Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s1.64.4

c5.s1.64.4

the enforcement of measures for the defence of the kingdom and the extermination of rebels and disturbers of the peace ; finally, the suppression of innovations in religion and religious practices which militated against the spirit of Islam.¹ The Sultan further set apart certain funds from his treasury for religious and charitable purposes, as a matter of grace, though it was no part of his religious duties towards Islam.² At a later date Ziya-ud-din Barani relates what Sultan Iltutmish thought of the relations between Islam and the Sultanate. The monarch did not hesitate to admit the pagan extraction and the essentially secular nature of the Sultanate. He also frankly confessed that there was absolutely no room within the state for a monarch to take up the role of a ‘defender of the faith’ (*Din-panah*) except in four specific matters: first, in maintaining the purity of the Muslim creed, which implied the suppression of aggressive heathenism and a general support for the observance of Muslim doctrines ; secondly, in punishing glaring and open lapses from the approved orthodox conduct, within the limits of his kingdom ; thirdly, in appointing genuinely religious and God-fearing Muslims to the religious offices in the government ; and lastly, in administering justice to everybody without distinction.³ This statement of position does not differ in any substantial degree from the earlier exposition.