Historical Dictionary of Mediev Iqt

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Shahi (History of Mubarak Shah), a general history of the Delhi sul-
tanate that he dedicated to the second ruler of the Saiyid dynasty,
Muizz al Din Mubarak Shah (1421 1433). His book ends rather
abruptly in 1434 in the first year of Muhammad Shah s reign
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SUHRAWARDIYA ORDER " 131
(1434 1443). He was possibly attached in some capacity to the court
of Mubarak Shah.
SIRI. A fort built by Ala al-Din Khalji around 1301 at a short distance
(three kilometers) northeast of old Delhi (Qila i Rai Pithora). It came
to be referred to as hisar-i nao (new fort).
SISODIYAS. A branch of the Guhila ruling family of Mewar. It was
founded by Rahapa son of Karna. Sisodiya supremacy was estab-
lished at Chitor by Hammira (1326 1364).
SOLANKIS. See CHAULUKYAS.
SOMADEVA. Author of a Sanskrit anthology of stories written in ver-
sified form under the title Kathasaritsagara (The Ocean of the
Stream of Stories). These stories, recorded in the 11th century, have
become a part of popular memory. To this day, some of these stories
are narrated by ordinary folk in different parts of India.
SOMANATH. An important seaport of Gujarat in the 11th century, lo-
cated on the southern part of Kathiawar coast. A famous temple de-
voted to the Hindu deity Somanath gave this city its name. Somanath
was plundered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1025. He gave vent to his
religious bigotry by destroying the great temple and its main idol.
SUFIS. Muslim mystics who generally lived an isolated life in their
hospices devoting themselves to prayers and other forms of perceiv-
ing God. Many of the Sufis regarded devotional music as a means of
perceiving divinity. In medieval India, there existed several orders of
Sufis; the more important ones were the Chishtis and
Suhrawardiyas. The Chishtis often did not approve proximity to
men in authority, though many of them are known to have accepted
patronage from rulers.
SUHRAWARDIYA ORDER. This order was founded by Najib al-Din
Abdul Qadir Suhrawardi. It was brought to India by Shihab al-Din
Suhrawardi s disciple Baha al-Din Zakarya, who established his
khanqah at Multan. The Suhrawardiya order flourished in Sind and
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132 " SULTAN
Punjab, with Multan and Uchch being principal centers. Several of
Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi s disciples, other than Baha al-Din Za-
karya, also migrated to India. Among them were included Jalal al-Din
Tabrizi and Qazi Hamid al-Din Nagauri. Jalal al-Din, who estab-
lished a khanqah in Assam, is supposed to have converted a large
number of local people to Islam. Sufis of the Suhrawardiya order em-
phasized compliance with orthodox shariah and unlike those of the
Chishti order did not see any harm in amassing wealth or seeking
state patronage. Baha al-Din Zakarya s son and successor, Sadr al-
Din Arif, however, had a different attitude: he did not approve of ac-
quiring wealth. A disciple of Baha al-Din Zakarya, Sayyid Jalal al-
Din Makhdum-i Jahanian (1308 1383) had his khanqah at Uchch.
Shahbaz Qalandar of Sind also claimed spiritual authority from Baha
al-Din Zakarya.
SULTAN. The monarchs in the Ghaznavid and Ghaurid empires, as
well as in states ruled by Muslim dynasties in India until 1526, were
generally referred to with the royal title sultan. These sultans,
though sovereign rulers, often maintained the fiction of paying alle-
giance to the Abbasid caliphs, whose line, after the sack of Baghdad
by the Mongols in 1258, continued at Cairo on the sufferance of
Mamluk rulers. The sultan was the head of state and its chief military
commander. The nobles serving under him were deemed his slaves.
SWARGADWARI. A township established by Muhammad bin Tugh-
laq (1325 1351) on the bank of the Ganges River near present-day
Thana Daryaoganj (District Etah, Uttar Pradesh) in 1339. The place
chosen for the purpose was, as is suggested by its name Swargadwari
( Gate to Heaven ), already a pilgrimage center of Hindus. Muham-
mad bin Tughlaq stayed at Swargadwari and ran his empire from
there between 1339 and 1341.
T
TABAQAT-I NASIRI (Stories about the Deliverer). A general history
within the framework of Islamic tradition written by Minhaj Siraj
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TARAIN " 133
Juzjani in 1260s. It was dedicated to Sultan Nasir al-Din Mahmud
Shah (1246 1266). It is the most important source of information for
the history of the Delhi sultanate prior to 1260.
TAHQIQ AL-HIND. See KITAB AL-HIND.
TAJIKS. In the early phase of the Delhi sultanate, Persian-speaking
freeborn nobles, including those belonging to Ghaurid ruling clans,
were generally identified as Tajiks or Taziks to distinguish them from
Turkish slaves promoted to high positions.
TAMIL. The earliest non-Aryan language of the extreme south, Tamil
was first committed to writing in the third or second century BCE
when Brahmi script was introduced from north India. Tamil devo-
tional cults contributed during 500 900 to the popularization of the
Tamil language. It emerged as a well-developed language during the
ascendancy of the Cholas (900 1300). Its vocabulary was enriched
by association with Sanskrit. Writing in the beginning of the 11th
century, Abu Rehan Alberuni lists Tamil as a distinct Indian lan-
guage, calling it Dravidi.
TANKA. Originally, it was the name of a silver coin weighing 168.24
grams current in northwest India prior to the annexation of the Pun- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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