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The
Sultani period was a dark phase of unrestrained politicking in full
expression of the raw instincts of desperate fugitives.
These people
hardly had any ties with the land they had come to stay in other than
the singular goal of fulfilling private aspirations and ambitions at
any cost. 'Me people of
Bengal suffered immensely in the consummate chaos imprecated upon
them by their victors whose perverse strive for private gains and
sustained self-interest was bereft of any consideration for their joy
and sorrow. After
Alauddin Hussain Shah fully subdued the renegade Habshis in 1493,
peace and prosperity had resumed in Bengal after long absence.
Alauddin opened the land to the outside world ending her long
seclusion. 'Me vernacular
was recognized as the literary medium allowing repressed Bengali minds
to seek enlightenment and expression.
The Bengali intellect shone with manifold refulgence excelling
equally in architecture, literature, Ian-guage and military conquest.
It was the period dominated by Gauranga's philosophy of love
and forgiveness which had overtaken the whole of Eastern India.
The Bengali mind crossed its limit at last and came
alive under the melodious lyricism of Radha and Krishna-in the
emotional intensity of a resurgent Vaishnavism.
In poetry and song, social toleration and religious fervor were
being upheld side by side and the exuberance of life continued
unabated for the next 150 years.
The
prosperous time tapered off as the army of Sher Shah Sur marched on
Bengal on the second centennary of her independence from Delhi. The cycle of violence and plotting returned as Afghan
settlers vied for the control of the land.
For some years the Karranis were the lords of this regions
until the Mughals took possession of it in 1575.
But there were numerous pockets of Afghan influence throughout
the land which took Mughals many years to blot out, the last one being
eradicated in Sylhet in 1612. The
cycle had gone full round by this time to return to peace and progress
once again. 'Me contact with upper India was revived and then Bengal was
connected through upper India with the countries of central and
western Asia. These
countries were disconnected with Bengal first when Buddhism was
persecuted here and again when the Muslim rebels denied the suzerainty
of Delhi causing substantial damage to its sea-route trade with diem.
Within less than a century of Portuguese conquest of Goa in
1510, Indian ocean had become a domain of Portuguese fleet.
The Portuguese conquerors were no more the authorised agents of
the government of Lisbon and they had resorted to piracy for their own
sake. 'Mey secured lodgement in Aff acan and Sandwip and infested
Bay of Bengal and the lower estuaries of Ganges and Brahmaputra
harassing Arab, African, Malay and Indian ships.
Only when a Mughal viceroy broke these pirates' nests in 1666,
was Bengal able to resume its maritime trade.
The events
of Europe of that time had indirect influence on the economy of Bengal
with a sudden impact. Religiuous
wars were raging in that continent at the time of Mughal conquest of
Bengal. The increased
demand for gunpowder in those wars had also beefed up the demand for
its salient ingredient, salt-petre, which was largely imported from
Lalgonj in North Bihar by the river-route through Bengal.
The booming business in salt-petre i,,'i was followed by
a rapid development of Bengali cotton textiles.
The total volume of trade was so high that in four years from
1680-83, England alone imported into Bengal silver worth :C2OO,OOO to
pay for their purchases which amounted to 4 lakh rupees per annum in
those days. Silver
bullion used to be coined into rupees at the Mughal mints of Rajmahal
and Dhaka. The huge
influx of silver brought an abrupt and profound change in the econon-dc
condition of a class of people. During
early Muslim rule the products of Bengal had a very limited market
amongst a few Chinese, Malayan, Arabs and Portugese voyaging to Bengal
once in a year or two. In
addition to that there was a very small amount of coastal trade with
its equally poor neighbours, Orissa and Teleguland.
'Me internal economy was primarily based on barter system and
prices in terms of money were exceedingly low.
Small conchshells were universally used as unit and medium of
exchange unless the transactions were made at the top level and were
of large volume. The use
of conchshells or cowries lingered in a developed city like Calcutta
until as late as 1880 and in the villages until a gbm part of early
twentieth century. Land
rent could be collected only in the form of grain and the collectors
had the greatest difficulty in paying the government revenue in cash
as the conversion of crops into rupees involved heavy losses.
In this siutation, the influx of silver gave the land a
universal medium of exchange. Money
wages and money prices rose sharply from middle of the 17th century.
A nounveau riche class emerged who indulged in excessive luxury
and the government officials and revenue-collecting middlemen came to
amass great wealth to afford a more comfortable life.
All these
changes, primarily the newfound affluence, allowed the rich to pay for
the luxury of imported life-style thus disrupting the prevailing
cultural composition. The material excess, however, engendered frustration and
vacuity in common men who were dismayed by the luxurious and decadent
living of the nouveau riche and by the general
decline in
the moral ecology as its outcome.
As a countervailing force to this gloom, Vaishnavism captivated
the heart of millions. The
basic principle of this creed was 'Shakti' or personal devotion to god
with an intensity of emotion akin to conjugal love.
The spiritual life of Bengal remarkably evolved from the prior
influence of Shaktiworshipping of Divine Creative Energy in female
form. Vaishnaviain in its
essential messages was akin to the spirit of European Renaissance.
It proclaimed the dignity of every man as he is in possesion
within himself of a particle of the soul or Jibatma.
A large number of saints, poets and scholars fired by the
redolent appeal of Vaishnavism started to preach its message amongst
the illiterate masses. The new 6reed had sobering effect on the rituals of the
middle and . upper classes of which drunkeness and sacrifice of
animals were connnon elements. It
also stressed on the enlightenment of women members of the society.
A large number of aborigenes embraced the creed to escape from
countumety and superstition which burdended them for ages.
Sanskrit,
being the medium of Vaishnavism, also gained pervasive cu . ffency
amongst people infusing new life into the intellectual and cultural
lives of Bengal developing further an affinity of Vaishnavism with
weak and emotional Bengali character.
The tenderness for children and the weak was upheld.
But the most lasting effect of the creed on Bengali character
was the preaching of pacifism and patient suffering as essential human
virtues-"humility lower than that of a trodden grass, endurance
greater than that of a felled tree", thereby discouraging and
denying the martial instinct. In
tandem with this influence of Vaishnavism, the introduction of Persian
as the court language had facilitated the Sufi movement, especially
popularizing Sufi poetry. A
large number of intellectuals and professionals of Persian background
started to settle in Bengal which enriched the culture of its Muslim
society. Thus there were
rich courts with a developed culture and art in the southern and more
civilized portion of Bengal such as Dhaka, Comilla and Chittagong.
Whereas the
common people
especially those living in romote villages in the huge fertile
sandbanks and deltaic- swamps of Bakergonj and Khulna were absorbed in
gnashing struggles against the capricious forces of nature to wrest a
fare livelihood from the soil and they hardly had any time to develop
any noticeable civilization, art or commerce.
In general, the whole country enjoyed an unstinted peace under
the strong administration of the Mughals.
Agriculture and commerce were encouraged and the manufacturers
were carried to a degree of perfection they had never attained before.
The delicate Muslin of Dhaka and silk of Maldaha constituted
the chief part of the dues of the imperial court and those industries
received an unprecedented impetus for growth.
The Mughal
rule of Bengal was intermittently disrupted by the palace-intrigues at
Delhi. From time to time
the land now converted into a subah of the empire enjoyed brief spell
of peace and prosperity lapsing into disorder and chaos at the end of
each spell. The distress
of the people varied from extreme to usual to extreme but never
ceasing altogether. The
distress became very acute once during the viceroyalty of Shah Shuja
when a famine struck Assam for two years.
The price of grains had risen owing to the high rate of Zakat
or compulsory alms. The
condition even got worse under Shaista Khan when the common men
were squeezed for the benefit of court extravaganza, a truth running
contrary to the fabled image of Golden Bengal of his time.
Thus the Mughals, in the long run, turned out to be no
different from the earlier rulers of Bengal who treated it as a
treasure-trove and plundered with both hands.
The viceroys spent much time or energy either on the
power-balancing at Delhi during disturbances there or lent most
attention to maximizing revenue for the gratification of Delhi during
peace and calm. The Mughal officers themselves were corrupt and greedy, who
burdened the common people with extra levies to keep a margin for
themselves in addition to what they used to send to Delhi and mostly
occupied themselves with sensual pleasures.
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