The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c11.s6.7

c11.s6.7

The process of enslavement during war went on under the Khaljis and the Tughlaqs (1290-1414 C.E.). Of Alauddin Khaljis 50,000 slaves¹¹¹ some were mere boys,¹¹² and surely mainly captured during war. Firoz Tughlaq had issued an order that whichever places were sacked, in them the captives should be sorted out and the best ones should be forwarded to the court. His acquisition of slaves was accomplished through various ways - capture in war, in lieu of revenue and as present from nobles.¹¹³ Soon he was enabled to collect 180,000 slaves. Ziyauddin Baranis description of the Slave Market in Delhi, (such markets were there in other places also), during the reign of Alauddin Khalji, shows that fresh batches of captives were constantly replenishing them.¹¹⁴ The practice of selling slaves was well established and widely known. Amir Khusrau in the fourteenth century writes that the Turks, whenever they please, can seize, buy, or sell any Hindu.¹¹⁵ He is corroborated by Vidyapati in the next century. The latter writes that the Muslim army commanders take into custody all the women of the enemys city, and wherever they happened to pass, in that very place the ladies of the Rajas house began to be sold in the market.¹¹⁶ Alauddin Khalji fixed the prices of such slaves in the market, as he did for all other items of common use like wheat and rice, horse and cattle. The sale price of boys was fixed from 20 to 30 *tankahs*; the ill-favoured could be obtained for 7 or 8. The slave boys were classified according to their looks and working capacity. The standard price of a working girl was fixed from 5 to 12 *tankahs*, that of a good looking girl from 20 to 40, and a beauty of high family even from 1 thousand to 2 thousand *tankahs*.¹¹⁷ Under Muhammad bin Tughlaq, as per the information of Shihabuddin al Umri, a domestic maid in Delhi could be had for 8 *tankahs* and one deemed fit to be a concubine sold for about 15 *tankahs*. In other cities, says he, prices are still lower.¹¹⁸