Minhaj Siraj Juzjani

(1193-?)

   A well-known historian who wrote his Tabaqat-i Nasiri during the reign of Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah (1246-1266). His father held the high ecclesiastical offices of qazi and khatib under Sultan Baha al-Din Sam. Minhaj was born in 1193 and was brought up by Mah-i Mulk, a daughter of Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad b. Sam (sultan of Ghaur 1162-1202). In 1226, Min-haj left Ghaur for India. In Uchch he was appointed by Nasir al-Din Qubacha as the head of a school and worked in that position until 1227. After Qubacha's overthrow at the hands of Iltutmish (1211-1236), he came to Delhi with the latter. In 1241-1242, he was made qazi of the realm by Sultan Bahram Shah (1239-1242). In 1242-1243, Minhaj went to Lakhnauti and stayed there for about two years. After his return from Lakhnauti to Delhi, he rose to the po-sition of sadr-us-sudur (same as sadr-i jahan) under Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah (1246-1266). During this period, he was closely al-lied with Baha al-Din Balban who, as viceroy (na'ib),practically ran the state in the name of Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah. Minhaj com-pleted Tabaqat-i Nasiri (Narrative Dedicated to Nasir al-Din) some-time after Balban's coming to the throne (1266).