Suchergebnisse

This article examines the evidence of change and growth in the external trade of the Vale of Kashmir under the rule of the independent Sultans of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The fertility and temperate climate of the enclosed lacustrine plain ('Vale') of Kashmir, situated on a caravan-route between hot and cold zones, was capable of sustaining a considerable artisanal population. The historical vectors of an industrial expansion at the beginning of the fifteenth century included the changed political configuration of Transoxania and Iran, which followed the conquests of Amir Timur Gurkan (d.1405 AC). From this direction, innovatory techniques of manufacture and novel aesthetic criteria were probably introduced into Kashmir via the presence of recently imported artisans in Timur's new metropolis of Samarqand. Of importance among the profitable export handicrafts produced in this favourable location were the famous Kashmir shawls made from the fine hair of high-altitude ('Tibetan') goats, woven in a 'twill-tapestry' technique. The looms for these textiles, which are of a type not attested at an earlier date elsewhere on the Indian subcontinent, may be derived from those of weavers recently deported and settled in Samarqand as a result of Timur's military campaigns and conquests. The planned import into Kashmir of innovations in weaving and other handicraft industries intended for export can be attributed to the Sultan Zayn al-'Abidin (r., 1520–70 AC). There is also evidence of the continued production in Kashmir of such manufactures for export through the sixteenth century. These manufactures were of economic importance when Kashmir was annexed to the Indian Mughal Empire at the close of the sixteenth century. After the extension of Mughal rule to Kashmir, visitors to the valley noted the prosperity of Kashmiri merchants engaged in long-distance export trade.

AbstractThe present essay examines information on the relationship of provincial settlements in the territories of the Dehli Sultanate with the capital city during the fourteenth century. This is drawn mainly from hagiographical sources in Persian rather than the much-utilized series of chronicles compiled in the city of Dehli itself. After a brief discussion of some of the factors of continuity and change operative in the fourteenth century in the territories of the Dehli Sultanate, it turns to a series of case studies, where evidence is available, of the processes of settlement of Muslim communities under the aegis of the Sultans of Dehli and in a radius extending from the capital city in northern India. The main routes of extension were to the south and to the east. Evidence suggests a process of growth of provincial centers of power to the detriment of the authority of the Sultan and the administration lodged in the capital city before the collapse of this authority in 1398. The latter part of the paper examines the linguistic consequences of the provincial political developments of the fourteenth century. It is argued that these affected changes in North Indian climates of sensibility that have endured to the present day. L'article étudie les informations sur la relation entre les établissement régionaux dans les territoires du Sultanat de Dehli et la ville capitale durant le XIV e siècle. Ces données sont surtout puisées aux sources hagiographiques en langue persane plutôt qu'aux séries de chroniques compilées dans la ville de Dehli elle-même. Après une discussion concise de certains facteurs responsables de la continuité et du changement en vigueur au XIVe siècle dans les territoires du Sultantat de Dehli, un nombre d'études de cas passe la revue — en fonction des temoignages disponibles. Elles traitent les processus d'établissement des communautés musulmanes sous la protection des sultans de Dehli et dans un rayon autour de la ville capitale de l'Inde septentrionale. Les principales routes d'épanouissment menèrent du Sud vers l'Est. Les temoignages suggèrent une croissance des centres de pouvoir régionaux au détriment de l'autorité du Sultan et son administration, logées dans la ville capitale jusqu'à son écroulement en 1398. La dernière section de l'article étudie les conséquences linguistiques des développements politiques et régionaux du XIV e siècle. Il est avancé que ces changements engendrèrent des modi fications dans les climats de sensibilité dans l'Inde septentrionale qui ont duré jusqu'à nos jours.