An independent reading roomHistory · Language · Living heritage

Compare different evidence

Medieval courts and changing frontiers

Read six linked histories from the Shahi kingdoms to Timur’s campaign. Compare the evidence used to describe a ruler, a city and a frontier.

6 entries · 12 min reading, calculated from article text

Use your browser’s print command for a copy of this reading list.

Your reading goal

Distinguish political authority, a material record and a later narrative; retain each source’s date and geographical scope.

  1. 01
    History · 2 min read

    The Hindu Shahi kingdoms: power, coins and temple evidence

    The Hindu Shahis connected Kabulistan, Gandhara and the approaches to Punjab. Research on Hund, coin sequences and Salt Range temples gives a fuller picture than a list of battles alone.

  2. 02
    History · 2 min read

    Ghaznavid Lahore: a political centre and a city in poetry

    Lahore became a major base of later Ghaznavid power and the dynasty’s final capital. A poet’s career also reveals its courtly connections and the risks of depending on patronage.

  3. 03
    History · 2 min read

    Ghurid expansion in Punjab: Multan, Lahore and successor powers

    Ghurid campaigns linked Multan and Lahore with a wider military realm. After Muhammad of Ghor’s death, Lahore also became a centre in the competition among his former commanders.

  4. 04
    History · 2 min read

    Punjab under the Delhi Sultanate: governors, frontiers and cultivation

    Punjab’s relationship with the Delhi Sultanate changed through competing governors, frontier politics and patterns of cultivation.

  5. 05
    History · 2 min read

    Mongol incursions into Punjab: armies, frontiers and shifting loyalties

    Mongol pressure changed the northwestern frontier and Delhi’s military priorities. Campaigns and raids belong alongside diplomacy, supply problems and the movement of commanders between political rivals.

  6. 06
    History · 2 min read

    Timur’s invasion and Punjab: the campaign and its aftermath

    Timur’s 1398 campaign disrupted an already contested political region. His departure was followed by struggles in Punjab and the eventual rise of Khizr Khan from Multan to power in Delhi.

A question to carry with you

Choose one claim from your reading. Identify its source and locator. What does that source directly establish, and what would need a second source?

History grows clearer when we can check it.

How we use sources, explain uncertainty and correct mistakes.

Our approach