From Indus to Independence - A Trek Through Indian History by Sanu Kainikara

Author:Sanu Kainikara [Kainikara, Sanu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Reference
ISBN: 9789385563157
Google: 4JCsjwEACAAJ
Publisher: Vij Books India
Published: 2016-01-07T00:41:41+00:00

Radical Religious Policy

Muhammad believed that spiritually the sultan stayed at an exalted height and that his character was too strong to be dominated by the priestly class. Barani, his chronicler and occasional critic, complains about Muhammad’s thorny relationship with the clergy and denounces his rationalism. No doubt this criticism was egged on by the sultan’s direct questioning of traditional orthodoxy in the practice of Islam. Till Muhammad’s rule, the Maulvis, religious teachers and interpreters of the Quran, were considered above the law, ensconced and sacrosanct in their religion and pious stature. However, Muhammad was the first sultan to punish Maulvis who flouted his authority, were involved in aiding rebellion, or embezzled funds.

Muhammad ignored the Sharia, the Canon Law of Islam, which controlled all aspects of governance and life for a Muslim. He conducted the political aspects of ruling a kingdom based on reason and decreed that in administrative matters, secular considerations must always prevail. This brought him into direct conflict with the Ulema, the clergy, who had always influenced state policy. Regarding religious influence on the running of the State, Muhammad Tughluq’s attitude was extremely pragmatic. He consulted and accepted the advice of theologians only when it was reasonable and expedient to do so. Even in the delivery of justice—an area in which the ruling of the Quazis, the theologian-justices, were considered sacrosanct—Muhammad ventured to overturn judgements that he found to be defective. In enforcing these steps, he put an end to the domination of the Ulema in political affairs and administrative matters of the State. This created a group of influential religious leaders to harbour anti-sultan sentiments that they surreptitiously used to influence the common people against Muhammad. However, in his personal life he was a devout Muslim, observing all the laid down practices to be considered a diligent follower of the tenets of Islam. Muhammad was perhaps the first Muslim ruler in Delhi to attempt the difficult segregation of religion and State in a Muslim autocracy.

Muhammad Tughluq, like Balban before him, considered his own person closer to God than any of his subjects and referred to himself as the ‘Shadow of God’. This is a slightly different version of the concept of ‘the divine right to rule’ that was practiced during the medieval times across the monarchies of the world—in Europe, Japan, and South-East Asia. Early in his reign, Muhammad very clearly broke away from the Caliphate of the Middle-East, establishing his independence in all matters, both temporal and spiritual. However, towards the later part of his rule, when his unpopularity was almost at its zenith and Muhammad had become aware of it, he reversed his policy towards the Caliphate. He requested the impoverished and ineffectual Khalifa (Caliph) in Egypt to confirm him as the sultan of Delhi, in an attempt to boost his sagging popularity. This act of paying obeisance to the Caliph did not restore his popularity and Muhammad was both surprised and chagrined to notice the apathy of his subjects to his rule.

Although in his

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