Delhi Sultanate and the Sharqi kingdom of Jaunpur

In Jaunpur, on the banks of the Gomti, stand mosques unlike any others in India — with massive gateways (propylons) rising like the pylons of an Egyptian temple in front of their prayer halls. They were built by the Sharqi sultans, who ruled an independent kingdom from Jaunpur for most of the fifteenth century and turned it into such a centre of learning and culture that it was called Shiraz-i-Hind — "the Shiraz of India". The Sharqis are the most distinctive chapter in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanate history.

The Ghurid conquest

After Chandawar, the Ganga plain — including Kannauj and Varanasi — came under Turkish rule. Qutbuddin Aibak consolidated the conquests and founded the Delhi Sultanate (1206).

UP under the Sultanate

• The Sultanate divided territory into iqtas — revenue assignments held by military officers (iqtadars or muqtis).
• Important iqtas in UP included Badaun, Kol (Aligarh), Awadh, Kara (near Prayagraj) and Kannauj.
• Iltutmish served as governor of Badaun before becoming sultan.
• Alauddin Khalji was governor of Kara before seizing the throne (1296).
• The Tughlaqs fought rebellions in the Doab; Muhammad bin Tughlaq's heavy taxation in the Doab caused peasant flight and revolt.

The founding of Jaunpur

• Firoz Shah Tughlaq founded Jaunpur in 1359, reportedly naming it after his cousin Juna Khan (Muhammad bin Tughlaq).

The Sharqi dynasty (1394–1479)

Sharqi architecture

Features of Sharqi style: huge propylons; absence of minarets; use of trabeate (beam) and arcuate (arch) techniques together; Hindu craftsmen and materials from earlier temples in some structures.

Cultural life

• Jaunpur attracted scholars, poets and musicians — hence Shiraz-i-Hind.
• Husain Shah Sharqi is associated with music; tradition credits him with developing forms linked to khayal and with new ragas (such as Jaunpuri).
• Madrasas made Jaunpur a centre of Islamic learning.

The Lodis and Agra

• Bahlol Lodi annexed Jaunpur.
• Sikandar Lodi founded Agra (on the site of an older settlement) around 1504 and made it his capital — the beginning of Agra's rise as an imperial city.
• Sikandar Lodi is also associated with the introduction of the gaz-i-Sikandari (a unit of measurement) and with poetry under the pen-name Gulrukhi.
• Ibrahim Lodi was defeated by Babur at Panipat (1526).

Religion and society in the Sultanate period

• Sufi orders spread across UP — Chishti, Suhrawardi and others.
• The Bhakti movement grew — Kabir in Varanasi and Raidas (Ravidas) spoke against caste and ritual (see our guide on the Bhakti saints of UP).
• A composite culture — shared festivals, music, language (the growth of Hindavi) — took shape.

Practice

Prelims-style:

1. Whom did Muhammad of Ghur defeat at Chandawar in 1194?
2. Who founded Jaunpur, and when?
3. Which Sharqi ruler built the Atala Masjid?
4. Who ended the Sharqi kingdom?
5. Who founded Agra as a capital?

Mains-style:

• "Jaunpur under the Sharqis was a centre of Indo-Islamic culture." Discuss.
• Describe the distinctive features of Sharqi architecture.