A HISTORY OF INDIA, Romila Thapar, vol. One, New Delhi, Penguin Books, (1966), Reprint, 1990.
I THE ANTECEDENTS
Wealth in India, as in every other ancient culture was limited to the few. Mystical activities were also the preoccupation of but a handful of people. It is true, however, that acceptance of such activities was characteristic of the majority….—p. 15
…The fundamental sanity of Indian civilization has been due to an absence of Satan.—p. 15
…A dichotomy in values was maintained, Indian values being described s ‘spiritual’ and European values as ‘materialistic’, with little attempt at placing these supposedly spiritual values in the context of Indian society (which might have led to some rather disturbing results). This theme was taken up by a section of Indian thinkers during the last hundred years and became a consolation to the Indian intelligentsia for its inability to compete with the technical superiority of Britain.—p. 16
Those who were most directly concerned with India in the nineteenth century were the British administrators, and the early non-Indian historians of India came largely from this group. Consequently, the early histories were ‘administrator’s histories’, concerned mainly with the rise and fall of dynasties and empires. The protagonists of Indian history were the kings and the narration of events revolved around them. The autocratic king, oppressive and unconcerned with the welfare of his subjects, was the standard image of the Indian ruler, but for exceptions such as Ashoka, Chandragupa II, or Akbar. As for actual governing, the underlying assumption was that British administration was in fact superior to any other known to the history of the subcontinent.—p. 17
… Most of the Indian historians had either participated in the national movement for independence or had been influenced by it. Their contention was that the Golden Age in India had existed prior to the coming of the British and that the ancient past of India was a particularly glorious period of her history. This view was a natural and inevitable adjunct to the national aspirations of the Indian people in the early twentieth century.—p. 17
…European historians working on this [19th century] period had been brought up on the classical tradition of Europe, where it was firmly believed that the greatest human achievement was the civilization of the ancient Greeks—le miracle Grec. Consequently, every newly discovered culture was measured against ancient Greece and invariably found to be lacking. Or, if there were individual features worth admiring, the instinct was to try and connect them with (p.17) Greek culture….—pp. 17-18
…That every civilization is its own miracle was not as yet recognized either by European or by Indian historians [in 19th century]. The idea of assessing a civilization on its own merits was to come at a later stage.—p. 18.
…Yet the actual working of caste in Indian society permitted of much variation, which naturally the authors of the Law Books did not wish to admit.—p. 19.
The concentration on dynastic histories in the early studies was also due to the assumption that in ‘Oriental’ societies the power of the ruler was supreme even in the day-to-day functioning of the government. Yet authority for routine functions was rarely concentrated at the centre in the Indian political systems. The unique feature of Indian society—the caste system—integrated as it was to both politics and professional activity, localized many of the functions….—p.19.
…It is true that at certain levels there is in India a continuous cultural tradition extending over three thousand years, but this continuity should not be confused with stagnation….—p. 20
…a historian is frequently far more representative of his age than he is aware….—p. 22
…The nineteenth-century concept of Oriental studies has changed in the present century both in Europe and in India. In the contemporary world history is being increasingly regarded as part of the social sciences and less as the study of classical cultures per se….—p. 22
…It is not enough for the historian of India to present or to analyse the ideas of those who attempted to create the forms and contours of the history of India. It is essential to know why the people of India through the centuries have either accepted or rejected or modified these ideas.—p. 22
…The study of society has also stimulated an interest in comparative studies, not along the old lines of declaring one culture to be the norm and judging others by its standards, but rather in terms of a comparative analysis of many cultures….—p. 23
…Aryan is in fact a linguistic term indicating a speech-group of Indo-European origin, and is not an ethnic term. To refer to the coming of the Aryans is therefore inaccurate. However, this inaccuracy has become so current in historical studies of early India that it would sound unduly pedantic to refer to the Aryans as ‘the Aryan-speaking peoples’. Their ethnic identity is not known on the basis of the Indian evidence.—p. 27
2. THE IMPACT OF ARYANCULTURE
…The human race sprang from Manu and his family, the survivors of the great flood. Manu had nine sons, the eldest of whom was a hermaphrodite—hence known by a dual name Ila and Ila. From this son arose the two main lines of royal descent, the Solar dynasty (Suryavamsha) from Ila and the Lunar dynasty (Chandravamsha) from Ila.
This is the traditional history as recorded in the Puranas and the Brahmanas….—p. 28
3. REPUBLICS AND KINGDOMS. C. 600-321 B.C.
…It was about this time that variant languages began to develop from Sanskrit….—p. 63
…Buddhist teaching … incorporated the Four Noble Truths (that is, the world is full of suffering, suffering is caused by human desires, the renunciation of desire is the path to salvation, and this salvation is possible through the Eight-Fold Path), and the Eight-Fold Path which consisted of eight principles of action, leading to a balanced, moderate life (right views, resolves, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, recollection, and meditation, the combination of which was described as the Middle Way)….—p. 66
4. THE EMERGENCE OF EMPIRE. 321-185 B.C.
…Ashoka mentions the people of the south with whom he was on friendly terms—the Cholas, Pandyas, Satiyaputras, and Keralaputras. There is a tradition that poetry in Tamil (the earliest literary language of the extreme south) was first committed to writing in the third or second century .C. by foreign immigrants, who are also associated with setting up stone inscriptions. This may be a vague reference to the Mauryans, though they did not actually rule in the Tamil country. It is possible that Tamil may have been a spoken language without a script, until contact with the Mauryans introduced the Brahmi script to the speakers of Tamil….—p. 75
…The Arthashastra states that a man could be a slave either by birth, by voluntarily selling himself, by being captured in war, or as a result of a judicial punishment. Slavery was a recognized institution and the legal relationship between master and slave was clearly defined, e.g., if a female slave bore her master a son, not only was she legally free but the child was entitled to the legal status of the master’s son. Megasthenes may have been confused by the caste status cutting across the economic stratification. Technically, there was no large-scale slavery for production. Greek society made a sharp distinction between the freeman and the slave, which distinction was not apparent in Indian society. A slave in India could buy back his freedom or be voluntarily released by his master: and, if he was an Aryan, he could return to his Aryan status, a system which would not prevail in Greece. What was immutable in Indian society was not freedom or slavery, but caste.—p. 77
[In Mauryan Empire] A tax was levied on all manufactured articles and the date was stamped on them so that consumers could distinguish between old goods and new. The sale of merchandise was strictly supervised. Various factors such as the current price, supply and demand, and the expenses of production were considered by the superintendent of commerce, before assessing the goods. A toll was fixed at one fifth of the value of the commodity and in addition there was a trade tax of one fifth of the toll. Tax evasion was known but was heavily punished. Prices were controlled to prevent too great a profit on the part of the merchant, the percentage of profit generally being fixed. There was no banking system but usury was customary….—p. 78
{in Mauryan Kingdom] Two of the key offices controlled by the central administration were those of the Treasurer and the Chief Collector. The treasurer was responsible for keeping an account of the income in cash and for storing the income in kind. The Chief Collector, assisted by a body of clerks, kept records of the taxes which came in from various parts of the empire. The accounts of every administrative department were properly kept and were presented jointly by all the ministers to the king, perhaps to avoid fraud and embezzlement. Each department had a large staff of superintendents and subordinate officers. The superintendents worked at local centres and were a link between local administration (p.82) and the central government….—pp. 82-83
…Ashoka sent inspectors on tour every five years for an additional audit and check on provincial administration….—p. 83
…Megasthenes has described the administration of Pataliputra in six committees of five. Each committee supervised one of the following functions: questions relating to industrial arts, the welfare of foreigners, the registering of births and deaths, matters relating to trade and commerce, supervision of the public sale of manufactured goods, and, finally, collection of the tax on articles sold (this being one tenth of the purchase price).
A fundamental aspect of Mauryan administration was the espionage system.—p. 84
…the Buddhism of his [Ashoka] age was not merely a religious belief; it was in addition a social and intellectual movement at many levels, influencing many aspects of society. Obviously, any statesman worth the name would have had to come to terms with it.—p. 85
…It was in this [Dhamma] concept in the context of Mauryan India that the true achievement of Ashoka lay. He did not see Dhamma as piety resulting from good deeds inspired by formal religious beliefs, but as an attitude of social responsibility. In the past, historians have generally interpreted Ashoka’s Dhamma almost as a synonym for Buddhism, suggesting thereby that Ashoka was concerned with making Buddhism the state religion. It is doubtful if this was his intention. Dhamma was aimed at building up an attitude of mind in which social responsibility, the behaviour of one person towards another, was considered of great relevance. It was a plea for the recognition of the dignity of man, and for a humanistic spirit in the activities of society.—p. p. 86
The principles of Dhamma were acceptable to people belonging to any religious sect. Dhamma was not defined in terms of rules and regulations. It seems to have been deliberately left vague in details, only the broad policy being indicated, which was required to mould general behaviour. Of the basic principles, Ashoka laid most stress on toleration. Toleration, (p.86) according to him, was of two kinds: toleration of people themselves and also of their beliefs and ideas. He defined it as:
… consideration towards slaves and servants, obedience to mother and father, generosity towards friends, acquaintances, and relatives, and towards priests and monks….
But the Beloved of the Gods does not consider gifts of honour to be as important as the essential advancement of all sects. Its basic is the control of one’s speech, so as not to extol one’s own sect or disparage that of another on unsuitable occasions. … On each occasion one should honour another man’s sect, for by doing so one increases the influence of one’s own sect and benefits that of the other man, while, by doing otherwise, on diminishes the influence of one’s own sect and harms the other man’s … therefore concord is to be commended so that men may hear one another’s principles….5
This was a plea to suppress differences of opinion in the interests of general harmony. Yet it might be argued that tolerance is best achieved by expressing differences of opinion openly and admitting these differences, while, at the same time, tolerating them. To suppress differences merely aggravates the concealed tensions….—p.
Non-violence was another fundamental principle of Dhamma. Non-violence implied both a renunciation of war and conquest by violence and a restraint on the killing of animals. But he was not adamant about wanting complete non-violence. He recognized that there were occasions when violence might be unavoidable, as for instance when the more primitive forest tribes were troublesome. In a very moving passage on the general suffering, physical and mental, caused by war, he declares that by adhering to Dhamma he will refrain from using force in the future. He also states that he would prefer his descendants not to conquer by force, but should they have to do so he hopes that this conquest will be conducted with a maximum of mercy and clemency.—p. 87
…To implement the policy of Dhamma, Ashoka instituted his officers of Dhamma. They were responsible for publicizing it. They seem gradually to have developed into a type of priesthood of Dhamma with extensive powers of interference in the lives of the people, thus to some extent nullifying their very purpose.
Yet the policy of Dhamma did not succeed. It may have been because of Ashoka’s over-anxiety that it be accepted, or his own weakness when in the latter part of his reign he became obsessed with Dhamma. Basically, it failed to provide a solution to the problems which it set out to solve. The social tensions remained, the sectarian conflicts continued. N a sense Dhamma was too vague a solution, because the problems lay at the very roots of the system. Nevertheless, Ashoka deserves admiration for recognizing the need for a guiding principle and trying to provide one.—p. 88 [any solution imposed from top won’t last long.—db]
5 THE DISINTEGRATION OF EMPIRE. C. 200 B.C.—A.D. 300.
…Gondophernes, [Parthian king] achieved fame through the association of his name with that of St Thmas, it being held by tradition that St Thomas traveled from Israel to the court of Gondophernes. This would place Gondophernes in the first half of the first century A.D. –p. 96
6. THE RISE OF THE MERCANTILE COMMUNITY. C. 200 B.C.—A.D.300.
…Brahman orthodoxy had also to come to terms with people of non-Indo-Aryan origin, such as the Greeks and the Shakas, who had political power and could not therefore be treated as outcastes. The ‘fallen kshatriya’ status conferred on them was a shrewd manoeuvre. The presence in India of foreigners who achieved positions of political and economic importance created considerable social problems and must have further challenged the theoretical structure of caste. Doubtless the opportunity was not missed by those in an inferior caste to try and move up the scale by associating with the foreigners….—p. 121
…A number of changes had been introduced by all these [Theravada and Sarivastivada] sects, which would have been rejected by the founder. For instance, the Buddha had always opposed any tendency among his followers to deify him, yet, by the first century A.D., his image was carved in stone and worshipped as that of a god; the concept of the bodhisattva, also current by this time, was based on the idea that the bodhisattva is one who works for the good of humankind in an utterly unselfish manner and is willing to forego nirvana until such time as his work is completed. Another group of Buddhists interpreted the bodhisattva as being a previous incarnation of the Buddha, thus emphasizing the belief that one could accumulate merit through successive births. Furthermore, merit could also be transferred from one person to another by a pious act in the name of the person to whom this transference was made. Thus, wealthy merchants could acquire their credit of merit by donating caves to the Buddhist Order. (The analogy with the accumulation and transference of capital can hardly be overlooked.) The later bodhisattva doctrine a significant departure from the original doctrine of Buddhism and is sharpened the cleavage amongst the Buddhists. At the Fourth Buddhist Council held in Kashmir in the early second century A.D., the schism was recognized. The more orthodox Buddhists maintained that theirs was the original teaching of the Buddha and they were called the Hinayana sect or the followers of the Lesser Vehicle. Those that accepted the new ideas were called the Mahayana sect or the followers of the greater Vehicle. Eventually, Hinayana Buddhism found its stronghold in Ceylon, Burma, and the countries of south-east Asia, whereas Mahayana Buddhism became the dominant sect in India, central Asia, Tibet, China and Japan.
The Mahayana doctrine is believed to have originated in about the first century B.C. in Andhra, and was later expounded by a group of Buddhist philosophers. Among these the most outstanding was Nagarjuna, a convert to Buddhism from a northern Deccan Brahman family….—p. 130
…–the bodhisattva who redeems humanity through his own suffering: evidently the new beliefs current in Palestine were known to the Buddhists by this time. Mahayana Buddhism also introduced into its concepts a complicated system of heavens superimposed one upon the other in which dwelt innumerable bodhisattvas.—p. 131
…The Epic heroes, Rama, Krishna, etc., became incarnations of the god Vishnu, and the Epics, which had been essentially bardic poetry, were now given the sanctity of divine revelation. The Epics had originally been secular and therefore had now to be revised by the brahmans with a view to using them as religious literature; thus, many interpolations were (p.133) made, the most famous being the addition of the Bhagavad Gita to the Mahabharata.—pp. 133-34
…The coming of Christianity is associated with the legend of St Thomas, who, according to the Catholic Church of Edessa, came twice on missions to India. The first took him to the north-west to the Parthian king Gondophernes, but this tradition is open to doubt. The story of the second mission appears to be more credible. St Thomas is said to have arrived in Malabar in about A.D. 52. After establishing a number of Syrian churches along this coast, he traveled overland to the east coast to a place near Madras city, subsequently called Beth Thuma [‘House of Thomas’ in Hebrew], where he (p.134) began to preach. But here his preaching of a new religion was strongly opposed and he was killed in A.D. 68 at Mylapore in the vicinity of Madras. The Syrian church survives in strength in the region of Malabar and may well have been founded in the first century A.D. Considering the frequent communication between the Mediterranean world and south India during this century, it is not beyond belief that one of the disciples of Christ came to India to preach Christianity.—pp. 134-35
7. THE EVOLUTION OF THE ‘CLASSICAL’ PATTERN. C. A.D. 300-700.
…It is significant that in the work of his [Aryabhata] close contemporary Varahamihira the study of astronomy is divided into three branches each of equal importance—astronomy and mathematics, horoscopy, astrology—a division which Aryabhata would have rejected since Varahamihira’s emphasis is on astrology rather than astronomy, an emphasis which was to destroy the scientific study of astronomy. The most interesting work of Varahamihira is the Panchasiddhantika (Five Schools of Astronomy), a concise account of the five currently used schools, of which two reflect a close knowledge of Greek astronomy.—p. 156
…Theoretically, Buddhism was a formidable rival to Hinduism, but in the ritual of worship and in practice it had compromised with the brahmanical religion to such an extent that it could almost have been regarded as a sect of the latter….—p. 159
…Sankhya philosophers supported the theory that the three qualities of virtue, passion, and dullness, correctly balanced, constituted normality. This was perhaps the influence of the theory of humours current in the medical knowledge of the time….—p. 162
…Curiously enough the succession of dynasties was now recorded in the form of a prophecy [in Puranas], and not surprisingly they were invested in later centuries with a divine origin. Thus, what began as popular memories of the past was revised and re-written in prophetic form and became the brahmanical interpretation of the past.—p. 163
8. CONFLICT IN THE SOUTHERN KINGDOMS. C. A.D. 500—900.
…Pallava (literally meaning a young twig)….—p. 169
The status of the village varied according to the tenures prevailing and could be one of three: the most frequent was the village with an inter-caste population paying taxes to the king in the form of land revenue; less frequent were the brahmadeya villages where the entire village or the lands of the village were donated to a single Brahman or a group of brahmans…. Associated with the brahmadeya grant was the agrahara grant, entire village settlement of brahmans, the land being given as a grant…. Finally, there were the devadana (donated to the god) villages, which functioned more or less in the same manner as the first category of villages except that the revenue from these villages was donated to a temple and was consequently received by the temple authorities and not by the state.—p. 176
…There was a tendency, however, to consciously literary labouring which was carried to an extreme in another work of Dandin’s, a poem, which was written with such skill that it could be read both forwards and in reverse, in the one case narrating the story of the Ramayana and in the other the story of the Mahabharata….—p. 181
…The concept of a compassionate God was due to the influence of Buddhist ideas more specifically in the notion of the compassionate bodhisattva, though here the Christians of Malabar may have made a contribution as well. The feeling of human inadequacy and sin which became an important facet of the Tamil cult owes more to Buddhist ancestry than to Vedic….—p. 188
9. THE SOUTH IN THE ASCENDANT. C. A.D. 900-1300
…Ramanuja (whose dates traditionally are 1017-1137). He was a Tamil Brahman born at Tirupati who spent a considerable part of his life teaching at the famous temple at Shrirangam.—p. 217
…Some of Madhva’s ideas suggest that he was familiar with, and possibly influenced by, the Christian church of Malabar. Vishnu bestows his grace on a devotee through his son Vayu, the Wind-god. This is an idea quite alien to orthodox Hindu theology but resembles the concept of the Holy Ghost in Christianity.—p. 218
11. FEUDALISM IN THE REGIONAL STATES. C. A.D. 800-1200.
…According to the Dayabhaga school it is only on the death of the father that the sons can claim rights to the property, whereas in the Mitakshara school the sons can claim this right during the lifetime of the father. In either case the father does not have absolute rights over the property.—notes. P. 250
…With the strengthening of the brahmanical tradition and the emphasis on older texts, formal education tended to become a repetition of statements rather than a questioning of facts in an attempt to obtain further elucidation. Such exceptions as there were to this pattern were unfortunately too weak to change significantly the mould of intellectual activity. Contempt for technical knowledge was an almost inevitable outcome of this attitude.—p. 254
…Perhaps the most spontaneous was the great outburst of erotic poetry which is characteristic of this period [800-1200 A.D.], such as the single stanza poems of Bhartrihari. Some of the erotic poetry probably evolved from the symbolism of certain sections of the devotional cult where the depiction of he love of Radha and Krishna provided the excuse. Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda (Song of Krishna), written in the twelfth century, describes with sensuous abandon the love of Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu, for Radha, the lyrical quality of he verse being unsurpassed. Others such as Govardhana, or Bilhana in the Churapanchashika, introduced erotic descriptions into their verses with a directness and candour which did not require the disguise of a religious theme.—p. 256
…The ‘spiritual’ interpretations which some writers seek to associate with erotic symbols in Indian culture have little relevance to the poetry and art of this period [800-1200 A.D.].—p. 257
…Krishna, meaning ‘dark’, has led to his being associated with the flute-playing Tamil god Mayon, ‘the darkone’, the herdsman who spent many hours in the company of the milkmaids, which is what the cowherd of Mathura is associated with in the northern tradition. It is believed that the Abhiras, a pastoral tribe of the peninsula, brought this god with them when they traveled north and settled in central and western India. The cult became popular in the region of Mathura, from where it spread rapidly to other parts of northern India….—p. 260
…Brahman orthodoxy had to adjust itself to this formidable range of religious expression in order to maintain its position. This it did most successfully and the adjustment was to prove its salvation. When a cult or sect became popular, it was gradually made respectable by being included at some level in the orthodox hierarchy. Complications arose only when the new movement came into political or economic opposition to Brahmanism.—p. 261.
Those desirous of becoming members of a Tantric sect had to be initiated by a guru. Tantric ritual culminated in the partaking of the five M’s—madya (wine), matsya (fish), mamsa (flesh), mudra (grain), and maithuna (coition). In the final state of purification everyone and everything was equal. The ritual being what it was, secret meetings became necessary, and the sect was denounced by others for depravity. Although the Tantric cult has often been condemned for this reason it originated in a conscious and deliberate opposition to the orthodox Hindu ritual and the brahmanical ordering of society, which it expressed by incorporating non-orthodox cults, such as the worship of shakti, and by protesting against what were regarded as the established standards of social behaviour….—p. 262
12 THE RE-ALIGNMENT OF REGIONAL KINGDOMS. C. A.D. 1200-1526.
The levying of jaziyah, the tax on non-Muslims, varied according to the whim of the Sultan and was not counted as a major source of income. Theoretically, many categories of persons were exempt, although exemptions were variable. Often the tax was used as a legitimate means of increasing the revenue and not necessarily with the intention of persecuting the non-Muslim population. A jaziyah-paying citizen would cease to pay the tax (p.271) on conversion to Islam; thus, increasing conversions could lead to a loss of revenue! The Sultans, therefore, may not have been too eager to encourage large-scale conversions. The jaziyah was levied theoretically mainly on urban professions and the artisans, whereas obtaining the same amount by increasing the land tax would have resulted in a further depression of the peasantry.—pp. 271-72
Allowing for the fact that the Arabs were more civilized and humane than the Turks, nevertheless inconoclasm served the purpose of impressing the superiority of the foreign rulers on the indigenous population.@–p. 278
@. Or for that matter of impressing the authority of one state on another, as in the case of a later Sultan, Sikandar Lodi, who wished to destroy the mosques of the ruler of Jaunpur in order to demonstrate his power. In this case the question of antagonistic religions was not involved, since both rulers were Muslims.—p.278
…Those converted to Islam in the early days were usually low-caste Hindus who chose to leave the Hindu social fold for that of Islam, believing that under Islam they would have better opportunities than if they remained low-caste Hindus. Such converts could provide little support for the ruling Muslim elite. (p.278) Converts from higher Hindu social strata to Islam rarely made the change out of religious sympathy with Islam but out of opportunism, realizing that conversion was a necessary step before they could hope for economic and social advancement or political power. Ostensibly they were made much of, but actually, and quite naturally, there were regarded with suspicion by the Turkish and Afghan nobles.—pp. 278-79
Orthodox Hindus and Muslims alike resisted any influence from the other in the sphere of religion. Although the Muslims ruled the infidels, the infidels called them barbarians. To the Muslims the Hindu temple was not only a symbol of a pagan religion and its false gods, but a constant reminder that despite their political power there were spheres of life in the country over which they ruled to which they were strictly denied access….—p. 279
…The temple was the bank, the landowner, the employer of innumerable artisans and servants, the school, the discussion centre, the administrative centre for the village, and the place for major entertainments in the form of festivals. The ruling (Muslim) elite was excluded from all this, and the sight of a temple served to remind them of this exclusion. Exclusion, in turn, was the only weapon which orthodox Hinduism could use to prevent assimilation, having lost its political ascendancy.—p. 279
13 ASSIMILATION O TRIAL. C. A.D. 1200-1526.
…The fact that the Muslims have always been a minority community in India would suggest, as has been pointed out elsewhere, that the vast majority of Hindus were not in so desperate a plight as to seek conversion. Perhaps at the lower levels of society the advantages (p.289) to be gained by conversion were not spectacular. The Muslim community consisted mainly of converted Hindus, and obviously their pattern of living would not differ radically from that of the larger community in the midst of which they lived.—pp. 289-90
…The call to Muslim loyalty or Hindu loyalty could always be used for purposes other than religious, and this sentiment could be exploited when convenient.—p. 290
Hindu theorists paid little attention to the lack of conscious assimilation at the level of political functioning: this was in part due to the insistence on maintaining the social order, which was given preference over political activities, and in part because the nature of political institutions as developed under the Sultanate resembled those of an earlier period….—p. 290
…the association of divinity and kingship is not to be found in the Quran . he Turks were familiar with the idea, having known of it through the Sassanian kings of Persia. On arriving in India they discovered that this was already an accepted notion in the office of kingship. It merely required the sanction of the theologians to incorporate it into the political framework of the Sultanate.
The Ulema—Muslim theologians—were agreeable to providing and interpreting passages from the Quran which would authorize these innovations on condition that the Sultan would allow the Ulema to be the religious and legal arbiters in state matters. This compact between church and state was concluded and the Ulema became a political voice which could not be disregarded….—p. 290
…Finally it was conceded that a non-Muslim code could apply to a non-Muslim provided it did not endanger the state. The interpretation of the code was kept amorphous, and this enabled decisions to be taken on the basis of expediency rather than by following the letter of the law. There was some discussion, for instance, on the question of women becoming satis. According to the Sharia suicide is illegal and becoming a sati was an act of suicide, but it was permitted to Hindu women.—p. 292
By the sixteenth century a pattern of living had evolved in which an appreciable degree of assimilation had taken place. Nevertheless, amongst the upper classes certain resentments remained. However free the Hindus may have been in their daily life, theoretically they were not equal citizens with the Muslims. What rankled most was that socially the Indian Muslims may have been of a lower origin, and yet they were now in a superior position. Had the Muslims remained a foreign community there (p.303) would have been a readier acceptance of their ideology by high caste Hindus.—pp. 303-04
The main schism in Islam occurred in its very early days over the rule of succession to the Caliphate. The Shias wanted it to be hereditary, through Ali, and the Sunnis elective. From then various differences developed. It was from the Shias that the more divergent sects such as Sufis and dervishes derived. The Sunnis are considered more orthodox.—notes. P. 305
…There were three chief orders of Sufis in India; that of Chishti, … its followers and was popular in and around Delhi and the Doab, that of Suhrawardi, whose following was mainly in Sind, and that of Firdausi, whose order was popular in Bihar.—p. 306
The Sufis in India dissociated themselves from the established centres of orthodoxy often as a protest against what they believed to be a misinterpretation of the Quran by the Ulema. They believed that the latter, by combining religious with political policy and cooperating with the Sultanate, were deviating from the original democratic and egalitarian principles of the Quran The Ulema denounced the Sufis for their liberal ideas and the Sufis accused the Ulema of having succumbed to temporal temptations. Those Sufis who were still in contact with society were often suspected of being disaffected, but the Sufis (p.306) were never deeply committed to the idea of rebellion since they were both in theory and practice isolated from those conditions which they opposed….—pp. 306-07
The leaders of the Bhakti movement were called santas—the worthy and virtuous ones—but modern usage in English has come to describe them as ‘saints’, also happened in the case of those associated with the earlier Tamil devotional cult.—Notes. P. 308
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