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    Gess 103

    Uploaded by

    Sagar Das Choudhury

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Gess 103

    Uploaded by

    Sagar Das Choudhury
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    gess103

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    22 views9 pages

    Gess 103

    Uploaded by

    Sagar Das Choudhury

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 9

    DELHI: 12th TO 15th CENTURY

    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.

    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.
    Map 1
    Selected Sultanate It was under the Tomaras and Chauhans that Delhi
    cities of Delhi, became an important commercial centre. Many rich
    thirteenth-fourteenth
    centuries.
    several temples. Coins minted
    here, c all ed , ha d a
    wide circulation.
    The transformation of Delhi
    into a capital that controlled vast
    areas of the subcontinent started
    with the foundation of the Delhi

    thirteenth century. Take a look at

    dynasties that together made the

    -
    cities in the area that we now

    30
    The rulers of Delhi
    Table 1

    RAJPUT DYNASTIES
    Tomaras Early twelfth century 1165

    Chauhans 1165 1192

    EARLY TURKISH RULERS


    Qutbuddin Aybak 1206 –1210

    KHALJI DYNASTY

    TUGHLUQ DYNASTY

    SAYYID DYNASTY
    Khizr Khan 1414 –1421

    LODI DYNASTY

    31 DELHI: 12TH TO 15TH...


    Understanding Delhi under the Sultans
    Histories are known as (singular)/
    (plural), in Persian, the language of administration
    under the Delhi Sultans.

    ? The authors of were learned men:


    Do you think the secretaries, administrators, poets and courtiers,
    circle of justice who both recounted events and advised rulers on
    is an appropriate governance, emphasising the importance of just rule.
    term to describe
    the relationship
    between the king
    The circle of justice
    and his subjects? 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
    Birthright they are prosperous and happy. This happens when the king
    Privileges claimed promotes justice and honest governance.
    on account of
    birth. For example,
    people believed
    that nobles
    inherited their Keep the following additional details in mind:
    rights to govern, (1) the authors of lived in cities (mainly
    because they were Delhi) and hardly ever in villages. (2) They often wrote
    born in certain their histories for Sultans in the hope of rich rewards.
    families. (3) These authors advised rulers on the need to
    preserve an “ideal” social order based on birthright
    Gender and gender distinctions. Their ideas were not shared
    distinctions by everybody.
    Social and
    biological In 1236 Sultan Iltutmish’s daughter, Raziyya,
    differences b e c a m e S u l t a n . Th e c h r o n i c l e r o f t h e a g e ,
    between women Minhaj-us-Siraj, recognised that she was more able
    and men. Usually,
    these differences
    are used to argue comfortable at having a queen as ruler. Nor were the
    that men are nobles happy at her attempts to rule independently.
    superior to women. She was removed from the throne in 1240.

    OUR PASTS – II 32
    What Minhaj-us-Siraj thought about
    Raziyya: What other important
    female rulers of India did?
    Minhaj-us-Siraj thought that the queen’s 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 God’s 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.

    ? Express Minhaj’s 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?

    A Closer Look: Administration 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
    in Persian. They were carefully trained to man some

    Since they were totally dependent upon their master,


    the Sultan could trust and rely upon them.

    33 DELHI: 12TH TO 15TH...


    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

    ?
    Can you think of any reason why a slave would
    be better than a son?

    The Khaljis and Tughluqs continued to use


    Client and also raised people of humble birth, who were often
    Someone who
    their clients, to high political positions. They were
    is under the
    appointed as generals and governors. However, this
    protection of
    another; a also introduced an element of political instability.
    dependent or Slaves and clients were loyal to their masters and
    hanger-on. patrons, but not to their heirs. Sultans had their own
    servants. As a result the accession of a new monarch

    The patronage of these humble people by the Delhi


    Sultans also shocked many elites and the authors
    of Persian criticised the Delhi Sultans for

    Officials of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq


    Sultan Muhammad Tughluq appointed Aziz Khummar,
    a wine distiller, Firuz Hajjam, a barber, Manka
    Tabbakh, a cook, and two gardeners, Ladha and
    Pira, to high administrative posts. Ziyauddin Barani,
    a mid-fourteenth-century chronicler, reported their
    appointments as a sign of the Sultan’s loss of political
    judgement and his incapacity to rule.

    ? Why do you think Barani criticised the Sultan?

    OUR PASTS – II 34
    Like the earlier Sultans, the Khalji and Tughluq There were also
    monarchs appointed military commanders as other Taxes
    governors of territories of varying sizes. These lands levied–
    were called and their holder was called 1. Khums
    or . The duty of the was to lead military 2. Zakat
    campaigns and maintain law and order in their . 3. Jizyah
    In exchange for their military services, the 1. Khums was
    collected the revenues of their assignments as salary. Consisted of one-
    They also paid their soldiers from these revenues.
    Control over
    was not inheritable and if they were assigned on mines and
    for a short period of time before being shifted. These
    harsh conditions of service were rigorously imposed 2. Zakat was one
    during the reigns of Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad
    Tughluq. Accountants were appointed by the state to
    check the amount of revenue collected by the .
    Care was taken that the 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 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 Sultan’s 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
    and amounting to about 50 per cent of the peasant’s
    produce, (2) on cattle and (3) on houses.
    It is important to remember that large parts of
    the subcontinent remained outside the control of

    provinces like Bengal from Delhi and soon after


    annexing southern India, the entire region became
    independent. Even in the Gangetic plain, there

    35 DELHI: 12TH TO 15TH...


    for it although were forested areas that Sultanate forces could not
    there were penetrate. Local chieftains established their rule in
    instances of even these regions. Sometimes rulers like Alauddin Khalji
    and Muhammad Tughluq could force their control in
    evading this these areas but only for a short duration.

    Chieftains and their fortifications


    muslim traders
    were obliged to Ibn Battuta, a fourteenth-century traveller from Morocco,
    Africa, explained that chieftains sometimes

    (alms tax) both


    under the Delhi
    Sultans and the
    Mughals.
    3. Jizyah was a

    non-Muslims who
    had been given the

    Describe the ways in which the chieftains arranged

    collected along
    ? for their defence.
    with the land tax

    Shah Tughlaq
    The Mongols under Genghis Khan invaded
    Transoxiana in north-east Iran in 1219 and the Delhi
    Source: Sultanate faced their onslaught soon after. Mongol
    attacks on the Delhi Sultanate increased during the
    Administrative reign of Alauddin Khalji and in the early years of
    system of Delhi Muhammad Tughluq’s rule. This forced the two rulers
    Sultanat, Kitab to mobilise a large standing army in Delhi which posed
    Mahal Publishers. a huge administrative challenge.

    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
    OUR PASTS – II 36
    Bengal, Malwa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and the entire
    south India had independent rulers who established

    also the period which saw the emergence of new ruling


    groups like the Afghans and the Rajputs.

    small but powerful and extremely well administered.

    manager of a small territory for his uncle in Bihar


    and eventually challenged and defeated the Mughal

    (1540 –1555), it introduced an administration that


    borrowed elements from Alauddin Khalji and made

    became the model followed by the great emperor Akbar


    (1556 –1605) when he consolidated the Mughal Empire.

    Imagine

    You are a peasant in Alauddin Khalji’s


    or Muhammad Tughluq’s reign and you
    cannot pay the taxes demanded by the

    Let’s recall

    2. What was the language of administration under the

    extent?

    4. From which country did Ibn Battuta travel to India?

    37 DELHI: 12TH TO 15TH...


    Let’s 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

    KEYWORDS 7. What were the steps taken to ensure that


    performed their duties? Why do you think they may

    Let’s discuss

    garrison Do you think the authors of would provide


    information about the lives of ordinary men and
    Mongols women?
    gender

    more readily today?

    10.
    down forests? Does deforestation occur for the same
    reasons today?

    Let’s do

    11. Find out whether there are any buildings built by

    buildings in your area that were built between the

    buildings, and draw sketches of them.

    38

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