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The history of the world economy - Polyak GB

16.2. India's economy during the Delhi Sultanate (XI-XV centuries.)

Since the XI century. begin raids on Muslim Turks India, accompanied by looting the treasures of the Maharajas and temples. In] 1206, they captured the valley of the Ganges and Jumna.

In the XIII century. in the north of India is approved by a large Muslim state - Delhi Sultanate Delhi with the capital; formalized domination of Muslim warlords of the Central Asian Turks. The state religion became Sunni Islam, the official language - Persian. In Delhi has consistently alternated Guliamov dynasty Hijja, Tuglakidov. There were military campaigns in Central and South India, conquered rulers considered themselves vassals of the Sultanate of Delhi and paid him an annual tribute.

Land and land relations

The first Sultan was Aibek, whose dynasty ruled until 1290 by Islamic warriors luchili conditional ownership in the form of iqta * Muslim clergymen and mosques have received a significant portion of Indian land in the form of Awqaf ** and Indian maharajas were supposed to obey the Muslims, to plead their vassals and pay tribute to them. Guliamov Dynasty replaced the power of Ala-ud-din, to prevent penetration of the Mongols in India. Ala-ud-din attached to the Delhi Sultanate significant part of Indian lands (Deccan, South India, and others.), Which brought to the Sultan as a trophy 20 thousand. Horses, 312 elephants, a large amount of gold and precious stones.

* Iqta - bestowed feudal allotment.

** Waqf - movable and immovable property, denied by the state or by an individual for religious or charitable purposes.

The essence of the reforms carried out this sultan was to try to replace the Indian land to the Islamic principles. a large amount of land was confiscated to the treasury fund soldiers were transferred to cash and subsistence allowances from the state treasury, for which the price of food on pain of severe penalties merchants were strictly regulated. Land-grain tax community was raised to half the crop, grain dumped into state barns, and in the case of a rise in prices on the market officials were obliged to dispose of the grain market of these barns. It should be noted that as in the Ala-ud-Din, and when his followers from Tughluq dynasty and the dynasties Sayyid and Lodi power to the Muslims performed the preferential economic policies, freeing them from the poll tax imposed in the Sultanate and providing preferential duty on commercial transactions that had a special meaning for many categories of citizens. These measures contributed to the Islamization of India's urban population, but traditional forms of economic life in the city and in the country remained the same due to the existence of castes.

Tradition Islamic way of life and the economy of the Islamic community had a significant impact on India of the Delhi Sultanate period. Chief among them were: state ownership of the land and the absolute unity of the political and religious principles.

Islamizaiiya economy

The first of these features was typical for India, as it does to Eastern society, although Islamic countries it was decisive.

During formation of the Delhi Sultanate in India, there are many small and large feudal principalities with different forms of feudal tenure. All these principalities were under the rule of the Maharaja - Prince - the head of the ruling clan. Prince singled to family members in the hereditary possession of the village with full authority over the community members living there. We were vassals of the Maharaja, the conditions of land ownership which is issued a special certificate of Patti. Languages ​​were two types of hereditary and non-hereditary. Non-hereditary vassals were at the mercy of the Maharaja, who at any time could they translate from one land to another. Hereditary also owned the land until such time as the requirements of the Maharaja: they paid proper tribute to their possessions in the event of war arrived in the Maharaja disposal with the necessary number of soldiers it.

With the formation of the sultanate has changed. Part of their land prince gave the officials for the duration of their service life, part of the land belonging to the church. And with all these possessions and vassal princes received tribute, without any pre-installation.

It was destroyed by the individual property of the feudal lords, and all the land transferred to the state, and whoever owned the land since it was levied in the form of rent of the state tax. However, part of the land was abandoned by feudal owners in exchange for recognition of the power of the sultan and his payment of land tax.

In a privileged position, it turned Muslim clergy: they were granted hereditary possession - Inam.

In addition, the confessors got part of the land tax which was the maintenance of Muslim schools, mosques, caravanserais, or irrigation facilities.

All the lands of the Sultan, called "Hass", handled the commune, to pay land tax directly to the Treasury.

Thus, the principle of strong centralized government-owned under the influence of the conquerors gradually affirmed in India.

As time began to amplify the incompatibility of the principles of Hinduism and Islam, as well as the defined value systems and their standard of living.

community Regulation

So, the main element of Indian life -obschiny - continued to live according to the established customs and traditions. Economically, they were self-sufficient microcosm, the main principle of life which was caste.

The community had its Pahari, craftsmen and their servants. Artisans produced the necessary tools, servants performed all sorts of ancillary work, guarding the fields, to keep order, help with the harvest.

With the formation of the Sultanate changes affected only the size of the tax community members: in the pre-Islamic period, community members pay 1/6 of the revenue to the treasury, but now began to pay 1/3, and sometimes - and a half. More stringent control became warden of the payment of taxes, which for this function is exempt from tax.

Managment structure

Avoid unrest and protests in the population due to increased exploitation of the conquerors could mainly due to highly centralized political and administrative structures to ensure the order and clear the regular collection of ever-increasing taxes.

In general terms, it was such a structure: the supreme power belonged to the Sultan, the chief executive was a great vizier, who led the military affairs and finance; judicial system belonged to the clergy. Governorship, which was divided Sultanate, led the governor in charge of the procedure and taxes. At their disposal was a mercenary army. The entire apparatus of government was composed of Muslims.

The development of commodity-money relations. The role of cities

However, in spite of the strictly centralized economy, the country is gradually beginning to develop commodity-money relations. This primarily happened in the settlements along the trade routes. As part of the dues it was transferred to the monetary form. In communities stood out rich elite, concentrated in his hands a large amount of land. But mostly commodity-money relations developed in large cities. These were the city-rates, the seat of the Sultan and the governors. Periodically changing rates, and with the move to a new city yard old died. This is explained by the fact that the market was too narrow, primarily targeted at the needs of the court. The peasants came to town very rarely, to sell miraculously saved from the feudal production and save money for a rainy day, or to sell their products and pay cash tax.

But until the city was bid, he has developed and prospered. The dignitaries were the main consumers of luxury goods, jewelry, fine fabrics.

For the entire city of Delhi Sultanate existed through foreign trade. They are dominated by merchants, concentrated in their hands the most valuable craft products, in return for which they received the goods from distant countries (horses, Chinese porcelain, silk and lacquer ware). Foreign merchants paid for Indian gold and silver products, which became, t. E. Melted in Indian coins. But the bulk of the precious metals settled in India in the form of a treasure hunt.

Despite the controversial nature of urban development in the era of the Delhi Sultanate and the existence of serious obstacles to this development, including poor development of commodity-money relations, the narrowness of the domestic market, the dependence of the city's development from staying there rates and other factors, as a whole it was a period of intense development of Indian cities. This is due to the following reasons: first stopped the constant raids of nomads and other barbarians, greatly expanded trade with the Islamic world, sultans, sparing no means launched a magnificent building in the cities.

The cities were established enterprise treasury building, which employed thousands of great architects, artists, builders. Similar workshops were created for other types of crafts and activities jewelers, weavers and others. Sultan's Muslim authorities strictly monitor and regulate these workshops, as well as other public services, including baths, grain barns, urban security.

During this period, the capital of the Sultanate flourished magnificently - Delhi. However, when Sultan Mohammed Tugluk in 1326 for the convenience of managing their huge sultanate was forced to move its capital to Deogir as contemporaries testify, it was the end of a wonderful city - after crossing the yard to a new location in New Delhi and left thousands of residents.

The decline of the Delhi Sultanate

Delhi Sultanate continued to decline throughout the XIV century: Sultans paid off by the Mongols, but they could not resist the rebellious population, but spend more to increase the army, the content of which completely ruined the country. The ever-increasing taxes ruined peasants. They abandoned their land and fled to the forest. They were forcibly returned, they gave the vacant land, trying to somehow restore agriculture. In the second half of the XIV century. large irrigation canals were built.

The turning point in the history of the Sultanate was the invasion of the troops of the Central Asian ruler Timur (Tamerlena). In 1398 Timur invaded India and plundered Delhi and killed all its inhabitants. Leaving Central Asia, brutal conqueror led off with a lot of prisoners, especially the artisans who built his later transformation. red city - Samarkand. A Delhi Sultanate after such a devastating raids in 1413 ceased to exist.

In the last years of the Delhi Sultanate in South India having two states: Bahmani and Vijayanagar. The first state was a Muslim, the second - a Hindu.

It is the state Bahmanidov visited Tver merchant Athanasius Nikitin (1469-1472), who left his enthusiastic description. In "Journey Beyond Three Seas" Nikitin said, "splendor" of the boyars and the poverty of the peasants, "And the land is very golyudna and rural people quite naked."

The deplorable situation of the city were also craftsmen, for a song give their work usurers, lords, merchants, buyers-up, who resold them in the markets of big cities or foreign merchants.

At that time it was a common phenomenon of the feudal courts equipment for trade in other countries. The feudal lords of India exported rice, spices, dyes, for a song purchased from artisans choicest items of national fisheries.

However, the weakening in the late XV century. the central government of the Shah and the efforts of infighting between different kingdoms led to the first decades of the XVI century. Bahmani state to decay. Its territory having five independent principalities.

Economy Vilzhayanagar State

Along with the majority of the Islamized states in India, in the south at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. there was a Hindu state of Vijayanagar, a centralized administration which borrowed much from their Muslim neighbors, although its complex forms of land tenure remained the pre-Islamic features. On the economy of this state, on the peculiarities of his life can be judged not only by the Indian evidence, but also the memories of foreign merchants who visited the Vijayanagar, Italian Nicolo Conti and Russian merchant Athanasius Nikitin.

The most powerful of all the rulers of India felt Vijaya-nagaskogo maharajah. The Vijayanagar along with public lands there were a large number of private land: the property of the Sultan, the property of churches, large and small property of the feudal nobility. Vijayanagar waged constant war with the state Bahmani, numerous attempts to capture it, which makes military nobility played a leading role in it. Receive from the State large tracts of land, it had to pay to the Treasury 1/2 of their income and to stand if necessary a certain number of soldiers.

For the implementation of these conditions should be the officials and governors, governors subordinated to the center.

The Vijayanagar rulers on the Indian tradition gave state land collectives Brahmins. Becoming owners of communal land, these groups lived in communities where their land was treated commoners from the lower castes.

Having the status of hereditary tenant (payyakari), commoners gradually became legally unequal members of the community. On the whole, the new tax rate of commoners was significantly higher than the traditional Indian (1/6) pre-Islamic period.

The brutal exploitation of the peasants-tillers and thriving crafts and trade made Vijayanagar richest Indian state of that time.

To maintain the achieved level of wealth, its trade Maharajah resorted to the help and mediation of the Portuguese. So, the price of certain concessions are made by the Portuguese monopoly right to buy imported from Iran and Arabian horses, which significantly increased their army as its main force was the cavalry.

Since the second half of the XVI century. Vijayanagar power being lost. At the beginning of the XVII century. this once powerful sultanate turns into a small principality.