Administrative System of the Marathas c27.s17.7

c27.s17.7

Mutilation of criminals also was as common a practice under the Mughals as under the Marathas. Jahangir ordered his *amirs* "Not to punish any person by ordering him to be blinded or to have his nose or ears cut off." 11 But the Wakiat-i-Jahangiri gives at least one instance of the Emperor's inflicting a terribly cruel punishment on an unfortunate Hindu offender. "After conviction," says the Emperor, "I ordered that his tongue should be cut out, that he should be kept in prison for life, and that he should be fed at the same mess as the dog keepers and sweepers."¹² Nor was mutilation uncommon when Manucci wrote. The Emperor Aurangzib prohibited the sale of wine and other intoxicants and "he directed the kotwal to search out Mahomedans and Hindus who sold spirits, every one of whom was to lose one hand and one foot."¹³ Convicted offenders lost their limbs during the Pathan period also as we are informed by the benevolent and humane Firuz Shah Tughlak, who put a temporary stop to this practice. "In the reigns of former kings, the blood of many Musulmans had been shed, and many varieties of torture employed. Amputation of hands and feet, ears and noses; tearing out the eyes, pouring molten lead into the throat, crushing the bones of the hands and feet with mallets, burning the body with fire, driving iron nails into the hands, feet and bosom, cutting the sinews, sawing man asunder; these and many similar tortures were practised. The great and merciful God made me, His servant, hope and seek for His mercy by devoting myself to prevent the unlawful killing of Musulmans, and the infliction of any kind of torture upon them or upon any men."¹⁴ Mutilation was a common punishment in the Kingdom of Golkonda and Manucci says that a Persian lost his offending hand for giving a slap to a Hindu who had given him offence.¹⁵