Indian History

Illuminated  mausoleum of Rahim in Delhi / Image Credit: Parveen Sharma   Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, popularly known as Rahim, was a medieval Hindi poet, scholar of Sanskrit and Persian and powerful minister and military commander during Mughal emperor Akbar’s reign.  According to tradition he was one of Akbar’s ‘Navratnas (“Nine Jewels”). The Navratnas were nine individuals of extraordinary ability gracing the court of Akbar.                                                                                            Rahim's Tomb  Rahim was born in 1556 to Bairam Khan, the preceptor to Mughal emperor Akbar. The father-son duo were both titled Khan-i-Khanan. Rahim was four years old when h...

                                                                 Malik Maqbool tomb Delhi/ Image source Jahan Khan or Malik Maqbul whose mausoleum in the Nizamuddin Basti in Delhi is the earliest octagonal tomb in India was the Wazir (Prime Minister) of the Delhi Sultanate under Firuz Shah Tughluq ((r. 1351–1388), the third ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty.   Also known as Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul Tilangani, Malik Maqbul was originally a Brahmin from Telangana in the service of the Kakatiya kingdom in eastern Deccan. He converted to Islam when the kingdom under Prataprudra was annexed to the Delhi Sultanate in 1323 during the reign of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq who had sent his son Ulugh Khan (later Muhammad bin Tughlaq) to bring the Hindu kingdom under the Muslim rule. Malik Maqbul was known as Ganna...

Tomb of Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh / Image source Also known as Data Ganj Baksh (Distributor of Unlimited Power), Khwaja Ali Hujjwiri lived in 11th century AD and is considered to be the earliest Sufi Saint of repute who made India his home.  Sufism is a form of Islamic mysticism.  Born in Ghazni in Afghanistan, he died in Lahore and his tomb, known popularly as Data Darbar, is an important place of pilgrimage in the city. Also called Shaykh al-Hujwiri, Khwaja Ali Hujjwiri was a scholar and is known for compiling Kashf-ul-Mahjoob or Kashf al-Mahjub (Revelation of Mystery), a Persian treatise on Sufism, which was translated into English by British Orientalist and scholar Reynold Alleyne Nicholson. The work gives the biographies of Sufis from Prophet Muhammad's days to his own time.  His shrine in Lahore was visited by famous Chisti saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti who paid his homage to him by hailing him as 'Ganj Baksh' , the perfect pir. 

                                                                             Harshavardhan/  Image Source   A contemporary of Chalukya King Pulakeshin II who defeated him on the banks of Narmada in 618 AD, Harsha was an Indian emperor who brought a semblance of stability to the politics of North India amidst the chaos that characterized the period following the decline of the Gupta empire.  The reign of Harsha, also known as Harshavardhana, is well documented compared to other ancient Indian rulers. His court-poet was the famous Brahmin author Banabhatta whose magnum opus is Harshacharita (The Deeds of Harsha). Chinese scholar and traveler Huen Tsang came to his court leaving a valuable description of India.  Harsha who ascended the thr...

                                                                      Achyuta Raya Temple in Hampi / Image credit Achyuta Raya was a Vijayanagar ruler who succeeded to the throne in 1529 following the death of his half-brother Krishna Deva Raya, the greatest Vijayanagar emperor. If Portuguese chronicler Fernao Nuniz, who spent three years in Vijayanagar empire during the reign of Achyuta Deva Raya from 1535 to 1537, is to be believed, the Vijayanagar ruler was given to cruelty and tyranny. However, Achyuta Raya was not such a dishonest and weak ruler as maligned by Nuniz.  Achyuta Deva Raya ruled for 13 years and internal revolts ruled the roost during the period. However, he managed to keep the vast Vijayanagar dominions intact. Achyuta Raya is more known for his work in the...