Search

, the Marāt́hā corruption of the Arabic word d̲j̲azīra “island”, is the name of a former native state in the heart of the Konkan on the west coast of India. It actually owes its name to the fortified island of D̲j̲and̲j̲īra (lat. 17° 45′ N. and long. 73° 05′ E.), lying at the entrance of the Rajapuri creek, half a mile from the mainland on the west and 48 km. south of Bombay. The impregnable fort, which has an excellent command over the Arabian Sea, rose to prominence under the Niẓām S̲h̲āhī [ q.v.] rulers of Aḥmadnagar towards the end of the 9th/15th century when a Ḥabs̲h̲ī or Abyssini…

, Indian Muslim admiral, administrator and statesman, one of the most distinguished personalities of the reigns of the Gud̲j̲arāt Sultans Maḥmūd I (863-917/1458-1511) and Muẓaffar II (917-32/1511-26). Ayāz, according to the Portuguese historian João de Barros, was originally a Russian slave, born in Georgia, who fell into the hands of the Turks and thus ¶ found his way to Istanbul, where he was sold to a trader having business connections with India. Endowed by nature with valour and wisdom, he proved to be the “jewel of a great price” in the estim…

, military commander under the rulers of Mālwā [ q.v.]. ¶ The son of a Turkish noble named ʿAlī S̲h̲īr K̲h̲urd. he played a conspicuously important role in the history of mediaeval Mālwā. He came into prominence during the reign of Sultan Hus̲h̲ang S̲h̲āh G̲h̲ūrī (809-38/1406-35), who appointed him minister in recognition of his meritorious service and conferred on him the titles of As̲h̲raf al-Mulk and K̲h̲ān-i-D̲j̲ahān . He was instrumental in bringing about the accession of his son Maḥmūd K̲h̲ald̲j̲ī I (839-73/1436-69), whom he helped t…

, military commander of the Dihlī sultans. Originally a Hindu eunuch, nicknamed Hazār-dīnārī , ¶ “a thousand dīnār slave”, from his purchase price, was included in the large booty captured from the port city of Kambayāt (modern Cambay) following the K̲h̲ald̲j̲ī conquest of Gud̲j̲arāt [ q.v.] in 698/1299, and brought to Sultan ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn K̲h̲ald̲j̲ī, whose fascination he attracted by dint of his personal ability. He gradually attained the title of nāʾib malik “Regent of the King”, a position which was next only to the Sultan. Malik Kāfūr reached the zenith of his m…

, Indian military leader of the Tug̲h̲luḳ period. The decade of decadence following the death of Sultan Fīrūz S̲h̲āh of Dihlī in 790/1388 is marked by the manoeuvrings of the princes, intrigues of the nobles and sufferings of the people. According to Firis̲h̲ta, the vast kingdom of the Tug̲h̲luḳs fell to pieces and the central administration lost all authority over the outlying provinces. Confusion reached such a point that there occurred an unprecedented spectacle of two sovereigns within a radius of 1…

(shortened form of Lak̲h̲anawatī, “home of Lak̲h̲an”, which is a derivation from Laks̲h̲manā , son of Dasarata and half-brother of Rāma Čandrā, and watī , meaning “home” or “habitation”, the name of an ancient city which served as the principal seat of government in Bengal under Muslim rule for nearly four centuries. Its ruins are still found spread over a narrow and deserted channel of the River Ganges in lat. 24° 52′ N. and long. 88° 10′ E., 10 miles/1…

, 27th ruler of the Dihlī sultanate, was the son of Maḥmūd Ḵh̲ān Lodī and a cousin of Mallū Iḳbāl K̲h̲ān. Native Persian chroniclers say nothing about the early ¶ history of this Afg̲h̲ān nobleman of Dihlī who emerged as a dominant figure during the early years of the 9th/15th century when Tug̲h̲luḳid authority was on the verge of dissolution. He served Sulṭān Nāṣir al-Dīn Maḥmūd II, the last ruler of the dynasty, both as private secretary with the title ʿAzīz al-Mamālik (“Great one of the State”) and as military governor of the Dōʾāb. On the death of the Sulṭān in 815/1412, the amīrs …

, a powerful hill-tribe inhabiting the Jehlum area in the north-west of the undivided Panjab. The Khokars were a dominant race of the province at the time of the first Muslim invasion of the Indian sub-continent; their origins are as shrouded in mystery as those of any other Panjab tribe, but that they were originally Hindus seems hardly open to question. ¶ The earliest mention of the Khokars occurs in Ḥasan Niẓāmī’s Tād̲j̲ al-maʿāt̲h̲ir which refers to an insurrection of the tribe under their chiefs named Bakan and Sarki. The next contemporary …

, G̲h̲iyāt̲h̲ al-Dīn Ulug̲h̲ Ḵh̲ān , the most prominent of the slave Sultans of Dihlī, was originally a Turkish slave of the Ilbarī clan. A member of the famous corps of Forty Slaves or Čihilgānī raised by Sulṭān Iltutmis̲h̲, Balban rose, by dint of sheer merit and ability, to be the minister and deputy ( nāʾib-i-mamlakat ) of the ascetic king Nāṣir al-Dīn Maḥmūd S̲h̲āh (644-64/1246-65), to whom he had given his daughter in marriage. As de facto ruler during Maḥmūd’s reign, he checked the forces of disintegration and infused vigour into the administration. The experience…

, Persian mystic active in South India. Sayyid Burhān al-Dīn K̲h̲alīl Allāh was born at Kūbnān, in Kirmān ¶ province of Persia, on Friday 11th S̲h̲aʿbān 775/26th January 1374, and was the son and spiritual successor of the celebrated S̲h̲āh Niʿmat Allāh Walī of Kirmān [ q.v.]. He was widely respected as the chief exponent of the Ṣūfī school founded by, and named after, his father. The contemporary Tīmūrid princes S̲h̲āh-Ruk̲h̲ Mīrzā and Bāysunḳur Mīrzā, who held him in great reverence, for some time played host to the Sayyid in Harāt. After…

(area, 1.473 sq. m.), a District in the easternmost part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It lies in the great alluvial plains of the Ganges and extends in equal portions on either side of the river. Though one of the smallest in size, it is one of the most thickly-populated and closely-cultivated districts of the state. For administrative purposes, it is divided into four taḥṣīl s, namely G̲h̲āzīpūr, Muḥammadābād, Saʿīdpūr and Zamāniyya. Paddy, wheat, cotton, sugar and tobacco are the traditional products of the district. G̲h̲āzīpūr is obviously a name of Muslim origin, and…

, conventional English spelling Lucknow , the capital city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (the United Provinces of British India). It is situated on the south bank of the winding Gumti river at lat. 26° 52′ N. and long. 80° 52′ E. It is the eleventh largest city in the country (population, 1971 census: 750, 512) and the second largest town of the State. Besides being the seat of the State government, the city also serves as the administrative headquarters of Lak̲h̲naw district and division. 1. History. Though legend connects the origin of Lak̲h̲naw to a mythical local mound …

, a word derived, via Syriac, from Greek χορηϒία, but attached by the Arabs to the native root k̲h̲ . r. d̲j̲ . Contrary to its original meaning, the word seems, in the current usage of the Near East, to have denoted “tax” in general, and is in fact found with reference to various specific taxes, thus causing considerable confusion [see d̲j̲izya ]. Arabic technical and legal literature uses it more specifically, at least in the period before the formation of Turkish states, in the sense of land tax, and it is this sense which is exclusively discussed in the present article. For other taxes, see bayt…