Abraham Eraly - The Age of Wrath - A History of the Delhi Sultanate

For Hindus, as for the followers of all medieval religions, going on pilgrimages was a major goal of life, to secure a good afterlife. There were seven major holy sites in India for Hindus to visit, from Badrinath in the far north to Rameswaram in the far south. Major rivers, particularly Ganga, were considered sacred by Hindus, and bathing in them was a rite for them. ‘The Hindu infidels worship Ganga, and once every year they come on pilgrimage to this place (Haridwar) which they consider the source of the river, to bathe and have their heads and beards shaved,’ notes Timur in his autobiography. ‘They believe these acts to be the means of obtaining salvation and securing future reward. They dispense large sums in charity among those who wear the Brahminical thread, and they throw money into the river. When infidels die in distant parts, their bodies are burned, and the ashes brought to this river and are thrown into it. This they look upon as a means of sanctification.’

According to Khondamir, an early sixteenth century chronicler, the reason why Hindus consider Ganga to be sacred is that they ‘believe that the water of this river springs from the fountain of paradise.’ Battuta also makes the same point. And so does al-Utbi. Hindus, he writes, regard Ganga ‘as of exceeding sanctity, and consider that its source is in paradise … Devotees come to it from a distance, and drown themselves in it, in the hope of obtaining eternal salvation.’ Adds Yazdi, an early fifteenth century chronicler: up in the Himalayas, there is ‘a stone in the form of a cow, and the water of the river [Ganga] flows out of the mouth of that cow. The infidels of India worship this cow, and come hither from all quarters, from distances even of a year’s journey … They throw gold and silver into the river, and they go down into the river, wash their feet, sprinkle water on their heads, and have their heads and beards shaved. This they consider to be an act of devotion, just as Muslims consider pilgrimage to Mecca a pious act.’

Medieval chroniclers also record the universal Hindu reverence for cows. ‘Hindus call the bull father and the cow mother,’ writes Nikitin, a mid-fifteenth century Russian traveller in India. ‘With their excrements [as fuel] they bake bread and boil food, and with their ashes they mark the symbols of these animals on their own faces, foreheads and whole bodies.’ Serpents were also venerated by Hindus. Notes Varthema, an early sixteenth-century Italian traveller, ‘Those who kill serpents receive capital punishment [in Hindu kingdoms]: the king would immediately put him to death. In like manner, if anyone kills a cow, he would also put that person to death. They say that these serpents are the spirits of god, and that if they were not his spirits, god would not have given them such power as to immediately kill a person with just a small bite.’

NICOLO CONTI, AN early fifteenth-century Venetian traveller in India, has left us some vivid descriptions of the Hindu festivals he witnessed. ‘At a certain time of the year their idol is carried through the city, placed between two chariots, in which are young women, richly adorned, who sing hymns to the god. The chariots are accompanied by a great concourse of people. Many of them, carried away by the fervour of their faith, cast themselves on the ground before the wheels [of the chariot], in order that they may be crushed to death — a mode of death which they say is very acceptable to their god. Others, making an incision on their side, and inserting a rope thus through their body, hang themselves from the chariot by way of ornaments, and thus suspended and half dead accompany their idol …

‘Thrice in the year they keep festivals of especial solemnity. On one of these occasions the males and females of all ages having bathed in the rivers or the sea, clothe themselves in new garments, and spend three entire days singing, dancing, and feasting. On another of these festivals they fix up within their temples, and on the outside on the roofs, an innumerable number of oil lamps …, which are kept burning day and night. On the third [festival], which lasts nine days, they set up on all the highways large beams, like the masts of small ships, to the upper part of which are attached pieces of very beautiful cloth of various kinds, interwoven with gold. On the summit of each of these beams is each day placed a man of pious aspect, dedicated to religion, capable of enduring all things with equanimity, who is to pray for the favour of god. These men are assailed by the people, who pelt them with oranges, lemons, and other odoriferous fruits, all of which they bear most patiently. There are also three other festival days, during which they sprinkle all passers-by, even the king and queen, with saffron water, placed for that purpose by the wayside. This is received by all with much laughter.’

Barbosa reports that during a temple festival in Kerala, when the idol is taken out in procession, ‘in front of the idol walk many Nairs with bare swords, slashing themselves wheresoever they can, and foaming at the mouth, and shouting so that they seem possessed of devils.’ Friar Odoric, an early fourteenth century Italian missionary-traveller, also reported on several Hindu festivals and temple rites. ‘When any man offers to die in the service of his … god, his parents, and all his friends assemble themselves together with a consort of musicians, making him a great and solemn feast. Which feast being ended, they hang five sharp knives around his neck and carry him to the idol. As soon as he reaches there, he taketh one of his knives crying with a loud voice, “For the worship of my god do I cut [off] this my flesh”, and then he casteth the morsel which is cut at the face of his idol. At the very last wound wherewith he murdereth himself, he uttereth these words: “Now do I yield myself to death in behalf of my god.” And being dead, his body is burned, and [he] is esteemed by all men to be holy.’

Human sacrifices at temples were prevalent but rare in medieval India, but animal sacrifices were quite common. Barbosa reports about a peculiar rite at a Shiva temple in Vijayanagar, in which a virgin with ‘a sharp-pointed stick’ deflowers herself before the idol and sprinkles it with the oozing blood.

Temples played a prominent role in all facets of life of medieval Indians. Rajas were keen patrons of temples, and they gifted vast treasures to them, so as to root their power firmly in the local socio-cultural soil, and also, more importantly, to win divine favour, which was considered indispensible for success in any venture. Temples also played a notable role in the local economy, by providing finance for agriculture, trade and industry. Major temples were the nuclei around which towns formed, and were significant factors in the revival of urban economy and culture in medieval India.

‘THERE ARE IN all eighty-four creeds,’ states Nikitin about Hindu sects. Quite probably there were very many more Hindu sects than that. There were also several different ascetic orders in Hindu society, commonly called yogis. Battuta once witnessed the performance of feats by yogis at the court of Muhammad Tughluq, and reported on it.

‘The men of this class do some marvellous things,’ reports Battuta. ‘One of them will spend months without eating or drinking, and many of them have pits dug for them in the earth, which are then covered up on top of them, leaving only a space for air to enter. They stay in these for months, and I heard them tell of one who remained thus for a year. People say that they make pills, one of which they take for a given number of days or months, and during that time they require no food or drink. They can tell what is happening at a distance. The sultan [Muhammad Tughluq] holds them in esteem and admits them to his company … The majority [of them] eat no meat. It is obvious that they have so disciplined themselves in ascetic practices that they have no need for any of the goods or vanities of this world.