Sultan Mahmud and Malik Ayaz: Celebrating the Forbidden

Poetry and art immortalise stories, including those of unfinished and forbidden romances. The tale of Sultan Mahmud and his slave Ayaz, who achieved great success under the watchful and caring eyes of the emperor, is a story of lifelong devotion, goodwill, and companionship.

16th-century painting depicting Mahmud and Ayaz; Source: Wikipedia

India is a cultural melting pot, shaped by the convergence of diverse communities with varied ethnic, religious, linguistic, and social backgrounds over centuries of conquests and migrations. The Islamic era in Indian history began in the late medieval period when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded the subcontinent, driven by a quest for wealth, dominance, and the propagation of Islam. Within this gradual fusion of cultures, a significant body of literature on same-sex love, particularly concerning men, emerged.

Non-heteronormative sexual identities and relationships often manifested within the context of a master-slave dynamic. Stories of relationships between kings and their "prized" young, slightly effeminate boy slaves, affirm the existence of homosexuality in medieval India. Among these tales, the story of Sultan Mahmud and his servant Malik Ayaz endures to this day.

Mahmud of Ghazni, renowned for his ruthlessness in battle, gained infamy through seventeen invasions of India, leaving destruction and plunder in his wake. He pillaged numerous Hindu temples and remains a figure of terror in Indian history. However, there was another side to this towering and blood-thirsty conqueror. Mahmud was a prominent patron of Arabic poetry, which gradually embraced elements of homoeroticism and expressed a yearning for same-sex (male) relationships.

In the Tarikh-e-Baihaqi, written by Abul-Fazl Bayhaqi, it is recorded that Malik Ayaz, the man who cared for Mahmud during his final moments and performed his last burial bath on 30 April 1030 AD. stood by his side. A 16th-century painting depicts Mahmud, dressed in red, with Ayaz, clad in green, standing behind him. They are portrayed as companions who transcend the traditional dynamics of master and slave. Ayaz, a young slave from Georgia, served as Mahmud’s cup-bearer, or saqi. Endowed with intelligence, a good physique, and pleasing looks, Ayaz's unwavering loyalty to the Sultan was richly rewarded. He soon became one of Mahmud's closest companions, often accompanying him beyond the capital as nadim-i-khas, a special companion or confidant. Their relationship became a subject of contemporary Persian poetry, and their love was celebrated on par with legendary couples like Heer-Ranjha and Laila-Majnu.

In Mathnawi-yi Zulali, Zulali Khwansari writes: “Mahmud set a cup beside him and a decanter before him, Full of burgundy wine, as if distilled from his own heart / He filled the cup with wine like his love’s ruby lips / Entangled in the curls of Ayaz, Mahmud began to lose control.” Translated by Scott Kugle, this further affirms the presence of a homosexual dynamic between the two. Within the Sufi tradition, Ayaz's exemplary devotion has been immortalised through numerous tales. He is depicted as the epitome of ideal love, akin to the Petrarchan deification of the beloved. Theirs was a love that transcended barriers of gender and class simultaneously.