Medieval Literature of India

 

Medieval Literature of India 

With the establishment of the Slave dynasty Persian language received special patronage. Qutb-ud-din popular for his liberal patronage to scholars and earned the title of Lakh Bakhash on account of his liberal patronage. Altutmish was also a great patron of poets and scholars and a number of literary figures adorned his court. The Prominent scholars which lived at his court or enjoyed his patronage include Khwaja Abu Nasr, Abu Bakr bin Muhammad Ruhani of Samarqand, Taj ud Davir, Nur ud din Muhammad Awfi etc. Nasir ud din Mahmud Shah was another patron of literary figures. Some of the prominent literary figures which flourished during his times were Fakhr ud din Nunki, Mihaj ud din Siraj (the famous historian) who wrote Tabaqat i Nasiri.  Alauddin Khalji patronized Khwaja Najm ud dun Hassan, popularly known for as Mir hasan Dihlvi, a prominent Persian poet. He is known for his lucid and charming Persian ghazals and is regarded as Sadi of Hindustan. Muhammad bin Tughlaq was another great patron of learning. The famous historian Zia ud din Barani enjoyed his patronage.Firoz shah Tuhlaq was also a great patron of learning and gave liberal grants to learned men and poets. One of the prominent scholar who adorned his court was Shams I Siraj Afif. Hewrote Tarikh I Firoz Shahi in five parts in which he records the history of the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlaq.Akbar extended full patronage to the literary figures and made the richest contribution to the development of literature. Some of the Important works produced during his time include Tarikh i Alfi of Mulla Daud, Ain I Akbari and Akbarnama of Abul Fazal, the Muntakhab ul Tawarikh, and Tabakat i Akbari of Nizamuddin Ahmadm Akbarnama of Faizi, the Masir i Rahimi of Abdul Baqi, Muntakhab ut Tawarikh by Abdul Qadir Badauni ( a general historyfrom the times of Ghaznavides to the fortieth  year of Akbar), Tabakat i Akbari by Nizamuddin, Takmila i Akbarnama of Inayat ullah, Muntakhabut Tawarikh by Hasan in Muhammad at Khaki al Shirazi.The Important scholars patronised by shah jahan included Abu Zalih, Haji Muhammad Jan, Chandra bhan Brahman, Abdul Hamid Lahauri, Aminai, Qazwani, Inayat khan, Muhammad Salih etc. Abdul Hamid Lahauri was the court historian of Shah Jahan. He wrote Padshah Nama which is an important source of  information about the times of shah jahan.

Medieval Indian History- SC Raychoudhary