Hasan Nizami

Hasan Nizami was a Persian language poet and historian, who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries. He migrated from Nishapur to Delhi in India, where he wrote Tajul-Ma'asir, the first official history of the Delhi Sultanate.

Quotes

• 'Such was the man who was sent on an embassy to Ajmir, in order that the Rai (Pithaura) of that country might see the right way without the intervention of the sword, and that he might incline from the track of opposition into the path of propriety, leaving his airy follies for the institutes of the knowledge of Allah, and acknowledging the expediency of uttering the words of martyrdom and repeating the precepts of the law, and might abstain from infidelity and darkness, which entails the loss of this world and that to come, and might place in his ear the ring of slavery to the sublime Court (may Allah exalt it!) which is the centre of justice and mercy, and the pivot of the Sultans of the worldand by these means and modes might cleanse the fords of good life from the sins of impurity'...'The army of Islam was completely victorious, and 'an hundred thousand grovelling Hindus swiftly departed to the fire of hell'... After this great victory, the army of Islam marched forward to Ajmir, where it arrived at a fortunate moment and under an auspicious bird, and obtained so much booty and wealth, that you might have said that the secret depositories of the seas and hills had been revealed....'While the Sultan remained at Ajmir, he destroyed the pillars and foundations of the idol temples, and built in their stead mosques and colleges, and the precepts of Islam, and the customs of the law were divulged and established'
  • About the conquest of Ajmer (Rajasthan) Hasan Nizami: Taju’l-Ma’sir, in Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II : Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, 8 Volumes, Allahabad Reprint, 1964. pp. 213-216. Also quoted (in part) in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts.

• Hasan Nizami writes that after the suppression of a Hindu revolt at Kol (Aligarh) in 1193 AD, Aibak raised “three bastions as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcases became food for beasts of prey. The tract was freed from idols and idol-worship and the foundations of infidelism were destroyed.” In 1194 AD Aibak destroyed 27 Hindu temples at Delhi and built the Quwwat-ul-Islãm mosque with their debris. According to Nizami, Aibak “adorned it with the stones and gold obtained from the temples which had been demolished by elephants”. In 1195 AD the Mher tribe of Ajmer rose in revolt, and the Chaulukyas of Gujarat came to their assistance. Aibak had to invite re-inforcements from Ghazni before he could meet the challenge. In 1196 AD he advanced against Anahilwar Patan, the capital of Gujarat. Nizami writes that after Raja Karan was defeated and forced to flee, “fifty thousand infidels were despatched to hell by the sword” and “more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors”. The city was sacked, its temples demolished, and its palaces plundered. On his return to Ajmer, Aibak destroyed the Sanskrit College of Visaladeva, and laid the foundations of a mosque which came to be known as ADhãî Din kã JhoMpaDã. Conquest of Kalinjar in 1202 AD was Aibak’s crowning achievement. Nizami concludes: “The temples were converted into mosques… Fifty thousand men came under the collar of slavery and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus.”
  • Hasan Nizami, quoted from Goel, Sita Ram (2001). The story of Islamic imperialism in India. ISBN 9788185990231 Ch. 6

• After settling the affairs of Ajmir, the conqueror marched "towards Dehli (may God preserve its prosperity and perpetuate its splendour !) which is among the chief (mother) cities of Hind. When he arrived at Dehli, he saw " a fortress which in height and strength had not its equal nor second throughout the length and breadth of the seven climes." The army encamped around the fort. " A torrent of blood flowed on the field of battle, and it became evident to the chiefs that if they did not seek for safety from the sword of the king of the earth, and if they should deliver into the hands of Satan the time of option and the reins of good counsel, the condition of Dehli would be like that of Ajmir ; so from the dread of kingly punishment, the Rai and mukaddams of that country placed their heads upon the line of slavery, and their feet within the circle of obedience, and made firm the conditions of tribute [mdlguzdrt) and the usages of service.
  • About the conquest of Delhi. Hasan Nizami. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II : Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, 8 Volumes, Allahabad Reprint, 1964. pp. 216. Also quoted in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts.

• 'The Government of the fort of Kohram and of Samana was made over by the Sultan to Kutbu-d din... [who] by the aid of his sword of Yemen and dagger of India became established in independent power over the countries of Hind and Sind' He purged by his sword the land of Hind from the filth of infidelity and vice, and freed the whole of that country from the thorn of God-plurality, and the impurity of idol-worship, and by his royal vigour and intrepidity, left not one temple standing'
  • Kuhram and Samana (Punjab) . Hasan Nizami: Taju’l-Ma’sir, in Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II : Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, 8 Volumes, Allahabad Reprint, 1964. pp. 216-217 . Also partially quoted in B.R. Ambedkar, Pakistan or The Partition of India (1946)

• A severe action ensued from dawn to mid-day, when "the army of idolatry and damnation turned its back in flight from the line of battle.... fifty thousand infidels were despatched to hell by the sword... and from the heaps of the slain, the hills and the plains became of one level.
  • Elliot and Dowson, Vol 2. 230.

• [In 1206, Muhammad Ghauri marched to exterminate the recalcitrant Khokhar rebels who had established their sway in regions of Multan. The slaughter of the rebels was so thorough that none survived to light a fire.] ‘Much spoils in slaves and weapons, beyond all enumerations, fell into the possession of the victors’.
  • Nizami quoted in M.A. Khan , Islamic Jihad: A legacy of forced conversion, imperialism and slavery (2011), quoting quoting Elliot & Dawson, Vol. II

• “The conqueror entered the city and its vicinity was freed from idols and idol-worship; and in the sanctuaries of the images of the gods, mosques were razed by the worshippers of the one God”.
  • -- Taj-ul-Maasir: Hasan Nizami quoted in: Qutab Minar & Adjoining Monuments: Archeological Survey of India, 2002 p 31. also in Balakrishna, S., Lessons from Hindu History in 10 Episodes (2020)

• Kutub-ud-din, on whose fortunate forehead the light of world-conquest shone conspicuous … purged by his sword the land of Hind from the filth of infidelity and vice, and freed the whole of that country from the thorn of God-plurality, and the impurity of idol-worship, and by his royal vigour and intrepidity, left not one temple standing.
  • quoted in Balakrishna, S. Invaders and infidels: From Sindh to Delhi : the 500- year journey of Islamic invasions. New Delhi : BloomsBury, 2021.

Conquest of Ajmir

[1]

• He accordingly prepared for an expedition again the Rai, and mounted his steed, of which there is a poetical description. “The Victorious army on the right and on the left departed towards Ajmir.” “When the Kola (natural son) of the Rai of Ajmir, the vaunts of whose courage had reached the ears of far and near, heard of the approach of the auspicious standards and the victorious armies, he advanced for the purpose of fighting, and having adjusted the robe of slaughter and the arms of battle, marched on over hills and deserts with a well-equipped army, the number of which cannot be conceived in the picture-gallery of the imagination. “When the crow-faced Hindus began to sound their white shells on the backs of the elephants, you would have said that a river of pitch was flowing impetuously down the face of a mountain of blue.”...The army of Islam was completely victorious, and an hundred thousand grovelling Hindus swiftly departed to the fire of hell. The Rai of Ajmir was taken prisoner during the action, but his life was spared. After this great victory, the army of Islam marched forward to Ajmir, where it arrived at a fortunate moment and under an auspicious bird, and obtained so [p. 69] much booty and wealth, that you might have said that the secret depositories of the seas and hills had been revealed....While the Sultan remained at Ajmir, he destroyed the pillars and foundations of the idol temples, and built in their stead mosques and colleges, and the precepts of Islam, and the customs of the law were divulged and established...
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [2] [3] [4] [5]

The Conquest Of Delhi

[6]

• After settling the affairs of Ajmir, the conqueror marched towards Dehli (may God perserve its prosperity and [p. 70] perpetuate its splendour!) which is among the chief (mother) cities of Hind. When he arrived at Delhi, he saw a fortress which in height and strength had not its equal nor second throughout the length and breadth of the seven climes. The army encamped around the fort. A torrent of blood flowed on the field of battle, and it became evident to the chiefs that if they did not seek for safety from the sword of the king of the earth, and if they should deliver into the hands of Satan the time of option and the reins of good counsel, the condition of Delhi would be like that of Ajmir; so from the dread of kingly punishment, the Rai and mukaddams of that country placed their heads upon the line of slavery, and their feet within the circle of obedience. and made firm the conditions of tribute (malguzari) and the usages of service.
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [7] [8] [9] [10]

The Government Of Kohram And Samana

[11]

• The Government of the fort of Kohram and of Samana were made over by the Sultan to ‘Kutbu-d din, on whose fortunate forehead the light of world-conquest shone conspicuously, and who by his lofty courage and pure faith without doubt was worthy of the kingdom and suitable for the throne of sovereignty; and by the aid of his sword of Yemen and dagger of India became established in independent power over the countries of Hind and Sind. He purged by his sword the land of Hind from the filth of infidelity and vice and freed the whole of that country from the thorn of God-plurality, and the impurity of idol-worship, and by his royal vigour and intrepidity, left not one temple standing. He extinguished the flame of discord by the splendour [p. 71] of the light of justice, and the smoke of the darkness of oppression vanished from the face of the earth...
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [12] [13] [14] [15]

Kutbu-d Din Advances To Kol

[16]

• After staying sometime at Delhi, he marched in the year 590 H. (1194 A.D.) towards Kol and Benares, passing the Jun (Jumna) which, from its exceeding purity, resembled a mirror. He took Kol, which is one of the most celebrated fortresses of Hind. Those of the garrison who were wise and acute were converted to Islam, but those who stood by their ancient faith were slain with the sword. The nobles and chiefs of the State entered the fort, and carried off much treasure and countless plunder including one thousand horses...
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [17] [18] [19] [20]

Fight With The Rai Of Benares And Capture Of Asni

[21]

• When the army was mustered, it was found to amount to fifty thousand mounted men clad in armour and coats of mail, with which they advanced to fight against the Rai of Benares. The king ordered Kutbu-d din to proceed with the vanguard, consisting of one thousand cavalry, which fell upon the army of the enemies of religion, and completely defeated it. On its return to the king, the officers were presented with robes of honour... The Rai of Benares, Jai Chand, the chief of idolatry and perdition, advanced to oppose the royal troops with an army, countless as the particles of sand, and the noise of the war-drum proclaimed to the ears of the worshippers of one God, aid comes from the Almighty, and the sound of the silver kettle-drum and the blast of the brazen trumpets resounded to heaven. Rai of Benares, who prided himself on the number of his forces and war elephants, seated on a lofty howdah, received a deadly wound from an arrow, and fell from his exalted seat to the earth. His head was carried on the point of a spear to the commander, and his body was thrown to the dust of contempt. The impurities of idolatry were purged by the water of the sword from that land, and the country of Hind was freed from vice and superstition... “Immense booty was obtained, such as the eye of the beholder would be weary to look at, “including one (some copies say three) hundred elephants. The royal army then took possession’ ‘of the fort of Asni where the treasure of the Rai was deposited,” and there much more precious spoil of all kinds rewarded the victors.
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [22] [23] [24] [25]

The Capture Of Benares

[26]

• From that place the royal army proceeded towards Benares, which is the centre of the country of Hind, and here they destroyed nearly one thousand temples, and raised mosques on their foundations; and the knowledge of the law became promulgated, and the foundations of religion were established; and the face of the dinar and the diram was adorned with the name and blessed titles of the king. The Rais and chiefs of Hind came forward to proffer their allegiance. The government of that country was then bestowed on one of the most celebrated and exalted servants of the State, in order that he might distribute justice and repress idolatry....
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [27] [28] [29] [30]

The Conquest Of Nahrwala And The Flight Of The Rai

[31]

• The Musulmans did not dare to attack them in that strong position, especially as in that very place Muhammad Sam Ghori had been wounded, and it was considered of bad omen to bring on another action there, lest a similar accident might occur to the commander. The Hindus seeing this hesitation, and misconstruing it into cowardice and alarm, abandoning the pass, turned their faces towards the field of battle and the plain of honour and renown; for they were persuaded that fear had established itself in the hearts of the protectors of the sacred enclosure of religion. The two armies stood face to face for some time, engaged in preparations for fight, and on the night preceeding Sunday, the 13th of Rabi’u-l awwal, in a fortunate moment the army of Islam advanced from its camp, and at morn reached the position of the infidels. A severe action ensued from dawn to mid-day, when the army of idolatry and damnation turned its back in flight from the line of battle. Most of their leaders were taken prisoners, and nearly fifty thousand infidels were despatched to hell by the sword, and from the heaps of the slain, the hills and the plains became of one level. Rai Karan effected his escape from the field. More than twenty thousand slaves, and twenty elephants, and cattle and arms beyond all calculation, [p. 86] fell into the hands of the victors. You would have thought that the treasures of the kings of all the inhabitants of the world had come into their possession.
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [32] [33] [34] [35]

The Return Of Muhammad Ghori From Khwarizm And His War Against The Gakkhurs

[36]

• After some delay, the various servants and officers of the Province became aware of what had really happened, and the intelligence of the true circumstances was spread throughout the far and near countries of Hind and Sind. Upon this, the tribe of Kokars (Gakkhurs) (God annihilate them!) said that from anyone who had the least knowledge and sense, it could not be concealed that if the sacred person of the Sultan had been alive, the like of these transactions could never have been done by Aibak Bak, and that therefore the great king had exchanged his throne of empire for one of dust, and had departed from the house of mortality to the world of holiness. In consequence of these impressions, seditious thoughts entered the brains of the Hindus, and the madness of independence and dominion affected the heads of Bakan and Sarki, the chiefs of the Kokars, who thrust their heads out of the collar of obedience, and opened their hands for the destruction of villages and the plunder of cattle, and kindled the flames of turbulence and sedition between the waters of the Sodra3 and the Jelam, by the aid of a crowd of the dependents of Satan. When their ravages had exceeded all bounds, Bahau-d din Muhammad, governor of Sangwan, with his brothers, who held lands (akta’) within the borders of Multan, accompanied by many of the chief people of the city, marched out against them, determined to repress the violence of those accursed rebels and enemies of the State and religion; but many of them were captured or slain by the exertions of the army of the infidels, in number like the [p. 90] drops of rain or leaves of the forest. Their power consequently increased day by day and a general named Sulaiman was obliged to fly before the superior numbers of the enemy. When these circumstances were reported to Muhammad Ghori, he determined on proceeding to the scene of action, and sent on the Amir Hajib, Siraju-d din Abu Bakr, one of his confidential servants, to inform Kutbu-d din of his intentions. In consequence of which, Kutbu-d din advanced to meet his Majesty at the opening of the cold season. At every stage intelligence reached him from the royal camp urging his advance and informing him that the blood-thirsty sword would be sheathed and the camp would halt, and that no measures would be taken to exterminate the infidels until he had passed the river, (Chinab) which intervened between his and the royal camp....
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [37] [38] [39] [40]

• Near the river of Sodra Kutbu-d din killed four fierce tigers at the roaring of which the heart was appalled, and on the day after crossing that river, he joined the camp of the king on the bank of the Jelam, and was received with royal kindness. They mounted their horses and swam them like fish across the Jelam, and on the bank of the river entered on their plans for the approaching action, and arranged all the preparations for fight after joining together in consultation. Kutbu-d din suggested that it was not right for the king to expose his person against such enemies and suggested that the command of the Musulman army should be entrusted to himself alone; but the persuasion of his general seemed to have had no effect upon the resolution of the Sultan. [There was] battle near the ford of the Jelam, the waves of which were filled with blood, and in which the armies of infidelity and true faith commingled together like waves of the sea, and contended with each other like night and day or light and darkness. Shamsu-d din was also engaged in this fight.
  [p. 91] The Kokars were completely defeated, and, in that country there remained not an inhabitant to light a fire. Much spoil in slaves and weapons, beyond all enumeration, fell into the possession of the victors. One of the sons of the Kokar Rai, the chief instigator these hostilities, rushed into the river with a detachment of his Satanical followers, and fled with one horse from the field of battle to a fort on the hill of Jud, and escaped the sword, threw into it the last breathings of a dying man. The next day, Muhammad Sam advanced towards the hill of Jud, where the action was renewed, which ended in the capture of the fortress, and the Hindus like a torrent descended from the top of the hill to the bottom. The Rai of the hill of Jud, putting on the robes of a Brahman, presented himself like a slave, and kissed the face of the earth before the Sultan, by whom he was admitted to pardon. Immense booty was taken in the fort....
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [41] [42] [43] [44]

Capture of Jalor

[45]

• [p. 93 Îltutmish’s reign. Capture of Jalor ] After some time, they represented to his Majesty that the inhabitants of the fort of Jalewar (Jalor) had [p. 94] determined to revenge the blood which had been shed, and once or twice mention of the evil deeds and improprieties of that people was made before the sublime throne.... ‘Udi Shah, the accursed, took to the four wall of Jalewar, an exceedingly strong fortress, the gates of which had never been opened by any conqueror. ... The Sultan then returned to Delhi, which is the capital of prosperity and the palace of glory, and after his arrival, [p. 95] not a vestige or name remained of the idol temples which had reared their heads on high; and the light of faith shone out from the darkness of infidelity, like the sun from a curtain of sorrow, or after its emerging from an eclipse4 and threw its shade over the provinces of Hind and Sind, the far and near countries of idolatry; and the moon of religion and the State became resplendent from the heaven of prosperity and glory.
  • Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami. A history of the Sultan of Delhi Kutbu-d din Aibak. In The History of India as Told by its own Historians. The Posthumous Papers of the Late Sir H. M. Elliot. John Dowson, ed. 1st ed. 1867. 2nd ed., Calcutta: Susil Gupta, 1956, vol. 12, pp. 56-99.also in [46] [47] [48] [49]

External links

• Excerpts from Taju-l Ma-asir by Hazan Nizami Excerpts which deal primarily with the military exploits of Muhammad Ghuri and his general in India, Qutb-ud-din.