SOCIAL STRATIFICATION DURING MEDIEVAL TIMES

The medieval period in Indian history was a pivotal time in the region's social and cultural development. The
arrival of Mughal kings ushered in a period of immense transformation in India. During the medieval period,
major contributions were made in the fields of literature, art, and architecture, as well as cultural and religious
changes, dynasties, and many rulers. The great kings' contributions may still be seen in the monuments and
architectural landscapes they built throughout this time.

Division of Society
• India back then, as it is today, was divided into Hindus and Muslims. Needless to say, Hindus made up
the vast majority of the population, which included Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs.
• The upper classes of Hindu society were mostly Brahman, Kayastha, Rajput, and Vaishya castes who did
not dine or marry among themselves.
• There were many other mixed-race people in the society. The Baidyas were a mixed caste who lived
alongside the Brahmanas.
• Apart from these, there were numerous other castes and sub-castes that arose as a result of social mixing,
i.e., intermarriage between castes. Upper-class Hindus were extremely conservative.
• Muslims were divided into two groups: those who came with the conquerors or for trade and commerce
or employment from countries such as Arabia, Persia, Afghanistan, and Abyssinia, and those who
converted from the indigenous Hindu population and their descendants.

Feudal Society
• During the Mughal period, society was feudal in nature. The nobility and state officials were held in high
regard in society. They had a very high standard of living. Their distinctive features included luxury,
debauchery, drinking, and so on.
• Aside from kings and emperors, nobles had their own harem. According to Abul Fazl, the imperial harem
housed 5,000 women. Mutual jealousy, conspiracy, and recrimination characterised the nobility.
• The middle class, which was relatively small in number, existed beneath the nobility. Their standard of
living was modest, far lower than that of the nobles and state officials.
• The middle class was above modern vices like drinking, debauchery, and lavity. However, the merchants
of India's west coast were fabulously wealthy, and their standard of living was also very high.
• In comparison to the nobility and the middle class, the common people's situation was deplorable. They
didn't have enough money to buy warm clothes, shoes, and other luxury items.
• In normal years, they would have no difficulty maintaining themselves, but in times of natural calamity
such as flood, drought, and famine, their situation would defy description.

Evil Practices
• Akbar attempted to put a stop to the evil practises of Sati and child marriage. Social evils increased in
Bengal during the eighteenth century.
• Dowry was prohibited in Maharashtra. Widow remarriage was common in some parts of India.
• Among the various types of deterioration in social life in the eighteenth century, one redeeming feature
was the persistence of Hindu-Muslim re-approachment and the development of understanding and
amiability between the two great Indian communities.
• Even under Aurangzeb, a Muhammadan poet named Alwal wrote many Hindi poems and translated
Padmavat into Bengali during Akbar's reign.
• While Hindus revered Muslim Pirs (saints), Muslims similarly revered Hindu Yogis (Saints).
Slavery
• Slavery was one of the society's demoralising institutions, and there was a regular slave trade.
• Similarly, eunuchs were bought and sold. Akbar's attempt to prohibit it was unsuccessful.

Dress, Ornaments and Games

• The upper classes dressed in long coats, light trousers, and turbans.
• Many people wore a silk or cotton scarf around their waist, with the ends slung down their legs.
• Poor Hindus wore dhotis with one end tied around the waist. Poor Muslims dressed in pyjamas and a long
shirt.
• Perfumes and oils were used by both Hindu and Muslim men and women. Saris were worn by Hindu
women, while pyjamas or ghagras were worn by Muslim women.
• Muslim men and women used collyrium in their eyes, and women used Mehdi to colour their palms and
feet.
• Chess, cards, games of guites, and satranj were popular indoor games, and hunting, polo (Chaugan), and
other outdoor games were popular with the upper crust.
• Everyone enjoyed the wrestling, juggling, and magic shows, among other things.
• The Emperor had the right to engage in activities such as tiger hunting and elephant snaring.

Festivals
• Fairs and festivals, particularly those sponsored by the state, such as Nauroj, were occasions for everyone
to enjoy music, both in the court and in private residences.
• Hindu festivals such as Dasserah, Vasant, and Dipavali (which were prohibited during Aurangzeb's reign)
and Muslim festivals such as two Ids, Shab-i-barat, and others were popular among the respective
communities.
• Occasional fairs were held in Hardwar, Prayag, Mathura, Kurukshetra, and many other Hindu pilgrimage
sites, as well as Muslim pilgrimage sites such as Ajmer, Panipat, Sirhind, and others.

Condition of Women
• Women's status under the Mughals deteriorated significantly. The purdah system of Muslim women and
the growing conservatism in Hindu family life, which forbade Hindu women except from the lowest castes
from leaving their homes, made women's lives rather unpleasant.
• The Quranic law permitted polygamy, and a Muslim could have four wives at the same time.
• A Shia Muslim had no limit on the number of wives he can have. While the Hindu ruling class also
practised polygamy, Muslims almost always had more than one wife.
• The emperors and nobles kept a harem, which was a group of unmarried women.

Cultural and Religious Life

• The Medieval Period witnessed a great synthesis of traditions in religion and culture. In the religious
realm, examples include the Bhakti Movement and Sufism.
• The Bhakti Movement, which emphasised oneness with God through personal devotion, came very close
to ordinary people's lives.
 • It emphasised love, purity, and devotion over rituals and sacrifices. It called the caste system and the
authority of Brahmans into question.
• Bhakti saints such as Ramananda, Kabir, Ravidas, Mira Bai, Guru Nanak, Tukaram, and Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu had a profound influence on common people's minds, and this influence continues to this
day.
• In fact, some of these saints gained a large following. Guru Nanak, for example, wielded considerable
power over the people of Punjab.
• His large following inspired him to establish a new religion called Sikhism, whose adherents are known
as Sikhs.
• Similarly, the Sufi saints emphasised devotion and love as the only way to realise the divine. They
advocated for tolerance and compassion. They led austere lives and shared the common people's sorrows
and anxieties.
• As a result, their hold on the masses, both Hindus and Muslims, was enormous. There was also a lot of
interaction between the Sufi and Bhakti saints, and philosophical ideas were exchanged.
• In fact, both traditions served as a link between the two communities.

Art and Painting

• Language, literature, art, architecture, music, and dance all exemplified this trend of blending different
traditions.
• Classical languages such as Persian and Sanskrit flourished in the field of language and literature. The
true remarkable development, however, was the expansion of regional languages.
• Painting was organised in the Mughals' royal karkhanas, and painters were paid by the government.
• The Mughal School of painting was a complete synthesis of Persian and Indian styles. This was partly
due to the fact that the artists of this school brought with them elements from the various traditions to
which they belonged, such as Rajputana, Gujarat, Malwa, and so on.
• Daswant, Basavan, Mukund, and Kesav were some well-known painters. Under the supervision of
Persian masters such as Abdul Samad and Sayyid Ali, an element of Persian style was also introduced.
• Another distinguishing feature of Mughal painting was manuscript illustration.
• Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan continued to support these artists, and as a result, the Mughal school of
painting flourished.
• As a liberal ruler, Akbar extended his patronage to painting.
• As a result, during his time, there was a fusion of Persian and Indian styles (of painting). There was also
evidence of European influence on Indian painting.
• The Mughal school of painting reached its pinnacle under Jahangir, a well-known painter.
• Famous painters such as Ustad and Abul Hasan decorated his court. Mansur became well-known for
his miniature paintings.
• From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the Mughal school of painting gave rise to the Indo-
Persian school of miniature art. Landscapes, as well as human figures and costumes, were introduced
by Mughal court painters.
• They became more natural when they were exposed to traditional Indian styles. Signing on the miniatures
became a tradition as well.
• Artists were now paid on a monthly basis. They illustrated works such as the Changeznama, Zafarnama,
and the Ramayana.

Architecture During Medieval Period

• Another fascinating aspect of cultural life in Medieval India is its Indo-Islamic architecture. It is
distinguished by the adaptation of Indian resources, expertise, motifs, and designs to Persian styles.
• New elements such as the arch and the dome were combined with Hindu motifs such as the bell, lotus,
swastika, and kalash/water pot.
 • The Qutub Minar, the Allai Darwaza, and various Tulghlaq Period monuments such as Ghiyasuddin
Tughlaq's Tomb are excellent examples of architecture from the Delhi Sultanate period.
• The Mughal Period monuments reflect a deeper sense of fusion and assimilation of Indo-Islamic styles.
• The monuments in Fatehpur Sikri, such as the Panch Mahal, Birbal's Palace, and Ibadat Khana, as well as
the Tomb of Humayun in Delhi, Akabar's famous Tomb at Sikandra, Itmadudaulah's Tomb in Agra, and,
the Taj Mahal, are outstanding examples of Mughal architecture.

Music During Medieval period

• Most medieval rulers in India were also fans of music. Indian vocal and instrumental musical systems
interacted with Arab, Iranian, and Central Asian musical traditions.
• New ragas began to be written. The Bhakti and Sufi traditions also influenced new devotional musical
styles.
• Several musicians were patronised by Mughal emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan. Tansen, who
adorned Akbar's court, not only sang traditional ragas but also composed new ones. Shah Jahan is said to
have been a talented singer.
• These musicians entertained the emperors with appropriate ragas at various times of the day and seasons.

Rise of Modern Languages

• The emergence of several modern Indian languages was another significant development during this time
period. Urdu may have originated in Delhi.
• When Allauddin Khilji's army was stationed in the Deccan around the fourteenth century AD, it developed
as a camp language.
• In fact, the Deccan states of Bijapur and Golconda became the birthplaces of Urdu literature. The language
quickly developed its own grammar and became distinct.
• It was eventually adopted by the elite as well. The famous poet Amir Khusrau, who wrote poetry in this
language, also contributed to its popularity.
• Beautiful prose, short stories, novels, and drama were written in Urdu during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, in addition to poetry.
• During the struggle for independence in the first half of the nineteenth century, Urdu journalism played a
critical role.
• Along with Urdu, nearly all other modern Indian languages such as Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Khari Boli,
Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Sindhi, Kashmiri, and the four South Indian languages – Tamil, Telugu,
Kannada, and Malayalam – arose and developed during this period.

Conclusion
The Medieval Period of Indian history, with its distinct features of political, economic, and cultural life, was thus
another significant outstanding period following the Ancient Period. The cultural condition in India continued to
absorb all newcomers, and the resulting cultural interaction gave Indian culture its multidimensional, multilingual,
multireligious, and yet composite nature.
 POSITION OF WOMEN IN MEDIEVAL PERIODS:
The women in the Medieval period had different roles in the society of the middle ages.The women held the
position of wife,mother,sister,nun and artisan.Some of them also played the leadership roles such as queen.

In the early Medieval period the women held significant land powers.The technique of spinning was considered
as women’s craft at that time.It was performed mainly using the tools like spindles and distaff.

One of the most powerful women lived in the period of middle ages is the Eleanor of aquitaine.Eleanor succeeded
her father and became the queen at the age of 15-16.This the women in the middle ages were more well developed
than the women of the early ages.

Saint Catherine Siena played an important role in society as a woman in the late medieval period.She helped in
the development of theological ideas .But from the end of middle ages many restrictions were started to place on
women’s work and women rights to the property was also curtailed during this period.

Women in Early Medieval India

Caste and the position of women in society are interrelated. To reproduce ‘caste’ one has to sexually
subjugate the bodies of its women through endogamy and other social techniques. Consequently, when we
find evidence suggesting a growing rigidity of caste system from early medieval times, we also find
indications of a gradual lowering of women’s position in society. This point is well taken by BR Ambedkar
when he says in his essay Castes in India (1916), “endogamy is the o nly characteristic that is peculiar to
caste”. The practice of widow burning or sati became fairly common all over India by the eleventh century
among the widows of rulers, nobles and warriors. Some evidence like the Lekhapaddhati — a collection of
documents from Gujarat — also show that women could be bought and sold as slaves, and were made to do
all kinds of work, including the dirtiest and toughest kinds. They were also subject to physical and sexual
violence. On the other hand, women employed as professional dancers in royal courts and the deva-dasi or
temple courtesans appear to have been another large class of women.
Habib cites AS Altekar’s work, The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation as one of the references that
he draws upon when discussing the history of women in Medieval India. Altekar focuses on the history of
widows in particular, to understand the history of women as a class.
In Medieval India, a period that witnessed the spread of Hinduism and the caste system, one of the customs
that historians like Habib and Altekar have looked at is that of Sati. “From about 700 AD, fiery advocates
began to come forward to extol the custom of Sati in increasing numbers,” writes Altekar. As an example,
he cites the Parasarasmriti, a post-Manu code of laws that lists out the governing principles for the Kaliyuga
(the Age of Kali), compiled during this early medieval period. In addition, it contains humiliating dictates
against the lower-caste Shudras.
Between 700 and 1100 AD, Sati became a more frequent phenomenon than earlier in northern India. Among
Kashmir’s royal families, with the death of royal men even mothers, sisters, and sister -in-laws ascended
funeral pyres! Only later, however, would Sati become a prevalent custom among the north Indian royal
families at large. Recorded cases of Satis in northern India outside Kashmir were still very few during the
period 700 — 1200 AD, compared to the numbers we find from later on. However, by this time, Sati had
become a custom well recognised in the canons of Hinduism, “for we find it traveling to the islands of Java,
Sumatra and Bali along with Hindu emigrants,” notes Altekar.
It is also interesting to note that the early medieval Brahmanic texts, while glorifying the ideals and custom
of Sati, prohibited Brahman women from committing Sati themselves. This ban was later lifted by the
Brahmans, perhaps to imitate ‘glorious’ Kshatriyas. This would later impact a large number of Brahman
widows who were forced to kill themselves, particularly in states like Bengal and UP.
There were also a few accounts that are an exception to these dominant trends of growing Brahmanical
patriarchy. Habib recalls celebrated historian of Kashmir Kalhana’s account of Jayamati, “brought up by a
dancing woman, and notorious for opportunistically changing her male partners. She ultimately became the
Queen of King Uchchala of Kashmir (1101-11) and earned great repute in that position, for her benevolence
and wisdom”. Incidentally, Jayamati also had to perform Sati, and as Altekar notes, against her own will.
While education in Hindu society was largely limited to men, Habib points out the famous sculpture of a
woman writer at Khajuraho (10th-11th Century).

Women in the Sultanate period

In the Sultanate period, just as in the case of the caste system, there was no substantial change in the
treatment of women. The condition of Muslim women could be said to be slightly better than their Hindu
counterparts since Islam permits daughters to inherit their parents’ wealth and allows widow remarri age.
Practices like sati and widow repression remained alien to Muslim custom, much like the case of ‘lower
caste’ communities. Habib however also reminds of “the tolerance to polygamy and unrestricted
concubinage” — something that Islamic law shared with the Dharmashastras. Slavery existed before, but
this increased in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as slaves were obtained both in war and in lieu of
unpaid taxes. They were made to work within the households and as well as craftsmen. Habib writes, “In
the Delhi market early in the fourteenth century a woman slave for domestic work cost no more than a milch
buffalo. Sultan Firoz Tughluq was reputed to possess 180,000 slaves, of whom 12,000 worked as artisans.
His principal minister, Khan Jahan Maqbul possessed over 2000 women slaves”.
“[Islamic law] also heavily stressed on enforced seclusion and veiling of women and permitted pre -puberty
marriages,” he adds. There was, however, nothing in Islam against women writing and reading, and Habib
draws our attention to a fifteenth century dictionary Miftahu’l Fuzala (1469) that shows a small girl learning
to read along with boys before a school master. It was the Sultanate period when Iltutmish’s daughter
Raziyya reigned as a Sultan herself (1236-40), which also caused a scandal.
There are small indicators of the position and role of women in the Sultanate period. We have at Tirupati
copper sculptures of Krishna Deva Raya (1509-29), emperor of Vijayanagara, with his two queens. There
was also the culture of dance and music. Ziya Barani’s Tarikh-I Firoz-shahi provides glimpses of this in
royal courts. Citing Barani, Habib tells us that in thirteenth century young girls were trained in Persian and
Hindi music by the courtesans in the Delhi court like that of Jalaluddin Khalji (1290-96).

Women in Mughal India

On to the Mughal times, we have greater clarity about the role of women in society. There is no doubt that
society, in general, was oppressive to women, and the growing influence and number of Smritis not on ly
maintained but also elaborated on the restrictions women faced. The nature of oppression, however, varied
across classes and communities. And it has evolved along with time.
The common Hindu women had negligible rights of inheritance. Child marriage was prevalent. Bride price
was common among lower castes, while dowry among the higher castes. Widow remarriage was possible in
many of the peasant and pastoral castes, such as Jats, Ahirs, and Mewatis. Women did various household
chores and participated in agricultural activities but not tilling. India was one of the few countries in the
world where women carried out heavy tasks in building construction. While claims to inheritance were
legally allowed among the lower castes, in practice however such claims were frequently disregarded.
Women of the upper castes in general had greater leisure, but also faced much greater restrictions. Seclusion
was strictly imposed, widow remarriage was absolutely prohibited (Habib). The Mughal administration
intervened in sati, and tried to discourage it by ensuring that it was a ‘voluntary act’ on a case by case basis.
But such interventions remained mostly ineffective. Humayun wanted to ban Sati, in the case of widows
who had passed the child bearing age. But he could not take effective steps to that effect. Akbar, in the 22nd
year of his reign, appointed inspectors to ensure that “no force was used to compel widows to burn
themselves against their will.” “[Acts of Sati] occurred two or three times a week at the capital, Agra , during
the late years of Jahangir’s reign,” writes Habib.
In fact Sati, by this time, had become a much more common practice among the north Indian royal families,
specifically those in Rajputana. “When Raja Ajitsingh of Marwar died in 1724, 64 women mo unted his
funeral pyre. When Raja Budhsingh of Bundi was drowned, 84 women became satis,” notes Altekar. The
practice had also spread to the warrior classes of the Southern peninsula, though to a much lesser degree
than their northern counterparts. While Maratha ruling families by this time claimed Rajput descent and
therefore could not remain immune to Sati as a practice, the frequency was still not as high as compared to
Rajputana. “When Shivaji died [in 1680], only one of his wives became a Sati. The sam e was the case with
Rajaram. The Queen of Shahu was compelled to burn herself owing to the political machinations of her
mother-in-law, Tarabai. There are very few other cases of Satis recorded among the annals of the Maratha
ruling families at Satara, Nagpur, Gwalior, Indore and Baroda,” writes Altekar.
Bengal had the highest incidence of Sati during the later Mughal period, in the country. “The percentage of
Satis in the Hindu population of Bengal was much larger that what [was] obtained in the presidenc ies of
Bombay and Madras, or even in the division of Benares, which was the greatest stronghold of orthodoxy,”
he writes. The annual average of Satis in the Calcutta division between 1815 -28 was 370. In comparison,
the average for the Dhaka and Murshidabad divisions, both predominantly Muslim, were 44 and 19
respectively during the same period. “Most of the Satis in Bengal and UP were from the Brahmana caste,”
Altekar observes. He attributes the prevalence of Sati in Bengal to eliminating the widow’s heirsh ip of
property.
Like everywhere in history, here also there are stories of resistance against patriarchy. Ahilyabai Holkar,
the Holkar queen of the Maratha Malwa kingdom not only did not commit Sati after her husband died, but
ruled from her capital at Indore for 30 years after the death of her son. Sanchi Honamma was a poetess in
the court of Chikkadeva Raya of Mysore (reigned 1672-1704). In her Hadibadeya Dharma, written in
Kannada language, she protests against women being considered as inferior to men. Matrilineal systems
prevailed among certain communities in Kerala, and among several communities in the North East such as
the Garos and the Khasis of Meghalaya. The 3rd Sikh Guru, Amaradas, condemned the custom of Sati, “and
it was not followed by the Sikhs for a long time,” writes Altekar. Muslim women had a similar, and at the
same time different, position. Women could claim a dower for themselves from their husbands as settled in
the ‘marriage contract’ and also inherit property, though in proportions less than the male members of the
family. While observing marriage contract documents in Surat from the first half of the seventeenth century,
Habib finds that “wives obliged the husbands not to marry a second time or maintain any concubine”. The
marriage contracts also forbid the husband from domestic violence, and ensured a minimum amount of
subsistence for the wife. It is interesting to note that Aurangzeb changed the rules allowing widows to keep
the entire land-grants of their husbands for life. While it is probably the case that middle class Muslim
women were largely illiterate, we also have a picture of a schoolgirl along with her brother, painted around
the late fifteenth century. There was also the exceptional case of Humayun’s sister Gulbadan Begum being
educated while her husband was illiterate.

In Conclusion
In medieval times, just like caste arrangements, patriarchy was also deeply entrenched. Strict restrictions
were placed on the bodies, movements, and legal and economic rights of women. But we also see here that
there were certain recorded exceptions, as well as variations across religion, castes, and regions. The position
of women was slightly better among the Muslim and ‘lower caste’ communities, though almost every
community was already organised in accordance with the laws of patriarchy. In times such as our own,
where ahistorical images rule our consciousness, such renderings of history by historians like Habib assume
a vital importance.