Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s8.26

c17.s8.26

Indeed from the time of 'Alāuddīn Khaljī, whether in the capital or in the major and minor cities in northern India, almost the whole of the trade was in the hands of the Hindu merchants.¹⁴⁶ They had grown rich.¹⁴⁷ According to Shams Sirāj 'Afīf such was the prosperity of the people, that a daughter's dowry was no problem to them and they always married their girls at a very young age.¹⁴⁸ Early marriages may have been due to many other reasons also, but the statement of the chronicler is significant. He asserts that there was no family in Delhi which did not possess large quantities of ornaments,¹⁴⁹ and this finds corroboration in the description of the sack of Delhi by Tīmūr's men. It stands to reason that such conditions prevailed down to our period of study and beyond.