Abstract
Mawas (pl. mawasat) was an inaccessible territory, with natural defences, which could be used as a place of refuge. However, in the contemporaneous Persian literature, it is used to denote a rebel territory. Mewat was one such territory at the very doorsteps of Delhi. The inhabitants came to be called Meo or Mev, a term which became synonymous with robber. According to Suraj Bhan Bhardwaj, Meos believes that the term ‘Mewat’ is derived from Mev.
Mawasat find a frequent reference in almost every source from Minhaj to Babar and even beyond. However, of all these sources, Ibn Battuta is the most vivid and detailed. Coming all the way from Tangier (Africa), he had travel in his blood. He had a fight with a group from a mewas in the vicinity of Koil (Aligarh) and even landed in captivity. He gives a graphic account of the harsh life in the mawas and some other aspects:
The infidels in the land inhabit territory which is not geographically separated from the Muslims…. they cannot be overcome except by strong armies of men who go into these forests and cut down those reeds…. (The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A.D. 1325–1354 H.A.R. Gibb, III, 741–742)
This account makes Peter Jackson draw an important conclusion:
Elsewhere in Islamic world it made sense to talk of Dar al-Islam and Daral-Harb; but not in India. A series of dots would indicate the extent to Sultans’s rule with greater realism than uniform shading….(The Delhi Sultante Political and Military History, p. 126)
An in-depth study of various mawasat deserves much more attention than hitherto given. As such, the work of Suraj Bhan Bhardwaj is a welcome addition to an important theme. The study consists of six essays covering a period from the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries. These are: ‘State Formation in Mewat: Rise and Demise of Khanzada Chiefdom in the Politics of North India; Socio-economic Transformation in Mewat: Migration, De-tribalization and Peasantization; Islamization in Mewat: A Case of Acculturation and Syncertism; Conflict over Socal Surplus: Problems of Revenue Farming in Eighteenth-century North India (Mewat); Changing Dynamics of Peasant–State Relation in Mewat: Conflicts, Conciliations and Incipient Class Consciousness; Perceptions of Kingship in Peasant Society: Insights from Folklore in Late Medieval North India. Written over a span of several years, these essays are repetitive and somewhat disjointed. However, this hardly dents the intrinsic worth of the work. The author has made full use of the Jaipur Records, Ambar Records and Jagga Records, besides a large number of Persian as well as non-Persian sources. The sources collected for his doctoral work, ‘Socio-economic conditions in the Mewat region, c. 1650–1750’ (unpublished JNU, 1990), also come in handy.
The book traces the changing relationship between the state and the inhabitants of Mewat. It refers to their hostility towards Delhi Sultanate, in the light of the account given in Minhaj’s Tabakat-i-Nasiri. Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firozshahi is quoted to show the daring of meos;
The daring of the Mewtis in the neighborhod of Delhi was carried to such an extent that the Western gates of the city were at afternoon prayer, and no one dared to go out of the city in that direction after that hour, whether he travelled as a pilgrim or with the display of a sovereign. At afternoon prayer, the Mewati would often come to the girls who were fetching water; they would strip them and carry off their clothes. These daring acts of the Mewatis had caused a great ferment in Delhi.
In 1257, meos, under the leadership of Malka, snatched the camels loaded with grain from Balban’s army and distributed these among the Chauhan Rajputs of Ranthambore. Unable to subjugate the meos, Balban hired 3,000 Afghans and posted them near Delhi. He organised a headhunt by placing price at the head of each meo, dead or alive. Repeated attempts to crush meos did not yield any results. In fact, the Sultans were always in dread of disgruntled nobles finding shelter and support in the mawasat. This is what Sunil Kumar has called ‘Rana Malik’ condominium (Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate, 1192–1286, p. 282). Firozshah Tuglaq succeeded in making Bahadur Nahar, the Jadon Rajput chief of Mewat, embrace Islam. He was styled a Khanazad, a title given to loyal Firozi slaves. However, a blow-hot blow-cold policy continued during the entire Sultanate period. Hasan Khan Mewati ignoring all overtures of Babar in the name of Islam joined Rana Sanga and died fighting at Kanwa. Humayun, after regaining his lost power in 1555, married the elder daughter of Jamal Khan Mewati, a nephew of Hasn Khan. The younger daughter was married to Bairm Khan, an alliance which stood him in good stead during his revolt against Akbar.
Mewat was gradually Islamised, but the people retained their syncretic culture. Many meo oral accounts are centred on their close interaction with Sufi saints. Suraj Bhan Bhardwaj states that this might have acted as a stimulus to their Islamisation. Another belief of the meos is that they converted to Islam under the influence of Salar Musud, a semi-mythical figure. Abul-Fazl states in his Ain-i-Akbari that Salar Musud was one of the martyrs of the Ghaznavid army. Akbar employed about 1,000 meos as messengers or post carriers (dakmeoras) because of their reputation as good runners. This, in a way, was a game-changer.
During the later half of the seventeenth and the early eighteenth centuries, Mewat experienced considerable conflict due to excesses of ijara system. In fact, both the Ambar Raja and Jat ruler Churaman were keen to obtain the ijara of the region as a way of extending their spheres of influence. The peasants exercised their right to represent the Mughal court. Villages were deserted when things went out of hand. The folklore of Mewat had kept alive a sharp distinction between benevolence and malevolence, and the meos did not take things lying down.
The author deserves our gratitude for a well-documented work.