Religious Tradition and Culture in Eighteenth Century North India

Every week, we shall take a leaf from one such book and treat you to a little taste of history.
BOOK NAME: Religious Tradition and Culture in Eighteenth Century North India
AUTHOR: Tabir Kalam
PUBLISHER: Primus Books
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2013
The following excerpt has been taken from Pages: 35 — 38
“Through an exploration of a wide array of primary sources in Persian and Urdu, this book highlights the religious and cultural efflorescence in India during the eighteenth century. Religious Tradition and Culture in Eighteenth Century North India studies the intellectual and cultural trends during this period, delving into the vibrant religious-intellectual debates of the time, including the poetics and politics of Shia and Sunni, educational innovations, and the growth of Urdu and its entanglement with religious and regional sensibilities. It also examines the regional networks of patronage as well as the diffusion of Mughal court culture in different regional centres up to the qasba level. Eventually these developments became the template for re-contextualization and re-definition of the various elements of Mughal culture.
EXHORTATIONS TO POLITICAL LEADERS
“In order to restore peace, Shah Waliullah made fervent appeals to the political leaders of the time. He chose Nizam-ul-Mulk, Najib-ud-Daula and Ahmad Shah Abdali for the arduous task of restoring the political powers of the Muslims. When his earnest exhortation fell flat on the Mughal Emperor's ears, he selected the rising Muslim political powers to ensure the survival of the decaying order.
“Shah Waliullah's correspondents included Nizzam-ul-Mulk, Najib-ud-Daula, Taj Muhammad Khan Baluch, Majd-ud-Daula Abdul Majid Khan, Ahmad Shah Abdali and others. Among them, he set his hopes on Nizam-ul-Mulk, Najib-ud-Daula and Ahmad Shah Abdali. Shah Waliullah entrusted Nizam-ul-Mulk with the task of regenerating the millat by ensuring that atrocities were not perpetrated on the Muslims. Keeping this in mind he introduced measures of reforms and urged for the establishment of the Shariat in the land.
“Shah Waliullah was believed to have apparently advised Nizam-ul-Mulk, writing him a letter on the eve of the contest with the Marathas for political supremacy. However, Nizam-ul-Mulk did not pay heed to the instructions given to him. This resulted in a number of reverses for Nizam-ul-Mulk such as in the battles of Sakharkheda and Bhopal.
“In the same letter, Shah Waliullah expressed his opinion about certain problems which the Nizam had referred to him through his agent, Baba Fazlullah. Firstly, he assuaged Nizam's anxiety about the impending struggle between Safdar Jung's nominees, Qutub Khan Afghan who was regarded as a rival claimant to the Rohilla possessions. Shah Waliullah predicted his failure in the contest. Secondly, he dissuaded the Nizam from taking the Emperor away with himself from the capital, and suggested instead that princes would suffice for this purpose.
“In AD 1737, the Marathas had beaten back the imperial army, but their retreat from Delhi and Sadat Khan's victory over a Maratha army had convinced the Muslim power of the time of the fallibility of the Marathas. Nizam-ul-Mulk arrived in Delhi from Deccan in July 1737, and his attempts to fight against the Marathas augured well for a new Islamic resurgence in India. Shah Waliullah wrote to Nizam-ul-Mulk:
“It has become clear to my mind that the kingdom of heaven has predestined that kafir should be reduced to a state of humiliation and treated with utter contempt. Should that repository of majesty and dauntless courage (Nizamul Mulk) gird his loins and direct his attention to such a task he can conquer the world. Thus, the faith will become more popular and his own power strengthened; a little effort would be profoundly rewarded. Should he make no effort, they (the Marathas) would inevitable be weakened and annihilated through celestial calamities and in such an event he would gain no credit... As I have learnt this unequivocally (from the divine), I spontaneously write to draw your attention to the great opportunity laid before you. You should, therefore, not be negligent in fighting Jihad.
“Another letter by Shah Waliullah to Nizam-ul-Mulk insisted that God had given Nizam-ul-Mulk complete dominance over India, which aroused great hope among faqirs like himself. It was desirable that injustice be uprooted, evil customs abandoned and the firm faith of Sunnism restored. Along with a request to promulgate knowledge of Sunnism, prayer and fasting, he also urged him to stem the rapidly rising cost of living and put an end to plunder, raids and depredation.
“Shah Waliullah then induced Nizam-ul-Mulk to carry out the reforms in the following words: 'We have reposed great reliance in you and hope you will disapprove tyranny and evil practices, and render meritorious services to the cause of faith by reducing good deeds, prayer, fast, etc. At present, you should try to put a stop to the plunder and pillage perpetrated all around and try to cheapen the foodgrain which are now sold at exhorted prices.'
“Nizam-ul-Mulk was more interested in retaining the subedari of Deccan. His plans of improvement in the affairs of the Empire were frustrated by the acrimonious rivalry of the nobles, and so he did not respond to the call of Shah Waliullah. Then Shah Waliullah turned to the rising power of the Rohillas. In a letter to Najib-ud-Daula, the leader of the Rohillas, he wrote: 'What I see is that the regeneration of the Millat depends upon you. Shah Waliullah boosted the morale of the Rohillas and infused confidence and courage in Majib-ud-Daula.
“Shah Waliullah attached great significance to the suppression and the atrocities committed by the Jats. He repeatedly dwelt on the gravity of the Jat menace and exercised his influence over the political leaders to relieve the capital of the criminal activities of the Jats. The reason for this was first, the Jats were in the close vicinity of Delhi region. They held the region from a distance of 2 miles from Delhi up to Agra and from Mewat up to Firozabad and Shikohabad. They carried on their depredation around Delhi and sacked old Delhi on 9 May 1753, causing great arson, carnage and pillage. Secondly, the Jats had become a great terror to the people of Delhi on account of the above acts of tyranny.
“Najib-ud-Daula sought the advice of Shah Waliullah on numerous occasions. Other political personages of that time like Nawab Majd-ud-Daula, Abdul Majid Khan, Taj Muhammad Khal Baluch and Mawab Abdullah Khan Kashmiri also solicited the advice of Shah Waliullah in political affairs, particularly the problems of Jats and Marathas. Shah Waliullah knew the extent of resources of Najib-ud-Daula and the enormity of the problem. He thought of a grandiose plan of inviting Abdali to relieve the capital and the empire of the menace of the Marathas and Jats.
“Moreover, the Maratha advance in North India in AD 1756 under Raghunath Rao and Malhar Rao Holkar, the surrender of Najib-ud-Daula and the capture of the Punjab, reduced the chances of the Mughal nobles to rejuvenate the empire. Having been despaired of Indian power, Shah Waliullah wrote a detailed letter to Abdali and apprised him of the political situation, economic conditions and miserable plight of the Muslims in India.
“However, the mere invitation of Shah Waliullah and the solicitation of the aggrieved people of Delhi could not have induced Abdali to clash with the Marathas. It is widely assumed that Abdali responded to the call of Shah Waliullah and that presumable he was moved by the suffering of the people of Delhi. Historians differ on the matter of Shah Waliullah's invitation to Ahmad Shah Abdali to crush the rising powers of Marathas and Jats. Most historians give credit to the Delhi school for bringing Ahmad Shah Abdali to save the Muslim power against the Maratha aggression. It is necessary to examine Abdali's invasion and role of Shah Waliullah in persuading him to invade. It is clear that Abdali invaded India nine times and if Shah Waliullah inspired him it was the sixth one in AD 1759. The question arises that if he invaded on one occasion as a result of Shah Waliullah's persuasion, then what were the reasons for his other invasions.
“The second question is that the letter written to Abdali is undated and does not name the addressee. It is simply addressed to some king and it was presumed that the addressee could be none other than Abdali. Irfan Habib is of the view that there is no proof that Abdali and Najib-ud-Daula fought the Marathas and Jats on the request of Shah Waliullah. There is no evidence to corroborate the role of Shah Waliullah in bringing Abdali.
“The cause of Ahmad Shah Abdali's invasions needs to be traced elsewhere. After the death of Nadir Shah, Abdali occupied Kabul and Kandhar to fulfil his ambitions. He was the enterprising ruler of a sterile region, which yielded meager revenues. The conquest of the Punjab, therefore, became a matter of vital necessity to him.
“During the third invasion in AD 1752, Ahmad Shah Abdali captured the subas of Multan and the Punjab and re-conquered it in AD 1756. In the same year, Raghunath Rao occupied the Punjab. Abdali wrested Punjab from Maratha hands in AD 1759, and failed the Maratha plan of supremacy in the north. Thereupon the Peshwa sent a huge army under Sadashiv Rao Bhau and Vishwanath Rao to re-establish the Marathas' hold over the north and expel Abdali. The Afghan king thereby came into an inevitable clash with the Marathas and hence the third Battle of Panipat was fought. Shah Waliullah succeeded in infusing courage and confidence in Najib-ud-Daula's mind in the struggle with the Marathas and drove him in the active support of Abdali.
Shah Waliullah persuaded the Rohillas to join Ahmad Shah Abdali. He had miscalculated that the Afghan king would subjugate the Marathas and Jats, and restore political supremacy of the Muslims and stay in India with the intention of supplanting the Mughals and stabilize his own power. Abdali did nothing towards the fulfillment of Shah Waliullah's yearnings. He even attempted to appease the Marathas after the fateful Battle of Panipat.
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