Of the two accounts of India, Ibn Batūta's is far more val- uable than Marco Polo's. Whereas the latter is based on knowl- edge derived in only a few coastal areas, Ibn Batūta's relation of his Indian tour is much more detailed and forms a valuable contemporary source of the history of the country. It throws abundant light on social, political, and administrative institu- tions; coins, weights, and measures; and trade and shipping. It also provides geographical information with regard to places and their intervening distances; rivers, mountains, routes, and flora and fauna.

The two travelers had performed historic missions of estab- lishing contacts between distant ends of Asia, Europe, and North Africa, which later led to the mingling of Eastern and Western civilizations that had hitherto developed in relative isolation but were thenceforth to enjoy the reciprocal effects of each other's progress. This was further made possible by the opening up of Western Asia through the tolerant attitude of the Īl-Khāns, who permitted the overland journey through Tabriz to the port of Hormuz, which thus became an impor- tant link in the future development of trade and commerce with India as well as the Far East. The route, covered partly by boats and partly by transcontinental caravans, ending at the Black Sea or the Mediterranean, had become established by the end of the 14th century. Chinese silks poured into Europe, to- gether with spices from the Indies and Indian muslins, precious stones, carpets, and leather goods. At the same time, religious, diplomatic, and scientific relationships were encouraged, ad- vancing mutual understanding between China and the Islamic world.

It appears that as a result of the new relations that developed between the East and the West after the visits of the two trav- elers, Europe learned of gunpowder from the Chinese, who had known it for centuries, and likewise of Chinese woodblock printing. Further, the Chinese style of painting was traceable at Assisi, the headquarters of the Franciscan Order, and it could have contributed to the Renaissance of Italian art. Simi- larly, the mariner's compass is also believed to have arrived in Europe from China, thereby facilitating subsequent voyages of discovery and the development of scientific cartography. In the mutual give and take, Chinese bronzes and ceramics began to show Western influences, and China no doubt imported Arabic numerals and Muslim astronomical methods.

Sources (in addition to those in the General Bibliography)

M. Charol (1953); S. Q. Fatimi (1963); R. Grousset (1952); H. H. Howorth (1876–1927); Ibn Batūta (listed under "Pri- mary Sources"); H. Lamb (1928); G. D. Malech (1910); Marco Polo (listed under Primary Sources) B. Spuler (1960– 69); H. Yule, ed. and trans. (1913–16).

V.2 (a) and (c). South Asia in the Time of the Khaljīs and Tughluqs, c. 1290–1390

The period of the Khaljīs and the Tughluqs marks the apo- gee of Turkish rule in India. The Khaljīs replaced the Mamlūks in 1290 in a coup organized by Shāista Khān Jalāl ud-dīn Firūz Khaljī, generally known as Jalāl ud-dīn Khaljī or Malik Firūz Khaljī. A vigorous campaign of conquest was launched by his nephew and son-in-law, 'Alī Gurshāsp, who later succeeded him in 1296 as Sultan 'Alā ud-dīn. The latter captured Bhilsa in 1293 and in 1296 made the first Turkish incursion into the South, forced into submission the Yādava ruler of Devagiri, and collected an immense booty that enabled him to occupy the throne of Delhi after killing his uncle. Under his direct rule, which lasted until 1316, Sultan 'Alā ud-dīn Khaljī further extended his empire by conquering a large part of Rajputana and Gujarat and the whole of Malwa. In the South he es- tablished his suzerainty over the Kākatīyas of Warangal, the Hoysa&lline;as of Dvārasamudra, and much of the Coromandel coastal region (later known as Ma'bar), and in 1313 he an- nexed Devagiri. This, together with the cession of "Badarkot" (Bīdar?) by the Rai of Warangal in 1317, formed part of a geopolitical strategy aimed at securing the northern empire against any danger from the south.

The Chaghatāi Mongols had vigorously repeated their raids on India during 'Alā ud-dīn's reign and twice came up to Delhi. Though they also attacked such places inside the country as Samāna, Kuhrām, Nāgaur, and Amroha, 'Alā ud-dīn not only turned them back every time, but was eventually able to coun- terattack them. After strengthening his western and northwest- ern defenses, he directed his raids against their bases in Kabul, Ghazni, and Kandahar.

According to a contemporary account, the administrative system of the country was improved by dividing northern India into eleven strong governorships; namely, (1) Gujarat, (2) Multan and Siwistān, (3) Dipālpur and Lahore, (4) Samāna and Sunām, (5) Dhār and Ujjain, (6) Jhain, (7) Chitor, (8) Chanderi and Īrij, (9) Badāyūn, Kol (Koil), and Kark, (10) Awadh, and (11) Karā. The Ganga-Yamuna Doab was an en- tity by itself, and Devagiri was treated as another province after its annexation late in 'Alā ud-dīn's reign. An attempt was ap- parently made to introduce administrative unity, which was further encouraged by the Tughluqs and later perfected by the Mughals.

The Tughluqs succeeded the Khaljīs in 1320, after Ghiās ud-dīn Tughluq⁵ had defeated the last of the Khaljī sultans, Khusrū Khān, in an engagement near Delhi. He brought back into the sultanate the eastern and southern parts of Bengal with their capitals at Sonargāon and Sātgāon, while the northern part with its capital at Lakhnautī became a tributary of the Tughluqs. Tirhut was also conquered, and along the eastern coast the region around Jājnagar was overrun and taken from the Eastern Ga&ndot;gas. Thus a considerable measure of territorial consolidation was achieved.

Under Ghiās ud-dīn's son, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq, the Turkish Empire reached its zenith. Along the northern frontier, Kalanaur, Nagarkot, and Peshawar were added to the sultanate. The acquisition of Nagarkot in 1337 marked the sultanate's first successful penetration of the Himalayan re- gion, while the addition of Peshawar was particularly impor- tant for the safety of the realm because of the continuing threat of incursions by the Mongols, whose last raids were against Samāna in 1324 and Mīrath in 1327. After acquiring Pesha- war, Muhammad was even able to organize some counterraids against the Mongols. In the south, the former tributary states of Warangal, Dvārasamudra, and Ma'bar, together with the newly conquered territory of Kampilī, were integrated. On the western coast, numerous petty states accepted Muhammad bin Tughluq's suzerainty.

Thus, practically the whole of India, excluding Kashmir, Lower Sind (subjugated in 1362), a few coastal regions, cer- tain largely tribal regions of the northeast and perhaps some recalcitrant areas in Rajputana, was brought under his control. Vigorous attempts were made at consolidation, and a very bold step was taken, about 1327, to found another capital at Deva- giri, which had been named Qutbābād by Qutb ud-dīn Mubārak Khaljī, only to be renamed Daulatābād by the Tughluq sultan. Besides creating a more central base for effective political con- trol, the measure could, it was hoped, also overcome cultural barries between the North and the South, particularly with the creation in the Deccan of new Muslim settlements, and thus further political unity.

However, in spite of all that the sultan's genius could at- tempt, the problems of an overextended empire, accentuated by the incorporation of peoples of different cultural groups, soon made themselves apparent, and within a decade the forces of disintegration could be seen at work. Ma'bar became inde- pendent in 1334; Telingana soon followed; and Bengal was lost in 1338. The foundations of the Vijayanagara kingdom were laid in 1336 and those of the Bahmanī kingdom ten years later. By the time Muhammad bin Tughluq died in 1351, the South appeared to have been irretrievably lost to the sultanate. (For further details on the South see following text entitled "South India, c. 1190–1390".) Muhammad's successor, Sultan Firūz Shāh, was able to conquer Lower Sind and reestablish his paramountcy over Bengal, Jājnagar, and Nagarkot; but he made no attempt to conquer other lost areas.

Governors and other ambitious persons in the region of Bengal, which was rich, populous, and distant from Delhi, were prone to assert their independence of the sultanate when- ever suitable opportunities arose. Thus, with the decline of Tughluq power a struggle for ascendancy arose there in 1338, which ended c. 1345 with the supremacy of the Ilyās Shāhī dynasty. Independent Muslim dynasties (save for a brief Hindu interregnum) were thereafter to remain in power in that area until its conquest by Akbar in 1576. For a while the Ilyās Shāhīs were able to expand at the expense of the Tughluqs, from whom they wrested Tirhut c. 1346. Their military adven- tures against Nepal and the Eastern Ga&ndot;gas bore no fruit. Tirhūt was lost in 1353, and thereafter several unsuccessful invasions were directed against the Ilyās Shāhīs by the falter- ing Tughluq power.

To the northwest of the subcontinent, the Mongol Īl Khān dynasty, established in 1256, ruled over a vast region com- prising what are today the areas of Baluchistan, most of Af- ghanistan, Iran, Soviet Central Asia south of the Oxus, and Iraq. The dynasty was torn by internecine strife, however, and its power declined rapidly during the 1330s, finally collapsing ⁵ "Tughluq" was Ghiās ud-dīn's personal name, not that of his dynasty; but for the sake of convenience historians have adopted it for the whole dynasty. c. 1350. Among the principal vassals of the Īl Khāns were the Kurts, whose capital was at Herat. Assuming independence in 1332, they ruled for the next half-century over the greater part of Afghanistan. But the region was not to see another major power until the rise of Tīmūr, commencing in 1370. The ca- reer of that monarch, though touched on in several notes on map (a), will be discussed in the text for map V.3 (d).

It has been observed above that the power of the sultanate did not successfully penetrate the Himalayan region until the conquest of Nagarkot in 1337. Even earlier, however, a Mus- lim monarch had come to sit, albeit briefly, on the throne of a Himalayan state; for Riñchana of Ladakh, after repelling a Chaghatāi Mongol invasion of Kashmir, became king of that country in 1320 and in so doing embraced the Islamic faith, which a Sūfī saint had recently popularized within the Vale. In 1323 he was deposed. The first Muslim dynasty of Kashmir, that of the so-called Shāh Mīrs, came to power in 1339, fol- lowing a new Mongol invasion and a complex power struggle in its wake.

In the middle and late 13th century respectively, Mongol power was implanted in the Buddhist regions of Tibet and Burma, thus hemming in India not only on the northwest, but also on the north and the east. But no invasion of India oc- curred from either of those quarters. The Mongols' hold on Burma proved to be short-lived, as they were defeated by the then-tribal Shans of the northern hill region of that country in 1303 and forced to withdraw. Ultimately (c. 1365) one of the Shan tribes was able to establish a new and powerful dynasty at Ava, which ruled over much or all of the country for nearly two centuries. (For additional details on the effects of the Mon- gol invasion of Burma, see notes on map.) Mongol contact with Tibet was to endure for many centuries; but their hold on the country was intermittent and sometimes tenuous.

Sources (in addition to those in the General Bibliography)

Original Sources

'Afif; Amīr Khusrau (1–5); Firishtah; Ibn Batūta; 'Isāmī; Nizām ul-Dīn Ahmad; Yahyā ibn Ahmad al Sirhindī; Ziyā' al-dīn Baranī.

Other Works

M. S. Commissariat (1938); S. M. Haq (1959); A. M. Husain (1938), (1963); K. S. Lal (1967); A. K. Majumdar (1956); S. C. Misra (1963); K. R. Qanungo (1960); J. Sarkar, ed. (1948); N. Venkata Ramanayya (1942); G. Yazdani, ed. (1960).

N.B. For additional works bearing mainly on South India and Sri Lanka, see sources for maps V.2 (b), (d), and (e).

V.2 (b), (d), and (e). South India, c. 1190–1390

Four kingdoms vied for peninsular hegemony during the 13th century, each supplanting a regional power of the previ- ous several centuries: the northern portion of the Deccan came under the Yādava, or Seu&ntod;a, dynasty of Devagiri, who super- seded the Cālukyas of Kalyā&ntod;ī during the time of Yādava Bhillama (1175–94); in Telingana the Kākatīya dynasty of Oru&ndot;gallu (Warangal), under Ga&ntod;apati (1198–1261), re- placed the Eastern Cālukyas of Ve&ndot;gi; to the south, the Hoysa&lline;a dynasty, under Ballāla II (1173–1220), expanded northward from his capital at Dvārasamudra to encroach upon older Cālukyan territory and southward to incorporate Ga&ndot;gavā&dtod;i, long under Co&lline;a influence, and large areas of Tamil country; and in the far South, in about 1216 Mā&rline;avarman Sundara Pā&ntod;&dtod;ya inaugurated the second imperial career of the Pā&ntod;&dtod;yas with encroachments against the declining Co&lline;as, a task com- pleted by Ja&ttod;āvarman Sundara Pā&ntod;&dtod;ya after 1250. Both of these Pā&ntod;&dtod;yan rulers, like others before them in the 12th cen- tury, maintained a lively interest in Sri Lanka, usually exacting tribute and occasionally pillaging. In Kali&ndot;ga and Utkala, in the northeast of the peninsula, a fifth power, the Eastern Ga&ndot;gas, persisted from the previous period.

It was seldom in the capacity of the South Indian states to establish extended paramountcy over the others, and few sought to exploit temporary military success by territorial con- solidation. Each was able briefly to exact tribute and homage from a substantial territory; but each was repeatedly forced back to its principal domains or even to the core territory of its kingdom (map (d)). Although this competition among the Hindu kingdoms was without permanent political or adminis- trative consequences, it was not without important cultural effects. Victorious kings often built monuments in the domains of their vanquished enemies, introducing new architectural and iconographic motifs and carrying back with them new artistic conceptions. Among the greatest monuments of the period are the temples of Jagannātha and Lak&stod;mī at Puru&stod;ottama (Puri) and the magnificent sun temple at Konarak, all built under Eastern Ga&ndot;ga patronage. Similarly, the movement of armies was accompanied at times by the diffusion of religious ideas. During the 13th century there was a continuing expansion, under royal patronage, of Śrīvai&stod;&ntod;ava religious influence in Karnataka, Andhra, and Orissa, building on the work begun in the previous century by the great teacher Rāmānuja while