Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s4.5

c5.s4.5

rewarded accordingly by the monarch.¹ With the growing organization of the State and Muslim society, however, a certain amount of specialization began in the assignment of the functions of various classes of Muslims. They may be theoretically divided into what Humayun calls the *Ahl-i-daulat* or the ruling class proper, which comprised the members of the royal family, the nobility and the army; the *Ahl-i-sa‘adat* or the intelligentsia which comprised the theologians (the *ulama*) the judicial functionaries (the *Qazis*), the Sayyids, the leaders of religious thought and men of reputed piety and religious devotion, men of learning especially poets and writers; the *Ahl-i-murad* or the class catering for pleasures, which was composed of musicians and minstrels, of beautiful girls and others who contributed to the success of pleasure parties. The last class of people, curious as it appears to class them with the other two, was of equal importance, considering that every one was fond of ‘smooth faces and of ravishing sweethearts’. If we follow a more detailed classification of these groups made by Humayun, we come to the enumeration of a dozen minor groups, which compare more or less favourably with the existing social divisions of the upper classes of Muslim society. The following is the order of their status : the Sultan, the royal family, the *Khans* and others of noble rank, the Sayyids, the *‘Ulama*, the aristocrats in general, the assignment-holders (under Mughals, the Mansabdars), the great functionaries of State, the leaders of the various clans, the corps of the royal pages, the keepers of the royal purse, the members of the royal guard (Jirga?), the household attendants of the Sultan, and his menial and domestic servants. They were further divided according to their grades into upper, middle, and lower classes. This classification overlaps in many places and is obviously unscientific, but it gives a general view of the ruling classes of Hindustan during the period under review.² The minor Muslim dynasties, which were formed later, and the Hindu States followed these lines of social development in general, the composition of a class differing in different places. The masses of the people had no place in the Government,³ no share in political power. They had very few rights, if any. Their duty principally consisted in paying heavy taxes to the State, which were usually realized through the headman of a village and a staff of revenue officers, all of whom oppressed them, and managed to keep a share of the sum realized for themselves, thus becoming very wealthy.¹ In such circumstances it is difficult to say that the Sultanate was supported by the people. All that can be said is that the people gave a feeble moral support to these social arrangements, but even this assertion is by no means conclusive.² This was the general position of the various classes of society.