New book on history of South Indian Muslim empires creates ripples among history buffs
Syed Ubaidur Rahman’s latest book ‘Forgotten Muslim Empire of South India: Bahmani Empire, Madurai, Bijapur, Golconda & Mysore Sultanates’ has got a roaring response across the country. From Chennai to Hyderabad and Delhi, the book is being warmly received throughout the country and even beyond. The numerous book launch programs have been huge successes, surprising even the author of the book himself. The book that was released last month has caught the imagination of a large number of people.
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Jonathan AC Brown, Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization, Georgetown University, Washington DC, while writing Rahman’s book says, “The story of Islam and Muslims in south India is fascinating but underrepresented, long overshadowed by interest in the empires of the north. This book offers a remedy. It provides a concise but comprehensive exploration of a series of lustrous and important medieval Indian states, whose cultural and artistic achievements remain jewels of India’s history”.
New book on history of South Indian Muslim empires creates ripples among history buffshttps://t.co/aJDa6Dqxso pic.twitter.com/rYF7KDk6BX
— theokhlatimes (@theokhlatimes) April 12, 2023
There is no denying the fact that while the Muslim history in north India is well documented, the history of Muslims in the Deccan hasn’t caught the same attention. This is the reason that while hundreds of books have been penned on the Mughals and the Delhi Sultanate’s rule in different languages, if you try to lay your hands on the Muslim rule elsewhere, there is very little available on the ruling dynasties and their rule in other regions including South India.
Syed Ubaidur Rahman’s latest book tries to correct this mistake and bring back the Muslim sultanates of the Deccan and south India into focus. The voluminous book of 664 pages, it contains a more than three hundred fifty page chapter on the Bahmani Empire alone.
When asked as to why he wrote so much on the Bahmani Sultanate, the author says, “Bahmani Sultanate, towards the end of the 14th century was the pre-eminent power not just in South India, but across the Indian subcontinent. However, despite its resplendent and great past, there is not much literature available on the Bahmani Sultanate that was the most powerful empire from mid fourteenth century till the end of the fifteenth century. It has been relegated to the margins of history in our school syllabus and even in our history books. In this book, I have made an effort to bring it back to common imagination and make it a talking point”.
The author goes on to add that “The Bahmanis and the latter day sultanates in the region had a transformative impact over the populace, both Muslims and Hindus. Not much is written about how the Bahmani sultans spread education across the region and established schools and colleges in every major towns of their realm that not just provided free education to the pupils but took care of all their needs including food and lodging. Muhammad Shah II, during his peaceful reign of close to two decades, ensured that schools and colleges were established in almost every part of the sultanate with hostel facilities. The building of Mahmud Gawan’s university is still standing tall in Bidar, the second capital of the Bahmani empire”.
Chapters on Bijapur’s Adil Shahi Sultanate, Ahmadnagar’s Nizam Shahi Sultanate, Golconda’s Qutb Shahi Sultanate, besides Madurai and Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan’s Mysore Sultanates are also thoroughly engaging, detailed and informative.
The book is a must read for history buffs, especially the ones who are concerned with preserving Indian Muslim history in the country.
Name of the book: ‘Forgotten Muslim Empire of South India’
Author: Syed Ubaidur Rahman
664 pages, Price Rs 1295, Contact: 9818327757 (WhatsApp)
