Social Life in Northern India (A. D.

600-1000) by Brij Narain Sharma

Review by: Romila Thapar
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 32, No. 1
(1969), pp. 175-176
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies
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 ItEVIEWS 175
and H. Goetz, ' Muslims in Vijayanagar : the and his team of helpers are to be congratulated
record of monuments ', shows the influence of on the pains they have taken to make the
the 'foreigners' on Vijayanagara Hindu art. volume a worthy tribute to this great scholar.
In section II, 'Epigraphy ', V. V. Mirashi, in To quote from the preface by Sri L. N. Gupta,
'A note on the Pandarangapalli grant of the Special Education Secretary of the
Avidheya' corrects some of the readings Andhra Pradesh government, who himself
of M. H. Krishna in Mysore Archaeological does much to encourage the development of
Survey Ann. Rept. for 1929; Z. A. Desai, the archaeology and the arts in the province,
present Government Epigraphist for Arabic ' such a life . . . is not to be mourned. It is to
and Persian inscriptions of the ASI, con- serve as a beacon light for hard and original
tributes 'Two Tughluq inscriptions from work to the coming generations of workers in
Daulatibhd ', which have previously been the intellectual field '. To judge by the merit
only reported. Since an inscription of of these contributions, and the warm tributes
733/1332-3 calls the town Deogir, not to Yazdani's work expressed in the volume,
Dawlatibhd, Dr. Desai is inclined to favour this part of Yazdani's service has already
the later date of 739/1339, as given by begun.
Firishta, for the probable change of title. J. BURTON-PAGE
In section In, ' Numismatics ', V. S. Agrawal,
in 'A unique treatise on medieval Indian
coins ', examines in detail a of
Thakkura Pheru of v.s. 1375 Dravya-pariks.
(A.D. 1318) ; that
BRIJ NARAIN SHARMA: Social life in
author was once mint-master to 'Al' al-Din northern India (A.D. 600-1000). xix,
Khalji, and writes from personal experience. 390 pp. Delhi: Munshiram Mano-
With Dr. Agrawal's valuable commentary, harlal, 1966. Rs. 25.
this article must commend itself to all stu-
dents of medieval Indian history. Khwaja The book is an endeavour to present an
Muhammad Ahmad contributes a short account of North Indian society during the four
article on ' Qutb Shahi coins '. centuries of the post-Gupta period of Indian
In sections Iv-vI, ' Architecture ', ' Art ', history. The main concern of the book, we are
'Museums ', M. Nizamuddin writes on 'A told, is to bring out the character of certain
unique illustrated manuscript of Sa'di's tendencies current at the time. Of these, two
Gulistan', Jagdish Mittal on ' Deccani are singled out. In the words of the author,
painting', M. S. Randhawa on 'Kingira ' We find the use of new privileges and restric-
painting ', and A. K. Bhattacharyya con- tions, new safeguards and with that also certain
tributes an article on a neglected topic in ' A tendencies in the opposite direction '.
survey of the art and technique of ivory The introductory chapter is a rapid survey of
in India ', with particular reference to the the political conditions of the period and other
Mughal period. In section vii, ' Literature ', factors constituting a general background.
Nazir Ahmad contributes 'Some little-known This is followed by chapters devoted to,
Indo-Persian poets of the thirteenth century ', ' Marriage and the position of women ', ' Caste
and K. A. Nizami 'Some newly-acquired system ', ' Education and literary activities ',
Persian manuscripts of the British Museum ' Religion ', ' Socio-religious rites, ceremonies
'.
Sections viii and Ix, 'Indian history', and festivals ', ' Toilet, dress and ornaments ',
'Miscellaneous ', contain R. C. Majumdar, ' Food and drink ', and' Village and town life '.
' Digvijaya and aggressive militarism in A concluding chapter attempts to suggest the
ancient India'; S. Hanmantha Rao, Buddhism character of the tendencies within these aspects
in the Deccan ; Muhibbul Hasan, 'A note on of social life. Curiously enough, although much
the assassination of Shar Afgan'; S. Moinul of the book is concerned with the upper sections
Haq, 'Shaykh Awliya'; P. M. of society, there is no discussion of property
Joshi, ''Ali-ud-Din Niz.m-al-Din
Khalji's first campaign laws which may have influenced social change.
against Davagiri'; Manzoor 'Alam, ' The Clearly considerable effort and labour have
growth of Hyderabad city: a historical gone into this book. and a vast number of
perspective '; N. Venkataramanayya, ' Mir sources have been consulted. The chapters on
Jumla's conquest of Karnitaka (from Telugu religion, of which there are three, have drawn
sources)'; P. Saran, ' Trade and life assurance on fairly detailed inscriptional material as well.
during the pre- and early British period in However, the sum total of this effort is a book
India'; and H. K. Sherwani, the Chairman which gathers together information from these
of the Editorial Board for this volume, 'The sources yet hardly increases our understanding
Osmania University. First phase: the Urdu of social life in northern India during the post-
medium '. Gupta period.
The work is excellently produced, and In the chapter on 'Marriage and the posi-
misprints seem to be few. Professor Sherwani tion of women ' we are told that early marriages
 IREVIEWS
176
became more frequent. In attempting to
explain this change the author summarizes
previously held views and continues to suggest
that it was due to 'the Aryans' desire to in-
crease their population' ! We are nowhere told
whether this was characteristic of all sections
of society or of certain groups only, or whether
it had any relation to changes in property
laws. Similarly we are told that niyoga went
out of practice but no reasons are indicated for
this change.
Each chapter is treated in almost total
isolation. Information on caste is fitted un-
questioningly into the scheme of the
dharma•Sstras, and the problem
varn.a of reconciling
this with contradictory evidence from other
sources is not examined. Nor is this informa-
tion in any way related to the other sections of
the book on education and religion, even where
the connexions seem obvious. Consequently
most of the information provided reads like a
catalogue of items, often not unknown from
earlier works on the subject. The analysis of
social life tends to get ignored. This is par-
ticularly noticeable in the chapter entitled,
' Religion : its popular side ', which reads like
an itinerary of places of pilgrimage, and a list
of fasts and of popular superstitions. Even the
question of why Tantric rituals became popular
is skated over. The chapter on 'Village and
town life ' suffers from a lack of even ele-
mentary familiarity with economic history.
Consequently we are told that, ' Of all village
industries the most important was agri-
culture '.
It is suggested that this was a period of in-
creasing social rigidity as witnessed in the
changes in the caste system and the intensi-
fication of taboos. Yet at the end of the book
we are left wondering how and why this
happened or, for that matter, what its impact
may have been on the history of the period.
ROMILA THAPAR
H. K. SHERWANI: Muhammad-Quli
Quitb Shah, founder of Haidarabad.
(Asia Monographs, No. 11.) xii, 151
pp., front., 6 plates. London: Asia
Publishing House, [1968]. 30s.
While, with the expansion of education,
professional, laboriously compiled but un-
sparkling theses on Indian history are being
published in alarming numbers, a smaller
number of works still appear by surviving
members of an older generation of historians,
who have not lost interest in their subjects
upon retirement from paid academic employ-
ment. The last few years have seen the publica-
tion of Dr. Ishwari Prasad's long study of
Humnyuin, and Dr. Kalika Ranjan Qanungo's
completely rewritten work on Shar Shah. To
these are now added Professor Haroon Khan
Sherwani's study of Muhiammad-Quli Qutb
Shah. These works are all marked by idio-
syncrasies which would be discouraged in
disciplined academic work, particularly in the
form of personal reminiscences embodied in
text, introduction, or footnotes, and by the
lack of certain current fashionable preoccupa-
tions: but also by a mellow judgement, an
affection and a depth of acquaintance which
comes from many years of living with their
subjects. If less earnestly contemporary in
their presentation, they are better reading than
the theses got up for publication.
Haroon Khan Sherwani, as a note on the
back of the title-page informs us, was born in
1891; his working life has been spent in
Hyderabad, Deccan, and at Osmania Uni-
versity. The history of the Deccan has also
been his main field of study. Those who are
familiar with Mahmiid Gwan (Allahabad,
1942), The Bahmanis of the Deccan (Hyderabad,
1953), and his numerous papers in historical
journals will be glad that Professor Sherwani
is still with us to produce his present study of
Mu1hammad-Quli Qutb Shah.
In the general consciousness of Indian
medieval history, the QutbshThs remain a
dynasty of minor importance, one of five
contenders for power after the fall of the
Bahmanis, and in time, like all their rivals,
swallowed up by the Mughal advance. Their
true importance, in contrast even with their
greatest competitors the 'AdilshThs, is the
result of the historical accident that the capital
city which they had created remained that of
their successors until 1948. After less than 50
years of effective Mughal control the Agaf
J~hi dynasty established once more a great
Deccani Muslim court at Hyderabad, which
until recent disastrous years was arguably the
last medieval Indo-Muslim state in being, and
was the living heir of the Deccani cultural
tradition of the Qutbshihs and the Bahmanis.
The second quarter of this century saw the
production of serious studies of the Qutbsh~hs
by scholars with local ties in Hyderabad and
partisan feelings for the dynasty. A representa-
tive of this school, called upon a few years ago
to review a modern Pakistani hagiographical
work in which Awrangz~b, extinguisher of the
dynasty, was presented as the model Islamic
ruler, could still denounce him as bitterly as
any contemporary for his ' faithlessness' (v.
A. M. Siddiqi in Islamic Culture, xxxviII, 2,
1964, 170).
Professor Sherwani's work is coloured by a
Deccani Muslim patriotism shared by this
small group of scholars. The preface has a sad