Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan: Poet Warrior

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 his father was killed in 1561 AD by an Afghan at Patan on his way to Mecca. 

On the instruction of Akbar, Baburnamah was translated into Persian in 1589 by Rahim.

Rahim died in 1627. He lies buried in the mausoleum built by him for his wife Mah Banu in 1598. The tomb is situated in Nizamuddin East on the Mathura Road in Delhi. 

Malik Maqbul Khan-i-Jahan Tilangani

                                                    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 Gannama Nayaka or Yugandhar before his conversion.        

Malik Maqbul was given the title of Khan-i-Jahan by Firuz Shah Tughluq who had succeeded Muhammad bin Tughlaq in 1351 AD.  Firuz Shah Tughluq appointed Malik Maqbul his Wazir. In this role Malik Maqbul managed the affairs of the state efficiently. 

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.  

Malik 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. Tomb of Sufi saint Shah Rukn-i Alam in Multan is the only other octagonal mausoleum in the Indian subcontinent that pre-dates this tomb. 

Data Ganj Bakhsh Khwaja Ali Hujjwiri

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. 

Harshavardhana: The Scholar King

                                                             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 throne in 606 at the age of sixteen was the second son of Prabhakaravardhana, a local king of the Pushyabhuti dynasty (Vardhana dynasty) ruling from Sthanvisvara (modern Thanesar in Kurukshetra district of Haryana). 

Prabhakaravardhana grew in strength by successfully raiding against the Hunas, who still held parts of the Panjab, After Prabhakaravardhana, Harsha’s elder brother, Rajyavardhan, took over the reins of the kingdom. However, after a brief period, he along with his brother-in law   and Maukhari ruler Grahavarman of Kannauj, was killed in a battle with Sasanka, the fierce anti Buddhist king of Bengal. 

It was against this backdrop that Harsha became the ruler of Thanesar and as Grahavarman died childless he was invited by the nobles of Kannauj to assume the Maukhari throne. 

After coming to the throne Harsha began to strengthen his position and brought most of Northern India, from Bengal to Gujarat, under his control. His empire was feudal in structure. 

After bringing North India under his subjugation it was natural for Harsha to focus his attention on the Deccan. However it was an unsuccessful endevour as he was thoroughly defeated by  Pulakeshin II as mentioned earlier. 

Harsha was a scholar-king. He had authored three dramas: Ratnavali, Priyadarsika and Nagananda (the Joy of the Serpents).   

After ruling for 41 years Harshavardhan died in 647 AD. 

Achyuta Deva Raya

                                                        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 field of culture and religion. In 1534 he built the Tiruvengalanatha shrine in Hampi, more popularly known as Achyuta Raya Temple, named after him. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Tiruvengalanatha, a form of Vishnu.  

Purandaradasa, known as Father of Carnatic music or Karnataka Sangeetha Pitamaha. was patronized by Achyuta Deva Raya in whose court also flourished Sanskrit scholar Rajanatha Dindima and Kannada poet Chatu Vittalanatha. Rajanatha Dindima had written a Sanskrit poem named Achyutaraydbhyudaya dealing with the life of Achyuta Deva Raya. 

 

Overlooked fort of Adilabad

                                                    Gate entry to Adilabad Fort

Situated southeast of the massive Tughlaqabad Fort, on the opposite side of the Badarpur -Mehrauli road, the relatively unknown Adilabad fort is referred to by historians as the fourth fort of Delhi, the others being Red Fort, Old Fort and Tughlaqabad Fort.

Adilabad fort has for long been in the shadows of Tughlaqabad Fort which was built by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, the founder of the Tughluq dynasty, the third of the five dynasties, the combination of which went on to be called the Delhi Sultanate.

Adilabad fort, on its part, was built by his son Juna Khan, better known as Muhammad bin Tughluq, who succeeded his father in 1325. 

Shah Jahan III: A pawn in the 18th Century Mughal power game

Shah Jahan III / Image credit

Born Muhi ul-Millat, Shah Jahan III was a Mughal Emperor for a brief period from December 1759 to October 1760. His father was Muhi us-Sunnat who was the son of Aurangzeb’s youngest son, Muhammad Kam Bakhsh. 

Muhi ul-Millat was raised to the throne as Shah Jahan III by the Mughal Vizier Ghaziuddin Khan Feroz Jung III, popularly known as Imad-ul-Mulk on whose orders the previous Mughal emperor Alamgir II was put to death on 29th November 1759. Shah Jahan III was later deposed by the Marathas who now placed Shah Alam II on the throne.