Muslim Slave System in Medieval India c14.6

c14.6

In one instance specifically Al Utbi gives an idea of the gain from the sale of captives. According to his narrative, Mahmud, after his campaign in Mathura, Mahaban and Kanauj (1018-19), returned to Ghazni with, besides other booty, 53,000 captives and each one of these was sold for two to ten *dirhams*. From this statement it would be safe to infer that the lowest price at which an Indian captive was sold was two, and the highest ten *dirhams*. It would also be safe to conclude that slaves were captured by invaders to be sold to make money; for Utbi adds that Merchants came from different cities to purchase them so that the countries of Mawarau-n-nahr, Iraq and Khurasan were filled with them.⁸ Earlier, in the expedition to Thaneshwar (1015), according to Farishtah, the Muhammadan army brought to Ghaznin 200,000 captives, so that the capital (Ghaznin) looked like an Indian city, for every soldier of the army had several slaves and slave girls.⁹ Similarly, in the Kashmir Valley (1014 C.E.), according to Utbi, the captives taken were so plentiful that they became very cheap¹⁰ But he does not say how cheaply they were sold.