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Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c8: Income of the State

Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c8

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English

Contents

Income of the State

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Income of the State

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One of the main functions of the state was collection of taxes. No scheme of conquest or defence or administration was possible without regular inflow of revenue. Muslim jurists divide the revenue of a Muslim state into two categories - religious and secular. The principal religious tax was Zakat and it was collected from the Muslims only. The secular taxes comprised Khams, Jiziyah and Kharaj; these were levied on the non-Muslims. So these were four major taxes - Khams, Jiziyah, Kharaj and Zakat. Besides these there were a few other sources of revenue. The importance of sound state finance was widely recognized by Muslim political thinkers and administrators. The financial system of the Muslim state was laid down by the Shariat and the Abbasid tradition. By the time the Muslim state was established in India, its revenue system had been carefully elaborated and its principles clearly set.

4.1. Khams

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We shall take up Khams first. For there was conquest before setting up of any government or administration. In the age of Islamic conquests, Jihad was the most flourishing industry, and Khams flowed as a reward of military victory. Khams as the word indicates, was one-fifth share of the Muslim state of the war-booty (*ghanima*) obtained in Jihad. The remaining four-fifths was distributed among the warriors. The *mal* obtained from Kafirs without engaging in war was called *fay*. The law of one-fifth (*khams*) did not apply to it. The whole benefit of it went to Muslims at large - the orphans, the poor, travellers etc. The special thing about Khams *is that it was obtained through war with Kafirs*.¹ Loot in war is common. It was common in the medieval period. What is special about Khams is that in Islam robbing of the infidel enjoys religious legitimacy. It was the command of God. Amir Timur in his *Mulfuzat-i-Timuri* declared: "Plunder in war is as lawful as mother's milk to a Musalman."

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The early Arab Muslims belonged to the poor, economically 'scum' sections of the society. They had to be provided for. There were two ways of doing it. One was to urge the needy neo-Muslims to work hard and earn livelihood through honest means. The other was to prompt them to attack non-Muslims and rob them of their possessions, and distribute the same among the faithful. Muhammad took with him 315 men to the battle at Badr. They were on foot. They had no clothes and no food. He prayed to God to give them all these. God gave victory to Muslims. When they returned from Badr, there was no man who had not brought one or two camels. They got enough clothes and sufficient food.² Khams provided an easy way of financially benefiting both the poor Muslims and their rich masters.³

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² 2

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³ 3

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Rules about Khams were laid down after the Battle of Badr. The Prophet's army had collected a motley spoil from the enemy camp. A diversity of opinion arose about its distribution. The contention was so sharp that Muhammad interposed with a message from heaven, and assumed possession of the whole booty. "It was God who had given the victory; and to God the spoil belonged." Shortly afterwards, the following ordinance which the Muslim law of prize recognises to the present day was given forth: "And know that whatsoever thing you plunder, verify one-fifth thereof is for God and for the Prophet, and for him that is of kin (unto the Prophet), and for the orphans, and the poor and the wayfarer…"⁴ The procedure about distribution followed was like this. After an expedition, Muhammad used to ask his slave Bilal to announce three times to the faithful to bring whatever they had obtained in *ghanaim*. People brought their booty and Muhammad distributed the loot among Muslims as per the one-fifth rule. While surrendering the gains, no stealing or perjury was allowed. The Rasul, Abu Bakr and Umar used to beat the men who did not truthfully disclose their gains and set fire to their goods. Even thread and needle was to be surrendered and no embezzlement was allowed. There was fire of hell for such culprits, say many *ahadis* of Bukhari. Sometimes Muhammad used to give something extra to a Mujahid beyond his share, but one who disappeared from the battle got nothing. According to Abu Daud, no share was fixed for women, *ghulams* or *bandis*, but they were given something if they happened to be present at the time of distributions.⁵

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⁴ 4

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⁵ 5

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In accordance with the divine command, the booty was divided in equal allotments, among the whole army, after the Prophet's one-fifth had been set apart. Muhammad obtained the camel of Abu Jahl and also selected the sword by the name of Zulfiqar, beyond his share according to a custom which allowed him, in virtue of his prophetic dignity, whatever thing might please him most before division.⁶ In short, in the early years of Islam, every believer was given a share in the booty accruing from new religious wars that were becoming the order of the day; they also had a share in the large revenues coming from a fast expanding Muslim empire. Every Arab was drafted as a soldier of Islam and his name was put on payroll. Umar regularized the system. Every Arab was a partner in the revenues derived from the loot and exploitation of the newly conquered lands Muslim brotherhood in action. The scales were fixed according to one's nearness to the Prophet. The widows of Muhammad received an annual allowance of 10,000 dirhams each every year; the famous Three Hundred of the Battle of Badr had 5,000 dirhams each; those of the Pledge of the Tree, received 4,000 each; every one who had converted to Islam before the Battle of Badr got annually 4,000 each, and their children 2,000 dirhams a year, and so they graduated downwards to 200 dirhams. Wives, widows, and children had each their share. Every Muslim had a share in this classification. Officers of the Arab Occupation Armies in different cantonment areas of the empire received yearly from 6,000 to 9,000 dirhams; and every boy, as soon as born, received 100 dirhams each; every Muslim had the title to be entered on the payroll, with a minimum allowance of ten pieces, rising with advancing age to its proper place.⁷

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These stipends were hereditary and they created a class of people who lived on the fat of the land they occupied. It laid the foundation of a thorough imperialism which was more durable than any other the world had known in the past.⁸

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The legitimacy of loot and provision of a share to the warrior attracted many volunteers for Jihad. it also encouraged the soldiers to follow their leaders unitedly through thick and thin. It formed the very basis on which Muslim brotherhood had been organised from the very beginning. Besides the soldiers and the rulers, sultans and nobles, the saiyads, sufis, ulema, poets, mullahs, maulvis, muftis, imams, qazis and hajis, who had been at one time or the other the warriors of Islam or sycophants at the courts also lived lavishly on war booty dished out to them in the forth of *inams*, pensions or *madad-i-maash*. All these sections in turn prompted their rulers to more and more Jihad to obtain more and more Khams.⁹ As a Zimmi the Hindu soldier had no share in the booty as he could not wage Jihad. Hindu women and children similarly had no claim. But Hindu troops were also paid something "in order to encourage them to fight and inferiority of their station be rendered manifest to them."¹⁰

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*Khams in India*

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The Muslim rulers of Hindustan followed the tenets and traditions of Islam. The one-fifth share, called Khams, of the Ghanimah obtained as booty in their campaigns, and one or two articles specially selected by the Muslim ruler, were also continued to be regarded as the share of the sultans of India. The rest was distributed to the army. it is another matter that the sultans tried to appropriate much more than their share of Khams. Another rule which became the norm in India was the general disposal of the acquisitions in war. It was also set in Arabia after an attack on the Jews. The expedition was against the Jewish tribe, the Banu Quraizah, which was led by Muhammad. The Jews were besieged and later compelled to capitulate. "Their fate was left to the decision of the Prophet's companion, Sa'd, whose sentence was that the male captives should be slain, the female captives and children sold into slavery, and the spoils divided among the army. The Prophet commanded the cruel judgement of Sa'd, as a decision according to the judgement of God..."¹¹ in most campaigns in Hindustan after victory the Muslim sultans or their commanders also used to slay male captives, and enslave women and children. And like in early Islam, the Muslim rulers in India used the wealth obtained in war and through other means to the best of their enjoyment. They created a ruling class which lived on the fat of the land it occupied. They milked the people thoroughly and laid the foundation of Islamic imperialism which more or less survived for a thousand years.

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In Hindustan, the income from Khams was considerable. An idea of the profits can be had from the account of the Arab invasion of Sindh by al-Biladuri. According to him Muhammad bin Qasim had forwarded to Hajjaj 120 million dirhams which represented only one-fifth of the total loot (of 600 million) which was paid into the Caliph's treasury according to the rule of Khams.

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Economic historians are prone to believe that Muslim invaders of India were motivated mainly by material gains and they were not enthused by political motives or with zeal to spread Islam. It must be remembered that in human mind or human society social, political, and religious affairs cannot be separated from one another. All act and react upon one another. In the history of Islam, the three are interrelated and cannot be divided into watertight compartments. Still let us see how economic denudation of India led to its people losing their status in society and drifting into lower classes and castes.

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From the sack of Debal to the end of Muhammad Qasim's stay in Sindh, the invaders had gained 600 million dirhams in money¹² and thousands in slaves (especially women) and distributed them liberally among the Muslims from the Caliph to the common soldier.¹³ The economic life of Sindh had got completely unhinged during his campaigns. A large number of people and merchants had fled "to Hind" and abroad.¹⁴ Most others had been sucked dry. Such was the erosion of demography and prosperity that after the capture of Brahmanabad, "all people, the merchants, artisans and agriculturists were divided separately into their respective classes, and (only) ten thousand men, high and low, were counted. Muhammad Qasim then ordered twelve dirhams weight of silver (i.e., twelve silver coins or their equivalent) to be assigned to each man (for rehabilitation), because all their property had been plundered."¹⁵ The Brahmans, "the attendants of the temples were likewise in distress. For fear of the (Muslim) army, the alms and bread were not regularly given to them, and therefore they were reduced to poverty."¹⁶ From the destruction of Debal to the end of the campaign temples had been broken with the zeal of an iconoclast and their *purohits* and other dependents had no employment, no income. "It was ordained (by Qasim) that the Brahman should, like beggars, take a copper basin in their hands, go to the doors of the houses, and take whatever grain or other thing that might be offered to them, so that they might not remain unprovided for."¹⁷

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Mahmud Ghaznavi also collected lot of wealth from Khams. A few facts and figures may be given as illustrations. In his war against Jayapal (1001-02 CE) the latter had to pay a ransom of 2,50,000 dinars (gold coin) for securing release from captivity. Even the necklace of which he was relieved was estimated at 2,00,000 dinars "and twice that value was obtained from the necks of those of his relatives who were taken prisoners or slain..."¹⁸ A couple of years later, all the wealth of Bhera, which was "as wealthy as imagination can conceive," was captured by the conqueror (1004-05 CE). In 1005-06 the people of Multan were forced to pay an indemnity of the value of 20,000,000 (royal) dirhams (silver coin). When Nawasa Shah, who had reconverted to Hinduism, was ousted (1007-08), the Sultan took possession of his treasures amounting to 400,000 dirhams. Shortly after, from the fort of Bhimnagar in Kangra, Mahmud seized coins of the value of 70,000,000 (Hindu Shahiya) dirhams and gold and silver ingots weighing some hundred maunds, jewellery and precious stones. There was also a collapsible house of silver, thirty yards in length and fifteen yards in breadth, and a canopy (*mandapika*) supported by two golden and two silver poles.¹⁹ Such was the wealth obtained that it could not be shifted immediately, and Mahmud had to leave two of his "most confidential" chamberlains, Altuntash and Asightin, to look after its gradual transportation.²⁰ In the succeeding expeditions (1015-20) more and more wealth was drained out of the Punjab and other parts of India. Besides the treasures collected by Mahmud, his soldiers also looted independently. From Baran, Mahmud obtained, 1,000,000 dirhams and from Mahaban, a large booty. in the sack of Mathura five idols alone yielded 98,300 *misqals* (about 10 maunds) of gold.²¹ The idols of silver numbered two hundred. Kanauj, Munj, Asni, Sharva and some other places yielded another 3,000,000 dirhams. We may skip over many other details and only mention that at Somnath his gains amounted to 20,000,000 dinars.²² These figures are more or less authentic as Abu Nasr Muhammad Utbi, who mentions them, was the secretary to Sultan Mahmud, so that he enjoyed excellent opportunities of becoming fully conversant with the operations and gains of the conqueror.

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Besides gold and silver, the Ghaznavids collected in loot and tribute and Khams, valuable articles of trade like indigo, fine muslins, embroidered silk, and cotton stuffs, and things prepared from the famous Indian steel, which have received praise at the hands of Utbi, Hasan Nizami, Alberuni and many others. For example, one valuable commodity taken from India was indigo. From Baihaqi, who writes the correct Indian word *nil* for the dyestuff, it appears that 20,000 *mans* (about 500 maunds) of indigo was taken to Ghazni every year. According to Baihaqi, Sultan Masud once sent 25,000 mans (about 600 maunds) of indigo to the Caliph at Baghdad for "the Sultans often reserved part of this (valuable commodity) for their own usage, and often sent it as part of presents for the Caliph or for other rulers."²³

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Khams was collected not only on wealth captured in war but on all items of loot like animals and humans. Khams on animals was fixed according to rules of barter and exchange. For example, in the early days of Islam, according to a *hadis*, twenty goats were considered to be equal to one camel.²⁴ Of the humans captured, the policy was to kill all males who could bear arms and capture their women and children as per the rule laid down in Quran and Hadis.²⁵ The non-combatant men were made slaves and put on sundry duties in the king's palace, distributed among the nobles or sold in the markets in India and abroad. Women and children were the prize of the warriors, and as early as the days of Qutbuddin Aibak "even a poor Muslim householder (who was also a soldier) became owner of numerous slaves."²⁶ One-fifth, and often more of this item, was the share of the state or the monarch.

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*Women as Khams*

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An important item of Khams was women. "An idea of the number of slaves flooding the Muslim empire as a result of conquest may be gained from such exaggerated figures as the following: Musa took 300,000 captives from North Africa, one-fifth of whom he forwarded to the Caliph, and from the Gothic nobility in Spain he captured 30,000 virgins; the captives of one Muslim general in Turkestan alone numbered 100,000."²⁷ In India from the days of Muhammad bin Qasim in the eighth century to those of Ahmad Shah Abdali in the eighteenth, enslavement, distribution and sale of Hindu women and children was systematically practised by Muslim invaders and rulers of India. A few lakh women were enslaved in the course of Arab invasion of Sindh. In the final stages of its conquest, "When the plunder and the prisoners of war were brought before Qasim... one-fifth of all the prisoners were chosen and set aside (to be sent to Caliph through his agent Hajjaj); they were counted as amounting to twenty thousand in number... (they belonged to high families) and veils were put on their faces, and the rest were given to the soldiers."²⁸ In Muhammad Ghauri's invasion of Gujarat 20,000 prisoners were captured and in 1202 at Kalinjar 50,000 *kaniz wa ghulam*.²⁹ Under the Khaljis and Tughlaqs thousands of non-Muslim women were captured in never-ceasing campaigns.

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As per the Hadis virgins were to be preferred³⁰ but if a married woman with husband still alive was taken captive and introduced into the sultan's harem, conjugal felicity with her was permitted by law. One such case is that of Kamla Devi, the consort of Raja Karan Vaghela of Gujarat, who was captured by Alauddin Khalji's generals and introduced into his harem. Sexual relations with a married woman whose husband was living was taboo, but in an *ayat* received by the Prophet from Allah when women with husbands living are captured in war and "you are their master," it is allowed to have conjugal relations with them.³¹ Throughout the medieval period in the North, South, East and West women-capturing or purchasing was a major pleasure activity of the ruling class.³² No wonder that mainly through this activity 2,000 women were inducted into the harem of a nobleman (e.g. Khan Jahan Maqbul, Wazir of Firoz Shah Tughlaq), another 2,000 into the harem of a prince (e.g. Alam Shah, son of Aurangzeb), and 5,000 into that of a king (e.g. Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar). One example of such activity may be given to end the unhappy story. In the time of Jahangir, his general Abdullah Khan Uzbeg destroyed, in the Kalpi-Kanauj area alone, all towns and took all their women and children as slaves. He once boasted: "I made prisoners of five lacs of men and women and sold them. They all became Muhammadans. From their progeny there will be crores by the day of judgement."³³ Kafir women had a special place in the Muslim psyche. Gloating over the pleasures of Paradise, Ibn Majah writes on the basis of appropriate *ahadis*, that a Jihadist will be married to seventy-two beauties in Paradise of whom two will be *hurs* and seventy Kafir women obtained in miras, transferred from hell for his pleasure's sake.³⁴

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Thus the glories of Kufa, of Baghdad and of Ghazni, the glories of the empires of Islam everywhere like in Agra, Lahore and Delhi, comprising of magnificent palaces, spacious audience halls adorned with costly rugs, silken curtains and embroidered cushions, with hundreds of young charming maidens with shoes studded with precious stones, dancing and gyrating in unison, thousands of slave girls running about at the bidding of their master, about which the Muslim historians, poets and minstrels sing ceaselessly, were gifts of Khams, the state's share of the loot and plunder of the infidels.

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*Wealth obtained through Khams*

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Alauddin Khalji wanted to keep his treasury full and people poor. He disliked people from growing opulent. Therefore, he appropriated four-fifths of the spoil as Khams. This proportion seems to have become the norm till Firoz Tughlaq changed this 'illegal' practice, as he calls it, and reverted to the sanctioned one-fifth of the loot of soldiers as share for the state treasury.³⁵ Sometimes to enthuse the soldiers all the individual plunder from the rebels was left with them to enjoy.³⁶ But one-fifth was the norm as per the law. Since Khams brought lot of wealth to the government and the soldiers it made both of them greedy. This situation led to many embezzlements and mutinies. The Prophet had repeatedly commanded the Muslims in the Hadis not to hide any gains in war and to declare their personal loot honestly.³⁷ But human nature asserted itself against the Shariat's demand. Only one example of this would suffice. Gujarat was invaded by Khalji forces in 1299. The soldiers sacked dozens of towns and looted a number of monasteries, palaces and temples there. The social practice of the times and especially the use of various kinds of gold ornaments by the Hindu families had made gold a household commodity. The Arab traveller Abdurrazzaq who visited the Deccan in the fifteenth century writes that "all the inhabitants of the country, whether high or low, even down to the artificers of the bazars, wear jewels and gilt ornaments."³⁸ Farishtah also says that even the poor in the Deccan put on gold ornaments and the high class people used to eat in gold and silver plates.³⁹ This was about the time when people in the North had already been divested of much of their gold and silver by waves of invaders and dynasties of rulers. Still the old habits had continued. The people of Gujarat, a rich kingdom with a flourishing trade, were continually attacked and robbed. In the words of Abdullah Wassaf "the Muslim army plundered gold and silver to an extent greater than can be conceived, and an immense number of brilliant precious stones, such as pearls, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, etc., as well as great variety of cloths, both silk and cotton, stamped, embroidered, and coloured. They (also) took captive a great number of handsome and elegant maidens, amounting to 20,000 and children of both the sexes, more than the pen can enumerate."⁴⁰ They also exacted immense booty in bullion, jewels, and other valuables from the merchants and other rich men of the port-town of Cambay or Khambhat. Besides, "each soldier had plundered sufficient wealth for himself."⁴¹ In the course of the return journey dispute arose regarding the quantum of Khams and various kinds of brutal punishments were inflicted upon the soldiers to extort confession from them with regard to their individual gains. They wished to part with only one-fifth of their loot as required by the rules of Khams, but Alauddin's orders were for collecting four-fifths.

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According to the contemporary chronicler Ziyauddin Barani, harsh enquiries Were made about the amount and items of loot. The commanders did not believe in the version of the soldiers and wanted to take the best out of everything from the lashkar of gold, silver, and other precious articles. There were many ticklish technicalities involved in the search operation. The army comprised of many "Hindus, Muslims, Amirs, and neo-Muslims (Mongols)."⁴² According to law there was no share in the loot for the Mushriks joining the Jihad.⁴³ Then, according to Isami, the soldiers besides plundering what they could lay their hands on, dug out and carried away treasures hidden underground by the Gujarat people.⁴⁴ Khams was due on it if it belonged to non-Muslims. In Gujarat, however, there were many rich Muslims who had their hidden treasures ransacked. Khams was also not due if the property belonged to a person who had been killed by a trooper. In such a case his whole belongings went to the killer; no Khams was due on it.⁴⁵

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The case of Gujarat shows how loot in war fed the greed of both the soldiers and the commanders of the king. Resistance of the soldiers sometimes took the form of rebellion. But during the whole of the Sultanate period of more than three centuries, immense wealth was gathered by Muslims through loot and Khams. Rizqullah narrates one incident which is worth reproducing. During Sher Shah's time Champaran in Bihar was attacked by his commander. The kingdom had escaped Muslim visitation during the last two hundred years, and all the riches and treasures which were amassed during that period were now looted by Mian Husain Farmuli's men. "The shoes of the infidels who lost their lives in this action... when melted down no less than 20,000 *mohurs* of gold were obtained from them."⁴⁶

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*Khams during the Mughal Period*

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During the Mughal period, the quantum of such gains increased because of their exceptional success in war. Babur's gains were immense. As will be seen later on he distributed huge amounts of these to his ladies, princes and Begs. And if Humayun was not successful in this regard, Sher Shah and his successors made up for the deficiency. Akbar was victorious in almost every campaign and the extent of his success determined the quantity of loot, tribute and Khams during his reign of half a century. It is not necessary to catalogue all the monetary gains of Akbar through war. An example alone may suffice to give an idea of the same. In 1564 Asaf Khan I, the governor of Kara under Akbar, invaded the kingdom of Gondwana of Rani Durgawati on behalf of the emperor. "When the fort (of Chauragarh) was taken there fell into the hands of Asaf Khan and his men an incalculable amount of gold and silver. There were coined and uncoined gold, decorated utensils, jewels, pearls, figures, pictures, jewelled and decorated idols, figures of animals made wholly of gold, and other rarities. The coin was said to include a hundred large pots full of the gold *ashrafis* of Alauddin Khalji."⁴⁷ If a small kingdoms like Gondwana could bring in so much wealth, how much more would have been collected in loot and Khams from larger kingdoms can only be imagined. But it is not possible to go into the gains from all the enterprises of Akbar and his successors.

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Khams did not mean just material gain or loss in war. It meant ruination of the country as a whole as vouched by the Muslim chroniclers themselves. We have seen how immense were the gains of Muhammad bin Qasim and Mahmud of Ghazni in their campaigns. And Alberuni who was eye-witness to Mahmud's exploits in India, writes: "*Mahmud utterly ruined the* *prosperity of the country* (emphasis ours)... The Hindus became like atoms of dust scattered in all directions. This is the reason, too, why Hindu sciences have retired far away (to Kashmir, Benaras and other places)... Their scattered remains cherish, of course, the most inveterate aversion towards all Muslims."⁴⁸ Abdullah Wassaf wrote about the exploits of Alauddin Khalji's generals in Gujarat campaign (1299) between March 1300 and 1310. He repeats in the beginning of the fourteenth century what Alberuni wrote in the beginning of the eleventh. "*The Muhammadan army brought the country to utter ruin and destroyed the lives of the inhabitants and plundered the cities, and captured their offspring*... (emphasis added)..."⁴⁹ Similar was the result of Asaf Khan's sack of Gondwana.⁵⁰ Collection of Kharaj was circumscribed by the fear of the peasantry abandoning cultivation if pressured too far. Collection of Jiziyah was possible only where non-Muslim residents were too weak to resist. The stream of income from Khams never got dry as there were always infidel lands to subjugate and destroy.

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*Destruction Wrought by the Islamic Way*

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In the seventeenth century Francois Bernier, the French physician-savant wrote that wherever Muslims went and ruled, ruin followed. In his time the "present condition of *Mesopotamia*, *Anatolia*, *Palestine*, the once wonderful place of Antioch, and so many other regions anciently well cultivated, fertile and populous, but (are) now desolate... Egypt also exhibits a sad picture..." So happened in India. About here, writing in the glorious days of Islamic Mughal rule, he says that "most towns in Hindustan are made up of earth, mud, and other wretched material; that there is no city or town (that) does not bear evident marks of approaching death."⁵¹ Hindustan reverted to British and Hindu rule and was by and large saved. But the once wonders of Hindu and Buddhist regions which remained with Muslims or got demographically dominated by them like Afghanistan and Kashmir set upon a path of decline. Once upon a time Afghanistan was a great centre of Gandhara art and culture. The sculptural art of Gandhara, under Kushan dynastic patronage, created the Bamiyan colossi of the Buddha carved from the living rock by nameless Kushan sculptors. The famous Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang, passing through Bamiyan, on his way to the court of Harshavardhan and the University of Nalanda in 629 CE praised it as a centre of art to which sculptors, architects and painters flocked. Bamiyan Buddha is the tallest statue in the world. There are (or rather were) many wonderful pieces of architecture and sculpture strewn all over Afghanistan. Here flourished poets like Ashvaghosh, physicians like Charak and philosophers like Nagarjun. Here flourished trade which provides wealth which in time pipelines facilities into all creative activity. The violence of Islam destroyed all this in Afghanistan in course of time. Today Afghanistan is being ruled by the Taliban in accordance with the Islamic Shariat. And the whole world knows how it is being ruled.

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Kashmir too was a centre of Hindu and Buddhist art and learning in the ancient period. The background of Muslim penetration is given by Alberuni. He writes: "In former times, Khurasan, Persis, Iraq, Mogul, the country up to the frontier of Syria, was Buddhistic,⁵² but then Zarathustra went forth from Adharbaijan and preached Magism in Balkh (Baktra)... both by force and by treatise... The succeeding kings made their religion (i.e. Zoroastrianism) the obligatory state-religion for Persis and Iraq. In consequence, the Buddhists were banished from those countries east of Balkh..." India, as far as known to Alberuni was Brahmanic, not Buddhistic.⁵³ "But then came Islam... Muslims began to make inroads into their (Hindus') country. Muhammad Ibn Elkasim Ibn Elmunabbih (Muhammad bin Qasim) entered India proper and penetrated even as far as Kanauj, marched through the country of Gandhara, and on his way back, through the confines of Kashmir... All these events planted a deeply rooted hatred in their (Hindus') hearts... Mahmud Ghaznavi utterly ruined the prosperity of the country." The process of ruination of Kashmir was continued. Kashmir was gradually bereft of this 'Science' as sultans like Sikandar Butshikan and sufis of his ilk began to Islamize the region. By Abul Fazl's time much of Hinduism was gone and a little of Buddhism remained. For writes he, "The third time that the writer accompanied His Majesty to the delightful valley of Kashmir, he met a few old men of this persuasion (Buddhism), but saw none among the learned [Brahmans?]."⁵⁴ Emperor Jahangir found near Srinagar only "the remains of a place of worship for recluses: cells cut of the rock and numerous caves."⁵⁵ Kashmir Valley is today experiencing the full blast of Islamic cultural tradition. But when all these regions were first sacked loot and Khams were the motives of attack. If Khams resulted in ruination, Jiziyah brought in both economic loss and moral as well as mental degradation to the victims.

4.2. Jiziyah

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The levying of Jiziyah on non-Muslims has been regarded by most of the Muslim jurists as an important duty of the Muslim state as it was believed to be one of the most lawful taxes. The Quran prescribes Jiziyah in a verse revealed in the context of Jihad. Translated in English it reads thus: "Fight against such of those who have been given the scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day... and follow not the religion of truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low."[56](https://archive.org/stream/MuslimSlaveSystemInMedievalIndia/Mssimi#page/n66/mode/1up) The Quran recognizes only two communities, viz. Jews and Christians, as scriptuaries. According to Imam Malik, one of the four great jurists, the verse of the Jiziyah is applicable to all non-Muslims excepting apostates. Abu Hanifa applies it even to idolaters excepting the idolaters of Arabia. In brief Jiziyah is primarily a Jihadic impost, not a fiscal one, as sought usually to be made out. It is a penalty for *kufr*, and alternative to killing, plunder, enslavement, ransom, forcible conversion. It is a badge of humiliation for being a non-Muslim, of utter servility to Islamdom.[57](https://archive.org/stream/MuslimSlaveSystemInMedievalIndia/Mssimi#page/n66/mode/1up)

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*Spirit of the Tax*

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According to the *Encyclopedia of Islam* the Muslim state was a theocracy in which the non-Muslims were given the status of Zimmis. "They are not citizens of the Muslim state but are suffered to live under certain disabilities." One of the chief disabilities was that "each adult, male, free, sane Zimmi must pay poll tax, Jaziyah".[58](https://archive.org/stream/MuslimSlaveSystemInMedievalIndia/Mssimi#page/n66/mode/1up) T.P. Hughes writes: "Theoretically, the inhabitants, together with their wives and children are considered as plunder and property of the state, and it would be lawful to reduce them to slavery. In practice, however, the milder course prevails, and by paying the stipulated capitation-tax the subdued people become, in the quality of Zimmis, free subjects of the conquering power, whose condition is but little inferior to that of their Muslim fellow subjects."[59](https://archive.org/stream/MuslimSlaveSystemInMedievalIndia/Mssimi#page/n66/mode/1up) Similar is the opinion of N.P. Aghnides, an authority on Muslim theory of finance. According to him, "In return for Jaziyah the Zimmi was entitled to protection for life and exemption from military service. The Jaziyah was levied as the cash equivalent to the assistance which they would be liable to give if they had not persisted in their unbelief, because living as they do in a Muslim state, they must be ready to defend it... Moreover, the main object in levying the tax is the subjection of the infidels to humiliations... and... during the process of payment, the Zimmi is seized by the collar and vigorously shaken and pulled about in order to show him his degradation."60 In its essence thus, Jiziyah was not just a tax. It was an instrument of humiliation of the non-Muslim. Its spirit kept the non-Muslim reminded that he was an inferior citizen of the Muslim state. If he felt the burden too great he could convert to Islam. Jiziyah was thus an instrument of conversion also.

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In short, Jiziyah originated as an offshoot of Jihad. Jihad is to be fought with all resources, lives, possessions and tongues. It is said to have four forms - Jihad by heart, Jihad by tongue, Jihad by hand and Jihad by the sword.61 Jihad presupposes that the world is meant for and belongs to the Muslim to the exclusion of all others, and therefore the Muslims can indulge in virtual liquidation of Kafirs.62 But an alternative was offered by Jiziyah. Akida was a Christian king of the city of Duma. He was caught alive in Jihad. Muhammad asked him to pay Jiziyah. He paid it but later (because of economic pressure) converted to Islam.63 Jiziyah remained an instrument of conversion and exploitation throughout the history of Islam.

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The Quran gives no guidance about the rate of Jiziyah. It was Umar, the second Caliph, who settled three grades of Jiziyah - for the rich, the middle class and the poor (who included cultivators and artisans). He also exempted women, children, beggars, insane, blind and monks from the payment of Jiziyah. Many *ahadis* describe the collection of Jiziyah, for example, from the Persian fire-worshippers.64 Muhammad's '*wasiat*' gives the essence of Jiziyah. His command was: Do Jihad in the name of God and way of God and kill those who are Munkirs. Do not steal from ghanimat. From those who do not believe demand Jiziyah. If they refuse, fight them.65

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A few things are obvious from the above discussion. Jiziyah is a Jihadist impost. It is penalty for *kufr*, an alternative to forcible conversion or killing. It was imposed to humiliate the non-Muslim and to keep him reminded of his inferior status (of Zimmi) in the Muslim state. From the statement of Qazi Mughisuddin in the fourteenth century to those of Mulla Ahmad, Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi and Shah Walliullah in later centuries, the burden of their assertion is the same -Jiziyah is meant for the humiliation of the non-Muslims. Of course, it is based on Islamic scriptures, the Quran and Hadis, so that the statement of one is repeated by the others. Here are some examples. Questioned by Sultan Alauddin concerning the position of the Hindu as a Khirajguzar, the Qazi of Bayana expounded the injunction of the Faith thus: "By the ecclesiastical law the term Khirajguzar is applicable to a Hindu only, who as soon as the revenue collector demands the sum due from him, pays the same with meekness and humility, coupled with the utmost respect. God Almighty himself (in the Quran) declares with regard to their being subjected to degradation... *and thus he expressly commands their complete degradation in as much as these Hindus are the deadliest foes of the true Prophet. Mustafa, on whom be peace, has given orders regarding the slaying, plundering, and imprisoning of them, ordaining that they must either follow the true faith, or else be slain and imprisoned, and have all their wealth and properly confiscated. With the exception of the Imam-i-Azam* (Abu Hanifa)... *we have no other great divine as authority for accepting the poll tax* (Jiziyah) *from a Hindu; for the opinion of the other learned men is based on the hadis* (Tradition) 'Either death or Islam'."66

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According to Mulla Ahmad, "the main object of levying of Jiziyah on them (the Hindus) is their humiliation... God established (the custom of realising) Jiziyah for their dishonour. The object is their humiliation and the (establishment of) prestige and dignity of the Muslims."67 Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624), who proclaimed himself as Mujaddid-i-Alf Sani or Renovator of the Second Millennium of Islam, wrote many books and several letters to the courtiers of Akbar and Jahangir. In one such letter he wrote that "the honour of Islam lies in insulting *kufr* and *kafirs*. One who respects the *kafirs* dishonours the Muslims... The real purpose of levying the Jiziyah on them is to humiliate them to such an extent that they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should remain terrified and trembling." So also said Shah Walliullah (1703-1762) and many other respected Muslim ulema and sufis.68 Those who blame the ulema for the cruelty and orthodoxy of Muslim rulers should remember that it was not possible for the ulema and sufis to give wrong interpretation of the scriptures before autocrats. They interpreted correctly and rendered correct advice. Muslim religion and its tenets are responsible for an iniquitous tax like Jiziyah and not its advocacy by the ulema. The denial to the entire non-Muslim people of the basic human right of freedom and equality of every man is internalised with Jiziyah. Muslims never tire of harping on equality of man in Islam, but this claim is belied by Jiziyah. This also refutes the claim of modem Muslim apologists that the Muslim state in India was a secular state.

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*Jiziyah in India*

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Jiziyah was imposed in India from the day the Muslims set foot in the country. After capturing Brahmanabad, Muhammad bin Qasim levied Jiziyah on the population according to three grades. The first was to pay silver equal to 48 dirhams, the second 24 dirhams and the lowest 12 dirhams.69 According to Farishtah the Hindu Shahiya king Jayapala, when defeated by Subuktigin, offered to pay Jiziyah and Kharaj to him. It was levied under the so-called Slave Kings, "but there seem good reasons to believe that the term Jiziyah was not used exclusively in the sense of a capitation tax," says Habibullah.70

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Curiously enough, Barani himself on two occasions calls land revenue as Jiziyah.71 The earliest imposition of the tax in its true sense was by Firoz Shah Khalji (1290-96).72 In the time of Alauddin Khalji the conversation between Qazi Mughisuddin and the Sultan has been given above and is well-known. The Qazi emphasised that the Hindu is a Kharaji, that his degradation is necessary, that except for Abu Hanifa all other jurists say that the choice to be given to such idolaters is Islam or death. So far as Alauddin is concerned, independently of what Qazi Mughisuddin or Ziyauddin Barani advocated, he suppressed the Hindus to the utmost by collecting all legal (and some illegal) taxes from the Hindus, and earned the approbation of a visiting Maulana - Shamsuddin Turk. Jiziyah continued to be collected throughout the Sultanate period. In the reign of Firoz Tughlaq those who paid the Jiziyah were divided into three classes. The first had to pay 40 *tankahs*, the second 20 and the third 10. In his reign for the first time Jiziyah was imposed on the Brahmans also. The Brahmans represented that its incidence weighed heavily upon them. The Sultan lowered the rate for them, and they were assessed at ten *tankahs* and fifty *jitals* for each individual.⁷³ K.R. Qanungo and R.P. Tripathi write on the authority of Abbas Sarwani that Sher Shah collected the Jiziyah and the pilgrim tax. The collection seems to have been continued by Babur and Humayun. Writing about the abolition of Jiziyah by Akbar, Abul Fazl says that in spite of its unpopularity it was imposed by Akbar's predecessors who "were girded up for the contempt and destruction of the opposite factions". Akbar considered Jiziyah as the greatest hurdle in the way of Hindu-Muslim integration and so abolished it in 1564. This was done "in spite of disapproval of the statesmen and of the (loss of) great revenue, and of much chatter on the part of the ignorant."⁷⁴ Jahangir and Shahjahan continued the policy of Akbar. Akbar gave a common citizenship to all his subjects, Hindus and Muslims alike. For a hundred years after this step was taken, the Hindus felt that the Mughal empire was their own, but after about one century this feeling was once again shattered. Aurangzeb reimposed Jiziyah in 1679. His *Fatawa-i-Alamgiri* recognizes two systems of collection of this tax: (i) Lump sum payment of an agreed upon amount by the ruler of a territory or the people thereof and (ii) Payment by individual tax-payers of amounts individually assessed in territories directly under Muslim rulers, governors etc. Sri Ram Sharma reproduces Aurangzeb's order about the imposition and collection of Jiziyah dated 26th July, 1696. It says that "Jiziyah lapses on death and on acceptance of Islam". During the course of the year some people used to die and some used to convert, but the amount of Jiziyah for the place remained unaltered. In view of this the first type of payment was disadvantageous to Hindus. The last paragraph of the order reads: "The nonMuslim should himself bring the Jiziyah; if he sends it through his deputy it should not be accepted. At the time of payment the non-Muslim should keep standing, while the chief should keep sitting. The hand of the non-Muslim should be below and that of the chief above it and he should say. 'Make payment of Jiziyah, O! non-Muslim' and should not say, 'O! infidel'." Aurangzeb thus imposed it in the true spirit and letter of the tax.

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*Resentment against Jiziyah*

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Such a hateful tax in which insult was added to economic injury, was resented by the Hindus more than any other imposition. Originally, Jiziyah applied to non-Muslim scriptuaries like Jews and Christians. The bigoted and fanatically inclined jurists hold that the idolaters do not come within the purview of Jiziyah, and the only alternatives open for them are either conversion to Islam or death.⁷⁵ However, the Sunni jurists Abu Hanifa and his disciple Abu Yusuf permit its imposition on the non-Muslims even if they be idolaters.⁷⁶ India was inhabited by idolaters primarily. Application of Jiziyah to them was, in a way, a matter of kind concession, from the Muslim point of view. But the Hindus resented it throughout. They knew that it was meant to humble and humiliate them. When Firoz Tughlaq (1351-1388 CE) levied Jiziyah on the Brahmans, they represented to the Sultan that they had never before been asked to pay it land to put up with the indignity attached to it. The Sultan, writes Shams Siraj Afif, "convened a meeting of the learned Ulama and renowned Mashaikh and suggested to them that an error had been committed: the Jiziyah had never been levied from Brahmans; they had been held excused, in former reigns. The Brahmans were the very keys of the chamber of idolatry, and the infidels were dependent on them (*kalid-i-hujra-i-kufr und va kafiran bar ishan muataqid una*). They ought therefore to be taxed first. The learned lawyers opined that the Brahmans ought to be taxed. The Brahmans then assembled and went to the Sultan and represented that they had never before been called upon to pay the *Jiziyah*, and they wanted to know why they were now subjected to the indignity of having to pay it. They were determined to collect wood and to bum themselves under the walls of the palace rather than pay the tax. The Sultan replied that they might burn and destroy themselves at once for they would not escape from the payment. The Brahmans remained fasting for several days at the palace until they were on the point of death. The Hindus of the city then assembled and told the Brahmans that it was not right to kill themselves on account of the *Jiziyah*, and that they would undertake to pay it for them."⁷⁷

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The protest of the Brahmans did succeed in getting some concessions from the king. He fixed their Jiziyah at a low rate although in status they belonged to the upper class. Secondly, he permitted other Hindus (shopkeepers and traders) to pay the tax on their behalf. But Aurangzeb (1658-1707) was more adamant because he himself knew the law well. His imposition of the Jiziyah provoked repeated protests. "On the publication of this order (reimposing the *Jiziyah*) by Aurangzeb in 1679," writes Khafi Khan, "the Hindus all round Delhi assembled in vast numbers under the *jharokha* of the emperor to represent their inability to pay and pray for the recall of the edict... But the Emperor would not listen to their complaints." Thereupon the Hindus resorted to Satyagrah as it were. One Friday, when Aurangzeb went to public prayer in the great mosque, a vast multitude of the Hindus thronged the road from the palace to the mosque, with the object of seeking relief. "Money changers and drapers, all kinds of shopkeepers from the Urdu Bazar, mechanics, and workmen of all kinds, left off work and business and pressed into the way... Every moment the crowd increased, and the emperor's equippage was brought to a standstill. At length an order was given to bring out the elephants and direct them against the mob. Many fell trodden to death under the feet of elephants and horses. For some days the Hindus continued to assemble, in great numbers and complain, but at length they submitted to pay the Jiziyah." Abul Fazl Mamuri, who himself witnessed the scene, says that the protest continued for several days and many lost their lives fighting against the imposition. People's resentments against Aurangzeb was also expressed in incidents in which sticks were twice hurled at him and once he was attacked with bricks but escaped .78 There were organized protests against Jiziyah in many other places like Malwa and Burhanpur. In fact it was a countrywide movement "and there was not a district where the people... and Muqaddams did not make disturbance and resistance."79

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People's demonstrations apart, protests came from higher quarters as well. During the reign of the stern Sultan Alauddin Khalji, the Hindu chiefs and landlords often did not care for the summons of the Diwan and did not call at his office. They were in no way inclined to show an attitude of servility. They evaded to pay any of the prevalent taxes including the Jiziyah.80 In Aurangzeb's time, this odious tax is said to have evoked a protest from Shivaji in his famous letter to Aurangzeb.81 In this letter Shivaji urged the impolity of the impost and appealed to Aurangzeb to think of the common Father of mankind and the equality of all human beings. A similar letter is said to have been written by Rana Raj Singh as well. These Rajas dealt with the emperor on their own level. Aurangzeb, on his part, became more stiff and made the collection obligatory. All this led to many awkward situations. On one occasion a Mansabdar killed the *amin* who had gone to collect Jiziyah. The only punishment that was meted out to the Mansabdar was that he was degraded. On another, in a rather comic incident, the beard and hair of an *amin* were pulled by the people who sent him back empty-handed."

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A tax which created so much agitation in the empire, was bound to create controversy and flutter in the court circles. References to the times of Khaljis and Tughlaqs point to an active role of the ulema in persuading the sultans to impose Jiziyah on the non-Muslims. For the reign of Aurangzeb the *Mirat-i-Ahmadi* suggests that the theologians as usual took the initiative in the matter. They represented to Aurangzeb the anomaly of the non-believers being exempted from the payment of the Jiziyah under a king of Aurangzeb's piety. But the ulema had a say during the reigns of weak kings; Alauddin and Aurangzeb were not weak monarchs. The fact was that Jiziyah was a regular Islamic (Jihadic) tax. Its importance in a Muslim state was well-known. The problem was that the Hindus were in such a great majority in India that here some thought was necessary before insistence on its imposition. That is why there were many in the court and palace who thought preservation of peace to be better than the enforcement of an explosive religious regulation which hurt the feelings of the majority of the population. Niccalao Manucci writes" that some highly placed and important persons at court opposed the imposition of Jiziyah. Jahanara Begum Sahib, the elder sister of Aurangzeb, opposed it. There was an earthquake some time after and some of the courtiers are said to have once again urged the emperor to retrace his step. "All the high-placed and important men at the court opposed themselves to this measure. They besought the king most humbly to refrain..." But to the imperial bigot Jiziyah was all important. Besides earning religious grace, he could also spread Islam through economic pressure.

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