Böcker av Iqtidar Alam Khan

The essays in this volume focus on the surviving remains in India of premodern public buildings like serais, bridges and water-works of different types as well as masonry structures meant to extract indigo or sugar from plants. Much of this evidence is significant for the study of economic history as well as war technology of the post-Turkish conquest phase. The attempt here is to present this evidence in the perspective of the evolving production technology which appears to have received an impetus with the establishment of Turkish rule.

This book attempts to comprehend the history of the Delhi Sultanate with reference to its Islamic identity.The Turkish chiefs, despite having a military advantage due to their expertise in horsemanship, could only consolidate their rule through adjustment and sharing of power with local kshatriya rulers, and, therefore, tended to incorporate an increasing number of Hindu chiefs in the ruling establishment. This process was sought to be made durable by conceding to the chiefs many of the pecuniary gains and social clout they had enjoyed before the conquests. According to Barani, the ulema endorsed the view that in the given situation, provisions of fiqah evolved in Arabia were not practicable in the Delhi Sultanate. By the same logic, settlements conceding to the village chiefs' important roles in the fiscal administration of rural tracts were justified. Additionally, the Islamic characteristics of the State system in the Delhi Sultanate were profoundly impacted by Sassanid and Turkish traditions of statecraft. With the passage of time many notions of Hindu caste culture also became influential in the mental makeup of the ruling elites of the Delhi Sultanate.

The medieval period of Indian history is difficult to define clearly. It may be perceived as the long phase of India's transition from the ancient to the immediately pre-colonial times. The latter period would naturally be imagined commencing from Vasco da Gama's voyage round the Cape of Good Hope in 1498, or, alternatively, the establishment of the Mughal empire (1526). More definitely though, the renewed Islamic advance into north India, roughly from 1000 A.D. onwards leading to the rise of the Delhi Sultanate (1206), can be held to mark, in political and cultural terms, the beginning of the medieval period. For the purpose of the Historical Dictionary of Medieval India, the period from 1000 A.D. to 1526 A.D. will be considered India's medieval times. The turbulent history of this period is told through the book's chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on key people, historical geography, arts, institutions, events, and other important terms.

For the purpose of The A to Z of Medieval India the period from 1000 A.D. to 1526 A.D. will be considered India's medieval times. The turbulent history of this period is told through the book's chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on key people, historical geography, arts, institutions, events, and other important terms.