Consider the following text and arrange them in chronological order : 1. Fatawa-i-Jahandari 2. Prithviraja-Raso 3. Kitab-ul-Hind 4. Tabaqat-i-Nasiri Select the correct answer from the codes given below.
- (a)2, 3, 4, 1
- (b)3, 1, 2, 4
- (c)4, 3, 1, 2
- (d)3, 2, 4, 1
Correct — D, the order is 3, 2, 4, 1. Kitab-ul-Hind (Tahqiq-i-Hind) by Al-Biruni is the earliest, written around 1030 CE in the wake of Mahmud of Ghazni's raids. Prithviraja-Raso, the Braj-Rajasthani epic ascribed to Chand Bardai, court poet of Prithviraj Chauhan (reigned to 1192 CE), belongs to the late 12th century. Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, Minhaj-us-Siraj Juzjani's history of the Delhi Sultanate up to the Slave (Mamluk) dynasty, was completed around 1260 CE. Fatawa-i-Jahandari, Ziauddin Barani's political treatise, is the latest, written around 1358 CE under Firoz Shah Tughlaq. So earliest to latest = 3 (c. 1030) → 2 (late 12th c.) → 4 (c. 1260) → 1 (c. 1358).
- (a)2, 3, 4, 1 — This wrongly puts Prithviraja-Raso (late 12th c.) before Kitab-ul-Hind (c. 1030). Al-Biruni's work predates Chand Bardai's epic, so 3 must come before 2.
- (b)3, 1, 2, 4 — This places Fatawa-i-Jahandari (c. 1358, Barani) second — far too early. Barani's treatise is the latest of the four, not earlier than Prithviraja-Raso or Tabaqat-i-Nasiri.
- (c)4, 3, 1, 2 — This starts with Tabaqat-i-Nasiri (c. 1260) before Kitab-ul-Hind (c. 1030), reversing their true order, and ends with Prithviraja-Raso, which actually predates the two Sultanate works.
This tests the dating of four well-known medieval Indian texts. Al-Biruni's Kitab-ul-Hind (c. 1030) is an Arabic account of Indian sciences, religion and society; Prithviraja-Raso (late 12th c.) is a bardic epic in early Rajasthani/Braj by Chand Bardai; Tabaqat-i-Nasiri (c. 1260) by Minhaj-us-Siraj is a Persian chronicle of the early Delhi Sultanate; Fatawa-i-Jahandari (c. 1358) by Ziauddin Barani is a treatise on ideal Islamic kingship written under Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
Anchor each work to a ruler or century: Al-Biruni ↔ Mahmud of Ghazni (early 11th c.); Chand Bardai ↔ Prithviraj Chauhan (12th c.); Minhaj ↔ Iltutmish/Nasiruddin (13th c.); Barani ↔ Balban to Firoz Shah Tughlaq (14th c.). Placing the two Persian Sultanate histories (Tabaqat, then Fatawa) after the two pre-Sultanate works (Kitab-ul-Hind, then Prithviraja-Raso) gives the sequence directly.
- Kitab-ul-Hind — Al-Biruni, c. 1030 CE (Arabic account of India)
- Prithviraja-Raso — Chand Bardai, late 12th century (Rajasthani/Braj epic on Prithviraj Chauhan)
- Tabaqat-i-Nasiri — Minhaj-us-Siraj, c. 1260 CE (Persian history of the early Delhi Sultanate)
- Fatawa-i-Jahandari — Ziauddin Barani, c. 1358 CE (political treatise, Firoz Shah Tughlaq's reign)
- Kitab-ul-Hind — Al-Biruni, c. 1030
- Prithviraja-Raso — Chand Bardai, late 12th c.
- Tabaqat-i-Nasiri — Minhaj-us-Siraj, c. 1260
- Fatawa-i-Jahandari — Barani, c. 1358
Order 3, 2, 4, 1 = option (d). Two pre-Sultanate works first, then two Persian Sultanate histories.
- Assuming a Persian Sultanate chronicle must be older than a 'raso' epic — Kitab-ul-Hind (c.1030) and Prithviraja-Raso (12th c.) both predate the Sultanate works
- Mixing up Barani's two works — Tarikh-i-Firozshahi (history) vs Fatawa-i-Jahandari (political treatise)
UPPSC/UPSC ask these as author-text matches or, as here, chronological ordering — memorise each text with its author, language and approximate century.
The historian Barani refused to consider the state in India under Delhi Sultans as truly Islamic because
- (a) the majority of the population did not follow Islam
- (b) the Muslim theologists were often disregarded
- (c) the Sultan supplemented the Muslim law by framing his own regulations
- (d) religious freedom was accorded to non-Muslims
Answer(c) the Sultan supplemented the Muslim law by framing his own regulations
Same author — Ziauddin Barani, whose Fatawa-i-Jahandari is item 1 here. UPSC tests Barani's view that the Sultans' secular regulations made the state fall short of a truly Islamic polity.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The 'Fatawa-i-Jahandari', a treatise on the ideals of Muslim kingship, was written by:
- (a)Amir Khusrau
- (b)Ziauddin Barani
- (c)Minhaj-us-Siraj
- (d)Al-Biruni
Answer(b) Ziauddin Barani — he wrote it in the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlaq (c. 1358).
- practice — not a real PYQ
Al-Biruni, author of the 'Kitab-ul-Hind', accompanied which ruler's expeditions to India?
- (a)Muhammad Ghori
- (b)Mahmud of Ghazni
- (c)Timur
- (d)Babur
Answer(b) Mahmud of Ghazni — Al-Biruni came to India in the early 11th century in Mahmud's train.