A History of Agriculture in India v2.c71: Chapter 19. An Afghan Interlude: Rule of Sher Shah Suri

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c71

Language: English

v2.c71.s1 Sher Shah’s Regrets — 2 parts
v2.c71.s2 Management of the Jagir — 4 parts
v2.c71.s3 Land Revenue Administration — 3 parts
v2.c71.s4 Protection of Cultivators — 1 part
v2.c71.s5 Building of Sarais — 3 parts
v2.c71.s6 Architecture and Buildings — 1 part
v2.c71.s7 Roads — 5 parts
v2.c71.s8 Free Kitchens — 1 part
v2.c71.s9 Poor Houses — 4 parts

Chapter 19. An Afghan Interlude: Rule of Sher Shah Suri

THE ancestors of Farid Khan, as Sher Shah was originally known, came from Afghanistan and entered the service of Bahlul Lodi. His father, Hasan Khan, an Afghan soldier of fortune, was a jagirdar of 500 horses in the pargana of Sasaram in Jaunpur in Bihar. Neglected by his father, Farid went to Jamal Khan at Jaunpur, where he studied Arabic and Persian. He had taste for history and literature and memorized Saadi's *Gulistan* and *Bostan*, and the epic *Sikandar-nama*. He was very fond of the histories of the kings of the past.

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Farid entered the service of Bihar Khan Lohani, governor of Bihar in A.D. 1522, when he was 36 years of age. He killed a tiger in a hunt, and impressed by his bravery Bihar Khan conferred upon him the title of Sher Khan.

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After some time, Sher Khan left the service of Bihar Khan and came to Agra, where he was introduced to Babur, who admitted him to his court. Babur undertook a campaign for the subjugation of the Afghans in the east, and Sher Khan rendered him great assistance and received in return his father's jagir.

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Sher Khan never reconciled himself to the loss of Afghan sovereignty over India to the Mughals. Abbas Khan, the Afghan historian, states, 'Sher Khan was present during the affair of Chanderi, and remained for sometime amongst the Mughals, and acquainted himself with their military arrangements, their modes of governing, and the character of their nobles. He often said among the Afghans, "If luck aided me, and fortune stood my friend, I could easily oust the Mughals from Hindustan. They are not superior to the Afghans in battle or single combat; but the Afghans have let the empire of Hind slip from their hands, on account of their internal dissensions."'

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'After sometime, Sher Khan waited upon the Emperor one day at an entertainment, when it happened that they placed before him a solid dish, of which he did not know the customary mode of eating. So he cut it into small pieces with his dagger, and putting them into his spoon easily disposed of them. The Emperor Babar remarked this, and wondered at Sher Khan's ingenuity, and said to Khalifa, his minister, who was at his elbow, “Keep an eye on Sher Khan; he is a clever man, and the marks of royalty are visible on his forehead. I have seen many Afghan nobles, greater men than he, but they never made any impression on me; but as soon as I saw this man, it entered into my mind that he ought to be arrested, for I find in him the qualities of greatness and the marks of mightiness.”

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“When Sher Khan got to his own quarters, he said to his men: “The Emperor today looked much at me, and said something to the minister; and cast evil glances towards me. This is not a fit place for me to remain—I shall go away”.¹

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¹ Abbas Khan, *Tarikh-i Sher Shahi*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India*..., Vol. IV, pp. 329-331

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Sher Khan left Agra and came to his jagir in Bihar. He consolidated his power in South Bihar. He also captured Gaur. In A.D. 1537, Humayun moved against him, but Sher Khan defeated him at Chausa on the Ganges. In May 1540, Sher Khan again defeated Humayun opposite Kanauj and pursued him to Lahore. Sher Khan proclaimed himself Emperor of India in A.D. 1540 and came to be known as Sher Shah Suri. Sher Shah was killed in A.D. 1545, while standing near a store of gunpowder, which got accidentally ingnited while he was directing the siege of Kalanjar in Bundelkhand. He died at the age of fifty-nine.

Sher Shah’s Regrets

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As a military strategist Sher Shah very much wished to destroy Lahore and to depopulate northern Punjab. Nimatu-lla, the author of *Tarikh-i Khan-Jahan Lodi*, states, ‘On being remonstrated with for giving way to low spirits, when he had done so much for the good of the people during his short reign, after urgent solicitation, he said, “I have had three or four desires in my heart, which still remain without accomplishment, and cannot be eradicated except by death. One is, I wished to have depopulated the country of Roh, and to have transferred its inhabitants to the tract between the Nilab and Lahore, including the hills below Ninduna, as far as the Siwalik; that they might have been constantly on the alert for the arrival of the Mughals, and not allow any one to pass from Kabul to Hind, and that they might also keep the *zamindars* of the hills under control and subjection. Another is to have entirely destroyed Lahore, that so large a city might not exist on the very road of an invader, where, immediately after capturing it on his arrival, he could collect his supplies and organize his resources.”’² It was fortunate that Sher Shah died before he could carry out this scheme.

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² Niamatu-lla, *Tarikh-i Khan-Jahan Lodi*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India*..., Vol. V, pp. 107, 108

Management of the Jagir

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‘Sher Shah is known for his revenue administrative reforms and system of land-revenue assessment based on the measurement of the land, and for his genuine concern for the welfare of the cultivators. He acquired experience of these matters by the management of his jagir. When entrusted with his assignment, he thus spoke to his father Hasan Khan. "To please you I accept the management of the two districts. I will not fail to do my duty to the best of my power." Hasan Khan wished to send Farid to the parganas; but Farid representing to Hasan Khan that he wished first to speak with him, he obtained leave to do so, and thus began: "Many soldiers and subordinates, our kinsmen, have jagirs in these parganas. I shall devote myself to increase the prosperity of the district, and that depends on a just administration." When Hasan Khan heard his son's speech he was much gratified, and said, "I will give you the power both to grant and to resume the soldier's jagirs, and I will not reverse anything you may do." He accordingly sent Farid Khan to his two parganas, with every mark of favour.

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'When he got to his jagirs, he said, "Let all the head men (*mukaddamān*) and the cultivators (*muzariān*) on whose labour the prosperity of the district depends, and all the village accountants (*patwāris*), attend my presence. When they came he summoned also the soldiery, and thus addressed them:— "My father has committed to me the power of appointing and dismissing you. I have set my heart on improving the prosperity of the district, in which object also your own interests are concerned; and by this means I hope to establish my reputation."... When he had finished exhorting the soldiery, he turned to the peasantry, and said, "This day I give you your choice as to your mode of payment. Do whatever is most advantageous to your own interests in every possible way."

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'Some of the head-men asked for written agreements for a fixed money rent; others preferred payment in kind (*kismat-i ghallā*). Accordingly he gave leases and took agreements, and fixed the payments for measuring the fields (*jaribānā*), and the fees for the tax-collectors and measures (*muhassi-lānā*), and he said to the *chaudharis* and head-men, "I know well that the cultivation depends on the humble peasants, for if they be ill off they will produce nothing, but if prosperous they will produce much. I know the oppressions and exactions of which you have been guilty towards the cultivators; and for this reason I have fixed the payments for measurements, and the tax-gatherers' fees,—that if you exact from the cultivators more on this account than is fixed, it may not be credited to you in making up your accounts. Be it kown to you that I will take the accounts of the fees in my own presence. Whatever dues are rightly taken I will sanction, and compel the cultivators to pay them; and I will also collect the Government dues for the autumn harvest in autumn, and for the spring harvest in spring; for balances of Government dues are the ruin of a pargana, and the cause of quarrels between the cultivators and the Government officers. It is right for a ruler to show leniency to the cultivators at the period of measurement and to have a regard to the actual produce; but when the time of payment comes he should show no leniency, but collect the revenue with all strictness. If he perceives the cultivators are evading payment, he should so chastise them as to be an example to others not to act in the same way.” He then said to the peasantry, “Whatever matter you have to represent, bring it always yourselves to me. I will suffer no one to oppress you.”

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‘Having thus addressed them, he dismissed them with honorary dresses to carry on their cultivation. After dismissing the cultivators, he said to his father’s officers, “The cultivators are the source of prosperity. I have encouraged them and sent them away, and shall always watch over their condition, that no man may oppress and injure them; for if a ruler cannot protect humble peasantry from the lawless, it is tyranny to exact revenue from them”.

Land Revenue Administration

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When Sher Shah became the Emperor of India, he made new rules for the assessment of land revenue based on the measurement of the land, thus forestalling Todar Mal, the Revenue Minister of Akbar. Abbas Khan thus describes his land revenue administration. ‘The rules for the collection of revenue from the people, and for the prosperity of the kingdom, were after this wise: There was appointed in every pargana, one *amir*, one God-fearing *shikkdar*, one treasurer, one *karkun* to write Hindi, and one to write Persian; and he ordered his governors to measure the land every harvest, to collect the revenue according to the measurement, and, in proportion to the produce, giving one share to the cultivator, and half a share to the *mukaddam*; and fixing the assessment with regard to the kind of grain, in order that the *mukaddams*, and *chaudharis*, and *’amils* should not oppress the cultivators, who are the support of the prosperity of the kingdom. Before his time it was not the custom to measure the land, but there was a *kanungo* in every pargana, from whom was ascertained the present, past, and probable future state of the pargana. In every *sarkar* he appointed a chief *shikkdar* and a chief *munsif*, that they might watch the conduct both of the *’amils* and the people; that the *’amils* should not oppress or injure the people, or embezzle the king’s revenue; and if any quarrel arose among the king’s *’amils* regarding the boundaries of the parganas, they were to settle it, that no confusion might find its way amongst the king’s affairs. If the people, from any lawlessness or rebellious spirit, created a disturbance regarding the collection of the revenue, they were so to eradicate and destroy them with punishment and chastisement that their wickedness and rebellion should not spread to others.

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‘Every year, or second year, he changed his *’amils*, and sent new ones, for he said, “I have examined much, and accurately ascertained that there is no such income and advantage in other employments as in the government of a district. Therefore I send my good old loyal experienced servants to take charge of district, that the salaries, profits, and advantages, may accrue to them in preference to others; and after two years I change them, and send other servants like to them, that they also may prosper, and that under my rule all my old servants may enjoy these profits and advantages, and that the gates of comfort and ease may be opened to them”.’

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Under Sher Shah, State demand was fixed at one-third of the expected produce. It was payable in cash or kind. When there was a drought or other natural calamity, advances were made to the cultivators to relieve distress.

Protection of Cultivators

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Sher Shah had genuine concern for the welfare of the peasantry and safety of their crops. Abbas Khan states, ‘One of the regulations Sher Shah made was this: That his victorious standards should cause no injury to the cultivation of the people; and when he marched he personally examined into the state of the cultivation, and stationed horsemen round it to prevent people from trespassing on any one’s field. I have heard from Khan-i ’Azam Muzaffar Khan, who said he often accompanied Sher Shah, that he used to look out right and left, and (which God forbid!) if he saw any man injuring a field, he would cut off his ears with his own hand, and hanging the corn (which he had plucked off) round his neck, would have him to be paraded through the camp. And if from the narrowness of the road any cultivation was unavoidably destroyed, he would send amirs, with a surveyor, to measure the cultivation so destroyed and give compensation in money to the cultivators. If he entered an enemy’s country, he did not enslave or plunder the peasantry of that country, nor destroy their cultivation. “For,” said he, “the cultivators are blameless, they submit to those in power; and if I oppress them they will abandon their villages, and the country will be ruined and deserted, and it will be a long time before it again becomes prosperous”.’

Building of Sarais

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Sher Shah built roads, planted avenues of shady trees and provided sarais and wells for the convenience of travellers. Akbar Khan thus provides the details. ‘For the convenience in travelling of poor travellers, on every road, at a distance of two kos, he made a sarai; and one road with sarais he made from the fort which he built in the Panjab to the city of Sunargaon which is situated in the kingdom of Bengal, on the shore of the ocean. Another road he made from the city of Agra to Burhanpur, which is on the borders of the kingdom of the Dekhin, and he made one from the city of Agra to Jodhpur and Chitor; and one road with sarais from the city of Lahore to Multan. Altogether he built 1,700 sarais on various roads; and in every *sarai* he built separate lodgings, both for Hindus and Musulmans, and at the gate of every *sarai* he had placed pots full of water, that any one might drink; and in every *sarai* he settled Brahmans for the entertainment of Hindus, to provide hot and cold water, and beds and food, and grain for their horses; and it was a rule in these *sarais* that whoever entered them received provision suitable to his rank, and food and litter for his cattle, from Government. Villages were established all round the *sarais*. In the middle of every *sarai* was a well and a *masjid* of burnt brick; and he placed an *imam* and a *mua'zzin* in every *masjid*, together with a custodian (*shahna*), and several watchmen; and all these were maintained from the land near the *sarai*. In every *sarai* two horses were kept, that they might quickly carry news. On both sides of the highway Sher Shah planted fruit-bearing trees, such as also gave much shade, that in the hot wind travellers might go along under the trees; and if they should stop by the way, might rest and take repose. If they put up at a *sarai*, they bound their horses under the trees.

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‘3,400 horses were always kept ready in the *sarais* to bring intelligence every day from every quarter. 113,000 villages of Hind were included in the royal fisc. He sent a *shikkdar* to each of his *parganas*, which were all prosperous and tranquil, and there was not one place which was contumacious or desolated; the whole country was settled and happy; corn was very cheap, nor during his time was there anywhere scarcity or famine.’³

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³ Abbas Khan, *Tarikh-i Sher Shah*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India...*, Vol. IV, pp. 414, 417, 418, 422, 424 and 425.

Architecture and Buildings

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Like most persons with creative imagination, Sher Shah encouraged architecture. He built a splendid mosque, a clever blending of richness and refinement, in the Purana Qila of Delhi. At Fatehabad in the Hissar District of Haryana, he built a mosque, which is decorated with tiles. His tomb stands on a high platform in the middle of a lake at Sahasram in the Shahpur District of Bihar.

Roads

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Shaikh Nuru-l Hakk states, ‘Sher Khan made the road which now runs from Delhi to Agra, by cutting through jungles, removing obstacles, and building *sarais*. Before that time, people had to travel through the Doab between those two places. There was so much security in travelling during his reign that if a lone woman were to sleep in a desert with silver and gold about her person, no one would dare to commit theft upon her; and if it ever did so happen that any one lost any property, the *mukaddams* of the village which was the scene of the robbery were subject to fine, and for fear of its infliction, the *zamindars* used to patrol the roads at night.⁴

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⁴ Shaikh Nuru-l Hakk, *Zubdatu-t Tawarikh*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India*..., Vol. VI, pp. 188, 189

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According to Mushtaki, ‘From Gaur to the confines of Oudh, a road was made having *sarais*, gardens, and shady and fruit-bearing trees. Another road with gardens and *sarais* from Benares to the country of Mandu near to Burhanpur. Another road with gardens and *sarais* from Agra to Jodhpur. Another from Bayana to Jaunpur and to Ajmir. There were 1,700 *sarais*, and at every *sarai* there were pairs of horses ready, so that news travelled 300 *kos* in one day.’⁵

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⁵ Shaikh Rizku-lla Mushtaki, *Wakiat-i Mushtaki*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India*..., Vol. IV, p. 549

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By building roads and *sarais*, and by abolishing a number of inland custom duties, Sher Shah gave a great impetus to trade.

Free Kitchens

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Sher Shah is also credited with the institution of *langar*, free kitchen. According to Abbas Khan, ‘His kitchen was very extensive, for several thousand horsemen and private followers, who in the Afghan tongue are called “Fiahi”, fed there; and there was a general order, that if any soldier or religious personage, or any cultivator, should be in need of food, he should feed at the king’s kitchen, and should not be allowed to famish.’ He himself used to take his meals with learned men and Shaikhs.

Poor Houses

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‘He settled allowances upon the blind and helpless of every place and village and city. Two institutions were kept up during his reign without any interruption; one, the religious establishments (*’imarat khanah*), and the other the houses for the poor; for these two institutions confer a general benefit.’

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Considering the fact that Sher Shah ruled only for five years, his achievement is remarkable. He built *sarais* and wells and laid out roads flanked by avenues of trees. He improved the coinage and his coins are excellent in fineness and execution. Assessing his character and achievements, the authors of *The Cambridge Shorter History of India* observe, ‘He was one of the greatest rulers who ever sat upon the throne of Delhi. No other, from Aibak to Aurangzeb, possessed such intimate knowledge of the details of administration, or was able to examine and control public business so minutely and effectively as he. He restrained the turbulence and quelled the tribal jealousies of the Afghan chiefs, he reformed the land revenue administration, he introduced a system of great trunk-road, furnished with caravanserais, wells and every convenience for the comfort and safety of the traveller, and he maintained throughout his dominions such order that "none dared to turn the eye of dishonesty upon another's goods". Himself a pious Muslim, he suffered none to be persecuted in the name of religion, made no attempt to assume spiritual power, but left each to seek God after his own fashion. Budauni, the orthodox Muslim historian, thanks God that he was born in the reign of so just a king. Of his wise and judicious measures of administration many were adopted or imitated by Akbar without acknowledgement, and he was far more successful than any who followed him in checking corruption, peculation, and frauds on the public treasury. "It behoves the great," he said, "to be always active," and throughout his life he allowed himself no more rest than was necessary for his health and the preservation of his bodily and mental powers. "All this," says Mr Keene, "has an importance beyond the immediate time." After the Mughal restoration, Sher Shah's officials passed into Akbar's service; the faults imputed by Sher Shah to what he called Mughal administration—but which are common to all Turks—were prevented; and this far-sighted man, even after his death and the subversion of his dynasty, remained the originator of all that was done by mediaeval Indian rulers for the good of the people."⁶

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⁶ Allan J., Haig, T. W., and Dodwell, H. H. *The Cambridge Shorter History of India*, pp. 334, 335

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Allan, J., Haig, T.W. and Dodwell, H. H. *The Cambridge Shorter History of India*, Cambridge, 1943 Elliot, Sir H.M. and Dowson, J. *The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians*, Vols IV and V (Indian reprint), Allahabad, 1964 Garratt, G. T. (Ed.) *The Legacy of India*, Oxford, 1938 Ishwari Prasad, *A Short History of Muslim Rule in India*, Allahabad, 1939 Smith, V. A. *The Oxford History of India*, Delhi, 1976

Linked texts (1)

Purana Qila