The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c12.257

c12.257

An important function of the *muḥtasib* was to maintain purity of doctrine and to discourage heresy.¹⁰ He, therefore, kept an eye on the preacher as well as the pedagogue. The Karmathians carried bloodshed and slaughter into the chief mosque of the empire in the reign of Raḍiyah, and had to be suppressed by the orthodox in self-defence.¹ They, however, raised their heads again under Fīrūz Shāh who combatted against this sect and seems to have been successful.² He also rooted out various other heresies.³ A heresy of much greater strength was the Mahdawī movement which came to a head under Islām Shāh Sūr; this sultan at the insistence of his court theologians executed Shaikh ‘Alā’ī whose courage and purity of character excite admiration.⁴ The *muḥtasib*, however, could not interfere with the religious life of the *dhimmīs*; he could only take cognizance of an open insult to the Muslim Faith like the vilification of some prophet. It was his duty to see that the *dhimmīs* did not violate the terms they had accepted at the time of the conquest; he was equally responsible for keeping the Muslims faithful to the covenant.⁵ When Sikandar Lodi was carried away by his zeal and wanted to destroy an old temple and stop Hindu pilgrims from bathing in the sacred water, he was prevented by Malik-u’l-‘ulamā ‘Abd-u’llah Ajodhanī who risked his life to safeguard the rights of the *dhimmīs*.⁶ The Hindus were not allowed to wear the dress peculiar to the doctors of Muslim Law.⁷ The solitary instance of a Muslim ruler objecting to the preaching of Hindu doctrines to Muslims and converting them to Hinduism was of Fīrūz Shāh who inflicted severe punishment on a Brahman who had not only persuaded some