Medieval india from sultanat to the mughals

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We are also told that Abul Hasan Ibadi of Iraq, who lived in Delhi, used to trade with the money of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq, and to buy weapons and goods for him in Iraq and Khurasan. Other nobles may have followed the Sultan's example, though we have no evidence of it. On balance, it appears that the major investments of the nobles were not in trade but in orchards, the numbers of which grew sharply under Firuz with the growing prosperity of the nobles. However, further development in the direction of productive investments by the nobles had to await the re-centralization of the empire under Akbar.

We have little information about the education and cultural outlook and values of the Turkish nobles. Apparently, they were not illiterate: even slaves purchased by merchants in the slave market of Samarqand and Bokhara were educated before being resold. Although many of the slaves were newly converted, they had imbibed the Islamic religious and cultural norms prevalent in Central Asia, Khurasan etc. Nonetheless, they could hardly have imbibed the cultural graces of an old and well-established nobility. Nor could they be expected to be knowledgeable patrons of culture, though it was considered a mark of prestige to patronize poets and writers, sometimes even to give them extravagant rewards. This began to change with the rise of Amir Khusrau and his companion, Amir Hasan Sijzi, towards the end of the 13th century. Gradually, a new Indo-Muslim culture developed, and many nobles and sufis actively contributed to it. Thus, Zia Nakkshabi (d. 1350) wrote on many subjects including poetry, and had a number of Sanskrit works translated into Persian.

Thus, from being merely rude warriors, the nobles began slowly to emerge as patrons of culture as well.

(b) The Chiefs—Emergence of "Zamindars"

Although the Rajputs had lost state power almost all over north India, with the exception of Rajasthan and adjacent areas, and in the remoter hill regions of the Himalayas, Bundelkhand, etc., Rajput rajas continued to dominate large tracts of the countryside even in the centrally administered areas of Punjab, the doab, Bihar Gujarat, etc. They were called rai, rana, rawat, etc. However, the term 'chief' has been applied to them. They had their own armed forces, and generally lived in the countryside in their fortresses. We have little idea of their numbers or the strength of their forces, but they were important in the political, social and economic life of the countryside.

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Although the contemporary sources invariably portray them as enemies against whom constant jihad was not only legitimate but necessary, a relationship of permanent hostility was not feasible for the Turkish rulers, or for them. For the Turkish rulers, it was convenient to allow them to rule the areas under their control as long as they paid a stipulated sum of money regularly as tribute, and generally behaved in a loyal manner.

We have evidence of a growing political relationship between the Turkish rulers and the Hindu chiefs. Thus, we are told that Hindu rais from a hundred kos used to come and witness the splendour of Balban's court. After Balban's victory over Tughril in Bengal, he was welcomed in Awadh by many, including the rais of the area. Later, when Firuz Tughlaq invaded Bengal, he was joined by the rais of eastern U.P., the most important of them being Udai Singh, the Rai of Gorakhpur and Champaran, who paid 20 lakhs of tribute that was due from him.

In another instance, when Malik Chhajju, a nephew of Balban and governor of Kara rebelled against Jalaluddin Khalji, he was joined by the local rais, and rawats and payaks of the area who "swarmed around with their forces like ants and locusts." They stood by his side in his contest with Jalaluddin Khalji. Malik Chajju was defeated, but from this time onwards, Hindu chiefs seem to have been in attendance of the Sultan at his court. Thus, we hear that under Firuz Tughlaq, Aniratthu who was "lord of two royal canopies (chatra)," Rai Madar (or Ballar) Deva, Rai Sumer, Rawat Adhiram, etc. were not only allowed to attend, but were allowed to sit down in the court.

Despite these growing political linkages during the Sultanat rule, the position of the chiefs was one of considerable uncertainty. It was a part of the policy of the sultans of Delhi to overthrow the Hindu chiefs whenever they could, or at any rate, to try and reduce their powers and privileges by extending the imperial system of revenue administration to the territories dominated by the chiefs. While such a process did not, in all probability, reduce the actual burden on the cultivators, it meant a reduction of the perquisites of the chiefs, and possibly other intermediaries.

By the beginning of the 14th century, we find increasing references to the zamindars. This term, which does not exist outside India, was used increasingly to designate the hereditary intermediaries. Amir Khusrau was amongst the first to use it. In course of time, the term began to be applied to the khuts and muqaddams and chaudhris, and even to those former chiefs who had been forced or

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pressurized to pay not a fixed lump sum, but a sum fixed on the basis of land-revenue assessment. Under the Mughals, and word "zamindar" began to be used for all hereditary owners of land or those who had a hereditary share in the land revenue. Even chiefs were included in this category.

We have little idea of the life style of the privileged rural sections, but generally their affluence is contrasted to the poverty of the rest.

ii. Adjuncts to the Ruling Class: Judicial and Junior Administrative Officers, and the Ulema

The ruling classes, especially the nobility, could hardly have functioned without the help of a group of lower functionaries, in addition to the large number of servants, slaves and other retainers they employed. These functionaries can be broadly divided into two: judicial and religious functionaries, on the one hand, and revenue and administrative functionaries on the other. The former consisted of qazis and muftis who were appointed in every city where there was a sizable population of Muslims. They dispensed civil justice where Muslims were concerned, leaving the Hindus to deal their own cases on the basis of customary law, and the Dharmashastras. They also dealt with criminal justice. At their head was the Chief Qazi. In the capital and perhaps in other cities there was a Dad Bak who was responsible for checking arbitrary exaction of taxes, and supervising and controlling the amirs who were responsible for surveying and keeping a record of properties of Muslims for purposes of taxation. There was also the muhtasib who worked under the kotwal and was responsible for seeing that the Muslims did not openly violated the sharia, or disregard compulsory obligations such as observation of roza, namaz etc. He was also responsible for checking weights and measures.

All these posts were paid, and their numbers grew as the size of the Muslim population in the country increased. There were also Imams, muazzins etc. who were appointed in various mosques, and reciters of the Holy Quran who were appointed to mausoleums, or were called to various religious functions. In addition, there were religious divines who were appointed as teachers in various schools (maqtab), colleges (madrasa), etc. All these sections broadly constituted the theological class or ulema. The ulema were highly respected. As a general rule, they had undergone a course of training in Muslim Law, logic and theology, including some knowledge of Arabic. In

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addition to these official classes, there was a large group of Muslim scholars, pious men etc. who received support from the state through stipends, grant of revenue-free lands etc.

We have little idea of the social base of this large and amorphous group of people. In general, they formed what in modern times would be called the lower middle and middle classes, though some of the ulema rose to the position of chief qazis etc., and became more a part of the ruling class. Very often, poets, scholars, historians, doctors and lower functionaries in the government—the amils (revenue collectors), muharrirs (accountants) etc. came from the same social class. We can also call this class the literati, or the educated, literate class. As we know, in a country which was predominantly illiterate, people who were educated and could also speak in the name of religion, had enormous prestige. Nevertheless, the ulema, as a class, did not enjoy a high reputation among the discerning sections. Bughra Khan, the son of Balban, warned his son, Kaiqubad, against the latter day theologians whom he described as "greedy rogues whose highest duty was this world and not the next." Amir Khusrau considered the qazis who accepted judicial offices to be corrupt and ignorant, and unfit to occupy any responsible positions in the kingdom. They were arrogant and vain, and were generally considered time-servers who were prepared to sacrifice their principles and beliefs to please those in powers. In general, the Sultans did not allow them to have any say in political affairs, confining them to deciding judicial cases, religious matters and education. Nonetheless, the ulema did play a positive role in acting as a bridge between the ruling classes and the ordinary Muslims, and imbuing the Muslims with a sense of unity. Simultaneously, it must be noted that many of the ulemas were foreigners who had taken refuge in India on account of the Mongols, or were attracted to India by its prosperity. They had little understanding of India, and they and a section of theologians in India accentuated social tensions and bitterness between the ordinary Hindus and Muslims by constantly harping on elements of religious conflict, ignoring the sense of social amity that generally prevailed among the people.

A large number of clerks and officials were needed to man the growing machinery of administration at the centre, and in the various provincial and district towns following the new system of revenue administration introduced by Alauddin Khalji. The power of these officials, possibilities of corruption and oppression on their part, and the harsh corrective steps taken by Alauddin against them have been described graphically by Barani. We do not know the

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social background of these new recruits to government service. A large number of them may have been converted into Indian Muslims, or members of the ulema class. If we exclude the muqaddams and the patwaris who were Hindus, and who lived in the villages, most of these lower officials must have been Muslims. However, Hindus seem to have entered into this class under Muhammad bin Tughlaq. This would explain the selection by him of a small number among them to high positions. Thus, we have the emergence of a class of Persian knowing Hindus by this time.

iii. The Trading&Financial Classes

India had an old tradition of trade and a well developed class of traders and financers since ancient times. Thus, laws relating to contract, loans, sale and purchase are set out by the Dharmashastras. The emergence of the Vaishyas as a separate trading community, and their being included in the category of the dvija (lit. twice born or the privileged sections) is an index of their position in the social and economic life of the country. It is, however, necessary to make a distinction between the leading merchants or nagar streshtins from the ordinary shop-keepers (banik), and transporters (banjaras). The former, according to the Panchantantra, a 5th century fable, were considered socially close to the ruler, and mingled freely with his family members. The leading merchants not only dealt with wholesale and long distance trade, which included foreign trade, but also dealt with finance and money-changing. Long distance trade was financed, insured against risk, and money transported from place to place through the system of hundis.

The establishment of a strong centralized empire in north India; the establishment of a sound currency system, mainly based on the silver tanka; the growing security of roads; growth of towns, and opening up of India to the Islamic world were important factors which led to the growth and expansion of India's overland trade to West and Central Asia, as well as overseas trade, mainly from Gujarat. This is testified to by the frequent reference to the Multanis as traders and financers. As is well known, throughout the medieval times, Multan was a very important trading centre, being linked directly across the Bolan Pass to Qandhar, Herat and Bokhara which was the junction of the "silk road", extending eastward across Central Asia to China, and westward across Iran to Constantinople and Lebanon. Multan was also linked via the river Indus to the western sea ports. It would appear that the bulk of the Multanis "were Hindus.

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We have already referred to Barani's accounts how the Multanis and the Sahs of Delhi had become so rich by lending money to the nobles that gold and silver was to be found in their houses alone. Barani testifies to the wealth and prosperity of the Multanis and the Sahs in other ways also. He says that Jalaudin Khalji bluntly refused to take stern action against the Hindus who even at the capital, Delhi, had full religious freedom, and the wealthy ones among them, obviously the Multani traders and merchants, were leading a life of ease and pleasure, with no fear about the safety of their life and property.

Another section of traders to whom Barani refers to are the dallals or brokers. The brokers were commission agents who charged a fee for bringing buyers and sellers together. Their emergence is an index of the growth of trade at Delhi. We are told that buyers of different commodities, especially textiles, used to throng to Delhi following the control of the market by Alauddin. Barani refers to brokers especially in the context of Alauddin's effort to control the sale of horses. He uses strong words about these dallals many of whom, specially the horse traders, were Muslims. They formed a rich and powerful group which, on occasions, could even defy the Sultan, and disregard his orders.

The Muslim traders at Delhi were generally foreigners—Iraqis, Iranians, Khurasanis, etc. although we hear of a few Muslim Multanis. Thus, the father and grand-father of Hisamuddin, whom Alauddin had appointed a qazi, had been leading merchants of Multan. According to Ibn Battutah, in India all the foreign traders were called Khurasanis. The Afghans were another group of Muslim trader. They specialized in caravan trade, and trade in horses.

We have little idea about the trading communities in different parts of India. Gujarat had a well established tradition of trade, and of trading communities, both India and foreign. We have already referred to an Egyptian, Shihabuddin Kazruni, who owned many ships, and lived at Khambayat. The Jains, the Marwaris, the Gujarati banias and the Bohras were also active, according to traditional accounts. It was from one of these traders that Malik Kafur was procured for Alauddin.

iv. Standard of Living

Contemporary chroniclers give a lot of space in describing the extravagant life style of the Sultans—their palaces, their furnishings, the lavish expense on the upkeep of the large number of women

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and relatives in their harems, their costly cloths and jewellery, expenses on the royal stables, and their extravagant gifts to nobles, poets, the learned and the saintly etc. Such a life style had become customary, and was also supposed to impress the subjects and the courtiers.

We need not concern ourselves unduly with the life style of individual sultans, any more than we need bother about the life styles of the modern day play-boys, except that the Sultans, being centres of patronage and accepted as leaders of society, exercised a tremendous influence on the life-style and behaviour pattern of the elites.

We have already noticed the growing affluence of the nobles from the time of the rise of the Tughlaqs. However, even during the reign of Balban, we are told that his cousin, Malik Kishli Khan, on one occasion gave in gift all his horses and 10,000 tankas to poets and minstrels. Fakhruddin, the kotwal of Delhi under Balban, used to give financial grants to 12,000 readers of Quran, and give dowries to 1000 poor girls each year. He never wore the same dress twice, or slept in the same bed twice. Balban's diwan-i-arz, Imad-ul-Mulk, was famous for the lavish repast, consisting of fifty to sixty trays of food which were served to his officials and clerks every day. Mir Maqbul, a noble of Muhammad Tughlaq, used to spend three and a half lakh tankas on his personal expenses. Khan-i-Jahan, the wazir of Firuz, had 20,000 women in his harem. Such examples of extravagence on the part of the nobles can be multiplied.

The life style of nobles did lead to the setting up of specialized industries in different parts of the country, catering to the demand created by them. It is difficult to estimate the number of people employed in such industries, or those who provided them services. But their numbers must have been considerable, since most of the nobles did not hoard their riches. Nor did the nobles invest their wealth in productive enterprises, except in gardens during the reign of Muhammad Tughlaq, more specially under Firuz.

We have little idea of the standard of living of the junior bureaucrats, members of the judiciary and the ecclesiastical classes and professionals, such as hakims, poets, musicians, etc. Some of the famous hakims seem to have been financially well off. The position of the poets etc. depended upon the nature of the patronage they received. Thus, the father of Amir Khusrau had a stipend of 1200 tankas a year from Balban when he was a noble. Ahmad Chap, Balban's ariz, once gave 10,000 tankas, 100 horses and 320 dresses for the royal musicians to sing at his house. In general, these sections led a life of comfort, but not affluence.

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As far as the general population in the towns is concerned, their standard of living was largely determined by prices and wages. We have little idea of prices before Alauddin Khalji. By his market control measures, Alauddin ensured the supply of cheap food stuffs. Thus, Barani tells us that wheat was sold at 71/2 jital per man, barley at 4 jitals, and good quality rice at 5 jitals. However, while the cost of subsistence was low, wages were also low. Thus, we are told that in Alauddin's reign, the wages of an artisan amounted to 2 or 3 jitals per day or about 11/2 to 2 tankas a month.1 Barani tells us that six jitals worth of bread and meatstew, i.e. a bare subsistence would suffice for seven or eight persons. The salaries of servants, we are told, were 10 to 12 tankas, probably a year. The salary fixed for the cavalrymen by Alauddin, 234 tankas a year, or about 20 tankas a month for the soldier and his mount was thus one which allowed the trooper to live in some style. We are told that after the death of Alauddin, the price control system collapsed, and prices rose rapidly, with wages rising four times. These figures cannot be calculated exactly. By analyzing the prices mentioned by Ibn Battutah, it seems that prices rose a little over one-and-a-half times. Wages may have risen in the same proportion. Prices and wages were higher still during the early years of Firuz's reign. During his reign, according to Afif, without any effort on the Sultan's part, the prices declined almost to the level of Alauddin's reign. However, wages still remained high. The causes of the fluctuation of the prices of food grains—whether they were linked to good harvest and expansion of cultivation, or was part of a world-wide shortage of silver is still a matter of debate among historians.

v. Towns and Town Life: Artisans and Slaves

We have already seen that there was a revival of towns in north India from the 10th century. This process was considerably accelerated from the 13th century as a result of Turkish centralization, and the growth of a new city-based ruling class with a high standard of living. Apart from Delhi, which Ibn Battutah calls the largest city in the eastern part of the Islamic world, we are told that Daultabad (Deogiri) equalled Delhi in size. Other cities which rose to prominence in north India during the period were Multan, Lahore, Kara (near modern Allahabad), Lakhnauti and Khambayat.

1. In north India, 48 jitals made a tanka. Alauddin's man was equivalent to 16 kgs. of modern times.

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The economic life of the town was dominated by the nobles and their retinues, traders and shop-keepers, as we have noted. The largest section in the cities consisted of the servants and slaves, artisans, soldiers, and a miscellaneous group consisting of peddlers, musicians, performers (nat), self-employed people and beggars. We hardly have a profile of these miscellaneous sections, i.e. their lifestyles, social background etc. It seems that the cities performed the function of a large social churner whereby people of diverse backgrounds and ethnic origins, slaves, artisans, and others came to live together. The entry to the city was carefully regulated by the kotwal, who was not only responsible for the maintenance of law and order, but regulated the markets, and houses of ill-fame (gambling, prostitution, etc.) According to tradition, people following a particular profession lived in a particular area (mohalla) which was locked at night for the sake of safety. There was a definite pattern in the lay-out of the towns: there was a separate quarter for the king and the nobles, while scavengers, leather-workers, beggars etc. were allotted quarters at the outskirts of the towns, but within the town-wall. Delhi had a large mass of beggars who thronged the houses of the nobles for charity, or resorted to mausoleums, shrines of sufi saints etc. Like the ordinary population, they carried arms, and could sometimes create problems of law and order.

The city was a centre of many crafts; weaving, painting on cloth, embroidery, etc. The royal karkhanas employed many artisans in preparing costly items, such as cloth embroidered with gold and silver thread, silk etc. But most of the artisans worked at home, and were organised in guilds along caste lines. However, not all the specialized crafts, such as weaving, were located in the towns. In south India and Gujarat, there were many villages and small towns which specialized in particular types of textile production. Thus, unlike medieval Europe, we should not divide crafts in India into water-tight compartments between towns and the countryside. The craft link between the towns and the countryside was also a factor which facilitated the movement of artisans from the countryside to the towns.

Slaves

Another large section in the town consisted of slaves and domestic servants. Slavery had existed in India as well as in West Asia and Europe for a long time. The position of different types of slaves—one born in the household, one purchased, one acquired

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and one inherited is discussed in the Hindu Shastras. Slavery had been adopted by the Arabs and later, by the Turks also. The most usual method of acquiring a slave was capture in war. Even the Mahabharata considered it normal to enslave a prisoner of war. The Turks practiced this on a large scale in their wars, in and outside India. Slave markets for men and women existed in West Asia as well as in India. The Turkish, Caucasian, Greek and Indian slaves were valued and were sought after. A small number of slaves were also imported from Africa, mainly Abyssinian. Slaves were generally bought for domestic service, for company, or for their special skills. Skilled slaves or comely boys, and handsome girls sometimes fetched a high price. Skilled slaves were valued and some of them rose to high offices as in the case of the slaves of Qutbuddin Aibak.

Slave raiding was widely practised in West and Central Asia, the ghazis being specially used to capture and then convert slaves from Central Asia. The early Turkish rulers, such as Qutbuddin Aibak, continued this practice in India. Thus, when he invaded Gujarat in 1195, he captured and enslaved 20,000 persons, and another 50,000 during his raid of Kalinjar. However, we do not hear of any such large scale enslavement during the campaigns of Balban and Alauddin Khalji, although slaves were still considered a part of the booty. More often captured prisoners of war were slaughtered, only a few chosen ones being brought back as slaves. But during campaigns of "pacification" in the country-side, large number of men, women and children were enslaved, and sold in the slave market at Delhi. The sale and purchase of slaves was such a routine matter that Barani mentions the price of slave-girls and handsome boys along with cattle! However, unlike Central Asia where captured Turkish slaves were used for military purposes, the slaves sold in the market in Delhi were used mainly for domestic service. This was so common than even clerks did not think it amiss to employ slaves. Generally, slaves were not used or trained for being craftsmen, though maid-servants were often used for spinning, and we hear of even sufi saints living on the earnings of their slaves.