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Twilight of the Sultanate c17: Chapter 12: Social and Economic Life

Twilight of the Sultanate c17

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Contents

Chapter 12: Social and Economic Life

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To RECAPTURE a comprehensive picture of the social life of Medieval India from the writings of those times is rather a difficult task. Persian chroniclers excel in the narrative of political events; they callously neglect to refer to the life and activities of the common man. Hindu historical literature giving "the Hindu point of view" is conspicuous by its absence. Fortunately a number of itineraries of foreign travellers are available, and when read with the writings of the Indian historians give a tolerably satisfactory picture of the social life of India in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The writings of Marco Polo, Amīr Khusru and Ibn Battūta in the preceding centuries provide a good back-drop to the accounts of Abdur Razzāq, Athnasius Nikitin, Nicolo Conti and many others in the fifteenth century. What their writings lack is made up by Bābur's faithful Memoirs, who writes in detail about the early years of the sixteenth century.

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Thus in spite of the scantiness of historical material on the social life of the country, a fairly good picture of it can be visualised from the sources which are available. Not only that: from the writings of Alberunī, Ibn Battūta and Bābur it is clearly seen that medieval Indian society was not static, as is commonly believed, but that its pattern was constantly changing with the passage of time although the changes were neither sudden nor glaringly perceptible. The picture of society depicted by fifteenth century travellers, in many ways, is quite different from the one delineated by Ibn Battūta, and Bābur's Hindustan had changed much since the days of the Moroccan traveller.

Rural Life

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From times immemorial, and because of its geographical peculiarities, India has been an agricultural country. Consequently, except for a small minority, its vast population has lived in the villages down to our own times. In the fourteenth-fifteenth century India, agriculture was the main occupation of the rural population. The vastness of land had made life easy and inexpensive. Rainfall in the country was abundant.¹ Artificial means of irrigation were not necessary, although they were not unknown.² But there was no safeguard against the vagaries of nature. Droughts brought about collapse in the peasant's economy as he depended almost entirely on nature and its seasonal cycle. The vagaries of nature, on the one hand, made him a worshipper of "gods" of nature like the sun, the clouds, the rain, etc. and, on the other hand, a fatalist.

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¹ B.N. (B), II, 519. Also *Travels of Sidi 'Ali Reis* (1553-6), 23.

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² B.N. (B), II, 486-7, 519.

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Besides there was no incentive to increased production. The produce sufficed for the then existing population. Tīmūr's invasion wrought a breakdown in the revenue administration. In the early part of the fifteenth century no agrarian measures seem to have been instituted, still less, enforced³. Each iqta'dār or Hindu chief collected the revenue of his little "kingdom ... very much as he chose".⁴ The law and order situation improved in the latter half of the fifteenth century. The kings of Medieval India were ever keen on bringing down the prices of the necessaries of life. It is with a sense of satisfaction, nay even of pride, that Muslim writers like Ziyāuddīn Baranī, Shams Sirāj 'Afīf and 'Abdulla write about the cheapness of prices in their times.⁵ Sikandar Lodī used to keep a constant watch on the price-level in the market.⁶ During his reign, corn duties were abolished, and merchants carried on their business in security. During the reign of Ibrāhīm Lodī, writes 'Abdulla, "Corn, cloth and other things were cheaper than they had been in any other reign, excepting the closing years of 'Alāuddīn's reign. It is said that ten maunds of corn, five *sērs* of *ghī*, and ten yards of cloth could be purchased for a single Bahlolī".⁷ Thus food, the chief necessity of life, was cheap and abundant. There being no urge for increased production, no attempt was made to improve agricultural implements and they remained the same over the centuries.

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³ Moreland, *The Agrarian System of Moslem India*, 60-67.

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⁴ Moreland, *op. cit.*, 67.

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⁵ T.F.S. (B), 318-19; Alqal., 56-57; F.F., 100; T.D., Bankipre MS., 223-24.

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⁶ T.A., I, 338; Ferishta, I, 187.

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⁷ T.D., 136 ff. According to Abul Fazl a *Bahlolī* (which previously was called *Jītal* and in his days dām) was a copper coin equivalent to 1 *tola*, 8 mashas and 7 *rattīs*. It was 1/40 of the *Rupiyā*. On the one side of it was the mint-place, on the reverse, the year and the month. Āīn., Blochmann, I, 32; Also Thomas, *Chronicles*, 359-60.

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The second necessity, shelter, was also easily available. "In Hindustan," writes Bābur, "hamlets and villages, towns indeed, are depopulated and set up in a moment. If the people of a large town, one inhabited for years even, flee from it, they do it in such a way that not a sign or trace of them remains in a day or a day and a half. On the other hand, if they fix their eyes on a place in which to settle, (they) just swarm in. They make a tank or dig a well; they need not build houses or set up walls—khas-grass abound, wood is unlimited, huts are made, and straightaway there is a village or a town!"⁸ The dense growth of jungles also provided good protection for the people.⁹ It was because of this that Muslim conquest could not penetrate the Indian village nor Muslim rule affect it. There were emperors and Sultans in the metropolis, but in the villages little republics with a self-sufficient economy continued. And if there was any fear of attack the villagers just fled and re-established themselves after the storm was over.¹⁰ It is not surprising, therefore, that in spite of the ruthless character of Muslim rule in Hindustan, Bābur notes (without making any comment) that "most of the inhabitants of Hindustan are pagans; they call a pagan a Hindu".¹¹

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⁸ B.N. (B), II, 487-88. B.N. (L & E), 315, n. 2, cites from Col. Wilks, *Historical Sketches*, I, 309 note, to show that similar conditions prevailed in south India. In the words of Col. Wilks "On the approach of a hostile army, the ... inhabitants of India bury under ground their most cumbrous effects, and each individual, man, woman, and child, ... with a load of grain apportioned to their strength, issue from their beloved homes and take the direction of a country ... exempt from the miseries of war; sometimes of a strong fortress, but more generally of the most unfrequented hills and woods ..." They called this emigration *wulsa*.

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⁹ B.N. (B), II, 487. Cf. I.B., 124.

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¹⁰ Cf. Havell, *Aryan Rule in India*, 407-09.

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¹¹ B.N. (B), II, 518.

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Such were the teeming millions of Hindustan, dwelling in villages, unaccustomed to the city's ignoble strife, and dependent upon the mercies of nature. The life of the man behind the plough was not bleak. If the absence of the conception of welfare state had made the peasant live in penury, he had his moments of joy. If occasional famines made his life miserable, the timely arrival of rain (in spite of the inconvenience it caused him in his leaky mud-walled thatched-roof house) must have filled his heart with joy. Cut off from the sophisticated life of the city, his few wants were happily met by the self-sufficient village economy. The village barber, the cobbler, the horse-shoe maker and the ever important Baniā satisfied his little requirements. The joint family system afforded him protection; the village panchāyat gave his minor grievances a just redress. If there was little to spare, there was sufficient to live by, and the numerous festive occasions which encouraged community dance, *Kathā* and dinners must have filled his soul with joy.

Urban Life

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The standards of cultural life and social behaviour of a people are best reflected in their urban life. Cities in Medieval India were few, but they were large and impressive. Foreign travellers like Nikitin and Barbosa give a favourable comparison of Indian cities with those of Europe. Cities and towns generally were built on the pattern of the metropolis. The Delhi of that period consisted of many "cities" grouped together, each having a special name.¹² The lay-out of Delhi gives an idea of the life of its residents as well as of those of the provincial capitals, port-towns and other important cities. From a study of the accounts of the fourteenth century it appears that there were separate quarters built for different classes of people.¹³ There was the palace of the Sultan, a cantonment area for the troops, quarters for the ministers, the secretaries, the Qazīs, Shaikhs and faqīrs. "In every quarter there were to be found public baths, flour mills, ovens and workmen of all professions...." ¹⁴ The author of *Masālikul Absār* writes: "The houses of Delhi are built of stone and brick, the roofs are of wood and the floor is paved with white stones resembling marble. The houses are not built more than two storeys high, and often are made of only one."¹⁵ Besides, there must have been hut-like houses of the poor huddled together in congested localities.

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¹² Besides Delhi proper, the other chief townships were Sīrī (founded by 'Alāuddīn Khaljī), Tughlaqābād (founded by Ghāzī Tughlaq), Jāhān Panāh (residence of Muhammad Tughlaq) and Fīrōz Shāh's city and fort (Kotla). *Taqwīmul Buldān*, as cited in Alqal., 27; I.B., Def. and Sang., III, 146; H.C. Hearn, *The Seven Cities of Delhi*. al-Qalqāshindī, quoting Shaikh Abū Bakr, says, "All the cities of Delhi to which the name of Delhi is given are twenty-one in number".

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¹³ *Masālik*, E and D, III, 576; Alqal., 30; T.F.S. (B), 318. Also C.H.I., III, 110 ff.

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¹⁴ *Masālik*, E and D, III, 576.

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¹⁵ *Ibid*., 576.

The Elite

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The most important individual in the metropolis was the Sultan. As a ruler as well as the leader of the society he set the standards of fashion and patterns of behaviour. He was believed to be the richest person in the country as there was no distinction between his privy purse and the State treasury, but none of the Sultans seem to have built up a fund of personal wealth.¹⁶ In law the Sultan was expected to live a life of frugality;¹⁷ in practice most of the Sultans expended all their revenues on cities, palaces, the royal household, gardens, the army and the nobles.¹⁸

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¹⁶ Muhammad Tughlaq bequeathed to his successor a depleted treasury, and Fīrōz Tughlaq had often to borrow money from Sāhūkārs when he went on campaigns. T.F.S. (A), 52, 53, 56, 61. Some of the Hindu Rajas of the Deccan were far richer than the Sultans of Delhi. Wassāf, 351; Yule, *Ser Marco Polo*, II, 323; Also Abdur Razzāq.

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¹⁷ T.F.S. (B), 293-94.

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¹⁸ Alqal., 29.

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Vast expenses were incurred on the seraglio of the Sultan who married as many women as he liked. Two facts may be remembered in this connection. Firstly, women had no "rights" in those days. Secondly, the absence of scientific inventions necessitated the manual labour of human hands in providing for the comforts of the rich, and women were preferred as companions and servants.

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State work claimed most of the Sultan's time, but since there was not much "office work", rest and recreation, too, he had in abundance. Almost all the Sultans were fond of sport, both big-game shooting as well as taming and flying birds. A large number of falconers¹⁹ and pigeon-boys²⁰ were employed to keep the birds in trim. South Indians were also "much addicted" to fowling and hunting.²¹ The Sultan spent a considerable amount of his time in the company of his personal friends and courtiers (*nadīms*).²² The *nadīms* were generally those nobles who enjoyed the Sultan's intimacy. Their nearness to the king rendered them influential.²³

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¹⁹ Alqal., 68.

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²⁰ T.F.S. (B), 318.

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²¹ Nicolo Conti, 22.

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²² T.F.S. (A), 145-46. A long train of officials like Khāsādār (personal attendant), Sharbdār (keeper of drinkables) Sāqī-i-Khās (personal cup-bearer), and Chāshnīgīr (taster of food) made arrangements for the convivial assemblies (majlis-i-aīsh) of the king, at which he and his nadīms used to get virtually "soaked in wine".

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²³ T.F.S. (B), 357-58.

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The Sultans of the first half of the fifteenth century were comparatively poor both financially and in personal attainments. Their resources were limited. They could not live up to the standards of the fourteenth century kings. At least they could not indulge in criminal waste on such things as gold horse-shoes or gold bathtubs.²⁴ All the same they lived the normal life of luxury. Poets and musicians and dancers provided Mubārak Shāh Saiyyad and 'Alāuddīn 'Ālam Shāh with the usual recreation.²⁵ By the latter half of the fifteenth century much of the glory and prosperity seems to have returned as is clear from the description of the coronation Darbārs of Sikandar Lodī and Ibrāhīm Lodī.²⁶

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²⁴ I.B,, 69, 73.

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²⁵ T.M.S., 211.

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²⁶ *Makhzan*, 72 (a).

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As high dignitaries of the State, army officers, companions of the king, etc. the nobles occupied a position only next to the Sultan in the social life of the capital city and other cities of the Sultanate. The nobility of the Sultanate was composed of all sorts of foreigners and Indians. In the beginning the Turks formed the bulk of the cadre, but later on Mughals, better known as neo-Muslims, Arabs, Egyptians, Afghans, as well as Indian Muslims began to obtain high positions. The Afghans predominated in the fifteenth century both in numbers and in influence. They were entitled Amīrs, Maliks and Khans. Their salaries were high and they held high administrative and military assignments.²⁷ Though the figures of the salaries of nobles for the fourteenth century cannot be accepted for the fifteenth, the emoluments still seem to have been considerable. Important nobles held high positions as governors of provinces and commanders in the army, and tried to emulate the Sultan in every way. In the latter half of the fifteenth century some of the nobles built mansions as would almost rival the King's palace.²⁸ Their wealth introduced into their lives all the uses and abuses of luxury. Woman and wine and song and chess²⁹ and *chougan* were their common pastimes.³⁰ But their way of life did not always sap their vitality. Almost all the noblemen of the medieval period were fond of field sports and swordsmanship, and were keenly interested in military exercises. Many amongst them were "learned, humble, polite and courteous".³¹ Almost all were patrons of art and letters.

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²⁷ Every Khan received two lakh *tankās*, every Malik from 50 to 60 thousand *tankās*, every Amīr from 40 to 50 thousand *tankās* and so on. Land too was assigned to Khans, Maliks and Amīrs (Alqal., 71). Similar is the testimony of Ibn Battūta (I.B., 129) and Shams Sirāj 'Afīf. T.F.S. (A), 296-97, 437-38.

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²⁸ E.g. the Bārā Khambā in Delhi. Percy Brown, *Indian Architecture, Islamic Period*. According to Ibn Battūta the cost of a nobleman's mansion ranged from four to six thousand gold *tankās* (dinārs), I.B., 141.

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²⁹ W.M., 37 (b).

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³⁰ T.S.A., 42.

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³¹ I.B., 13.

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In the fourteenth century, especially under strong kings, the nobles served the State loyally. But during the period under review, when the Sultanate had become weak, many a nobleman had established his independent State. Even the iqta'dārs often-times flouted the authority of the Sultanate. In these circumstances it is not surprising that from Mallū Iqbāl Khan to Sarwarul Mulk there were many noblemen who in many ways were more powerful than the king himself. Be that as it may, the presence of high officers and nobles in the city lent it a certain lustre.

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The 'Ulema and the Mashāikh formed another small section of the city people. The 'Ulema learnt logic and philosophy, studied and interpreted the Shar' and generally held high judicial appointments. Though not quite rich, they were universally respected for their learning and piety.

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Then there were the Sūfī saints and Hindu Yogīs. They were spread all over the country and used to keep in intimate touch with the common people. They had dedicated themselves to the devotion of God. In the writings of the fourteenth century there are many references about the life and activities of the saints, and it would be right to presume that the same pattern continued in the fifteenth century. Reverence for the saints almost bordered on worship.³² Even the kings were very respectful towards the saints to whom they gave liberal grants.³³ But the true saints shunned all offers of gift or service.³⁴

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³² F.F., 118. A.F., 57. Common forms of paying respects were by touching the feet and placing of one's head on the saint's feet. Hugging and embracing were done for greeting. A.F., 59.

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³³ I.B., 70; T.F.S. (A), 179.

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³⁴ R.Q., 39-40; F.F., 80-81; S.A., 102. T.S.A., 36.

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Muslim saints were not necessarily ascetics.³⁵ Chronicles dealing with the fifteenth century history abound in love stories of *darweshes* and *faqīrs* (mendicants)³⁶ who seem to be quite in evidence both in the cities and villages.³⁷ They helped in creating a healthy social and political atmosphere. Respected by kings and commoners alike they played the part of peace-makers in times of war. Shaikh Sadruddīn interceded with Tīmūr on behalf of the Hindu ruler of Bhatnīr. Shaikh Ahmad helped in the release of many prisoners Tīmūr had taken in India. Similarly because of Shaikh Ilmuddīn's efforts peace was concluded between Iqbāl Khan and Bahrām Turkbachchā of Samana, and Saiyyad Shamsuddīn tried to bring about reconciliation between Dariyā Khan and Khawājā Bāyezīd, the son of Bhalūl. Similarly in the early years of the sixteenth century Shaikh Yūsuf Qattāl tried to stop the war between Islām Khan of Kara and Ibrāhīm Lodī. There are numerous other instances of their role as peace-makers in the fifteenth century.

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³⁵ Shaikh Farīduddīn Shakargunj married four wives and had five sons and three daughters (R.Q., 3). Shaikh Qutbuddīn Saiyyad Husain Kirmānī, uncle of the author of *Siyārul-Auliyā*, used to put on garments of the finest Chinese silks and Kamkhwābs, and always used to have *pān* in his mouth (S.A., 188). Shaikh Nizāmuddīn also used to relish betel (S.A., 125). But on the whole the saints lived a life of simplicity. Poverty was their ornament (R.Q., 20), and because of impecuniosity Nizāmuddīn had to go without dinner on many a day. (S.A., 101).

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³⁶ There is an interesting anecdote about a *faqīr* and the bride of son of Tātār Khan. T.S.A., 53-54; W.M. 19 (b), 20 (a-b). Ahmad Yādgār relates another story about the love of a *darwēsh* and a woman. T.S.A., 102-10. Love between a Hindu girl and a *darwēsh* created a flutter. T.S.A., 106.

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³⁷ T.S.A., 125.

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Rich and poor, high and low,³⁸ men and women, all used to become disciples of saints. Their Khanqāhs (monasteries) were the meeting place of scholars, nobles and commoners, and some of the books written by their disciples constitute a valuable source of social history. Musical concerts were a common feature at the Khanqāhs, and Qawwāls used to pass whole nights singing the praise of the Almighty. Great trust was reposed in the spiritual power of the saints; popular superstition credited them with the possession of supernatural powers.³⁹ Although the Sūfī saints could not rise above the superstitions of the age and believed in alchemy and miracles,⁴⁰ yet they, unlike the Mullās, clung not to the letter of the Holy Book but to its spirit. Their renunciation, simplicity and piety had a salutary effect upon the lives of the people.⁴¹ Large-scale conversions of the Hindus were due not to the efforts of the rulers, 'Ulemā or Mullā, but those of the Sūfī saints.

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³⁸ F.F., 190, 191. Also S.A. 102.

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³⁹ F.F., 209-210; T.F.S. (B), 330-32; T.S.A. 27.

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⁴⁰ A.F., 95; I.B., 164-66.

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⁴¹ T.F.S. (B) 341.

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Unlike the Muslim saints and *darwēshes*, the Hindu Yogīs and Sanyasīs were celibates and lived a life of renunciation and austerity.⁴² Marco Polo and Ibn Battūta met such ascetics and their description shows that the Yogīs were very much in evidence all over the country throughout the medieval times,⁴³ and like the Muslim saints they seem to have enjoyed universal respect. But they did not and probably could not do any proselytising work. Being ascetics, they even kept away from the people. All the same, contact of the people with Muslim saints and Hindu Yogīs⁴⁴ helped in the evolution of Hindu-Muslim understanding as both were revered by all sections of the people.⁴⁵

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⁴² I.B., 164.

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⁴³ Marco Polo, II, 300; I.B. 164-66. Also Islamic Culture, VIII, 1934, 478-79; I.B., 164; Def. and Sang., IV, 33 ff.

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⁴⁴ F.F., 69, 141, 199.

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⁴⁵ I.B., 164, 165, 166.

The Commoners

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The privileged classes in the cities consisted mainly of the nobles and high government officials. The rest of the people were commoners. The so-called middle-class of today was non-existent in Medieval India. Even the rich Baniā dared not live luxuriously or parade his wealth for fear of appearing to emulate the great and thereby inviting their wrath; he lived without any ostentation, like a poor man. There were thus only two classes—the privileged and the commoners. Indian and foreign writers like Shams Sirāj 'Afīf, Ibn Battūta and Athnasius Nikitin were struck by the disparity that existed between the luxurious life of the rich on the one hand and the miserable existence of the common people on the other.⁴⁶ Ibn Battūta, although a nobleman himself, also dilates upon the life of want of the common man.⁴⁷

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⁴⁶ Major, lxxviii; Nikitin, 14; Cf. also I. B., 60 and T.F.S. (A), 288-89.

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⁴⁷ I.B., 60; Also T.F.S. (A), 288-89.

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The commoners can be divided into two major sections—Hindus and Musalmāns. The Hindus were divided into many castes and sub-castes, and the system had unconsciously permeated into the Muslim society also.⁴⁸ But caste distinctions were more prominent in the villages than in the cities. Among the Hindus, the highest caste was that of the Brahmans. In the post-Vedic period, their superiority had been challenged by the other classes, especially the Kshatriyas, who alone perhaps could stand up to them, but deliberate rewriting of books and use of the system of education for the purpose, had re-established Brahmanical superiority. In law as well as in practice the Brahmans enjoyed all kinds of privileges.⁴⁹ For the Brahmans, therefore, life in ancient India was a golden age, and so they have made it out to be. One of the reasons why ancient Indian times look so glorious is because only the Brahmans, who were enjoying the best of time, have written about them. We do not have the Shudra version or the Vaishya version of the story of the ancient times to have a complete picture of the age. Brahmanical superiority continued right up to the coming of the Muslims.

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⁴⁸ Cf. W.M., 63 (b).

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⁴⁹ K.M. Panikkar, *Survey of Indian History*, 17. He writes on the authority of Pargitar and Sukhthankar.

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With the advent of Islam the position of the Brahmans in Indian society received a set-back. Although they were exempted from taxes which other Hindus paid, they were no longer advisers or ministers of the Sultans. The destruction of temples in preceding centuries must have affected their social and economic position as priests and teachers, but in the fifteenth century Hindus had regained much power. Hindu learning also revived; it put its impress on the teachings of the Socio-religious reformers about whom we shall read in the next chapter. Consequently the position of the Brahmans improved during our period of study. Besides, among the Hindus the Brahmans always enjoyed a position of respectability.⁵⁰

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⁵⁰ When Fīrōz Tughlaq imposed Jeziyā on the Brahmans, there was protest from all sides, and when the Sultan would grant them no concession, the merchant-class promised to pay the Jeziyā on their behalf. T.F.S. (A), 382-84.

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Another influential and respected caste was that of the Kshatriyas. The higher among the Kshatriyas were Rajas, their nobles and high officials. The lower among them were enrolled in the army. Their's was the profession of warriors; they mostly joined the army of the Hindu Rajas. Kshatriyas seem to have enjoyed all rights of citizenship and could hardly brook an insult. They dressed in white,⁵¹ rode on horses and bore themselves with dignity and pride. Howsoever much their bearing might have been resented by the ruling class,⁵² they could not be completely suppressed. Besides soldiering they took to other professions also and became artisans and craftsmen and agriculturalists.

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⁵¹ People generally wore white clothes I.B., xlvii.

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⁵² As by Jalāluddīn Khaljī, T.F.S. (B), 216-17.

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During the fourteenth century the Kshatriyas had been reduced to the position of big zamindars and petty rulers, except in Rajputana. But after Tīmūr's invasion they had gathered strength. Gwalior had been taken by them not to be recovered till the sixteenth century. Katēhār had become entirely Hindu. Hindus in general and Kshatriyas in particular had never been so strong ever since Muhammad Ghorī's invasion as they were in the first half of fifteenth century Hindustan.

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The Vaishya community was mostly engaged in agriculture, trade and commerce. We do not hear of the big Marwārī merchants in the Sultanate period. Trade was mostly confined to the Sindhīs, called Multanīs by Ziyauddīn Baranī, and the Vaishya community. As we shall see presently trade and industry were in a flourishing state in the fifteenth century, and the Vaishya class benefited by it immensely.

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Low caste Hindus and converts to Islam generally manned the various minor professions, although the occupational castes were not all low. These occupational castes comprised brewers, goldsmiths, iron-smiths, tin-workers, carpenters, tailors, betel-leaf (*tāmbul*) seller, flower sellers, oilmen, barbers, jugglers, mountebanks, musicians, shepherds and still others.⁵³ The Muslims could neither be divided on a caste basis nor on the basis of occupation. The higher stratum confined themselves to Government service and the lower amongst them, mostly converts from Hinduism, stuck to their old professions; and although the lower class Muslim converts enjoyed the satisfaction of belonging to the ruling class, they remained as insignificant as their Hindu counterparts.

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⁵³ Ashraf, 193; Jaisi, *Padmāvat*, 154, 413.

Position of Women

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No study of a society can be complete without a reference to the position of women in it. The position of women in a society has an importance of its own; it reflects the standard of its civilisation.

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Hindu law provides a fair if not a high position to women in society. Manū has said, "where women are not honoured, there cannot be a proper home".⁵⁴ Perhaps because of a woman's physical disabilities and old unwritten but practical custom, she was accorded a status of dependence on man.⁵⁵ Though there was no free mixing of sexes or universal education among women in Ancient India, foreign writers were struck by the freedom Indian women enjoyed. They freely participated in Yagyas, Court-ceremonial, fairs and even fought in battles.⁵⁶ Women could not only freely take to the study of art and literature, but were encouraged and recommended to do so.⁵⁷ The two centuries preceding the Muslim conquest saw poetesses like Indulēkhā, Mārulā, Morikā, Vijjikā, Shilā, Subhadrā, Padmashrī and Lakshmī.⁵⁸ Besides there were painters, dancers, mathematicians, etc. among women of high families.⁵⁹

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⁵⁴ *Manusmriti*, Chapter, III, 55-60.

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⁵⁵ *Ibid.*, Chapter IX, 327-28; *Yagyavalka Smriti*, 37. Shams Sirāj 'Afīf, who cites from the Qurān also to emphasise the dependence of girls, adds, دختران بغایت ضعیف و دائم شکسته خاطر اند و محکوم غیر نے (Daughters are very weak, always dejected and subordinate to others). T.F.S. (A), 351.

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⁵⁶ Huien Tsang as quoted in G.S. Ojha, *Madhya Kālīn Bharatīya Sanskriti*, 66. Abu Zaid, E and D, I; Al Idrisi E and D, I, 77-78.

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⁵⁷ Cf. the views of Rajshekhara. Nagri Pracharini Sabha Bulletin (Hindi), New Edition, Part II, 80-85.

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⁵⁸ Ojha, *op. cit.*, 65.

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⁵⁹ *Ibid.*, 65.

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With the Muslim conquest the position of Indian women suffered a set-back. After the fall of every city, and sometimes even in times of peace, women suffered every kind of privation. Historians like Ziyauddīn Baranī and Shams Sirāj 'Afīf hint at it,⁶⁰ while Ibn Battūta's narrative makes revolting reading.⁶¹ As a bulwark against these humiliations Jauhar and Satī, already prevalent in Hindu society, began to be practised on a large scale in times of war. In times of peace Parda (seclusion) and child-marriage were considered to be good safeguards. The custom of *ghūnghat* among Hindus is described by Vidyāpatī and Malik Muhammad Jaisī,⁶² but the "more developed form of Parda, with its elaborate code of rules, came into existence almost from the beginning of the Muslim rule in Hindustan".⁶³ Life of women was restricted in Muslim society; Fīrōz Tughlaq and Sikandar Lodī forbade the pilgrimage of women to the tomb of saints.

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⁶⁰ T.F.S. (B), 384; T.F.S. (A), 36-39.

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⁶¹ I.B., 63, 123.

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⁶² *Padāvali Bangya of Vidyapati*, Trs. Coomarswami and Arun Sen, London, 1915, lix. Also Macauliffe, VI, 347.

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⁶³ Ashraf, 245.

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A word may here be said about the important though cruel customs of Satī and Jauhar prevailing in medieval times. With the loss of power and constant danger of attack, the customs of Satī and Jauhar were gaining strong roots not only among the Kshatriyas, but among other people also. However, the most significant fact about these customs is that except perhaps by Muhammad Tughlaq, no serious attempt was made to put a stop to such an inhuman system of self-immolation. On the other hand it was universally admired. Even an extremely cultured man like Amīr Khusru exclaimed: "See how noble it is".⁶⁴ Ibn Battūta witnessed the Satī on many occasions and gives many unhappy details.⁶⁵ Jauhar was prevalent both in the north and the south.⁶⁶ During Tīmūr's invasion Muslim women also performed Jauhar when Bhatnīr was sacked.⁶⁷

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⁶⁴ Islamic Culture, XXX, 1945, 4-5. The following couplet of Khusru is worth reproducing. در محبت چون زن هندی کس پروانه نیست سوختن در شمع مرده کار هر پروانه نیست

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⁶⁵ I.B., 21, 22, 109.

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⁶⁶ *Ibid.*, 96.

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⁶⁷ Z.N., II, 74-75. Also M.T., E and D, III, 426.

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Whatever may be said in favour or otherwise of the customs of Satī and Jauhar, a society in which female infanticide, child-marriage, Parda, Jauhar and Satī existed side by side, was not a happy one for women. It is not surprising therefore that the birth of a female child was felt like the advent of a calamity, and Amīr Khusru's lament over the birth of a daughter and his many pieces of advice to her in his poem *Lailā Majnū*, make interesting reading.⁶⁸ In *Afzalul Favaid* Nizāmuddīn Auliyā has been cited as saying: "It would be the day of Resurrection (Qiāmat) when women will ride horses or walk about in the streets . . . . Great harm would be done when women would get freedom".⁶⁹

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⁶⁸ Shibli Naumani, *Shairul 'Ajam*, II, 123.

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⁶⁹ *Afzalul Favaid*, 78-79.

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But conditions could not have been the same everywhere and at all times. In the fifteenth century Sultanate there were many Muslim women like Bībī Matto, Ni'āmat Khātūn, Shams Khatūn, Bībī Rājī and Bībī Khunza, who were accomplished and wielded influence at the court and in the country's life. In the south or in Gujarat where Muslim conquest was belated or incomplete, none of the above customs existed and women continued to enjoy a fairly good position in society.⁷⁰ The position of Hindu women was equally good. The chronicles write about the weakening of the Sultanate and the emergence of many strong Hindu States in northern India during the period under study. They do not mention many Jauhars or forced matrimonial alliances. On the other hand there is mention of many talented Hindu women interested in art, philosophy and religion in the fifteenth century.⁷¹ To the Hindu woman who did not stray away from the standards laid down by Manū, her husband was her lord, her master and her god, and many stories are told of the conjugal devotion of Hindu women in the literature of the period under review.⁷²

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⁷⁰ Major, Nikitin, 16.

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⁷¹ *Bihar Through the Ages*, 414. Conditions in Bihar also naturally apply to other parts of the country.

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⁷² T.S.A., 45, 107. Also *The Delhi Sultanate*, 511.

Dress

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As noted earlier, the standards of culture of a people are best reflected in the life of the cities. In the cities were to be seen costumes and dresses of various kinds. The Sultan, the nobles, all the inmates of the harem, and even the servants wore clothes of good quality.⁷³ The dress of the Sultan and the *élite* consisted of a *Kulāh* or head-dress, a tunic worked in brocade and long drawers. On official occasions the Sultans wore a four-cornered head-dress (embroidered with gold thread and studded with jewels), long Tartaric gowns and Qabā—(which for winter was stuffed with cotton and was called Dagla)⁷⁴ all buckled in the middle of the body.⁷⁵ The Hindu aristocracy dressed like the Muslim aristocracy,⁷⁶ except that in place of *Kulāh* they used a turban, and in place of long drawers they wore *dhoti* trimmed with gold lace. The Muslims all over the country dressed heavily but the Hindus were scantily dressed. "They cannot wear more clothing," says Nicolo Conti, "on account of the great heat, and for the same reason only wear Sandals, with purple and golden ties, as we see in ancient statues."⁷⁷ The south Indian kings and nobles also wore long hair. "Some tie their hair at the back of their head with a silken cord, and let it flow over their shoulders. . . ." but they shaved their beards. "The men resemble Europeans in stature and the duration of their lives".⁷⁸

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⁷³ Every dancing girl wore on the occasion of the 'Id festival absolutely new apparel costing 40,000 *tankās* each. T.F.S. (A), 263.

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⁷⁴ T.F.S. (B), 273-74.

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⁷⁵ Alqal., 69, 70.

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⁷⁶ J.R.A.S., 1895, 88.

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⁷⁷ Nicolo Conti, 23. Also Abdur Razzāq, 17 and Nikitin, 12.

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⁷⁸ Nicolo Conti, 22.

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There was no special uniform for any one, not even for soldiers.⁷⁹ Religious groups of the Hindus and Muslims put on various types of clothes. The orthodox Muslims wore clothes of simple material like linen; they put on a long turban or a tall *darwesh* cap, loose gowns and wooden sandals. The Hindu ascetics wore a simple loin cloth or wrapped a sheet of unsewn cloth round themselves. Scholars wore the Syrian *jubbāh* and the Egyptian *dastār*.⁸⁰ The poor classes believed in reducing their clothing to a minimum. They usually went bare-headed and bare-footed. A single *dhotī* was considered a sufficient and respectable dress. In the villages the peasants sometimes put on only a loin-cloth (*langota*) which Bābur takes pains to describe in detail.⁸¹ That was due both to climatic conditions as well as poverty.

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⁷⁹ W.M., 32-33.

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⁸⁰ *Dīwān-i-Mutahhar* quoted in K.A. Nizāmī, *Studies in Medieval Indian History*, Aligarh, 1956, 90. This dress was worn at the Fīrōz Shāhī Madrasā.

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⁸¹ B.N. (B), II, 519.

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Of women's clothes there were usually two varieties. One consisted of a long *Chādar*, not unlike the modern *sārī*, a bodice with long sleeves and a brassiere (*angiya*) for grown up maidens and married women. The other variety, which was more popular in Uttar Pradesh, consisted of a *lahngā*, a long and loose skirt, an *angiya* and a long scarf to cover the head. Muslim women of the upper classes usually wore loose drawers, a shirt and a long scarf with the usual veil. In some places, especially in Gujarat and the Deccan, women wore shoes made of leather, ornamented with gold and silk.⁸² Besides women all over the country wore all kinds of ornaments, the rich of gold and the poor of silver. Hindu women did not put on gold ornaments below the waist.

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⁸² Nicolo Conti, 23.

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In spite of the variety of dresses for Hindus and Muslims, a common type of Indian dress had emerged by the fifteenth century. The Hindu turban was quite popular among the Muslims of the upper classes, and the Hindu aristocracy adopted from the Muslim nobility the use of tight-fitting drawers and loose coat.⁸³ Right from the kings and the nobles at the top, down to the humblest citizens, the Muslims had become thoroughly Indianized. The costly royal dresses, the gilded and studded swords and daggers, the parasols (*chhatra*) of various colours etc. were all typically Indian paraphernalia of royal pomp and splendour. The use of rings, necklaces, ear-rings and other ornaments by men was also due to Indian influence; they are forbidden under Islamic law. Similarly tight-fitting cloak for men and tight-fitting trousers for women (often worn underneath the *lahnga*) were adopted by the Rajpūts from their Muslim neighbours.⁸⁴ It may also be pointed out that although European trousers have become common in India, the older male and female dresses have survived to this day.

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⁸³ Ashraf, 277 and n. 2.

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⁸⁴ *The Delhi Sultanate*, 609.

Food and Drink

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Like dress, food and drink are also a good index of the general standard of living of a people. In this regard in particular, the people of medieval India were, if not better, surely not worse off compared with our own times.

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In the study of medieval historical literature, itineraries of travellers as well as the numerous biographical notices of saints, one is struck by the cheapness of prices of foodstuffs in the fourteenth-fifteenth century India. While cloth seems to have been scarce and costly, food was extremely cheap; cheap not only in comparison with prices prevailing today, but also with those of the times. Thus Ziyauddīn Baranī praises the cheapness in his times, giving prices of various articles of food.⁸⁵ Equally favourable is the price structure at the time of Fīrōz Tughlaq.⁸⁶ Due to political upheavals in the first half of the fifteenth century, food prices might have gone up a little, but no foreign or Indian writer has said so. On the other hand; 'Abdullā, the author of the *Tārīkh-i-Dāūdī*, bears testimony to the extreme inexpensiveness of foodstuffs during the latter half of the fifteenth century.⁸⁷

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⁸⁵ T.F.S. (B), 305. Elsewhere I have calculated to find that "a present day rupee would buy about two present day maunds of wheat in 'Alāuddīn's time". *History of the Khaljīs*, 270-71.

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⁸⁶ T.F.S. (A), 293-98.

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⁸⁷ T.D., Bankipore MS., 223-24.

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Medieval chroniclers give interesting data about the cereals, fruits, vegetables, etc. of those days. Wheat was commonly used but was "the dearest article",⁸⁸ and barley is mentioned oftener in the hagiological literature. Other cereals were peas, lintels, mash, lobiya and sesame. Rice is said to be of as many kinds as twenty-one.⁸⁹ Mahuan mentions two crops of rice in a year and says that wheat, sesame, all kinds of pulses, millet, ginger, mustard, onion, quash, hemp, brinjals and vegetables of many kinds grew in the country in abundance.⁹⁰ Wheat bread, baked (*roti*) and fried (*pūrī*), was eaten with *dāl*, meat and vegetable curries. *Chapatīs* were cooked in *tandūrs*,⁹¹ even now common in the Punjab, and open ovens (*chulhā*) common all over India. Other dishes were churned curd,⁹² *khajūr*,⁹³ meat and meat-soup (*āsh*).⁹⁴ *Parātha*, *halwā*, and *harīsā*,⁹⁵ were common with the rich, *khichrī* and *sattū*⁹⁶ with the poor. Muslims were generally meat-eaters and mostly ate “the flesh of cow and goat though they have many sheep, because they have become accustomed to it”.⁹⁷ A cow for slaughtering cost only one and a half *tankās*, while fowls, pigeons and other birds were sold very cheap.⁹⁸ The Hindus as a rule were vegetarians.⁹⁹ Of the vegetables mentioned are cucumber, pumpkin, various kinds of green leaves, jack fruit (*katahal*), *karela*, turnip, carrot, asparagus, ginger, garden beet, onion, garlic, fennel and thyme.¹⁰⁰ This certainly does not exhaust the list, but these have found specific mention. Vegetables were cooked and fried with various kinds of condiments and *ghī*; and as if the spices were not enough to whip up the action of the stomach a great number of pickles (*achārs*) were added to the menu. Tamarind was commonly used and grown in abundance. *A’jāz-i-Khusravī* of Amīr Khusru and *Kitābur Rehlā* of Ibn Battūta are full of references to these delicacies without which Indian meals, then as now, are never complete. Pickles were prepared from green mangoes as well as ginger and chillies.¹⁰¹

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⁸⁸ *Masālik*, E and D, III, 583; T.F.S. (B), 569.

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⁸⁹ Alqal., 48-49.

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⁹⁰ J.R.A.S., 1895, 531.

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⁹¹ T.S.A., 58; F.F., 174.

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⁹² R.Q., 35.

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⁹³ S.A., 273.

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⁹⁴ R.Q., 10.

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⁹⁵ T.F.S. (B), 316-19; S.A., 173-176; F.F., 75, 89; I.B., 38.

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⁹⁶ F.F., 41; S.A., 226; I.B., 49.

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⁹⁷ Alqal., 56

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⁹⁸ T.F.S. (B), 315. Also *Masālik*, E and D, III, 583.

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⁹⁹ Santo Stefano (in Major), 5.

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¹⁰⁰ Alqal., 49-50; T.S.A., 59; S.A., 11; I.B., 17.

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¹⁰¹ I.B., 16; Alqal., 50. Also see K.M. Ashraf, *Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan*, 282-83.

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The deserts consisted of fresh fruit, dry fruit and sweets. Dry fruits were mostly imported and so were apples, grapes, pears and pomegranates.¹⁰² Melons, green and yellow (*turbūz* and *kharbūza*), were grown in abundance.¹⁰³ Orange, citron (*utrurj*), lemon (*limūn*), lime (*līm*), *jāmun*, *khirni*, dates and figs were commonly known as also the plantain.¹⁰⁴ Sugar-cane was grown in abundance and Ziyauddīn Baranī writes the Indian word for it—*ponda*. Mango, then as now, was the most favourite fruit of India.¹⁰⁵ Sweetmeats were of many kinds, as many as sixty-five.¹⁰⁶ Some names like *reorī*, sugar-candy, *samosā*¹⁰⁷ and *halwā*¹⁰⁸ are familiar to this day.

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¹⁰² T.S.A., 50-52. Also S.A., 313. al-Qalqashindi contradicts himself when at one place he says that grapes were produced in India in abundance (49-50) and at another place writes: “there are few gardens but no grapes” (p. 28). 'Afif joyously mentions the fact that seven kinds of grapes were produced in the orchards of Delhi. T.F.S. (A), 295-96. Also T.F.S. (B), 569. Ibn Battūta writes that the postal service was utilised for importing fruit. “And the fruits of Khurāsān,” says he, “which are much sought after in India are often conveyed by this means.” E and D, III, 588.

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¹⁰³ T.S.A., 51; Alqal., 49. Also T.F.S. (A), 295-96; I.B., 17.

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¹⁰⁴ J.R.A.S., 1895, 531; T.F.S. (B). 568-70.

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¹⁰⁵ F.F., 173; T.S.A., 51. Ahmad Yādgār also says that mangoes and betel were sent as a present to Bābur from India. T.S.A., 90.

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¹⁰⁶ Alqal., 50.

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¹⁰⁷ Ibn Battūta's description of the preparation of *samosa* would make ones mouth water even today: "Minced meat cooked with almond, walnut, pistachios, onion and spices placed inside a thin bread and fried in ghee." I.B., 15.

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¹⁰⁸ T.F.S. (B), 318.

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Rain water was the chief drink of the people. It was collected in large reservoirs or tanks during the rainy season. The water of the tanks, which could hardly have been cleaned frequently and properly, and was carried in water-skins, was certainly unhygienic.¹⁰⁹ The wells¹¹⁰ posed the same problem of cleaning. Consequently rivers were considered to be the best suppliers of clean water. This may be the reason why sanctity has been attached to the Ganga through the ages. Even Sultans used to drink water from the Ganga only, and when Muhammad Tughlaq shifted his capital to Daulatabad, water from the Ganga was carried for him all the distance of forty days' journey to it.¹¹¹ In summer season water was cooled in earthen jugs. Iced water was a rarity even for the Sultans.¹¹² *Sharbat* was greatly in vogue.¹¹³ On festive occasions, or to celebrate some victory, the Sultans used to arrange for free distribution of sweets and *sharbat* among the people. Wine, prohibited by religion and disapproved by all, was drunk freely by those who had a liking for it. But the after-dinner drink was only water, and "the inhabitants of India have little taste for wine and intoxicating drinks, but content themselves with betel, an agreeable drug, the use of which is permitted without the slightest objection".¹¹⁴ In medieval chronicles it is called by its Sanskrit name *tāmbūl*.¹¹⁵ Amīr Khusru lavishes a lot of praise on it,¹¹⁶ and so does Abdur Razzāq. Pān, says he, "gives a colour to and brightens the countenance, causes an intoxication similar to that produced by wine, appeases hunger and excites appetite.... It removes the disagreeable smell from the mouth and strengthens the teeth."[¹¹⁷] Pān chewing was a national habit throughout Medieval India.

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¹⁰⁹ I.B., 37.

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¹¹⁰ Alqal., 29.

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¹¹¹ I.B., 4.

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¹¹² Fīrōz Tughlaq is reported to have been able to get some ice when he went to the Sirmur hills.

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¹¹³ T.S.A., 25.

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¹¹⁴ *Masālik*, E and D, III, 381. Cf. Major, Nicolo Conti, 22; Nikitin, 17.

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¹¹⁵ T.F.S. (B), 182. Also F.F., 168.

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¹¹⁶ *Deval Ranī*, 60.

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¹¹⁷ Major, Abdur Razzāq, 32.

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Muslims used to dine together, often out of the same plate, but always on the same board (*Dastar Khwān*). For this reason it was particularly necessary for a Muslim to know good table etiquette. Shaikh Nizāmuddīn Auliyā gave a long discourse to his disciples about observing good manners while eating.¹¹⁸ Inter-dining facilitated arrangements for big dinners where a thousand people could eat, not only at the mansions of the nobles,¹¹⁹ but also in the Khanqāhs of the saints.¹²⁰ The custom also certainly developed feelings of brotherhood and equality among the Muslims.

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¹¹⁸ S.A., 373-77.

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¹¹⁹ Cf. T.F.S. (B), 116. Also I.B., 15, 65, 66, 119.

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¹²⁰ R.Q., 9.

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Rich Hindus, especially in the south, "used tables in the manner of Europeans with silver vessels upon them. Others ate on carpets."[¹²¹] Brahmans generally did not eat meat, besides they also avoided onion and garlic.¹²² Inter-dining was neither liked nor practised by them. This attitude had permeated into other castes also. With the coming of the Muslims restrictions on interdining had become more than a fad.¹²³ But this custom did not affect the sense of hospitality of the Hindus which was proverbial.¹²⁴ Hindu princes gave shelter to Muslim nobles even at great risks, but since they did not inter-dine amongst themselves they did not inter-dine with the Muslims.

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¹²¹ Nicolo Conti, 22.

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¹²² Habib, *op. cit.*, 72.

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¹²³ Nikitin in Major, 17, 27.

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¹²⁴ Abdur Razzāq says that the king of Vijāyanagar honoured him in every way and gave him presents of all kinds, but did not dine with him explaining: "Your monarchs invite an ambassador, and receive him to their table; (but) as you and we may not eat together, this purse full of gold is the feast we give to an ambassador". Abdur Razzāq, Major, 31.

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Bābur must have relished spicy Indian food, although he does not say so pointedly perhaps because of his unfortunate experience with Indian cooks who were bribed by Ibrāhīm Lodī's mother to poison him. To the various items of Indian food, he added a few common in his native country. Ice and iced-water were introduced in India by Bābur. Abul Fazl mentions that while the commoners used ice in summer, the great nobles used it all the year round. Bābur writes of Indian fruits as a connoisseur. From Bābur’s times melons and other fruits as well as wine began to be imported in larger quantities.¹²⁵ The standard of dinners improved, so that by Akbar’s time “the number of dishes served was very great, and the elaboration of the service even more remarkable”.¹²⁶ Bābur did not merely complain of the things he found lacking in Hindustan; he introduced them here. From the time that he began to rule over Hindustan the standard of living of the people, at least of the rich people, began to show an upward trend.

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¹²⁵ To keep them fresh, “each melon was enclosed in a leather case, packed in ice”. It was in this way that melons were transported from Central Asia to places as far distant as requiring three months journey. M. Ilin, *Men and Mountains*, 31.

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¹²⁶ Moreland, *op. cit.*, 258.

Industry, Trade and Commerce

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In the preceding pages an attempt has been made to look back and see how the various strata of society lived in the cities. As seen above, the main section of the population of the cities consisted of Government servants—high officials and nobles, civil service men and soldiers—their families, dependents and servants. Besides them, quite a large section of people were engaged in industries, trade and commerce.

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In this respect the fifteenth century was a period of great activity. Muslim conquerors and rulers possessed two special qualities. They looted recklessly and they spent recklessly.¹²⁷ From the time of Muhammad Ghorī onwards the loot from the temples and treasuries of Hindu kings, in other words the wealth lying frozen for decades and even centuries, was released into the market. We have seen that the kings, nobles, officers, soldiers, etc. lived a life of comfort and luxury. Trade and industry were fostered to satisfy their ever increasing demands, and money began to circulate in the market with ever greater vigour. Manufacturing centres were spread out all over the country and the State gave liberal encouragement to industry.¹²⁸ Although in the fifteenth century we do not hear of the *Kārkhānās* of the days of Fīrōz Tughlaq, yet absence of their mention does not necessarily point to their disappearance. On the other hand, there is evidence to the contrary. Both Wassāf and Marco Polo speak about the good soil and extensive cotton cultivation of Gujarat.¹²⁹ Gujarat produced good quality cloth. Similarly, according to Mahuan, an interpreter attached to the Chinese envoy Chang Ho who visited Bengal in 1406, five or six types of fine cotton fabrics were manufactured in Bengal alone. Besides these, Bengal specialised in manufacturing silk handkerchiefs, caps embroidered with gold, painted wares, basins, cups, guns, knives and scissors.¹³⁰ Varthema (1503-8) informs us that from Bengal and Cambay silk and cotton stuffs were sent out to Persia, Tartary, Syria, Arabia and Africa.¹³¹ According to Barbosa (about 1518) a kind of *shash* named *sirband* and made in Bengal was liked by European ladies for their head-dress and by the Arab and Persian merchants for use as turbans.¹³² These articles had a countrywide market also.

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¹²⁷ T.F.S. (B), 119-20.

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¹²⁸ Alqal., 51. *Masālik*, E and D, III, 578.

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¹²⁹ Yule, *Ser Marco Polo*, II, 328.

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¹³⁰ J.R.A.S., 1895, 531-32.

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¹³¹ *Travels of Varthema*, 212.

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¹³² *The Book of Duarte Barbosa*, II, 145.

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Indian artists and jewellers specialised in making curios and articles which were very highly priced. During the reign of Sikandar Lodī an artist by the name of Miān Tāh was a genius in workmanship. "He had made a single writing tablet and a cap out of ivory. Besides he made an ear-ring in the design of a lotus, inside which was set a fly. When the woman put it in her ear, it seemed a bud so long as the head was kept still. As soon as the head was shaken, the bud opened up into a lotus, the fly flew out and hovered in front of the eye. When she stopped shaking the head, the fly returned to the lotus and became a bud once more. How are such marvels to be described!"¹³³ These artists could create such works of art because their art was handed down from generation to generation. According to Bābur, "another good thing in Hindustan is that it has unnumbered and endless workmen of every kind. There is a fixed caste for every sort of work and for everything, which had done that work or that thing from father to son till now".¹³⁴

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Cites (5)