The fascinating and chequered history of Delhi through the centuries has been a popular subject among authors. Yet, only a few other than K.A. Nizami record in rich detail the cultural, social, economic, and spiritual fabric of the city—the ‘gorgeous blaze of glory’ that was Delhi—between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. He presents his accounts of the periods of the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, and the poet Ghalib through the analyses of wide-ranging sources: original literary, travel, biographical, hagiographical, and administrative accounts in Persian, Hindavi, and Urdu. This book is a compilation of the historian’s lectures delivered at the University of Delhi and the Ghalib Institute in Delhi, first published in Urdu in 1972. The author’s conversational style, replete with literary allusions, makes this an essential read for lovers and admirers of this beguiling city and its historic Sufi culture. Ather Farouqui’s English translation captures the true essence of Nizami’s work and now makes it easily available to a wider readership.

Description: The present work is based on an extensive and critical study of the historical literature of medieval India and provides fresh perspectives for its interpretation and analysis. The introductory chapter identifies different types of literature, political and non-political, available for reconstructing the history of medieval India. The author's views about historiographical concepts and conspectus of the medieval historians are original and thought-provoking. Holding the view that a study of the thought-process of a historian should precede the utilization of data supplied by him, the author has x-rayed the prejudices, predilections, motives, and objectives of Minhaj, Barani, Abul Fazl and others with remarkable insight and erudition. The author's psycho-historical method of analysis and interpretation makes the work extremely fascinating and informative. The author has drawn attention to the historical value of the table talks of the Sufi saints of medieval India, has highlighted the importance of historical literature produced during the reign of Akbar, has established the apocryphal nature of the so-called autobiography of Muhammad b. Tughluq, and has shown that the Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi was an inscription and should not be taken as a complete exposition of the policies of Firoz Shah Tughluq. The work is a valuable addition to literature on medieval Indian Historiography.

Medieval Indian history.

This book discusses the origin and growth of Indo-Persian historiography with specific emphasis on India's contribution to the literary heritage of the Persian world. Besides examining 'Awfi's Jawami'ul-Hikayat-wa-Livam'ul-Rivayat as a source of history, the volume also assesses the history of history writing by immigrant and Indian scholars, and is a pioneering attempt insofar as it attempts to study the social background and the religious and political ideals of each of the writers included in this book.

This volume offers a collection of several of Professor Habib's essays, providing an insightful interpretation of the main currents in Indian history.

Sufism is a religion which emphasizes direct knowledge of the divine within each person, and meditation, music, song, and dance are seen as crucial spiritual strides toward attaining unity with God. Sufi paths of mysticism and devotion, motivated by Islamic ideals, are still chosen by men and women in countries from Morocco to China, and there are nearly one hundred orders around the world, eighty of which are present and thriving in the United States. The Chishti Sufi order has been the most widespread and popular of all Sufi traditions since the twelfth-century. Sufi Martyrs of Love offers a critical perspective on Western attitudes towards Islam and Sufism, clarifying its contemporary importance, both in the West and in traditional Sufi homelands. Finally, it provides access to the voices of Sufi authorities, through the translation of texts being offered in English for the first time.

The Sufis were heirs to a tradition of Islamic mysticism, and they have generally been viewed as standing more or less apart from the social order. Professor Eaton contends to the contrary that the Sufis were an integral part of their society, and that an understanding of their interaction with it is essential to an understanding of the Sufis themselves. In investigating the Sufis of Bijapur in South India, (he author identifies three fundamental questions. What was the relationship, he asks, between the Sufis and Bijapur's 'ulama, the upholders of Islamic orthodoxy? Second, how did the Sufis relate to the Bijapur court? Finally, how did they interact with the non-Muslim population surrounding them, and how did they translate highly developed mystical traditions into terms meaningful to that population? In answering these questions, the author advances our knowledge of an important but little-studied city-state in medieval India. Originally published in 1978. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.