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The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c15: Chapter XI

The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehlī c15

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English

Chapter XI

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NOTHING depicts the life of a people better than the institutions which they build up and maintain; the creative spirit which expresses itself in literature and art is no less active in the realm of politics and administration. A nation regulates its life through the organization of the state which reflects its needs, its idealism, its endeavour. The student has to search beyond administrative institutions if he desires to understand the nature of a state; he must discover, if he can, the motive force which drives the machinery of government.

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The primary need in those troubled days was protection from barbarous Mongol hordes without and from anarchy within; hence the necessity of a strong ruler. The Law required the people to elect their leader; Turkish tradition adhered to the principle of heredity. Practical men compromised by electing a member of the ruling dynasty; but if he did not prove capable, a new monarch, whose experience and prowess held out promise of the coveted security, was acclaimed. The state flourished if the politically conscious elements succeeded in discovering able leaders; the throne of Dehlī was not a bed of roses, it required men of strong determination and iron will. In form the Sultanate was a monarchy, partially elective, partially hereditary; in reality it was a dictatorial bureaucracy.

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By the logic of circumstances, the Sultanate could not be feudal so long as the Mongols knocked at its doors. The sultans, except for the brief period of the Lodī supremacy, kept standing armies and employed paid generals, governors and agents who could be dismissed or transferred at the royal will. With a savage enemy on the threshold, merit was the only stepping-stone to greatness. The administration, therefore, was a bureaucracy, the major portion of which was not affected by changes of dynasty. It is a common mistake to think that a change of ruler involved the very current of the life of the people; actually, only a small number of leading officials were affected. These revolutions were little more than ripples on the surface beneath which the water continued to flow steadily.

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Nor can the geographical factor be ignored. For the greater part of its history, the Sultanate extended over vast regions divided by mountains, rivers and dense forests. The immensity of the country taxed to the uttermost the man-power of the rulers; much depended on the co-operation of the people. They had to be treated tactfully and it was necessary to give them considerable autonomy. The powers of distant governors tended to get beyond central control. It would, however, be wrong to think that the authority at the capital was weak in normal times; revolt in the provinces was the exception, not the rule.

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What was the spirit which inspired the ruling class and regulated its actions? The political treatises and general literature of the period reveal a high estimation of kingly duties. There can be little doubt that the sage and the peasant alike expected the ruler to be a father to his people. If their sayings are any index to their beliefs, the sultans of Dehlī aspired to play the part of good rulers. There certainly stand out men like Kaiqubād whose only motive was the pursuit of pleasure; isolated acts of barbaric cruelty disfigure the chronicles; but to expect the absence of selfish and wilful monarchs in the course of more than three centuries of the Middle Ages is to ask for perfection in human affairs. On the whole the guiding principle of the sultans was benevolence; they aspired to serve and protect ‘the servants of God’ entrusted to their care. The truth of this statement is apparent from the charitable deeds of the sultans and their nobility, the numerous hospitals, hospices, inns and caravanserais, the free kitchens for the poor, the measures to fight famines and droughts, the instructions to officers regarding their dealings with the people and the accessibility of the monarch to the poorest and the most humble of his people. His secret services kept him informed of any mal-treatment of his subjects by his agents and servants : his courts of justice functioned in the remotest parts to protect the weak from the strong. The ambition of the sovereign was to compel the wolf and the lamb to drink from the same stream of his justice ; if he sometimes failed in his mission, it was because of the incapacity or disobedience of his agents.

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Treatment of the Hindus. The question, however, may be asked whether this attitude of benevolence embraced all the subjects of the sultan without distinction of creed and class. Did it, in particular, include the Hindus? Neither isolated acts of tolerance and benevolence nor spasmodic instances of persecution should be allowed to obscure the general course of state policy. The only way of arriving at the truth is to examine the statements of monarchs and political writers regarding the policy to be followed in the treatment of the Hindus; in the light of this information alone will it be possible to view the various incidents in their proper perspective. Another important consideration is that the chroniclers write for effect; their audience is the rest of the Islamic world. At this particular period the Persian speaking part of the Muslim world happened to be under the grinding tyranny of infidel, uncivilized Mongols; hence the chroniclers saw an excellent opportunity for display by telling the down-trodden Muslims in other lands how powerful the Faithful were in India. This propagandist tendency in the average Muslim chronicler of our period should be constantly kept in view in spite of the fact that it over-shoots the mark and loses its effect. "The rhapsodies of Muslim historians . . . might delude us into the belief that the early Muslim occupation of northern India was one prolonged holy war waged for the extirpation of idolatry and the propagation of Islam," says Sir Wolseley Haig, "had we not proof that this cannot have been the case."¹ The sultans were conscious of the need of reconciling the people even at the time of the conquest.²

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¹ C. H. I., iii, pp. 88, 89.

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² *Tāj*, ff. 9b, 84b, 144a, 157a, 192b, 198a, 256a, etc.

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The general attitude of the state is depicted in Baranī's dictum that a sultan who does not gain the support of all his subjects is a usurper.³ In discussing the duties of a king in times of distress he lays down that the subjects should be helped in every respect; the *kharāj* and *jiziyah* should be reduced or even remitted.⁴ It is obvious that as the *jiziyah* was paid only by Hindus, they were not to be excluded from the measures of relief. As far as hospitals and *sarā'is* are concerned, there is not only no record of the exclusion of Hindus, but special arrangements for their convenience are mentioned.⁵ The attitude of Muslim rulers is crystallized in Sher Shāh's phrase: "The Muslims and non-Muslims alike are entitled to my justice."⁶ The state was seldom forgetful of the needs of the *dhimmis*.⁷

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³ *Fatāwā-i-jahāndārī*, ff. 55b, 56a.

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⁴ *Idem*, f. 91b.

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⁵ *Afīf*, pp. 353-360; *Sarwānī*, f. 71b. There was a deep-rooted tradition in Muslim hospitals of treating *dhimmis* "in precisely the same way as Muslims," *Mez*, p. 43.

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⁶ *Sarwānī*, f. 67b.

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⁷ *Inshā-i-Māhrū*, Letter I, where a new governor is exhorted to look after "all the *kharāj*-paying and obedient subjects." Also *idem*, Letter II; *Tāj*, ff. 9b, 80b; 157b, 164a.

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Apart from the general attitude of the state, the treatment of a conquered people affects its life in five ways; religious, political, cultural, economic and social.

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As regards religion, the Hindus were accorded the status of an allied people, *dhimmis*, from the very beginning of Muslim rule.⁸ Legally, they were allowed full religious freedom except in one particular direction; they were not permitted to build new temples without previous sanction. In actual practice, there is no instance on record when this permission was withheld. If temples were destroyed, it was in newly conquered towns and territories which had refused to submit. Temples built without permission were sometimes demolished. In certain areas the Hindus demolished mosques and converted them into idol temples : naturally when they were conquered again, these buildings were reconsecrated as mosques and given to Muslims.¹ The Hindus practised their religion openly and with ostentatious display ; the private feelings of mighty sultans were not allowed to interfere with this policy of toleration.² The distant villages and small towns could do as they pleased ; " even in the capital and the provincial centres, the idols were publicly worshipped, the rites of Hinduism fully practised, the doctrines of their faith maintained in their entirety by the Hindus, who had idol temples and decorated their idols, and on the occasion of their festivals went out in procession, dancing, singing and playing music,"³ Even the more puritanical of the sultans could hear the conch-shells and bells of idol temples in their secluded palaces.⁴ The right to preach Hindu doctrines was fully acceded.⁵ Fīrūz Shāh, however, punished some Brahmans for converting Muslims. On the other hand, there is the classic example of Kabīr brought up as a Muslim accepting the spiritual leadership of a Hindu. Chaitānya, the great Vaishnava reformer, converted a number.

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⁸ *Chach-nāmah*, p. 210; *Fatāwā-i-jahāndārī*, f. 120a.

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¹ Sarwānī, f. 64a. The Muslims inherited the custom of imposing restrictions on the construction of places of worship by the followers of other religions from the Sassanids and the Romans, Mez, p. 43.

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² Dā'ūdī, f. 19. Malik-u'l-'ulamā 'Abd-u'llah Ajodhanī stopped Sikandar Lodī from interfering with Hindu worship. Also, Baranī, pp. 216-217; Diwalrānī Khiḍr Khān, p. 46.

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³ Fatāwā-i-jahāndārī, f. 119a; compare the Narāina inscription in Sanskrit (1327 A.C) which says: "therein lies this town of Dhilli (Dehlī) covered with innumerable jewels, whence sin is expelled through the chanting of the Vedas by the knowers of the sacred lore . . ." Catalogue of the Delhi Museum of Archaeology, pp. 29-33.

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⁴ Baranī, p. 216.

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⁵ Chaitānya's Pilgrimage and Teachings, pp. 225-229. Also Aspects of Bengal Society, p. 99

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ber of Muslims to his faith.¹ Probably, the best tribute to the tolerance of the sultans is the contemporary development of Hinduism as a great spiritual force in the form of the Bhakti cult which even to-day plays such an important part in the life of the people. The sultans, however, insisted that no woman should burn herself on the funeral pyre of her husband without permission, which was withheld only when it was discovered that the widow was performing the dreadful rite under compulsion.²

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¹ Ibid.

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² I. B., ii, p. 14.

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Politically the Hindus were divided roughly into four classes. The first consisted of the peasantry who were regarded as the basis of all economic life; they were to be cherished and protected³ Moderation in the revenue demand was the rule; 'Alā-u'd-dīn Khaljī's high assessment was the result of the imminent Mongol danger. The peasants were protected from the illegal and vexatious demands of both high and low.⁴ The cultivators had nothing to fear from their Muslim rulers so long as they were not drawn into acts of rebellion or contumacy. The second class was that of the petty revenue officials and clerks. They formed the basis of the bureaucracy ruling the land, and, on account of their aptitude and expert knowledge, were valued as civil servants.⁵ The non-official middle class comprised traders and skilled artisans, who were not only left unmolested but were encouraged by patronage and protection.⁶ Indeed the Muslim conquerors claimed that they had delivered the people from tyranny by establishing their rule,⁷ This may be characterised as propaganda to reconcile the people to their rule, but it must have possessed a modicum of truth to make it successful, for it did enable them to win the co-operation of large sections of the people in such a short time. Lastly there were the Hindu chiefs. The more important of them were practically independent, the only demand the state made on them was that they should acknowledge the suzerainty of the sultan and be regular in the payment of their tribute. They were also required to maintain standards of good government and justice in their territories.¹ The smaller chief had less power, but he was autonomous to a considerable degree. He led a life of affluence; politically he was a power to reckon with.² From very early times he was employed by the state. Hindu generals and soldiers fought for the Ghaznavids and were generously rewarded; Quṭb-u'd-dīn Aibak employed Hindu officers and soldiers in his army; Balban honoured Hindu chiefs.³ The power of the latter continuously increased, until 'Alā-u'd-dīn Khaljī reduced it; he did not leave much power to his Muslim nobles either. With the removal of this sultan's strong hand, the chiefs gradually regained their position, and we find them powerful under Muḥammad bin Tughluq. They were not only employed as provincial governors and high revenue officials, but also enjoyed a prestige which excited the jealousy of Muslim writers.¹ They did not lose their position in the next reign and continued to remain important factors in society.²

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³ *Inshā-i-Māhrū*, Letter XLVI which shows anxiety to save cultivators and *dhimmīs* from Mongol raids. The Mongols had now been converted to Islām.

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⁴ *Vide* Chapters IV and IX.

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⁵ "The most amazing feature of the Islamic government is the number of non-Muslim officers in state service."—Mez, p. 51.

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⁶ *Inshā-i-Māhrū*, Letter CXXI; *Tāj*, f. 147b.

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⁷ *Tāj*, e.g., 84b, 144a, 158a, 214b.

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¹ Compare the terms granted to the Rājah of Gwalior by Mu'izz-u'd-dīn Muḥammad bin Sām:—
(i) the rājah should accept the suzerainty of the sultan and be faithful to him;
(ii) he should be regular in the payment of tribute;
(iii) he should protect the interests of the people and order their affairs properly;
(iv) he should look after the interests of the military and civil servants posted in his dominions;
(v) he should show consideration to the needs of the peasants;
(vi) he should discard all methods which are tainted with tyranny;
(vii) he should carry out royal commands without delay. Tāj, ff. 166b, 167a.

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² Vide Chapter X.

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³ Baranī, p. 106; Tāj, 158b.

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¹ Fatāwā-i-jahāndārī, f. 120b.

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² Inshā-i-Māhrū, Letter I which is addressed to "the amīrs, the great men, the rā'is, the rājahs of the iqlīm of Sind." Letter III is addressed to muqti's...rā'is, rājahs, thākurs, etc. Also, vide Sirat-i-Fīrūzshāhī, p. 13.

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Some of Fīrūz Shāh’s closest associates were Hindu chiefs; in the anarchy that followed his reign, Hindu chiefs took a hand in the political game of the days.³ Indeed so strong was their position in Eastern Hindustān that it seemed doubtful if Muslim rule would be re-established there.⁴ Even Tīmūr, who had invaded India with the avowed object of ending the toleration extended to the Hindus by Muslims, honoured a number of Hindu chiefs for their help.⁵ The Hindus were strong enough in the neighbourhood of Dehlī to offer Tīmūr a defiant resistance.⁶ The Hindu chiefs under the Lodīs and the Sūrs were contemptible neither as friends nor foes; they were given positions of responsibility.⁷ Akbar’s policy towards the Hindus was but a recognition of the power which the Hindus had never lost.

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³ Barani, pp. 587, 588; 'Afīf, p. 103; Ethé, 120, f. 492b, also Chapter X.

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⁴ Tārīkh-i-Mubārakshāhī, pp. 156, 157.

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⁵ Zafar-nāmah (Yazdī), ii, p. 48.

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⁶ Idem, pp. 121, 122.

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⁷ Tabaqāt-i-Akbarī, ii, p. 119 on Hīmū's rise.

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The government never tried to force its own culture on an unwilling people. The Muslim colleges and schools were open to all who cared to enter their portals; but no one was obliged to do so. Muslim rulers and men of letters respected the culture and the knowledge of the Hindus; al-Bīrūnī had interpreted these so well that they could not be despised; Muslim sovereigns employed scholars to translate Sanskrit books into Persian; it is significant that Muslim scholars were available to do it. Indeed one has only to read the glowing panegyrics on Hindu learning and science to be convinced of the respect in which they were held.⁸ The Hindu tradition tion in architecture mingled with the simplicity of Muslim design and enriched the very niches which the Faithful faced while praying to the Eternal God.¹ The plaintive and meditative melodies of Hind evoked a response in the bold hearts of stalwart Turkish warriors.² The great Khusraw was not too proud to sing his compositions to the cadences of Hindu music; when he lost his spiritual guide, the saint Niẓām-u’d-dīn, who was also his greatest friend, the sorrow of his heart found melancholy expression in Hindi verse.³ It was the patronage of Muslim provincial courts which laid the foundation of vernacular literatures.

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⁸ Nuh Sipihr, Sipihr-i-sewum.

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The Hindu population was better off under the Muslims than under Hindu tributaries or independent rulers.⁴ Their financial burden was lighter than it had been for some centuries in pre-Muslim days.⁵ The contemporary chronicles give an impression of prosperity; this was based upon a limited population in a large country, so that the holdings were large and the forest could easily supply a number of necessities.⁶ Industrially India was in a strong position for she manufactured most of her necessities and exported finished

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⁴ Fatāwā-i-jahāndārī, ff. 118b, 119a; also Chapter VI.

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⁵ Vide Chapter VI. It was the policy of the sultans to reconcile the people by reducing their financial burdens, vide Tāj, f. 144b.

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⁶ Waṣṣāf (Bombay edition), p. 300; ‘Afīf, pp. 288-293; Barbosa, i, pp. 141, 178; ii, pp. 140-147; Masālik-u’l-abṣār, pp. 10, 22, 55, 56, 59, 61.

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¹ Fergusson, Indian and Eastern Architecture, ii, pp. 197, 198.

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² Hindu music soon entered Muslim courts; one comes across names like Ḥamīd Rājah (Baranī, p. 199) among the lists of court singers. This man was obviously a convert; Khusraw himself was well versed in Hindu music.

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³ Khusraw kī Hindī Kavitā, p. 4. The most touching couplet is:—

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گوری سووے سیج پر مکھ پر ڈارے کیس
چل خسرو گھر اپنے رین بھئی سب دیس

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articles like sugar, cloth and arms.¹ Livestock was plentiful,² food was cheap.³ Trade was officially encouraged.⁴ Hindu traders, called Multānīs, were an integral part of the economic life of the empire; when ‘Alā-u’d-dīn Khaljī set about controlling prices, he had to enlist the support of these merchants.⁵ Indeed they advanced loans on interest to Muslim nobles; the sultan’s government enforced their claims.⁶ We read of the financial power of the Hindus throughout the period; even when Humāyūn reconquered the Panjāb, Afghān soldiers had to be rescued from the clutches of the money-lender.⁷ Practically everything that they possessed had been mortgaged by these Muslim soldiers. Of the great affluence of Hindu chiefs and their life of comfort and ease, ‘Alā-u’d-dīn gave a vivid picture in his conversation with Qāḍī Mughīth. “The *khūts* and the *muqaddams* ride beautiful horses and don elegant dresses,” said the sultan, “they use Persian bows, fight one another and go out hunting . . . they gather in assemblies of pleasure and drink wine.”⁸ The result of ‘Alā-u’d-dīn’s special measures was that the chiefs were reduced to comparative poverty. In the days of Muḥammad bin Tughluq they more than regained their lost position. “The infidels and poly-

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² *Tughluq-nāmah*, p. 104; *Masālik-u’l-abṣār*, pp. 22, 59. ³ *Masālik-u’l-abṣār*, pp. 55, 56. ⁴ *Tāj*, f. 129a; *Chach-nāmah*, f. 138b, 139a; *Inshā-i-Māhrū*, Letter CXXI. ⁵ *Baranī*, p. 311. ⁶ *I. B.*, ii, p. 84. ⁷ *Tadhkirat-u’l-wāqi‘āt*, f. 50b. ⁸ *Baranī*, p. 291.

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¹ Khusraw says regarding the fine cloth manufactured in India in his *Ghurrat-u’l-kamāl* :—

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بچشم سوزنے صد گز بگنجد از بس لطف
درو بجبہ خرد ذوق سوزن پولاد

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In *Qirān-u’s-sa‘dain* he says on p. 132:

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جامہ ہندی کہ ندارند نام
کز تنگی تن بنماید تمام
ماندہ بہ پیچیدہ بذاخن نہاں
باز کشائش بپوشد جہاں

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Fine brocade is mentioned in *Diwalrānī Khiḍr Khān*, p. 153; *Qirān-u’s-sa‘dain*, p. 83. Also vide *Masālik-u’l-abṣār*, pp. 10, 21, 22, 29.

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theists are regarded as *kharājis* and *dhimmis* and, therefore, they are advanced to great positions and are honoured; they are rewarded with drums, banners and standards inset with jewels; dresses of gold brocade and saddled horses are presented to them; and they are appointed to governorships, high offices and important posts.”¹ The same writer goes on to say that even in the capital, the Hindus “build houses like palaces; they wear dresses of gold brocade and ride Arab horses with gold and silver harness; they decorate themselves with a hundred thousand insignia of greatness; they indulge in luxurious comfort; they employ Muslims as their servants who run in front of their horses and the poor among the Muslims beg alms from them and at their palace gates. Inside the very capital of the Sultanate, on the loftiness of which depends the grandeur of the edifice of Islam, they are called (by the proud titles of) *rā’i*, *rānah*, *thākur*, *sāh*, *mehtah* and *pandit*.”² The last sentence shows that the author refers to all classes of the Hindus; political greatness and affluence were not limited to any particular class of the non-Muslims.

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¹ *Fatāwā-i-jahāndārī*, f. 120a.

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² Idem, ff. 120a, b.

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Nor was the Hindu despised socially. The Muslims, generally speaking, have always been remarkably free from racial prejudice. There are instances of Muslim nobles marrying Hindu maidens; of free intercourse between Muslim saints and Hindu *yogīs*; of Hindu followers of Muslim saints and *vice versa*; in short, of a fairly free social intercourse between the two peoples.³ The Hindu was not branded with any social stigma; it was Hinduism which protected itself beneath the strong armour of exclusiveness. The Muslim was unclean; his very touch polluted the food of the twice-born Brahmans and men of the higher castes; the newcomer was outside the pale. In fairness to Hinduism, it must be remembered that this treatment was not limited to the Muslim; but praise cannot be withheld from the conquering race for their tolerance in cheerfully submitting to this humiliation. But no armour is proof against ideas; the impact with Islam caused a great searching of heart among the Hindus and produced religious leaders who were deeply influenced by the doctrine of the Muslim faith.¹

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³ *Purush Pariksha*, *Fawā’id-ul-fawā’id*; *Sahā’if-i-Shaikh Sadr-u’d-dīn*; *Sahā’if-u’t-tarīqah*.

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¹ E.g., Nāmadeva's beautiful lines:—

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The Hindu attitude towards their Muslim rulers can be determined from literary works and folklore, where the sultans are depicted as receiving help from Hindu princes in times of need and rewarding them for their services.² Of special interest is a Hindu inscription partly in Sanskrit and partly in the vernacular of Hariyānah: though a panegyric, it illustrates the Hindu attitude towards the sultans. It is dated 1337 of the Vikrama era (1280-1 A.C.) when Balban was on the throne. Lavish praise is bestowed on the Muslim rulers; Balban in particular is described as "he, throughout whose contented realm, under his great and good government, from Gaur to Ghaznah, from the Dravida country and Rameshwaram, everywhere the earth bears the beauty of sylvan spring." His armies "ensure the peace and security enjoyed by all." So great is the sultan's care for his people that "Vishnu himself has retired from the care of the world and gone to sleep on the ocean of milk." The sultan's capital, Dehli, also comes in for poetic eulogy.³ In another inscription, Muḥammad bin Tughluq is praised as "the crest-jewel of all rulers of the earth."⁴

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² E.g., Purusha Pariksha, introduction.

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³ Epigraphia Indo Moslemica, 1913-14, pp. 35-45. Palam inscription.

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⁴ Proceedings of A.S.B. (May, 1873); and catalogue of the Delhi Museum of Archaeology, Naraina inscription.

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Of me who am blind Thy name, O King, is the prop;
I am poor, I am miserable, Thy name is my support.
Bounteous and Merciful Allah, Thou art generous;
I believe that Thou art present before me;
Thou art a river of bounty; Thou art the giver: Thou art exceedingly wealthy;
Thou alone givest and takest, there is none other.
Thou art wise, Thou art far-sighted; what conception can I have of Thee?
O Nāma's Lord, Thou art the pardoner, O Lord!

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(Sikh Religion, VI, p. 52.)

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These considerations lead us to believe that the care of the sultans embraced all their subjects; indeed tolerance was an abiding feature of the government of the sultanate.¹ It is true that feelings were sometimes aroused and visions clouded by a spirit of vengeance; but these were only passing storms. This was only to be expected in a state where the level of culture was so high Stone and mortar reveal but little of the story of the cultural glory that was Dehlī. Khusraw, Ḥasan and Badr-i-Chāch are only the taller trees in a forest; if Indian music had been written and preserved, more Tān Sens and ʿĀdil Khāns would have survived; of the great colleges and eminent teachers nothing is left but a casual mention in chronicles and travellers' tales; the paintings on the walls of royal palaces are gone; all that remains is a jejune chronicle of revolutions, rebellions and wars. When the scrutinizing gaze of research penetrates the dust-clouds raised by trampling armies and fighting hordes, a vision of the real sultanate is granted to the student which reveals a pageantry of patient administrators, of earnest philosophers and teachers, of artists and master-builders, of religious thinkers and saintly reformers.

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¹ Vide supra, also, Inshā-i-Māhrū, Letters I and II; Tāj, 9b, 80b, 157b, 164a.

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