Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi | |
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| Born | |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Academic work | |
| Era | 15th century |
| Sub-discipline | History of theDelhi Sultanate |
| Notable works | Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi |
Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi (nisba ofSirhind inPunjab) was a 15th centuryIndian Muslim historian who wroteTarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, aPersian language chronicle of theDelhi Sultanate. Written during the reign ofMubarak Shah, his work is an important source of information for theSayyid dynasty.
Yahya expected to become a courtier ofMubarak Shah (r. 1421-1434), a ruler of theDelhi Sultanate. Therefore, he wroteTarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi and presented it to the Sultan, hoping to win the royal patronage.[1]
The book begins with the conquests ofMuhammad of Ghor (1149-1206) and ends abruptly in 1434.[2] Several earlier royal chroniclers had written texts describing the 13th-15th century history of the Delhi Sultanate. For example,Minhaj-i-Siraj covered the period up to 1259 in hisTabaqat-i Nasiri,Ziauddin Barani covered 1259-1356, and Shams-i Siraj Afif covered 1356-1388. Yahya carried forward this chronology to 1434.[3]
For the events up to 1351, Yahya selectively borrowed from the earlier writers and arranged the material in chronological order. For the events after 1351, he relied on personal memory and observations, besides the accounts of some trustworthy narrators. His work is a regional history, generally limited to military and political events. For example, Yahya omitted theeconomic reforms ofAlauddin Khalji (r. 1296-1316).[1]
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