Qutub
Shahi Dynasty: Nature of the State
- Lalhminghlua
The Qutub Shahi Kingdom was
formed from the weak and disintegrated Bahmani Kingdom by Qutub-ul-Mulk like
many other Governors of the time who declared their independence and autonomy.
Sultan-Quli Qutub-ul-Mulk, the founder of the Qutub Shahi dynasty belonged to
the Turkish Qara-Quyunlu tribe. Most of the tribe were killed by a hostile
tribe Aq-Quyunlu. Although Qutub-ul-Mulk’s family made their escape, on account
of unsafe ambience, Sultan Quli was sent to India who reached Deccan during the
reign of Muhammad Shah III of Bahmani Kingdom at the age of twenty. However, in
the later period the internecine feuds led to the disintegration of the Bahmani
Kingdom and Governors of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Berar became autonomous.
The kingdom was divided into
Tarafs or Provinces. There were six Tarafs during the reign of Abul Hasan of
which Telengana was one. There were 37 sarkars or districts divided into taluks
or parganas. Each taraf was ruled by a Governor. The officer in charge of the
sarkars and parganas were called Faujdars who were assisted by Havaldars. Ports
like Machilipatnam were important for the lucrative trade carried on the
foreigners – British, Portuguese and the Dutch. The Chief Port Officer was
called Shah Bandar whose chief duty was to collect the revenues. The authority
of the port was auctioned to the highest bidder who according to Moreland were
mostly Brahmins and Banians. The Sarkars were called Simi, the plural of Sima –
Bellamkonda, Vinukonda, Nizampatnam, Kondapalli, Machilipatnam, Eluru, Rajahmundry
etc. There were also a number of local officials who were mentioned in the
farmans and sanads of the Qutub Shahis such as Deshpande, Thanedar, Deshmuk,
Majumdar, Thalkurni etc. The Headman of the village was called the Muqaddam and
the accountant Kulkarni. The deshpande holds the position of the Pargana
accountant. The Durbar were decorated in pomp and luxury. It was convened in
the morning attended by the lords and nobles of the Kingdom. Besides the
durbars ministerial courts were also held where matter of public importance
were discussed.
The post of the Governors were
auctioned to the highest bidders. Tapan Raychaudhuri says that apart from the
specified amount granted to the Governor for the maintenance of the
administrations, he was free to keep for himself everything above the amount
for which he had contracted. As there was little interference with the
Governor’s administration as long as he pay the revenue, it led to the misery
of the people under him. The fear of the heavy punishment or execution in case
of failure to pay the revenue force the Governor to draw more from the people. Sometimes the Governor would
lease out the land to other at higher rates than what he had contracted for;
the people in turn would extract more from the peasants.
However, the Muslims and the
Hindus were on equal footings under the Qutub Shahis in terms of appointment to
high posts. Although there was a constant struggle between the Qutub Shahis and
the Vijayanagar, Sultan Quli Qutub-ul-Mulk allowed Ramaraj to hold high position
in the kingdom.
The Jagirs were virtually
ruled by the landed gentry, bound by military obligations to the King. Most of
the Jagirdars also called Omrahs were Persians who were extremely rich. The
Jagirdars holding fiefs under military tenure claimed no proprietary right on
the soil. They were transferable at the will of the King whose property were
seized by the King at their death. The revenue collected from the peasants and
cultivators were for the maintenance of military establishments. The King who
appointed Desayis, Deshmuks and Poligars were given a share of the revenue
within a certain tract. The Jagirdars were required to maintain a large or
small bodies of troops for the military service. Under the Jagirdari system
there was a hierarchy of nobles according to the number of troops under him.
They were either paid in cash or in fiefs in proportion to the number of horses
they maintain.
As regards to the village
administration, the old Panchayat continued but according to Sherwani, “…it was
largely feudal in character and we do not find any trace of election of the
members of the Pnachayat anywhere”. Most of the villages were held under Mirasi
tenure. The word “mirasi” is derived from the Miras which means hereditary
right. The farmans of the Qutub Shahi contained certain references to twelve
Ayagars holding land under hereditary tenure called Balutiyan. There were
twelve of them – Patel or Headman, Kulkarni or Accountant, Chaudhuri or Head of
Traders, Potadar or Money Changer, Despandya or District Accountant, Nahani or
Barber, Parit or Washer man, Gurav or Temple attendant, Sutar or Carpenter,
Kumbar or Potter, Vesanar or Gatekeeper and the Joshi or Astrologer.
According to Sherwani,”…the
Watandars, or those holding under an official tenure, and the Marisadars who
were hereditary landlords, considered themselves as a kind of family group, and
the deliberative body which was formed by them to look after the matters
concerned with the village was called the Gotsabha ( from Gotra or family). The
Gotsabha, whether of a particular village or a collection of villages, was
therefore essentially a feudal institution consisting of the Watandars the
Mirasidars and the Qauldars of the locality”.
Most of the districts had
Deskaval or District Watch system under which certain Parganas were put under
the charge of Kavalgar or Palayakar, a hereditary officer responsible for the
peace of the district, for the apprehension of criminals and recovery of stolen
property. Disputes connected with customary law from which the Sultans kept
aloof were handled by the local Brahmasabha or caste assembly according to the
nature of the dispute.
Under the Qutub Shahis there
were three kinds of laws – Quran, Royal farmans and laws based on local customs
and practices. The Chief Justice ( Shariapanch) was the head of the judicial
system next to whom was the Qazi. The Mufti was a learned scholar attached to
the Qazi’s court. The Muhtasib propagated Muslim law and looked after public
morals. Each province has a judge directly under the Chief Justice. Each
pargana had the Qazi, Hawaldars and Majlisi. The Thanedarwas the primary
authority who tried cases with the help of local Gotsabha. However, the benefit
of the judicial system was diminished when insecurity of life and property was
the rule and elements of order entirely absent which was the condition of most
of the provinces. To illustrate, the author of the “ Ganjam District manual”
wrote :
“During the Mohametan government an Adaulat was established at
Chicacole in which the Amildar nominated by the Nabob was supposed to preside,
but he appears to have disposed of the authorityand profit which were
established at twenty five percent on the amount of property”.
This means that the post of
the Amildar or the Judge was rented to a person whose qualification was neither
knowledge nor experience in law but the capacity to pay an exorbitant
price.
The comment of the Fifth
Report from the select committee on the “ Political Survey of James Grant”
shows that the revenue system of the northern circars in which the Zamindars
were revenue farmers empowered to bear arms for maintaining the law and order
and who could collect the revenue in cash or kind. The changes introduced by
the government and the many abuses and exactions reduced the share of the ryots
or peasants to a sixth of the produce. This was aggravate by the method of
sub-renting the lands to farmers who were authorized to collect the revenue.
Apart from this the duties
from inland trade were also collected. Such duties were called Sayer which were
levied on grain, cattle, salt and all other products traversing through the
country. Such was the condition of the Zamindaries of the northern circars
during the Qutub Shahi period.
The havelies on the other hand
consisted of the Demesne or household lands of the circar or government. In the
havelies, the Government collected certain portion of crops as revenue through
the method of renting. The sowcars who advanced the money or those who made
farming their profession acted as oppressors of peasantry.
Sea and land customs collected
at different ports on imports and exports formed another source of revenue. The
government had certain articles like salt, diamonds, betel and tobacco for
which annual payments were made to the government collected by the officials.
But there are also cases of remission of taxes as can be inferred from an
inscription at Kondapalli on lands by the King. Another inscription at
Mangalagiri records the terms of tax concessions to the cultivators by the
King.
With regard to the industry –
peasant handicrafts and independent professions of the artisans - embraced a
large portion of the rural as well as urban population during the Qutub Shahi
period. This must have been caused by the disintegration of the traditional
unity between agriculture and industry, the increasing inequality of property
in the community and the decay of the self-sufficient character of village
economy. The Qutub Shahi period saw the traditional self-sufficient village
breaking up and production for the market was emerging in a big way and that
concentration of man power involving social division of labour was making its
headway in coastal Andhra. There were other industries like salt, jewellery,
sugar etc. which were based on concentration of man power, division of labour
and advancement of capital.
Now the consolidation of the
Qutub Shahi saw the practice of religious toleration and even encouragement to
Hinduism and Hindu subjects. Although there are cases of destruction of temples
there are also several cases where Kings and their subordinates donated
liberally to the temples. Fro example : The donation of Bhadrachalam,
Shankargiri and Palwancha to the Ramadas temple by Abul Hasan founded in 1652
and also Aswarao, a general of Muhammad Quli who donated Srikurmam to the
temple of Kurmanatha under the orders of the King. Not only temples but
agraharas were also granted to the Brahmins. A strong Hindu influence can also
be seen on the building – Toli Masjid – build by Musa Khan.
There are also case of Muslims
granting villages for the benefit of the people and bestowing other kinds of
charities for the merit of themselves and their King. So, one can find that the
Qutub Shahis patronized the religious and charitable institutions of their subjects
for placating their good will. There are also no indications to prove forcible
conversions to Islam on a large scale in the Golconda Kingdom.
Nelaturi Venkataramanayya wrote,”…the Qutub
Shahis of the Golconda were the most enlightened. True, they plundered and
destroyed Hindu temples in the enemy’s territory during the course of their
invasions, but within their own dominions the Hindu enjoyed a measure of
religious freedom, not known in other Muslim kingdoms…they never regarded
themselves as alien conquerors, superior to the people over whom they held
sway. They were, of course, Muslims, but, like their subjects, they were
Andhras”.
Such a policy of religious
toleration brought about unity and understanding even between some rival Hindu
sects.
With regard to the practice of
Sati, the Muslim rulers made efforts to curb the practice but could not set up
a direct law to curb it since the population who endorsed this was much more
populous than them. However, an indirect means of checking was taken which
requires prior permission of the ruler. The rulers tried to dissuade rather
than by force although the success rate was small. The impact of
self-sufficient village economy on the social traditions was clear.
The courtesans enjoyed
patronage of the ruling class although they did not pay any tribute. They have
to attend the court every Friday and entertain the King and his nobles. They
also run liquor shops from which the King received a considerable amount of
revenue. According to Tavernier there were 20,000 courtesans in the city and
fort of Golconda.
The various festivals and
practices which formed an important part of Hindu religious community remained
undisturbed during the Qutub Shah period.
REFERENCES:
·
A Study of the History and Culture of the Andhra
– K. Satyanarayana ( Peoples Publishig House 1982)
·
History of India Volume II : Medieval Period –
P.N. Chopra, T.K. Ravindran, N. Subrahmanian
