The Urban Economy (Delhi Sultanate)

The available evidence suggest that the urban economy on the eve of the
Ghorid conquest was on a low ebb. The towns were fewer in number and
smaller in size in the centuries preceding the establishment of the Delhi
Sultanate. D.D.Kosambi shows that even the capital was a camp city on the
move. The higher ruling class wandered from place to place along with the
army while the lower ruling class was almost completely ruralized.
This theory of decay of towns is further corroborated by the evidence of
sluggish trade: The near complete disappearance of gold and silver currencies
and the almost total absence of foreign coins in the Indian coin-hoards of the
period are indicators that the foreign trade was at a very low scale. Moreover,
the fact that not even the coins of various regional dynasties are found in the
coin-hoards of other regions ,suggests that inland commerce was not
widespread. The Delhi Sultanate, on the other hand, seems to present the
picture of a highly urban economy, marked by a considerable expansion of
money economy, accelerating particularly during the first half of the
fourteenth century along with the revival of urbanization in North India.
While the archaeological evidence available for earlier period is not
forthcoming from the 13th-14th centuries owing to the much less attention
paid to medieval archaeology, the literary evidences testify growth of urban
centres. Ibn Battuta gives evidence to suggest that Delhi, the capital city was a
thriving center which was large in extent, great in population and the largest
city not only in India but in the entire Islamic East. Apart from Delhi there
were a number of other centers such as Daulatabad, which rivaled Delhi in
size; Lahore, Multan, Patan, Cambay, Kara etc. Even the fortunes of these cities
fluctuated with different rulers and dynasties at the helm; the Delhi Sultanate
presents the picture of a highly urban economy.
The accelerated pace of urbanization during this period was the result of two
initial factors, which were maintained and extended by a third. (1) The
considerable immigration of artisans and merchants from the Islamic East to
India, bringing with them their crafts, techniques and practices; (2) The
abundant supply of docile trainable labour obtained through large-scale
enslavement and (3) the establishment of a system whereby a very large
share of the agricultural surplus was appropriated for consumption in the
towns.
The revival of towns depended on their relation with the countryside. The
towns needed to be fed and supplied with raw materials from the countryside.
The high level of agrarian taxation and the cash-nexus in combination ensured
that the peasants would have to sell much of their produce in order to pay the
land revenue. (mention Alauddin’s policy of ensuring regular supply of grains
to towns).
It seems that the urban craft production received a twofold impetus with the
establishment of the Delhi sultanate. First, the Sultanate ruling class remained
town-centered and spent the enormous resources it appropriated in the form
of land revenue mainly in towns, either on buying services or procuring
manufacturers. While the nobility created demand for high-priced skill-
intensive luxury items, its hangers-on in all likelihood created a mass market
for ordinary artisanal product. The second factor that contributed to urban
manufacturers was the introduction of a number of technological devices that
reached India with the invaders.
The greatest industry which flourished during this period was that of the
textiles. It included the production of cotton cloth, woollen cloth and silk. It
has been suggested that there was an important improvement in cotton
production technology through the introduction of the spinning-wheel. It was
Lynn White, who first queried the presence of this device in ancient India. The
earliest reference to it so far traced in India occurs in 1350, in the verses of
the Historian Isami. The sources of this period make it clear that the spinning-
wheel came to India with the Muslims, and became presumably generalized
by the mid-14th century. The wheel increased the spinner’s efficiency some
six-fold in comparison with the spinner working with a hand-spindle.
Similarly, it is believed that the cotton-carder’s bow reached India on the eve
of the Ghorian conquests, for no earlier reference to it has been traced. The
bow greatly enhanced the quantity of cotton cleaned in comparison with the
earlier and simpler method of beating raw cotton with a stick. Coming into use
at about the same time, the spinning-wheel and the carding bow must have
dramatically cheapened spun yarn, and probably greatly enlarged its
production.
There is very little evidence to suggest whether the weaver’s loom underwent
any significant improvement during this period from its previous versions,
though there is some speculation regarding the fact that treadles are an early
medieval addition to the loom. However, even though there was no significant
improvement in weaving during this period as compared to spinning and
carding the total amount of yarn produced during this period increased
significantly. This goes on show that there was a significant increase in the
number of weavers during this period for the production to have increased at
the existing level of technology.
Although there was a per capita increase in cloth during this period the
sources only mention the names of the different types of cloths, and nothing
more. A coarser kind of cotton cloth worn by the poor and the dervishes was
called pat. Delhi received supplies of this type of cloth from areas as far as
Awadh. A superior variety of cloth was the calico, which was available at
double the price. Along with this there were finer varieties of cloth like muslin,
which were so fine and expensive that they were worn only by the nobles and
the very rich. Besides Devagiri, Bengal was a major exporter of Muslin. Gujarat
also produced considerable amounts of fine cotton-stuffs. Barbossa tells us
that Cambay was the center for the manufacture of all kinds of finer and
coarse cotton cloth, besides other cheap varieties of velvets, satins, taffetas or
thick carpets. Apart from the manufacture of cloth, other miscellaneous goods
such as carpets, prayer carpets, coverlets, beddings etc were also
manufactured in other parts of Gujarat.
As already mentioned above raw silk was a profitable item of import from
Iran and Afghanistan. There was much weaving of silk as in the Juz cloth
woven at Delhi and Koila, and of cotton and silk mixed, as in Mashru.
However, silk weaving was taken to its finest level in Gujarat, the home of the
incredible patola device, where the warp and weft threads are so dyed that
upon weaving they reproduce the most complex designs. These fabrics were
valued at such a high price that they formed the bulk of Alauddin’s war spoils
from Deogir. Gujarat had a great reputation also for its gold and silver
embroidery.
It is likely that woollen manufacture, especially carpet-weaving, derived
considerable impetus from the patronage given by the sultanate ruling class,
whose tastes were greatly influenced by the fashions of Iran and central Asia.
Wool was procured from the mountainous tracts, though sheep were also
reared in the plains. The finer qualities of woollen cloth and furs were largely
imported from outside, and were almost exclusively worn by the nobles. The
shawl industry of Kashmir had been equally firmly established much before
the thirteenth century, and MBT sent Kashmir shawls as presents to the
Chinese emperor.
The dyeing industry, with its use of indigo and other vegetable dyes were
responsible for the bright colours of the cloth manufactured during this
period. The tie and dye method was of old standing in Rajastan, though, we do
not know when hand-printing using wooden blocks was introduced.
The contemporary sources shed very little light on the organization of
production during this period. One can, however, legitimately assume that
since the tools of production even after the introduction of new devices were
still simple and mainly of wood and little of iron, should have remained cheap.
The artisan was thus master of his own tools, though varied forms of labour
organization seem to be prevalent. Certain artisans hawked or hired out their
services such as cotton-card& who with a bow- string on his shoulder, went
door to door selling his services as is evident from the account given in Khair-
ul Majalis. Spinning was done usually by women staying at their homes. The
weavers too usually worked at their own looms at home weaving cloth for
sale, out of the yam bought or spun by themselves. They also worked on
wages to weave yarn supplied to them by customers. But if the raw material
was expensive such as silk or gold of silver thread, etc. and the products were
luxury items, the craftsmen were to work in karkhanas under supervision. We
have definite iniormation about the Sultans and high nobles maintaining these
karkhanas where the production was to cater to their own needs and contrary
to D.D.Kosambi's assumption was not for market. Shahabuddin al Umari
records in his Masalik-ul Absar that in Muhammad Tughluq's karkhanas at
Delhi, four thousand silk workers worked as embroiderer. According to Afif,
Firuz Tughluq’s factory was one which met orders of 600,000 tankas worth of
cloth every winter and the carpet-weaving establishment fulfilled orders
worth 200,000 tankas per year.
A second major sector of urban employment was the building industry. With
the arrival of the ‘Saracenic’ architecture, with its emphasis on the use of lime
mortar as the cementing material and the true arch, dome and vault providing
new devices for roofing, there was a spurt in brick constructions in the towns.
The forts, palaces, mosques and other public buildings were also built on a
large-scale. The historian Barani asserts that Sultan Alauddin Khalji employed
as many as 70,000 craftsmen for the construction of his buildings. Larger
numbers must have been employed during the reign of MBT and Firuz
Tughluq.
During this period the Indian metallurgy had a worldwide reputation,
especially in the fashioning of swords. Fakhr-I Mudabbir thought that the
Indian swords were the best in India and highlights the fact that the
damascened sword was the rarest and fetched the highest price. Another kind
was made of soft Iron alloyed with copper and silver, and still another, from
Gujarat was made of steel. The Geniza records show that the Deccan bronze
and brass industry induced imports of cotton and lead into India; vessels and
utensils were even fashioned for customers in Aden, who sent broken pieces
to India to be remade. Finally, the high quality of Sultanate coinage during this
period also testifies to the high quality of expertise attained by the minters.
A new industry which was introduced by the new regime during this period
was that of paper manufacture. While paper was first introduced in China
there is no evidence to show that paper was used in India prior to the 13 th
century. An anecdote related to Balban’s court implies that paper was not
torn, upon its contents being cancelled, but was washed, apparently to be
reused again. Another anecdote of this period suggests that the sweetmeat-
sellers of Delhi used written-paper as packing material, thereby, highlighting
the fact that the scarcity of paper had been eased during this period. Paper
greatly facilitated and cheapened the circulation of books, bringing into being
a class of professional transcribers. However, getting a copy made of a book,
which meant buying paper and hiring a nassakh, remained a difficult and
expensive undertaking for scholars.
A new industry, which was widespread in India during this period was
leather-working, based on the large cattle-wealth in the country. This was
largely organized on caste basis. Superior quality saddles were produced for a
large number of horses in the stables, or gifted to nobles. Gujarat produced
exquisite mats of red and blue leather, decorated with birds and beasts or
inlaid work.
The growth of urban centers during this period and the development of urban
manufacturers provided a solid economic base for the growth of trade during
this period. The development of a cash-nexus and the compulsion on the
peasants to pay their revenue in cash had helped in creating a market in the
towns for agricultural products. This trade resulting from the compulsions of
land revenue system is termed as 'induced trade'
The inland trade developed at two levels (a) the short distance village-town
trade in commodities of bulk, and (b) long distance inter-town trade in high
value goods. The village-town trade, as already explained, was a natural
consequence of the emergence of towns and realization of land revenue in
cash. The urban centres were dependent for supply of food grains and raw
material for manufactures from the surrounding villages whereas the villages
had to sell the agricultural products to receive cash for meeting the land
revenue demand. The mandis were supplemented by local fairs where
animals were also sold. The peculiar nature of this trade was the one-way flow
of commodities. While the towns received grains and raw material from the
villages in the vicinity they had no need to send their products in exchange to
the villages which were by and large self-sufficient. This one-way trade was
owing to the land revenue demand imposed upon villages which naturally led
to a continuous drain on rural sector and made the towns dependent on
villages. The taxation system assured all the time a heavy ‘balance of
payments’ in favour of the towns, which were the headquarters of the Sultan
and members of the ruling class. The turnover of this trade was high in terms
of volume but was low in terms of value. The commodities were food grains,
that is wheat, rice. gram, sugarcane, etc. and raw material like cotton for urban
manufactures.
The inter-town trade was mainly in luxury articles and was thus high value
trade. The manufactures of one town were taken to another, for example
Barani reports that Delhi, the capital itself, received distilled wines from Kol
(Aligarh) and Meerut, muslin (fine cloth) from Devagiri and striped cloth from
Lakhnauti (Bengal) while, according to Ibn Battota, ordinary cloth came from
Awadh and betel-leaf from Malwa (twenty-four days journey from Delhi).
Candy sugar was supplied to Multan from Delhi and Lahore and ghi from Sirsa
(in Haryana).

The long-distance inter-town trade also carried goods coming from other
countries from entry-point towns to other urban centers as well as the export
goods to exit-points. Multan was perhaps the great entrepot for overland
foregn trade and served as a centre of re-export, while Gujarat port t o h s
such as Broach and Cambay were exchange centres for overseas trade
During the Sultanate period, overland and overseas trade were in a flourishing
state. The Khalji annexation of Gujarat gave a great impetus to the
development of the Sultanate seaborne trade. This even must have enlarged
trade relations between the Delhi Sultanate and the Persian Gulf and the Red
Sea as Gujarat was connected with the Persian Gulf as well as the Red Sea.
Hormuz and Basra were the chief ports for the ships passing through the
Persian Gulf, while the ports of Aden, Mocha and Jedda along the Red Sea were
important for Gujarat. Through these ports, commodities moved on to
Damascus and Aleppo, on the one hand, and Alexandria on the other. Aleppo
and Alexandria opened upto the Mediterranean Sea with linkages to Europe.
Merchandise of Gujarat were also carried towards the East the port of Malacca
situated at the Malacca straits and Bantam and Achin in the Indonesian
archipelago. A European traveller Tome Pires, who came to India in the first
decade of the 16th century, comments on the trade of Cambay as follows
"Cambay chiefly stretches out two arms : with her right arm she reaches out
towards Aden,with the other towards Malacca…” Pires further says: "Malacca
cannot live without Cambay, nor Cambay without Malacca, if they are to be
very rich and very prosperous. If Cambay were cut-off from trading with
Malacca, it could not live, for it would have no outlet for its merchandise." The
main export from Gujarat to Malacca was the coloured cloths manufactured in
Cambay and other Gujarat towns. These cloths were in demand in these
places. In exchange, the Gujarati merchants came back with spices grown
there. This pattern of "spices for coloured cloths" continued even after the
Portuguese advent in the Asian waters. The I1 Khanid court historian Wassaf
reports that 10,000 horses were annually exported to Malabar and Cambay
from Persia. The Broach coin-hoards (see Unit 19) containing the coins of the
Delhi Sultans along with the gold and silver coins of Egypt, Syria, Yeman,
Persia, Genoa, Armenia and Venice further testifies to largerscale overseas
trade.
The ports of Bengal had trading relations with China, Malacca and Far East.
Textiles, sugar and silk fabrics were the most important commodities
exported from Bengal. Varthema noted that about fifty ships carried these
commodities annually to many places, including Persia. Bengal imported salt
from Hormuz and sea-shells from the Maldives islands. The latter were used
as coins in Bengal, Orissa and Bihar. Sindh was yet another region from where
seaborne trade was carried on. Its most well-known port was Daibul. This
region had developed close commercial relations with the Persian Gulf ports
more than the Red Sea zone. Sindh exported special cloths and dairy products.
Smoked-fish, too, was its specialty.
It was natural for the coastal trade to flourish right from Sindh to Bengal,
touching Gujarat, Malabar and Commandel coasts in between. This provided
an opportunity for exchange of regional products along the'coastal line
distinct from inland inter-regional trade.
The overland trade routes lay through the Bolan pass to Heart, and through
the Khyber pass to Bokhara and Samarqand and also by Kashmir routes to
Yarkand and Khotan for onward transmission to China. Multan was the major
trading centre for overland trade. India was connected to Central Asia,
Afghanistan and Persia through the Multan-Quetta route. But, on account of
repeated Mongol turmoil in Central Asia and Persia, this route was less
preferred by the merchants. However, when the relations between the Sultan
and the Mongols were one of peace the trade benefitted significantly as the
Mongols themselves traded in camels and horses, arms, falcons, furs and
musk. With the gradual assimilation of the Mongols to Islam, conditions for
trade improved further during the 14th century.
The information about the commodities, which entered long-distance trade is
sketchy and incomplete. The two principal items of import were (a) horses
that were always in demand for cavalry since superior horses were not bred
in India and Indian climate was not well- suited to Arabian and Central Asian
horses. They were primarily imported from Zofar (Yemen), Kis, Hormuz, Aden
and Persia. The commerce in horses extended to Bengal. It imported horses
from the Himalayas; and Simon Digby has suggested that these were not the
Himalayan ponies, but a superior breed from South-west China. In return
Bengal must have exported its fine muslin and perhaps later on silk. The
horses besides serving a military purpose were also purchased for status and
show. Hence, the careful regulation of the sale and purchase of the horses was
a high priority for the state. (b) precious metals viz. gold and. silver, especially
silver that was not at all mined in India but for which there was a high
demand not only for metallic currency but also for fashioning luxury items.
Brocade and silk stuffs were imported from Alexandria, Iraq and China.
Gujarat was the major centre from where the luxury articles from Europe
used to enter. Other items that were imported into India included camels, furs,
white slaves, velvet, dry fruits and wine. Tea and silk were imported from
China.
The bulk commodities included food-grains, oil, ghee, pulses etc with some
regions having a surplus and the others a deficit. Thus, rice and sugar, which
were in surplus in Bengal and Bihar were carried by ships to Malabar and
Gujarat. Wheat which was in surplus in modern east UP was transported to
the Delhi region. Apart from food stuff the other important items of export
were textiles. The Sultanate India mainly exported grain and textiles. Some of
the Persian Gulf regions totally depended on India for their food supply.
Besides, slaves were exported to Central Asia and indigo to Persia along with
numerous other commodities. Precious stones like agates were exported from
Cambay.
It appears that the goods were transported both by pack animals and on
bullock-carts. Perhaps the share of the pack animals was more than the latter.
Ibn Battuta mentions 30,000 mans of grains being transported on the backs of
3,000 bullocks from Amroha to Delhi. Bullock-carts were also used, according
to Afif, for carrying passengers on payment. The overland transport was
expensive and was carried on mainly by the banjaras, who moved with their
families along with thousands of bullocks. Expensive but bulky goods, like fine
quality textiles, were carried on the backs of horses or in bullock carts. The
movement of such goods was in caravans or tandas, protected by hired
soldiers because roads were unsafe on account of both wild animals and
dacoits. The pack-oxen were of course a cheap mode of transport travelling
slowly, grazing as they went and moving in large herds, thus reducing the cost
of transport specially along the desert routes. Ibn Battuta describes that
highways ran through the empire marked by minarets spaced at set distances.
The Sultanate created certain conditions, which favoured the growth of
commerce. Highways ran through the empire marked by minarets spaced at
set distances and inns at close quarters to one another. Trees were planted on
both sides of the road and a halting station (sarai) was built every two miles
where food and drinks were available. In Bengal, Ghiyasuddin Tughluq built
long embankments to carry roads invulnerable to flood. The government had
its own system of communication by relay runners as well as horses. But there
also existed private postal arrangements: apparently letters sent from one
place to another were announced by crying out the names of the addresses in
the market-place. Boats were employed for riverine routes to carry bulk
goods, while large ships used for seabrone trade.
Moreover, from the time of Alauddin Khalji onwards illegal cesses, which had
been in existence even before the coming of the Turks were abolished as a
way of promoting trade in the Empire.
In spite of brisk trading activities, Indian merchants' share in the overseas
trade was negligible. Only a small section of Gujarati Banias, Chettis of the
South and domicile Indian Muslims used to take part in this large trading
activity. Trade was mainly in the hands of the Arab Merchants. With the
landing of the Portuguese at Calicut in A.D.
1498 after the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope, a new dimension was
added to the Indian seaborne trade, that is, the 'element of force'. On account
of better ships armed with cannons, the Portuguese soon imposed their
commercial hegemony over the trading world of Asia, includiq the Indian seas,
especially in Western part. This curtailed the Arabs' share of the Indian trade,
though they survived in the Eastern part, especially at Malacca along with the
Indian merchaffts.
The Portuguese took Goa in 1510 which became their headquarters, Malacca
fell in them hands in 1511. Hormuz in 1515; and Bassem and Diu In 1534 and
1537 respectively. Goa, under their patronage, soon developed as a major
centre for import and export. The Portuguese well understood the strategic
importance of Goa, which in their opinion, was essential to the maintenance of
their position in India.. But the Portuguese possession of Goa was
unfavourable to other Western Indian ports.
Tome Pres had rightly observed that the Muslim rulers of the Deccan and
Gujarat had "a bad neighbour in Goa". Many ports on the west coast fell into
decay during the hundred years of the Portuguese domination In the Indian
waters. This happened as a result of the aggressive policies of the Portuguese
i) they controlled the sea-routes, ii) controlled the type and volume of cargo
carried by other merchants, and iii) they introduced the system of issuing
cartaz (from Persian qirta paper sheet) which was a kind of permit to ply
ships in the Asian waters without which the ships were liable to be
confiscated and the cargo plundered. A fee was charged for issuing a cartaz.
No wonder, then, all these policies adversely affected the seaborne carrying
trade of the Indians as well as of the Arabs.
Two types of merchants are mentioned in the sources of the Delhi Sultanate:
the karwanis or nayaks and Multanis. The merchants specialising in carrying
grains were designated by Barani as karwanis (a Persian word meaning those
who moved together in large numbers). The contemporary mystic, Nasiruddin
(Chiragh Delhi) calls them nayaks and describes them as those "who bring
food grains from different parts to the city (Delhi) some with ten thousand
laden bullocks, some with twenty thousand" It can be said with a degree of
certainty that these karwanis were the banjaras of succeeding centuries. As is
clear from the Mughal sources, these were organised in groups and their
headman called nayak.
The other important group of merchants mentioned in our sources was that
of the Multanis. Barani says that the long distance trade was in the hands of
these merchants. They were engaged in usury and commerce (sud o sauda). It
appears that the sahas and Multanis were rich enough to give loans even to
nobles, who, according to Barani, were generally in need of cash. The Multanis
prospered during the Delhi Sultanate. Speaking of the nobles during the reign
of Balban, Barani states that “The nobles took loans from the Multanis and
sahs beyond limit, and repaid the advances with drafts upon their iqtas”.
They not only benefitted by meeting the requirements of the members of the
ruling class but also through direct assistance given by the government. This
was the case during the reign of Alauddin Khalji, who in his attempt to reduce
the prices of the luxury commodities advanced 20-lac tankas to the Multanis.
Although, it is disputable whether Multanis were Hindus or Muslims but the
fact that Barani refers to them in conjunction with sahs suggests that they
were Hindus, who were professionally engaged in usury and commerce. The
term sah or sahu was used in medieval times for a big Hindu merchant and
banker.

Besides these well defined merchant groups, others who had so chosen could
take to trade, thus, a sufi (mystic) from Bihar became a slave-merchant
trading between Delhi and Ghazni, and a number of pious men from Central
Asia came to Delhi and became merchant.
Another important commercial class that emerged during the Sultanate
period was that of the dallals (brokers). They worked as a link between the
buyer and the seller and took commission from both the parties. Barani says
that they were the 'masters of market': they were instrumental in raising
prices in the market. Alauddin Khalji used to consult them about the cost of
production of every article in the market in order to fix prices. The reference
to 'Chief’ brokers by Barani also suggests a somewhat well established guild of
brokers, though the details are lacking. However during Alauddin Khalji's
reign these 'Chief brokers were severely dealt with. But by Feroz Tughluq's
reign, they seem to have regained their position. Feroz Tughlu had abolished
dalalat-i bazarha (a tax on broker's licence; a cess on brokers). Besides, even if
a deal between the buyer and t'he seller failed to materialize, the bro ers were
not supposed to return the commission money. This also shows that during t e
Tughluqs 'brokerage' became a fairly well-established institution.
Sarrafs were yet another mercantile group whose economic role was no less
important than the brokers. As money changers, they were most sought after
by the merchants, especially the foreign ones who came to India with their
native coins. The sarrafs tested the metallic purity of the coins (indigenous
and foreign) and established the exchange-ratio. They also issued bills of
exchange) or letters of credit, thereby acting as "bankers". The introduction of
paper by the Turks into India accelerated the institution of bill of exchange.
For all these troubles, the sarraf naturally charged his commission.
Thus, both the brokers and the sarrafs occupied pivotal position in the
commercial world of their period; they were the custodians of several basic
economic institutions. Indeed, no merchant could have dispensed with their
services.
Hence, to conclude one can see that the established of the Delhi Sultanate
brought with it major changes in the areas of urban manufacturers,
technology, trade and the rise of new financial classes in society. Even though
the Delhi Sultanate provides a colourful picture of urbanization and
development, whether, these changes can be termed as an “Urban Revolution”
or not, as suggested by Mohammed Habib is a matter of great dispute.