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The famous rulers of Muslim India
Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
Sultan Shams od-Din Altamash
On 26th of the Islamic month of Safar in 630 AH, as part of his string of victories to consolidate the Muslim rule in northern India, Sultan Shams od-Din Altamash captured the important Rajput fortress of Gwalior after eleven months of siege. He was a Persianized Turkic slave of Sultan Muiz od-Din Mohammad, the Iranian ruler of Ghor (in present day Afghanistan); served as lieutenant to Qutb od-Din Aibak, the founder of the Slave (Mamluk) Dynasty of India; and later became the latter's son-in-law.
He was fluent in Turkic, Persian and Arabic, and was highly educated by his masters in Bukhara, Baghdad and Ghazna, since slaves in Islam are children of non-Muslims bought and brought up as Muslims and equivalent to adopted sons, and on no account should be confused with the concept of slavery in western and other non-Muslim cultures, where such persons are denied all basic rights and treated like chattels.
In 1211, Altamash seized power from Aibak's weak son, Aram Shah, to become Sultan and shifted his capital from Lahore to Delhi, where he remained the ruler until his death 25 years later on May 1, 1236. A wise man, he carried out reforms, invited scholars to his court from Khorasan and Central Asia, defended the country against Mongol attacks, and built several public projects, such as the "Hauz-e Shamsi" water reservoir in Delhi, which is still in use.
The famous Iranian Islamic scholar, Fakhr od-Din Razi used to visit India when Altamash was governor of Lahore. During his reign, several translations of Arabic books into Persian were undertaken, including the renowned Iranian Islamic scientist, Abu Rayhan al-Berouni's book on pharmacology titled "Saydana" – a translation printed recently in Tehran.
The Second Mughal Emperor of the northern subcontinent, Naseer od-Din Mohammad Humayun
On January 30, 1556, the 2nd Mughal Emperor of the northern subcontinent, Naseer od-Din Mohammad Humayun, died in Delhi, as a result of a fatal blow to his head, three days after tumbling down the stairs of his library with his arms full of books, when he caught his foot in his robe, while bowing in reverence on hearing the call of the muezzin for prayer. He was 48 years old at the time of his death, only a year after recovering with Iranian help the kingdom he had lost 15 years earlier to the Pashturn adventurer, Sher Shah Suri.
Born in Kabul (capital of present day Afghanistan), he was 22 years old when he succeeded his father, Zaheer od-Din Babar in India in 1530, while his step-brother Kamran Mirza, obtained the sovereignty of Kabul and Lahore. His peaceful personality, patience and non-provocative methods, in addition to his addiction to opium, cost him the kingdom ten years later, forcing him to flee to Safavid Iran, where he was cordially received by Shah Tahmasp I, who provided him aid to regain the Mughal Empire. Humayun's return from Iran, accompanied by a large retinue of Iranian noblemen, signalled an important change in Mughal court culture, as the Central Asian origins of the dynasty were largely overshadowed by the influences of Persian art, architecture, language and literature.
His most noted achievement was in the sphere of painting. His devotion to the early Safavid School, developed during his stay in Iran, led him to recruit Persian painters of merit to accompany him back to India. These artists laid the foundation of the Mughal style which emerged from its Persian chrysalis as an indigenous achievement in which Indian elements blended harmoniously with the traditions of Iran and Central Asia.
Even Humayun's tomb, built by his widow, Hamida Bano Begum (daughter of Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami, an Iranian Shi’ite Muslim descended from the mystic Shaikh Ahmad Jami of Torbat-e Jam in Khorasan), fits into the Iranian tradition of imperial mausoleums – a tradition that can be seen, for example, in Uljayatu's tomb at Sultaniyya and Timur's at Samarqand. It is said Humayun had also embraced the school of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt. He was succeeded by his son, Akbar.
The great Iranian general and statesman, Bairam Khan
On January 31, 1561 AD, the great general and statesman, Bairam Khan, who loyally served three Mughal Emperors (helping Zaheer od-Din Babar conquer northern India, assisting Naseer od-Din Humayun in retaking his Indian kingdom with Iranian help, and consolidating Jalal od-Din Akbar’s rule), was martyred in Gujarat at the age of 61 while proceeding on Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
A Baharlu Turk of the larger Qara Quyunlu tribe that once ruled Iran and Iraq (until 1468), he was born in Badakhshan (in present day Afghanistan), and like his father joined the service of the Timurid prince, Babar, who was a protégé of Shah Ismail I, the Founder of the Safavid Empire. He played an active role in Babar's conquest of India, and served Humayun as “Mohrdar” (keeper of the seals), taking part in military campaigns in Benares, Bengal and Gujarat.
He accompanied Humayun during his exile in Iran, and as a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was influential in persuading Shah Tahmasp to provide help to retake Hindustan. Following Humayun's death in 1556, as regent of the 13-year old Akbar, he consolidated Mughal rule in northern India and most notably won the Second Battle of Panipat against the Afghan-Hindu alliance. Bairam Khan has left a divan of Persian and Chaghatay Turkic poetry, which includes qasidas in praise of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) and Imam Reza (AS). His wife was a niece of the Mughal Emperor, and his son, Abdur-Rahim Khan-e Khanaan, was a prominent scholar and official at Akbar's court.
Shah Jahan, the 5th Great Mughal Emperor of the Subcontinent
On January 22, 1666 AD, Shah Jahan, the 5th Mughal Emperor of the Subcontinent (except for the Deccan), died in Agra under confinement in the fort by his rebellious son, Aurangzeb, at the age of 74, eight years after being dethroned following a 30-year reign (1628-1658). Born at Lahore in present day Pakistan, during the reign of his grandfather, Jalal od-Din Akbar Shah, he was named Shahab od-Din Mohammad Khorram.
His father was Emperor Saleem Noor od-Din Jahangir, while his mother was the Rajput princess, Manmati of Jodhpur, who on conversion to Islam was given the name and title Taj Bibi Bilqis Makani. Shah Jahan’s reign was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected splendid monuments, the most famous of which is the legendary white marble Taj Mahal at Agra built as a mausoleum for his wife of Iranian ancestry, Empress Arjmand Bano Momtaz Mahal, and regarded among the Seven Wonders of the World (its inspiration was the Ibrahim Rowza of Ibrahim Adel Shah of Bijapur in the Deccan where Shah Jahan spent time in exile after an unsuccessful rebellion against his own father).
The Pearl Mosque and many other buildings in Agra, the Red Fort and the Jama Mosque in Delhi, mosques in Lahore, and extensions to the Lahore Fort were built by him. The famous “Takht-e Tawous” (Peacock Throne) said to be worth millions of dollars by modern estimates, also dates from his reign. Other important buildings of his reign are the "Diwan-e Aam" and "Diwan-e Khaas" (public and special courts of audiences) in the Red Fort Complex in Delhi and the Pearl Mosque in the Lahore Fort. He also patronized paintings and laid out gardens, especially in Kashmir, his favourite summer residence. In 1638, by bribing the governor, he captured Qandahar in what is now Afghanistan from the Iranians, prompting the retaliation of the Safavids led by Shah Abbas II, who recaptured it in 1649. The Mughal armies were unable to retake it despite repeated attempts.
When Shah Jahan became ill, civil war erupted among his four sons, with victor, Aurangzeb, killing his brothers, and declaring himself Emperor after confining his father to the Agra fort.
40 years naval battles between the Portuguese and the Gujarat-Egyptian-Ottoman coalition off the Indian coast
On February 3, 1509 AD, the Battle of Diu off the coast of Gujarat, western India, took place between the Portuguese marauders assisted by the Raja of Cochin, and a coalition of navies of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamluk ruler of Egypt, the Ottoman Sultan, and the Zamorin of Calicut, resulting in a stalemate, at the end of which, the Portuguese admiral, Francisco de Almeida, treacherously slaughtered the unsuspecting Egyptians and Indians in the most barbaric way. This happened despite the release of the well-fed and well-treated Portuguese prisoners from Gujarat taken in the victorious Battle of Chaul a year earlier. For almost 40 years, the Portuguese and the Gujarat-Egyptian-Ottoman coalition fought seesaw battles off the Indian coast. The "Mirat-e Sikandari", a Persian history of the Indian Muslim Kingdom of Gujarat details some of these battles. Among the heroes of these battles were Amir Hussain al-Kurdi, the Egyptian governor of Jeddah, Malik Ayaz of Gujarat, who was a Russian convert to Islam, and Bayram Pasha the Ottoman.
Taj od-Din Ferouz Shah, the 8th ruler of the Bahmani Dynasty
On 23rd of the Islamic month of Safar in 800 AH, Taj od-Din Ferouz Shah ascended the Turquoise Throne in Gulbarga, as the 8th ruler of the Bahmani Dynasty of Iranian origin of the Deccan in South India by deposing the boy-king Shams ud-Din Daud Shah II, installed five months earlier as the puppet ruler by the Turkic slave-commander Tughalchin, who had blinded and dethroned the elder brother, Ghiyas od-Din Tahmatan Shah, only two months after the 17-year old had succeeded his father Mahmoud Shah. Ferouz, the son-in-law of Mahmoud Shah and a grandson of Ala od-Din Bahman Shah, the founder of the kingdom, ruled for 25 years.
He was the most learned and cultured ruler, and besides his native Persian, was well versed in the Arabic, Turkic, Telugu, Kanada and Marathi languages. A mathematician, calligrapher, and a poet, writing under the pennames "Uruji" and "Ferouzi", he patronized art and literature and kept the company of scholars and religious figures, the most famous of whom was the prime mystic of the Deccan, Seyyed Mohammad Gesudaraz Hussaini, who traced his lineage to Zaid the Martyr, the son of Prophet Mohammad's (SAWA) 4th Infallible Successor, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS). Ferouz Shah checked the bid of the Vijaynagar kingdom of the south to encroach upon Muslim territories.
Among the public works undertaken by him was an observatory on the chain of hills near Dawlatabad. He paid attention to commerce and contacts with the Muslim world by modernizing the ports of Chaul and Dhabol for ships from the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. His prime minister was the able Iranian migrant scholar and statesman Mir Fazlullah Inju of Shiraz, who years earlier in the reign of Mahmoud Shah had invited the renowned Iranian poet, Khwaja Hafez Shirazi to visit the Deccan.
Ferouz Shah was inclined towards the school of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt and as part of his universal outlook won the hearts of his Hindu subjects by giving them official posts. His tomb is in the Haft-Gonbad (Seven Domes) Complex of Gulbarga and a remarkable specimen of Indo-Iranian architecture. He was succeeded by his brother Ahmad Shah, who built the mausoleum in Mahan, near Kirman in Iran, of the famous mystic, Shah Ne'matollah Wali, whose son and family later migrated from Iran to the new Bahmani capital Bidar.
The decisive Battle of Talikota in the Deccan
On January 26, 1565 AD, the decisive Battle of Talikota in the Deccan (south India) ended the Vijaynagar Empire by the united armies of the successor sultanates of the Bahmani Empire (of Iranian origin) in alliance with the Marathas and some other Hindu rulers. To check the growing power of Ramraya and his encroachment upon their lands, Ali Adel Shah I of Bijapur, Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda, Hussain Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar, along with the smaller Barid Shahi and Imad Shahi kingdoms as well as Raja Ghorpade, decided to confront the aggressor.
For several days battles raged on the banks of the Krishna River with the Vijaynagar forces, aided by Muslim mercenaries, including Iranian elite corps, having the upper hand, when the superior artillery power of the united army of the sultanates, also assisted by elite Iranian and Turkic auxiliaries, dealt the final blow, defeating the 150,000 strong army of Ramraya. The Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda-Haiderabad divided up the Vijaynagar territories between them and advanced Indo-Persian culture and architecture, including Persian language in India's southernmost parts.
The Second Anglo-Sikh War
On January 22, 1849 AD, during the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the Siege of Multan ended after nine months when the last Sikh defenders, surrendered to the British. Multan in Punjab had been occupied by Sikh warlord Ranjit Singh in 1818. Although the population was almost entirely Muslim, it was ruled by a Hindu vassal, named Dewan Mulraj, whose attempts for independence ended this day.
Hindi as the official language of India
On January 26, 1965 AD, Hindi was declared by the government as the official language of India, although at that time its speakers numbered hardly 10 percent. It was part of the move to undermine the status and widespread use of Urdu, the lingua franca of the Subcontinent that had come to be identified as the language of the Muslims, and had been declared as the national language of Pakistan in 1947. Hindi emerged in the 19th century as a spoken dialect of northern India and began to be written by Hindu intellectuals in the ancient Sanskrit script.
It was called Hindustani in the beginning and was gradually purged of Persian and Urdu words, although the language still contains a large amount of Urdu, Persian and even Arabic words. For almost seven centuries, Persian was the official language of the Subcontinent until replaced by English in the 19th century by the British. Today, according to estimates, pure Hindi is spoken by some 20 percent of the Indian population, while most of the population speaks an admixture that could neither be called Hindi or Urdu. Widespread resistance to the imposition of Hindi on non-native speakers, especially in South India (such as the anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu) and in Bengal, has meant continued use of English indefinitely for all official purposes.
The mystic of the Cheshti Sufi order, Khwaja Qutb ud-Din, Bakhtiyar Kaki
On 24th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal in 633 AH, the mystic of the Cheshti Sufi order, Khwaja Qutb ud-Din, Bakhtiyar Kaki, passed away in Delhi at the age of 64. He was born in Aush in the Ferghana valley of Central Asia and became a disciple of the famous Khwaja Moin od-Din Cheshti – originally of Khorasan.
He came to Multan in present day Punjab and subsequently to Delhi, where the Mamluk Sultan, Shams od-Din Altamash offered him the post of Shaikh ul-Islam which he declined. He traced his lineage to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) through the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS), and his shrine is visited by a large number of people till this day.
Choudhary Rahmat Ali Khan coining the name Pakistan
On January 28, 1933 AD, the name Pakistan was coined by Choudhary Rahmat Ali Khan and accepted by the Muslims of the northwestern parts of the Indian Subcontinent who campaigned for a separate country. He is the author of a famous 1933 pamphlet titled "Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever," also known as the Pakistan Declaration. The pamphlet started with the famous statement: "At this solemn hour in the history of India, when British and Indian statesmen are laying the foundations of a Federal Constitution for that land, we address this appeal to you, in the name of our common heritage, on behalf of our thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN – by which we mean the five Northern units of India, namely: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan."
In a subsequent book, Rahmat Ali discussed the etymology in further detail, saying: “PAKISTAN is both a Persian and an Urdu word. It is composed of letters taken from the names of all our South Asia homelands; that is, Punjab, Afghania (or Pashtun-speaking areas of the Subcontinent), Kashmir, Sindh and Balochistan. It means the land of the Paks – the spiritually pure and clean.” In 1947, at the birth of the country he had envisaged, he was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet.
Zulfeqar Ali Bhutto
On January 5, 1928 AD, Zulfeqar Ali Bhutto, who served as Pakistani foreign minister, president and prime minister, was born in Larnaka, Sindh to Shahnawaz Bhutto, the prime minister of the Muslim princely state of Junagadh in Gujarat, India. Educated in Bombay and the US, he founded the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the 1960s. He was ousted in a military coup in 1977 by the US-backed General Zia ul-Haq, who two years later executed him on charges of murder. Bhutto’s legacy is still alive in Pakistan. His daughter Benazir was to serve as prime minister in the 1990s, before her assassination during the election campaign, while the current president of Pakistan, Asef Ali Zardari, is his son-in-law.
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