5.1 Society

Society

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Composition of Rural Society

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Peasants

  • Individual peasants cultivated their land
    • Khots were large landholdings
    • Balahars were small plots
    • Owned oxen and plough
  • Landless menial classes were below peasantry
  • Wells were abundant, so was land.
  • Sold their crops for payment of revenue in cash
  • $ Barani mentions highest strata of peasants as Khots and Muqaddams who levied Qismat is Khoti from villagers during AK's reign, were generally prosperous.

Dwelling of Peasants

  • Mud huts, bamboo supports, thatched roof.
  • Floor plastered with cowdung.
  • Little furniture, slept on the floor or cotton quilts.
  • Earthen pots, no separate bathing place, no privacy.
  • Prosperous peasants had land around main structure, courtyard and chabutara.
  • Food was rice, lintel, onion, chillies, ghee was a luxury.
  • Hindu peasants went bareheaded and barefooted, Gujarat and Rajasthani's wore red handkerchief around head.
  • Women wore sari or lehanga.

Ruling Classes

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  • Head was Sultan, synonymous with the state.
    • Was politically independent but culturally part of Islamic world
    • Luxurious living to maintain distance from common.
  • Owned and made huge palaces. Ibn Battuta mentions lofty gates, thousand pillars, huge halls, polished by wooden pillars during MBT.
  • Royal umbrella sceptre used, Hindu rulers used the Chhatra, Danda with a Chowri (fly whisk).
  • Band of Musicians accompanied the Sultan.
  • Darbar was where court proceeding, special occasions like coronation, royal function etc took place.
  • Harem was where women lived. Sultan's mother, his queens, female servants and slaves lived. A karkhana was attached to their needs.

Town Dwellers

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City Life

  • Broach, Cambay, Lakhnauti, Sonarogaon and Multan were some trading centres.
  • $ Ibn Battuta has given detailed account of Delhi.
  • Largest city in Islamic world, mixed population of merchants.
  • Multanis were mostly Hindus traded West Asia others were Gujarati, Marwaris.
  • Jains constructed temples.
  • Large residential buildings surrounded by Orchards and fruit gardens Cambay.
  • Big house, consumed good food and fine clothes.
  • & Cotton silk garments, sandalwood paste, rings, gold earrings studded with precious stones used by men.
  • & Women wore sari and silk blouses, jewellery made of gold and silver metals, earrings, anklets, rings on fingers and toes
  • Muslim merchants clothes studded w/ gold, long boots
  • Bengal, Gujarat famous for fine clothes, Cambay for gold and silver works.
  • Barani mentions Multanis and Sahas of Delhi acquired wealth from maliks and amirs and repaid their loans with assignment of draft over iqta.
  • Broker/ Dallals operated b/w merchants and customers.
  • Sarraf or money changers.

Women

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  • Women were subordinate to men, main duty was to rear children.
  • Birth of daughter was looked down upon, were confined to antahpura /inner sanctum.
  • Early marriages, wife's duty towards husband his kula was stressed.
  • Annulment of marriages took place in special circumstances like desertion, disease or mental disorder.
  • @ Some upper class women were given education like Dewalrani, Rupamati, Padmavati and Razia Sultan.
  • $ Ibn Battuta mentions a woman burning herself/sati but it was limited to upper strata of society. Practice of Jauhar among Rajput.
  • Widow had the right to property of a sonless husband but did not apply uniformly all over.
  • Purdah was prevalent among both Hindus and Muslims and attained institutionalised form

Religious Classes

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  • Ulema were given special religious place in administration.
  • Dastarbandan were associated with admin of justice and religious laws.
  • Helped in theological matters.
  • Formed the elite group Ahl Qalam.
  • Gave moral support to imperial rule.

Caste and Slavery under the Sultanate

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Slaves and Servants

  • Master-slave relation formed, noblemen referred themselves as slaves
  • 2 types of slaves were there
    • Bought in an open market
    • Prisoners of war
  • Bought for domestic service or for special skills
  • FST collected 180,000 slaves most employed in handicrafts or bodyguards
  • ! Eunuchs were slaves to guard harems
  • Women slaves were for either domestic service or entertainment and pleasure.
  • Became mark of prosperity, nobles vied among each other.
  • were treated better than servants.

Position of Hindus and Jizya

  • Religious freedom to those who accepted M rule were called 'Zimmis'.
  • New temples could not be built but old ones could be repaired.
  • Origin of Jizya has been debated even traced to pre Islamic Iran and Greece.
  • @ Until the time of Khalji and Firuz there is no reference to Jizya as a cess. As a separate tax it was collected in small section in towns.
  • Qazi Mughis in court of AK was in favour of collecting it and using it as means of harassing and humiliating, insulting Hindus.
  • $ Barani says that during the reign of Iltutmish argument was put to give Hindus either Islam or Death. Nizam ul Mulk Junaidi said M were too few like salt in food and would be impractical.
  • H continued to dominate country side as Khuts, Muqaddams, Chaudhuri, rana, Thakur.
  • Barani objects to H being honored, distinguished, favored and eminent.

PYQs

Society

  1. Analyse the social composition and the role of mobility under the successors of Iltutmish. How did it affect the contemporary politics? [2012, 30m]