Medieval Indian History Books and Authors

Which are the main medieval Indian history books and who are their authors? Who wrote the book Mattavilasa Prahasana? What was the theme of the book Akbarnama? Read further to know more.

Medieval  Indian history books and authors are an important topic for the UPSC preliminary exam. The importance of studying this section cannot be overstated.

Indian and Persian philosophy, literature, art, and architecture are all combined in medieval Indian civilization. During the medieval era, the rise of vernacular literature was a notable development. New literary and artistic genres were aided in creation by expanding regional identities.

A noteworthy result was the growth of regional tongues including Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, and Telugu. The popularity of translations boosted readership and promoted communication.

Medieval Indian History Books and Authors

The main medieval Indian history books and their authors are discussed here.

Mattavilasa Prahasana

Mattavilasa Prahasana is a short one-act Sanskrit play. It is one of the two outstanding one-act plays that Pallava King Mahendravarman I wrote in Tamil Nadu at the start of the seventh century.

A satire titled Mattavilasa Prahasana ridicules the oddities of Buddhism, Jainism, and the heretical Kapalika and Pasupata Saivite sects of Saivism. Kanchipuram, the Pallava kingdom’s capital in the seventh century, serves as the play’s backdrop. The play centers on the wild behavior of a Kapalika mendicant named Satyasoma and his wife, Devasoma, as well as the theft and subsequent discovery of their skull bowl.

Kavyadharsha

Dhandin was a notable Sanskrit scholar who flourished during the Pallava era. He wrote the book Kavyadharsha.In Kavyadarsa, Daṇḍin maintained that a poem’s beauty depended on its employment of rhetorical devices — of which he recognized thirty-six varieties.

He was the principal proponent of gunaprasthana, the belief that poetry needs traits or virtues such as shleshha (punning), prasaada (favor), samataa (sameness), maadhurya (beauty), arthavyakti (interpretation), and ojah (vigor). Poetry consists of the presence of one of these qualities or a mixture of them.

Kalladam

Kalladam was written as an explanation of Tirukkovaiyar, representing part of the canonical literature of Tamil Shaivism composed by Saint Manickavasagar. Called after its author, Kalladanar, the work possibly dates to the 13th century CE. It owes much to Periya Puranam of Sekkizhar.

Kalladanar randomly selected a hundred mystic love themes from Tirukkovaiyar and elaborated them in a hundred blank verses. His ardent attempt to recreate the traditional Sangam poetry style is evident in the themes he chose and the chaste manner in which he wrote. Although Kaladanar dedicated his work to Somasundara of Madurai, the saint Manickavasagar dedicated his to Nataraja of Chidambaram. The writings laud the virtues of Shaivism and worship Shiva.

Adipurana

One of the best Kannada authors, Adikavi Pampa, became well-known for his book Adipurana (941) was written during the period of Rashtrakutas. The text, which was composed in the champus (mixed prose-verse style), narrates the biography of Rishabhadeva, the first Jain Tirthankara.

Padmavat

Malik Muhammad Jayasi, a Sufi poet, wrote the epic poem Padmavat in the Hindustani language of Awadhi in 1540. Among the significant Awadhi texts still in existence, it is the oldest. It tells an allegory-based fictitious tale about Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji’s longing for the titular Padmavati, the Queen of Chittor, and is a well-known piece of Sufi literature from the time.

Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi

Ziauddin Barani wrote the novel titled “Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi.”The historical background of the Delhi Sultanate up to the then-regular Firuz Shah Tughlaq was translated into the Tarikh-I-Firuz Shahi or Tarikh-I-Firoz Shahi (Firuz Shah’s History) (1357).

His other writings include Maasir Saadat (good actions of the Sayyids), Sana-i-Muhammadi (praise of Muhammad), Lubbatul Tarikh, Tarikh-i-Barmaki, Hasratnama, Inayat Nama-i-Ilahi, Salvat-i-Kabir, and Tarikh-i-Barmaki.

Baburnama

The Baburnama, also known as Tuzk-e Babri, is a collection of memoirs written by Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great-great-grandson of Timur. It is loosely translated as “History of Babur” or “Letters of Babur.” It is written in Chagatai, the dialect of the Timurids that Babur calls Turki.

A Mughal courtier named Abdul Rahim Khana entirely translated Tujuk-i-Babri into Persian during the reign of Akbar and gave it the name Baburnama. The autobiography of Babur, the man who established the Mughal empire in India, is known as Tuzuk i-Baburi (or Baburnama). In it, which was written in Turki, he provided a fantastic account of India and his dominion.

Humayun-Nama

Another significant work that details Humayun’s life and ascent to the throne is the poem Humayun-Nama, which was penned by his half-sister, Gulbadan Begum.

Ain-i-Akbari

Ain-i-Akbari is a text from the 16th century. Composed in Persian by Abu’l Fazl, the court historian of Akbar. It focuses on the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. Abu’l Fazl spent thirteen years working on the “Akbar Nama” beginning in 1589. Three books make up the Akbar Nama.

• The ancestors of Akbar were the subject of the first book.
• The events of Akbar’s reign were chronicled in the second.
• The Ain-i Akbari is the third. It covers the administration, family, army, finances, and geography of Akbar’s empire. It offers in-depth information on the customs and culture of those who live in India. Also, it received statistical information on crops, yields, prices, salaries, and revenues.

Akbarnama

The official history of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor, is contained in the Akbarnama, sometimes referred to as the Book of Akbar (r. 1556–1605). It was authored by Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, who was also Akbar’s court historian and biographer and was ordered by the emperor himself. It provides colorful and in-depth accounts of his life and the eras in which he lived, written in Persian, the literary language of the Mughals.

It was published after Baburnama, a more intimate memoir by his grandfather Babur, who also served as the dynasty’s founder. It was created in this way, as manuscripts with opulent illustrations.

Padshah-nama

The official visual history of Shah Jahan’s reign, “Padshah-nama” (Chronicle of the Emperor), authored by Abdul Hamid Lahori, provides a complete description. A collection of publications known as Padshahnama or Badshah Nama (Chronicle of the Emperor Shah Jahan) served as the official history of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s reign.

These books are some of the most important sources of knowledge regarding Shah Jahan’s rule. In the imperial workshops, copies were lavishly illustrated and embellished with numerous Mughal miniatures.

Rihla-The Adventures

Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan adventurer, wrote the book Rihla-The Adventures. Ibn Battuta traveled to China as the Sultan’s ambassador in 1342 after arriving in India in the years 1332–1333 AD, during the rule of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, who appointed him as the “qazi,” or judge, of Delhi. Ibn Battuta presents his travel-related opinions in Rihla with appropriate justification. Here, we shall study Rihla in greater detail, which will help us comprehend how ancient strangers perceived India.

Alamgir-Nama

“Alamgir-Nama” was written by Mirza Muhammad Qazim. The book provides a history of the times during the first ten years of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s rule.

Shahnama

The Shahnama, also known as the Book of Kings, is an epic poem with over 60,000 couplets that was written in 1010. Abu Al-Qasim Firdausi wrote it. There have been elaborate and distinctive interpretations of this tale for many centuries.

Ramcharitmanas

Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas. It was composed in Awadhi.Ramayana was composed during the Kaliyuga.In the Ramcharitmanas, Rama is portrayed as Lord Vishnu’s avatar or incarnation. Rama’s deeds were referred to as the proper approach to uproot evil and establish Dharma in the world.

Kitab-Ul-Hind

Al-Biruni wrote Kitab-Ul-Hind or Tahqiq-i-Hind (History of India) after visiting India and learning about Indian culture. One of Mahmud of Ghazni’s greatest intellectuals, al-Biruni, or Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni, was a renowned philosopher, mathematician, and historian.

Amuktamalyada

The early 16th-century Vijayanagara King Krishnadevaraya wrote the Telugu epic poem Amuktamalyada. “One who offered the garland after wearing it himself” is how Amuktamalyada is translated. Amuktamalyada, regarded as a masterpiece, tells the tale of the marriage of Goda Devi, also known as Andal, a Tamil poet and the daughter of Periyalvar, and the Hindu Deity Ranganayaka, an avatar of Vishnu.

Manucharitam

Allasani Peddanna, one of the “Ashta diggajas,” graced Krishna Deva Raya’s court. He was also known as Andhrakavita Pitamaga as well. He is best known for his books Manucharitam and Harikathasaram.

Tabaqat-i-Nasiri

The Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, written by the Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj, recounts the history of the Islamic world from the time of Adam through the year 1260 AD (when it was completed). For the slave dynasty ruler Sultan Nasir ud din Mahmud (1246–1266 AD), this political history was written in Persian.

Tughlaq Nama

A historical narrative of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s rule over the Delhi Sultanate in India from 1325 to 1351 is known as the Tughlaq Nama. It also details the Tughlaq dynasty’s rule Amir Khusrau, a Persian historian and chronicler, wrote the Tughlaq Nama. Khusrau was a well-known person in the sultan’s court and worked as an advisor, historian, and poet. His historical writings offer insightful accounts of medieval India’s social, cultural, and political life.

Rajatarangini

A metrical mythical and historical account of the northwestern region of India, specifically the rulers of Kashmir, is found in Rajatarangini (The River of Kings). In the 12th century CE, Kashmiri historian Kalhana penned it in Sanskrit.

The poem has 7826 verses total and is broken into eight books known as tarangas (“waves”). The Rajatarangini is the first literature about Kashmir that may be considered “historical” in nature.

Conclusion

Many works of religious literature, frequently honouring the gods Rama and Krishna, were produced as a result of the advent of Hinduism particularly in medieval India as a part Bhakti movement. Folk poetry with seasonal and festival themes, meantime, has been passed down through the generations and is still recited today. Long-term, the interaction between the Turks and the Indians, who were deeply religious and had established conceptions of art, architecture, and literature, led to the emergence of a new, complex civilization.

Article Written By: Atheena Fathima Riyas