1410 Jalayirid depiction of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq leading his troops in the capture of the city of Tirhut in 1324, based on the Basātin al-uns by Ikhtisān-i Dabir, a member of the Tughluq court and an ambassador to Ilkhanid Iran. Ca.1410 copy of 1326 lost original. Istanbul, Topkapi Palace Museum Library, Ms. R.1032.[1]"The ruler of Akhin listens to an ascetic". Basātin al-uns, ca. 1410 copy
Taj al-Dīn Muhammad Sadr Ala-i bin Ahmad Hasan Dabir-i Abdusi Dehlavi (1301–1351),[2][3] also known as Ikhtisān-i Dabir, was a 14th-century Muslim author who was born in Delhi, India, at the time of the Delhi Sultanate, where he was a hereditary servant of the Court of the Tughlaq dynasty, and a secretary to the Royal Chancelry.[4][3][5] He held the high title of Malik at the Court.[6] According to several accounts, he was also sent as an ambassador to IranbyMuhammad bin Tughluq.[7]
The author speaks very highly of his birthplace Delhi, whereby he is called Dehlawi. He is also called al-Hindi which indicates that he came from India.[6] He described "the great metropolis Delhi" as his place of origin, whose earth is "soul rearing", and that "it was in this paradise-like capital that the bud of his youth blossomed in the garden of his body". He excelled there in various branches of knowledge, and had many friends.[6]
He is known for a work in Persian entitled Basātin al-uns ("Gardens of Fellowship"), a partial copy of which, date ca.1410, is now in the Topkapi Museum in Istambul (Ms. R. 1032).[1] This was a Persian translation of a Hindi (Sanskrit) work about a Hindu king Kishwagir, which showed that he was one amongst many Indian Muslim scholars who exhibited their great interest for Indian culture.[8]
His work was dedicated to Muhammad bin Tughluq (r. 1325–51), ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.[1] Muhammad Sadr Ala-i was a member of the Delhi Sultanate royal chancery accompanying Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughluq dynasty, in his conquest of Tirhut in northeastern India (the『Lakhnawtī campaign』of 1324).[1][5] He fell ill on the way back from Tirhut, but was treated by a physician named Muhammad Khujandi. During his illness, he was provided with a Persian translation of a Hindu story, which he would use as material for his book.[1] The main protagonists of the story are a vizier, an ascetic (zähid), the king of Ujjain and Kannauj whom he calls King "Kishvargir", and the daughter of the Chinese emperor named Queen MulkaraiofSerendib (Ceylon).[1] He wrote his book in a few months, adding poems in Persian and Arabic verses from the Koran, and completing it in AH 726 (1325–26), when still 26 years old.[1] The material details described in the book are considered as having good documentary and historical value, explained by the contemporary eyewitness status of the author.[1][9][5] His book concludes with the expression of his gratitude for the generosity Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq "who had given him sixty thousand dinars and sixty horses" for a single qasida poem.[1]
The copy of the book known to us, and dated to ca.1410, is a Jalayirid copy and is unfinished.[1] This copy probably dates to the time of Ahmad Jalayir of the Jalayirid dynasty, in Iraq.[1] The space for around 12 miniatures has remained empty, but 2 miniatures, also partially complete, have reached us. One depicts the Rajah of the Indian city of Tirhut surrendering to Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq and his troops. The other miniature depicts the ruler of Ahin conversing with scholars.[1]
Few other, non-illustrated, copies are known: a 17th-century copy in the British Library (Ms. Add. 7717),[3] and possibly another copy by Qavam al Din Muhammad al-Mazandarani in 836 (1433) in the People of Asia Collection (Moscow).[10]
^Jha, Pankaj Kumar (January 2014). "Beyond the local and the universal: Exclusionary strategies of expansive literary cultures in fifteenth century Mithila". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 51 (1): 10, note 32. doi:10.1177/0019464613515549. Ikhtisān's eyewitness account, titled Basātin ul-Uns...
Askari, S.H. ‘Historical Value of Basatin-ul-Uns: A Rare Literary Work of the Early Fourteenth Century’, Journal of Bihar Research Society, Vol. XLVIII, 1962, pp. 1–29.
