Against the Mughals: Dreams and Wars of Dattu Sarvani, a Sixteenth-Century Indo-Afghan Soldier

Against the Mughals reconstructs the worldviews of Dattū Sarvānī, an Indo-Afghan soldier who believed in the power of dreams: to predict, warn, guide and inform. He also believed in the ability of his Sufi pīr, ’Abd al-Quddūs Gangohī, both to appear in his dreams, and to change the course of history through his spiritual power and authority.

In this first volume of ’The Life and Works of Simon Digby’, the author translates the dreams of Dattū Sarvānī-a unique source for the period-and uses them to illuminate the political and social worlds of the early sixteenth century, when invasions under Bābur and Humāyūn led to the downfall of the north Indian sultanates and the establishment of the Mughal Empire. Drawing on a vast array of primary and secondary material, with meticulous close readings and a wide-ranging historical lens, Digby weaves accounts of military campaigns, Sufi devotion, and daily family life together in a rich analytical tapestry. Sultans, shaykhs and soldiers play their various roles, and the vital though oft-neglected world of pre-Mughal north India comes alive before the readers’ eyes.