Barani was a contemporary of Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Firuz Shah Tughlaq both. He wrote a number of renowned texts, such as the Fatwa-i-Jahandari, which elaborates on the principles to be followed by Muslim rulers to attain merit.
Mughal Emperor Babur’s daughter, Gulbadan Banu Begum wrote an account of her brother’s life, the Ahval-i HumayunBadshah or the Humayun Nama. The work throws light a feminist perspective and also raises questions on the genre of history writing.