Between Contestation and Continuity: The Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur and the Legacy of the Delhi Sultanate

Abstract

This article tries to examine the Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur as both a political contender and a cultural preserver in the aftermath of the decline of the Delhi Sultanate. Emerging in the late fourteenth century, following Timur’s invasion of 1398, the Sharqi state developed into one of the most powerful regional polities in North India. This study argues that the Sharqis consciously positioned themselves as legitimate successors to the political and cultural traditions of Delhi. Through an analysis of military campaigns, diplomatic alliances, and matrimonial connections with the Sayyid rulers, the article demonstrates that they actively sought control over the imperial centre and articulated a sustained claim to sovereignty. At the same time, under rulers such as Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, Jaunpur emerged as a major centre of Indo-Persian culture. The court attracted scholars displaced by political instability, fostered intellectual activity, and patronized monumental architecture, thereby preserving and rearticulating cultural frameworks associated with the Sultanate. Drawing upon Persian chronicles and architectural evidence, as well as the interpretations of modern historians including Mohammad Habib and K. A. Nizami, the article situates Jaunpur within the broader process of political and cultural regionalization in medieval India. It argues that the Sharqi kingdom functioned as an alternative centre of Indo-Persian sovereignty, where imperial traditions were maintained and adapted to new regional contexts. Although the defeat of the Sharqis by the Lodis ended their political ambitions, their significance lies in their dual role as challengers to and custodians of the Sultanate’s legacy.