Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s4.t2: I. The Nobility
Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s4.t2
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I. The Nobility
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1. *Its character.*—Immediately below the monarch came his nobles. They usually supported him in power, but at times usurped his functions, and if a ruling dynasty grew weak and effete they stepped into its shoes, and founded a new ruling dynasty of their own. Even if a noble was deposed or otherwise robbed of his position and power, the traditions of former dignity and social honour were unfailingly handed on to his descendants; and with the approbation of the people, who tenaciously adhered to the hereditary principle, restoration to former power was only a question of time and opportunity.
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A noble usually began his life as a slave or a retainer of the Sultan or of another noble, and proceeded on a graduated scale of promotion until a suitable opportunity brought to him the dignities of an office, and the rank of an *Amir*. Henceforth he was treated as a noble and his social position, as well as that of his descendants, was secure for ever afterwards. There was no valid rule of succession to the throne or any peculiar dignity which is associated with an ancient ruling house; there was not even a law of primogeniture, a fact which made the occupant of the throne very suspicious of the growing influence and power of a noble and his assumption of an independent attitude. A noble had no other choice except that of living as all other subjects of the Sultan or as a rebel. Thus in comparison with the privileges of their western compeers, or nearer home those of Rajput chiefs, the privileges of the nobles of Delhi fell short in one important respect, namely, that the State did not encourage their independence or even allow their titles and emoluments to descend to their children. Their dignities could be snatched away from them during their lifetime, and were always at the mercy of the reigning Sultan. This did not, however, affect the social importance¹ of a noble or of his descendants.
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¹ This rule, however, does not hold good when the Sultanat declined in power and the nobles succeeded in forming independent ruling dyansties after Sultan Firuz Tughluq.
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2. *The Titles and Distinctions.*—The highest among the nobles bore the title of *Khan* which signified the uppermost grade of nobility.² As a special distinction some of them were given the title of *Ulugh Khan-i-a'zam*.³ Next in rank came the title of *Malik*, and lastly that of *Amir*. There was no lower rank of peers in the court of the Sultans of Delhi. Below them came the military ranks of *Sipah-salar* and *Sar-khel* based probably on a decimal system, if we are to follow the opinion of Haji Dabir.⁴ In a generic sense the term ‘Amir’ may be applied to all the civil and military office-holders of the State, and should not be confused with the rank and title of the same name.¹ Similarly the term ‘Sipah-salar’ was sometimes indiscriminately used to denote a military officer irrespective of his rank and position. The official status of a noble was determined in relation to what were called the *Shughl*, the *Khitab* and the *Aqta* or their sinecures, their titles of honour, and the assignments of revenue respectively. There was no fixed rule for the award of offices at court or the distribution of titles of honour. All of them, however, had large revenue assignments to maintain them and their huge establishments.
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² K.R.; I, 107; compare Rawlinson, Five great Monarchies III, 223 for the Persian parallel :—‘Of right the position at the Persian Court immediately below that of the king belonged to the members of certain privileged families. Besides the royal family itself—or clan of the Achaemanidae—there were six great houses which had a rank superior to that of all other grandees’.
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³ Compare Raverty, 820, 862. The amusing instance of Hulagu who despised the use of such distinctive titles in Hindustan except in the case of Ulugh Khan Balban; compare also B.N., 278; for the change of titles among the Afghans who conferred the titles of *A'zam-i-Humayun*, *Khan-i-Jahan* and *Khan-Khanan* respectively.
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⁴ Compare the opinion of Haji Dabir in Z.W., II, 782; also B., 145. The amir was given the command of a thousand or above, and others in lower grades of hundreds and tens respectively.
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¹ Compare, for instance, B., 376.
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(a) *Shughl* and *Khitab*—As regards the *Shughl* or the offices at court, it was not possible to provide sinecures except for a few of the nobles. Other big offices in the gift of the monarch were not many. They included, as we have noticed, those of the royal household and the *karkhanas*, a few ministries and secretarial offices, governorships of certain districts and provinces and other civil and military offices, with titles of honour.² In the case of titles, though their range was as wide as the fancy and ingenuity of a monarch, discretion compelled the choice of a few to maintain their conspicuous dignity. Some of the distinctive titles were those of *Khvaja-Jahan*, *Imad-ul-mulk*, *Qivam-ul-mulk*, *Nizam-ul-mulk*, *A‘zam-ul-mulk*, *Qutlugh Khan*, *Ulugh Khan*, *Sadr-i-Jahan*, ‘*Alam-ul-mulk*, etc.³ Hindu influence made itself felt in outlying provinces; and the Sultans of Bengal even awarded such titles as *Nayaka Khan* and *Satya Raja*.⁴
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² Compare Raverty for illustration 645.
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³ Compare B., 410; T.M.S., 385.
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⁴ Compare P.P., 120.
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Along with their titles of honour the nobles held other ‘dignities’ which were called *maratib*. The *Maratib* signified for instance, their privileges when the royal court was held, the specific quality of the dress, the sword and the dagger which the Sultan presented to them once a year, and the number of horses or elephants they were entitled to have in their processions; similarly, the number of their retainers, their ensigns, drums, trumpets and pipes, etc.⁵ In some cases, these *maratib* were almost regal in appearance.⁶ (b) *Aqta’*.—The award of *Aqta’s* or revenue-assignments was the most important, since in the last resort the material resources at the command of a noble determined his social position and his political influence. It appears that the system of *Aqta’s* in the form in which it came to India was first designed by the Caliph Muqtadir to secure a regular remittance of revenue from the governors who had made themselves almost independent on their lands. The *Muqti’* collected the entire revenue of the district, defrayed the administrative charges, paid the troops and remitted a fixed sum from the remainder to the Court of Baghdad. These grants were given the name of *Aqta’at*,¹ the grantee being styled the *Muqta’*. The assignments of revenue in Hindustan retained these essential features all along. It appears that the holder of an *Aqta’* was given a more or less free hand in the administration of his assignment, which he sometimes leased out to other persons for a bigger sum, the poor peasantry suffering all the burden of these increased exactions. The revenue department at Delhi sent out its touring auditors but it was very difficult to control the *Aqta’*-holders, especially in outlying places.² In form, and as long as the state was powerful enough to enforce its will in fact, the *Aqta’s* of a noble as well as his distinctions and honours were purely personal. The State insisted on a very clear distinction between private property, which was subject to the law of inheritance, and public offices and assignments in which no vested or contingent rights could accrue. The position was left somewhat undefined because of the weakened power of the central administration after the death of Muhammad Tughluq. When the Afghan nobles began to treat their *Aqta’s* as heritable Sultan
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⁵ Compare K.R., II, 82; T.M.S., 389; T.A., I, 342.
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⁶ Apart from the examples noted in the previous chapter in the account of the royal prerogatives, some more may be enumerated here. They are
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¹ Kremer, 363.
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² Compare I.K., II, 41-50 for an amusing report of an auditor’s experiences in an *Aqta*.
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usually confined to the nobles who had the rank of *Khan*. For instance, when Bakhtyar Khalji was nominated to Bengal, Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak invested him with a canopy of state, royal ensigns and kettle-drums, gave him royal stallions and a waist-band and his own robes of state (*vide* T.M., 55). Similarly on the birth of his son, Sultan Mubarak Shah Khalji invested some of his Khans with royal parasols (*Chatrs*) and gave his own parasol Khusrau Khan (*vide* K.K., 771). The Chatr of a noble of Firuz Tughluq named Tatar Khan was inscribed with a golden peacock, the use of which, like that of the *huma*, was a royal prerogative (*vide* B., 578; A., 391). Sher Khan, after appointing Haibat Khan to the charge of Multan gave him the title of *A’zam-i-Humayun* and a red canopy of state (*vide* T.S.S., 61).
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Sikandar Lodi made the position unmistakably clear to the successor of a famous Afghan noble, the *Masnad-i-Ali*, named Zain-ud-din. ‘Let Zain-ud-din understand’ so reads the royal *farman* ‘that the assignments are conferred on him in a purely personal capacity and not as a relation of the late *Masnad-i-Ali*’. For the son of the late noble, the monarch assigned a cash allowance and for the wife a piece of land as a *patta*, that is, subject to renewal and sanction every year. The same conditions applied to the grant of the cash allowance.¹ Thus, in its normally strong condition the State was very reluctant to forgo its rights of resuming the *Aqta* lands, or even religious and charitable *waqfs* (endowments). A weak monarch, however, found it convenient not to interfere with the arrangements of his predecessor. A succession of weak monarchs or a weak dynasty gave to the continued possession of an *Aqta* a certain amount of sanctity and resemblance to private property. The power of ensuring the descent of an honour or a revenue-assignment from the father to the son shows rather the weakness of the central government than the recognition of right of occupancy or right of private possession on the part of the Sultanate.²
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¹ Compare W.M., 28.
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² Compare the opinion of Sir Wolseley Haig in H.U.H., 3170.
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These assignments of revenue were very large and sometimes comprised whole provinces of the Kingdom. Even modest assignments were very remunerative.³ The huge totals of these assignments may be judged from the fact that when a valuation sheet was prepared under Firuz Tughluq, the total value of revenue-assignments came to more than 57 milions of silver coins.⁴ The emoluments of the nobles of rank will be dealt with later.
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³ Compare the case of Ibn Batuta who by administering the *Aqta* of a noble in his absence at Deogir, gained about 5,000 Tankas (*vide* K.R., II, 8).
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⁴ Moreland, Agrarian etc. 57; for a summary of *Muqta* or the position of a revenue-assignment holder—*ibid.*, Appx. B, pp. 218-221.
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As to the relative position of the various ranks of nobles: the *Khans*, as has been said occupied the highest rank. Next to them were the *Maliks* who were usually raised from among the *Amirs* on certain occasions, as for instance the installation of a new monarch, or on the discharge of some very conspicuous services to the State.¹ The *Maliks* shared with the *Khans* some of their ordinary privileges although a difference of degree was always retained. They were similarly entitled to be addressed by their title of *Malik* and any additional titles of honour, a breach of the rule being punishable at law.² It was the same with the last rank of the *Amirs*. They had similar distinctions and dignities, but the same difference of degree as compared with the two higher ranks. To illustrate the point, in using standards in public, the *Khan* was allowed to take out nine standards but the *Amir* was not to take more than three; or again, when a *Khan* was permitted to have ten horses led by hand in his procession, the *Amir* was allowed only two.³ When Sultan Ultutmish made a gift of an elephant to Nasir-ud-din, who was a *Malik*, he gave a horse to each of the *Amirs*.⁴
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¹ Compare, e.g., B. 242 for those raised on the occasion of a new accession to the throne.
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² Compare the observation of Ibn Batuta, K.R., I, 107.
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³ Compare Notices, etc. 190.
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⁴ Raverty 728, 731.
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However, all ranks of nobles were assigned sufficient funds to employ a large number of retainers and to maintain a big establishment commensurate with their position. These establishments sometimes swelled to enormous dimensions.⁵ Further their rank and status were duly considered in the State ceremonies and in the assignment of their seats in all official functions.⁶
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⁵ Compare, for instance, that Khusrau Khan had 40,000 persons in his establishment under Mubarak Shah Khalji. Some of the Afghan nobles are reported to have employed as many as thirty to forty thousand paid men in their establishments. (*Vide* T.A., I, 342). Compare for the nobility of Mewar (Rajputana) the description of Tod, I, pp. 167-168; There is a three-fold division of Mewar chiefs as follows :— First class.—We have sixteen whose estates were from 10,000 to 50,000 rupees and upwards in yearly rent. These appear in the presence only on special invitation, upon festivals and solemn ceremonies, and are hereditary councillors of the crown. Second class.—From five to fifty thousand rupees. Their duty is to be always in attendance. From these chiefly, Foujdars and military officers are selected. Third class.—Is that of the Gol holding lands, chiefly under 5,000 rupees, though by favour they may exceed this limit.
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⁶ Compare A., 291-292.
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(c) *Minor Distinctions.*—Apart from the nobles of rank, other subjects were occasionally rewarded with a robe of honour (*khil‘at*) made of brocade and a waist-band, or with a horse and trappings, or with a grant of a piece of land, or a cash gift or allowance.¹ The horses so awarded were of four grades as regards the quality of the animal and the trappings.² The award of a robe of honour (*khil‘at*) became so popular with all classes of people at the close of the period that even the Sikh Guru Angad, is credited with distributing two *khil‘ats* to his followers every year.³ The system of *khil‘ats* as well as the nature of other rewards had a distinctly Persian origin.⁴
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¹ Compare for instance the list of awards to Ala-ul-mulk. B. 271; compare *ibid.*, 377 for instances from the reign of Mubarak Shah Khalji.
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² Compare K.R., II, 78.
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³ Compare Macauliffe, II, 40.
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⁴ Compare Huart, 148 for the Persian tradition :—"The gift of a robe of honour from the King's ward-robe was a very ancient custom......Sapor II gave the Armenian general "a royal garment, an ermine fur, a gold and silver pendant to attach to the eagle on his helmet, a diadem, breast ornaments, a tent, carpets and gold vessels. To reward the grand Mobed who brought him some good news, Ardashir I, filled his mouth with rubies, gold coins, pearls and jewellery"."
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3. The *Nobility and the Sultanate of Delhi*.—In the early period of the Sultanate the *Umara* or nobles were its greatest, if not its only, prop. Their significance was duly recognized by Sultan Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, who may be said to be the first to consolidate the possessions of his predecessors as well as his own considerable conquests.⁵ The establishment of the kingdom had only been possible because of the support and the devotion of these chiefs who came from the same class as other monarchs of the Slave dynasty, and had no particular reason to subordinate themselves like other common subjects of the State to the will of the Sultan. As a result, long before the reign of Sultan ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji, the power of the nobles and their organization began to develop. They organized themselves into a corporate body of nobles which was better known as ‘The Forty’. The behaviour of its members and its occasional conflicts with the administration convinced Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din Balban (who was one of them) that its existence was a serious menace to the State.⁶ He managed to exterminate most of its influential members and finally to dissolve the organization most ruthlessly. However, even Balban did not forget to safeguard the privileges of the nobles. He warned his son that no kingdom could prosper without the support of the nobility.¹ Thus the Sultanate was not opposed to the growth or the existence of the nobility, but only to its corporate organization. After this temporary set-back under Balban, the nobles established their political influence again, and became sufficiently powerful for the Sultans to court their support in maintaining their throne.²
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⁵ Compare B., 137 for the remarks attributed to Iltutmish, how, when the nobles honoured him by standing with folded hands in his presence, he on his part felt like stepping down from the throne and kissing their hands and even their feet.
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⁶ Compare Barani B., 28 for the organization; also K.R., I, 130. Compare a few examples to realize the political power of the nobles. When
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¹ Compare B., 78.
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² Compare B. (MS.), 70; compare how Bughra Khan felt extremely, satisfied that a strong faction of the nobles called the 'Kotwalians' (that is the sons and supporters of Fakhr-ud-din, the Kotwal of Delhi under Balban) had installed his son Sultan Kaiqubad on the throne of Delhi and were warmly supporting him. Similarly, when Jalal-ud-din Khalji came to the throne, he had not the courage to enter his own capital city, because of the opposition of Turkish nobles. (*Ibid.*, 180-181.)
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When 'Ala-ud-din Khalji came to the throne he realized the menace of the foreign nobles, and met the situation by incorporating an Indian element and by giving these Indian nobles position and power in the State. His successor also carried on this policy. Unfortunately, however, the Indian party at the court overdid itself, and the behaviour of Khusrau Khan and his friends antagonised the general Muslim opinion, which began to labour under the fear of being submerged in the rising tide of Indian (or Hindu) domination. This afforded an opportunity to the enterprising Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq to supplant the usurper Khusrau Khan and establish his own kingdom. When Muhammad Tughluq came to the throne he calmly reviewed the whole position, in one of the scenes of which he had personally taken part. He found that the foreign Turkish nobles and their Indian successors had both
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Malik 'Izz-ud-din Balban assumed the royal authority and was crowned as a Sultan, these nobles superseded him by placing 'Ala-ud-din Mas'ud Shah on the throne, and the former had to submit to their decision. (Vide Raverty, 622.) Again when Ulugh Khan Balban was dismissed from his office by the Sultan because of the machinations of Malik Raihan, the protest and military demonstration of these nobles led to a 'mutual accommodation of affairs' between them and the Sultan, who had to reverse his earlier decision and turn out the rival of Balban from the office (ibid., 830). Similarly when one of the Forty, named Badr-ud-din, was discovered plotting for the overthrow of the Sultan, the latter merely called upon him 'to give up his intentions' and did nothing beyond sending the noble to his *Aqta'* of Buda'un (ibid., 753).
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been tried and found wanting. He, therefore, hit upon the idea (in the earlier part of his reign) of recruiting foreigners from the Muslim lands outside India. The claims of Indians and those of Turkish origin domiciled in Hindustan were systematically ignored and the monarch showed extreme anxiety in getting outsiders at any price. The Sultan went to the extent of offering the most responsible and distinguished offices of the kingdom—for instance those of a Wazir, a Dabir, a military commander, a judge, a professor of theology or a Shaikh-ul-Islam to almost any foreigner of some learning. The foreigners coming into Hindustan were collectively known as ‘The Honourables’ (A‘izza).¹ If the foreigners did not make any use of these opportunities, the fault lay entirely with them. They came to Hindustan avowedly to make their fortunes and to return to their own country as soon as they could. They did not care to accept remunerative employment in the State which necessitated a prolonged stay in Hindustan. Even when some of them did choose to stay in Hindustan, they were more anxious to amass wealth by whatever means they could than to carry out the administrative measures of the Sultan for raising agricultural production, or for the greater efficiency of the State machinery.² After some experience of these foreigners, Muhammad Tughluq felt bitterly disappointed and reviewed his whole policy again.³ He had nothing to expect now from foreigners, or even from those of foreign extraction; the previous monarchs had tried the Turkish nobility and the Indians; he had tried the foreign Muslims; all had failed the Sultanate. The only course left was to try the common people of Hindustan irrespective of creed and religion. So, in the latter part of his reign, we find him introducing principles of extreme democratisation in administration, which provoked the wrath of the contemporary historian Barani and other Muslim writers whose interests were exposed to danger. The highest civil and military offices of the kingdom were thrown open to all classes of Indians, and the only qualification for recruitment was efficiency and talent.¹ Only perhaps the lowest were excluded from rising to the highest distinctions in the kingdom. Under his successor we come across the appointment of the first Indian Wazir—the famous Khan-i-Jahan. This was the highest office in the gift of a Sultan. The power and position of a Wazir was only second to that of the Sultan after the establishment of a strong administration. The rulers who succeeded to the throne of the Tughluqs after the brief interval of the invasion of Timur and the reign of the Sayyids, came from an essentially Indian stock.
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¹ Compare the account of Ibn Batuta, K.R., II, 3, 78; compare also ibid., 85, how when Muhammad Tughluq started for the Ma’bar expedition, he lavished gifts and rewards on the foreigners, to the exclusion of the Indians.
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² Compare K.R., II, 41 on the profiteering character of the foreigners, and how Ibn Batuta attributes the ruin and misfortune of one of them, Shihab-un-din, to the wrath of the divinity at his ill-gotten riches and wealth from Hindustan.
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³ Compare the remarks of Muhammad Tughluq B., 501, how he decided ‘to leave no foreigner alive on the face of the earth’.
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¹ Compare B., 505. Compare, that the list of persons he recruited for the administration consists of all classes of low-born persons—musicians, brewers, dancers, barbers, cooks, vegetable sellers, weavers, gardeners petty shop-keepers, slaves and ‘all sorts of low scum (bad-asls)’. Compare, also, that some Hindu names that appear in the list—like Nanka, Lodha, Pira, Kishen—cannot be mistaken. Compare for a few distinguished Indians : ‘Imad-ul-mulk the muster-master of Sultan Balban (vide B. (M.S.) 61); ‘Ain-ul-mulk the governor of Muhammad Tughluq in Kara. All foreigners (khurasanis) were mortally afraid of the latter when he rebelled ‘because he was an Indian who resented the domination of the foreigners’ (vide K.R. II, 64).
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Meanwhile, the social and cultural intercourse between the Hindus and the Muslims had gone far ahead, so that when Babur appeared on the scene he had to fight the combined force of the Hindus and the Muslims.² The last battle of the Afghans was fought under the command and the leadership of a Hindu noble and general when the crown passed to Akbar.³
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² Compare B.N., 28 where Babur speaks of a Hindu who bore the title of Khan-i-Jahan, creating trouble for the Mughals in the neighbourhood of Gwalior.
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³ Some idea may be gathered of the power and influence of Hemu, the Hindu General of the Afghans, from the remarks of the author of Tarikh-i-Daudi f. 121-122. When Hemu returned to Sultan ‘Adali after defeating the Afghans of the Karrani sect, the Sultan heaped many favours on him and conferred upon him the title of Vikramaditya. Some time later the monarch handed over to him all power in the State. Matters went to such lengths that hardly anything was left under the Sultan except bare means of subsistance. The elephants and treasures all passed under the control of Hemu. Compare also Abu’l Fazl’s appreciation of Hemu in A.N., I, 337.
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4. Personal Relations between the Nobles and the Sultan
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It is somewhat difficult to determine the exact nature of the private relations between a Sultan and his nobles. When, at an earlier period of his life, a noble was a slave of the Sultan, the position of the latter was that of a master; their relations were frankly those of dependence and service, as has been pointed out before. There were no personal rights or privileges in that status of social life. But when the slave, after being manumitted, ascended the social ladder, expediency and convention compelled the sovereign to abstain from interfering in his life too much. The position was by no means very clear even now. The Sultan persisted in maintaining his former position which was never openly disputed by the nobles. There was thus no border-line where the domain of the monarch ceased to exist and the private life of a noble began. In times of insecurity, the Sultan actively interfered in the lives of the nobles.¹ Under better and more stable conditions, there was greater harmony between the two. The Sultan usually acted as a patron and a friend, took a sympathetic interest in the affairs of his nobles, and even composed their mutual quarrels when they fell out with each other. Under the later dynasties of the Sayyids and the Afghans the original hold of the Sultan was relaxed, and the nobles were left to themselves more or less completely, until political reasons compelled the State to interfere in their life.²
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¹ The Sultan conferred the children of a noble in marriage as a rule; in fact, Sultan ‘Ala-ud-din Khalji made it obligatory for the nobles to secure the permission of the Sultan before entering into any form of relationship among themselves. Similarly, Ala-ud-din prohibited them from calling on one another or inviting one another to dinners or social parties without his approval. His orders were faithfully carried out (vide B., 286-7; compare Raverty, 767).
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² Compare A., 411 how Firuz Shah Tughluq treated his nobles and composed their mutual quarrels; compare also T.S.S., 57 for the action of Sher Shah against a governor of Bengal who married the daughter of a former king of Bengal and assumed an air of independence. Sher Shah had him summarily punished and forbade all others under threat of severe punishment from entering into relations with a deposed royal family without previously securing his approval.
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5. *The Composition of the Nobility.*—It is difficult to give the exact number of nobles of various ranks under the Sultanate;³ in point of composition they were a heterogeneous body, being composed of all sorts of foreigners and Indians, whose character and number varied with every ruling dynasty. In the beginning of the Muslim rule almost all of them were of Turkish extraction. The Afghans came to be incorporated gradually at a later date.
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³ Compare A., 109. Several thousand followed Firuz Tughluq in his invasion of Bengal.
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They are said to have come to India from Roh, a territory between Hasan Abdal and Kabul, and claimed to be descended from the Sultans of Ghur. Firuz Shah Tughluq was the first monarch who extended his favours to the Afghans though the latter had come and settled in Hindustan long before.¹ The Mongol invasions introduced a small element of Mongols who accepted Islam and were favoured by the State in the beginning. They were given the appellation of *Nau-Muslims* or new-converts to Islam. 'Ala-ud-din Khalji massacred them wholesale on the rebellion of some of them in Gujarat.² The Tughluqs are supposed to be of a 'mixed breed' being originally the slaves of Sultan Balban who had intermarried with the Jats in Hindustan.³ The later Mughal conquest of India introduced many Persians, Mongols, and Turks into the existing classes of nobles. In coastal towns, especially on the coast of Gujarat, all sorts of Muslim foreigners—the Arabs, the Abyssinians, the Persians, the Afghans, the people of Java, the Turks, the Egyptians, and still others, came to be domiciled and added to the variety of the racial stock of the Muslim upper classes of Hindustan.⁴ More important among these classes were the Turks in the beginning, and the Afghans and the Mughals at the close, of the period. The relations between the Mughals and the Afghans were not very pleasant for a while, until at last the passage of time healed all rancours and reconciled the latter to the dominion of the former.⁵ We may add to these classes the Rajput chiefs of Rajputana who stoutly held to their ground in opposing the Muslim domination, until at last the Sultanate recognized their status. We meet these chiefs earlier in the period as vassals at the Court of the Sultan or occasionally at the Courts of his.
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¹ Compare T.F., I, 412, 281. For earlier references, Amir Khusrau who gives an estimate of their character in A.S., 37; Ibn Batuta who describes them as a tribe of Ajam (*vide* K.R., I, 241). Timur mentions that they used to live in the west of Kashmir (*vide* Z.N., 304).
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² Compare for details the account of Barani in B. 219.
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³ Compare T.F., I, 230-231.
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⁴ Compare Barbosa I, 119-120; also Ross, Introduction to Z.W., II, XXXI.
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⁵ Compare T.S.S., 54, for an interesting story of an Afghan noble named 'Isa Khan' who had once saved the life of Bairam Khan when Humayun was driven out of India by the Afghans. When Bairam came to power as the regent of Akbar, the Afghan noble in spite of his want and poverty, refused to go to a Mughal for favour as too humiliating for the pride of an Afghan.
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viceroys in their own territory. At the close of the period we find them on fairly good terms with the rulers of Delhi and with the Sultans of new provincial dynasties, e.g., Gujarat and Malwa.¹
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¹ Compare a very interesting instance of the personal relations between Salim Shah Sur and the Raja of Gwalior, T.D., 110-111. ‘Compare T.F., I, 128 for an early recognition of Hindu chiefs; compare ‘Ala-ud-dins treatment of Raja of Deogir, T.F., I, 206; for Firuz Shah B., 587-588.