Sikandar Lodi, the second Lodi ruler

Sikandar Lodi was the second ruler of the Lodi dynasty, last of the dynasties that comprised Delhi Sultanate that lasted from AD 1206 to1526. Born as Nizam Khan, he succeeded his father Bahlul Lodi after his death in 1489. Bahlul Lodi had nominated him his heir apparent. Sikandar was the son of the daughter of a Hindu goldsmith. 

In 1494 he dealt a crushing defeat to Hussain Shah Sharqi and demolished the Sharqi monuments in Jaunpur. He crushed the Raja of Tirhut and captured Chanderi in 1514. He was able to seize Bihar and signed a treaty with the Sultan of Bengal.

From 1506 to 1517 he devoted his energies to capturing Gwalior which remained unconquered under its Tomar ruler Raja Man Singh (1486-1517).

He is credited with the tightening of the espionage system. He introduced the system of auditing of accounts and Gaaz-i-Sikandar of 32 digits for measuring cultivated land. He gave patronage of philosophy. His rule saw the rising popularity of Avicenna’s philosophy in Delhi. The famous Sufi saint, known by his nom de plume Jamali, was a poet at his court. Sikandar Lodi had written verses in Persian under the penname of Gulrakhi. 

Sikandar Lodi was a bigot and destroyed Hindu temples including the Jwalamukhi temple at Nagarkot.

He died in 1517.

It was believed by the credulous section of his subjects that he could perform miracles such as raising the dead to life. 

Aurangzeb’s usurpation of Shantidas‘s Temple

Shantidas Jhaveri was a leading Jain jeweller and banker in the Ahmedabad city during the 17th century. He had a beautiful Jain temple built in Ahmedabad. The temple was desecrated and converted into a mosque in 1645 by the then governor of Gujarat, Aurangzeb (later Mughal emperor) who built a mihrab (niche) for prayer in it.

This was complained to Shah Jahan who, on the assertion of scholar and philosopher Mulla Abdul Hakim that Aurangzeb had flagrantly violated the sharia in usurping Shantidas’s property, ordered the temple be restored to the latter.

Hamida Banu Begam

Maryam-i Makani Hamida Banu Begam, popularly known as Hamida Banu Begam, was the mother of the greatest Mughal emperor Akbar and wife of second Mughal emperor Humayun who fell in love with her while he was at his brother Hindal’s camp during his wanderings as a fugitive. 

 

Hamida Banu Begam was daughter of Shaikh Ali Ambar Jaini, who had been a tutor to Hindal. She married Humayun in early 1942 and became mother of Akbar in November 1542 AD. 

Hamida Banu Begam was given the title of Maryam Makani, literary of 'rank equal to Mary'. 

Humayun-Nama of Gulbadan Begam

Ahval-i-Humayun Badshah or Humayun-Nama was written by Babur's daughter and Humayun’s half- sister, Gulbadan Begam, who stayed with the greatest Mughal Emperor Akbar, son and successor of Humayun, from 1556 to 1603 at Agra.  

 

Written at the instance of Akbar, Humayun-Nama, which contains Gulbadan’s personal reminiscences of her father and brother, was composed between 1580 and 1590 A. D.

Humayun-Nama was translated into English by Mrs. Beveridge.

Bhadrabahu, The Jaina Teacher

Chandragupta Maurya and Bhadrabahu / Image Credit

Bhadrabahu was the Jaina monk under whose leadership, due to a serious famine at the end of Mauryan emperor Chandragupta’s reign, a large number of Jaina monks migrated from Magadha to Sarvanabelgola in Karnataka at the close of the fourth century BC. These monks set up important centres of Jainism in Deccan.

Out of this exodus arose the famous split of Jainism into two sects, namely the Digamabaras (“Space-clad”, i.e. naked) and Shvetambaras (“white clad”).

While Bhadrabahu insisted that his followers should not wear clothes thereby retaining the rule of Nudity established by the Jaina founder Mahavira, Sthulabhadra, who remained in the North (Magadha), allowed the monks to wear white clothes.

Bharata; Author of Natyashastra

Natyashastra is the earliest surviving Indian textbook on three arts of drama, music and dancing. It was composed in the later centuries of the Christian era by an anonymous writer who in accordance with the custom of the time, attributed the work to the ancient sage Bharata. 

Even today the best modern Indian dancers dance according to the rules laid down in Natyashastra.

Avvaiyar Early Tamil Poetess

Avvaiyar was an early Tamil poetess during the Sangam Age in ancient India. Her works are known for their literary merit.