• ISBN13: 9788126937356
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: History
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd
• Publisher Imprint: Atlantic
• Publication Date: November 29, 2025
• Pages: 594
• Original Price: INR 1495.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 778 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): Ancient / General, Modern / General, and Asia / South / India

A History of India: Muntakhabu-t-Tawarikh (Volume III), translated by Sir Wolseley Haig, shifts focus from rulers and statecraft to the intellectual, spiritual and cultural milieu of Akbar's court. It offers biographical sketches of saints, scholars, poets and philosophers—all those who shaped or reacted to the religious and literary climate of late 16th-century Mughal India. Through lives of people known to him, Badaoni shows how intellectual and spiritual currents ran alongside—and often challenged—the grand narrative of political expansion. This volume enriches the previous volumes' assessments with personal insight and context, illuminating how culture and belief informed the age.

Abdul-Qadir Ibn-i-Muluk Shah, also known as Al-Badaoni (1540–1615), son of Shaikh Muluk Shah, was born at Toda on August 21, 1540. He moved to Agra in 1558–59, where he studied under the renowned Shaikh Mubarak Nagori, alongside fellow pupils Faizi and Abu'l Fazl. Over the years, he acquired wide-ranging scholarship under some of the most respected intellectuals of the age, excelling in disciplines as varied as history, astronomy, music and theology. From an early age, he nurtured a deep fascination for history, devoting himself to reading and writing. In 1574, he entered Akbar's court with the support of Jamal Khan Qurci and Hakim Ain-ul-Mulk, and was soon appointed as an imam by the emperor. Badaoni's position at court, combined with his critical independence of mind, enabled him to produce his influential chronicle, the Muntakhabu-t-Tawarikh.