India Between Two Worlds: A Retrospective on Eight Centuries of Medieval History

Assessment and Review of Medieval India (8th–17th Century)

The thousand years from the beginning of the eighth century to the end of the seventeenth century saw important changes in the political, economic, and cultural life of the country — and, to a smaller extent, in its social life. This chapter is a synthetic assessment and is crucial for UPSC because it frames how to analyse the entire medieval period.

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Despite the challenge posed to it by Islam and by the loss of political power by the Rajput rulers who were duty-bound to protect dharma, the caste system continued to dominate social life. Among the things which the upholding of the fourfold division of society (varnashrama-dharma) implied was the exclusive right of the brahmanas to preach and educate.

The Nath Panthi Jogis and the Bhakti saints vehemently criticised the caste system, but could hardly make a dent in it. A tacit agreement was arrived at in course of time: the criticism of the caste system by saints did not, with some notable exceptions, extend to day-to-day or secular life, while the brahmanas acquiesced in the advocacy of the path of devotion as the way of salvation for all castes — especially for the sudras. However, the brahmanas continued to claim a privileged position for themselves, including the exclusive right to preach and educate.

New sub-groups within the caste framework arose — partly due to the absorption of tribal groups into Hinduism, partly due to the growth of new professional groups, and partly due to local and regional feelings. At the same time, the varna status of castes rose or fell according to their economic and political power. Rajputs, Marathas, and Khatris may be mentioned in this context.

Assessment: The caste system remained essentially intact. The Bhakti-Sufi challenge was significant at the level of spiritual ideas but was unable to transform the social structure in any fundamental way.

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Positive Contributions

1. Greater spirit of mutual harmony and toleration: Bhakti and Sufi saints gradually brought about a better understanding of the fundamental tenets of Hinduism and Islam, underlining the fact that they had a great deal of similarity. This resulted in a greater spirit of mutual harmony and toleration.
2. Changed approach to religion: They laid greater emphasis on true faith than on the formal observances — a shift from ritual to spiritual sincerity.
3. Growth of regional languages and literature: They contributed significantly to the growth of regional languages and literature.

Negative Consequences

• The excessive concern with religious and spiritual affairs resulted in a setback to the growth of rational sciences — especially to the cultivation of science and technology. This is one of the most important analytical points for UPSC.
• Forces advocating a narrow, intolerant approach continued to be strongly entrenched and sometimes influenced state policies — but such occasions were, on the whole, very few.

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On balance, the position of women worsened during the medieval period:

• Seclusion of women (purdah) became more widespread.
• Hindu women were not able to claim the right of remarriage or a share in their father's property which Muslim women had. In fact, these rights tended to be denied more and more even to Muslim women.

This is a sobering assessment — even the group with nominally better rights (Muslim women) saw those rights eroded over the period.

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Political Integration

In the political and economic fields, the most important development was the political integration of the country brought about by the Turks and later by the Mughals. Although the Turkish and Mughal system of administration remained largely confined to northern India, indirectly it affected other parts of India also.

Instruments of integration:

• A well-minted currency based on silver — the Mughal silver rupee became a standard coin in India and abroad.
• Development of roads and sarais — improved communication.
• Preference for city life — had a direct effect on the growth of trade and handicrafts which reached its climax during the seventeenth century.

Under the Mughals, political integration was accompanied by a deliberate effort to create a unified ruling class consisting of Muslims and Hindus. However, the ruling class remained strongly aristocratic in character, with only limited opportunities of career being open to the people of talent from lower classes.

Nature of the Mughal state: The Mughal nobility was organised as a bureaucracy dependent on the monarch. However, it derived its income mainly from lands cultivated by peasant proprietors. For the collection of land revenue from peasants, the nobility depended partly on its military following and partly on the strength of the zamindars whose rights and privileges were defended and maintained by the state in return for this support. That is why many historians argue that the state in medieval India remained essentially feudal.

Defence of the Country

A significant contribution of the Turks was the defence of the country from Mongol slaughts during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Later, for 200 years, the Mughals were able to secure the north-west frontier of India from foreign invasions. For this purpose, the politics of Central and West Asia were closely followed and sometimes an active part was taken.

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This is one of the most analytically important themes in the chapter and is frequently tested in UPSC.

India's Lagging

India lagged behind the world in the field of science and technology and the Mughal ruling class remained singularly blind to this development. Like all ruling classes on their way out, the Mughal ruling class was more concerned with matters of immediate concern, including its creature comforts, than matters which would shape the future.

Why India Could Not Develop Science and Technology

The reasons were multiple and interconnected:

1. Attitude of the ruling class: The Turkish and Mughal ruling classes had no traditions of connection with the sea. While the Mughals were quick to recognise the importance of foreign trade and gave patronage and support to the European trading companies, they had little understanding of the importance of naval power in the economic development of a nation.
2. Social structure and historical traditions: The outlook of various sections of society and al traditions played an important role. There was too much emphasis on past learning and on showing deference to those who were supposed to be the depositories of this knowledge — the brahmanas and the mullahs.
3. Defeat of Akbar's modernisation efforts: Akbar's efforts to modernise the syllabus by introducing more science subjects of secular interest were defeated due to the pressure of these elements.
4. Skills of artisans inhibited: The very skill of the Indian artisans and their availability in large numbers inhibited the efforts to develop and apply machine power to productive enterprises. When skilled labour is cheap and plentiful, there is little incentive to replace it with machines.
5. India's naval weakness: India's lagging behind in the field of naval power was a reflection of its growing backwardness in the field of science and technology all round. Even the mechanical clock which brought together all the European inventions in the field of dynamics was not known in India during the seventeenth century.
6. Artillery gap: The superiority of the Europeans in the field of artillery was freely acknowledged. Even when Indian craftsmen were able to copy European developments — as in the field of ship-building — little ability to innovate was displayed.

Consequences for India's Future

This scientific and technological backwardness had direct consequences for India's vulnerability:

• The decline of the Mughal empire and important political events in India during the eighteenth century (such as the entry of Nadir Shah and later the Afghans), as well as the rapid economic development in the European nations leading to the Industrial Revolution, enabled these nations to establish their dominations in India as also in many other Asian countries.
• As long as the Mughal empire was strong, the European nations were not successful in their twin objectives of controlling Indian territories and entering the internal trade of India.

Could India Have Industrialised on its Own?

This is addressed as a speculative but important historical question. Perhaps the Mughal empire had already reached the limits of its development. The feudal aristocratic nature of the state, and the neglect of science and technology by the ruling class, were already placing limits to the economic development of the country. Whether India was able to develop faster and in a more harmonious manner under British rule is a question which will be examined in the subsequent volume on modern India — Satish Chandra deliberately leaves this open.

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India's reputation as a land of spices, and its position as the textile manufactory of the eastern world including East Africa, led the European nations to try to establish direct trade relations with India.

• The Portuguese monopoly of some items of the oriental trade and their domination of seas had, on the whole, a harmful effect on Indian trade and commerce.
• The Dutch and English traders who broke the Portuguese monopoly, on the other hand, helped to open the European markets for Indian products such as textiles, indigo, and salt-petre which were not exported to Europe earlier. Thus, India was linked more closely to the rapidly expanding European market.
• However, in the absence of a strong navy and a well-developed mercantile fleet, the Indian trader and producer could secure only a marginal share of the profits of this new trade.
• The richness of the oriental trade further whetted the appetite of the European nations and quickened their economic and technological growth. Since they had hardly any commodities to offer which were in demand in the oriental world (except the silver and gold procured from Central and South America), the European traders, backed by their governments, sought an entry into the internal trade of India. On a number of occasions, they desired to control Indian territories whose income could be used for the purchase of Indian goods.

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Despite all the stresses and strains, the period was also marked by economic development and growth — trade and manufactures expanded; there was expansion and improvement of cultivation also. The areas which developed rapidly during the seventeenth century were Gujarat, the Coromandal coast, and Bengal.

Cultural synthesis: The growth of political integration was paralleled by cultural integration. Indian society was one of the few societies in the world which was able to develop a more or less unified culture despite differences in race, religion, and language. This unified culture was reflected in an outburst of creative activity which makes the seventeenth century a second classical age.

In the south, the traditions of the Cholas were continued by the Vijayanagara kingdom. The Bahmani kingdom and its successor states also contributed to cultural developments in various fields. The rich cultural developments in the various regional kingdoms during the fifteenth century were, to some extent, integrated in the new cultural forms developed by the Mughals.

However, this integrated culture came under pressure from:

1. The religious dogmatists of the two faiths.
2. The competing and conflicting interests of various sections in the ruling classes.

But it survived, on the whole, till the middle of the nineteenth century — a tribute to all those saints, scholars, and enlightened rulers who helped to fashion it.

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• GS Paper I — Culture and Society: The concept of India achieving a "second classical age" in the seventeenth century is a direct answer to UPSC questions on Mughal cultural synthesis.
• Science and Technology: India's failure to develop science and technology is directly linked to the vulnerability that enabled European colonisation — a bridge between medieval and modern Indian history.
• Position of Women: The worsening position of women (purdah, loss of remarriage rights) in the medieval period connects to social reform movements in modern India.
• Feudalism debate: The characterisation of the medieval Indian state as "essentially feudal" is a historiographical position relevant to questions on agrarian history.
• European Companies: The distinction between Portuguese (harmful) and Dutch/English (helped open European markets but marginalised Indian producers) is an important analytical distinction.
• Interlinks: Bhakti-Sufi → Cultural Integration → Second Classical Age | Lack of naval power → Scientific backwardness → Colonial vulnerability | Caste system persistence → Social stagnation | Political integration (Mughals) → Unified culture

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1. Bhakti-Sufi saints and caste: The saints criticised the caste system but could hardly make a dent in it. A TACIT AGREEMENT was arrived at — saints focused on spiritual criticism; brahmanas acquiesced in devotion as the path to salvation for sudras. Do not say the Bhakti movement abolished or significantly weakened the caste system.
2. Position of women: The answer is nuanced — purdah became MORE widespread AND Hindu women COULD NOT claim remarriage/property rights that Muslim women had AND even those Muslim women's rights TENDED TO BE DENIED MORE AND MORE. Do not say Muslim women had a better position overall — it was declining for both groups.
3. Portuguese vs Dutch/English: Portuguese = harmful to Indian trade and commerce. Dutch/English = helped open European markets for Indian products (textiles, indigo, salt-petre). But Indian producers still got only a MARGINAL SHARE of profits due to lack of navy/mercantile fleet.
4. "Second classical age": The seventeenth century is called the second classical age (the Gupta age being the first). This refers to the cultural outburst of the MUGHAL PERIOD specifically — not the whole medieval period.
5. Feudalism characterisation: Many historians argue the medieval Indian state remained "essentially feudal" — this is because the nobility derived income from peasant-cultivated lands and depended on zamindars for land revenue collection. This is a historiographical debate, not a settled fact.
6. Why India didn't industrialise: The reason is NOT simply British colonisation. The Mughal ruling class's blindness to science and technology, the pressure of brahmanas and mullahs on education, cheap skilled labour inhibiting mechanisation — all these were internal constraints. Satish Chandra deliberately leaves open whether India could have industrialised on its own.
7. "Tacit agreement" on caste: This is a specific analytical phrase — brahmanas accepted devotion as the path for sudras (giving spiritual concession) while retaining exclusive rights to preach and educate (retaining social power). Not an explicit compromise — a tacit one.
8. Gujarat, Coromandal, Bengal: These are the THREE areas that developed rapidly during the seventeenth century — not the Ganga valley (where Mughals spent a substantial part of revenue resources).

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• Medieval period: 8th century to end of 17th century — important changes in political, economic, cultural life; smaller changes in social life
• Caste system: continued to dominate despite Islam's challenge; Bhakti-Sufi saints criticised it but made little dent; tacit agreement — brahmanas kept monopoly on preaching/educating
• New sub-groups in caste: from absorption of tribal groups, new professional groups, local/regional feelings; varna status rose or fell with economic/political power (Rajputs, Marathas, Khatris)
• Bhakti-Sufi positive: greater mutual harmony/toleration; changed approach to religion (true faith > formal observance); growth of regional languages
• Bhakti-Sufi negative: excessive concern with spiritual affairs → setback to rational sciences and science & technology
• Women: position worsened on balance; purdah more widespread; Hindu women denied remarriage and property rights; even Muslim women's rights tended to be denied more
• Political integration: most important political-economic development; Turks (defended from Mongols) and Mughals (200 years NW frontier security)
• Instruments: silver currency, roads and sarais, city life preference → trade and handicrafts climax in 17th century
• Mughal ruling class: unified (Muslims + Hindus) but strongly aristocratic; essentially feudal character (income from peasant lands, dependence on zamindars)
• Science & technology backwardness reasons: ruling class blindness; no naval tradition; brahmana/mullah pressure on education defeated Akbar's modernisation; cheap skilled artisans inhibited mechanisation; artillery gap; no mechanical clock in 17th century India
• Ship-building: Indians could copy European developments but showed little ability to INNOVATE
• Naval weakness = reflection of scientific-technological backwardness all round
• European trade: Portuguese = harmful; Dutch/English = opened European markets (textiles, indigo, salt-petre) but Indian producers got only marginal share of profits
• European companies' ulterior motive: lacking oriental commodities (only had silver/gold from Americas), they sought entry into INTERNAL TRADE of India and eventually control of Indian territories
• Mughal empire's strength = barrier to European domination; its decline = enabled colonisation
• Rapid economic development 17th century areas: Gujarat, Coromandal coast, Bengal (NOT Ganga valley)