Bulban is the only sultan of Delhi who elaborated his views on kingship. He did not miss any opportunity to say something about kingship or the other about the high office of the Sultan and the duties of the ruler. It started when he became the prime minister was Nasiruddin Mahmud. Habibullah says that Mahmud ruled for about 20 years but did not gavern, Balban had gaverned.
Cause
of vigorous expression of Kingship
It
cannot be denied that this was necessary in order to elevate the Crown to a
high and respected level and to eliminate all possibilities of conflict and
opposition to feudalism, but behind these constant precepts lies the complex of
its inferiority complex and guilt. We also
get a feel of the process.
1. Regicide's
Stigma
Shouting
incessantly into the ears of his amirs, most of whom were his companions,
that
kingship was a divine institution, he
aimed to wash off the stigma of tyranny that had been placed on his forehead,
and
this in their minds. The thought should be well settled that he has ascended
the throne by the will of God and not by the poisoned cup or dagger of a
murderer.
2. Legal
disqualification due to slavery
Apart from this, it is also important to have no reference in the history of Minhaj or Barani about his liberation from slavery. Probably he was never freed from slavery. Due to this fundamental legal incompetence, he was not entitled to rule over the people and to hide this, he cleverly tried to legitimize his power under the guise of "divine obligation".
Persian elements of Balban's kingship
Bulban's
kingship theory was taken from Persia,
where kingship had been elevated to the highest level and its supernatural and
divine attributes were publicly accepted so that Sassani only
a person of imperialist dynasty could ascend the throne. For his political
ideals, he took inspiration from the mythological heroes of Persia and tried to
follow them as far as possible. The basic elements of his kingship
theory are as follows:
1. Dignity
of Kingship:
King is the representative of God on earth
The
king is the representative of God on earth 'Niyabat-i-Khudai' and in terms of honor and
dignity, he is only after prophethood. The king is the image of God (Jille
Allah) and his heart is a storehouse of divine inspiration and revolution. He
is constantly inspired and guided by God to fulfill his royal duties. The real
meaning of this ideology was that the source of power of the king is not the umrah
class or the people but only God, and
consequently his actions are not subject to public scrutiny. It was a complex
religious device by which he wanted to sanctify his autocratic authority. Pretentious
honor, dignity and prestige were made important for kingship. Throughout his
reign, Balban always stayed away from the common man and took this perception
so far that he did not even like to talk to ordinary people. proud A wealthy
Delhi man named Bawani tried to meet the Sultan by bribing the officials of the
palace, but the Sultan refused the request of his officers. The importance of elements
related to the dignity of kingship had made him an advocate of etiquette. He
would never attend the court without his full royal splendor and equipment. Even his personal servants never saw him without a
royal dress, socks and a crown.
2.Emphasis
on high-born nobility
: distance
to honor
Balban
always stressed on the importance of distinction between the people of high-born
and non high-born family. He
considered keeping in touch with the members of the elite family or their
appointment to any post in the government as bringing down the honor and
dignity of the ruler. He removed all
the people born in the insignificant family
from important posts. He scolded his courtiers a lot for the selection of a new
Muslim named Kamal Mahiyar to the post of 'Mutasrif
of Amroha'. He is said to have said, 'When
I see a person with a frivolous family, every pulse of my body gets excited
with anger. Genealogy became a force to be reckoned with. He himself linked his
lineage with the mythological
Afrasiab mentioned in the Shah
Nama of Firdausi and used to say this with great pride and arrogance in his
court. In one of his
letters Syed
ashraf Jahangir Samnani writes that Balban
got all his officers and government servants' families investigated.
Genealogical experts from all the regions of the country had gathered in Delhi to
help them in determining the family status of these people.
3. Emphasis
on Persian customs and tradition : Sanskritization
Balban
had a belief that kingship is not possible without following the customs of the
Persian lifestyle. In every matter of his private and public life, he followed
the customs of Persia very carefully. His sons who were born '
before
'
his ascension, he named Mahmud and Muhammad, but his
grandsons who were born after the ascension were named Kaiqubad,
Kaikhusro
like the emperors of Persia.
4. Recognition
of the Caliphate :
Religious Device
Often
Bulban used to talk about seeking the permission of the Caliph to exercise
political power. He knew about the fall of Baghdad and the end of the
Caliphate, yet he insisted on the recognition of political power to the Caliph,
who was the leader of the political sect of all Muslims.
The
name of the late caliph was inscribed on his coins and it was read in '
khutba
'
of mosques.
5. Balban's court: “Bhaukaal” (show off)
Bulban
organized his court according to Iranian tradition and adopted Sassani's
etiquette and formality with great care and detail. On his face shining like
the sun, which had a white beard like camphor. He sat on his throne like the
great Sassanian rulers. A
sixteenth-century writer Fijuni Astarabadi
says that he had a long beard on his long face and that he wore a very high
crown in such a way that it was about a yard in length from the end of his
beard to the top of his crown. With this intimidating personality, small
elements of court's brilliance and etiquette and formality were associated with
'Hajib',
'Salahdar', 'Janadar',
'Choush' and
'Naqib'
etc. Silently around him in a very serious posture. Used to
stand sultan He urged all those who had the privilege to appear before him to
carry out the tradition of 'zaminbos'
(to bow down on one's knees) and '
Paibos ' (feet
touching). No jokes or extravagant conversations were possible in his presence;
behind the throne sat only a few trusted maliks and confidants. Others stood
before him according to their position. The Sultan used to sit in a very
serious posture to maintain the prestige of his office. No one has ever seen
him laughing or in a normal state. Great personal storms came in his life
intensely and unexpectedly. Till the last moments of his life, this freak of
court formalities carefully followed the difficult program set for him. During
the celebrations, the court appeared to be a place of marvelous grandeur. The
embroidered rugs, decorative curtains,
colorful
clothes, and gold and
silver utensils dazzled the sight of the onlookers. The voices of the concierge
were to be heard for two Miles.
Barani writes that, 'For
many days after these ceremonies, people used to talk about the decoration of
the court. When ambassadors from abroad used to come to his court,
they
were speechless and surprised. When the sultan went out in procession, the
Sistani soldiers used to accompany him with drawn swords. The radiance of the
sun, the gleaming of the swords
and the radiance of his face all collectively produced an impressive sight.
When the royal procession used to go out, 'Bismillah!
Bismillah! ' slogans ripped
through the atmosphere. This display of power,
power
and prestige, which was invariably stored in his head,
along with his principle of kingship, made even the
most arrogant of the country obedient and created fear and terror in the minds
of the common man.
Practical
elements that support Kingship
1. Reorganization
of the Army : Monopoly on the Means of Violence
Bulban
learned from political experience that the army was the basic pillar of
governance. Therefore its organization was necessary before any other
department. The traditions practiced by Iltutmish had slowed down and therefore
a complete reorganization of the army was necessary.
1. Bulban
increased the number of the army and the central force of the army 'Qalb-I-Aala'.
Has appointed thousands of loyal and experienced officers. Their salary was
increased and villages were fixed for them in lieu of their salary.
2. Salaries
of soldiers and keeping them happy and content was an essential part of
Bulban's strategic policy. he was given this advice
to his son Bugara Khan : Do not overestimate the amount of
money to be spent for the army and let your 'Ari
'
(military recruiting officer) be busy in arranging old
soldiers and recruiting new ones. He should be aware of every expenditure in
his department.
3. To
keep the army always alert and agile, he used to insist on repeated military
exercises. Every autumn he used to go to Rewari early in the morning on the
pretext of hunting and took with him a thousand cavalrymen and a thousand
infantrymen and came back very late at night.
2. Administrative
Reform : Welfare Remedy from
Enlightened Autocracy
Describing
the administrative achievements of the Sultan, Barani writes: '
Nature
gave the Sultan balban Royal clothes were sewn on his body. When he ascended
the throne of Delhi, every state employee was autocratic and the whole
administrative system was in disarray. He tightened all its loose parts and
made the bureaucracy loyal and obedient to the royal authority. Like most
medieval governments in the East and West, Bulban's rule was semi-civilian and
paramilitary. This was due to the medieval warfare system because government
officials could not function unless they had the capability of civilian and
military rule.
1. He
oversaw training and appointments. Due to the present scientific progress, now
military training has become a very specialized subject. In the Middle Ages,
swordsmanship and writing skills were often taught together. In every sphere of
political life, Bulban firmly stopped the divisive tendencies. He believed in
central political power. Most of the government appointments were either made
by him or with his permission. The fact that a simple appointment at Amroha
could have attracted his attention proves that he kept a close watch on the entire
bureaucratic system.
2. He
had to send his periodical reports to the provincial governors. A very
efficient audit system controlled the economic activities of the governors.
Seeing the dire situation in the frontier provinces like Multan and Lakhnauti,
he finally appointed his sons as governors in these areas. Bulban did not want
to give an opportunity to any feudatory or official to organize his position in
some subtle area of the empire and then present to him the difficulty that
Tughril had done. If the post of the watchman of the western frontier was the
means of state authority, then no person other than his eldest son could be the
officer of that area.
3. Since
in order to reduce the power of the Sultan, it was Bulban himself who first called
Like the ' Naib-i-Mumlakat',
new posts were created, so he took care that too much power should not
accumulate in the hands of any officer. He reduced the importance of his
position by snatching his military and economic rights from the Wazir.
The appointment of Baja Hasan to the post of Wazir gave an indication of his
attitude towards the post of Prime Minister and how he expected it to act.
After the separation of economic and military rights, the possibility of
grabbing power by a state official was completely eliminated.
4. Bulban
realized that an autocratic rule required a loyal intelligence system. His
spies always kept him well aware of the happenings in every region of the
state. He kept a watchful eye on the activities of his sons,
relatives,
provincial
governors, military officers,
government
servants and the public and kept on sending their information. He used to
appoint 'Barid'
(intelligence officer) with great care and wealth. A
person was appointed to the post of 'Barid'
only after thorough investigation of character,
honesty
and even lineage. The 'Barids'
were
recognized by the general public and spies, and their successful system so that
the character weakness and mistrust did not arise in the public depended on the
cleverness of the Sultan.
In this regard, Bulban advised his son that informers and spies should not be
allowed near the court, because
the rulers become obedient and reliable friends by their proximity and their
trust in the ruler which is the basis of good governance. is destroyed.
Bulban's
political outlook and administrative principles can be glimpsed in the two
lectures he gave to his sons and from which Barani has drawn detailed
quotations. From these teachings the following principles are known:
1. Government
should make protective laws and protect the interests of the weak from the
tyranny of the able-bodied.
2. Ideal
of balanced governance sentence should be neither harshness nor laxity in
dealing with the public, neither so much as to make the people poor nor so
little that they become disobedient and insolent .
3. The
government should take care that suitable food grains are produced according to
the needs of the people.
4. The
orders of the ruler should be strictly enforced and the decisions of the
government should not be changed frequently .
5. There
should be proper planning and arrangement of the economic condition of the
state. Only half of the annual income should be spent. The remaining half
should be kept safe for emergency times.
6. To
keep the traders prosperous and satisfied.
7. Soldiers'
salaries should be paid on time and the army should be kept happy and
satisfied.
3. Justice:
Sympathy and appreciation of ordinary human beings
He
considered justice as the supreme responsibility of the ruler. This was a
satisfactory feature of his autocratic rule and as a result he must have won
the sympathy and admiration of ordinary people. Whenever he came to know about
injustice or atrocities against an ordinary person, he used to get furious with
anger and did not hesitate to punish even his officer or relative. Qarabeg's
father Malik Bakbak who was the Iqtadar of Badaun and Malik Kiran's father
Haibat Khan, who was
the
Iqtadar
of Awadh, was severely punished. Malik Bakbak was killed and Haibat Khan was
given 20,000 tanka pay the fine
because he had killed his personal domestic servants.
Although
Bulban used to do justice in the personal disputes of the people,
he
did not care the least for the principles of justice and honesty when the
matter of a person's dispute with the state was brought up where his personal
or his family interests were concerned. In such a situation neither he cared
for justice and honesty nor did he behave very unreasonably towards 'Shariat'.
4. Detective
System: Deterrence Power
His
'Barids'
(officers of the intelligence department) kept giving
him complete information about the works of the officials of different regions
of the empire. If a 'Barid'
did
not convey the news of the autocracy of any local authorities, he was given
severe punishment. The 'Barid'
of
Badaun was killed and his body was displayed on the cross because he had not
performed this duty.
5. Emphasis
on implementation of policy : Commitment
Form
or implementation of Balban 's kingship theory is clearly visible to us in the
revolt of Lakhnauti and its abolition. His servants and governor in Lakhnauti Tugril
Khan revolted in the eighth year of his rule (1275 AD). For the suppression of
this rebellion, the governor of Awadh, Malik Aitgin
Muidraj or Amin Khan was sent. For his failure, he was given the death penalty.
Failure to follow the orders of the Sultan literally was considered
disobedience. His body was hung at the main gate of Awadh,
so
that in future, seriousness and complete loyalty to the execution of the orders
of the Sultan should be shown. After that, when Bahadur also failed to be
appointed, then Balban also
considered him suitable for the death penalty,
but
after his intervention, he was finally exiled from the court. After that,
when
Tugril himself was eradicated in Bengal with a huge army and son Bugra, then he
was not satisfied with the killing of Tugril. He not only got his severed head
turned on the tip of a spear in the whole kingdom, but also hung his torso at
the main gate of Lakhnauti. Not only this, hanging boards
were put up on both sides in the main market of
Lakhnauti and the followers, soldiers
and supporters of Tughril were publicly executed. According to the description
of historian Ziauddin Barani, Balban
followed the Bengal policy of Iltutmish, realizing
its political and strategic importance (due to the distance of Bengal from
Delhi), his son Bughra Khan was
appointed the governor there. Not only that,
he
Addressing Bugra Khan
thrice asked whether he had seen this gruesome scene of Lakhnauti,
Then
explained to him that if he too was instigated
to revolt against Delhi by the sly, conspirators,
then the same fate would befall him and his allies.
Balban made his principle of kingship very clear in
this way that, "Kingdom does
not know fraternity."
Under
these fundamental principles, Balban built a firm and efficient governance
system. Gave the people the 'Peace
and Justice'
they
had been waiting for many decades. The Sultan 's history written by Barani
makes it clear that while Bulban was harsh and hardworking towards his amirs
from whose position he had risen, he
was very kind and caring to the common citizen. He displayed fatherly behavior
towards the public although he hated the illiterates.
Negative
side of Kingship
Became
a Umrah force, who was a man of
the same stature, well aware of the
strengths and weaknesses of the Turki
ruling class. His power depended on the support of this class, but he had to be
careful of three things.
(1)
Struggle
as before between the Crown and the Umrah
(2)
The competition between his sons and the Turkic nobles
after his death and
(3)
Monopoly
of power by Turkic Umrah
in frontier territories
The
policy he adopted for this purpose proved to be very fatal for the larger
interests of the Turki
ruling class in India.
(1)
He
mercilessly killed all the members of Iltutmish's family.
(2)
He freely used venom and dagger to drive off the capable
Turkic nobles who could challenge his successors.
(3)
Chihalgani 's party, which he himself was a member,
was fatally attacked and by killing its key members ended
his collective life, which could be successfully used in times of conflict with
non-Turkic elements, despite mutual opposition and animosity.
(4)
He
killed even his relatives like Sher - Khan only out of jealousy.
Since
Bulban was keen to protect his personal interests and that of his dynasty, he
chose the Turkey
ruler. Didn't care even for the interests of the class. He so mercilessly
destroyed capable people in Turkey that when the Khaljis entered the political
arena against him as a contender for the throne, he was defeated in utter
astonishment. This cannot be done from the fact that the force was responsible
for the decline of the Turkic power in India. His organization program
undoubtedly assured the stability of the Delhi Sultan and paved the way for his
further expansion under the Khaljis, but his policy towards the Turkic
feudatories weakened him and shortened his life.
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