Jūzjānī / Minhāj ibn Sirāj

Historian/Qādī

Minhāj al-Dīn ‘Umān ibn Sirāj al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Jūzjānī, commonly known as Minhāj-i Sirāj, held various high legal and judicial positions associated with the Sultanate at Delhi in the middle of the 7th/13th century. In 625/1228, he went to Delhi under the patronage of the Sulṭān Šams al-Dīn Iletmiš, eventually attaining the position of Chief Justice. He left Delhi ca. 640/1242, on account of the political instability there, and went to Bengal; he returned two years later and was favorably accepted by Iletmiš’s son, Naṣīr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Šāh (r. 644/1246 to 664/1265). Under Naṣīr al-Dīn, Jūzjānī served as a principal of the Madrasa-i Naṣīriyya and later attained his former position of Chief Justice (he later lost this position in disgrace but was to regain it a year later). Jūzjānī’s death date is not known for certain but he most likely died reign of Sulṭān Ğiyā al-Dīn Balban (664/1265 to 686/1287).