1.LITERARY SOURCES State papers and official or private documents written in Persian provide much information for reconstructing the history of the period. Though most of it has been lost, those found in private collections throw much light on the administration, economy and society of the time.
2.Chronicles have provided ample information with regard to the history of medieval India. 'Minhajus-Siraj's Tabaqat-i-Nasiri gives useful information regarding the slave dynasty of Delhi up to the year 1267 AD. Zia-uddin Barani's Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi gives the history of the first si~ years of Firuz Shah Tughlaq's reign.
3.Foreign travellers Travellers from abroad give us interesting information regarding the political, social and economic conditions in medieval India. AI-Beruni's account of India during Sultan Mahmud Ghazni's conquest in his Kitab-ul-Hind is considered to be the finest foreign account of medieval India. Marco Polo who visited South India in the latter part of the thirteenth century has given useful information.
4.COINS Coins have given useful information regarding the state of polity and economy during the Sultanate and Mughal periods. The coins of Muhammad-bin- Tughlaq have revealed much about his reign and his kingdom. The coins of provincial rulers such as those of Bengal, for instance, with their dates and mint-marks, are specially valuable as resources of information not fully dealt with in the general chronicles.
5.EPIGRAPHIC SOURCES Inscriptions are of greater use for the pre-Mughal rather than the Mughal period. The reigns of the Bengal Sultans, Shams-ud-din Firuz, Ala-uddin Firuz, and the Nizam Shahi king, Burhan m, have been established by studying inscriptions alone. The inscriptions that reveal India's medieval history throw light on political aspects as well as social life.
6.MONUMENTS Monuments testify to the growth of material prosperity and the development of culture. They do not help us much in constructing political history.
