Ziauddin Barani’s Fatwa-i-Jahandari (Edicts on World Governance) is best understood as a prescriptive and didactic treatise on ideal Islamic kingship rather than an objective chronicle of the Delhi Sultanate. Written in his later years, after losing favor at court, it reflects both his disillusionment with contemporary rulers and his yearning for an idealized past rooted in strict Islamic orthodoxy.

Barani’s central aim was to define the moral and political duties of a Muslim ruler according to his interpretation of Islamic law and tradition. He sharply contrasted these ideals with the policies of rulers like Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Firuz Shah Tughlaq, whom he criticized for compromising religious principles in favor of expediency. He lamented their tolerance toward non-Muslims, pragmatic governance, and insufficient deference to the ulama, seeing these as signs of moral decay and religious laxity.

The Fatwa-i-Jahandari is therefore prescriptive rather than descriptive. Barani offers advice on justice, administration, and the treatment of various social groups, all filtered through his orthodox Sunni worldview. His narrative selectively highlights instances that reinforce his call for restoring the supremacy of Islamic principles in governance, while downplaying contrary evidence. He particularly resented the rise of low-born officials in administration, which he believed undermined the aristocratic and religious hierarchy essential to stable rule.

In essence, the work is less a history of what the Delhi Sultanate was and more a lament over what Barani believed it should have been. It stands as a testament to his political philosophy, religious conservatism, and nostalgia for a lost Islamic order.