“Zia ud-din Bar[a]ni (1285-1357) was the most important writer on politics during the era of the Delhi sultanate. He belonged to to the Muslim aristocracy, but in 1351, at the death of Muhammad ibn Tughluq, he fell out of favor and was banished from court, suffering imprisonment for a few months. It was during this period of poverty and exile from court that he wrote his works on government and religion, hoping thereby both to prepare himself for the hereafter and also to win back the favor of Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq. In the latter hope he was disappointed, dying in poverty not long after 1357.”
Embree, Ainslie T., ed. Sources of Indian Tradition: From the Beginning to 1800, Vol.1, 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.
Just so you know for future reference: Barani’s name is often spelled B-a-r-n-i. Google that and you will find a purple dinosaur. However, your assignment is to write a short response no longer than one page, single-spaced in response to two readings by Barani; the PDF is attached at the end of this paragraph.
Our author seems to present his ideas in what anthropologists refer to as binaries. What are some of those binaries? What is the purpose of those binaries? Specifically, why is evil necessary? What qualities are required to be a good king? How important is a ruler who possess these qualities? What is his significance in the temporal world?
