1

T
ake a look at Maps 1 and 2. Map 1 was made in
1154 CE. by the Arab geographer al-Idrisi. The
section reproduced here is a detail of the Indian
subcontinent from his larger map of the world. Map 2
was made in the 1720s by a French cartographer cartographer cartographer cartographer cartographer. The
two maps are quite different even though they are of
the same area. In al-Idrisis map, south India is where
we would expect to find north India and Sri Lanka is
the island at the top. Place-names are marked in Arabic,
Cartographer Cartographer Cartographer Cartographer Cartographer
A person who
makes maps.
1
TRACING CHANGES THROUGH
A THOUSAND YEARS
Map 1 Map 1 Map 1 Map 1 Map 1
A section of the world
map drawn by the
geographer al-Idrisi in
the twelfth century
showing the Indian
subcontinent.
TRACING CHANGES...
2 OUR PASTS II
and there are some well-known names like Kanauj in
Uttar Pradesh (spelt in the map as Qanauj). Map 2 was
made nearly 600 years after the first, during which time
information about the subcontinent had changed
considerably. This map seems more familiar to us and
the coastal areas in particular are surprisingly detailed.
This map was used by European sailors and merchants
on their voyages (see Chapter 6). But look at the areas
inland.
Are they as detailed as those on the coast? Follow the
course of the River Ganga and see how it is shown. Why
do you think there is a difference in the level of detail
and accuracy between the coastal and inland areas in
this map?
Map 2 Map 2 Map 2 Map 2 Map 2
The subcontinent, from
the early-eighteenth
century Atlas Nouveau
of Guillaume de lIsle.
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3
Equally important is the fact that the science of
cartography differed in the two periods. When historians
read documents, maps and texts from the past they
have to be sensitive to the different historical
backgrounds the contexts in which information
about the past was produced.
New and old terminologies
If the context in which information is produced
changes with time, what about language and
meanings? Historical records exist in a variety of
languages which have changed considerably over the
years. Medieval Persian, for example, is different from
modern Persian. The difference is not just with regard
to grammar and vocabulary; the meanings of words
also change over time.
Take the term Hindustan, for example. Today we
understand it as India, the modern nation state. When
the term was used in the thirteenth century by Minhaj-i
Siraj, a chronicler who wrote in Persian, he meant the
areas of Punjab, Haryana and the lands between the
Ganga and Yamuna. He used the term in a political
sense for lands that were a part of the dominions of the
Delhi Sultan. The areas included in this term shifted
with the extent of the Sultanate but the term never
included south India within it. By contrast, in the early
sixteenth century Babur used Hindustan to describe
the geography, the fauna and the culture of the
inhabitants of the subcontinent. As we will see later in
the chapter, this was somewhat similar to the way the
fourteenth-century poet Amir Khusrau used the word
Hind. While the idea of a geographical and cultural
entity like India did exist, the term Hindustan did
not carry the political and national meanings which we
associate with it today.
Historians have to be careful about the terms they
use because they meant different things in the past.
Take, for example, a simple term like foreigner. It is
used today to mean someone who is not an Indian. In
Can you think of
any other words
whose meanings
change in different
contexts?
?
TRACING CHANGES...
4 OUR PASTS II
the medieval period a foreigner was any stranger who
appeared say in a given village, someone who was not
a part of that society or culture. (In Hindi the term
pardesi might be used to describe such a person and
in Persian, ajnabi.) A city-dweller, therefore, might have
regarded a forest-dweller as a foreigner, but two
peasants living in the same village were not foreigners
to each other, even though they may have had different
religious or caste backgrounds.
Historians and their sources
Historians use different types of sources to learn about
the past depending upon the period of their study and
the nature of their investigation. Last year, for example,
you read about rulers of the Gupta dynasty and
Harshavardhana. In this book we will read about the
following thousand years, from roughly 700 to 1750 CE.
You will notice some continuity in the sources used
by historians for the study of this period. They still rely
upon coins, inscriptions, architecture and textual records
for information. But there is also considerable
discontinuity. The number and variety of textual records
increased dramatically during this period. They slowly
displaced other types of available information. Through
this period paper gradually became cheaper and more
The value of paper
Compare the following
(1) In the middle of the thirteenth century a scholar
wanted to copy a book. He did not have enough paper.
So he washed the writing off a manuscript he did not
want, dried the paper and used it.
(2) A century later, if you bought some food in the
market you could be lucky and have the shopkeeper
wrap it for you in some paper.
When was paper more expensive and easily available
in the thirteenth or the fourteenth century?
?
5
widely available. People used it to write holy texts,
chronicles of rulers, letters and teachings of saints,
petitions and judicial records, and for registers of
accounts and taxes. Manuscripts were collected by
wealthy people, rulers, monasteries and temples. They
were placed in libraries and archives archives archives archives archives. These manuscripts
and documents provide a lot of detailed information to
historians but they are also difficult to use.
There was no printing press in those days so scribes
copied manuscripts by hand. If you have ever copied a
friends homework you would know that this is not a
simple exercise. Sometimes you cannot read your
friends handwriting and are forced to guess what is
written. As a result there are small but significant
differences in your copy of your friends work.
Manuscript copying is somewhat similar. As scribes
copied manuscripts, they also introduced small changes
a word here, a sentence there. These small differences
grew over centuries of copying until manuscripts of the
Archive Archive Archive Archive Archive
A place where
documents and
manuscripts are
stored. Today all
national and state
governments have
archives where
they keep all their
old official records
and transactions.
Fig. 1
A painting of a scribe
making a copy of a
manuscript. This
painting is only
10.5 cm by 7.1 cm in
size. Because of its
size it is called a
miniature. Miniature
paintings were
sometimes used to
illustrate the texts of
manuscripts. They
were so beautiful that
later collectors often
took the manuscripts
apart and sold just the
miniatures.
TRACING CHANGES...
6 OUR PASTS II
same text became substantially different from one
another. This is a serious problem because we rarely
find the original manuscript of the author today. We
are totally dependent upon the copies made by later
scribes. As a result historians have to read different
manuscript versions of the same text to guess what the
author had originally written.
On occasion authors revised their chronicles at
different times. The fourteenth-century chronicler
Ziyauddin Barani wrote his chronicle first in 1356 and
another version two years later. The two differ from each
other but historians did not know about the existence
of the first version until 1971. It remained lost in large
library collections.
New social and political groups
The study of the thousand years between 700 and 1750
is a huge challenge to historians largely because of the
scale and variety of developments that occurred over
the period. At different moments in this period new
technologies made their appearance like the Persian
Fig. 2
Different kinds of
handwriting could
make the reading of
Persian and Arabic
difficult. The nastaliq
style (on the left) is
cursive and easy to
read, the shikaste (on
the right) is denser and
more difficult.
7
wheel in irrigation, the spinning wheel in weaving, and
firearms in combat. New foods and beverages arrived
in the subcontinent: potatoes, corn, chillies, tea and
coffee. Remember that all these innovations new
technologies and crops came along with people, who
brought other ideas with them as well. As a result, this
was a period of economic, political, social and cultural
changes. You will learn about some of these changes
in Chapters 5, 6 and 7.
This was also a period of great mobility. Groups of
people travelled long distances in search of opportunity.
The subcontinent held immense wealth and the
possibilities for people to carve a fortune. One group of
people who became important in this period were the
Rajputs, a name derived from Rajaputra, the son of a
ruler. Between the eighth and fourteenth centuries the
term was applied more generally to a body of warriors
who claimed Kshatriya caste status. The term included Fig. 3
The Persian wheel.
TRACING CHANGES...
8 OUR PASTS II
?
not just rulers and chieftains but also soldiers and
commanders who served in the armies of different
monarchs all over the subcontinent. A chivalric code of
conduct extreme valour and a great sense of loyalty
were the qualities attributed to Rajputs by their poets
and bards. Other groups of people such as the
Marathas, Sikhs, Jats, Ahoms and Kayasthas (a caste
of scribes and secretaries) also used the opportunities
of the age to become politically important.
Throughout this period there was a gradual clearing
of forests and the extension of agriculture, a change
faster and more complete in some areas than in others.
Changes in their habitat habitat habitat habitat habitat forced many forest-dwellers
to migrate. Others started tilling the land and became
peasants. These new peasant groups gradually began
to be influenced by regional markets, chieftains, priests,
monasteries and temples. They became part of large
complex societies, and were required to pay taxes and
offer goods and services to local lords. As a result,
significant economic and social differences emerged
amongst peasants. Some possessed more productive
land, others also kept cattle, and some combined
artisanal work with agricultural activity during the lean
season. As society became more differentiated, people
were grouped into jatis or sub-castes and ranked on
the basis of their backgrounds and their occupations.
Ranks were not fixed permanently, and varied according
to the power, influence and resources controlled by
members of the jati. The status of the same jati could
vary from area to area.
Jatis framed their own rules and regulations to
manage the conduct of their members. These regulations
were enforced by an assembly of elders, described in
some areas as the jati panchayat. But jatis were also
required to follow the rules of their villages. Several
villages were governed by a chieftain. Together they were
only one small unit of a state.
Of the
technological,
economic, social
and cultural
changes
described in this
section, which do
you think were
most significant in
the town or village
in which you live?
Habitat Habitat Habitat Habitat Habitat
Refers to the
environment of a
region and the
social and
economic lifestyle
of its residents.
9
Region and empire
Large states like those of the Cholas (Chapter 2),
Tughluqs (Chapter 3) or Mughals (Chapter 4)
encompassed many regions. A Sanskrit prashasti (see
Chapter 2 for an example of a prashasti) praising the
Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban (1266-87) explained
that he was the ruler of a vast empire that stretched
from Bengal (Gauda) in the east to Ghazni (Gajjana) in
Afghanistan in the west and included all of south India
(Dravida). People of different regions Gauda, Andhra,
Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat apparently
fled before his armies. Historians regard these as
Map 3 Map 3 Map 3 Map 3 Map 3
Provinces of the Delhi
Sultanate during
Muhammad Tughluqs
reign according to the
Egyptian source
Masalik al-Absar fi
Mamalik al-Amsar of
Shihabuddin Umari.
TRACING CHANGES...
10 OUR PASTS II
?
exaggerated claims of conquests. At the same time, they
try to understand why rulers kept claiming to have
control over different parts of the subcontinent.
Language and region
In 1318 the poet Amir Khusrau noted that there was
a different language in every region of this land: Sindhi,
Lahori, Kashmiri, Dvarsamudri (in southern Karnataka),
Telangani (in Andhra Pradesh), Gujari (in Gujarat), Mabari
(in Tamil Nadu), Gauri, (in Bengal) Awadhi (in eastern
Uttar Pradesh) and Hindawi (in the area around Delhi).
Amir Khusrau went on to explain that in contrast to these
languages there was Sanskrit which did not belong to
any region. It was an old language and common people
do not know it, only the Brahmanas do.
Make a list of the languages mentioned by Amir Khusrau.
Prepare another list of the names of languages spoken
today in the regions he mentioned: underline names that
are similar and circle those that are different.
Did you notice that the names by which languages
are known have changed over time?
By 700 many regions already possessed distinct
geographical dimensions and their own language and
cultural characteristics. You will learn more about these
in Chapter 9. They were also associated with specific
ruling dynasties. There was considerable conflict
between these states. Occasionally dynasties like the
Cholas, Khaljis, Tughluqs and Mughals were able to
build an empire that was pan-regional spanning
diverse regions. Not all these empires were equally
stable or successful. Compare, for example, Tables 1
in Chapters 3 and 4. What was the duration of rule of
the Khalji and Mughal dynasties?
?
Why do you think
rulers made such
claims?
11
?
?
When the Mughal Empire declined in the eighteenth
century, it led to the re-emergence of regional states
(Chapter 10). But years of imperial, pan-regional rule
had altered the character of the regions. Across most
of the subcontinent the regions were left with the legacies
of the big and small states that ruled over them. This
was apparent in the emergence of many distinct and
shared traditions: in the realms of governance, the
management of the economy, elite cultures, and
language. Through the thousand years between 700
and 1750 the character of the different regions did not
grow in isolation. They felt the impact of larger
pan-regional forces of integration without ever quite
losing their distinctiveness.
Old and new religions
The thousand years of history that we are exploring
witnessed major developments in religious traditions.
Peoples belief in the divine was sometimes deeply
personal, but more usually it was collective. Collective
belief in a supernatural agency religion was often
closely connected with the social and economic
organisation of local communities. As the social worlds
of these groups altered so too did their beliefs.
It was during this period that important changes
occurred in what we call Hinduism today. These
included the worship of new deities, the construction
of temples by royalty and the growing importance of
Brahmanas, the priests, as dominant groups in society.
Their knowledge of Sanskrit texts earned the
Brahmanas a lot of respect in society. Their dominant
position was consolidated by the support of their
patrons patrons patrons patrons patrons new rulers searching for prestige.
One of the major developments was the emergence
of the idea of bhakti of a loving, personal deity that
devotees could reach without the aid of priests or
elaborate rituals. You will be learning about this, and
other traditions, in Chapter 8.
Find out whether
and for how long
your state was
part of these pan-
regional empires.
Do you remember
what Amir Khusrau
had to say
regarding Sanskrit,
knowledge and
Brahmanas ?
Patron Patron Patron Patron Patron
An influential,
wealthy individual
who supports
another person
an artiste,
a craftsperson,
a learned man, or
a noble.
TRACING CHANGES...
12 OUR PASTS II
This was also the period when new religions
appeared in the subcontinent. Merchants and migrants
first brought the teachings of the holy Quran to India
in the seventh century. Muslims regard the Quran as
their holy book and accept the sovereignty of the one
God, Allah, whose love, mercy and beauty embrace all
those who believe in Him, without regard to social
background.
Many rulers were patrons of Islam and the ulama
learned theologians and jurists. And like Hinduism,
Islam was interpreted in a variety of ways by its
followers. There were the Shia Muslims who believed
that the Prophets son-in-law, Ali, was the legitimate
leader of the Muslim community and the Sunni Muslims
who accepted the authority of the early leaders (khalifas)
of the community, and the succeeding Khalifas. There
were other important differences between the various
schools of law (Hanafi and Shafii mainly in India), and
in theology and mystic traditions.
Thinking about time and historical
periods
Historians do not see time just as a passing of hours,
days or years as a clock or a calendar. Time also
reflects changes in social and economic organisation,
in the persistence and transformation of ideas and
beliefs. The study of time is made somewhat easier by
dividing the past into large segments periods that
possess shared characteristics.
In the middle of the nineteenth century British
historians divided the history of India into three periods:
Hindu, Muslim and British. This division was
based on the idea that the religion of rulers was the
only important historical change, and that there were
no other significant developments in the economy,
society or culture. Such a division also ignored the rich
diversity of the subcontinent.
13
Few historians follow this periodisation today. Most
look to economic and social factors to characterise the
major elements of different moments of the past. The
histories you read last year included a wide range of
early societies hunter-gatherers, early farmers, people
living in towns and villages, and early empires and
kingdoms. The histories you will be studying this year
are often described as medieval. You will find out more
about the spread of peasant societies, the rise of regional
and imperial state formations sometimes at the cost
of pastoral and forest people the development of
Hinduism and Islam as major religions and the arrival
of European trading companies.
These thousand years of Indian history witnessed
considerable change. After all, the sixteenth and
eighteenth centuries were quite different from the eighth
or the eleventh. Therefore, describing the entire period
as one historical unit is not without its problems.
Moreover, the medieval period is often contrasted with
the modern period. Modernity carries with it a sense
of material progress and intellectual advancement. This
seems to suggest that the medieval period was lacking
in any change whatsoever. But of course we know this
was not the case.
During these thousand years the societies of the
subcontinent were transformed often and economies
in several regions reached a level of prosperity that
attracted the interest of European trading companies.
As you read this book, look out for signs of change and
the historical processes at work. Also, whenever you
can, try and compare what you read in this book with
what you read last year. Look out for changes and
continuities wherever you can, and look at the world
around you to see what else has changed or remained
the same.
TRACING CHANGES...
14 OUR PASTS II
Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine
You are a historian. Choose one of the
themes mentioned in this chapter,
such as economic, social or political
history, and discuss why you think it
would be interesting to find out the
history of that theme.
Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall
1. Who was considered a foreigner in the past?
2. State whether true or false
(a) We do not find inscriptions for the period after
700.
(b) The Marathas asserted their political importance
during this period.
(c) Forest-dwellers were sometimes pushed out of
their lands with the spread of agricultural
settlements.
(d) Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban controlled Assam,
Manipur and Kashmir.
3. Fill in the blanks
(a) Archives are places where are
kept.
(b) was a fourteenth-century chronicler.
(c) , , , and were
some of the new crops introduced into the
subcontinent during this period.
4. List some of the technological changes associated with
this period.
KEYWORDS

manuscript
jati
region
periodisation

15
5. What were some of the major religious developments
during this period?
Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand
6. In what ways has the meaning of the term Hindustan
changed over the centuries?
7. How were the affairs of jatis regulated?
8. What does the term pan-regional empire mean?
Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss
9. What are the difficulties historians face in using
manuscripts?
10. How do historians divide the past into periods? Do
they face any problems in doing so?
Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do
11. Compare either Map 1 or Map 2 with the present-day
map of the subcontinent, listing as many similarities
and differences you can find.
12. Find out where records are kept in your village or
city. Who writes these records? Is there an archive?
Who manages it? What kinds of documents are stored
there? Who are the people who use it?
TRACING CHANGES...
16 OUR PASTS II
M
any new dynasties emerged after the
seventh century. Map 1 shows the major ruling
dynasties in different parts of the subcontinent between
the seventh and twelfth centuries.
2
NEW KINGS AND KINGDOMS
Map 1 Map 1 Map 1 Map 1 Map 1
Major kingdoms,
seventh-twelfth
centuries
Locate the
Gurjara-Pratiharas,
Rashtrakutas,
Palas, Cholas
and Chahamanas
(Chauhans).
Can you identify
the present-day
states over which
they exercised
control?
?
17
?
The emergence of new dynasties
By the seventh century there were big landlords or
warrior chiefs in different regions of the subcontinent.
Existing kings often acknowledged them as their
subordinates or samantas. They were
expected to bring gifts for their kings
or overlords, be present at their courts
and provide them with military
support. As samantas gained power
and wealth, they declared themselves
to be maha-samanta, maha-
mandaleshvara (the great lord of a
circle or region) and so on. Sometimes
they asserted their independence from
their overlords.
One such instance was that of the
Rashtrakutas in the Deccan. Initially
they were subordinate to the Chalukyas
of Karnataka. In the mid-eighth century,
Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief,
overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual
called hiranya-garbha (literally, the golden womb). When
this ritual was performed with the help of Brahmanas,
it was thought to lead to the rebirth of the sacrificer as
a Kshatriya, even if he was not one by birth.
In other cases, men from enterprising families used
their military skills to carve out kingdoms. For instance,
the Kadamba Mayurasharman and the Gurjara-
Pratihara Harichandra were Brahmanas who gave up
their traditional professions and took to arms,
successfully establishing kingdoms in Karnataka and
Rajasthan respectively.
Administration in the kingdoms
Many of these new kings adopted high-sounding titles
such as maharaja-adhiraja (great king, overlord of
kings), tribhuvana-chakravartin (lord of the three
worlds) and so on. However, in spite of such claims,
NEW KINGS AND
KINGDOMS
Do you think
being born as a
Kshatriya was
important in order
to become a ruler
during this period?
Fig. 1
Wall relief from Cave
15, Ellora, showing
Vishnu as Narasimha,
the man-lion.
It is a work of the
Rashtrakuta period.
18 OUR PASTS II
?
they often shared power with their samantas as well as
with associations of peasants, traders and Brahmanas.
In each of these states, resources were obtained from
the producers, that is, peasants, cattle-keepers,
artisans, who were often persuaded or compelled to
surrender part of what they produced. Sometimes
these were claimed as rent due to a lord who asserted
that he owned the land. Revenue was also collected
from traders.
Four hundred taxes!
The inscriptions of the Cholas who ruled in Tamil Nadu
refer to more than 400 terms for different kinds of taxes.
The most frequently mentioned tax is vetti, taken not in
cash but in the form of forced labour, and kadamai, or
land revenue. There were also taxes on thatching the
house, the use of a ladder to climb palm trees, a cess on
succession to family property, etc.
Are any such taxes collected today?
These resources were used to finance the kings
establishment, as well as for the construction of temples
and forts. They were also used to fight wars, which were
in turn expected to lead to the acquisition of wealth in the
form of plunder, and access to land as well as trade routes.
The functionaries for collecting revenue were
generally recruited from influential families, and
positions were often hereditary. This was true about
the army as well. In many cases, close relatives of the
king held these positions.
Prashastis and land grants
Prashastis contain details that may not be literally true.
But they tell us how rulers wanted to depict themselves
as valiant, victorious warriors, for example. These were
composed by learned Brahmanas, who occasionally
helped in the administration.
?
In what ways was
this form of
administration
different from the
present-day
system?
19
The achievements of Nagabhata
Many rulers described their achievements in prashastis
(you read about the prashasti of the Gupta ruler
Samudragupta last year).
One prashasti, written in Sanskrit and found in
Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, describes the exploits of
Nagabhata, a Pratihara king, as follows:
The kings of Andhra, Saindhava (Sind), Vidarbha (part of
Maharashtra) and Kalinga (part of Orissa) fell before him even
as he was a prince
He won a victory over Chakrayudha (the ruler of Kanauj)
He defeated the king of Vanga (part of Bengal), Anarta (part
of Gujarat), Malava (part of Madhya Pradesh), Kirata (forest
peoples), Turushka (Turks), Vatsa, Matsya (both kingdoms in
north India)
Kings often rewarded Brahmanas by grants of land.
These were recorded on copper plates, which were given
to those who received the land.
Fig. 2
This is a set of copper
plates recording a
grant of land made by
a ruler in the ninth
century, written partly
in Sanskrit and partly
in Tamil. The ring
holding the plates
together is secured
with the royal seal, to
indicate that this is an
authentic document.
See if you can find
some of the areas
mentioned in the
inscription on
Map 1. Other rulers
made similar
claims as well.
Why do you think
they made these
claims?
?
NEW KINGS AND
KINGDOMS
20 OUR PASTS II
?
What was given with the land
This is part of the Tamil section of a land grant given by
the Cholas:
We have demarcated the boundaries of the land by making
earthen embankments, as well as by planting thorny bushes.
This is what the land contains: fruit-bearing trees, water,
land, gardens and orchards, trees, wells, open spaces, pasture-
land, a village, anthills, platforms, canals, ditches, rivers,
silt-laden land, tanks, granaries, fish ponds, bee hives, and
deep lakes.
He who receives the land can collect taxes from it. He can
collect the taxes imposed by judicial officers as fines, the tax
on betel-leaves, that on woven cloth, as well as on vehicles.
He can build large rooms, with upper stories made of baked
bricks, he can get large and small wells dug, he can plant
trees and thorny bushes, if necessary, he can get canals
constructed for irrigation. He should ensure that water is not
wasted, and that embankments are built.
List all the possible sources of irrigation mentioned
in the inscription, and discuss how these might have
been used.
Unusual for the twelfth century was a long Sanskrit
poem containing the history of kings who ruled over
Kashmir. It was composed by an author named
Kalhana. He used a variety of sources, including
inscriptions, documents, eyewitness accounts and
earlier histories, to write his account. Unlike the writers
of prashastis, he was often critical about rulers and
their policies.
Warfare for wealth
You may have noticed that each of these ruling
dynasties was based in a specific region. At the same
time, they tried to control other areas. One particularly
prized area was the city of Kanauj in the Ganga valley.
21
?
For centuries, rulers belonging to the Gurjara-Pratihara,
Rashtrakuta and Pala dynasties fought for control over
Kanauj. Because there were three parties in this long-
drawn conflict, historians often describe it as the
tripartite struggle.
As we will see (pp. 62-66), rulers also tried to
demonstrate their power and resources by building
large temples. So, when they attacked one anothers
kingdoms, they often chose to target temples, which
were sometimes extremely rich. You will read more
about this in Chapter 5.
One of the best known of such rulers is Sultan Sultan Sultan Sultan Sultan
Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan. He ruled from 997 to
1030, and extended control over parts of Central Asia,
Iran and the north-western part of the subcontinent.
He raided the subcontinent almost every year his
targets were wealthy temples, including that of
Somnath, Gujarat.
Much of the wealth Mahmud carried away was used
to create a splendid capital city at Ghazni. He was
interested in finding out more about the people he
conquered, and entrusted a scholar named al-Biruni
to write an account of the subcontinent. This Arabic
work, known as the Kitab-al Hind, remains an important
source for historians. He consulted Sanskrit scholars
to prepare this account.
Other kings who engaged in warfare include the
Chahamanas, later known as the Chauhans, who ruled
over the region around Delhi and Ajmer. They
attempted to expand their control to the west and the
east, where they were opposed by the Chalukyas of
Gujarat and the Gahadavalas of western Uttar
Pradesh. The best-known Chahamana ruler was
Prithviraja III (1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan
ruler named Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but
lost to him the very next year, in 1192.
Sultan Sultan Sultan Sultan Sultan is an
Arabic term
meaning ruler.
Look at Map 1
again and discuss
why the
Chahamanas may
have wanted to
expand their
territories.
?
Look at Map 1 and
suggest reasons
why these rulers
wanted to control
Kanauj and the
Ganga valley.
NEW KINGS AND
KINGDOMS
22 OUR PASTS II
A closer lookThe Cholas
From Uraiyur to Thanjavur From Uraiyur to Thanjavur From Uraiyur to Thanjavur From Uraiyur to Thanjavur From Uraiyur to Thanjavur
How did the Cholas rise to power? A minor chiefly family
known as the Muttaraiyar held power in the Kaveri
delta. They were subordinate to the Pallava kings of
Kanchipuram. Vijayalaya, who belonged to the ancient
chiefly family of the Cholas from Uraiyur, captured the
delta from the Muttaraiyar in the middle of the ninth
century. He built the town of Thanjavur and a temple
for goddess Nishumbhasudini there.
The successors of Vijayalaya conquered
neighbouring regions and the kingdom grew in size and
power. The Pandyan and the Pallava territories to the
south and north were made part of this kingdom.
Map 2 Map 2 Map 2 Map 2 Map 2
The Chola kingdom
and its neighbours
23
Rajaraja I, considered the most powerful Chola ruler,
became king in 985 and expanded control over most
of these areas. He also reorganised the administration
of the empire. Rajarajas son Rajendra I continued his
policies and even raided the Ganga valley, Sri Lanka
and countries of Southeast Asia, developing a navy for
these expeditions.
Splendid temples and bronze sculpture Splendid temples and bronze sculpture Splendid temples and bronze sculpture Splendid temples and bronze sculpture Splendid temples and bronze sculpture
The big temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikonda-
cholapuram, built by Rajaraja and Rajendra, are
architectural and sculptural marvels.
Chola temples often became the nuclei of settlements
which grew around them. These were centres of craft
production. Temples were also endowed with land by
rulers as well as by others. The produce of this land
Fig. 3
The temple at
Gangaikondacholapuram.
Notice the way in
which the roof tapers.
Also look at the
elaborate stone
sculptures used to
decorate the outer
walls.
NEW KINGS AND
KINGDOMS
24 OUR PASTS II
went to maintain all the specialists who worked at
the temple and very often lived near it priests,
garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians,
dancers, etc. In other words, temples were not
only places of worship; they were the hub of
economic, social and cultural life as well.
Amongst the crafts associated with temples,
the making of bronze images was the most
distinctive. Chola bronze images are
considered amongst the finest in the world.
While most images were of deities,
sometimes images were made of
devotees as well.
Agriculture and irrigation Agriculture and irrigation Agriculture and irrigation Agriculture and irrigation Agriculture and irrigation
Many of the achievements of the
Cholas were made possible through
new developments in agriculture. Look
at Map 2 again. Notice that the river Kaveri
branches off into several small channels before
emptying into the Bay of Bengal. These
channels overflow frequently, depositing
fertile soil on their banks. Water from the
channels also provides the necessary
moisture for agriculture, particularly the
cultivation of rice.
Although agriculture had developed
earlier in other parts of Tamil Nadu, it was
only from the fifth or sixth century that this
area was opened up for large-scale
cultivation. Forests had to be cleared in
some regions; land had to be levelled in
other areas. In the delta region
embankments had to be built to prevent
Fig. 4
A Chola Bronze Sculpture.
Notice how carefully it is decorated.
To find out how these images were made, see Chapter 6.
25
flooding and canals had to be constructed to carry
water to the fields. In many areas two crops were grown
in a year.
In many cases it was necessary to water crops
artificially. A variety of methods were used for irrigation.
In some areas wells were dug. In other places huge
tanks were constructed to collect rainwater. Remember
that irrigation works require planning organising
labour and resources, maintaining these works and
deciding on how water is to be shared. Most of the new
rulers, as well as people living in villages, took an active
interest in these activities.
The administration of the empire The administration of the empire The administration of the empire The administration of the empire The administration of the empire
How was the administration organised? Settlements
of peasants, known as ur, became prosperous
with the spread of irrigation agriculture. Groups
of such villages formed larger units called nadu.
The village council and the nadu had several
administrative functions including dispensing
justice and collecting taxes.
Rich peasants of the Vellala caste exercised
considerable control over the affairs of the nadu under
the supervision of the central Chola government. The
Chola kings gave some rich landowners titles like
muvendavelan (a velan or peasant serving three kings),
araiyar (chief), etc. as markers of respect, and entrusted
them with important offices of the state at the centre.
Fig. 5
A ninth century sluice-
gate in Tamil Nadu.
It regulated the outflow
of water from a tank
into the channels that
irrigated the fields.
NEW KINGS AND
KINGDOMS
26 OUR PASTS II
Types of land
Chola inscriptions mention several categories of land.
vellanvagai
land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors
brahmadeya
land gifted to Brahmanas
shalabhoga
land for the maintenance of a school
devadana, tirunamattukkani
land gifted to temples
pallichchhandam
land donated to Jaina institutions
We have seen that Brahmanas often received land
grants or brahmadeya. As a result, a large number of
Brahmana settlements emerged in the Kaveri valley as
in other parts of south India.
Each brahmadeya was looked after by an assembly
or sabha of prominent Brahmana landholders. These
assemblies worked very efficiently. Their decisions were
recorded in detail in inscriptions, often on the stone
walls of temples. Associations of traders known as
nagarams also occasionally performed administrative
functions in towns.
Inscriptions from Uttaramerur in Chingleput
district, Tamil Nadu, provide details of the way in
which the sabha was organised. The sabha had
separate committees to look after irrigation works,
gardens, temples, etc. Names of those eligible to be
members of these committees were written on small
tickets of palm leaf and kept in an earthenware pot,
from which a young boy was asked to pick the tickets,
one by one for each committee.
27
Do you think
women
participated in
these assemblies?
In your view are
lotteries useful in
choosing members
of committees?
Were there any
Brahmanas in this
hamlet?
Describe all the
activities that were
taking place
in the village?
Why do you
think temple
inscriptions ignore
these activities?
Inscriptions and texts
The working of a sabha according to the Uttaramerur
inscription:
All those who wish to become members of the sabha should be
owners of land from which land revenue is collected.
They should have their own homes.
They should be between 35 and 70 years of age.
They should have knowledge of the Vedas.
They should be well-versed in administrative matters
and honest.
If anyone has been a member of any committee in the last
three years, he cannot become a member of another committee.
Anyone who has not submitted his accounts, as well as those
of his relatives, cannot contest the elections.
While inscriptions tell us about kings and powerful men,
here is an excerpt from the Periyapuranam, a twelfth-
century Tamil work, which informs us about the lives of
ordinary men and women.
On the outskirts of Adanur was a small hamlet of Pulaiyas
(a name used for a social group considered outcastes by
Brahmanas and Vellalas), studded with small huts under old
thatches and inhabited by agrarian labourers engaged in
menial occupations. In the thresholds of the huts covered with
strips of leather, little chickens moved about in groups; dark
children who wore bracelets of black iron were prancing
about, carrying little puppies In the shade of the marudu
(arjuna) trees, a female labourer put her baby to sleep on a
sheet of leather; there were mango trees from whose branches
drums were hanging; and under the coconut palms, in little
hollows on the ground, tiny-headed bitches lay after whelping.
The red-crested cocks crowed before dawn calling the brawny
Pulaiyar (plural) to their days work; and by day, under the
shade of the kanji tree spread the voice of the wavy-haired
Pulaiya women singing as they were husking paddy
?
?
NEW KINGS AND
KINGDOMS
28 OUR PASTS II
Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine
You are present in an election for a sabha.
Describe what you see and hear.
Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall
1. Match the following
Gurjara-Pratiharas Western Deccan
Rashtrakutas Bengal
Palas Gujarat and Rajasthan
Cholas Tamil Nadu
2. Who were the parties involved in the tripartite
struggle?
3. What were the qualifications necessary to become
a member of a committee of the sabha in the
Chola Empire?
In China, an empire was established under the Tang dynasty, which
remained in power for about 300 years (from the seventh to the
tenth centuries). Its capital, Xian, was one of the largest cities in
the world, visited by Turks, Iranians, Indians, Japanese and Koreans.
The Tang empire was administered by a bureaucracy recruited
through an examination, which was open to all who wished to
appear for it. This system of selecting officials remained in place,
with some changes, till 1911.
In what ways was this system different from those prevalent in
the Indian subcontinent?
China under the Tang dynasty
29
4. What were the two major cities under the control of
the Chahamanas?
Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand
5. How did the Rashtrakutas become powerful?
6. What did the new dynasties do to gain acceptance?
7. What kind of irrigation works were developed in the
Tamil region?
8. What were the activities associated with Chola temples?
Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss
9. Look at Map 1 once more and find out whether there
were any kingdoms in the state in which you live.
10. Contrast the elections in Uttaramerur with present-
day panchayat elections.
Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do
11. Compare the temple shown in this chapter with any
present-day temple in your neighbourhood,
highlighting any similarities and differences that
you notice.
12. Find out more about taxes that are collected at present.
Are these in cash, kind, or labour services?
KEYWORDS

samanta
temple
nadu
sabha

NEW KINGS AND

KINGDOMS
30 OUR PASTS II
I
n Chapter 2 we saw that regions like the Kaveri delta
became the centre of large kingdoms. Did you notice
that there was no mention of a kingdom with Delhi as
its capital? That was because Delhi became an
important city only in the twelfth century.
Take a look at Table 1. Delhi first became the capital
of a kingdom under the Tomara Rajputs, who were
defeated in the middle of the twelfth century by the
Chauhans (also referred to as Chahamanas) of Ajmer. It
was under the Tomaras and Chauhans that Delhi
became an important commercial centre. Many rich Jaina
merchants lived in the city and constructed several
temples. Coins minted here, called
dehliwal, had a wide circulation.
The transformation of Delhi into
a capital that controlled vast areas
of the subcontinent started with
the foundati on of the Del hi
Sultanate in the beginning of the
thirteenth century. Take a look at
Table 1 again and identify the five
dynasties that together made the
Delhi Sultanate.
The Delhi Sultans built many
cities in the area that we now
know as Delhi. Look at Map 1
and locate Dehli-i Kuhna, Siri
and Jahanpanah.
3
THE DELHI SULTANS
Map 1 Map 1 Map 1 Map 1 Map 1
Selected Sultanate
cities of Delhi,
thirteenth-fourteenth
centuries.
31
RAJPUT DYNASTIES RAJPUT DYNASTIES RAJPUT DYNASTIES RAJPUT DYNASTIES RAJPUT DYNASTIES
Tomaras early twelfth century - 1165
Ananga Pala 1130 -1145
Chauhans 1165 -1192
Prithviraj Chauhan 1175 -1192
EARLY TURKISH RULERS EARLY TURKISH RULERS EARLY TURKISH RULERS EARLY TURKISH RULERS EARLY TURKISH RULERS 1206-1290 1206-1290 1206-1290 1206-1290 1206-1290
Qutbuddin Aybak 1206 -1210
Shamsuddin Iltutmish 1210 -1236
Raziyya 1236 -1240
Ghiyasuddin Balban 1266 -1287
KHALJI DYNASTY KHALJI DYNASTY KHALJI DYNASTY KHALJI DYNASTY KHALJI DYNASTY 1290 - 1320 1290 - 1320 1290 - 1320 1290 - 1320 1290 - 1320
Jalaluddin Khalji 1290 - 1296
Alauddin Khalji 1296 -1316
TUGHLUQ DYNASTY TUGHLUQ DYNASTY TUGHLUQ DYNASTY TUGHLUQ DYNASTY TUGHLUQ DYNASTY 1320 - 1414 1320 - 1414 1320 - 1414 1320 - 1414 1320 - 1414
Ghiyasuddin Tughluq 1320 -1324
Muhammad Tughluq 1324 -1351
Firuz Shah Tughluq 1351 -1388
SAYYID DYNASTY SAYYID DYNASTY SAYYID DYNASTY SAYYID DYNASTY SAYYID DYNASTY 1414 - 1451 1414 - 1451 1414 - 1451 1414 - 1451 1414 - 1451
Khizr Khan 1414 -1421
LODI DYNASTY LODI DYNASTY LODI DYNASTY LODI DYNASTY LODI DYNASTY 1451 - 1526 1451 - 1526 1451 - 1526 1451 - 1526 1451 - 1526
Bahlul Lodi 1451 -1489
The rulers of Delhi
Table 1
Iltutmishs tomb
Alai Darwaza
Firuz Shah Tughluqs tomb
THE DELHI SULTANS
32 OUR PASTS II
?
Finding out about the Delhi Sultans
Although inscriptions, coins and architecture provide
a lot of information, especially valuable are histories,
tarikh (singular) / tawarikh (plural), written in Persian,
the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans.
The authors of tawarikh were learned men:
secretaries, administrators, poets and courtiers, who
both recounted events and advised rulers on
governance, emphasising the importance of just rule.
The Circle of Justice
Fakhr-i Mudabbir wrote in the thirteenth century:
A king cannot survive without soldiers. And soldiers cannot
live without salaries. Salaries come from the revenue collected
from peasants. But peasants can pay revenue only when they
are prosperous and happy. This happens when the king
promotes justice and honest governance.
Fig.1
Four stages in the
preparation of a
manuscript.
1. Preparing the paper.
2. Writing the text.
3. Melting gold to
highlight important
words and passages.
4. Preparing the
binding.
Do you think the
circle of justice is
an appropriate
term to describe
the relationship
between the king
and his subjects?
1 2
3 4
33
Express Minhajs
ideas in your own
words. Do you
think Raziyya
shared these
ideas? Why do
you think it was so
difficult for a
woman to be a
ruler?
Keep the following additional details in mind: (1) the
authors of tawarikh lived in cities (mainly Delhi) and
hardly ever in villages. (2) They often wrote their histories
for Sultans in the hope of rich rewards. (3) These authors
advised rulers on the need to preserve an ideal social
order based on birthright birthright birthright birthright birthright and gender distinctions gender distinctions gender distinctions gender distinctions gender distinctions.
Their ideas were not shared by everybody.
In 1236 Sultan Iltutmishs daughter, Raziyya,
became Sultan. The chronicler of the age, Minhaj-i Siraj,
recognised that she was more able and qualified than
all her brothers. But he was not comfortable at having
a queen as ruler. Nor were the nobles happy at her
attempts to rule independently. She was removed from
the throne in 1240.
What Minhaj- i Siraj thought about Raziyya
Minhaj-i Siraj thought that the queens rule went against
the ideal social order created by God, in which women
were supposed to be subordinate to men. He therefore
asked: In the register of Gods creation, since her account
did not fall under the column of men, how did she gain
from all of her excellent qualities?
On her inscriptions and coins Raziyya mentioned that
she was the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish. This was in
contrast to the queen Rudramadevi (1262-1289), of the
Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal, part of modern Andhra
Pradesh. Rudramadevi changed her name on her
inscriptions and pretended she was a man. Another
queen, Didda, ruled in Kashmir (980-1003). Her title is
interesting: it comes from didi or elder sister, an
obviously affectionate term given to a loved ruler by
her subjects.
Birthright Birthright Birthright Birthright Birthright
Privileges claimed
on account of
birth. For example,
people believed
that nobles
inherited their
rights to govern,
because they
were born in
certain families.
Gender Gender Gender Gender Gender
distinctions distinctions distinctions distinctions distinctions
Social and biological
differences between
women and men.
Usually, these
differences are used
to argue that men
are superior to
women.
THE DELHI SULTANS
?
34 OUR PASTS II
From garrison town to empire
The expansion of the Delhi Sultanate
In the early thirteenth century the control of the Delhi
Sultans rarely went beyond heavily fortified towns
occupied by garrisons. The Sultans seldom controlled
the hinterland hinterland hinterland hinterland hinterland of the cities and were therefore
dependent upon trade, tribute or plunder for supplies.
Controlling garrison towns garrison towns garrison towns garrison towns garrison towns in distant Bengal and
Sind from Delhi was extremely difficult. Rebellion, war,
even bad weather could snap fragile communication
routes. The state was also challenged by Mongol
invasions from Afghanistan and by governors who
rebelled at any sign of the Sultans weakness. The
Sultanate barely survived these challenges. Its
expansion occurred during the reigns of Ghiyasuddin
Balban, Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq.
The first set of campaigns along the internal frontier
of the Sultanate aimed at consolidating the hinterlands
of the garrison towns. During these campaigns forests
were cleared in the Ganga-Yamuna doab and hunter-
gatherers and pastoralists expelled from their habitat.
Garrison town Garrison town Garrison town Garrison town Garrison town
A fortified
settlement, with
soldiers.
Hinterland Hinterland Hinterland Hinterland Hinterland
The lands
adjacent to a city
or port that supply
it with goods and
services.
Map 2 Map 2 Map 2 Map 2 Map 2
Major cities captured
by Shamsuddin
Iltutmish.
35
Map 3 Map 3 Map 3 Map 3 Map 3
Alauddin Khaljis
campaign into
South India.
These lands were given to peasants and agriculture was
encouraged. New fortresses and towns were established
to protect trade routes and to promote regional trade.
The second expansion occurred along the external
frontier of the Sultanate. Military expeditions into
southern India started during the reign of Alauddin
Khalji (see Map 3) and culminated with Muhammad
Tughluq. In their campaigns, Sultanate armies
captured elephants, horses and slaves and carried away
precious metals.
By the end of Muhammad Tughluqs reign, 150 years
after somewhat humble beginnings, the armies of the
Delhi Sultanate had marched across a large part of the
subcontinent. They had defeated rival armies and seized
cities. The Sultanate collected taxes from the peasantry
and dispensed justice in its realm. But how complete
and effective was its control over such a vast territory?
THE DELHI SULTANS
36 OUR PASTS II
The The The The The Masjid Masjid Masjid Masjid Masjid
A mosque is called a masjid in Arabic, literally a
place where a Muslim prostrates in reverence to
Allah. In a congregational mosque (masjid-i jami or
jama masjid) Muslims read their prayers (namaz)
together. Members of the congregation choose the
most respected, learned male as their leader (imam)
for the rituals of prayer. He also delivers the sermon
(khutba) during the Friday prayer.
During prayer, Muslims stand facing Mecca. In
India this is to the west. This is called the qibla.
Fig. 2
Quwwat al-Islam
mosque and minaret
built during the last
decade of the twelfth
century. This was the
congregational mosque
of the first city built by
the Delhi Sultans,
described in the
chronicles as Dehli-i
kuhna (the old city).
The mosque was
enlarged by Iltutmish
and Alauddin Khalji.
The minar was built by
three Sultans
Qutbuddin Aybak,
Iltutmish and Firuz
Shah Tughluq.
Fig. 3
Begumpuri mosque,
built in the reign of
Muhammad Tughluq,
was the main mosque
of Jahanpanah, the
Sanctuary of the
World, his new capital
in Delhi. See Map 1.
37
A closer look: Administration and
Consolidation under the Khaljis and
Tughluqs
The consolidation of a kingdom as vast as the Delhi
Sultanate needed reliable governors and
administrators. Rather than appointing aristocrats and
landed chieftains as governors, the early Delhi Sultans,
especially Iltutmish, favoured their special slaves
purchased for military service, called bandagan in
Persian. They were carefully trained to man some of
the most important political offices in the kingdom.
Since they were totally dependent upon their master,
the Sultan could trust and rely upon them.
Fig. 4
Moth ki Masjid, built
in the reign of
Sikandar Lodi by his
minister.
The Delhi Sultans built several
mosques in cities all over
the subcontinent. These
demonstrated their
claims to be protectors
of Islam and Muslims.
Mosques also helped
to create the sense of a
community of believers
who shared a belief
system and a code of
conduct. It was
necessary to reinforce
this idea of a
community because
Muslims came from a
variety of
backgrounds.
Fig. 5
Mosque of Jamali
Kamali, built in the
late 1520s.
Compare Figures 2,3,4 and 5. What similarities and differences do
you note amongst the mosques? The mosques in Figures 3, 4 and 5
show an evolution in architectural tradition that culminates in Shah
Jahans mosque in Delhi (see fig 7 in Chapter 5).
?
THE DELHI SULTANS
38 OUR PASTS II
?
?
A client client client client client is
someone who is
under the
protection of
another, a
dependent or
hanger-on.
Slaves rather than sons
The Sultans were advised: A slave, whom one has
brought up and promoted, must be looked after for it
needs a whole lifetime and good luck to find a worthy
and experienced slave. Wise men have said that a worthy
and experienced slave is better than a son
Can you think of any reason why a slave would be
better than a son?
The Khaljis and Tughluqs continued to use
bandagan and also raised people of humble birth, who
were often their clients, to high political positions. They
were appointed as generals and governors. However,
this also introduced an element of political instability.
Slaves and clients clients clients clients clients were loyal to their masters and
patrons, but not to their heirs. New Sultans had their
own servants. As a result the accession of a new
monarch often saw conflict between the old and the
new nobility. The patronage of these humble people by
the Delhi Sultans also shocked many elites and the
authors of Persian tawarikh criticised the Delhi Sultans
for appointing the low and base-born to high offices.
Officials of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq
Sultan Muhammad Tughluq appointed Aziz Khummar,
a wine distiller, Firuz Hajjam, a barber, Mank a Tabbakh,
a cook, and two gardeners, Ladha and Pira, to
high administrative posts. Ziyauddin Barani, a mid-
fourteenth-century-chroni cl er, reported thei r
appointments as a sign of the Sultans loss of political
judgement and his incapacity to rule.
Why do you think Barani criticised the Sultan?
39
Like the earlier Sultans, the Khalji and Tughluq
monarchs appointed military commanders as
governors of territories of varying sizes. These lands
were called iqta and their holder was called iqtadar or
muqti. The duty of the muqtis was to lead military
campaigns and maintain law and order in their iqtas.
In exchange for their military services, the muqtis
collected the revenues of their assignments as salary.
They also paid their soldiers from these revenues.
Control over muqtis was most effective if their office
was not inheritable and if they were assigned iqtas for
a short period of time before being shifted. These harsh
conditions of service were rigorously imposed during
the reigns of Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad
Tughluq. Accountants were appointed by the state to
check the amount of revenue collected by the muqtis.
Care was taken that the muqti collected only the taxes
prescribed by the state and that he kept the required
number of soldiers.
As the Delhi Sultans brought the hinterland of the
cities under their control, they forced the landed
chieftains the samanta aristocrats and rich
landlords to accept their authority. Under Alauddin
Khalji the state brought the assessment and collection
of land revenue under its own control. The rights of
the local chieftains to levy taxes were cancelled and
they were also forced to pay taxes. The Sultans
administrators measured the land and kept careful
accounts. Some of the old chieftains and landlords
served the Sultanate as revenue collectors and
assessors. There were three types of taxes (1) on
cultivation called kharaj and amounting to about 50
per cent of the peasants produce, (2) on cattle and
(3) on houses.
It is important to remember that large parts of the
subcontinent remained outside the control of the Delhi
Sultans. It was difficult to control distant provinces
like Bengal from Delhi and soon after annexing
southern India, the entire region became independent.
Even in the Gangetic plain there were forested areas
THE DELHI SULTANS
40 OUR PASTS II
?
that Sultanate forces could not penetrate. Local
chieftains established their rule in these regions.
Sometimes rulers like Alauddin Khalji and
Muhammad Tughluq could force their control in these
areas but only for a short duration.
Chieftains and their fortifications
Ibn Battuta, a fourteenth-century traveller from Morocco,
Africa, explained that chieftains sometimes fortified
themselves in mountains, in rocky, uneven and rugged
places as well as in bamboo groves. In India the bamboo
is not hollow; it is big. Its several parts are so intertwined
that even fire cannot affect them, and they are on the
whole very strong. The chieftains live in these forests
which serve them as ramparts, inside which are their
cattle and their crops. There is also water for them within,
that is, rain water which collects there. Hence they cannot
be subdued except by powerful armies, who entering
these forests, cut down the bamboos with specially
prepared instruments.
Describe the ways in which the chieftains arranged
for their defence.
The Mongols under Genghis Khan invaded
Transoxiana in north-east Iran in 1219 and the Delhi
Sultanate faced their onslaught soon after. Mongol
attacks on the Delhi Sultanate increased during the
reign of Alauddin Khalji and in the early years of
Muhammad Tughluqs rule. This forced the two rulers
to mobilise a large standing army in Delhi which posed
a huge administrative challenge. Let us see how the
two Sultans dealt with this.
41
Delhi was attacked attacked attacked attacked attacked twice, in
1299/1300 and 1302- 03.
As a def ensi ve measur e,
Alauddin Khalji raised a large
standing army.
Alauddin constructed constructed constructed constructed constructed a new
garrison town named Siri for
his soldiers. See Map 1.
The soldiers had to be fed fed fed fed fed. This
was done through the produce
collected as tax from lands
between the Ganga and Yamuna.
Tax was fixed at 50 per cent of
the peasants yield.
The soldiers had to be paid paid paid paid paid.
Alauddin chose to pay his
soldiers salaries in cash rather
than iqtas. The soldiers would
buy their supplies from
merchants in Delhi and it was
thus feared that merchants
would raise their prices. To stop
this, Alauddin controlled the
prices of goods in Delhi. Prices
were carefully surveyed by
officers, and merchants who did
not sell at the prescribed rates
were punished.
Alauddin s admi ni strati ve admi ni strati ve admi ni strati ve admi ni strati ve admi ni strati ve
measures measures measures measures measures were quite successful
and chroniclers praised his reign
for its cheap prices and efficient
supplies of goods in the market.
He successfully withstood the
threat of Mongol invasions.
The Sultanate was attacked attacked attacked attacked attacked in the early years of
Muhammad Tughluqs reign. The Mongol army was
defeated. Muhammad Tughluq was confident about
the strength of his army and his resources to plan an
attack on Transoxiana. He therefore raised a large
standing army.
Rather than constructing constructing constructing constructing constructing a new garrison town, the
oldest of the four cities of Delhi (Dehli-i Kuhna) was
emptied of its residents and the soldiers garrisoned
there. The residents of the old city were sent to the
new capital of Daulatabad in the south.
Produce from the same area was collected as tax to
feed feed feed feed feed the army. But to meet the need of the large
number of soldiers the Sultan levied additional taxes.
This coincided with famine in the area.
Muhammad Tughluq also paid paid paid paid paid his soldiers cash
salaries. But instead of controlling prices, he used a
token currency, somewhat like present-day paper
currency, but made out of cheap metals, not gold and
silver. People in the fourteenth century did not trust
these coins. They were very smart: they saved their
gold and silver coins and paid all their taxes to the
state with this token currency. This cheap currency
could also be counterfeited easily.
Muhammad Tughluqs administrative measures administrative measures administrative measures administrative measures administrative measures
were a failure. His campaign into Kashmir was a
disaster. He then gave up his plans to invade
Transoxiana and disbanded his large army.
Meanwhile, his administrative measures created
complications. The shifting of people to Daulatabad
was resented. The raising of taxes and famine in the
Ganga-Yamuna belt led to widespread rebellion. And
finally, the token currency had to be recalled.
Alauddin Khalji Alauddin Khalji Alauddin Khalji Alauddin Khalji Alauddin Khalji Muhammad Tughluq Muhammad Tughluq Muhammad Tughluq Muhammad Tughluq Muhammad Tughluq
THE DELHI SULTANS
42 OUR PASTS II
In this list of Muhammad Tughluqs failures we
sometimes forget that for the first time in the history of the
Sultanate, a Delhi Sultan planned a campaign to capture
Mongol territory. Unlike Alauddins defensive measures,
Muhammad Tughluqs measures were conceived as a
part of a military offensive against the Mongols.
The Sultanate in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries
Take a look at Table 1 again. You will notice that after
the Tughluqs, the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties ruled from
Delhi and Agra until 1526. By then, Jaunpur, Bengal,
Malwa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and the entire south India
had independent rulers who established flourishing
states and prosperous capitals. This was also the period
which saw the emergence of new ruling groups like the
Afghans and the Rajputs.
Some of the states established in this period were
small but powerful and extremely well administered.
Sher Shah Sur (1540-1545) started his career as the
manager of a small territory for his uncle in Bihar and
eventually challenged and defeated the Mughal emperor
Humayun (1530-1540, 1555-1556). Sher Shah
captured Delhi and established his own dynasty.
Although the Suri dynasty ruled for only fifteen years
(1540-1555), it introduced an administration that
borrowed elements from Alauddin Khalji and made
them more efficient. Sher Shahs administration became
the model followed by the great emperor Akbar
(1556-1605) when he consolidated the Mughal Empire.
43
Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine
You are a peasant in Alauddin Khalji s
or Muhammad Tughluqs reign and you
cannot pay the taxes demanded by the
Sultan. What will you do?
Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall
1. Which ruler first established his or her capital at Delhi?
2. What was the language of administration under the
Delhi Sultans?
3. In whose reign did the Sultanate reach its farthest
extent?
4. From which country did Ibn Battuta travel to India?
The Three Orders, the Peace of God,
Knights and the Crusades
The idea of the Three Orders was first formulated in France in the
early eleventh century. It divided society into three classes: those
who prayed, those who fought, and those who tilled the land. This
division of society into Three Orders was supported by the Church
to consolidate its dominant role in society. This helped the
emergence of a new warrior group called knights.
The Church patronised this group and used them to propagate
their idea of Peace of God. The attempt was to direct warriors
away from conflict amongst themselves and send them instead on
a campaign against the Muslims who had captured the city of
Jerusalem. This led to a series of campaigns called the Crusades.
These campaigns in the service of God and the Church completely
altered the status of knights. Originally, these knights did not belong
to the class of nobles. But by the end of the eleventh century in
France, and a century later in Germany, the humble origins of these
warriors were forgotten. By the twelfth century, nobles also wanted
to be known as knights.
THE DELHI SULTANS
44 OUR PASTS II
Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand
5. According to the Circle of Justice, why was it
important for military commanders to keep the
interests of the peasantry in mind?
6. What is meant by the internal and external frontiers
of the Sultanate?
7. What were the steps taken to ensure that muqtis
performed their duties? Why do you think they may
have wanted to defy the orders of the Sultans?
8. What was the impact of the Mongol invasions on the
Delhi Sultanate?
Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss
9. Do you think the authors of tawarikh would provide
information about the lives of ordinary men and
women?
10. Raziyya Sultan was unique in the history of the Delhi
Sultanate. Do you think women leaders are accepted
more readily today?
11. Why were the Delhi Sultans interested in cutting down
forests? Does deforestation occur for the same reasons
today?
Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do
12. Find out whether there are any buildings built by the
Delhi Sultans in your area. Are there any other
buildings in your area that were built between the
twelfth and fifteenth centuries? Describe some of these
buildings, and draw sketches of them.
KEYWORDS

iqta
tarikh
garrison
Mongols
gender
kharaj

45
R
uling as large a territory as the Indian subcontinent
with such a diversity of people and cultures was
an extremely difficult task for any ruler to accomplish
in the Middle Ages. Quite in contrast to their
predecessors, the Mughals created an empire and
accomplished what had hitherto seemed possible for
only short periods of time. From the latter half of the
sixteenth century they expanded their kingdom from
Agra and Delhi until in the seventeenth century they
controlled nearly all of the subcontinent. They imposed
structures of administration and ideas of governance
that outlasted their rule, leaving a political legacy that
succeeding rulers of the subcontinent could not ignore.
Today the Prime Minister of India addresses the nation
from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi, the residence
of the Mughal emperors, on Independence Day.
4
THE CREATION OF AN EMPIRE:
The Mughal Dynasty
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
Fig. 1
The Red Fort.
46 OUR PASTS II
Who were the Mughals?
The Mughals were descendants of two great lineages of
rulers. From their mothers side they were descendants
of Genghis Khan (died 1227), ruler of the Mongol tribes,
China and Central Asia. From their fathers side they
were the successors of Timur (died 1404), the ruler of
Iran, Iraq and modern-day Turkey. However, the
Mughals did not like to be called Mughal or Mongol.
This was because Genghis Khans memory was
associated with the massacre of innumerable people.
It was also linked with the Uzbegs, their Mongol
competitors. On the other hand, the Mughals were
Fig. 2
A miniature painting (dated 1702-1712) of Timur, his descendants
and the Mughal emperors. Timur is in the centre and on his right is
his son Miran Shah (the first Mughal emperor Baburs great-great-
grandfather) and then Abu Said (Baburs grandfather). To the left of
Timur are Sultan Muhammad Mirza (Baburs great-grandfather) and
Umar Shaikh (Baburs father). The Mughal emperors Babur, Akbar
and Shah Jahan are the third, fourth and fifth individuals on
Timurs right and on his left, in the same order, are Humayun,
Jahangir and Aurangzeb.
Do you think this
painting suggests
that the Mughals
claimed kingship
as a birthright?
?
47
proud of their Timurid ancestry, not least of all because
their great ancestor had captured Delhi in 1398.
They celebrated their genealogy pictorially, each ruler
getting a picture made of Timur and himself. Take a
look at Figure 1, which is somewhat like a group
photograph.
Mughal military
campaigns
Babur, the first Mughal emperor (1526-
1530), succeeded to the throne of
Ferghana in 1494 when he was only
12 years old. He was forced to leave
his ancestral throne due to the invasion
of another Mongol group, the Uzbegs.
After years of wandering he seized
Kabul in 1504. In 1526 he defeated the
Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at
Panipat and captured Delhi and Agra.
Table 1 charts some of the major
campaigns of the Mughals. Study it carefully and see if
you can notice any long-term patterns. You will notice,
for example, that the
Afghans were an
immediate threat to
Mughal authority. Note
the relationship between
the Mughals and the
Ahoms (see also Chapter
7), the Sikhs (see also
Chapters 8 and 10), and
Mewar and Marwar (see
also Chapter 9). How
was Humayun s
relationship with Safavid
Iran different from
Akbar s? Did the
annexation of Golconda
and Bijapur in
Aurangzebs reign end
hostilities in the Deccan?
Fig. 3
Mughal army on
campaign.
Fig. 4
Cannons were an
important addition in
sixteenth century
warfare. Babur used
them effectively at the
first battle of Panipat.
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
48 OUR PASTS II
Table 1 Table 1 Table 1 Table 1 Table 1
mughal emperors
Major campaigns and events
1526 defeated Ibrahim Lodi and his Afghan supporters at
Panipat.
1527 defeated Rana Sanga, Rajput rulers and allies at
Khanua.
1528 defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi.
Established control over Agra and Delhi before his death.
BABUR BABUR BABUR BABUR BABUR 1526-1530 1526-1530 1526-1530 1526-1530 1526-1530
AKBAR AKBAR AKBAR AKBAR AKBAR
1556-1605 1556-1605 1556-1605 1556-1605 1556-1605
Akbar was 13 years old when he became emperor. His
reign can be divided into three periods.
(1) 1556-1570 Akbar became independent of the regent
Bairam Khan and other members of his domestic staff.
Military campaigns were launched against the Suris and
other Afghans, against the neighbouring kingdoms of
Malwa and Gondwana, and to suppress the revolt of his
half-brother Mirza Hakim and the Uzbegs. In 1568 the
Sisodiya capital of Chittor was seized and in 1569
Ranthambhor.
(2) 1570-1585 military campaigns in Gujarat were
followed by campaigns in the east in Bihar, Bengal and
Orissa. These campaigns were complicated by the
1579-1580 revolt in support of Mirza Hakim.
(3) 1585-1605 expansion of Akbars empire. Campaigns in
the north-west. Qandahar was seized from the Safavids,
Kashmir was annexed, as also Kabul, after the death of
Mirza Hakim. Campaigns in the Deccan started and Berar,
Khandesh and parts of Ahmadnagar were annexed.
In the last years of his reign Akbar was distracted by the
rebellion of Prince Salim, the future Emperor Jahangir.
HUMAYUN HUMAYUN HUMAYUN HUMAYUN HUMAYUN 1530-1540, 1555-1556 1530-1540, 1555-1556 1530-1540, 1555-1556 1530-1540, 1555-1556 1530-1540, 1555-1556
(1) Humayun divided his inheritance according to the will
of his father. His brothers were each given a province.
The ambitions of his brother Mirza Kamran weakened
Humayuns cause against Afghan competitors. Sher Khan
defeated Humayun at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540),
forcing him to flee to Iran.
(2) In Iran Humayun received help from the Safavid Shah.
He recaptured Delhi in 1555 but died in an accident the
following year.
49
Jahangir 1605-1627 Jahangir 1605-1627 Jahangir 1605-1627 Jahangir 1605-1627 Jahangir 1605-1627
Military campaigns started by Akbar continued.
The Sisodiya ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh, accepted
Mughal service. Less successful campaigns against
the Sikhs, the Ahoms and Ahmadnagar followed.
Prince Khurram, the future Emperor Shah Jahan,
rebelled in the last years of his reign. The efforts of
Nur Jahan, Jahangirs wife, to marginalise him were
unsuccessful.
Shah Jahan 1627-1658 Shah Jahan 1627-1658 Shah Jahan 1627-1658 Shah Jahan 1627-1658 Shah Jahan 1627-1658
Mughal campaigns continued in the Deccan under
Shah Jahan. The Afghan noble Khan Jahan Lodi
rebelled and was defeated. Campaigns were launched
against Ahmadnagar; the Bundelas were defeated and
Orchha seized. In the north-west, the campaign to seize
Balkh from the Uzbegs was unsuccessful and
Qandahar was lost to the Safavids. In 1632
Ahmadnagar was finally annexed and the Bijapur
forces sued for peace. In 1657-1658, there was conflict
over succession amongst Shah Jahans sons.
Aurangzeb was victorious and his three brothers,
including Dara Shukoh, were killed. Shah Jahan was
imprisoned for the rest of his life in Agra.
Aurangzeb 1658-1707 Aurangzeb 1658-1707 Aurangzeb 1658-1707 Aurangzeb 1658-1707 Aurangzeb 1658-1707
(1) In the north-east, the Ahoms were defeated in 1663, but rebelled again in
the 1680s. Campaigns in the north-west against the Yusufzai and the Sikhs
were temporarily successful. Mughal intervention in the
succession and internal politics of the Rathor Rajputs of
Marwar led to their rebellion. Campaigns against the
Maratha chieftain Shivaji were initially successful. But
Aurangzeb insulted Shivaji who escaped from Agra,
declared himself an independent king and resumed his
campaigns against the Mughals. Prince Akbar rebelled
against Aurangzeb and received support from the
Marathas and Deccan Sultanate. He finally fled to
Safavid Iran.
(2) After Akbars rebellion Aurangzeb sent armies against
the Deccan Sultanates. Bijapur was annexed in 1685 and
Golcunda in 1687. From 1698 Aurangzeb personally
managed campaigns in the Deccan against the Marathas
who started guerrilla warfare. Aurangzeb also had to face the
rebellion in north India of the Sikhs, Jats and Satnamis, in the north-east
of the Ahoms and in the Deccan of the Marathas. His death was followed
by a succession conflict amongst his sons.
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
50 OUR PASTS II
Mughal traditions of succession
The Mughals did not believe in the rule of primogeniture,
where the eldest son inherited his fathers estate. Instead
they followed the Mughal and Timurid custom of
coparcenary inheritance, or a division of the inheritance
amongst all the sons. Follow the highlighted passages
in Table 1, and note the evidence for rebellions
by Mughal princes. Which do you think is a fairer
division of inheritance: primogeniture or coparcenary ?
Mughal relations with other rulers
Take a look at Table 1 once again. You will notice that
the Mughal rulers campaigned constantly against
rulers who refused to accept their authority. But as
the Mughals became powerful many other rulers also
joined them voluntarily. The Rajputs are a good
example of this. Many of them married their daughters
into Mughal families and received high positions. But
many resisted as well.
Mughal marriages
with the Rajputs
The mother of
Jahangir was
a Kachhwaha
princess, daughter
of the Rajput ruler
of Amber (modern
day Jaipur). The
mother of Shah
Jahan was a Rathor
princess, daughter
of the Rajput ruler
of Marwar (Jodhpur).
Map 1 Map 1 Map 1 Map 1 Map 1
Akbars reign 1605
51
Zat ranking
Nobles with a zat
of 5,000 were
ranked higher than
those of 1,000.
In Akbars reign
there were 29
mansabdars with a
rank of 5,000 zat;
by Aurangzebs
reign the number
of mansabdars
had increased to
79. Would this
have meant more
expenditure for
the state?
The Sisodiya Rajputs refused to accept Mughal
authority for a long time. Once defeated, however, they
were honourably treated by the Mughals, given their
lands (watan) back as assignments (watan jagir). The
careful balance between defeating but not humiliating
their opponents enabled the Mughals to extend their
influence over many kings and chieftains. But it was
difficult to keep this balance all the time. Look at Table
1 again note that Aurangzeb insulted Shivaji when he
came to accept Mughal authority. What was the
consequence of this insult?
Mansabdars and jagirdars
As the empire expanded to encompass different regions
the Mughals recruited diverse bodies of people. From
a small nucleus of Turkish nobles (Turanis) they
expanded to include Iranians, Indian Muslims,
Afghans, Rajputs, Marathas and other groups. Those
who joined Mughal service were enrolled as
mansabdars.
The term mansabdar refers to an individual who
holds a mansab, meaning a position or rank. It was a
grading system used by the Mughals to fix (1) rank,
(2) salary and (3) military responsibilities. Rank and
salary were determined by a numerical value called zat.
The higher the zat, the more prestigious was the nobles
position in court and the larger his salary.
The mansabdars military responsibilities required
him to maintain a specified number of sawar or
cavalrymen. The mansabdar brought his cavalrymen
for review, got them registered, their horses branded
and then received money to pay them as salary.
Mansabdars received their salaries as revenue
assignments called jagirs which were somewhat like
iqtas. But unlike muqtis, most mansabdars did not
actually reside in or administer their jagirs. They only
had rights to the revenue of their assignments which
was collected for them by their servants while the
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
52 OUR PASTS II
mansabdars themselves
served in some other part of
the country.
In Akbars reign these
jagirs were carefully
assessed so that their
revenues were roughly
equal to the salary of the
mansadar. By Aurangzebs
reign this was no longer the
case and the actual revenue
collected was often less than the granted sum. There
was also a huge increase in the number of mansabdars
which meant a long wait before they received a jagir.
These and other factors created a shortage in the
number of jagirs. As a result, many jagirdars tried
to extract as much revenue as possible while they had
a jagir. Aurangzeb was unable to control these
developments in the last years of his reign and the
peasantry therefore suffered tremendously.
Zabt and zamindars
The main source of income available to Mughal rulers
was tax on the produce of the peasantry. In most places,
peasants paid taxes through the rural elites, that is,
the headman or the local chieftain. The Mughals
used one term zamindars to describe all
intermediaries, whether they were local headmen
of villages or powerful chieftains.
Akbars revenue minister, Todar Mal, carried
out a careful survey of crop yields, prices
and areas cultivated for a ten-year period,
1570-1580. On the basis of this data, tax was
fixed on each crop in cash. Each province
was divided into revenue circles with its own
schedule of revenue rates for individual
crops. This revenue system was known as
zabt. It was prevalent in those areas where
Mughal administrators could survey the land
Fig. 5
A mansabdar on
march with his
sawars.
Fig. 6
Details from a
miniature from Shah
Jahans reign depicting
corruption in his
fathers administration.
(1) A corrupt officer
recieves a bribe and
(2) a tax-collector
punishes poor
peasants.
53
and keep very careful accounts. This was not possible
in provinces such as Gujarat and Bengal.
In some areas the zamindars exercised a great deal
of power. The exploitation by Mughal administrators
could drive them to rebellion. Sometimes zamindars
and peasants of the same caste allied in rebelling against
Mughal authority. These peasant revolts challenged the
stability of the Mughal Empire from the end of the
seventeenth century.
Akbar Nama and Ain- i Akbari
Akbar ordered one of his close friends and
courtiers, Abul Fazl, to write a history of his
reign. Abul Fazl wrote a three volume history
of Akbars reign titled, Akbar Nama. The first
volume dealt with Akbars ancestors and the
second volume recorded the events of
Akbars reign. The third volume is the Ain-i
Akbari. It deals with Akbars administration,
household, army, the revenues and geography
of his empire. It also provides rich details
about the traditions and culture of the people
living in India. The most interesting aspect
about the Ain-i Akbari is its rich statistical
details about things as diverse as crops,
yields, prices, wages and revenues.
A closer lookAkbars policies
The broad features of administration were laid down
by Akbar and were elaborately discussed by Abul Fazl
in his book the Akbar Nama, in particular in its last
volume, the Ain-i Akbari.
Abul Fazl explained that the empire was divided into
provinces called subas, governed by a subadar who
carried out both political and military functions. Each
province also had a financial officer or diwan. For the
maintenance of peace and order in his province, the
subadar was supported by other officers such as the
Fig. 7
Akbar recieving the Akbar Nama
from Abul Fazl.
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
54 OUR PASTS II
military paymaster (bakhshi), the minister in charge of
religious and charitable patronage (sadr), military
commanders (faujdars) and the town police commander
(kotwal).
Nur Jahans influence in Jahangirs court
Mehrunnisa, married the Emperor Jahangir
in 1611 and received the title Nur Jahan.
She remai ned extremel y l oyal and
supportive to the monarch. As a mark of
honour, Jahangir struck silver coins bearing
his own titles on one side and on the other
the inscription struck in the name of the
Queen Begum, Nur Jahan.
The adjoining document is an order
(farman) of Nur Jahan. The square seal states,
Command of her most Subl i me and
Elevated Majesty Nur Jahan Padshah Begum.
The round seal states, by the sun of Shah
Jahangir she became as brilliant as the moon; may
Nur Jahan Padshah be the lady of the age.
Akbars nobles commanded large armies and had
access to large amounts of revenue. While they were
loyal the empire functioned efficiently but by the end of
the seventeenth century many nobles had built
independent networks of their own. Their loyalties to
the empire were weakened by their own self-interest.
While Akbar was at Fatehpur Sikri during the 1570s
he started discussions on religion with the ulama,
Brahmanas, Jesuit priests who were Roman Catholics,
and Zoroastrians. These discussions took place in the
ibadat khana. He was interested in the religion and
social customs of different people. It made him realise
that religious scholars who emphasised ritual and
dogma dogma dogma dogma dogma were often bigots bigots bigots bigots bigots. Their teachings created
divisions and disharmony amongst his subjects. This
eventually led Akbar to the idea of sulh-i kul or
Dogma Dogma Dogma Dogma Dogma
A statement or an
interpretation
declared as
authoritative with
the expectation
that it would be
followed without
question
Bigot Bigot Bigot Bigot Bigot
An individual who
is intolerant of
another persons
religious beliefs or
culture
Fig. 8
Nur Jahans farman.
55
?
universal peace. This idea of tolerance did not
discriminate between people of different religions in
his realm. Instead it focused on a system of ethics
honesty, justice, peace that was universally
applicable. Abul Fazl helped Akbar in framing a vision
of governance around this idea of sulh-i kul. This
principle of governance was followed by Jahangir and
Shah Jahan as well.
sulh- i kul
Jahangir, Akbars son, described his fathers policy of
sulh-i kul in the following words:
As in the wide expanse of the divine compassion there is room
for all classes and the followers of all creeds, so in his
Imperial dominions, which on all sides were limited only the
sea, there was room for the professors of opposite religions,
and for beliefs, good and bad, and the road to intolerance was
closed. Sunnis and Shias met in one mosque and Christians
and Jews in one church to pray. He consistently followed the
principle of universal peace (sulh-i kul).
Fig. 9
Akbar holding
discussions with
learned individuals of
different faiths in the
ibadat khana.
Can you identify
the Jesuit priests
in this picture?
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
56 OUR PASTS II
The mughal empire in the
seventeenth century and after
The administrative and military efficiency of the Mughal
Empire led to great economic and commercial
prosperity. International travellers described it as the
fabled land of wealth. But these same visitors were also
appalled at the state of poverty that existed side by
side with the greatest opulence. The inequalities were
glaring. Documents from the twentieth year of Shah
Jahans reign inform us that the highest ranking
mansabdars were only 445 in number out of a total of
8,000. This small number a mere 5.6 per cent of the
total number of mansabdars received 61.5 per cent
of the total estimated revenue of the empire as salaries
for themselves and their troopers.
The Mughal emperors and their mansabdars spent
a great deal of their income on salaries and goods.
This expenditure benefited the artisans and peasantry
who supplied them with goods and produce. But the
scale of revenue collection left very little for investment
in the hands of the primary producers the peasant
and the artisan. The poorest amongst them lived
from hand to mouth and they could hardly consider
investing in additional resources tools and supplies
to increase productivity. The wealthier peasantry and
artisanal groups, the merchants and bankers profited
in this economic world.
The enormous wealth and resources commanded
by the Mughal elite made them an extremely powerful
group of people in the late seventeenth century. As the
authority of the Mughal emperor slowly declined, his
servants emerged as powerful centres of power in the
regions. They constituted new dynasties and held
command of provinces like Hyderabad and Awadh.
Although they continued to recognise the Mughal
emperor in Delhi as their master, by the eighteenth
century the provinces of the empire had consolidated
their independent political identities. We will read more
about them in Chapter 10.
57
Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine
Babur and Akbar were about your age when
they became rulers. Imagine you have
inherited a kingdom. How would you make
your kingdom stable and prosperous?
Queens and kings
There were several great monarchs all near contemporaries in
different parts of the world in the sixteenth century.
These included Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) of England. Elizabeth
was the last ruler of a dynasty known as the Tudors. Elizabeths rule
was marked by several conflicts foremost amongst these were
conflicts between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants,
who were attempting to reform the Church. Elizabeth sided with the
latter, and tried to establish the independence of the Church of England
from Roman control, even as she adopted several practices of the
Roman Church. She came into conflict with Philip II, the powerful
ruler of Spain, and defeated a Spanish effort to attack England. Under
her patronage English sailors harassed the Spanish fleet and made it
difficult for them to control the wealth of the Americas. She was a
great patron of the arts and supported the famous English playwright
William Shakespeare. A poet named Edmund Spenser wrote a long
epic poem called The Faerie Queene in her praise.
Find out more about Akbars other contemporaries the ruler of
Ottoman Turkey, Sultan Suleyman, also known as al-Qanuni or the
lawgiver (1520-1566); the Safavid ruler of Iran, Shah Abbas (1588-
1629); and the more controversial Russian ruler, Czar Ivan IV
Vasilyevich, also called Ivan the terrible (1530-1584).
Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall
1. Match the following
mansab Marwar
Mongol governor
Sisodiya Rajput Uzbeg
Rathor Rajput Mewar
Nur Jahan Babur
subadar rank
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
58 OUR PASTS II
2. Fill in the blanks
(a) The capital of Mirza Hakim, Akbars half-brother,
was____________.
(b) The five Deccan Sultanates were Berar, Khandesh,
Ahmadnagar, _____________ and
_________________.
(c) If zat determined a mansabdars rank and salary,
sawar indicated his ____________ .
(d) Abul Fazl, Akbars friend and counsellor, helped
him frame the idea of ____________________
so that he could govern a society composed of
many religions, cultures and castes.
3. What were the central provinces under the control of
the Mughals?
4. What was the relationship between the mansabdar
and the jagir?
Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand
5. What was the role of the zamindar in Mughal
administration?
6. How were the debates with religious scholars important
in the formation of Akbars ideas on governance?
7. Why did the Mughals emphasise their Timurid and
not their Mughal descent?
KEYWORDS

Mughal
mansab
jagir
zat
sawar
sulh-i kul
primogeniture
coparcenary
zabt
zamindar

59
Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss
8. How important was the income from land revenue to
the stability of the Mughal Empire?
9. Why was it important for the Mughals to recruit
mansabdars from diverse backgrounds and not just
Turanis and Iranis?
10. Like the Mughal Empire, India today is also made up
of many social and cultural units. Does this pose a
challenge to national integration?
11. Peasants were vital for the economy of the Mughal
Empire. Do you think that they are as important today?
Has the gap in the income between the rich and the
poor in India changed a great deal from the period of
the Mughals?
Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do
12. The Mughal Empire left its impact on the different
regions of the subcontinent in a variety of ways. Find
out if it had any impact in the city/village/region in
which you live.
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
59
Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss
8. How important was the income from land revenue to
the stability of the Mughal Empire?
9. Why was it important for the Mughals to recruit
mansabdars from diverse backgrounds and not just
Turanis and Iranis?
10. Like the Mughal Empire, India today is also made up
of many social and cultural units. Does this pose a
challenge to national integration?
11. Peasants were vital for the economy of the Mughal
Empire. Do you think that they are as important today?
Has the gap in the income between the rich and the
poor in India changed a great deal from the period of
the Mughals?
Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do Lets do
12. The Mughal Empire left its impact on the different
regions of the subcontinent in a variety of ways. Find
out if it had any impact in the city/village/region in
which you live.
THE MUGHAL DYNASTY
60
F
igure 1 shows the first balcony of the Qutb Minar.
Qutbuddin Aybak had this constructed around
1199. Notice the pattern created under the balcony
by the small arches and geometrical designs. Can you
find two bands of inscriptions under the balcony?
These are in Arabic. Notice that the surface of the minar
is curved and angular. Placing an inscription on such
a surface required great precision. Only the most
skilled craftsperson could perform this task.
Remember that very few buildings were made of stone
or brick 800 years ago. What would have been the
impact of a building like the Qutb Minar on observers
in the thirteenth century?
Between the eighth and the eighteenth centuries
kings and their officers built two kinds of structures:
5
RULERS AND BUILDINGS
inar is five
. The band
ns you
er its
y.
or was
by
Aybak and
tutmish
9. Over the
damaged
and
s and
Alauddin
ammad
uz Shah
d
i.
61
the first were forts, palaces and tombs safe, protected
and grandiose places of rest in this world and the next;
the second were structures meant for public activity
including temples, mosques, tanks, wells, caravan
serais and bazaars. Kings were expected to care for their
subjects, and by making structures for their use and
comfort, rulers hoped to win their praise. Construction
activity was also carried out by others, including
merchants. They built temples, mosques and wells.
However, domestic architecture large mansions
(havelis) of merchants has survived only from the
eighteenth century.
Engineering Skills and Construction
Monuments provide an insight into the technologies
used for construction. Take something like a roof for
example. We can make this by placing wooden beams
or a slab of stone across four walls. But the task
becomes difficult if we want to make a large room with
an elaborate superstructure superstructure superstructure superstructure superstructure. This requires more
sophisticated skills.
Between the seventh and tenth centuries architects
started adding more rooms, doors and windows to
buildings. Roofs, doors and windows were still made
by placing a horizontal beam across two vertical
columns, a style of architecture called trabeate or
corbelled. Between the eighth and thirteenth centuries
the trabeate style was used in the construction of
temples, mosques, tombs and in buildings attached to
large stepped-wells (baolis).
Labour for the
Agra Fort
Built by Akbar, the
Agra Fort required
2,000 stone-cutters,
2,000 cement and
lime-makers and
8,000 labourers.
Fig. 2a
Screen in the Quwwat
al-Islam mosque, Delhi
(late twelfth century).
Fig. 2b
Corbelled technique
used in the
construction of an arch.
Superstructure Superstructure Superstructure Superstructure Superstructure
The part of a
building above the
ground floor.
RULERS AND BUILDINGS
Fig. 2a Fig. 2b
62
rences
tice
he
of the
es? Can
out that
ra of the
vara
twice as
at of the
?
Fig. 4
The Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur had the tallest shikhara
amongst temples of its time. Constructing it was not easy
because there were no cranes in those days and
the 90 tonne stone for the top of the shikhara
was too heavy to lift manually. So the architects
built an inclined path to the top of the temple,
placed the boulder on rollers and rolled it all
the way to the top. The path started more
than four kilometres away so that it
would not be too steep. This was
dismantled after the temple was
constructed. But the residents
of the area remembered the
experience of the
construction of the
temple for a long time.
Even now a village near
the temple is called
Charupallam, the
Village of the Incline.
Temple Construction in the Early Eleventh Century Temple Construction in the Early Eleventh Century Temple Construction in the Early Eleventh Century Temple Construction in the Early Eleventh Century Temple Construction in the Early Eleventh Century
Fig. 3a
The Kandariya Mahadeva temple
dedicated to Shiva was
constructed in 999 by King
Dhangadeva
of the Chandela dynasty.
Fig. 3b is the plan of the
temple. An ornamented
gateway led to an
entrance, and the main
hall (mahamandapa)
where dances were
performed. The image
of the chief deity
was kept in the
main shrine
(garbhagriha). This was
the place for ritual
worship where only the
king, his immediate
family and priests
gathered. The
Khajuraho complex
contained royal temples where commoners were not allowed entry.
The temples were decorated with elaborately carved sculptures.
63
?
Two technological and
stylistic developments are
noticeable from the twelfth
century. (1) The weight of
the superstructure above
the doors and windows
was sometimes carried by
arches. This architectural
form was called arcuate.
Compare Figures 2a and
2b with 5a and 5b.
(2) Limestone cement
was increasingly used in
construction. This was very
high quality cement,
which, when mixed with
stone chips hardened
into concrete. This made
construction of large
structures easier and
faster. Take a look at the
construction site in Figure 6.
Describe what the
labourers are doing, the
tools shown, and the
means of carrying stones.
Building Temples, Mosques and
Tanks
Temples and mosques were beautifully constructed
because they were places of worship. They were also
meant to demonstrate the power, wealth and
devotion of the patron. Take the example of the
Rajarajeshvara temple. An inscription mentions that
it was built by King Rajarajadeva for the worship of
Fig. 5b
True arch; detail from
the Alai Darwaza
(early fourteenth
century). Quwwat al-
Islam mosque, Delhi.
Fig. 6
A painting from the
Akbar Nama (dated
1590-1595), showing
the construction
of the water-gate
at the Agra Fort.
RULERS AND BUILDINGS
KEYSTONE
Fig. 5a
A true arch. The keystone at
the centre of the arch transferred
the weight of the superstructure
to the base of the arch.
64
his god, Rajarajeshvaram. Notice how the name of
the ruler and the god are very similar. The king took
the gods name because it was auspicious and he
wanted to appear like a god. Through the rituals of
worship in the temple one god (Rajarajadeva)
honoured another (Rajarajeshvaram).
The largest temples were all constructed by kings.
The other, lesser deities in the temple were gods and
goddesses of the allies and subordinates of the ruler.
The temple was a miniature model of the world ruled
by the king and his allies. As they worshipped their
deities together in the royal temples, it seemed as if
they brought the just rule of the gods on earth.
Muslim Sultans and Padshahs did not claim to be
incarnations of god but Persian court chronicles
described the Sultan as the Shadow of God. An
inscription in the Delhi mosque explained that God
chose Alauddin as a king because he had the qualities
of Moses and Solomon, the great law-givers of the
past. The greatest law-giver and architect was God
Himself. He created the world out of chaos and
ct
l emperor
ns chro-
ared that
was the
t of the
of empire
on.
mi masjid
h Jahan in
tal at
bad,
Qi bl a
(Direction towards Mecca)
W
65
introduced order and symmetry.
As each new dynasty came to power, kings wanted
to emphasise their moral right to be rulers. Constructing
places of worship provided rulers with the chance to
proclaim their close relationship with God, especially
important in an age of rapid political change. Rulers
also offered patronage to the learned and pious, and
tried to transform their capitals and cities into great
cultural centres that brought fame to their rule and
their realm.
It was widely believed that
the rule of a just king would be
an age of plenty when the
heavens would not withhold
rain. At the same time, making
precious water available by
constructing tanks and
reservoirs was highly praised.
Sultan Iltutmish won universal
respect for constructing a
large reservoir just outside
Dehli-i kuhna. It was called the
hauz-i Sultani or the Kings
Reservoir. Can you find it on
Map 1 in Chapter 3? Rulers
often constructed tanks and
reservoirs big and small for use by ordinary people.
Sometimes these tanks and reservoirs were part of a
temple, mosque (note the small tank in the jami masjid
in Fig. 7) or a gurudwara (a place of worship and
congregation for Sikhs, Fig. 8).
Why were Temples Destroyed?
Because kings built temples to demonstrate their
devotion to God and their power and wealth, it is not
surprising that when they attacked one anothers
kingdoms, they often targeted these buildings. In the
early ninth century when the Pandyan king Shrimara
Shrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka and defeated the
Importance of
water
The Persian terms
abad, populated,
prosperous, and
abadi, flourishing,
are both derived
from the word ab,
meaning water.
Fig. 8
Golden Temple with
the holy sarovar (tank)
in Amritsar.
RULERS AND BUILDINGS
66
?
king, Sena I (831-851), the Buddhist monk and
chronicler Dhammakitti noted: he removed all the
valuables ... The statue of the Buddha made entirely
of gold in the Jewel Palace ... and the golden images in
the various monasteries all these he seized. The blow
to the pride of the Sinhalese ruler had to be avenged
and the next Sinhalese ruler, Sena II, ordered his
general to invade Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.
The Buddhist chronicler noted that the expedition
made a special effort to find and restore the gold statue
of the Buddha.
Similarly in the early eleventh century, when the
Chola king Rajendra I built a Shiva temple in his capital
he filled it with prized statues seized from defeated
rulers. An incomplete list included: a Sun-pedestal from
the Chalukyas, a Ganesha statue and several statues
of Durga; a Nandi statue from the eastern Chalukyas;
an image of Bhairava (a form of Shiva) and Bhairavi
from the Kalingas of Orissa; and a Kali statue from the
Palas of Bengal.
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a contemporary of
Rajendra I. During his campaigns in the subcontinent
he also attacked the temples of defeated kings and
looted their wealth and idols. Sultan Mahmud was not
a very important ruler at that time. But by destroying
temples especially the one at Somnath he tried to
win credit as a great hero of Islam. In the political
culture of the Middle Ages most rulers displayed their
political might and military success by attacking and
looting the places of worship of defeated rulers.
In what ways do you think the policies of Rajendra I and
Mahmud of Ghazni were a product of their times? How
were the actions of the two rulers different?
Gardens, Tombs and Forts
Under the Mughals, architecture became more complex.
Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, and especially
ar bagh
a
arden at
ari, 1637.
har bagh
ns tomb,
1571.
chahar
limar
hmir,
634.
har baghs
67
Shah Jahan were personally
interested in literature, art and
architecture. In his
autobiography, Babur described
his interest in planning and laying
out formal gardens, placed within
rectangular walled enclosures
and divided into four quarters
by artificial channels.
These gardens were called
chahar bagh, four gardens,
because of their symmetrical
division into quarters. Beginning
with Akbar, some of the most
beautiful chahar baghs were
constructed by Jahangir and
Shah Jahan in Kashmir, Agra
and Delhi (see Fig. 9).
There were several important
architectural innovations during
Akbars reign. For inspiration,
Akbars architects turned to the
tombs of his Central Asian
ancestor, Timur. The central towering dome and the
tall gateway (pishtaq) became important aspects of
Mughal architecture, first visible in Humayuns tomb.
It was placed in the centre of a huge formal chahar
Fig. 10
A 1590 painting of
Babur laying out a
chahar bagh in
Kabul. Note how the
intersecting channels
on the path create the
characteristic chahar
bagh design.
Fig.11
Tomb of Humayun,
constructed between
1562 and 1571.
Can you see the water
channels?
RULERS AND BUILDINGS
68
bagh and built in the tradition known as eight
paradises or hasht bihisht a central hall surrounded
by eight rooms. The building was constructed with red
sandstone, edged with white marble.
It was during Shah Jahans reign that the different
elements of Mughal architecture were fused together in
a grand harmonious synthesis. His reign witnessed a
huge amount of construction activity especially in Agra
and Delhi. The ceremonial halls of public and private
audience (diwan-i khas or am) were carefully planned.
These courts were also described as chihil sutun or
forty-pillared halls, placed within a large courtyard.
Shah Jahans audience halls were specially
constructed to resemble a mosque. The pedestal on
which his throne was placed was frequently described
as the qibla, the direction faced by Muslims at prayer,
since everybody faced that direction when court was in
session. The idea of the king as a representative of God
on earth was suggested by these architectural features.
The connection between royal justice and the
imperial court was emphasised by Shah Jahan in his
newly constructed court in the Red Fort at Delhi. Behind
balcony
-i am in
eted
ura ra ura ra ra
hard
aced in
ns
o marble
one
eautiful,
tterns.
69
the emperors throne were a series of pietra dura pietra dura pietra dura pietra dura pietra dura inlays
that depicted the legendary Greek god Orpheus playing
the lute. It was believed that Orpheuss music could
calm ferocious beasts until they resided together
peaceably. The construction of Shah Jahans audience
hall aimed to communicate that the kings justice would
treat the high and the low as equals where all could
live together in harmony.
In the early years of his reign, Shah Jahans capital
was at Agra, a city where the nobility had constructed
their homes on the banks of the river Yamuna. These
were set in the midst of formal gardens constructed in
the chahar bagh format. The chahar bagh garden also
had a variation that historians describe as the river-
front garden. In this the dwelling was not located in
the middle of the chahar bagh but at its edge, close to
the bank of the river.
Shah Jahan adapted the river-front garden in the
layout of the Taj Mahal, the grandest architectural
accomplishment of his reign. Here the white marble
mausoleum was placed on a terrace by the edge of
the river and the garden was to its south. Shah Jahan
Fig. 13
The Taj Mahal at Agra,
completed in 1643.
RULERS AND BUILDINGS
70
ction from a map of the river-front garden city of Agra. Note how the garden palaces of
re placed on both banks of the Yamuna. The Taj Mahal is on the left.
e layout of Agra with Shahjahanabad in Delhi in Figure15.
f Shahjahanabad. Where is the emperors residence?
ears to be very crowded, but did you notice the many large gardens as well?
d the main street and the jami masjid?
Yamuna River
Yam
una R
iver
e
ahal
71
developed this architectural form as a means to
control the access that nobles had to the river. In the
new city of Shahjahanabad that he constructed in
Delhi, the imperial palace commanded the river-front.
Only specially favoured nobles like his eldest son
Dara Shukoh were given access to the river. All
others had to construct their homes in the city away
from the River Yamuna.
Region and Empire
As construction activity increased between the eighth
and eighteenth centuries there was also a considerable
sharing of ideas across regions: the traditions of one
region were adopted by another. In Vijayanagara, for
example, the elephant stables of the rulers were
strongly influenced by the style of architecture found
in the adjoining Sultanates of Bijapur and Golcunda
(see Chapter 6). In Vrindavan, near Mathura, temples
were constructed in architectural styles that were very
similar to the Mughal palaces in Fatehpur Sikri.
The creation of large empires that brought different
regions under their rule helped in this cross-
fertilisation of artistic forms and architectural styles.
Fig. 16
Interior of temple of
Govind Deva in
Vrindavan, 1590.
The temple was
constructed out of red
sandstone. Notice the
two (out of four)
intersecting arches
that made the high-
ceiling roof. This style
of architecture is from
north-west Iran
(Khurasan) and was
used in Fatehpur
Sikri.
RULERS AND BUILDINGS
72
Mughal rulers were particularly skilled in
adapting regional architectural styles in the
construction of their own buildings. In Bengal,
for example, the local rulers had developed a
roof that was designed to resemble a thatched
hut. The Mughals liked this Bangla dome (see
Fig. ... in Chapter 9) so much that they used it
in their architecture. The impact of other
regions was also evident. In Akbars capital at
Fatehpur Sikri many of the buildings bear the
impact of the architectural styles of Gujarat and
Malwa.
Even though the authority of the Mughal
rulers waned in the eighteenth century, the
architectural styles developed under their
patronage were constantly used and adapted
by other rulers whenever they tried to establish
their own kingdoms.
Fig. 17
Decorated pillars and struts holding the extension of
the roof in Jodh Bai palace in Fatehpur Sikri.
These follow architectural traditions of the Gujarat region.
Churches that touched the skies
From the twelfth century onwards, attempts
began in France to build churches that were
taller and lighter than earlier buildings. This
architectural style, known as Gothic, was
distinguished by high pointed arches, the
use of stained glass, often painted with
scenes drawn from the Bible, and flying
buttresses. Tall spires and bell towers which
were visible from a distance were added to
the church.
One of the best-known examples of this
architectural style is the church of Notre
Dame in Paris, which was constructed
through several decades in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries.
Look at the illustration and try and identify
the bell towers.
73

KEYWORDS
Go through the
chapter and make
your own list of
six keywords.
For each of these,
write a sentence
indicating
why you chose
the word.

Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine Imagine

You are an artisan standing on a tiny
wooden platform held together by
bamboo and rope fifty metres above
the ground. You have to place an
inscription under the first balcony of the
Qutb Minar. How would you do this?
Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall Lets recall
1. How is the trabeate principle of architecture different
from arcuate?
2. What is a shikhara?
3. What is pietra-dura?
4. What are the elements of a Mughal chahar bagh garden?
Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand Lets understand
5. How did a temple communicate the importance
of a king?
6. An inscription in Shah Jahans diwan-i khas in Delhi
stated: If there is Paradise on Earth, it is here, it is
here, it is here. How was this image created?
7. How did the Mughal court suggest that everyone the
rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak received
justice equally from the emperor?
8. What role did the Yamuna play in the layout of the
new Mughal city at Shahjahanabad?
RULERS AND BUILDINGS
74
Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss Lets discuss
9. The rich and powerful construct large houses today.
In what ways were the constructions of kings and
their courtiers different in the past?
10. Look at Figure 4. How could that building be
constructed faster today?
Lets Do Lets Do Lets Do Lets Do Lets Do
11. Find out whether there is a statue of or a memorial
to a great person in your village or town. Why was it
placed there? What purpose does it serve?
12. Visit and describe any park or garden in your
neighbourhood. In what ways is it similar to or
different from the gardens of the Mughals?
75
W
hat would a traveller visiting a medieval town
expect to find? This would depend on what kind
of a town it was a temple town, an administrative
centre, a commercial town or a port town to name just
some possibilities. In fact, many towns combined
several functions they were administrative centres,
temple towns, as well as centres of commercial
activities and craft production.
TOWNS, TRADERS AND TOWNS, TRADERS AND TOWNS, TRADERS AND TOWNS, TRADERS AND TOWNS, TRADERS AND
CRAFTSPERSONS CRAFTSPERSONS CRAFTSPERSONS CRAFTSPERSONS CRAFTSPERSONS
6
Map 1
Some important
centres of trade
and artisanal
production in central
and south India.
TOWNS, TRADERS AND
CRAFTSPERSONS
76 OUR PASTS II
?
Administrative Centres Administrative Centres Administrative Centres Administrative Centres Administrative Centres
You read about the Chola dynasty in Chapter 2. Lets
travel in our imagination to Thanjavur, the capital of
the Cholas, as it was a thousand years ago.
The perennial river Kaveri flows near this beautiful
town. One hears the bells of the Rajarajeshvara temple
built by King Rajaraja Chola. The townspeople are all
praise for its architect Kunjaramallan Rajaraja
Perunthachchan who has proudly carved his name
on the temple wall. Inside is a massive Shiva linga.
Besides the temple, there are palaces with
mandapas or pavilions. Kings hold court in these
mandapas, issuing orders to their subordinates. There
are also barracks for the army.
The town is bustling with markets selling grain,
spices, cloth and jewellery. Water supply for the
town comes from wells and tanks. The Saliya
weavers of Thanjavur and the nearby town of
Uraiyur are busy producing cloth for flags to be
used in the temple festival, fine cottons for the king
and nobility and coarse cotton for the masses. Some
distance away at Svamimalai, the sthapatis or
sculptors are making exquisite bronze idols and tall,
ornamental bell metal lamps.
Temple Towns and Pilgrimage Centres Temple Towns and Pilgrimage Centres Temple Towns and Pilgrimage Centres Temple Towns and Pilgrimage Centres Temple Towns and Pilgrimage Centres
Thanjavur is also an example of a temple town. Temple
towns represent a very important pattern of
urbanisation, the process by which cities develop.
Temples were often central to the economy and society.
Rulers built temples to demonstrate their devotion to
various deities. They also endowed temples with grants
of land and money to carry out elaborate rituals, feed
pilgrims and priests and celebrate festivals. Pilgrims
who flocked to the temples also made donations.
Why do you think
people regarded
Thanjavur as a
great town?
77
Bronze, bell metal and the Bronze, bell metal and the Bronze, bell metal and the Bronze, bell metal and the Bronze, bell metal and the
lost wax technique lost wax technique lost wax technique lost wax technique lost wax technique
Bronze is an alloy containing copper and
tin. Bell metal contains a greater proportion
of tin than other kinds of bronze. This
produces a bell-like sound.
Chola bronze statues (see Chapter 2)
were made using the lost wax technique.
First, an image was made of wax. This was
covered with clay and allowed to dry. Next it
was heated, and a tiny hole was made in the
clay cover. The molten wax was drained out
through this hole. Then molten metal was
poured into the clay mould through the hole.
Once the metal cooled and solidified, the
clay cover was carefully removed, and the
image was cleaned and polished.
What do you think were the advantages
of using this technique?
Temple authorities used their wealth to finance
trade and banking. Gradually a large number of
priests, workers, artisans, traders, etc. settled near
the temple to cater to its needs and those of the
pilgrims. Thus grew temple towns. Towns emerged
around temples such as those of Bhillasvamin (Bhilsa
or Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh), and Somnath in
Gujarat. Other important temple towns included
Kanchipuram and Madurai in Tamil Nadu, and
Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
Pilgrimage centres also slowly developed into
townships. Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh) and
Tiruvannamalai (Tamil Nadu) are examples of two
such towns. Ajmer (Rajasthan) was the capital of the
Chauhan kings in the twelfth century and later
became the suba headquarters under the Mughals.
It provides an excellent example of religious
coexistence. Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, the
?
Fig. 1
A bronze statue of
Krishna subduing
the serpent demon
Kaliya.
TOWNS, TRADERS AND
CRAFTSPERSONS
78 OUR PASTS II
celebrated Sufi saint (see also Chapter 8) who settled
there in the twelfth century, attracted devotees from
all creeds. Near Ajmer is a lake, Pushkar, which has
attracted pilgrims from ancient times.
A Network of Small Towns A Network of Small Towns A Network of Small Towns A Network of Small Towns A Network of Small Towns
From the eighth century onwards the subcontinent was
dotted with several small towns. These probably
emerged from large villages. They usually had a
mandapika (or mandi of later times) to which nearby
villagers brought their produce to sell. They also had
market streets called hatta (haat of later times) lined
with shops. Besides, there were streets for different
kinds of artisans such as potters, oil pressers, sugar
makers, toddy makers, smiths, stonemasons, etc. While
some traders lived in the town, others travelled from
town to town. Many came from far and near to these
towns to buy local articles and sell products of distant
places like horses, salt, camphor, saffron, betel nut and
spices like pepper.
?
Make a list of
towns in your
district and try to
classify these as
administrative
centres or as
temple/pilgrim
centres.
Fig. 2
A city market.
79
?
Fig. 3
A wood carver.
TOWNS, TRADERS AND
CRAFTSPERSONS
Usually a samanta or, in later times, a zamindar
built a fortified palace in or near these towns. They
levied taxes on traders, artisans and articles of trade
and sometimes donated the right to collect these
taxes to local temples, which had been built by
themselves or by rich merchants. These rights were
recorded in inscriptions that have survived to this day.
Taxes on markets Taxes on markets Taxes on markets Taxes on markets Taxes on markets
The following is a summary from a tenth-century
inscription from Rajasthan, which lists the dues that
were to be collected by temple authorities:
There were taxes in kind on:
Sugar and jaggery, dyes, thread, and cotton,
On coconuts, salt, areca nuts, butter, sesame oil,
On cloth.
Besides, there were taxes on traders, on those who
sold metal goods, on distillers, on oil, on cattle fodder,
and on loads of grain.
Some of these taxes were collected in kind, while
others were collected in cash.
Find out more about present-day taxes on markets:
who collects these, how are they collected and what
are they used for.
Traders Big and Small Traders Big and Small Traders Big and Small Traders Big and Small Traders Big and Small
There were many kinds of traders. These included
the Banjaras (see also Chapter 7). Several traders,
especially horse traders, formed associations, with
headmen who negotiated on their behalf with warriors
who bought horses.
Since traders had to pass through many kingdoms
and forests, they usually travelled in caravans and
formed guilds to protect their interests. There were
several such guilds in south India from the eighth
80 OUR PASTS II
?
century onwards the most famous being the
Manigramam and Nanadesi. These guilds traded
extensively both within the peninsula and with
Southeast Asia and China.
There were also communities like the Chettiars and
the Marwari Oswal who went on to become the
principal trading groups of the country. Gujarati
traders, including the communities of Hindu Baniyas
and Muslim Bohras, traded extensively with the ports
of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, East Africa, Southeast
Asia and China. They sold textiles and spices in these
ports and, in exchange, brought gold and ivory from
Africa; and spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver
from Southeast Asia and China.
The towns on the west coast were home to Arab,
Persian, Chinese, Jewish and Syrian Christian traders.
Indian spices and cloth sold in the Red Sea ports were
purchased by Italian traders and eventually reached
European markets, fetching very high profits. Spices
grown in tropical climates (pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg,
dried ginger, etc.) became an important part of
European cooking, and cotton cloth was very attractive.
This eventually drew European traders to India. We
will shortly read about how this changed the face of
trading and towns.
Kabul Kabul Kabul Kabul Kabul
With its rugged, mountainous landscape, Kabul (in
present-day Afghanistan) became politically and
commercially important from the sixteenth century
onwards. Kabul and Qandahar were linked to the
celebrated Silk Route. Besides, trade in horses was
primarily carried on through this route. In the
seventeenth century Jean Baptiste Tavernier, a diamond
merchant, estimated that the horse trade at Kabul
amounted to Rs 30,000 annually, which was a huge sum
in those days. Camels carried dried fruits, dates, carpets,
silks and even fresh fruits from Kabul to the subcontinent
and elsewhere. Slaves were also brought here for sale.
As you can see,
during this period
there was a great
circulation of
people and goods.
What impact do
you think this
would have had
on the lives of
people in towns
and villages?
Make a list of
artisans living in
towns.
81
Crafts in Towns Crafts in Towns Crafts in Towns Crafts in Towns Crafts in Towns
The craftspersons of Bidar were so famed for
their inlay work in copper and silver that it came to
be called Bidri. The Panchalas or Vishwakarma
community, consisting of goldsmiths, bronzesmiths,
blacksmiths, masons and carpenters, were essential
to the building of temples. They also played an
important role in the construction of palaces, big
buildings, tanks and reservoirs. Similarly, weavers
such as the Saliyar or Kaikkolars emerged as
prosperous communities, making donations to
temples. Some aspects of cloth making like cotton
cleaning, spinning and dyeing became specialised
and independent crafts.
Fig. 5
A seventeenth-
century candlestand;
brass with black
overlay.
TOWNS, TRADERS AND
CRAFTSPERSONS
Fig. 4
A shawl border.
82 OUR PASTS II
The changing fortunes of towns The changing fortunes of towns The changing fortunes of towns The changing fortunes of towns The changing fortunes of towns
Some towns like Ahmedabad (Gujarat) went on to become
major commercial cities but others like Thanjavur shrank
in size and importance over the centuries. Murshidabad
(West Bengal) on the banks of the Bhagirathi, which rose
to prominence as a centre for silks and became the capital
of Bengal in 1704, declined in the course of the century
as the weavers faced competition from cheap mill-made
cloth from England.
A Closer Look: Hampi, Masulipatnam A Closer Look: Hampi, Masulipatnam A Closer Look: Hampi, Masulipatnam A Closer Look: Hampi, Masulipatnam A Closer Look: Hampi, Masulipatnam
and Surat and Surat and Surat and Surat and Surat
The Architectural Splendour of Hampi
Hampi is located in the Krishna-Tungabhadra basin,
which formed the nucleus of the Vijayanagara
Empire, founded in 1336. The magnificent ruins at
Hampi reveal a well-fortified city. No mortar or
cementing agent was used in the construction of
these walls and the technique followed was to wedge
them together by interlocking.
Fig. 6
A view of the watch-
tower through a
broken wall of the
enclosure of Hampi.
83
A fortified city A fortified city A fortified city A fortified city A fortified city
This is how a Portuguese traveller, Domingo Paes,
described Hampi in the sixteenth century:
at the entrance of the gate where those pass who come
from Goa, this king has made within it a very strong city
fortified with walls and towers; these walls are not like those
of other cities, but are made of very strong masonry such as
would be found in few other parts, and inside very beautiful
rows of buildings made after their manner with flat roofs.
Why do you think the city was fortified?
The architecture of Hampi was distinctive. The
buildings in the royal complex had splendid arches,
domes and pillared halls with niches for holding
sculptures. They also had well-planned orchards and
pleasure gardens with sculptural motifs such as the
lotus and corbels. In its heyday in the fifteenth-
sixteenth centuries, Hampi bustled with commercial
and cultural activities. Moors (a name used collectively
for Muslim merchants), Chettis and agents of
European traders such as the
Portuguese, thronged the
markets of Hampi.
Temples were the hub of
cultural activities and
devadasis (temple dancers)
performed before the deity,
royalty and masses in the
many-pillared halls in the
Virupaksha (a form of Shiva)
temple. The Mahanavami
festival, known today as
Navaratri in the south, was
one of the most important
festivals celebrated at
Hampi. Archaeologists have
?
Fig. 7
Stone chariot,
Vitthala temple,
Hampi.
TOWNS, TRADERS AND
CRAFTSPERSONS
84 OUR PASTS II
found the Mahanavami platform where the king received
guests and accepted tribute from subordinate chiefs.
From here he also watched dance and music
performances as well as wrestling bouts.
Hampi fell into ruin following the defeat of
Vijayanagara in 1565 by the Deccani Sultans the rulers
of Golconda, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Berar and Bidar.
A Gateway to the West: Surat A Gateway to the West: Surat A Gateway to the West: Surat A Gateway to the West: Surat A Gateway to the West: Surat
Surat in Gujarat was the emporium of western trade
during the Mughal period along with Cambay (present-
day Khambat) and somewhat later, Ahmedabad. Surat
was the gateway for trade with West Asia via the Gulf
of Ormuz. Surat has also been called the gate to Mecca
because many pilgrim ships set sail from here.
The city was cosmopolitan and people of all castes
and creeds lived there. In the seventeenth century the
Portuguese, Dutch and English had their factories and
warehouses at Surat. According to the English
chronicler Ovington who wrote an account of the port
in 1689, on average a hundred ships of different
countries could be found anchored at the port at any
given time.
There were also several retail and wholesale shops
selling cotton textiles. The textiles of Surat were famous
for their gold lace borders (zari) and had a market in
West Asia, Africa and Europe. The state built numerous
rest-houses to take care of the needs of people from
all over the world who came to the city. There were
magnificent buildings and innumerable pleasure
parks. The Kathiawad seths or mahajans
(moneychangers) had huge banking houses at Surat.
It is noteworthy that the Surat hundis were honoured
in the far-off markets of Cairo in Egypt, Basra in Iraq
and Antwerp in Belgium.
However, Surat began to decline towards the end of
the seventeenth century. This was because of many
factors: the loss of markets and productivity because
Hundi
is a note recording
a deposit made by
a person. The
amount deposited
can be claimed in
another place by
presenting the
record of the
deposit.
Emporium
A place where
goods from diverse
production
centres are
bought and sold.
85
?
Factor
Official merchant
of the East India
Company.
TOWNS, TRADERS AND
CRAFTSPERSONS
of the decline of the Mughal Empire, control of the sea
routes by the Portuguese and competition from
Bombay (present-day Mumbai) where the English East
India Company shifted its headquarters in 1668.
Today, Surat is a bustling commercial centre.
Fishing in Troubled Waters: Fishing in Troubled Waters: Fishing in Troubled Waters: Fishing in Troubled Waters: Fishing in Troubled Waters:
Masulipatnam Masulipatnam Masulipatnam Masulipatnam Masulipatnam
The town of Masulipatnam or Machlipatnam (literally,
fish port town) lay on the delta of the Krishna river. In
the seventeenth century it was a centre of intense activity.
Both the Dutch and English East India Companies
attempted to control Masulipatnam as it became the
most important port on the Andhra coast. The fort at
Masulipatnam was built by the Dutch.
A poor fisher town A poor fisher town A poor fisher town A poor fisher town A poor fisher town
This is a description of Masulipatnam by William
Methwold, a Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor of the English East India Company,
in 1620:
This is the chief port of Golconda, where the Right
Worshipfull East India Company have their Agent. It is a
small town but populous, unwalled, ill built and worse
situated; within all the springs are brackish. It was first a
poor fisher town afterwards, the convenience of the road
(a place where ships can anchor) made it a residence for
merchants and so continues since our and the Dutch nation
frequented this coast.
Why did the English and the Dutch decide to
establish settlements in Masulipatnam?
The Qutb Shahi rulers of Golconda imposed royal
monopolies on the sale of textiles, spices and other
items to prevent the trade passing completely into the
hands of the various East India Companies. Fierce
86 OUR PASTS II
competition among various trading groups the
Golconda nobles, Persian merchants, Telugu Komati
Chettis, and European traders made the city
populous and prosperous. As the Mughals began to
extend their power to Golconda their representative,
the governor Mir Jumla who was also a merchant,
began to play off the Dutch and the English against
each other. In 1686-1687 Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb
annexed Golconda.
This caused the European Companies to look for
alternatives. It was a part of the new policy of the
English East India Company that it was not enough if
a port had connections with the production centres of
the hinterland. The new Company trade centres, it was
felt, should combine political, administrative and
commercial roles. As the Company traders moved to
Bombay, Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) and Madras
(present-day Chennai), Masulipatnam lost both its
merchants and prosperity and declined in the course
of the eighteenth century, being today nothing more
than a dilapidated little town.
New Towns and Traders New Towns and Traders New Towns and Traders New Towns and Traders New Towns and Traders
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, European
countries were searching for spices and textiles, which
had become popular both in Europe and West Asia.
The English, Dutch and French formed East India
Companies in order to expand their commercial
activities in the east. Initially great Indian traders like
Mulla Abdul Ghafur and Virji Vora who owned a large
number of ships competed with them. However, the
European Companies used their naval power to gain
control of the sea trade and forced Indian traders to
work as their agents. Ultimately, the English emerged
as the most successful commercial and political power
in the subcontinent.
The spurt in demand for goods like textiles led to a
great expansion of the crafts of spinning, weaving,
bleaching, dyeing, etc. with more and more people
87
taking them up. Indian textile designs became
increasingly refined. However, this period also saw the
decline of the independence of craftspersons. They now
began to work on a system of advances which meant
that they had to weave cloth which was already
promised to European agents. Weavers no longer had
the liberty of selling their own cloth or weaving their
own patterns. They had to reproduce the designs
supplied to them by the Company agents.
The eighteenth century saw the rise of Bombay,
Calcutta and Madras, which are nodal cities today.
Crafts and commerce underwent major changes as
merchants and artisans (such as weavers) were moved
into the Black Towns established by the European
companies within these new cities. The blacks or
native traders and craftspersons were confined here
while the white rulers occupied the superior
residencies of Fort St George in Madras or Fort St
William in Calcutta. The story of crafts and commerce
in the eighteenth century will be taken up next year.
Fig. 8
A Bombay street,
early nineteenth
century.
TOWNS, TRADERS AND
CRAFTSPERSONS
88 OUR PASTS II
Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus
In the fifteenth century European sailors undertook unprecedented
explorations of sea routes. They were driven by the desire to find
ways of reaching the Indian subcontinent and obtaining spices.
Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese sailor, was one of those who sailed
across the Atlantic to the African coast, went round it, crossing
over to the Indian Ocean. His first journey took more than a year;
he reached Calicut in 1498, and returned to Lisbon, the capital of
Portugal, the following year. He lost two of
his four ships, and of the 170 men at the
start of the journey, only 54 survived. In
spite of the obvious hazards, the routes
that were opened up proved to be
extremely profitable and he was
followed by English, Dutch and
French sailors.
The search for sea routes to
India had another, unexpected
fallout. On the assumption that
the earth was round, Christopher
Columbus, an Italian, decided to sail
westwards across the Atlantic Ocean
to find a route to India. He landed
in the West Indies (which got their
name because of this confusion)
in 1492. He was followed by
sailors and conquerors from Spain
and Portugal, who occupied large
parts of Central and South
America, often destroying earlier
settlements in the area.
Fig. 9
Vasco da Gama.
Imagine
You are planning a journey from Surat
to West Asia in the seventeenth
century. What are the arrangements
you will make?
E
L
S
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W
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E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
89
KEYWORDS

temple towns
urbanisation
Vishwakarma
emporium
Black Town

TOWNS, TRADERS AND

CRAFTSPERSONS
Lets recall
1. Fill in the blanks:
(a) The Rajarajeshvara temple was built in .
(b) Ajmer is associated with the Sufi saint .
(c) Hampi was the capital of the Empire.
(d) The Dutch established a settlement at
in Andhra Pradesh.
2. State whether true or false:
(a) We know the name of the architect of the
Rajarajeshvara temple from an inscription.
(b) Merchants preferred to travel individually
rather than in caravans.
(c) Kabul was a major centre for trade in
elephants.
(d) Surat was an important trading port on the
Bay of Bengal.
3. How was water supplied to the city of Thanjavur?
4. Who lived in the Black Towns in cities such
as Madras?
90 OUR PASTS II
Lets understand
5. Why do you think towns grew around temples?
6. How important were craftspersons for the building
and maintenance of temples?
7. Why did people from distant lands visit Surat?
8. In what ways was craft production in cities like
Calcutta different from that in cities like Thanjavur?
Lets discuss
9. Compare any one of the cities described in this chapter
with a town or a village with which you are familiar.
Do you notice any similarities or differences?
10. What were the problems encountered by merchants?
Do you think some of these problems persist today?
Lets do
11. Find out more about the architecture of either
Thanjavur or Hampi, and prepare a scrap book
illustrating temples and other buildings from
these cities.
12. Find out about any present-day pilgrimage centre.
Why do you think people go there? What do they do
there? Are there any shops in the area? If so, what is
bought and sold there?
91
Y
ou saw in Chapters 2, 3 and 4 how kingdoms
rose and fell. Even as this was happening, new
arts, crafts and production activities flourished in
towns and villages. Over the centuries important
political, social and economic developments had
taken place. But social change was not
the same everywhere, because different
kinds of societies evolved differently. It is
important to understand how, and why,
this happened.
In large parts of the subcontinent, society
was already divided according to the rules
of varna. These rules, as prescribed by the
Brahmanas, were accepted by the rulers of
large kingdoms. The difference between the
high and low, and between the rich and poor,
increased. Under the Delhi Sultans and the
Mughals, this hierarchy between social
classes grew further.
Beyond Big Cities: Tribal Beyond Big Cities: Tribal Beyond Big Cities: Tribal Beyond Big Cities: Tribal Beyond Big Cities: Tribal
Societies Societies Societies Societies Societies
There were, however, other kinds of
societies as well. Many societies in the
subcontinent did not follow the social rules
and rituals prescribed by the Brahmanas.
Nor were they divided into numerous
unequal classes. Such societies are often
called tribes.
7
TRIBES, NOMADS AND TRIBES, NOMADS AND TRIBES, NOMADS AND TRIBES, NOMADS AND TRIBES, NOMADS AND
SETTLED COMMUNITIES SETTLED COMMUNITIES SETTLED COMMUNITIES SETTLED COMMUNITIES SETTLED COMMUNITIES
Fig. 1
Tribal dance,
Santal painted scroll.
TRIBES, NOMADS AND
SETTLED COMMUNITIES
92 OUR PASTS II
?
Members of each tribe were united by kinship bonds.
Many tribes obtained their livelihood from agriculture.
Others were hunter-gatherers or herders. Most often
they combined these activities to make full use of the
natural resources of the area in which they lived. Some
tribes were nomadic and moved from one place to
another. A tribal group controlled land and pastures
jointly, and divided these amongst households
according to its own rules.
Many large tribes thrived in different parts of the
subcontinent. They usually lived in forests, hills,
deserts and places difficult to reach. Sometimes they
clashed with the more powerful caste-based societies.
In various ways, the tribes retained their freedom and
preserved their separate culture.
But the caste-based and tribal societies also
depended on each other for their diverse needs. This
relationship, of conflict and dependence, gradually
caused both societies to change.
Who were Tribal People? Who were Tribal People? Who were Tribal People? Who were Tribal People? Who were Tribal People?
Contemporary historians and travellers give very
scanty information about tribes. A few exceptions
apart, tribal people did not keep written records. But
they preserved rich customs and oral traditions. These
were passed down to each new generation. Present-
day historians have started using such oral traditions
to write tribal histories.
Tribal people were found in almost every region of
the subcontinent. The area and influence of a tribe
varied at different points of time. Some powerful tribes
controlled large territories. In Punjab, the Khokhar
tribe was very influential during the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries. Later, the Gakkhars became more
important. Their chief, Kamal Khan Gakkhar, was
made a noble (mansabdar) by Emperor Akbar. In
Multan and Sind, the Langahs and Arghuns dominated
extensive regions before they were subdued by the
Mughals. The Balochis were another large and powerful
On a physical
map of the
subcontinent,
identify the areas
in which tribal
people may have
lived.
93
tribe in the north-west. They were divided into many
smaller clans under different chiefs. In the western
Himalaya lived the shepherd tribe of Gaddis. The
distant north-eastern part of the subcontinent too was
entirely dominated by tribes the Nagas, Ahoms and
many others.
In many areas of present-day Bihar and
Jharkhand, Chero chiefdoms had emerged by the
twelfth century. Raja Man Singh, Akbars famous
general, attacked and defeated the Cheros in 1591.
A large amount of booty was taken from them, but
they were not entirely subdued. Under Aurangzeb,
Mughal forces captured many Chero fortresses and
subjugated the tribe. The Mundas and Santals were
among the other important tribes that lived in this
region and also in Orissa and Bengal.
Clan
A clan is a group
of families or
households
claiming descent
from a common
ancestor. Tribal
organisation is
often based on
kinship or clan
loyalties.
Map 1
Location of some
of the major Indian
tribes.
TRIBES, NOMADS AND
SETTLED COMMUNITIES
94 OUR PASTS II
The Maharashtra highlands and
Karnataka were home to Kolis,
Berads and numerous others. Kolis
also lived in many areas of Gujarat.
Further south there were large
tribal populations of Koragas,
Vetars, Maravars and many others.
The large tribe of Bhils was
spread across western and central
India. By the late sixteenth century,
many of them had become settled
agriculturists and some even
zamindars. Many Bhil clans,
nevertheless, remained hunter-
gatherers. The Gonds were found
in great numbers across the
present-day states of Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Andhra Pradesh.
How Nomads and Mobile How Nomads and Mobile How Nomads and Mobile How Nomads and Mobile How Nomads and Mobile
People Lived People Lived People Lived People Lived People Lived
Nomadic pastoralists moved over
long distances with their animals.
They lived on milk and other
pastoral products. They also
exchanged wool, ghee, etc., with
settled agriculturists for grain,
cloth, utensils and other products.
Fig. 2
Bhils hunting deer by night.
Fig.3
A chain of mobile traders connected
India to the outside world. Here you
see nuts being gathered and loaded on
the backs of camels. Central Asian
traders brought such goods to India
and the Banjaras and other traders
carried these to local markets.
95
They bought and sold these goods as they moved
from one place to another, transporting them on their
animals.
The Banjaras were the most important trader-
nomads. Their caravan was called tanda. Sultan
Alauddin Khalji (Chapter 3) used the Banjaras to
transport grain to the city markets. Emperor Jahangir
wrote in his memoirs that the Banjaras carried grain
on their bullocks from different areas and sold it in
towns. They transported food grain for the Mughal
army during military campaigns. With a large army
there could be 100,000 bullocks carrying grain.
The Banjaras The Banjaras The Banjaras The Banjaras The Banjaras
Peter Mundy, an English trader who came to India
during the early seventeenth century, has described
the Banjaras:
In the morning we met a tanda of Banjaras with14,000 oxen.
They were all laden with grains such as wheat and rice ...
These Banjaras carry their household wives and children
along with them. One tanda consists of many families. Their
way of life is similar to that of carriers who continuously
travel from place to place. They own their oxen. They are
sometimes hired by merchants, but most commonly they are
themselves merchants. They buy grain where it is cheaply
available and carry it to places where it is dearer. From there,
they again reload their oxen with anything that can be
profitably sold in other places In a tanda there may be as
many as 6 or 7 hundred persons They do not travel more
than 6 or 7 miles a day that, too, in the cool weather. After
unloading their oxen, they turn them free to graze as there is
enough land here, and no one there to forbid them.
Find out how grain is transported from villages to
cities at present. In what ways is this similar to or
different from the ways in which the Banjaras functioned?
?
Nomads and
itinerant groups
Nomads are
wandering people.
Many of them are
pastoralists who
roam from one
pasture to another
with their flocks
and herds.
Similarly, itinerant
groups, such as
craftspersons,
pedlars and
entertainers travel
from place to place
practising their
different
occupations.
Both nomads and
itinerant groups
often visit the
same places every
year.
TRIBES, NOMADS AND
SETTLED COMMUNITIES
96 OUR PASTS II
Many pastoral tribes reared and sold animals, such
as cattle and horses, to the prosperous people.
Different castes of petty pedlars
also travelled from village to
village. They made and
sold wares such as ropes,
reeds, straw matting and
coarse sacks. Sometimes
mendicants acted as
wandering merchants. There were castes of
entertainers who performed in different towns and
villages for their livelihood.
Changing Society: New Castes and Changing Society: New Castes and Changing Society: New Castes and Changing Society: New Castes and Changing Society: New Castes and
Hierarchies Hierarchies Hierarchies Hierarchies Hierarchies
As the economy and the needs of society grew, people
with new skills were required. Smaller castes, or jatis,
emerged within varnas. For example, new castes
appeared amongst the Brahmanas. On the other
hand, many tribes and social groups were taken into
caste-based society and given the status of jatis.
Specialised artisans smiths, carpenters and masons
were also recognised as separate jatis by the
Brahmanas. Jatis, rather than varna, became the
basis for organising society.
Deliberations on Deliberations on Deliberations on Deliberations on Deliberations on jati jati jati jati jati
A twelfth-century inscription from Uyyakondan Udaiyar,
in Tiruchirapalli taluka (in present-day Tamil Nadu),
describes the deliberations in a sabha (Chapter 2) of
Brahmanas.
They deliberated on the status of a group known as
rathakaras (literally, chariot makers). They laid down
their occupations, which were to include architecture,
building coaches and chariots, erecting gateways for
temples with images in them, preparing wooden
equipment used to perform sacrifices, building
mandapas, making jewels for the king.
Fig. 4
Bronze crocodile,
Kutiya Kond tribe,
Orissa.
97
Among the Kshatriyas, new Rajput clans became
powerful by the eleventh and twelfth centuries. They
belonged to different lineages, such as Hunas,
Chandelas, Chalukyas and others. Some of these, too,
had been tribes earlier. Many of these clans came to
be regarded as Rajputs. They gradually replaced the
older rulers, especially in agricultural areas. Here a
developed society was emerging, and rulers used their
wealth to create powerful states.
The rise of Rajput clans to the position of rulers set
an example for the tribal people to follow. Gradually,
with the support of the Brahmanas, many tribes
became part of the caste system. But only the leading
tribal families could join the ruling class. A large
majority joined the lower jatis of caste society. On the
other hand, many dominant tribes of Punjab, Sind and
the North-West Frontier had adopted Islam quite early.
They continued to reject the caste system. The unequal
social order, prescribed by orthodox Hinduism, was
not widely accepted in these areas.
The emergence of states is closely related to social
change amongst tribal people. Two examples of this
important part of our history are described below.
A Closer Look A Closer Look A Closer Look A Closer Look A Closer Look
The Gonds
The Gonds lived in a vast forested region called
Gondwana or country inhabited by Gonds. They
practised shifting cultivation. The large Gond tribe
was further divided into many smaller clans. Each clan
had its own raja or rai. About the time that the power
of the Delhi Sultans was declining, a few large Gond
kingdoms were beginning to dominate the smaller
Gond chiefs. The Akbar Nama, a history of Akbars
reign, mentions the Gond kingdom of Garha Katanga
that had 70,000 villages.
The administrative system of these kingdoms was
becoming centralised. The kingdom was divided into
Shifting
cultivation
Trees and bushes
in a forest area
are first cut and
burnt. The crop is
sown in the
ashes. When this
land loses its
fertility, another
plot of land is
cleared and
planted in the
same way.
Fig. 5
A Gond woman.
TRIBES, NOMADS AND
SETTLED COMMUNITIES
98 OUR PASTS II
garhs. Each garh was controlled
by a particular Gond clan. This
was further divided into units of
84 villages called chaurasi. The
chaurasi was subdivided into
barhots which were made up of
12 villages each.
The emergence of large states
changed the nature of Gond
society. Their basically equal
society gradually got divided
into unequal social classes.
Brahmanas received land grants
from the Gond rajas and became
more influential. The Gond chiefs
now wished to be recognised as
Rajputs. So, Aman Das, the Gond
raja of Garha Katanga, assumed
the title of Sangram Shah. His
son, Dalpat, married princess
Durgawati, the daughter of
Salbahan, the Chandel
Rajput raja of Mahoba.
Dalpat, however, died
early. Rani Durgawati
was very capable, and
started ruling on behalf
of her five-year-old son,
Bir Narain. Under her, the
kingdom became even
more extensive. In 1565,
the Mughal forces under
Asaf Khan attacked
Garha Katanga. A strong
resistance was put up by
Rani Durgawati. She was
defeated and preferred
to die rather than
surrender. Her son, too,
died fighting soon after.
Map 2
Gondwana.
Fig. 6
A carved door.
Gond tribe, Bastar
area, Madhya Pradesh.
99
Garha Katanga was a rich state. It earned much
wealth by trapping and exporting wild elephants to other
kingdoms. When the Mughals defeated the Gonds, they
captured a huge booty of precious coins and elephants.
They annexed part of the kingdom and granted the rest
to Chandra Shah, an uncle of Bir Narain. Despite the
fall of Garha Katanga, the Gond kingdoms survived for
some time. However, they became much weaker and
later struggled unsuccessfully against the stronger
Bundelas and Marathas.
The Ahoms
The Ahoms migrated to the Brahmaputra valley from
present-day Myanmar in the thirteenth century. They
created a new state by suppressing the older political
system of the bhuiyans (landlords). During the
sixteenth century, they annexed the kingdoms of the
Chhutiyas (1523) and of Koch-Hajo (1581) and
subjugated many other tribes. The Ahoms built a large
state, and for this they used firearms as early as the
1530s. By the 1660s they could even make high-
quality gunpowder and cannons.
However, the Ahoms faced many invasions from the
south-west. In 1662, the
Mughals under Mir Jumla
attacked the Ahom kingdom.
Despite their brave defence, the
Ahoms were defeated. But
direct Mughal control over the
region could not last long.
The Ahom state depended
upon forced labour. Those
forced to work for the state were
called paiks. A census of the
population was taken. Each
village had to send a number
of paiks by rotation. People
from heavily populated areas
were shifted to less populated
Map 3
Tribes of eastern
India.
Discuss why the
Mughals were
interested in the
land of the Gonds.
?
TRIBES, NOMADS AND
SETTLED COMMUNITIES
100 OUR PASTS II
places. Ahom clans were thus broken up. By the first
half of the seventeenth century the administration
became quite centralised.
Almost all adult males served in the army during
war. At other times, they were engaged in building
dams, irrigation systems and other public works. The
Ahoms also introduced new methods of rice cultivation.
Ahom society was divided into clans or khels. There
were very few castes of artisans, so artisans in the
Ahom areas came from the adjoining kingdoms. A khel
often controlled several villages. The peasant was given
land by his village community. Even the king could
not take it away without the communitys consent.
Originally, the Ahoms worshipped their own tribal
gods. During the first half of the seventeenth century,
however, the influence of Brahmanas increased.
Temples and Brahmanas were granted land by the
king. In the reign of Sib Singh (1714-1744), Hinduism
became the predominant religion. But the Ahom
kings did not completely give up their traditional
beliefs after adopting Hinduism.
Ahom society was very sophisticated. Poets and
scholars were given land grants. Theatre was
encouraged. Important works of Sanskrit were
translated into the local language. Historical works,
known as buranjis, were also written first in the Ahom
language and then in Assamese.
Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion
Considerable social change took place in the
subcontinent during the period we have been examining.
Varna-based society and tribal people constantly
interacted with each other. This interaction caused both
kinds of societies to adapt and change. There were many
different tribes and they took up diverse livelihoods.
Over a period of time, many of them merged with caste-
based society. Others, however, rejected both the caste
system and orthodox Hinduism. Some tribes established
Why do you think
the Mughals tried
to conquer the
land of the
Ahoms?
Fig. 7
Ear ornaments, Koboi
Naga tribe, Manipur.
?
101
extensive states with well-organised systems of
administration. They thus became politically powerful.
This brought them into conflict with larger and more
complex kingdoms and empires.
The Mongols
Find Mongolia in your atlas. The best-known pastoral and hunter-
gatherer tribe in history were the Mongols. They inhabited the
grasslands (steppes) of Central Asia and the forested areas further
north. By 1206 Genghis Khan had united the Mongol and Turkish
tribes into a powerful military force. At the time of his death (1227)
he was the ruler of extensive territories. His successors created a
vast empire. At different points of time, it included parts of Russia,
Eastern Europe and also China and much of West Asia. The Mongols
had well-organised military and administrative systems. These were
based on the support of different ethnic and religious groups.
Lets recall
1. Match the following:
garh khel
tanda chaurasi
labourer caravan
clan Garha Katanga
Sib Singh Ahom state
Durgawati paik
Imagine
You are a member of a nomadic
community that shifts residence every
three months. How would this change
your life?
TRIBES, NOMADS AND
SETTLED COMMUNITIES
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
102 OUR PASTS II
2. Fill in the blanks:
(a) The new castes emerging within varnas were
called ____________.
(b) _____________ were historical works written by the
Ahoms.
(c) The ____________ mentions that Garha Katanga
had 70,000 villages.
(d) As tribal states became bigger and stronger, they
gave land grants to _________ and ________.
3. State whether true or false:
(a) Tribal societies had rich oral traditions.
(b) There were no tribal communities in the north-
western part of the subcontinent.
(c) The chaurasi in Gond states contained several
cities.
(d) The Bhils lived in the north-eastern part of the
subcontinent.
4. What kinds of exchanges took place between nomadic
pastoralists and settled agriculturists?
Lets understand
5. How was the administration of the Ahom state
organised?
6. What changes took place in varna-based society?
KEYWORDS

varna
jati
tanda
garh
chaurasi
barhot
bhuiyans
paik
khel
buranji
census

103
7. How did tribal societies change after being organised
into a state?
Lets discuss
8. Were the Banjaras important for the economy?
9. In what ways was the history of the Gonds different
from that of the Ahoms? Were there any similarities?
Lets do
10. Plot the location of the tribes mentioned in this chapter
on a map. For any two, discuss whether their mode
of livelihood was suited to the geography and the
environment of the area where they lived.
11. Find out about present-day government policies
towards tribal populations and organise a discussion
about these.
12. Find out more about present-day nomadic pastoral
groups in the subcontinent. What animals do they
keep? Which are the areas frequented by these
groups?
TRIBES, NOMADS AND
SETTLED COMMUNITIES
104 OUR PASTS II
Y
ou may have seen people perform rituals of
worship, or singing bhajans, kirtans or qawwalis,
or even repeating the name of God in silence, and
noticed that some of them are moved to tears. Such
intense devotion or love of God is the legacy of various
kinds of bhakti and Sufi movements that have evolved
since the eighth century.
The Idea of a Supreme God The Idea of a Supreme God The Idea of a Supreme God The Idea of a Supreme God The Idea of a Supreme God
Before large kingdoms emerged, different groups
of people worshipped their own gods and goddesses.
As people were brought together through the growth
of towns, trade and empires, new ideas began to
develop. The idea that all living things pass through
countless cycles of birth and rebirth performing good
deeds and bad came to be widely accepted. Similarly,
the idea that all human beings are not equal even at
birth gained ground during this period. The belief that
social privileges came from birth in a noble family or
a high caste was the subject of many learned texts.
Many people were uneasy with such ideas and
turned to the teachings of the Buddha or the Jainas
according to which it was possible to overcome social
differences and break the cycle of rebirth through
personal effort. Others felt attracted to the idea of a
Supreme God who could deliver humans from such
bondage if approached with devotion (or bhakti). This
idea, advocated in the Bhagavadgita, grew in popularity
in the early centuries of the Common Era.
8
DEVOTIONAL PATHS DEVOTIONAL PATHS DEVOTIONAL PATHS DEVOTIONAL PATHS DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE TO THE DIVINE TO THE DIVINE TO THE DIVINE TO THE DIVINE
105
Shiva, Vishnu and
Durga as supreme
deities came to
be worshipped
through elaborate
rituals. At the
same time, gods
and goddesses
worshipped in
different areas
came to be
identified with
Shiva, Vishnu or
Durga. In the
process, local myths and legends became a part of the
Puranic stories, and methods of worship recommended
in the Puranas were introduced into the local cults.
Eventually the Puranas also laid down that it was
possible for devotees to receive the grace of God
regardless of their caste status. The idea of bhakti
became so popular that even Buddhists and Jainas
adopted these beliefs.
A New Kind of Bhakti in South India A New Kind of Bhakti in South India A New Kind of Bhakti in South India A New Kind of Bhakti in South India A New Kind of Bhakti in South India
Nayanars and Alvars Nayanars and Alvars Nayanars and Alvars Nayanars and Alvars Nayanars and Alvars
The seventh to ninth centuries saw the emergence of
new religious movements, led by the Nayanars (saints
devoted to Shiva) and Alvars (saints devoted to Vishnu)
who came from all castes including those considered
untouchable like the Pulaiyar and the Panars. They
were sharply critical of the Buddhists and Jainas and
preached ardent love of Shiva or Vishnu as the path
to salvation. They drew upon the ideals of love and
heroism as found in the Sangam literature (the earliest
example of Tamil literature, composed during the early
centuries of the Common Era) and blended them with
the values of bhakti. The Nayanars and Alvars went
from place to place composing exquisite poems in
praise of the deities enshrined in the villages they
visited, and set them to music.
You can observe
this process of
local myths and
legends receiving
wider acceptance
even today. Can
you find some
examples
around you?
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
Fig. 1
A page from a south
Indian manuscript of
the Bhagavadgita.
?
106 OUR PASTS II
Nayanars and Alvars Nayanars and Alvars Nayanars and Alvars Nayanars and Alvars Nayanars and Alvars
There were 63 Nayanars, who belonged to different
caste backgrounds such as potters, untouchable
workers, peasants, hunters, soldiers, Brahmanas and
chiefs. The best known among them were Appar,
Sambandar, Sundarar and Manikkavasagar. There are
two sets of compilations of their songs Tevaram and
Tiruvacakam.
There were 12 Alvars, who came from equally
divergent backgrounds, the best known being
Periyalvar, his daughter Andal, Tondaradippodi Alvar
and Nammalvar. Their songs were compiled in the Divya
Prabandham.
Between the tenth and twelfth centuries the Chola
and Pandya kings built elaborate temples around many
of the shrines visited by the saint-poets, strengthening
the links between the bhakti tradition and temple
worship. This was also the time when their poems were
compiled. Besides, hagiographies or religious
biographies of the Alvars and Nayanars were also
composed. Today we use these texts as sources for
writing histories of the bhakti tradition.
The devotee and the Lord The devotee and the Lord The devotee and the Lord The devotee and the Lord The devotee and the Lord
This is a composition of Manikkavasagar:
Into my vile body of flesh
You came, as though it were a temple of gold,
And soothed me wholly and saved me,
O Lord of Grace, O Gem most Pure,
Sorrow and birth and death and illusion
You took from me, and set me free.
O Bliss! O Light! I have taken refuge in You,
And never can I be parted from You.
How does the poet describe his relationship
with the deity?
Hagiography
Writing of saints
lives.
?
Fig. 2
A bronze image of
Manikkavasagar.
107
?
Philosophy and Bhakti Philosophy and Bhakti Philosophy and Bhakti Philosophy and Bhakti Philosophy and Bhakti
Shankara, one of the most influential philosophers
of India, was born in Kerala in the eighth century.
He was an advocate of Advaita or the doctrine of the
oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme God
which is the Ultimate Reality. He taught that
Brahman, the only or Ultimate Reality, was formless
and without any attributes. He considered the world
around us to be an illusion or maya, and preached
renunciation of the world and adoption of the path
of knowledge to understand the true nature of
Brahman and attain salvation.
Ramanuja, born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh
century, was deeply influenced by the Alvars.
According to him the best means of attaining
salvation was through intense devotion to Vishnu.
Vishnu in His grace helps the devotee to attain the
bliss of union with Him. He propounded the doctrine
of Vishishtadvaita or qualified oneness in that the
soul even when united with the Supreme God
remained distinct. Ramanujas doctrine greatly
inspired the new strand of bhakti which developed
in north India subsequently.
Basavannas Virashaivism Basavannas Virashaivism Basavannas Virashaivism Basavannas Virashaivism Basavannas Virashaivism
We noted earlier the connection between the Tamil
bhakti movement and temple worship. This in turn
led to a reaction that is best represented in the
Virashaiva movement initiated by Basavanna and
hi s compani ons l i ke Al l ama Prabhu and
Akkamahadevi. This movement began in Karnataka
in the mid-twelfth century. The Virashaivas argued
strongly for the equality of all human beings and
against Brahmanical ideas about caste and the
treatment of women. They were also against all forms
of ritual and idol worship.
Try and find out
more about the
ideas of Shankara
or Ramanuja.
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
108 OUR PASTS II
?
Virashaiva Virashaiva Virashaiva Virashaiva Virashaiva vachanas vachanas vachanas vachanas vachanas
These are vachanas or sayings attributed to Basavanna:
The rich,
Will make temples for Shiva.
What shall I,
A poor man,
Do?
My legs are pillars,
The body the shrine,
The head a cupola
Of gold.
Listen, O Lord of the meeting rivers,
Things standing shall fall,
But the moving ever shall stay.
What is the temple that Basavanna is offering to God?
The Saints of Maharashtra The Saints of Maharashtra The Saints of Maharashtra The Saints of Maharashtra The Saints of Maharashtra
From the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries
Maharashtra saw a great number of saint-poets, whose
songs in simple Marathi continue to inspire people.
The most important among them were Janeshwar,
Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram as well as women like
Sakkubai and the family of Chokhamela, who belonged
to the untouchable Mahar caste. This regional
tradition of bhakti focused on the Vitthala (a form of
Vishnu) temple in Pandharpur, as well as on the notion
of a personal god residing in the hearts of all people.
These saint-poets rejected all forms of ritualism,
outward display of piety and social differences based
on birth. In fact they even rejected the idea of
renunciation and preferred to live with their families,
earning their livelihood like any other person, while
humbly serving fellow human beings in need. A new
humanist idea emerged as they insisted that bhakti
109
lay in sharing others pain. As the famous Gujarati
saint Narsi Mehta said, They are Vaishnavas who
understand the pain of others.
Questioning the social order Questioning the social order Questioning the social order Questioning the social order Questioning the social order
This is an abhang (Marathi devotional hymn) of Sant
Tukaram:
He who identifies
with the battered and the beaten
Mark him as a saint
For God is with him
He holds
Every forsaken man
Close to his heart
He treats
A slave
As his own son
Says Tuka
I wont be tired
to repeat again
Such a man
Is God
In person.
Here is an abhang composed by Chokhamelas son:
You made us low caste,
Why dont you face that fact, Great Lord?
Our whole life left-over food to eat.
You should be ashamed of this.
You have eaten in our home.
How can you deny it?
Chokhas (son) Karmamela asks
Why did you give me life?
Discuss the ideas about the social order expressed
in these compositions. ?
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
110 OUR PASTS II
Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis
A number of religious groups that
emerged during this period criticised
the ritual and other aspects
of conventional religion and the
social order, using simple, logical
arguments. Among them were the
Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas and
Yogis. They advocated renunciation
of the world. To them the path to
salvation lay in meditation on the
formless Ultimate Reality and the
realisation of oneness with it. To
achieve this they advocated intense
training of the mind and body
through practices like yogasanas,
breathing exercises and meditation.
These groups became particularly
popular among low castes. Their
criticism of conventional religion
created the ground for devotional
religion to become a popular force
in northern India.
Islam and Sufism Islam and Sufism Islam and Sufism Islam and Sufism Islam and Sufism
The sants had much in common with the Sufis, so
much so that it is believed that they adopted many
ideas of each other. Sufis were Muslim mystics. They
rejected outward religiosity and emphasised love and
devotion to God and compassion towards all fellow
human beings.
Islam propagated strict monotheism or submission
to one God. It also rejected idol worship and
considerably simplified rituals of worship into
collective prayers. At the same time Muslim scholars
developed a holy law called Shariat. The Sufis often
rejected the elaborate rituals and codes of behaviour
demanded by Muslim religious scholars. They sought
union with God much as a lover seeks his beloved
Fig. 3
A fireside gathering of
ascetics.
111
with a disregard for the world. Like the saint-poets,
the Sufis too composed poems expressing their
feelings, and a rich literature in prose, including
anecdotes and fables, developed around them. Among
the great Sufis of Central Asia were Ghazzali, Rumi
and Sadi. Like the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis,
the Sufis too believed that the heart can be trained to
look at the world in a different way. They developed
elaborate methods of training using zikr (chanting of
a name or sacred formula), contemplation, sama
(singing), raqs (dancing), discussion of parables,
breath control, etc. under the guidance of a master
or pir. Thus emerged the silsilas, a genealogy of Sufi
teachers, each following a slightly different method
(tariqa) of instruction and ritual practice.
Fig. 4
Mystics in ecstasy.
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
112 OUR PASTS II
A large number of Sufis
from Central Asia settled in
Hindustan from the eleventh
century onwards. This process
was strengthened with the
establishment of the Delhi
Sultanate (Chapter 3), when
several major Sufi centres
developed all over the
subcontinent. The Chishti
silsila was among the most
influential orders. It had a
long line of teachers like Khwaja Muinuddin
Chishti of Ajmer, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki of Delhi,
Baba Farid of Punjab, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya
of Delhi and Bandanawaz Gisudaraz of Gulbarga.
The Sufi masters held their
assemblies in their khanqahs or
hospi ces. Devotees of al l
descriptions including members
of the royalty and nobility, and
ordinary people flocked to these
khanqahs. They di scussed
spiritual matters, sought the
blessings of the saints in solving
thei r worl dl y probl ems, or
simply attended the music and
dance sessions.
Often people attributed Sufi
masters wi th mi racul ous
powers that could relieve others
of their illnesses and troubles.
The tomb or dargah of a Sufi
sai nt became a pl ace of
pilgrimage to which thousands
of people of all faiths thronged.
Hospice
House of rest
for travellers,
especially one
kept by a religious
order.
Fig. 6
Devotees of all backgrounds visit
Sufi shrines.
Fig. 5
A page from a
manuscript of the
Quran, Deccan, late
fifteenth century.
113
Finding the Lord Finding the Lord Finding the Lord Finding the Lord Finding the Lord
Jalaluddin Rumi was a great thirteenth-century Sufi poet
from Iran who wrote in Persian. Here is an excerpt from
his work:
He was not on the Cross of the Christians. I went to the
Hindu temples. In none of them was there any sign. He was
not on the heights or in the lowlands I went to the Kaaba
of Mecca. He was not there. I asked about him from Avicenna
the philosopher. He was beyond the range of Avicenna I
looked into my heart. In that, his place, I saw him. He was
in no other place.
New Religious Developments in North New Religious Developments in North New Religious Developments in North New Religious Developments in North New Religious Developments in North
India India India India India
The period after the thirteenth century saw a new wave
of the bhakti movement in north India. This was an
age when Islam, Brahmanical Hinduism, Sufism,
various strands of bhakti, and the Nathpanths,
Siddhas and Yogis influenced one another. We saw that
new towns (Chapter 6) and kingdoms (Chapters 2, 3
and 4) were emerging, and people were taking up new
professions and finding new roles for themselves. Such
people, especially craftspersons, peasants, traders and
labourers, thronged to listen to these
new saints and spread their ideas.
Some of them like Kabir and Baba
Guru Nanak rejected all orthodox
religions. Others like Tulsidas and
Surdas accepted existing beliefs
and practices but wanted to make
these accessible to all. Tulsidas
conceived of God in the form of
Rama. Tulsidass composition, the
Ramcharitmanas, written in Awadhi
(a language used in eastern Uttar
Pradesh), is important both as an
Fig. 7
Chaitanyadeva, a
sixteenth-century
bhakti saint from
Bengal, preached
selfless devotion to
Krishna-Radha. In
the picture you see a
group of his followers
engaged in ecstatic
dancing and singing.
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
114 OUR PASTS II
expression of his devotion and as a literary work.
Surdas was an ardent devotee of Krishna. His
compositions, compiled in the Sursagara, Surasaravali
and Sahitya Lahari, express his devotion. Also
contemporary was Shankaradeva of Assam (late
fifteenth century) who emphasised devotion to Vishnu,
and composed poems and plays in Assamese. He began
the practice of setting up namghars or houses of
recitation and prayer, a practice that continues to date.
This tradition also included saints like Dadu Dayal,
Ravidas and Mirabai. Mirabai was a Rajput princess
married into the royal family of Mewar in the sixteenth
century. Mirabai became a disciple of Ravidas, a saint
from a caste considered untouchable. She was
Map 1
Major bhakti saints
and the regions
associated with them.
115
devoted to Krishna and composed innumerable
bhajans expressing her intense devotion. Her songs
also openly challenged the norms of the upper castes
and became popular with the masses in Rajasthan
and Gujarat.
A unique feature of most of the saints is that their
works were composed in regional languages and could
be sung. They became immensely popular and were
handed down orally from generation to generation.
Usually the poorest, most deprived communities and
women transmitted these songs, often adding their
own experiences. Thus the songs as we have them
today are as much a creation of the saints as of
generations of people who sang them. They have
become a part of our living popular culture.
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
Fig. 8
Mirabai.
Beyond the Ranas palace Beyond the Ranas palace Beyond the Ranas palace Beyond the Ranas palace Beyond the Ranas palace
This is a song composed by Mirabai:
Ranaji, I have left your norms of shame,
and false decorum of the princely life.
I have left your town.
And yet Rana why have you kept up
enmity against me?
Rana you gave me a cup of poison.
I drank it laughing.
Rana I will not be destroyed by you.
And yet Rana why have you kept up
enmity against me?
Why do you think Mirabai left the
Ranas palace?
?
116 OUR PASTS II
A Closer Look: Kabir A Closer Look: Kabir A Closer Look: Kabir A Closer Look: Kabir A Closer Look: Kabir
Kabir, who probably lived in the fifteenth-sixteenth
centuries, was one of the most influential saints. He
was brought up in a family of Muslim julahas or
weavers settled in or near the city of Benares (Varanasi).
We have little reliable information about his life. We
get to know of his ideas from a vast collection of verses
called sakhis and pads said to have been composed
by him and sung by wandering bhajan singers. Some
of these were later collected and preserved in the Guru
Granth Sahib, Panch Vani and Bijak.
In search of the True Lord In search of the True Lord In search of the True Lord In search of the True Lord In search of the True Lord
Here is a composition of Kabir:
O Allah-Ram present in all living beings
Have mercy on your servants, O Lord!
Why bump your head on the ground,
Why bathe your body in water?
You kill and you call yourself humble
But your vices you conceal.
Twenty-four times the Brahmana keeps
the ekadasi fast
While the Qazi observes the Ramzan
Tell me why does he set aside the eleven
months
To seek spiritual fruit in the twelfth?
Hari dwells in the East, they say
And Allah resides in the West,
Search for him in your heart, in the heart
of your heart;
There he dwells, Rahim-Ram.
In what ways are the ideas in this poem similar to or
different from those of Basavanna and Jalaluddin Rumi?
Fig. 9
Kabir working on
a loom.
?
117
Kabirs teachings were based on a complete, indeed
vehement, rejection of the major religious traditions.
His teachings openly ridiculed all forms of external
worship of both Brahmanical Hinduism and Islam,
the pre-eminence of the priestly classes and the caste
system. The language of his poetry was a form of
spoken Hindi widely understood by ordinary people.
He also sometimes used cryptic language, which is
difficult to follow.
Kabir believed in a formless Supreme God and
preached that the only path to salvation was through
bhakti or devotion. Kabir drew his followers from
among both Hindus and Muslims.
A Closer Look: Baba Guru Nanak A Closer Look: Baba Guru Nanak A Closer Look: Baba Guru Nanak A Closer Look: Baba Guru Nanak A Closer Look: Baba Guru Nanak
We know more about Guru Nanak (1469-1539) than
about Kabir. Born at Talwandi (Nankana Sahib in
Pakistan), he travelled widely before establishing a centre
at Kartarpur (Dera Baba Nanak on the river Ravi). A
regular worship that consisted of the singing of his own
hymns was established there
for his followers. Irrespective of
their former creed, caste or
gender, his followers ate
together in the common kitchen
(langar). The sacred space thus
created by Guru Nanak was
known as dharmsal. It is now
known as Gurdwara.
Before his death in 1539,
Guru Nanak appointed one of
his followers as his successor.
His name was Lehna but he
came to be known as Guru
Angad, signifying that he was
a part of Guru Nanak himself.
Guru Angad compiled the
compositions of Guru Nanak,
to which he added his own in
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
Fig. 10
Baba Guru Nanak
as a young man, in
discussion with
holy men.
118 OUR PASTS II
a new script known as Gurmukhi. The
three successors of Guru Angad also
wrote under the name of Nanak and
all of their compositions were compiled
by Guru Arjan in 1604. To this
compilation were added the writings of
other figures like Shaikh Farid, Sant
Kabir, Bhagat Namdev and Guru Tegh
Bahadur. In 1706 this compilation was
authenticated by his son and successor,
Guru Gobind Singh. It is now known as
Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture
of the Sikhs.
The number of Guru Nanak s
followers increased through the sixteenth century
under his successors. They belonged to a number
of castes but traders, agriculturists, artisans and
craftsmen predominated. This may have something
to do with Guru Nanak s insistence that his
followers must be householders and should adopt
productive and useful occupations. They were also
expected to contribute to the general funds of the
community of followers.
By the beginning of the seventeenth century the town
of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) had developed around the
central Gurdwara called Harmandar Sahib (Golden
Temple). It was virtually self-governing and modern
historians refer to the early seventeenth century Sikh
community as a state within the state. The Mughal
emperor Jahangir looked upon them as a potential
threat and he ordered the execution of Guru Arjan in
1606. The Sikh movement began to get politicized in
the seventeenth century, a development which
culminated in the institution of the Khalsa by Guru
Gobind Singh in 1699. The community of the Sikhs,
called the Khalsa Panth, became a political entity.
The changing historical situation during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries influenced the
development of the Sikh movement. The ideas of Guru
Fig. 11
An early manuscript
of the Guru Granth
Sahib.
119
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R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
E
L
S
E
W
H
E
R
E
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S
E
W
H
E
R
E
Nanak had a huge impact on this development from
the very beginning. He emphasized the importance of
the worship of one God. He insisted that caste, creed
or gender was irrelevant for attaining liberation. His
idea of liberation was not that of a state of inert bliss
but rather the pursuit of active life with a strong sense
of social commitment. He himself used the terms nam,
dan and isnan for the essence of his teaching, which
actually meant right worship, welfare of others and
purity of conduct. His teachings are now remembered
as nam-japna, kirt-karna and vand-chhakna, which
also underline the importance of right belief and
worship, honest living, and helping others. Thus, Guru
Nanaks idea of equality had social and political
implications. This might partly explain the difference
between the history of the followers of Guru Nanak
and the history of the followers of the other religious
figures of the medieval centuries, like Kabir, Ravidas
and Dadu whose ideas were very similar to those of
Guru Nanak.
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
Martin Luther and the Reformation
The sixteenth century was a time of religious ferment in Europe
as well. One of the most important leaders of the changes that
took place within Christianity was Martin Luther (1483-1546).
Luther felt that several practices in the Roman Catholic Church
went against the teachings of the
Bible. He encouraged the use of
the language of ordinary people
rather than Latin, and translated
the Bible into German. Luther was
strongly opposed to the practice
of indulgences or making
donations to the Church so as to
gain forgiveness from sins. His
writings were widely disseminated
with the growing use of the
printing press. Many Protestant
Christian sects trace their origins
to the teachings of Luther.
Fig. 12
Title page of the German Bible translated by Martin Luther.
120 OUR PASTS II
Lets recall
1. Match the following:
The Buddha namghar
Shankaradeva worship of Vishnu
Nizamuddin Auliya questioned social
differences
Nayanars Sufi saint
Alvars worship of Shiva
2. Fill in the blanks:
(a) Shankara was an advocate of -.
(b) Ramanuja was influenced by the .
(c) , and were
advocates of Virashaivism.
(d) was an important centre of
the Bhakti tradition in Maharashtra.
3. Describe the beliefs and practices of the Nathpanthis,
Siddhas and Yogis.
4. What were the major ideas expressed by Kabir? How
did he express these?
KEYWORDS

Virashaivism
bhakti
Sufi
khanqah

Imagine
You are attending a meeting where a
saint is discussing the caste system.
Relate the conversation.
121
Lets understand
5. What were the major beliefs and practices of the Sufis?
6. Why do you think many teachers rejected prevalent
religious beliefs and practices?
7. What were the major teachings of Baba Guru Nanak?
Lets discuss
8. For either the Virashaivas or the sants of
Maharashtra, discuss their attitude towards caste.
9. Why do you think ordinary people preserved the
memory of Mirabai?
Lets do
10. Find out whether in your neighbourhood there are
any dargahs, gurudwaras or temples associated
wi th sai nts of the bhakti tradi ti on i n your
neighbourhood. Visit any one of these and describe
what you see and hear.
11. For any of the saint-poets whose compositions have
been included in this chapter, find out more about
their works, noting down other poems. Find out
whether these are sung, how they are sung, and what
the poets wrote about.
12. There are several saint-poets whose names have
been mentioned but their works have not been
included in the chapter. Find out more about the
language in which they composed, whether their
composi ti ons were sung, and what thei r
compositions were about.
DEVOTIONAL PATHS
TO THE DIVINE
122 OUR PASTS II
?
9
Find out how
many states have
been created in
the last 10 years.
Is each of these
states a region?
THE MAKING OF THE MAKING OF THE MAKING OF THE MAKING OF THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES REGIONAL CULTURES REGIONAL CULTURES REGIONAL CULTURES REGIONAL CULTURES
O
ne of the commonest ways of describing people
is in terms of the language they speak. When we
refer to a person as a Tamil or an Oriya, this usually
means that he or she speaks Tamil or Oriya and lives
in Tamil Nadu or Orissa. We also tend to associate
each region with distinctive kinds of food, clothes,
poetry, dance, music and painting. Sometimes we take
these identities for granted and assume that they have
existed from time immemorial. However, the frontiers
separating regions have evolved over time (and in fact
are still changing). Also, what we understand as
regional cultures today are often the product of complex
processes of intermixing of local traditions with ideas
from other parts of the subcontinent. As we will see,
some traditions appear specific to some regions, others
seem to be similar across regions, and yet others derive
from older practices in a particular area, but take a
new form in other regions.
The Cheras and the Development The Cheras and the Development The Cheras and the Development The Cheras and the Development The Cheras and the Development
of Malayalam of Malayalam of Malayalam of Malayalam of Malayalam
Let us begin by looking at an example of the
connection between language and region. The Chera
kingdom of Mahodayapuram was established in the
ninth century in the south-western part of the
peninsula, part of present-day Kerala. It is likely that
Malayalam was spoken in this area. The rulers
introduced the Malayalam language and script in their
inscriptions. In fact, this is one of the earliest
examples of the use of a regional language in official
records in the subcontinent.
123
THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES
?
Find out when the
language(s) you
speak at home
were first used
for writing.
Fig. 1
An early Kerala
inscription, composed
in Malayalam.
At the same time, the Cheras also drew upon
Sanskritic traditions. The temple theatre of Kerala,
which is traced to this period, borrowed stories from
the Sanskrit epics. The first literary works in
Malayalam, dated to about the twelfth century, are
directly indebted to Sanskrit. Interestingly enough, a
fourteenth-century text, the Lilatilakam, dealing with
grammar and poetics, was composed in Manipravalam
literally, diamonds and corals referring to the two
languages, Sanskrit and the regional language.
Rulers and Religious Traditions: Rulers and Religious Traditions: Rulers and Religious Traditions: Rulers and Religious Traditions: Rulers and Religious Traditions:
The Jagannatha Cult The Jagannatha Cult The Jagannatha Cult The Jagannatha Cult The Jagannatha Cult
In other regions, regional cultures grew around
religious traditions. The best example of this process
is the cult of Jagannatha (literally, lord of the world,
a name for Vishnu) at Puri, Orissa. To
date, the local tribal people make the
wooden image of the deity, which
suggests that the deity was originally
a local god, who was later identified
with Vishnu.
In the twelfth century, one of the
most important rulers of the Ganga
dynasty, Anantavarman, decided to
erect a temple for Purushottama
Jagannatha at Puri. Subsequently, in
1230, king Anangabhima III dedicated
his kingdom to the deity and proclaimed
himself as the deputy of the god.
Fig. 2
The icons of
Balabhadra,
Subhadra and
Jagannatha, palm-
leaf manuscript,
Orissa.
124 OUR PASTS II
As the temple gained in importance
as a centre of pilgrimage, its authority
in social and political matters also
increased. All those who conquered
Orissa, such as the Mughals, the
Marathas and the English East India
Company, attempted to gain control
over the temple. They felt that this
would make their rule acceptable to
the local people.
The Rajputs and The Rajputs and The Rajputs and The Rajputs and The Rajputs and
Traditions of Heroism Traditions of Heroism Traditions of Heroism Traditions of Heroism Traditions of Heroism
In the nineteenth century, the
region that constitutes most of
present-day Rajasthan, was called
Rajputana by the British. While this
may suggest that this was an area that was inhabited
only or mainly by Rajputs, this is only partly true.
There were (and are) several groups who identify
themselves as Rajputs in many areas of northern and
central India. And of course, there are several peoples
other than Rajputs who live in Rajasthan. However,
the Rajputs are often recognised as contributing to
the distinctive culture of Rajasthan.
These cultural traditions
were closely linked with
the ideals and aspirations
of rulers. From about the
eighth century, most of
the present-day state of
Rajasthan was ruled by
various Rajput families.
Prithviraj (Chapter 2) was
one such ruler. These rulers
cherished the ideal of the
hero who fought valiantly,
often choosing death on the
battlefield rather than face
Fig. 3
Jagannatha temple,
Puri.
Fig. 4
Prince Raj Singh of
Bikaner.
125
defeat. Stories about Rajput heroes were recorded in
poems and songs, which were recited by specially
trained minstrels. These preserved the memories of
heroes and were expected to inspire others to follow
their example. Ordinary people were also attracted by
these stories which often depicted dramatic situations,
and a range of strong emotions loyalty, friendship,
love, valour, anger, etc.
Did women find a place within these stories?
Sometimes, they figure as the cause for conflicts, as
men fought with one another to either win or protect
women. Women are also depicted as following their
heroic husbands in both life and death there are
stories about the practice of sati or the immolation of
widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands. So those
Map 1
Regions discussed in
this chapter.
THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES
126 OUR PASTS II
who followed the heroic ideal often had to pay for it
with their lives.
Beyond Regional Frontiers: Beyond Regional Frontiers: Beyond Regional Frontiers: Beyond Regional Frontiers: Beyond Regional Frontiers:
The Story of The Story of The Story of The Story of The Story of Kathak Kathak Kathak Kathak Kathak
If heroic traditions can be found in different regions in
different forms, the same is true of dance. Let us look
at the history of one dance form, Kathak, now
associated with several parts of north India. The term
kathak is derived from katha, a word used in Sanskrit
and other languages for story. The kathaks were
originally a caste of story-tellers in temples of north
India, who embellished their performances with
gestures and songs. Kathak began evolving into a
distinct mode of dance in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries with the spread of the bhakti movement. The
legends of Radha-Krishna were enacted in folk plays
called rasa lila, which combined folk dance with the
basic gestures of the kathak story-tellers.
Under the Mughal emperors and their nobles, Kathak
was performed in the court, where it acquired its present
features and developed into a form of dance with a
distinctive style. Subsequently, it developed in two
traditions or gharanas: one in the courts of Rajasthan
(Jaipur) and the other in Lucknow. Under the patronage
of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh,
it grew into a major art form. By the third quarter
of the nineteenth
century it was firmly
entrenched as a dance
form not only in these
two regions, but in
the adjoining areas
of present-day Punjab,
Haryana, Jammu
and Kashmir, Bihar
and Madhya Pradesh.
Emphasis was laid
on intricate and
?
Find out whether
there are
traditions of
heroes/heroines
in your town or
village. What are
the qualities
associated with
them? In what
ways are these
similar to or
different from the
heroic ideals of
the Rajputs?
Fig. 5
Dance class,
Lakshmana temple,
Khajuraho.
127
rapid footwork, elaborate costumes, as well as on the
enactment of stories.
Kathak, like several other cultural practices, was
viewed with disfavour by most British administrators
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, it
survived and continued to be performed by courtesans,
and was recognised as one of six classical forms of
dance in the country after independence.
Classical dances Classical dances Classical dances Classical dances Classical dances
The question of defining any art form as classical is
often quite complicated. Do we define something as
classical if it deals with a religious theme? Or do
we consider it classical because it appears to
require a great deal of skill acquired
through long years of training? Or is it
classical because it is performed
according to rules that are laid down,
and variations are not encouraged?
These are questions we need
to think about. It is worth
remembering that many dance
forms that are classified as folk
also share several of the
characteristics considered typical
of classical forms. So, while the
use of the term classical may
suggest that these forms are
superior, this need not always be
literally true.
Other dance forms that are
recognised as classical at present are:
Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu)
Kathakali (Kerala)
Odissi (Orissa)
Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh)
Manipuri (Manipur)
?
THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES
Find out more about any one of these dance forms.
Fig. 6
Kathak dancers, a court painting.
128 OUR PASTS II
Painting for Patrons: The Tradition Painting for Patrons: The Tradition Painting for Patrons: The Tradition Painting for Patrons: The Tradition Painting for Patrons: The Tradition
of Miniatures of Miniatures of Miniatures of Miniatures of Miniatures
Another tradition that developed in different ways was
that of miniature painting. Miniatures (as their very
name suggests) are small-sized paintings, generally
done in water colour on cloth or paper. The earliest
miniatures were on palm leaves or wood. Some of the
most beautiful of these, found in western India, were
used to illustrate Jaina texts. The Mughal emperors
Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan patronised highly
skilled painters who primarily illustrated manuscripts
containing historical accounts and poetry. These were
generally painted in brilliant colours and portrayed
court scenes, scenes of battle or
hunting, and other aspects of social
life. They were often exchanged as
gifts and were viewed only by an
exclusive few the emperor and his
close associates.
With the decline of the Mughal
Empire, many painters moved out
to the courts of the emerging regional
states (see also Chapter 10). As a
result Mughal artistic tastes
influenced the regional courts of the
Deccan and the Rajput courts of
Rajasthan. At the same time, they
retained and developed their
distinctive characteristics. Portraits
of rulers and court scenes came to
be painted, following the Mughal
example. Besides, themes from
mythology and poetry were depicted
at centres such as Mewar, Jodhpur,
Bundi, Kota and Kishangarh.
Another region that attracted
mi ni ature pai nti ngs was the
Himalayan foothills around the
modern-day state of Himachal
Fig. 7
Akbar resting
during a hunt,
Mughal miniature.
129
Pradesh. By the late seventeenth century this region
had developed a bold and intense style of miniature
painting called Basohli. The most popular text to be
painted here was Bhanudattas Rasamanjari. Nadir
Shahs invasion and the conquest of Delhi in 1739
resulted in the migration of Mughal artists to the
hills to escape the uncertainties of the plains. Here
Fig. 8
Maharana Ram
Singh II playing holi.
Rajput miniature,
Kota.
Fig. 9
Krishna, Radha and
her companion,
Pahari miniature,
Kangra.
THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES
130 OUR PASTS II
they found ready patrons which led to the founding
of the Kangra school of painting. By the mid-
eighteenth century the Kangra artists developed a
style which breathed a new spirit into miniature
painting. The source of inspiration was the
Vaishnavite traditions. Soft colours including cool
blues and greens, and a lyrical treatment of themes
distinguished Kangra painting.
Remember that ordinary women and men painted
as well on pots, walls, floors, cloth works of art that
have occasionally survived, unlike the miniatures
that were carefully preserved in palaces for centuries.
A Closer Look: Bengal A Closer Look: Bengal A Closer Look: Bengal A Closer Look: Bengal A Closer Look: Bengal
The Growth of a Regional Language
As we saw at the outset, we often tend to identify
regions in terms of the language spoken by the
people. So, we assume that people in Bengal always
spoke Bengali. However, what is interesting is that
while Bengali is now recognised as a language
derived from Sanskrit, early Sanskrit texts (mid-first
millennium BCE) suggest that the people of Bengal
did not speak Sanskritic languages. How, then, did
the new language emerge?
From the fourth-third centuries BCE, commercial
ties began to develop between Bengal and Magadha
(south Bihar), which may have led to the growing
Fig. 10
A page from a
palm-leaf manuscript
of the earliest Bengali
Ramayana.
131
influence of Sanskrit. During the fourth century the
Gupta rulers established political control over north
Bengal and began to settle Brahmanas in this area.
Thus, the linguistic and cultural influence from the
mid-Ganga valley became stronger. In the seventh
century the Chinese traveller Xuan Zang observed
that languages related to Sanskrit were in use all
over Bengal.
From the eighth century, Bengal became the
centre of a regional kingdom under the Palas
(Chapter 2). Between the fourteenth and sixteenth
centuries, Bengal was ruled by Sultans who were
independent of the rulers in Delhi (Chapter 3). In
1586, when Akbar conquered Bengal, it formed the
nucleus of the Bengal suba. While Persian was the
language of administration, Bengali developed as a
regional language.
In fact by the fifteenth century the Bengali group
of dialects came to be united by a common literary
language based on the spoken language of the
western part of the region, now known as West
Bengal. Thus, although Bengali is derived from
Sanskrit, it passed through several stages of
evolution. Also, a wide range of non-Sanskrit words,
derived from a variety of sources including tribal
languages, Persian, and European languages, have
become part of modern Bengali.
Early Bengali literature may be divided into two
categories one indebted to Sanskrit and the other
independent of it. The first includes translations of
the Sanskrit epics, the Mangalakavyas (literally
auspicious poems, dealing with local deities) and
bhakti literature such as the biographies of
Chaitanyadeva, the leader of the Vaishnava bhakti
movement (Chapter 8).
The second includes Nath literature such as the
songs of Maynamati and Gopichandra, stories
concerning the worship of Dharma Thakur, and fairy
tales, folk tales and ballads.
THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES
132 OUR PASTS II
Maynamati, Gopichandra and Maynamati, Gopichandra and Maynamati, Gopichandra and Maynamati, Gopichandra and Maynamati, Gopichandra and
Dharma Thakur Dharma Thakur Dharma Thakur Dharma Thakur Dharma Thakur
The Naths were ascetics who engaged in a variety of
yogic practices.
This particular song, which was often enacted,
described how Maynamati, a queen, encouraged her
son Gopichandra to adopt the path of asceticism in
the face of a variety of obstacles.
Dharma Thakur is a popular regional deity, often
worshipped in the form of a stone or a piece of wood.
The texts belonging to the first category are easier
to date, as several manuscripts have been found
indicating that they were composed between the late
fifteenth and mid-eighteenth centuries. Those
belonging to the second category circulated orally and
cannot be precisely dated. They were particularly
popular in eastern Bengal, where the influence of
Brahmanas was relatively weak.
Pirs Pirs Pirs Pirs Pirs and Temples and Temples and Temples and Temples and Temples
From the sixteenth century, people began to migrate
in large numbers from the less fertile western Bengal
to the forested and marshy areas of south-eastern
Bengal. As they moved eastwards, they cleared forests
and brought the land under rice cultivation.
Gradually, local communities of fisherfolk and shifting
cultivators, often tribals, merged with the new
communities of peasants.
This coincided with the establishment of Mughal
control over Bengal with their capital in the heart of
the eastern delta at Dhaka. Officials and functionaries
received land and often set up mosques that served as
centres for religious transformation in these areas.
The early settlers sought some order and assurance
in the unstable conditions of the new settlements.
Pir
A Persian word
meaning a
spiritual guide.
?
Why do you think
the second
category of texts
was not written
down?
133
These were provided by community leaders, who also
functioned as teachers and adjudicators and were
sometimes ascribed with supernatural powers. People
referred to them with affection and respect as pirs.
This term included saints or Sufis and other
religious personalities, daring colonisers and deified
soldiers, various Hindu and Buddhist deities and even
animistic spirits. The cult of pirs became very popular
and their shrines can be found everywhere in Bengal.
Bengal also witnessed a temple-building spree from
the late fifteenth century, which culminated in the
nineteenth century. We have seen (Chapters 2 and 5)
that temples and other religious structures were often
built by individuals or groups who were becoming
powerful to both demonstrate their power and
proclaim their piety. Many of the modest brick and
terracotta temples in Bengal were built with the
support of several low social groups, such as the
Kolu (oil pressers) and the Kansari (bell metal
workers). The coming of the European trading
companies created new economic opportunities; many
families belonging to these social groups availed of
these. As their social and economic position improved,
Compare the
temple shown
here with that in
Chapter 2.
?
Fig. 11 (left)
A double-roofed
thatched hut.
Fig. 12 (right)
A four-roofed temple
with a tower.
THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES
Animism
Attribution of
living soul to
plants, inanimate
objects, and
natural
phenomena.
134 OUR PASTS II
they proclaimed their status through the construction
of temples. When local deities, once worshipped in
thatched huts in villages, gained the recognition of
the Brahmanas, their images began to be housed in
temples. The temples began to copy the double-roofed
(dochala) or four-roofed (chauchala) structure of the
thatched huts. (Remember the Bangla dome in
Chapter 5?) This led to the evolution of the typical
Bengali style in temple architecture.
In the comparatively more complex four-roofed
structure, four triangular roofs placed on the four walls
move up to converge on a curved line or a point.
Temples were usually built on a square platform. The
interior was relatively plain, but the outer walls of many
temples were decorated with paintings, ornamental
tiles or terracotta tablets. In some temples, particularly
in Vishnupur in the Bankura district of West Bengal,
such decorations reached a high degree of excellence.
Fig. 13
Krishna with gopis,
terracotta plaque
from the Shyamaraya
temple, Vishnupur.
135
Fish as Food Fish as Food Fish as Food Fish as Food Fish as Food
Traditional food habits are generally based
on locally available items of food. Bengal is
a riverine plain which produces plenty of
rice and fish. Understandably, these two
items figure prominently in the menu of
even poor Bengalis. Fishing has always
been an important occupation and Bengali
literature contains several references to
fish. What is more, terracotta plaques on
the walls of temples and viharas (Buddhist
monasteries) depict scenes of fish being
dressed and taken to the market in baskets.
Brahmanas were not allowed to eat non-
vegetarian food, but the popularity of fish
in the local diet made the Brahmanical
authorities relax this prohibition for the
Bengal Brahmanas. The Brihaddharma
Purana, a thirteenth-century Sanskrit text
from Bengal, permitted the local Brahmanas to eat
certain varieties of fish.
Fig. 14
Fish being
dressed for domestic
consumption,
terracotta plaque from
the Vishalakshi
temple, Arambagh.
THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES
Emergence of nation-states in Europe
Till the eighteenth century, people in Europe saw themselves as
subjects of an empire, such as the Austro-Hungarian empire, or
members of a church, such as the Greek Orthodox church. But,
from the late eighteenth century, people also began to identify
themselves as members of a community that spoke a common
language, such as French or German. By the early nineteenth
century, in Rumania school textbooks began to be written in
Rumanian rather than in Greek, and in Hungary Hugarian was
adopted as the official language instead of Latin. These and other
similar developments created the consciousness among the people
that each linguistic community was a separate nation. This feeling
was strengthened by the movements for Italian and German
unification in the late nineteenth century.
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136 OUR PASTS II
KEYWORDS

classical
miniature
pir
dialect

Lets recall
1. Match the following:
Anantavarman Kerala
Jagannatha Bengal
Mahodayapuram Orissa
Lilatilakam Kangra
Mangalakavya Puri
Miniature Kerala
2. What is Manipravalam? Name a book written in that
language.
3. Who were the major patrons of Kathak?
4. What are the important architectural features of the
temples of Bengal ?
Imagine
You are a Rajput prince. How
would you like your story to be
told?
137
THE MAKING OF
REGIONAL CULTURES
Lets discuss
5. Why did minstrels proclaim the achievements of
heroes?
6. Why do we know much more about the cultural
practices of rulers than about those of ordinary
people?
7. Why did conquerors try to control the temple of
Jagannatha at Puri?
8. Why were temples built in Bengal?
Lets do
9. Describe the most important features of the culture
of your region, focusing on buildings, performing
arts and painting.
10. Do you use different languages for (a) speaking,
(b) reading, (c) writing? Find out about one major
composition in language that you use and discuss
why you find it interesting.
11. Choose one state each from north, west, south, east
and central India. For each of these, prepare a list of
foods that are commonly consumed, highlighting any
differences and similarities that you notice.
12. Choose another set of five states from each of these
regions and prepare a list of clothes that are generally
worn by women and men in each. Discuss your
findings.
138 OUR PASTS II
10
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS POLITICAL FORMATIONS POLITICAL FORMATIONS POLITICAL FORMATIONS POLITICAL FORMATIONS
I
f you look at Maps 1 and 2 closely, you will see
something significant happening in the subcontinent
during the first half of the eighteenth century. Notice
how the boundaries of the Mughal Empire were
reshaped by the emergence of a number of independent
Map 1
State formations in
the eighteenth
century.
139
kingdoms. By 1765,
notice how another
power, the British, had
successfully grabbed
major chunks of
territory in eastern
India. What these maps
tell us is that political
conditions in eighteenth-
century India changed
quite dramatically and
within a relatively short
span of time.
In this chapter we
will read about the
emergence of new
political groups in the
subcontinent during
the first half of the
eighteenth century
roughly from 1707,
when Aurangzeb died,
till the third battle of
Panipat in 1761.
The Crisis of the Empire and The Crisis of the Empire and The Crisis of the Empire and The Crisis of the Empire and The Crisis of the Empire and
the Later Mughals the Later Mughals the Later Mughals the Later Mughals the Later Mughals
In Chapter 4 you saw how the Mughal Empire reached
the height of its success and started facing a variety of
crises towards the closing years of the seventeenth
century. These were caused by a number of factors.
Emperor Aurangzeb had depleted the military and
financial resources of his empire by fighting a long
war in the Deccan.
Under his successors, the efficiency of the imperial
administration broke down. It became increasingly
difficult for the later Mughal emperors to keep a check
on their powerful mansabdars. Nobles appointed as
?
See Chapter 4,
Table 1. Which
group of people
challenged Mughal
authority for the
longest time in
Aurangzebs reign?
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
Map 2
British territories in
the mid-eighteenth
century.
140 OUR PASTS II
governors (subadars) often controlled the offices of
revenue and military administration (diwani and
faujdari) as well. This gave them extraordinary
political, economic and military powers over vast
regions of the Mughal Empire. As the governors
consolidated their control over the provinces, the
periodic remission of revenue to the capital declined.
Peasant and zamindari rebellions in many parts of
northern and western India added to these problems.
These revolts were sometimes caused by the pressures
of mounting taxes. At other times they were attempts
by powerful chieftains to consolidate their own
positions. Mughal authority had been challenged by
rebellious groups in the past as well. But these groups
were now able to seize the economic resources of the
region to consolidate their positions. The Mughal
emperors after Aurangzeb were unable to arrest the
gradual shifting of political and economic authority
into the hands of provincial governors, local chieftains
and other groups.
Rich harvests and empty coffers Rich harvests and empty coffers Rich harvests and empty coffers Rich harvests and empty coffers Rich harvests and empty coffers
The following is a contemporary writers account of
the financial bankruptcy of the empire:
The great lords are helpless and impoverished. Their peasants
raise two crops a year, but their lords see nothing of either,
and their agents on the spot are virtual prisoners in the
peasants hands, like a peasant kept in his creditors house
until he can pay his debt. So complete is the collapse of all
order and administration that though the peasant reaps a
harvest of gold, his lord does not see so much as a wisp of
straw. How then can the lord keep the armed force he should?
How can he pay the soldiers who should go before him when
he goes out, or the horsemen who should ride behind him?
141
In the midst of this economic and political crisis,
the ruler of Iran, Nadir Shah, sacked and plundered
the city of Delhi in 1739 and took away immense
amounts of wealth. This invasion was followed by a
series of plundering raids by the Afghan ruler Ahmad
Shah Abdali, who invaded north India five times
between 1748 and 1761.
Nadir Shah attacks Delhi Nadir Shah attacks Delhi Nadir Shah attacks Delhi Nadir Shah attacks Delhi Nadir Shah attacks Delhi
The devastation of Delhi after Nadir Shahs invasion
was described by contemporary observers. One
described the wealth looted from the Mughal treasury
as follows:
sixty lakhs of rupees and some thousand gold coins, nearly
one crore worth of gold-ware, nearly fifty crores worth of
jewels, most of them unrivalled in the world, and the above
included the Peacock throne.
Another account described the invasions impact
upon Delhi:
(those) who had been masters were now in dire straits;
and those who had been revered couldnt even (get water to)
quench their thirst. The recluses were pulled out of their
corners. The wealthy were turned into beggars. Those who
once set the style in clothes now went naked; and those who
owned property were now homeless The New City
(Shahjahanabad) was turned into rubble. (Nadir Shah) then
attacked the Old quarters of the city and destroyed a whole
world that existed there
Already under severe pressure from all sides, the
empire was further weakened by competition amongst
different groups of nobles. They were divided into two
major groups or factions, the Iranis and Turanis (nobles
of Turkish descent). For a long time, the later Mughal
emperors were puppets in the hands of either one or
the other of these two powerful groups. The worst
Fig. 1
A 1779 portrait of Nadir
Shah.
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
142 OUR PASTS II
possible humiliation came when two Mughal
emperors, Farrukh Siyar (1713-1719) and
Alamgir II (1754-1759) were assassinated,
and two others Ahmad Shah (1748-1754) and
Shah Alam II (1759-1816) were blinded by
their nobles.
Emergence of New States Emergence of New States Emergence of New States Emergence of New States Emergence of New States
With the decline in the authority of the Mughal
emperors, the governors of large provinces,
subadars, and the great zamindars
consolidated their authority in different parts
of the subcontinent. Through the eighteenth
century, the Mughal Empire gradually
fragmented into a number of independent,
regional states. Broadly speaking the states
of the eighteenth century can be divided into three
overlapping groups: (1) States that were old Mughal
provinces like Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad.
Although extremely powerful and quite independent,
the rulers of these states did not break their formal
ties with the Mughal emperor. (2) States that had
enjoyed considerable independence under the Mughals
as watan jagirs. These included several Rajput
principalities. (3) The last group included states under
the control of Marathas, Sikhs and others like the Jats.
These were of differing sizes and had seized their
independence from the Mughals after a long-drawn
armed struggle.
The Old Mughal Provinces The Old Mughal Provinces The Old Mughal Provinces The Old Mughal Provinces The Old Mughal Provinces
Amongst the states that were carved out of the old
Mughal provinces in the eighteenth century, three
stand out very prominently. These were Awadh, Bengal
and Hyderabad. All three states were founded by
members of the high Mughal nobility who had been
governors of large provinces Saadat Khan (Awadh),
Murshid Quli Khan (Bengal) and Asaf Jah (Hyderabad).
All three had occupied high mansabdari positions and
enjoyed the trust and confidence of the emperors. Both
Fig. 2
Farrukh Siyar
receiving a noble
in court.
143
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
Asaf Jah and Murshid Quli Khan held a zat rank of
7,000 each, while Saadat Khans zat was 6,000.
Hyderabad
Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, the founder of Hyderabad
state, was one of the most powerful members at the
court of the Mughal Emperor Farrukh Siyar. He was
entrusted first with the governorship of Awadh, and
later given charge of the Deccan. As the Mughal
governor of the Deccan provinces, Asaf Jah already
had full control over its political and financial
administration. Taking advantage of the turmoil in the
Deccan and the competition amongst the court nobility,
he gathered power in his hands and became the actual
ruler of that region.
Asaf Jah brought skilled soldiers and administrators
from northern India who welcomed the new
opportunities in the south. He appointed mansabdars
and granted jagirs. Although he was still a servant of
the Mughal emperor, he ruled quite independently
without seeking any direction from Delhi or facing any
interference. The Mughal emperor merely confirmed
the decisions already taken by the Nizam.
The state of Hyderabad was constantly engaged in a
struggle against the Marathas to the west and with
independent Telugu warrior chiefs (nayakas) of the
plateau. The ambitions of the Nizam to control the rich
textile-producing areas of the Coromandel coast in the
east were checked by the British who were becoming
increasingly powerful in that region (see Map 2).
The Nizams army The Nizams army The Nizams army The Nizams army The Nizams army
A description of the Nizam of Hyderabads personal
troopers in 1790:
The Nizam has a swaree (sawari) of 400 elephants, several
thousand of horsemen near his person who receive upwards
100 R(upees)s nominal pay (and) are extremely well mounted
and richly caparisoned
144 OUR PASTS II
?
Awadh
Burhan-ul-Mulk Saadat Khan
was appointed subadar of
Awadh in 1722 and founded
a state which was one of the
most important to emerge
out of the break-up of the
Mughal Empire. Awadh was a
prosperous region, controlling
the rich alluvial Ganga plain
and the main trade route
between north India and
Bengal. Burhan-ul-Mulk also
held the combined offices of
subadari, diwani and faujdari.
In other words, he was
responsible for managing the
political, financial and military
affairs of the province of Awadh.
Burhan-ul-Mulk tried to
decrease Mughal influence in the Awadh region by
reducing the number of office holders (jagirdars)
appointed by the Mughals. He also reduced the size
of jagirs, and appointed his own loyal servants to
vacant positions. The accounts of jagirdars were
checked to prevent cheating and the revenues of all
districts were reassessed by officials appointed by the
Nawabs court. He seized a number of Rajput
zamindaris and the agriculturally fertile lands of the
Afghans of Rohilkhand.
The state depended on local bankers and mahajans
for loans. It sold the right to collect tax to the highest
bidders. These revenue farmers (ijaradars) agreed to
pay the state a fixed sum of money. Local bankers
guaranteed the payment of this contracted amount to
the state. In turn, the revenue-farmers were given
considerable freedom in the assessment and collection
of taxes. These developments allowed new social
groups, like moneylenders and bankers, to influence
In trying to
consolidate their
rule, why did
Mughal subadars
also want to
control the office
of diwan?
Fig. 3
Burhan-ul-Mulk
Saadat Khan.
145
the management of the states revenue system,
something which had not occurred in the past.
Bengal
Bengal gradually broke away from Mughal control
under Murshid Quli Khan who was appointed as the
naib, deputy to the governor of the province. Although
never a formal subadar, Murshid Quli Khan very
quickly seized all the power that went with that office.
Like the rulers of Hyderabad and Awadh he also
commanded the revenue administration of the state.
In an effort to reduce Mughal influence in Bengal he
transferred all Mughal jagirdars to Orissa and ordered
a major reassessment of the revenues of Bengal.
Revenue was collected in cash with great strictness
from all zamindars. As a result, many zamindars had
to borrow money from bankers and moneylenders.
Those unable to pay were forced to sell their lands to
larger zamindars.
The formation of a regional state in eighteenth-
century Bengal therefore led to considerable change
amongst the zamindars. The close connection
between the state and bankers noticeable in
Fig. 4
Alivardi Khan holding
court.
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
146 OUR PASTS II
Hyderabad and Awadh as well was evident in
Bengal under the rule of Alivardi Khan (r. 1740-
1756). During his reign the banking house of Jagat
Seth became extremely prosperous.
If we take a birds eye view, we can detect three
common features amongst these states. First, though
many of the larger states were established by erstwhile
Mughal nobles they were highly suspicious of some of
the administrative systems that they had inherited, in
particular the jagirdari system. Second, their method
of tax collection differed. Rather than relying upon the
officers of the state, all three regimes contracted with
revenue-farmers for the collection of revenue. The
practice of ijaradari, thoroughly disapproved of by
the Mughals, spread all over India in the eighteenth
century. Their impact on the countryside differed
considerably. The third common feature in all these
regional states was their emerging relationship with
rich bankers and merchants. These people lent money
to revenue farmers, received land as security and
collected taxes from these lands through their own
agents. Throughout India the richest merchants and
bankers were gaining a stake in the new political order.
The The The The The Watan Jagirs Watan Jagirs Watan Jagirs Watan Jagirs Watan Jagirs of the Rajputs of the Rajputs of the Rajputs of the Rajputs of the Rajputs
Many Rajput kings, particularly those belonging to
Amber and Jodhpur, had served under the Mughals
with distinction. In exchange, they were permitted to
enjoy considerable autonomy in their watan jagirs. In
the eighteenth century, these rulers now attempted to
extend their control over adjacent regions. Ajit Singh,
the ruler of Jodhpur, was also involved in the factional
politics at the Mughal court.
These influential Rajput families claimed the
subadari of the rich provinces of Gujarat and Malwa.
Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur held the governorship of
Gujarat and Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber was
governor of Malwa. These offices were renewed by
Emperor Jahandar Shah in 1713. They also tried to
147
extend their territories by seizing portions of imperial
territories neighbouring their watans. Nagaur was
conquered and annexed to the house of Jodhpur,
while Amber seized large portions of Bundi. Sawai
Raja Jai Singh founded his new capital at Jaipur and
was given the subadari of Agra in 1722. Maratha
campaigns into Rajasthan from the 1740s put severe
pressure on these principalities and checked their
further expansion.
Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur
A description of Raja Jai Singh in a Persian account of
1732:
Raja Jai Singh was at the height of his power. He was the
governor of Agra for 12 years and of Malwa for 5 or 6 years.
He possessed a large army, artillery and great wealth. His
sway extended from Delhi to the banks of the Narmada.
Fig. 5
Mehrangarh Fort,
Jodhpur.
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
148 OUR PASTS II
Seizing Independence Seizing Independence Seizing Independence Seizing Independence Seizing Independence
The Sikhs
The organisation of the Sikhs into a political community
during the seventeenth century (see Chapter 8) helped
in regional state-building in the Punjab. Several battles
were fought by Guru Gobind Singh against the Rajput
and Mughal rulers, both before and after the institution
of the Khalsa in 1699. After his death in 1708, the
Khalsa rose in revolt against the Mughal authority
under Banda Bahadurs leadership, declared their
sovereign rule by striking coins in the name of Guru
Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, and established their
own administration between the Sutlej and the
Jamuna. Banda Bahadur was captured in 1715 and
executed in 1716.
Fig. 6
Guru Gobind Singh,
the tenth guru.
?
What is the Khalsa?
Do you recall
reading about
it in Chapter 8?
149
Under a number of able leaders in the eighteenth
century, the Sikhs organized themselves into a number
of bands called jathas, and later on misls. Their
combined forces were known as the grand army (dal
khalsa). The entire body used to meet at Amritsar at
the time of Baisakhi and Diwali to take collective
decisions known as resolutions of the Guru
(gurmatas). A system called rakhi was introduced,
offering protection to cultivators on the payment of a
tax of 20 per cent of the produce.
Guru Gobind Singh had inspired the Khalsa with
the belief that their destiny was to rule (raj karega
khalsa). Their well-knit organization enabled them to
put up a successful resistance to the Mughal governors
first and then to Ahmad Shah Abdali who had seized
the rich province of the Punjab and the Sarkar of
Sirhind from the Mughals. The Khalsa declared their
sovereign rule by striking their own coin again in 1765.
Significantly, this coin bore the same inscription as
the one on the orders issued by the Khalsa in the time
of Banda Bahadur.
The Sikh territories in the late eighteenth century
extended from the Indus to the Jamuna but they were
divided under different rulers. One of them, Maharaja
Ranjit Singh, reunited these groups and established
his capital at Lahore in 1799.
The Marathas
The Maratha kingdom was another powerful regional
kingdom to arise out of a sustained opposition to
Mughal rule. Shivaji (1627-1680) carved out a stable
kingdom with the support of powerful warrior families
(deshmukhs). Groups of highly mobile, peasant-
pastoralists (kunbis) provided the backbone of the
Maratha army. Shivaji used these forces to challenge
the Mughals in the peninsula. After Shivajis death,
effective power in the Maratha state was wielded by a
family of Chitpavan Brahmanas who served Shivajis
successors as Peshwa (or principal minister). Poona
became the capital of the Maratha kingdom.
Fig. 7
Sword of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh.
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
150 OUR PASTS II
Under the Peshwas, the Marathas developed a very
successful military organisation. Their success lay
in bypassing the fortified areas of the Mughals, by
raiding cities and by engaging Mughal armies in areas
where their supply lines and reinforcements could
be easily disturbed.
Between 1720 and 1761, the Maratha empire
expanded. It gradually chipped away at the authority
of the Mughal Empire. Malwa and Gujarat were seized
from the Mughals by the 1720s. By the 1730s, the
Maratha king was recognised as the overlord of the
entire Deccan peninsula. He possessed the right to
levy chauth and sardeshmukhi in the entire region.
After raiding Delhi in 1737 the frontiers of Maratha
domination expanded rapidly: into Rajasthan and the
Punjab in the north; into Bengal and Orissa in the
east; and into Karnataka and the Tamil and Telugu
countries in the south (see Map 1). These were not
formally included in the Maratha empire, but were
made to pay tribute as a way of accepting Maratha
sovereignty. Expansion brought enormous resources,
but it came at a price. These military campaigns also
made other rulers hostile towards the Marathas. As a
result, they were not inclined to support the Marathas
during the third battle of Panipat in 1761.
Alongside endless military campaigns, the Marathas
developed an effective administrative system as well.
Once conquest had been completed and Maratha rule
was secure, revenue demands were gradually
introduced taking local conditions into account.
Agriculture was encouraged and trade revived. This
allowed Maratha chiefs (sardars) like Sindhia of
Gwalior, Gaekwad of Baroda and Bhonsle of Nagpur
the resources to raise powerful armies. Maratha
campaigns into Malwa in the 1720s did not challenge
the growth and prosperity of the cities in the region.
Ujjain expanded under Sindhias patronage and Indore
under Holkars. By all accounts these cities were large
and prosperous and functioned as important
Chauth
25 per cent of the
land revenue
claimed by
zamindars. In the
Deccan this was
collected by the
Marathas.
Sardeshmukhi
9-10 per cent of
the land revenue
paid to the head
revenue collector
in the Deccan.
151
commercial and cultural centres. New trade routes
emerged within the areas controlled by the Marathas.
The silk produced in the Chanderi region now found a
new outlet in Poona, the Maratha capital. Burhanpur
which had earlier participated in the trade between
Agra and Surat now expanded its hinterland to include
Poona and Nagpur in the south and Lucknow and
Allahabad in the east.
The Jats
Like the other states the Jats consolidated their power
during the late seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries.
Under their leader, Churaman, they acquired control
over territories situated to the west of the city of Delhi,
and by the 1680s they had begun dominating the
region between the two imperial cities of Delhi and
Agra. For a while they became the virtual custodians
of the city of Agra.
The Jats were prosperous agriculturists, and towns
like Panipat and Ballabhgarh became important
trading centres in the areas dominated by them. Under
Suraj Mal the kingdom of Bharatpur emerged as a
strong state. When Nadir Shah sacked Delhi in 1739,
many of the citys notables took refuge there. His son
Jawahir Shah had 30,000 troops of his own and hired
Fig. 8
Eighteenth-century
palace complex at
Dig.
Note the Bangla
dome on the
assembly hall on the
roof of the building.
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
152 OUR PASTS II
another 20,000 Maratha and 15,000 Sikh troops to
fight the Mughals.
While the Bharatpur fort was built in a fairly
traditional style, at Dig the Jats built an elaborate garden
palace combining styles seen at Amber and Agra. Its
buildings were modelled on architectural forms first
associated with royalty under Shah Jahan (see Figure
12 in Chapter 5 and Figure 12 in Chapter 9).
The French Revolution (1789-1794)
In the various state systems of eighteenth-century India, the common
people did not enjoy the right to participate in the affairs of their
governments. In the Western world, this was the situation until the
late eighteenth century. The American (1776-1781) and French
Revolutions challenged the social and political privileges enjoyed
by the aristocrats.
During the French Revolution, the middle classes, peasants and
artisans fought against the special rights enjoyed by the clergy and
the nobility. They believed that no group in society should have
privileges based on birth. Rather, peoples social position must
depend on merit. The philosophers of the French Revolution
suggested that there be equal laws and opportunities for all. They
also held that the authority of the government should come from
the people who must possess the right to participate in its affairs.
Movements such as the French and American Revolutions gradually
transformed subjects into citizens.
The ideas of citizenship, nation-state and democratic rights took
root in India from the late nineteenth century.
Imagine
You are a ruler of an eighteenth-
century kingdom. Tell us about the
steps you would take to make your
position strong in your province, and
what opposition or problems you might
face while doing so.
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153
KEYWORDS

subadari
dal khalsa
misl
faujdari
ijaradari
chauth
sardeshmukhi

Lets recall
1. Match the following:
subadar a revenue farmer
faujdar a high noble
ijaradar provincial governor
misl Maratha peasant warriors
chauth a Mughal military commander
kunbis a band of Sikh warriors
umara tax levied by the Marathas
2. Fill in the blanks:
(a) Aurangzeb fought a protracted war in the
____________________.
(b) Umara and jagirdars constituted powerful
sections of the Mughal __________________.
(c) Asaf Jah was given charge of the Deccan
subadari in _____________________.
(d) The founder of the Awadh nawabi was
______________________.
3. State whether true or false:
(a) Nadir Shah invaded Bengal.
(b) Sawai Raja Jai Singh was the ruler of Indore.
(c) Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth Guru of
the Sikhs.
(d) Poona became the capital of the Marathas in
the eighteenth century.
4. What were the offices held by Saadat Khan?
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
POLITICAL FORMATIONS
154 OUR PASTS II
Lets discuss
5. Why did the Nawabs of Awadh and Bengal try to do
away with the jagirdari system?
6. How were the Sikhs organised in the eighteenth
century?
7. Why did the Marathas want to expand beyond the
Deccan?
8. What were the policies adopted by Asaf Jah to
strengthen his position?
9. Do you think merchants and bankers today have the
kind of influence they had in the eighteenth century?
10. Did any of the kingdoms mentioned in this chapter
develop in your state? If so, in what ways do you
think life in the state would have been different in
the eighteenth century from what it is in the twenty-
first century?
Lets do
11. Find out more about the architecture and culture
associated with the new courts of any of the following
Awadh, Bengal or Hyderabad.
12. Collect popular tales about-rulers from any one of the
following groups of people: the Rajputs, Jats, Sikhs
or Marathas.
115
Women and men have travelled in search of work, to escape
from natural disasters, as traders, merchants, soldiers,
priests, pilgrims, or driven by a sense of adventure.
Those who visit or come to stay in a new land
invariably encounter a world that is different:
in terms of the landscape or physical
environment as well as customs, languages,
beliefs and practices of people. Many of them
try to adapt to these differences; others,
somewhat exceptional, note them carefully in
accounts, generally recording what they find
unusual or remarkable. Unfortunately, we have
practically no accounts of travel left by women, though
we know that they travelled.
The accounts that survive are often varied in terms of
their subject matter. Some deal with affairs of the court,
while others are mainly focused on religious issues, or
architectural features and monuments. For example, one
of the most i mportant descri pti ons of the ci ty of
Vijayanagara (Chapter 7) in the fifteenth century comes
from Abdur Razzaq Samarqandi, a diplomat who came
visiting from Herat.
In a few cases, travellers did not go to distant lands. For
example, in the Mughal Empire (Chapters 8 and 9),
administrators sometimes travelled within the
empire and recorded their observations. Some
of them were interested in looking at popular
customs and the folklore and traditions of
their own land.
In this chapter we shall see how our
knowledge of the past can be enriched
through a consideration of descriptions of
social life provided by travellers who visited
the subcontinent, focusing on the accounts of three
men: Al-Biruni who came from Uzbekistan (eleventh
century), Ibn Battuta who came from Morocco, in
northwestern Africa (fourteenth century) and the
Frenchman Franois Bernier (seventeenth century).
Through the Eyes of Travellers
Perceptions of Society Perceptions of Society Perceptions of Society Perceptions of Society Perceptions of Society
( (( ((c cc cc. tenth to seventeenth century) . tenth to seventeenth century) . tenth to seventeenth century) . tenth to seventeenth century) . tenth to seventeenth century)
THEME
FIVE
Fig. 5.1b
A coconut
The coconut and the paan
were things that struck many
travellers as unusual.
Fig. 5.1a
Paan leaves
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 116
As these authors came from vastly different
social and cultural environments, they were often
more attentive to everyday activities and practices
which were taken for granted by indigenous
writers, for whom these were routine matters, not
worthy of being recorded. It is this difference in
perspective that makes the accounts of travellers
interesting. Who did these travellers write for? As
we will see, the answers vary from one instance
to the next.
1. Al-Biruni and the
Kitab-ul-Hind
1.1 From Khwarizm to the Punjab
Al-Biruni was born in 973, in Khwarizm in present-
day Uzbekistan. Khwarizm was an important centre
of l earni ng, and Al -Bi runi recei ved the best
education available at the time. He was well versed
in several languages: Syriac, Arabic, Persian,
Hebrew and Sanskrit. Although he did not know
Greek, he was familiar with the works of Plato
and other Greek phi l osophers, havi ng read
them in Arabic translations. In 1017, when Sultan
Mahmud i nvaded Khwari zm, he took several
scholars and poets back to his capital, Ghazni;
Al-Biruni was one of them. He arrived in Ghazni as
a hostage, but gradually developed a liking for the
city, where he spent the rest of his life until his
death at the age of 70.
It was in Ghazni that Al-Biruni developed an
interest in India. This was not unusual. Sanskrit
works on astronomy, mathematics and medicine had
been translated into Arabic from the eighth century
onwards. When the Punjab became a part of the
Ghaznavid empire, contacts with the local population
helped create an environment of mutual trust and
understanding. Al-Biruni spent years in the company
of Brahmana priests and scholars, learning Sanskrit,
and studying religious and philosophical texts. While
his itinerary is not clear, it is likely that he travelled
widely in the Punjab and parts of northern India.
Travel literature was already an accepted part of
Arabic literature by the time he wrote. This literature
dealt with lands as far apart as the Sahara desert
in the west to the River Volga in the north. So, while
Translating texts,
sharing ideas
Al-Birunis expertise in several
l anguages al l owed hi m t o
compare l anguages and
translate texts. He translated
several Sanskrit works, including
Patanjalis work on grammar,
into Arabic. For his Brahmana
f ri ends, he t ransl at ed t he
works of Eucl i d (a Greek
mathematician) into Sanskrit.
Al-Birunis objectives
Al-Biruni described his work as:
a help to those who want to
discuss religious questions
with them (the Hindus), and
as a repertory of information
t o t hose who want t o
associate with them.
Source 1
Read the excerpt from
Al-Biruni (Source 5) and
discuss whether his work
met these objectives.
117
few people in India would have read Al-Biruni before
1500, many others outside India may have done so.
1.2 The Kitab-ul- Hind
Al-Birunis Kitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, is simple
and lucid. It is a voluminous text, divided into
80 chapters on subjects such as religion and
philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, manners
and customs, social life, weights and measures,
iconography, laws and metrology.
Generally (though not always), Al-Biruni adopted
a distinctive structure in each chapter, beginning
with a question, following this up with a description
based on Sanskritic traditions, and concluding
with a comparison with other cultures. Some
present-day scholars have argued that this almost
geometric structure, remarkable for its precision and
predictability, owed much to his mathematical
orientation.
Al-Biruni, who wrote in Arabic, probably intended
his work for peoples living along the frontiers of the
subcontinent. He was familiar with translations
and adaptations of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit texts
into Arabic these ranged from fables to works on
astronomy and medicine. However, he was also
critical about the ways in which these texts were
written, and clearly wanted to improve on them.
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Metrology is the science of
measurement.
Hindu
The term Hindu was derived
from an Old Persian word,
used c. sixth-fifth centuries
BCE, to refer to the region east
of the river Sindhu (Indus).
The Arabs cont i nued t he
Persian usage and called this
regi on al -Hi nd and i t s
peopl e Hi ndi . Later the
Turks referred to the people
east of the Indus as Hindu,
their land as Hindustan, and
their language as Hindavi.
None of these expressions
indicated the religious identity
of the people. It was much
later that the term developed
religious connotations.
Discuss...
If Al-Biruni lived in the
twenty-first century, which
are the areas of the world
where he could have been
easily understood, if he still
knew the same languages?
Fig. 5.2
An illustration from a thirteenth-
century Arabic manuscript
showing the Athenian
statesman and poet Solon, who
lived in the sixth century BCE,
addressing his students
Notice the clothes they are
shown in.
Are these clothes Greek
or Arabian?
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 118
2. Ibn Battutas Rihla
2.1 An early globe-trotter
Ibn Battutas book of travels, called Rihla, written in
Arabic, provides extremely rich and interesting
details about the social and cultural life in the
subcontinent in the fourteenth century. This
Moroccan traveller was born in Tangier into one of
the most respectable and educated families known
for their expertise in Islamic religious law or sharia.
True to the tradition of his family, Ibn Battuta
received literary and scholastic education when he
was quite young.
Unlike most other members of his class, Ibn
Battuta considered experience gained through travels
to be a more important source of knowledge than
books. He just loved travelling, and went to far-off
places, exploring new worlds and peoples. Before he
set off for India in 1332-33, he had made pilgrimage
trips to Mecca, and had already travelled extensively
in Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman and a few
trading ports on the coast of East Africa.
Travelling overland through Central Asia, Ibn
Battuta reached Sind in 1333. He had heard
about Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi,
and lured by his reputation as a generous patron
of arts and letters, set off for Delhi, passing through
Multan and Uch. The Sultan was impressed by
his scholarship, and appointed him the qazi or judge
of Delhi. He remained in that position for several
years, until he fell out of favour and was thrown
into prison. Once the misunderstanding between
him and the Sultan was cleared, he was
restored to imperial service, and was
ordered in 1342 to proceed to China as the
Sultans envoy to the Mongol ruler.
With the new assignment, Ibn Battuta
proceeded to the Malabar coast through
central India. From Malabar he went to
the Maldives, where he stayed for eighteen
months as the qazi, but eventually decided
to proceed to Sri Lanka. He then went back
once more to the Malabar coast and the
Maldives, and before resuming his mission
to China, visited Bengal and Assam as well.
He took a ship to Sumatra, and from there
another ship for the Chinese port town of
Source 2
Fig. 5.3
Robbers attacking travellers, a
sixteenth-century Mughal painting
How can you distinguish the
travellers from the robbers?
The bird leaves its nest
This is an excerpt from the Rihla:
My departure from Tangier,
my birthplace, took place on
Thursday ... I set out alone,
havi ng nei t her f el l ow-
traveller ... nor caravan
whose party I might join, but
swayed by an overmastering
impulse within me and a
desire long-cherished in my
bosom t o vi si t t hese
illustrious sanctuaries. So I
braced my resolution to quit
all my dear ones, female and
male, and forsook my home
as birds forsake their nests ...
My age at that time was
twenty-two years.
Ibn Battuta returned home in
1354, about 30 years after he
had set out.
119
Zaytun (now known as Quanzhou). He travelled
extensively in China, going as far as Beijing, but did
not stay for long, deciding to return home in 1347.
His account is often compared with that of Marco
Polo, who visited China (and also India) from his
home base in Venice in the late thirteenth century.
Ibn Battuta meticulously recorded his observations
about new cultures, peoples, beliefs, values, etc.
We need to bear in mind that this globe-trotter was
travelling in the fourteenth century, when it was
much more arduous and hazardous to travel than it
is today. According to Ibn Battuta, it took forty days
to travel from Multan to Delhi and about fifty days
from Sind to Delhi. The distance from Daulatabad
to Delhi was covered in forty days, while that from
Gwalior to Delhi took ten days.
Fig. 5.4
A boat carrying passengers,
a terracotta sculpture from
a temple in Bengal
(c. seventeenth-eighteenth centuries)
Why do you think some of
the passengers are carrying
arms?
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
The lonely traveller
Robbers were not the only hazard on long journeys: the traveller could feel homesick,
or fall ill. Here is an excerpt from the Rihla:
I was attacked by the fever, and I actually tied myself on the saddle with a turban-
cloth in case I should fall off by reason of my weakness ... So at last we reached
the town of Tunis, and the townsfolk came out to welcome the shaikh ... and ...
the son of the qazi ... On all sides they came forward with greetings and questions
to one another, but not a soul said a word of greeting to me, since there was none
of them I knew. I felt so sad at heart on account of my loneliness that I could not
restrain the tears that started to my eyes, and wept bitterly. But one of the pilgrims,
realising the cause of my distress, came up to me with a greeting ...
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 120
Travelling was also more insecure: Ibn Battuta
was attacked by bands of robbers several times.
In fact he preferred travelling in a caravan along
with companions, but this did not deter highway
robbers. While travelling from Multan to Delhi,
for instance, his caravan was attacked and many
of his fellow travellers lost their lives; those
travellers who survived, including Ibn Battuta,
were severely wounded.
2.2 The enjoyment of curiosities
As we have seen, Ibn Battuta was an inveterate
traveller who spent several years travelling through
north Africa, West Asia and parts of Central Asia
(he may even have visited Russia), the Indian
subcontinent and China, before returning to his
native land, Morocco. When he returned, the local
ruler issued instructions that his stories be recorded.
Map 1
Places visited by
Ibn Battuta in
Afghanistan,
Sind and Punjab
Many of the
place-names
have been spelt as
Ibn Battuta would
have known them.
Sketch map not to scale
ARABIAN SEA
Andkhoy
Tirmidh
Balkh
Qunduz
Parwan
Kabul
Ghazna
Qandahar
Ajudahan
Multan
Uja
Hansi
Dehli
Sarasati
Abuhar
I
n
d
u
s
Lahari
S
u
t
l
e
j
Use the scale on the map to
calculate the distance in miles
between Multan and Delhi.
0 100 200 300
121
Education and entertainment
This is what Ibn Juzayy, who was deputed to write what
Ibn Battuta dictated, said in his introduction:
A gracious direction was transmitted (by the ruler)
that he (Ibn Battuta) should dictate an account of
the cities which he had seen in his travel, and of
the i nteresti ng events whi ch had cl ung to hi s
memory, and that he should speak of those whom
he had met of the rul ers of countries, of their
distinguished men of learning, and their pious saints.
Accordingly, he dictated upon these subjects a
narrative which gave entertainment to the mind
and delight to the ears and eyes, with a variety of
curious particulars by the exposition of which he
gave edi f i cati on and of marvel l ous thi ngs, by
referring to which he aroused interest.
In the footsteps of Ibn Battuta
In the centuries between 1400 and 1800 visitors to India
wrote a number of travelogues in Persian. At the same
time, Indian visitors to Central Asia, Iran and the Ottoman
empire also sometimes wrote about their experiences.
These writers followed in the footsteps of Al-Biruni and
Ibn Battuta, and had sometimes read these earlier authors.
Among the best known of these writers were Abdur
Razzaq Samarqandi, who visited south India in the 1440s,
Mahmud Wali Balkhi, who travelled very widely in the
1620s, and Shaikh Ali Hazin, who came to north India in
the 1740s. Some of these authors were fascinated by India,
and one of them Mahmud Balkhi even became a sort
of sanyasi for a time. Others such as Hazin were
disappointed and even disgusted with India, where they
expected to receive a red carpet treatment. Most of them
saw India as a land of wonders.
Source 3
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Fig. 5.5
An eighteenth-century painting
depicting travellers gathered
around a campfire
Discuss...
Compare the objectives of Al-Biruni and
Ibn Battuta in writing their accounts.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 122
3. Franois Bernier
A Doctor with a Difference
Once the Portuguese arrived in India in about 1500,
a number of them wrote detailed accounts regarding
Indian social customs and religious practices. A few
of them, such as the Jesuit Roberto Nobili, even
translated Indian texts into European languages.
Among the best known of the Portuguese writers
is Duarte Barbosa, who wrote a detailed account of
trade and society in south India. Later, after 1600,
we find growing numbers of Dutch, English and
French travellers coming to India. One of the most
famous was the French jeweller Jean-Baptiste
Tavernier, who travelled to India at least six times.
He was particularly fascinated with the trading
conditions in India, and compared India to Iran and
the Ottoman empire. Some of these travellers, like
the Italian doctor Manucci, never returned to Europe,
and settled down in India.
Franois Bernier, a Frenchman, was a doctor,
political philosopher and historian. Like many
others, he came to the Mughal Empire in search of
opportunities. He was in India for twelve years, from
1656 to 1668, and was closely associated with the
Mughal court, as a physician to Prince Dara Shukoh,
the eldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan, and later as
an intellectual and scientist, with Danishmand
Khan, an Armenian noble at the Mughal court.
3.1 Comparing East and West
Bernier travelled to several parts of the country, and
wrote accounts of what he saw, frequently comparing
what he saw in India with the situation in Europe.
He dedicated his major writing to Louis XIV, the
king of France, and many of his other works were
written in the form of letters to influential officials
and ministers. In virtually every instance Bernier
described what he saw in India as a bleak situation
in comparison to developments in Europe. As we
will see, this assessment was not always accurate.
However, when his works were published, Berniers
writings became extremely popular.
Fig. 5.6
A seventeenth-century painting
depicting Bernier in European
clothes
Fig. 5.7
A painting depicting Tavernier in Indian clothes
123
Travelling with the Mughal army
Bernier often travelled with the army. This is an excerpt
from his description of the armys march to Kashmir:
I am expected to keep two good Turkoman horses, and
I also take with me a powerful Persian camel and driver,
a groom for my horses, a cook and a servant to go
before my horse with a flask of water in his hand,
according to the custom of the country. I am also
provided with every useful article, such as a tent of
moderate size, a carpet, a portable bed made of four
very strong but light canes, a pillow, a mattress, round
leather table-cloths used at meals, some few napkins of
dyed cloth, three small bags with culinary utensils which
are all placed in a large bag, and this bag is again carried
in a very capacious and strong double sack or net made
of leather thongs. This double sack likewise contains
the provisions, linen and wearing apparel, both of
master and servants. I have taken care to lay in a stock
of excellent rice for five or six days consumption, of
sweet biscuits flavoured with anise (a herb), of limes
and sugar. Nor have I forgotten a linen bag with its
small iron hook for the purpose of suspending and
draining dahi or curds; nothing being considered so
refreshing in this country as lemonade and dahi.
Berniers works were published in France in
1670-71 and translated into English, Dutch, German
and Italian within the next five years. Between 1670
and 1725 his account was reprinted eight times in
French, and by 1684 it had been reprinted three
times in English. This was in marked contrast to
the accounts in Arabic and Persian, which circulated
as manuscripts and were generally not published
before 1800.
The creation and
circulation of ideas
about India
The wri t i ngs of European
travellers helped produce an
image of India for Europeans
t hrough t he pri nt i ng and
ci rcul at i on of t hei r books.
Later, after 1750, when Indians
like Shaikh Itisamuddin and
Mirza Abu Talib visited Europe
and conf ront ed t hi s i mage
that Europeans had of their
society, they tried to influence
i t by produci ng t hei r own
version of matters.
Discuss...
There is a very rich travel
literature in Indian
languages. Find out about
travel writers in the language
you use at home. Read one
such account and describe
the areas visited by the
traveller, what s/he saw, and
why s/he wrote the account.
Source 4
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
What are the things from Berniers list
that you would take on a journey today?
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 124
4. Making Sense of an Alien World
Al- Biruni and the Sanskritic
Tradition
4.1 Overcoming barriers to understanding
As we have seen, travellers often compared what
they saw in the subcontinent with practices
with which they were familiar. Each traveller
adopted distinct strategies to understand what they
observed. Al-Biruni, for instance, was aware of the
problems inherent in the task he had set himself.
He discussed several barriers that he felt
obstructed understanding. The first amongst these
was language. According to him, Sanskrit was so
different from Arabic and Persian that ideas and
concepts could not be easily translated from one
language into another.
The second barrier he identified was the difference
in religious beliefs and practices. The self-absorption
and consequent insularity of the local population
according to him, constituted the third barrier.
What is interesting is that even though he was aware
of these problems, Al-Biruni depended almost
exclusively on the works of Brahmanas, often citing
passages from the Vedas, the Puranas, the Bhagavad
Gita, the works of Patanjali, the Manusmriti, etc., to
provide an understanding of Indian society.
4.2 Al-Birunis description of the caste system
Al-Biruni tried to explain the caste system by looking
for parallels in other societies. He noted that in
ancient Persia, four social categories were
recognised: those of knights and princes; monks,
fire-priests and lawyers; physicians, astronomers
and other scientists; and finally, peasants and
artisans. In other words, he attempted to suggest
that social divisions were not unique to India. At
the same time he pointed out that within Islam all
men were considered equal, differing only in their
observance of piety.
In spite of his acceptance of the Brahmanical
description of the caste system, Al-Biruni disapproved
of the notion of pollution. He remarked that
everything which falls into a state of impurity strives
and succeeds in regaining its original condition of
purity. The sun cleanses the air, and the salt in the
sea prevents the water from becoming polluted. If it
A language with an
enormous range
Al-Biruni described Sanskrit as
follows:
If you want to conquer this
di f f i cul ty (i . e. to l earn
Sanskrit), you will not find
i t easy, because the
language is of an enormous
range, both in words and
inflections, something like
the Arabic, calling one and
the same thing by various
names, both original and
derivative, and using one
and the same word for a
variety of subjects, which,
in order to be properly
underst ood, must be
distinguished from each
other by various qualifying
epithets.
God knows best!
Travellers did not always believe
what they were tol d. When
faced with the story of a wooden
idol that supposedly lasted for
216,432 years, Al-Biruni asks:
How, then, could wood
have lasted such a length of
time, and particularly in a
place where the air and the
soil are rather wet? God
knows best!
125
were not so, insisted Al-Biruni, life on earth would
have been impossible. The conception of social
pollution, intrinsic to the caste system, was
according to him, contrary to the laws of nature.
The system of varnas
This is Al-Birunis account of the system of varnas:
The highest caste are the Brahmana, of whom the
books of the Hindus tell us that they were created from
the head of Brahman. And as the Brahman is only
another name for the force called nature, and the head
is the highest part of the body, the Brahmana are the
choice part of the whole genus. Therefore the Hindus
consider them as the very best of mankind.
The next caste are the Kshatriya, who were created,
as they say, from the shoulders and hands of Brahman.
Their degree is not much below that of the Brahmana.
After them follow the Vaishya, who were created from
the thigh of Brahman.
The Shudra, who were created from his feet . . .
Between the latter two classes there is no very
great distance. Much, however, as these classes
differ from each other, they live together in the
same towns and villages, mixed together in the same
houses and lodgings.
As we have seen, Al-Birunis description of the
caste system was deeply influenced by his study
of normative Sanskrit texts which laid down the rules
governing the system from the point of view of
the Brahmanas. However, in real life the system
was not quite as rigid. For instance, the categories
defined as antyaja (literally, born outside the system)
were often expected to provide inexpensive labour to
both peasants and zamindars (see also Chapter 8).
In other words, while they were often subjected to
social oppression, they were included within
economic networks.
Discuss...
How important is knowledge
of the language of the area for
a traveller from a different
region?
Source 5
Compare what Al-Biruni
wrote with Source 6, Chapter 3.
Do you notice any similarities
and differences? Do you think
Al-Biruni depended only on
Sanskrit texts for his
information and understanding
of Indian society?
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 126
5. Ibn Battuta and the Excitement
of the Unfamiliar
By the time Ibn Battuta arrived in Delhi in the
fourteenth century, the subcontinent was part of a
global network of communication that stretched from
China in the east to north-west Africa and Europe
in the west. As we have seen, Ibn Battuta himself
travelled extensively through these lands, visiting
sacred shrines, spending time with learned men and
rulers, often officiating as qazi, and enjoying the
cosmopolitan culture of urban centres where people
who spoke Arabic, Persian, Turkish and other
languages, shared ideas, information and anecdotes.
These included stories about men noted for their
piety, kings who could be both cruel and generous,
and about the lives of ordinary men and women;
anything that was unfamiliar was particularly
highlighted in order to ensure that the listener or
the reader was suitably impressed by accounts of
distant yet accessible worlds.
5.1 The coconut and the paan
Some of the best examples of Ibn Battutas strategies
of representation are evident in the ways in which
he described the coconut and the paan, two kinds of
plant produce that were completely unfamiliar to
his audience.
The paan
Read Ibn Battutas description of the paan:
The betel is a tree which is cultivated in the same
manner as the grape-vine; The betel has no fruit
and is grown only for the sake of its leaves The
manner of its use is that before eating it one takes
areca nut; this is like a nutmeg but is broken up until it
is reduced to small pellets, and one places these in his
mouth and chews them. Then he takes the leaves of
betel, puts a little chalk on them, and masticates them
along with the betel.
Nuts like a mans head
The following is how Ibn Battuta
described the coconut:
These trees are among the
most peculiar trees in kind
and most astoni shi ng i n
habi t. They l ook exactl y
l i ke date-pal ms, wi thout
any di f f erence bet ween
them except that the one
produces nuts as its fruits
and the other produces
dates. The nut of a coconut
t ree resembl es a man s
head, for in it are what look
like two eyes and a mouth,
and the inside of it when it is
green looks like the brain,
and attached to it is a fibre
which looks like hair. They
make from this cords with
which they sew up ships
instead of (using) iron nails,
and they (also) make from it
cables for vessels.
Source 6
What are the
comparisons that Ibn
Battuta makes to give his
readers an idea about
what coconuts looked
like? Do you think these
are appropriate? How
does he convey a sense
that this fruit is unusual?
How accurate is his
description?
Source 7
Why do you think this attracted Ibn
Battutas attention? Is there anything you
would like to add to this description?
127
5.2 Ibn Battuta and Indian cities
Ibn Battuta found cities in the subcontinent full of
exciting opportunities for those who had the
necessary drive, resources and skills. They were
densely populated and prosperous, except for the
occasional disruptions caused by wars and
invasions. It appears from Ibn Battutas account that
most cities had crowded streets and bright and
colourful markets that were stacked with a wide
variety of goods. Ibn Battuta described Delhi as a
vast city, with a great population, the largest in India.
Daulatabad (in Maharashtra) was no less, and easily
rivalled Delhi in size.
Source 8
Dehli
Here is an excerpt from Ibn Battutas account of Delhi, often spelt as Dehli in texts
of the period:
The city of Dehli covers a wide area and has a large population ...
The rampart round the city is without parallel. The breadth of its wall
is eleven cubits; and inside it are houses for the night sentry and gate-
keepers. Inside the ramparts, there are store-houses for storing edibles,
magazines, ammunition, ballistas and siege machines. The grains that
are stored (in these ramparts) can last for a long time, without rotting
... In the interior of the rampart, horsemen as well as infantrymen
move from one end of the city to another. The rampart is pierced
through by windows which open on the side of the city, and it is
through these windows that light enters inside. The lower part of the
rampart is built of stone; the upper part of bricks. It has many towers
close to one another. There are twenty eight gates of this city which
are called darwaza, and of these, the Budaun darwaza is the greatest;
inside the Mandwi darwaza there is a grain market; adjacent to the
Gul darwaza there is an orchard ... It (the city of Dehli) has a fine cemetery in which graves have
domes over them, and those that do not have a dome, have an arch, for sure. In the cemetery
they sow flowers such
as tuberose, jasmine,
wi l d rose, etc. ; and
flowers blossom there
in all seasons.
What were the architectural
features that Ibn Battuta
noted?
Compare this description with
the illustrations of the city
shown in Figs. 5.8 and 5.9.
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Fig. 5.8 (top)
An arch in Tughlakabad,
Delhi
Fig. 5.9 (left)
Part of the fortification
wall of the settlement
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 128
The bazaars were not only places of economic
transactions, but also the hub of social and cultural
activities. Most bazaars had a mosque and a temple,
and in some of them at least, spaces were marked for
public performances by dancers, musicians and singers.
While Ibn Battuta was not particularly concerned
with explaining the prosperity of towns, historians have
used his account to suggest that towns derived a
significant portion of their wealth through the
appropriation of surplus from villages. Ibn Battuta
found Indian agriculture very productive because of
the fertility of the soil, which allowed farmers to
cultivate two crops a year. He also noted that the
subcontinent was well integrated with inter-Asian
networks of trade and commerce, with Indian
manufactures being in great demand in both West Asia
and Southeast Asia, fetching huge profits for artisans
and merchants. Indian textiles, particularly cotton
cloth, fine muslins, silks, brocade and satin, were in
great demand. Ibn Battuta informs us that certain
varieties of fine muslin were so expensive that they
could be worn only by the nobles and the very rich.
Music in the market
Read Ibn Battutas description of Daulatabad:
In Daulatabad there is a market place for male and
female singers, which is known as Tarababad. It is one
of the greatest and most beautiful bazaars. It has
numerous shops and every shop has a door which
leads into the house of the owner ... The shops are
decorated with carpets and at the centre of a shop
there is a swing on which sits the female singer. She is
decked with all kinds of finery and her female attendants
swing her. In the middle of the market place there stands
a large cupola, which is carpeted and decorated and
in which the chief of the musicians takes his place every
Thursday after the dawn prayers, accompanied by his
servants and slaves. The female singers come in
successive crowds, sing before him and dance until
dusk after which he withdraws. In this bazaar there are
mosques for offering prayers ... One of the Hindu rulers
... alighted at the cupola every time he passed by this
market place, and the female singers would sing before
him. Even some Muslim rulers did the same.
Source 9
Fig. 5.10
Ikat weaving patterns such as this
were adopted and modified at
several coastal production centres
in the subcontinent and in
Southeast Asia.
Why do you think Ibn
Battuta highlighted these
activities in his description?
129
5.3 A unique system of communication
The state evidently took special measures to
encourage merchants. Almost all trade routes were
well supplied with inns and guest houses. Ibn
Battuta was also amazed by the efficiency of the
postal system which allowed merchants to not only
send information and remit credit across long
distances, but also to dispatch goods required at
short notice. The postal system was so efficient that
while it took fifty days to reach Delhi from Sind,
the news reports of spies would reach the Sultan
through the postal system in just five days.
On horse and on foot
This is how Ibn Battuta describes the postal system:
In India the postal system is of two kinds. The horse-
post, called uluq, is run by royal horses stationed at a
distance of every four miles. The foot-post has three
stations per mile; it is called dawa, that is one-third of a
mile ... Now, at every third of a mile there is a well-
populated village, outside which are three pavilions in
which sit men with girded loins ready to start. Each of
them carries a rod, two cubits in length, with copper
bells at the top. When the courier starts from the city
he holds the letter in one hand and the rod with its
bells on the other; and he runs as fast as he can. When
the men in the pavilion hear the ringing of the bell they
get ready. As soon as the courier reaches them, one of
them takes the letter from his hand and runs at top
speed shaking the rod all the while until he reaches
the next dawa. And the same process continues till the
letter reaches its destination. This foot-post is quicker
than the horse-post; and often it is used to transport
the fruits of Khurasan which are much desired in India.
Discuss...
How did Ibn Battuta handle the problem of
describing things or situations to people who
had not seen or experienced them?
A strange nation?
The travelogue of Abdur Razzaq
wri t t en i n t he 1440s i s an
interesting mixture of emotions
and perceptions. On the one
hand, he did not appreciate
what he saw i n the port of
Calicut (present-day Kozhikode)
in Kerala, which was populated
by a people the likes of whom I
had never imagined, describing
them as a strange nation.
Later in his visit to India, he
arri ved i n Mangal ore, and
crossed the Western Ghats. Here
he saw a temple that filled him
with admiration:
Within three leagues (about
nine miles of Mangalore, I
saw an idol-house the likes
of which is not to be found
in all the world. It was a
square, approximately ten
yards a side, five yards in
height, all covered with cast
bronze, with four porticos.
In the entrance portico was
a statue in the likeness of a
human being, full stature,
made of gold. It had two
red rubi es f or eyes, so
cunningly made that you
would say it could see.
What craft and artisanship!
Source 10
Do you think the foot-post system could
have operated throughout the subcontinent?
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 130
6. Bernier and the Degenerate
East
If Ibn Battuta chose to describe everything that
impressed and excited him because of its novelty,
Franois Bernier belonged to a different intellectual
tradition. He was far more preoccupied with
comparing and contrasting what he saw in India
with the situation in Europe in general and France
in particular, focusing on situations which he
considered depressing. His idea seems to have been
to influence policy-makers and the intelligentsia to
ensure that they made what he considered to be the
right decisions.
Berniers Travels in the Mughal Empire is marked
by detailed observations, critical insights and
reflection. His account contains discussions trying
to place the history of the Mughals within some sort
of a universal framework. He constantly compared
Mughal India with contemporary Europe, generally
emphasising the superiority of the latter. His
representation of India works on the model of
binary opposition, where India is presented as the
inverse of Europe. He also ordered the perceived
differences hierarchically, so that India appeared to
be inferior to the Western world.
6.1 The question of landownership
According to Bernier, one of the fundamental
differences between Mughal India and Europe was
the lack of private property in land in the former.
He was a firm believer in the virtues of private
property, and saw crown ownership of land as
being harmful for both the state and its people. He
thought that in the Mughal Empire the emperor
owned all the land and distributed it among his
nobles, and that this had disastrous consequences
for the economy and society. This perception was
not unique to Bernier, but is found in most
travellers accounts of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.
Owing to crown ownership of land, argued Bernier,
landholders could not pass on their land to their
children. So they were averse to any long-term
investment in the sustenance and expansion of
production. The absence of private property in land
had, therefore, prevented the emergence of the class
of improving landlords (as in Western Europe) with
Widespread poverty
Pelsaert, a Dutch traveller, visited
the subcontinent during the early
decades of the seventeenth
century. Like Bernier, he was
shocked to see the widespread
poverty, poverty so great and
miserable that the life of the
peopl e can be depi cted or
accurately described only as the
home of stark want and the
dwelling place of bitter woe.
Holding the state responsible,
he says: So much is wrung
from the peasants that even dry
bread i s scarcel y l eft to fi l l
their stomachs.
131
a concern to maintain or improve the land. It had
led to the uniform ruination of agriculture, excessive
oppression of the peasantry and a continuous decline
in the living standards of all sections of society, except
the ruling aristocracy.
The poor peasant
An excerpt from Berniers description of the peasantry in
the countryside:
Of the vast tracts of country constituting the empire of
Hindustan, many are little more than sand, or barren
mountains, badly cultivated, and thinly populated.
Even a considerable portion of the good land remains
untilled for want of labourers; many of whom perish in
consequence of the bad treatment they experience
from Governors. The poor people, when they become
i ncapabl e of di schargi ng the demands of thei r
rapacious lords, are not only often deprived of the
means of subsistence, but are also made to lose their
children, who are carried away as slaves. Thus, it
happens that the peasantry, driven to despair by so
excessive a tyranny, abandon the country.
I n t hi s i nst ance, Berni er was part i ci pat i ng i n
contemporary debates in Europe concerning the nature
of state and society, and intended that his description of
Mughal India would serve as a warning to those who did
not recognise the merits of private property.
As an extension of this, Bernier described Indian
society as consisting of undifferentiated masses of
impoverished people, subjugated by a small minority
of a very rich and powerful ruling class. Between
the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich,
there was no social group or class worth the name.
Bernier confidently asserted: There is no middle
state in India.
Source 11
What, according to Bernier, were the
problems faced by peasants in the
subcontinent? Do you think his description
would have served to strengthen his case?
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Fig. 5.11
Drawings such as this
nineteenth-century example
often reinforced the notion of
an unchanging rural society.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 132
This, then, is how Bernier saw the Mughal Empire
its king was the king of beggars and barbarians;
its cities and towns were ruined and contaminated
with ill air; and its fields, overspread with bushes
and full of pestilential marishes. And, all this was
because of one reason: crown ownership of land.
Curiously, none of the Mughal official documents
suggest that the state was the sole owner of land.
For instance, Abul Fazl, the sixteenth-century
official chronicler of Akbars reign, describes the land
revenue as remunerations of sovereignty, a claim
made by the ruler on his subjects for the protection
he provided rather than as rent on land that he
owned. It is possible that European travellers
regarded such claims as rent because land revenue
demands were often very high. However, this was
actually not a rent or even a land tax, but a tax on
the crop (for more details, see Chapter 8).
Bernier s descriptions influenced Western
theorists from the eighteenth century onwards. The
French philosopher Montesquieu, for instance, used
this account to develop the idea of oriental despotism,
according to which rulers in Asia (the Orient or the
East) enjoyed absolute authority over their subjects,
who were kept in conditions of subjugation and
poverty, arguing that all land belonged to the king
and that private property was non-existent.
According to this view, everybody, except the emperor
and his nobles, barely managed to survive.
This idea was further developed as the concept of
the Asiatic mode of production by Karl Marx in the
nineteenth century. He argued that in India (and
other Asian countries), before colonialism, surplus
was appropriated by the state. This led to the
emergence of a society that was composed of a large
number of autonomous and (internally) egalitarian
village communities. The imperial court presided
over these village communities, respecting their
autonomy as long as the flow of surplus was
unimpeded. This was regarded as a stagnant system.
However, as we will see (Chapter 8), this picture
of rural society was far from true. In fact, during
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, rural
society was characterised by considerable social and
economic differentiation. At one end of the spectrum
were the big zamindars, who enjoyed superior rights
in land and, at the other, the untouchable landless
A warning for Europe
Berni er warned t hat i f
European kings followed the
Mughal model:
Their kingdoms would be
very far from being well-
cul ti vated and peopl ed,
so well built, so rich, so
polite and flourishing as
we see them. Our ki ngs
are ot herwi se ri ch and
powerf ul ; and we must
avow that they are much
better and more royal l y
served. They would soon be
ki ngs of desert s and
solitudes, of beggars and
barbarians, such as those
are whom I have been
representing (the Mughals)
We shoul d f i nd t he
great Cities and the great
Burroughs (boroughs)
rendered uni nhabi t abl e
because of ill air, and to
fall to ruine (ruin) without
any bodies (anybody) taking
care of repai ri ng t hem;
t he hi l l ocks abandon d,
and the fields overspread
wi t h bushes, or f i l l d
with pestilential marishes
(marshes), as hath been
already intimated.
Source 12
How does Bernier depict
a scenario of doom?
Once you have read
Chapters 8 and 9, return
to this description and
analyse it again.
133
labourers. In between was the big peasant, who used
hired labour and engaged in commodity production, and
the smaller peasant who could barely produce for his
subsistence.
6.2 A more complex social reality
While Berniers preoccupation with projecting the
Mughal state as tyrannical is obvious, his descriptions
occasionally hint at a more complex social reality. For
instance, he felt that artisans had no incentive to
improve the quality of their manufactures, since profits
were appropriated by the state. Manufactures were,
consequently, everywhere in decline. At the same time,
he conceded that vast quantities of the worlds precious
metals flowed into India, as manufactures were exported
in exchange for gold and silver. He also noticed the
existence of a prosperous merchant community,
engaged in long-distance exchange.
Source 13
A different socio-economic scenario
Read this excerpt from Berniers description of both
agriculture and craft production:
It is important to observe, that of this vast tract of country,
a large portion is extremely fertile; the large kingdom of
Bengale (Bengal), for instance, surpassing Egypt itself, not
only in the production of rice, corn, and other necessaries
of life, but of innumerable articles of commerce which are
not cultivated in Egypt; such as silks, cotton, and indigo.
There are also many parts of the Indies, where the
population is sufficiently abundant, and the land pretty well
tilled; and where the artisan, although naturally indolent,
is yet compelled by necessity or otherwise to employ himself
in manufacturing carpets, brocades, embroideries, gold
and silver cloths, and the various sorts of silk and cotton
goods, which are used in the country or exported abroad.
It should not escape notice that gold and silver, after
circulating in every other quarter of the globe, come at
length to be swallowed up, lost in some measure, in
Hindustan.
In what ways is the description in this excerpt
different from that in Source 11?
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Fig. 5.12
A gold spoon studded with
emeralds and rubies, an
example of the dexterity of
Mughal artisans
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 134
In fact, during the seventeenth century about
15 per cent of the population lived in towns. This
was, on average, higher than the proportion of urban
population in Western Europe in the same period.
In spite of this Bernier described Mughal cities as
camp towns, by which he meant towns that owed
their existence, and depended for their survival,
on the imperial camp. He believed that these came
into existence when the imperial court moved in
and rapi dl y decl i ned when i t moved out. He
suggested that they did not have viable social and
economic foundations but were dependent on
imperial patronage.
As in the case of the question of landownership,
Bernier was drawing an oversimplified picture.
There were all kinds of towns: manufacturing
towns, trading towns, port-towns, sacred centres,
pilgrimage towns, etc. Their existence is an index
of the prosperity of merchant communities and
professional classes.
Merchants often had strong community or kin ties,
and were organised into their own caste-cum-
occupational bodies. In western India these groups
were called mahajans, and their chief, the sheth. In
urban centres such as Ahmedabad the mahajans
were collectively represented by the chief of the
merchant community who was called the nagarsheth.
Other urban groups i ncl uded professi onal
classes such as physicians (hakim or vaid), teachers
( pundi t or mul l a) , l awyers (wakil ) , pai nters,
architects, musicians, calligraphers, etc. While
some depended on imperial patronage, many made
their living by serving other patrons, while still
others served ordinary people in crowded markets
or bazaars.
The imperial karkhanas
Bernier is perhaps the onl y
historian who provides a detailed
account of the worki ng of
t he i mperi al karkhanas or
workshops:
Large hal l s are seen
at many pl aces, cal l ed
karkhanas or workshops
for the artisans. In one hall,
embroi derers are busi l y
employed, superintended
by a master. In another,
you see the goldsmiths; in a
third, painters; in a fourth,
varnishers in lacquer-work;
in a fifth, joiners, turners,
tailors and shoe-makers; in
a sixth, manufacturers of silk,
brocade and fine muslins
The artisans come every
morning to their karkhanas
where t hey remai n
employed the whole day;
and in the evening return to
their homes. In this quiet
regular manner, their time
glides away; no one aspiring
for any improvement in the
condition of life wherein he
happens to be born.
How does Bernier
convey a sense that
although there was a
great deal of activity,
there was little progress?
Source 14
Discuss...
Why do you think scholars like Bernier chose to
compare India with Europe?

135
Slave women
Ibn Battuta informs us:
It is the habit of the emperor ... to
keep with every noble, great or
small, one of his slaves who spies
on the nobles. He also appoints
female scavengers who enter the
houses unannounced; and to them
the slave girls communicate all the
information they possess.
Most female slaves were captured in
raids and expeditions.
7. Women
Slaves, Sati and Labourers
Travellers who left written accounts were
generally men who were interested in and
sometimes intrigued by the condition of
women in the subcontinent. Sometimes they
took social inequities for granted as a
natural state of affairs. For instance,
slaves were openly sold in markets, like any
other commodity, and were regularly
exchanged as gifts. When Ibn Battuta
reached Sind he purchased horses, camels
and slaves as gifts for Sultan Muhammad
bin Tughlaq. When he reached Multan, he
presented the governor with, a slave and
horse together with raisins and almonds.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq, informs Ibn
Battuta, was so happy with the sermon of a
preacher named Nasiruddin that he gave him
a hundred thousand tankas (coins) and
two hundred slaves.
It appears from Ibn Battutas account that
there was considerable differentiation among
slaves. Some female slaves in the service of
the Sultan were experts in music and dance,
and Ibn Battuta enjoyed their performance
at the wedding of the Sultans sister. Female
slaves were also employed by the Sultan to
keep a watch on his nobles.
Slaves were generally used for domestic
labour, and Ibn Battuta found their services
particularly indispensable for carrying
women and men on palanquins or dola. The
price of slaves, particularly female slaves
required for domestic labour, was very low,
and most families who could afford to do so
kept at least one or two of them.
Contemporary European travellers and
writers often highlighted the treatment of
women as a crucial marker of difference
between Western and Eastern societies. Not
surprisingly, Bernier chose the practice of
sati for detailed description. He noted that
while some women seemed to embrace death
cheerfully, others were forced to die.
Source 15
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Source 16
The child sati
Thi s i s perhaps one of t he most
poignant descriptions by Bernier:
At Lahore I saw a most beautiful
young wi dow sacri f i ced, who
could not, I think, have been more
than twelve years of age. The poor
little creature appeared more dead
than alive when she approached
the dreadful pit: the agony of her
mind cannot be described; she
trembled and wept bitterly; but
three or four of the Brahmanas,
assisted by an old woman who held
her under the arm, forced the
unwilling victim toward the fatal
spot, seated her on the wood, tied
her hands and feet, lest she should
run away, and in that situation the
innocent creature was burnt alive.
I found it difficult to repress my
f eel i ngs and t o prevent t hei r
bursting forth into clamorous and
unavailing rage
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 136
However, womens lives revolved around much else
besides the practice of sati. Their labour was crucial
in both agricultural and non-agricultural production.
Women from merchant families participated in
commercial activities, sometimes even taking
mercantile disputes to the court of law. It therefore
seems unlikely that women were confined to the
private spaces of their homes.
You may have noticed that travellers accounts
provide us with a tantalising glimpse of the lives of
men and women during these centuries. However,
their observations were often shaped by the contexts
from which they came. At the same time, there were
many aspects of social life that these travellers did
not notice.
Also relatively unknown are the experiences and
observations of men (and possibly women) from the
subcontinent who crossed seas and mountains and
ventured into lands beyond the subcontinent. What
did they see and hear? How were their relations with
peoples of distant lands shaped? What were the
languages they used? These and other questions will
hopefully be systematically addressed by historians
in the years to come.
Discuss...
Why do you think the lives of
ordinary women workers did
not attract the attention of
travellers such as Ibn Battuta
and Bernier?
Fig. 5.13
A sculpted panel from Mathura
depicting travellers
What are the various modes
of transport that are shown?
137
Timeline
Some Travellers who Left Accounts
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Tenth- eleventh centuries
973-1048 Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan al-Biruni
(from Uzbekistan)
Thirteenth century
1254-1323 Marco Polo (from Italy)
Fourteenth century
1304-77 Ibn Battuta (from Morocco)
Fifteenth century
1413-82 Abd al-Razzaq Kamal al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Samarqandi
(from Samarqand)
1466-72 Afanasii Nikitich Nikitin
(years spent in India) (fifteenth century, from Russia)
Sixteenth century
1518 Duarte Barbosa, d.1521 (from Portugal)
(visit to India)
1562 Seydi Ali Reis (from Turkey)
(year of death)
1536-1600 Antonio Monserrate (from Spain)
Seventeenth century
1626-31 Mahmud Wali Balkhi (from Balkh)
(years spent in India)
1600-67 Peter Mundy (from England)
1605-89 Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (from France)
1620-88 Franois Bernier (from France)
Note: Unless otherwise indicated, the dates mentioned are those of the lifespan of the traveller.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 138
Answer in100-150 words
1. Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
2. Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn
Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels
in India.
3. Discuss the picture of urban centres that emerges from
Berniers account.
4. Analyse the evidence for slavery provided by Ibn Battuta.
5. What were the elements of the practice of sati that drew
the attention of Bernier?
Write a short essay (about
250-300 words) on the following:
6. Discuss Al-Birunis understanding of the caste system.
7. Do you think Ibn Battutas account is useful in
arriving at an understanding of life in contemporary
urban centres? Give reasons for your answer.
8. Discuss the extent to which Berniers account enables
historians to reconstruct contemporary rural society.
9. Read this excerpt from Bernier:
Numerous are the instances of handsome pieces
of workmanship made by persons destitute of
tools, and who can scarcely be said to have received
instruction from a master. Sometimes they imitate
so perfectly articles of European manufacture that
the difference between the original and copy can
hardly be discerned. Among other things, the
Indians make excellent muskets, and fowling-
pieces, and such beautiful gold ornaments that
it may be doubted if the exquisite workmanship
of those articles can be exceeded by any European
goldsmith. I have often admired the beauty,
softness, and delicacy of their paintings.
List the crafts mentioned in the passage. Compare
these with the descriptions of artisanal activity in
the chapter.
139
Muzaffar Alam and
Sanjay Subrahmanyam. 2006.
Indo-Persian Travels in the Age
of Discoveries, 1400-1800.
Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Catherine Asher and Cynthia
Talbot. 2006.
India Before Europe.
Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Franois Bernier. nd.
Travels in the Mogul Empire
AD 1656-1668.
Low Price Publications,
New Delhi.
H.A.R. Gibb (ed.). 1993.
The Travels of Ibn Battuta.
Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi.
Mushirul Hasan (ed.). 2005.
Westward Bound:
Travels of Mirza Abu Talib.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
H.K. Kaul (ed.). 1997.
Travellers India an Anthology.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. 1993.
Travels in India.
Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi.
Map work
If you would like to know
more, read:
For more information,
you could visit:
www.edumaritime.org
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
10. On an outline map of the world mark the countries
visited by Ibn Battuta. What are the seas that he
may have crossed?
Projects (choose one)
11. Interview any one of your older relatives (mother/
father/grandparents/uncles/aunts) who has
travelled outside your town or village. Find out
(a) where they went, (b) how they travelled,
(c) how long did it take, (d) why did they travel
(e) and did they face any difficulties. List as many
similarities and differences that they may have
noticed between their place of residence and the
place they visited, focusing on language, clothes,
food, customs, buildings, roads, the lives of men
and women. Write a report on your findings.
12. For any one of the travellers mentioned in
the chapter, find out more about his life and
writings. Prepare a report on his travels, noting
in particular how he described society, and
comparing these descriptions with the excerpts
included in the chapter.
Fig. 5.14
A painting depicting travellers at rest
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 140
We saw in Chapter 4 that by the mid-first
millennium CE the landscape of the subcontinent
was dotted with a variety of religious structures
stupas, monasteries, temples. If these typified
certain religious beliefs and practices, others have
been reconstructed from textual traditions,
including the Puranas, many of which received
their present shape around the same time, and yet
others remain only faintly visible in textual and
visual records.
New textual sources available from this period
include compositions attributed to poet-saints,
most of whom expressed themselves orally in
regional languages used by ordinary people. These
compositions, which were often set to music, were
compiled by disciples or devotees, generally after
the death of the poet-saint. What is more, these
traditions were fluid generations of devotees tended
to elaborate on the original message, and occasionally
modified or even abandoned some of the ideas that
appeared problematic or irrelevant in different
political, social or cultural contexts. Using these
sources thus poses a challenge to historians.
Historians also draw on hagiographies or
biographies of saints written by their followers (or
members of their religious sect). These may not be
literally accurate, but allow a glimpse into the ways
in which devotees perceived the lives of these path-
breaking women and men.
As we will see, these sources provide us with
insights into a scenario characterised by dynamism
and diversity. Let us look at some elements of these
more closely.
Bhakti - Sufi Traditions
Changes in Religious Beliefs and Changes in Religious Beliefs and Changes in Religious Beliefs and Changes in Religious Beliefs and Changes in Religious Beliefs and
De De De De Dev vv vvo oo ootional T tional T tional T tional T tional Te ee eexts xts xts xts xts
( (( ((c cc cc. eighth to eighteenth century) . eighth to eighteenth century) . eighth to eighteenth century) . eighth to eighteenth century) . eighth to eighteenth century)
Fig. 6.1
A twelfth-century bronze sculpture of
Manikkavachakar, a devotee of Shiva
who composed beautiful devotional songs in Tamil
THEME
SIX

141
Great and little
traditions
The t erms great and l i t t l e
traditions were coined by a
soci ol ogi st named Robert
Redf i el d i n t he t went i et h
century to describe the cultural
practices of peasant societies.
He f ound t hat peasant s
observed rituals and customs
that emanated from dominant
social categories, including
priests and rulers. These he
classified as part of a great
tradition. At the same time,
peasants also followed local
pract i ces t hat di d not
necessarily correspond with
those of the great tradition.
These he included within the
category of little tradition. He
also noticed that both great
and little traditions changed
over time, through a process of
interaction.
While scholars accept the
significance of these categories
and processes, t hey are
often uncomfortable with the
hierarchy suggested by the
terms great and little. The use
of quotation marks for great
and l i t t l e i s one way of
indicating this.
1. A Mosaic of Religious Beliefs
and Practices
Perhaps the most striking feature of this phase is
the increasing visibility of a wide range of gods and
goddesses in sculpture as well as in texts. At one
level, this indicates the continued and even extended
worship of the major deities Vishnu, Shiva and
the goddess each of whom was visualised in a
variety of forms.
1.1 The integration of cults
Historians who have tried to understand these
developments suggest that there were at least two
processes at work. One was a process of disseminating
Brahmanical ideas. This is exemplified by the
composition, compilation and preservation of Puranic
texts in simple Sanskrit verse, explicitly meant to
be accessible to women and Shudras, who were
generally excluded from Vedic learning. At the same
time, there was a second process at work that of
the Brahmanas accepting and reworking the beliefs
and practices of these and other social categories. In
fact, many beliefs and practices were shaped through
a continuous dialogue between what sociologists have
described as great Sanskritic Puranic traditions
and little traditions throughout the land.
One of the most striking examples of this process
is evident at Puri, Orissa, where the principal deity
was identified, by the twelfth century, as Jagannatha
(literally, the lord of the world), a form of Vishnu.
Fig. 6.2
Jagannatha (extreme right) with his
sister Subhadra (centre) and his
brother Balarama (left)
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 142
If you compare Fig. 6.2 with Fig. 4.26 (Chapter 4)
you will notice that the deity is represented in a
very different way. In this instance, a local deity,
whose image was and continues to be made of wood
by local tribal specialists, was recognised as a form
of Vishnu. At the same time, Vishnu was visualised
in a way that was very different from that in other
parts of the country.
Such i nstances of i ntegrati on are evi dent
amongst goddess cults as well. Worship of the
goddess, often simply in the form of a stone smeared
with ochre, was evidently widespread. These local
deities were often incorporated within the Puranic
framework by providing them with an identity as a
wife of the principal male deities sometimes they
were equated with Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, in
other instances, with Parvati, the wife of Shiva.
1.2 Difference and conflict
Often associated with the goddess were forms
of worship that were classified as Tantric. Tantric
practices were widespread in several parts of the
subcontinent they were open to women and
men, and practitioners often ignored differences
of caste and class within the ritual context. Many
of these ideas influenced Shaivism as well as
Buddhism, especially in the eastern, northern and
southern parts of the subcontinent.
All of these somewhat divergent and even disparate
beliefs and practices would come to be classified as
Hindu over the course of the next millennium. The
divergence is perhaps most stark if we compare Vedic
and Puranic traditions. The principal deities of the
Vedic pantheon, Agni, Indra and Soma, become
marginal figures, rarely visible in textual or visual
representations. And while we can catch a glimpse
of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess in Vedic mantras,
these have little in common with the elaborate
Puranic mythologies. However, in spite of these
obvious discrepancies, the Vedas continued to be
revered as authoritative.
Not surprisingly, there were sometimes conflicts as
well those who valued the Vedic tradition often
condemned practices that went beyond the closely
regulated contact with the divine through the
performance of sacrifices or precisely chanted mantras.
On the other hand those engaged in Tantric practices
Fig. 6.3
Sculpture of a Buddhist goddess,
Marichi (c. tenth century, Bihar),
an example of the process of
integration of different religious
beliefs and practices
143
frequently ignored the authority of the Vedas. Also,
devotees often tended to project their chosen deity,
either Vishnu or Shiva, as supreme. Relations with
other traditions, such as Buddhism or Jainism, were
also often fraught with tension if not open conflict.
The traditions of devotion or bhakti need to be
located within this context. Devotional worship had
a long history of almost a thousand years before
the period we are considering. During this time,
expressions of devotion ranged from the routine
worship of deities within temples to ecstatic
adoration where devotees attained a trance-like
state. The singing and chanting of devotional
compositions was often a part of such modes of
worship. This was particularly true of the Vaishnava
and Shaiva sects.
2. Poems of Prayer
Early Traditions of Bhakti
In the course of the evolution of these forms of
worship, in many instances, poet-saints emerged
as leaders around whom there developed a
community of devotees. Further, while Brahmanas
remained important intermediaries between gods and
devotees in several forms of bhakti, these traditions
also accommodated and acknowledged women and
the lower castes, categories considered ineligible
for liberation within the orthodox Brahmanical
framework. What also characterised traditions of
bhakti was a remarkable diversity.
At a different level, historians of religion often
classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories:
saguna (with attributes) and nirguna (without
attributes). The former included traditions that
focused on the worship of specific deities such
as Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) and
forms of the goddess or Devi, all often conceptualised
in anthropomorphic forms. Nirguna bhakti on the
other hand was worship of an abstract form of god.
2.1 The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu
Some of the earliest bhakti movements (c. sixth
century) were led by the Alvars (literally, those who
are immersed in devotion to Vishnu) and Nayanars
(literally, leaders who were devotees of Shiva). They
travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil
in praise of their gods.
Discuss...
Find out about gods and
goddesses worshipped in your
town or village, noting their
names and the ways in which
they are depicted. Describe
the rituals that are
performed.
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
Alwar= Vishnu
Nayanar=Shiva
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 144
During their travels the Alvars and Nayanars
identified certain shrines as abodes of their chosen
deities. Very often large temples were later built at
these sacred places. These developed as centres of
pilgrimage. Singing compositions of these poet-saints
became part of temple rituals in these shrines, as
did worship of the saints images.
2.2 Attitudes towards caste
Some historians suggest that the Alvars and
Nayanars initiated a movement of protest against
the caste system and the dominance of Brahmanas
or at least attempted to reform the system. To some
extent this is corroborated by the fact that bhaktas
hailed from diverse social backgrounds ranging from
Brahmanas to artisans and cultivators and even
from castes considered untouchable.
The importance of the traditions of the Alvars
and Nayanars was sometimes indicated by the
claim that their compositions were as important
as the Vedas. For instance, one of the major
anthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the Nalayira
Divyaprabandham, was frequently described as the
Tamil Veda, thus claiming that the text was as
significant as the four Vedas in Sanskrit that were
cherished by the Brahmanas.
2.3 Women devotees
Perhaps one of the most striking features of these
traditions was the presence of women. For instance,
the compositions of Andal, a woman Alvar, were
widely sung (and continue to be sung to date). Andal
saw herself as the beloved of Vishnu; her verses
express her love for the deity. Another woman,
Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a devotee of Shiva, adopted
the path of extreme asceticism in order to attain
Compilations of devotional literature
By the tenth century the compositions of the 12 Alvars were
compiled in an anthology known as the Nalayira
Divyaprabandham (Four Thousand Sacred Compositions).
The poems of Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar form
the Tevaram, a collection that was compiled and classified
in the tenth century on the basis of the music of the songs.
Source 1
Source 2
The chaturvedin (Brahmana
versed in the four Vedas)
and the outcaste
Thi s i s an excerpt f rom a
composition of an Alvar named
Tondaradippodi, who was a
Brahmana:
You (Vishnu) manifestly like
those servants who express
their love for your feet,
t hough t hey may be born
outcastes, more than
t he Chat urvedi ns who are
st rangers and wi t hout
allegiance to your service.
Do you think
Tondaradippodi was
opposed to the caste
system?
Shastras or devotion?
This is a verse composed by
Appar, a Nayanar saint:
O rogues who quote the law
books,
Of what use are your gotra and
kula?
Just bow to Marperus lord
(Shiva who resides in Marperu,
in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu) as
your sole refuge.
Are there any
similarities or differences
in the attitudes of
Tondaradippodi and Appar
towards Brahmanas?
145
Source 3
Fig. 6.4
A twelfth-century bronze image
of Karaikkal Ammaiyar
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
her goal. Her compositions were preserved within
the Nayanar tradition. These women renounced their
social obligations, but did not join an alternative
order or become nuns. Their very existence and their
compositions posed a challenge to patriarchal norms.
A demon?
This is an excerpt from a poem by Karaikkal Ammaiyar in
which she describes herself:
The female Pey (demoness)
with . . . bulging veins,
protruding eyes, white teeth and shrunken stomach,
red haired and jutting teeth
lengthy shins extending till the ankles,
shouts and wails
while wandering in the forest.
This is the forest of Alankatu,
which is the home of our father (Shiva)
who dances with his matted hair
thrown in all eight directions, and with cool limbs.
List the ways in which Karaikkal Ammaiyar
depicts herself as presenting a contrast to
traditional notions of feminine beauty.
2.4 Relations with the state
We saw in Chapter 2 that there were several
important chiefdoms in the Tamil region in the early
first millennium CE. From the second half of the first
millennium there is evidence for states, including
those of the Pallavas and Pandyas (c. sixth to ninth
centuries CE). While Buddhism and Jainism had
been prevalent in this region for several centuries,
drawing support from merchant and artisan
communities, these religious traditions received
occasional royal patronage.
Interestingly, one of the major themes in Tamil
bhakti hymns is the poets opposition to Buddhism
and Jainism. This is particularly marked in the
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 146
compositions of the Nayanars. Historians have
attempted to explain this hostility by suggesting that
it was due to competition between members of
other religious traditions for royal patronage. What
is evident is that the powerful Chola rulers (ninth
to thirteenth centuries) supported Brahmanical
and bhakti traditions, making land grants and
constructing temples for Vishnu and Shiva.
In fact, some of the most magnificent Shiva
temples, including those at Chidambaram, Thanjavur
and Gangaikondacholapuram, were constructed
under the patronage of Chola rulers. This was also
the period when some of the most spectacular
representations of Shiva in bronze sculpture were
produced. Clearly, the visions of the Nayanars
inspired artists.
Both Nayanars and Alvars were revered by the
Vellala peasants. Not surprisingly, rulers tried to
win their support as well. The Chola kings, for
instance, often attempted to claim divine support
and proclaim their own power and status by building
splendid temples that were adorned
with stone and metal sculpture to
recreate the visions of these popular
saints who sang in the language of
the people.
These kings also introduced the
singing of Tamil Shaiva hymns in
the temples under royal patronage,
taking the initiative to collect and
organise them into a text (Tevaram).
Further, inscriptional evidence from
around 945 suggests that the Chola
ruler Parantaka I had consecrated
metal images of Appar, Sambandar
and Sundarar in a Shiva temple.
These were carried in processions
during the festivals of these saints.
Fig. 6.5
An image of Shiva as Nataraja
Discuss...
Why do you think kings were
interested in proclaiming their
connections with bhaktas?
147
Rituals and the
real world
Here is a vachana composed
by Basavanna:
When they see a serpent
carved in stone they pour
milk on it.
If a real serpent comes they
say: Kill. Kill.
To the servant of the god who
could eat if served they say:
Go away! Go away!
But to the image of the god
which cannot eat they offer
dishes of food.
Describe Basavannas
attitude towards rituals.
How does he attempt to
convince the listener?
Source 4
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
3. The Virashaiva Tradition
in Karnataka
The twelfth century witnessed the emergence of a
new movement in Karnataka, led by a Brahmana
named Basavanna (1106-68) who was initially a
Jaina and a minister in the court of a Chalukya
king. His followers were known as Virashaivas
(heroes of Shiva) or Lingayats (wearers of the linga).
Lingayats continue to be an important community
in the region to date. They worship Shiva in his
manifestation as a linga, and men usually wear a
small linga in a silver case on a loop strung over the
left shoulder. Those who are revered include the
jangama or wandering monks. Lingayats believe
that on death the devotee will be united with Shiva
and will not return to this world. Therefore they do
not practise funerary rites such as cremation,
prescribed in the Dharmashastras. Instead, they
ceremonially bury their dead.
The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and
the pollution attributed to certain groups by
Brahmanas. They also questioned the theory of
rebirth. These won them followers amongst those
who were marginalised within the Brahmanical
social order. The Lingayats also encouraged certain
practices disapproved in the Dharmashastras,
such as post-puberty marriage and the remarriage
of widows. Our understanding of the Virashaiva
tradition is derived from vachanas (literally, sayings)
composed in Kannada by women and men who
joined the movement.
New religious developments
This period also witnessed two major developments.
On the one hand, many ideas of the Tamil bhaktas
(especially the Vaishnavas) were incorporated within
the Sanskritic tradition, culminating in the composition
of one of the best-known Puranas, the Bhagavata
Purana. Second, we find the development of traditions
of bhakti in Maharashtra in the thirteenth century.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 148
4. Religious Ferment in
North India
During the same period, in north India deities such as
Vishnu and Shiva were worshipped in temples, often built
with the support of rulers. However, historians have not
found evidence of anything resembling the compositions
of the Alvars and Nayanars till the fourteenth century.
How do we account for this difference?
Some historians point out that in north India this
was the period when several Rajput states emerged. In
most of these states Brahmanas occupied positions of
importance, performing a range of secular and ritual
functions. There seems to have been little or no attempt
to challenge their position directly.
At the same time other
religious leaders, who did not
function within the orthodox
Brahmanical framework, were
gaining ground. These included
the Naths, Jogis and Siddhas.
Many of them came from
artisanal groups, including
weavers, who were becoming
increasingly important with the
development of organised craft
production. Demand for such
production grew with the
emergence of new urban centres,
and long-distance trade with
Central Asia and West Asia.
Many of these new religious
leaders questioned the
authority of the Vedas, and
expressed themselves in languages spoken by ordinary
people, which developed over centuries into the ones
used today. However, in spite of their popularity these
religious leaders were not in a position to win the
support of the ruling elites.
A new element in this situation was the coming of
the Turks which culminated in the establishment of the
Delhi Sultanate (thirteenth century). This undermined
the power of many of the Rajput states and the
Brahmanas who were associated with these kingdoms.
This was accompanied by marked changes in the realm
of culture and religion. The coming of the sufis
(Section 6) was a significant part of these developments.
Fig. 6.6
Fragment of a page from the
Quran, belonging to a
manuscript dating to the
eighth or ninth century
149
Ulama (plural of alim, or one
who knows) are scholars of
Islamic studies. As preservers of
this tradition they perform
various religious, juridical and
teaching functions.
5. New Strands in the Fabric
Islamic Traditions
Just as the regions within the subcontinent were
not isolated from one another, so too, contact with
lands beyond the seas and mountains had existed
for millennia. Arab merchants, for instance,
frequented ports along the western coast in the first
millennium CE, while Central Asian peoples settled
in the north-western parts of the subcontinent
during the same period. From the seventh century,
with the advent of Islam, these regions became part
of what is often termed the Islamic world.
5.1 Faiths of rulers and subjects
One axis of understanding the significance of these
connections that is frequently adopted is to focus on
the religions of ruling elites. In 711 an Arab general
named Muhammad Qasim conquered Sind, which
became part of the Caliphs domain. Later (c. thirteenth
century) the Turks and Afghans established the
Delhi Sultanate. This was followed by the formation
of Sultanates in the Deccan and other parts of the
subcontinent; Islam was an acknowledged religion of
rulers in several areas. This continued with the
establishment of the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth
century as well as in many of the regional states that
emerged in the eighteenth century.
Theoretically, Muslim rulers were to be guided by
the ulama, who were expected to ensure that they
ruled according to the sharia. Clearly, the situation
was complicated in the subcontinent, where there
were populations that did not subscribe to Islam.
It is in this context that the category of the zimmi,
meaning protected (derived from the Arabic word
zimma, protection) developed for peoples who followed
revealed scriptures, such as the Jews and Christians,
and lived under Muslim rulership. They paid a tax
called jizya and gained the right to be protected by
Muslims. In India this status was extended to Hindus
as well. As you will see (Chapter 9), rulers such as
the Mughals came to regard themselves as emperors
of not just Muslims but of all peoples.
In effect, rulers often adopted a fairly flexible policy
towards their subjects. For instance, several rulers
gave land endowments and granted tax exemptions
to Hindu, Jaina, Zoroastrian, Christian and Jewish
religious institutions and also expressed respect and
Sharia
The sharia is the law governing
the Muslim community. It is
based on the Quran and the
hadis, traditions of the Prophet
i ncl udi ng a record of hi s
remembered words and deeds.
With the expansion of Islamic
rule outside Arabia, in areas
where customs and traditions
were different, qiyas (reasoning
by anal ogy) and i j ma
(consensus of the community)
were recognised as two other
sources of legislation. Thus, the
shari a evol ved f rom t he
Quran, hadis, qiyas and ijma.
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 150
Fig. 6.7
A Mughal painting depicting
Emperor Jahangir with a Jogi
Source 5
Source 6
Who were the people from whom Akbar
anticipated opposition to his order?
Identify the deity worshipped by the Jogi.
Describe the attitude of the emperor towards
the Jogi.
devotion towards non-Muslim religious leaders.
These grants were made by several Mughal rulers,
including Akbar and Aurangzeb.
A church in Khambat
This is an excerpt from a farman (imperial order) issued
by Akbar in 1598:
Whereas it reached our eminent and holy notice that
the padris (fathers) of the Holy Society of Jesus wish
to build a house of prayer (church) in the city of
Kambayat (Khambat, in Gujarat); therefore an exalted
mandate is being issued, that the dignitaries of
the city of Kambayat should in no case stand in their
way but should allow them to build a church so that
they may engage themselves in their own worship. It
is necessary that the order of the Emperor should be
obeyed in every way.
Reverence for the Jogi
Here is an excerpt from a letter written by Aurangzeb to
a Jogi in 1661-62:
The possessor of the sublime station, Shiv Murat, Guru
Anand Nath Jio!
May your Reverence remain in peace and happiness
ever under the protection of Sri Shiv Jio!
A piece of cloth for the cloak and a sum of twenty
five rupees which have been sent as an offering will
reach (Your Reverence) Your Reverence may write
to us whenever there is any service which can be
rendered by us.
151
5.2 The popular practice of Islam
The developments that followed the coming of Islam
were not confined to ruling elites; in fact they
permeated far and wide, through the subcontinent,
amongst different social strata peasants, artisans,
warriors, merchants, to name a few. All those who
adopted Islam accepted, in principle, the five pillars
of the faith: that there is one God, Allah, and Prophet
Muhammad is his messenger (shahada); offering
prayers five times a day (namaz/salat ); giving alms
(zakat); fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm);
and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj ).
However, these universal features were often
overlaid with diversities in practice derived from
sectarian affiliations (Sunni, Shia), and the influence
of local customary practices of converts from different
social milieus. For example, the Khojahs, a branch
of the Ismailis (a Shia sect), developed new modes
of communication, disseminating ideas derived from
the Quran through indigenous literary genres. These
included the ginan (derived from the Sanskrit jnana,
meaning knowledge), devotional poems in Punjabi,
Multani, Sindhi, Kachchi, Hindi and Gujarati, sung
in special ragas during daily prayer meetings.
Elsewhere, Arab Muslim traders who settled
along the Malabar coast (Kerala) adopted the
local language, Malayalam. They also adopted
local customs such as matriliny (Chapter 3) and
matrilocal residence.
The complex blend of a universal faith with local
traditions is perhaps best exemplified in the
architecture of mosques. Some architectural features
Fig. 6.8
A Khojaki manuscript
The ginan were transmitted
orally before being recorded in the
Khojaki script that was derived
from the local landa (clipped
mercantile script) used by the
linguistically diverse community
of Khojahs in the Punjab, Sind
and Gujarat.
Matrilocal residence is a
practice where women after
marriage remain in their natal
home with their children and
the husbands may come to stay
with them.
Fig. 6.9
A mosque in Kerala,
c. thirteenth century
Note the shikhara-like roof.
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 152
of mosques are universal such as
their orientation towards Mecca,
evident in the placement of the mihrab
(prayer niche) and the minbar (pulpit).
However, there are several features
that show variations such as roofs
and building materials (see Figs. 6.9,
6.10 and 6.11).
5.3 Names for communities
We often take the terms Hindu and
Muslim for granted, as labels for
religious communities. Yet, these
terms did not gain currency for a very
long time. Historians who have studied
Sanskrit texts and inscriptions dating
between the eighth and fourteenth
centuries point out that the term
musalman or Muslim was virtually
never used. Instead, people were
occasionally identified in terms of
the region from which they came.
So, the Turkish rulers were designated
as Turushka, Tajika were people from
Tajikistan and Parashika were people
from Persia. Sometimes, terms used
for other peoples were applied to the
new migrants. For instance, the
Turks and Afghans were referred to
as Shakas (Chapters 2 and 3) and
Yavanas (a term used for Greeks).
A more general term for these migrant
communities was mlechchha, indicating that they did
not observe the norms of caste society and spoke
languages that were not derived from Sanskrit. Such
terms sometimes had a derogatory connotation, but they
rarely denoted a distinct religious community of Muslims
in opposition to Hindus. And as we saw (Chapter 5),
the term Hindu was used in a variety of ways, not
necessarily restricted to a religious connotation.
Discuss...
Find out more about the architecture of mosques in
your village or town. What are the materials used to
build mosques? Are these locally available?
Are there any distinctive architectural features?
Fig. 6.11
The Shah Hamadan mosque in
Srinagar, on the banks of the
Jhelum, is often regarded as the
jewel in the crown of all the
existing mosques of Kashmir.
Built in 1395, it is one of the best
examples of Kashmiri wooden
architecture. Notice the spire and
the beautifully carved eaves. It is
decorated with papier mache.
Fig. 6.10
Atiya mosque, Mymensingh district,
Bangladesh, built with brick, 1609
153
6. The Growth of Sufism
In the early centuries of Islam a group of religious-
minded people called sufis turned to asceticism and
mysticism in protest against the growing materialism
of the Caliphate as a religious and political institution.
They were critical of the dogmatic definitions and
scholastic methods of interpreting the Quran and sunna
(traditions of the Prophet) adopted by theologians.
Instead, they laid emphasis on seeking salvation
through intense devotion and love for God by following
His commands, and by following the example of the
Prophet Muhammad whom they regarded as a perfect
human being. The sufis thus sought an interpretation
of the Quran on the basis of their personal experience.
6.1 Khanqahs and silsilas
By the eleventh century Sufism evolved into a well-
developed movement with a body of literature on
Quranic studies and sufi practices. Institutionally,
the sufis began to organise communities around the
hospice or khanqah (Persian) controlled by a teaching
master known as shaikh (in Arabic), pir or murshid (in
Persian). He enrolled disciples (murids) and appointed
a successor (khalifa). He established rules for spiritual
conduct and interaction between inmates as well as
between laypersons and the master.
Sufi silsilas began to crystallise in different parts of
the Islamic world around the twelfth century. The word
silsila literally means a chain, signifying a continuous
link between master and disciple, stretching as an
unbroken spiritual genealogy to the Prophet Muhammad.
It was through this channel that spiritual power and
blessings were transmitted to devotees. Special rituals
of initiation were developed in which initiates took an
oath of allegiance, wore a patched garment, and shaved
their hair.
When the shaikh died, his tomb-shrine (dargah, a
Persian term meaning court) became the centre of
devotion for his followers. This encouraged the practice
of pilgrimage or ziyarat to his grave, particularly on
his death anniversary or urs (or marriage, signifying
the union of his soul with God). This was because
people believed that in death saints were united with
God, and were thus closer to Him than when living.
People sought their blessings to attain material and
spiritual benefits. Thus evolved the cult of the shaikh
revered as wali.
Sufism and tasawwuf
Sufism is an English word
coined in the nineteenth
century. The word used for
Sufism in Islamic texts is
tasawwuf. Historians have
understood thi s term i n
several ways. According to
some scholars, it is derived
from suf, meaning wool,
ref erri ng t o t he coarse
woollen clothes worn by
sufis. Others derive it from
safa, meaning purity. It may
also have been derived from
suffa, the platform outside
t he Prophet s mosque,
where a group of cl ose
followers assembled to learn
about the faith.
Names of silsilas
Most suf i l i neages were
named af t er a f oundi ng
fi gure. For exampl e, the
Qadiri order was named
after Shaikh Abdul Qadir
Jilani. However, some like
t he Chi sht i order, were
named af t er t hei r pl ace
of origin, in this case the
town of Chisht in central
Afghanistan.
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 154
6.2 Outside the khanqah
Some mystics initiated movements based on a
radical interpretation of sufi ideals. Many scorned
the khanqah and took to mendicancy and observed
celibacy. They ignored rituals and observed extreme
forms of asceticism. They were known by different
names Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris,
etc. Because of their deliberate defiance of the sharia
they were often referred to as be-sharia, in contrast
to the ba-sharia sufis who complied with it.
7. The Chishtis in the
Subcontinent
Of the groups of sufis who migrated to India in
the late twelfth century, the Chishtis were the
most influential. This was because they adapted
successfully to the local environment and adopted
several features of Indian devotional traditions.
7.1 Life in the Chishti khanqah
The khanqah was the centre of social life. We know
about Shaikh Nizamuddins hospice (c. fourteenth
century) on the banks of the river Yamuna in
Ghiyaspur, on the outskirts of what was then the
city of Delhi. It comprised several small rooms and
a big hall ( jamaat khana) where the inmates and
visitors lived and prayed. The inmates included family
members of the Shaikh, his attendants and disciples.
The Shaikh lived in a small room on the roof of the
hall where he met visitors in the morning and evening.
A veranda surrounded the courtyard, and a boundary
wall ran around the complex. On one occasion, fearing
a Mongol invasion, people from the neighbouring areas
flocked into the khanqah to seek refuge.
Wali (plural auliya) or friend of
God was a sufi who claimed
proximity to Allah, acquiring
His Grace (barakat) to perform
miracles (karamat).
MAJOR TEACHERS OF THE CHISHTI SILSILA
SUFI TEACHERS YEAR OF DEATH LOCATION OF DARGAH
Shaikh Muinuddin Sijzi 1235 Ajmer (Rajasthan)
Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki 1235 Delhi
Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar 1265 Ajodhan (Pakistan)
Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya 1325 Delhi
Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli 1356 Delhi
Discuss...
Are there any khanqahs or
dargahs in your town or
village? Find out when these
were built, and what are the
activities associated with
them. Are there other places
where religious men and
women meet or live?
155
There was an open kitchen (langar), run on futuh
(unasked-for charity). From morning till late night
people from all walks of life soldiers, slaves,
singers, merchants, poets, travellers, rich and
poor, Hindu jogis (yogi) and qalandars came
seeking discipleship, amulets for healing, and the
intercession of the Shaikh in various matters. Other
visitors included poets such as Amir Hasan Sijzi
and Amir Khusrau and the court historian Ziyauddin
Barani, all of whom wrote about the Shaikh.
Practices that were adopted, including bowing before
the Shaikh, offering water to visitors, shaving the
heads of initiates, and yogic exercises, represented
attempts to assimilate local traditions.
Shaikh Nizamuddin appointed several spiritual
successors and deputed them to set up hospices in
various parts of the subcontinent. As a result the
teachings, practices and organisation of the Chishtis
as well as the fame of the Shaikh spread rapidly.
This in turn drew pilgrims to his shrine, and also to
the shrines of his spiritual ancestors.
7.2 Chishti devotionalism: ziyarat and qawwali
Pilgrimage, called ziyarat, to tombs of sufi saints is
prevalent all over the Muslim world. This practice
is an occasion for seeking the sufis spiritual grace
(barakat). For more than seven centuries people of
various creeds, classes and social backgrounds have
expressed their devotion at the dargahs of the five
great Chishti saints (see chart on p.154). Amongst
these, the most revered shrine is that of Khwaja
Muinuddin, popularly known as Gharib Nawaz
(comforter of the poor).
The earliest textual references to Khwaja
Muinuddins dargah date to the fourteenth century.
It was evidently popular because of the austerity
and piety of its Shaikh, the greatness of his spiritual
successors, and the patronage of royal visitors.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq (ruled, 1324-51) was the
The story of
Data Ganj Bakhsh
In 1039 Abul Hasan al Hujwiri,
a native of Hujwir near Ghazni
in Afghanistan, was forced to
cross the Indus as a captive of
the invading Turkish army. He
settled in Lahore and wrote a
book in Persian called the Kashf-
ul-Mahj ub (Unveiling of the
Veiled) to explain the meaning
of tasawwuf, and those who
practised it, that is, the sufi.
Hujwiri died in 1073 and was
buried in Lahore. The grandson
of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni
constructed a tomb over his
grave, and this tomb-shrine
became a site of pilgrimage for
his devotees, especially on his
death anniversary.
Even today Hujwiri is revered
as Data Ganj Bakhsh or Giver
who bestows treasures and his
mausol eum i s cal l ed Dat a
Darbar or Court of the Giver.
Fig. 6.12
A seventeenth-century painting of
Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and
his disciple Amir Khusrau
Describe how the artist differentiates between the
Shaikh and his disciple.
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 156
first Sultan to visit the shrine, but the earliest
construction to house the tomb was funded in the
late fifteenth century by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji
of Malwa. Since the shrine was located on the trade
route linking Delhi and Gujarat, it attracted a lot
of travellers.
By the sixteenth century the shrine had become
very popular; in fact it was the spirited singing of
pilgrims bound for Ajmer that inspired Akbar
to visit the tomb. He went there fourteen times,
sometimes two or three times a year, to seek
blessings for new conquests, fulfilment of vows, and
the birth of sons. He maintained this tradition until
1580. Each of these visits was celebrated by
generous gifts, which were recorded in imperial
documents. For example, in 1568 he offered a huge
cauldron (degh) to facilitate cooking for pilgrims.
He also had a mosque constructed within the
compound of the dargah.
Fig. 6.13
Shaikhs greeting the Mughal
emperor Jahangir on his pilgrimage
to Ajmer, painting by an artist
named Manohar, c.1615
Find his signature on the
painting.
157
The pilgrimage of the Mughal princess
Jahanara, 1643
The following is an excerpt from Jahanaras biography
of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti, titled Munis al Arwah
(The Confidant of Spirits):
After praising the one God this lowly faqira
(humble soul) Jahanara ... went from the capital
Agra in the company of my great father (Emperor
Shah Jahan) t owar ds t he pur e r egi on of
incomparable Ajmer I was committed to this idea,
that every day in every station I would perform two
cycles of optional prayer
For several days ... I did not sleep on a leopard skin
at night, I did not extend my feet in the direction of the
blessed sanctuary of the revered saving master, and I
did not turn my back towards him. I passed the days
beneath the trees.
On Thursday, the fourth of the blessed month of
Ramzan, I attained the happiness of pilgrimage to the
illuminated and the perfumed tomb With an hour of
daylight remaining, I went to the holy sanctuary and
rubbed my pale face with the dust of that threshold.
From the doorway to the blessed tomb I went barefoot,
kissing the ground. Having entered the dome, I went
around the light-filled tomb of my master seven times
Finally, with my own hand I put the finest quality of
itar on the perfumed tomb of the revered one, and
having taken off the rose scarf that I had on my head, I
placed it on the top of the blessed tomb ...
Also part of ziyarat is the use of music and dance
including mystical chants performed by specially
trained musicians or qawwals to evoke divine
ecstasy. The sufis remember God either by reciting
the zikr (the Divine Names) or evoking His Presence
through sama (literally, audition) or performance
of mystical music. Sama was integral to the Chishtis,
and exemplified interaction with indigenous
devotional traditions.
What are the gestures that Jahanara
records to indicate her devotion to the Shaikh?
How does she suggest that the dargah was a
special place?
The lamp of the
entire land
Each sufi shrine was associated
with distinctive features. This is
what an eighteenth-century
visitor from the Deccan, Dargah
Quli Khan, wrote about the
shrine of Nasiruddin Chiragh-i
Dehli in his Muraqqa-i Dehli
(Album of Delhi):
The Shaikh (in the grave)
is not the lamp of Delhi
but of the entire country.
People turn up there in
crowds, particularly on
Sunday. I n t he mont h
of Di wal i the enti re
population of Delhi visits
i t and stays i n tents
around the spring tank for
days. They take baths to
obtain cures from chronic
di seases. Musl i ms and
Hindus pay visits in the
same spirit. From morning
till evening people come
and also make themselves
busy in merrymaking in
the shade of the trees.
Source 7
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 158
7.3 Languages and communication
It was not just in sama that the Chishtis adopted
local languages. In Delhi, those associated with
the Chishti silsila conversed in Hindavi, the language
of the people. Other sufis such as Baba Farid
composed verses in the local language, which were
incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. Yet others
composed long poems or masnavis to express ideas
of divine love using human love as an allegory. For
example, the prem-akhyan (love story) Padmavat
composed by Malik Muhammad Jayasi revolved
around the romance of Padmini and Ratansen, the
king of Chittor. Their trials were symbolic of the souls
journey to the divine. Such poetic compositions were
often recited in hospices, usually during sama.
A different genre of sufi poetry was composed in
and around the town of Bijapur, Karnataka. These
were short poems in Dakhani (a variant of Urdu)
attributed to Chishti sufis who lived in this region
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
These poems were probably sung by women while
performing household chores like grinding grain and
spinning. Other compositions were in the form of
lurinama or lullabies and shadinama or wedding
songs. It is likely that the sufis of this region were
inspired by the pre-existing bhakti tradition of the
Kannada vachanas of the Lingayats and the Marathi
abhangs of the sants of Pandharpur. It is through
this medium that Islam gradually gained a place in
the villages of the Deccan.
Amir Khusrau and
the qaul
Amir Khusrau (1253-1325), the
great poet, musician and disciple
of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya,
gave a unique form to the Chishti
sama by introducing the qaul
(Arabic word meaning saying),
a hymn sung at the opening or
closing of qawwali. This was
followed by sufi poetry in Persian,
Hindavi or Urdu, and sometimes
using words from all of these
languages. Qawwals (those who
sing these songs) at the shrine of
Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya always
start their recital with the qaul.
Today qawwali is performed in
shrines all over the subcontinent.
Fig. 6.14
Qawwali at the dargah of
Nizamuddin Auliya
Charkhanama
A song set to the rhythm of the spinning wheel:
As you take the cotton, you do zikr-i jali
As you separate the cotton you should do zikr-i qalbi
And as you spool the thread you should do zikr-i aini
Zikr should be uttered from the stomach through the
chest,
And threaded through the throat.
The threads of breath should be counted one by one,
oh sister.
Up to twenty four thousand.
Do this day and night,
And offer this to your pir as a gift.
Source 8
In what ways are the ideas
and modes of expression used
in this song similar to or
different from those used by
Jahanara to describe her
ziyarat (Source 7)?
159
7.4 Sufis and the state
A major feature of the Chishti tradition was austerity,
including maintaining a distance from worldly
power. However, this was by no means a situation of
absolute isolation from political power. The sufis
accepted unsolicited grants and donations from the
political elites. The Sultans in turn set up charitable
trusts (auqaf ) as endowments for hospices and
granted tax-free land (inam).
The Chishtis accepted donations in cash and kind.
Rather than accumulate donations, they preferred
to use these fully on immediate requirements
such as food, clothes, living quarters and ritual
necessities (such as sama ). All this enhanced the
moral authority of the shaikhs, which in turn
attracted people from all walks of life. Further, their
piety and scholarship, and peoples belief in their
miraculous powers made sufis popular among the
masses, whose support kings wished to secure.
Kings did not simply need to demonstrate their
association with sufis; they also required legitimation
from them. When the Turks set up the Delhi
Sultanate, they resisted the insistence of the ulama
on imposing sharia as state law because they
anticipated opposition from their subjects, the
majority of whom were non-Muslims. The Sultans
then sought out the sufis who derived their
authority directly from God and did not depend on
jurists to interpret the sharia.
Besides, it was believed that the auliya could
intercede with God in order to improve the material
and spiritual conditions of ordinary human beings.
This explains why kings often wanted their tombs to
be in the vicinity of sufi shrines and hospices.
However, there were instances of conflict between
the Sultans and the sufis. To assert their authority,
both expected that certain rituals be performed such
as prostration and kissing of the feet. Occasionally
the sufi shaikh was addressed with high-sounding
titles. For example, the disciples of Nizamuddin
Auliya addressed him as sultan-ul-mashaikh (literally,
Sultan amongst shaikhs).
Sufis and the state
Ot her s uf i s s uch as t he
Suhrawardi under the Delhi
Sultans and the Naqshbandi
under the Mughals were also
as s oci at ed wi t h t he s t at e.
However, the modes of their
association were not the same
as those of the Chi shti s. In
some cases, suf i s accepted
courtly offices.
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 160
Declining a royal gift
This excerpt from a sufi text describes the proceedings at
Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliyas hospice in 1313:
I (the author, Ami r Hasan Si j zi ) had the good
fortune of kissing his (Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliyas)
feet At this time a local ruler had sent him the
deed of ownership to two gardens and much land,
al ong wi t h t he provi si ons and t ool s f or t hei r
maintenance. The ruler had also made it clear that
he was rel i nqui shi ng al l hi s ri ghts to both the
gardens and land. The master had not accepted
that gift. Instead, he had lamented: What have I to
do with gardens and fields and lands? None of
our spiritual masters had engaged in such activity.
Then he told an appropriate story: Sultan
Ghiyasuddin, who at that time was still known as
Ulugh Khan, came to visit Shaikh Fariduddin (and)
offered some money and ownership deeds for four
villages to the Shaikh, the money being for the benefit
of the dervishes (sufis), and the land for his use.
Smiling, Shaikh al Islam (Fariduddin) said: Give me
the money. I will dispense it to the dervishes. But as
for those land deeds, keep them. There are many who
long for them. Give them away to such persons.
Source 9
What aspects of the
relationship between the sufis
and the state do you think are
best illustrated in this account?
What does the account tell us
about the modes of
communication between the
Shaikh and his disciples?
Fig. 6.15
The dargah of Shaikh Salim Chishti
(a direct descendant of Baba Farid)
constructed in Fatehpur Sikri,
Akbars capital, symbolised the
bond between the Chishtis and the
Mughal state.
Discuss...
What are the potential
sources of conflict in the
relationship between religious
and political leaders?
161
8. New Devotional Paths
Dialogue and Dissent in
Northern India
Many poet-saints engaged in explicit and implicit
dialogue with these new social situations, ideas and
institutions. Let us now see how this dialogue found
expression. We focus here on three of the most
influential figures of the time.
8.1 Weaving a divine fabric: Kabir
Kabir (c. fourteenth-fifteenth centuries) is perhaps
one of the most outstanding examples of a poet-saint
who emerged within this context. Historians have
painstakingly tried to reconstruct his life and times
through a study of compositions attributed to him
as well as later hagiographies. Such exercises have
proved to be challenging on a number of counts.
Verses ascribed to Kabir have been compiled in
three distinct but overlapping traditions. The Kabir
Bijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth (the path or
sect of Kabir) in Varanasi and elsewhere in Uttar
Pradesh; the Kabir Granthavali is associated with
the Dadupanth in Rajasthan, and many of his
compositions are found in the Adi Granth Sahib (see
Section 8.2). All these manuscript compilations
were made long after the death of Kabir. By the
nineteenth century, anthologies of verses attributed
to him circulated in print in regions as far apart as
Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Kabirs poems have survived in several languages
and dialects; and some are composed in the special
language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha. Others,
known as ulatbansi (upside-down sayings), are
written in a form in which everyday meanings
are inverted. These hint at the difficulties of
capturing the nature of the Ultimate Reality in
words: expressions such as the lotus which blooms
without flower or the fire raging in the ocean convey
a sense of Kabirs mystical experiences.
Also striking is the range of traditions Kabir drew
on to describe the Ultimate Reality. These include
Islam: he described the Ultimate Reality as Allah,
Khuda, Hazrat and Pir. He also used terms drawn
from Vedantic traditions, alakh (the unseen), nirakar
(formless), Brahman, Atman, etc. Other terms with
mystical connotations such as shabda (sound) or
shunya (emptiness) were drawn from yogic traditions.
The One Lord
Here is a composition attributed
to Kabir:
Tell me, brother, how can
there be
No one lord of the world
but two?
Who led you so astray?
God is called by many names:
Names like Allah, Ram, Karim,
Keshav, Hari, and Hazrat.
Gold may be shaped into
rings and bangles.
Isnt it gold all the same?
Distinctions are only words
we invent
Kabi r says they are both
mistaken.
Neither can find the only
Ram. One kills the goat, the
other cows.
They waste thei r l i ves i n
disputation.
What is Kabirs
argument against the
distinction made
between gods of
different communities?
Source 10
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 162
Diverse and sometimes conflicting ideas are
expressed in these poems. Some poems draw on
Islamic ideas and use monotheism and iconoclasm
to attack Hindu polytheism and idol worship; others
use the sufi concept of zikr and ishq (love) to express
the Hindu practice of nam-simaran (remembrance
of Gods name).
Were all these composed by Kabir? We may never
be able to tell with certainty, although scholars have
tried to analyse the language, style and content to
establish which verses could be Kabirs. What this
rich corpus of verses also signifies is that Kabir was
and is to the present a source of inspiration for
those who questioned entrenched religious and
social institutions, ideas and practices in their
search for the Divine.
Just as Kabirs ideas probably
crystallised through dialogue
and debate (explicit or implicit)
with the traditions of sufis and
yogis in the region of Awadh (part
of present-day Uttar Pradesh),
his legacy was claimed by several
groups, who remembered him
and continue to do so.
This is most evident in later
debates about whether he was
a Hindu or a Muslim by birth,
debates that are reflected in
hagiographies. Many of these
were composed from the
seventeenth century onwards,
about 200 years after Kabirs
lifetime.
Hagiographies within the
Vaishnava tradition attempted
to suggest that he was born a
Hindu, Kabirdas (Kabir itself is
an Arabic word meaning great),
but was raised by a poor
Muslim family belonging to
the community of weavers or
julahas, who were relatively
recent converts to Islam. They
also suggested that he was
initiated into bhakti by a guru,
perhaps Ramananda.
Fig. 6.16
Roadside musicians, a seventeenth-
century Mughal painting
It is likely that the compositions
of the sants were sung by
such musicians.
163
However, the verses attributed to Kabir use the
words guru and satguru, but do not mention the name
of any specific preceptor. Historians have pointed
out that it is very difficult to establish that
Ramananda and Kabir were contemporaries, without
assigning improbably long lives to either or both.
So, while traditions linking the two cannot be
accepted at face value, they show how important
the legacy of Kabir was for later generations.
8.2 Baba Guru Nanak and the Sacred Word
Baba Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was born in a Hindu
merchant family in a village called Nankana Sahib
near the river Ravi in the predominantly Muslim
Punjab. He trained to be an accountant and studied
Persian. He was married at a young age but he spent
most of his time among sufis and bhaktas. He also
travelled widely.
The message of Baba Guru Nanak is spelt out in
his hymns and teachings. These suggest that he
advocated a form of nirguna bhakti. He firmly
repudiated the external practices of the religions he
saw around him. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths,
image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both
Hindus and Muslims. For Baba Guru Nanak,
the Absolute or rab had no gender or form. He
proposed a simple way to connect to the Divine by
remembering and repeating the Divine Name,
expressing his ideas through hymns called shabad
in Punjabi, the language of the region. Baba Guru
Nanak would sing these compositions in various
ragas while his attendant Mardana played the rabab.
Baba Guru Nanak organised his followers into a
community. He set up rules for congregational
worship (sangat ) involving collective recitation. He
appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed
him as the preceptor (guru), and this practice was
followed for nearly 200 years.
It appears that Baba Guru Nanak did not
wish to establish a new religion, but after his death
his followers consolidated their own practices
and distinguished themselves from both Hindus
and Muslims. The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan,
compiled Baba Guru Nanaks hymns along with
those of his four successors and other religious
poets like Baba Farid, Ravidas (also known as
Raidas) and Kabir in the Adi Granth Sahib. These
hymns, called gurbani, are composed in various
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 164
languages. In the late seventeenth century the tenth
preceptor, Guru Gobind Singh, included the
compositions of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur,
and this scripture was called the Guru Granth Sahib.
Guru Gobind Singh also laid the foundation of the
Khalsa Panth (army of the pure) and defined its five
symbols: uncut hair, a dagger, a pair of shorts, a comb
and a steel bangle. Under him the community got
consolidated as a socio-religious and military force.
8.3 Mirabai, the devotee princess
Mirabai (c. fifteenth-sixteenth centuries) is perhaps
the best-known woman poet within the bhakti
tradition. Biographies have been reconstructed
primarily from the bhajans attributed to her, which
were transmitted orally for centuries. According to
these, she was a Rajput princess from Merta in
Marwar who was married against her wishes to a
prince of the Sisodia clan of Mewar, Rajasthan. She
defied her husband and did not submit to the
traditional role of wife and mother, instead
recognising Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, as her
lover. Her in-laws tried to poison her, but she escaped
from the palace to live as a wandering singer
composing songs that are characterised by intense
expressions of emotion.
Love for the Lord
This is part of a song attributed to Mirabai:
I will build a funeral pyre of sandalwood and aloe;
Light it by your own hand
When I am burned away to cinders;
Smear this ash upon your limbs.
let flame be lost in flame.
In another verse, she sings:
What can Mewars ruler do to me?
If God is angry, all is lost,
But what can the Rana do?
Source 11
What does this indicate about Mirabais
attitude towards the king?
Fig. 6.17
A fifteenth-century stone sculpture
(Tamil Nadu) depicting Krishna
playing the flute, a form of the
deity worshipped by Mirabai
165
According to some traditions, her preceptor was
Raidas, a leather worker. This would indicate her
defiance of the norms of caste society. After
rejecting the comforts of her husbands palace, she
is supposed to have donned the white robes of a
widow or the saffron robe of the renouncer.
Although Mirabai did not attract a sect or
group of followers, she has been recognised as a
source of inspiration for centuries. Her songs
continue to be sung by women and men, especially
those who are poor and considered low caste in
Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Discuss...
Why do you think the traditions of Kabir, Baba
Guru Nanak and Mirabai remain significant in
the twenty-first century?
9. Reconstructing Histories of
Religious Traditions
We have seen that historians draw on a variety
of sources to reconstruct histories of religious
traditions these include sculpture, architecture,
stories about religious preceptors, compositions
attributed to women and men engaged in the quest
of understanding the nature of the Divine.
As we have seen in Chapters 1 and 4, sculpture
and architecture can only be understood if we
have a grasp of the context the ideas, beliefs and
practices of those who produced and used these
images and buildings. What about textual traditions
regarding religious beliefs? If you return to the
sources in this chapter, you will notice that they
include a wide variety, written in several different
languages and styles. They range from the
apparently simple, direct language of the vachanas
of Basavanna to the ornate Persian of the farman of
the Mughal emperors. Understanding each type of
text requires different skills: apart from a familiarity
with several languages, the historian has to be aware
of the subtle variations in style that characterise
each genre.
Shankaradeva
In the late fifteenth century,
Shankaradeva emerged as one
of the leading proponents of
Vai shnavi sm i n Assam. Hi s
teachings, often known as the
Bhagavati dharma because they
were based on the Bhagavad
Gita and the Bhagavata Purana,
focused on absolute surrender
to the supreme deity, in this case
Vishnu. He emphasised the
need for naam kirtan, recitation
of the names of the lord in sat
sanga or congregations of pious
devotees. He also encouraged
the establishment of satra or
monasteries for the transmission
of spiritual knowledge, and
naam ghar or prayer hal l s.
Many of these institutions and
practices continue to flourish
i n t he regi on. Hi s maj or
composi t i ons i ncl ude t he
Kirtana-ghosha.
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 166
Varieties of sources used to reconstruct
the history of sufi traditions
A wide range of texts were produced in and around sufi khanqahs.
These included:
1. Treat i ses or manual s deal i ng wi t h suf i t hought and
practices The Kashf-ul-Mahjub of Ali bin Usman Hujwiri (died
c. 1071) is an example of this genre. It enables historians to see
how traditions outside the subcontinent influenced sufi thought
in India.
2. Malfuzat (literally, uttered; conversations of sufi saints)
An early text on malfuzat is the Fawaid-al-Fuad, a collection of
conversations of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, compiled by Amir
Hasan Sijzi Dehlavi, a noted Persian poet. Source 9 contains an
excerpt from this text. Malfuzats were compiled by different sufi
silsilas with the permission of the shaikhs; these had obvious
didactic purposes. Several examples have been found from
different parts of the subcontinent, including the Deccan. They
were compiled over several centuries.
3. Maktubat (literally, written collections of letters); letters
wri tten by sufi masters, addressed to thei r di sci pl es and
associates While these tell us about the shaikhs experience
of religious truth that he wanted to share with others, they
also reflect the life conditions of the recipients and are responses
to their aspirations and difficulties, both spiritual and mundane.
The letters, known as Maktubat-i Imam Rabbani, of the noted
seventeenth-century Naqshbandi Shai kh Ahmad Si rhi ndi
(d.1624), whose ideology is often contrasted with the liberal
and non-sectarian views of Akbar, are amongst those most
frequently discussed by scholars.
4. Tazkiras (literally, to mention and memorialise; biographical
accounts of saints) The fourteenth-centurySiyar-ul-Auliya of
Mir Khwurd Kirmani was the first sufi tazkira written in India.
It dealt principally with the Chishti saints. The most famous tazkira
is the Akhbar-ul-Akhyar of Abdul Haqq Muhaddis Dehlavi
(d. 1642). The authors of the tazkiras often sought to establish
the precedence of their own orders and glorify their spiritual
genealogies. Many details are often implausible, full of elements
of the fantastic. Still they are of great value for historians and
help them to understand more fully the nature of the tradition.
Remember that each of the traditions we have been considering
in this chapter generated a wide range of textual and oral modes
of communication, some of which have been preserved, many
of which have been modified in the process of transmission, and
others are probably lost forever.
167
Virtually all these religious traditions continue to
flourish to date. This continuity has certain
advantages for historians as it allows them to compare
contemporary practices with those described in textual
traditions or shown in old paintings and to trace
changes. At the same time, because these traditions
are part of peoples lived beliefs and practices, there
is often a lack of acceptance of the possibility that
these may have changed over time. The challenge for
historians is to undertake such investigations with
sensitivity, while at the same time recognising that
religious traditions, like other traditions, are dynamic
and change over time.
Timeline
Some Major Religious Teachers in the Subcontinent
c. 500-800 CE Appar, Sambandar, Sundaramurti in Tamil Nadu
c. 800-900 Nammalvar, Manikkavachakar, Andal, Tondaradippodi
in Tamil Nadu
c.1000-1100 Al Hujwiri, Data Ganj Bakhsh in the Punjab; Ramanujacharya
in Tamil Nadu
c.1100-1200 Basavanna in Karnataka
c.1200-1300 Jnanadeva, Muktabai in Maharashtra; Khwaja Muinuddin
Chishti in Rajasthan; Bahauddin Zakariyya and Fariduddin
Ganj- i Shakar in the Punjab; Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki in Delhi
c.1300-1400 Lal Ded in Kashmir; Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sind;
Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi; Ramananda in Uttar Pradesh;
Chokhamela in Maharashtra; Sharafuddin Yahya Maneri in Bihar
c.1400-1500 Kabir, Raidas, Surdas in Uttar Pradesh; Baba Guru Nanak in the
Punjab; Vallabhacharya in Gujarat; Abdullah Shattari in Gwalior;
Muhammad Shah Alam in Gujarat; Mir Sayyid Muhammad Gesu
Daraz in Gulbarga, Shankaradeva in Assam; Tukaram in
Maharashtra
c.1500-1600 Sri Chaitanya in Bengal; Mirabai in Rajasthan; Shaikh Abdul
Quddus Gangohi, Malik Muhammad Jaisi, Tulsidas in
Uttar Pradesh
c.1600-1700 Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi in Haryana; Miyan Mir in the Punjab
Note: These time frames indicate the approximate period during which these teachers lived.
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 168
Answer in100-150 words
1. Explain with examples what historians mean by the
integration of cults.
2. To what extent do you think the architecture of
mosques in the subcontinent reflects a combination
of universal ideals and local traditions?
3. What were the similarities and differences between
the be-sharia and ba-sharia sufi traditions?
4. Discuss the ways in which the Alvars, Nayanars and
Virashaivas expressed critiques of the caste system.
5. Describe the major teachings of either Kabir or
Baba Guru Nanak, and the ways in which these
have been transmitted.
Write a short essay (about
250- 300 words) on the following:
6. Discuss the major beliefs and practices that
characterised Sufism.
7. Examine how and why rulers tried to establish
connections with the traditions of the Nayanars and
the sufis.
8. Analyse, with illustrations, why bhakti and sufi
thinkers adopted a variety of languages in which
to express their opinions.
9. Read any five of the sources included in this chapter
and discuss the social and religious ideas that are
expressed in them.
Map work
10. On an outline map of India, plot three major sufi
shrines, and three places associated with temples
(one each of a form of Vishnu, Shiva and the
goddess).
169
Richard M. Eaton (ed). 2003.
Indias Islamic Traditions.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
John Stratton Hawley. 2005.
Three Bhakti Voices
Mirabai, Surdas and Kabir
in their times and ours.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
David N. Lorenzen (ed.). 2004.
Religious Movements in
South Asia 600-1800.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi,
A.K. Ramanujan. 1981.
Hymns for the Drowning.
Penguin, New Delhi.
Annemarie Schimmel. 1975.
Mystical Dimensions of Islam.
Univesity of North Carolina
Press, Chapel Hill.
David Smith. 1998.
The Dance of Siva: Religion
Art and Poetry in South India.
Cambridge Univesity Press,
New Delhi.
Charlotte Vaudeville. 1997.
A Weaver Named Kabir.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
Projects (choose one)
11. Choose any two of the religious teachers/thinkers/
saints mentioned in this chapter, and find out more
about their lives and teachings. Prepare a report
about the area and the times in which they lived,
their major ideas, how we know about them, and
why you think they are important.
12. Find out more about practices of pilgrimage
associated with the shrines mentioned in this
chapter. Are these pilgrimages still undertaken?
When are these shrines visited? Who visits these
shrines? Why do they do so? What are the activities
associated with these pilgrimages?
If you would like to know
more, read:
For more information,
you could visit:
http://www.alif-india.com
Fig. 6.18
The dargah of Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya,
Multan (Pakistan)
BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 170
An Imperial Capital
Vijayanagara
( (( ((c cc cc. fourteenth to sixteenth century) . fourteenth to sixteenth century) . fourteenth to sixteenth century) . fourteenth to sixteenth century) . fourteenth to sixteenth century)
Vijayanagara or city of victory was the name of
both a city and an empire. The empire was founded
in the fourteenth century. In its heyday it stretched
from the river Krishna in the north to the extreme
south of the peninsula. In 1565 the city was sacked
and subsequently deserted. Although it fell into
ruin in the seventeenth-eighteenth centuries, it
lived on in the memories of people living in the
Krishna-Tungabhadra doab. They remembered it
as Hampi, a name derived from that of the local
mother goddess, Pampadevi. These oral traditions
combined with archaeological finds, monuments
and inscriptions and other records helped scholars
to rediscover the Vijayanagara Empire.
1. The Discovery of Hampi
The ruins at Hampi were brought to light in 1800 by
an engineer and antiquarian named Colonel Colin
Mackenzie. An employee of the English East India
Company, he prepared the first survey map of the
site. Much of the initial information he received was
based on the memories of priests of the Virupaksha
temple and the shrine of Pampadevi. Subsequently,
from 1856, photographers began to record the
monuments which enabled scholars to study them.
As early as 1836 epigraphists began collecting
several dozen inscriptions found at this and other
temples at Hampi. In an effort to reconstruct the
history of the city and the empire, historians collated
information from these sources with accounts of
foreign travellers and other literature written in
Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Sanskrit.
Fig. 7.1
A part of the stone wall that was
built around the city of Vijayanagara
THEME
SEVEN
171
Colin Mackenzie
Born in 1754, Colin Mackenzie became famous as an
engineer, surveyor and cartographer. In 1815 he was
appointed the first Surveyor General of India, a post
he held till his death in 1821. He embarked on collecting
local histories and surveying historic sites in order to
better understand Indias past and make governance of
the colony easier. He says that it struggled long under
the miseries of bad management before the South
came under t he beni gn i nf l uence of t he Bri t i sh
government. By studying Vijayanagara, Mackenzie
believed that the East India Company could gain much
useful information on many of these institutions, laws
and customs whose influence still prevails among the
various Tribes of Natives forming the general mass of
the population to this day.
2. Rayas, Nayakas and Sultans
According to tradition and epigraphic evidence two
brothers, Harihara and Bukka, founded the
Vijayanagara Empire in 1336. This empire included
within its fluctuating frontiers peoples who spoke
different languages and followed different religious
traditions.
On their northern frontier, the Vijayanagara kings
competed with contemporary rulers including the
Sultans of the Deccan and the Gajapati rulers of
Orissa for control of the fertile river valleys and
the resources generated by lucrative overseas trade.
At the same time, interaction between these states
led to sharing of ideas, especially in the field of
architecture. The rulers of Vijayanagara borrowed
concepts and building techniques which they then
developed further.
Fig. 7.2
Mackenzie and his assistants
This is a copy by an
unknown artist of an oil
painting by the portrait
painter Thomas Hickey.
It dates to c.1825 and belongs
to the collection of the Royal
Asiatic Society of Britain and
Ireland. On Mackenzies left
is his peon Kistnaji holding
a telescope, on his right are
Brahmana assistants
a Jaina pandit (right) and
behind him the Telugu
Brahmana Cauvellery
Ventak Letchmiah.
Karnataka samrajyamu
While historians use the term Vijayanagara Empire,
contemporaries described it as the karnataka samrajyamu.
How has the artist
portrayed Mackenzie
and his indigenous
informers? What ideas
about him and his
informants are sought to
be impressed upon the
viewers?
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
Source 1
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 172
Some of the areas that were incorporated within
the empire had witnessed the development of
powerful states such as those of the Cholas in Tamil
Nadu and the Hoysalas in Karnataka. Ruling elites
in these areas had extended patronage to elaborate
temples such as the Brihadishvara temple at
Thanjavur and the Chennakeshava temple at Belur.
The rulers of Vijayanagara, who called themselves
rayas, built on these traditions and carried them,
as we will see, literally to new heights.
2.1 Kings and traders
As warfare during these times depended upon
effective cavalry, the import of horses from Arabia
and Central Asia was very important for rival
kingdoms. This trade was initially controlled by Arab
traders. Local communities of merchants known as
kudirai chettis or horse merchants also participated
in these exchanges. From 1498 other actors appeared
on the scene. These were the Portuguese, who arrived
on the west coast of the subcontinent and attempted
to establish trading and military stations. Their
superior military technology, especially the use of
muskets, enabled them to become important players
in the tangled politics of the period.
In fact, Vijayanagara was also noted for its
markets dealing in spices, textiles and precious
stones. Trade was often regarded as a status symbol
for such cities, which boasted of a wealthy population
that demanded high-value exotic goods, especially
precious stones and jewellery. The revenue derived
Fig. 7.3
The gopuram or gateway of the
Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur
Elephants, horses
and men
Gajapati literally means lord
of elephants. This was the name
of a ruling lineage that was
very powerful in Orissa in the
fifteenth century. In the popular
traditions of Vijayanagara the
Deccan Sultans are termed as
ashvapati or lord of horses and
the rayas are called narapati or
lord of men.
173
Kings and traders
Krishnadeva Raya (ruled 1509-29),
t he most f amous rul er of
Vijayanagara, composed a work
on statecraft in Telugu known
as the Amuktamalyada. About
traders he wrote:
A king should improve the
harbours of hi s country
and so encourage i t s
commerce t hat horses,
elephants, precious gems,
sandal wood, pearl s and
other arti cl es are freel y
i mport ed He shoul d
arrange that the foreign
sai l ors who l and i n
hi s country on account
of st orms, i l l ness and
exhaustion are looked after
in a suitabl e manner
Make t he merchant s of
distant foreign countries
who import elephants and
good horses be attached
to yourself by providing
them with daily audience,
present s and al l owi ng
decent profits. Then those
articles will never go to
your enemies.
from trade in turn contributed significantly to the
prosperity of the state.
2.2 The apogee and decline of the empire
Within the polity, claimants to power included
members of the ruling lineage as well as military
commanders. The first dynasty, known as the
Sangama dynasty, exercised control till 1485.
They were supplanted by the Saluvas, military
commanders, who remained in power till 1503
when they were replaced by the Tuluvas.
Krishnadeva Raya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty.
Krishnadeva Rayas rule was characterised by
expansion and consolidation. This was the time
when the land between the Tungabhadra and
Krishna rivers (the Raichur doab) was acquired
(1512), the rulers of Orissa were subdued (1514) and
severe defeats were inflicted on the Sultan of Bijapur
(1520). Although the kingdom remained in a constant
state of military preparedness, it flourished under
conditions of unparalleled peace and prosperity.
Krishnadeva Raya is credited with building some
fine temples and adding impressive gopurams to
many important south Indian temples. He also
founded a suburban township near Vijayanagara
called Nagalapuram after his mother. Some of the
most detailed descriptions of Vijayanagara come from
his time or just after.
Strain began to show within the imperial structure
following Krishnadeva Rayas death in 1529. His
successors were troubled by rebellious nayakas or
military chiefs. By 1542 control at the centre had
shifted to another ruling lineage, that of the Aravidu,
which remained in power till the end of the
seventeenth century. During this period, as indeed
earlier, the military ambitions of the rulers
of Vijayanagara as well as those of the Deccan
Sultanates resulted in shifting alignments.
Eventually this led to an alliance of the Sultanates
against Vijayanagara. In 1565 Rama Raya, the chief
minister of Vijayanagara, led the army into battle
at Rakshasi-Tangadi (also known as Talikota), where
his forces were routed by the combined armies
of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda. The victorious
armies sacked the city of Vijayanagara. The city was
totally abandoned within a few years. Now the focus
of the empire shifted to the east where the Aravidu
Why do you think
the king was interested
in encouraging trade?
Which groups of people
would have benefited
from these
transactions?
Source 2
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 174
Bidar
Gulbarga
Golconda
Warangal
Bijapur
Ikkeri
Quilon
Tirunelveli
Vijayanagara
Chitradurga
Kolar
Kanchipuram
Gingee
Chidambaram
Thanjavur
Madurai
Ramanathapuram
Chandragiri
Mysore
B
a
y

o
f

B
e
n
g
a
l
Indian Ocean
A
r
a
b
i
a
n

S
e
a
Sri Lanka
B
h
i
m
a
Krishna
Tungabhadra
P
e
n
n
a
r
K
a
v
e
r
i
V
a
i
g
a
i
Sketch map not to scale
dynasty ruled from Penukonda and later from
Chandragiri (near Tirupati).
Although the armies of the Sultans were responsible
for the destruction of the city of Vijayanagara, relations
between the Sultans and the rayas were not always
or inevitably hostile, in spite of religious differences.
Krishnadeva Raya, for example, supported some
claimants to power in the Sultanates and took pride
in the title establisher of the Yavana kingdom.
Similarly, the Sultan of Bijapur intervened to resolve
succession disputes in Vijayanagara following the
death of Krishnadeva Raya. In fact the Vijayanagara
kings were keen to ensure the stability of the
Sultanates and vice versa. It was the adventurous
policy of Rama Raya who tried to play off one Sultan
against another that led the Sultans to combine
together and decisively defeat him.
Map 1
South India,
c. fourteenth-eighteenth century
Yavana is a Sanskrit word used
for the Greeks and other peoples
who entered the subcontinent
from the north west.
Identify the present-day states
that formed part of the empire.
175
2.3 The rayas and the nayakas
Among those who exercised power in the empire were
military chiefs who usually controlled forts and had
armed supporters. These chiefs often moved from
one area to another, and in many cases were
accompanied by peasants looking for fertile land on
which to settle. These chiefs were known as nayakas
and they usually spoke Telugu or Kannada. Many
nayakas submitted to the authority of the kings of
Vijayanagara but they often rebelled and had to be
subdued by military action.
The amara-nayaka system was a major political
innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is likely
that many features of this system were derived from
the iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate.
The amara-nayakas were military commanders
who were given territories to govern by the raya.
They collected taxes and other dues from peasants,
craftspersons and traders in the area. They retained
part of the revenue for personal use and for
maintaining a stipulated contingent of horses
and elephants. These contingents provided the
Vijayanagara kings with an effective fighting force
with which they brought the entire southern
peninsula under their control. Some of the revenue
was also used for the maintenance of temples and
irrigation works.
The amara-nayakas sent tribute to the king
annually and personally appeared in the royal court
with gifts to express their loyalty. Kings occasionally
asserted their control over them by transferring them
from one place to another. However, during the course
of the seventeenth century, many of these nayakas
established independent kingdoms. This hastened
the collapse of the central imperial structure.
Discuss...
Locate Chandragiri, Madurai, Ikkeri, Thanjavur
and Mysore, all centres of nayaka power, on
Map 1. Discuss the ways in which rivers and hills
may have facilitated or hindered communication
with Vijayanagara in each case.
Amara is believed to be derived
from the Sanskrit word samara,
meaning battle or war. It also
resembles the Persian term
amir, meaning a high noble.
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 176
3. Vijayanagara
The Capital and its Environs
Like most capitals, Vijayanagara, was characterised
by a distinctive physical layout and building style.
Identify three major zones on
the plan. Look at the central part.
Can you see channels connecting
up with the river? See how many
fortification walls you can trace.
Was the sacred centre fortified?
Fig. 7.4
Plan of Vijayanagara
Would you find these features
in a city today? Why do you
think the gardens and water
bodies were selected for special
mention by Paes?
A sprawling city
This is an excerpt from Domingo Paess description of
Vijayanagara:
The size of this city I do not write here, because it
cannot all be seen from any one spot, but I climbed a
hill whence I could see a great part of it; I could not see
it all because it lies between several ranges of hills. What
I saw from thence seemed to me as large as Rome, and
very beautiful to the sight; there are many groves of
trees within it, in the gardens of the houses, and many
conduits of water which flow into the midst of it, and in
places there are lakes; and the king has close to his
palace a palm-grove and other rich fruit-bearing trees.
Source 3
Finding out about
the city
A large number of inscriptions
of the kings of Vijayanagara
and their nayakas recording
donations to temples as well as
describing important events
have been recovered. Several
travellers visited the city and
wrote about it. Notable among
their accounts are those of an
Italian trader named Nicolo de
Conti, an ambassador named
Abdur Razzaq sent by the ruler
of Persia, a merchant named
Afanasii Nikitin from Russia,
all of whom visited the city in
the fifteenth century, and those
of Duarte Barbosa, Domingo
Paes and Fernao Nuniz from
Port ugal , who came i n t he
sixteenth century.
177
3.1 Water resources
The most striking feature about the location of
Vijayanagara is the natural basin formed by the
river Tungabhadra which flows in a north-easterly
direction. The surrounding landscape is characterised
by stunning granite hills that seem to form a girdle
around the city. A number of streams flow down to
the river from these rocky outcrops.
In almost all cases embankments were built along
these streams to create reservoirs of varying sizes.
As this is one of the most arid zones of the peninsula,
elaborate arrangements had to be made to store
rainwater and conduct it to the city. The most
important such tank was built in the early years
of the fifteenth century and is now called
Kamalapuram tank. Water from this tank not only
irrigated fields nearby but was also conducted
through a channel to the royal centre.
One of the most prominent waterworks to be seen
among the ruins is the Hiriya canal. This canal drew
water from a dam across the Tungabhadra and
irrigated the cultivated valley that separated the
sacred centre from the urban core. This was
apparently built by kings of the Sangama dynasty.
3.2 Fortifications and roads
Before we examine the different parts of the city in
detail let us look at what enclosed them all the
great fortress walls. Abdur Razzaq, an ambassador
sent by the ruler of Persia to Calicut (present-day
Kozhikode) in the fifteenth century, was greatly
impressed by the fortifications, and mentioned
seven lines of forts. These encircled not only the
city but also its agricultural hinterland and forests.
The outermost wall linked the hills surrounding
the city. The massive masonry construction was
slightly tapered. No mortar or cementing agent was
employed anywhere in the construction. The stone
blocks were wedge shaped, which held them in
place, and the inner portion of the walls was of
earth packed with rubble. Square or rectangular
bastions projected outwards.
What was most significant about this fortification
is that it enclosed agricultural tracts. Abdur Razzaq
noted that between the first, second and the third
walls there are cultivated fields, gardens and houses.
And Paes observed: From this first circuit until you
Fig. 7.5
An aqueduct leading into the royal
centre
How tanks were built
About a tank constructed by
Krishnadeva Raya, Paes wrote:
The king made a tank at
t he mout h of t wo hi l l s
so t hat al l t he wat er
which comes from either
one si de or t he ot her
collects there; and, besides
t hi s, wat er comes t o i t
f rom more t han t hree
leagues (approximately 15
kilometres) by pipes which
run along the lower parts of
t he range out si de. Thi s
water is brought from a lake
which itself overflows into a
little river. The tank has three
large pillars handsomely
carved with figures; these
connect above with certain
pipes by which they get
water when they have to
irrigate their gardens and
rice-fields. In order to make
this tank the said king broke
down a hill In the tank I
saw so many people at work
that there must have been
fifteen or twenty thousand
men, looking like ants
Source 4
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 178
enter the city there is a great distance, in which are
fields in which they sow rice and have many gardens
and much water, in which water comes from two
lakes. These statements have been corroborated by
present-day archaeologists, who have also found
evidence of an agricultural tract between the sacred
centre and the urban core. This tract was serviced
by an elaborate canal system drawing water from
the Tungabhadra.
Why do you think agricultural tracts were
incorporated within the fortified area? Often, the
objective of medieval sieges was to starve the
defenders into submission. These sieges could last
for several months and sometimes even years.
Normally rulers tried to be prepared for such
situations by building large granaries within
fortified areas. The rulers of Vijayanagara adopted
a more expensive and elaborate strategy of protecting
the agricultural belt itself.
A second line of fortification went round the
inner core of the urban complex, and a third line
surrounded the royal centre, within which each set
of major buildings was surrounded by its own
high walls.
The fort was entered through well-guarded gates,
which linked the city to the major roads. Gateways
were distinctive architectural features that often
defined the structures to which they regulated
access. The arch on the gateway leading into the
fortified settlement as well as the dome over the
gate (Fig. 7.6) are regarded as typical features of the
architecture introduced by the Turkish Sultans. Art
historians refer to this style as Indo-Islamic, as it
grew continually through interaction with local
building practices in different regions.
Archaeologists have studied roads within the city
and those leading out from it. These have been
identified by tracing paths through gateways, as well
as by finds of pavements. Roads generally wound
around through the valleys, avoiding rocky terrain.
Some of the most important roads extended from
temple gateways, and were lined by bazaars.
3.3 The urban core
Moving along the roads leading into the urban core,
there is relatively little archaeological evidence of
the houses of ordinary people. Archaeologists have
Fig. 7.6
A gateway in the fortification wall
Fig. 7.7
A gopuram
Describe the similarities
and differences between
these two entrances.
Why do you think the rulers
of Vijayanagara adopted
elements of Indo-Islamic
architecture?
179
found fine Chinese porcelain in some areas,
including in the north-eastern corner of the urban
core and suggest that these areas may have been
occupied by rich traders. This was also the Muslim
residential quarter. Tombs and mosques located
here have distinctive functions, yet their architecture
resembles that of the mandapas found in the temples
of Hampi.
This is how the sixteenth-century Portuguese
traveller Barbosa described the houses of ordinary
people, which have not survived: The other houses
of the people are thatched, but nonetheless well built
and arranged according to occupations, in long
streets with many open places.
Field surveys indicate that the entire area was
dotted with numerous shrines and small temples,
pointing to the prevalence of a variety of cults,
perhaps supported by different communities. The
surveys also indicate that wells, rainwater tanks as
well as temple tanks may have served as sources of
water to the ordinary town dwellers.
4. The Royal Centre
The royal centre was located in the south-western
part of the settlement. Although designated as a royal
centre, it included over 60 temples. Clearly, the
patronage of temples and cults was important for
rulers who were trying to establish and legitimise
their authority through association with the
divinities housed in the shrines.
About thirty building complexes have been
identified as palaces. These are relatively large
structures that do not seem to have been associated
Fig. 7.8
Part of an excavated pavement
Fig. 7.9
Shards of Chinese porcelain
Fig. 7.10
A mosque in Vijayanagara
What kinds of vessels
do you think these shards
were originally parts of?
Does the mosque have
the typical features of
Indo-Islamic architecture?
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
Discuss...
Compare the layout of
Vijayanagara with that of
your town or village.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 180
with ritual functions. One difference between
these structures and temples is that the latter
were constructed entirely of masonry, while the
superstructure of the secular buildings was made
of perishable materials.
4.1 The mahanavami dibba
Some of the more distinctive structures in the area
have been assigned names based on the form of
the buildings as well as their functions. The kings
palace is the largest of the enclosures but has not
yielded definitive evidence of being a royal residence.
It has two of the most impressive platforms, usually
called the audience hall and the mahanavami
dibba. The entire complex is surrounded by high
double walls with a street running between them.
The audience hall is a high platform with slots for
wooden pillars at close and regular intervals. It had
a staircase going up to the second floor, which rested
on these pillars. The pillars being closely spaced,
would have left little free space and thus it is not
clear what the hall was used for.
Located on one of the highest points in the city,
the mahanavami dibba is a massive platform rising
from a base of about 11,000 sq. ft to a height of
40 ft. There is evidence that it supported a wooden
structure. The base of the platform is covered with
relief carvings (Fig. 7.12).
Rituals associated with the structure probably
coincided with Mahanavami (literally, the great ninth
day) of the ten-day Hindu festival during the autumn
months of September and October, known variously
as Dusehra (northern India), Durga Puja (in Bengal)
Fig. 7.11
The mahanavami dibba
A House of Victory?
This is what Paes had to say
about the audience hall and
the mahanavami dibba, which
together he called the House
of Victory:
These bui l di ngs have
two platforms one above
the other, beauti ful l y
sculpted On the upper
platform in this House
of Victory the king has a
room made of cl oth
where the idol has a shrine
... and in the other in the
middle is placed a dais on
which stands a throne of
state, (the crown and the
royal anklet)
Fig. 7.12
Carvings on the mahanavami
dibba
Can you identify the themes
of the carvings?
181
and Navaratri or Mahanavami (in peninsular India).
The Vijayanagara kings displayed their prestige, power
and suzerainty on this occasion.
The ceremonies performed on the occasion included
worship of the image, worship of the state horse, and
the sacrifice of buffaloes and other animals. Dances,
wrestling matches, and processions of caparisoned
horses, elephants and chariots and soldiers, as well
as ritual presentations before the king and his
guests by the chief nayakas and subordinate kings
marked the occasion. These ceremonies were imbued
with deep symbolic meanings. On the last day of the
festival the king inspected his army and the armies
of the nayakas in a grand ceremony in an open field.
On this occasion the nayakas brought rich gifts for
the king as well as the stipulated tribute.
Was the mahanavami dibba that stands today
the centre of this elaborate ritual? Scholars have
pointed out that the space surrounding the structure
does not seem to have been adequate for elaborate
processions of armed men, women, and large
numbers of animals. Like some of the other
structures in the royal centre, it remains an enigma.
4.2 Other buildings in the royal centre
One of the most beautiful buildings in the royal
centre is the Lotus Mahal, so named by British
travellers in the nineteenth century. While the name
is certainly romantic, historians are not quite sure
Fig. 7.13
An elevation drawing of the
Lotus Mahal
An elevation is a vertical view of
any object or structure. It gives
you an idea of features that
cannot be seen in a photograph.
Notice the arches. These were
probably inspired by Indo-Islamic
techniques.
Compare Figs. 7.13 and
7.15, and make a list of the
features that are common to
both, as well as those that can
be seen in only one. Also
compare the arch in Fig. 7.14
with the arch in Fig. 7.6. The
Lotus Mahal had nine towers
a high central one, and eight
along the sides. How many can
you see in the photograph and
how many in the elevation?
If you had to rename the Lotus
Mahal, what would you call it?
Fig. 7.14
Detail of an arch of
the Lotus Mahal
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 182
Fig. 7.15
A photograph of the Lotus Mahal
Compare Figs. 7.16 a
and 7.16 b with Fig. 7.17,
making a list of features
visible in each one.
Do you think these were
actually elephant stables?
Fig. 7.17 Elephant stables located close to the Lotus Mahal
Fig. 7.16 a Elevation of the elephant stables
Fig. 7.16 b Plan of the elephant stables. A plan gives a horizontal view of a structure.
what the building was used for. One suggestion,
found in a map drawn by Mackenzie, is that it
may have been a council chamber, a place where
the king met his advisers.
While most temples were located in the sacred
centre, there were several in the royal centre as well.
183
One of the most spectacular of these is one known as
the Hazara Rama temple. This was probably meant
to be used only by the king and his family. The images
in the central shrine are missing; however, sculpted
panels on the walls survive. These include scenes
from the Ramayana sculpted on the inner walls of
the shrine.
While many of the structures at Vijayanagara
were destroyed when the city was sacked, traditions
of building palatial structures were continued by
the nayakas. Many of these buildings have survived.
Fig. 7.19
Interior of the audience hall
at Madurai
Note the arches.
Discuss...
Why did the nayakas continue with the building
traditions of the rulers of Vijayanagara?
Fig. 7.18
Sculpture from the Hazara Rama temple
Can you identify scenes of dancing?
Why do you think elephants and horses
were depicted on the panels?
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 184
5. The Sacred Centre
5.1 Choosing a capital
We now move to the rocky northern end of the city
on the banks of the Tungabhadra. According to local
tradition, these hills sheltered the monkey kingdom
of Vali and Sugriva mentioned in the Ramayana.
Other traditions suggest that Pampadevi, the local
mother goddess, did penance in these hills in order
to marry Virupaksha, the guardian deity of the
kingdom, also recognised as a form of Shiva. To this
day this marriage is celebrated annually in the
Virupaksha temple. Among these hills are found
Jaina temples of the pre-Vijayanagara period as well.
In other words, this area was associated with several
sacred traditions.
Temple building in the region had a long history,
going back to dynasties such as the Pallavas,
Chalukyas, Hoysalas and Cholas. Rulers very often
encouraged temple building as a means of
associating themselves with the divine often, the
deity was explicitly or implicitly identified with the
king. Temples also functioned as centres of learning.
Besides, rulers and others often granted land and
other resources for the maintenance of temples.
Consequently, temples developed as significant
religious, social, cultural and economic centres. From
the point of view of the rulers, constructing, repairing
and maintaining temples were important means
of winning support and recognition for their power,
wealth and piety.
It is likely that the very choice of the site of
Vijayanagara was inspired by the existence of the
shrines of Virupaksha and Pampadevi. In fact the
Vijayanagara kings claimed to rule on behalf of
the god Virupaksha. All royal orders were signed
Shri Virupaksha, usually in the Kannada script.
Rulers also indicated their close links with the gods
by using the title Hindu Suratrana. This was a
Sanskritisation of the Arabic term Sultan, meaning
king, so it literally meant Hindu Sultan.
Even as they drew on earlier traditions, the rulers
of Vijayanagara innovated and developed these.
Royal portrait sculpture was now displayed in
temples, and the kings visits to temples were treated
as important state occasions on which he was
accompanied by the important nayakas of the empire.
185
5.2. Gopurams and mandapas
In terms of temple architecture, by this period
certain new features were in evidence. These
included structures of immense scale that must have
been a mark of imperial authority, best exemplified
by the raya gopurams (Fig. 7.7) or royal gateways
that often dwarfed the towers on the central shrines,
and signalled the presence of the temple from a great
Fig. 7.20
An aerial view of the
Virupaksha temple
Fig. 7.21
A plan of the Virupaksha
temple
Most of the square
structures are shrines.
The two major gateways
are shaded in black.
Each tiny dot represents
a pillar. Rows of pillars
arranged in lines
within a square or
rectangular frame appear
to demarcate major halls,
pavilions and corridors.
Using the scale in
the plan, measure the
distance from the main
gopuram to the central
shrine. What would
have been the easiest
access from the tank to
the shrine?
Tank
Shrine
30m
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 186
distance. They were also probably meant as
reminders of the power of kings, able to command
the resources, techniques and skills needed to
construct these towering gateways. Other distinctive
features include mandapas or pavilions and
long, pillared corridors that often ran around the
shrines within the temple complex. Let us look at
two temples more closely the Virupaksha temple
and the Vitthala temple.
The Virupaksha temple was built over centuries.
Whi l e i nscri pti ons suggest that the earl i est
shrine dated to the ninth-tenth centuries, it was
substantially enlarged with the establishment
of the Vijayanagara Empire. The hall in front of
the main shrine was built by Krishnadeva Raya to
mark his accession. This was decorated with
delicately carved pillars. He is also credited with
Fig. 7.23
A line drawing of a sculpted pillar
Describe what you see on
the pillar.
Fig. 7.22
A kalyana mandapa, meant to
celebrate divine weddings
187
the construction of the eastern gopuram. These
additions meant that the central shrine came to
occupy a relatively small part of the complex.
The halls in the temple were used for a variety of
purposes. Some were spaces in which the images of
gods were placed to witness special programmes of
music, dance, drama, etc. Others were used to
celebrate the marriages of deities, and yet others
were meant for the deities to swing in. Special images,
distinct from those kept in the small central shrine,
were used on these occasions.
Fig. 7.24
The chariot of the Vitthala temple
Do you think chariots
would have actually been built
like this?
Fig. 7.25
Swing pavilion from Gingee
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 188
Another shrine, the Vitthala temple, is also
interesting. Here, the principal deity was Vitthala, a
form of Vishnu generally worshipped in Maharashtra.
The introduction of the worship of the deity in
Karnataka is another indication of the ways in which
the rulers of Vijayanagara drew on different traditions
to create an imperial culture. As in the case of other
temples, this temple too has several halls and a
unique shrine designed as a chariot (Fig. 7.24).
A characteristic feature of the temple complexes
is the chariot streets that extended from the temple
gopuram in a straight line. These streets were paved
with stone slabs and lined with pillared pavilions in
which merchants set up their shops.
Just as the nayakas continued with and elaborated
on traditions of fortification, so they did with
traditions of temple building. In fact, some of the
most spectacular gopurams were also built by the
local nayakas.
Discuss...
How and why did the rulers of Vijayanagara adopt
and adapt earlier traditions of ritual architecture?
6. Plotting Palaces, Temples
and Bazaars
We have been examining a wealth of information on
Vijayanagara photographs, plans, elevations of
structures and sculpture. How was all of this
produced? After the initial surveys by Mackenzie,
information was pieced together from travellers
accounts and inscriptions. Through the twentieth
century, the site was preserved by the Archaeological
Survey of India and the Karnataka Department of
Archaeology and Museums. In 1976, Hampi was
recognised as a site of national importance. Then,
in the early 1980s, an important project was
launched to document the material remains at
Vijayanagara in detail, through extensive and
intensive surveys, using a variety of recording
techniques. Over nearly twenty years, dozens of
Fig. 7.26
A gopuram built by the nayakas
of Madurai
189
scholars from all over the
world worked to compile and
preserve this information.
Let us look at just one
part of thi s enormous
exercise mapping in
more detail. The first step
was to divide the entire
area i nto a set of 25
squares, each designated by
a letter of the alphabet. Then,
each of the small squares
was subdivided into a set
of even smaller squares. But
this was not all: each of
these smaller squares was
further subdivided into yet
smaller units.
As you can see, these
detailed surveys have
been extremely painstaking,
and have recovered and
documented traces of
thousands of structures
from tiny shrines and
residences to elaborate
temples. They have also led
to the recovery of traces of
roads, paths, bazaars, etc.
Fig. 7.27
A detailed map of the site
(top right)
Which is the letter of the
alphabet that was not used?
Using the scale in the map,
measure the length of any
one of the small squares.
What is the scale used
on this map?
Fig. 7.28
Square N of Fig. 7.27 (right)
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 190
The latter have been located
through finds of pillar bases
and platforms all that remain
of thriving markets.
It is worth remembering
something that John M. Fritz,
George Michell and M.S. Nagaraja
Rao, who worked for years at the
site, wrote: In our study of these
monuments of Vijayanagara we
have to imagine a whole series
of vanished wooden elements
columns, brackets, beams,
ceilings, overhanging eaves, and
towers decorated with plaster
and painted, perhaps brightly.
Although wooden structures are
lost, and only stone structures
survive, the descriptions left by
travellers allow us to reconstruct
some aspects of the vibrant life of
the times.
Fig. 7.29
Square NM of Fig. 7.28
Identify a temple.
Look for walls, a central shrine,
and traces of paths leading to the
temple. Name the squares on
the map which contain the plan
of the temple.
Identify the gopuram, halls,
colonnades and central shrine.
Which areas would you pass
through to reach the central
shrine from the outer entrance?
Fig. 7.30
Plan of the temple in Fig 7.29
191
The bazaar
Paes gives a vivid description of the bazaar:
Going forward, you have a broad and beautiful street
In this street live many merchants, and there you
will find all sorts of rubies, and diamonds, and emeralds,
and pearls, and seed-pearls, and cloths, and every other
sort of thing there is on earth and that you may wish to
buy. Then you have there every evening a fair where
they sell many common horses and nags, and also many
citrons, and limes, and oranges, and grapes, and every
other kind of garden stuff, and wood; you have all in
this street.
More generally, he described the city as being the best-
provided city in the world with the markets stocked with
provisions such as rice, wheat, grains, India corn and a
certain amount of barley and beans, moong, pulses
and horse-gram all of which were cheaply and abundantly
available. According to Fernao Nuniz, the Vijayanagara
markets were overflowing with abundance of fruits,
grapes and oranges, limes, pomegranates, jackfruit and
mangoes and all very cheap. Meat too was sold in
abundance in the marketplaces. Nuniz describes mutton,
pork, venison, partridges, hares, doves, quail and all kinds
of birds, sparrows, rats and cats and lizards as being
sold in the market of Bisnaga (Vijayanagara).
7. Questions in Search
of Answers
Buildings that survive tell us about the way spaces
were organised and used, how they were built, with
what materials and techniques. For example, we
can assess the defence requirements and military
preparedness of a city by studying its fortifications.
Buildings also tell us about the spread of ideas and
cultural influences if we compare them with
buildings in other places. They convey ideas which
the builders or their patrons wished to project. They
are often suffused with symbols which are a product
of their cultural context. These we can understand
when we combine information from other sources
like literature, inscriptions and popular traditions.
Source 5
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 192
Investigations of architectural features do not
tell us what ordinary men, women and children,
comprising the vast majority of the people who lived
in the city and its outskirts, thought about these
impressive buildings. Would they have had access
to any of the areas within the royal centre or the
sacred centre? Would they hurry past the sculpture,
or would they pause to see, reflect and try and
understand its complicated symbolism? And what
did the people who worked on these colossal
construction projects think of the enterprises to
which they had contributed their labour?
While rulers took all important decisions about the
buildings to be constructed, the site, the material to
be used and the style to be followed, who possessed
the specialised knowledge required for such
enormous enterprises? Who drew up the plans for
the buildings? Where did the masons, stonecutters,
sculptors who did the actual building come from?
Were they captured during war from neighbouring
regions? What kind of wages did they get? Who
supervised the building activity? How was building
material transported and where did it come from?
These are some of the questions that we cannot
answer by merely looking at the buildings or their
remains. Continuing research using other sources
might provide some further clues.
Krishnadeva Raya
To recapitulate about some of
the problems of perspective,
look at this beautiful statue
of Krishnadeva Raya placed
on the gopuram of the temple
at Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu.
This is obviously the way in
whi ch t he rul er want ed t o
project himself.
And thi s i s how Paes
describes the king:
Of medium height, and of
fair complexion and good
figure, rather fat than thin;
he has on his face signs of
smallpox.
Fig. 7.31
193 AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
Fig. 7.32
Part of a structure known
as the queens bath
Timeline 1
Major Political Developments
c . 1200-1300 Establishment of the Delhi Sultanate (1206)
c . 1300-1400 Establishment of the Vijayanagara Empire (1336?);
establishment of the Bahmani kingdom (1347);
Sultanates in Jaunpur, Kashmir and Madura
c . 1400-1500 Establishment of the Gajapati kingdom of Orissa (1435);
Establishment of the Sultanates of Gujarat and Malwa;
Emergence of the Sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur
and Berar (1490)
c . 1500-1600 Conquest of Goa by the Portuguese (1510);
Collapse of the Bahmani kingdom,
emergence of the Sultanate of Golconda (1518);
Establishment of the Mughal empire by Babur (1526)
Timeline 2
Landmarks in the Discovery and Conservation
of Vijayanagara
1800 Colin Mackenzie visits Vijayanagara
1856 Alexander Greenlaw takes the first detailed photographs
of archaeological remains at Hampi
1876 J.F. Fleet begins documenting the inscriptions on the
temple walls at the site
1902 Conservation begins under John Marshall
1986 Hampi declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO

Note: Question mark indicates uncertain date.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 194
Fig. 7.33
Answer in100-150 words
1. What have been the methods used to study the ruins
of Hampi over the last two centuries? In what
way do you think they would have complemented
the information provided by the priests of the
Virupaksha temple?
2. How were the water requirements of Vijayanagara
met?
3. What do you think were the advantages and
disadvantages of enclosing agricultural land within
the fortified area of the city?
4. What do you think was the significance of the rituals
associated with the mahanavami dibba?
5. Fig. 7.33 is an illustration of another pillar from the
Virupaksha temple. Do you notice any floral motifs?
What are the animals shown? Why do you think they
are depicted? Describe the human figures shown.
Write a short essay (about
250- 300 words) on the following:
6. Discuss whether the term royal centre is an
appropriate description for the part of the city for which
it is used.
7. What does the architecture of buildings like the Lotus
Mahal and elephant stables tell us about the rulers
who commissioned them?
8. What are the architectural traditions that inspired the
architects of Vijayanagara? How did they transform
these traditions?
9. What impression of the lives of the ordinary people of
Vijayanagara can you cull from the various
descriptions in the chapter?
195
For more information,
you could visit:
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/
new/research/Exp_Rese_Disc/
Asia/vrp/HTML/Vijay_Hist.shtml
If you would like to know
more, read:
Map work
10. On an outline map of the world, mark
approximately Italy, Portugal, Iran and Russia.
Trace the routes the travellers mentioned on p.176
would have taken to reach Vijayanagara.
Project (choose one)
11. Find out more about any one of the major cities
which flourished in the subcontinent during
c. fourteenth-seventeenth centuries. Describe the
architecture of the city. Are there any features to
suggest that these were political centres? Are there
buildings that were ritually significant? Is there
an area for commercial activities? What are the
features that distinguish the urban layout from that
of surrounding areas?
12. Visit a religious building in your neighbourhood.
Describe, with sketches, its roof, pillars and
arches if any, corridors, passages, halls, entrance,
water supply, etc. Compare these features with
those of the Virupaksha temple. Describe what
each part of the building is used for. Find out
about its history.
Vasundhara Filliozat. 2006 (rpt).
Vijayanagara.
National Book Trust,
New Delhi.
George Michell. 1995.
Architecture and Art of
Southern India.
Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
K.A. Nilakanta Sastri. 1955.
A History of South India.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
Burton Stein. 1989.
Vijayanagara (The New
Cambridge History of India
Vol.1, Part 2).
Foundation Books, New Delhi.
AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL: VIJAYANAGARA
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 196
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
about 85 per cent of the population of India lived in
its villages. Both peasants and landed elites were
involved in agricultural production and claimed
rights to a share of the produce. This created
relationships of cooperation, competition and
conflict among them. The sum of these agrarian
relationships made up rural society.
At the same time agencies from outside also
entered into the rural world. Most important among
these was the Mughal state, which derived the
bulk of its income from agricultural production.
Agents of the state revenue assessors, collectors,
record keepers sought to control rural society so
as to ensure that cultivation took place and the
state got its regular share of taxes from the
produce. Since many crops were grown for sale,
trade, money and markets entered the villages and
linked the agricultural areas with the towns.
1. Peasants and Agricultural
Production
The basic unit of agricultural society was the village,
inhabited by peasants who performed the manifold
seasonal tasks that made up agricultural production
throughout the year tilling the soil, sowing seeds,
harvesting the crop when it was ripe. Further, they
contributed their labour to the production of
agro-based goods such as sugar and oil.
But rural India was not characterised by settled
peasant production alone. Several kinds of areas
such as large tracts of dry land or hilly regions were
not cultivable in the same way as the more fertile
Fig. 8.1
A rural scene
Detail from a seventeenth-century
Mughal painting
Peasants, Zamindars
and the State
A AA AAg gg ggr rr rrar ar ar ar arian Socie ian Socie ian Socie ian Socie ian Society and t ty and t ty and t ty and t ty and the Mughal Em he Mughal Em he Mughal Em he Mughal Em he Mughal Empir pir pir pir pire ee ee
( (( ((c cc cc. sixteent . sixteent . sixteent . sixteent . sixteenth hh hh- -- -- seventeenth centuries) seventeenth centuries) seventeenth centuries) seventeenth centuries) seventeenth centuries)
THEME
EIGHT
197
expanses of land. In addition, forest areas made up
a substantial proportion of territory. We need to keep
this varied topography in mind when discussing
agrarian society.
1.1 Looking for sources
Our understanding of the workings of rural society does
not come from those who worked the land, as peasants
did not write about themselves. Our major source for
the agrarian history of the sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries are chronicles and documents
from the Mughal court (see also Chapter 9).
One of the most important chronicles was the
Ain-i Akbari (in short the Ain, see also Section 8)
authored by Akbars court historian Abul Fazl. This
text meticulously recorded the arrangements made
by the state to ensure cultivation, to enable the
collection of revenue by the agencies of the state
and to regulate the relationship between the state
and rural magnates, the zamindars.
The central purpose of the Ain was to present a
vision of Akbars empire where social harmony was
provided by a strong ruling class. Any revolt or assertion
of autonomous power against the Mughal state was,
in the eyes of the author of the Ain, predestined to fail.
In other words, whatever we learn from the Ain about
peasants remains a view from the top.
Fortunately, however, the account of the Ain can
be supplemented by descriptions contained in sources
emanating from regions away from the Mughal
capital. These include detailed revenue records from
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan dating from
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Further,
the extensive records of the East India Company (see
also Chapter 10) provide us with useful descriptions
of agrarian relations in eastern India. All these
sources record instances of conflicts between
peasants, zamindars and the state. In the process
they give us an insight into peasants perception of
and their expectations of fairness from the state.
1.2 Peasants and their lands
The term which Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal
period most frequently used to denote a peasant was
raiyat (plural, riaya) or muzarian. In addition, we
also encounter the terms kisan or asami. Sources of
the seventeenth century refer to two kinds of
peasants khud-kashta and pahi-kashta. The former
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 198
were residents of the village in which they held their
lands. The latter were non-resident cultivators who
belonged to some other village, but cultivated lands
elsewhere on a contractual basis. People became
pahi-kashta either out of choice for example, when
terms of revenue in a distant village were more
favourable or out of compulsion for example,
forced by economic distress after a famine.
Seldom did the average peasant of north India
possess more than a pair of bullocks and two
ploughs; most possessed even less. In Gujarat
peasants possessing about six acres of land were
considered to be affluent; in Bengal, on the other
hand, five acres was the upper limit of an average
peasant farm; 10 acres would make one a rich asami.
Cultivation was based on the principle of individual
ownership. Peasant lands were bought and sold in
the same way as the lands of other property owners.
This nineteenth-century description of peasant
holdings in the Delhi-Agra region would apply equally
to the seventeenth century:
The cultivating peasants (asamis), who plough
up the fields, mark the limits of each field, for
identification and demarcation, with borders of
(raised) earth, brick and thorn so that thousands
of such fields may be counted in a village.
1.3 Irrigation and technology
The abundance of land, available labour and the
mobility of peasants were three factors that
accounted for the constant expansion of agriculture.
Since the primary purpose of agriculture is to feed
people, basic staples such as rice, wheat or millets
were the most frequently cultivated crops. Areas
which received 40 inches or more of rainfall a year
were generally rice-producing zones, followed by
wheat and millets, corresponding to a descending
scale of precipitation.
Monsoons remained the backbone of Indian
agriculture, as they are even today. But there were
crops which required additional water. Artificial
systems of irrigation had to be devised for this.
Peasants on the move
This was a feature of agrarian
society which struck a keen
observer like Babur, the first
Mughal emperor, f orcef ul l y
enough for him to write about it
in the Babur Nama, his memoirs:
In Hindustan hamlets and
villages, towns indeed, are
depopulated and set up in
a moment! If the people of a
large town, one inhabited
for years even, flee from it,
they do it in such a way that
not a sign or trace of them
remains in a day and a half.
On the other hand, if they
fix their eyes on a place to
settle, they need not dig
water courses because their
crops are all rain-grown,
and as the population of
Hindustan is unlimited it
swarms in. They make a tank
or a well; they need not build
houses or set up walls
khas-grass abounds, wood
is unlimited, huts are made,
and straightaway there is a
village or a town!
Source 1
Describe the aspects
of agricultural life that
struck Babur as
particular to regions in
northern India.
199
Irrigating trees and fields
This is an excerpt from the Babur Nama that describes the
irrigation devices the emperor observed in northern India:
The greater part of Hindustan country is situated on level land.
Many though its towns and cultivated lands are, it nowhere
has running waters For water is not at all a necessity in
cultivating crops and orchards. Autumn crops grow by the
downpour of the rains themselves; and strange it is that spring
crops grow even when no rains fall. (However) to young trees
water is made to flow by means of buckets or wheels
In Lahore, Dipalpur (both in present-day Pakistan) and those
other parts, people water by means of a wheel. They make two
circles of rope long enough to suit the depths of the well, fix
strips of wood between them, and on these fasten pitchers.
The ropes with the wood and attached pitchers are put over
the wheel-well. At one end of the wheel-axle a second wheel is
fixed, and close to it another on an upright axle. The last wheel
the bullock turns; its teeth catch in the teeth of the second
(wheel), and thus the wheel with the pitchers is turned. A
trough is set where the water empties from the pitchers and
from this the water is conveyed everywhere.
In Agra, Chandwar, Bayana (all in present-day Uttar Pradesh)
and those parts again, people water with a bucket At the
well-edge they set up a fork of wood, having a roller adjusted
between the forks, tie a rope to a large bucket, put the rope
over a roller, and tie its other end to the bullock. One person
must drive the bullock, another empty the bucket.
Compare the
irrigation devices
observed by Babur with
what you have learnt
about irrigation in
Vijayanagara
(Chapter 7). What kind
of resources would each
of these systems
require? Which systems
could ensure the
participation of peasants
in improving
agricultural technology?
Fig. 8.2
A reconstructed Persian
wheel, described here
Source 2
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 200
Irrigation projects received state support as well.
For example, in northern India the state undertook
digging of new canals (nahr, nala) and also repaired
old ones like the shahnahr in the Punjab during Shah
Jahans reign.
Though agriculture was labour intensive, peasants
did use technologies that often harnessed cattle
energy. One example was the wooden plough, which
was light and easily assembled with an iron tip or
coulter. It therefore did not make deep furrows, which
preserved the moisture better during the intensely
hot months. A drill, pulled by a pair of giant oxen,
was used to plant seeds, but broadcasting of
seed was the most prevalent method. Hoeing and
weeding were done simultaneously using a narrow
iron blade with a small wooden handle.
1.4 An abundance of crops
Agriculture was organised around two major
seasonal cycles, the kharif (autumn) and the rabi
(spring). This would mean that most regions, except
those terrains that were the most arid or
inhospitable, produced a minimum of two crops a
year (do-fasla), whereas some, where rainfall or
irrigation assured a continuous supply of water, even
gave three crops. This ensured an enormous variety
of produce. For instance, we are told in the Ain that
the Mughal provinces of Agra produced 39 varieties
of crops and Delhi produced 43 over the two seasons.
Bengal produced 50 varieties of rice alone.
However, the focus on the cultivation of basic
staples did not mean that agriculture in medieval
India was only for subsistence. We often come across
the term jins-i kamil (literally, perfect crops) in our
sources. The Mughal state also encouraged peasants
to cultivate such crops as they brought in more
revenue. Crops such as cotton and sugarcane were
jins-i kamil par excellence. Cotton was grown over a
great swathe of territory spread over central India
and the Deccan plateau, whereas Bengal was famous
for its sugar. Such cash crops would also include
various sorts of oilseeds (for example, mustard) and
lentils. This shows how subsistence and commercial
production were closely intertwined in an average
peasants holding.
During the seventeenth century several new crops
from different parts of the world reached the Indian
The spread of tobacco
This plant, which arrived first
i n the Deccan, spread to
northern India in the early years
of the seventeenth century. The
Ain does not mention tobacco
in the lists of crops in northern
India. Akbar and his nobles came
across tobacco for the first time
in 1604. At this time smoking
tobacco (in hookahs or chillums)
seems to have caught on in
a bi g way. Jahangi r was so
concerned about its addiction
that he banned it. This was totally
i neffecti ve because by the
end of the seventeenth century,
tobacco had become a major
article of consumption, cultivation
and trade all over India.
Agricultural prosperity
and population growth
One important outcome of such
varied and flexible forms of
agricultural production was
a slow demographic growth.
Despite periodic disruptions
caused by fami nes and
epidemics, Indias population
i ncreased, accordi ng to
cal cul ati ons by economi c
historians, by about 50 million
people between 1600 and 1800,
which is an increase of about
33 per cent over 200 years.
201
subcontinent. Maize (makka), for example, was
introduced into India via Africa and Spain and by
the seventeenth century it was being listed as one
of the major crops of western India. Vegetables like
tomatoes, potatoes and chillies were introduced from
the New World at this time, as were fruits like the
pineapple and the papaya.
2. The Village Community
The above account makes it clear that agricultural
production involved the intensive participation and
initiative of the peasantry. How did this affect the
structure of agrarian relations in Mughal society?
To find out, let us look at the social groups involved
in agricultural expansion, and at their relationships
and conflicts.
We have seen that peasants held their lands in
individual ownership. At the same time they belonged
to a collective village community as far as many
aspects of their social existence were concerned.
There were three constituents of this community
the cultivators, the panchayat, and the village
headman (muqaddam or mandal).
2.1 Caste and the rural milieu
Deep inequities on the basis of caste and other caste-
like distinctions meant that the cultivators were a
highly heterogeneous group. Among those who tilled
the land, there was a sizeable number who worked
as menials or agricultural
labourers (majur).
Despite the abundance of
cultivable land, certain caste
groups were assigned menial
tasks and thus relegated to
poverty. Though there was
no census at that time, the
little data that we have
suggest that such groups
comprised a large section of
the village population, had
the least resources and were
constrained by their position
in the caste hierarchy, much
like the Dalits of modern
India. Such distinctions had
begun permeating into other
Discuss...
Identify the technologies
and agricultural practices
described in this section that
appear similar to or different
from those described in
Chapter 2.
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
Fig. 8.3
An early nineteenth-century
painting depicting a village in
the Punjab
Describe what women and
men are shown doing in the
illustration as well as the
architecture of the village.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 202
communities too. In Muslim communities menials like
the halalkhoran (scavengers) were housed outside the
boundaries of the village; similarly the mallahzadas
(literally, sons of boatmen) in Bihar were comparable
to slaves.
There was a direct correlation between caste,
poverty and social status at the lower strata of
society. Such correlations were not so marked at
intermediate levels. In a manual from seventeenth-
century Marwar, Rajputs are mentioned as peasants,
sharing the same space with Jats, who were accorded
a lower status in the caste hierarchy. The Gauravas,
who cultivated land around Vrindavan (Uttar
Pradesh), sought Rajput status in the seventeenth
century. Castes such as the Ahirs, Gujars and Malis
rose in the hierarchy because of the profitability of
cattle rearing and horticulture. In the eastern
regions, intermediate pastoral and fishing castes
like the Sadgops and Kaivartas acquired the status
of peasants.
2.2 Panchayats and headmen
The village panchayat was an assembly of elders,
usually important people of the village with hereditary
rights over their property. In mixed-caste villages,
the panchayat was usually a heterogeneous body. An
oligarchy, the panchayat represented various castes
and communities in the village, though the village
menial-cum-agricultural worker was unlikely to be
represented there. The decisions made by these
panchayats were binding on the members.
The panchayat was headed by a headman known
as muqaddam or mandal. Some sources suggest that
the headman was chosen through the consensus of
the village elders, and that this choice had to be
ratified by the zamindar. Headmen held office as long
as they enjoyed the confidence of the village elders,
failing which they could be dismissed by them. The
chief function of the headman was to supervise the
preparation of village accounts, assisted by the
accountant or patwari of the panchayat.
The panchayat derived its funds from
contributions made by individuals to a common
financial pool. These funds were used for defraying
the costs of entertaining revenue officials who
visited the village from time to time. Expenses for
community welfare activities such as tiding over
Corrupt mandals
The mandals often misused their
positions. They were principally
accused of defrauding village
accounts in connivance with the
patwari, and for underassessing
the revenue they owed from
their own lands in order to pass
the additional burden on to the
smaller cultivator.
203
Fig. 8.4
An early nineteenth-century
painting depicting a meeting of
village elders and tax collectors
natural calamities (like
floods), were also met from
these funds. Often these
funds were also deployed in
construction of a bund or
digging a canal which
peasants usually could not
afford to do on their own.
One important function of
the panchayat was to ensure
that caste boundaries among
the various communities
inhabiting the village were
upheld. In eastern India all
marriages were held in the
presence of the mandal. In other words one of the
duties of the village headman was to oversee the
conduct of the members of the village community
chiefly to prevent any offence against their caste.
Panchayats also had the authority to levy fines
and inflict more serious forms of punishment like
expulsion from the community. The latter was a
drastic step and was in most cases meted out for a
limited period. It meant that a person forced to leave
the village became an outcaste and lost his right
to practise his profession. Such a measure was
intended as a deterrent to violation of caste norms.
In addition to the village panchayat each caste
or jati in the village had its own jati panchayat.
These panchayats wielded considerable power
in rural society. In Rajasthan jati panchayats
arbitrated civil disputes between members of
different castes. They mediated in contested claims
on land, decided whether marriages were performed
according to the norms laid down by a particular
caste group, determined who had ritual precedence
in village functions, and so on. In most cases,
except in matters of criminal justice, the state
respected the decisions of jati panchayats.
Archival records from western India notably
Rajasthan and Maharashtra contain petitions
presented to the panchayat complaining about
extortionate taxation or the demand for unpaid
labour (begar) imposed by the superior castes or
officials of the state. These petitions were usually
made by villagers, from the lowest rungs of rural
society. Often petitions were made collectively as
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
How has the artist
differentiated between the
village elders and the
tax collectors?
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 204
well, by a caste group or a community protesting
against what they considered were morally
illegitimate demands on the part of elite groups.
These included excessive tax demands which,
especially in times of drought or other disasters,
endangered the peasants subsistence. In the eyes
of the petitioners the right to the basic minimum for
survival was sanctioned by custom. They regarded
the village panchayat as the court of appeal that
would ensure that the state carried out its moral
obligations and guaranteed justice.
The decision of the panchayat in
conflicts between lower -caste
peasants and state officials or the
local zamindar could vary from
case to case. In cases of excessive
revenue demands, the panchayat
often suggested compromise. In
cases where reconciliation failed,
peasants took recourse to more
drastic forms of resistance, such as
deserting the village. The relatively
easy availability of uncultivated land
and the competition over labour
resources made this an effective
weapon in the hands of cultivators.
2.3 Village artisans
Another interesting aspect of
the village was the elaborate
relationship of exchange between
different producers. Marathi
documents and village surveys
made in the early years of British
rule have revealed the existence of
substantial numbers of artisans,
sometimes as high as 25 per cent of
the total households in the villages.
At times, however, the distinction
between artisans and peasants in
village society was a fluid one, as
many groups performed the tasks
of both. Cultivators and their
families would also participate in
craft production such as dyeing,
textile printing, baking and firing
of pottery, making and repairing
Fig. 8.5
A seventeenth-century painting
depicting textile production
Describe the activities that
are shown in the illustration.
205
agricultural implements. Phases in the agricultural
calendar when there was a relative lull in activity,
as between sowing and weeding or between weeding
and harvesting, were a time when cultivators could
engage in artisanal production.
Village artisans potters, blacksmiths, carpenters,
barbers, even goldsmiths provided specialised
services in return for which they were compensated
by villagers by a variety of means. The most common
way of doing so was by giving them a share of the
harvest, or an allotment of land, perhaps cultivable
wastes, which was likely to be decided by the
panchayat. In Maharashtra such lands became the
artisans miras or watan their hereditary holding.
Another variant of this was a system where
artisans and individual peasant households entered
into a mutually negotiated system of remuneration,
most of the time goods for services. For example,
eighteenth-century records tell us of zamindars in
Bengal who remunerated blacksmiths, carpenters,
even goldsmiths for their work by paying them a
small daily allowance and diet money. This later
came to be described as the j aj mani system,
though the term was not in vogue in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. Such evidence is
interesting because it indicates the intricate ways
i n whi ch exchange networks operated at the
micro-level of the village. Cash remuneration was
not entirely unknown either.
2.4 A little republic?
How does one understand the significance of the
village community? Some British officials in the
nineteenth century saw the village as a little
republic made up of fraternal partners sharing
resources and labour in a collective. However, this
was not a sign of rural egalitarianism. There was
individual ownership of assets and deep inequities
based on caste and gender distinctions. A group
of powerful individuals decided the affairs of the
village, exploited the weaker sections and had the
authority to dispense justice.
More importantly, a cash nexus had already
developed through trade between villages and towns.
In the Mughal heartland too, revenue was assessed
and collected in cash. Artisans producing for the
export market (for example, weavers) received their
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 206
advances or wages in cash, as did producers of
commercial products like cotton, silk or indigo.
Discuss...
In what ways do you think the panchayats
described in this section were similar to or
different from present-day gram panchayats?
3. Women in Agrarian Society
As you may have observed in many different societies,
the production process often involves men and
women performing certain specified roles. In the
contexts that we are exploring, women and men had
to work shoulder to shoulder in the fields. Men
tilled and ploughed, while women sowed, weeded,
threshed and winnowed the harvest. With the growth
of nucleated villages and expansion in individuated
peasant farming, which characterised medieval
Indian agriculture, the basis of production was the
labour and resources of the entire household.
Naturally, a gendered segregation between the home
(for women) and the world (for men) was not possible
in this context. Nonetheless biases related to womens
biological functions did continue. Menstruating
women, for instance, were not allowed to touch the
plough or the potters wheel in western India, or
enter the groves where betel-leaves (paan) were
grown in Bengal.
Artisanal tasks such as spinning yarn, sifting and
kneading clay for pottery, and embroidery were among
the many aspects of production dependent on female
labour. The more commercialised the product, the
greater the demand on womens labour to produce it.
In fact, peasant and artisan women worked not only
in the fields, but even went to the houses of their
employers or to the markets if necessary.
Women were considered an important resource in
agrarian society also because they were child bearers
in a society dependent on labour. At the same time,
high mortality rates among women owing to
malnutrition, frequent pregnancies, death during
childbirth often meant a shortage of wives. This
led to the emergence of social customs in peasant
and artisan communities that were distinct from
Money in the village
The seventeenth-century French
traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
found it remarkabl e that in
India a village must be very small
indeed if it has not a money-
changer called a Shroff. (They)
act as bankers t o make
remi ttances of money (and
who) enhance the rupee as
they please for paisa and the
paisa for these (cowrie) shells.
Fig. 8.7
A woman spinning thread
Fig. 8.6
A shroff at work
207
those prevalent among elite groups. Marriages in
many rural communities required the payment of
bride-price rather than dowry to the brides family.
Remarriage was considered legitimate both among
divorced and widowed women.
The importance attached to women as a
reproductive force also meant that the fear of losing
control over them was great. According to established
social norms, the household was headed by a male.
Thus women were kept under strict control by the
male members of the family and the community.
They could inflict draconian punishments if they
suspected infidelity on the part of women.
Documents from Western India Rajasthan, Gujarat
and Maharashtra record petitions sent by women to
the village panchayat, seeking redress and justice.
Wives protested against the infidelity of their
husbands or the neglect of the wife and children by
the male head of the household, the grihasthi. While
male infidelity was not always punished, the state
and superior caste groups did intervene when it came
to ensuring that the family was adequately provided
for. In most cases when women petitioned to the
panchayat, their names were excluded from the
record: the petitioner was referred to as the mother,
sister or wife of the male head of the household.
Amongst the landed gentry, women had the right
to inherit property. Instances from the Punjab show
that women, including widows, actively participated
in the rural land market as sellers of property inherited
by them. Hindu and Muslim women inherited
zamindaris which they were free to sell or mortgage.
Women zamindars were known in eighteenth-century
Bengal. In fact, one of the biggest and most famous of
the eighteenth-century zamindaris, that of Rajshahi,
had a woman at the helm.
Fig. 8.8 b
Women carrying loads
Migrant women from neighbouring
villages often worked at such
construction sites.
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
Fig. 8.8 a
The construction of Fatehpur Sikri
women crushing stones
Discuss...
Are there any differences in the access men and
women have to agricultural land in your state?
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 208
4. Forests and Tribes
4.1 Beyond settled villages
There was more to rural India than sedentary
agriculture. Apart from the intensively cultivated
provinces in northern and north-western India,
huge swathes of forests dense forest (jangal) or
scrubland (kharbandi) existed all over eastern
India, central India, northern India (including the
Terai on the Indo-Nepal border), Jharkhand, and in
peninsular India down the Western Ghats and the
Deccan plateau. Though it is nearly impossible to
set an all-India average of the forest cover for this
period, informed conjectures based on contemporary
sources suggest an average of 40 per cent.
Forest dwel l ers were termed j angl i in
contemporary texts. Being jangli, however, did
not mean an absence of civilisation,
as popular usage of the term today
seems to connote. Rather, the term
descri bed those whose l i vel i hood
came from the gathering of forest
produce, hunti ng and shi fti ng
agriculture. These activities were
largely season specific. Among the
Bhils, for example, spring was reserved
for collecting forest produce, summer
for fishing, the monsoon months
for cul ti vati on, and autumn and
winter for hunting. Such a sequence
presumed and perpetuated mobility,
which was a distinctive feature of
tribes inhabiting these forests.
For the state, the forest was a
subversive place a place of refuge
(mawas) for troublemakers. Once
again, we turn to Babur who says that
jungles provided a good defence behind
which the people of the pargana
become stubbornly rebellious and
pay no taxes.
4.2 Inroads into forests
External forces entered the forest in
different ways. For instance, the state
required elephants for the army. So
the peshkash levied from forest people
often included a supply of elephants.
Fig. 8.9
Painting of Shah Jahan hunting
nilgais ( from the Badshah Nama)
Describe what you see
in this painting. What is the
symbolic element that helps
establish the connection
between the hunt and
ideal justice?
209
In the Mughal political ideology, the hunt
symbolised the overwhelming concern of the state
to ensure justice to all its subjects, rich and poor.
Regular hunting expeditions, so court historians tell
us, enabled the emperor to travel across the extensive
territories of his empire and personally attend to the
grievances of its inhabitants. The hunt was a subject
frequently painted by court artists. The painter
resorted to the device of inserting a small scene
somewhere in the picture that functioned as a symbol
of a harmonious reign.
Clearance of forests for
agricultural settlements
This is an excerpt from a sixteenth-century Bengali poem,
Chandimangala, composed by Mukundaram Chakrabarti.
The hero of the poem, Kalaketu, set up a kingdom by
clearing forests:
Hearing the news, outsiders came from various lands.
Kalaketu then bought and distributed among them
Heavy knives, axes, battle-axes and pikes.
From the north came the Das (people)
One hundred of them advanced.
They were struck with wonder on seeing Kalaketu
Who distributed betel-nut to each of them.
From the south came the harvesters
Five hundred of them under one organiser.
From the west came Zafar Mian,
Together with twenty-two thousand men.
Sulaimani beads in their hands
They chanted the names of their pir and paighambar
(Prophet).
Having cleared the forest
They established markets.
Hundreds and hundreds of foreigners
Ate and entered the forest.
Hearing the sound of the axe,
Tigers became apprehensive and ran away, roaring.
Pargana was an administrative
subdivision of a Mughal province.
Source 3
What forms of intrusion into
the forest does the text evoke?
Compare its message with that
of the miniature painting in
Fig. 8.9. Who are the people
identified as foreigners from the
perspective of the forest dwellers?
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
Peshkash was a form of tribute
collected by the Mughal state.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 210
Trade between the hill tribes
and the plains, c. 1595
This is how Abul Fazl describes the transactions between
the hill tribes and the plains in the suba of Awadh (part
of present-day Uttar Pradesh):
From the northern mountains quantities of goods are
carried on the backs of men, of stout ponies and of
goats, such as gold, copper, lead, musk, tails of the
kutas cow (the yak), honey, chuk (an acid composed
of orange j ui ce and l emon boi l ed t oget her),
pomegranate seed, ginger, long pepper, majith (a plant
producing a red dye) root, borax, zedoary (a root
resembling turmeric), wax, woollen stuffs, wooden
ware, hawks, falcons, black falcons, merlins (a kind of
bird), and other articles. In exchange they carry back
white and coloured cloths, amber, salt, asafoetida,
ornaments, glass and earthen ware.
The spread of commercial agriculture was an
important external factor that impinged on the lives
of those who lived in the forests. Forest products
like honey, beeswax and gum lac were in great
demand. Some, such as gum lac, became major items
of overseas export from India in the seventeenth
century. Elephants were also captured and sold.
Trade involved an exchange of commodities through
barter as well. Some tribes, like the Lohanis in the
Punjab, were engaged in overland trade, between
India and Afghanistan, and in the town-country
trade in the Punjab itself.
Social factors too wrought changes in the lives of
forest dwellers. Like the big men of the village
community, tribes also had their chieftains. Many
tribal chiefs had become zamindars, some even
became kings. For this they required to build up an
army. They recruited people from their lineage
groups or demanded that their fraternity provide
military service. Tribes in the Sind region had armies
comprising 6,000 cavalry and 7,000 infantry. In
Assam, the Ahom kings had their paiks, people who
were obliged to render military service in exchange
for land. The capture of wild elephants was declared
a royal monopoly by the Ahom kings.
Fig. 8.10
A peasant and a hunter listening
to a sufi singer
Source 4
What are the modes of
transport described in this
passage? Why do you think
they were used? Explain what
each of the articles brought from
the plains to the hills may have
been used for.
211
Though the transi ti on from a tri bal to a
monarchical system had started much earlier, the
process seems to have become fully developed only
by the sixteenth century. This can be seen from
the Ains observations on the existence of tribal
kingdoms in the north-east. War was a common
occurrence. For instance, the Koch kings fought
and subjugated a number of neighbouring tribes in
a long sequence of wars through the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.
New cultural influences also began to penetrate
into forested zones. Some historians have indeed
suggested that sufi saints (pirs) played a major role
in the slow acceptance of Islam among agricultural
communities emerging in newly colonised places
(see also Chapter 6).
5. The Zamindars
Our story of agrarian relations in Mughal India will
not be complete without referring to a class of
people in the countryside that lived off agriculture
but did not participate directly in the processes of
agricultural production. These were the zamindars
who were landed proprietors who also enjoyed certain
social and economic privileges by virtue of their
superior status in rural society. Caste was one factor
that accounted for the elevated status of zamindars;
another factor was that they performed certain
services (khidmat) for the state.
The zamindars held extensive personal lands
termed milkiyat, meaning property. Milkiyat lands
were cultivated for the private use of zamindars,
often with the help of hired or servile labour. The
zamindars could sell, bequeath or mortgage these
lands at will.
Zamindars also derived their power from the fact
that they could often collect revenue on behalf of
the state, a service for which they were compensated
financially. Control over military resources was
another source of power. Most zamindars had
fortresses (qilachas) as well as an armed contingent
comprising units of cavalry, artillery and infantry.
Thus if we visualise social relations in the
Mughal countryside as a pyramid, zamindars clearly
constituted its very narrow apex. Abul Fazls account
indicates that an upper-caste, Brahmana-Rajput
Discuss...
Find out which areas are
currently identified as forest
zones in your state. Is life in
these areas changing today?
Are the factors responsible for
these changes different from
or identical to those
mentioned in this section?
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 212
combine had already established firm control
over rural society. It also reflects a fairly large
representation from the so-called intermediate castes,
as we saw earlier, as well as a liberal sprinkling of
Muslim zamindaris.
Contemporary documents give an impression that
conquest may have been the source of the origin of
some zamindaris. The dispossession of weaker people
by a powerful military chieftain was quite often a
way of expanding a zamindari. It is, however, unlikely
that the state would have allowed such a show of
aggression by a zamindar unless he had been
confirmed by an imperial order (sanad).
More important were the slow processes of
zamindari consolidation, which are also documented
in sources. These involved colonisation of new lands,
by transfer of rights, by order of the state and by
purchase. These were the processes which perhaps
permitted people belonging to the relatively lower
castes to enter the rank of zamindars as zamindaris
were bought and sold quite briskly in this period.
A combination of factors also allowed the
consolidation of clan- or lineage-based zamindaris.
For example, the Rajputs and Jats adopted these
strategies to consolidate their control over vast
swathes of territory in northern India. Likewise,
peasant-pastoralists (like the Sadgops) carved out
powerful zamindaris in areas of central and south-
western Bengal.
Zamindars spearheaded the colonisation of
agricultural land, and helped in settling cultivators
by providing them with the means of cultivation,
including cash loans. The buying and selling of
zamindaris accelerated the process of monetisation
in the countryside. In addition, zamindars sold the
produce from their milkiyat lands. There is evidence
to show that zamindars often established markets (haats)
to which peasants also came to sell their produce.
Although there can be little doubt that zamindars
were an exploitative class, their relationship with the
peasantry had an element of reciprocity, paternalism
and patronage. Two aspects reinforce this view. First,
the bhakti saints, who eloquently condemned
caste-based and other forms of oppression (see also
Chapter 6), did not portray the zamindars (or,
interestingly, the moneylender) as exploiters or
oppressors of the peasantry. Usually it was the
A parallel army!
Accordi ng t o t he Ai n, the
combined military strength of
the zamindars in Mughal India
was 384,558 cavalry, 4,277,057
infantry, 1,863 elephants, 4,260
cannons, and 4,500 boats.
213
revenue official of the state who was the object of their
ire. Second, in a large number of agrarian uprisings
which erupted in north India in the seventeenth
century, zamindars often received the support of the
peasantry in their struggle against the state.
6. Land Revenue System
Revenue from the land was the economic mainstay
of the Mughal Empire. It was therefore vital for the
state to create an administrative apparatus to ensure
control over agricultural production, and to fix and
collect revenue from across the length and breadth
of the rapidly expanding empire. This apparatus
included the office (daftar) of the diwan who was
responsible for supervising the fiscal system of the
empire. Thus revenue officials and record keepers
penetrated the agricultural domain and became a
decisive agent in shaping agrarian relations.
The Mughal state tried to first acquire specific
information about the extent of the agricultural
lands in the empire and what these lands produced
before fixing the burden of taxes on people. The
l and revenue arrangements consi sted of two
stages first, assessment and then actual collection.
The jama was the amount assessed, as opposed to
hasil, the amount collected. In his list of duties of
the amil-guzar or revenue collector, Akbar decreed
that while he should strive to make cultivators pay
in cash, the option of payment in kind was also to
be kept open. While fixing revenue, the attempt of
the state was to maximise its claims. The scope of
actually realising these claims was, however,
sometimes thwarted by local conditions.
Both cultivated and cultivable lands were measured
in each province. The Ain compiled the aggregates of
such lands during Akbars rule. Efforts to measure
lands continued under subsequent emperors. For
instance, in 1665, Aurangzeb expressly instructed his
revenue officials to prepare annual records of the
number of cultivators in each village (Source 7). Yet
not all areas were measured successfully. As we have
seen, forests covered huge areas of the subcontinent
and thus remained unmeasured.
Discuss...
The zamindari system was
abolished in India after
Independence. Read through
this section and identify
reasons why this was done.
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 214
Amin was an official responsible
for ensuring that imperial
regulations were carried out in
the provinces.
Classification of lands under Akbar
The following is a listing of criteria of classification excerpted
from the Ain:
The Emperor Akbar in his profound sagacity classified
the lands and fixed a different revenue to be paid by
each. Polaj is land which is annually cultivated for each
crop in succession and is never allowed to lie fallow.
Parauti is land left out of cultivation for a time that it
may recover its strength. Chachar is land that has
lain fallow for three or four years. Banjar is land
uncultivated for five years and more. Of the first two
kinds of land, there are three classes, good, middling,
and bad. They add together the produce of each sort,
and the third of this represents the medium produce,
one-third part of which is exacted as the Royal dues.
The mansabdari system
The Mughal admi ni strati ve
system had at its apex a military-
cum-bureaucratic apparatus
(mansabdari ) whi ch was
responsible for looking after the
civil and military affairs of the
state. Some mansabdars were
paid in cash (naqdi), while the
majority of them were paid
through assignments of revenue
(jagirs) in different regions of the
empire. They were transferred
periodically. See also Chapter 9.
Source 5
What principles did the
Mughal state follow while
classifying lands in its territories?
How was revenue assessed?
Map 1
The expansion of the Mughal Empire
What impact do you think
the expansion of the empire
would have had on land revenue
collection?
Samarqand
Balkh
Kabul
Qandahar
Lahore
Panipat
Delhi
Agra
Amber
Ajmer
Patna
Rohtas
Goa
Baburs reign, 1530
Akbars reign, 1605
Aurangzebs reign, 1707
Arabian Sea
Bay of Bengal
Sketch map not to scale
215
The jama
Thi s i s an excerpt f rom
Aurangzeb s order to hi s
revenue official, 1665:
He should direct the amins of
the parganas that they should
discover the actual conditions
of cultivation (mauj udat),
village by village, peasant-wise
(asamiwar), and after minute
scruti ny, assess the j ama,
keeping in view the financial
i nterests (ki f ayat) of the
government, and the welfare
of the peasantry.
Source 6
The Ain on land revenue collection:
Let him (the amil-guzar) not make it a practice of
taking only in cash but also in kind. The latter is
effected in several ways. First, kankut : in the Hindi
language kan signifies grain, and kut, estimates If
any doubts arise, the crops shoul d be cut and
estimated in three lots, the good, the middling, and
the inferior, and the hesitation removed. Often, too,
the land taken by appraisement, gives a sufficiently
accurate return. Secondly, batai, also called bhaoli,
the crops are reaped and stacked and divided by
agreement in the presence of the parties. But in this
case several intelligent inspectors are required;
otherwise, the evil-minded and false are given to
deception. Thirdly, khet-batai, when they divide the
fields after they are sown. Fourthly, lang batai , after
cutting the grain, they form it in heaps and divide it
among themselves, and each takes his share home
and turns it to profit.
Discuss...
Would you consider the land revenue system of
the Mughals as a flexible one?
7. The Flow of Silver
The Mughal Empire was among the large territorial
empires in Asia that had managed to consolidate power
and resources during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. These empires were the Ming (China),
Safavid (Iran) and Ottoman (Turkey). The political
stability achieved by all these empires helped create
vibrant networks of overland trade from China to the
Mediterranean Sea. Voyages of discovery and the
opening up of the New World resulted in a massive
expansion of Asias (particularly Indias) trade with
Europe. This resulted in a greater geographical
diversity of Indias overseas trade as well as an
What difference would each of the systems
of assessment and collection of revenue have
made to the cultivator?
Source 7
Why do you think
the emperor insisted
on a detailed survey?
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
Cash or kind?
Fig. 8.11
A silver rupya issued by Akbar
(obverse and reverse)
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 216
expansion in the commodity composition of this trade.
An expanding trade brought in huge amounts of silver
bullion into Asia to pay for goods procured from India,
and a large part of that bullion gravitated towards
India. This was good for India as it did not have
natural resources of silver. As a result, the period
between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries was
also marked by a remarkable stability in the
availability of metal currency, particularly the silver
rupya in India. This facilitated an unprecedented
expansion of minting of coins and the circulation of
money in the economy as well as the ability of the
Mughal state to extract taxes and revenue in cash.
The testimony of an Italian traveller, Giovanni
Careri, who passed through India c. 1690, provides
a graphic account about the way silver travelled
across the globe to reach India. It also gives us an idea
of the phenomenal amounts of cash and commodity
transactions in seventeenth-century India.
Discuss...
Find out whether there are
any taxes on agricultural
production at present in
your state. Explain the
similarities and differences
between Mughal fiscal
policies and those adopted
by present-day state
governments.
Fig. 8.12
A silver rupya issued by Aurangzeb
Fig. 8.13
An example of textiles produced in
the subcontinent to meet the
demands of European markets
217
How silver came to India
This excerpt from Giovanni Careris account (based on Berniers account) gives an
idea of the enormous amount of wealth that found its way into the Mughal Empire:
That the Reader may form some idea of the Wealth of this (Mughal) Empire, he is to
observe that all the Gold and Silver, which circulates throughout the World at last
Centres here. It is well known that as much of it comes out of America, after running
through several Kingdoms of Europe, goes partly into Turky (Turkey), for several
sorts of Commodities; and part into Persia, by the way of Smirna for Silk. Now the
Turks not being able to abstain from Coffee, which comes from Hyeman (Oman),
and Arabia nor Persia, Arabia, and the Turks themselves to go without the
commodities of India, send vast quantities of Mony (money) to Moka (Mocha) on
the Red Sea, near Babel Mandel; to Bassora (Basra) at the bottom of the Persian
Gulgh (Gulf); which is afterwards sent over in Ships to Indostan (Hindustan).
Besides the Indian, Dutch, English, and Portuguese Ships, that every Year carry the
Commodities of Indostan, to Pegu, Tanasserri (parts of Myanmar), Siam (Thailand),
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) the Maldive Islands, Mozambique and other Places, must of
necessity convey much Gold and Silver thither, from those Countries. All that the
Dutch fetch from the Mines in Japan, sooner or later, goes to Indostan; and the
goods carryd hence into Europe, whether to France, England, or Portugal, are all
purchasd for ready Mony, which remains there.
Source 8
8. The Ain- i Akbari of Abul
Fazl Allami
The Ain-i Akbari was the culmination of a large
historical, administrative project of classification
undertaken by Abul Fazl at the order of Emperor
Akbar. It was completed in 1598, the forty-second
regnal year of the emperor, after having gone through
five revisions. The Ain was part of a larger project
of history writing commissioned by Akbar. This
history, known as the Akbar Nama, comprised three
books. The first two provided a historical narrative.
We will look at these parts more closely in Chapter
9. The Ain-i Akbari, the third book, was organised
as a compendium of imperial regulations and a
gazetteer of the empire.
The Ain gives detailed accounts of the organisation
of the court, administration and army, the sources
of revenue and the physical layout of the provinces
of Akbars empire and the literary, cultural and
religious traditions of the people. Along with a
description of the various departments of Akbars
government and elaborate descriptions of the
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 218
various provinces (subas) of the empire, the Ain
gives us intricate quantitative information of
those provinces.
Collecting and compiling this information
systematically was an important imperial exercise.
It informed the emperor about the varied and diverse
customs and practices prevailing across his
extensive territories. The Ain is therefore a mine of
information for us about the Mughal Empire during
Akbars reign. It is important, however, to keep in
mind that this is a view of the regions from the
centre, a view of society from its apex.
The Ain is made up of five books (daftars), of which
the first three books describe the administration.
The first book, called manzil-abadi, concerns the
imperial household and its maintenance. The second
book, sipah-abadi, covers the military and civil
administration and the establishment of servants.
This book includes notices and short biographical
sketches of imperial officials (mansabdars), learned
men, poets and artists.
The third book, mulk-abadi, is the one which deals
with the fiscal side of the empire and provides rich
quantitative information on revenue rates, followed
by the Account of the Twelve Provinces. This section
has detailed statistical information, which includes
the geographic, topographic and economic profile of
all subas and their administrative and fiscal
divisions (sarkars, parganas and mahals), total
measured area, and assessed revenue ( jama ).
After setting out details at the suba level, the Ain
goes on to give a detailed picture of the sarkars below
the suba. This it does in the form of tables, which
have eight columns giving the following information:
(1) parganat/mahal; (2) qila (forts); (3) arazi and
zamin-i paimuda (measured area); (4) naqdi, revenue
assessed in cash; (5) suyurghal, grants of revenue in
charity; (6) zamindars; columns 7 and 8 contain
details of the castes of these zamindars, and their
troops including their horsemen (sawar), foot-soldiers
(piyada) and elephants (fil ). The mulk-abadi gives a
fascinating, detailed and highly complex view of
agrarian society in northern India. The fourth and
fifth books (daftars) deal with the religious, literary
and cultural traditions of the people of India and also
contain a collection of Akbars auspicious sayings.
Fig. 8.14
Abul Fazl presenting the
manuscript of the completed
Akbar Nama to his patron
219
Source 9
Moistening the rose garden of fortune
In this extract Abul Fazl gives a vivid account of how and from whom he
collected his information:
... to Abul Fazl, son of Mubarak this sublime mandate was given.
Write with the pen of sincerity the account of the glorious events
and of our dominion-conquering victories Assuredly, I spent much
labour and research in collecting the records and narratives of His
Majestys actions and I was a long time interrogating the servants of
the State and the old members of the illustrious family. I examined
both prudent, truth-speaking old men and active-minded, right-
actioned young ones and reduced their statements to writing. The
Royal commands were issued to the provinces, that those who from
old service remembered, with certainty or with adminicle of doubt,
the events of the past, should copy out the notes and memoranda
and transit them to the court. (Then) a second command shone forth
from the holy Presence-chamber; to wit that the materials which
had been collected should be ... recited in the royal hearing, and
whatever might have to be written down afterwards, should be
introduced into the noble volume as a supplement, and that such
details as on account of the minuteness of the inquiries and the
minutae of affairs, (which) could not then be brought to an end,
should be inserted afterwards at my leisure.
Being relieved by this royal order the interpreter of the Divine
ordinance from the secret anxiety of my heart, I proceeded to
reduce into writing the rough draughts (drafts)which were void of
the grace of arrangement and style. I obtained the chronicle of
events beginning at the Nineteenth Year of the Divine Era, when
the Record Office was established by the enlightened intellect of
His Majesty, and from its rich pages, I gathered the accounts of
many events. Great pains too, were taken to procure the originals
or copies of most of the orders which had been issued to the
provinces from the Accession up to the present-day I also took
much trouble to incorporate many of the reports which ministers
and high officials had submitted, about the affairs of the empire
and the events of foreign countries. And my labour-loving soul
was satiated by the apparatus of inquiry and research. I also exerted
myself energetically to collect the rough notes and memoranda of
sagacious and well-informed men. By these means, I constructed a
reservoir for irrigating and moistening the rose garden of fortune
(the Akbar Nama).
List all the sources that Abul Fazl used to compile his
work. Which of these sources would have been most useful
for arriving at an understanding of agrarian relations?
To what extent do you think his work would have been
influenced by his relationship with Akbar?
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 220
Although the Ain was officially sponsored to record
detailed information to facilitate Emperor Akbar
govern his empire, it was much more than a
reproduction of official papers. That the manuscript
was revised five times by the author would suggest
a high degree of caution on the part of Abul Fazl
and a search for authenticity. For instance, oral
testimonies were cross-checked and verified before
being incorporated as facts in the chronicle. In
the quantitative sections, all numeric data were
reproduced in words so as to minimise the chances
of subsequent transcriptional errors.
Historians who have carefully studied the Ain point
out that it is not without its problems. Numerous
errors in totalling have been detected. These are
ascribed to simple slips of arithmetic or of
transcription by Abul Fazls assistants. These are
generally minor and do not detract from the overall
quantitative veracity of the manuals.
Another limitation of the Ain is the somewhat
skewed nature of the quantitative data. Data were
not collected uniformly from all provinces. For
instance, while for many subas detailed information
was compiled about the caste composition of the
zamindars, such information is not available for
Bengal and Orissa. Further, while the fiscal data
from the subas is remarkable for its richness, some
equally vital parameters such as prices and wages
from these same areas are not as well documented.
The detailed list of prices and wages that the Ain
does provide is mainly derived from data pertaining
to areas in or around the imperial capital of Agra,
and is therefore of limited relevance for the rest of
the country.
These limitations notwithstanding, the Ain remains
an extraordinary document of its times. By providing
fascinating glimpses into the structure and
organisation of the Mughal Empire and by giving us
quantitative information about its products and
people, Abul Fazl achieved a major breakthrough
in the tradition of medieval chroniclers who wrote
mostly about remarkable political events wars,
conquests, political machinations, and dynastic
turmoil. Information about the country, its people
Translating the Ain
Given the importance of the Ain,
it has been translated for use by
a number of scholars. Henry
Blochmann edited it and the
Asi at i c Soci et y of Bengal ,
Calcutta (present-day Kolkata),
published it in its Bibliotheca
Indica series. The book has
also been translated into English
in three volumes. The standard
translation of Volume 1 is that
of Henry Blochmann (Calcutta
1873). The other two volumes
were translated by H.S. Jarrett
(Calcutta 1891 and 1894).
221
and its products was mentioned only incidentally
and as embellishments to the essentially political
thrust of the narrative.
The Ain completely departed from this tradition as
it recorded information about the empire and the people
of India, and thus constitutes a benchmark for
studying India at the turn of the seventeenth century.
The value of the Ains quantitative evidence is
uncontested where the study of agrarian relations
is concerned. But it is the information it contains on
people, their professions and trades and on the
imperial establishment and the grandees of the empire
which enables historians to reconstruct the social
fabric of India at that time.
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
Timeline
Landmarks in the History of the Mughal Empire
1526 Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi, the Delhi Sultan,
at Panipat, becomes the first Mughal emperor
1530-40 First phase of Humayuns reign
1540-55 Humayun defeated by Sher Shah,
in exile at the Safavid court
1555-56 Humayun regains lost territories
1556-1605 Reign of Akbar
1605-27 Reign of Jahangir
1628-58 Reign of Shah Jahan
1658-1707 Reign of Aurangzeb
1739 Nadir Shah invades India and sacks Delhi
1761 Ahmad Shah Abdali defeats the Marathas
in the third battle of Panipat
1765 The diwani of Bengal transferred to the
East India Company
1857 Last Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah II,
deposed by the British and exiled to Rangoon
(present day Yangon, Myanmar)
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 222
Answer in100-150 words
1. What are the problems in using the Ain as a source for
reconstructing agrarian history? How do historians deal
with this situation?
2. To what extent is it possible to characterise agricultural
production in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries as
subsistence agriculture? Give reasons for your answer.
3. Describe the role played by women in agricultural
production.
4. Discuss, with examples, the significance of monetary
transactions during the period under consideration.
5. Examine the evidence that suggests that land revenue
was important for the Mughal fiscal system.
Write a short essay (about
250- 300 words) on the following:
6. To what extent do you think caste was a factor in
influencing social and economic relations in agrarian
society?
7. How were the lives of forest dwellers transformed in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
8. Examine the role played by zamindars in Mughal India.
9. Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village
headmen regulated rural society.
Fig. 8.15
A seventeenth-century painting
depicting jewellers
223
Sumit Guha. 1999.
Environment and Ethnicity
in India.
Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Irfan Habib. 1999.
The Agrarian System of Mughal
India 1556-1707 (Second edition).
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
W.H. Moreland. 1983 (rpt).
India at the Death of Akbar:
An Economic Study.
Oriental, New Delhi.
Tapan Raychaudhuri and
Irfan Habib (eds). 2004.
The Cambridge Economic
History of India. Vol.1.
Orient Longman, New Delhi.
Dietmar Rothermund. 1993.
An Economic History of India
from Pre-colonial Times to 1991.
Routledge, London.
Sanjay Subrahmanyam (ed.).1994.
Money and the Market in India,
1100-1700.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
Map work
10. On an outline map of the world, mark the areas
which had economic links with the Mughal Empire,
and trace out possible routes of communication.
Project (choose one)
11. Visit a neighbouring village. Find out how many
people live there, which crops are grown, which
animals are raised, which artisanal groups reside
there, whether women own land, how the local
panchayat functions. Compare this information
with what you have learnt about the sixteenth-
seventeenth centuries, noting similarities and
differences. Explain both the changes and the
continuities that you find.
12. Select a small section of the Ain (10-12 pages,
available online at the website indicated below).
Read it carefully and prepare a report on how it
can be used by a historian.
If you would like to know
more, read:
For more information,
you could visit:
http://persian.packhum.org
persianindex.jsp?serv=
pf&file=00702053&ct=0
PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
Fig. 8.16
A painting depicting a woman selling sweets
223 PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 224
Kings and Chronicles
The Mughal Courts The Mughal Courts The Mughal Courts The Mughal Courts The Mughal Courts
( (( ((c cc cc. sixteent . sixteent . sixteent . sixteent . sixteenth hh hh- -- -- seventeenth centuries) seventeenth centuries) seventeenth centuries) seventeenth centuries) seventeenth centuries)
THEME
NINE
The rulers of the Mughal Empire saw themselves
as appointed by Divine Will to rule over a large
and heterogeneous populace. Although this
grand vision was often circumscribed by actual
political circumstances, it remained
important. One way of transmitting
this vision was through the
writing of dynastic histories. The
Mughal kings commissioned court
historians to write accounts. These
accounts recorded the events of the
emperors time. In addition, their
writers collected vast amounts of
information from the regions of the
subcontinent to help the rulers
govern their domain.
Modern historians writing in
English have termed this genre
of texts chronicles, as they
present a continuous chronological
record of events. Chronicles are
an indispensable source for any
scholar wishing to write a history
of the Mughals. At one level
they were a repository of factual
information about the institutions
of the Mughal state, painstakingly
collected and classified by
individuals closely connected with the court. At
the same time these texts were intended as
conveyors of meanings that the Mughal rulers
sought to impose on their domain. They therefore
give us a glimpse into how imperial ideologies
were created and disseminated. This chapter will
look at the workings of this rich and fascinating
dimension of the Mughal Empire.
Fig. 9.1
The mausoleum of Timur at
Samarqand, 1404
225
1. The Mughals and Their Empire
The name Mughal derives from Mongol. Though today
the term evokes the grandeur of an empire, it was
not the name the rulers of the dynasty chose for
themselves. They referred to themselves as Timurids,
as descendants of the Turkish ruler Timur on the
paternal side. Babur, the first Mughal ruler, was
related to Ghenghiz Khan from his mothers side.
He spoke Turkish and referred derisively to the
Mongols as barbaric hordes.
During the sixteenth century, Europeans used the
term Mughal to describe the Indian rulers of this
branch of the family. Over the past centuries the
word has been frequently used even the name
Mowgli, the young hero of Rudyard Kiplings Jungle
Book, is derived from it.
The empire was carved out of a number of regional
states of India through conquests and political
alliances between the Mughals and local chieftains.
The founder of the empire, Zahiruddin Babur, was
driven from his Central Asian homeland, Farghana,
by the warring Uzbeks. He first established himself
at Kabul and then in 1526 pushed further into
the Indian subcontinent in search of territories and
resources to satisfy the needs of the members of
his clan.
His successor, Nasiruddin Humayun (1530-40,
1555-56) expanded the frontiers of the empire, but
lost it to the Afghan leader Sher Shah Sur, who drove
him into exile. Humayun took refuge in the court of
the Safavid ruler of Iran. In 1555 Humayun defeated
the Surs, but died a year later.
Many consider Jalaluddin Akbar (1556-1605) the
greatest of all the Mughal emperors, for he not only
expanded but also consolidated his empire, making
it the largest, strongest and richest kingdom of
his time. Akbar succeeded in extending the frontiers
of the empire to the Hindukush mountains, and
checked the expansionist designs of the Uzbeks of
Turan (Central Asia) and the Safavids of Iran.
Akbar had three fairly able successors in Jahangir
(1605-27), Shah Jahan (1628-58) and Aurangzeb
(1658-1707), much as their characters varied. Under
them the territorial expansion continued, though at
a much reduced pace. The three rulers maintained and
consolidated the various instruments of governance.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Fig. 9.2
An eighteenth-century depiction of
Humayuns wife Nadira crossing
the desert of Rajasthan
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 226
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
the institutions of an imperial structure were created.
These included effective methods of administration
and taxation. The visible centre of Mughal power was
the court. Here political alliances and relationships
were forged, status and hierarchies defined. The
political system devised by the Mughals was based
on a combination of military power and conscious
policy to accommodate the different traditions they
encountered in the subcontinent.
After 1707, following the death of Aurangzeb, the
power of the dynasty diminished. In place of the vast
apparatus of empire controlled from Delhi, Agra or
Lahore the different capital cities regional powers
acquired greater autonomy. Yet symbolically the
prestige of the Mughal ruler did not lose its aura. In
1857 the last scion of this dynasty, Bahadur Shah
Zafar II, was overthrown by the British.
2. The Production of Chronicles
Chronicles commissioned by the Mughal emperors
are an important source for studying the empire and
its court. They were written in order to project a
vision of an enlightened kingdom to all those who
came under its umbrella. At the same time they were
meant to convey to those who resisted the rule of
the Mughals that all resistance was destined to fail.
Also, the rulers wanted to ensure that there was an
account of their rule for posterity.
The authors of Mughal chronicles were invariably
courtiers. The histories they wrote focused on events
centred on the ruler, his family, the court and nobles,
wars and administrative arrangements. Their titles,
such as the Akbar Nama, Shahjahan Nama, Alamgir
Nama, that is, the story of Akbar, Shah Jahan and
Alamgir (a title of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb),
suggest that in the eyes of their authors the history
of the empire and the court was synonymous with
that of the emperor.
2.1 From Turkish to Persian
Mughal court chronicles were written in Persian.
Under the Sultans of Delhi it flourished as a
language of the court and of literary writings,
alongside north Indian languages, especially Hindavi
and its regional variants. As the Mughals were
Chaghtai Turks by origin, Turkish was their mother
Discuss...
Find out whether the state in
which you live formed part
of the Mughal Empire.
Were there any changes in
the area as a result of the
establishment of the empire?
If your state was not part of
the empire, find out more
about contemporary regional
rulers their origins and
policies. What kind of records
did they maintain?
Chaghtai Turks traced descent
from the eldest son of Ghengiz
Khan.
227
tongue. Their first ruler Babur wrote poetry and his
memoirs in this language.
It was Akbar who consciously set out to make
Persian the leading language of the Mughal court.
Cultural and intellectual contacts with Iran, as well
as a regular stream of Iranian and Central Asian
migrants seeking positions at the Mughal court,
might have motivated the emperor to adopt the
language. Persian was elevated to a language of
empire, conferring power and prestige on those who
had a command of it. It was spoken by the king, the
royal household and the elite at court. Further, it
became the language of administration at all levels
so that accountants, clerks and other functionaries
also learnt it.
Even when Persian was not directly used, its
vocabulary and idiom heavily influenced the language
of official records in Rajasthani and Marathi and
even Tamil. Since the people using Persian in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries came from
many different regions of the subcontinent and
spoke other Indian languages, Persian too became
Indianised by absorbing local idioms. A new
language, Urdu, sprang from the interaction of
Persian with Hindavi.
Mughal chronicles such as the Akbar Nama were
written in Persian, others, like Baburs memoirs,
were translated from the Turkish into the Persian
Babur Nama. Translations of Sanskrit texts such as
the Mahabharata and the Ramayana into Persian
were commissioned by the Mughal emperors. The
Mahabharata was translated as the Razmnama
(Book of Wars).
2.2 The making of manuscripts
All books in Mughal India were manuscripts, that
is, they were handwritten. The centre of manuscript
production was the imperial kitabkhana. Although
kitabkhana can be translated as library, it was a
scriptorium, that is, a place where the emperors
collection of manuscripts was kept and new
manuscripts were produced.
The creation of a manuscript involved a number
of people performing a variety of tasks. Paper makers
were needed to prepare the folios of the manuscript,
scribes or calligraphers to copy the text, gilders to
illuminate the pages, painters to illustrate scenes
The flight of the
written word
In Abul Fazls words:
The wri t t en word may
embody t he wi sdom of
bygone ages and may
become a means t o
intellectual progress. The
spoken word goes to the
heart of t hose who are
present to hear it. The written
word gives wisdom to those
who are near and far. If it was
not for the written word, the
spoken word would soon
die, and no keepsake would
be left us from those who are
passed away. Superf i ci al
observers see in the letter a
dark figure, but the deep-
sighted see in it a lamp of
wisdom (chirag-i shinasai ).
The written word looks black,
notwithstanding the thousand
rays within it, or it is a light
with a mole on it that wards
of f the evi l eye. A l etter
(khat ) i s t he port rai t of
wisdom; a rough sketch from
the realm of ideas; a dark
l i ght usheri ng i n day; a
black cloud pregnant with
knowledge; speaking though
dumb; st at i onary yet
travelling; stretched on the
sheet , and yet soari ng
upwards.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 228
from the text, bookbinders to gather the individual
folios and set them within ornamental covers. The
finished manuscript was seen as a precious object,
a work of intellectual wealth and beauty. It
exemplified the power of its patron, the Mughal
emperor, to bring such beauty into being.
At the same time some of the people involved in
the actual production of the manuscript also got
recognition in the form of titles and awards. Of these,
calligraphers and painters held a high social
standing while others, such as paper makers or
bookbinders, have remained anonymous artisans.
Calligraphy, the art of handwriting, was considered
a skill of great importance. It was practised using
different styles. Akbars favourite was the nastaliq, a
fluid style with long horizontal strokes. It is written
using a piece of trimmed reed with a tip of five to 10
mm called qalam, dipped in carbon ink (siyahi). The
nib of the qalam is usually split in the middle to
facilitate the absorption of ink.
Discuss...
In what ways do you think the production of books
today is similar to or different from the ways in
which Mughal chronicles were produced?
3. The Painted Image
As we read in the previous section, painters too were
involved in the production of Mughal manuscripts.
Chronicles narrating the events of a Mughal emperors
reign contained, alongside the written text, images
that described an event in visual form. When scenes
or themes in a book were to be given visual expression,
the scribe left blank spaces on nearby pages;
paintings, executed separately by artists, were
inserted to accompany what was described in words.
These paintings were miniatures, and could therefore
be passed around for viewing and mounting on the
pages of manuscripts.
Paintings served not only to enhance the beauty of
a book, but were believed to possess special powers
of communicating ideas about the kingdom and the
power of kings in ways that the written medium could
not. The historian Abul Fazl described painting as
a magical art: in his view it had the power to make
inanimate objects look as if they possessed life.
Fig. 9.3
A folio in nastaliq, the work of
Muhammad Husayn of Kashmir
(c.1575-1605), one of the finest
calligraphers at Akbars court, who
was honoured with the title zarrin
qalam (golden pen) in recognition
of the perfectly proportioned
curvature of his letters
The calligrapher has signed his
name on the lower section of
the page, taking up almost
one-fourth of its space.
229
The production of paintings portraying the
emperor, his court and the people who were part of
it, was a source of constant tension between rulers
and representatives of the Muslim orthodoxy, the
ulama. The latter did not fail to invoke the Islamic
prohibition of the portrayal of human beings
enshrined in the Quran as well as the hadis, which
described an incident from the life of the Prophet
Muhammad. Here the Prophet is cited as having
forbidden the depiction of living beings in a
naturalistic manner as it would suggest that the
artist was seeking to appropriate the power of
creation. This was a function that was believed to
belong exclusively to God.
Source 1
In praise of taswir
Abul Fazl held the art of painting
in high esteem:
Drawi ng the l i keness of
anything is called taswir. His
Majesty from his earliest youth,
has shown a great predilection
for this art, and gives it every
encouragement, as he looks
upon it as a means both of study
and amusement. A very large
number of painters have been
set to work. Each week, several
supervisors and clerks of the
i mperi al workshop submi t
before the emperor the work
done by each artist, and His
Majesty gives a reward and
increases the monthly salaries
of the artists according to the
excellence displayed. Most
excellent painters are now to
be found, and masterpieces,
worthy of a Bihzad, may be
pl aced at the si de of the
wonderf ul works of the
European painters who have
attained worldwide fame. The
mi nuteness i n detai l , the
general finish and the boldness
of execution now observed in
pictures are incomparable;
even inanimate objects look as
if they have life. More than a
hundred painters have become
famous masters of the art. This
is especially true of the Hindu
artists. Their pictures surpass
our conception of things. Few,
indeed, in the whole world are
found equal to them.
Why did Abul Fazl
consider the art of
painting important?
How did he seek to
legitimise this art?
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Fig. 9.4
A Mughal kitabkhana
Identify the different tasks involved in the production
of a Mughal manuscript depicted in this miniature.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 230
Yet interpretations of the sharia changed with
time. The body of Islamic tradition was interpreted
in different ways by various social groups. Frequently
each group put forward an understanding of tradition
that would best suit their political needs. Muslim
rulers in many Asian regions during centuries of
empire building regularly commissioned artists to
paint their portraits and scenes of life in their
kingdoms. The Safavid kings of Iran, for example,
patronised the finest artists, who were trained in
workshops set up at court. The names of painters
such as that of Bihzad contributed to spreading
the cultural fame of the Safavid court far and wide.
Artists from Iran also made their way to Mughal
India. Some were brought to the Mughal court, as in
the case of Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad, who
were made to accompany Emperor Humayun to
Delhi. Others migrated in search of opportunities to
win patronage and prestige. A conflict between the
emperor and the spokesmen of orthodox Muslim
opinion on the question of visual representations of
living beings was a source of tension at the Mughal
court. Akbars court historian Abul Fazl cites the
emperor as saying: There are many that hate
painting, but such men I dislike. It appears to me
that an artist has a unique way of recognising God
when he must come to feel that he cannot bestow
life on his work ...
4. The Akbar Nama and the
Badshah Nama
Among the important illustrated Mughal chronicles
the Akbar Nama and Badshah Nama (The Chronicle
of a Ki ng) are the most wel l known. Each
manuscript contained an average of 150 full- or
double-page paintings of battles, sieges, hunts,
building construction, court scenes, etc.
The author of the Akbar Nama, Abul Fazl grew up
in the Mughal capital of Agra. He was widely read in
Arabic, Persian, Greek philosophy and Sufism.
Moreover, he was a forceful debater and independent
thinker who consistently opposed the views of the
conservative ulama. These qualities impressed Akbar,
who found Abul Fazl ideally suited as an adviser
and a spokesperson for his policies. One major
Discuss...
Compare the painters
representation (Fig. 9.4) of
literary and artistic
production with that of
Abul Fazl (Source 1).
231
objective of the emperor was to free the state from
the control of religious orthodoxy. In his role as court
historian, Abul Fazl both shaped and articulated
the ideas associated with the reign of Akbar.
Beginning in 1589, Abul Fazl worked on the Akbar
Nama for thirteen years, repeatedly revising the draft.
The chronicle is based on a range of sources, including
actual records of events (waqai ), official documents
and oral testimonies of knowledgeable persons.
The Akbar Nama is divided into three books of
which the first two are chronicles. The third book is
the Ain-i Akbari. The first volume contains the history
of mankind from Adam to one celestial cycle of Akbars
life (30 years). The second volume closes in the forty-
sixth regnal year (1601) of Akbar. The very next year
Abul Fazl fell victim to a conspiracy hatched by
Prince Salim, and was murdered by his accomplice,
Bir Singh Bundela.
The Akbar Nama was written to provide a detailed
description of Akbar s reign in the traditional
diachronic sense of recording politically significant
events across time, as well as in the more novel sense
of giving a synchronic picture of all aspects of Akbars
empire geographic, social, administrative and
cultural without reference to chronology. In the
Ain-i Akbari the Mughal Empire is presented as having
a diverse population consisting of Hindus, Jainas,
Buddhists and Muslims and a composite culture.
Abul Fazl wrote in a language that was ornate
and which attached importance to diction and
rhythm, as texts were often read aloud. This Indo-
Persian style was patronised at court, and there
were a large number of writers who wanted to write
like Abul Fazl.
A pupil of Abul Fazl, Abdul Hamid Lahori is
known as the author of the Badshah Nama. Emperor
Shah Jahan, hearing of his talents, commissioned
him to write a history of his reign modelled on the
Akbar Nama. The Badshah Nama is this official
history in three volumes (daftars) of ten lunar years
each. Lahori wrote the first and second daftars
comprising the first two decades of the emperors
rule (1627-47); these volumes were later revised by
Sadullah Khan, Shah Jahans wazir. Infirmities of
old age prevented Lahori from proceeding with the
third decade which was then chronicled by the
historian Waris.
A diachronic account traces
developments over time,
whereas a synchronic account
depicts one or several situations
at one particular moment or
point of time.
Travels of the
Badshah Nama
Gifting of precious manuscripts
was an established diplomatic
custom under the Mughal s.
I n emul at i on of t hi s, t he
Nawab of Awadh gifted the
illustrated Badshah Nama to
King George III in 1799. Since
then it has been preserved in
the English Royal Collections,
now at Windsor Castle.
In 1994, conservation work
required the bound manuscript
to be taken apart. This made
i t possi bl e t o exhi bi t t he
paintings, and in 1997 for the
first time, the Badshah Nama
pai nti ngs were shown i n
exhi bi ti ons i n New Del hi ,
London and Washington.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 232
During the colonial period, British administrators
began to study Indian history and to create an
archive of knowledge about the subcontinent to
help them better understand the people and the
cultures of the empire they sought to rule. The
Asiatic Society of Bengal, founded by Sir William
Jones in 1784, undertook the editing, printing and
translation of many Indian manuscripts.
Edited versions of the Akbar Nama and Badshah
Nama were first published by the Asiatic Society
in the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth
century the Akbar Nama was translated into English
by Henry Beveridge after years of hard labour. Only
excerpts of the Badshah Nama have been translated
into English to date; the text in its entirety still
awaits translation.
Discuss...
Find out whether there was a tradition of
illustrating manuscripts in your town or village.
Who prepared these manuscripts? What were the
subjects that they dealt with? How were these
manuscripts preserved?
5. The Ideal Kingdom
5.1 A divine light
Court chroniclers drew upon many sources to show
that the power of the Mughal kings came directly
from God. One of the legends they narrated was that
of the Mongol queen Alanqua, who was impregnated
by a ray of sunshine while resting in her tent. The
offspring she bore carried this Divine Light and
passed it on from generation to generation.
Abul Fazl placed Mughal kingship as the highest
station in the hierarchy of objects receiving light
emanating from God (farr-i izadi ). Here he was
inspired by a famous Iranian sufi, Shihabuddin
Suhrawardi (d. 1191) who first developed this idea.
According to this idea, there was a hierarchy in
which the Divine Light was transmitted to the king
who then became the source of spiritual guidance
for his subjects.
Paintings that accompanied the narrative of the
chronicles transmitted these ideas in a way that
The transmission of
notions of luminosity
The origins of Suhrawardis
phi l osophy went back to
Platos Republic, where God is
represented by the symbol of
the sun. Suhrawardis writings
were universally read in the
Isl ami c worl d. They were
studied by Shaikh Mubarak,
who transmitted their ideas to
his sons, Faizi and Abul Fazl,
who were trained under him.
233
left a lasting impression on the minds of viewers.
Mughal artists, from the seventeenth century
onwards, began to portray emperors wearing the halo,
which they saw on European paintings of Christ and
the Virgin Mary to symbolise the light of God.
5.2 A unifying force
Mughal chronicles present the empire as comprising
many different ethnic and religious communities
Hindus, Jainas, Zoroastrians and Muslims. As the
source of all peace and stability the emperor stood
above all religious and ethnic groups, mediated
among them, and ensured that justice and peace
prevailed. Abul Fazl describes the ideal of sulh-i kul
(absolute peace) as the cornerstone of enlightened
rule. In sulh-i kul all religions and schools of thought
had freedom of expression but on condition that they
did not undermine the authority of the state or fight
among themselves.
The ideal of sulh-i kul was implemented through
state policies the nobility under the Mughals was
a composite one comprising Iranis, Turanis, Afghans,
Rajputs, Deccanis all of whom were given positions
and awards purely on the basis of their service and
Fig. 9.5
This painting by Abul Hasan shows Jahangir
dressed in resplendent clothes and jewels, holding
up a portrait of his father Akbar.
Akbar is dressed in white, associated in sufi
traditions with the enlightened soul. He proffers
a globe, symbolic of dynastic authority.
In the Mughal empire there was no law laying
down which of the emperors sons would succeed
to the throne. This meant that every dynastic
change was accompanied and decided by a
fratricidal war. Towards the end of Akbars reign,
Prince Salim revolted against his father, seized
power and assumed the title of Jahangir.
How does this painting describe the
relationship between father and son?
Why do you think Mughal artists frequently
portrayed emperors against dark or dull
backgrounds? What are the sources of
light in this painting?
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 234
loyalty to the king. Further,
Akbar abolished the tax on
pilgrimage in 1563 and jizya
in 1564 as the two were based
on religious discrimination.
Instructions were sent to
officers of the empire to
follow the precept of sulh-i kul
in administration.
All Mughal emperors gave
grants to support the
building and maintenance of
places of worship. Even when
temples were destroyed
during war, grants were later
issued for their repair as
we know from the reigns of
Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
However, during the reign of
the latter, the jizya was re-
imposed on non-Muslim
subjects.
5.3 Just sovereignty as
social contract
Abul Fazl defined sovereignty
as a social contract: the
emperor protects the four
essences of his subjects,
namely, life (jan), property
(mal), honour (namus) and
faith (din), and in return
demands obedience and a
share of resources. Only just
sovereigns were thought
to be able to honour the
contract with power and
Divine guidance.
Fig. 9.6
Jahangir presenting Prince
Khurram with a turban jewel
Scene from the Badshah Nama
painted by the artist Payag,
c.1640.
235
A number of symbols were created for visual
representation of the idea of justice which came to
stand for the highest virtue of Mughal monarchy.
One of the favourite symbols used by artists was
the motif of the lion and the lamb (or goat) peacefully
nestling next to each other. This was meant to signify
a realm where both the strong and the weak could
exist in harmony. Court scenes from the illustrated
Badshah Nama place such motifs in a niche directly
below the emperors throne (see Fig. 9.6).
Fig. 9.7
Jahangir shooting the figure of
poverty, painting by the artist
Abul Hasan
The artist has enveloped the
target in a dark cloud to suggest
that this is not a real person, but
a human form used to symbolise
an abstract quality. Such a
mode of personification in art
and literature is termed allegory.
The Chain of Justice is shown
descending from heaven.
This is how Jahangir described
the Chain of Justice in
his memoirs:
After my accession, the first
order that I gave was for the
fastening up of the Chain
of Justice, so that if those
engaged in the administration
of justice should delay or
practise hypocrisy in the
matter of those seeking justice,
the oppressed might come to
this chain and shake it so
that its noise might attract
attention. The chain was made
of pure gold, 30 gaz in length
and containing 60 bells.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Discuss...
Why was justice regarded as
such an important virtue of
monarchy in the Mughal
Empire?
Identify and interpret the
symbols in the painting.
Summarise the message of
this painting.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 236
6. Capitals and Courts
6.1 Capital cities
The heart of the Mughal Empire was its capital city,
where the court assembled. The capital cities of the
Mughals frequently shifted during the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. Babur took over the Lodi
capital of Agra, though during the four years of his
reign the court was frequently on the move. During
the 1560s Akbar had the fort of Agra constructed
with red sandstone quarried from the adjoining regions.
In the 1570s he decided to build a new capital,
Fatehpur Sikri. One of the reasons prompting
this may have been that Sikri was located on the
direct road to Ajmer, where the dargah of Shaikh
Muinuddin Chishti had become an important
pilgrimage centre. The Mughal emperors entered
into a close relationship with sufis of the Chishti
silsila. Akbar commissioned the
construction of a white marble tomb
for Shaikh Salim Chishti next to the
majestic Friday mosque at Sikri.
The enormous arched gateway
(Buland Darwaza) was meant to
remind visitors of the Mughal victory
in Gujarat. In 1585 the capital was
transferred to Lahore to bring the
north-west under greater control
and Akbar cl osel y watched the
frontier for thirteen years.
Shah Jahan pursued sound fiscal
policies and accumulated enough
money to indulge his passion for
building. Building activity in
monarchical cultures, as you have
seen in the case of earlier rulers, was
the most visible and tangible sign
of dynastic power, wealth and
prestige. In the case of Muslim rulers
it was also considered an act of piety.
In 1648 the court, army and
household moved from Agra to the
newly completed imperial capital,
Shahjahanabad. It was a new
addition to the old residential city of
Delhi, with the Red Fort, the Jama
Masjid, a tree-lined esplanade with
Fig. 9.8
The Buland Darwaza,
Fatehpur Sikri
237
bazaars (Chandni Chowk) and spacious homes for
the nobility. Shah Jahans new city was appropriate
to a more formal vision of a grand monarchy.
6.2 The Mughal court
The physical arrangement of the court, focused
on the sovereign, mirrored his status as the heart
of society. Its centrepiece was therefore the throne,
the takht, which gave physical form to the function
of the sovereign as axis mundi. The canopy, a
symbol of kingship in India for a millennium, was
believed to separate the radiance of the sun from
that of the sovereign.
Chronicles lay down with great precision the rules
defining status amongst the Mughal elites. In court,
status was determined by spatial proximity to the
king. The place accorded to a courtier by the ruler
was a sign of his importance in the eyes of the
emperor. Once the emperor sat on the throne, no
one was permitted to move from his position or to
leave without permission. Social control in court
society was exercised through carefully defining in
Describe the main activities taking place
in the darbar.
Kor nish was a form of
ceremonial salutation in which
the courtier placed the palm of
his right hand against his
forehead and bent his head. It
suggested that the subject
placed his head the seat of the
senses and the mind into the
hand of humility, presenting it
to the royal assembly
Axis mundi is a Latin phrase for
a pillar or pole that is visualised
as the support of the earth.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Darbar-i Akbari
Abul Fazl gives a vivid account of Akbars darbar:
Whenever His Majesty (Akbar) holds court (darbar)
a large drum is beaten, the sounds of which are
accompanied by Divine praise. In this manner, people
of all classes receive notice. His Majestys sons and
grandchildren, the grandees of the Court, and all
other men who have admittance, attend to make the
kornish, and remain standing in their proper places.
Learned men of renown and skilful mechanics pay
their respects; and the officers of justice present their
reports. His Majesty, with his usual insights, gives
orders, and settl es everythi ng i n a sati sfactory
manner. During the whole time, skilful gladiators and
wrestlers from all countries hold themselves in
readiness, and singers, male and female, are in
waiting. Clever jugglers and funny tumblers also are
anxious to exhibit their dexterity and agility.
Source 2
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 238
Shab-i barat is the full moon
night on the 14 Shaban, the
eighth month of the hijri
calendar, and is celebrated with
prayers and fireworks in the
subcontinent. It is the night
when the destinies of the
Muslims for the coming year
are said to be determined and
sins forgiven.
full detail the forms of address, courtesies and
speech which were acceptable in court. The slightest
infringement of etiquette was noticed and punished
on the spot.
The forms of salutation to the ruler indicated the
persons status in the hierarchy: deeper prostration
represented higher status. The highest form of
submission was sijda or complete prostration. Under
Shah Jahan these rituals were replaced with chahar
taslim and zaminbos (kissing the ground).
The protocols governing diplomatic envoys at the
Mughal court were equally explicit. An ambassador
presented to the Mughal emperor was expected to
offer an acceptable form of greeting either by bowing
deeply or kissing the ground, or else to follow the
Persian custom of clasping ones hands in front of
the chest. Thomas Roe, the English envoy of James I,
simply bowed before Jahangir according to
European custom, and further shocked the court by
demanding a chair.
The emperor began his day at sunrise with
personal religious devotions or prayers, and then
appeared on a small balcony, the jharoka, facing the
east. Below, a crowd of people (soldiers, merchants,
craftspersons, peasants, women with sick children)
waited for a view, darshan, of the emperor. Jharoka
darshan was introduced by Akbar with the objective
of broadening the acceptance of the imperial
authority as part of popular faith.
Chahar taslim is a mode of
salutation which begins with
placing the back of the right
hand on the ground, and
raising it gently till the person
stands erect, when he puts the
palm of his hand upon the
crown of his head. It is done
four (chahar) times. Taslim
literally means submission.
The jewelled throne
This is how Shah Jahans jewelled throne (takht-i murassa) in the hall of public audience in
the Agra palace is described in the Badshah Nama:
This gorgeous structure has a canopy supported by twelve-sided pillars and measures
five cubits in height from the flight of steps to the overhanging dome. On His Majestys
coronation, he had commanded that 86 lakh worth of gems and precious stones, and
one lakh tolas of gold worth another 14 lakh, should be used in decorating it. The
throne was completed in the course of seven years, and among the precious stones used
upon it was a ruby worth one lakh of rupees that Shah Abbas Safavi had sent to the late
emperor Jahangir. And on this ruby were inscribed the names of the great emperor
Timur Sahib-i qiran, Mirza Shahrukh, Mirza Ulugh Beg, and Shah Abbas as well as the
names of the emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and that of His Majesty himself.
239
After spending an hour at the jharoka, the emperor
walked to the public hall of audience (diwan-i am) to
conduct the primary business of his government.
State officials presented reports and made requests.
Two hours later, the emperor was in the diwan-i khas
to hold private audiences and discuss confidential
matters. High ministers of state placed their petitions
before him and tax officials presented their accounts.
Occasionally, the emperor viewed the works of highly
reputed artists or building plans of architects (mimar).
On special occasions such as the anniversary of
accession to the throne, Id, Shab-i barat and Holi,
the court was full of life. Perfumed candles set in
rich holders and palace walls festooned with
colourful hangings made a tremendous impression
on visitors. The Mughal kings celebrated three major
Fig. 9.9
Shah Jahan honouring Prince
Aurangzeb at Agra before his
wedding, painting by Payag
in the Badshah Nama
Identify the emperor.
Aurangzeb is shown dressed
in a yellow jama (upper
garment) and green jacket
with little blossoms. How is he
placed and what does his
gesture to his father suggest?
How are the courtiers shown?
Can you locate figures with
big turbans to the left? These
are depictions of scholars.
Fig. 9.10
Prince Khurram being weighed in
precious metals in a ceremony
called jashn-i wazn or tula dan
(from Jahangirs memoirs)
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 240
Fig. 9.11a
Dara Shukohs wedding
Weddings were celebrated lavishly in the imperial
household. In 1633 the wedding of Dara Shukoh
and Nadira, the daughter of Prince Parwez, was
arranged by Princess Jahanara and Sati un Nisa
Khanum, the chief maid of the late empress,
Mumtaz Mahal. An exhibition of the wedding gifts
was arranged in the diwan-i am. In the afternoon
the emperor and the ladies of the harem paid a
visit to it, and in the evening nobles were allowed
access. The brides mother similarly arranged her
presents in the same hall and Shah Jahan went to
see them. The hinabandi (application of henna dye)
ceremony was performed in the diwan-i khas.
Betel leaf (paan), cardamom and dry fruit were
distributed among the attendants of the court.
The total cost of the wedding was Rs 32 lakh, of which Rs six lakh
was contributed by the imperial treasury, Rs 16 lakh by Jahanara
(including the amount earlier set aside by Mumtaz Mahal) and the
rest by the brides mother. These paintings from the Badshah Nama
depict some of the activities associated with the occasion.
Describe what you
see in the pictures.
Fig. 9.11b
Fig. 9.11c
241
festivals a year: the solar and lunar birthdays of the
monarch and Nauroz, the Iranian New Year on the vernal
equinox. On his birthdays, the monarch was weighed against
various commodities which were then distributed in charity.
6.3 Titles and gifts
Grand titles were adopted by the Mughal emperors at the
time of coronation or after a victory over an enemy. High-
sounding and rhythmic, they created an atmosphere of
awe in the audience when announced by ushers (naqib).
Mughal coins carried the full title of the reigning emperor
with regal protocol.
The granting of titles to men of merit was an important
aspect of Mughal polity. A mans ascent in the court
hierarchy could be traced through the titles he held. The
title Asaf Khan for one of the highest ministers originated
with Asaf, the legendary minister of the prophet king
Sulaiman (Solomon). The title Mirza Raja was accorded by
Aurangzeb to his two highest-ranking nobles, Jai Singh and
Jaswant Singh. Titles could be earned or paid for. Mir Khan
offered Rs one lakh to Aurangzeb for the letter alif, that is
A, to be added to his name to make it Amir Khan.
Other awards included the robe of honour (khilat), a
garment once worn by the emperor and imbued with his
benediction. One gift, the sarapa (head to foot), consisted
of a tunic, a turban and a sash (patka). Jewelled ornaments
were often given as gifts by the emperor. The lotus blossom
set with jewels (padma murassa) was given only in
exceptional circumstances.
A courtier never approached the emperor empty handed:
he offered either a small sum of money (nazr ) or a large
amount (peshkash). In diplomatic relations, gifts
were regarded as a sign of honour and respect.
Ambassadors performed the important function of
negotiating treaties and relationships between
competing political powers. In such a context gifts
had an important symbolic role. Thomas Roe was
disappointed when a ring he had presented to Asaf
Khan was returned to him for the reason that it was
worth merely 400 rupees.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Discuss...
Are some of the rituals and practices
associated with the Mughals followed by
present-day political leaders?
Fig. 9.12
A Mughal turban box
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 242
7. The Imperial Household
The term harem is frequently used to refer to the
domestic world of the Mughals. It originates in the
Persian word haram, meaning a sacred place. The
Mughal household consisted of the emperors wives
and concubines, his near and distant relatives
(mother, step- and foster-mothers, sisters, daughters,
daughters-in-law, aunts, children, etc.), and female
servants and slaves. Polygamy was practised widely
in the Indian subcontinent, especially among the
ruling groups.
Both for the Rajput clans as well as the Mughals
marriage was a way of cementing political
relationships and forging alliances. The gift of
territory was often accompanied by the gift of a
daughter in marriage. This ensured a continuing
hierarchical relationship between ruling groups. It
was through the link of marriage and the
relationships that developed as a result that the
Mughals were able to form a vast kinship network
that linked them to important groups and helped to
hold a vast empire together.
In the Mughal household a distinction was
maintained between wives who came from royal
families (begams), and other wives (aghas) who were
not of noble birth. The begams, married after
receiving huge amounts of cash and valuables as
dower (mahr), naturally received a higher status
and greater attention from their husbands than did
aghas. The concubines (aghacha or the lesser agha)
occupied the lowest position in the hierarchy of
females intimately related to royalty. They all
received monthly allowances in cash, supplemented
with gifts according to their status. The lineage-
based family structure was not entirely static. The
agha and the aghacha could rise to the position
of a begam depending on the husbands will, and
provided that he did not already have four wives.
Love and motherhood played important roles in
elevating such women to the status of legally
wedded wives.
Apart from wives, numerous male and female slaves
populated the Mughal household. The tasks they
performed varied from the most mundane to those
requiring skill, tact and intelligence. Slave eunuchs
(khwajasara) moved between the external and
Fig. 9.13
Part of the inner apartments in
Fatehpur Sikri
243
internal life of the household as guards, servants,
and also as agents for women dabbling in commerce.
After Nur Jahan, Mughal queens and princesses
began to control significant financial resources. Shah
Jahans daughters Jahanara and Roshanara enjoyed
an annual income often equal to that of high imperial
mansabdars. Jahanara, in addition, received revenues
from the port city of Surat, which was a lucrative centre
of overseas trade.
Control over resources enabled important women
of the Mughal household to commission buildings and
gardens. Jahanara participated in many architectural
projects of Shah Jahans new capital,
Shahjahanabad (Delhi). Among these
was an imposing double-storeyed
caravanserai with a courtyard and
garden. The bazaar of Chandni Chowk,
the throbbing centre of Shahjahanabad,
was designed by Jahanara.
An interesting book giving us
a glimpse into the domestic world
of the Mughals is the Humayun
Nama written by Gulbadan Begum.
Gulbadan was the daughter of Babur,
Humayuns sister and Akbars aunt.
Gulbadan could write fluently in
Turkish and Persian. When Akbar
commissioned Abul Fazl to write a
history of his reign, he requested his
aunt to record her memoirs of earlier
times under Babur and Humayun,
for Abul Fazl to draw upon.
What Gulbadan wrote was no
eulogy of the Mughal emperors.
Rather she described in great detail
the conflicts and tensions among the
princes and kings and the important
mediating role elderly women of the
family played in resolving some of
these conflicts.
Describe the activities that
the artist has depicted in each
of the sections of the painting.
On the basis of the tasks being
performed by different people,
identify the members of the
imperial establishment that
make up the scene.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Fig. 9.14
Birth of Prince Salim at Fatehpur Sikri,
painted by Ramdas, Akbar Nama
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 244
8. The Imperial Officials
8.1 Recruitment and rank
Mughal chronicles, especially the Akbar Nama, have
bequeathed a vision of empire in which agency rests
almost solely with the emperor, while the rest of the
kingdom has been portrayed as following his orders.
Yet if we look more closely at the rich information
these histories provide about the apparatus of the
Mughal state, we may be able to understand the
ways in which the imperial organisation was
dependent on several different institutions to be able
to function effectively. One important pillar of the
Mughal state was its corps of officers, also referred
to by historians collectively as the nobility.
The nobility was recruited from diverse ethnic and
religious groups. This ensured that no faction was
large enough to challenge the authority of the state.
The officer corps of the Mughals was described as a
bouquet of flowers (guldasta) held together by loyalty
to the emperor. In Akbars imperial service, Turani
and Iranian nobles were present from the earliest
phase of carving out a political dominion. Many had
accompanied Humayun; others migrated later to the
Mughal court.
The Mughal nobility
This is how Chandrabhan Barahman described the Mughal nobility in his book
Char Chaman (Four Gardens), written during the reign of Shah Jahan:
People from many races (Arabs, Iranians, Turks, Tajiks, Kurds, Tatars, Russians,
Abyssinians, and so on) and from many countries (Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Iraq,
Arabia, Iran, Khurasan, Turan) in fact, different groups and classes of people
from all societies have sought refuge in the imperial court, as well as different
groups from India, men with knowledge and skills as well as warriors, for
example, Bukharis and Bhakkaris, Saiyyads of genuine lineage, Shaikhzadas with
noble ancestry, Afghan tribes such as the Lodis, Rohillas, Yusufzai, and castes of
Rajputs, who were to be addressed as rana, raja, rao and rayan i.e. Rathor,
Sisodia, Kachhwaha, Hada, Gaur, Chauhan, Panwar, Bhaduriya, Solanki,
Bundela, Shekhawat, and all the other Indian tribes, such as Ghakkar, Khokar,
Baluchi, and others who wielded the sword, and mansabs from 100 to 7000
zat, likewise landowners from the steppes and mountains, from the regions
of Karnataka, Bengal, Assam, Udaipur, Srinagar, Kumaon, Tibet and Kishtwar
and so on whole tribes and groups of them have been privileged to kiss the
threshold of the imperial court (i.e. attend the court or find employment).
245
Two ruling groups of Indian origin entered the
imperial service from 1560 onwards: the Rajputs and
the Indian Muslims (Shaikhzadas). The first to join
was a Rajput chief, Raja Bharmal Kachhwaha of
Amber, to whose daughter Akbar got married.
Members of Hindu castes inclined towards education
and accountancy were also promoted, a famous
example being Akbars finance minister, Raja Todar
Mal, who belonged to the Khatri caste.
Iranians gained high offices under Jahangir, whose
politically influential queen, Nur Jahan (d. 1645),
was an Iranian. Aurangzeb appointed Rajputs to high
positions, and under him the Marathas accounted
for a sizeable number within the body of officers.
All holders of government offices held ranks
(mansabs) comprising two numerical designations:
zat which was an indicator of position in the
imperial hierarchy and the salary of the official
( mansabdar), and sawar which indicated the
number of horsemen he was required to maintain
in service. In the seventeenth century, mansabdars
of 1,000 zat or above ranked as nobles (umara,
which is the plural of amir).
The nobles participated in military campaigns with
their armies and also served as officers of the empire
in the provinces. Each military commander recruited,
equipped and trained the main striking arm of
the Mughal army, the cavalry. The troopers
maintained superior horses branded on the flank by
the imperial mark (dagh). The emperor personally
reviewed changes in rank, titles and official postings
for all except the lowest-ranked officers. Akbar,
who designed the mansab system, also established
spiritual relationships with a select band of his
nobility by treating them as his disciples (murid).
For members of the nobility, imperial service was
a way of acquiring power, wealth and the highest
possible reputation. A person wishing to join the
service petitioned through a noble, who presented a
tajwiz to the emperor. If the applicant was found
suitable a mansab was granted to him. The mir
bakhshi (paymaster general) stood in open court on
the right of the emperor and presented all candidates
for appointment or promotion, while his office
prepared orders bearing his seal and signature as
well as those of the emperor. There were two other
important ministers at the centre: the diwan-i ala
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Taj wi z was a peti ti on
presented by a nobleman to
the emperor, recommending
that an applicant be recruited
as mansabdar.
Nobles at court
The Jesuit priest Father Antonio
Monserrate, resident at the
court of Akbar, noticed:
In order to prevent the great
nobles becoming insolent
through the unchallenged
enjoyment of power, the
Ki ng summons them to
court and gi ves them
imperious commands, as
though they were his slaves.
The obedi ence to these
commands i l l sui ts thei r
exalted rank and dignity.
Source 3
What does Father
Monserrates observation
suggest about the
relationship between the
Mughal emperor and
his officials?
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 246
(finance minister) and sadr-us sudur (minister of
grants or madad-i maash, and in charge of appointing
local judges or qazis). The three ministers
occasionally came together as an advisory body,
but were independent of each other. Akbar with
these and other advisers shaped the administrative,
fiscal and monetary institutions of the empire.
Nobles stationed at the court (tainat-i rakab) were
a reserve force to be deputed to a province or military
campaign. They were duty-bound to appear twice
daily, morning and evening, to express submission
to the emperor in the public audience hall. They
shared the responsibility for guarding the emperor
and his household round the clock.
8.2 Information and empire
The keeping of exact and detailed records was a major
concern of the Mughal administration. The mir
bakhshi supervised the corps of court writers (waqia
nawis) who recorded all applications and documents
presented to the court, and all imperial orders
(farman). In addition, agents (wakil ) of nobles and
regional rulers recorded the entire proceedings of the
court under the heading News from the Exalted
Court (Akhbarat-i Darbar-i Mualla) with the date
and time of the court session (pahar ). The akhbarat
contained all kinds of information such as attendance
at the court, grant of offices and titles, diplomatic
missions, presents received, or the enquiries made
by the emperor about the health of an officer. This
information is valuable for writing the history of the
public and private lives of kings and nobles.
News reports and important official documents
travelled across the length and breadth of the regions
under Mughal rule by imperial post. Round-the-clock
relays of foot-runners (qasid or pathmar ) carried
papers rolled up in bamboo containers. The emperor
received reports from even distant provincial capitals
within a few days. Agents of nobles posted outside
the capital and Rajput princes and tributary rulers
all assiduously copied these announcements and sent
their contents by messenger back to their masters.
The empire was connected by a surprisingly rapid
information loop for public news.
247
8.3 Beyond the centre: provincial
administration
The division of functions established at the centre
was replicated in the provinces (subas) where the
ministers had their corresponding subordinates
(diwan, bakhshi and sadr). The head of the provincial
administration was the governor (subadar) who
reported directly to the emperor.
The sarkars, into which each suba was divided,
often overlapped with the jurisdiction of faujdars
(commandants) who were deployed with contingents
of heavy cavalry and musketeers in districts. The
local administration was looked after at the level
of the pargana (sub-district) by three semi-hereditary
officers, the qanungo (keeper of revenue records),
the chaudhuri (in charge of revenue collection) and
the qazi.
Each department of administration maintained
a l arge support staff of cl erks, accountants,
auditors, messengers, and other functionaries who
were technically qualified officials, functioning in
accordance with standardised rules and procedures,
and generating copious written orders and records.
Persian was made the language of administration
throughout, but local languages were used for
village accounts.
The Mughal chroniclers usually portrayed the
emperor and his court as controlling the entire
administrative apparatus down to the village level.
Yet, as you have seen (Chapter 8), this could hardly
have been a process free of tension. The relationship
between local landed magnates, the zamindars, and
the representatives of the Mughal emperor was
sometimes marked by conflicts over authority and a
share of the resources. The zamindars often succeeded
in mobilising peasant support against the state.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Discuss...
Read Section 2, Chapter 8 once more and discuss
the extent to which the emperors presence may
have been felt in villages.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 248
9. Beyond the Frontiers
Writers of chronicles list many high-sounding titles
assumed by the Mughal emperors. These included
general titles such as Shahenshah (King of Kings)
or specific titles assumed by individual kings
upon ascending the throne, such as Jahangir
(World-Seizer), or Shah Jahan (King of the World).
The chroniclers often drew on these titles and their
meanings to reiterate the claims of the Mughal
emperors to uncontested territorial and political
control. Yet the same contemporary histories
provide accounts of diplomatic relationships and
conflicts with neighbouring political powers.
These reflect some tension
and political rivalry arising
from competing regional
interests.
9.1 The Safavids and
Qandahar
The political and diplomatic
relations between the
Mughal kings and the
neighbouring countries of
Iran and Turan hinged on
the control of the frontier
defined by the Hindukush
mountains that separated
Afghanistan from the
regions of Iran and Central
Asia. All conquerors who
sought to make their
way into the Indian
subcontinent had to cross
the Hindukush to have
access to north India. A
constant aim of Mughal
policy was to ward off
this potential danger
by controlling strategic
outposts notably Kabul
and Qandahar.
Qandahar was a bone of
contention between the
Safavids and the Mughals.
The fortress-town had initially
been in the possession of
Fig. 9.15
The siege of Qandahar
249
Humayun, reconquered in 1595 by Akbar. While the
Safavid court retained diplomatic relations with the
Mughals, it continued to stake claims to Qandahar. In
1613 Jahangir sent a diplomatic envoy to the court of
Shah Abbas to plead the Mughal case for retaining
Qandahar, but the mission failed. In the winter of 1622
a Persian army besieged Qandahar. The ill-prepared
Mughal garrison was defeated and had to surrender the
fortress and the city to the Safavids.
9.2 The Ottomans: pilgrimage and trade
The relationship between the Mughals and the
Ottomans was marked by the concern to ensure
free movement for merchants and pilgrims in the
terri tori es under Ottoman control . Thi s was
especially true for the Hijaz, that part of Ottoman
Arabia where the important pilgrim centres of Mecca
and Medina were located. The Mughal emperor
usual l y combi ned rel i gi on and commerce by
exporting valuable merchandise to Aden and Mokha,
both Red Sea ports, and distributing the proceeds
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Fig. 9.16
Jahangirs dream
An inscription on this miniature records
that Jahangir commissioned Abul Hasan
to render in painting a dream the emperor
had had recently. Abul Hasan painted this
scene portraying the two rulers Jahangir
and the Safavid Shah Abbas in friendly
embrace. Both kings are depicted in their
traditional costumes. The figure of the
Shah is based upon portraits made by
Bishandas who accompanied the Mughal
embassy to Iran in 1613. This gave a sense
of authenticity to a scene which is
fictional, as the two rulers had never met.
Look at the painting carefully. How is the
relationship between Jahangir and Shah
Abbas shown? Compare their physique and
postures. What do the animals stand for?
What does the map suggest?
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 250
of the sales in charity to the keepers of shrines
and religious men there. However, when Aurangzeb
discovered cases of misappropriation of funds
sent to Arabia, he favoured their distribution in
India which, he thought, was as much a house of
God as Mecca.
9.3 Jesuits at the Mughal court
Europe received knowledge of India through the
accounts of Jesuit missionaries, travellers,
merchants and diplomats. The Jesuit accounts are
the earliest impressions of the Mughal court ever
recorded by European writers.
Following the discovery of a direct sea route
to Indi a at the end of the fi fteenth century,
Portuguese merchants established a network of
trading stations in coastal cities. The Portuguese
king was also interested in the propagation of
Christianity with the help of the missionaries of
the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). The Christian
missions to India during the sixteenth century were
part of this process of trade and empire building.
Akbar was curious about Christianity and
dispatched an embassy to Goa to invite Jesuit
priests. The first Jesuit mission reached the Mughal
court at Fatehpur Sikri in 1580 and stayed for about
two years. The Jesuits spoke to Akbar about
Christianity and debated its virtues with the ulama.
Two more missions were sent to the Mughal court
at Lahore, in 1591 and 1595.
The Jesuit accounts are based on personal
observation and shed light on the character and
mind of the emperor. At public assemblies the Jesuits
were assigned places in close proximity to Akbars
throne. They accompanied him on his campaigns,
tutored his children, and were often companions of
his leisure hours. The Jesuit accounts corroborate
the information given in Persian chronicles about
state officials and the general conditions of life in
Mughal times.
Discuss...
What were the considerations that shaped the
relations of the Mughal rulers with their
contemporaries?
The accessible emperor
In the account of hi s
experiences, Monserrate, who
was a member of t he f i rst
Jesuit mission, says:
It is hard to exaggerate how
accessible he (Akbar) makes
hi msel f t o al l who wi sh
audience of him. For he
creat es an opport uni t y
almost every day for any of
the common people or of
the nobles to see him and
to converse with him; and
he endeavours t o show
hi msel f pl easant-spoken
and af f abl e rat her t han
severe t owards al l who
come to speak with him. It
i s very remarkabl e how
great an effect this courtesy
and af f abi l i t y has i n
attaching him to the minds
of his subjects.
Source 4
Compare this
account with Source 2.
251
10. Questioning Formal
Religion
The high respect shown by Akbar towards
the members of the Jesuit mission
impressed them deeply. They interpreted
the emperor s open interest in the
doctrines of Christianity as a sign of
his acceptance of their faith. This can
be understood in the light of the
prevailing climate of religious intolerance
in Western Europe. Monserrate remarked
that the king cared little that in allowing
everyone to follow his religion he was
in reality violating all.
Akbars quest for religious knowledge
led to interfaith debates in the ibadat
khana at Fatehpur Sikri between learned
Muslims, Hindus, Jainas, Parsis and
Christians. Akbar s religious views
matured as he queried scholars of
different religions and sects and gathered
knowledge about their doctrines.
Increasingly, he moved away from the
orthodox Islamic ways of understanding
religions towards a self-conceived eclectic
form of divine worship focused on light
and the sun. We have seen that Akbar
and Abul Fazl created a philosophy of
light and used it to shape the image of
the king and ideology of the state. In this,
a divinely inspired individual has
supreme sovereignty over his people and
complete control over his enemies.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Fig. 9.17
Religious debates
in the court
Padre Rudolf
Acquaviva was the
leader of the first
Jesuit mission.
His name is
written on top of
the painting.
Hom in the haram
This is an excerpt from Abdul Qadir Badaunis Muntakhab-ut Tawarikh.
A theologian and a courtier, Badauni was critical of his employers policies
and did not wish to make the contents of his book public.
From early youth, in compliment to his wives, the daughters of
Rajas of Hind, His Majesty had been performing hom in the haram,
which is a ceremony derived from fire-worship (atish-parasti ). But
on the New Year of the twenty-fifth regnal year (1578) he
prostrated publicly before the sun and the fire. In the evening the
whole Court had to rise up respectfully when the lamps and candles
were lighted.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 252
These ideas were in harmony with the perspective
of the court chroniclers who give us a sense of the
processes by which the Mughal rulers could
effectively assimilate such a heterogeneous populace
within an imperial edifice. The name of the dynasty
continued to enjoy legitimacy in the subcontinent
for a century and a half, even after its geographical
extent and the political control it exercised had
diminished considerably.
Timeline Timeline Timeline Timeline Timeline
Some Major Mughal Chronicles and Memoirs
c. 1530 Manuscript of Baburs memoirs in Turkish saved
from a storm becomes part of the family collection
of the Timurids
c. 1587 Gulbadan Begum begins to write the Humayun Nama
1589 Baburs memoirs translated into Persian as Babur Nama
1589-1602 Abul Fazl works on the Akbar Nama
1605-22 Jahangir writes his memoirs, the Jahangir Nama
1639-47 Lahori composes the first two daftars of the Badshah Nama
c. 1650 Muhammad Waris begins to chronicle the third decade of
Shah Jahans reign
1668 Alamgir Nama, a history of the first ten years of Aurangzebs
reign compiled by Muhammmad Kazim
Fig. 9.18
Blue tiles from a shrine in Multan,
brought by migrant artisans
from Iran
253
Answer in100-150 words
1. Describe the process of manuscript
production in the Mughal court.
2. In what ways would the daily routine and
special festivities associated with the
Mughal court have conveyed a sense of the
power of the emperor?
3. Assess the role played by women of the
imperial household in the Mughal Empire.
4. What were the concerns that shaped
Mughal policies and attitudes towards
regions outside the subcontinent?
5. Discuss the major features of Mughal
provincial administration. How did the
centre control the provinces?
Write a short essay
(about 250- 300 words)
on the following:
6. Discuss, with examples, the distinctive
features of Mughal chronicles.
7. To what extent do you think the visual
material presented in this chapter
corresponds with Abul Fazls description
of the taswir (Source 1)?
8. What were the distinctive features of
the Mughal nobility? How was their
relationship with the emperor shaped?
9. Identify the elements that went into the
making of the Mughal ideal of kingship.
KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Fig. 9.19
Many Mughal manuscripts contained
drawings of birds
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 254
Map work
10. On an outline map of the world, plot the areas
with which the Mughals had political and cultural
relations.
Project (choose one)
11. Find out more about any one Mughal chronicle.
Prepare a report describing the author, and the
language, style and content of the text. Describe at
least two visuals used to illustrate the chronicle
of your choice, focusing on the symbols used to
indicate the power of the emperor.
12. Prepare a report comparing the present-day system
of government with the Mughal court and
administration, focusing on ideals of rulership,
court rituals, and means of recruitment into the
imperial service, highlighting the similarities
and differences that you notice.
If you would like to know
more, read:
For more information,
you could visit:
www.mughalgardens.org
Bamber Gascoigne. 1971.
The Great Moghuls.
Jonathan Cape Ltd., London.
Shireen Moosvi. 2006 (rpt).
Episodes in the Life of Akbar.
National Book Trust,
New Delhi.
Harbans Mukhia. 2004.
The Mughals of India. Blackwell,
Oxford.
John F. Richards. 1996.
The Mughal Empire
(The New Cambridge History
of India, Vol.1).
Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Annemarie Schimmel. 2005.
The Empire of the Great Mughals:
History, Art and Culture.
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi.
Fig. 9.20
A Mughal painting depicting
squirrels on a tree
255 KINGS AND CHRONICLES
Credits for Illustrations
Theme 5
Fig. 5.1: Ritu Topa.
Fig. 5.2: Henri Stierlin, The Cultural History of the Arabs,
Aurum Press, London, 1981.
Fig. 5.4, 5.13: FICCI, Footprints of Enterprise: Indian Business
Through the Ages, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999.
Fig. 5.5: Calcutta Art Gallery, printed in E.B. Havell,
The Art Heritage of India, D.B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Bombay, 1964.
Fig. 5.6, 5.7, 5.12: Bamber Gascoigne, The Great Moghuls,
Jonathan Cape Ltd., London, 1971.
Fig. 5.8, 5.9: Sunil Kumar.
Fig. 5.10: Rosemary Crill, Indian Ikat Textiles, Weatherhill, London, 1998.
Fig. 5.11, 5.14: C.A. Bayly (ed). An Illustrated History of Modern India,
1600-1947, Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1991.
Theme 6
Fig. 6.1: Susan L. Huntington, The Art of Ancient India,
Weatherhill, New York, 1993.
Fig. 6.3, 6.17: Jim Masselos, Jackie Menzies and Pratapaditya Pal,
Dancing to the Flute: Music and Dance in Indian Art,
The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 1997.
Fig. 6.4, 6.5: Benjamin Rowland, The Art and Architecture of India,
Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1970.
Fig. 6.6: Henri Stierlin, The Cultural History of the Arabs,
Aurum Press, London, 1981.
Fig. 6.8: http://www.us.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp/ContentID=104228
Fig. 6.9: http://www.thekkepuram.ourfamily.com/miskal.htm
Fig. 6.10: http://a-bangladesh.com/banglapedia/Images/A_0350A.JPG
Fig. 6.11: foziaqazi@kashmirvision.com
Fig. 6.12: Stuart Cary Welch, Indian Art and Culture 1300-1900,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985.
Fig. 6.13: Bamber Gascoigne, The Great Moghuls,
Jonathan Cape Ltd., London, 1971.
Fig. 6.15: CCRT.
Fig. 6.16: C. A. Bayly (ed). An Illustrated History of Modern India,
1600-1947, Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1991.
Fig. 6.18: Ahmad Nabi Khan, Islamic Architecture in Pakistan,
National Hijra Council, Islamabad, 1990.
Theme 7
Fig. 7.1, 7.11, 7.12, 7.14, 7.15, 7.16, 7.18: Vasundhara Filliozat and
George Michell (eds), The Splendours of Vijayanagara,
Marg Publications, Bombay, 1981.
Fig. 7.2: C.A. Bayly (ed). An Illustrated History of Modern India,
1600-1947, Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1991.
THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II 256
Fig. 7.3: Susan L. Huntington, The Art of Ancient India, Weatherhill,
New York, 1993.
Fig. 7.4, 7.6, 7.7, 7.20, 7. 23, 7.26, 7.27, 7.32: George Michell,
Architecture and Art of South India, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1995.
Fig. 7.5, 7.8, 7.9, 7.21 http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/
research/Exp_Rese_Disc/Asia/vrp/HTML/Vijay_Hist.shtml
Fig 7.10: Catherine B. Asher and Cynthia Talbot.
India Before Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006.
Fig. 7.17, 7.22, 7.24, 7.28, 7.29, 7.30, 7.31, 7.33: George Michell and
M.B.Wagoner, Vijayanagara: Architectural Inventory of the
Sacred Centre, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi.
Fig. 7.25: CCRT.
Theme 8
Fig. 8.1, 8.9: Milo Cleveland Beach and Ebba Koch, King of the World,
Sackler Gallery, New York, 1997.
Fig. 8.3: India Office Library, printed in C.A. Bailey (ed). An Illustrated
History of Modern India, 1600-1947, Oxford University Press,
Bombay, 1991.
Fig. 8.4: Harvard University Art Museum, printed in Stuart Cary Welch,
Indian Art and Culture 1300-1900, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, 1985.
Fig. 8.6, 8.11, 8.12, 8.14: C.A. Bayly (ed). An Illustrated History of Modern
India, 1600-1947, Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1991.
Fig. 8.13, 8.15: Bamber Gascoigne, The Great Moghuls,
Jonathan Cape Ltd., London, 1971.
Theme 9
Fig. 9.1, 9.2, 9.12, 9.13, 9.19: Bamber Gascoigne, The Great Moghuls,
Jonathan Cape, London, 1971.
Fig. 9.3, 9.4, 9.17: Michael Brand and Glenn D. Lowry, Akbars India,
New York, 1986.
Fig. 9.5, 9.15: Amina Okada, Indian Miniatures of the Mughal Court.
Fig. 9.6, 9.7: The Jahangirnama (tr. Wheeler Thackston)
Fig. 9.8: Photograph Friedrich Huneke.
Fig. 9.9, 9.11 a, b, c : Milo Cleveland Beach and Ebba Koch,
King of the World, Sackler Gallery, New York, 1997.
Fig. 9.10, 9.16, 9.20: Stuart Carey Welch, Imperial Mughal Painting,
George Braziller, New York, 1978.
Fig. 9.14: Geeti Sen, Paintings from the Akbarnama.
Fig. 9.18: Hermann Forkl et al. (eds), Die Grten des Islam.