Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s4.t2.54

c5.s4.t2.54

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