This paper considers the structures and applications of the criminal judicial
system in the Islamic Later Middle Period as it developed in India under the
sultans of Delhi (1200-1400 CE). A fundamental issue in crime and punishment is
the relationship between sultanic power and religious authority. Particularly at
stake in this relationship is the question of who can sanction the highest form of
punishment, i.e. the death penalty (siyāsa). Contemporary historians and scholars
in the study of religion investigating the relationship between sharīʿa and
siyāsa to reveal the extent and limits of sultanic power show a system of governance
that allowed for the delegation of authority, particularly in the area of the
judiciary, from the sultan down to viziers and judges. Some scholars depict the
relationship between the ʿulamāʾ and the sultan as a kind of stand off. The actual
dynamics of legal jurisdiction were much more complex. This study proposes a
new interpretive framework for understanding the relationship between political
power and religious authority through a critical analysis of the criminal judicial
system, law, and historical narrative. In particular, I consider a murder case described
by Shams al-dīn Sirāj ʿAfīf in one of the most significant histories written
in the later Delhi Sultanate, the Tārīkh-i Fīrūzshāhī.