The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c24.70

v3.c24.70

The fierce intolerance of Sikandar had left in Kashmīr no more than eleven families of Brāhmans practising the ceremonies of their faith. The exiles were recalled by Zain-ul-‘Ābidīn, and many of those who had feigned acceptance of Islam now renounced it and returned to the faith of their ancestors. The descendants of the few who remained in Kashmīr and of the exiles who returned are still distinguished as Malmās and Banamās. All, on undertaking to follow the rules of life contained in their sacred books, were free to observe all the ordinances of their faith which had been prohibited, even to the immolation of widows, which a ruler so enlightened might well have excluded from his scheme of toleration. Prisoners undergoing sentences inflicted in former reigns were released, but disobedience to the milder laws of Zain-ul-‘Ābidīn did not go unpunished. Alms was distributed in moderation to the deserving poor, and the *jizya*, or poll-tax on non-Muslims, was abolished. Accumulations of treasure in conquered territory were allotted to the troops as prize-money, and the inhabitants were assessed for taxes at the moderate rates which satisfied a king who was able to meet most of the expenses of the administration from the produce of the royal mines. The currency, which had been debased by the indiscriminate conversion into coin of idols composed of metal of varying degrees of fineness, was gradually rehabilitated, and the king’s decrees, engraved on sheets of copper and terminating with imprecations on any of his descendants who should depart from them, were distributed to the principal towns of the kingdom.