History (Medieval India History :- Delhi Sultanate Administration, Art & Culture)

Medieval India History :- Delhi Sultanate Administration, Art & Culture

Administration

 *Sultans considered themselves as representative of Caliphs (as inscribed on their coins & Khutba (Prayer)) & were of Islamic origin

 *Balban considered himself as shadow of god & of divine originality

 *Iltutmish, Muhammad bin tughlaq & Firoz tughlaq received Mansur or letter of permission from Caliphs

 *Sultans were most important administrators & had ultimate authority of the military (Commander in chief of military)

 *Greatest post was of Naib who practically enjoyed all the powers of sultan & exercised general control over all departments

Diwan – i – wazirat     

 *Head of finance department

Diwan – i – Ariz     

 *Military department headed by Ariz – i – Mumalik

 *Responsible for recruiting soldiers & administering military department

Diwan – i – Rasalat     

 *Department of religious affairs headed by chief Sadr

Diwan – i – Insha     

 *Department of correspondence, dealt with correspondence b/w rulers & officials

 *Head of judicial department of chief Qazi & Muslim sharia law was followed in civil matters

 *Hindus were governed by their own personal laws & their cases were dispensed by village panchayats

Local Administration

Iqtas     

 *Provinces were called Iqtas under the charge of nobles

 *Mainly to maintain law & collect revenue

 *Later came under the charge of Governors called “Muqtis or Walis”

Shiqs     

 *Iqtas were divided in Shiqs (districts) under Shiqdars

Pargana     

 *Shiqs were further divided into Pargana (no. of villages) headed by Amils

- Village headman was known as Mukaddam or chaudhary & Village accountant Patwari

Economy

 *Land was mainly divided into 3 categories viz.

 - Iqta land  →  Land assigned to officials as iqtas instead of payments for their services

 - Khalisa Land → Land under direct control of sultan

 - Inam Land  → Land assigned / granted to religious leaders or religious institutions

 *Peasants paid 1/3 or even 1 / 2 of their produce as land revenue along with other taxes

 *Taxes + frequent famines → Peasants always lived hand to mouth living

 *Cotton & silk industries flourished in this period along with paper industry

 *1 silver Tanka = 48 jitals in Khalji time = 50 jitals in tughlaq time 

Social Life

 *Traditional caste system with Brahamans at the top

 *Prevalent sati & parda system for women

 *No intermarriage b/w Turks, Iranian, Afgans & Indian Muslims

 *Hindus were considered zimmis or protected people for whom they were forced to pay a tax called Jiziya

 *In beginning, Jiziya it was collected as a part of land tax but Firoz tughlaq separated it from land revenue & collected it as a separate tax

Art & Architecture

 *Quwwat ul islam mosque near Qutub minar was built using materials obtained from destroying Hindu & Jain temples

 *Buildings were constructed by combining Arch, Minarets & Dome

 *Muhammad bin tughlaq built the tomb of Ghiyasuddin tughlaq on a high platform

Music

 *New music instruments such as Sarangi & Rabab were introduced in this period

 *Indian classical work Rangdarpan was translated to Persian during Firoz Tughlaq reign

 *Raja Man Singh (Gwalior) was a great music lover of this period & loved man Kautuhal

 *Pir Bhodan →  famous Sufi Saint of this period

Amir Khusro (1252 – 1325)

 *Introduced Ragas like ghora & Sanam

 *Evolved Qawwali mixing Indian & Iranian music

 *Invented Sitar & Tabla

Literature

 *Barani’s “Tariq – i – Firoz – Shahi “ contains history of Tughlaq dynasty

 *Minhaj Us Siraj wrote “Tabaqat – i – Nasari” contains general history of Muslims dynasty upto 1260

 *Amir Khusro (famous Persian writer)

 - Created new style of Persian poetry called Sabaq – i – hind / Indian styled Persian poetry

 - Wrote Khazain – ul – Fatah about Alaunddin conquests

 - Wrote Tughlaq nama about the rise of Ghiyasuddin tughlaq

 *Zia Nakshabi   →  1st one to translate Sanskrit stories into Persian (1st one was Tuti nama or book of parrot)

 *Rajat Rangini written by Kalhana was also translated to Persian during this period

 *Chand Bharati →  Famous Hindi poet of this time