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The Hulbert Taft, Jr. Library

Foundations: Islamic Empires: Delhi Sultanate

DELHI SULTANATE, 1206-1526

 

The Qutub Minar, dating from circa 1200 AD, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Delhi, India, Asia. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. https://quest.eb.com/search/151_2528315/1/151_2528315/cite.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Qutub Minar and Its Monuments

Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources will have more specific information about your topic.

  • Secondary source books written by scholars which present a new interpretation or thesis based upon a synthesis of primary sources, scholarly journal articles, and other secondary sources.
  • Sometimes there will be an entire book, sometimes you may have to assemble information from multiple monographs.
  • Secondary sources will usually have a bibliography of materials for further study, including primary sources, journal articles (which are also secondary sources), and books. 

 

RESERVE BOOKS

To ensure equitable access, all reserve materials are to be used only in the library for the duration of the project.

  • DURING CLASS TIME IN THE LIBRARY:

    • Books on reserve will be available to you in the Library Reading Room Your group may take these books to your workspace on the Library main floor.

    • Please return all your books to a library staff member either at the Circulation Desk or in the Reading Room before you leave the library at the end of class..

  • OUTSIDE OF CLASS TIME, you may come to the Circulation Desk and sign out up to 2 books at a time for use in the library only. When you return those books, you may sign out up to 2 additional books. (Note: the limit to the number of books is to ensure equitable availability of materials among the 5 sections of US History.)

 

TO CITE A BOOK or eBOOK: CLICK HERE.

 

General (more than one empire)

  • The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim Traveler in the 14th Century / Ross E. Dunn. G93 .I24 D86 1986 (also an online ebook)
  • A History of Islamic Societies / Ira M. Lapidus. DS35.63 .L37 2014
  • Islam in the Indian Ocean World: A Brief History with Documents / Omar H. Ali. BP 64 .A32 A45 2016 Contains Primary Sources 
  • The Oxford History of Islam / edited by John L. Esposito. BP50 .O95 1999
  • Religious Transformations in the Early Modern World: A Brief History With Documents / Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks. BR252 .W54 2009  Contains Primary Sources
  • Travels of Ibn Battuta / edited by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. G370 .I2 T8513 2003   (Link is to earlier edition available online at the Internet Archive) 

Delhi Sultanate

  • The Asian World, 600-1500 /Roger V. Des Forges and John S. Major. DS33.5 .D47 2005  Contains Primary Sources
  • Concise History of Modern India / Barbara D. Metcalf and Thomas R. Metcalf. DS461 .M47 2012
  • Cultural History of India / edited by A. L. Basham. DS423 .C86
  • "The Delhi Sultanate" / Riazul Islam and C.E. Bosworth (This book chapter comes from The History of Civilizations of Central Asia, volume 4 and is found in the UNESCO Digital Library.)
  • Living Architecture: Islamic India / Andreas Volwahsen. NA1502 .V613 Contains Primary Sources
  • The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 / Richard M. Eaton. (an online ebook)
  • Sources of Indian Tradition: From the Beginning to 1800 / edited by Ainslie T. Embree. DS423 .S64 1988 vol. 1 Contains Primary Sources

India History generally

  • Historic India / Lucille Schulberg and the Editors of Time-Life Books. DS423 .S33
  • The History of India / John McLeod. DS 463 .M224 2015 (also an online ebook)
  • The History of India / Ed. by Kenneth Pletcher (an online ebook)
  • India: A History / John Keay. DS451 .K365 2000
  • India: Art and Culture, 1300-1600 / Stuart Cary Welch. N7301 .W45 1985 (oversize) Contains Primary Sources
  • India Before Europe / Catherine B. Asher and Cynthia Talbot. DS452 .A84 2006
  • A New History of India / Stanley Wolpert (an online ebook)

Contains Primary Sources means this source contains Primary Sources.

Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Sources created by those who lived it

Any document, image, or artifact created at the time of the topic being researched is a primary source.

Examples include: eyewitness accounts, memoirs, household and day-to-day objects, textiles and clothing, coins, works of art and architecture.

See the Images page for information on finding images of artifacts, buildings, coinage, etc. from your empire.

Please note: primary source documents are a reflection of the time and culture in which they were created and may contain language or images that are considered offensive today.

 

TO CITE PRIMARY SOURCES, CLICK HERE.

 

Primary Sources in Books / eBooks
  • Islam in the Indian Ocean World: A Brief History With Documents / Omar H. Ali. BP 64 .A32 A45 2016
  • Living Architecture: Islamic India / Andreas Volwahsen. NA1502 .V613. 
  • Religious Transformations in the Early Modern World: A Brief History With Documents / Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks. BR252 .W54 2009  
  • Sources of Indian Tradition: From the Beginning to 1800 / edited by Ainslie T. Embree. DS423 .S64 1988 vol. 1. Chapter: "Islam in Medieval India". Look for writings by Barni (Delhi Sultanate).
  • Travels of Ibn Battuta / edited by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. G370 .I2 T8513 2003   (Link is to earlier edition available online at the Internet Archive) 

 

Primary Sources on the Internet
  • Internet Indian History Sourcebook Part of the Internet History Sourcebooks Project created by Paul Halsall of Fordham University containing collections of primary full-texts and other useful materials organized by era and by region/culture.
  • Resources for the Study of Indian History including the Delhi Sultanate. This reference is based on research ranging over a wide range of primary sources, providing excerpts of relevant passages in English translation. Many of these texts were written by authors who accompanied the invaders and recorded what they saw in Arabic, Persian or Turkish. The source of these excerpts are the translations made by Sir H. M. Elliot, and edited and published in 24 volumes by John Dowson in 1867. 
  • The Travels of Ibn Battuta: a Virtual Tour ("You will be following in the footsteps of this famous 14th century Muslim traveler, exploring the places he visited and the people he encountered. To help you learn more about his adventures there will be images of the people and places he saw, information on the food he might have tasted, and "side trips" into the past and future."; this site began with the work of teacher Nick Bartel and has been expanded by UC Berkeley Office of Resources for International and Area Studies.)

On the arts of the Delhi Sultanate

 

Primary Sources in Databases

If you have any questions, see
Mr. Padgett, Ms. Taylor, or Mr. Previti
OR email us at 
spadgett@taftschool.org  
  taylorp@taftschool.org
rpreviti@taftschool.org
We're here to help!

The Travels of Ibn Battuta: a Virtual Tour 

"You will be following in the footsteps of this famous 14th century Muslim traveler, exploring the places he visited and the people he encountered. To help you learn more about his adventures there will be images of the people and places he saw, information on the food he might have tasted, and "side trips" into the past and future."; this site began with the work of teacher Nick Bartel and has been expanded by UC Berkeley Office of Resources for International and Area Studies.

Tips for Citing Books / eBooks in NoodleTools

PLEASE NOTE: We recommend that you NOT copy and paste complete citations from electronic sources. NoodleTools cannot generate footnotes from copied and pasted citations.

 

Print and electronic books can be cited using the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) . The ISBN can be found on the back cover of a book, on the back side of the title page, or in the catalog record for the book. It can also be found in databases containing sources originally produced in print. If you don't find it, we can help you. Books published before about 1967 won't have an ISBN.

International Standard Book Number - Wikipedia

To cite a book, choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

  • Database = an electronic book found in a Taft Subscription Database such as Gale eBooks.
    • Click on the citation tool on your article page to determine if you can export the Chicago-style citation directly to NoodleTools.
    • If you cannot export the citation, choose Book.
    • You must provide the permanent URL for your ebook. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link", Cite, or Citable Link.
    • Complete information about the book (author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date).
  • Website = an electronic book found on the Internet using a search engine like Google.
    • Choose Book.
    • Copy and paste the URL for the book from your browser address bar. 
    • Enter author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date. If there's an ISBN, search that number to get the information about the book.
    • Enter the name of the website, and publisher if given.
  • Print or In Hand = a print book, such as one found in the library 
    • Choose Book.
    • If published after 1967, look for the ISBN and enter it into NoodleTools.
    • Make sure you have the author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date.

Tips for Citing Primary Sources in NoodleTools

 
PLEASE NOTE: Do not copy and paste complete citations from electronic sources. NoodleTools cannot generate footnotes from copied and pasted citations.

 

TO CITE A PRIMARY SOURCE, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

  • Database = You can export citations from many of our databases. If you find a document in a Taft Subscription Database that doesn't have the export feature, you will need to create an original citation.
    • You must provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link",Cite, or Citable Link.
  • Website = a document found on the Websites page of the course guide, found through a web directory like SweetSearch or a search engine such as Google. 
  • Print or In Hand = a document found in a book in the library. For example: in a reference book or a secondary source.

Next, determine what kind of primary source you are citing:

  • Look at the list of options in NoodleTools. Is it a newspaper article, a speech, a letter, or another item listed? If so, choose that item type.
  • If you are not sure, you can use "Anthology / Collection" which enables you to cite a source found within another source.
You can also see (or email) Mr. Padgett, Ms. Taylor, or Mr. Previti and we'll help you figure it out.