The Position of Hindus Under the Delhi Sultanate 1206- 1526

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In this book Dr K.L. Srivastava deals with the Position of the Hindus under the Sultans of Delhi. In the peculiar conditions of India in this period, the political behaviour of Muslim rulers towards the Hindus was often influenced by Muslim religious and constitutional doctrines.

In spite of the fact that there is dearth of dependable data on several aspects of this problem, the scholars have directly stated contradictory views. Under such circumstances, a researcher feels handicapped at arriving at exact conclusions. Confronting all these difficulties, the author has scanned both Hindu and Muslim sources and presented a compact and comprehensive treatment of the subject. Wherever he has divergent views from other writers, he cites sound facts for proving the truth of his arguments. He has given a detailed account of the employment of the Hindus in the State services, the condition of Hindu traders and the mode of living of the Hindus in communities and societies. Moreover the contribution of sufi saints to the propagation of Islam is also thoroughly expressed.

During the period 712-1206 Ad the Hindus came in contact with the Islamic way of life, which was different from what they had known before. Some modern scholars have treated the Hindu way of life under Muslim rule either with a degree of contempt or presented a one-sided picture. In several scholarly works the career and conquests of the Delhi Sultans, the life of the nobility and the Ulama under them have been discussed but no serious attempt has been made to study in detail the position of the Hindus during the Sultanate period. Thus, there is a gap in our knowledge of this period which the present study seeks to fill in.

Scholars like Professor K.A. Nizami, Dr. I.H. Qureshi and Dr. S. Moniul Haq have pointed out that the Muhammedans were less fortunate in the Islamic State as they were required to pay the Zakat and had to perforın military duties whereas the Hindus were guaranteed full freedom on payment of only a nominal amount by way of Jizya. Professor Nizami maintains that the Islamic state had no elaborate machinery to collect the Jizya which, according to him, remained unrealised. Professor Habib in his book Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznin remarks that the Jizya was not realised at all from the Hindus as poll tax but it was a part of Kharaj (land tax). Dr. A.M. Husain is of the view that the imposition of Jizya was only an economic measure and had no religious basis whatsoever. He further observes that the levy of Jizya on the Brahmanas, who had been exempted from this tax till then, does not indicate any religious fanaticism on the part of Firuz Tughluq. On the contrary, it shows the eagerness of the Sultan to impose this tax on an equitable basis.

Historians like Professor Habib and Dr. Yusuf Husain have approached the subject from a different angle. In their attempt to minimise the wrongs done to the Hindus by the Sultans of Delhi, they have suggested that the Muhammedans too were massacred by the Mangols in Central Asia in the 13th Century. But this would not justify the ill-treatment of the Hindus.

Dr. K.L. Srivastava's book is devoted to the study of the position of the Hindus under the Sultans of Delhi. During this period of 300 years the whole of north India was ruled by the Muslims and yet one should look in vain for the evolution of a well-conceived policy towards the Hindus. It was left to individual rulers to devise their policy, which was obviously intended to perpetuate their rule. Rulers, everywhere and in all ages, are concerned with the acquisition and retention of power. It is not strange therefore that the Muslim rulers employed men of other religions in the state services. Medieval rulers, whether they were Hindus or Muslims, functioned alike in a number of ways. The general masses, irrespective of their religious beliefs, were subjected to great disabilities, which had a demoralising effect on Indian society.

One of the chief features of the medieval age, especially the period with which the present study is concerned, is religious intolerance. Religion exercised a powerful influence on the life of both the privileged and unprivileged classes. While most of the Muslim rulers sincerely believed in their religion, they also used it as an instrument of policy in the peculiar circumstances in which they found themselves in India. They could ill-afford to alienate their co-religionists but, at the same time, in their own interest, they had to adopt measures calculated to conciliate the Hindus who formed the overwhelming majority of the population. The extent to which the policy of conciliation was actually followed differed from ruler to ruler. The fact that the Delhi Sultans were fully occupied in suppressing Muslim rebels shows that religious affinity did not act as a deterrent to attempts at acquiring power by men of their own religion.

Dr. Srivastava has examined the position of the Hindu under suitable headings. There may be, however, other lines of approach to the study of the subject and one may arrive at different conclusions. No author should claim finality in respect of his findings on such a controversial subject. Indeed one should expect his study to be superseded by more competent studies on his subject. The author should have the satisfaction that he has consulted the relevant material and, in his pursuit of inquiry, he has strictly conformed to academic norms. On a subject like Hindu-Muslim relations opinions vary from one extreme to another, as indeed, one finds conflicting opinions on many important historical events and personalities. In dealing with the problem of the Hindus in this period a researcher is handicapped by the paucity of statistical data on several important questions. In books on medieval Indian history one finds sweeping generalisations which are based on insufficient evidence and the judgments of writers seem to have been often influenced by extraneous considerations.

Dr. K.L. Srivastava has presented a readable and informative study of an important subject in medieval Indian history. He has collected and analysed his material judiciously. The book provides an impressive body of facts in support of the author's arguments. Altogether it is a stimulating study which may be pursued further by other scholars interested in this aspect of Indian history.

**Contents and Sample Pages**