Barani, Ziya' al-Din

(1285-1357?)

   The author of Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi and Fatawa-i jahandari (Counsels of Sovereignty) as well as of several theological treatises. His father, Mu'id al-Mulk, had served as a deputy (na'ib) to Arkali Khan. Barani's uncle, A'la ul-Mulk, was appointed by 'Ala al-Din Khalji as the kotwal of Delhi in 1296. Sometime later, Mu'id ul-Mulk was appointed by the same sultan as the deputy (na'ib) and accountant (khwaja) of Baran, which explains his son's surname. Barani's maternal grandfather was a middle-ranking military officer (sipahsalar) during Balban's reign (1266-1286).

   As a theorist and historian of the Delhi sultanate, Barani was of the view that the sultans were not giving due attention to their ex-alted office since it was, in fact, the exercise of God's power. He attributes many of the weaknesses of the sultanate to sultans' not adhering to the precepts of Islamic law. He suggested that the suppression of Hindu chiefs was the paramount duty of the sultans and advocated the total exclusion of the Indian converts to Islam from important positions. This he justified in terms of a theory dividing humanity into "highborn" and "lowborn" and attributing the ills of state and society to the rise of lowborn to positions of power.

   In his early youth, Barani got acquainted at Delhi with Amir Hasan Sijzi and through him Amir Khusrau. The three became fast friends; together they were deeply attached to Nizam al-Din Auliya. In 1334-1335, Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-1351) appointed Barani a royal companion (nadim), which enabled him to observe the political developments of the last 17 years of his eccentric master's reign from close quarters. On Firuz Shah Tughlaq's accession in 1351, Barani was briefly confined in the fort of Bhatnire, possibly on suspicion of being a party to Khwaja Jahan Ahmad bin Ayaz's abortive move to raise one of the sons of Muhammad bin Tughlaq to the throne. He spent the rest of his life in poverty and neglect at Ghiyaspur, a village near Delhi, where Nizam al-Din Auliya's hospice was located. During this time, Barani wrote Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, which was completed in 1357. Barani died at Ghiyaspur some time after completing this history of the Delhi sultanate that he had wished to present to Firuz Shah Tughlaq but was never able to do so.