Literature, Caste and Society by S. Jayasela Stephen

Author:S. Jayasela Stephen [S. Jeyaseela Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kalpaz Publications

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Civil Society Under the Sultanate-Mughal Rule: The Role of the Sufis

Syed Ejaz Hussain

The concept of civil society is modern. In layman’s language the term civil society refers to the autonomous social organizations which resist arbitrary exercises of power by the state. In other words, civil society is a society wherein the social institutions enjoy certain liberties and by this method the power of the state is restrained or controlled. This conception goes back to the eighteenth century, when philosophers like Montesquieu and Thomas Paine argued that the despotic tendencies of Europe’s absolute monarchs could be checked if ‘intermediate powers’ such as the nobility, the bourgeoisie, the Church, and the press united to assert their independence.

Hegel, a noted modern Philosopher, who believed in a rational state based on individual liberty, has advocated a mutual dependence of state and civil society. The society, in Hegel’s opinion, will be governed by mechanical laws formed, directed and regulated by the state, and in this way, civil society will depend upon the state for intelligent supervision, while the state will depend upon civil society for accomplishment of its aforesaid task. But this theory of mutual dependence attributes a superior position to the state and gives an inferior status to the civil society. The authority of the state thus remains absolute and supreme. However, Hegel’s theory of individual liberty comprises the individual’s right of property which is considered an essential condition of human personality and without which people will become only a formless mass. This gives added strength to the civil society. Hegel’s concept of civil society, therefore, guarantees certain liberties and empowerment to the social institutions like guilds, corporations, local communities and other such autonomous organizations. Later on, growth of labour unions, chambers of commerce, corporate bodies, press and other voluntary associations began to be considered as strong elements of civil society. The level of internal organizations and assertiveness of these autonomous bodies determine how they control (and collaborate with) the state power1.

Today, the canvas of civil society and its elements has become wider. The conditions for a society qualifying as civil are now searched generally within the ambit of democracy, liberalism, human rights, individual’s liberty, civil justice as well as other social institutions which are immune from the state tutelage. India, with its pluralistic pattern of society for centuries and now being the largest democracy in the world, enshrines a long tradition which provides conditions for qualifying her as a civil society. During the period of six hundred years of the Sultanate-Mughal rule, India had witnessed many collisions and conflicts. In spite of this, the country forged a realm of harmony between the ruler and the ruled on the one hand, and between the two principal socio-religious groups i.e., the Hindus and the Muslims, on the other hand. This harmony largely qualified India as a civil society. A study of the Indian experience of civil society demands a wider analysis of social forces operating as determinant of civil society. In the context of the

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