The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.296

v3.c20.296

It was not until these repressive and vexatious laws were in full operation that 'Ala-ud-dīn, disturbed possibly by murmurs which had reached his ears, began to entertain doubts of their consonance with the Islamic law, and sought the opinion of Qāzī Mughīs-ud-dīn of Bayāna, one of the few ecclesiastics who still frequented the court, on the ordinances and other questions. The fearless and conscientious *qāzī* replied that an order for his instant execution would save both time and trouble, as he could not consent to spare the king’s feelings at the expense of his own conscience, but, on being reassured, delivered his opinion on the questions propounded to him. The first was the persecution of the Hindus, which he pronounced to be not only lawful, but less rigorous than the treatment sanctioned by the sacred law for misbelievers. The apportionment of the plunder of Deogīr was a more delicate question, and though ‘Alā-ud-dīn defended himself by maintaining that the enterprise had been all his own, and that nobody had even heard the name of Deogīr until he had resolved to attack it, the *qāzī* insisted that he had sinned in appropriating the whole of the plunder and in depriving both the army and the public treasury of their share. Last came the question of the cruel punishments decreed for various offences, and the *qāzī* rose from his seat, retired to the place reserved for suppliants, touched the ground with his forehead, and cried, ‘Your Majesty may slay me or blind me, but I declare that all these punishments are unlawful and unauthorised, either by the sacred traditions or by the writings of orthodox jurists.’ ‘Alā-ud-dīn, who had displayed some heat in the discussion, rose and retired without a word, and the *qāzī* went home, set his affairs in order, bade his family farewell, and prepared for death. To his surprise he was well received at court on the following day. The king commended his candour, rewarded him with a thousand *tangas*, and condescended to explain that although he desired to rule his people in accordance with the Islamic law their turbulence and disobedience compelled him to resort to punishments of his own devising.