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