The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c21.21

c21.21

There was however, another aspect to this polity. By the time the Turks came to live and rule in India, they had been largely influenced by the political and cultural ideals of Persia. They turned to the ancient kings like Jamshed, Khusrau and Bahram for guidance in political affairs rather than to the Muslim law. Autocracy, the keynote of Persia’s political system, thus found its devotees in Delhi; the elective Imam was nearly forgotten and, in his place, the Sultan ruled by a right that could never be questioned. He was God’s chosen and appointed by him to rule over mankind. Absolute obedience to him was tantamount to obedience to God². If the person of the Sultan was not infallible, his office was certainly above all human failings. All the people were his slaves and he, the master of their person and property. Early in the 13th century a writer defined the people’s position *vis-a-vis* the king. "It was not open to the Muslims to exercise their right of choosing the Imam; they were simply to carry out his orders, even if he was a negro, or a slave and mutilated in form"³. Obedience to his orders was a *farz*, and the Sultan, if not a God himself, was "the shadow of God on earth"¹. His person was consequently regarded as sacred and whenever the chronicler has any occasion to refer to him, the term 'sacred' or 'august' is invariably used². Barani even describes Firoz Taghluq as a God in human form and compares his court to that of "Allah attended by Gabriel and other angels"³.