Mughal Administration c17.s5: § 5. Elements of strength in the Muslim position in India.

c17.s5.1

The Muhammadans in India at first possessed the advantage of a common language, common traditions, a common religion, common teachers, and a common political status in the midst of a conquered and alien population. The absence of caste distinctions and the democratic spirit of Islam fused the conquering sect into a brotherhood. Hence, the State in Muslim India, before its degeneration in the 18th century, often displayed an unexampled solidarity in the face of foreign invasion. Another source of the strength of the Muslim rulers of India was that they wisely retained the old system of village administration and method of revenue collection of the Hindu times unchanged, and even employed Hindu officials almost exclusively in the Revenue Department. The result was that the lives of the millions of our villagers were undisturbed by the dynastic changes at the capital, and they had no reason to be discontented with their new masters and to rise against them.