The wonder that was india

The interior of a good house has the whole floor covered with a cotton mattress four inches in thickness, over which a fine white cloth is spread during the summer, and a silk carpet in the winter. At the most conspicuous side of the chamber are one or two mattresses with fine coverings quilted in the form of flowers and ornamented with delicate silk embroidery, interspersed with gold and silver. These are intended for the master of the house, or any person of quality who may happen to call. Each mattress has a large cushion of brocade to lean upon, and there are other cushions placed round the room, covered with brocade, velvet or flowered satin, for the rest of the company. Five or six feet from the floor, the sides of the room are full of niches, cut in a variety of shapes, tasteful

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and well proportioned, in which are seen porcelain vases and flowerpots. The ceiling is gilt and painted, but without pictures of man or beast, such representations being forbidden by the religion of the country.28

The Muslim aristocracy, in both the qasbas and the cities, was extravagant and prodigal, and the common Muslims imitated them. Childbirth, 'aqiqah (shaving of an infant's hair), circumcision, bismillah (a party when a child starts his education), weddings, and death ceremonies were ostentatiously celebrated. Public festivals, such as Shab-ibarat (the fifteenth night of the eighth month, Sha'ban), 'Idu'l-fitr (the feast of alms), on the first day of the tenth month, and 'Idu'l-azha (the feast when a lamb, cow, or camel was sacrificed), were also occasions of great extravagance. Any words advising restraint were deeply resented. For example, when Baba Farid's brother,29 Shaykh Najibu'd-Din Mutawakkil, urged his patron to make better use of the money he intended to spend on his daughter's wedding, he was expelled from the house his patron had given him.30

Like the Turani, Irani, and Indian Muslims, the Rajput aristocracy was lavish and prodigal. Only the Afghans were frugal. Manucci comments:

They are very avaricious and foolhardy. When they come to court they are well clad and well armed, caracoling on fine horses richly caparisoned, posing as persons of some consideration, and followed by several servants borrowed or hired for the day. On reaching their house they divest themselves of all this finery, and, tying a scanty cloth round their loins and wrapping a rag round their head, they take their seat on a mat, and live on quichire (khichri, i.e. rice and lentils) or badly cooked cow's flesh of low quality, which is very abundant in the Mogul country and very cheap. In this manner they put by money and grow into merchants.31

Naturally, as Barani says, from the very beginning of the thirteenth century the Delhi sultans' aristocracy could save nothing and was always in debt. The Multanis (Hindu merchants) and Sahs (Hindu money-lenders), who advanced loans to the nobles against drafts on their iqtd' revenue, grew exceedingly rich. Besides charging exorbitant rates of interest, the money-lenders also received gifts from the debt-ridden aristocracy, in order to keep them quiet.

The service conditions of the iqta'-dars and mansabdars increased their debts. They had to go to war at short notice, which involved raising large amounts of cash for salary advances to their soldiers, because they, like their masters, were always short of money. Even the horses were neglected, as Barani's biographical notice on

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Rawat-i 'Arz suggests.32 Only the Hindu money-lenders came to their rescue. When 'Abdu'r Rahim Khan-i Khanan was ordered to seize Qandahar, Abu'l-Fazl wrote that he should take loans at the rate of 50 or 100 per cent in order to make every effort to seize the fort.33 Akbar introduced the practice of lending money from the imperial treasury. He appointed a separate treasurer and a military officer to advance loans on interest. The system was given the honorific title of musa'adat. In the first year the loan could be returned without interest; in the second year the repayment total was increased by one-sixteenth; in the third year, by one-eighth; in the fourth, by one-fourth; from the fifth to the seventh, by one-half; from the eighth to the tenth year, by three-quarters; and from the tenth year onwards, double the original loan was charged.34

Contemporary historical works do not give much information about the plight of the common people in Delhi or in other towns. It is only from the sufi literature that we learn that the population of rural labourers had migrated from the villages to Delhi in search of work. Petty grocers and merchants set up their thatched stalls wherever a suitable patch of vacant land was available. Only the influential and rich merchants owned warehouses, shops, and houses in the fashionable shopping streets or arcades. In the early centuries of the Turkic sultans' rule the iqta'dars' vacant houses could be temporarily occupied by dignitaries known to them. Since they were not rented, however, they had to be vacated at short notice, and disputes between the parti es concerned were common.

The poor, many of whom would otherwise have starved to death, received food from the almshouses (langars) which were scattered all over Delhi and other towns. The langars either were attached to the sufi khanqahs or had been founded by rich men hoping to obtain divine mercy or worldly fame. Low-caste Hindus who could eat food cooked by Muslims were also benefited by langars. Shaykh Nizamu'd-Din Awliya' claimed that the thought of the numbers of starving people, forced to sleep in the corners of mosques and in the streets, made it difficult for him to swallow food.35

EDUCATION

Both Hindu and Muslim children normally received their primary education at home. The Muslim aristocracy engaged male and female tutors for their boys and girls. These tutors lived in the aristocrats' houses and supervised their offspring. The children

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belonging to other members of the family or family friends were also allowed to attend the lessons.

Higher education was available at the madrasas. These institutions were established by the sultans, their noblemen, and their more influential ladies. Their principal aim was to produce students for the 'uiamd' class who would qualify for the civii service and judiciary. Iltutmish founded the Nasiriyya College of Delhi in memory of his son, Nasiru'd-Din Mahmud. His daughter, Raziyya, appointed the historian Qazi Minhaj Siraj as its principal. The main endowments of the leading colleges were supervised by influential scholars; Minhaj Siraj was one. The Mu'izzi Madrasa, named after Sultan Mu'izzu'd-Din Muhammad bin Sam, near the congregational mosques (Jami' Masjid) and the cloth-merchants' market (Bazaar-i Bazazan) in Delhi, was a large mosque-like structure.36

Subsequently the number of seminaries multiplied rapidly. In Muhammad bin Tughluq's reign they are said to have numbered 1,000 in Delhi alone, but this seems to be an exaggeration. The Firuz-Shahl Madrasa, founded by Sultan Firuz Shah on the southern bank of the Hawz-i Khass in Delhi, was an imposing structure. It consisted of a double-storeyed building in front, facing the Hawz-i Khass, and a single storey at the back. Its sweeping colonnades and square, domed halls were eloquently praised by the contemporary poet Mutahar of Kara.37 Madrasas were also built, both by the sultans and by their nobles, so that the famous scholars who came to Delhi would have their own establishments. The cities and towns each had their seminaries, but those in the cities were staffed by more competent teachers. The grant of madad-i ma'ash land to scholars helped to increase the number of madrasas. The sufi khanqahs also served as institutions of higher training for their own disciples.

Although the early madrasas specialized in teaching fiqh, this involved a thorough study of hadis, Qur'anic exegesis, logic, kalam (dialectics), and Arabic literature. The Hidaya by Marghinani (d. 1196) and Usul-Bazudi by Bazudi (d. 1089) were the chief textbooks. The study of hadis gained momentum in India only during the fifteenth century. Philosophy was studied in India in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but its full flowering was the result of Sultan Sikandar Lodi's patronage.

Books were rare. Scholars had either to transcribe them personally or to have them copied by professional scribes. Rich men could have books transcribed and illuminated with gold, and sometimes illustrated. A personal library was indispensable for scholars, even poor ones. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it was an

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uphill task for the poor scholars to procure correct copies of important works and even more difficult to find the money to pay for the paper and wages of the scribe. By the end of the sixteenth century bookshops had also set up, and the sale of undesirable books could now be banned. Experiments in printing in Arabic had been made in the West, and Jesuit missionaries in south India had begun to adopt Tamil and Malyalam script to printing; but other than this there was no printing in India.

Akbar compiled a code of education regulations, although they seem to have been ignored by the madrasas in his empire. They suggest drastic innovations in both teaching methods and syllabus, from the elementary to the highest stage. According to these regulations every boy should read books on morals, arithmetic, agriculture, measurement, geometry, astronomy, physiognomy, household matters, the rules of government, medicine, logic, mathematical and religious sciences, and history. When studying Sanskrit, students should learn the Vyakaran (grammar), Nyaya (logic, one of the six systems of Hindu philosophy), and Patanjali's Yoga-Sutra on yoga philosophy.

Abu'l-Fazl emptily claims that 'These regulations shed a new light on schooling and cast a bright light over madrasas' - Akbar's regulations in fact brought about no actual changes. The government in medieval times did not control the educational institutions. They were run by the 'ulama', who were not interested in Akbar's syllabus. However, the changes initiated by Hakim Fathu'llah Shirazi (d. 1589) and his disciples, who founded seminaries all over India, were far-reaching. Fathu'llah Shirazi was a philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. He combined these specialized subjects with a knowledge of hadis and fiqh. His system was developed by Mulla Nizamu'd-Din of Firangi Mahal Lucknow (d. 1748), who had been trained in the Fathullah's traditions. The Mulla's syllabus, known as the Dars-i Nizami, is still regarded in conservative Muslim circles as the best training for 'ulama'.38 Its important feature is its combination of Greek philosophy with religious sciences.

The syllabus adopted by the medical practitioners was different. Starting with Arabic rhetoric, grammar, and philosophy, it laid great emphasis on Avicenna's Qanun fi't-tibb (Canon of Medicine) and Kitab al-Shifa' (Book of Healing).

By the end of Akbar's reign a special syllabus had been devised for accountants and secretaries. A letter written by a Hindu secretary, Chandrabhan Brahman, to his son gives a fair idea of the contemporary educational requirements. Their mastery over the syllabus included works on the history of Islam, particularly the

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history of the Mongols and Timurids of Iran. The study of Persian ethico-political works in the syllabus was intended to acquaint students with the philosophy of Avicenna and Shaykh Shihabu'd-Din Suhrawardi Maqtul (d. 1191) and his followers, known as Ishraqis (Masters of the Philosophy of Illumination). Persian poetry was prescribed for stylistic reasons. Siyaq (accountancy) is not included in Chandrabhan's list, but books on this subject were also written. The growing interest among all castes in this study is decried by Chandrabhan, claiming that any success in the secretary's profession depended upon a deep understanding of all departments of the Mughal administration.39

Abu'l-Fazl advised the nobles to study the works of al-Ghazali, as well as historical and ethico-political works. However, he considered that, being practical people, they should prefer historical works to ethico-political and sufi literature.

INLAND TRADE

Inland trade increased in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as a result of growing urbanization. The old trade and pilgrim routes were cleared of the encroaching jungle and opened up. An old road was reopened connecting Delhi with Daulatabad, Telingana, and Ma'bar. Postal stations were built along these new roads, and travellers were also allowed to stay there. In the fifteenth century the network of local roads radiating out from the provincial capitals increased considerably. Sher Shah built four roads from Sonargaon (near Dacca) via Agra and Delhi to the Indus; from Agra to Jodhpur and the fort of Chitor; from Agra to Burhanpur; and from Lahore to Multan. Trees were planted on both sides of these roads, Caravanserais with wells and surrounded by trees were established at four-mile intervals. They had separate food areas for Hindus and Muslims. They replaced the old postal stations and facilitated the rapid transmission of news. In Akbar's reign a network of roads like these covered the land. It was possible to travel with comparative ease between any two cities of the empire. According to a Central Asian history written in 1584, caravans arrived in Peshawar with goods from the Deccan, Gujarat, Multan, and other parts of India Which were destined for Khurasan and Transoxiana. The routes from Lahore and Kabul and from Multan to Qandahar made Kabul the leading entrepot for trade with Iran and Central Asia. The vigilance of the Mughal governors and the payment of

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pensions to the unruly Afghan tribal chiefs ensured that the Khaybar route was reasonably safe.

Merchandise from the Panjab was sent to markets in Kabul, Ghazni, Khurasan, and Central Asia. River-borne traffic from the Panjab connected the region with the Sind ports. Horn Burnford, an employee of the East India Company who travelled from Agra to Thatta in 1639, says that the white cloth woven in Panipat was sent to Sirhind or Lahore for sale. He also noted that the products from the famous calico town of Samana were directly exported to Isfahan and its adjacent markets by the Persian and Armenian merchants through Qandahar. He found Lahore 'the prime city of traffic in India', from whence 'all commodities of the adjacent places being brought hither and are brought by the Wonsbecks [Uzbeks] or Tartars and so transported by Cabull into those parts'.40

In 1590-1 Akbar abolished a number of tolls and imposts on goods for urban consumption. Jahangir also removed many taxes on similar goods. More caravanserais were built both in the jagirs and khalisas, some of which subsequently developed into towns. The zamindars were responsible for safety on the roads and in return were allowed various privileges such as charging commission and tax. They were also granted revenue-free land (nankar or banth).

The river systems were more convenient for transporting goods, because the land routes were expensive and not always safe. The Indus river system connected the cities and villages of Kashmir, Panjab, and Sind, and the Jamuna-Ganges system ran through cities and villages from Delhi to Bengal. The Brahmaputra connected cities and villages in Assam. The responsibility for supplying boats for the army and for the transport of government goods fell on the local chieftains under the Delhi sultans and on the zamindars under the Mughals. They also supplied boats and escorts to ordinary merchants and travellers. In the sixteenth century inter-provincial land trade was accelerated mainly to avoid European control. The Malabaris sent their pepper overland to evade the Portuguese.

COASTAL TRADE

From ancient times Indian merchandise had been exported to the Persian Gulf and thence overland through Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean coast. Another sea route carried goods to the Red Sea ports, and then through Egypt to the Mediterranean. Merchandise

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was distributed from there to Western Europe by Venetian and other Italian merchants. Wares from India and Sind for Iraq and Khurasan were dispatched via Hurmuz, to the east of the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Jadda and Aden, where a large colony of Indian merchants lived, were the main trading ports on the Red Sea route. The neighbouring port of Dhofar exported horses to India.

In India, Debal or Dewal in Sind was the main early Arab port, but by the end of the fifteenth century Lahri Bandar in lower Sind had gained predominance. The leading port of Gujarat was Cambay. Div, with a good harbour, was also busy since it was free from the dangerous tides in the Gulf of Cambay. Surat on the left bank of the Tapti, and Rander, on its right, were other large ports in Gujarat. Ships sailed from Gujarati harbours to the Red Sea, Hurmuz, East Africa, and Malabar (now Kerala). Ibn Battuta's account shows that the Malabar coast was studded with harbours where small coastal boats anchored. According to him Calicut and Quilon were, as ports, the equal of Alexandria, the best he had seen in the world. Barbosa also gives a vivid picture of early sixteenth-century commerce.

Malabar was a half-way house between Sri Lanka, Malacca, and the Spice Islands on the one hand and the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the ports of East Africa on the other. Arab and Persian merchants basked in the patronage of the local rajas. India exported spices, sandalwood, saffron, aromatics, indigo, wax, iron, sugar, rice, coconut, precious stones, coral, beads, drugs and seed pearls. Goods carried to India on the return voyage included Arabian horses, gold, silver, lead, quicksilver, coral, vermilion, rose-water, saffron, and opium. The Arab and Irani merchants of Calicut visited the Persian Gulf and Red Sea ports annually. The Arab settlements on the African coast such as Zeila, Makdashau, Mombasa, and Kiwa promoted trade between Gujarat and East Africa. Ships carrying Indian cloth, beads, and spices brought back gold, ivory, and wax from Africa.

Malacca, situated in the straits between Sumatra and the Malay peninsula, was the most important international port in South-east Asia. Ships from Cambay, Rander, Calicut, Sri Lanka, Coroman-del, Bengal, and Thailand sailed to Malacca. Natives from Java, the adjacent islands, and Gujarat (both Muslims and Hindus) had Settled in Malacca. Gold from Sumatra, cloves from the Moluccas, White sandalwood from Timor, mace and nutmeg from Banda, camphor from Borneo, and aloe-wood from China were exchanged there for Cambay cloth, white cotton cloth from Bengal, incense, pepper, saffron, coral, quicksilver, and opium. Albuquerque wrote

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that 'the Guzerates understand the navigation of those parts much more thoroughly than any other nations, on account of the great commerce they carry on in those places'.41 Next in importance was the port of Pegu. Burmese lac of a superior quality, cloves, musk, and rubies were imported in exchange for different varieties of cloth, drugs, coral, and vermilion. Silk, coloured taffetas, satin, blue and white porcelain, gold, silver, copper, iron, and quicksilver from China were bartered for Indian cloth, drugs, and other products.

Before the development of Malacca as a commercial centre, the Chinese had taken their ships as far as the entrance to the Red Sea and the head of the Persian Gulf but after the fourteenth century they rarely went as far as the Coromandel coast. Following the Chinese, the Indians also stopped at Malacca. This resulted in a rapid decline in Indian coastal enterprise.

The trade with Sri Lanka was in the hands of merchants from Coromandel, Malabar, Vijaya nagara, and Gujarat. Sri Lanka exported cinnamon and some precious stones, while India supplied it with foodstuffs and clothing.

Trade between Calicut and the Red Sea was dominated by the Arabs and Iranians, but Gujarati Muslims, Iranians, Turks, and Gujarati Hindus, known as vanias, handled the trade on other routes. The sailors were largely Muslims, although ships were owned by both Hindus and Muslims. Hurmuz and Aden were dominated by Muslims, but Malacca was controlled by Gujarati merchants.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Muslim sailors and merchants were deeply devoted to the Iranian sufi saint Shaykh Abu Ishaq Gaziruni (d. 1035), who had become a sort of patron saint of seafarers. Ibn Battuta says:

This Shaykh Abu Ishaq is highly venerated by the people of India and China. Travellers on the Sea of China make a practice, when the wind turns against them and they fear pirates, of making vows to Abu Ishaq, and each one of them sets down in writing the obligation he has undertaken in his vow. Then when they come safely to land, the servitors of the hospice go on board the ship, take the inventory, and exact (the amount of) his vow from each person who has pledged himself. There is not a ship that comes from China or India but has thousands of dinars in it (vowed to the saint), and the agents, on behalf of the intendant of the hospice, come to take delivery of that sum. The king of India (probably Muhammad bin Tughluq) once vowed ten thousand dinars to Shaykh Abu Ishaq, and when the news of this reached the poor brethren of the hospice, one of them came to India, took delivery of the money, and went back with it to the hospice.

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The chain of Abu Ishaq's khanqahs started from Gazirun near the Persian Gulf and ended at Zaytun (Ts'wan-chow-fu), a port in China. The Gaziruni khanqahs in Calicut and Quilon collected the gifts promised to the Shaykh and also offered hospitality to guests. According to Ibn Battuta, the GazirunI khanqah in Zaytun was situated outside the town and received sums of money from Merchants vowed in gratitude for their protection.42

In the first quarter of the sixteenth century Portuguese naval dominance gave them sovereignty over the sea, which had until then been free to all. No Indian ship could sail to East Africa, China, Japan, or the Spice Islands without Portuguese permission. They had to obtain cartaz or passes for safe conduct and had to call at a Portuguese fort to pay duty on their cargo before proceeding to their destination. No ship was allowed to carry munitions, spices, pepper, iron, copper, or wood to the Turks and Ethiopian Muslims. The Portuguese fleet of warships prevented any violation of the artaz system and kept the local coastal powers under control. From the middle of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese made it dompulsory for all merchant ships to travel in small convoys. They were escorted by Portuguese war-frigates and could not evade their control. Free cartaz were given to the Indian rulers, and even the Emperor Akbar obtained one from the Viceroy of Goa. The Fortuguese had no territorial settlements in Surat but they ruled over Div and Daman, from where they controlled the convoys. The rise of Div undermined the flourishing trade of Cambay and gave a death-blow to Rander, the centre for Chinese and Far Eastern goods in Gujarat. Those merchants who did not live in Div had to pay duty both at their home Gujarat port and to the Portuguese at Div or Daman. However, pirates frequently challenged Portuguese supremacy, and sea voyages became very dangerous.43

Portuguese sovereignty over the Indian Ocean was destroyed by the Dutch and English. In 1595 the first Dutch fleet rounded the Cape of Good Hope in defiance of the Portuguese. From 1596 various groups of Dutch merchants began trading with Sumatra and Java and the Dutch had fitted out as many as fifteen Voyages by 1601. In 1602 the merchants united to form the Dutch East India Company, which successfully defeated the Portuguese maritime force in Asia. Between 1638 and 1658 the Dutch expelled the Portuguese from Sri Lanka and they seized Malacca in 1641. In 1652 they obtained possession of the Cape of Good Hope.

The local rulers also had begun to attack the Portuguese. In 1632 the Mughal governor of Dacca dealt a crushing blow to Portuguese power at Hugli. The King of Arakan defeated both the Portuguese