Mirabai, Great Vaishnavite Saint and Poetess

Mirabai (also spelt as Meerabai) was a Rajput princess who was one of the greatest saints of the Krishna cult of Vaishnavism in 16^th century India. She was the only child of Ratna Singh Rathor of Merta in Rajasthan.  Mirabai was born at the village of Kudki in the Pali district in or about AD 1498. In 1516, she was married to Bhoraj, eldest son of Rana Sanga, the ruler of Mewad with its capital at Chittor. Bhoraj was heir-apparent to Mewad but he died in 1526.  

Mirabai was highly religious from her childhood. Like her grandfather Dudaji and father she was a devotee of Krishna. After her husband’s death she completely addressed herself to the devotion of Krishna. She patronized learned men. Devotees who were drawn from both sexes made a beeline to Mirabai. Consequently, her fame spread far and wide.

However, Mirabai’s religious activities were resented by her in-laws who took exception to the fact that a royal princess would sing and dance before the image of Krishna in full glare of the public. Her choice of Raidas, a leather worker as her spiritual guru, did not go down well with them. Tradition has it that in-laws tried to poison her. As her relation with the Mewad rulers took a turn for the worse, she went to Merta to live with her uncle Biram Deva.

However, when Mal Deva of Jodhpur seized Merta, Mira undertook a pilgrimage to the sacred city of Dwarka in Gujarat and spent rest of her life as a devotee of Krishna. She died in 1546. 

Mira’s greatness and popularity rest on her many devotional poems and lyrics. She wrote her works in Brajbhasha and partly in Rajasthani. She also wrote some of her verses in Gujarati.

Mughal History Trivia

• ·         Badauni was a famous Mughal historian who flourished at the court of Akbar. He disapproved of Akbar’s religious views.  An orthodox Sunni, Badauni prepared a list of charges against Akbar and dubbed him enemy of Islam.  

• ·         Mughal princess Zeb-un-Nisa, the eldest child of sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, wrote under the pen name of Makhfi (meaning Hidden One in Persian) and was poetess of considerable merit. She produced a brilliant collection of beautiful poems which were published after her death in 1702 as Diwan-i-Makhfi.

• ·         Aurangzeb prohibited the practice of placing tika or tilak on the forehead of Hindu rulers by the Mughal emperor.

Mihirakula, the Mighty Huna Monarch

From 500 AD onwards Huna power was in ascendancy in Western India for next thirty years.  Hunas came from Central Asia in the 5th century AD and have been referred to as Hephthalites or White Hunas by the Byzantine historians. 

Toramana was a famous Huna king in India and was succeeded by his son Mihirakula (Mihiragula, meaning sunflower) in 515 AD. Mihirakula, a follower of Shaivism, has been described by 7th century Chinese traveler Huen – T- Sang as a tyrant who fiercely persecuted the Buddhists by destroying their monasteries and killing them. He is supposed to have destroyed fourteen hundred Buddhist monasteries, His ferocity and cruelty has been also been recorded by the 12th century Kashmiri historian Kalhana in his magnum opus, Rajatarangini (Chronicle of Kings).  

Mihirakula’s capital was at Sakala (modern Sialkot in Pakistan’s Punjab). He built up a vast empire which extended up to Gwalior. 

However, Mihirakula suffered at the hands of Gupta ruler Nasimhagupta or Baladitya by which name he finds mention in the accounts of Huen – T- Sang. In about 530, Yashodharman of Mandosar, defeated Mihirakula in battle at Kehror Pucca (Lodhran district in Pakistan) and the Huna power ceased to be potent force in India.

Thirty-five day criminal rule of Malik Kafur

"Hazar-dinari" was nickname of Malik Kafur, lieutenant of Alauddin Khilji, the most powerful Khilji ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. 

He was a Hindu turned Muslim slave captured by Nusrat Khan, Alauddin commander, during the conquest of Gujarat in 1299. Kafur soon rose in ranks and was given the exalted title of malik naib (regent). He successfully executed his master’s expeditions to the South India and brought immense wealth from the South Indian kingdoms after demolishing many temples. With the passage of time Kafur became Alauddin’s Man Friday and so much so that the Khilji Sultan came under his complete influence. 

Alauddin died in 1316. His eldest son Khizr khan was the claimant to the throne. However, on the second day of Alauddin’s death, Kafur placed five or six year old Shihabuddin Umar, another son of Ala-ud-din, on the throne and himself became his regent by producing a will of late Sultan. Then began the thirty five day criminal rule of Malik Kafur marked by bloody killings and imprisonment of the possible claimants to the throne. Alauddin’s sons, Khizr Khan and Shadi Khan were blinded. The queen dowager Malika-i-Jehan (wife of Alauddin) was imprisoned. 

Malik Kafur now turned his attention to Mubarak, the third son of Alauddin. Mubarak was placed in confinement in Hazar Sutun (the palace of a thousand pillars) by Kafur who tried to blind him too. However, Mubarak became successful in escaping. The nobles and slaves owing allegiance to the Khiljis bore the burnt of Kafur’s high-handedness. This period of mayhem came to an end after 35 days when Kafur was himself murdered by bodyguards of late Sultan Alauddin Khilji.

Military Conquests of Alauddin Khilji

Alauddin Khilji

The second ruler of the Khilji dynasty of the famed Delhi Sultanate, Alauddin Khilji was a militarist and imperialist to the core. He was very ambitious. In a haste to be the Khilji Sultan, he usurped the throne for himself by killing treacherously his loving uncle and father-in-law Jalaluddin Firuz Khilji, the founder of the Khilji Dynasty.

It is natural for a self-willed and ambitious ruler to embark on the path of annexation of new territories to his kingdom. Alauddin, whose original name was Ali Gurshap, loved to style himself “the Second Alexander” (Sikander-i-Sani). As a matter of fact, with the assumption of power at Delhi begins ‘the imperial phase of the Sultanate’.

Conquest of Gujarat

The kingdom of Gujarat was then ruled by king Karna Dev of the Vaghelas who were feudatories of the Solanki Rajput rulers also called Chalukyas. The Gujarat kingdom was famed for vast fortunes which it acquired from sea-borne trade with Arabs and Persians. In 1299   Alauddin send a military expedition to this kingdom under the joint command of his two ablest generals Ulugh khan and Nusarat Khan, who invaded Anhilwad, the capital of Gujarat. As Karna Dev Vaghela was not ready for sudden attack, he was caught unawares and fled to the Yadava kingdom of Devagiri in Northern Deccan with his daughter Dewal Devi. His chief queen Kamaladevi was taken prisoner by the victorious army. Kamaladevi later became the favourite wife of Alauddin. A large booty was accrued to the Khilji’s coffer by the plunder of the rich port of Cambay. However, the prized capture during the Gujarat conquest by Nusarat Khan was Hindu turned Muslim slave Malik Kafur (also known as hazardinari).  Kafur was a eunuch who later on rose to become Alauddin’s most important military general and the malik naib of the Khilji dynasty. He led many successful military expeditions of the Khilji ruler in the coming years.

Expedition to Ranathambhor

After the conquest of the Vaghela kingdom of Gujarat, Alauddin turned his attention to Rajputana, where he conquered Ranathambhor in 1300-1 from Hamir Deva, a descendant of Prithviraj Chauhan, who was defeated in the Second Battle of Tarain by Muhammad Ghori in 1192, resulting in the establishment of Muslim rule in Delhi.  

Chittor Conquest

After the subjugation of Ranathambhor was complete, Alauddin attacked Chittor, the capital of the powerful kingdom of Mewar, in 1303. Mewar was ruled by the Guhilot king Rana Ratan Singh. Various Rajput sources and Padmavat by Malik Muhammad Jayasi say that Alauddin’s invasion of the Rajput kingdom was driven by his infatuation with the Padmini, the beautiful queen of Rana Ratan Singh. However this episode served as the casus belli of the Mewar invasion is in the realm of debate. The opponents of the theory cite example of the legendary royal court poet Amir Khusro of Delhi Sultanate who makes no mention of the story though he himself was the part of Alauddin’ entourage during the latter’s Mewar expedition. Besides, this story is unknown to other contemporary sources. After a long siege of eight months, success attended the Khilji army in the capture of Chittor, which was named Khizrabad, after the name of Alauddin’s eldest son Khizr Khan.

Annexation of Malwa

With the incorporation of Gujarat, Mewar and Ranathambhor into the Delhi Sultanate, Alauddin sent a military expedition for the conquest of Malwa under the generalship of Ain-ul-mulk Multani. Malwa was ruled by Mahlak Dev, who along with his general Harnanda Koka, were killed in the bloody war that took place between the Sultan army and the Malwa forces in 1305. Malwa with its centres of power like Dhara, Mandu and Dhara and Chanderi fell into the hands of the victor and Ain-ul-mulk Multani was appointed governor of the province.

South Indian Conquests

After annexation of North India, Alauddin embarked on a military expedition under the command of Malik Kafur for the subjugation of South India. There were four major kingdoms ruling South India at the time. These were Yadava dynasty of Devagiri, Kakatiya kingdom of Warangal, the Hoyasala dynasty of Dwarasamudra and Pandyas of Madurai. Malik Kafur defeated the Yadava King Ramchandra in 1307, the Kakatiya King Pratap Rudra Deva II in 1309-10 and the Hoyasala King Vira Ballal III in 1311. But Kafur’s invasion of the Pandyan kingdom remained inclusive as Vira Pandya and Sundara Padya, the claimants to the Pandyan throne, refused to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Delhi Sultanate. In 1313, after the death of the Yadava ruler Ramchandra, when his son Singhana III declared his independence, Malik Kafur again marched towards Devagiri and annexed it to the Khilji kingdom.

Vikram Samvat, India’s most important indigenous dating system

Vikram Samvat or the Vikrama Era is the most important of the India’s many systems of dating that were or are in use in India. It was traditionally introduced by the legendary King Vikramaditya of Ujjaini who drove the Sakas out of Ujjain and thus founded the era to mark his victory. Since Chandra Gupta II (c. 376-415) of the Gupta Dynasty is the only king who assumed the title of Vikramaditya and drove the Sakas out of Ujjain, he cannot be person who introduced the Vikrama Era which began in 58 BC. It is so because the Gupta King lived some 400 years after the beginning of this era. So the legend is certainly incorrect.  

There is a school of thought which says that Era of Vikram was founded by the Malava tribe identified with the Malloi referred to by the Greek historians. It was after the Malavas that the region around Ujjaini, north of the Narmada River, got its name and came to be known as Malwa.  Some scholars credit Azes, an early Indo-Scythian king, for founding the Vikram era but this theory has found few acceptances.

Vikrama Era was more popular in North India. Its new year began originally with the month of Kartitika. However, by the medieval period while its new years commenced in the bright half of Chaitra in North India, in the South India in the dark half of the same month. Today it is the official calendar in the Himalayan country of Nepal.

British Library Showcases Mughal India in London

British library is organizing an exhibition in London where more than 200 exquisite objects of art belonging to the Mughal period from 16^th to 19^th century have the potential of overwhelm the visitors.

The exhibition, which will run until 2 April 2013, is showcasing historical accounts, paintings and portraits of the Mughal emperors who were equally adept in imperialism and promotion of art and culture.

A portrait of Prince Dara Shikoh [1615-59], the liberal son of Emperor Shah Jahan and brother of orthodox Aurangzeb is one of the highlights of the exhibition. The portrait depicts Dara listening to a debate between two persons of different persuasions.

A portrait of later Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah depicting him in a love making act is one of the works of art displayed at the exhibition, titled the 'Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire'. The visitor can find here a photograph of Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal Emperor who was sentenced by the British to exile in Rangoon, where he breathed his last in 1862. Read full story.