MUSLIM LAW

 Islamic law, also known as Sharia law

 Medieval india: Delhi sultanate and Mughal Empire
 Both had very well versed judicial systems
 Had different types of courts with defined jurisdictions
 People in charge had too much power and were sometimes corrupted

Delhi Sultanate (3 centuries, start around 1206):

 Aibak(1206-90)
 Khilji (1290-1320)
 Tughlaq(1320-1413)
 Saiyyadi and Lodhi(1413-1526)
 First 3 dynasties were Turkish, 4th were Afghans
 Imp Q: Whether DS had sovereignty over entire India?
 Sovereignty only limited to northern parts
 Northern side culture influenced by DS n Mughals, unlike southern part

Mughal Empire (start 1526, end 1858):

 First phase- Babur to Aurangzeb(till 1707)
 1707- Downfall of Mughal Empire

Political ideologies-
 Believers of Quran(sacred, divine origin)
 With time, they added traditions of prophet to Quran
 Quran was the ultimate source, but many other sources were added on to it

DS:
 Transforming local inhabitants' religion
 Initial times, they tried to expand their empire. Later on, to increase longevity of empire,
they realised the need of state machinery and judicial system was established
 Some barbaric rulers declared one islamic law will govern every person
 Courts were also having pandits, to give interpretation of the law they're familiar with
 Hindu law was recognised ONLY to the extent of personal laws
 Some gave importance to Khalifas, rulers were below Khalifas, but some rulers didn't give
importance

ME:
  Babur and Humayun didn't do much to recognise hindu laws, Akbar did
 Wider territory than DS
 Weakening of ME- Jahangir gave permissions for trade to EIC
 Later Mughals were focussed on increasing revenues, and handed over administrator and
justice to Britishers where they were doing business, in return of some revenue
 Believers of Quran; writings of Quran are supreme
 Quran written at Mecca and Medina
 They included the traditions of prophet (Sunna/Hadid; some books say Hadid is a different
thing)
 Ulmas were appointed to give interpretation to Quran and traditions of prophet
 2 sects after death of prophet- Shia and Sunni

SOURCES OF LAW:
Primary Sources (ancient sources)-
1)Quran

 Quran is perceived by the prophet

 In Mecca, god revealed about religion, religious activities
 In Medina, god revealed how the person will live in the society
 Teachings of Quran compiled after death of prophet

2)Sunna

 After death of prophet, tug of war between people to decide who will get same status as
prophet
 Two sects- Biological descendants/People who have knowledge of Quran (Khalifas)
 Sunna followed by shia muslims
 Believed to be customs and traditions followed by prophet
 Hadith- scriptures of traditions or sayings of prophet

3)Ijma

 consensus
 Followed by sunni muslims

4)Qiyas

 deductive logic based upon ijmas

Secondary sources- legislation, customs, equity etc

Types of Q for quiz-

Sovereignty (both DS and ME; whether it lies with the King or the Quran)
 DELHI SULTANATE
CLASSIFICATION ON BASIS OF ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS:
Sultanate of Delhi

Provinces (subha)

Distict (sarkar)

Parganas

Village

 In DS, emphasis given to capital- main centre of business and development

 Topmost courts in capital
 Qazis and Muftis in charge of districts and parganas
 Respected persons looked after provinces, districts etc

ADMINISTATION OF JUSTICE:
CENTRAL CAPITAL-
1. Kings Court
2. Diwan Al Mazalim
3. Diwan e Risalat
4. Sadre Jahan’s
5. Chief Justice court
6. Diwan e siyasat

 Topics of laws were divided both in DS and ME

 Revenue matters dealt by separate courts
 In ME, crime of rebel had a separate jurisdiction- sedition against govt

Kings Court-

 Topmost court
 Presided over by Sultan
 Assisted by Muftis
 Muftis- well versed in religious and legal matters
 Kings court had original and appellate jurisdiction over all matters

Diwan al Mazalim-

 Appellate court for criminal matters

 Sultan presiding officer with chief justice

Diwan e Risalat-

 Highest appellate court for civil matters

 Sultan presiding officer with chief justice
  Chief justice- Qazi ul quzat
 In kings absence, power delegated to qazi ul quzat
 Later qazi ul quzat lost credibility for not dispensing justice according to quran
 Power of qazi ul quzat was reduced and given to sadre jahan alongwith sadre jahan
court

Sadre Jahan-

 Dealt with civil, criminal and revenue matters

 Below it was chief justice court

Diwan e siyasat-

 For rebel and sedition matters

 Appeal here goes straight to kings court

Sadre- civil

Fauzdari- criminal

PROVINCES:
1. Adalat nazim subah
2. Adalat qazi e subah
3. Nazim e subah(Governor’s Bench)
4. Diwan e subah
5. Sadre subah
 Nazim e subah had administrative and judicial powers

Adalat nazim subah-

o Governors court
o Delivered judgement in Kings name
o Both original and appellate jurisdiction
o Presided alone in original, took help in appellate

Adalat qazi e subah-

o Headed by chief provincial qazi

o Both civil and criminal cases
o Appellate jurisdiction ie. appeals from district
o Appeal from here goes to governors court

Nazim e subah-

o Presiding officer- Governor

o Criminal cases
o Both original and appellate jurisdiction

Diwan e subah-

o Matters of revenue

Sadre e subah-
 o Civil matters

DISTRICT PARGANAS VILLAGES

Qazi Qazi e pargana Village assembly(Panchayat)

Dadbaks Kotwal

Fauzdari

Sadre

Amils

Kotwals

VILLAGES:
VILLAGE ASSEMBLY-

 Matters adjudicated and arbitrated by panchayats

QAZI E PARGANA-

 Deals with civil and criminal matters

 NO appellate jurisdiction

KOTWAL-

 Had the power to adjudicate petty criminal offences

DISTRICTS:
QAZI-

 Both civil and criminal matters

 Both appellate and original jurisdiction

FAUZDARI-

 Original jurisdiction only for criminal matters

SADRE-

 Original jurisdiction only for civil matters

AMIL-

 Dealt only with revenue matters

KOTWAL-

 Dealt with petty criminal offences

 MUGHAL EMPIRE
 Classification of administrative units same as DS
 Development and institution of vakils took place
 2 types of lawyers- Prosecutor and Defence
 Vakils didn’t have a supervisory body
 Kotwal had weaker powers; judicial fn were limited apart from executive fns
 Sher shah tried increasing kotwals power
 Hierarchy of courts established by sher shah lasted for a short duration
 Kotwals- like police officers

CAPITAL:
Emperors court-

 Presided by emperor, with assistants(including chief justice-qazi ul quzat)

 Assisted by daroga e Adalat, mufti and mir adl
 Both original and appellate jurisdiction
 Both civil and criminal cases

Chief justice court-

 Presided by CJ alongwith qazis

 Assisted by Muftis, muhtasibs, mir adl
 Daroga e Adalat- ensures all people related to the case are present in the court
 Both original and appellate jurisdiction

Chief revenue court-

 Presided by diwan e ala

 ONLY Appellate jurisdiction

PROVINCES:
Governors court- Adalat e nazim e subah

 Both original and appellate jurisdiction

Provincial chief appellate court

 Presided by qazi e subah

 Both civil and criminal matters
 Both original and appellate jurisdiction

Provincial Chief revenue court- diwan e subah

 Matters related to revenue

 Both original and appellate jurisdiction

DISTRICT:
1. Chief civil and criminal court
2. Fauzdari
3. Kotwali
4. Amalguzari kacheri

Chief civil and criminal court-

 Presided by qazi e Sarkar

 Both civil n criminal matters
 Helped by 4 above mentioned officers, pandit/shastri and Vakil e sharayat

Fauzdari Adalat-

 ONLY deals with criminal cases related to rights or state security

Kotwali court-

 Presided by kotwal e sheher

 Both original and appellate jurisdiction
 Limited power, tries small petty offences

Amalguzari kacheri-

 Revenue cases ONLY

 Original jurisdiction

PARGANAS:
Adalat e pargana-

 Presided by qazi e pargana

 ONLY original jurisdiction
 Both civil and criminal
 Muftis, muhtasib, daroga, wakil e shara

Kotwali court-

 Presided by kotwal e pargana

 Petty criminal offences
 ONLY original jurisdiction

Amin courts-

 Revenue matters
 Original jurisdiction

VILLAGE:
 Sher shah gave more responsibility to panchayat and sarpanch
 Emperor appoints the judges at capital and province level
 Chief justice appoints at lower levels in accordance with emperor

PUNISHMENTS:
1. Hadd
2. Tazir
3. Qisas
Hadd-

 For offences like robbery, defamation etc

 Applicable for BOTH muslims and non muslims
 4-5 days in confinement

Tazir-

 Offences not covered by hadd

 Gambling, assault, minor theft etc
 Cutting of tongue, hand

Qisas-

 Includes capital punishment

 For offences like homicide