The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c9.127

c9.127

The *amīr-i-majlis* was responsible for organizing the sultan’s private parties, where the sultan met his friends.⁸ These parties were just social and cultural, and allowed the sultan to cultivate the society of the elect in his domains. Here gathered the most brilliant conversationalists, the best poets, historians, musicians and literati in the empire; in the dark days when the Muslim world was groaning under the yoke of the heathen Mongols, the court of Dehlī was the centre of all that was best in Muslim culture and art.⁹ It was in these assemblies that Khusraw sang his latest lyrics and Sa’d-i-manṭiqī and Najm-i-Intishār indulged in their philosophic hair-splitting.¹⁰ If the sultan happened to be so inclined, wine flowed freely, music rose in voluptuous strains and graceful dancers swayed in harmony with eastern melodies. Only those found favour here whose quick wit and ready tongue could brighten the gathering and add to the joy of the passing hour.¹ A number of men were paid large salaries ranging from twenty to forty thousand tankahs a year with the grant of a village or two just for acting as the sultan's companions.² The quality of a monarch's *nadīms* was very often an index to his character. A wise sultan chose the most accomplished men, so that he might utilize his leisure in broadening his outlook and cultivating the softer graces of life. It was through the influence of these *nadīms* that the court acted as the greatest patron of art and learning. It was considered impolitic to entrust them with any post in the public administration.³