Muslim Slave System in Medieval India c12.13

c12.13

The example of kings was universally imitated by their principal nobles. The opulent grandees in the provinces esteemed it an honour and obligation to adorn towns and cities of the regions under their control with magnificent buildings. The law of escheat encouraged them to spend lavishly. Pelsaert perhaps has the last word on it. I have often ventured to ask great lords, says he, what is their true object in being so eager to amass their treasures, when what they have gathered is of no use to them or to their family (because of escheat) I have urged they would share it with the poor, who in this country are hundreds of thousands, or indeed innumerable [including of course the slaves] Their answers have been based on the emptiest worldly vanity Buildings they constructed with great zest - gardens, tombs, and palaces they build them with so many hundreds of thousands²⁰ Once the builder is dead, no one will care for his buildings, but every one tries to erect buildings of his own, and establish his own reputation alongside that of his ancestors. If all these edifices were attended to and kept in repair, the lands of every city, and even village, would be adorned (covered)²¹ with monuments; but as a matter of fact the roads leading to the cities are strewn with fallen columns of stone.²²