sway. The Turushkas or Turks on the north; the heavenly Ganges on
the east; the Vindhya mountains on the south; the Sindhu river on
the west. [611] Though in tradition Kumárapála's name does not
stand so high as a builder as the name of Siddharája Jayasimha
he carried out several important works. The chief of these was
the restoring and rebuilding of the great shrine of Somesvara or
Somanátha Patan. According to the Prabandhachintámani when Kumárapála
asked Devasúri the teacher of Hemáchárya how best to keep his name
remembered Devasúri replied: Build a new temple of Somanátha fit to
last an age or yuga, instead of the wooden one which is ruined by the
ocean billows. Kumárapála approved and appointed a building committee
or pañchakula headed by a Bráhman named Ganda Bháva Brihaspati
the state officer at Somanátha. At the instance of Hemáchárya the
king on hearing the foundations were laid vowed until the temple
was finished he would keep apart from women and would take neither
flesh nor wine. In proof of his vow he poured a handful of water over
Nílakantha Mahádeva, probably his own royal god. After two years the
temple was completed and the flag hoisted. Hemáchárya advised the
king not to break his vow until he had visited the new temple and
paid his obeisance to the god. The king agreed and went to Somanátha,
Hemáchárya preceding him on foot and promising to come to Somanátha
after visiting Satruñjaya and Girnár. On reaching Somanátha the king
was received by Ganda-Brihaspati his head local officer and by the
building committee, and was taken in state through the town. At the
steps of the temple the king bowed his head to the ground. Under the
directions of Ganda-Brihaspati he worshipped the god, made gifts of
elephants and other costly articles including his own weight in coin,
and returned to Anahilapura.
It is interesting to know that the present battered sea-shore temple
of Somanátha, whose garbhágára or shrine has been turned into a mosque
and whose spire has been shattered, is the temple of whose building
and consecration the above details are preserved. This is shown by
the style of the architecture and sculpture which is in complete
agreement with the other buildings of the time of Kumárapála. [612]
Kumárapála's temple seems to have suffered in every subsequent
Muhammadan invasion, in Alaf Khan's in A.D. 1300, in Mozaffar's in
A.D. 1390, in Mahmúd Begada's about A.D. 1490, and in Muzaffar II.'s
about A.D. 1530. Time after time no sooner had the invader passed than
the work of repair began afresh. One of the most notable restorations
was by Khengár IV. (A.D. 1279-1333) a Chúdásamá king of Junágadh who
is mentioned in two Girnár inscriptions as the repairer of Somanátha
after its desecration by Alá-ud-dín Khilji. The latest sacrilege,
including the turning of the temple into a mosque, was in the time
of the Ahmadábád king Muzaffar Sháh II. (A.D. 1511-1535). Since then
no attempt has been made to win back the god into his old home.
In the side wall near the door of the little shrine of Bhadrakáli
in Patan a broken stone inscription gives interesting details of the
temple of Somanátha. Except that the right hand corners of some of the
lines are broken, the inscription is clear and well preserved. It is
dated A.D. 1169 (Valabhi 850). It records that the temple of the god
Somesa was first of gold built by Soma; next it was of silver built
by Rávana; afterwards of wood built by Krishna; and last of stone
built by Bhímadeva. The next restoration was through Ganda-Brihaspati
under Kumárapála. Of Ganda-Brihaspati it gives these details. He was
a Kanyákubja or Kanoj Bráhman of the Pásupata school, a teacher of
the Málwa kings, and a friend of Siddharája Jayasimha. He repaired
several other temples and founded several other religious buildings
in Somanátha. He also repaired the temple of Kedáresvara in Kumaon
on learning that the Khasa king of that country had allowed it to
fall into disrepair. After the time of Kumárapála the descendants of
Ganda-Brihaspati remained in religious authority in Somanátha.
Kumárapála made many Jain benefactions. [613] He repaired the temple
of Ságala-Vasahiká at Stambha-tírtha or Cambay where Hemáchárya
received his initiation or díkshá. In honour of the lady who gave him
barley flour and curds he built a temple called the Karambaka-Vihára
in Patan. He also built in Patan a temple called the Mouse or
Mushaka-Vihára to free himself from the impurity caused by killing a
mouse while digging for treasure. At Dhandhuka Hemáchárya's birthplace
a temple called the Jholiká-Vihára or cradle temple was built. Besides
these Kumárapála is credited with building 1444 temples.
Though Kumárapála was not a learned man, his ministers were men
of learning, and he continued the practice of keeping at his court
scholars especially Sanskrit poets. Two of his leading Pandits were
Rámachandra and Udayachandra both of them Jains. Rámachandra is often
mentioned in Gujaráti literature and appears to have been a great
scholar. He was the author of a book called the Hundred Accounts or
Prabandhasata. After Udayana's death Kumárapála's chief minister was
Kapardi a man of learning skilled in Sanskrit poetry. And all through
his reign his principal adviser was Hemachandra or Hemáchárya probably
the most learned man of his time. Though Hemáchárya lived during the
reigns both of Siddharája and of Kumárapála, only under Kumárapála
did he enjoy political power as the king's companion and religious
adviser. What record remains of the early Solankis is chiefly due
to Hemachandra.
The Jain life of Hemáchárya abounds in wonders. Apart from the magic
and mystic elements the chief details are: Cháchiga a Modh Vánia
of Dhandhuka [614] in the district of Ardháshtama had by his wife
Páhiní [615] of the Chámunda gotra, a boy named Chángodeva who was
born A.D. 1089 (Kartik fullmoon Samvat 1145). A Jain priest named
Devachandra Áchárya (A.D. 1078-1170; S. 1134-1226) came from Patan
to Dhandhuka and when in Dhandhuka went to pay his obeisance at the
Modh Vasahiká. While Devachandra was seated Chángodeva came playing
with other boys and went and sat beside the áchárya. Struck with the
boy's audacity and good looks the áchárya went with the council of the
village to Cháchiga's house. Cháchiga was absent but his wife being a
Jain received the áchárya with respect. When she heard that her son
was wanted by the council, without waiting to consult her husband,
she handed the boy to the áchárya who carried him off to Karnávatí
and kept him there with the sons of the minister Udayana. Cháchiga,
disconsolate at the loss of his son, went in quest of him vowing to
eat nothing till the boy was found. He came to Karnávatí and in an
angry mood called on the áchárya to restore him his son. Udayana was
asked to interfere and at last persuaded Cháchiga to let the boy stay
with Devachandra.
In A.D. 1097, when Chángodeva was eight years old Cháchiga
celebrated his son's consecration or díkshá and gave him the name of
Somachandra. As the boy became extremely learned Devachandra changed
his name to Hemachandra the Moon of gold. In A.D. 1110 (S. 1166)
at the age of 21, his mastery of all the Sástras and Siddhántas was
rewarded by the dignity of Súri or sage. Siddharája was struck with
his conversation and honoured him as a man of learning. Hemachandra's
knowledge, wisdom and tact enabled him to adhere openly to his Jain
rules and beliefs though Siddharája's dislike of Jain practices was
so great as at times to amount to insult. After one of their quarrels
Hemáchárya kept away from the king for two or three days. Then the
king seeing his humility and his devotion to his faith repented
and apologised. The two went together to Somanátha Patan and there
Hemáchárya paid his obeisance to the linga in a way that did not
offend his own faith. During Siddharája's reign Hemáchárya wrote his
well known grammar with aphorisms or sútras and commentary or vritti
called Siddha-Hemachandra, a title compounded of the king's name and
his own. As the Bráhmans found fault with the absence of any detailed
references to the king in the work Hemachandra added one verse at
the end of each chapter in praise of the king. During Siddharája's
reign he also wrote two other works, the Haimínámamálá, "String
of Names composed by Hema(chandra)" or Abhidhánachintámani and the
Anekárthanámamálá, a Collection of words of more than one meaning. He
also began the Dvyásrayakosha [616] or Double Dictionary being both
a grammar and a history. In spite of his value to Kumárapála, in
the beginning of Kumárapála's reign Hemáchárya was not honoured as
a spiritual guide and had to remain subordinate to Bráhmans. When
Kumárapála asked him what was the most important religious work
he could perform Hemáchárya advised the restoring of the temple of
Somanátha. Still Hemáchárya so far won the king to his own faith that
till the completion of the temple he succeeded in persuading the
king to take the vow of ahimsá or non-killing which though common
to both faiths is a specially Jain observance. Seeing this mark
of his ascendancy over the king, the king's family priest and other
Bráhmans began to envy and thwart Hemáchárya. On the completion of the
temple, when the king was starting for Somanátha for the installation
ceremony, the Bráhmans told him that Hemáchárya did not mean to go
with him. Hemáchárya who had heard of the plot had already accepted
the invitation. He said being a recluse he must go on foot, and that
he also wanted to visit Girnár, and from Girnár would join the king
at Somanátha. His object was to avoid travelling in a palanquin with
the king or suffering a repetition of Siddharája's insult for not
accepting a pálkí. Soon after reaching Somanátha Kumárapála asked
after Hemáchárya. The Bráhmans spread a story that he had been
drowned, but Hemáchárya was careful to appear in the temple as the
king reached it. The king saw him, called him, and took him with him
to the temple. Some Bráhmans told the king that the Jain priest would
not pay any obeisance to Siva, but Hemáchárya saluted the god in the
following verse in which was nothing contrary to strict Jainism:
'Salutation to him, whether he be Brahma, Vishnu, Hara, or Jina,
from whom have fled desires which produce the sprouts of the seed of
worldliness.' [617] After this joint visit to Somanátha Hemachandra
gained still more ascendancy over the king, who appreciated his
calmness of mind and his forbearance. The Bráhmans tried to prevent
the growth of his influence, but in the end Hemachandra overcame
them. He induced the king to place in the sight of his Bráhmanical
family priests an image of Sántinátha Tírthankara among his family
gods. He afterwards persuaded Kumárapála publicly to adopt the Jain
faith by going to the hermitage of Hemachandra and giving numerous
presents to Jain ascetics. Finally under his influence Kumárapála put
away all Bráhmanical images from his family place of worship. Having
gone such lengths Kumárapála began to punish the Bráhmans who insulted
Hemachandra. A Bráhman named Vámarási, a Pandit at the royal court,
who composed a verse insulting Hemachandra, lost his annuity and was
reduced to beggary, but on apologising to Hemachandra the annuity was
restored. Another Bráhmanical officer named Bháva Brihaspati, who was
stationed at Somanátha, was re-called for insulting Hemachandra. But
he too on apologising to Hemachandra was restored to Somanátha. Under
Hemachandra's influence Kumárapála gave up the use of flesh and wine,
ceased to take pleasure in the chase, and by beat of drum forbade
throughout his kingdom the taking of animal life. He withdrew their
licenses from hunters, fowlers and fishermen, and forced them to adopt
other callings. To what lengths this dread of life-taking was carried
appears from an order that only filtered water was to be given to
all animals employed in the royal army. Among the stories told of the
king's zeal for life-saving is one of a Bania of Sámbhar who having
been caught killing a louse was brought in chains to Anahilaváda,
and had his property confiscated and devoted to the building at
Anahilaváda of a Louse Temple or Yúká-Vihára. According to another
story a man of Nador in Márwár was put to death by Kelhana the chief
of Nador to appease Kumárapála's wrath at hearing that the man's wife
had offered flesh to a field-god or kshetrapála. Hemachandra also
induced the king to forego the claim of the state to the property of
those who died without a son.
During Kumárapála's reign Hemachandra wrote many well known Sanskrit
and Prakrit works on literature and religion. Among these are the
Adhyátmopanishad or Yogasástra a work of 12,000 verses in twelve
chapters called Prakásas, the Trisáshthisálákápurushacharitra or lives
of sixty-three Jain saints of the Utsarpiní and Avasarpiní ages;
the Parisishtaparvan, a work of 3500 verses being the life of Jain
Sthaviras who flourished after Mahávíra; the Prákrita Sabdánusásana
or Prákrit grammar; the Dvyásraya [618] a Prakrit poem written with
the double object of teaching grammar and of giving the history
of Kumárapála; the Chhandonusásana a work of about 6000 verses on
prosody; the Lingánusásana a work on genders; the Desínámamálá in
Prakrit with a commentary a work on local and provincial words;
and the Alankárachúdámani a work on rhetoric. Hemachandra died in
A.D. 1172 (S. 1229) at the age of 84. The king greatly mourned his
loss and marked his brow with Hemachandra's ashes. Such crowds came
to share in the ashes of the pyre that the ground was hollowed into
a pit known as the Haima-Khadda or Hema's Pit.
Kumárapála lived to a great age. According to the author of the
Prabandhachintámani he was fifty when he succeeded to the throne, and
after ruling about thirty-one years died in A.D. 1174 (S. 1230). He is
said to have died of lúta a form of leprosy. Another story given by the
Kumárapálaprabandha is that Kumárapála was imprisoned by his nephew and
successor Ajayapála. The Kumárapálaprabandha gives the exact length of
Kumárapála's reign at 30 years 8 months and 27 days. If the beginning
of Kumárapála's reign is placed at the 4th Magsar Sud Samvat 1299,
the date of the close, taking the year to begin in Kártika, would be
Bhádrapada Suddha Samvat 1229. If with Gujarát almanacs the year is
taken to begin in Áshádha, the date of the close of the reign would be
Bhádrapada of Samvat 1230. It is doubtful whether either Samvat 1229 or
1230 is the correct year, as an inscription dated Samvat 1229 Vaishákha
Suddha 3rd at Udayapura near Bhilsá describes Ajayapála Kumárapála's
successor as reigning at Anahilapura. This would place Kumárapála's
death before the month of Vaishákha 1229 that is in A.D. 1173. [619]
[Ajayapála, A.D. 1174-1177.] As Kumárapála had no son he was succeeded
by Ajayapála the son of his brother Mahípála. [620] According to
the Kumárapálaprabandha Kumárapála desired to give the throne to
his daughter's son Pratápamalla, but Ajayapála raised a revolt and
got rid of Kumárapála by poison. The Jain chroniclers say nothing
of the reign of Ajayapála because he was not a follower of their
religion. The author of the Sukritasankírtana notices a small silver
canopy or pavilion shown in Ajayapála's court as a feudatory's gift
from the king of Sapádalaksha [621] or Sewálik. The author of the
Kírtikaumudí dismisses Ajayapála with the mere mention of his name,
and does not even state his relationship with Kumárapála. According to
the Prabandhachintámani Ajayapála destroyed the Jain temples built by
his uncle. He showed no favour to Ámbadá and Kumárapála's other Jain
ministers. Ajayapála seems to have been of a cruel and overbearing
temper. He appointed as his minister Kapardi because he was of the
Bráhmanical faith. [622] But considering his manners arrogant he
ordered him to be thrown into a caldron of boiling oil. On another
occasion he ordered the Jain scholar Rámachandra to sit on a red-hot
sheet of copper. One of his nobles Ámra-bhata or Ámbadá refused to
submit to the king, saying that he would pay obeisance only to Vítarája
or Tírthankara as god, to Hemachandra as guide, and to Kumárapála as
king. Ajayapála ordered the matter to be settled by a fight. Ámbadá
brought some of his followers to the drum-house near the gate, and
in the fight that followed Ámbadá was killed. In A.D. 1177 (S. 1233),
after a short reign of three years, Ajayapála was slain by a doorkeeper
named Vijjaladeva who plunged a dagger into the king's heart. [623]
[Múlarája II., A.D. 1177-1179.] Ajayapála was succeeded by his son
Múlarája II. also called Bála Múlarája as he was only a boy when
installed. His mother was Náikídeví the daughter of Paramardi,
apparently the Kádamba king Permádi or Siva Chitta who reigned
from A.D. 1147 to 1175 (S. 1203-1231). [624] The authors of
the Kírtikaumudí [625] and the Sukritasankírtana say that even
in childhood Múlarája II. dispersed the Turushka or Muhammadan
army. [626] The Prabandhachintámani states that the king's mother
fought at the Gádaráraghatta and that her victory was due to a sudden
fall of rain. Múlarája II. is said to have died in A.D. 1179 (S. 1235)
after a reign of two years.
[Bhíma II. A.D. 1179-1242.] Múlarája II. was succeeded by Bhíma II. The
relationship of the two is not clearly established. Mr. Forbes makes
Bhíma the younger brother of Ajayapála. But it appears from the
Kírtikaumudí and the Sukritasankírtana that Bhíma was the younger
brother of Múlarája. The Sukritasankírtana after concluding the
account of Múlarája, [627] calls Bhíma 'asya bandhu' 'his brother,'
and the Kírtikaumudí, after mentioning the death of Múlarája, says
that Bhíma his younger brother 'anujanmásya' became king. [628]
Múlarája we know came to the throne as a child. Of Bhíma also
the Kírtikaumudí says that he came to the throne while still in
his childhood, and this agrees with the statements that he was
the younger brother of Múlarája. Bhíma probably came to the throne
A.D. 1178 (S. 1234). There is no doubt he was reigning in A.D. 1179
(S. 1235), as an inscription in the deserted village of Kerálu near
Bálmer of Anahilaváda dated A.D. 1179 (S. 1235) states that it was
written 'in the triumphant reign of the illustrious Bhímadeva.' [629]
A further proof of his reigning in A.D. 1179 (S. 1235) and of his
being a minor at that time is given in the following passage from the
Tabakát-i-Násirí: In A.D. 1178 (Hijri 574) the Ráí of Nahrwálá Bhímdeo,
was a minor, but he had a large army and many elephants. In the day
of battle the Muhammadans were defeated and the Sultán was compelled
to retreat. [630] Merutunga says that Bhíma reigned from A.D. 1179
(S. 1235) for sixty-three years that is up to A.D. 1242 (S. 1298),
and this is borne out by a copperplate of Bhíma which bears date
A.D. 1240 (S. 1296 [631] Márgha Vadi 14th Sunday [632]).
Bhíma was nicknamed Bholo the Simpleton. The chroniclers of this
period mention only the Vághelás and almost pass over Bhíma. The
author of the Kírtikaumudí says 'the kingdom of the young ruler was
gradually divided among powerful ministers and provincial chiefs'; and
according to the Sukritasankírtana 'Bhíma felt great anxiety on account
of the chiefs who had forcibly eaten away portions of the kingdom.' It
appears that during the minority, when the central authority was weak,
the kingdom was divided among nobles and feudatories, and that Bhíma
proved too weak a ruler to restore the kingly power. Manuscripts and
copperplates show that Bhímadeva was ruling at Anahilaváda in S. 1247,
1251, 1261, 1263, and 1264, [633] and copperplates dated S. 1283, 1288,
1295, and 1296 have also been found. Though Bhíma in name enjoyed a
long unbroken reign the verses quoted above show that power rested
not with the king but with the nobles. It appears from an inscription
that in A.D. 1224 (S. 1280) a Chálukya noble named Jayantasimha was
supreme at Anahilaváda though he mentions Bhíma and his predecessors
with honour and respect. [634]
It was probably by aiding Bhíma against Jayantasimha that the Vághelás
rose to power. According to the chroniclers the Vághelás succeeded
in the natural course of things. According to the Sukritasankírtana
Kumárapála appeared to his grandson Bhíma and directed him to appoint
as his heir-apparent Víradhavala son of Lavanaprasáda and grandson of
Arnorája the son of Dhavala king of Bhimapalli. Next day in court,
in the presence of his nobles, when Lavanaprasáda and Víradhavala
entered the king said to Lavanaprasáda: Your father Arnorája seated
me on the throne: you should therefore uphold my power: in return I
will name your son Víradhavala my heir-apparent. [635] The author of
the Kírtikaumudí notes that Arnorája son of Dhavala, opposing the
revolution against Bhíma, cleared the kingdom of enemies, but at
the cost of his own life. The author then describes Lavanaprasáda
and Víradhavala as kings. But as he gives no account of their rise
to supremacy, it seems probable that they usurped the actual power
from Bhíma though till A.D. 1242 (S. 1295) Bhíma continued to be
nominal sovereign.
Bhíma's queen was Líládeví the daughter of a Chohán chief named
Samarasimha. [636]
CHAPTER III.
THE VÁGHELÁS
(A.D. 1219-1304).
[Arnorája, A.D. 1170-1200.] While Bhímadeva II. (A.D. 1179-1242)
struggled to maintain his authority in the north, the country between
the Sábarmatí and the Narbadá in the south as well as the districts
of Dholká and Dhandhuká in the south-west passed to the Vághelás a
branch of the Solankis sprung from Ánáka or Arnorája, the son of the
sister of Kumárapála's (A.D. 1143-1173) mother. In return for services
to Kumárapála, [637] Ánáka, with the rank of a noble or Sámanta, had
received the village of Vyághrapalli or Vághelá, the Tiger's Lair,
about ten miles south-west of Anahilaváda. It is from this village
that the dynasty takes its name of Vághela.
[Lavanaprasáda, A.D. 1200-1233.] Ánáka's son Lavanaprasáda,
who is mentioned as a minister of Bhímadeva II. (A.D. 1179-1242)
[638] held Vághelá and probably Dhavalagadha or Dholká about thirty
miles to the south-west. The Kírtikaumudí or Moonlight of Glory,
the chief cotemporary chronicle, [639] describes Lavanaprasáda as a
brave warrior, the slayer of the chief of Nadulá the modern Nándol
in Márwár. "In his well-ordered realm, except himself the robber
of the glory of hostile kings, robbers were unknown. The ruler
of Málava invading the kingdom turned back before the strength of
Lavanaprasáda. The southern king also when opposed by him gave up the
idea of war." The ruler of Málava or Málwa referred to was Sohada
or Subhatavarman. [640] The southern king was the Devagiri Yádava
Singhana II. (A.D. 1209-1247). [641]
Lavanaprasáda married Madanarájñí and by her had a son named
Víradhavala. As heir apparent Víradhavala, who was also called
Víra Vághelá or the Vághelá hero, [642] rose to such distinction
as a warrior that in the end Lavanaprasáda abdicated in his
favour. Probably to reconcile the people to his venturing to oppose
his sovereign Bhímadeva, Lavanaprasáda gave out that in a dream the
Luck of Anahilaváda appeared bewailing her home with unlighted shrines,
broken walls, and jackal-haunted streets, and called on him to come to
her rescue. [643] Though he may have gone to the length of opposing
Bhímadeva by force of arms, Lavanaprasáda was careful to rule in
his sovereign's name. Even after Lavanaprasáda's abdication, though
his famous minister Vastupála considered it advisable, Víradhavala
refused to take the supreme title. It was not until the accession
of Víradhavala's son Vísaladeva that the head of the Vághelás
took any higher title than Ránaka or chieftain. Lavanaprasáda's
religious adviser or Guru was the poet Somesvara the author of the
Kírtikaumudí and of the Vastupálacharita or Life of Vastupála, both
being biographical accounts of Vastupála. The leading supporters both
of Lavanaprasáda and of Víradhavala were their ministers the two Jain
brothers Vastupála and Tejahpála the famous temple-builders on Ábu,
Satruñjaya, and Girnár. According to one account Tejahpála remained
at court, while Vastupála went as governor to Stambhatírtha or Cambay
where he redressed wrongs and amassed wealth. [644]
One of the chief times of peril in Lavanaprasáda's reign was the
joint attack of the Devagiri Yádava Singhana or Sinhana from the
south and of four Márwár chiefs from the north. Lavanaprasáda and
his son Víradhavala in joint command marched south to meet Singhana
at Broach. While at Broach the Vághelás' position was made still more
critical by the desertion of the Godhraha or Godhrá chief to Málwa and
of the Láta or south Gujarát chief to Singhana. Still Lavanaprasáda
pressed on, attacked Singhana, and gave him so crushing a defeat, that,
though Lavanaprasáda had almost at once to turn north to meet the Málwa
army, Singhana retired without causing further trouble. [645] Somesvara
gives no reason for Singhana's withdrawal beyond the remark 'Deer do
not follow the lion's path even when the lion has left it.' The true
reason is supplied by a Manuscript called Forms of Treaties. [646]
The details of a treaty between Sinhana and Lavanaprasáda under date
Samvat 1288 (A.D. 1232) included among the Forms seem to show that the
reason why Sinhana did not advance was that Lavanaprasáda and his son
submitted and concluded an alliance. [647] In this copy of the treaty
Sinhanadeva is called the great king of kings or paramount sovereign
Mahárájádhirája, while Lavanaprasáda, Sanskritised into Lavanyáprasáda
is called a Rána and a tributary chief Mahámandalesvara. The place
where the treaty was concluded is styled "the victorious camp,"
and the date is Monday the fullmoon of Vaisákha in the year Samvat
1288 (A.D. 1232). The provisions are that, as before, each of the
belligerents should confine himself to his own territory; neither of
them should invade the possessions of the other; if a powerful enemy
attacked either of them, they should jointly oppose him; if only a
hostile general led the attack, troops should be sent against him;
and if from the country of either any noble fled into the territory of
the other taking with him anything of value he should not be allowed
harbourage and all valuables in the refugee's possession should be
restored. [648] His good fortune went with Lavanaprasáda in his attack
on the Márwár chiefs whom he forced to retire. Meanwhile Sankha [649]
who is described as the son of the ruler of Sindh but who seems to
have held territory in Broach, raised a claim to Cambay and promised
Vastupála Lavanaprasáda's governor, that, if Vastupála declared in
his favour [650], he would be continued in his government. Vastupála
rejected Sankha's overtures, met him in battle outside of Cambay, and
forced him to retire. In honour of Vastupála's victory the people of
Cambay held a great festival when Vastupála passed in state through
the city to the shrine of the goddess Ekalla Víra outside of the
town. [651]
Another of the deeds preserved in the Forms is a royal copperplate
grant by Lavanaprasáda or Lávanyaprasáda of a village, not named, for
the worship of Somanátha. Lavanaprasáda is described as the illustrious
Ránaka, [652] the great chief, the local lord or Mandalesvara,
the son of the illustrious Ránaka Ánalde born in the illustrious
pedigree of the Chaulukya dynasty. The grant is noted as executed in
the reign of Bhímadeva II. [653] while one Bhábhuya was his great
minister. Though Bhímadeva was ruling in A.D. 1232 (Samvat 1288)
Lavanaprasáda apparently had sufficient influence to make grants of
villages and otherwise to act as the real ruler of Gujarát. It was
apparently immediately after this grant (A.D. 1232?) that Lavanaprasáda
abdicated in favour of Víradhavala. [654]
[Víradhavala, A.D. 1233-1238.] Soon after his accession Víradhavala,
accompanied by his minister Tejahpála, started on an expedition against
his wife's brothers Sángana and Chamunda the rulers of Vámanasthalí or
Vanthalí near Junágadh. As in spite of their sister's advice Sángana
and Chamunda refused to pay tribute the siege was pressed. Early
in the fight the cry arose 'Víradhavala is slain.' But on his
favourite horse Uparavata, Víradhavala put himself at the head of
his troops, slew both the brothers, and gained the hoarded treasure
of Vanthalí. [655] In an expedition against the chief of Bhadresvara,
probably Bhadresar in Kacch, Víradhavala was less successful and was
forced to accept the Kacch chief's terms. The chroniclers ascribe
this reverse to three Rájput brothers who came to Víradhavala's court
and offered their services for 3,00,000 drammas (about £7500). "For
3,00,000 drammas I can raise a thousand men" said Víradhavala, and
the brothers withdrew. They went to the court of the Bhadresar chief,
stated their terms, and were engaged. The night before the battle the
brothers sent to Víradhavala saying 'Keep ready 3000 men, for through
a triple bodyguard we will force our way.' The three brothers kept
their word. They forced their way to Víradhavala, dismounted him,
carried off his favourite steed Uparavata, but since they had been
his guests they spared Víradhavala's life. [656]
Another of Víradhavala's expeditions was to East Gujarát. Ghughula,
chief of Godraha or Godhrá, plundered the caravans that passed
through his territory to the Gujarát ports. When threatened with
punishment by Víradhavala, Ghughula in derision sent his overlord
a woman's dress and a box of cosmetics. The minister Tejahpála, who
was ordered to avenge this affront, dispatched some skirmishers ahead
to raid the Godhra cattle. Ghughula attacked the raiders and drove
them back in such panic that the main body of the army was thrown
into disorder. The day was saved by the prowess of Tejahpála who
in single combat unhorsed Ghughula and made him prisoner. Ghughula
escaped the disgrace of the woman's dress and the cosmetic box with
which he was decorated by biting his tongue so that he died. The
conquest of Ghughula is said to have spread Víradhavala's power to
the borders of Maháráshtra. [657] The chroniclers relate another
success of Víradhavala's against Muizz-ud-dín apparently the famous
Muhammad Gori Sultán Muizz-ud-dín Bahramsháh, the Sultán of Delhi
(A.D. 1191-1205) [658] who led an expedition against Gujarát. The
chief of Ábu was instructed to let the Musalmán force march south
unmolested and when they were through to close the defiles against
their return. The Gujarát army met the Musalmáns and the Ábu troops
hung on their rear. The Musalmáns fled in confusion and cartloads of
heads were brought to Víradhavala in Dholká. The chronicles give the
credit of this success to Vastupála. They also credit Vastupála with
a stratagem which induced the Sultán to think well of Víradhavala
and prevented him taking steps to wipe out the disgrace of his
defeat. Hearing that the Sultán's mother, or, according to another
story, the Sultán's religious adviser, was going from Cambay to Makka
Vastupála ordered his men to attack and plunder the vessels in which
the pilgrimage was to be made. On the captain's complaint Vastupála
had the pirates arrested and the property restored. So grateful was
the owner, whether mother or guide, that Vastupála was taken to Delhi
and arranged a friendly treaty between his master and the Sultán. [659]
Their lavish expenditure on objects connected with Jain worship make
the brothers Vastupála and Tejahpála the chief heroes of the Jain
chroniclers. They say when the Musalmán trader Sayad was arrested at
Cambay his wealth was confiscated. Víradhavala claimed all but the
dust which he left to Vastupála. Much of the dust was gold dust and a
fire turned to dust more of the Sayad's gold and silver treasure. In
this way the bulk of the Sayad's wealth passed to Vastupála. This
wealth Vastupála and his brother Tejahpála went to bury in Hadálaka in
Káthiáváda. In digging they chanced to come across a great and unknown
treasure. According to the books the burden of their wealth so preyed
on the brothers that they ceased to care for food. Finding the cause
of her husband Tejahpála's anxiety Anupamá said 'Spend your wealth
on a hill top. All can see it; no one can carry it away.' According
to the chroniclers it was this advice, approved by their mother and
by Vastupála's wife Lalitádeví, that led the brothers to adorn the
summits of Ábu, Girnár, and Satruñjaya with magnificent temples.
The Satruñjaya temple which is dedicated to the twenty-third
Tírthankara Neminátha is dated A.D. 1232 (Samvat 1288) and has an
inscription by Somesvara, the author of the Kírtikaumudí telling how
it was built. The Girnár temple, also dedicated to Neminátha, bears
date A.D. 1232 (Samvat 1288). The Ábu temple, surpassing the others
and almost every building in India in the richness and delicacy of
its carving, is dedicated to Neminátha and dated A.D. 1231 (Samvat
1287). Such was the liberality of the brothers that to protect them
against the cold mountain air each of their masons had a fire near
him to warm himself and a hot dinner cooked for him at the close of
the day. The finest carvers were paid in silver equal in weight to
the dust chiselled out of their carvings. [660]
The author Somesvara describes how he twice came to the aid of his
friend Vastupála. On one occasion he saved Vastupála from a prosecution
for peculation. The second occasion was more serious. Simha the
maternal uncle of king Vísaladeva whipped the servant of a Jain
monastery. Enraged at this insult to his religion Vastupála hired
a Rájput who cut off Simha's offending hand. The crime was proved
and Vastupála was sentenced to death. But according to the Jains
the persuasions of Somesvara not only made the king set Vastupála
free, but led him to upbraid his uncle for beating the servant of
a Jain monastery. Soon after his release Vastupála was seized with
fever. Feeling the fever to be mortal he started for Satruñjaya but
died on the way. His brother Tejahpála and his son Jayantapála burned
his body on the holy hill, and over his ashes raised a shrine with the
name Svargárohanaprásáda The shrine of the ascent into Heaven. [661]
In A.D. 1238 six years after his father's withdrawal from power
Víradhavala died. One hundred and eighty-two servants passed with
their lord through the flames, and such was the devotion that Tejahpála
had to use force to prevent further sacrifices. [662]
[Vísaladeva, A.D. 1243-1261.] Of Víradhavala's two sons, Vírama Vísala
and Pratápamalla, Vastupála favoured the second and procured his
succession according to one account by forcing the old king to drink
poison and preventing by arms the return to Anahilaváda of the elder
brother Vírama who retired for help to Jábálipura (Jabalpur). Besides
with his brother's supporters Vísala had to contend with Tribhuvanapála
the representative of the Anahilaváda Solankis. Unlike his father and
his grandfather Vísala refused to acknowledge an overlord. By A.D. 1243
he was established as sovereign in Anahilaváda. A later grant A.D. 1261
(Samvat 1317) from Kadi in North Gujarát shows that Anahilaváda was
his capital and his title Mahárájádhirája King of Kings. According
to his copperplates Vísaladeva was a great warrior, the crusher of
the lord of Málwa, a hatchet at the root of the turbulence of Mewád,
a volcanic fire to dry up Singhana of Devagiri's ocean of men. [663]
Vísaladeva is further described as chosen as a husband by the daughter
of Karnáta [664] and as ruling with success and good fortune in
Anahilaváda with the illustrious Nágada as his minister. [665] The
bards praise Vísaladeva for lessening the miseries of a three years
famine, [666] and state that he built or repaired the fortifications
of Vísalanagara in East and of Darbhavatí or Dabhoi in South Gujarát.
[Arjunadeva, A.D. 1262-1274.] During Vísaladeva's reign Vághela power
was established throughout Gujarát. On Vísaladeva's death in A.D. 1261
the succession passed to Arjunadeva the son of Vísaladeva's younger
brother Pratápamalla. [667] Arjunadeva proved a worthy successor and
for thirteen years (A.D. 1262-1274; Samvat 1318-1331) maintained his
supremacy. Two stone inscriptions one from Verával dated A.D. 1264
(Samvat 1320) the other from Kacch dated A.D. 1272 (Samvat 1328)
show that his territory included both Kacch and Káthiáváda, and an
inscription of his successor Sárangadeva shows that his power passed
as far east as Mount Ábu.
The Verával inscription of A.D. 1264 (Samvat 1320), which is in the
temple of the goddess Harsutá, [668] describes Arjunadeva as the king
of kings, the emperor (chakravartin) of the illustrious Chaulukya
race, who is a thorn in the heart of the hostile king Nihsankamalla,
the supreme lord, the supreme ruler, who is adorned by a long line of
ancestral kings, who resides in the famous Anahillapátaka. The grant
allots certain income from houses and shops in Somanátha Patan to a
mosque built by Piroz a Muhammadan shipowner of Ormuz which is then
mentioned as being under the sway of Amír Rukn-ud-dín. [669] The grant
also provides for the expenses of certain religious festivals to be
celebrated by the Shiite sailors of Somanátha Patan, and lays down that
under the management of the Musalmán community of Somanátha any surplus
is to be made over to the holy districts of Makka and Madina. The grant
is written in bad Sanskrit and contains several Arabic Persian and
Gujaráti words. Its chief interest is that it is dated in four eras,
"in 662 of the Prophet Muhammad who is described as the teacher of
the sailors, who live near the holy lord of the Universe that is
Somanátha; in 1320 of the great king Vikrama; in 945 of the famous
Valabhi; and in 151 of the illustrious Simha." The date is given in
these four different eras, because the Muhammadan is the donor's era,
the Samvat the era of the country, the Valabhi of the province, and the
Simha of the locality. [670] The Kacch inscription is at the village
of Rav about sixty miles east of Bhúj. It is engraved on a memorial
slab at the corner of the courtyard wall of an old temple and bears
date A.D. 1272 (Samvat 1328). It describes Arjunadeva as the great
king of kings, the supreme ruler, the supreme lord. It mentions the
illustrious Máladeva as his chief minister and records the building
of a step-well in the village of Rav. [671]
[Sárangadeva, A.D. 1275-1296.] Arjunadeva was succeeded by his
son Sárangadeva. According to the Vichárasreni Sárangadeva
ruled for twenty-two years from A.D. 1274 to 1296 (Samvat
1331-1353). Inscriptions of the reign of Sárangadeva have been found
in Kacch and at Ábu. The Kacch inscription is on a pália or memorial
slab now at the village of Khokhar near Kanthkot which was brought
there from the holy village of Bhadresar about thirty-five miles
north-east of Mándvi. It bears date A.D. 1275 (Samvat 1332) and
describes Sárangadeva as the great king of kings, the supreme ruler,
the supreme lord ruling at Anahillapátaka with the illustrious Máladeva
as his chief minister. [672] The Ábu inscription dated A.D. 1294
(Samvat 1350) in the temple of Vastupála regulates certain dues
payable to the Jain temple and mentions Sárangadeva as sovereign of
Anahillapátaka and as having for vassal Vísaladeva ruler of the old
capital of Chandrávati about twelve miles south of Mount Ábu. [673]
A third inscription dated A.D. 1287 (Samvat 1343), originally from
Somanátha, is now at Cintra in Portugal. It records the pilgrimages and
religious benefactions of one Tripurántaka, a follower of the Nakulísá
Pásupata sect, in the reign of Sárangadeva, whose genealogy is given. A
manuscript found in Ahmadábád is described as having been finished on
Sunday the 3rd of the dark fortnight of Jyeshtha in the Samvat year
1350, in the triumphant reign of Sárangadeva the great king of kings,
while his victorious army was encamped near Ásápalli (Ahmadábád). [674]
[Karnadeva, A.D. 1296-1304.] Sárangadeva's successor Karnadeva
ruled for eight years A.D. 1296-1304 (Samvat 1352-1360). Under this
weak ruler, who was known as Ghelo or the Insane, Gujarát passed
into Musalmán hands. In A.D. 1297 Alaf Khán the brother of the
Emperor Alá-ud-dín Khilji (A.D. 1296-1317) with Nasrat Khán led an
expedition against Gujarát. They laid waste the country and occupied
Anahilaváda. Leaving his wives, children, elephants, and baggage
Karnadeva fled to Ramadeva the Yádava chief of Devagiri. [675] All his
wealth fell to his conquerors. Among the wives of Karnadeva who were
made captive was a famous beauty named Kauládeví, who was carried to
the harem of the Sultán. In the plunder of Cambay Nasrat Khán took a
merchant's slave Malik Káfur who shortly after became the Emperor's
chief favourite. From Cambay the Muhammadans passed to Káthiáváda and
destroyed the temple of Somanátha. In 1304 Alaf Khán's term of office
as governor of Gujarát was renewed. According to the Mirát-i-Ahmadí
after the renewal of his appointment, from white marble pillars taken
from many Jain temples, Alaf Khán constructed at Anahilaváda the Jáma
Masjid or general mosque.
In A.D. 1306 the Cambay slave Káfur who had already risen to be
Sultán Alá-ud-dín's chief favourite was invested with the title
of Malik Naib and placed in command of an army sent to subdue the
Dakhan. Alaf Khán, the governor of Gujarát, was ordered to help Malik
Káfur in his arrangements. At the same time Kauládeví persuaded the
Emperor to issue orders that her daughter Devaladeví should be sent
to her to Delhi. Devaladeví was then with her father the unfortunate
Karnadeva in hiding in Báglán in Násik. Malik Káfur sent a messenger
desiring Karnadeva to give up his daughter. Karnadeva refused and Alaf
Khán was ordered to lead his army to the Báglán hills and capture the
princess. While for two months he succeeded in keeping the Muhammadan
army at bay, Karnadeva received and accepted an offer for the hand of
Devaladeví from the Devagiri Yádava chief Sankaradeva. On her way to
Devagiri near Elura Devaladeví's escort was attacked by a party of
Alaf Khán's troops, and the lady seized and sent to Delhi where she
was married to prince Khizar Khán. Nothing more is known of Karnadeva
who appears to have died a fugitive.
Though the main cities and all central Gujarát passed under Musalmán
rule a branch of the Vághelás continued to hold much of the country
to the west of the Sábarmatí, while other branches maintained their
independence in the rugged land beyond Ambá Bhawání between Vírpur
on the Mahí and Posiná at the northmost verge of Gujarát. [676]
GENEALOGY OF THE VÁGHELÁS.
Dhavala,
A.D. 1160
Married Kumárapála's Aunt.
|
Arnorája,
A.D. 1170
Founder of Vághela.
|
Lavanaprasáda,
A.D. 1200
Chief of Dholká.
|
Víradhavala,
A.D. 1233-1238
Chief of Dholká.
|
Vísaladeva,
A.D. 1243-1261
King of Anahilaváda.
|
Arjunadeva,
A.D. 1262-1274.
|
Sárangadeva,
A.D. 1274-1295.
|
Karnadeva or Ghelo,
A.D. 1296-1304.
PART II.
MUSALMÁN GUJARÁT.
A.D. 1297-1760.
This history of Musalmán Gujarát is based on translations of the
Mirat-i-Sikandari (A.D. 1611) and of the Mirat-i-Áhmedi (A.D. 1756)
by the late Colonel J. W. Watson. Since Colonel Watson's death in
1889 the translations have been revised and the account enriched by
additions from the Persian texts of Farishtah and of the two Mirats
by Mr. Fazl Lutfulláh Farídi of Surat. A careful comparison has also
been made with other extracts in Elliot's History of India and in
Bayley's History of Gujarát.
MUSALMÁN GUJARÁT.
A.D. 1297-1760.
INTRODUCTION.
Muhammadan rule in Gujarát lasted from the conquest of the province by
the Dehli emperor Alá-ud-dín Khilji (A.D. 1295-1315), shortly before
the close of the thirteenth century A.D., to the final defeat of the
Mughal viceroy Momín Khán by the Maráthás and the loss of the city
of Áhmedábád at the end of February 1758.
This whole term of Musalmán ascendancy, stretching over slightly more
than four and a half centuries, may conveniently be divided into three
parts. The First, the rule of the early sovereigns of Dehli, lasting
a few years more than a century, or, more strictly from A.D. 1297 to
A.D. 1403; the Second, the rule of the Áhmedábád kings, a term of
nearly a century and three-quarters, from A.D. 1403 to A.D. 1573;
the Third, the rule of the Mughal Emperors, when, for little less
than two hundred years, A.D. 1573-1760, Gujarát was administered by
viceroys of the court of Dehli.
[Territorial Limits.] In the course of these 450 years the
limits of Gujarát varied greatly. In the fourteenth century the
territory nominally under the control of the Musalmán governors
of Pátan (Anahilaváda) extended southwards from Jhálor, about
fifty miles north of Mount Abu, to the neighbourhood of Bombay,
and in breadth from the line of the Málwa and Khándesh hills to
the western shores of peninsular Gujarát. [677] The earlier kings
of Áhmedábád (A.D. 1403-1450), content with establishing their
power on a firm footing, did not greatly extend the limits of their
kingdom. Afterwards, during the latter part of the fifteenth and the
beginning of the sixteenth centuries (A.D. 1450-1530), the dominions
of the Áhmedábád kings gradually spread till they included large tracts
to the east and north-east formerly in the possession of the rulers of
Khándesh and Málwa. Still later, during the years of misrule between
A.D. 1530 and A.D. 1573, the west of Khándesh and the north of the
Konkan ceased to form part of the kingdom of Gujarát. Finally, under
the arrangements introduced by the emperor Akbar in A.D. 1583, more
lands were restored to Málwa and Khándesh. With the exception of Jhálor
and Sirohi on the north, Dungarpur and Bánsváda on the north-east,
and Alirájpur on the east, since handed to Rájputána and Central India,
the limits of Gujarát remain almost as they were laid down by Akbar.
[Sorath.] Though, under the Musalmáns, peninsular Gujarát did not
bear the name of Káthiáváda, it was then, as at present, considered
part of the province of Gujarát. During the early years of Musalmán
rule, the peninsula, together with a small portion of the adjoining
mainland, was known as Sorath, a shortened form of Saurâshtra, the
name originally applied by the Hindus to a long stretch of sea-coast
between the banks of the Indus and Daman. [678] Towards the close of
the sixteenth century the official use of the word Sorath was confined
to a portion, though by much the largest part, of the peninsula. At
the same time, the name Sorath seems then, and for long after, to have
been commonly applied to the whole peninsula. For the author of the
Mirat-i-Áhmedi, writing as late as the middle of the eighteenth century
(A.D. 1756: A.H. 1170), speaks of Sorath as divided into five districts
or zilláhs, Hálár, Káthiáváda, Gohilváda, Bábriáváda, and Jetváda,
and notices that though Navánagar was considered a separate district,
its tribute was included in the revenue derived from Sorath. [679]
In another passage the same writer thus defines Sauráshtra:
Sauráshtra or Sorath comprehends the Sarkár of Sorath the Sarkár
of Islámnagar or Navánagar and the Sarkár of Kachh or Bhujnagar.
It also includes several zillahs or districts, Naiyad which they
call Jatwár, Hálár or Navánagar and its vicinity, Káthiáváda,
Gohilváda, Bábriáváda, Chorvár, Panchál, Okhágir in the
neighbourhood of Jagat otherwise called Dwárka, Prabhás Khetr or
Pátan Somnáth and its neighbourhood, Nághír also called Sálgogha,
and the Nalkántha. [680]
The present Sorath stretches no further than the limits of Junágadh,
Bántwa, and a few smaller holdings.
[Káthiáváda.] The name Káthiáváda is of recent origin. It was not
until after the establishment of Musalmán power in Gujarát that
any portion of the peninsula came to bear the name of the tribe of
Káthis. Even as late as the middle of the eighteenth century, the
name Káthiáváda was applied only to one of the sub-divisions of the
peninsula. In the disorders which prevailed during the latter part of
the eighteenth century, the Káthis made themselves conspicuous. As it
was from the hardy horsemen of this tribe that the tribute-exacting
Maráthás met with the fiercest resistance, they came to speak of the
whole peninsula as the land of the Káthis. This use was adopted by
the early British officers and has since continued.
[Under the kings, 1403-1573.] Under the Áhmedábád kings, as it still
is under British rule, Gujarát was divided politically into two main
parts; one, called the khálsah or crown domain administered directly
by the central authority; the other, on payment of tribute in service
or in money, left under the control of its former rulers. The amount
of tribute paid by the different chiefs depended, not on the value of
their territory, but on the terms granted to them when they agreed to
become feudatories of the kings of Áhmedábád. Under the Gujarát Sultáns
this tribute was occasionally collected by military expeditions headed
by the king in person and called mulkgíri or country-seizing circuits.
[States.] The internal management of the feudatory states was
unaffected by their payment of tribute. Justice was administered
and the revenue collected in the same way as under the Anahilapur
kings. The revenue consisted, as before, of a share of the crops
received in kind, supplemented by the levy of special cesses, trade,
and transit dues. The chief's share of the crops differed according
to the locality; it rarely exceeded one-third of the produce, it
rarely fell short of one-sixth. From some parts the chief's share
was realised directly from the cultivator by agents called mantris;
from other parts the collection was through superior landowners. [681]
[Districts.] The Áhmedábád kings divided the portion of their territory
which was under their direct authority into districts or sarkárs. These
districts were administered in one of two ways. They were either
assigned to nobles in support of a contingent of troops, or they were
set apart as crown domains and managed by paid officers. The officers
placed in charge of districts set apart as [Crown Lands.] crown domains
were called muktia. [682] Their chief duties were to preserve the peace
and to collect the revenue. For the maintenance of order, a body of
soldiers from the army head-quarters at Áhmedábád was detached for
service in each of these divisions, and placed under the command of
the district governor. At the same time, in addition to the presence
of this detachment of regular troops, every district contained certain
fortified outposts called thánás, varying in number according to the
character of the country and the temper of the people. These posts
were in charge of officers called thánadárs subordinate to the district
governor. They were garrisoned by bodies of local soldiery, for whose
maintenance, in addition to money payments, a small assignment of
land was set apart in the neighbourhood of the post. On the arrival
of the tribute-collecting army the governors of the districts through
which it passed were expected to join the main body with their local
contingents. At other times the district governors had little control
over the feudatory chiefs in the neighbourhood of their charge.
[Fiscal.] For fiscal purposes each district or sarkár was distributed
among a certain number of sub-divisions or parganáhs, each under a
paid official styled ámil or tahsildár. These sub-divisional officers
realised the state demand, nominally one-half of the produce, by
the help of the headmen of the villages under their charge. In the
sharehold and simple villages of North Gujarát these village headmen
were styled patels or according to Musalmán writers mukaddams and
in the simple villages of the south they were known as desáis. They
arranged for the final distribution of the total demand in joint
villages among the shareholders, and in simple villages from the
individual cultivators. [683] The sub-divisional officer presented a
statement of the accounts of the villages in his sub-division to the
district officer, whose record of the revenue of his whole district was
in turn forwarded to the head revenue officer at court. As a check on
the internal management of his charge, and especially to help him in
the work of collecting the revenue, with each district governor was
associated an accountant. Further that each of these officers might
be the greater check on the other, king Áhmed I. (A.D. 1412-1443)
enforced the rule that when the governor was chosen from among the
royal slaves the accountant should be a free man, and that when
the accountant was a slave the district governor should be chosen
from some other class. This practise was maintained till the end of
the reign of Muzaffar Sháh (A.D. 1511-1525), when, according to the
Mirat-i-Áhmedi, the army became much increased, and the ministers,
condensing the details of revenue, farmed it on contract, so that many
parts formerly yielding one rupee now produced ten, and many others
seven eight or nine, and in no place was there a less increase than
from ten to twenty per cent. Many other changes occurred at the same
time, and the spirit of innovation creeping into the administration
the wholesome system of checking the accounts was given up and mutiny
and confusion spread over Gujarát. [684]
[Assigned Lands.] The second class of directly governed districts
were the lands assigned to nobles for the maintenance of contingents
of troops. As in other parts of India, it would seem that at first
these assignments were for specified sums equal to the pay of the
contingent. When such assignments were of long standing, and were large
enough to swallow the whole revenue of a district, it was natural to
simplify the arrangement by transferring the collection of the revenue
and the whole management of the district to the military leader of
the contingent. So long as the central power was strong, precautions
were doubtless taken to prevent the holder of the grant from unduly
rackrenting his district and appropriating to himself more than the
pay of the troops, or from exercising any powers not vested in the
local governors of districts included within the crown domains. As in
other parts of India, those stipulations were probably enforced by the
appointment of certain civil officers directly from the government to
inspect the whole of the noble's proceedings, as well in managing his
troops as in administering his lands. [685] The decline of the king's
power freed the nobles from all check or control in the management
of their lands. And when, in A.D. 1536, the practice of farming was
introduced into the crown domains, it would seem to have been adopted
by the military leaders in their lands, and to have been continued
till the annexation of Gujarát by the emperor Akbar in A.D. 1573.
[Under the Mughals, A.D. 1573-1760.] It was the policy of Akbar
rather to improve the existing system than to introduce a new form of
government. After to some extent contracting the limits of Gujarát
he constituted it a province or sûbah of the empire, appointing to
its [Administration.] government an officer of the highest rank with
the title of sûbahdár or viceroy. As was the case under the Áhmedábád
kings, the province continued to be divided into territories managed by
feudatory chiefs, and [Crown Lands.] districts administered by officers
appointed either by the court of Dehli or by the local viceroy. The
head-quarters of the army remained at Áhmedábád, and detachments
were told off and placed under the orders of the officers in charge
of the directly administered divisions. These district governors, as
before, belonged to two classes, paid officers responsible for the
management of the crown domains and military leaders in possession
of lands assigned to them in pay of their contingent of troops. The
governors of the crown domains, who were now known as faujdárs or
commanders, had, in addition to the command of the regular troops,
the control of the outposts maintained within the limits of their
charge. Like their predecessors they accompanied the viceroy in his
yearly circuit for the collection of tribute.
As a check on the military governors and to help them in collecting the
revenue, the distinct class of account officers formerly established
by king Áhmed I. (A.D. 1412-1443) was again introduced. The head
of this branch of the administration was an officer, second in
rank to the viceroy alone, appointed direct from the court of Dehli
with the title of diván. Besides acting as collector-general of the
revenues of the province, this officer was also the head of its civil
administration. His title diván is generally translated minister. And
though the word minister does not express the functions of the office,
which corresponded more nearly with those of a chief secretary, it
represents with sufficient accuracy the relation in which the holder
of the office of diván generally stood to the viceroy.
[Revenue Officials.] For its revenue administration each district
or group of districts had its revenue officials called amíns who
corresponded to the collector of modern times. There were also amíns
in the customs department separate from those whose function was to
control and administer the land revenue. Beneath the amín came the
ámil [686] who carried on the actual collection of the land revenue
or customs in each district or parganáh, and below the ámil were the
fáîls, mushrifs, or kárkúns that is the revenue clerks. The ámil
corresponded to the modern mámlatdár, both terms meaning him who
carries on the amal or revenue management. In the leading ports the
ámil of the customs was called mutasaddi that is civil officer.
[Village Officers.] The ámil or mámlatdár dealt directly with the
village officials, namely with the mukaddam or headman, the patwári
or lease manager, the kánúngo or accountant, and the haváldár or
grain-yard guardian. The haváldár superintended the separation of the
government share of the produce; apportioned to the classes subject to
forced labour their respective turns of duty; and exercised a general
police superintendence by means of subordinates called pasáitás
or vartaniás. In ports under the mutasaddi was a harbour-master
or sháh-bandar.
[Desáis.] Crown sub-divisions had, in addition, the important class
called desáis. The desáis' duty appears at first to have been to
collect the salámi or tribute due by the smaller chiefs, landholders,
and vántádárs or sharers. For this, in Akbar's time, the desái received
a remuneration of 2 1/2 per cent on the sum collected. Under the
first viceroy Mírza Ázíz Kokaltásh (A.D. 1573-1575) this percentage
was reduced to one-half of its former amount, and in later times
this one-half was again reduced by one-half. Though the Muhammadan
historians give no reason for so sweeping a reduction, the cause
seems to have been the inability of the desáis to collect the tribute
without the aid of a military force. Under the new system the desái
seems merely to have kept the accounts of the tribute due, and the
records both of the amount which should be levied as tribute and of
other customary rights of the crown. In later times the desáis were to
a great extent superseded by the district accountants or majmudárs, and
many desáis, especially in south Gujarát, seem to have sunk to patels.
[Land Tax.] Up to the viceroyalty of Mírza Ísa Tarkhán
(A.D. 1642-1644), the land tax appears to have been levied from the
cultivator in a fixed sum, but he was also subject to numerous other
imposts. Land grants in wazífah carried with them an hereditary title
and special exemption from all levies except the land tax. The levy
in kind appears to have ceased before the close of Mughal rule. In
place of a levy in kind each village paid a fixed sum or jama through
the district accountant or majmudár who had taken the place of the
desái. As in many cases the jama really meant the lump sum at which
the crown villages were assessed and farmed to the chiefs and patels,
on the collapse of the empire many villages thus farmed to chiefs and
landlords were retained by them with the connivance of the majmudárs
desáis and others.
[Justice.] The administration of justice seems to have been very
complete. In each kasbah or town kázis, endowed with glebe lands in
addition to a permanent salary, adjudicated disputes among Muhammadans
according to the laws of Islám. Disputes between Muhammadans and
unbelievers, or amongst unbelievers, were decided by the department
called the sadárat, the local judge being termed a sadr. The decisions
of the local kázis and sadrs were subject to revision by the kázi or
sadr of the súbah who resided at Áhmedábád. And as a last resort the
Áhmedábád decisions were subject to appeal to the Kázi-ul-Kuzzát and
the Sadr-ûs-Sudûr at the capital.
[Fiscal.] The revenue appears to have been classed under four
main heads: 1. The Khazánah-i-Ámirah or imperial treasury which
comprehended the land tax received from the crown parganáhs or
districts, the tribute, the five per cent customs dues from infidels,
the import dues on stuffs, and the sáyer or land customs including
transit dues, slave market dues, and miscellaneous taxes. 2. The
treasury of arrears into which were paid government claims in arrear
either from the ámils or from the farmers of land revenue; takávi
advances due by the raiyats; and tribute levied by the presence of a
military force. 3. The treasury of charitable endowments. Into this
treasury was paid the 2 1/2 per cent levied as customs dues from
Muhammadans. [687] The pay of the religious classes was defrayed from
this treasury. 4. The treasury, into which the jaziah or capitation
tax levied from zimmís or infidels who acknowledged Muhammadan rule,
was paid. The proceeds were expended in charity and public works. After
the death of the emperor Farrukhsiyar (A.D. 1713-1719), this source
of revenue was abolished. The arrangements introduced by Akbar in
the end of the sixteenth century remained in force till the death of
Aurangzíb in A.D. 1707. Then trouble and perplexity daily increased,
till in A.D. 1724-25, Hamíd Khán usurped the government lands, and,
seeking to get rid of the servants and assignments, gradually obtained
possession of the records of the registry office. The keepers of the
records were scattered, and yearly revenue statements ceased to be
received from the districts. [688]
[Assigned Lands.] Akbar continued the system of assigning lands to
military leaders in payment of their contingents of troops. Immediately
after the annexation in A.D. 1573, almost the whole country was divided
among the great nobles. [689] Except that the revenues of certain
tracts were set aside for the imperial exchequer the directly governed
districts passed into the hands of military leaders who employed their
own agents to collect the revenue. During the seventeenth century
the practice of submitting a yearly record of their revenues, and
the power of the viceroy to bring them to account for misgovernment,
exercised a check on the management of the military leaders. And
during this time a yearly surplus revenue of £600,000 (Rs. 60,00,000)
from the assigned and crown lands was on an average forwarded from
Gujarát to Dehli. In the eighteenth century the decay of the viceroy's
authority was accompanied by the gradually increased power of the
military leaders in possession of assigned districts, till finally,
as in the case of the Nawábs of Broach and Surat, they openly claimed
the position of independent rulers. [690]
[Minor Offices.] Of both leading and minor officials the Mirat-i-Áhmedi
supplies the following additional details. The highest officer who
was appointed under the seal of the minister of the empire was the
provincial diván or minister. He had charge of the fiscal affairs
of the province and of the revenues of the khálsa or crown lands,
and was in some matters independent of the viceroy. Besides his
personal salary he had 150 sawárs for two provincial thánás Arjanpur
and Khambália. Under the diván the chief officers were the píshkár
diván his first assistant, who was appointed under imperial orders
by the patent of the diván, the daroghah or head of the office,
and the sharf or mushrif and tehwildár of the daftar khánáhs, who
presided over the accounts with munshis and muharrirs or secretaries
and writers. The kázis, both town and city, with the sanction of the
emperor were appointed by the chief law officer of the empire through
the chief law officer of the province. They were lodged by the state,
paid partly in cash partly in land, and kept up a certain number of
troopers. In the kázis' courts wakíls or pleaders and muftís or law
officers drew 8 as. to Re. 1 a day. Newly converted Musalmáns also
drew 8 as. a day. The city censor or muhtasib had the supervision
of morals and of weights and measures. He was paid in cash and land,
and was expected to keep up sixty troopers. The news-writer, who was
sometimes also bakhshi or military paymaster, had a large staff of
news-writers called wákiâh-nigár who worked in the district courts and
offices as well as in the city courts. He received his news-reports
every evening and embodied them in a letter which was sent to court by
camel post. A second staff of news-writers called sawáníhnigár reported
rumours. A third set were the harkárás on the viceroy's staff. Postal
chaukis or stations extended from Áhmedábád to the Ajmír frontier,
each with men and horse ready to carry the imperial post which reached
Sháh Jehánábád or Dehli in seven days. A line of posts also ran south
through Broach to the Dakhan. The faujdárs or military police, who
were sometimes commanders of a thousand and held estates, controlled
both the city and the district police. The kotwál or head of the city
night-watch was appointed by the viceroy. He had fifty troopers and
a hundred foot. In the treasury department were the amín or chief,
the dároghah, the mushrif, the treasurer, and five messengers. In the
medical department were a Yúnáni or Greek school and a Hindu physician,
two under-physicians on eight and ten annas a day, and a surgeon. The
yearly grant for food and medicine amounted to Rs. 2000. [691]
[Land Tenures.] Besides the class of vernacular terms that belong
to the administration of the province, certain technical words
connected with the tenure of land are of frequent occurrence in this
history. For each of these, in addition to the English equivalent
which as far as possible has been given in the text, some explanation
seems necessary. During the period to which this history refers,
the superior holders of the land of the province belonged to two main
classes, those whose claims dated from before the Musalmán conquest
and those whose interest in the land was based on a Musalmán grant. By
the Musalmán historians, landholders of the first class, who were
all Hindus, are called zamíndárs, while landholders of the second
class, Musalmáns as a rule, are spoken of as jágírdárs. Though the
term zamíndár was used to include the whole body of superior Hindu
landholders, in practice a marked distinction was drawn between the
almost independent chief, who still enjoyed his Hindu title of rája,
rával, ráv, or jám, and the petty claimant to a share in a government
village, who in a Hindu state would have been known as a garásiá. [692]
[Hereditary Hindu Landholders.] The larger landholders, who had
succeeded in avoiding complete subjection, were, as noticed above,
liable only for the payment of a certain fixed sum, the collection of
which by the central power in later times usually required the presence
of a military force. With regard to the settlement of the claims of the
smaller landholders of the superior class, whose estates fell within
the limits of the directly administered districts, no steps seem to
have been taken till the reign of Áhmed Sháh I. (A.D. 1411-1443). About
the year A.D. 1420 the peace of his kingdom was so broken by agrarian
disturbances, that Áhmed Sháh agreed, on condition of their paying
tribute and performing military service, to re-grant to the landholders
of the zamíndár class as hereditary possessions a one-fourth share
of their former village lands. The portion so set apart was called
vánta or share, and the remainder, retained as state land, was called
talpat. This agreement continued till, in the year A.D. 1545, during
the reign of Mahmúd Sháh II. (A.D. 1536-1553), an attempt was made
to annex these private shares to the crown. This measure caused much
discontent and disorder. It was reversed by the emperor Akbar who,
as part of the settlement of the province in A.D. 1583, restored
their one-fourth share to the landholders, and, except that the
Maráthás afterwards levied an additional quit-rent from these lands,
the arrangements then introduced have since continued in force. [693]
[Levies.] During the decay of Musalmán rule in Gujarát in the first
half of the eighteenth century, shareholders of the garásia class
in government villages, who were always ready to increase their
power by force, levied many irregular exactions from their more
peaceful neighbours, the cultivators or inferior landholders. These
levies are known as vol that is a forced contribution or pál that
is protection. All have this peculiar characteristic that they were
paid by the cultivators of crown lands to petty marauders to purchase
immunity from their attacks. They in no case partook of the nature of
dues imposed by a settled government on its own subjects. Tora garás,
more correctly toda garás, is another levy which had its origin in
eighteenth century disorder. It was usually a readymoney payment taken
from villages which, though at the time crown or khálsa, had formerly
belonged to the garásia who exacted the levy. Besides a readymoney
payment contributions in kind were sometimes exacted.
[Service Lands.] The second class of superior landholders were those
whose title was based on a Musalmán grant. Such grants were either
assignments of large tracts of land to the viceroy, district-governors,
and nobles, to support the dignity of their position and maintain
a contingent of troops, or they were allotments on a smaller scale
granted in reward for some special service. Land granted with these
objects was called jágír, and the holder of the land jágírdár. In
theory, on the death of the original grantee, such possessions were
strictly resumable; in practice they tended to become hereditary. No
regular payments were required from holders of jágírs. Only under
the name of peshkash occasional contributions were demanded. These
occasional contributions generally consisted of such presents as a
horse, an elephant, or some other article of value. They had more of
the nature of a freewill offering than of an enforced tribute. Under
the Musalmáns contributions of this kind were the only payments
exacted from proprietors of the jágírdár class. But the Maráthás,
in addition to contributions, imposed on jágírdárs a regular tribute,
similar to that paid by the representatives of the original class of
superior Hindu landholders.
Under Musalmán rule great part of Gujarát was always in the hands
of jágírdárs. So powerful were they that on two occasions under
the Áhmedábád kings, in A.D. 1554 and A.D. 1572, the leading nobles
distributed among themselves the entire area of the kingdom. [694]
Again, during the eighteenth century, when Mughal rule was on the
decline, the jágírdárs by degrees won for themselves positions of
almost complete independence. [695]
[Condition of Gujarát, A.D. 1297-1760.] The changes in the extent of
territory and in the form of administration illustrate the effect of
the government on the condition of the people during the different
periods of Musalmán rule. The following summary of the leading
characteristics of each of the main divisions of the four-and-a-half
centuries of Musalmán ascendancy may serve as an introduction to the
detailed narrative of events.
[Under the Early Viceroys, 1297-1403.] On conquering Gujarát in
A.D. 1297 the Musalmáns found the country in disorder. The last kings
of Anahilapur or Pátan, suffering under the defects of an incomplete
title, held even their crown lands with no firmness of grasp, and had
allowed the outlying territory to slip almost entirely from their
control. Several of the larger and more distant rulers had resumed
their independence. The Bhíls and Kolis of the hills, forests, and
rough river banks were in revolt. And stranger chiefs, driven south by
the Musalmán conquests in Upper India, had robbed the central power
of much territory. [696] The records of the early Musalmán governors
(A.D. 1297-1391) show suspicion on the side of the Dehli court and
disloyalty on the part of more than one viceroy, much confusion
throughout the province, and little in the way of government beyond
the exercise of military force. At the same time, in spite of wars and
rebellions, the country, in parts at least, seems to have been well
cultivated, and trade and manufactures to have been flourishing. [697]
[Under the Kings, 1403-1573.] The period of the rule of the Áhmedábád
kings (A.D. 1403-1573) contains two divisions, one lasting from
A.D. 1403 to A.D. 1530, on the whole a time of strong government and
of growing power and prosperity; the other the forty-three years from
A.D. 1530 to the conquest of the province by the emperor Akbar in
A.D. 1573, a time of disorder and misrule. In A.D. 1403 when Gujarát
separated from Dehli the new king held but a narrow strip of plain. On
the north were the independent chiefs of Sirohi and Jhálor, from whom
he occasionally levied contributions. On the east the Rája of Ídar,
another Rájput prince, was in possession of the western skirts of
the hills and forests, and the rest of that tract was held by the
mountain tribes of Bhils and Kolis. On the west the peninsula was
in the hands of nine or ten Hindu tribes, probably tributary, but by
no means obedient. [698] In the midst of so unsettled and warlike a
population, all the efforts of Muzaffar I., the founder of the dynasty,
were spent in establishing his power. It was not until the reign of his
successor Áhmed I. (A.D. 1412-1443) that steps were taken to settle the
different classes of the people in positions of permanent order. About
the year A.D. 1420 two important measures were introduced. Of these one
assigned lands for the support of the troops, and the other recognised
the rights of the superior class of Hindu landholders to a portion of
the village lands they had formerly held. The effect of these changes
was to establish order throughout the districts directly under the
authority of the crown. And though, in the territories subject to
feudatory chiefs, the presence of an armed force was still required
to give effect to the king's claims for tribute, his increasing power
and wealth made efforts at independence more hopeless, and gradually
secured the subjection of the greater number of his vassals. During the
latter part of the fifteenth and the first quarter of the sixteenth
century the power of the Áhmedábád kings was at its height. At that
time their dominions included twenty-five divisions or sarkárs. Among
nine of these namely Pátan, Áhmedábád, Sunth, Godhra, Chámpáner,
Baroda, Broach, Nándod or Rájpípla, and Surat the central plain was
distributed. In addition in the north were four divisions, Sirohi,
Jhálor, Jodhpur, and Nágor now in south-west and central Rájputána;
in the north-east two, Dúngarpur and Bánsváda, now in the extreme
south of Rájputána; in the east and south-east three, Nandurbár now in
Khándesh, Mulher or Báglán now in Násik, and Rám Nagar or Dharampur
now in Surat; in the south four, Danda-Rájapuri or Janjira, Bombay,
Bassein, and Daman now in the Konkan; in the west two, Sorath and
Navánagar now in Káthiáváda; and Kachh in the north-west. Besides
the revenues of these districts, tribute was received from the rulers
of Ahmednagar, Burhánpur, Berár, Golkonda, and Bijápur, and customs
dues from twenty-five ports on the western coast of India and from
twenty-six foreign marts, some of them in India and others in the
Persian Gulf and along the Arabian coast. [699] The total revenue from
these three sources is said in prosperous times to have amounted to a
yearly sum of £11,460,000 (Rs. 11,46,00,000). Of this total amount the
territorial revenue from the twenty-five districts yielded £5,840,000
(Rs. 5,84,00,000), or slightly more than one-half. Of the remaining
£5,620,000 (Rs. 5,62,00,000) about one-fifth part was derived from
the Dakhan tribute and the rest from customs-dues. [700]
The buildings at Áhmedábád, and the ruins of Chámpáner and Mehmúdábád,
prove how much wealth was at the command of the sovereign and his
nobles, while the accounts of travellers seem to show that the private
expenditure of the rulers was not greater than the kingdom was well
able to bear. The Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa, who was in
Gujarát between A.D. 1511 and A.D. 1514, found the capital Chámpáner a
great city, in a very fertile country of abundant provisions, with many
cows sheep and goats and plenty of fruit, so that it was full of all
things. [701] Áhmedábád was still larger, very rich and well supplied,
embellished with good streets and squares, with houses of stone and
cement. It was not from the interior districts of the province that
the Áhmedábád kings derived the chief part of their wealth, but from
those lying along the coast, which were enriched by manufactures and
commerce. [702] So it was that along the shores of the gulf of Cambay
and southward as far as Bombay the limit of the Gujarát kingdom,
besides many small sea-ports, Barbosa chooses out for special mention
twelve 'towns of commerce, very rich and of great trade.' Among these
was Diu, off the south coast of Káthiáváda, yielding so large a revenue
to the king as to be 'a marvel and amazement.' And chief of all Cambay,
in a goodly, fertile, and pretty country full of abundant provisions;
with rich merchants and men of great prosperity; with craftsmen and
mechanics of subtle workmanship in cotton, silk, ivory, silver, and
precious stones; the people well dressed, leading luxurious lives,
much given to pleasure and amusement. [703]
The thirty-eight years between the defeat of king Bahádur by the
emperor Humáyún in A.D. 1535 and the annexation of Gujarát by Akbar
in A.D. 1573 was a time of confusion. Abroad, the superiority of
Gujarát over the neighbouring powers was lost, and the limits of the
kingdom shrank; at home, after the attempted confiscation (A.D. 1545)
of their shares in village lands the disaffection of the superior
landowners became general, and the court, beyond the narrow limits
of the crown domains, ceased to exercise substantial control over
either its chief nobles or the more turbulent classes. In spite
of these forty years of disorder, the province retained so much of
its former prosperity, that the boast of the local historians that
in A.D. 1573 Gujarát was in every respect allowed to be the finest
country in Hindustán is supported by the details shortly afterwards
(A.D. 1590) given by Abul Fazl in the Áin-i-Akbari. The high road
from Pátan to Baroda was throughout its length of 150 miles (100 kos)
lined on both sides with mango trees; the fields were bounded with
hedges; and such was the abundance of mango and other fruit trees
that the whole country seemed a garden. The people were well housed
in dwellings with walls of brick and mortar and with tiled roofs;
many of them rode in carriages drawn by oxen; the province was famous
for its painters, carvers, inlayers, and other craftsmen. [704]
[Under the Mughals, 1573-1760.] Like the period of the rule of the
Áhmedábád kings, the period of Mughal rule contains two divisions,
a time of good government lasting from A.D. 1573 to A.D. 1700, and a
time of disorder from A.D. 1700 to A.D. 1760. Under the arrangements
introduced by the emperor Akbar in A.D. 1583, the area of the province
was considerably curtailed. Of its twenty-five districts nine were
restored to the states from which the vigour of the Áhmedábád kings
had wrested them; Jálor and Jodhpur were transferred to Rájputána;
Nágor to Ajmír; Mulher and Nandurbár to Khándesh; Bombay, Bassein, and
Daman were allowed to remain under the Portuguese; and Danda-Rájapuri
(Jinjira) was made over to the Nizámsháhi (A.D. 1490-1595) rulers of
the Dakhan Ahmednagar. Of the remaining sixteen, Sirohi, Dungarpur, and
Bánsváda now in Rájputána, Kachh, Sûnth in Rewa Kántha, and Rámnagar
(Dharampur) in Surat were, on the payment of tribute, allowed to
continue in the hands of their Hindu rulers. The ten remaining
districts were administered directly by imperial officers. But as
the revenues of the district of Surat had been separately assigned
to its revenue officer or mutasaddi, only nine districts with 184
sub-divisions or parganáhs were entered in the collections from the
viceroy of Gujarát. These nine districts were in continental Gujarát,
Pátan with seventeen sub-divisions, Áhmedábád with thirty-three,
Godhra with eleven, Chámpáner with thirteen, Baroda with four, Broach
with fourteen, and Rájpipla (Nándod) with twelve. In the peninsula were
Sorath with sixty-two and Navánagar with seventeen sub-divisions. This
lessening of area seems to have been accompanied by even more than a
corresponding reduction in the state demand. Instead of £5,840,050
(Rs. 5,84,00,500), the revenue recovered in A.D. 1571, two years
before the province was annexed, under the arrangement introduced
by the emperor Akbar, the total amount, including the receipts from
Surat and the tribute of the six feudatory districts, is returned at
£1,999,113 (Rs. 1,99,91,130) or little more than one-third part of
what was formerly collected. [705]
According to the Mirat-i-Áhmedi this revenue of £1,999,113
(Rs. 1,99,91,130) continued to be realised as late as the reign
of Muhammad Sháh (A.D. 1719-1748). But within the next twelve
years (A.D. 1748-1762) the whole revenue had fallen to £1,235,000
(Rs. 1,23,50,000). Of £1,999,113 (Rs. 1,99,91,130), the total
amount levied by Akbar on the annexation of the province, £520,501
(Rs. 52,05,010), or a little more than a quarter, were set apart for
imperial use and royal expense; £55,000 (Rs. 5,50,000) were assigned
for the support of the viceroy and the personal estates of the nobles,
and the remainder was settled for the pay of other officers of rank
and court officials. Nearly £30,000 (Rs. 3,00,000) were given away
as rewards and pensions to religious orders and establishments. [706]
Besides lightening the state demand the emperor Akbar introduced
three improvements: (1) The survey of the land; (2) The payment
of the headmen or mukaddams of government villages; and (3) The
restoration to small superior landholders of the share they formerly
enjoyed in the lands of government villages. The survey which was
entrusted to Rája Todar Mal, the revenue minister of the empire,
was completed in A.D. 1575. The operations were confined to a small
portion of the whole area of the province. Besides the six tributary
districts which were unaffected by the measure, Godhra in the east,
the western peninsula, and a large portion of the central strip of
directly governed lands were excluded, so that of the 184 sub-divisions
only 64 were surveyed. In A.D. 1575, of 7,261,849 acres (12,360,594
bighás), the whole area measured, 4,920,818 acres (8,374,498 bighás)
or about two-thirds were found to be fit for cultivation, and the
remainder was waste. In those parts of the directly governed districts
where the land was not measured the existing method of determining
the government share of the produce either by selecting a portion
of the field while the crop was still standing, or by dividing the
grain heap at harvest time, was continued. In surveyed districts the
amount paid was determined by the area and character of the land under
cultivation. Payment was made either in grain or in money, according
to the instructions issued to the revenue-collectors, 'that when it
would not prove oppressive the value of the grain should be taken
in ready money at the market price.' [707] The chief change in the
revenue management was that, instead of each year calculating the
government share from the character of the crop, an uniform demand
was fixed to run for a term of ten years.
Another important effect of this survey was to extend to cultivators in
simple villages the proprietary interest in the soil formerly enjoyed
only by the shareholders of joint villages. By this change the power
of the military nobles to make undue exactions from the cultivators in
their assigned lands was to some extent checked. It was, perhaps, also
an indirect effect of this more definite settlement of the crown demand
that the revenue agents of government and of the holders of assigned
lands, finding that the revenues could be realised without their help,
refused to allow to the heads of villages certain revenue dues which,
in return for their services, they had hitherto enjoyed. Accordingly,
in A.D. 1589-90, these heads of villages appealed to government and
Akbar decided that in assigned districts as well as in the crown
domains from the collections of government lands two-and-a-half per
cent should be set apart as a perquisite for men of this class. [708]
When the heads of villages laid their own private grievance before
government, they also brought to its notice that the Koli and Rájput
landowners, whose shares in government villages had been resumed by
the crown in A.D. 1545, had since that time continued in a state of
discontent and revolt and were then causing the ruin of the subjects
and a deficiency in the government collections. An inquiry was
instituted, and, to satisfy the claims of landowners of this class,
it was agreed that, on furnishing good security for their conduct
and receiving the government mark on their contingent of cavalry,
they should again be put in possession of a one-fourth share of the
land of government villages. While the province was managed agreeably
to these regulations, says the author of the Mirat-i-Áhmedi, its
prosperity continued to increase. [709]
Though these measures did much to check internal disorder, Gujarát, for
several years after it came under Mughal control, continued disturbed
by insurrections among the nobles, and so imperfectly protected from
the attacks of foreign enemies that between the years A.D. 1573 and
1609 each of its three richest cities, Áhmedábád Cambay and Surat, was
in turn taken and plundered. [710] During the rest of the seventeenth
century, though the country was from time to time disturbed by Koli
and Rájput risings, and towards the end of the century suffered much
from the raids of the Maráthás, the viceroys were, on the whole,
able to maintain their authority, repressing the outbreaks of the
disorderly classes, and enforcing the imperial claims for tribute on
the more independent feudatory chiefs. Throughout the greater part
of the seventeenth century the general state of the province seems
to have been prosperous. Its cities were the wonder of European
travellers. Surat, which only since the transfer of Gujarát to the
Mughal empire had risen to hold a place among its chief centres
of trade, was, in A.D. 1664, when taken by Shiváji, rich enough
to supply him with plunder in treasure and precious stones worth a
million sterling [711]; and at that time Cambay is said to have been
beyond comparison greater than Surat, and Áhmedábád much richer and
more populous than either. [712]
From the beginning of the eighteenth century disorder increased. Unable
to rely for support on the imperial court, the viceroys failed to
maintain order among the leading nobles, or to enforce their tribute
from the more powerful feudatories. And while the small Koli and
Rájput landholders, freed from the control of a strong central power,
were destroying the military posts, taking possession of the state
share of village lands, and levying dues from their more peaceful
neighbours, the burden of the Marátha tribute was year by year growing
heavier. During the last ten years of Musalmán rule so entirely did
the viceroy's authority forsake him, that, according to the author
of the Mirat-i-Áhmedi, when the great landholders refused to pay
their tribute, the viceroy had no power to enforce payment. And so
faithless had the great landowners become that the viceroy could not
pass the city gate without an escort. [713]
The above summary contains frequent references to three classes
of zamíndárs: (1) The zamíndárs of the self-governed states; (2)
The greater zamíndárs of the crown districts; and (3) The lesser
zamíndárs of the crown districts.
[Self-governed Zamíndárs.] In the case of the zamíndárs of
self-governed states the principle was military service and no
tribute. The author of the Mirat-i-Áhmedi says that finally the
zamíndárs of the self-governed states ceased to do service. In spite
of this statement it seems probable that some of this class served
almost until the complete collapse of the empire, and that tribute
was rarely levied from them by an armed force. In the Mirat-i-Áhmedi
account of the office of súbahdár or názim sûbah the following passage
occurs: When occasion arose the názims used to take with their armies
the contingents of the Ránás of Udepur Dúngarpur and Bánsváda, which
were always permanently posted outside their official residences
(in Áhmedábád). This shows that these great zamíndárs had official
residences at the capital, where probably their contingents were
posted under wakíls or agents. It therefore seems probable that their
tribute too would be paid through their representatives at the capital
and that a military force was seldom sent against them. Accordingly
notices of military expeditions in the tributary sarkárs are rare
though they were of constant occurrence in the crown districts.
[Crown Zamíndárs.] The position of the zamíndárs of the khálsa or
crown districts was very different from that of the zamíndárs of
self-governed territories. The khálsa zamíndárs had been deprived of
the greater portion of their ancestral estates which were administered
by the viceregal revenue establishment. In some instances their
capitals had been annexed. Even if not annexed the capital was the
seat of faujdár who possessed the authority and encroached daily on
the rights and privileges of the chieftain. The principal chiefs in
this position were those of Rájpípla and Ídar in Gujarát and the
Jám of Navánagar in Káthiáváda. Of the three, Rájpipla had been
deprived of his capital Nándod and of all the fertile districts,
and was reduced to a barren sovereignty over rocks, hills and Bhíls
at Rájpípla. Ídar had suffered similar treatment and the capital was
the seat of a Muhammadan faujdár. Navánagar, which had hitherto been
a tributary sarkár, was during the reign of Aurangzíb made a crown
district. But after Aurangzíb's death the Jám returned to his capital
and again resumed his tributary relations.
[Smaller Zamíndárs.] The lesser holders, including grásiás wántádárs
and others, had suffered similar deprivation of lands and were subject
to much encroachment from the government officials. Throughout the
empire widespread discontent prevailed among subordinate holders
of this description as well as among all the zamíndárs of the crown
districts, so that the successes of Shiváji in the Dakhan found ardent
sympathisers even in Gujarát. When the zamíndárs saw that this Hindu
rebel was strong enough to pillage Surat they began to hope that a
day of deliverance was near. The death of Aurangzíb (A.D. 1707) was
the signal for these restless spirits to bestir themselves. When the
Maráthás began regular inroads they were hailed as deliverers from
the yoke of the Mughal. The Rájpípla chief afforded them shelter and
a passage through his country. The encouragement to anarchy given by
some of the Rájput viceroys who were anxious to emancipate themselves
from the central control further enabled many chieftains girásiás
and others to absorb large portions of the crown domains, and even
to recover their ancient capitals. Finally disaffected Muhammadan
faujdárs succeeded in building up estates out of the possessions
of the crown and founding the families which most of the present
Muhammadan chieftains of Gujarát represent.
[Marátha Ascendancy, 1760-1802.] When the imperial power had been
usurped by the Marátha leaders, the chiefs who had just shaken off
the more powerful Mughal yoke were by no means disposed tamely to
submit to Marátha domination. Every chief resisted the levy of tribute
and Momín Khán reconquered Áhmedábád. In this struggle the Maráthás
laboured under the disadvantage of dissensions between the Peshwa and
the Gáikwár. They were also unaware of the actual extent of the old
imperial domain and were ignorant of the amount of tribute formerly
levied. They found that the faujdárs, who, in return for Marátha
aid in enabling them to absorb the crown parganáhs, had agreed to
pay tribute, now joined the zamíndárs in resisting Marátha demands,
while with few exceptions the desáis and majmudárs either openly allied
themselves with the zamíndárs or were by force or fraud deprived of
their records. [Gáikwár Saved by British Alliance, 1802.] So serious
were the obstacles to the collection of the Marátha tribute that,
had it not been for the British alliance in A.D. 1802, there seems
little doubt that the Gáikwár would have been unable to enforce
his demands in his more distant possessions. The British alliance
checked the disintegration of the Gáikwár's power, and the permanent
settlement of the tribute early in this century enabled that chief
to collect a large revenue at a comparatively trifling cost. Not
only were rebels like Malhárráo and Kánoji suppressed, but powerful
servants like Vithalráv Deváji, who without doubt would have asserted
their independence, were confirmed in their allegiance and the rich
possessions they had acquired became part of the Gáikwár's dominions.
[Power of Chiefs.] It must not be supposed that while the larger
chiefs were busy absorbing whole parganáhs the lesser chiefs were more
backward. They too annexed villages and even Mughal posts or thánáhs,
while wántádárs or sharers absorbed the talpat or state portion, and,
under the name of tora garás, [714] daring spirits imposed certain
rights over crown villages once their ancient possessions, or, under
the name of pál or vol, enforced from neighbouring villages payments
to secure immunity from pillage. Even in the Baroda district of the
thirteen Mughal posts only ten now belong to the Gáikwár, two having
been conquered by girásiás and one having fallen under Broach. In
Sauráshtra except Ránpur and Gogha and those in the Amreli district,
not a single Mughal post is in the possession either of the British
Government or of the Gáikwár. A reference to the Mughal posts in other
parts of Gujarát shows that the same result followed the collapse of
Musalmán power.
[Power of Local Chiefs.] Since the introduction of Musalmán rule in
A.D. 1297 each successive government has been subverted by the ambition
of the nobles and the disaffection of the chiefs. It was thus that
the Gujarát Sultáns rendered themselves independent of Dehli. It was
thus that the Sultán's territories became divided among the nobles,
whose dissensions reduced the province to Akbar's authority. It was
thus that the chiefs and local governors, conniving at Marátha inroads,
subverted Mughal rule. Finally it was thus that the Gáikwár lost his
hold of his possessions and was rescued from ruin solely by the power
of the British.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY MUSALMÁN GOVERNORS.
A.D. 1297-1403.
[Alá-ud-dín Khilji Emperor, 1295-1315.] Except the great expedition
of Mahmúd Ghaznawi against Somnáth in A.D. 1024 [715]; the defeat
of Muhammad Muiz-ud-dín or Shaháb-ud-dín Ghori by Bhím Dev II. of
Anahilaváda about A.D. 1178 [716]; and the avenging sack of Anahilaváda
and defeat of Bhím by Kutb-ud-dín Eibak in A.D. 1194, until the reign
of Alá-ud-dín Khilji in A.D. 1295-1315, Gujarát remained free from
Muhammadan interference. [717] [Ulugh Khán, 1297-1317.] In A.D. 1297,
Ulugh Khán, general of Alá-ud-dín and Nasrat Khán Wazír were sent
against Anahilaváda. They took the city expelling Karan Wághela,
usually called Ghelo The Mad, who took refuge at Devgadh with Rámdeva
the Yádav sovereign of the north Dakhan. [718] They next seized Khambát
(the modern Cambay), and, after appointing a local governor, returned
to Dehli. From this time Gujarát remained under Muhammadan power, and
Ulugh Khán, a man of great energy, by repeated expeditions consolidated
the conquest and established Muhammadan rule. The Kánaddeva Rása says
that he plundered Somnáth, and there is no doubt that he conquered
Jhálor (the ancient Jhálindar) from the Songarha Choháns. [719]
After Ulugh Khán had governed Gujarát for about twenty years, at the
instigation of Malik Káfur, he was recalled and put to death by the
emperor Alá-ud-dín. [720]
[Ain-ul-Mulk Governor, 1318.] Ulugh Khán's departure shook Muhammadan
power in Gujarát, and Kamál-ud-dín, whom Mubárak Khilji sent to quell
the disturbances, was slain in battle. Sedition spread till Ain-ul-Mulk
Multáni arrived with a powerful army, defeated the rebels and [Order
Established, 1318.] restored order. He was succeeded by Zafar Khán,
who after completing the subjection of the country was recalled,
and his place supplied by Hisám-ud-dín Parmár. [721] This officer,
showing treasonable intentions, was imprisoned and succeeded by Malik
Wájid-ud-dín Kuraishi, who was afterwards ennobled by the title of
Táj or Sadr-ul-Mulk. Khusraw Khán Parmár was then appointed governor,
but it is not clear whether he ever joined his appointment. The
next governor to whom reference is made is [Táj-ul-Mulk Governor,
1320.] Táj-ul-Mulk, who about A.D. 1320, was, for the second time,
chosen as governor by Sultán Ghiás-ud-dín Tughlak. He was succeeded
by Malik Mukbil, who held the titles of Khán Jahán and Náib-i-Mukhtár,
and who was appointed by [Muhammad Tughlak Emperor, 1325-1351.] Sultán
Muhammad Tughlak, A.D. 1325-1351. Subsequently the same emperor granted
the government of Gujarát to Áhmad Ayáz, Malik Mukbil continuing to
act as his deputy. Afterwards when Áhmad Ayáz, who received the title
of Khwájah Jahán, proceeded as governor to Gujarát, Malik Mukbil
acted as his minister. And about A.D. 1338, when Khwájah Jahán was
sent against the emperor's nephew Karshásp and the Rája of Kampila
[722] who had sheltered him, Malik Mukbil succeeded to the post of
governor. On one occasion between Baroda and Dabhoi Malik Mukbil,
who was escorting treasure and a caravan of merchants to Dehli, was
plundered by some bands of the Amíráni Sadah or Captains of Hundreds
freelances and freebooters, most of them New Musalmáns or Mughal
converts, and the rest Turk and Afghán adventurers. This success
emboldened these banditti and for several years they caused loss
and confusion in Gujarát. At last, about A.D. 1346, being joined by
certain Muhammadan nobles and Hindu chieftains, they broke into open
rebellion and defeated one Ázíz, who was appointed by the emperor to
march against them. [The Emperor Quells an Insurrection, 1347.] In
the following year, A.D. 1347, Muhammad Tughlak, advancing in person,
defeated the rebels, and sacked the towns of Cambay and Surat. During
the same campaign he drove the Gohil chief Mokheráji out of his
stronghold on Piram Island near Gogha on the Gulf of Cambay, and then,
landing his forces, after a stubborn conflict, defeated the Gohils,
killing Mokheráji and capturing Gogha. Afterwards Muhammad Tughlak left
for Daulatábád in the Dakhan, and in his absence the chiefs and nobles
under Malik Túghán, a leader of the Amíráni Sadah, again rebelled,
and, obtaining possession of Pátan, imprisoned Muîzz-ud-dín the
viceroy. The insurgents then plundered Cambay, and afterwards laid
siege to Broach. Muhammad Tughlak at once marched for Gujarát and
relieved Broach, Malik Túghán retreating to Cambay, whither he was
followed by Malik Yúsuf, whom the emperor sent in pursuit of him. In
the battle that ensued near Cambay, Malik Yúsuf was defeated and slain,
and all the prisoners, both of this engagement and those who had been
previously captured, were put to death by Malik Túghán. Among the
prisoners was Muîzz-ud-dín, the governor of Gujarát. Muhammad Tughlak
now marched to Cambay in person, whence Malik Túghán retreated to
Pátan, pursued by the emperor, who was forced by stress of weather
to halt at Asáwal. [723] Eventually the emperor came up with Malik
Túghán near Kadi and gained a complete victory, Malik Túghán fleeing
to Thatha in Sindh. [Subdues Girnár and Kachh, 1350.] To establish
order throughout Gujarát Muhammad Tughlak marched against Girnár,
[724] reduced the fortress, [725] and levied tribute from the chief
named Khengár. He then went to Kachh, and after subduing that country
returned to Sorath. At Gondal he contracted a fever, and before he
was entirely recovered, he advanced through Kachh into Sindh with the
view of subduing the Sumra chief of Thatha, who had sheltered Malik
Túghán. Before reaching Thatha he succumbed to the fever, and died
in the spring of A.D. 1351. Shortly before his death he appointed
Nizám-ul-Mulk to the government of Gujarát.
[Fírúz Tughlak Emperor, 1351-1388.] In A.D. 1351, Fírúz Tughlak
succeeded Muhammad Tughlak on the throne of Dehli. Shortly after
his accession the emperor marched to Sindh and sent a force against
Malik Túghán. About A.D. 1360 he again advanced to Sindh against Jám
Bábunia. From Sindh he proceeded to Gujarát, where he stayed for some
months. [Zafar Khan Governor, 1371.] Next year, on leaving for Sindh
for the third time, he bestowed the government of Gujarát on Zafar
Khán in place of Nizám-ul-Mulk. On Zafar Khán's death, in A.D. 1373
according to Farishtah and A.D. 1371 according to the Mirat-i-Áhmedi,
he was succeeded by his son Daryá Khán who appears to have governed
by a deputy named Shams-ud-dín Anwar Khán. In A.D. 1376, besides
presents of elephants horses and other valuables, one Shams-ud-dín
Dámghání offered a considerable advance on the usual collections
from Gujarát. As Daryá Khán would not agree to pay this sum he was
displaced and Shams-ud-dín Dámghání was appointed governor. Finding
himself unable to pay the stipulated amount this officer rebelled
and withheld the revenue. Fírúz Tughlak sent an army against him,
and by the aid of the chieftains and people, whom he had greatly
oppressed, Shams-ud-dín was slain. The government of the province
was then entrusted to Farhat-ul-Mulk Rásti Khán. [Farhat-ul-Mulk
Governor, 1376-1391.] In about A.D. 1388, a noble named Sikandar
Khán was sent to supersede Farhat-ul-Mulk, but was defeated and
slain by him. As the emperor Fírúz Tughlak died shortly after
no notice was taken of Farhat-ul-Mulk's conduct and in the short
reign of Fírúz's successor Ghiás-ud-dín Tughlak, no change was made
in the government of Gujarát. During the brief rule of Abu Bakr,
Farhat-ul-Mulk continued undisturbed. [Muhammad Tughlak II. Emperor,
1391-1393.] But in A.D. 1391, on the accession of Násir-ud-dín Muhammad
Tughlak II., a noble of the name of Zafar Khán was appointed governor
of Gujarát, and despatched with an army to recall or, if necessary,
expel Farhat-ul-Mulk.
This Zafar Khán was the son of Wajíh-ul-Mulk, of the Tánk tribe of
Rájputs who claim to be of Suryavansi descent and together with the
Gurjjaras appear from very early times to have inhabited the plains
of the Punjáb. Of Wajíh-ul-Mulk's rise to power at the Dehli court
the following story is told. Before he sat on the throne of Dehli,
Fírúz Tughlak, when hunting in the Punjáb, lost his way and came to a
village near Thánesar, held by chieftains of the Tánk tribe. He was
hospitably entertained by two brothers of the chief's family named
Sáháran and Sádhu, and became enamoured of their beautiful sister. When
his hosts learned who the stranger was, they gave him their sister in
marriage and followed his fortunes. Afterwards Fírúz persuading them
to embrace Islám, conferred on Saháran the title of Wajíh-ul-Mulk,
and on Sádhu the title of Shamshír Khán. Finally, in A.D. 1351, when
Fírúz Tughlak ascended the throne, he made Shamshír Khán and Zafar
Khán, the son of Wajíh-ul-Mulk, his cup-bearers, and raised them to
the rank of nobles.
[Zafar Khán Governor, 1391-1403.] In A.D. 1391, on being appointed
viceroy, Zafar Khán marched without delay for Gujarát. In passing
Nágor [726] he was met by a deputation from Cambay, complaining of
the tyranny of Rásti Khán. Consoling them, he proceeded to Pátan, the
seat of government, and thence marched against Rásti Khán. [Battle of
Jitpur; Farhat-ul-Mulk Slain, 1391.] The armies met near the village of
Khambhoi, [727] a dependency of Pátan, and Farhat-ul-Mulk Rásti Khán
was slain and his army defeated. To commemorate the victory, Zafar
Khán founded a village on the battle-field, which he named Jítpur
(the city of victory), and then, starting for Cambay, redressed the
grievances of the people.
[Zafar Khán Attacks Ídar, 1393.] Zafar Khán's first warlike expedition
was against the Ráv of Ídar, [728] who, in A.D. 1393, had refused to
pay the customary tribute, and this chief he humbled. The contemporary
histories seem to show that the previous governors had recovered
tribute from all or most of the chiefs of Gujarát except from the Ráv
of Junágadh [729] and the Rája of Rájpípla, [730] who had retained
their independence. Zafar Khán now planned an expedition against the
celebrated Hindu shrine of Somnáth, but, hearing that Ádil Khán of
Ásír-Burhánpur had invaded Sultánpur and Nandurbár, [731] he moved his
troops in that direction, and Ádil Khán retired to Ásir. [732] [Exacts
Tribute from Junágadh, 1394.] In A.D. 1394, he marched against the Ráv
of Junágadh and exacted tribute. Afterwards, proceeding to Somnáth,
he destroyed the temple, built an Assembly Mosque, introduced Islám,
left Musalmán law officers, and established a thána or post in the
city of Pátan Somnáth or Deva Pátan. He now heard that the Hindus of
Mándu [733] were oppressing the Muslims, and, accordingly, marching
thither, he beleaguered that fortress for a year, but failing to take
it contented himself with accepting the excuses of the Rája. From Mándu
he performed a pilgrimage to Ajmír. [734] Here he proceeded against
the chiefs of Sámbhar and Dandwána, and then attacking the Rájputs
of Delváda and Jháláváda, [735] he defeated them, and returned to
Pátan in A.D. 1396. About this time his son Tátár Khán, leaving his
baggage in the fort of Pánipat, [736] made an attempt on Dehli. But
Ikbál Khán took the fort of Pánipat, captured Tátár Khán's baggage,
and forced him to withdraw to Gujarát. [Lays Siege to Ídar Fort,
1397.] In A.D. 1397, with the view of reducing Ídar, Zafar Khán
besieged the fort, laying waste the neighbouring country. Before he
had taken the fort Zafar Khán received news of Timúr's conquests,
and concluding a peace with the Ídar Rája, returned to Pátan. [737]
In A.D. 1398, hearing that the Somnáth people claimed independence,
Zafar Khán led an army against them, defeated them, and [Establishes
Islám at Somnáth, 1398.] established Islám on a firm footing.
CHAPTER II.
ÁHMEDÁBÁD KINGS.
A.D. 1403-1573.
The rule of the Áhmedábád kings extends over 170 years and includes the
names of fifteen sovereigns. The period may conveniently be divided
into two parts. The first, lasting for a little more than a century
and a quarter, when, under strong rulers, Gujarát rose to consequence
among the kingdoms of Western India; the second, from A.D. 1536 to
A.D. 1573, an evil time when the sovereigns were minors and the wealth
and supremacy of Gujarát were wasted by the rivalry of its nobles.
The date on which Zafar Khán openly threw off his allegiance to
Dehli is doubtful. Farishtah says he had the Friday prayer or khutbah
repeated in his name after his successful campaign against Jháláváda
and Delváda in A.D. 1396. According to the Mirat-i-Sikandari he
maintained a nominal allegiance till A.D. 1403 when he formally
invested his son Tátár Khán with the sovereignty of Gujarát, under
the title of Násir-ud-dín Muhammad Sháh.
[Muhammad I. 1403-1404.] On ascending the throne in A.D. 1403, Muhammad
Sháh made Asáwal his capital, and, after humbling the chief of Nándod
or Nádot in Rájpipla, marched against Dehli by way of Pátan. On
his way to Pátan the king sickened and died. His body was brought
back to Pátan, and the expedition against Dehli came to nothing. It
seems probable that this is a courtly version of the tale; the fact
being that in A.D. 1403 Tátár Khán imprisoned his father at Asáwal,
and assumed the title of Muhammad Sháh, and that Tátár Khán's death
was caused by poison administered in the interest, if not at the
suggestion, of his father Zafar Khán. [738]
[Zafar Khán reigns as Muzaffar, 1407-1419.] After the death of Muhammad
Sháh, Zafar Khán asked his own younger brother Shams Khán Dandáni
to carry on the government, but he refused. Zafar Khán accordingly
sent Shams Khán Dandáni to Nágor in place of Jalál Khán Khokhar,
and in A.D. 1407-8, at Bírpur, at the request of the nobles and
chief men of the country, himself formally mounted the throne and
assumed the title of Muzaffar Sháh. At this time Álp Khán, son of
Diláwar Khán of Málwa, was rumoured to have poisoned his father
and ascended the throne with the title of Sultán Hushang Ghori. On
hearing this Muzaffar Sháh marched against Hushang and besieged him
in Dhár. [739] On reducing Dhár Muzaffar handed Hushang to the charge
of his brother Shams Khán, on whom he conferred the title of Nasrat
Khán. Hushang remained a year in confinement, and Músa Khán one of
his relations usurped his authority. On hearing this, Hushang begged
to be released, and Muzaffar Sháh not only agreed to his prayer,
but sent his grandson Áhmed Khán with an army to reinstate him. This
expedition was successful; the fortress of Mándu was taken and the
usurper Músa Khán was put to flight. Áhmed Khán returned to Gujarát
in A.D. 1409-10. Meanwhile Muzaffar advancing towards Dehli to aid
Sultán Mahmúd (A.D. 1393-1413), prevented an intended attack on that
city by Sultán Ibráhím of Jaunpur. On his return to Gujarát Muzaffar
led, or more probably despatched, an unsuccessful expedition against
Kambhkot. [740] In the following year (A.D. 1410-11), to quell a rising
among the Kolis near Asával, Muzaffar placed his grandson Áhmed Khán in
command of an army. Áhmed Khán camped outside of Pátan. He convened
an assembly of learned men and asked them whether a son was not
bound to exact retribution from his father's murderer. The assembly
stated in writing that a son was bound to exact retribution. Armed
with this decision, Áhmed suddenly entered the city, overpowered
his grandfather, and forced him to drink poison. The old Khán said:
'Why so hasty, my boy. A little patience and power would have come
to you of itself.' He advised Áhmed to kill the evil counsellors of
murder and to drink no wine. Remorse so embittered Áhmed's after-life
that he was never known to laugh.
[Ahmed I. 1411-1441.] On his grandfather's death, Áhmed succeeded with
the title of Násir-ud-dunya Wad-dín Abúl fateh Áhmed Sháh. Shortly
after Áhmed Sháh's accession, his cousin Moid-ud-dín Fírúz Khán,
governor of Baroda, allying himself with Hisám or Nizám-ul-Mulk
Bhandári and other nobles, collected an army at Nadiád in Kaira, and,
laying claim to the crown, defeated the king's followers. Jívandás,
one of the insurgents, proposed to march upon Pátan, but as the
others refused a dispute arose in which Jívandás was slain, and
the rest sought and obtained Áhmed Sháh's forgiveness. Moid-ud-dín
Fírúz Khán went to Cambay and was there joined by Masti Khán, son of
Muzaffar Sháh, who was governor of Surat: on the king's advance they
fled from Cambay to Broach, to which fort Áhmed Sháh laid siege. As
soon as the king arrived, Moid-ud-dín's army went over to the king,
and Masti Khán also submitted. After a few days Áhmed Sháh sent for and
forgave Moid-ud-dín, and returned to Asáwal victorious and triumphant.
[Builds Áhmedábád, 1413.] In the following year (A.D. 1413-14) [741]
Áhmed Sháh defeated Ása Bhíl, chief of Asáwal, and, finding the site of
that town suitable for his capital, he changed its name to Áhmedábád,
and busied himself in enlarging and fortifying the city. [742] During
this year Moid-ud-dín Fírúz Khán and Masti Khán again revolted, and,
joining the Ídar Rája, took shelter in that fortress. [Defeats the
Ídar Chief, 1414.] A force under Fateh Khán was despatched against
the rebels, and finally Fírúz Khán and the Ídar Rája were forced to
flee by way of Kherálu a town in the district of Kadi. Moid-ud-dín
now persuaded Rukn Khán governor of Modása, fifty miles north of
Áhmedábád, to join. They united their forces with those of Badri-ûlá,
Masti Khán, and Ranmal Rája of Ídar and encamped at Rangpura an Ídar
village about five miles from Modása and began to strengthen Modása and
dig a ditch round it. The Sultán camped before the fort and offered
favourable terms. The besieged bent on treachery asked the Sultán to
send Nizám-ul-Mulk the minister and certain other great nobles. The
Sultán agreed, and the besieged imprisoned the envoys. After a three
days' siege Modása fell. Badri-ûlá and Rukn Khán were slain, and Fírúz
Khán and the Rája of Ídar fled. The imprisoned nobles were released
unharmed. The Rája seeing that all hope of success was gone, made his
peace with the king by surrendering to him the elephants, horses and
other baggage of Moid-ud-dín Fírúz Khán and Masti Khán, who now fled
to Nágor, where they were sheltered by Shams Khán Dandáni. Áhmed Sháh
after levying the stipulated tribute departed. Moid-ud-dín Fírúz Khán
was afterwards slain in the war between Shams Khán and Rána Mokal of
Chitor. [Suppresses a Revolt, 1414.] In A.D. 1414-15 Uthmán Áhmed and
Sheikh Malik, in command at Pátan, and Sulaimán Afghán called Ázam
Khán, and Ísa Sálár rebelled, and wrote secretly to Sultán Hushang of
Málwa, inviting him to invade Gujarát, and promising to seat him on
the throne and expel Áhmed Sháh. They were joined in their rebellion
by Jhála Satarsálji [743] of Pátdi and other chiefs of Gujarát. Áhmed
Sháh despatched Latíf Khán and Nizám-ul-Mulk against Sheikh Malik and
his associates, while he sent Imád-ul-Mulk against Sultán Hushang,
who retired, and Imád-ul-Mulk, after plundering Málwa, returned to
Gujarát. Latíf Khán, pressing in hot pursuit of Satarsál and Sheikh
Malik, drove them to Sorath. The king returned with joyful heart
to Áhmedábád.
[Spread of Islám, 1414.] Though, with their first possession of
the country, A.D. 1297-1318, the Muhammadans had introduced their
faith from Pátan to Broach, the rest of the province long remained
unconverted. By degrees, through the efforts of the Áhmedábád kings,
the power of Islám became more directly felt in all parts of the
province. Many districts, till then all but independent, accepted
the Musalmán faith at the hands of Áhmed Sháh, and agreed to the
payment of a regular tribute. In A.D. 1414 he led an army against
the Ráv of Junágadh and defeated him. The Ráv retired to the hill
fortress of Girnár. Áhmed Sháh, though unable to capture the hill,
gained the fortified citadel of Junágadh. Finding further resistance
vain, the chief tendered his submission, and Junágadh was admitted
among the tributary states. This example was followed by the
greater number of the Sorath chiefs, who, for the time, resigned
their independence. Sayad Ábûl Khair and Sayad Kásim were left to
collect the tribute, and Áhmed Sháh returned to Áhmedábád. Next year
he marched against Sidhpur, [744] and in A.D. 1415 advanced from
Sidhpur to Dhár in Málwa. [Áhmed I. Quells a Second Revolt, 1416.] At
this time the most powerful feudatories were the Ráv of Junágadh,
the Rával of Chámpáner, [745] the Rája of Nándod, the Ráv of Ídar,
and the Rája of Jháláváda. Trimbakdás of Chámpáner, Púnja of Ídar,
Siri of Nándod, and Mandlik of Jháláváda, alarmed at the activity
of Áhmed Sháh and his zeal for Islám, instigated Sultán Hushang of
Málwa to invade Gujarát. Áhmed Sháh promptly marched to Modása, [746]
forced Sultán Hushang of Málwa to retire, and broke up the conspiracy,
reproving and pardoning the chiefs concerned. About the same time the
Sorath chiefs withheld their tribute, but the patience and unwearied
activity of the king overcame all opposition. When at Modása Áhmed
heard that, by the treachery of the son of the governor, Násír of Asír
and Gheirát or Ghazni Khán of Málwa had seized the fort of Thálner in
Sirpur in Khándesh, and, with the aid of the chief of Nándod, were
marching against Sultánpur and Nandurbár. Áhmed sent an expedition
against Nasír of Asír under Malik Mahmúd Barki or Turki. When the
Malik reached Nándod he found that Gheirat Khán had fled to Málwa and
that Nasír had retired to Thálner. The Malik advanced, besieged and
took Thálner, capturing Nasír whom Áhmed forgave and dignified with
the title of Khán. [747]
After quelling these rebellions Áhmed Sháh despatched Nizám-ul-Mulk
to punish the Rája of Mandal near Viramgám, and [Expedition against
Málwa, 1417.] himself marched to Málwa against Sultán Hushang, whom
he defeated, capturing his treasure and elephants. In A.D. 1418,
in accordance with his policy of separately engaging his enemies,
[Attacks Chámpáner, 1418.] Áhmed Sháh marched to chastise Trimbakdas
of Chámpáner, and though unable to take the fortress he laid waste
the surrounding country. In A.D. 1419 he ravaged the lands round
Sankheda [748] and built a fort there and a mosque within the fort;
he also built a wall round the town of Mángni, [749] and then marched
upon Mándu. On the way ambassadors from Sultán Hushang met him suing
for peace, and Áhmed Sháh, returning towards Chámpáner, again laid
waste the surrounding country. During the following year (A.D. 1420)
he remained in Ahmedábád bringing his own dominions into thorough
subjection by establishing fortified posts and by humbling the chiefs
and destroying their strongholds. Among other works he built the forts
of Dohad [750] on the Málwa frontier and of Jítpur in Lúnáváda. [751]
In A.D. 1421 he repaired the fort in the town of Kahreth, otherwise
called Meimún in Lúnáváda, which had been built by Ulugh Khán Sanjar
in the reign of Sultán Alá-ud-dín (A.D. 1295-1315) and changed the
name to Sultánpur. [War with Málwa, 1422.] He next advanced against
Málwa and took the fort of Mesar. After an unsuccessful siege of
Mándu he went to Ujjain. [752] From Ujjain he returned to Mándu,
and failing to capture Mándu, he marched against Sárangpur. [753]
Sultán Hushang sent ambassadors and concluded a peace. In spite of the
agreement, while Áhmed Sháh was returning to Gujarát, Sultán Hushang
made a night attack on his army and caused much havoc. Áhmed Sháh,
collecting what men he could, waited till dawn and then fell on and
defeated the Málwa troops, who were busy plundering. Sultán Hushang
took shelter in the fort of Sárangpur to which Áhmed Sháh again laid
siege. Failing to take the fort Áhmed retreated towards Gujarát,
closely followed by Sultán Hushang, who was eager to wipe out his
former defeat. On Hushang's approach, Áhmed Sháh, halting his troops,
joined battle and repulsing Hushang returned to Áhmedábád.
[Defeats the Ídar Chief, 1425.] In A.D. 1425 Áhmed Sháh led an army
against Ídar, defeating the force brought to meet him and driving their
leader to the hills. Ídar was always a troublesome neighbour to the
Áhmedábád kings and one difficult to subdue, for when his country was
threatened, the chief could retire to his hills, where he could not
easily be followed. As a permanent check on his movements, Áhmed Sháh,
in A.D. 1427, built the fort of Ahmednagar, [754] on the banks of the
Háthmati, eighteen miles south-west of Ídar. In the following year the
Ídar chief, Ráv Púnja, attacked a foraging party and carried off one of
the royal elephants. He was pursued into the hills and brought to bay
in a narrow pathway at the edge of a steep ravine. Púnja was driving
back his pursuers when the keeper of the Sultán's elephant urged his
animal against the Ráv's horse. The horse swerving lost his foothold
and rolling down the ravine destroyed himself and his rider. [755]
During the two following years Áhmed Sháh abstained from foreign
conquests, devoting himself to improving his dominions and to working
out a system of paying his troops. The method he finally adopted was
payment half in money and half in land. This arrangement attached the
men to the country, and, while keeping them dependent on the state,
enabled them to be free from debt. Further to keep his officials in
check he arranged that the treasurer should be one of the king's slaves
while the actual paymaster was a native of the particular locality. He
also appointed ámils that is sub-divisional revenue officers. After Ráv
Púnja's death Áhmed Sháh marched upon Ídar, and did not return until
Ráv Púnja's son agreed to pay an annual tribute of £300 (Rs. 3000). In
the following year, according to Farishtah (II. 369) in spite of the
young chiefs promise to pay tribute, Áhmed Sháh attacked Ídar, took the
fort, and built an assembly mosque. Fearing that their turn would come
next the chief of Jháláváda and Kánha apparently chief of Dungarpur
fled to Nasír Khán of Asír. Nasír Khán gave Kánha a letter to Áhmed
Sháh Báhmani, to whose son Alá-ud-dín Násír's daughter was married,
and having detached part of his own troops to help Kánha they plundered
and laid waste some villages of Nandurbár and Sultánpur. Sultán Áhmed
sent his eldest son Muhammad Khán with Mukarrabul Mulk and others to
meet the Dakhanis who were repulsed with considerable loss. On this
Sultán Áhmed Báhmani, under Kadr Khán Dakhani, sent his eldest son
Alá-ud-dín and his second son Khán Jehán against the Gujarátis. Kadr
Khán marched to Daulatábád and joining Nasír Khán and the Gujarát
rebels fought a great battle near the pass of Mánek Púj, six miles
south of Nándgaon in Násik. The confederates were defeated with great
slaughter. The Dakhan princes fled to Daulatábád and Kánha and Nasír
Khán to Kalanda near Chálisgaum in south Khándesh.
[Recovers Máhim, 1429;] In the same year (A.D. 1429), on the death of
Kutub Khán the Gujarát governor of the island of Máhim, now the north
part of the island of Bombay, [756] Áhmed Sháh Báhmani smarting under
his defeats, ordered Hasan Izzat, otherwise called Malik-ut-Tujjár,
to the Konkan and by the Malik's activity the North Konkan passed
to the Dakhanis. On the news of this disaster Áhmed Sháh sent his
youngest son Zafar Khán, with an army under Malik Iftikhár Khán, to
retake Máhim. A fleet, collected from Diu Gogha and Cambay sailed to
the Konkan, attacked Thána [757] by sea and land, captured it, and
regained possession of Máhim. In A.D. 1431 Áhmed Sháh advanced upon
Chámpáner, and Áhmed Sháh Bahmani, anxious to retrieve his defeat at
Máhim, marched an army into [and Báglán, 1431.] Báglán [758] and laid
it waste. This news brought Áhmed Sháh back to Nandurbár. Destroying
Nándod he passed to Tambol, a fort in Báglán which Áhmed Sháh Báhmani
was besieging, defeated the besiegers and relieved the fort. He then
went to Thána, repaired the fort, and returned to Gujarát by way of
Sultánpur and Nandurbár. In A.D. 1432, after contracting his son Fateh
Khán in marriage with the daughter of the Rái of Máhim to the north
of Bassein Áhmed Sháh marched towards Nágor, and exacted tribute and
presents from the Rával of Dúngarpur. [759] From Dúngarpur he went
to Mewár, enforcing his claims on Búndi and Kota, two Hára Rájput
states in south-east Rájputána. He then entered the Delváda country,
levelling temples and destroying the palace of Rána Mokalsingh,
the chief of Chitor. Thence he invaded Nágor in the country of the
Ráthods, who submitted to him. After this he returned to Gujarát,
and during the next few years was warring principally in Málwa, where,
according to Farishtah, his army suffered greatly from pestilence and
famine. Áhmed died in A.D. 1441 in the fifty-third year of his life and
the thirty-third of his reign and was buried in the mausoleum in the
Mánek Chauk in Áhmedábád. His after-death title is Khûdaigán-i-Maghfûr
the Forgiven Lord in token that, according to his merciful promise,
Allah the pitiful, moved by the prayer of forty believers, had spread
his forgiveness over the crime of Áhmed's youth, a crime bewailed by
a lifelong remorse.
Sultán Áhmed is still a name of power among Gujarát Musalmáns. He
is not more honoured for his bravery, skill, and success as a war
leader than for his piety and his justice. His piety showed itself in
his respect for three great religious teachers Sheikh Rukn-ud-dín the
representative of Sheikh Moín-ud-dín the great Khwájah of Ajmír, Sheikh
Áhmed Khattu who is buried at Sarkhej five miles west of Áhmedábád,
and the Bukháran Sheikh Burhán-ud-dín known as Kutbi Álam the father
of the more famous Sháh Álam. Of Áhmed's justice two instances are
recorded. Sitting in the window of his palace watching the Sábarmati
in flood Áhmed saw a large earthen jar float by. The jar was opened
and the body of a murdered man was found wrapped in a blanket. The
potters were called and one said the jar was his and had been sold
to the headman of a neighbouring village. On inquiry the headman
was proved to have murdered a grain merchant and was hanged. The
second case was the murder of a poor man by Áhmed's son-in-law. The
Kázi found the relations of the deceased willing to accept a blood
fine and when the fine was paid released the prince. Áhmed hearing
of his son-in-law's release said in the case of the rich fine is no
punishment and ordered his son-in-law to be hanged. [760]