The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c15.37

c15.37

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.