The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c18.s8.4

c18.s8.4

Broadly speaking, the Muslim society of the thirteenth century was divided into two classes, namely, the men of the sword and the men of the pen. The Turks belonged to the former category, while the theologians and literary men, who were mostly non-Turks, formed the latter group. They provided to the state the class of teachers and preachers. The Muslim aristocracy was predominantly of Turkish blood. It was a hierarchy with a series of ascending ranks at the top of which were *amirs*, *maliks* and *khans*. The highest title was *Ulugh Khan* and there was only one *Ulugh Khan* at a time. Slaves were gradually promoted and could become amirs and maliks. None of them, except Balban, was promoted to the rank of Khan. The Muslim society was mainly urban. It must have included, besides soldiers and administrators, traders, artisans, shopkeepers, clerks and beggars. An influential class was that of the slaves, most of whom had been born of non-Muslim parents, but had been sold as slaves, converted to Islam and brought up in the houses of their Muslim masters. The Muslim population was predominantly Sunni. Shias mostly belonged to Multan and Sindh. Quite a large number of the latter class lived in Delhi and other cities in the Turkish dominion. There was no sympathy between the followers of the two sects. In fact, the Shias were hated by the Sunnis who were in power. The Shias made more than one attempt during our period to capture power, but were ruthlessly punished. There was a third religious group the members of which were known as *Sufis*. They were Muslim mystics who were men of learning and believed in direct communion with God. They practised piety and poverty and lived far away from the society of the townsmen. The *sufi* saints had many followers whom they initiated into *sufi* practices. They had two important orders among them, namely, the Chishtia order and the Suhrawardia order, founded, respectively, by Muin-ud-din Chishti at Ajmer and Bha-ud-din Zakariya at Multan. These two saints had many disciples who were instrumental in gaining a large number of willing converts to Islam.