The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c10.12

c10.12

In contrast to the Muslim bourgeoisie, the life of the Hindu middle classes was different in many ways. They lived under the Muslim theocratic regime and paid the poll tax *Jiziyah* incumbent upon the non-Muslims. There were three rates of *Jiziyah*, 40, 20 and 10 *tankahs* imposed on three classes or income groups - the high, the middle and the low.²¹ This in itself is a proof of the existence of a middle class among the Hindus. If Akbar abolished this tax, Aurangzeb reimposed it and the Hindu middle class paid the *Jaziyah* at the middle rate, or probably the high, for all through the medieval period they possess almost exclusively the trade and the wealth of the country.²² Pelsaerts description of the Hindu middle class is apt and elaborate. He writes: First there are the leading merchants and jewellers, and they are most able and expert in their business. Next there are the workmen, for practically all work is done by Hindus, the Moslems practising scarcely any crafts but dyeing and weaving Thirdly there are the clerks and brokers: all the business of the lords palaces and of the Muslim merchants is done by Hindus - book-keeping, buying and selling. They are particularly clever brokers, and are consequently generally employed as such throughout all these countries.²³