The prices of goods were not uniform throughout the period. These were abnormally high in times of famine and scarcity, but very low in times of over production. Thus, owing to severe famines during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq, the price of corn rose to 16 and 17 jitals per seer and many people died of starvation. After Firuz Shah’s second attack on Sind, with the consequent scarcity in that province, the price of corn rose to 8 and 10 jitals per 5 seers, and of pulses to 4 and 5 tankas per maund, or 6.4 and 8 jitals per seer respectively. The reign of lbrahim Lodi was again a period of exceptionally low prices. A man could then buy 10 maunds of corn, 5 seers of oil and 10 yards of coarse cloth for one Buhluli which was equivalent to 1.6 jital in value. The prices during ‘Ala-ud-din’s reign have been considered as normal. These were (calculating per maund)-wheat 7. 1/2 jitals, barley 4 jitals, paddy or rice 5 jitals, pulses 5 jitals, lentils 3 jitals, sugar (white) 100 jitals, sugar (soft) 60 jitals, mutton 10 jitals, and ghee (clarified butter) 16 jitals; muslins of Delhi cost 17 tankas a piece, of ‘Aligarh 6 tankas and blankets of coarse stuff cost 6 jitals and those of finer quality 36 jitals for each piece. Comparing the prices of goods in the reigns of ‘Ala-ud-din, Muhammad bin Tughluq and Firuz Shah, we find that, generally speaking, these rose during the reign of the second Sultan but again went down almost to the previous level of’Ala-ud-din’s reign during the reign of Firuz Shah. On the whole, food and goods were cheap in the Doab area as well as in the provinces. Ibn Batutah observes that he had nowhere seen “a country where the commodities sell cheaper” than in Bengal; eight dirhams were sufficient here for the annual expenses of a family of three. But we have no means of estimating the average income or cost of living of an Indian of those days. We should not, moreover, fail to note that the country, especially Bengal, suffered from an exceptional scarcity of money. It is, therefore, rather difficult to determine how far the people were benefitted by the low prices of commodities then prevailing.
As regards the standard of living of the different classes of the society, the difference between that of the wealthier classes and of the peasants was “almost antipodal”. While the ruling and official classes rolled in opulence and luxury, the tillers of the soil had a very low standard of living. The incidence of taxation must have weighed heavily on them, and their condition became miserable in times of famine, when no adequate relief measures could be provided. Amir Khusrav significantly remarks that “every pearl in the royal crown is but the crystallized drop of blood fallen from the tearful eyes of the poor peasant”. Babur, who was struck with the scanty requirements of the Indian rural folk, writes: “People disappear completely where they have been living for many years in about a day and a half.” Thus the peasants of Medieval India do not seem to have been much better off than their descendants of modern times. But, judged by standards of to-day, they had fewer needs. The villages being economically self-sufficient, the simple requirements of the rural population were supplied locally to their satisfaction. Further, in spite of political revolutions and intrigues at the metropolis, the villagers pursued their ordinary occupations of life with the utmost unconcern. Court politics seldom disturbed the even tenor of village life.
Social Life
It was a common practice with the Sultans and the nobles to maintain slaves, male as well as female. The number of royal slaves (Bandagan-i-khas) was usually large. ‘Ala-ud-din had 50,000 slaves and their number rose to 200,000 under Firuz Shah. Much care was taken of them by their masters, as they formed a useful source of service and sometimes of pecuniary gain. The Sultans usually manumitted their slaves after some time, and some of the slaves rose to political and social eminence by dint of their merit and ability. Besides a large number of Indian slaves, of whom the Assam slaves were most liked because of their strong physique, male as well as female slaves were imported from other countries like China, Turkestan, and Persia. The prices of slaves fluctuated according to the courses of wars and famines. The institution of slavery might have served certain purposes for the rulers and the nobles; but at the same time it could not but produce some baneful social consequences. In fact, it was a “stamp of unprogressiveness” and an unhealthy feature of social life.
Dependence of women on their husbands, or other male relatives, was a prominent feature of social life among the Hindus as well as the Muslims. But they enjoyed a position of respect and were expected to observe strict fidelity in their conjugal life. They generally lived in seclusion in the sphere of their homes; and the Purdah system became more elaborate, both among the Hindus and the Muslims, except in some coastal towns in Gujarat, owing chiefly to the general sense of insecurity of the period caused by inroads of foreign invaders, especially the Mongols. The culture of the women varied according to the classes to which they belonged. While the ordinary village women remained absorbed in their domestic duties, some belonging to the upper class cultivated arts and sciences. Rupamati and Padmavati are good examples of educated ladies. Both boys and girls were married at an early age. The practice of Sati, or a wife burning herself on the funeral pyre of her husband, was widely prevalent among certain classes. According to Ibn Batutah, a sort of permit had to be procured from the Sultan of Delhi before the burning of a widow. Though the general standard of social life was high, being marked by charity and other virtues, there were a few vices connected with the passion for wine and women.
