Syed Ali Tarmizi and Akhun Darwaiza: Mughal Agents or Popular Saints

The Sixteenth century proved an eventful period with regard to the Mughal-Pakhtūn relations in the north-western borderland region. Besides the political tug of war it witnessed a clash of religious nature between the two Ṣūfī saints of the area namely Bāyazīd Anṣārī and Syed ‘Alī Tirmidhī Aliās Pīr Bābā. Settled in the pre-dominantly anti-Mughal Pakhtūn abode Bāyazīd Anṣārī was an opponent of the Mughals in his political orientation in religious jargon. Pīr Bābā challenged his Ṣūfic interpretation based on the Waḥdat al-Wūjūd concept of Islamic mysticism. Their confrontation of mystic traditions gave birth to a debate that whether Pīr Bābā had confronted Bāyazīd for religious reasons or he was working for the interests of the Mughals. The present article aimed at to investigate the matter and to establish a factual position. It would further be explored to understand the nature and contents of the conflict that whether it was religious or otherwise.

Studies on Anticancer Agents and Other Bioactive Compounds of Dietary Origin

The work in this dissertation describes the bioassay-guided isolation, and structure elucidation of sixteen compounds isolated from the fruit part of Aristolochia indica Linn. The dichloromethane, and butanolic fractions of the plant material exhibited activities against prostrate (PC-3), and cervical (HeLa) cancer cell lines. The dichloromethane fraction afforded three new compounds, including aristoloquinone (1), aristolocenone (2), and aristoloanoide (3), while the known compounds were identified as dshamirone (4), chrysophanol (5), 4,8-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-2-methylanthraquinone (6), b -sitosterol (7), oleanolic acid (8), ursolic acid (9), 2-(hydroxymethyl)-3 O furaldehyde (10), hydroquinone (11), and 4 -(acetoxy) phenyl acetate (12). The butanolic fraction of the plant yielded three new constituents, aristoloside A (13), aristoloside B (14), and aristoloside C (15), along with a known compound which was identified as butyl 3-O-β- D-glucopyranosyl-(3R), 4-dihydroxy-butanoate (16). The structures of these constituents were elucidated by using modern spectroscopic techniques, including UV, IR, MS, 1D, and 2D-NMR. HO The isolated compounds were tested for their in vitro cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines. Compounds 8, 9, and 11 showed high sensitivity towards the cervical and prostrate cancer cell lines, as compared to the standard drug, doxorubicin. The other natural/ synthetic compounds were also evaluated for their antitumor activity. Among the natural compounds, physalin derivatives showed a potent activity, whereas among synthetic compounds, organotin (IV) carboxylate, and imidazole derivatives exhibited an excellent activity against the cancer cell lines.