Rajendra Chola I: The Mighty Chola Monarch

Rajendra Chola I is one of two greatest kings of the Chola dynasty which, one of three ancient dynasties in the Tamil tradition, again rose in the middle of the 9th century and ruled for well neigh three centuries over a large part in South India with their capital at Tanjuvur (modern Tanjore also Thanjavur).

The power of the Chola dynasty reached its pinnacle during the reigns of Rajendra Chola (1014- 1042) and his father Rajaraja I (985-1014). Rajendra Chola was the worthy son and successor of his father. Though he succeeded to the Chola throne in 1014, his regal years are counted from 1012 AD when he was declared heir-apparent.

By his military prowess and administrative skill, Rajendra Chola raised the Chola power to the zenith of glory. Probably in 1017 AD, he conquered the whole of Sri Lanka, the northern part of which was already annexed to the Chola empire during the reign of his father Rajaraja I.

In the next year (1018 AD) Rajendra Chola forced the rulers of Kerala and the Pandyan country to accept the suzerainty of the Cholas. He defeated the Western Chalukya power under Jayasimha II Jagadekamalla (c. 1016-42). Rajendra also came in conflict with the Pala ruler of Bengal, Mahipala I, and his armies spread their victorious wings as far as the Ganges. To commemorate this daring victory, he assumed the title of Gangaikondachola (The Chola conquer of the Ganga) and founded a new capital named after him - Gangaikonda – Cholapuram, identified with modern Gangaikondapuram in the Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu.

Rajendra Chola possessed a powerful fleet and is credited with sending a great naval expedition which occupied parts of South East Asia including Myanmar, Malaya and Sumatra. This naval expedition, unique in the annals of Indian history, was undertaken to presumably suppress the piratical activities of the Indonesian rulers, which were an obstacle to the flourishing trade between China and the South India.

Rajendra Chola is known by a variety of titles such as Tyagasamudra, Gangaikonda and Pandita Chola.   

Fatuhat-i-Alamgiri by Ishwar Das Nagar

Ishwar Das Nagar was the most remarkable Hindu historiographer during the reign of the sixth and last most notable Mughal monarch Aurangzeb.  He was the author of the Fatuhat-i-Alamgiri, the only literary work that was composed under the patronage of Aurangzeb who was otherwise opposed to the encouragement of arts and letters. 

The Fatawa-i-Alamgiri has been described as "the greatest digest of Muslim law made in India".

Invasion of Timur on India (1398)

It was during the reign of Nasiruddin Mahmud (1394-1413), the last of the Tughluq rulers, in the years 1398-99, that Amir Timur, the terrible Mongol military leader of Central Asia, invaded India creating havoc in the forms of massacres and plunders.

Also known as Tamerlane, Timur (April 8, 1336–February 18, 1405) was a ferocious conqueror who is known in history for razing cities to the ground and putting entire populations to the sword. 

Amir Timur was born in A.D. 1336 at Kesh (now known as Shahrisabz) in Transoxiana. Son of Amir Turghay, chief of the Gurkan branch of the Barlas Turks, Amir Timur ascended the throne of Samarqand in 1369 and overran the countries of Persia, Afghanistan and Mesopotamia.

Amir Timur was emboldened to attack India due to the chaotic condition prevailing during the times of the later Tughluq rulers. However as his nobles and soldiers were not in favour of undertaking military campaign to India, he declared that his main object for invading the country was to extinguish the idolatry which is not permitted in Islam.

After massacring thousands of the inhabitants of many cities and places of India including Talamba, Delhi, Firuzabad, Meerut, Jammu and Kangra, Timur left the country in March, 1399 "after inflicting on India more misery than had ever before been indicted by any conqueror in a single campaign.“ The best artisans of Delhi were made captive and sent to Samarqand (located in modern-day Uzbekistan) to build there the famous Friday Mosque which was designed by Timur himself. Timur is also known as a great patron of architecture.

Timur appointed Khizr Khan to the governorship of Multan, Lahore and DIpalpur as a reward for his services to the Mongol invader. In June 1414, Khizr Khan invaded Delhi and founded a new dynasty named Saiyid Dynasty.

Timur died in 1405 at Otrar in Kazakhstan.

Malik Maqbul

Malik Maqbul, more famously known as  Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul, was the prime minister (Na'ib Wazir) of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, the last great ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty. He was given the title of Khan-i-Jahan by the Tughlaq Sultan.

Maqbul, though illiterate but a very able administrator, was originally a Brahmin from Telangana in the service of Kakatiya Kingdom which was annexed to the Delhi Sultanate during the Tughlaq rule. He was brought to Delhi where he became a convert to Islam. As is the case with neo-converts, he tried his best to show his zeal for new faith. 

Impressed by his talent, Muhammad bin Tughlaq gave Maqbul the fief of Multan. As mentioned at the outset Maqbul was elevated to the exalted position of the prime minister by Firoz Tughlaq, successor of Muhammad bin Tughlaq.

After the death of Maqbul in 1370, his son, Juna Shah, was made the prime minister by Firoz. He was, however, killed by Muhammad Khan, the third son of Firoz Tughlaq, when Juna Shah tried to wrest the control of the state and become the ruler himself. 

Maqbul lies buried in mausoleum in Nizamuddin West in Delhi. The mausoleum, built by his son Juna Shah, is considered the first octagonal tomb in India.

Ibrahim Lodi, The Last Lodi Sultan

Ibrahim Lodi Tomb, Panipat

Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Lodi rulers of the Delhi Sultanate, is a famous personality in the Indian history whose defeat by Babur, the founder of the Mughal empire, in the first Battle of Panipat in 1526 led to the foundation of a new dynasty, named the Mughal empire, in India which lasted till 1857.

Ibrahim Lodi, the eldest son of Sikandar Lodi, succeeded to the Delhi throne after his father’s death in 1517. 

After becoming the Lodi Sultan, he assumed the title of Ibrahim Shah.  

Military campaigns of Ibrahim Lodi

The greatest military achievement of Ibrahim was the subjugation of Gwalior which was then being ruled by Vikramajit whose father Man Singh had successfully frustrated designs of previous Lodi ruler Sikandar Lodi. Ibrahim sent an army to the principality of Gwalior on the pretext that Vikramajit had offered shelter to Ibrahim‘s younger brother, Jalal Khan, who also eyed the Delhi throne. Jalal Khan was killed on the order of Ibrahim who also imprisoned his other brothers for life thus eliminating any possible rival of his. Vikramajit became a vassal of Delhi Sultanate.

However, Ibrahim’s another military campaign resulted in his defeat when he attacked the Rajput principality of Mewar which was ruled at that time by Rana Saiigram Singh , popularly called Rana Sanga, a valiant soldier endowed with extraordinary military prowess.

First Battle of Panipat 1526

Ibrahim Lodi was an insolent and arrogant ruler. His ill treatment of the nobles was resented by them. Dariya Khan Lohani, the governor of Bihar, declared his indepndece. The nobles ran out of patience due to lbrahim's ill treatment of Dilwar Khan, son of Daulat Khan Lodi, the virtually independent governor of Lahore. Daulat Khan Lodi and Alam khan, an uncle of Sultan lbrahim, who was also eyeing the Delhi throne, invited Babur, the Timurid ruler of Kabul to invade India. They were in the mistaken belief that Babur would leave India after plundering the country. But this was not to be. Ibrahim Lodi was defeated at the First Battle of Panipat (April 21, 1526) by him who laid the foundation of a new empire in India.

During the battle Ibrahim lost his life, the first and only Delhi sultan to die in battle. 

Dadu: Medieval Bhakti Saint and Religious Reformer

Dadu was the most important of the religious teachers who taught the ideals of Kabir with great force. He was born to Brahmin parents in 1544 AD in Ahmedabad in Gujarat.  He, however, spent most part of his life in Rajasthan where he died in 1603 in the village of Narana or Narayana which is presently the chief centre of his followers who are called by the name of Dadu-panthis.

A contemporary of Mughal emperor Akbar, Dadu taught the brotherhood of all faiths and founded Brhama-sampradaya or Parabrahma- sampradaya to give effect to his doctrine. It is said that it was at the instance of Dadu that the Mughal emperor ordered the ban of cow-slaughter in his empire.

A non-believer in the authority of scriptures, Dadu stressed the importance of self-realization. According to him, this realization can be attained by complete surrender to God and making ourselves free from egotism.

Sundaradasa (1597-1689) and Rajjab were the famous disciples of Dadu.

Famous Quote of Dadu

“Be humble and free from egotism; be compassionate and devoted in service; be a hero, fearless and energetic; free your mind from sectarianism, and from all the meaningless forms and semblances of religion; be forgiving by nature and firm in your faith. The path of realization becomes easier, if you can fid a true teacher”.

Rukn-ud-din Firuz: Successor of Iltutmish

Rukn-ud-din Firuz was the ruler of the Slave dynasty who was placed on the throne of Delhi Sultanate by the nobles of the court in deference to the wishes of the Slave Sultan Iltutmish who had nominated his daughter Razia as his successor before his death in April, 1236.

Iltutmish's eldest son, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, who was also his favourite child and the ablest among the children, died in April, A.D. 1229. Nasir-ud-din Mahmud was governor of Bengal at that time. Since Rukn-ud-din Firuz, Iltutmish’s eldest surviving son, was incompetent and lazy and indulged in sensual pleasures, the Sultan thought it prudent to nominate Razia as heir-apparent. However, the anointment of a woman was not liked by the nobles and courtiers. So his wish was thrown to the dustbin and Rukn-ud-din Firuz became the next Slave Sultan.

Rukn-ud-din Firuz’s reign did not last long as the kingdom plunged into utter chaos and disorder due to the undue influence of his mother Shah Turkhan, an inordinately ambitious woman of low origin, who let loose a reign of terror by persecuting her co-wives and their children. During Rukn-ud-din Firuz’s reign, the provincial governors of Badaun, Multan, Hansi, Lahore, Oudh and Bengal threw off their allegiance to the Delhi Sultanate.

The nobles of Delhi put Shah Turkhan in prison and Rukn-ud-din Firuz was killed on the 9th November, A.D. 1236. He lies buried near the Sultan Ghari in Delhi. 

Rukn-ud-din Firuz was succeeded by his sister Razia on the Delhi throne.