa ‘Ala’ al-Din’ life. The perpetrator was Ikit Khin, ‘Ala’ al-Din Khabij’s youngest brother's soa.” Baran attributed base ambition as the motive for Ikit Khan's animosity but it should not eseape our scrutiny that in seizing power, Al al-Din Khalaji had reversed the order of succession that had prevailed a generation earlier. If Malikah-yi Jahan had appointed the youngest son to the throne exchaling 138. Sunif Kumar the older sibling; Ala’ al-Din was the oldest sibling and his right tothe throne was ‘challenged by the disaffected descendants of his youngest brother. ‘Barani's reportage makes it extremely difficult to comprehend the workisg of Khalaji customs of inheritance. Certainly one of their traditions seemed to privi- fege the rights of the youngest son. It is hard to say whether these constituted traditions of uliimogeniture somewhat tike the rights of the “hearth-prnce” {Gidigan) cecognized by some Turkish tribes and the Chingisid family. Tanializ~ ing as the evidence might be, in its scantiness it remains hardly compelling, More germane for our present discussion, however, is the need to notice Barant"s complete inability to fathom the customary practices of the regnant sultans of Dethi, While his diatribe against Matikah-yi Jahan reveals the author's own rather conventionally gendered Toeation, it also underlines the Persian litéraicur's inability to comprehend the cultural World of his protagonists, recent émigrés to the Sultanate and now its rulers. Even as they became govemors ofthe Persinate ‘world of the Sultanate and masters of Delhi, the “Sanctuary of Islam”, they’ Continued to practice succession rituals whose customary provenance was quite incomprehensible to their court chroniclers Equally distant to the cultural traditions of Delhi were the Tughlugs, whose éynastic founder, Ghiyls al-Din, was hailed asthe “Saviour of Islam even though his retinue consisted of Khokhars, “Ghuzz, Turks and Mongols from Rim and Ras" all of whom had challenged the authority of the Sultanate inthe past. No Persian chronicler ever made anything of the disjunction between the past careers and present fortunes of the members of the early Tughluq political dispensation. ‘And vet the travelogue of Ibn Battita suggests that the Tugh!sqs placed consider able premium on their notables acculturating rapidly to“Muslim ways”. He noted that in Mubammad Tughug’s rein: all {courtiers} Were required to show knowledge of the obligations of ablution, prayers and the binding articles of Islam, They used to be {questioned on these masters; if anyone failed to give correct answers ne was punished and they made a practice of studying them with one another in the ftudience hall and the bazaars and setting them down in writing This was an unusual requirement to demand of practicing Muslims unless, of course, ther ritual praxis was regarded as somewhat deficit While Persian chronicles gloss ever some uncomfortable details about their fords and masters, the amateur ethnography of tbn Bartlta carries interesting detals-aboxt Tughlug court rituals and ceremonial. He provided the following description of Muhammad Tughlug’s royal procession on festivals: (On the morning of the feast all the elephants are adorned with silk, gold and precious stones. There are sixteen ofthese elephants which no one ries, but they are reserved to be ridden by the sultan himself, and over them are carried sixteen parasols of silk embroidered with jewels, each one with a shaft of pure gold. ... The sultan himself rides oa one of these elephants and in front of im Courts, copitals and kingship 139 there is caried aloft the ghishiyah, that is his saddie-cover, which is adomed ‘with the most precious jewels. n frontof him walk his slaves andhis Mamluks *” Th Batidta added further details regarding the ritual atthe time of the sultan's entry into the capital: On some of the {sixteen} elephants there were mounted small military catapults and when the sultan came near the city, parcels of gold and silver ‘coins mixed together were thrown from these machines. The men on foot in front ofthe sultan and he other persons present serambled for the money, and they kept on scattering it until the procession reached the palace, .. While ghashivah has an Arabic etymology ie of the ceremony lies in the accession and ceremonial rituals of the early Turks ‘where the “Lord of the Horse” would be idemtified with the newly enthroned leader and the procession would celebrate the conquest ofthe four quarters by the Universal Emperor! The tradition was followed in some of the major steppe- ‘descended polities in the central Islamic lands: by the Saljugs, the Zangids and the Babri Mamluks of Egypt (with a military elite of Qupchag origin)!” At least in Syria and Egypt it was accepted asa ritual associated with royalty and performed, by the Kurdish Ayyubids, who learn of it from their Turkish patrons the Zangids. With the Ayyubids it was integrated as part of their accession ceremony together with the ritual pledge of allegiance, hay'ah, and the investiture from the caliph. ** Detailed descriptions ofthe ghashivah ritual exist from the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt where Jamal al-Din ibn Taghrtbirdi (4. 87411470) clarified that it was a part of the accession ceremonies of the monarch and repeated on major festivals, Its performance in Egypt mirrors Ibn Baitta's description of the ceremony from Muhammad Tughlug's court and Ahmad al-Qalqashandi (4. 821/1418) provided the following description: [The ghashiyah is a saddle cover of leather, decorated with god so thatthe ‘observer would tak it tobe made entirely of gold. tis bore before hin [i.e the Mamluk sultan} when riding in state processions for parades, festivals, ele. the riabdarayut (grooms, Le. ghulams] eaty i, die one who holds it Up in his hands turing it right and left. {tis one of the particular insignia of this kingdom." ‘An important common feature between the Marnfok state in Egypt andthe Dethi Sultanate was their common reliance upon Tarko-Mongol personnel from the trans-Caucasian steppes, the Dasht-i Qupchag. The Sultanate’s fink with the Furasian steppe already present in Itutmish's reign continued into the reign ‘of Ghiys al-Din Tughlug who was of Negiderid background, and had a retinue of Turks and Mongols ftom Rim and Ras".” Just as Barani had noticed the curious succession traditions ofthe Khaajis but tunable to understand them had reported it inthe gendered terms familiar to his 140. Sunil Kumar ‘world, he certainly witnessed Tughlug procession rituals but filtered out those ‘lements that made them unfamiliar to his experience. Curiously enough Barant's

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