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.
During the rule of Akbar, the Mughal Empire was divided into 12 subas or provinces. These were Allahabad, Agra, Awadh, Ajmer, Ahmedabad, Bihar, Bengal, Delhi, Kabul, Lahore, Malwa, and Multan. Later on Ahmednagar, Berar, and Khandesh were added.