THE WONDER THAT WAS INDIA
Volume II
1200-1700
ii iii
THE WONDER THAT WAS INDIA
Volume II
A survey of the history and culture of the Indian sub-continent from the coming of the
Muslims to the British conquest 1200-1700
S. A. A. RIZVI
Rupa, Co
iv
Copyright © S.A.A. Rizvi 1987
First published 1987 by Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd., London
First in Rupa Paperback 1993
Eleventh impression 2001
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This edition is for sale in India only
Picture research by Deborah Pownall
Maps drawn by Neil Hyslop. For their source the publishers gratefully acknowledge An Historical Atlas of the indian Peninsula by C. Collin Davies, published by Oxford University Press. The British place names in the source have not been changed.
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v
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Important Dates ix
List of Maps xiv
Note on Pronunciation xv
Introduction, with a Review of Sources xvii
I The Arabs and the Turks 1
Early Islam, Institutions, Law, The Arab Conquest of Sind, The Ghaznavids, The Ghurids, The Ilbari Turks, The Khaljls, The Tughluq Dynasty, The Sayyids
II The Independent Ruling Dynasties 57
Bengal, Assam, Tirhut, Orissa, Rajasthan, Kashmir, Jaunpur, Malwa, Khandesh, Gujarat, The Western Coast, Ma'bar, The Bahmani Kingdom, The Five Deccan Kingdoms, The Vijayanagara Kingdom
III The Afghans and the Mughals 89
The Lodis, Babur and Humayun, Sher Khan (later Sher Shah), Sur, The Sur Sultanate, Humayun Recaptures Delhi, Akbar the Great, Jahangir, Shahjahan, Aurangzlb, Fall of the Mughal Empire
IV The State 154
Kingship, Law, The Royal Court and Household, Ministers and their Departments, The Mansabddrs and the Army, Finance, Justice, The Police, The Provincial Administration, District Administration
V Social and Economic Conditions 196
Social Structure, Women, Slavery, Villages, The Zamindars, Towns and Cities, Education, Inland Trade, Coastal Trade, Commercial Practices
vi
VI Religion 231
Philosophical Movements, Sufi Movements, The Kubrawiyya, The Qalandars, The Muslim Intellectual Perception of Hinduism, The Hindu Impact on Sufism, The Mahdawi Movement, The New Sufi Orders (the Shattariyyas), The Qadiriyya Order, The Naqshbandiyya Order, The Shi'is
VII Fine Arts 277
Pre-Mughal Architecture - the First Phase, Architecture of the Regional Kingdoms, The LodI and Sur Monuments, The Mughal Monuments, Mughal Gardens, Painting, Music
Conclusion 308
Bibliography and References 317
Appendix with Bibliography and References 354
Index with Glossary 373
vii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Between pages 60 and 61
1. Jami' Masjid (Werner Fortnan Archive)
2. Pietra Dura in I'timadu'd-Dawla, Agra (J. Allan Cash)
3. Screen in the Diwan-i Khass (J. Allan Cash)
4. Screen of the Sidi Sayyid Mosque (M. Ara and the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo)
5. The Panch Mahal (J, Allan Cash)
6. Throne in the Diwan-i Amm (A. F. Kersting)
7. Jami' Masjid at Mandu (Robert Harding)
8. Sikri Mosque (Werner Forman Archive)
9. Sher Shah's mosque (Y. Crowe)
10. Bidar Madrasa (College) (M. Ara and the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo)
11. Shaykh Ruknu'd-Din Multani's tomb (Archaeological Survey, Pakistan)
12. Mandu, Jahaz Mahal (M. Ara and the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo)
13. Humayun's tomb (A. F. Kersting)
14. The interior of the Jodh Bai's palace (A. F. Kersting)
Between pages 124 and 125
15. Babur supervising layout of garden (British Library)
16. Jahangir shooting (Indian Museum, Calcutta)
17. Invention of the mirror (Indian Museum, Calcutta)
18. Turkey-cock (Indian Museum, Calcutta)
19. Abu'1-Fazl presenting the Akbar-Nama (Chester Beatty Library)
20. Sword of Sultana 'Al 'u'd-Din Khalji (Prince of Wales Museum of Western India)
21. Shaykh Phul Shattari in front of his Agra house (Bharat Kala Bhavan Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi)
22. Birth of Prince Salim (Chester Beatty Library)
23. Story of the unfaithful wife (Bodleian Library)
24. Portrait of Shahjahan (Chester Beatty Library)
25. Presentation of meal (British Library)
26. Portrait of Jahangir (Chester Beatty Library)
viii
Between pages 188 and 189
27. Char Minar in Hyderabad Deccan (A. F. Kersting)
28. The Qutb Minar (4. F. Kersting)
29. Temple pillars in the cloisters of the Quwwatu'l-Islam mosque (J. Allan Cash)
30. Details of carvings, Qutb Minar (Robert Harding)
31. Tomb chamber in the Taj Mahal (A. F. Kersting)
32. Upper domes in the Birbal's house (J. Allan Cash)
33. Atala Mosque, Jaunpur (M. Ara and the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo)
34. The Buland Darwaza (Robert Harding)
35. Interior of Iltutmish's tomb (M. Ara and the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo)
36. Ala'i Darwaza, Delhi (M. Ara and the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo)
37. The Quwwatu'l Islam Mosque Screen (M. Ara and the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo)
38. Carved pillar in one of the chambers of Fathpur-Sikri (Werner Forman Archive)
Between pages 252 and 253
39. Akbar controlling elephants (Victoria and Albert Museum)
40. Political lessons through animal behaviour (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)
41. Black buck (Victoria and Albert Museum)
42. Dara Shukoh with Miyan Mir, Mulla Shah and the khanqah servants (Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Bombay)
43. Jahangir weighing Prince Khurram, (British Museum)
44. Shahjahan watching Sama (Indian Museum, Calcutta)
45. Jahangir riding (Victoria and Albert Museum)
46. Integration of Sufi music with Bhaktas (Victoria and Albert Museum)
47. Babur visiting Gorakhtari from the Babur-Nama (British Library)
48. The heroine being served by a maid from Lor Chanda (John Ryland Library)
49. Captivity of Himu (Chester Beatty Library)
50. News of the birth of Akbar communicated to Humayun (Khudabakhsh Library, Patna)
51. Workmen building Agra fort (Victoria and Albert Museum)
52. Village life from Anwar Suhayli (Bharat Kala Bhavan Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi)
ix
IMPORTANT DATES
c. 571 Birth of the Prophet Muhammad
622 Hijra (emigration) of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina
630 The Prophet conquered Mecca
632 The Death of the Prophet
632-4 Abu Bakr, the first caliph
634—44 'Umar, the second caliph
644-56 'Usman, the third caliph
656-61 'All, the fourth caliph
661-749 The Umayyads
680 The martyrdom of Imam Husayn
705-715 Caliph al-Walid
712 Conquest of Sind by Muhammad bin Qasim
749-1258 The 'Abbasids
998-1030 Mahmud of Ghazni
1150-1 Sack of Ghazni by Ghurid 'Ala'u'd-Din Jahan-suz
1178 Defeat of Mu'izzu'd-Din Muhammad bin Sam at Anhilwara
c. 1185-1205 Lakshmana Sena's rule in Bengal
1191 Defeat of Mu'izzu'd-Din Muhammad bin Sam at the first battle of Tara'in by Prithviraja Chauhan
1192 Second battle of Tara'in, defeat of Prithviraja Chauhan
1192-3 Delhi seized by Qutbu'd-Din Aybak
1200 Conquest of Bihar and Bengal by Ikhtiyaru'd-Din Bakhtiyar Khalji
1206 Death of Mu'izzu'd-Din Muhammad bin Sam
Ilbari Turks; 1206-90
1210 Death of Qutbu'd-Din Aybak
1221 Chingiz chases Jalalu'd-Din Mingburnu
1227 Chingiz died
1235 Death of Khwaja Qutbu'd-DIn Bakhtiyar Kaki
1236 Death of Sultan Iltutmish
Death of Khwaja Mu'inu'd-Din at Ajmir
1236-40 Raziyya
1246-66 Nasiru'd-Din Mahmud Shah
1265 Death of Baba Farid
1266-87 Ghiyasu'd-Din Balban
x
Khaljis: 1290-1320
1290-6 Jalalu'd-Din Firuz Shah II
1294 Devagiri invaded by 'Ala'u'd-Din
1296-1316 'Ala'u'd-Din Muhammad Shah
1297 Conquest of Gujarat
1303 Capture of Chitor
1306-7 Expedition of Devagiri
1309-10 Malik Kafur's invasion of Warangal
1310-11 Kafur's invasion of Dvarasmudra near Bangalore
1316 Death of 'Ala'u'd-Din Khalji
1316-20 Qutbu'd-Din Mubarak Shah
Tughluqs: 1320-1414
1320-5 Ghiyasu'd-Din Tughluq Shah
1325 Death of Shaykh Nizamu'd-Din Awliya'
Death of Amir Khusraw
1325-51 Ghiyasu'd-Din Muhammad Shah I
1327 Deogiri, renamed Daulatabad, made the second capital
1330-2 Token currency
1332 Arrival of Ibn Battuta in India
1340-1 Investiture from the 'Abbasid Caliph
1341-3 New code (Asalib)
1342 Ibn Battuta sent as ambassador to China
1347 Foundation of the Bahmani kingdom
1351-88 Firuz Shah III
1353-4 Firuz's first Bengal expedition
1356 Death of Shaykh Nasiru'd-Din Chiragh-i Dihli
1359 Firuz's second Bengal expedition
1365-6 Firuz's Thatta expedition
1367 Asoka's pillars transplanted
1370 Death of Khan-i Jahan I
1376 Levy of jizya on the brahmans
1388-1414 Successors of Firuz
1398 Timur seized Delhi
1399 Timur re-crossed the Indus
The Sayyids: 1414-51
Provincial Kingdoms
1336-1576 The Bengali Sultans
1346-1589 The Sultans of Kashmir
1391-1583 The Sultans of Gujarat
1394-1479 The Sultans of Jaunpur
1401-1531 The Sultans of Malwa
1347-1527 The Bahmanids
xi
1422 Death of Khwaja Gisu Daraz
1370-1601 The Faruqi Sultans of Khandesh
The Lodis: 1451-1526
1451-89 Bahlul Lodi
1469 Birth of Guru Nanak
1489-1517 Sikandar Lodi
1505 Death of Kabir
1517-26 Ibrahim Lodi
Early Mughals: 1526-1707
1526-30 Zahiru'd-Din Muhammad Babur
1530-40 Humayun's first reign
1539 Guru Nanak's death
The Surs: 1540-55
1540-5 Sher Shah Sur
1542 Birth of Akbar at Amarkot in Sind
1545-54 Islam Shah
1555 Humayun's second reign
1556-1605 Jalalu'd-Din Akbar
1560 Fall of Bay ram Khan
1562 Akbar's first pilgrimage to Ajmir
Akbar's marriage to Raja Bhar Mai's daughter at Sambher
Abolition of enslavement in war
1563 Remission of tax on Hindu pilgrim centres.
1564 Abolition of jizya
1565 Founding of Agra fort
1568 Fall of Chitor
1569 Birth of Prince Salim, order given to build Sikri palaces
1571 Akbar at Fathpur-Sikri supervising construction work
1572 Gujarat Campaign
1573 Akbar's lightning raid on Gujarat
1574 Mulla Bada'uni and Abu'l Fazl presented at court
1575 Building of the 'Ibadat Khana
1578 Fortress of Kumbhalmir seized
1579 The Mahzar
First Jesuit mission left Goa
1580-1 Bihar and Bengal rebellions suppressed
1585 Death of Mirza Muhammad Hakim at Kabul and
Akbar's departure for the north-west frontier
1586 Annexation of Kashmir
1590-1 Conquest of Sind
xii
1591-2 Second Jesuit mission
1592 The millennial year of Hijra, millenial coins issued
1595 Surrender of Qandahar
Arrival of third Jesuit mission at Lahore
1598 Death of 'Abdu'llah Khan Uzbek of Transoxiana Akbar's return to Agra
1599 Akbar left Agra to command the Deccan expedition
1600 Rebellion of Prince Salim
Fall of Ahmadnagar
1601 Aslrgarh seized
Akbar's return to Agra
1602 Murder of Abu'1-Fazl
1603 Death of Khwaja Baqi Bi'llah
1605 Death of Akbar
1605-27 Nuru'd-Din Jahangir
1606 Prince Khusraw's revolt
Shaykh Nizam Thaneswari's banishment Guru Arjan's execution
1610 Qazi Nuru'llah Shustari flogged to death
1611 Jahangir marries Nur Jahan
1619-20 Mujaddid imprisoned
1622 Mujaddid released
Qandahar seized by Shah 'Abbas
1624 Mujaddid's death
1626 Mahabat Khan's coup it main - foiled by Nur Jahan
1627 Death of Jahangir
1628-58 Shihabu'd-Din Shahjahan
1631 Death of Mumtaz Mahal
1635 Death of Miyan Mir
1638 Qandahar surrendered by the Iranian governor, 'Ali Mardan Khan
1642 Death of Shaykh 'Abdu'l-Haqq Muhaddis Dihlawi
1648 Shahjahanabad founded
Qandahar recaptured by Iranians
1657 Shahjahan's serious illness
1658 Aurangzib defeats Dara Shukoh at Samugarh
1658-1707 Aurangzib
1659 Dara Shukoh executed
1660-1 Execution of Sarmad
1661 Death of Mulla Shah
1663 Death of Mir Jumla
1664 Shivaji's first sack of Surat
1665 Customs duties on Hindus doubled Jai Singh's victories over Shivaji
1666 Death of Shahjahan in captivity at Agra
xiii
Shivaji presented to Aurangzib at Agra, escapes from Agra
1667 Shivaji's second sack of Surat
1674 Aurangzib leaves for Hasan Abdal to suppress Afghan uprisings
1675 Execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur
Aurangzib returns from Hasan Abdal
1678 Jaswant Singh's death at Jamrud
1679 Jizya re-imposed on Hindus
War against Marwar
1680 Death of Shivaji
1681 Rebellion of Prince Akbar foiled Aurangzib leaves Ajmir for the Deccan
1686 Bijapur seized by Aurangzib
1697, Golkonda seized by Aurangzib
1689 Shivaji's son, Shambhaji, and his family taken captive,
Shambhaji executed
Rajaram, the Maratha king, makes Jinji his centre for operations against the Mughals
1698 Zu'lfaqar Khan seizes Jinji
1700 Rajaram dies, Tara Ba'i rules as queen mother
1707 Aurangzib's death
Later Mughals: 1707-1857
1707-12 Shah 'Alam I, Bahadur Shah
1713-19 Farrukhsiyar
1719-48 Nasiru'd-Din Muhammad Shah
1729 Death of Shah Kalimu'llah Jahanabadi
1739 Nadir Shah sacks Delhi
1757 Clive's victory at Plassey
1757—8 Ahmad Shah Durrani declared Emperor of Delhi, Delhi
and Mathura plundered
1761 Ahmad Shah Durrani crushes Maratha power at Panipat, Delhi plundered by the Afghans
1762 Death of Shah Waliu'llah
1773 Death of Ahmad Shah Durrani
1785 Mawlana Fakhru'd-Din's death
1799 Tipu died defending Seringapatam
1803 Shah 'Alam II (1760-1806) surrenders Delhi to the British
1824 Death of Shah 'Abdu'l-'Aziz
1831 Defeat and death of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid and Shah Isma'il at Balakot
1837-57 Siraju'd-Din Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor
xiv
LIST OF MAPS
India at the close of the ninth century 17
India in 1236 26
India in 1398 54
The Portuguese possessions in the East and the route to India 75
The Sultanates of the Deccan and the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara in the sixteenth century 85
The Mughal Empire at the death of Akbar, 1605 115
The Mughal Empire at the end of the seventeenth century 147
xv
NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION
Every Indian language has a complex phonetic system and contains phonemes which to the average speaker of English seem almost exactly the same, but to the Indian ear are completely different. Only after long practice can the hearing be trained to recognize these differences, or the vocal organs to pronounce them accurately. The scripts of Indian languages reproduce these sounds, but they can be expressed in Roman script only by means of numerous diacritical marks below or above the letters. It is assumed that most the readers of this book will not be students of Indian languages, and therefore a simplified system of alliteration has been used, which gives some idea of the approximate sound.
Words in classical languages are transliterated according to the simplified system mentioned above. Place-names in general follow the present-day official spellings of the governments of the countries of South Asia, as given in Bartholomew's World Travel Map, India, Pakistan, and Ceylon, 1970. Proper names of nineteenth-and twentieth-century Indians are given in the spelling which they themselves favoured. Diacritical marks have been placed over the long vowels in such names, in order to give some ideas of the correct pronunciation. Exceptions are made only in the case of a very few Anglicized words, like Calcutta and Bombay.
Only three letters with diacritical marks are normally used: a, i, and u. These distinguish long from short vowels. In most Indian languages e and o are always long, and therefore do not need diacritics.
Vowels
a short is pronounced like u in 'hut', never like a in 'hat'. Bengali speakers usually pronounce it like a short o as in 'hot'.
a long, as in 'calm'.
e approximately as the vowel in 'same', but closer to the long e in French or German.
i as in 'pin'. The word 'Sikh', incidentally, should sound approximately like English 'sick'. The pronunciation like 'seek' seems to have been adopted by some Englishmen in India for this very reason, in order to avoid depressing overtones in the name of a tough, vigorous people.
xvi
i as in 'machine'.
o approximately as in 'so'. Close to the long o in French or German.
u as in 'bull', never as in 'but'. ('Punjab', however, is an Anglicized spelling, and is more accurately written 'Panjab'. In the case of this word we have deviated from our rule about using the accepted spelling, in order to avoid the pronunciation 'Poonjab', which one sometimes hears from speakers who are doing their best to be correct. The first syllable is like the English 'pun'.
u as in 'boot'.
Consonants
Most of the Hindi consonants are pronounced roughly as in English, but special care should be taken of the aspirated consonants kh, gh, chh, jh, th, dh, ph, and bh. These are exactly like their unaspirated counterparts, k, g, ch, j, t, d, p, and b, but with a stronger emission of breath.
Urdu has imported several sounds from Arabic and Persian. Many speakers are inclined to pronounce words in these languages according to the Indian phonetic system, but educated Muslims attempt to pronounce them correctly.* The Arabic alphabet indicates several shades of pronunciation which cannot be expressed in simple Roman script; for example, t represents two different Persian letters, s three letters, and z four letters. In works intended for specialist readers such consonants are indicated by diacritical marks; this seemed unnecessary in this work. The vowels, a, e, i, o, and u, are pronounced roughly as mentioned above.
Consonants are to be pronounced approximately as in English, with the following exceptions: kh sounds like the Scottish 'loch' or German 'buch'; gh is pronounced like the French r, q is a deep guttural unknown in most European languages, pronounced like k but with the back of the throat wider open as though swallowing. The sign ' represents a distinct letter known as ain in Arabic and Persian. It is known to phoneticians as a 'glottal stop'; a similar sound occurs in some dialects in English, as in the eastern English and 'cockney' pronunciation of 'bottle', where the t is not heard, but a momentary suppression of breath and a slight swallowing movement of the throat takes place. The raised comma ' represents the Arabic hamza, which is not strictly a letter. It normally occurs between vowels and indicates that they form separate syllables, but the swallowing sound between is much less noticeable.
* Adapted from A.L. Basham (cd.), A Cultural History of India, Oxford, 1975, pp. xvi, xvii.
xvii
INTRODUCTION, WITH A REVIEW OF SOURCES
India and China have the oldest cultural traditions in the world. India has enjoyed over 4,000 years of civilization, and every period of its history has contributed something to present-day life. The most significant characteristic of Indian civilization, as it evolved through the ages, is its unity in diversity. The Wonder That Was India, first published in 1954, now called Volume I, deals with the ancient civilization of India. It was stated there that the ancient civilization of India differed from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece in that its traditions have been preserved without a break to the present day.* Muslim rule in India, which was firmly established in the thirteenth century and flourished until the beginning of the eighteenth century, and is now the subject of the present volume, did not destroy the ancient culture of India, as did the onslaughts of the Muslims in Persia.
Under the rule of some of the Delhi sultans of the Middle Ages there was persecution, and we read of temples being razed to the ground and brahmans put to death for practising their devotions in public; but in general the Muslims were reasonably tolerant, and at all times Hindu chiefs continued to rule in outlying parts of India, paying tribute to their Muslim overlords. Conversions to Islam were numerous, though only in a few regions were the majority of Indians persuaded to embrace the new faith. Hindus in those parts of India dominated by Muslims often accepted the situation as normal. In such conditions mutual influence was inevitable. Hindus began to learn Persian, the official language of their Muslim rulers, and Persian words found their way into the vernaculars. Well-to-do Hindu families often adopted the system of 'strict parda' from the Muslims, and made their womenfolk veil their faces in public. The surviving Hindu kings borrowed new military techniques from the Muslims, learnt to employ cavalry with greater effect, and to use heavier armour and new types of weapon. One great religious teacher of medieval India, Kabir (1425-1505), a poor weaver of Banaras, taught the brother-hood of Hindu and Muslim alike in the fatherhood of God, and opposed idolatry and caste practices, declaring that God was equally to be found in temple and mosque. Later, Nanak (1469-1539), a teacher of the Panjab, taught the same doctrine with even greater force, and founded a new faith, that of the Sikhs, designed to incorporate all that was best of both Hinduism and Islam.
* A. L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India, London, 1954. p. 4.
xviii
Nevertheless, the Muslim invasions, and the enforced contact with new ideas, did not have the fertilizing effect upon Hindu culture which might have been expected. Hinduism was already very conservative when the lieutenants of Muhammad of Ghur conquered the Ganges Valley. In the Middle Ages, for every tolerant and progressive teacher there must have been hundreds of orthodox brahmans, who looked upon themselves as the preservers of the immemorial Aryan Dharma against the barbarians who overran the holy land of Bharatavarsa. Under their influence the complex rules of the Hindu way of life became if anything stricter and more rigidly applied.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Mughal emperors unified practically the whole of North India and much of the Deccan, and built up an empire such as had not been seen since the days of the Guptas. The Mughal period was one of great splendour, which has left its mark on India in the form of many lovely buildings, wherein Islamic and Hindu motifs often blended in a perfect unity. The Taj Mahal at Agra, the Mughal capital, is of course the most famous memorial of the times. Akbar (1556-1605), the contemporary of Queen Elizabeth I and the first of the four great Mughal emperors, fully realised that the Empire could stand only on a basis of complete toleration. All religious tests and disabilities were abolished, including the hated poll-tax on unbelievers. Rajput princes and other Hindus were given high offices of state, without conversion to Islam, and inter-communal marriages were encouraged by the example at the Emperor himself. If the policy of the greatest of India's Muslim rulers had been continued by his successors, her history might have been very different.
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