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FAÚRUÚQÈ
DYNASTY
of
Khandesh
(772-1009/1370-1601)
"land
of
the
khans"
(<
khan
+
Hindi
de@æ
"land"),
a
small
kingdom
centered
on
the
Tapti
River
valley
on
the
northern
border
of
the
Deccan
(q.v.),
bounded
on
the
north
by
Malwa
and
the
Narmada
River,
in
present-day
Madhya
Pradesh.
The
dynasty
was
established
around
772/1370
by
Malek
Raja
Fa@ru@q^
(see
Table
1),
a
former
vizier
of
the
Bahmanid
dynasty
(q.v.)
who
had
been
granted
a
fief
(ja@g^r)
in
the
Thalner
region
by
F^ru@z
Shah
b.
Tog@loq,
sultan
of
Delhi
(752-90/1351-88).
He
became
independent
around
784/1382
and
proceeded
to
subdue
local
Rajput
chieftains.
Malek
Raja
claimed
descent
from
the
second
caliph,
¿Omar
Fa@ru@q
(13-23/634-44),
a
claim
that
figured
large
in
dynastic
propaganda.
His
immediate
successors
styled
themselves
"khan"
and
followed
a
policy
of
playing
off
more
powerful
neighboring
kingdoms
(Gujarat,
Malwa,
B^dar,
Ahmadnagar)
against
one
another.
The
prosperity
of
Khandesh
depended
upon
trade
and
the
production
of
fine
textiles.
Patronage
of
Ùeæt^
Sufism
(see
ÙEˆTÈYA)
was
also
an
important
element
of
Fa@ru@q^
state
policy.
Malek
Raja
regarded
himself
as
a
disciple
of
the
Ùeæt^
shaikh
Zayn-al-D^n
ˆ^ra@z^
(d.
771/1369),
whose
cloak
(kòerqa)
was
shown
to
Moháammad-Qa@sem
Fereæta
(q.v.)
in
1013/1604-5,
four
years
after
the
Mughal
conquest
of
Khandesh,
as
a
holy
relic
that
had
ensured
the
continuity
of
the
dynasty
(Fereæta,
II,
277;
tr.
Briggs,
IV,
p.
171).
The
tombs
of
Zayn-al-D^n
and
his
master,
Borha@n-al-D^n
GÚar^b
(d.
738/1337),
in
Rawzµa
(modern
Khuldabad)
were
endowed
by
the
Fa@ru@q^s,
and
after
the
Mughal
conquest
of
Khandesh
in
1009/1601
this
support
was
continued
by
Akbar
(q.v.;
963-1014/1556-1605)
and
Jaha@ng^r
(1014-37/1605-27).
Although
Malek
Raja's
successor,
Nasá^r
Khan,
founded
the
cities
of
Burhanpur
(q.v.)
and
Zayna@ba@d
in
honor
of
these
two
shaikhs
in
about
835/1431-32,
recently
discovered
Sufi
documents
indicate
that
royal
chroniclers
considerably
exaggerated
the
role
of
the
early
Ùeæt^s
in
support
of
the
Fa@ru@q^s
(Ernst,
pp.
207-15).
One
such
source,
a
15th-century
revenue
document
from
K¨olda@ba@d
(Ernst,
pp.
264-72),
indicates
that
shrine
trustees,
in
order
to
secure
additional
endowment,
also
revised
the
early
Ùeæt^
prohibition
against
seeking
royal
support.
In
another
source,
Fathá
al-awl^a@÷
(a
hagiography
written
in
Burhanpur
by
an
anonymous
author
in
1030/1620,
Khuldabad
library,
ms.,
pp.
80-82,
89,
110-18,
123-30),
the
emphasis
is
on
the
reverence
of
the
later
Fa@ru@q^s
for
contemporary
Sufis;
¿Ayna@
¿AÚdel
Khan
(d.
907/1501)
favored
the
Ùeæt^s,
especially
Nezáa@m-al-D^n
Bhakkar^
(d.
897/1492)
and
his
son
ˆa@h
Jala@l,
whereas
M^ra@n
Moháammad
Shah
II
(d.
984/1576)
and
successors
were
drawn
to
the
ˆatÂtÂa@r^
order.
These
reports
confirm
similar
remarks
by
¿Abd-Alla@h
Moháammad
UÚlu@g@kòa@n^
(I,
pp.
53-54,
65,
67;
tr.,
I,
pp.
50,
61-63)
and
Moháammad
GÚawt¯^
(pp.
214,
263,
352,
359,
384,
413,
458,
469).
Nasá^r
Khan's
capture
of
the
massive
fortress
of
AÚs^r,
which
made
possible
the
foundation
of
Burhanpur,
encouraged
the
Fa@ru@q^s
to
undertake
military
expeditions
in
Gujarat
and
Berar
while
initially
forming
marriage
alliances
with
the
Bahmanids;
Gujarati
forces,
however,
compelled
Nasá^r
Khan
to
accept
vassal
status,
which
continued
until
the
reign
of
M^ra@n
Moháammad
I
(d.
943/1537),
who
was
granted
the
title
"shah"
and
named
heir
to
the
throne
of
Gujarat
by
his
uncle
Baha@dor
Shah,
though
he
did
not
live
to
inherit.
Incursions
by
Mughal
generals
into
Khandesh
in
970/1562
and
by
Akbar
in
972/1564
led
Moba@rak
Shah
II
(d.
974/1566)
to
offer
his
daughter
in
marriage
to
Akbar
and
to
acknowledge
Mughal
overlordship,
though
the
Fa@ru@q^s
were
still
able
to
maneuver
among
Gujarat
and
the
kingdoms
of
the
Deccan.
The
last
effective
ruler
of
Khandesh,
Raja
¿Al^
Khan
¿AÚdel
Shah
I
(d.
1005/1597),
avoided
confrontation
with
the
Mughals
and
was
persuaded
by
Abu'l-Fayzµ
Fayzµ^
(pp.
78,
94,
102,
138)
to
assist
them
against
Ahmadnagar;
Raja
¿Al@^
Khan
died
in
battle
against
the
Deccan^
armies.
His
successor,
Baha@dor
Shah
(d.
Agra,
1033/1623-24),
became
alienated
from
Akbar
and
attempted
to
resist
a
Mughal
siege
of
AÚs^r
but
had
to
surrender
the
fortress
on
22
Rajab
1009/27
January
1601.
Although
the
Fa@ru@q^s
as
a
dynasty
were
thus
extinguished
in
Khandesh,
a
member
of
the
Fa@ru@q^
family
was
adopted
by
Anwa@r-al-D^n
Khan
(d.
1162/1749),
first
nawwa@b
of
Arcot
in
southern
India,
who
thus
claimed
to
continue
the
line
of
¿Omar
Fa@ru@q
(Ernst,
pp.
214-15).
Burhanpur
was
a
center
of
learning
under
the
Fa@ru@q^s,
with
flourishing
religious
schools
(madrasas)
and
a
considerable
population
of
Sufis
(Qa@der^,
Ùeæt^,
ˆatÂtÂa@r^)
under
royal
patronage,
as
can
be
seen
from
such
hagiographies
as
Moháammad
GÚawt¯^'s
Golza@r-e
abra@r
(1022/1613)
and
modern
compilations
by
Mo¿^n-al-D^n
Nadv^
and
Ra@æed
Borha@npu@r^;
in
particular,
many
scholars
fleeing
chaotic
conditions
in
Sind
caused
by
rivalries
among
members
of
the
Arg@u@n
dyansty
after
962/1554
found
a
haven
in
Burhanpur.
The
Fa@ru@q^s'
library
(later
seized
by
Akbar)
must
have
been
considerable,
for
Fayzµ^
hoped
that
Raja
¿Al^
Khan
could
supply
him
with
a
complete
copy
of
Am^r
K¨osrow
Dehlav^'s
Tog@loq-na@ma
(Fayzµ^,
pp.
296-97).
The
repeated
sacking
of
the
city
by
invading
armies
despoiled
it
of
many
of
its
literary
treasures,
but
a
few
isolated
pre-Mughal
texts
survive,
including
a
medical
treatise
on
sex
(MatÂlab
al-mobaææer^n,
by
Moháammad
H®ak^m
G^la@n^,
dedicated
to
M^ra@n
Moháammad
Shah;
Patna,
Oriental
Public
Library,
ms.
980,
H.L.
1006)
and
a
lengthy
political
treatise
composed
for
the
coronation
of
Raja
¿Al^
Khan
(Nafa@÷es
al-kala@m
wa
¿ara@÷es
al-aqla@m
by
¿Abd-al-LatÂ^f
Monæ^
Naz^l-al-H®arama@yn,
984/1576;
unique
MS
Patna,
Oriental
Public
Library,
no.
948,
H.L.
no.
946),
in
which
are
listed
and
described
twenty
scholars
and
Sufis
who
attended
the
coronation
(fols.
66b-82a).
Some
Deccani-style
paintings
currently
identified
as
products
of
Ahmadnagar
or
Awranga@ba@d
may
have
been
produced
at
Burhanpur
(Sherwani
and
Joshi,
II,
pp.
207-8).
The
architecture
of
the
Fa@ru@q^s,
still
unstudied,
was
distinctive,
as
can
be
seen
from
royal
tombs
and
a
fort
at
Burhanpur
and
large
mosques
at
AÚs^r
and
Burhanpur
(Beacon,
pp.
120-21,
132-35),
the
latter
featuring
a
bilingual
inscription
in
Arabic
and
Sanskrit.
Bibliography
(for
cited
works
not
given
in
detail,
see
"Short
References"):
J.
Ansáa@r^,
AÚt¯a@r-e
fa@ru@q^ya
Borha@npu@r
me@@ñ,
Burhanpur,
1981.
T.
Beacon,
The
Oriental
Annual,
London,
1840.
R.
Borha@npu@r^,
Borha@npu@r
ke@
sendh^
awl^a@÷,
Hyderabad,
1957.
C.
W.
Ernst,
Eternal
Garden:
Mysticism,
History
and
Politics
at
a
South
Asian
Sufi
Center,
Albany,
N.Y.,
1992.
Abu'l-Fayzµ
Fayzµ^,
Enæa@-ye
Fayzµ^,
ed.
A.
D.
Aræad,
Lahore,
1973.
H®am^d-al-D^n,
Tadòkera-ye
H®azµrat-e
ˆa@h
Bhakka@r^
Borha@npu@r^,
Urdu
tr.
R.
Borha@npu@r^,
Bombay,
n.d.,
pp.
25-29.
Moháammad
GÚawt¯^
Mandav^,
Adòka@r-e
abra@r,
ordu@
tarjoma-ye
golza@r-e
abra@r,
Urdu
tr.
F.
A.
Je@var^,
Agra,
1326/1908;
repr.
Lahore,
1395/1975.
P.
Hardy,
"Fa@ru@káids,"
in
EI2
II,
pp.
814-16.
T.
T.
Mahajan,
Khandesh
under
the
Mughals,
New
Delhi,
1991,
pp.
1-22.
M.
Nadv^,
Borha@npu@r
gahva@ra-ye
¿elm,
da@r
al-soru@r,
markaz-e
ru@háa@n^yat,
Burhanpur,
1978.
H.
K.
Sherwani
and
P.
M.
Joshi,
ed.,
History
of
Medieval
Deccan
(1295-1724)
I,
Hyderabad,
1973,
pp.
492-516.
¿Abd-Alla@h
Moháammad
b.
¿Omar
Makk^
AÚsáaf^
UÚlu@g@-kòa@n^,
Z®afar
al-wa@leh
be-Mozáaffar
wa
a@leh,
ed.
E.
D.
Ross,
3
vols.,
London,
1919-28;
tr.
M.
F.
Lokhandwala,
Baroda,
1970-74.
(CARL
W.
ERNST)
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