Article Review: Indian Culture in the Late Sultanate period

Dharun Sanjeev (BA0190018)

During the period of Sultanate there were two prominent sultans namely
Buhlul-Shah-Ghazi and Sikander Shah, both of them excelled in leadership and ruling and
also in literary context, but Jamali is considered to be the most important literature figure
during that period. We can see that fine arts were encouraged during this period by Sultan
Sikandar and Mian Bhuva. Also we notice that an unorganized system of medicine was
unified during this period through the efforts of Mian Bhuva. His work dealing with 1107
diseases and their treatments showed the interest of the Sultanate in improving health and
welfare of the subjects. The rejection of the Greek system of medicine and acceptance of
Indian system shows the rich knowledge related to diseases and its cures possessed by our
Indian ancestors. Our ancient knowledge on medicine is most efficient. It is also astonishing
that astronomy was given so much importance even during ancient times. The fact that
astronomical objects were common knowledge is an indicator of the educated society of that
time. The fact that Hindu subjects were equal with the Muslims in prosperity is praiseworthy.
We can notice that Hindus were given equal opportunities in spheres of education, cultural
development and knowledge. Sikander treated all his subjects equally in giving charity and
food materials. This is something that should be followed even in modern times. The social
interaction between Hindus and Muslims led to enrichment of both Hindi and Persian
languages. The Hindu Bhaktas borrowed mystical terms from the Arabic and Persian in their
works which led to the development of Hindwai which later transformed to Rekhta and
finally Urdu. Vernacular language also had their growth during this period, several languages
got developed during this period. The Sultanate period is well known for it’s economy, the
state’s treasury was filled up, there was little to no poverty, agriculture was perfect and also
there existed equality between both the rich and the poor. Also we can notice that there was
no food crisis and most people did not suffer from starving. We can notice that the food
during this time was of large variety. This shows that there no food shortages during this
period and there was lot of prosperity among the people.There were large kitchens
maintained for the purpose of cooking. Intoxicants or Substances like alcohol were banned.
Beetel leaves which are used in modern days in case of special occasions were a tradition
during that period. We can notice that games and amusements were widely popular during
this period. Polo was a royal game and another popular sport was hunting. There were other
sports of royals such as wrestling, fights of rams and furious camels and elephants and chess
was a very popular indoor game. Even though we have only little knowledge on how people
dressed during that period, we can arrive at a conclusion that people wore certain white
dresses and wore ornaments. We can also see that Ornaments were valued high and people
used them with pride There were several ceremonies that were celebrated by the people
during this period. These included marriages. The welfare motive of the state can be noticed
here because people who were unable to pay dowry were given money by the nobles or rich
people. It is also noticed that polygamy was very uncommon among the people during this
period. There were instances of love marriages and difference of religion did not discourage
these marriages. The most widely observed ceremony among was the Sium. There were also
several festivals celebrated among the Muslims which were Id al-fitr, Id-i-Adha, Shab-i- barat
and Muharram. Music was a very popular during the Sultanate period, lots of artists came to
perform in front of the Sultan. They were first asked to perform before 2 of the Sultan’s
courtiers and if they get approved of the performance, then they performed before the Sultan.
There were people called Qawwals who were the professional singers in the Sultan’s court, it
is also a noticeable point that they were being paid for their work. We notice that this was an
intellectual society. To remove the ignorance and enlighten the people, Sikander Lodhi made
great efforts to promote learning throughout the kingdom. Education was promoted and
various scholars were invited to improve the knowledge among the students. All sections of
society including the rich and poor were eager to learn and make use of the educational
facilities. The advent of Islam and Islamic culture in India started a movement of religious
reform among the Hindus, aimed at removing idolatry and caste system. The social
interaction between Hindus and Muslims led to rise in social reformers who were deeply
influenced by Islamic doctrines. Kabir was one such reformer who was Hindu by birth but
was shaped by Sufi ideas. Both Hindus and Muslims claim him as representative of their faith.
Another such reformer was Guru Nanak who was the founder of Sikhism and whose mission
appeared to end the conflict between Hindus and Muslims by reducing the gap between these
communities.

Finally we can conclude that there was improvement in all languages and intermixing of
cultures was high during this time. The freedom given to both Hindus and Muslim is a great
thing under the Sultanate period. There was no poverty and no people starving. The
governance was great and the ruling was almost perfect. Many people were given
opportunities and there were several fields available for people to work. People had several
recreation stuff and several games and sports to play. The reform movements that happened
during the Sultanate period are significant and brougt certain changes to the society. Certain
traditions and cultures in the Sultanate period are being followed till now.