MODULE - 6A

Evolution of State in India

Notes
31

THE MEDIEVAL STATE

In this study material the discussion is on the emergence, nature and expansion of
states which emerged in medieval India. The two major state formations discussed
here are Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. The medieval rulers basically came
from outside India thus they had to influence as well as learn from native political
structures. Medieval state may be characterized as a polity headed by a strong ruler,
supported by hierarchically organized administrative machinery and legitimized by the
authority of religion. The army, bureaucracy by blood and land revenue remained the
basic elements of the state. But each ruler had to balance the competing groups for
power sharing.

OBJECTIVES
After studying this lesson, you will be able to:
• analyse the evolution of state in medieval India;
• recall the nature of medieval state and
• explain the institutions of medieval state.
31.1 THE BACKGROUND
Since the decline of the Gupta state the Indian polity saw decentralization and rise
of various regional states. Transition from early to medieval period saw tripartite
struggle among the three regional powers- Palas of Bengal, Pratiharas of northern
India and Rashtrakutas of Peninsular India. Very soon northern India saw the emer-
gence of Rajput small kings aspiring to become kingdoms. But the arrival of the
Turks from north western direction saw emergence of new process of an extended
medieval state.

31.2 DELHI SULTANATE

Ilbari Turks
In the thirteenth century, a new kind of dynastic domain emerged in North India. The
Delhi Sultanate had its origin in victories by Muhammad Ghauri, who sacked Ghazni
in 1151, and then expelled Ghaznavids to Punjab, in1157. Muhammad Ghauri marched

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into the Indus basin to uproot the Ghaznavids in 1186. On the way, his armies
conquered Multan (1175), Sind (1182), Peshawar and Lahore (1186). In 1190, he
occupied Bhatinda, which triggered battles with the Rajput King Prithviraj Chauhan,
whom he finally defeated in 1192. Having broken the Rajput hold on western
routes to the Ganga basin, the Ghaurid armies marched eastward until Bakhtyar Notes
Khalji finally defeated Laksmanasena in Bengal, in 1200. Muhammad Ghauri died
in 1206. His trusted Mamluk (ex–slave) general, Qutb–ud–din–Aibak, governor of
Delhi, then declared an independent rule. This dynasty of Ilbari Turks was the first
in a series that became collectively known as the Delhi Sultanate. Later Ghaurid
and Ghaznavid efforts to bring Delhi back into their fold were finally defeated by
the Delhi Sultan Iltutmish in 1211–1236. Iltutmish must be regarded as the real
consolidator of the Turkish conquests in north India. He gave the new state capital,
Delhi, a monarchical form of government and governing class. He introduced
Iqta–grant of revenue from a territory in lieu of salary. He maintained a central
army and introduced coins of Tanka (silver) and Jital (copper). The famous Qutub
Minar was completed during his reign. Iltutmish nominated his daughter Raziya
(Raziyyat–ud–Din) to be his successor. Still, the new state had enough internal
momentum to survive severe factional disputes during the 10 years following
Iltutmish’s death, when four of Iltutmish’s children or grandchildren were in turn
raised to the throne and deposed. This momentum was maintained largely through
the efforts of Iltutmish’s personal slaves, who came to be known as the Forty
(Chihilgan), a political faction whose membership was characterized by talent and
by loyalty to the family of Iltutmish. The political situation had changed by 1246,
when Ghiyas-ud-din Balban, a junior member of the Forty, had gained enough power
to attain a controlling position within the administration of the newest sultan, Nasir–
ud–din Mahmud (reigned 1246–66). Balban, acting first as na’ib (deputy) to the
sultan and later as Sultan (reigned 1266-87), was the most important political figure
of his time. Balban stressed the special position of Sultan as ‘Shadow of God’ (Zill-
al–Allah) on earth. Balban emphasized courtly splendour, decorum and etiquette.
He also believed in severe setting example punishments even to the nobles. Blaban’s
immediate successors, however, were unable to manage either the administration
or the intergroup conflicts between the old Turkish nobility and the new forces, led
by the Khaljis; after a struggle between the two factions, Jalal-ud-din Firuz Khalji
assumed the sultanate in 1290.

The Khaljis
The Khaljis were not recognized by the older nobility as coming from pure Turkish
stock (although they were Turks), and their rise to power was aided by impatient
outsiders, some of them Indian-born Muslims, who might expect to enhance their
positions if the hold of the followers of Balban and the Forty were broken. To some
extent, then, the Khalji power seizure was a move toward the recognition of a
shifting balance of power, believed to be the result of both to the developments
outside the territory of the Delhi Sultanate, in Central Asia and Iran, and to the
changes that followed the establishment of Turkish rule in northern India. Under
the Khaljis external policy of conquest and internal methods of absolute control
were followed through military expeditions and regulations. The Khaljis used their
Afghan descent to win the loyalties of the discontented nobles, who felt that they
had been neglected by the earlier sultans. Jalaluddin Khalji (1290 AD – 1296 AD)
tried to mitigate some of the harsh aspects of Balban’s rule. He was the first ruler

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to put forward the view that the state should be based on the willing support of the
governed and that since the majority of Indians were Hindus, the state cannot be
truly Islamic.
In 1296 he was assassinated by his ambitious nephew and successor, Ala–ud–
Notes Din Khalji. During the reign of Ala-ud-din Khalji (1296–1316), the sultanate briefly
assumed the status of an empire. In order to achieve his goals of centralization
and expansion, Ala-ud-din needed money, loyal and reasonably obeying nobility,
and an efficient army under his personal control. He had earlier, in 1292, partly
solved the problem of money when he conducted a lucrative raid into Bhilsa in
central India. Using that success to build his position and a fresh army, he led a
brilliant and unauthorized raid on the fabulously wealthy Devagiri (modern
Daulatabad), the capital of the Yadavas, in the Deccan early in 1296. The wealth
of Devagiri not only financed his usurpation but provided a good foundation of his
state-building plans. Centralization and heavy agrarian taxation were the princi-
pal features of Ala-ud-din’s rule. The magnitude and mechanism of agrarian taxa-
tion enabled the sultan to achieve two important objectives: (1) to ensure supplies
at low prices to grain carriers, and (2) to fill the state granaries with a buffer
stock, which, linked with his famous price regulations, came as a solution to the
critical financial problem of maintaining a large standing army. Within five years
after Ala–ud–din’s death (1316), the Khaljis lost their power. The succession
dispute resulted in the murder of Malik Kafur by the palace guards and in the
blinding of Ala-ud-din’s six-year-old son by Qutb-ud-din Mubarak shah, the Sultan’s
third son, who assumed the sultanate (1316–20). He was murdered by his favourite
general, a Hindu convert named Khusraw Khan. Opposition to Khusraw’s rule
arose immediately, led by Ghazi Malik, the warden of the western marches at
Deopalpur, and Khusraw was defeated and slained after four months.

The Tughluqs
Ghazi Malik, who ascended the throne as Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq (reigned 1320–
25), had distinguished himself prior to his accession by his successful defense of
the frontier against the Mongols. The Tughlaqs also wished to rule the whole of
India. Ghiyasuddin’s (1320–1325) campaign to Warangal, Orissa and Bengal were
directed towards this end. He built the city Tughlaqabad near Delhi. While return-
ing from the Bengal campaign, the Sultan was killed when a wooden shelter col-
lapsed on him at Afghanpur, near Delhi. The reign (1325–51) of Muhammad bin
Tughlaq marked both the high point of the sultanate and the beginning of its decline.
The period from 1296 to 1335 can be seen as one of nearly continuous centraliza-
tion and expansion. In fourteeth century chronicle of Firuz Shah Tughluq’s reign in
Delhi, contemporary historian Ziauddin Barani said that, “history is the knowledge
of the annals i.e. the historical records and traditions of prophets, caliphs, sultans,
and great men of religion and government.” The Tughlaq dynasty ended soon after
the Timur’s invasion but sultanage survived, though it was merely a shadow of its
former self. Timur’s nominee captured Delhi and was proclaimed the new sultan
and the first of Sayyid Dynasty (1414 AD – 1451 AD), which was to rule the
earlier half of the fifteenth century. Their rule was short-lived and confined to a
radius of some 200 miles around Delhi. They kept the machinery going until a more
capable dynasty, the Lodhis, took over. The Lodhis were of pure Afghan origin, and
brought an eclipse to the Turkish nobility.

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INTEXT QUESTIONS 31.1

Correct the following sentences and rewrite:
Notes
1. Muhammad Ghauri marched into the Indus basin to uproot the Ghaznavids
in 1168.

2. Ghauri’s armies conquered Multan in 1157, Sind in 1128 and Parkawas and
Lahore in 1168.

3. Iltumish must be regarded as the real consolidator of the Turkish Conquests in

South India.

4. After a struggle between the two factions Jalal-ud-din Firoz Khalji assumed the
sultanate in 1209.

5. In 1269 Jalaluddin Khalji was assassinated by his ambitious nephew and successor,
Ala-ud-Din Khalji.

31.3 THE MUGHALS

In 1526, Babur from Central Asia established Mughal dynasty in India. Babur claimed
descend from both Timur and Genghis Khan. His conquest of Delhi and Ganga basin
was before the final step in the rise of warrior power in South Asia. The greatest
sultans in South Asia were Mughal emperors who (though part Turk through Babur
and Timur) adopted Persian imperial culture and took the Persian title Padshah to lift
themselves symbolically above Turks, Afghans, and all other sultans. Babur was a
Chagatai Turk who fled patrimonial lands near Samarkand to escape Uzbek armies.
He followed opportunity into the Ganga basin, where he used Uzbek-style fast-horse
tightly packed together cavalry equipped with muskets and canon to sweep away the
opposition. In 1526, he had conquered sultans from Punjab to Bengal. But opposition
survived. Thirteen years later, an Afghan soldier who had fought for the Lodis and for
Babur, and who styled himself Sher Shah to demonstrate his Persian education (at
Jaunpur), declared a new dynasty in Bengal and Bihar. Sher Shah’s armies then beat
Babur’s son, Humayun, back to Afghanistan, where Humanyan raised his own son,
Akbar, in exile. The Sur dynasty did not survive the Shah’s death, though its lasting
accomplishments included administrative innovations and a trunk road from Bengal to
Pubjab. Soon after Sher Shah died, Humayun conquered Delhi, in 1555. He died
there by accident. His thirteen year old son, Akbar, then ascended his throne under
his regent, Bairam Khan. Akbar was crowned in 1556, as Bairam Khan conquered
strategic fortress cities at Lahore, Delhi, Agra, and Jaunpur. Bairam Khan had also
conquered Malwa and Rajsthan before he was ousted as regent and assassinated.
Akbar ruled for fifty years (1556- 1650). He continued to conquer to the end.

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His armies surpassed all before in there size, funding, leadership, technology, and
success. At his death, his domains stretched from Kabul, Kashmir, and Punjab to
Gujarat, Bengal, and Assam; and they were still increasing in the south and up into
mountains on all sides. His mantle was passed to his son, Jahangir (1605–1627) then
Notes to his grandson, Shah Jahan (1627–1658), and to his great-grandson. Aurangzeb (1658–
1707), whose death was followed by imperial fragmentation.Though the dynasty
survived until 1858, when it was dethroned by the British. The Mughal Empire at its
peak commanded resources unprecedented in Indian history and covered almost the
entire subcontinent. Form 1556 to 1707, during the hey–day of its fabulous wealth and
glory, the Mughal Empire was a fairly efficient and centralized organization, with a
vast complex of personnel, money, and information dedicated to the dervice of the
emperor and hid nobility.
Much of the empire’s expansion during this period was attributable to India’s growing
commercial and cultural contact with the outside world. The sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries brought the establishment and expansion of European and non-Euro-
pean trading organizations in the subcontinent, principally for the procurement of
Indian goods in demand abroad, Indian regions drew close to each other by means of
a dense overland and coastal trading network. Significantly incresining the internal
surplus of precious metals. With expanded connections to the wider world came also
new ideologies and technologies to challenge and enrich the imperial edifice. The
empire itself, however, was a purely Indian historical experience. Mughal culture
blended Perso-Islamic and regional Indian elements into a distinctive but variegated
whole. Although by the early eighteenth century, the regions had begun to reassert
their independent positions, the Mughal period outlasted imperial central authority.
The imperial centre, in fact, came to be controlled by the direction of the Mughal
Empire over its first 200 years (1526–1748) thus provides a fascinating illustration of
pre–modern state building in the Indian subcontinent.

31.4 NATURE OF MEDIEVAL STATE

What did it mean to be a Sultan? In the Quran this Arabic word represent a man with
spiritual power. Mahmud of Ghazni was the first man to be styled “Sultan” by
contemporaries, which indicates his success in cultivating admirers. The title seems
to have been popular first among Turks. Seljuq dynasties in Western and Central Asia
were the to use this title of ‘Sultan’ routinely, and later, Ottoman Turks made it fa-
mous in Europe. When the Caliph began conferring the title, it spread quickly among
Muslim rulers and changed along the way. The Sultans of Delhi acknowledged the
sovereignty of Caliph of Baghdad and considered their kingdom as a part of Dar–ul–
Islam of which the Caliph was the juridical head. India under the Mughal emperors
was governed under the Muslim law Sharia. Even so neither under the Sultans of
Delhi nor under the Mughal Emperors did the state confirm absolutely to Islamic
ordinances since it had to adapt itself to the realities and often may not be the correct
one. The Turkish and Afghan rulers of India had to treat the Hindus, who formed the
vast majority of the population, with consideration and toleration. In fields relating to
religion, property and several other non- religious affairs, the non–Muslim population
was allowed full freedom to have their cases tried by their own communal courts.
The land revenue system under the Sultan and the ceremonies and the procedure at
the royal court bear the unmistakable evidence of Indian tradition. The question arises
that whether the medieval Indian state was government by priest? In formal sense

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the medieval state under the Muslim rule was definitely a theocracy, since it had all its
essential elements- the sovereignty of God and government by the direction of the
God through priests in accordance with divine laws. The Sultans of Delhi considered
themselves as deputies or assistants of the Caliph who was God’s representation.
Sher Shah and Islam Shah assumed the title of Caliph and the Mughal Emperors, Notes
from Akbar to Aurangzeb, adopted titled like ‘Shawdow of God’, and ‘Agent of God
on earth’. The sovereignty of God was unquestioned. The supremacy of the Sharia
was always acknowledged, though Akbar added to the Sharia the state laws. How-
ever, these rulers did not allow the Muslim divines to dictate the policies of the state.
Basically, defense, law and order and collection of revenue were the primary concerns
of the Sultanate of Delhi. In other matters, it generally followed a policy of non interfer-
ence, as the welfare of the people was not the primary concern of the sultans.
Toleration under the Sultans was the exception rather than the rule. Thus, while
claiming to be Islamic the state of Delhi Sultanate was militaristic and aristocratic in
character. In contrast the Mughal Empire stood on altogether different ground.
Toleration and kindness were the guiding principles of Akbar’s government. Akbar
considered his subjects as his children and hence held himself responsible for their
welfare. The state as conceived by Abul Fazl and established by Akbar was not con-
fined to any particular class and was based on the principle of ‘peace with all’ (Sulh-i-
Kul). But in spite of Akbar’s enlightened policy and its circumstantial continuation by
Jahangir and Shah Jahan, the Mughal rule had limited scope in its function. In spite of
imparting charities and kind Monarchs the Mughal state was not a welfare state.
Extraction of the land revenue and defense were its main functions. The form of gov-
ernment was a Monarchy which in spite of being hereditary could not develop a well
defined law of succession. Theoretically, the king was the fountainhead of all branches
of the government but weak persona of the ruler could provide the opportunity to the
nobility and the ulema to exercise effective check on the royal power.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 31.2

Fill in the Blanks
1. Babur claimed descend from both and .
2. After Sher Shah Suri died, Humayun Conquered Delhi in .
3. From 1556 to , during the hey–day of its fabulous wealth and glory
the Mughal Empire was a and organization.
4 India under the empire was governed under Muslim law
.

31.5 THE KINGSHIP

Whatever his title, a monarch was a man of personal greatness, not only as an army
commander but as a spiritual and moral being. A man of civilization, his wars were
civilizing, by definition, though what this meant varied and changed. A Sultan’s
grandeur emerged from the work of people around him. Putting halos on Muslim
monarchs was a job for poets, scholars (imams and ulema), architects, chroniclers,

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biographers, spiritual guides (sufis), and Friday prayer leaders at the Jama Masjid,
the great congregational mosque essential in any domain. Skilled service providers
and cultural activists competed for the honors to glorify sultans, and in doing so the
Sultan’s personality thus emerged in context. Experts and allies around him shaped
Notes his opinions, policies, and priorities. He cultivated people to secure his success; and
his power depended on their power. Thus the social institution of a monarch’s power
extended well beyond the throne. Early Sultans like Mahmud of Ghazni relied entirely
on kin and close ethnic allies. As the political landscape became more complex, more
complex personalities developed and under the Mughals assumed epic proportions.
The Sultan’s body, speech, piety, personal habits, hobbies, family. Household, ances-
tors, wives, son, and in-laws formed the inner core of his public identity; they ap-
peared in public gossip, art, lore, song, and chronicle.
31.6 THE ROYAL COURT
A daily dramatization of the Sultan’s public self occurred in his court. At his public
darbar, where he received guests, ambassadors, supplicants, allies, and payers of
taxes and tribute.The institution of the darbar evolved over time. Its early Central
Asian home was a regal tent on the battlefield’ in later centuries, it acquired architec-
tural grandeur, as at the Mughal fort- cities in Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, and Delhi, whose
darbar halls are massive stages for the emperor’s performance of power. Many
darbars incorporated Hindu and Muslim traditions of display and drama. We have a
detailed rendering of darbar scenes in eighteenth century paintings that now accom-
pany the seventeenth century pardshahanama, the chronicle or the Mughal emperor
Shah Jahan. These illustrations show hanging rugs that recall the darbar’s nomadic
heritage, and each and every person depicted in the paintings had a specific rank at
court and relation to the emperor. The darbar became a place for dramatizing in
public all the personal identities that were being defined in relation to sultans. To
dramatize all the various personalities of power that comprised his domain, a sultans,
took his darbar wherever he went. A darbar spent considerable time on the move,
especially in battle. The ruler’s traveling court became an enduring cultural phenom-
enon; and in later centuries, touring administrators, tax collectors, and politicians ef-
fectively became touring sultans of modern times.
31.7 PERSONA OF THE KING
A Sultan’s retinue(a group of retainers in attendance), regalia privileges & a king and
family symbolized his greatness. Sultans were sticklers for public etiquette and lim-
ited protocol, lest subordinates exceed their station. The sultan had to have the big-
gest, richest, most elaborate, extravagant, valuable things visible on his person, to
dramatize his ascendancy constantly. Vijayanagar Rayas styled themselves “Lords
of the Eastern and Western Oceans” by adorning their bodies with precious com-
modities from overseas trade, specifically, perfumes and precious things like Chinese
porcelain. The Sultan’s home was a larger version of his own body and dramatized
his power to accumulate, command, control, and define wealth, value and taste. The
grandiose habits of consumption of the great influencer became an enduring fact of
political life in South Asia.
Significant features of a Sultan’s persona emerged in publicly visible domestic
dramas, above all, marriage. Weddings were great events of political life because
marriage was the most secure method of political alliance. In the padshahnama,
warfare and weddings are depicted by the artists most elaborately. Even the Mughal

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Empire was at bade a family affair. In the inner secret deep inside area of the palace,
family members vied for influence and engaged in the secret plans that often culmi-
nated in wars of succession, in which relatives killed one another, as they did in the epic
Mahabharata. At home, the Sultan’s honour rested on the stainless virtue of his mother,
wives, daughters, and sisters. Seperated from public view women of the palace lived Notes
behind a curtain, pardah; and women in seclusion, pardahnasheen, became the sultan’s
own virtue. Practices of female seclusion spread among elites who modeled them-
selves on sultans, Hindus and Muslims alike, at all levels of society.
31.8 THE NOBILITY
The sultans looked different titles that indicate ethnic origins and cultural affiliations in
addition to marking personal status. Every Sultan sought to form and organize a group of
nobles which would be personally loyal to him. Thus not only the Turkan-i- Chihalgani
(Group of Forty nobles) tried to capture all privileges and power but groups having per-
sonal loyalty to Sultans like Qutbis (loyal to Qutub-ud- din Aibak), Shamsis (loyal to shams-
ud-din Iltutmish), Balbanis and Alai amirs remained dominant throughout this period. Al-
most all the high nobles, including the famous Forty in the thirteenth century, were of
Central Asian origin; many of them were slaves purchased from the Central Asian ba-
zaars. The same phenomenon also led to the destabilization of the core of the Turkish
Mamluks. With the Mongol plunder of Central Asia and eastern Iran, many more mem-
bers of the political and religious elite of these regions were thrown into north India,where
they were admitted into various levels of the military and administrative cadre by the Delhi
Sultans. Ala-ud-din was one of the first rulers to deliberately expand political participation
within the sultanate government. Not only did he partly open the gates to power for the
non-Turkish Muslim nobility-some of whom were even converted Hindus within the politi-
cal world he viewed as legitimate. Both Ala-ud-din and his son married into the families of
important Hindu rulers, and several such rulers were received at court and treated with
respect. Under the Tughluq, the non-Mumlim Indians rose to high and extremely respon-
sible officers, including the governorships of provices. Muhammad bin Tughluq was the
first Muslim ruler to planned efforts to induct Hindus into administration.
Within the first three decades of Akbar’s reign, the imperial person of the highest class
has grown enormously. As the Central Asian nobles had generally been nurtured on the
Turko – Mongol tradition of sharing power with the royalty – an arrangement not in tune
with Akbar’s ambition of structuring the Mughal Centralism around himself – the
emperor’s principal goal was to reduce their strength and influence. The emperor en-
couraged new elements to join his service, and Iranians came to form an important
block of the Mughal nobility. Akbar also looked for new men of Indian background.
Indian Afghans, being the principal opponents of the Mughals, were obviously to be kept
at a distance; but the Sayyids of Baraha, the Bukhari Sayyids, and the Kambus among
the Indian Muslims were specially favoured for high military and civil positions. More
significant was the recruitment of Hindu Rajput leaders into the Mughal nobility. This
was a major step, even if not completely new in Indo – Islamic history, leading to a
standard pattern of relationship between the Mughal autocracy and local cruel rulers.

31.9 OFFICES AND HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE

Neither the government of the Delhi Sultanate nor that of the Mughal Empire was
slave like. Both the governments were organized bureaucracy with regular gradation
of departments and officers. No officers, either civil or military, was hereditary and

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thus the officers were appointed, transferred and dismissed by the Monarch at his will
and were accountable to him only. Under the Sultanate immediately after Sultan the
office of Wazir was there to supervise all affairs of the government. The Mughals
called their Prime Minister as Wakil, later on synonymous with wazir or diwan. The
Notes Sultans established the Diwan–i–Arz (the Military Department) Headed by
Ariz–i– Mumalik while under the Mughals Mir Bakshi was in–charge of army and
general administration of royal establishment. In Sultanate religious affairs and charity
were looked after by Diwan–i–Risalat headed by Sadr–us–Sudur (chief sadr). As
far as the officer was concerned Mughals continued with the same title. Both the
regimes combined the office of Chief Qazi (Chief Justice) with that of sadr. In Sultan-
ate Mushrif–i–Mamalik (Accountant General), Mushaufi–i–Mamalik (Auditor Gen-
eral), Diwan–i–Insha (State Correspondence Department) headed by Dabir–i–Khas
and Barid–i–Mumalik (Head of the Intelligence Department) were some important
offices and departments.

31.10 PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION

Under the Sultanate muqtis or walis were in –change of the provinces. Provinces also
had a Sahib–i–diwan assisted by mutasarrifs and karkuns to control income and expen-
diture in the end of the thirteenth century Shiqq emerged as an administrative division
later known as Sarkar as well. For justice courts of the Qazi and the Sadr functioned in
the provinces. The Mughal empire was divided into 15 provinces–Allahabad, Agra,
Avadh, Ajmer, Ahmadabad, Bihar, Bengal, Delhi, Kabul, Lahore, Multan, Malka,
Qhandesh, Berar, and Ahmadnagar. Kashmir and Qandahar were districts of the prov-
ince of Kabul, Sindh, then known as Thatta, was a district in the province of Multan.
Orissa formed a part of Bengal. The provinces were not of uniform area or income.
There were in each province a governor, a dewan (revenue and finance officer), a
bakhshi (military commander), a sadr (religious administrator), and qazi (judge) and
agents who supplied information to the central government. Separation of powers among
the various officials (in particular, between the governor and the diwan) was a
significant operating principal in imperial administration. The Mughal provinces were
also divided into districts (sarkars). Each district had a faujdar (a military officer whose
duties roughly corresponded to those of a collector); a qazi, a bitikchi (head clerk); and
a khazanedar (treasurer). Justice was administered by a hierarchy of courts rising from
village panchayat to the pargana, sarkar and provincial courts (under the Qazi,
Amir–i– Dad and Mir Adl) and finally to the chief sadr cum qazi and ultimately the
emperor himself. Both under Sultanate and Mughal, the Kotwal was the enforcer of
law at the local level.

31.11 IQTA, JAGIR AND MANSAB

Iqta under the Sultanate and Jagir under the Mughals were developed as the officers
for the collection of revenue which Iqtadars or jagirdars realized on behalf of the state
with a view to obtain their salary. But their judicial preview over hand depended on the
pleasure of the emperor. The muqtis or iqta holders were required to furnish military
assistance to the Sultans in times of need, apart from maintaining law and order and
collecting the revenue from their iqta. These revenue assignments were generally
non–hereditary and transferable. Similarly, the Mansab system was based upon the
organization of the public services of the Mughal Empire. It was neither hereditary nor
hierarchical. Mansab means literally a rank or a position which was fixed according to

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the personal merit and status (zat) of the officer and the contingent (sawar) he
maintained. Generally, the mansabdars were assigned a territory known as a jagir, who’s
estimated revenue (Jama) was equal to the pay due for both their zat and sawar mansabs,
though some mansabdars were also paid in cash from the imperial treasury.
Notes
31.12 TAXATION
The system of taxation in Sutanate comprised taxes like Kharaj (varied from one
sixth to one third of the gross produce), Jaziya (levied upon adult non- Muslim males
with independent means of maintenance in lieu of military service), Zakat (a tax
raised from well to do Muslims for the purpose of charity), Khams or Ghaninah (the
booty taken in war) and other transit and octroi duties along with natural resources
were the main sources of income. The chaudhuris, muqqadams and khuts were the
village revenue collector functioning under the amils, shiqdars and provincial muqtis.
Khalisa land revenue was reserved for the Sultan’s treasury only. The Mughals
improved upon this system particularly in the area of land revenue. The system of
measurement zabt introduced by Sher Shah Suri was adopted and improved by Akbar.
Ultimately, Ain–i–Dahsala the final method of revenue settlement was based upon
the average annual yied of the previous ten years from a particular field. The
Gaz–i– Ilahi, a new yard for land measurement brought uniformity in the land survey.
Productivity of the land, nature of the crop, prices, and irrigation facilities were the
other major factors deciding the cash value of the revenue demand of the govern-
ment. Option of paying land tax could be done through various systems. Ownership
of the land always belonged to the cultivator.

31.13 ARMY

Both the Sultanate and the Mughal state were dependent on army whose main strength
was the cavalry. Ariz–i–Mumalik under the Sultans and Mir Bakshi under the Mughal
Emperors were the officers in – charge but the ruler himself commanded all the armed
forces. Balban was the first one to recruit a regular standing army, this system was
further strengthened by Ala–ud–din–Khalji who introduced the branding system (Dagh)
of the horses. The royal cavalry in Delhi Sultanate was called Hasham–i–Qalb or
Afwaj–i–Qalb. Hasham–i–Atraj was the cavalry posted at provincial level. This army
was organized on the basis of decimal system. Mughal army was organized on the basis
of mansab system, described above. Ahadis were the royal troopers directly under the
command of the emperor. The artillery had developed rapidly in India after the advent
of Babur. Apart from siege i.e. the process of surrounding and attacking a fortified
place there were heavy guns mounted on forts. The infantry, though numerous,
consisted of both fighting and non- fighting classes. The fighting men were mainly
matchlock men, called banduqchis. By the time of Akbar, matchlock contingent was
also included in the infantry. Both Sultans of Delhi and Mughals used elephants on the
battle fields. Navy always remained a weak point of the Indian rulers.

31.14 CURRENCY SYSTEM

The standard coin under the Sultans from Iltutmish onwards was the silver tanka
weighing 175grains. The currency system was, however, bimetallic, there being
parallel coin in copper, the basic unit of which was the jital. In the fourteenth century,
48 or 50 jitals were held equal in worth to tanka. The Sultans issued bullion coins as

HISTORY 33
 MODULE - 6A THE MEDIEVAL STATE
Evolution of State in India

well, and gold issues have also survived. The Lodis, who never minted silver, issued a
heavy bullion coin 145 grains called bahloli. Sher Shah Suri established a bimetallic
system by issuing a rupee of silver and making the tanka a purely copper coin. The
Mughals from Akbar onwards continued the same system: their rupee weighed 178
Notes grains (180 under Aurangzeb), and the alloy in these never rose above 4 per cent. In
copper they minted dams of 323 grains each, these being originally the half tanka of
Sher Shah. In the last years of Akbar, a rupee fetched 40 dams, and this became
subsequently the paper value of the rupee. In fact, the copper price of the rupee
declined throughout the seventeenth century. The Mughals also issued gold coins,
known as mohur or asharfi, but these were not normally used in the market. The Mughal
coinage was of great metallic purity and uniformity. The minting was ‘free’ in the sense
that any one could take bullion to the mint and get in coined at a small charge.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 31.3

Fill in the blanks with appropriate word from the bracket
1. The emperor encouraged new elements to join his service, and
came to form an important block of the Mughal normality. (Afganian, Irarian,
Turkish)
2. Under this Sultanate immediately after Sultan the office of was
there to supervise all affairst of the government. (chief sadas, chief Justice,
Wazil)
3. under the Mughals was developed as the office for the collection
of revenue who realized on behalf of the state. (Mansab, Sadr, Jagir)
4. The standard coin under the Sultan from Itlutmish onwards was the silver tanka
weighing grains. (175, 200, 225)

Thus the growth of the medieval state was an ever growing process along with
conquests and consolidations. In the art of the governance certain central Asian
institutions were introduced but at the same time previous practices were not
substantially disturbed. As far as organization of the administration and ruling class
were concerned, it was not a monolithic structure. Each monarch as a single source
of power had to establish a balance between varying compositions and interest groups
to ensure the durability and stability of his dynasty. But the set of beliefs of a
composite culture was always taken care of.

WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT

With the decline of the Gupta state, the Indian polity saw decentralization and rise of
various regional states. In the 13th century, a new kind of domain emerged in North
India. The Delhi Sultanate had its origin in victories by Mohammad Ghauri, who
sacked Ghazni in 1151, Ghazni’s armies conquered Multan, Sind, Peshawar and Lahore.
Later Iltutmish was regarded as the real consolidator of the Turkish conquests in
North India.

34 HISTORY
 THE MEDIEVAL STATE MODULE - 6A
Evolution of State in India

The political situation had changed by 1246 when Ghiyas-ud-din gained enough power
and acted first as naib (duty) to the Sultan and later as Sultan (1266–87) was the most
important political figure of his time. In 1296 he was assassinated by his ambitions
nephew and successor, Ala–ud–Din Khalji. During his reign (1296–1316) the
sultanate briefly assumed the status of an empire. However, within five years after Notes
Ala–ud–din’s death the khaljis lost their power.
Ghiyas–ud–din Tughlaq (1320–25) and Mohammad bin Tughlaq marked the high point
of the sultanate and wished to rule the whole of India. It was the period of continuous
centralization and expansion.
In 1526, Babur from central Asia established Mughal dynasty in India. His con-
quests of Delhi, Ganga basin and later from Punjab to Bengal entitled him to take
the persian title of padshah. His son Humayun lost to Sher Shah and retreated to
Afghanistan. After Sher Shah’s death Humayun conquered Delhi in 1555 and died
by accident. His 13year old son Akbar ascended the throne and under the guidance
of his regent Bairam Khan conquered the strategic fortress cities of Lahore, Agra
and Jaunpur. Akbar ruled from, 1556-1605. His domain stretched from Kabul, Kash-
mir, Punjab to Gujrat, Bengal and Assam. His successors Jahangir (1605–1627)
and grandson Shah–Jahan (1627–1658) and great grand –son Aurangzeb (1658-
1707). The Mughal Empire was at its peak, commanded resources unprecedented
in Indian history.
The 16th and 17th centuries brought the establishment and expansion of European and
non–European trading organization in the sub continent, principally for the
procurement of Indian goods in demand abroad.
In this lesson you have also learnt about nature of medieval state, kingship, royal
court and nobility. Besides you have acquired information about provincial
administration, the process of taxation, medieval army and the currency system.

TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1. Briefly describe the role of Muhammad Ghauri
2. Mention the principal features of the era of Balbans and Khalji’s.
3. “The reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq marked both the high point of the
Sultanate and the beginning of its decline”. Comment.
4. Assess the rule of the Mughals during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
5. Examine the nature of Medieval state.
6. What is meant by persona of the King?
7. Write a brief note on provincial administration.

ANSWER TO INTEXT QUESTIONS

31.1 1. 1186
2. 1175, 1182 and 1186

HISTORY 35
 MODULE - 6A THE MEDIEVAL STATE
Evolution of State in India

3. North India.
4. 1290
5. 1296
Notes 31.2. Fill in the blanks:
1. Timur, Genghis khan
2. 1555
3. 1707, efficient, Centralised
4. Mughal, Sharia
31.3. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from the brackets ( ):
1. Iranian
2. Wazir
3. Jagir
4.175
HINTS TO TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1. See para 31.2
2. See para 31.2
3. See para 31.2
4. See para 31.3
5. See para 31.4
6. See para 31.5
7. See para 31.10

36 HISTORY