SECTION TWO

MUSLIM WOMEN IN THE HISTORY OF

A. Women in Medieval India

I. General Studies 165. FASIHUDDIN, K. B. MAULAWI MUHAMMAD . The Sharqi Monuments of Jaunpur. Allahabad: Empire Press, 1922. 125p. In this study of the monuments built by the Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur (15th c.) in North India, the author describes mosques, colleges and palaces built by Bibi Raji, queen of Muhammad Shah. She ‘was one of the most remarkable ladies of her age, highly intelligent, educated and practically carried the administration of the Sharqi Kingdom.’ She continued to yield power even after her husband’s death in 1459 when she enthroned her son Muhammad Shah. She died in 1477. 166. HABIB, MOHAMMAD . ‘Indian Culture and Social Life at the Time of the Turkish Invasions,’ in K. A. Nizami, (ed.). Politics and Society dur- ing the Early Medieval Period. Collected works of Professor Mohammad Habib, New : People’s Publishing House, 1974. pp. 152–228. In this work social life in North India in the 11th century is described with particular reference to the status of widows. 167. IBN BATUTA. The Rehla of Ibn Batuta. Translated by Mahdi Husain, Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1976. (1st edn. 1953). 300p. The travelogue of Ibn-i-Batuta, a native of Tangier, Africa (b.1304) throws a great deal of light on the social history of fourteenth century India. He writes about Mu¶dmah-yi Jahan [the Lady of the World], mother of (1325–1351), the Sultan of Delhi, as ‘one of the most virtuous women.’ She built many hospices for the travellers. In Daulatabad, South India, he saw a market-place for male and female singers. He also travelled to the Maldives and described how Muslim women of the island left their upper body uncovered. The island’s ruler (sultana) was a woman named Khadija in whose name the Friday sermon was delivered in these words, ‘O my God! help Thy female slave whom Thou in Thy wisdom hast chosen from all creatures and made an instrument of Thy grace for all Muslims—verily, that 36 section two

is, Sultana Khadija, the daughter of Sultan Jalal-ud-din, bin Sultan Salah-ud-din.’ 168. KAUSAR, ZINAT . Muslim Women in Medieval India. New Delhi: Janaki Prakashan, 1992. 340p. In this book different aspects of the life of Muslim women of medieval India are discussed. The book is well documented. 169. MUJEEB, M. The Indian Muslims. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1967. 590p. This work contains separate studies of Muslim women who were either rulers or wielded political power as wives and daughters of the ruling kings. 170. NAND, LOKESH CHANDRA. Women in . Allahabad: Vohra Publishers, 1989. 252p. This work studies and examines Muslim women’s roles and status in medieval India. It discusses powerful women at the court, Su women and prostitutes, as well as the status of female slaves at the court of Delhi. 171. SAHU, KISHORI PRASAD. Some Aspects of North Indian Social Life, 1000–1526 A.D.: with a Special Reference to Contemporary Literatures. Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1973. 306p. While discussing cultural interaction between and Muslims, the author refers to various aspects of lives of Muslim women. Other interspersed references are also found in the work.

II. Ra iyyh Sul>n or Raziyat al-Duny wal-D n (r. 1236–40) 172. AKRAM, SHAIKH MUbAMMAD . “Ra iyy Sul>anh.” Tamaddun 5, no. 3 (1913): 1–6. [U], MHL. The author argues that Ra iyy Sul>anh deserved the throne as she had all the quali cations of a good ruler and that she was a woman was no disquali cation. This work refutes the baseless allegations against Ra iyy’s illicit relations with her slave. It is interesting to note that this paper was written at a time when the status of Muslim women, particularly restrictions of pardah, was hotly debated in the Muslim community of South Asia. 173. ASHRAF, KUNWAR MUHAMMAD . Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1970, 2nd edn. 312p. (1st edn. 1959. Earlier published in the Asiatic Society of , Letters 1, 1935, pp. 103–359 under the heading, Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan, 1200–1500 AD: Mainly Based on Islamic Sources).