Medieval India, Volume 1: Essays in Intellectual; Thought and Culture

This collection of essays offers a comprehensive study of the impact of cultural life and intellectual thought on society in Medieval India. Doubtless, if the impact of interaction between the followers of Hindu and Islamic traditions of culture under the Arab and Ghaznavid rulers remained confined, to Sind and the Panjab from the eighth to the twelfth centuries AD, the Ghurian conquest of north India led to far-reaching socio-political changes in the subcontinent. The scientific instruments and devices that found their way with the emigrants from the neighbouring countries after the foundation of the sultanate in the beginning of the thirteenth century became the accompaniments of civilised life and generated new components of elite culture. The essays in this volume shift the focus from the pre-occupation with battles and court politics that dominate the studies of the period and help us understand the complex social phenomena. The essays arranged are first concerned with intellectual life and thought and then come those that deal with literary works containing historical information of supplementary and corroborative importance. The works analysed not only cast light on currents and cross currents resulting from the role played by the elite but also open new vistas for further investigation. The discovery of new sources is of methodological significance as they provide insights into certain aspects not much known. The contributors are scholars of eminence and belong to India, England, USA and Australia.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Introduction; Abu Raihan al-Beruni: His Life & Works; The Intellectual & Historical Dimensions of the Indo-Persian Poetry of the Thirteenth Century; Pre-Modern Concepts of Time in Indo-Muslim Historical Writing; Muslim Intellectual Life in India; Learning & Intellectual Thought in the Sultanate of Delhi during the Lodi Period; Khwaja Shah Mansur: The Tragic Career of an Intellectual Finance Minister; Munajat (Invocation of God) of Shaykh Abu'l Fazal Allami (1551-1602); Badauni Revisited: An Analytical study of Najat-ur-Rashid; A Sufi Psychological Treatise from India; An Untapped Persian Source for the Administrative-cum-Economic History of Gujarat; Literary Works of Qa'iam Chandpuri: A Source for Socio-Economic History of Rohilhand During the Later Half of the Eighteenth Century; Index.

About the Author :
Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui retired as Professor of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. His publications include: An Eighteenth Century History of North India: An Account of the Rise and Fall of the Rohilla Chiefs in Janbhasha (2005), Medieval India: Essays in Intellectual Thought and Culture, Volume I (2001).