The State in India under the Sultanate

Qutubuddin Aibaq

Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Timur

Ghiyasuddin Balban

 After the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate the earlier theory of the unity spiritual authority and person of the Khalifa or the Imam underwent a compromise in the context of the rise of defacto independent states. The Sultans were accorded independent status as long as they accepted the theoretical superiority of the Khalifa . Thus the fiction of Islamic unity was retained and the Sultan was left free in their political conduct as long as they did not openly violate the Shar.

 From a legal point of view the Delhi Sultanate may be considered an independent identity with the rise in power of Qutubuddin Aibaq a slave of Muhammad Ghori. When Ghazni was conquered by Mongol leader Chingez Khan and Yalduz [the successor of Muhammad bin Sam]fled to Delhi and was defeated by Iltutmish, Ghazni finally ceased to claim suzerainty on Delhi Sultanate.

 Although independent the rulers at Delhi were keen on maintaining their links with the rest of the Islamic world. They sought a formal letter of investment called Manshur from the Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad. They would inscribe the name of the Caliph on their coins and have the Friday khutba read in his name.

 The Sultans also styled themselves Nasiramirul-mominin i.e. the lieutent of the Leader of the Faithful,Khalifa. Legally the Sultans of Delhi became subordinate to the Khalifa.But it made no real difference in the eyes of the contempories for the legal independence of the Sultan was not questioned by anyone before the receipt of the investiture.

 The legal status of the Sultan was not questioned even when Mubarak Shah the successor of Allauddin Khalji repudiated allegiance to the Caliph and declared himself Imam or Khalifa The question of the Khalifas investiture was really a moral question and helped to maintain the fiction of the unity of the Islamic world.

 Some Sultans like Muhammad bin Tughlaq was facing a series of internal revolts, he sought and obtained an investiture from a descendent of the Abbasid Khalifa who was living in Cairo after the murder of the Abbasid Khalifa by Halaku the Mongol leader. In 1343 he removed his name from the coins and had the name of the Khalifa struck. However it had little impact on the rebellions.

 The prestige of the Khalifa had gradually declined and following the example of Timur the Turk the Mughal rulers themselves assumed the title of the Imam or Khalifa. Thus the institution of the Khalifat had little relevance in the context of India either during the Sultanate or during the Mughal period.

 During the early phase of the Turk rule there existed a decentralized despotism in which maximum freedom was given to the military leaders to carry out conquests in different parts of the country while a strong corp. of troops was stationed at the centre under the direct control of the Sultan.

Balbans concept of Kingship

Balban replaced this loose decentralized despotism by a highly centralized state. Balban broke the power of the Chahalgani a group of forty powerful nobles who had become very popular during the twenty years of Nasiruddins rule. Balban had some of them murdered and some banished.

 Balbans theory of kingship was against all notions of Tribal or Islamic Republican equality. He believed that the king was a divine gift a unique personage. His theory of kingship was based on the Sassanid theory of kingship which was centered on divine concept of kingship.

 He claimed descent from the mythical Turkish hero Afrasiyab. He introduced the sijda and paibos as part of the court etiquette. He never laughed or smiled in court. His court presented a dazzling spectacle. Emissaries were dazzled when they visited the court. When he rode in procession he was accompanied by Sistani soldiers with unsheathed swords crying bismillah

 He established an efficient espionage system to gather information from all over his empire. He organized his court on the pattern of the courts of Irani kings. Nobody could dare smile in his court. He introduced sijda and paibos He always appeared in full regal dress, kept a stern countenance and inspired awe and fear in the hearts of the onlookers.

 This display of power, authority and dignity associated with his theory of kingship made the most recalcitrant elements in the country submissive and struck awe and terror in the hearts of the people. A distinction between the highborn and lowborn was constantly emphasized and any contact with low born or their appointment to any office was considered derogatory to the dignity of the ruler. He refused to talk to common people and maintained distance with the masses

Alauddin Khalji

Alauddin Khalji
The Khaljis ended Turkish domination or the policy of Turkish exclusiveness They did not discriminate against the Turks but threw open the doors to talents among different sections of the Muslims including Indian Muslims.Alauddins Wazir Nusrat Khan Jalesar and his Mir Arz Zafar Khan were non Turks.So was his general Malik Kafur.However it would be farfetched to say that this was the beginning of an integrated Indo Muslim State

 Another group of nobles were the Tajiks.free born officers[ also a sprinkling of Arabs,Yamanis etc]The Tajiks whose mother tongue was Persian were refined,and cultured and under Iltutmish whose Wazir Junaidi was a Tajik they were preferred for administrative posts.After the death of Iltutmish most were massacred by the Turks.

Alauddin Khaljis theory of kingship

Alauddin believed in despotic monarchy and though he never opposed the tenets of Islam he did not allow religion to book into the affairs of the state . His conversations with Qazi Mughisuddin of Bayana is proof of this. Alauddin raised 4 questions He wanted to know whether his action in letting off the Hindus by taxing them heavily without killing them for not embracing Islam was in conformity with the injunctions of Quran and Hadises. The Qazi replied in the affirmative .

 The second question was whether the severe punishments meted to the officials defrauding the state were in consonance with the Shar.The Qazi said any act of misappropriation of the state funds could not be regarded as theft because the treasury belonged to the officials being partners of the state as much as the sultan.

 The third question was regarding the wealth brought from Devagiri.Was he justified in keeping in entire wealth to himself. The Qazi replied that since the wealth was won on the strength of the Islamic army he must hand the treasure to the state as per Islamic law. The last question was in treating the state treasury for his personal use. The Qazi said like the pious Caliphs he should only drew salary as a soldier or the highest officer of the state. Otherwise he will have to answer on the day of the judgment.

 Alauddin replied Maulana Mughis ,though I have no knowledge and have read no book still I was born a Mussulman and my ancestors have been Muslims for so many generations. To prevent rebellions in which thousands of lives are lost I give such orders to the people as I consider to be beneficial to the state.I do not know whether they are permitted by the Shariat or not. I do not know how God will treat me on the day of the judgment.

 Thus Alauddin was the first Sultan of Delhi who did not allow the ulema to interfere in the matters of the state .He also did not seek their guidance or desire to use the name of the Caliph, or his investiture though he styled himself Yamin-ul Khilafati Nasiri Amir-ul Muminin He broke the power of the other pressure group the nobility and did not allow them to interfere.

Regulations to quell nobles

Alauddin diagnosed the reasons for revolts as 1 inefficiency of spy system 2Drinking parties among the nobles 3Social intercourse and inter-marriages among nobles 4 Excess wealth which gave them power and leisure to revolt He passed 4 Ordinances

1. Resumption of land grants state grants pensions, endowments and gifts or rewards which had been given to the nobles.Officers were instructed to extort money from people by every possible means so that no one remained rich.Barani said only Maliks,Amirs,State officials,Multani merchants and Hindu Seths had gold in their houses.

 2.Spy system was reorganised.Barids and Munhis were appointed in the houses of the rich, officers, in markets,towns and villages to report all occurrences 3.The sale and use of wines and drugs was porhibited.The Sultan broke his wine vessels in public.Later private manufacture and and use was allowed but not public drinking and parties. 4.Social gathering and inter-marriages were prohibited without the consent of the Sultan.

Agrarian Reforms
For the purpose of land revenue land was divided into two categories. The first kind the revenue was collected by the feudal chiefs who gave military assistance in time of need. In the Sultanate such revenue assignments given in lieu of cash salaries to nobles and soldiers were called iqtas The second was the crown lands i.e. those not assigned in iqtas which land was called Khalisa

 Alauddin increased the area under Khalisa to cover almost the entire doab from Dipalpur and Lahore to Kara near Allahabad. He confiscated the land assigned in charitable grants and brought it under khalisa.Also all the villages in the Doab which had not been assigned to any nobles as iqta. The land revenue or kharaj was fixed at half of the produce and assessed on the basis of measurement or paimaish

 The intermediaries who collected the revenue from the state and deposited it with the officials of the wizarat were khot,muqaddam and choudhary [head of a hundred villages] They were entitled to haqq- i-khoti [perquisites exemption from revenue on a portion of their holding]from the state and qismat-i-khoti as their share of the produce from the peasants.

 Beside the tax every cultivator had to pay ghari and charai i.e. house and grazing tax Alauddin introduced stern measures against the intermediaries. The reason was 1. They did not pay their share of revenue on their own holdings and passed the burden on the peasants. 2. .They did not pay the grazing tax. 3. Their ill-gotten wealth had made them arrogant and they would ignore the summons of the revenue official to submit accounts..

 Alauddin took the following measures 1. The state demand was fixed at half the produce of the land 2. The land was measured [masahat]and the land revenue was to be fixed on the the yield of each unit of the area[wafa-i-biswa].It was probably levied separately on the holding of each individual cultivator 3. The perquisites of intermediaries were disallowed they were to pay the house tax and the grazing tax.

 Alauddins objective acc to Barani was to free the zuafa or weak from the bar or burden of the aqwiya or strong. However the demand which was 50%was the highest in the agrarian history of India. The peasants protected from oppression of the intermediaries paid a higher rate than they ever did to the state. Thus the state gained at the cost of the intermediaries.

 According to Barani the weak peasants were ruined and the rich turned rebels .Cultivation was abandoned and the doab was devastated. The Sultan ordered the land be laid waste and many peasants and khots and muqaddams captured and killed. Alauddin expanded the numbers of revenue officials [ummal, mutasariff ,mushriff,navisandan]since the intermediaries were eliminated from direct revenue collection

 Soon large scale corruption emerged for which the officials were punished by the naibwazir . About 8to10 thousand were imprisoned. The bahi or ledger of the patwari was scrupulously scrutinized by theauditors.The bahi contained each and every payment made to the revenue collectors legal or illegal. These were compared to the receipts. Corruption occurred despite the salaries of the officials being hiked.

 These measures covered the heart of his empire.But Bihar,Awadh,Gujrat and parts of Malwa and Rajputana are not mentioned .In any case they were only limited to the khalisa lands Regarding the mode of payment the general practice in the 13th century was payment in cash.Alauddin preferred payment in grain especially from the doab so that he would have a reserve of grain stored in Delhi and other areas for contingencies and also to utilize the storage for price fixation in the grain market.

Changes introduced by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq

Two changes were important. 1. The intermediaries got back their haqq-ikhoti [but not kismat-i-khoti]They were also exempted from house and cattle tax. 2. The procedure of measurement [masahat] was to continue along with observation or actual yield [bar hukm hasil]

Changes introduced by Muhammad bin Tughlaq

There is a controversy that Muhammad bin Tughlaq enhanced the rate of taxation beyond 50%.It is also believed that the rate was reduced after Alauddin's death by the Khilji rulers which was again enhanced by Muhammad bin Tughlaq. These views are incorrect. The rate fixed by Alauddin was never sought to be tampered.

1. What Muhammad bin Tughlaq did was to impose new cesses [abwab] and revive the older ones [e.g.ghari and charai on the intermediaries] 2. Measurement alone was retained for assessment purpose. 3. Matters got aggravated when assessment in kind was carried out not on the basis of actual yield but on officially decreed yields [wafa-ifarmani] for each unit of measured area

4 For payment into cash the mutation was done not according to the market prices but the official decreed rates [nirkh-i-farmani] 5 Acc to Barani the sultan ordered the taxes to be realized rigorously [the area covered was the doab] 5The result was an unprecedented rebellion of the peasantry led by intermediaries and bloody confrontation.

 Like Alauddin Muhammads measures were designed to curb the privileges of the affluent sections in the village society especially the khuts and muqaddams.but they also hurt the average cultivator . He tried to make amends by granting loans, digging wells, improving cultivation by changing the cropping pattern and replacing inferior crops with superior crops. He set up a new agricultural department under Diwan-i-amir-i-kohi

 His policy could have succeeded only with the cooperation of the khuts and muqaddams who had the largest land holdings and the means. The officials appointed for the purpose had no knowledge of the local conditions and were only interested in enriching themselves. The scheme of reforms in the doab failed.

 Another development under the Tughlaqs was revenue farming given to contractorswho gave lump sum in advance for the right of revenue collection. Under FerozShah water tax or haq-i-sharb was taken from those collectors who irrigated land from canals constructed by the state. In case of bad harvest the state tried to adjust the land tax and also give agricultural loans called sondhar to the peasants in Muhammad bin Tughlaqs reign.

 To conclude the land revenue under the sultans especially during the 14th century remained heavy and there was a definite attempt to reduce the power and priviliges of the old intermediaries,the rais,rawats etc along with the khuts muqaddams forging ahead. It was the first time that such high magnitude ofrevenue was assessed and collected from a highly fertile area for several decades.

 The administrative measures adopted and the centralization of such large liquid resources in the hands of the ruling class had important consequences both for rural life and urban manufacturers, trade and commerce. Firoz Tughlaqs reign is generally considered a period of rural prosperity. Both Barani and Afif tell that as a result of the sultans orders not a single village in the doab remained uncultivated and the canal system extended tillage in Haryana.In the houses of the raiyat so much grain,horseswealth and goods accumulated that one cannot speak of them

Alauddin Khaljis Market Reforms

Reasons 1. Efforts at internal restructuration of the Sultanate 2. The need to create a large army to combat the threat of the recurrent Mongol invasions As a result of the market reforms and the fall of prices he was able to recruit a cavalry soldier at 238 tankas annually and 75 tankas more for additional horse.

Reasons
3 rulers were expected to ensure that the necessities of life specially food grains were available to the city folk at fair or reasonable prices. As cities were the sinews of power and authority all over the Islamic world 4Barani gives an additional reason He feels that the market reforms were part of the Sultans plan to impoverish the Hindus so that they would seize to harbor thoughts of rebellion against him.However since the registers contain the names of both Hindu and Muslim merchants this reason does not hold good.

 5 According to historian Dr.U N Dey Alauddins motive was to check the rising prices which was due to the manipulations of the business community and increased money circulation . It was not to reduce the prices to a lower level than the normal. He reaches the conclusion after comparing the salary paid by Alauddin to his soldiers which was only6 tanka less than that paid by Akbar to his cavalry soldier.

Alauddin set up three markets at Delhi. The first for foodgrains,second for cloth,sugar,ghee,oil,dryfrits and other expensive items and third for horses ,slaves and cattle. He framed detailed instructions for control and administration of these markets. He controlled the supply of food grains from villages, their transportation to the markets by karwanis and banjaras and its distribution to the citizens.

 To ensure there were sufficient stocks of food grains with the government so that traders did not hike prices by creating an artificial scarcity half of the revenue around Delhi was to be collected in kind, stored locally and then sent to Delhi. The transportation of food grains was carried by banjaras and karwaniyan .They were ordered to form a corporate body and give sureties for each other and settle on the banks of the Yamuna with their families and cattle. An official [shuhna] was appointed to oversee.It is said that in normal times there was so much grain in the capital that it was not required to touch the royal stores.

 The Sultan ordered the revenue collectors around the doab to collect revenue so strictly that the peasants sold their produce to the merchants at cheap prices rather than storing it. They were allowed to keep 10 man for personal usage. The local officers had to sign a bond that they would not permit anyone to sell at higher than the fixed price. If anyone violated the official and peasant/grocer were punished.

 The sultan appointed a shehna-i-mandi or controller of markets,barids or intelligence officers and munhiyan or spies to ensure the regulations were followed.Regrating was prohibited. Every day the Sultan received daily reports form the 3 sources. .

Cloth market
He built the serai-i-adl for selling cloth at controlled rates. Prices of different articles was fixed.Each trader had to register his nameHe undertook to bring to the serai-i-adl a fixed quantity of goods and sell them at fixed rates.The Sultan gave financial advancesand removed levies on merchandise.To prevent resale of goods at higher prices outside Delhi articles were soldonly to people who had registered their name and quantity required

Horse Market
The sultan graded the horses into 3 categories with the help of the brokers and fixed their prices The horse trade was in the hands of the Afghani and Multani merchants who colluded with the dalals or middlemen to hike the prices.Alauddin imprisoned and banished the dalals from the town. The horse merchants to sellthe horses to diwan-i-arz.The prices of horses remained stable but the middlemen could not be kept away for long from the trade.

 The result of thes measures was that prices were kept artificially low in Alauddins reign .But did not survive after his death.In any case the regulations were most effective and levied in and around the capital