II.

Political Ideals and Institutions

 3. Norms of Governance and Aspects of Administration

As regard his justice on this earth, I say that none gives pain even to a creeping ant.
Even Nausherwan who has been described as a great judge could not equal Sher Shah
in giving right decisions. When he dispenses justice like<Umar, all the world looks up
with admiration and praises him. None has the courage to touch even a nose-ring
lying (without its mistress); people scatter gold along the road, the cow and the lion
move by one path, and the two drink water at one place. ,
Jaisi' in Padmavat. 1

Malik Mu~ammad Ja~si''s statement is significant not only for the evaluation of the

norms of governance under the Afghans, but also because it highlights an important

feature of the history of Muslim polity, namely the integration of diverse non-Islamic

political ideals in classical Islam. The Afghans drew on the ideals and institutions of

the medieval Indo-Persian tradition of governance which were evolved over centuries

of interaction between the classical Islamic ideals on the one hand and those of the

Persians on the other. This process of appropriation had begun within the first century

of Islam. The limitations of the sharT'at for ruling the fast expanding Muslim frontier

was already realized by the early caliphs. Also, the slow but gradual incorporation of

the 51jamTs and the other non-Ar~bs paved the way for the replacement of the tribal-

Arab norm of governance with a more sophisticated method drawn from the

Byzantine and Sassanid political systems. Further, recovering from the initial shock

administered by the Arab cultural imperialism, the Persians, dismissed as dumb

people by the Arabs, not only turned the tables but also emphasized more and more,

in a revivalistic campaign, the greatness of their non-Islamic past. It must be said to

1
misT, Padmavat, in Ramachandra Shukla, ed., Jaisi Granthawali, Nagri Pracharini Sabha, Varanasi,
p.5 (istutikhand). English translation of the passage in Dasharatha Sharma, "The Earliest Extant
Account of Sher Shah", The Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 2, June 1932, pp.302-04.

127
the credit of Sunni Islamic orthodoxy that it strove hard for ensuring what it viewed as

the pristine purity of Islam, condemning the "innovations" and deviance from the true

path. Ironically, however, the orthodoxy succumbed to the forces of history to adopt

elements from the non-Islamic traditions, and even to bear with the non-Islamic

sal{anat and badshO:hat. 2 Yet the sharl'at was not entirely replaced by secular, or

customary laws. The Muslim rulers were expected to maintain a delicate balance

between the two. At least, a public declaration of respect and adherence for the

sharT'at was expected from the rulers.

The balance between the sacred and the secular began with the SiyO:satnama of

.. . and was eventually very well reflected in the thirteenth century

Nizam ul-Mulk Tusi,

Nasirean akhliiq, particularly in the section on politics and state organizations. The

authors of the akhliiq digests, though Muslims, borrowed from the views and sayings

of the ancient Greek masters, and supplemented them with stories and anecdotes from

Persia. The divine institute in these texts was presented to be the same as the universal

metaphysical ideal. And if the authors noticed any divergence, they, like the early

philosophers, resorted to interpretation to get at the real inner meanings (batin) behind

the apparent words (~Zihir). Conversely, they invoked the sharTat and illustrated their

discourses with anecdotes from classical Islam in cases where they found support in

them for their ideals, thereby enhancing the acceptability of their views in Muslim

orthodox circle. Yet the connotations of the sharl'at in these writings were not the

same as the ones used in Islamic jurisprudence (jiqh). Also, the prime duty of the

2
For appropriation, see Muzaffar Alam, "Akhalaq-i-HumayiinT of Ikhtiyar-ul-ljusainTand the Indo-
Persian Norms of Governance." (Manuscript). See also, The Book of Government or Rules for
Kings, The Siyasat-nama or Siyar al-Muluk of Nizam-ul-Mulk, translated from the Persian by
Hubert Darke (London, 1960). For a recent attempt to differentiate the sacred from the secular, Ira
M.Lapidus, "State and Religion in Islamic Societies", Past and Present, May 1996, pp.3-27.

128
ideal ruler, in their opinion, was to ensure the well being of the people of diverse
3
groups, and not of Muslims alone.

The king, having projected himself as a viceregent, or shadow of God on

earth, was not expected to discriminate between Muslims and non-Muslims in

providing protection and justice to his subjects. A section of the culama, however,

continued to emphasize the necessity of complying with the letter of the law. The

opinion of the mid-fourteenth century chronicler and political theorist of the Delhi

Sultanate, ?-iyi. Baran!, on this matter is not without value. In a passage which shows

his remarkable understanding of the context of time and space, Barani has suggested

that the total annihilation of the innovators and opponents of the shafi'at, was not

possible, either through the guidance and preaching of the Prophet or through the

violence and authority of the kings. According to him, they can at most be kept

suppressed and disgraced, and debarred from high offices of the realm and seats of

responsibility, as they pose a grave threat to the honour of Islam. Patronage to these

would be tantamount to discrediting the pious Muslims, the high-born and the God-

fearing. Thus, while Bararii's ideal polity demanded marginalization of the infidels

and deviant Muslims, the ruler being a representative of God was expected to

personify his basic attributes like mercy, forgiveness, justice and equity. There was no

question of discrimination on the basis of religion in such matters as protection and

justice (&dl-wa-in~Zij) to the people. More significantly, the limitations of the

parameters of the shari 'at in tackling the complexities of the contemporary problems

has been noted, and the need to follow more effective secular state laws (zawabit-i-

3
Muzaffar Alam, "Indo-Persian Norms".

129
mulla) emphasized. 4

Indeed the Delhi sultans were hardly to be found as shar'i'at-bound. Early in

the thirteenth century Iltutmish (r.l210-1236) turned down the'ulama's demand to

take action against the Hindus, and later nominated R~iya (r.1236-1240) as his heir-

apparent. No contemporary alim dared challenge it. Ghiya~.-ud-Di'n Balban (r.1266-

1286) following the Persian theory of kingship, organised elaborate court rituals and

adopted the title of zillullah (shadow of God), which though not novel was jurisdically

un-Islamic. 'Ala'-ud-Di'n's rebuke to Q~i Mughi's over the legality of his measures

and his assertion that he did not care about the statutes of the sharTilt in matters of

government is well known. His son Mubarakshah (r.l316-1320) claimed to be the

viceregent of God on earth. Mu~ammad bin Tughluq (r.1325-1351) did not give any

privilege to the'ulamli, and his successor Firuz Tughluq (r.13 51-13 88) paid lip service

to Islam.

This is, however, not to suggest that politics and governance under the sultans

were completely secular in orientation. In fact, there appears to be a critical

interdependence between the'ulamii and the rulers. This was because most of the

institutions engaged in training and employment of thetulama were established by the

political elites and funded through charities and grants. Also, a qualified 'alim 's main

hope of employment was to get a job within the administration as a qa~f or mufti':

4
For Ziya'Bararii's provocative ideas, see his, Fatiiwa-i-Jahandarl edited by Mrs.ASalim Khan
(Lahore, 1972). For a fairly harsh diS{magement of BaranTs ideas, Mohammad Habib, "Life and
Thought of Ziyauddin Barani", in K.A.Nizami, ed., Politics and Society During the Early Medieval
Period, Collected works of Professor Mohammad Habib, Vol. II (Delhi, 1981), pp.286-366, first
appeared in Medieval India Quarterly, Aligarh, January-April 1958, pp.197-252, and printed
separately as Introduction to The Political Theory of the Delhi Sultanate, incorporating the English
translation ofBarani's Fatawli-i-JahandarTby M.Habib and Mrs.ASalim Khan (Allahabad, nd).

130
Thus, even if he wanted to become the imam or kha{lb in a mosque, or a madrasa

teacher, he had to depend upon the generosity of the ruler. By and large, therefore, the

'ulamii acted as paid servants of the state. They generally interpreted the shari~t to

suit the policies of the sultans. They were certainly not allowed to dictate policy. They

were employed in administration to act as judges and religious advisors to make the

Muslim subjects believe that the Sultanate was an Islamic state. They also legitimized

the rulers' campaigns against the non-Muslim chieftains by characterizing them as

jihad. The khu{ba read in the mosques presented the rulers as protectors and

promoters of Islam and Muslims. The same need for legitimacy led early sultans to

seek investiture (manshfir) from the caliphs. 5 At the practical level, the ruler was

expected to provide relief to his subjects from tyranny, irrespective of their religion,

and suppress crime and villainy, ensure prosperity of the realm, safety on highways,

comfort of traders and soldiers, etc. Thus, the ideal include both a non-sectarian

concern for the general welfare of the subjects across their religious affiliation and

also for the statutes of the shar1'at, which served as a major source of legitimacy.

There was constant vigil to maintain a balance between the two, but it would often be

dislocated too. Such was the case in the early phases of our period.

The sixteenth century writers have not only appreciated the "good" deeds of

. the Mghan kings, but also highlighted their image as pious Muslim rulers. Shaikh

5
For'ulama 's relationship with the rulers, see K.ANizami, Some Aspects of Religion and Politics in
India During the 13th Century (Aligarh, 1961); M.Mujeeb, Indian Muslims (Montreal, 1967); Aziz
Ahmad, Intellectual History of Islam; I.H.Qureshi, The Muslim Community of the Indo-Pak
Subcontinent, 610-1947 (The Hague, 1962). In consulting these modern authorities, their affiliations
to 'liberal' and 'separatist' traditions of Indo-Islan1ic scholarship may be kept in mind. The
expression 'shar'iat-bound' is derived from Annemarie SchimmeL Islam in the Indian Subcontinent
(Leiden-Koln, 1980). For a useful discussion on the concerns of the Indo-Muslim monarchy, see
also, J.F. Richards, "Introduction", in idem, ed., Kingship and Authority.

13 1
Jamali and Shaikh Rizqullah Mushtaq1, for instance, almost exaggerate the rulers'

veneration of the sufi shaikhs. Quoting Shaikh Sarna' -ud-Di"n's son and successor,

Shaikh Na~r-ud-Din, Jamali wrote that after the death of Bahlul Lodi his plr, Sarna'-

ud-Din visited the sultan's grave. After reciting the foti!Ja, he meditated for a while.

Shortly afterwards the shaikh raised his head and remarked that on account of his

devotion to the friends of God this man was successful both in this world and the

hereafter. 6 Mushtaql, writing later noted that Sultan Bahlul held the learned and pious

men in respect. He personally heard the complaints of the people and passed suitable

orders. From the very beginning of his reign, he attended religious sermons, and used

to go to the mosque on Friday for the congregational prayers. 7 Mushfacji went on to

narrate some anecdotes which highlight the sultan's attitude towards the holymen of

the realm. 8 He traces the sultan's devotion towards religion since his childhood, and

narrates an incident in which the sultan's uncle, Islam Khan, had prophesied that -the

child would bring power and glory to his family. One day Islam Khan was offering

his prayers. BahlUl stepped on the prayer carpet. One of the maid-servants forbade

him, saying: 'It is forbidden to place one's foot on the prayer carpet without du~

reason'. Islam Khan intervened: 'He is still a child. It is excusable even if he places

6
Shaikh Janiali, Siyar-ul- 'Arifin, Urdu trans. Ayub Qadari (Lahore, 1976), p.261. For Shaikh Sarna'-
ud-Din' s life, see chapter five.

7
Wii'qi 'lit-i-Mushfaqi, p.9.

One may be recounted here. Once in the beginning of his reign, he went to the .ranuf Masjid. Bandagi
8

MHin Qiidan Damshrnand was delivering the sermon from the pulpit. Sul!3fi Bahlw was also present
there. When the Mulla came down, he exclaimed: 'Praise be to God! Strange people (Afghans) have
appeared I do not know whether they are the predecessors of the antichrist or themselves possess
the nature of the antichrist. They call the mother, mur; the brother, rilr; the house, gilr; the village,
shur; soldier, tiir, and the man, nilr. While he was saying these things, Sui~ Bahlul smiled and
said: 'stop it Mulla Qiidan. We are all servants of God', Wiiqi 'iit-i-MushiaqT, p. 9.

132
his foot on my head'. Even as these words surprised the people, the Khan predicted:

'One day he will attain to high position and power, and my family will rise into

prominence due to him' .9 In fact, the sources also refer to the bestowal of kingship to

Bahliil by a maj;ub when he was a youngman, as we shall see below.

Such representation then continued and became part of the overall evaluation

and treatment of the history of their time. Ni~am-ud-Din Al}mad, writing in the reign

of Akbar, noted that Bahliil Lodl was adorned not only with personal piety, but was

also completely bound in obedience to the laws of the Prophet. In all matters, he

followed the path of the law and was very enthusiastic in attending to justice and

equality. He passed a great part of his time in the society of the learned and in the

company of the faqTrs; and considered it right to show kindness to the poor and the

needy. 10 The contemporary sufi texts lavish equal praise on Sikandar Lodl and his

reign. The sultan's friend and philosopher Shaikh Jamal! hailed his noble qualities

including his interest in poetry and devotion towards men of religion.u Mushtaq"i's

estimate of the reign of Sikandar Lodi is both detailed and full of praise. He has noted

that he wrote the Wiiqi 'at-i-MushtaqT to describe the events of the reign of Sikandar

Lodi along with the attainments of some sufis and nobles who were his

contemporaries. 12 According to him, Sikandar Lodi was a great king devoted to the

sharT'at. He loved justice and was unmatched in bravery and generosity. During his

reign people were prosperous. Agriculture and construction activities increased

9
Wiiqi 'at-i-MushtaqT, p.9.

10
Tabaqiit-i-Akbarl, Eng. trans., Vol., I, p.338.

11
Siyar-ul-'Ari.fin, p.195.

12
Waqi 'ot-i-Mushtaifi, pp.29-30.
133
considerably. 13 Later Ni'matullah also noted that during the time of Sikandar Lodi

there was plenty of rain and there was no deficiency of food-grain throughout the

dominion. The people lived in peace and tranquility .14 Mushtaqi further adds that the

soldiers enjoyed immense prestige under Sikandar Lodi. The traders used to travel in

the dominion with a sense of security. The artisans and the peasants had such peace

and order in the wilayat that even the robbers and highway-men submitted on their

own, became law-abiding and settled down to live peacefully. If anyone turned from

the path of obedience, the sultan either got him beheaded or banished from the
. 15
emptre.

Highlighting the sultan's religiosity, Mushtliql further wrote that in every city

and territory, Islam prospered considerably and its laws were enforced. The mosques,

jama 'atkhanas, and the khanqilhs were full. MuiJtasibs were chosen from amongst the

competent persons. Scholars and teachers were appointed in the madrasas, and

nobles, their sons and soldiers kept themselves busy with acquiring knowledge and

learning, and in performing religious acts. Every man who was ahl-i-ni~iib, that is,

under religious obligation to pay 1akiit, paid it. During the winter, they distributed

blankets, sheets of cloth and garments to the widows, the indigent and the beggars.

13
Ibid., p.l6.

14
T7ir7kh-i-Khan-i..Jahan7 wa Makhzan-i-AfghanT, Vol. I, p.212. However, famine did occur in some
parts of North India under Sikandar Lodf. Elsewhere, Ni 'matullah suggests that the sultan in order
to mitigate the hardships of the famine stricken people of his time, remitted the payment of_Jakiit
(religious cess) in com. Henceforth, the system of paying corn as J_akat was abolished, ibid., Vol. I,
pp. 186-87; A Rashid, "Famine in the Turco-Afghan Period··, PIHC, Ranchi Session, 1964, pp. 84-
89, especially p.87.
15
Waqi 'at-i-MushtiiqT, p.l6.

13 4
 16
Food grains, clothes, cattle and other essential items were cheap. In every city, huge

amount of money was disbursed from the royal treasury two times a year amongst the

scholars, learned men, widows and other deserving people. The officers were ordered

to prepare the list of deserving persons in the localities under their charge. They

regularly sent to each whatever was fixed for him. In the jarmans issued to the nobles

regarding the assignment of the parganas and the territories, it was specifically

mentioned that the imliik and wa~a'if (landgrants) were excluded.

17

Mushtaqi virtually portrayed Sikandar Lod1 as a religious bigot and claimed

that no territory in his kingdom could be called a diir-ul-harb. He wrote that the sultan

banned and abolished the innovations in religion. The Hindus were prevented from

taking a ritual bath in public at Mathura. Also, he wanted to destroy the tank at

Kurukshetra where the Hindus gathered on religious occasions for bathing. The

lulamli, however, prevented him from doing this by denouncing it as an un-Islamic act.

Further, the people were stopped from worshipping shTtla (the goddess of small-pox).

The sultan's reformist zeal also saw the banning of the procession of the spear of

Safar Mas'ud Ghazi and the demolition of 'fake' graves. 18 Mushtaqi concluded his

account of the reign of Sikandar Lod1 with the verses composed by Amir Khusrau in

16
Mushtaq"i further noted that it was a common custom that everyone kept foodgrains at his door for
distribution among the poor. As the nobles rode out, they took with them money according to their
means for distribution among the beggars who sat on the way side. If, by chance, they rode out
several times in a day, they did not violate this custom at any time. The beggars and the disabled
just sat on the roadside without even asking for money. These passers-by gave them alms on their
own. On Fridays, in every house jumagT (amount of money for distribution on Fridays) was set
aside for the beggars. In the mosques too, at the time of the congregational prayer on Fridays such
almsgiving occurred. If a beggar died, his belongings, whether they were worth thousands or a lakh
or more, were handed over to his legal heir. In case there was none, his belongings were distributed
among the beggars, WZiqi 'at-i-MushtaqT, pp.17-19.
17
Waqi 'at-i-MushtaqT, p.18.

18
Ibid, pp.17, 19-20. It is also suggested that the sultan prevented the women from visiting the shrines
and the graveyards, Tarikh-i-Khan-i-Jahani wa Makhzan-i-AjghanT, Vol. I, pp.216-17.
135
praise of 'Ala' -ud-Uin Khalji where the king is referred to as the second Zulqarnain

(Alexander the Great). 19

Mushtaql also records a story to substantiate his claim about the sultan's

religiosity. He relates that when the ruler fell seriously ill before his death, he ordered

his imam Shaikh Uidhan20 to prepare an estimate of the ka.ffiira (compensation) for

unlawful acts committed by him such as neglecting prayer (namaz) and not keeping

fast during the month of Ram~an, shaving off his beard, taking wine and also

inflicting unlawful punishments like severing the ears of the criminals. The shaikh did

accordingly, noting down in detail the compensation for every sin, and submitted it to

the king. The latter also prepared a list of the sins he had committed from the period

of adolescence onwards, and handed it over to the shaikh asking him to calculate the

amount due as compensation. When the shaikh finally submitted his report containing

the sultan's sins and the equivalent amount, the sovereign ordered the kh~anadiir

(treasurer) to take out the money from the treasury and give it away to the 1ulama. The

latter enquired from the khazanadiir as to which section of the treasury was the money

taken out for distribution. He replied: 'The presents and gifts which the nobles send

along with the petitions every year, are accumulated in the treasury separately. We are

supposed to spend from it only when the sultan would order. The amount taken out

for distribution belonged to this section'. The'ulamZi praised the ruler for his wisdom,

19
Waqi'at-i-MushtaqT, pp.106-107.

20
Son of Shaikh Sarna' -ud-Din Kamboh Suhrawardi, Shaikh Uidhan had distinguished himself as an
authority on Islamic jurisprudence and was held in esteem by Sul!ful Sikandar and his nobles for his
scholarly attainments, Waqi 'at-i-MushtaqT, p.67, f.n.61.

136
 21
for they considered the amount being distributed as lawful.

Mushtaql's nephew ~bduli:Iaqq also praised Sikandar Lodl for his piety and

to it he seems to attribute the prosperity of his reign. According to him, the king was

particularly devoted towards the saints, tuzama, and other noble men - a large number

of whom had come from Arabia and other parts of the Islamic world, during his reign.

Suggesting that the qualities of the sultan were beyond description, ~bdul I;Iaqq

wrote: 22

.. .
Nizam-ud-Din Ahmad suspected most of the work on Sikandar Lorn to be a product

of exaggeration and cited the merit of his work being nearest to the reality?3 He has,

however, closely followed Mushtaql's account of the assessment of the reign of the

sultan. 24 It is also suggested that Sikandar Lodl possessed information about the

condition of his rdiyats and soldiers to such a degree that even details of the domestic

affairs of the people reached him; and sometimes he received information of what

happened to some persons when they were quite alone; so that it was suspected that

the ruler had a )inn who was intimate with him, and gave him information of what

was to occur in the future? 5 In fact, Mushta<ft has alluded to the sultan's ability to

21
Wiiqi 'lit-i-MushtaqT, pp.67-68.

22
~bdul ljaqq also noted that SulJ8n Sikandar was enthroned in 894/1488-89, and he died in
923/1517-18 after ruling for 39 years, Akhbar-ui-Akhyar, pp.470-71.

23
Tabaqlit-i-Akbaii, Eng. trans., Vol. I, p.384.

24
Ibid, Vol. I, pp.384-87.

25
Ibid., Vol. I, p.388; Tarikh-i-Khan-i-Jahaniwa Makhzan-i-Afgh7mT, Vol. I, p. 219.
137
perform miracles,26 and this is corroborated by 5\.bdul ~aqq.
27
Such claims concerning

Sher Shah will be referred to below. The sufis also wrote qasTda (panegyrics) in
9
praise of the rulers/ 8 and mar§.iya (elegy) on their death/ and dedicated their works

to them. Jamali completed his Siyar-ul- 'Arifin in the reign ofHumaytin, and prayed to
30
God for the continuation of his rule till the day of judgement.

The sufis not only highlighted the virtuous deeds of the sovereigns, but often

praised them for being very handsome or good looking. Mushtaq'i has noted that

Prince Ni~am, later Sultan Sikandar, was known for his excellent temperament and

remarkable personality. Everyone 'who possessed a heart and looked upon him, had
31
his heart captivated at the very sight'. He was unrivalled in beauty. Mushtaql has

illustrated his point with the story of Shaikh Hasan, the grandson of Shaikh AbU Uila,

who had fallen in love with the prince. One day Ni~m was sitting in his private

chamber when suddenly Shaikh Ijasan entered it. The prince asked why he had come

inside without permission. The shaikh answered: 'Do you not know why have I come

inside?' The prince said: 'You think you are fond of me'. The shaikh replied: 'I have

no control in this matter'. The prince ordered him to come near him. When the shaikh

did so, he caught hold of the shaikh's neck, and pulled him near the flame of the stove

which was burning near him, and pushed the head towards it. The shaikh himself

26
See Wiiqi 'at-i-MushtliqT AHalim writes that innumerable and sometimes incredible stories are
extant regarding Sikandar Lodf including the one in which he is credited with the resurrecting of a
dead body, History of the Lodi Sultans, p.lll, citing A!mmd Tadgar, Buhar Ms..

27
Akhb7ir-ul-Akhy7ir, pp. 470-71.

28
JamiDfwrote qa1fda in praise ofBabur and Humayiin, see chapter five.

29
Ja.maiT also wrote mar.,~iya on the death of Sikandar Lodf One couplet had already become popular
in the lifetime of Janiali; see chapter five.

30
Siyar-ul- 'Arifin, pp.l44-45. Badawii has referred to Jamalfs Siyar-u/- 'Anfin, but pointed out that
the work was not entirely free from defects and discrepancies, Muntakhab-ut-TawarTkh, Vol. I,
pp.325-26.

31
Wliqi '"iit-i-MushtlitjT, p.30.
138
placed his head on the fire and did not make the slightest movement. In the meantime,

Mubarak Khan Nlilian1 entered the chamber. The prince told him that the man was

Shaikh I:Iasan. Mubarak Khan remarked: '0 man who fearest not God, what are you

doing? Neither fire nor water harms these people. You have done harm to yourself.

What can you do against them?' The prince said: 'He calls himself my lover'. The

Khan suggested: 'You ought to be thankful that you have become the beloved of a

saint. If you desire to obtain felicity in this world and the next, you should serve him'.

Then he removed the hand of the prince and raised the head of the shaikh from the

fire. They found that the shaikh was not hurt at all. The prince ordered the shaikh to

be put in chains with his neck, hands and feet tied, and had him locked in a room.

Sometime afterwards, people came from the bazaar and informed the prince that

Shaikh I:Iasan was dancing there. The prince ordered him to be arrested, and brought

before him. When he was brought, the prince asked him: 'You call yourself my lover.

Why did you escape from my prison?' The shaikh answered: 'I did not go on my own.

My grandfather Shaikh Abu Lata took me out'. The room where he was imprisoned

was found locked when the shaikh was caught dancing in the bazaar. Seeing the

miracle, the prince stopped treating I:Iasan with disrespect. 32 An abridged version of

this story is also given by 'Abdulljaqq Mu~addi~ Dihlawl. 33

The above episodes recorded mainly by Jamali and Mushtaql, and recounted

by subsequent authors, served to strengthen the image of the rulers as pious. They

sought company of, and blessings from, the religious divines, and were concerned

also to establish the 'holy law' in their realms. The Lodlkings also contributed to the

32
Ibid., pp.30-3l.

33
Akhbar-ul-Akhyar, p.575.
139
projection of such an image in their quest to legitimise their ceaseless efforts to build

an empire. This was particularly necessary in view of their long drawn struggle with

the Sharq1s of Jaunpur. As we shall see in chapter five, a number of the sufis had

thrown their lot in favour of the Lodis as they felt that the cause of Islam would be

served better under them. However, it is interesting to note that Sikandar also planned

to pull down the Jama' Masjid of Jaunpur, identified with the glory and power of the

Sharqis, after his conquest of the city. The(ulama present there dissuaded the sultan

from doing so, and thus the mosque was spared. Further, we shall give below some

details which illustrate how at times Sikandar Lodi" could be indifferent to the dictates

of the shar 'iat and mock at the power and prestige enjoyed by the religious leaders.

Thus, the invocation of the 'holy law' was more or less a matter of

convenience with the Lodis and so was the case with Sher Shah subsequently. Sher

Shah's actions during the campaign in Malwa and Rajasthan were justified by the

chroniclers. It may also be that the ruler himself provided religious colour to the cold-

blooded massacres of the Raj puts by keeping the 'ulamli and sufis in good humour.

The sources suggest that his welfare mechanism, personal piety and madad-i-ma 'iish

grants to holy-men also made him fit in the image of an ideal ruler. Long passages on

statecraft attributed to Sher Shah from the very early days of his career, to be found in

the Tiirlkh-i-Sher ShahT, show that the ruler's vision of an ideal government was quite

broad-based. It may be that he had imbibed these ideas, as a student at Jaunpur, where

he was probably exposed to the early "mirror for princes" literature. The passages

recorded by ~bbas Sarwani and their summarized versions in other texts clearly echo

the views of such political theorists as Imam Ghaza]i and Ni~am-ul-Mulk 'fils!. A few

examples to be given below will reveal the debt of Sher Shah, or at least his

biographer, to the formulations of these early thinkers. Such an exercise will be more
140
fruitful if we briefly take cognizance of the political theorists' understanding of the

institution of the Sultanate whose emergence was synchronized with the decline and

decay ofthe Abbasid caliphate.

Defending the rule of the sultan in his Iqtisad-ul-iJiqiid, Ghazali wrote that the

decline of the imamate does not mean that the people should stop obeying the law,

dismiss the q~Ts, declare all authority to be valueless, and pronounce the acts of those

in high places to be invalid. He suggested that by recognising that the imamate really

exists and all acts of the administration are valid, some semblance of stability and

order could be maintained. For according to him, necessity made lawful what was

forbidden. It was not lawful to feed on a dead animal; still, it would be worse to die of

hunger. Further, Ghazali counterposited: '<which is to be preferred, anarchy and the

stoppage of social life for lack of a properly constituted authority, or

acknowledgement of the existing power, whatever be it? Of these two alternatives, the

jurist cannot but choose the latter". 34

Two things, in the opinion of Ghazali, brought about the ruin of a country: the

weakness of the king and his tyranny. Coercive power was for him a very important

element in kingship; what he feared most of all was civil strife and disorder. In his

Na~lhat-ul-Muliik, a "mirror for princes" written sometime between 498/1105 and

505/1111, Ghaza1iwrote, that it was necessary for the king to exercise coercive power

and to have authority, because he was the representative of God. The awe in which

the ruler was held should be such that when the subjects saw him from afar they did

34
Quoted in Levy, Sociology of Islam, I, p.306. The noted historian Ibn KhaldUn has also defended
the transformation of the caliphate into kingship, as the qualities of the caliphate survived in the
preference for Islam and its ways which remained, and adherence to the path of truth. The only
change which became apparent was in the restraining force which had been in religion and was now
changed into ~biyya and the sword, Lambton, State and Government in Medieval Islam, p.l73. For
Ibn Khaldun's life and works, see also M.Talbi, 'Ibn Khaldun', EI (new ed.).
141
not dare to rise to their feet. For, if the king were weak or powerless, religion and the

world would suffer injury and damage. Further, "the tyranny of a sultan for a hundred .

years causes less damage than one year's tyranny exerted by the subjects against each

other. When the subjects indulge in tyranny, God most High will appoint over them a

forceful and violent sultan". 35

Further, in his I[lyii 'Uliim-ud-Din, Ghazali" recommended support for and

submission to even an unjust and ignorant ruler. According to him, obedience be

rendered to an evil-doing and barbarous sultan so long as he is supported by military

force, as the attempt to depose him would create unendurable civil strife and

destruction. He supported his suggestion with a [lad~ regarding the duty of obedience

to those invested with command and the prohibition on withdrawing one's hand from

assisting them. He concluded that the caliphate is contractually assumed by that

member of the 'Abbasid house who is charged with its functions, and that the office

of government in the different regions is validly executed by the sultans who profess

allegiance to the caliph, by mentioning the latter's name in the khu{ba and the sikka. 36

In his Na~That-ul-Muliik, Ghazali also effected a fusion of the Islamic ethic and the

Sassanian norms of governance. He stated, "God sent prophets to His servants to

guide them to Him and to restrain them from one another and He chose kings to

whose wisdom He relegated the welfare of His servants, giving to them a high rank -

as is stated in the tradition, 'the sultan is the shadow of God on earth'. That person to

whom kingship and the divine effulgence (jarr-i-Tzadi) has been given must therefore

Na~lwt-ul-Muliik, pp.Bl-32, quoted in Lambton, State and Government, p.l24.

35

36
lby'a 'Uliim-ud-Dfn, II, p.l24, quoted in Lambton, State and Government in Medieval Islam, pp.ll6-
l7.
142
be loved and kings must be obeyed". 37 Quoting the Quranic verse, 'Obey God, obey

the prophet and those in authority among you', Ghaza:II interpreted 'those in

authority' to mean not those holding religious authority but those holding military

authority. "Thus", he stated, "he to whom God gave religion must love kings and be

obedient and know that this kingship is given by God and God gives it to whomsoever

He wills". The obligation to treat kings with respect was absolute: in no circumstances

was rebellion permitted. 38

Like Ghazaii, Ni~am-ul-Mulk 'fiisi also, in his Siyasat-niima, attempted to

combine something of the Islamic ideal with the Sassanian notion of the ideal ruler.

He stated that he should have a comely appearance, good nature, integrity, manliness,

courage, horsemanship, knowledge, ability to wield different kinds of arms, an

understanding of crafts and skills, compassion and mercy towards people,

steadfastness in fulfilling vows and promises, a liking for right religion and right

belief, and obedience to God, and he should perform supererogatory prayers and fasts,

have respect for the learned, the devout, the righteous and the wise, give alms

continually, treat the poor, his subordinates and servants well and restrain the

tyrannical from ill-treating the subjects. 39

Further, an early sixteenth century treatise, the Akhlaq-i-HumayunT of

Na~ihat-ul-Muluk, p.81, quoted in Lambton, State and Government, pp.120-21; F.R.C. Bagley,
37

Ghazali 's Book of Counsel for Kings (Oxford, 1964).

38
Lambton, State and Government, p.l21.
39
Darke, Book of Government, pp.1 0-11. Curiously, Lambton suggests that in spite of their attempt to
create an amalgam of Islamic and pre-Islamic ideals, Ghazruf and N~.am-ul-Mulk by their
emphasis on the absolute power of the ruler and his unaccountability except to God, helped to
perpetuate the fundamental disharmony between the ideal of Islam and the ideal of pre-Islamic
Persia, Lambton, State and Government, p.26.

143
Ikhtiyar-ul-!j:usain"I: enumerated the following principles for the stability of the

Sultanate: a) in each matter that the king takes up, he should assume himself as a

subject and the other as the king. He should not tolerate in others what he considers

improper for himself; b) he should not wait for the needy to approach his court; c) he

should not be totally given to the bodily appetites and joys; d) benevolence and favour

and not force and violence should be the comer-stone of his activities; e) he should

endeavour to please his people for the sake of God; f)he should not disobey God for

people's sake; g) he should be just and fair when people ask for his decisions, and be

forgiving when they look for mercy from him; h) he should seek the company of the

pious and thus obtain peace of heart; i) each should be kept within the limits of his

ability; and j) it is not enough that he is not a tyrant, but he should manage the country
40
in a manner that none in his territory can afford to be cruel.

Sher Shah's utterances and actions clearly resonate the writings of the political

theorists. Before leaving for the parganas to take up the assignment as shiqqdiir,

Far1d had lectured his father on the need to maintain law and order in the real.m, and

the way to ensure it. According to 'Abbas Sarwarii, Far1d in his sermon harped on the

need to establish justice as it leads to the consolidation and expansion of the kingdom,

the prosperity of the exchequer, and the populousness of the villages and towns.

Conversely, tyranny causes the destruction of the empire and the ruination of the

country, leading to damnation in this world and the next. It was also suggested that

the well-being of the kingdom depended upon the bestowal of favour upon all the

subjects, particularly the down-trodden who have been entrusted by God to the care of

40
Muzaffar Alam, 'Indo-Persian Norms'.

144
the able and powerful ones so that they are protected from the oppression of the

tyrants. Further, the suggestion that the affluence of a country depended upon the

dispensation of justice and punishment is illustrated through an interesting simile in

which the state is referred to as a plant, and the administration as water. Hence it is

obligatory to keep the roots of the tree of the kingdom alive with the water of justice

and chastisement so that the fruits of peace and order could be enjoyed by the

people. 41 Much of it appear to be literally quoted from the writings of Ghazali.

Farld also showed particular concern to ensure that the subordinate officers do

not oppress the peasantry as it might lead to their dispersion. When the rdfyat are

scattered the country becomes desolate, the revenue diminishes and the treasury

becomes empty; the soldiers cannot get their emoluments, leading to their desertion.

Thus, the prosperity and survival of the kingdom is based on the affluence of the

rdryat, and this is possible when the nobles stopped committing oppression. 42 Later,

while addressing public meetings in his father's parganas as a shiqqdiir, Farld again

stressed the need to augment cultivation and warned the corrupt revenue officials and

the zamindars to stop exploiting the peasantry as cultivation was not possible if

oppression and tyranny were not done away with. 43

Even if we assume that the above statements are not the original words of

Faiid, they are evidently drawn from the discussions on justice and prosperity in the

works ofthe medieval Muslim political theorists. For instance, 'Abbas Sarwani's long

41
iaiikh-i-Sher ShahT, pp.l6-19. See also, Tarlkh-i-Daudl, p.l08; iarTkh-i-Khan-i-JahanT wa
Makhzan-i-AfghanT, Vol. I, p.264.
42
Tarikh-i-Sher ShahT, pp.20-21.
43
Ibid, pp. 21-25.

145
passages on the need to establish justice in the dominion, though attributed to Sher

Shah, remind the reader of the views of Imam Ghazali on the subject. The latter

wrote: "Justice is the glory of religion and the strength of the temporal government

(sultan) and in it lies the well-being of the elite (khass) and the common people

('amm) .. .He who is most worthy of rank and kingship is he whose heart is the abode

of justice, whose house is the resting-place of the religious and the wise, whose

judgement is in accordance with the judgement of the wise and whose intercourse is

with wise men and good counsellors". 44 Ghazali further stated, "Public function

(wilayat) is a great privilege (nimati) and whoever fulfills its responsibilities acquires

an unsurpassed happiness, but anyone who falls short (in carrying out its

responsibilities) suffers tribulation unequalled except by the tribulations of unbelief.

Proof of the high nature of this privilege is that the Prophet of God, upon whom be

blessing and peace, said 'the justice on one day of a just sultan is more excellent than

the worship of sixty years"' 45

The chroniclers' debt to Ghazali is further reflected in the discussion on

taxation. Ghazali wrote that the king should not allow his tax collectors to take

anything unjustly from his subjects. It was also incumbent upon him to see that his

officials carried out his orders, because they were often deflected from carrying out

his orders by bribes. He must look after the world as he would his own house, so that

it became prosperous. If the subjects were reduced to misery, he should go to their

rescue, especially if there was a famine and they lost their means of livelihood. The

king must give them food and help them with money from the treasury. He must not

Na~lhat-ul-Muliik, pp.l49-50, quoted in Lambton, State and Government. p.l22

44

Na~That-ul-Muluk, p.l5, quoted in Lambton, State and Government, pp.ll8.

45

146
allow his entourage to oppress the people because they would become impoverished

and abandon his kingdom. Thus, the revenues of the sultan would diminish, profit

would accrue to storekeepers and hoarders and the sultan would be cursed and get a

bad name. 46 Further, Ghazali identified prosperity with virtue which is reminiscent of

Zoroastrianism. He stated, "It must be known that the prosperity and desolation of the

world depends on kings. If the king is just, the world will be prosperous and the

subjects secure, as it was in the time of Ardashir, Afridun, Bahram Gur and

Anushirwan. But if the king is tyrannical, the world will be depopulated as it was in

the time of Zahhak, Afrasiyab and Yazdigird the sinner. The kings of ancient times

strove to make the world prosperous because they knew that the greater the prosperity

the longer their (exercise of) government and the more numerous their subjects. They

knew that the wise men of the world had spoken rightly when they said, 'Religion

depends on kingship and kingship on the army and the army on wealth and wealth on

prosperity and prosperity on justice"'. 47

The sixteenth century writers extol Sher Shah's methods of administration and

public works. In particular, the focus is on his justice and charity. According to

~bbas, Sher Shah personally made inquiries into the condition of the rdfyat, soldiers

and merchants and talked to the weak ones. He never tired of meeting seekers of

justice. For according to him, justice is most precious of all religious acts and has

been acclaimed alike by the Islamic and infidel sovereigns. None of the devotions and

prayers can be equated with justice and here all sections of the infidelity and Islam are

one on the point. If the shadow of the justice of the king be removed from the head of

46
Na~That-ul-Muliik, quoted in Lambton, State and Government, pp.l25
47
Lambton, State and Government, pp.l22-23.

147
the people, the knots of the concourse and population will be broken off. The

powerful will wipe off the weak. He therefore ascertained the true state of the

oppressed and the seekers of justice and never helped the oppressor, even if the latter

be his near relations, his son, a notable chief or a member of his own tribe. He never
48
delayed or showed hesitation in bringing the oppressor to book.

It is difficult to get evidence of the influence of Nasirean akhll1q on Sher

Shah's ideals, even though we know that JaUitud-DTn Dawwarii's Akhliiq-i-Jalaliwas

known in parts ofSikandar Lodi's dominion. 49 We have referred above to Sher Snah's

training at Jaunpur in the company ofthe'ulama and the sufis of the place. It may also

be that he evolved his own style of governance on the basis of his long experience as

an administrator at various levels. Impressed by his public works and charitable

endeavours, and also by the late sixteenth century intellectual milieu which provided

the postulates for evaluating good governance, the chroniclers probably attributed to

Sher Shah what they found in the works of the theorists. A brief summary of the

details given by the authorities can serve to illustrate how Sher Shah's rule was

perceived by his contemporaries, and by the near-contemporaries even in the

aftermath of the hostile Mughals returning to power with a vengeance. We shall also

assess as to what extent the history of his style of governance is a construction of the

late sixteenth century Afghan chroniclers. It is stated that his administrative measures

wiped off poverty from the realm as he spent a lot in charity, and was always

concerned about the well-being of the people. 50 In order to check the occurrence of

48
iarTkh-i-Sher ShahT, pp.749-52.
49
Muzaffar Alam, "Indo-Persian Norms".
50
Wiiqi7it-i-MushtaqT, pp.l35-36. Also see 17irTkh-i-Diudt;pp.216-21; 1an"kh-i-Sher ShahT, pp.747-
88; 17ifikh-i-Khan-i-Jah71nT wa Makhzan-i-AfghanT, Vol.L pp.333-37: Muntakhab-ut-Tawan7ch,
Vol.II, pp.472-73.
148
famine, Sher Shah had arranged for state-stores of grain from where grain could be

sent to famine-stricken areas. By this measure, so much grain was collected that

commodities became very cheap. And as long as Sher Shah lived, there was no

famine. 5 1 He built rest-houses for the poor and the public-kitchen (langar) was started

where food was available for them all the time. Five hundred tolas of gold was

sanctioned for running the public-kitchen. Besides, allowances were fixed for the

blind and the helpless everywhere in the dominion, whether villages or towns. 52 The

royal kitchen was spacious enough to accommodate several thousand men where they

were attended to everyday. Sher Shah himself took his food in the company of the

t ulamii and the sufis. 53

After ascending the throne, Sher Shah had resumed the existing land-grants to

the dimma, and started granting them afresh. According to ~bhas Khan, when it came

to his knowledge that those who, after the end of Ibrahim Lodi' s rule continued to

hold the charity land and remained religious mendicants only in their attire, and had

appropriated more land than what was granted, he resumed their madad-i-ma 'Zish or

charity land. And after giving his personal attention, he gave them their exact dues.

He believed that the populousness and prosperity of the towns depended upon the

holders of charity land. The students, travellers and the needy who cannot go to the

king can receive help from the grantees. It thus makes possible the enjoyment of life

by the travellers and the impoverished and it leads to the extension of education,

knowledge and faith. He did not let any soldier go unattended, and even paid him the

necessary money for his journey. He also gave money in cash as pension to those who

51
Rashid, "Famine in the Turco-Afghan Period", p.87.
52
Wiiqi 'iit-i-Mushtiiqi, p.l36. Also see, 17irTkh-i -Sher ShahT, pp. 769-70.
53
WOqi 'lit-i-MushtliqT, p.l36. Also see, Tafikh-i-Sher ShahT, p.750.
149
could not earn their livelihood such as the blind, the old and the infirm, the widow,
54
the crippled and the sick.

The sources also note that peace and order reigned supreme in Sher Shah's

reign to the extent that even an old woman with gold in her possession could pass her

time in the forest without the fear of being robbed. 55 It is also asserted by Mushtaql

and ~bdutnih that since the day of his accession to the throne, no case of highway

brigands and theft had ever come to light. If it occurred anywhere, the muqaddams of

the village concerned were arrested and the restitution for the robbery was extracted

from them. The owner of the stolen goods was fully compensated. Consequently, the
56
muqaddams became cautious and ensured that no such cases occurred in their area.

~bbas Khan gives a detailed description of how the traveller was protected from the

ravages of the thieves and highway-robbers. According to him, Sher Shah had issued

strict orders to his officers that if any such incident took place in his kingdom and its

perpetrators were not traced, then whatever had been carried away or plundered by the

thief or the robber, whose whereabouts could not be ascertained in the village, would

be made good by the muqaddam of the area. If he produced the thief or the robber and

showed his whereabouts, then after the payment of compensation, the muqaddam of

the village where he was hiding would be made to pay the compensation money to the

one who had to pay it earlier. The thief and the highway robber would then be

punished in accordance with the holy law. In the eventuality of the murderer having

absconded, the muqaddam was to be arrested and imprisoned and given a certain

length of time to produce the murderer. If he produced him or showed his

54
Tarlkh-i-Sher Shah/, pp. 770-71.
55
Ibid., p. 787.
56
Waqi 'iit-i-Mushtiicji, p.136; Tiifikh-i-mludl.pp.2l8-l9.
150
whereabouts, the former would be let off and the murderer would be slain. If the

muqaddam failed to prove the guilt against the offender, he would himself be put to

death. 57

According to ~bhas, Sher Shah was convinced that theft and highway-robbery

could never take place without the concurrence of the muqaddams~ and if, in

exceptional cases, any incident took place without their cognizance, they were sure to

get all the information after a thorough investigation about the crime and those

involved in it. For they not only knew which villages were infested by the miscreants,

but also in some cases were related to and friendly with them; hence they could easily

elicit the required information. Thus theft and highway-robbery were committed

either at the instance of the muqaddams or atleast they had full information about

them. 58 ~bbas Khan claims that in the time of Sher Shah and Islam Shah the

muqaddams used to guard the limits of their villages so that the thieves, highway-

robbers or their enemies were prevented from harming the travellers. Sher Shlih also

issued orders to his ~amils to mete out good treatment to the travellers and the

merchants and ensure that they were not harmed in anyway. If any merchant died in

accident and without heirs, the 0.mils must not lay their hands of oppression and

violence on his property. 59

SarO.is were built at distance of every karoh along the highways in the various

directions of the empire. In every sarai, a mosque and a well were constructed, in

addition to a store-house where cooked and uncooked food were kept ready for

travellers. Separate arrangements were made for water and food for the Hindu and

57
rarikh-i-Sher ShaHi, pp. 764-65.
58
Ibid, pp.765-66.
59
Ibid, pp.766-67.
151
Muslim travellers. They were not charged for these services. A sha!Jna and several

watchmen were posted in the sarai. In the mosque attached to the sarlii, a mu"a;_:;_in

and an imam were appointed. All of them were allotted lands at the same place for

their maintepance. Further, tall fruit trees were planted on both the sides of the road

which provided the much needed shadow to the travellers, particularly in the

scorching summer. The major roads with such trees and sarais included: a) from

Sonargaon in Bengal to the river Indus; b) from Ruhtas to the frontier of Mandu near

Burhanpur; c) from Agra to Jodhpur; and d) from Jaunpur to Bayana and Ajmer.

There were two post horses in each sarai, known as diikchaukT, so that information

could travel upto three hundred karohs a day. 60 The construction of roads with

diikchaukls and sarais, coupled with the rules concerning highway-robbery, should be

viewed not merely as aspects of public welfare, but as measures clearly designed to

ensure the state's control of the regions. The highways could facilitate the rapid

movement of the army for the campaigns in the regions as part of the imperialistic

project. Further, the attempt to maintain law and order on the roads ensured increased

trade and commerce in the dominion, with the subdued petty chiefs refraining from

harassing the merchants.

It is suggested that a certain degree of uniformity was maintained in the style

of functioning of the administration. The king would wake up early in the morning,

take bath, offer prayer and call his officials to his presence who would brief him on

the state of affairs in the realm. 61 It was in this sitting from morning till mid-day that

60
For more details on Sher Shah's administrative and welfare measures. and their appreciation by the
medieval authorities, see Waqhit-i-MushtaqT. pp.l36-37. Also see, Tiirikh-i-D7fudf. pp.216-21;
iarikh-i-Sher ShahT, pp. 761-62.
61
'Abbas Kbah writes that the kings are the partakers in virtues and vices of their servants and subjects
alike. Vices and inequity serve as impediments to the beneficial results that emanate from the
152
he inspected the revenue which came from the various provinces and scrutinized the

accounts of the (amils. The petitions of the nobles posted in the provinces were

presented before the emperor. The umara' and the zamindars also visited the king in

the morning. In the afternoon, he devoted sometime for steps to be taken for the
62
welfare of the nobles and the soldiers.

The Mghan chronicler writes that from the day Sher Shah occupied the

throne, none in his dominion had the courage to oppose him or to raise the standard of

rebellion. The nobles, thieves and highway robbers did not dare to misappropriate the

goods of others. 63 ~bbas also claimed that theft and highway-robbery never occurred

in the kingdom of Sher Shah and the travellers were free from all apprehension during

the journey. The zamindars of the region were vigilant and watchful lest any harm

should come to them which would become the cause of their disgrace and

imprisonment. 64 Thus, (Abbas concluded, that Sher Shah was a unique personality of

his age. In a very short period he brought the country under his control, restored peace

and order on the road, provided an efficient government and gave to the peasantry and

soldiers peace and tranquility. 65

conquests. The kings should remain grateful to God for the favour that he has put his creations
under his conunand, and therefore should not deviate from the conunands of God. Accordingly,
Sher Shlih never allowed the hours meant for prayers to go "ithout offering them. Days and nights
were divided for the various kinds of works. He woke up when only one-third of the night remained
to pass, offered his prayer and busied himself in supplications. Then he attended to the affairs of the
realm For the sovereign should ever remain \igilant and wakeful and on account of his being of
high lineage and lofty rank, should not treat the affairs of the kingdom as little and small. He should
not repose much confidence in nobles as they were not found to be wholly honest. The kings often
entrusted the affairs of their kingdom to their chiefs while they themselves remained engrossed in
pleasure which led to corruption by the nobles, TarTkh-i-Sher ShahT, pp. 748-51.
62
Wiiqi 'at-i-Mushtacjf, pp.l37-38.
63
TarTkh-i-Sher ShahT, p.786.
64
Ibid, pp. 786-87.
65
Ibid, pp.787-88.
153
 It would be incorrect to assume that these are mere constructions of the late

sixteenth century Mghans who were in search of a golden past. As seen above, the

non-Afghan Persian authorities of the period corroborate ~bbas Khan's account of

Sher Shah's achievement in the field of politics and administration. One of them

Mulla ~bdul Qadir Badauni goes on to celebrate his good fortune of having been born

in the blessed reign of so just a sovereign as Sher Shah. Undoubtedly, this celebration

was particularly heightened by his dissatisfaction with Akbar's unorthodox ways.

r-yivloreover, the Mghan chronicler was not the first to give all the details about Sher

Shah's administrative measures and welfare mechanism. As seen above, Rizqulliih

Mushtaql, a non-Afghan, whose work has come down to us gives a similar report.

'AbbasSarwanT has evidently drawn on the account in the Wiiqi 'at-i-Mushtaqi. It may

be that these authorities, influenced by advances made under Akbar and yet in search

of an ideal ruler, have projected backward in time some of the later developments.

However, such a proposition becomes questionable in view of an almost verbatim

account ofSher Shah's reign, and ofhis image, in a work produced in the reign ofthe
,
ruler himself, Padmavat of Malik Mu~ammad JaiSi.

A passage dealing with Sher Shah's justice has already been given in the

prescript of this chapter. Some more details given by Ja1s1 can probably help us

understand the ruler's image in his own time. The author wrote: "In the dar bar he

distinguishes between water and milk, and separates the one from the other. His

justice is in accordance with law, his statements are true, and the weak and strong are

given equal consideration by him. Folding its hands, all the world bows down to the

ground, and prays that the emperor may live as long as there is water in the Ganges

154
and the Jamuna". 66 Further, highlighting the king's charitable endeavours Ji.si

claimed: "God has made him extremely liberal. None has given so much in charity as

he. Bali and Vikrama have been said to be very charitable, and Hatim and Kama were

very generous. But even these could not satisfy the suitors to the same extent as Sher

Shah who has Meru and the ocean as his treasures. In the darbar is sounded the drums

of his charity, and the fame there goes across the seas. Coming into contact with Sher

Shah, the world has been transformed into gold, and poverty fleeing thence has gone

to other countries. One who went and asked for even a boon was never without food

and clothes throughout one's life. Even a performer of ten asvamedha sacrifices did

not equal him in merit and liberality. Such a great giver r)f gifts is Sher Shah born in

this world that there neither was, nor will one be like him, nor does any one now
67
equal him in dispensing charity"

The account of Sher Shah's justice and charity is :ndeed exaggerated, but what

will be difficult to disprove is the fact that the image r/ Sher Shah as a benevolent

ruler had already spread within the first couple of yc;-.:s of his short reign. More

significantly, the process of his deification had also stc..ed within his lifetime. This

' and the

may be found in the description of the beauty of his P~-~·sical form by JaisT,

paranormal power attributed to him by Rizqullah \1u:.~sj_q1. raisi wrote, "When he

goes out, all the world gazes at his face. Even the moo::. -;f the 14th lunar day created

by God is surpassed in splendour by his beauty. On s~.::-:g him, sin departs, and the

bowing world showers blessings on him. Like the :>u::. :,e sheds his lustre over the

world, and overpowers the beauty of everything else Sc_ ~iorious is this Sur king that

66
Padmavat, pp.S-6. English translation in Dasharatha Sharma. -=.aiest Extant Account", pp.303-04
67
Ibid.

155
his glory is ten times that of Sura (the sun). One cannot look him full in his face.

Those who do that are obliged to bow down their heads. Day by day he increases in

beauty. God has made .him far more handsome than the rest of the world. He has a

shining jewel on his forehead. The moon is inferior, and he is superior. The world
68
eager to see him stands on one side and sings his praises".

Supernatural power is generaliy attributed to the sufis. In a significant

reversal, however, Rizqullah Mushtaql makes the noted sufi, Shaikh Khalil, suggest

that the 'kings possess miraculous powers, but we see only the outward things'. The

shaikh was impressed by the ruler's ability to catch the fraud in the course of

branding. This anecdote of the ability of Sher Shah of performing miracles is

supplemented by the frequent suggestion that the monarch was a representative of

God on earth. This is further substantiated by the dreams in which the Prophet is said

to have bestowed kingship on Sher Shah following an order from God with the

direction to establish justice (adl-wa-in~iif) in the realm. Further, reports of bestowal

of kingship to Sher Shah by wandering darweshes are also to be found in the Persian

histories. Whatever happened in the subsequent period, despite serious attempts at

vulgarization by the Mughals as noted above, constitutes an interesting study in the

growth of the legend of Sher Shah. A recent visit to Sahsaram was an eye opener as it

was found that Sher Shah is venerated there as a local saint. His tomb is taken as a

shrine, called the 'raja' (rau~a) in local parlance, which people frequent to seek

blessings and benedictions, and place ritual sufic chadar on the grave. The image of

the philanthropic monarch and a thaumaturgic sufi is subsumed in the personality of

68
Ibid.

156
the king. Conversely, as we shall see in chapter five, a large number of sufis are found

to be deeply involved in the politics of the period. To return to the ideals and

institutions of governance, we shall briefly discuss below the administrative structure

under Sher Shah. This will further help us understand the political institutions and

governance under the Mghans, as also in a measure under the Mughals in the second

half of the sixteenth century.

Administrative Set-up

It was Sher Shi:ih who for the first time essayed seriously and with success to define
the territorial limits of the provinces and to establish a uniform system of
69
government.

Saran writes that Sher Shah consolidated his government by making his provincial

governors (called iq{iitlars or muluk-i-{mva'ij) realise that they were liable to

punishment for the least violation of the statutes and that they had no claims to any

particular iq{iitor jiig'ir. Thus under Sher Shah the provinces attained, both territorially

and administratively, a definite stage in their evolution which became the substructure

of Akbar's administrative edifice. 70 Though Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui dismisses what

he calls Saran's 'sweeping generalisations', he himself goes on to state that certain

far-reaching changes were set in the administrative system of the wiliiyat of Sher

Shah, and that they served as a model for Akbar when he organized his empire by

grouping sarkiirs into %bas. 71 William Erskine suggests that many of Sher Shah's

revenue regulations were retained or renewed by Akbar, and seem to have been

69 p armatma Saran, The Provincial Government of the Mugha/s, pp.55-56.

70
Ibid.
71
Sher Shah Sur, pp.l04 & 122.
157
 72
incorporated into Todarmal's improved system of finance. Recognizing the

"exceptional" aspiration of Sher Shah for large-scale state-building, J.F.Richards

notes that during "that brief period his energetic administration forecast many of the

centralizing measures in revenue assessment and military organization that would be

73
carried to completion by the Mughals".

Any discussion on Sher Shah's administrative set-up must take into account

the fact that he ruled the country Il}erely for about five years and that the SITrs were

shortly afterwards succeeded by the Mughals who were not expected to acknowledge

any of his achievements. Thus, though the issues concerning the territorial divisions

of Sher Shah's empire and their administrative organisations have been debated by

historians for a long time now, lack of sufficient material in the sources prevents us

from believing that a very sophisticated 'system' or 'structure' of administration

existed under him. Nor do we actually view the sixteenth century administrative

history in terms of a rigid, unchanging structure, including that of the latter half under

Akbar with which we are not immediately concerned. 74 The chronicles reveal that

Sher Shah was constantly making experiments in different regions and at various

levels ofhis dominion. Instead of rejecting his administrative innovations and reforms

as adhoc arrangements, they need to be studied as part of the historical processes with

all their tensions and turbulence. Our aim here is however limited. We shall give a

general outline of the various territorial divisions of Sher Shah's empire and the duties

of the officials appointed by him to run the administration.

72
A History of India Under the Two First Sovereigns of the House of Taimur, Babur and Humayun,
Vol. II, London 1854, rp. (Delhi, 1973), p.446; Qanungo, SherShah and His Times, p.52.
73
The Mughal Empire. pp.ll, 81.
74
For a different view, see Ibn Hasan, The Central Structure of the Mughal Empire and its Practical

158
 Sher Shih's emptre extended from Sunargaon in the east to the Gakkar

country in the north-west, the western boundary being formed by a line joining

Balnath Jogi on the Jhelum in the north to Khusab nearly a hundred miles south-west,

and hence running across the Jhelum along the bank of the Indus down to Bhakkar.

On the south his territories were bound by the Vindhya and Karakoram ranges, as he

had brought within his sway practically the whole of western Rajputana, Malwa and

Kalinjar. 75 The whole empire was divided into nine provinces called wilayat, more

popularly known under the Mughals as ~ubas, comprising the territory from Delhi to

the western boundary of Rohilkhand, from Rohilkhand as far as Awadh and Jaunpur,

Bihar, Bengal, Malwa, Ajmer including Jodhpur and Nagaur, Punjab, Multan

including the Gakkar country, and Sindh. Though the traditionally defined boundaries

of the provinces were more or less retained by Sher Shah, what is of particular interest

is his effort to establish a uniform administrative machinery in his empire. Thus the

regions which were formerly outside the control of the Delhi sultans, particularly in

the fifteenth and early decades of the sixteenth centuries, were integrated into a larger,

increasingly centralized network of administration. The permanent and hereditary

military fiefs, or iq!Zi1, gave way to a more sophisticated territorial division of the
empire into provinces. As mentioned above, while Saran recognizes that the

provincial boundaries were systematized or defined by Sher Shah, he suggests that the

polity under him continued to be 'tribal', and the 'system' of division of the kingdom

among the leading nobles 'was not in the least altered or modified by Sher Shah'. 76

Ibn Hasan also notes that 'Sher Shah favoured the centralization of power' and his

Working upto the year 1657, first published 1936, rp. (Delhi, 1970).
75
Saran, Provincial Government, p.44.
76
See Introduction.
159
'reforms suggested certain lines of action to his successors', but it was 'reserved for

Akbar to take up the work of reconstruction in the light of the lessons and
77
experiments recorded by three centuries ofMuslim rule in Northern India'.

The provincial governors appointed by Sher Shah were variously called

l}a7dms, muq~lll, or faujdars. They enjoyed vast powers for collection of revenues, to

deal with insurrections and maintain law and order in the province. Like in the

imperial court, they held grand darbars in their provincial headquarters, and extended

patronage to scholars and religious mendicants. But they were expected to remain

within bounds and not act against the king' s wishes, or else be prepared for

punishment which included a transfer, demotion in rank and posting to a smaller

inconsequential wilayat, imprisonment and death. 78 Most of the administrative

arrangements were made by Sher Shah in the course of his conquests. In a measure

which speaks of the exigencies of the time and was aimed at keeping the nobles in

check, the governorship of certain provinces was given to more than one person. For

instance, Punjab was entrusted to at least three nobles with 'same authority and

powers to control the administration', 79 before Sher Shah had to cut short his

campaign in the west and rush to check the rising tide of rebellion of Khizr Khan in

Bengal. Saran mentions five nobles Haibat Khan Niyaz1, Khawa~ Khan, (Isa Khan

Niyaz1, Habib Khan and Rai I;Iusain Jalwarii, as being incharge of the whole country
80
between Lahore and the frontier. Similarly at the time of the initial conquest the

77
The Central structure, pp.50-51.
78
For more details on wilayats and their muq!ai, Siddiqui, Sher Shah Sur, pp.122-25; Saran,
Provincial Government, pp.51-54.
79
Siddiqui, Sher Shah Sur, p.l23.
80
Provincial Government, p.52.

160
territories of Rajasthan were given to the charge of Khawa~ Khan and 'Isa Khan who
81
were assisted by some other nobles.

Understandably, this arrangement was conditioned by the rebellious activities

of Khi¥ Khan in Bengal as well. Khi~r Khan was appointed as the supreme muq{ilof

Bengal in 1539. Sher Shah however had to rush to Bengal within a couple of years

and remove the governor, though the latter had pledged his loyalty. With a view to

minimising the chances of rebellion, the province was split up into 'manageable

sarkars', or sub-provinces. s2 The administrators of these smaller units were

independent of one another, but responsible to the emperor through an amTn, who was

given the responsibility for supervising and controlling the general administration of

the province. The post of amin was created with the object of keeping internal

turbulence in check, and for protecting the province from ambitious neighbours. As a

'trustee' he was responsible to the emperor for the province as a whole. Saran

suggests that the amTn 's office roughly resembled that of the later Mughal viceroys of

the Deccan under whom several minor provinces were combined into a single

viceroyalty with the same object in view, namely to facilitate the control of a distant

province and keep in check the fissiparous tendencies of the local chiefs. 83 Returning

to the issue of Sher Shah's keeping more than one governor in the same province, this

arrangement did not last for long. Constantly engaged in administrative reshuffies,

and realizing that the arrangement did not function successfully, Sher Shah gave the

81
Ibid, p.54.
82
Siddiqui, Sher Shah Sur, p.l23. Saran, Provincial Government, p.Sl
83
Provincial Government, pp.49-50.

161
charge of the whole of Punjab including Multan to Haibat Khan. Other nobles were

withdrawn. Haibat Khan was to be assisted by Fate~ Jang, who in turn was given the

charge of Multan. Other provinces such as Bihar and Malwa also came to have

faujdiirs, answerable directly to the emperor.

As in the case of Bengal, the provinces were divided into sarkiirs. The

executive head of the sarklir was called a faujdiir, muq~ii,c or shiqqdiir-i-shiqqdiiran.

The faujdiir was an important army officer who wielded authority over all the

government servants in the shiqqs under the Delhi sultans. Sher Sllah revived the

institution ofjaujdiirT just after he had established his sway over the vast territories in

North India. In all the sarkiirs reserved for the khali~a, faujdiirs were posted as the

head of the government. The muqta,' who also appears to have held the charge of

certain sarkiirs, enjoyed a higher status in the nobility than the faujdiir, and for this

reason they were assigned almost the full or a major portion of the revenue, yielded in

a sarkiir. 84 The references to the designation shiqqdiir-i-shiqqdiiran for the head of

the sarkiir are also to be found in the sources. 85 Saran likens the sarkiir to the present

day Commissioner's division, serving as a medium of communication between the

provincial government and the district (pargana) and as an agency of general

supervision over the pargana administration. He notes that the executive head of the

sarkiir was the shiqqdiir-i-shiqqdiiriin or chief shiqqdar, with whom the office of

faujdiir was also generally combined. 86 Siddiqui doubts whether Sher Shah created

the office of the shiqqdiir-i-shiqqdiiran. He suggests that Rizqullah Mushtaqi referred

to shiqqdiir-i-shiqqdiiriin because the officer being the executive-cum-military head

84
Siddiqui, Sher Shah Sur, pp.ll7-19.

waqi 'at-i-Mushtaqr, p.l39; Tiinkh-i-Sher Shah!, p.756; Tafikh-i-D71udi~ p.213.

85

86
Provincial Government, pp.69-70.
162
of the sarl«ir held authority over so many pargana shiqqdiirs in his sarl«ir and forgot

to indicate his real designation ofjaujdar or muq~a~ Later authorities "AblJas Khan and

~bdullah have merely quoted from Mushtaql. Thus, Siddiqui concludes, in the

absence of any independent source other than Mushtaql's it cannot be presumed that

shiqqdiir-i-shiqqdiiran was ever adopted by Sher Shah as an official appellation to be

87
used for the head of the sarkiir government

The head of the sarkiir who combined in himself the functions of the military

and those of the executive officer was expected to provide military support required,

if any, in the realization of revenue, and to maintain law and order. Together with

mun~·if-i-munJiflin, the supreme judicial officer in the sarkar who handled revenue

matters as well, he kept himself posted with the affairs of the parganas. According to

the Mghan chronicler, they ensured that no injustice was committed against the

raSyat. 88 Further, they were to settle boundary-disputes between the (amils of the

parganas. 89 Finally, when the r"Ciiyat created trouble in the collection of revenue, they

were to subdue them by exemplary punishment which would serve as a deterrent. 90

Under Akbar the head ofthe sarkiir known as thefaujdiir was to assist the'amalguzar

(incharge of revenue) in the realization of revenue. His main function was to guard

the rural areas of his sarkiir. In the army he regularly inspected the local militia and

kept it well-equipped and in good trim. 91

87
Sher Shah Sur, pp.l21-22.
88
iarTkh-i-Sher Shah/, p.756. 'Abdullah also records that the shiqqdar-i-shiqqdaran and the munsifi-
mun!fifan were expected to ensure that the rd!Yat was not oppressed and the revenue wa; not
embezzled, Tafikh-i-mludf, p.213.
89
TarTkh-i-Sher ShahT, p. 756.
90
Ibid, pp. 756-57.
91
Saran, Provincial Government, p.193.

163
 The diiroghas or thanedlirs, who could have the ranks even of one thousand

sawars, were posted in the thiinas established at strategic points for the protection of

highways from the robbers. The thiinas were also to be found in small towns. In the

big cities such as Lahore, the officer in charge of the police administration was known

as the kotwal. The post of the kotwai was civil in nature. He had quite a large staff at

his disposal, and was responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the city. The

kotwal 's soldiers could be seen patrolling the city at night Another official with

varying responsibilities posted in the cities was the shiqqdiir. While, he looked after

the civil and police administration of the city of Delhi, he was responsible for the

development of the new city at Qannauj and keeping the roads safe from the highway-

robbers. 92 Besides, a network of courts was said to be functioning from the province

downwards, in every sarkiir and pargana headquarters. 93

Finally, to turn to the lowest unit of Sher Shah's administration, the sarklirs

were further divided into parganas. Sher Shah's reforms, innovations, and efforts for

the efficient functioning of the general administration of the pargana, including its

revenue administration, has been appreciated by scholars. 94 However, R.P.Tripathi

has a different opinion. Though he recognizes Sher Shah's 'aim to revitalise the

government and introduce efficiency', he suggests that it was 'unhistorical to say that

Sher Shah created any new pargana machinery of the government unknown to the

early Sultans. What he is credited with having done he had already found in operation

92
Siddiqui, Sher Shah Sur, pp.118 and 122.
93
Saran, Provincial Government, pp.198 and 337.
94
H.N.Sinha, "Sher Shah's Parganas and their Administrative Officials... The Indian Historical
Quarterly, Vol. XVI, No. l, March 1940, pp.166-69; Saran.. Provincial Government, Qanungo,
Sher Shah and his Times, lshwari Prasad, The Life and Times of Humayun.
164
 95
when he took the charge of his father's Jagir. Sher Shah was not an innovator'. Our

earliest Persian authority, Mushtaql suggests that in every pargana Sher Shah

appointed a shiqqdiir, a mun~if, a khazcmdiir, a mun~if-i-khazana, a Persian writer and

a Hindvi writer. 96 Following him, 'Abdullah mentions shiqqdiir, amTn, khotadiir, clerk

(Hindvi), and clerk (Persian), but drops mun~if-i-khazana from the list of officials at

pargana level. 97 The Afghan historian, (Abbas Sarwiinl also does not refer to mun~if-i­

khazana in his list of officials which included a shiqqdiir, an amTn (or an 'ami[), a

jotahdar, a kiirkun (clerk) to write in Hindi, a kiirkun to write in Persian, and a

qcmungo. 98

The shiqqdiir being the executive head of the pargana was incharge of the

general administration, including law and order and criminal justice. 99 The terms'amil,

amTn, and mun~if, were synonymous in the official jargon of Sher Shah's time. The

official was responsible for the mandatory annual assessment and realization of

revenue from the pargana. Besides, he also assisted the shiqqdiir together with the

headmen of the villages in maintaining law and order and punishing the miscreants. 100

95
Tripathi, Muslim Administration, p.356. See also, Siddiqui, Sher Shah Sur, p.l04.
96
Wiiqi ·at-i-Mushtaql, pp.l39.
97
rankh-i-Da~dr,p.213.
98
Tarikh-i-Sher ShahT, pp.755-56.
99
According to Siddiqui, under Sher Sliah, the shiqqdars governed the parganas and cities entrusted
to their charge, and suppressed the rebels by cleaning the dense forests which they used as
hideouts. They dispensed justice to all without discrimination. To make the shiqqdars more active
in suppressing the criminals, Islam Shah held him responsible like the muqaddam for every crime
committed within his jurisdiction, Siddiqui, "Position of Shiqqdar", p.206. However, Irfan Habib
has suggested that the shiqqdor performed the role of the revenue collector only, "Evidence for
sixteenth-<:entury Agrarian Conditions in the Guru Granth Sahib", PIHC, 25th Session, Poona,
1963, pp.l86-94, especially p.l91.
100
Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi, p. 756; Saran, Provincial Government, p.l96. Irfan Habib suggests that the
mun~if seemed to be in control only over the assessment process, "Evidence for Sixteenth-Century
Agrarian Conditions", p.l91.
165
Being a lucrative post with a number of incentives, a revenue officer was posted in the
101
pargana for a maximum period of two years. The revenue collected from the

pargana was to be kept in the treasury the incharge of which was called the

khaz(cnadiir, khotadiir or the jotahdiir, as noted above. 102 The reference to the mun~if-

i-khaziina as a pargana official is to be found only in the Wiiqi 'at-i-MushtiiqT. If such

an officer existed he would be an inspector of treasuries and would belong to a bigger

unit than a pargana .103 The kZir/am was 'a sort of camp clerk and accountant in one',

both to the chief~mi/ and to the one in the pargana, who accompanied them on their

tours of assessment. He maintained a record of the transaction which took place

between the officials and the cultivators at the time of assessment. on behalf of the

government so that the collector might compare his accounts with those of the

headman and the patwiiri. 104 For a convenient functioning of the local administration,

a duplicate set of clerks for the purpose of keeping records in Hind vi was appointed.

The qanimgo referred to by 'Abbas Khan was probably a semi-government official

who kept a record of the past and present state of agriculture in the pargana and was

expected to indicate the future prospects as well. 105 He was paid by means of a

commission of one per cent of the assessed revenue. 106 In every village there was a

muqaddam and a patwar1. The former assisted the revenue officials in the collection

101
TarTkh-i-Sher Sham, pp.757.
1~ -
Under the Mughals the standardkhazandifr was retained Saran, Provincial Government, p.269.
103
Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi, The Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi, fifth revised edition (Delhi,
1971), p.260.
104 saran, Provincial Government, p.270.
105 '1': ,..,_,_
1 anut-i-Sher Sham, pp.756. According to Saran, he was in a way the head of the patwafis of his
pargana since he had to keep the same records for the pargana as the patw7in had to keep for the
village, Provincial Government, p.274.
106
According to Saran, under Akbar the qanungos were paid cash salaries from the public treasury,

166
and served as a link between them and the peasantry within his jurisdiction. For this

service he was given a percentage of the revenue allowed to him by the government.

The patwari kept all the agricultural records of the village. He also received one
. . c: h. . 107
percent commtsston 10r ts servtce.

Though it will be difficult to establish that the intermediary headmen were

completely removed and direct links were forged with the cultivators at the pargana

level throughout the empire, it is clear that the attempts made by Sher Shah witnessed

a larger degree of diffusion of the state authority at the local level. J.F.Richards points

out that Sher Shah's revenue measures were flawed by excessive uniformity. When

his officials tried to fix near-uniform rates of assessment on the harvest across the

entire domain, they generated considerable resistance. Converting harvest into cash

with a single schedule for a large portion of North India was impracticable and

created enormous inequities, as it ignored the differences in fertility between

localities. Later, Todarmal understood and addressed this problem with more

complete area and production statistics collected from the qanungos. 108

Commenting on Sher Shah's administrative set-up, Parmatma Saran

observes: 109 "It was this administrative organisation which Akbar found in existence

when he ascended the throne, and we are not told that he made any noteworthy

modification in it. Nor was it possible or necessary for him to do so as Sher Shah's

machinery was a very elaborate and well-tried one ... There were over a hundred

Provincial Government, p.274.

107
For muqaddam and patwarT, see Tripathi, Muslim Administration, p.354. For patwarT, also Stt.
Saran, Provincial Government, pp.259 and 275.
108
The Mughal Empire, pp.83-84.
109
Provincial Government, p.70.

167
Sarkars and three thousand parganas or mahals in the empire (of Akbar) in the year

1596 (40 regnal year). Excepting the adoption of new names for certain old offices

and the introduction of some new functionaries, Akbar does not seem to have thought

it advisable to make any material alterations in the framework of the sarkar or pargana

government". In the light of the information analysed above, it may not be unfair to

say that even if the idealized portrayal of the Afghan rule in our sources is to be taken

with some reservations, it is clear from the evidence adduced that Sher Shah's age, as

suggested recently, formed a significant stage in the evolution of what we often tend

to attribute to Akbar. 110 And this was not simply in administrative institutions. In the

genealogy of the Indo-Persian ideals of governance too, the Mghan regime

represented a notable stage. What is more significant is the fact that despite the

overwhelming presence of the dominant Mughals for centuries after, Sher Shah seems

to be remembered as the just and ideal ruler. 111 Important in this connection was the

incorporation of non-Muslims in the Mghan attempts at empire-building.

110
Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "Introduction", in idem, eds., The Mughal State.
111
See for instance, S.H.Askari, "Mirat-ul-Muluk: A Contmeporary Work Containing Reflections on
Later Mughal Administration", Indica, The Indian Historical Research Institute Silver Jubilee
Commemoration Volume, Bombay, 1953, pp.27-37.

168
 4. The Afghans and The Raj puts: Conflict and Accommodation

Common misfortune had brought the young yavan horseman Farid Khan and the
Ujjainiya prince Badal close together. Both of them having swords in their hands,
took vows to remain friendly to each other all through their lives and to help each
other in times of misfortune.
Bodhraj in Ujjainiya ki Varta 1

Modern studies of medieval Indian past have largely been conducted on two lines. On

the one hand are those historians whose approach implies virtual denial of the

existence of separate Hindu-Muslim identities prior to the British rule; they hold that

the incidents of temple destruction were limited to a very brief and early phase of

encounter, the motivation being economic aggrandizement rather than religious zeal.

In their views, all the ills in this connection emanate from the British colonial

construction. 2 On the other hand, there has existed a group of "separatist" and

"communal" scholars. The Muslims among them believe that Hindus and Muslims are

two different "nations". For this view, they seek legitimacy in the writings and

1
Bodhraj, "Ujjainiya ki Varta", Eng.trans, B.P.Ambashthya, in Non-Persian Sources of Indian
Medieval History (Delhi, 1984 ), p.22. Bodhraj belonged to Pugal in Bikaner. He was a contemporary
of Nain Singh, the author of the famous Khyat, and the Prime Minister of Jodhpur in the second-half
of the seventeenth century. Bodhraj travelled a lot in search of the material for his history of the
Pramaras, and visited Jagdishpur in Shahabad district of Bihar in 1719 V.S/ 1663 A.D., where he
stayed for six months, lbid, foreword, pp.I-IV. Also see Brahmadeva Prasad Ambashthya, "Tradition
and Genealogy of the Uijainiyas in Bihar", PJHC, 24th Session, Delhi, 1%1, pp.122-27.

2
This is clearly reflected in the numerous writings of, among others, M. Habib, M. Mujeeb, K.A.
Nizarni and S.A.A. Rizvi. For example, Mujeeb refers to the installation of Sanskrit inscriptions in
mosques and other buildings as evidence of communal harmony in the Delhi Sultanate, Islamic
Influence on Indian Society (Meerut, 1972), pp.ll4-27. For the inscriptions, see Pushpa Prasad,
Sanskrit Inscriptions of Delhi Sultanate (Delhi, 1990). For a recent assertion of Hindu-Muslim
harmony, see M. Ifzal-ur-Rahman Khan, "The Attitude of the Delhi Sultans Towards non-Muslims:
Some Observations", Islamic Culture, Vol. LXIX, No.2, Apri11995, pp.41-56.

169
activities of the Naqshbandi sufi, Mujaddid Alf-i-§anl Shaikh Al).mad Sirhind1 in the

early seventeenth century, if not in Mu~ammad bin Qasim's conquest of Sindh in 711-

12.3 The Hindu historians in this group begin and end with a belief that medieval

India under Islamic rulers, with large-scale destruction of temples and constant

humiliation faced by the Hindus represented a dark phase oflndia's history. From this

perspective, most of the evils facing the Hindu society today are a legacy of Muslim

rule in India. 4

In recent years there have also been some attempts independent of these two

rigidly demarcated approaches, but they are limited to just one or two, even though

very important, aspects. 5 In the following pages we have extended, in a measure, this

approach in a more comprehensive manner, giving details from both the politics and

religion. Such an exercise is necessary as the diverse views on the question of Hindu-

Muslim relations and forms of religious identities in medieval India need to be

reconsidered and revised in a large measure. It appears that religious identities, in

their various forms, did exist in the period. It is also clearly visible that in the conflict

over political control of a territory, mobilisation on religious lines was not

uncommon; also, religious symbols were frequently used. Muslims seemed to be

3
A leading exponent of this separatist narrative is I.H.Qureshi The Muslim Community of the Indo-
Pakistan Subcontinent. For a "liberal" Muslim attack on the "reactionary" and "Sunni fanatic"
Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi who "sought to whip up communal frenzy" in medieval India, see S.A.A
Rizvi, Muslim Revivalist Movements in Northern India in the 16th and J71h Centuries (Agra, 1965).
For criticisms on similar lines and dismissal of the shaikh' s influence over the Mughal political elite
as unimportant, see also, M. Mujeeb, Indian Muslims.
4
See, for example, K.S. Lal, The Legacy ofMuslim Rule in India (Delhi, 1992).
5
Muzaffar Alam, "Competition and Coexistence: Indo-Muslim Interaction in Medieval North India",
Itinerario, Vol. XIII, No. I, 1989, pp.37-59; Idem, "Assimilation from a Distance: Confrontation
and Sufi Accommodation in Awadh Society", in R. Champakalakshrni and S. Gopal, eds.,
Tradition, Dissent and Ideology, Essays in Honour ofRomila Thapar (Delhi, 1996), pp.l64-91.

170
engaged in a recurrent jihzul against the ku.ffii/ (sing. klifir) or infidels/Hindus in

India, with hordes of ghazis (victorious soldiers) and shahTds (martyrs) indulging in

large-scale loot and plunder, including razing of temples, gaining thereby rich rewards

both "here" (in this world) and "hereafter" (in the next).

The experience of Indian Islam, however, was special in the sense that here

the Muslims had come to live with the infidels albeit in the dominant position as

rulers. The Muslim rulers with all their pretensions of following the shqrT'at had not

converted the conquered territories into diir-ul-Islam 8 in the strictly orthodox sense of

the term, nor did they convert the entire local population to Islam. The non-Muslims

6
Theoretically, since jihad is nothing more than a means to effect conversion to Islam or submission
to its authority, there is only occasion to underuke it in circumstances where the people against
whom it is directed have first been invited to join Islam. However, it is argued that there was no need
to address a formal invitation to the enemy, as Islam being sufficiently widespread in the world the
people are presumed to know that they are supposed to join it. Yet it is considered desirable to repeat
the invitation, except in cases where there is ground for apprehension that the enemy, thus
forewarned, would profit from such a delay by better organising his defences and thus,
compromising the successful outcome of jihad. Further, the duty of jihad exists as long as the
universal domination of Islam has not been attained The maxims go: 'Until the end of the world',
and 'until the day of resurrection'. Peace with non-Muslims, thus, is a provisional state of affairs
only, E. Tyan, 'Djihad', in EI (new ed.).
7
The word kiifir is used in the Qur'an with reference to the unbelieving Meccans who endeavoured to
refute and revile the Prophet. Not only were the non-believers threatened with God's punishment and
help for denying or "concealing" his blessings, the Muslims were ordered to keep apart from them,
and to defend themselves from their attacks and even to take the offensive against them. In an
Islamic state, they should be forced to convert or killed or reduced to slavery. W.Bjorkman, "Kafir",
El (newed).
8
Dar-ul-Islam, "the land of Islam" is the whole territory in which the law of Islam prevails. Its unity
resides in the unity of the law, and the guarantees assured to the members of the (umma, the
community of the followers of Prophet Muhammad The Islamic state, established in consequence of
the 'final' revelation, also guarantees the faith, the persons, possessions and religious organizations,
albeit on a lower level, of the !JmmTs, which we shall refer to below. In the classical doctrine,
everything outside dar-ul-IslZim is dar-ul-harb or 'the land of war'. See further A Abel, "Dar-ul
harb" and "Dar al-Islam" in EI (new ed.).

171
were gtven the status of the zimm1s or ahl-i-kitiib,9 and were allowed to stay

peacefully by payingjizya 10 or annual tributes. Though at times, a pietistic sovereign

seemed to be concerned about the violations of the rules by the !_immTs the occasional

intolerance was often due to political and economic factors, or for the need for

legitimacy, as we shall see below.

The conquered people in India, however, did not fully reconcile to a

subordinate position. The Hindu resistance in the period appears to be of both the

overt/open and covert/ 'everyday' variety. At times, however, both sufi literature and

court chronicles show an extraordinarily magnanimous attitude towards the Hindus.

Perhaps also as a mark of protest against Islamic orthodoxy, Perso-Urdu poetry in

India has a long tradition of using the analogy of kZifir for the beloved, beauty,

elegance, etc. Yet in a hostile political context, Muslims and Hindus treated each

other as dangerous 'other'. It is in this context of the frequently emerging faultline

that the process of the formation and consolidation of community identities in

9
The term ahl-i-kitab, or "people of the Book" in the Qur'an and the resultant Muslim terminology,
denotes the Jews and the Christians, repositories of the earlier revealed books, al-Tawrat (the
Torah), al-Zubur (the Psalms), and al-Jnjil (the Gospel). The use of this term was later ex1ended to
the Sabeans, both the genuine (mentioned in the Qur'an) and the spurious ones (star-worshippers of
Harran), to the Zoroastrians, and in India even to the 'Hindus', See G.Vajda, "Ahl al-Kitab", EI
(new ed.).
10
The wordjizya occurs in the Qur'an in the somewhat loose sense of compensation for non-adoption
of Islam, and always as collective tribute, not differentiated from other forms of taxation, and the
nature of its content is left uncertain. The precedents for such taxation can be found even in pre-
Islamic Arabia outside the religious sphere, in the conditions of submission of inhabited oasis to
more powerful tribal groups, in return for protection. Thus there was no hesitation over the fact that
the ]jmmTs of a territory conquered by the Muslims had to pay a tax which, from the point of view
of the latter, was material proof of their subjection, just as for the inhabitants it was a continuation
of the taxes paid to the earlier regimes. Further,jizya was to be levied only on those who were male,
adult, free, capable and able bodied, so that children, old men, women, invalids, slaves, beggars, the
sick and the mentally deranged were excluded, Cl.Cahen, "Djizya", in El (new ed.).

172
medieval India need to be understood. An attempt may also be made to recreate a

picture of Hindu-Muslim interactions in terms of actual practice and behaviour,

focusing on both conflict and coexistence as is apparent from the sources.

The nature of relationship between the Afghans and the Raj puts in our period

of study is an important problem which needs careful study. Generally, rulers like

Sikandar Lodi and Sher Shah are condemned in the historiography as bigots.

Undoubtedly, the Persian sources from the Mughal period have contributed to the_

making of such an image of the Afghan rulers. Sikandar Lodl is reported to have

"levelled to the ground all the places of worship of the kiijirs and left neither their

name nor any vestige of them". Though they recognise the exaggerated phraseology

of the chroniclers, most modem authorities pick up the examples of intolerance from

the sources to illustrate the fanaticism of the rulers. In the case of Sikandar Lod1 the

examples which are cited include (a) his desire as a youth to put an end to the bathing

festival at Kurukshetra; (b) the execution in his reign of a brahmana who had declared

that "Islam was true, but his own religion was also true", and had refused to convert to

Islam; (c) at Mathura and other places, he turned some temples into mosques; (d)

release of a Hindu prisoner from jail and giving an important assignment on the

condition of his embracing Islam; (e) he banned the worship of ShiUa, the goddess of

small pox; (f) display of tahyas during Mu~arram and the annual procession of the

standard of Salar Mas'ud Ghazl were stopped; (g) women were forbidden to visit the

tombs; and (h) barbers were prevented from shaving the Hindus at Mathura. 11 Though

K.S. Lal condemns Sikandar Lodi as a bigot, he notes that the incidents which portray

11
For more details and references, see chapter three.

173
his uncompromising attitude "do not point to a definite and persistent policy of

persecution". He further writes that the l9ng's acts of persecution were confined to the

regions which had opposed the Sultanate relentlessly. In other words, "his religious

persecution was associated with political subjugation. Thus there does not seem to be
12
anything extraordinary in the acts and policies of Sikandar Lodi".

The chieftains who accepted the suzerainty of the Afghan kings and paid

tributes were allowed to administer the territories under their control. Several

examples can be given from the reign of Bahlul Lodi", but they are not discussed or

highlighted by the Muslim chroniclers as they did not involve any cry for jihad.

Instead, the chroniclers focus on the "rebels", for instance, the Bachgoti Rajputs under

Sikandar Lodl, who were to be eliminated or subdued, and campaigns against whom

were portrayed as jihad involving destruction of temples as well. On the contrary, the

chroniclers do not show much enthusiasm in narrating the kings' campaigns against

the Muslim administrators in the regions. The Afghan sovereigns reinstated those

administrators who did not oppose them and included their name in the khu{ba and the

sikka while those opposing them were to be crushed. We shall further illustrate the

Afghan rulers' attitude towards the Rajputs through Sher Shah's campaigns in

Rajasthan and Malwa.

With the Mughals driven out of Hindustan and the pretender Mallu Khan,

styled as Qadir Shah, made to realise that kingship was not his cup of wine, 13 the

politico-military suzerainty of the Afghans under Sher Shah was poised to take on the

12
K.S. Lal, Twilight of the Sultanate (Bombay, 1963), p.192.
13
Waqi 'at-i-MushtaqT, pp.144-50; ianKh-i-Sher Shah/, pp.542-47; Muntakhab-ut-TawanKh, pp.474-
75; 17m7ch-i-ITdudi, pp.140-46; 1arikh-i-Kh7in-i-JahanTwa Makhzan-i-AfghanT, Vol.l, pp.318-20.

174
formidable Rajputs in Rajasthan and Malwa. There were two options open to the

Mghan ruler in the matter. One option was to force or persuade the chieftains to

accept his suzerainty and allow them to run the local administration with his

governors supervising the affairs ofthe region from 'above'. This arrangement could

have served several purposes. The acceptance of the ritual status of the king as the

sovereign of Hindustan meant expansion in Rajput strongholds without much

resistance and violence. The indirect rule initially arranged could gradually become

more pervasive, and the local administration may in course of time be centralized.

Moreover, the acceptance of suzerainty ensured the flow of revenue in the form of

annual tributes without much care for the revenue extraction machinery in a newly

subjugated area. Finally, the chieftains and their retainers once integrated in the
14
imperial army through, inter alia, the rule of branding, could well be used for

subsequent campaigns in other regions such as the Deccan, 15 and later for more

ambitious plans to conquer Mghanistan 16 and Coastal Iran. 17

The other option was to aim at a direct and uniform rule throughout the

dominion, involving annihilation of the Rajput chieftaincies with large scale loss of

soldiers on both sides. Even if a capable but reckless Muslim empire-builder took

such a step, the problem of _legitimacy for ruling the predominantly non-Muslim

population would continue to haunt him. Sher Shah realised that the first option was

much more viable. Thus his policy towards the Rajputs was primarily aimed at

14
For the rG}as bringing their soldiers for diigh, Wi'iqi 'Gt-i-Mushtaql, p.l41.

15
iaiikh-i-Sher Shah/, pp.652-53, and 658.

16
TiirTkh-i-Khan-i-Jah7:ml wa Makhzan-i-Afghan/, Vol.I, p.335.

17
Muntakhab-ut-Tawafikh, Vol. I, pp.369-70.

175
incorporating them in his imperial network. The significance of the incorporation of

the "loyal" Rajput clans was already brought home to him in his early career as the

shiqqdiir of his father's iq~ii( in Bihar. He befriended the loyal zamindars and

destroyed the belligerent ones. Subsequently, he conferred zamindari rights on the

Ujjainiya Rajputs along with the others. The Ujjainiyas, whom Sher Sllah favoured in

the beginning of his career, sprang into prominence after his rise to power. 18

Bodhraj refers to the significant role played by Gajpati, styled as Maharaja

Gajraj, and his two thousand Ujjainiya Rajputs in Sher Khan's victory against the

Bengalis in the battle of Surajgarh. In fact, it is suggested that the leader of the Bengal

army, Ibrahim, was killed at the hands of Gajpati while trying to escape from the

battlefield. Sher Khan was much pleased with Gajpati for his bravery, and allowed

him to retain the spoils of war, comprising elephants, horses and other equipments

which had fallen into his hands. At the time of the Maharaja's departure, Sher Khan

tied with his own hands the bejewelled sword on his waist, bound his arm with a

jewelled armlet, placed a string of pearl round his neck, put a bejewelled kalangi on

his sirpech (head-dress), and gave Baksar in assignment. Besides, some gifts for the

Maharaja's younger brother, Bairishal, were also sent. 19 It may be noted that Gajapati

and Bairishal were the sons of Badal with whom Sher Khan had, in his younger days,

18
Siddiqui, Afghan Despotism, p.96. Also, the Raghuvanshis of Jalhupur and Sheopur in Banaras
owed their rise from the days of Sher Shah when Daman Deo, their ancestor received from Sher
Shah the rent-free grant of the pargana of Katehar. The place he made his headquarters was named
Chandrawati after his wife, or daughter. He also built a massive fort there on the steep bank of the
Ganges the ruins of which are the reminder of his prowess, Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers,
Varanasi, p.49.

19
"Ujjainiya ki Varta", pp.25-33. Also see, Syed Hasan Askari, "The U.ijainia Ancestors of Babu
Kuar Singh", Journal of the Bihar Research Society, Vol. XLI, Part I, March 1955, pp.l06-31;
Brahmadeva Prasad Ambashthya, "The Accounts of the Ujjainiyas in Bihar", Journal of the Bihar

176
 20
entered into an alliance of friendship We shall return to Bodhraj's account later in

this chapter for the image of Sher Shah in the Ujjainiya memory.

During his campaigns in Malwa and Rajasthan after ascending the throne, the

rajas were left untouched in their ancestral possessions on usual conditions of

obedience and service to the king. Such Rajput bastions as Chitter which had long

tradition of resistance to Muslim rule were peacefully captured by Sher Shah, with the

rajas formally handing over the keys of the forts to his officials. After the formal

subjugation, the chieftains were reinstated in the ancestral gaddis. According to

Abbas, Sher Shah marched towards Chitter following the campaign against Maldeo in

950/1543. When the fort of Chitter remained only at the distance of twelve kos, the

raja ofthe palace sent him its keys. Thus Sher Shah came into the fort, and appointed

Shamsher Khan (the younger brother of Khawa§ Khan), Mian A~mad Sarwan1 and

J:Iusain Khan Ghilzai as its in-charge. 21 Based on an inscription found on a step-well

called Ganesh Baori at Toda Raising, dated V.S. 1604/1547 AD, D.C. Sircar has

suggested that Rana Udaysimha offered his allegiance to Sher Shah in 1543 or 1544

and continued to rule as a feudatory of the Stirs for some years even after the death of

Sher Shah and the accession of Islam Shah to the throne 22 Even Chanderi for which

Babur had to fight a much trumpeted jihad came in his possession without any

Research Society, XLVII, Parts 1-4, January-December 1964, pp.420-40.

20
"Ujjainiya ki Varta", pp.22-24.

21
1arikh-i-Sher SHahT, p.657.

22
D.C. Sircar, '13f:na Udayasimha and the Sur Emperors of Delhi".lndian Historical Quarterly, .U..'Y,
No. 1, 1954, pp.25-30; idem, "Rana Udayasimha's Relations "ith Islam Shah", Indian Historical
Quarterly, XXXI, No.3, 1955, pp.273-75. For a different opinion, see Arya Rarnachandra G.Tiwari,
"Maharana Uday Singh and the Sur Emperors of Delhi", Indian Historical Quarterly, XXX, No.4,
1954, pp.311-26.

177
bloodshed. 23 The fort was soon handed over to a more legitimate Raj put claimant.

Devoid of any war cry for the cause of Islam, these peaceful conquests could

not take the pride of place in the late sixteenth century Muslim expansionist discourse,

which forms the basis of modem knowledge on Sher Shah. It may be noted here that

the popularity of jihad in the Sunni Muslim circles was heightened during the period.

Knowing that what sold was the account of "resistance" and how it was overcome, the

intellectual labour accordingly emphasized the importance of the role of the sword or

the gun, and as also on the invisible men of God (mardiin-i-ghaib) who were said to

have fought on behalf of Sher Snah. The latter's "achievements", that is the

destruction of chieftains who had refused to accept the imperial authority, is extolled.

For instance, Rizqull"ah Mushfaqi takes pleasure in recording that Sher Shah achieved

three grand victories through the blessing of God. One of them was the destruction of

Maharath, the infidel; second, the infidels ofRaisin were massacred and, third Maldeo

was driven away from his wi!ayat and Islam and Muslims were again strengthened in

the khiffa of Nagaur. If God wills, it may tum out to be the cause of his salvation. 24

We shall return below to the Muslim chroniclers' perception of Sher Sh~ih's action

against certain Rajput warlords and see how they were shaped by the ethnic, political

and ideological affiliations of the authors themselves, and the context in which they

were producing their works. Besides, we shall take up the writings of some modem

scholars to see their treatment of medieval accounts and point out how their

23
WGqi 'at-i-Mushtaql, p.150

24
Ibid., p.156.

178
conclusions were also influenced by the dominant historiographical trend of their own

time.

It will be appropriate here to tum to the Rajputs who dared to offer resistance

to Sher Shah, and see what was in store for them. The besieged chieftains were

continuously bombarded by the Afghans. For a change, artillery came to play an

important role in Sher Sllah's campaigns. Earlier we have noticed how the highly

mobile cavalry gave a death blow to the Mughals led by Humaylin. Recollecting the

shocking affairs of Chausa and Qannauj, the Mughals however erroneously felt that

artillery was the mainstay of Sher Shah's army. 25 It may also be noted that though

their increasing presence must have curtailed the mobility of his army, Sher Shah

made a judicious use of the elephants in destroying the Raj put death squads attacking

the Afghans with barchhas, or swords in hands. Returning to the besieged Rajputs,

they had atleast three options. Firstly, they could still ask for terms, accept a

subordinate position, and shift to a different iq!a'assigned to them. Secondly, having

vacated the fort and the territory they could go to any area hitherto not in control of

Sher Shah. Finally, pushed to a point from where they could only think in terms of

resorting to jauhar, and fight to the finish. These three options were available to

Puranmal of~alwa, Maldeo ofRajasthan, and to K!rat Singh ofKalinjar.

25
TarTkh-i-RashTdr. Earlier Babur also refered to a very effective use of artillery by the Bengalis,
Baburnama. It may be noted that gunpowder had come to India from China before 1351 through
varied agencies and channels. It came to Bengal and Calicut through sea, and to Assam by land. In
the north-west, it was introduced by the Mongols in the second half of the thirteenth century, lqtidar
Alam Khan, "The Role of the Mongols in the Introduction of Gunpowder and Firearms in India",
PIHC, 55th Session, Aligarh, 1994, pp. 194-200; idem, "Origin and DeYelopment of Gunpowder
Technology in India: AD. 1250-1500",1.H.R., Vol.IV, No. 1, July 1977.

179
 Puranmal was allowed by Sher Shah, during his Malwa campaign shortly after
26
the victory at Qannauj, to continue to hold the charge of the fort of Raisin and the

adjoining region, although he was amongst those guilty of not responding to the

Jarman to attack Agra and Delhi in collaboration with Qutb Khan leading to his death

at the hands of the Mughals. But the die was cast when Puranmal upheld the cause of

Mallu Khan and the Miana Afghans who were resisting Sher Shah's expansion in

Malwa. Accordingly, the king started his Malwa campaign for the second time and

came to besiege the fort of Raisin (1543). After the siege of the fort for six months

when the continuous cannon-shots began to breach the wall of the fort on all sides,

Puranmal was struck with fear and came out in person to pay his respects to Sher

Shah. Soon it was agreed that Puranmal would take out his family from the fort and

hand over its charge to Sher Slrah's nobles. The assurance of the safety of Purnamal

and his family was given by Sher Shah's son 'Adil Khan and the nobleman Qu!b Khan
)

Naib. Puranmal came out of the fort with his family and occupied the place allotted to

him by Sher Shah in the middle of his army camp. Surrounded from all sides by the

Afghans, Puranmal had no scope for flight in the eventuality of a sudden attack on

him. Armed with a jatawa from the leading Muslim religious leaders, Sher Shah

ordered the massacre of the Rajputs. Even before they were attacked, the Rajputs

started killing their women and children, and then rushed out to die in honour. Barring

a few wounded women and children, they were all put to death? 7

26
Raisen district of the Bhopal Commissioner's division lies in the central part of Madhya Pradesh. It
lies mostly on the Malwa plateau and partly in the Narmada valley, Madhya Pradesh District
Gazetteers, Raisen (Bhopal, 1979), p.l.

Wiiqi 'iit-i-Mushtaqi, pp.150-55; Tarikh-i-Da~dr; pp.l51-55;

27
Tarikh-i-Sher ShahT, pp.599-609;
Tarikh-i-Kh7m-i-Jah7inT wa Makhzan-i-AfghanT, Vol.l, pp.323-26; Muntakhab-ut-Taw7iri"kh, pp.475-
76.

180
 Rizqullah Mushtaql explains that since infidelity prevailed in the fort of Raisin

during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim who never took any step for the cause of Islam,

Sher Shah had resolved to take revenge against the infidels for the honour of Islam.

On becoming badshah of Hindustan, he felt he was in a position to take this step.

While starting the campaign, he announced that in case he died, he would die in the

way of God and be rewarded for this sacrifice. He also sought Mlr Saiyid Rafi-ud-

Din's opinion with these words: "The fact about the illtreatment of the followers of

Islam by the infidels of Raisin is widely known. We want to punish them and serve

the cause of Islam. We may get hold over them in any way and kill them, we may

even make peace with them on oath and violate it, if it is required by prudence". Then

he sought fatawa from the saint, which the latter drafted and gave to him. In

conformity with thejatawa, he started his expedition against the fort ofRaisin. 2 &

The Afghan chronicler further adds that some days after Puranmal had

encamped at the place fixed for him the women of the saintly people of Chanderi

presented themselves before Sher Shah on the roadside and cried out for redress. They

addressed him as the saviour sent by God to rid them of the evil tyrant 29 ~bbas

explains that Sher Shah with tears in his eyes, told the oppressed women to keep

28
Waqi 'at-i-MushfiiqT, pp. 151-52. According to LH.Siddiqui, the t~rritory of Raisin never formed the
part of the L<idi empire. It belonged to the kingdom of Malwa. But the territory of Chanderi was
seized by Rai Salhadi from the Afghans during the reign of Ibrahim Lodi-: At this time both Raisin
and Chanderi were controlled by Puranmal. Sher Shah was displeased by the latter because of his
secret alliance with Mallu K.lian, Afghan Despotism, pp.l00-02.

29
According to <Abbas they complained: "We have experienced various kinds of tyranny and
oppression at the hands of this malicious one (Puranmal) who is an infideL He has killed our
husbands, got in chains our daughters whom he caused to dance along with the dancing girls and
has seized all our lands and earthly possessions. It has been for a long time that we, having been
afflicted with sufferings, have been praying to God in our utter helplessness to send a faithful and
just king who may wreak vengeance on this tyrant for having committed oppression and crime

181
patience for he had brought Puranmal out of the fort on the strength of oaths and

vows. They submitted that the matter be referred to the ~ulama of the time and

requested him to act upon whatever fatawa they gave. Sher Shah summoned the

'ulamii who were in the camp of his army and told them of Puranmal 's misdeeds and

demandedfatawa from them. Mir Saiyid Rafi-ud-DTn and others who were there gave
30
afatawa for his being slain.

According to N~am-ud-DTn ~mad, Puranmal, the son of Raja Salhadi

Purabiya of the Gehlot Raj puts tribe, ruled oppressively in the fort of Raisin; and had

taken two thousand Hindu and Musalman women into his Jyarem, including them in

the band of dancing women. In the year 950/1543, Sher Khan embarked on the

conquest of Raisin. During the prolonged siege, peace proposals were made and terms

agreed upon with Puranmal to the effect that his life or property would not be harmed,

provided he surrendered the fort. He then came out of the fort with his family and

adherents and four thousand Raj puts of note. The learned men of the age, especially

Amir Saiyid Rafi-ud-Din ~afaVi, gave a legal opinion to the effect that Puranmal

should, in spite ofthe agreement with him, be slain. 31

Sher Shah's attention then turned towards Rajasthan. The decade (1530-40)

during which Humayun was preoccupied with his campaigns against Bahadur Shah in

Malwa and Gujarat, and Sher Snah in the east, the chieftains in Rajputana were left to

fend for themselves. Free from any threat of intervention from outside, Maldeo of

Jodhpur had emerged as the most powerful raja of the region annihilating all the

against us and get the breath out of him", T7irTkh-i -Sher Shah/, pp. 606-07.
30
T7irikh-i-Sher Shah/, pp. 607-608.

31
'[abaqat-i-Akbafi, Vol.

182
smaller chieftaincies around, including Nagaur and Ajmer which boasted of sizeable

Muslim presence. Nagaur had been captured from the control of a Muslim

administrator during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Lodin Norman Zieglar has

attributed the emergence of Marwar under Maldeo to his ability to assemble huge
3
forces and to exploit the mobility that the greater use of horses allowed/ though at

this stage horses were not used by the Raj puts in combat.

The capture of a territory from the control of a Muslim administrator was a

sufficient provocation for the Mghan rulers; if the khu!ba and the sikka had any

meaning for the general Muslim population in North India, the ruler was expected to

respond to the challenge. More serious from the point of view of the Mughal-Mghan

interface was Maldeo's non-cooperation in capturing fugitive Humayun who had

sought to use Rajasthan as a base to fight back against Sher Shah. 34 Besides, the small

chieftains smarting under the "highhandedness" of Maldeo were inviting Sher Shah to

undertake a campaign in the region against the raja. A Sanskrit work called Karma

Chandra Vansotkirtankam Kavya, composed in 1593, records that Jet Singh, Rao of

Bikaner, being attacked by Maldeo, sent his minister Nag Raj to Sher Shah to seek

help against the Rathor prince. The chief of Merta, Biram also reportedly sought his

32
Waqi 'lit-i-MushtaqT, p.l56; TarTkh-i-Sher Sh'ahT, p.654. For the rise of Maldeo, see also James Tod,
Annals and Antiquities ofRajasthan or the Central and Western Rajput States ofIndia, ed., William
Crooke, Vol.II, rp. (Delhi 1971), pp.954-55; Ishwari Prasad, Life and Times of Humayun, p.l75.

33
Nonnan P.Zieglar, "Evolution of the Rathor State of Marwar: Horses, Structural Changes and
Warfare", in Karine Schomer, John L.Eradrnan et. al., The Idea of Rajasthan - Explorations in
Regional Identity, Vol. II, Institutions (Delhi 1994), pp.l92-216.

34
Siddiqui, Afghan Despotism, p.l04.

183
aid against his oppressor. 35

Under these circumstances Sher Sllah started his campaign against Maldeo in

950/1543-44. Instead of allowing the Afghans to besiege him in a fort, Miildeo came

with a large body of horsemen to the borders of Ajmer and began skirmishes. Sher

Shah found himself in danger when he learned that his supply line was cut off by the

Rajputs. It is reported that Sher Shah quickly resorted to a stratagem to handle the

situation. He got letters to be written which looked as if they were issued by the

nobles of Maldeo, the contents of which were to the effect: "The king (Sher Shah)

should not give way to fear and anxiety, for we will seize Maldeo just during the fight

and will bring him before you". The letters were put in a bag and were dropped near

the tent of Maldeo's watal who picked it up, and sent the letters to Maldeo. Having

read the letters, Maldeo was seized with fear, and despite all that the nobles did in

swearing about their fidelity, he did not believe them and fled to the fort of Siwanah.

His nobles decided to offer a fight, and some two thousand Rajput soldiers were

massacred. 36

Mushtaql explains the cause of Sher Shah's action against Maldeo to the

latter's aggrandizement in the region, especially the execution of the local Muslim

administrator of Nagaur who also happened to be his son-in-law, and spread of

infidelity in the wilayat. The author attributes this Rajput aggression to the reign of

Sultan Ibra~Tm. According to him, the sultan did not take any notice of Raisin being

captured by the infidels, and neglected the affairs ofNagaur also in a similar manner.

35
Ishwari Prasad, Life and Times of Humayun, p.l76; Siddiqui, Afghan Despotism, p.l04.

36
TarTkh-i-Dci'udl, p.l57; T7in"kh-i-Sher Shalfr, pp.655-57: Tiinkh-i-Khan-i-Jahanl wa Makhzan-i-
AfghanT, Vol.I, pp.327-29;Muntakhab-ut-Tawar7kh, pp.476-79.

184
The Muslims of Nagaur came to Sultan Ibrahim and prayed for justice against

Miildeo, but he did not pay any heed to their entreaties. Sher Shah (then Farld) prayed

to God during the lifetime of his father as he had done in the case of Raisin that he

would take revenge for the honour of Islam, if he was rendered by God capable of

doing so. At last the reign of Sher Shah began, and God enabled him to punish

Maideo. This was the divine will that he should attain to kingship and take revenge

from the accursed infidels and destroy them for the glory of Islam. Accordingly,

Maldeo was driven away from there and Islam and Muslims were again strengthened

in the khi!{a ofNagaur. 37

Beginning with an explanation of a secular nature that when a king captured a

whole kingdom he would become anxious to conquer another, the Mghan chronicler

writes that Sher Sllah, quite at ease in matters concerning the kingdom of Hind as

there was no dissent left in that country, was contemplating his next moves while

staying in Agra during the rains. The nobles suggested that he should march towards

the Deccan where some ungrateful wretches had become heretics and were reviling

the holy apostles. Sher Shah responded that their advice was sound, but that after the

death of Sultan Ibrahim, the zamindars who had filled the wilayat with unbelievers

had destroyed the mosques and shrines of the Musalmans and converted them into

places of idol-worship. He declared that so long as he did not cleanse the area ofthese

infidels and made it holy, he would not tum his attention towards other kingdoms. He

therefore decided to first chastise Miildeo, "the accursed infidel", who was previously

the servant of the ruler of Nagaur, Ajmer and Marwar. The latter had great faith in

WZiqi 'at-i-Mushtaq7, p.l56; N~m-ud-DTh. ~d does not give any explanation for the attack on
37

Maldeo.

185
 38
Maldeo who however slew him and forcefully occupied his territories.

In the case of Kalinjar which cost Sher Shah his life, Raja Kifat Singh did not

ask for peace; in view of the massacre at Raisin, the ruler must have held that any

terms of agreement with Sher Shah were meaningless. Sher Shah was thus compelled

to capture the fort by force. The Afghan chronicler however suggested that the motive

behind the capture of the fort was to acquire a dancing slave girl in Kifat Singh's

.
harem, about whom Sher Shah had heard a lot of praise. If he seized the fort by force,-

the chieftain would certainly cause jauhar and thus burn that slave girl as well. 39 Be

that as it may, the fort was captured by force and the Afghans "carried out a general

massacre and sent all the non-believers to hell". The raja who had confined himself in

a house with his seventy soldiers was killed by the Afghans, after Sher Sllah had

succumbed to the burns on 10 Rabi I 952/22 May 1545. 40

Significantly our earliest authorities have not been able to offer any tangible

.. . notes that when

pretext for the siege and capture of Kalinjar. Nizam-ud-Din Ahmad

Sher Snah marched towards Kalinjar, which was the strongest fort in Hindustan, the

raja of Kalinjar took a hostile attitude, and shut himself up in the fort. 41 'Abbas

Sarwanl suggests that when Sher Sllah arrived near Kalinjar, Raja KTrat Singh "did

not come to receive him. Sher Shah, therefore, surrounded the fort and threw up

38
17ifikh-i-Sher ShahT, pp.651-54.
39
Ibid p.724.

40
Ibid, pp.723-26; Wiiqi 'iit-i-Mushtaifi, pp.l57-58; 17ifikh-i-ITa'udf, pp.l58-59;1arTkh-i-Khan-i-
Jahanl wa Makhzan-i-AfghanT, Vol.l, pp.329-31; Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, pp.482-84.

41
'[abaqat-i-Akban.

186
entrenchment around it". 42 Then the issue of Sher Shah's desire for the slave girl,

noted above, is mentioned as the motive behind the capture of the fort. Realizing that

it was not a very convincing explanation, recourse has been made to the suggestion of

certain leading sufis to the effect that "no prayer can equal the conducting of a

crusade against the infidels; if one is killed, he becomes a martyr; if he survives, he

becomes a ghaz7". Following the suggestion, Sher Snah gave order for the occupation

of the fort by force. 43

Later reports add that certain supernatural beings played a significant role in

the capture of the fort. Badiiunl writes that he heard a story from a "most trustworthy

source", that on that eventful day of assault, in which the deeds of every individual

assailant were conspicuous, and the standards and faces could be easily identified, he

saw a soldier armed cup-a-pie, who had not previously been seen nor was ever after

seen, clothed from head to foot in black, wearing a plume of the same colour upon his

head, and urging and encouraging men in the battle. Then he entered one of the

galleries and made his way into the fort. BadaunT s informant searched for him

everywhere after the battle, but did not find him. The men in the other trenches also

gave the same account, saying they saw several horsemen wearing these clothes who

kept advancing until they had entered the fort and vanished. Thus, a report became

current that ih the battle, certain men from the invisible world had come to the aid of

the Muslims. 44

42
Tiin"Kh-i-Sher Sham, p.723.
43
Ibid, p.724.

44
Muntakhab-ut-Tawankh, p.483.

187
 The chroniclers' celebration of Sher Shah's reported action against the

chieftains in conflict may have stemmed from a search in the iate sixteenth and early

seventeenth century for an alternative in the wake of emperor Akbar's alleged

deviation from Islam. Thus, while the accounts of Sher Shah's conflict with the

Bengalis or the Mughals are not entirely free from religious elements, his campaigns

against the Rajputs have been portrayed as jihad. The reasons for his action are

generally given as aggrandizement of the rlijas, denigration of Islam and humiliation

of the Muslims at their hands. In the accounts of Mushtaql and ~bdullah who often

copies Mushfaql, Sher Shah is shown to be approaching the <utamli for not only a

jatwa to undertake a campaign against the infidels, but also to legalize the unilateral

breach of oaths and vows, and chastisement of the infidels at an appropriate

moment. 45 ~bbas Sarwani and Badaurii seek to establish that either Sher Shah was

compelled by popular pressure to ask for fatwa or he was merely acting in conformity

with the 'just" suggestions of the leading<'ulamii and the sufis who accompanied him

during the campaigns. 46 Finally, Ni 'matullah HaraWi blatantly resorted to an alleged

tradition of the Prophet which sanctioned the legal validity of treachery with the

enemy (al-~arb khud'at) 47

Modem authorities have taken a strong exception to Sher Shah's "bigotry" and

45
Waqi 'at-i-Mushtaqi, pp.151-52; Tarikh-i-Da~di-; p.152.

46
Tiirikh-i-Sher Shah/, pp.607-08 and 724; Muntakhab-ut-Tawarlkh, p.476.

47
iarlkh-i-Khan-i-JahanT wa Makhzan-i-Afgh'iinT, Vol.I, p.327. For the early Islamic justifications of
the killing of captives and the destruction of enemy fortifications, see Majid Khadduri, The Islamic
Law of Nations - Shaybani 's Siyar, Translation with an Introduction, Notes and Appendices
(Baltimore, 1966), pp.95-102.

188
 48
"treacherous action" against the non-Muslims. Clearly, the condemnation stems

from an uncritical acceptance of the accounts given by Mghan chroniclers. The

accounts ofthe cold-blooded massacres of the Rajputs at Raisin and Kalinjar are read

literally, and generalized to confirm the assumption as true. In doing so, these studies

ignore the question whether the alleged treatment of the Rajputs by Sher Shah was

unique for the period; that he had particularly singled out the Rajputs for this

"special" treatment; and that his attitude towards them was similar or uniform with all

the clans in different regions throughout his career as a ruler in Bihar or as a king of

Hindustan. Further, this evaluation also emanates from an understanding that it was

Akbar who started the policy of tolerance towards the non-Muslims and their

incorporation in state service in medieval India. In our opinion this assumption needs

reconsideration as it not only neglects the attempts at integration by the earlier sultans,

nobles and the sufis but also ignores the complex processes of attraction and repulsion

of Muslim and non-Muslim groups/individuals in medieval India.

As an indication of the degree to which Sher Shah could go in chastizing his

opponents during the course of his conquest, the case of the Gakkar chief Sarang

Khan may be cited. Owing allegiance to the Mughals, the Khan had offered some

resistance to the Mghan army campaigning in pursuit of the fugitive Humayiin after

the battle of Qannauj. When he was compelled to submit before Sher Shah, the

48
Sri Ram Sharma, The Religious Policy of the Mughal Emperors, first published 1940 (Bombay,
1972), pp.26-27; Ishwari Prasad, Lifo and Times of Humayun, p.172 (for 'Jehad' against Raisin);
Dirk Kolff, Naukar, Rajput and Sepoy. Qanungo, Sher Shah and his Times. Denying the accusations
of religious fanaticism levelled against Sher Slffih, Siddiqui has suggested that the ruler was actually
a forerunner of Akbar in adopting a policy of tolerance towards all irrespective of race or creed,
Afghan Despotism, pp.105-06 and 108.

189
emperor ordered him to be executed, had his skin filled with straw and then

displayed. 49 In this context, mention may also be made of the powerful Khan-i-

Khanan Lodi who enjoyed considerable prestige amongst the Afghans despite his

association with the Mughals, and was unceremoniously put to death. The case of the

Mughal governor of Bengal, who was killed after being lured into a false treaty is yet

another illustration of this. It must be noted that all these victims of Sher Shah were

Muslims. Thus, the view that the treatment meted out to Puranmal was unusual and

was influenced by religious factors needs reconsideration. Further, the close

cooperation with the Ujainiya Rajputs, and the restoration of the chiefs after the

peaceful conquest of Rajputana does not fit with the model of a Muslim ruler out to

destroy the infidels, and convert Hindustan into a diir-ul-Islam.

It will be fruitful to consider here an evidence which provides a different

perspective. As a measure of recognition of the power that they enjoyed and the need

for legitimacy from them, the Indo-Muslim rulers alienated a large chunk of land

under their control for revenue free grants, variously called suyurghal, madad-i-ma 'sh

or in 'am to the men of religion chiefly thetulama and the sufis. Realizing that such

grants to the non-Muslim spiritual power holders such as the brahmanas and the yogis

can be more helpful in diffusion of their authority, the rulers generously conferred the

grants on them as well. Such grants were quite frequent under the Mughals, but the

practice was prevalent in the time of Sher Shah as well. The TawarTkh-i-Daulat-i-Sher

SJiahT contains a Jarman of Sher Shah according to which the pious and deserving

people amongst the Hindus got land-grants from him for their maintenance. He also

49
Ishwari Prasad, Life and Times of Humayun, p.l62.

190
granted land as waqf for the upkeep of the temples. 50 The need to portray him as a

devout and orthodox Sunnl Muslim ruler may have compelled the Persian authorities

to suppress the information concerning the grant to the non-Muslim divines. Yet one

such grant to a brahmanit (zunriiirdiir) by Sher Shah has sneaked into the narrative of

~bdullah. It is reported that while moving in a boat for the campaign towards

Kalinjar, Sher Shah came across a brahmana taking bath on the bank of the river, at

pargana Hamirpur in Kalpi. The boatmen were asked to anchor the boat to the bank.

The brahmana did not recognize the king and thus remained indifferent. Sher Shah

was, however impressed by his honesty and granted him as in 'am the village where he

stayed. Five hundred rupees in cash was also given to him. 51 This evidence has been

neglected by the modern historians of the Mughal period. J.F.Richards, for instance,

believes that Akbar's "inclusion" of the non-Muslim grantees as subjects of state

largesse was a "new departure". 52

The quest for legitimacy may also be seen in Sher Shah's architecture, chiefly

his tomb at Sahsaram. Any Hindu visitor to his mausoleum, treated now as a holy

shrine, is bound to have a feeling of dejit vu as the building is located in the middle of

a lake. Though the water of the lake and the allusion to water and greenery of the

50
The extant fragments of the Tawarlkh-i-Daulat-i-Sher Shah! of J:Iasan M Khan were published
along with the English translation of the portion said to be containing the farmans of Sher Sliah in
Medieval India Quarterly, Vol.I, No. 1, July 1950. S.AARizvi and I.H.Siddiqui have, however,
condemned it to be a later forgery: Siddiqui specifically dates its 'fabrication' to the reign of SIUih
Jalian, when Sujiin Rill. utilized it for his Khula~at-ut-TawarTkh, see Rizvi, Medieval India
Quarterly, Vol. I, No.2, October, 1950, pp.74-80; Siddiqui, "Examination of the Contents of
Tawarikh-i-Dau/at-i-Sher Shahi of Hasan Ali Khan", in idem, Mughal Relations with the Indian
Ruling Elite, pp.l78-89.

51
raiikh-i-Daum, pp.n&-39.

52
Richards, The Mughal Empire, p. 92.

191
heaven in the Qulanic verses inscribed on the inner walls of the tomb may be viewed

as an index oflslamic religiosity, 53 the lake attached to a temple complex symbolizing

ritual purity, and also for the actual purpose of bathing, is a common feature at noted

tirthasthans in India. Thus, the layout of the tomb serves the purpose of eliciting the

admiration of the Muslims and the non-Muslims alike. The attempt at integration may

also be viewed in Sher Shah's coinage. As noted above, the details inscribed on the

coins were both in Arabic and Devnagri scripts. 54 Thus it does not need to be

emphasized that Sher Shah like the Mughals, was in conflict with only those who

challenged, or refused to acknowledge, his political power. Generally, he showed a

liberal and tolerant attitude towards the non-Muslims. His relationship with the

Rajputs was clearly marked by an honourable alliance of dominance and

subordination which recognised the status of the latter as the raja of his territory. In

such alliances, the chieftain was expected to give his daughter to the ally as an

acknowledgement of the acceptance of his inferior position, and for ensuring the

durability of the relationship. Marriage was indeed a significant determinant in the

Raj put alliance with the Mghans, as was to be the case with the Mughals later on. 55

Further, as Norman Ziegler suggests, Rajput loyalties and identifications on a

local level may be conceived in terms of both descent, operative within the

brotherhood among those related by ties of male blood, and sets of hierarchical,

53
Catherine Asher highlights Islamic elements in the architecture, and denies any influence of the
non-Muslim environment. She also ignores its impact on the local religious milieu, "Mausoleum of
Sher Shah Suri".

54
See Introduction.

55
Cf. Frances H.Taft, "Honour and Alliance: Reconsidering Mughal-Rajput Marriages", in Karine
Schomer, Joan L.Erdman, eta~ The Idea ofRajasthan, IT, pp.2174l.

192
dyadic relationships based on service and exchange, operative within a kingdom

between a ruler and his servants. Each ofthese institutions or sets of relationships also

had a territorial aspect, based on the extent of kin recognition which defined the

watan of a brotherhood and was based on structural ties between a ruler and his
'
retainers, which defined the territory of the kingdom. Cross-cutting all levels and

included within the concept of '<territory" were also affiliations through ties of

alliance and marriage with sagai. 56 Ziegler points out that in understanding medieval

Rajput cultural conceptions, it is important to note that the Muslim was also treated as

a Rajput. The traditions generally represent the Rajput jati (caste) as being divided

into two categories: Muslim/Turk and Hindu. This category of "Muslim" within the

Rajput jati did not include all Muslims, but only those who were warriors and who

possessed sovereignty and power equal to, or greater than, the Hindu Rajput. The

Muslim emperor in particular, held a position of high rank and esteem, and the

traditions often equate him with the Ksatriya cultural hero Ram. What basically

distinguished the king from the local Rajput rulers was simply his possession of

greater sovereignty and power and his greater ability to grant favours and rewards.

Service for the Muslim sovereign or one of his subordinates was thus no different

from service for a local ruler or thakur. 57 Thus, Ziegler concludes that the Rajput

support for, or adherence to the Mughal throne rested primarily upon a basic "fit"

between Rajput ideals and aspirations, and Mughal actions in this area, which did not

challenge fundamental Rajput tenets regarding order and precedence. Mughal policy

56
Norman P. Ziegler, "Some Notes on Rajput Loyalties During the Mughal Period", in J.F. Richards,
ed., Kingship and Authority, pp.215-51, especially, p.230.
57
Ibid, p.235.

193
of support for local rulers, of alliance through marriage, and of granting lands in

return for service and allegiance all found a base of support in local ideology and

allowed Rajputs in turn to find fulfillment of their own ideals through subordination
58
and loyalty to the Mughal throne.

Before moving further, we would like to have a general overview of the role

of the Rajputs in the Mughal-Afghan conflict. During the early period of Babur's

invasion and conquest of Hindustan, the Rajputs fought with the Afghans, and

continued to offer resistance through the Afghan pretender Sul!an Ma~mud. The

period of Sher Shah's conflict with Humayiin witnessed the Rajputs settling scores

with each other and generally resorting to an ambivalent attitude towards the two,

though complaints of the capture of the territories previously under the control of the

Muslims were not uncommon. Once the issue of badslilihat of Hindu stan was settled,

the Rajputs, barring a few, did not make any delay in acknowledging the suzerainty of

the Sur emperor.

In fact non-Muslims in the service of the Afghans could be noticed from an

earlier period. Siddiqui has listed a number of non-Muslim chiefs in the service of the
59
Lodis. Later, Hemu' s elevation to the status of the chief commander of the Sur

army, who died fighting against the Mughals after Humayiin's return from Persia, 60

speaks volumes on the incorporation of non-Muslims in the Afghan imperial project.

58
Ibid., p.240.
59
Siddiqui, "Composition of the Nobility".
60
Referring to Hemu, the 'Hindu' general who had styled himself as Raja Vikramaditya, J.F.Richards
suggests that his success in the second battle of Panipat would have been a remarkable reassertion
of the Sanskritic/Brahmanical monarchical tradition, long subservient to Muslim rulers, in North
India, The Mughal Empire, p.l3.

194
The extent to which this incorporation, or alliance, was effective may further be seen

in the fact that Akbar's early encounters with the Raj puts during the period of Mughal

consolidation in the second half of the sixteenth century was actually a corollary to

the latter's support to the Mghans as noted above. Perhaps this alliance continued in,

and resistance dragged to, the seventeenth century as well. It is in the context of the

recurrent resistance of the Rajputs against the Mughal expansion that Bodhraj's

account of the lasting Ujjainiya-Sur alliance can be understood. Apart from the

importance of this backdrop, the memory of Sher Shah's generous help and political

support to the Ujjainiyas and the latter's spirit of sacrifice reflected chiefly in the

battle against the Bengalis is significant in itself. Finally, though it sounds heretical to

suggest that "Afghans" or "Rajputs" were synonyms in the military tradition of

medieval North India,61 the extent to which they identified with each other may be

seen in the claims of a Rajasthani bardic poem, Qaimkhan Rasa, that Sher Shah was

the son of a Rajput mother. It is suggested that Sher Shah's mother was "a daughter of

the ruling Qaim Khani Rajput family of Fatehpur-Jhunjhun (Shekhawat)" near

Narnaul. 62 Mention may be made here of Mian ljasan's early connections with the

Rajputs. Abu'l F~l has noted that Hasan was, for a long time, in the service of

Raimal, the grandfather ofRaisal, a noble in Akbar's court. 63 The possibility ofljasan

picking up a Rajput wife cannot be denied, but the suggestion that Sher Shah was

born to her is not only scandalous from the point of view of the Mghans, but also is

61
Dirk Kolff, Naukar, Rajput and Sepoy, pp.57-58.

62
Qanungo, Sher Shah and his times, pXI.

63
Akharnama, Vol. I, p.327.

195
not supported by any other authority. ·

However instances of Mghan nobles marrying Rajput women were not

unusual during the period. Sher Shah himself married at least two non-Muslim

women. The Tawarikh-i-Daulat-i-Sher Shah7 relates that the relationship between

.
Fafid and his father Hasan Sur had strained due to the former's love affair with the
'
daughter of a Rajput chief, Jai Singh Rathore. Fascinated by her beauty, Farid fell

madly in love with her and lost his mental peace. When J ai Singh came to know of the

affair between Farid and his daughter, he decided to run away with her, but in vain.

Faiid got an inkling of the plan, at once threw Jai Singh into prison and obtained the

hand of the girl in marriage. Shortly afterwards Jai Singh was set free as he had

outwardly reconciled to Faiid, although inwardly he was determined to take revenge.

One day Jai Singh turned up and after some conversation took out his dagger and

attacked Farld. The author of the Tawarlkh, I;Iasan "AliKhan, who claims to be present

there quickly jumped up, caught hold of the dagger and put Jai Singh to death. The

news of Jai Singh's murder caused severe grief to his daughter. She stopped taking

food and passed away after sometime. On her death, Farld also lost interest in worldly

affairs. As the grief caused by her death to Faiid was too severe to bear, he also

decided to follow her in death by committing suicide. The author again claims that he

consoled Farid in such a way that he refrained from taking such a drastic step 64

The sources of the Mghan period relate several episodes in which the lovers

do not hesitate to take the "drastic step" and sacrifice their lives for their beloved. The

tales end with the suggestion that the lovers unite and live together after their

64
Siddiqui, "Tawarikh-i-Daulat-i-SherShahi ofHasan Ali Khan", pp.l80-81.

196
departure from this world. The purpose of the narration of these stories was to suggest

that the people of the Afghan period were not only "sincere" in their love, but also as

Shaikh Rizqullah Mushtaql put it: "The time was good". Writing in his old age, in the

reign of Akbar, the shaikh lamented: "Today neither love nor time is sincere; such
65
people have passed away". Though, we shall return again to the sufi shaikhs'

reflections on their contemporary society in chapter six, we may tum to a few

anecdotes to have a feel of the "time". Two episodes which we shall recount here are

useful for the Hindu-Muslim tangle in medieval India and the different ways in which

the rulers sought to handle the problem. Also comes in the picture the ubiquitous sufi

with his love for God and the desire for love.

MushtaqT records that a student reached a place called Bhogaon in the course

of his journey. Being thirsty, he went to the well and found a beautiful girl drawing

water. He saw her and was captivated by her at the very first sight. Although, the

other women offered him water to drink, he insisted on taking it from her hands. Her ·

companions said to the girl: 'He is a traveller. Be kind to him'. On their advice, she

agreed to give water to the student who took his hands to his mouth to drink it. The

girl poured water upon his hands from her bucket. As he continued to stare at her face,

the water fell down and he could not drink. Irritated, the girl drew away the remaining

water from her bucket and turned away her face in anger. Again, other girls offered

him water but he said: 'I shall take water only from her hands, otherwise not, and I

will die'. The girls said to their companion: 'We offer him water but he refuses to

accept it; he will accept water from your hands only'. She said: 'If I ask him to jump

into the well, will he do it?' No sooner had he heard these words that he leapt into the

65
WGqi 'at-i-MushtaqT.

197
well, causing an uproar among the girls. They said to her: 'What have you done? You

are responsible for his death'. She felt ashamed and also jumped into the well.

The matter was reported to the shiqqdiir who reached the spot along with the

relatives of the girl and others. The nets were drawn into the well and their dead-

bodies were brought out. They were found holding each other by hand. The relatives

of the girl wished to cremate her, but the shiqqdiir differed from them, saying. 'she

has died for the sake of a Musalman. They have been brought out together, therefore,

it is not proper for you to cremate her body'. It was ultimately decided that she should

be buried near the grave of the student, and the order of the shiqqdiir was carried out.

At night the relatives of the girl decided to open the grave and take out her body for

cremation. When they opened her grave, they did not find her body. They examined

the grave and found a passage between the two graves. A candle was also burning and

both the boy and the girl were sitting on a cot. When they saw this, they closed the

grave and went away. 66 Clearly the tale highlights the sufic adherence to the

fundamental unity of mankind, and the notion that the differences between Hindus

and Muslims are of a superficial nature, and that the lover unites with his beloved in

death.

Another anecdote related by 5\..bdul ~aqq Mu~addi~ Dehlawi refers to a

conflict between the Mughal governor Mirza Mu~ammad Zaman and the sufi shaikh,

Saiyid Sul!an Bahrriich"i over a Hindu woman. The relatives of the woman had sought

the Mirza's help in taking away the woman from the shaikh's protection. However,

the Mirza had to submit before the shaikh as the latter counterposited his action on the

basis of the sharl'at. He argued that the Hindu woman whom he loved, and had

66
Ibid., pp.51-53.

198
married, had converted to Islam at his hands; and drew out his sword for a fight with

the Mirza on the issue. 67 The above episode not only points to the sufis' interest in

conversion, but also the occasional tension in their relationship with the rulers.

Significantly, the religious divines at times took rigid shar 'f position and wanted

things to be different from what the rulers were comfortable with. Indeed, on several

issues the kings are found to be taking a liberal position despite pressure from the

'orthodox party'. We saw above that there was hardly any serious and systematic

attempt on the part of the rulers to implement the sharTat as the ·law of the land,

destroy places of worship of non-Muslims, convert them to Islam, or even collect

jizya on a regular basis. Yet the (ulama and the sufis portrayed them as the ideal

Muslim rulers, and ignored or legitimized many of their acts of omission and

commission. The sufic approach to some such problems will be examined in the next

chapter.

67
Akhb7ir-ul-Akhy7ir, pp.478-79.

199