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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...

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