Historical Sources of the Sultanate Period

Historical Sources of the Sultanate Period 

Introducation

                           Indian Islamic inscriptions date from the last decade of the 12th century AD when Muhammad Ghori conquered Delhi and established his kingdom there. Certain movable objects like arms, seals, signets, vases, utensils and tombs account for majority of inscriptions, next followed by forts. The language of the records of the early period of the Delhi Sultanate is Arabic. Majority of epigraphical records is in Persian in view of the fact that Persian had been the state or official language right from the beginning of the Muslim rule. Persian played an important role in the educational and cultural life of the various regions of the sub-continent in varying degrees depending upon local factors. Apart from Arabic, Persian and Urdu inscriptions, there are bilingual. inscriptions, i.e. Arabic with regional languages like Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam and Persian with the provincial languages like Kannada, Telugu, Oriya, Tamil, Gujarati and Marathi.

                                          The literary works of Persian and Arab people are the most important sources of history of the medieval period (the Sultanate period).  These Persian and Arabic works can be divided into three broad categories such as –  the chronicles, the travel stories and the modern works.

Tarikh-i-hind (Literary Works of Al-Beruni)

                                                                                 Al-Beruni, came to India and took up service under Mahmud of Ghazni. He was well acquainted in Arabic, Persian and had a great intellectual in Medicine, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Theology and Religion. During his stay in India he learnt Sanskrit and studied Hindu religion and philosophy. He even translated two Sanskrit works into Arabic. His most important literary work being Tarikh-ul-Hind written in masterly Arabic with great accuracy and scholarly presentation,  gives us  an account of the literature, science and religion of the Hindus of the 11th century. The book gives us an account of India at the time of Mahmud of Gazni’s invasion of India.

Chach-Nama

                         Chach-Nama is a historical work about the Atab conquest of Sindh. The book was originally written in Arabic and later translated into Persian. An account of Sindh before and after the invasion of Muhammad bin Qasim is highlighted in this Chach-Nama. The names of the places and details of important incidents are mentioned in this book. Through Chach-Nama, we get an inclusive idea about Sindh when it was dominated by the Arabs.

Kitab-ul-Yamini

                             Kitab-ul-Yamini by Aby Naser-bin-Muhammad al Jabbarul Utbi , gave us information’s about the reign of Subuktigin and Mahmud of Ghazni up to 1020 A.D.. Utbi has not given us any details, nor gave us the exact dates also. But his work has been considered as one of the most authentic work of the early life and activities of Muhmad.

Khazain-ul-Futuh by Amir Khusrov

                                                                  The Khazain-ul-Futuh by Amir Khusrov – an well-known poet of Laureate from 1290 till his death in 1325 and thus was contemporary to all Sultans of Delhi from Jala-ud-din Khalji to Muhammad-bin-Tughluq. As he was an eye witness of most of the happenings his narrative work is of great value.

Taj-ul-Maasir by Hasan Nizami

                                                           In his book Taj-ul-Maasir, Hasan Nizami described the occurrences from 1192 to 1228 and thus became an important account  on the career and reign of Qutub-ud-din Aibak and the early years of Iltutmish. His work is the primary source of the early years of the Sultanate period in Delhi.

Works of Amir Khusrau:

                                               Abul Hasan Yaminuddin Khusrau was one of the best scholars and poets of his age. He was a witness to the reign of Sultan Balban and got patronage of the Khilji rulers and even that of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. Primarily, Khusrau was not a historian but a poet. None of his work, therefore, can be considered historical material. Yet, as he described the events in a chronological order and honestly, much useful historical knowledge has been derived from his writings. Khusrau wrote much. However, important among his writings were Qiran-us-Sadain, Miftah-ul-Futuh, Ashiqa, Tughlaqanama, Tarikh-i-Alaie etc. Much of his writings were in form of poems though some of them were written in prose as well. Put together, his writings provide us good historical source-material.

Tabqat-i-Nasiri by Minhaj-Us-Siraj

                                                                 Minhaj-us-Siraj concluded his famous work Tabqat-i-Nasiri sometimes in 1260 A.D. The book gave us an account of the conquest of Hindustan by Muhammad of Ghor. Minhaj was the chief Qazi in Delhi under Nasir-ud-din Mahmud. His book is a vital source of the early history of Delhi Sultanate.

Kitab-ur-Rahlab

                              Another important work is Kitab-ur-Rahlab a book of travels by the famous Moorish traveler, Ibn Battuta. Travelling Northern Africa, Arabia, Iran and Constantinople Ibn Battuta came to India in 1333. He remained in this country up to 1342 and was appointed by Muhammad-bin-Tughluq, the Qazi of Delhi for long eight years. The Sultan, however, became displeased with him and was dismissed and imprisoned though after some times he was released and sent to China in 1342 as an ambassador. Ibn Battuta wrote his book in Arabic. His work is also primary authority on the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq and also the manners, customs and the condition of India during the Sultanate period. His work, however, suffers from some defects.

Tarikh-i-Firozshahi

                                    Zia-ud-din Barani wroteTarikh-i-Firozshahi .  Barani was an exact contemporary of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, Muhammad-bin-Tughluq and Firoz Shah Tughluq. His work started with Balban and came down to the sixth year of the reign of Firoz Tughluq. The work was completed in 1359 and thus was the most important work on the Khalji period, the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq and a part of Firoz Tughluq’s reign. The chief merit of the book is that, as the author held an important post in the revenue department, he was fully acquainted with revenue administration which he has been described in details.

Tarikh-i-Masumi

                              Tarikh-i-Masumi or Tarikh-i-Sindh is another written source by Mir Muhammad Masum or Bhakkra. This book was written sometimes in 1600 A.D.. Tarikh-i-Masumi gave us a in depth history of Sindh from the date of its conquest by the Arabs till the days of Akbar the great Mughal. The book is divided into four chapters. It gave us a clear picture as to how Muhammad-bin-Qasim conquered the land and what was condition of Sindh, just in the eve of Arab conquest.

Other Books

                     Apart from these works there are other chronicles as well which deserves mention. They include the works like—Zaina-ul-Akhbar by Abu Said, Tarikh-i-Masudi by Abul Fazal Muhammad-bin-Husain-al-Baihaqi,.  It should be mentioned that some of the general works composed in the time of Akbar are also useful for this period like Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazal, Muntakhav-ut-Tawarikh of Badaun, Tabqat-i-Akbari of Nizam-ud-din Ahmad and Tarikh-i-Farishta by Hindu Beg. Tuzuk-i-Baburi is also an important work which deals with the history of the closing phase of Lodi dynasty.

Travel Stories

                            The travel-stories written by travelers are of great importance for constructing the history of medieval India. The great Turkish traveler Al-Beruni was one of the earliest travelers in India. His famous work is known as Al-Beruni’s India. The Italian traveler Nicolo Conti travelled India in 1520. He also gave a vivid account of the manners, customs and conditions of the people of India. Domingos Paes was a Portuguese traveler who also visited Southern India. He also left a detailed description of Vijaynagar. Edoardo Barbosa  visited India in 1516 and gave a detailed description of Vijaynagar and Southern India of the period of our study. The world famous traveler Marco Polo visited Southern India in the 13th Century. This travels of Marco Polo is a significant book for the study of Sultanate India. A Persian traveler Abdur Razzaq came as an envoy to the king of Vijaynagar where he stayed for a year from 1442 to 1443. He had given a vivid and realistic account of political, administrative, economic and cultural account of Vijaynagar. There are some literary works as well like Amir Khusrav’s Qiran-us-sadain and Ain-ul-Mulk Multani’s Munsha-i-Mahru which are also worth mentioning works in this regard.

Coins and Monuments

                                           The coins and monuments are important sources for the construction of the history medieval period of India. The Sultans were great lovers of architecture. The architecture which the Turkish conquerors of India brought in this land in the last decade of the twelfth century was not exclusively Muslim or even Arabian. Rather their buildings had the influence of indigenous art traditions. Balban built the Red Palace. Alauddin-Khalji built the Jamait Khan Masjid at the shrine of Nizam-ud-din-Auliya and the famous Ali Darwaja at the Qutub Minar. The Tughluq’s erected the tomb of Tughluq Shah, the city of Tughluqabad and Kuffa Firoz Shah. Sikandar Lodi also built Moth Ki Masjid. Sultan Qutubud-din-Aibak constructed the famous Quwat-ul-Islam mosque at Delhi, the Dhai-Din ka Jhoupra at Ajmer, the Qutub Minar at Delhi.

                                                       There are several other like architectures scattered in many provinces like Multan, Bengal, Gujrat, Malwa, Jaunpur, Kashmir and Dakhin also helped us to form a comprehensive idea about the history of the Sultanate period of India.

Style of art and architecture

                                                   The Sultanate introduced two new architectural ideas, the dome and the pointed arch. The dome was an important decorative structure in Islamic buildings, and soon was implemented in other structures as well. The pointed or true arch that was introduced during this period, was completely different from the type of arches that were being constructed within the country earlier. The earlier Indian style of creating arches was to first put up two pillars. The pillars would then be cut at intervals accommodate 'plug in' projections. There would be a sequence of squares that would gradually decrease in size creating an arch. The new artisans introduced the true arch. This was achieved by making the middle stone a key stone and to have the other stones distribute the load of on the two pillars.

Conclusion

Painting, also form a significant source to provide the first hand information which has not been earlier utilized in the context of the study of Sultanate period. From these paintings we get visual information, which we may not get from the written text. These painting have illustrated the culture of the period, glimpses of the customs, status of women and influence of composite culture after the coming of the Turks to the country in Thirteenth century. It was a fusion of Persian as well as indigenous elements. Numerous painting of early medieval times exhibit outdoor scenes. They cover the various aspects of everyday life. These paintings show women at work also.

The Hindu code bills

The Hindu code bills

Introducation

                         The Hindu code bills were several laws passed in the 1950s that aimed to codify and reform Hindu personal law in India. Following India's independence in 1947, the Indian National Congress government led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru completed this codification and reform, a process started by the British Raj. According to the British policy of noninterference, personal-law reform should have arisen from a demand from the Hindu community. That was not the case, as there was significant opposition from various conservative Hindu politicians, organisations and devotees; they saw themselves unjustly singled out as the sole religious community whose laws were to be reformed.^[1] However, the Nehru administration saw such codification as necessary to unify the Hindu community, which ideally would be a first step towards unifying the nation. They succeeded in passing four Hindu code bills in 1955–56: the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, and Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act. They continue to be controversial to the present day among women's, religious, and nationalist groups.

Background

                        While there may be a permanence of certain fundamental beliefs about the nature of life that is pervasive through Hinduism, Hindus as a group are highly non-homogenous. As Derrett says in his book on Hindu law, "We find the Hindus to be as diverse in race, psychology, habitat, employment and way of life as any collection of human beings that might be gathered from the ends of the earth." The Dharmaśāstra the textual authority on matters of marriage, adoption, the joint family, minorities, succession, religious endowments, and caste privileges has often been seen as the private law of the Hindus. However, whatever is known and interpreted about this Hindu law is a jumble of rules, often inconsistent and incompatible with one another, that are lacking in uniformity.

                                                          Hindu law's content and structure has ultimately survived as a result of its administration by British judges who gave a lot of attention to Hindu religious-legal texts, while simultaneously invoking English procedure, jurisprudence, and English law to fill any gaps. Opinions often differ as to the extent of the discrepancy between the current law and the public's needs, but most agree that a substantial inconsistency exists. The British colonial government administered India largely through a policy of noninterference, allowing civil matters to be dealt with through respective religious communities. Matters that fell under the jurisdiction of these communities were called "personal laws." The British began the intensive process of codifying Hindu personal law in the early 1940s in an attempt to notate and therefore organise the Indian political system.

                                                         In 1921, the British Government had already gone so far as to welcome individual Members' efforts at piecemeal codification, a limited but significant shift in policy.  According to Levy, that year, "two Hindu legislators, one a lawyer in the Central Legislative Assembly (the lower House), the other an eminent scholar of Sanskrit in the Central Council of States (the upper House), initiated resolutions seeking Government support for a Hindu Code of family law."  In the next two decades many such fragmentary measures were enacted, modifying the Hindu law of marriage, inheritance, and joint family property. As a whole, the enacted bills carried further a modest trend toward increasing property alienability, reducing the legal importance of caste, sanctioning religious heterodoxy and conversion and, most significantly, improving the position of women.  However, it was the passing of the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act (Deshmukh Act) in 1937, which had given the widow a son's share in property that was one of the most substantial steps towards the Hindu Code Bill.

 Uniform civial code -  In December 1946, the Constituent Assembly convened to devise a Constitution for the soon-to-be-independent India. There were extensive debates over the place of personal laws in the new Indian legal system. Some argued that India's various personal laws were too divisive and that a uniform civil code should be instituted in their place. And once the notion of a uniform civil code was put forward, it soon became accepted as an important part of the effort to construct an Indian national identity, over the separate identities of caste, religion and ethnicity. Some resistance to the code was on the grounds that its imposition would destroy the cultural identity of minorities, the protection of which is crucial to democracy. Certain feminists thus argue that the uniform civil code debate balances on the polarity of the state and community, rendering the gender-based axis upon which it turns, invisible.

                                                             A compromise was reached in the inclusion in the first draft of an article that compelled the state "to endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." The clause, a goal, not a right, became Article 44 in the Constitution. It was widely criticised by proponents of a uniform code because it contained no mechanism and provided no timetable for enforcement. However, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and others insisted on its inclusion, arguing that even if it was only symbolic, it was an important step towards national unity . Though Nehru himself likely would have favored a uniform code, he knew that personal laws were linked with religious identity in India and therefore could not be easily abolished. Recognizing that what he wanted was not a political reality, he settled for an unenforceable clause

Beginning of Codification

Initial draft

                       In 1941, the colonial government had appointed a four-member Hindu Law Committee, known as the Rau Committee after its chairman B. N. Rau. The committee was to resolve doubts about the Deshmukh Act's construction, ensure that its introduction of new female heirs was not made at the expense of the decedent's own daughter and consider bills introduced to abolish women's limited estate and to make polygamy a ground for separate residence and maintenance. Later in 1941, the Committee reported that the time had come for a Hindu Code. Social progress and modernization could only be achieved by fundamental reforms, which recognized gender equality. The code was to be shaped with the aid of orthodox, conservative and reformist Hindus and by a comprehensive blending of the best of the current schools of Hindu law and the ancient texts.

                                                    The 1941 Report was accompanied by two draft bills, each of which was laid before a select committee of both houses of the legislature. Much publicity was given to the project, and as a result of the committees' reports, the Hindu Law Committee itself was revived in 1944 and under its chairman, B. N. Rau, prepared a Draft Code dealing with Succession, Maintenance, Marriage and Divorce, Minority and Guardianship and Adoption. It was that Code that was widely circulated and discussed and given the name "Hindu Code Bill". After publication in twelve regional languages and a wide publicity campaign, the Rau Committee toured the country and examined witnesses. The result 1947 report of the committee included and went far beyond the 1941 proposals, recommending the abolition of the joint-family property system, the introduction of the daughter's simultaneous succession with the son to the father's estate, the abolition of the barrier to intercaste marriages, the assimilation of civil and sacramental marriages, and the introduction of divorce for the higher castes. It was the intention of the government that this first draft should become law on 1 January 1948, but the whole project was temporarily suspended when independence led to the priorities of the legislature to be consumed with the task of creating the new regime.

                                                             By 1943, a significant opposition to the code had begun to develop inside and outside the Legislature. In the 1943–44 legislative debate, opponents and supporters alike accepted as fact the view that the majority of the legal profession continued to support the code. Opponents tried to undercut the perceived support by arguing that lawyers had become westernized or that the merits of the bill were for the people to decide, not lawyers.  Nehru had already been forced to retreat from an original position of passing the bill. However, his position greatly improved in 1951 when he succeeded Purushottam Das Tandon as Congress president. He chose not to test his combined powers as prime minister and party president, in regard to the bill at that time and allowed it to lapse. He, however, promised fellow supporters that he would campaign on the bill, with plain arguments on the merits

Ambedkar draft

                              The Ministry of Law revised the first draft in 1948 and made some small alterations to it, making it more suitable for discussion in the Constituent Assembly, where it was finally introduced. It was referred to a select committee under the chairmanship of law minister B. R. Ambedkar, and the committee made a number of important changes in the Bill.  This edition had eight sections: part one delineated who would be considered a Hindu and did away with the caste system. Significantly, it stipulated that the Hindu Code would apply to anyone who was not a Muslim, Parsi, Christian or Jew, and asserted that all Hindus would be governed under a uniform law. Part two of the bill concerned marriage; part three adoption; part four, guardianship; part five the policy on joint-family property, and was controversial as it included the nontraditional allocation of property to women. Part six concerned policies regarding women's property, and parts seven and eight established policies on succession and maintenance.^[19] By allowing for divorce, Ambedkar's version of the Hindu Code conflicted with traditional Hindu personal law, which did not sanction divorce (although it was practiced). It also "established one joint family system of property ownership for all Hindus" by doing away with regional rules. Finally, it allotted portions of inheritance to daughters, while giving widows complete property rights where they had previously been restricted.

                                            Conflicts also arose from the categorization of who would be considered Hindu. The Code established "Hindu" to be a negative category that would include all those who did not identify as a Muslim, Jew, Christian, or Parsi. Such a broad designation ignored the tremendous diversity of region, tradition and custom in Hinduism. Those who practised Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism were considered to be Hindus under the jurisdiction of the Code Bill. While they had originally included aspects of Hinduism, by then, they had evolved into unique religions with their own customs, traditions, and rituals.^[19] There was also significant controversy over what was established to be Hindu personal law. Sanctioned under Hinduism were a variety of practices and perspectives. Therefore, the administration had to arbitrate between these variations, legitimating some and disregarding or marginalising others.

Intentions

                    As Mansfield writes regarding the need for personal laws in India, "The spectacle of large political entities in different parts of the world collapsing and giving place to smaller entities based on ethnicity, religion or language or combinations of these factors, rather than strengthening the idea that a powerfully centralised, culturally homogenous nation is essential for order and prosperity, may have confirmed for some the view that the pressing task for India is not to increase central power and cultural homogeneity, but to find an alternative to the 'nation-state' model, an alternative that will sustain unity through some form of 'pluralism'."

                                                                           Nehru's primary purpose in instituting the Hindu code bills was to unify the Hindu community.so it made sense to define Hindu in the broadest possible sense. By legal equity, Nehru intended to "erase distinctions within the Hindu community and create Hindu social unity.... The integration of Hindus into a homogeneous society could best be done by enacting an all-embracing code which encompasses within its fold every sect, caste, and religious denomination."^[2] The debates over Article 44 in the Constitution revealed that many believed varied laws and legal divisions helped create or at least were reflective of.social divisions.^[2] Nehru and his supporters insisted that the Hindu community, which comprised 80% of the Indian population, first needed to be united before any actions were taken to unify the rest of India. Therefore, the codification of Hindu personal law became a symbolic beginning on the road to establishing the Indian national identity . Nehru also felt that because he was Hindu, it was his prerogative to codify specifically Hindu law, as opposed to Muslim or Jewish law.^l.j

                                                                                           Those in Parliament who supported the bills also saw them as a vital move towards the modernization of Hindu society, as they would clearly delineate secular laws from religious law. Many also heralded the bills' opportunity to implement greater rights for women, which were established to be necessary, for India's development.

Support and opposition

                                              During the debates over the Hindu code bills in the General Assembly, large segments of the Hindu population protested and held rallies against the bills. Numerous organizations were formed to lobby for the defeat of the bills and massive amounts of literature were distributed throughout the Hindu population. In the face of such vocal opposition, Nehru had to justify the passage of the Hindu code bills.^[26] Earlier, he had stated that in accordance with the policy of noninterference, he was undertaking codification in compliance with a demand from the Hindu community. When it became clear that the vast majority of Hindus did not support the Bills, he insisted that though they were a minority, those who supported the Bills were modern and progressive and so held vital weight in the Hindu community, in importance if not in numbers. He also argued that because the bill's supporters were progressive, those who dissented would eventually change their position when confronted with the realities of modernity.          

                                                             Proponents included both men and women within and outside of Parliament belonging to various political parties. Significant support for the bills came from Congress' women's wing (All-India Women's Conference) and several other women's organizations. Supporters largely sought to convince the public that the bills did not stray far from classical Hindu personal law. Essentially, those in Parliament who opposed the bills were men, largely from Nehru's own Congress party. They believed that the code bills would institute reform that strayed too far from the classical Hindu social order and were too radical. They argued that practices such as divorce were absolutely not condoned by Hinduism. "To a Hindu the marriage is sacramental and as such indissoluble." They also felt that should equal property rights be given to women, the Mitākṣarā concept of a joint family would crumble, as would the foundation of Hindu society. They also insisted that if daughters and wives were given inheritance, more conflicts would arise within families. Their main argument, however, was that the bills lacked public support. Therefore, they were a direct contradiction to the policy of noninterference and would mean the government was meddling in personal law. They implied that these were bills propagated by a small minority of Hindus onto the majority who did not want them.

Economic developments of the sixteenth century

Economic developments of the sixteenth century

Introduction

                       All too often historians, and those involved in reenacting history, become concerned about historical events without questioning the underlying factors that caused them to occur. The most often ignored of these "hidden" causes is probably economics. Yet, during the Renaissance, it came to be one of the two major "influencers" of events on the world stage (religion being the other). One has but to estimate the revenues saved by the remittance of income to the Pope by the Protestant rulers to understand the effects of economics upon the policies of princes. To believe that Henry VIII, Gustavas Vasa and the Protestant princes of Germany were not influenced by the wealth to be gained by appropriating Church property in their countries is to insult the intelligence of those great (and not so great) rulers.

                                                                    Not that economics as a driving force of history was something new to the Renaissance; indeed, far from it. The Romans and Byzantines had understood the importance of unimpeded trade routes and the generous flow of goods. But four major events that took place in the 15th and 16th centuries catapulted economics into a position of prominence that J-t was never again to surrender: 1) the advent of the Renaissance itself, 2) the Reformation, 3) the beginnings of Nation States and 4) the expansion of Europe into the New World and Far East.

The Renaissance

                                    If we consider the Renaissance strictly a cultural phenomenon, it broadened the horizons of the inquisitive and heightened their interest in the physical world. A greater demand for books, buildings, furniture, art and clothing resulted. This, in turn, created "consumer" civilization, the first of its kind in a thousand years. As fate would have it, just as this awakening to the exotic, sophisticated and elegant developed, the world's horizons were expanded by Columbus, da Gama and the other Renaissance explorers. But that is a theme to which we shall return later.

                                                                      A new richness and sophistication developed during the Renaissance that overturned the simpler standards of the Middle Ages. If the Middle Ages can be categorized as a time of castles, cathedrals and monasteries, the Renaissance became a time of palaces, country manors and villas. The change in tastes led to a change in demand and the creation of new professions, among them the architect.

The Reformation

                                   It would be both cynical and untrue to say that the Reformation was sparked by the greed of princes. But the closing of the monasteries and appropriation of Church lands and properties in several of the newly Protestant countries enriched many royal coffers. This, coupled with the money no longer paid to the Popes, helped these countries support costly Courts and equally costly wars.

                                                                The Reformation also effected the financial world. Though often ignored, the Catholic Church frowned on usury if it could be considered theft or further impoverished the poor. Many of the Protestant reformers believed that interest, if not oppressive, was in accordance with Nature's Laws. Some even saw it as a just reward for the service rendered by the loaning of money.

                                                            The "Protestant work ethic" was a stimulant for the working middle class. Now that working in the service of money could also be seen as working in the service of God, the bourgeoisie was free to, in good conscience, expand its role in the newly emergent Capitalism that was emerging in the United Provinces and, to a lesser extent, England and France. 

The Rich Of Nation States

                                                   The construction of nation states, a process that would not be complete until the mid-seventeenth century, was to place vast areas under the control of individual monarches. Counties, duchies and city states were merged into single units over which universal standards of measure could be enforced. The Kings and princes began to dismantle the numerous trade barriers that the feudal system, by its very nature, had erected. Roads and canals were constructed or improved, speeding the flow of goods across the state.

                                                                  The embryonic nation states of the Renaissance, better organized and resourced than the surviving city-states in Italy and the smaller states of Germany, came to dominate the European stage. The normal path for this domination was war. From 1494 to 1559 there was fighting almost every year in some part of Europe. When these wars became too large for the European stage, they spread to the New World and the Far East, as they did between Spain and Portugal in the mid 1500's and between England and Spain in the late 16th century.

                                                             This heavy reliance on war, and the expenses of their lavish Courts, left the rulers of the 16th century with Renaissance bills to be paid by feudal revenue systems. They were forced to invent new sources of income such as the sales of titles and monopolies. Such sales increased the number and scope of a late medieval/early Renaissance phenomenon-the merchant/banker prince.

                                                                           This is not to say that such an entity was new. The Bardi's had risen to wealth and power in the 14th century. But they had been decimated by Edward III's refusal to repay massive loans and the other disasters of the mid 1300's. And none of the Bardi had been titled. In 1441 the commoner Jacques Coeur had been ennobled for his financial assistance to the French crown. Jealousy by the old and established nobility lead to his downfall in 1451 and flight from France in 1454.

                                                                             It was not until the Medici of Florence and the Fuggers of Bavaria that the ideal of the merchant prince was to reach its realization. The Medici came to rule Florence, supplied Popes and became the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. The Fuggers paid for Charles V election to the imperial throne and were rewarded by shares of the New World trade confirmation of the monopoly of the Tyrolean silver mines and, after 1560, patents of nobility. The Fuggers came to control Spanish custorns and Fugger operations reached from Poland to Portugal to the Papal States to the New World.  This rise of the middle class, most visible in France, marked the beginning of the modern age. Slowly at first, the working population began to gain control of the industrial means of the state in a movement that would eventually relegate the nobility to the background. In the meantime, it marked a slight softening of the class boundaries between the gentry/nobility and the wealthy upper middle class. It was still difficult to "rise above one's station" but it was not impossible.

                                                                       In addition to the sales of titles and monopolies, the crowned heads of the Renaissance resorted to indirect taxes on sales, imports and exports, sales of crown property and, of course, loans from the Medici, Fuggers and the like. Some states, France and England in particular, were forced to debase their coinage to pay for the wars they fought in the first half of the century. The English penny in 1553 contained one-sixth the silver of the penny of 1509. This almost Europe-wide (only Spain resisted the temptation to cut the gold and silver content of their coins---they could afford to) devaluation was one of the two major factors contributing to the century-long steady rise in prices that cursed the 16th century. Others, like Spain and Portugal, could rely on colonial possessions. The western European states, denied an active part in the economic life of central Europe, became empire builders instead. 

The Expansion Of Europe

                                                Spain and Portugal lead the way. Portugal, with the advantage of an early start, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and soon assumed a dominant position in the Indian Ocean. In a few years she came to control the spice trade between Europe and the fabled Spice Islands, cutting Venice out as the middleman. Sadly, Portugal's peripheral location and lack oil' trade routes with the interior, led to a concentration of the spice profits in the hands of the merchants of Antwerp. But, for a short time, Portugal prospered.

                                                                Spain, on the other hand, conquered the New World. Tobacco and potatoes came to the Old World, as did many other crops that would change forever the culinary and recreational pleasures of Renaissance Europeans. But the most important import brought back to the New World was an immense amount of silver and gold. This treasure, brought to a single point in Spain by two fleets per year, were used to finance the Hapsburg Empires wars against France, England, the Ottoman Empire, the Protestant German princes, various Italian city states and not a few internal revolts. The Kings of Spain eventually borrowed against future shipments and, when these did not match expectations, bankruptcy ensued.

                                                                  But the most far-reaching effect of this influx of treasure (and the reason that I believe it to be the single most important economic factor of the Renaissance) was the so-called Price Revolution. If you compare the amount of treasure being brought to Europe from the New World to the level of prices in Europe, you will find that the increases match almost perfectly. The price of goods increased, on the average, by a factor of three between 1500 and 1600. Meanwhile wages, because of the devaluation of coinage throughout Europe, with the exception of Spain, fell by half. Thus, it can be seen, that the effects of these imports into Europe were generally negative: 1) they provided the necessary funding for Spain's relentless wars, 2) they led to a raising of prices while 3) causing a corresponding decline in wages.

Europ’s Econamy 1500-1600

                                                         The first fifty years of the 16th century were "boom" years for Europe's economy. These were years of increased economic activity and accumulating wealth. Merchants from Antwerp, Venice and Seville traded across the Baltic, through Germany, into the Levant, into the New World and the Far East. The pace from 1500 to 1550 was frenzied. After mid-century it began to slow somewhat. The opening of the world by Spain and Portugal created a tremendous requirement for investment in new methods and institutions. Technological advances were required to sail the distances now demanded by the sizes of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires. New nautical techniques were needed to deal with winds and currents of the Atlantic and Pacific, which were fundamentally different from those of the Mediterranean. New market structures were erected to meet changing supplies and demands as the intermittent medieval fair systems gave way to the market and bourse. Antwerp became the commercial center of Europe until its sack in 1576.

                                                     Industry in the 16th century was, for the most part, concentrated in a corridor running from Tuscany to Flanders. Southern England, Holland, northern France, northern Italy and central Spain were the major textile centers, with the areas around Naples, Lisbon, Granada and Prague being somewhat less important producers. Metallurgy was centered in Brussels, central Spain, Sweden, Verdun and the mountains south of Prague.

Spain, despite its material wealth, could no longer sustain itself. She had not developed herself economically, believing that monetary wealth was a replacement for such development. Her population was decimated by plagues in the 1590's, and this, coupled with tremendous financial problems, led to a barely perceptible decline by 1598. France, wracked by a series of costly religious civil wars, was also economically on the ropes. Her recovery in the 17th century was nothing short of a miracle. Italy and the Mediterranean tied to the Hapsburg Empire and Spain, followed them into decline. Towards the end of the century the European economy slowed considerably. Storm clouds gathered as the flow of treasure from the New World slowed but the crisis was not to strike until the 17th century.

                                                  Holland, through the use of advanced financial and technological methods, managed to escape much of the ruin that began in the last decade of the 16th century. Indeed, the Dutch republic stood at the door of a half-century of triumph that would see her replace Portugal as the dominant power in the Indian Ocean, plant colonies in the Caribbean and found New York City. But, due to little foresight on her own account, the future belonged to England.

 16^th Centure Economics And Persona Development

                                                                                                      The Renaissance is a fascinating time in which to "live". The scope for persona development is, in my opinion, far less limited than that of earlier periods. Many factors contribute to this. These include the ability for worldwide travel, new wealth, increased sophistication and a loosening of the boundaries between the upper and middle classes. And the economic trends of the times contributed to all of these factors. With these factors in mind, I shall describe how seven basic persona types were effected by Renaissance economics.

                                                                 The great landed nobility and landed gentry continued to serve as the ruling class during the Renaissance, just as they had been during the Middle Ages. In some countries, such as England and, later France, civil wars had lessened their number-- but not their power. It would await the rise of the middle class for these two classes to be fatally weakened. During the Renaissance they became more sophisticated and wealthy, as their states became more sophisticated and wealthy. They developed a taste for luxury items such as books, spices and silk. Many amassed impressive libraries and collections. Humphrey of Gloucester, younger brother of Henry V was known as an educated and refined man and served as the prototype of the new type of noble--the ones who could read the books that they collected.

As the influx of silver and gold from the New World caused a steady increase in prices and as the value of money eroded over the century an economy based on mobile money began to replace that based on land holdings and control of industry by the guilds. The great landed nobles found a knowledge of business and finance increasingly important and the successful ones invested in the new economic system. The unsuccessful ones found themselves squeezed between the kings and the business controlled cities.

                                                               As the boundaries between the upper and middle class soften a new phenomenon came into existence---the financier and merchant-prince. Ennobling for service had been a relatively common thing during the Middle Ages, and it continued during the Renaissance. Charles Brandon was made the Duke of Suffolk for services to Henry VIII. But now the rich man could do it as well. Thus, a persona could spring from wealthy merchants recently inducted into the gentry or nobility as well as those who were born into it. Some of the gentry, such as Raleigh and Drake, prospered in part because they were able to give their Queen a good economic return upon her investments in their undertakings. A financier persona would also do well. Some of the basic tenets of the Protestant revolution removed the negative aspects of money handling and lending. Even non-merchant personae would be aware of the "capitalist revolution" that was taking place around them and would understand at least some of the fundamentals of a fluid money economy.

                                                                The expansion of Europe into the East and the New World offers wonderful opportunities for persona development. The first is the explorer persona. Driven, in part, by the search for trade routes to the riches of the East, Spain and Portugal sent forth numerous expeditions. The English and French followed shortly afterwards. The foundation of the explorer persona's reason for existence might be religious, the search for adventure or the search for wealth, both persona and for his home country. Either way he too understands the importance and power of money and can feel how the economic winds are effecting Europe.

                                                              The Renaissance offered the soldier an expanded role as well. For the first time in a thousand years he is a professional, a part of a nation's standing army. Instead of serving as a forty days a year vassal to some great lord or King, the soldier is now a paid (at least in theory) servant of the crown. He might serve as far afield as Mexico, Peru, India, the Celebes and the Philippines, particularly in Spanish and Portuguese. His chance for personal wealth and prosperity, though not great, is far better than it had been in the past. This is due, in no small part, to the increased wealth of his potential enemies and paymasters. The soldier also has a much better chance of seeing much of Europe in his campaign towards wealth and higher social status. Hapsburg armies fought in Italy, against the Turks, in France, in Germany, in Hungary, in Ireland and in Holland. In these days, while honor was still important to the soldier, money and social advancement were also important. Blaise de Monluc, a member of the minor gentry, was knighted by the King of France and made a Marshal of France for service to the Crown that took him to Italy and also involved him in many of the battles during the French Religious Wars.

                                                                           Another personal type new to the Renaissance and made possible or at least strengthened by the economic events of the 16th century is the colonial administrator. This would be primarily a Spanish or Portuguese persona, since the only non-Iberian colonies in the 16th century were the ill-fated English Virginia colony and the French Huguenot colony in Florida. The colonial administrator is very concerned with the economics of trade between his colony and the home country. The terms of trade between the two, particularly with Spain, wag most often unfavorable.

                                                                          Finally, a professional class arose during the Renaissance quite separate from the guild system. Guilds were in decay, as the upper middle class city dwellers began to gain control of the means of industrial production. The guilds had not been organized in such a way to take advantage of the newly developed capitalistic system and paid the price for it. The new professionals, including printers architects and financiers, were prepared to grasp the reins and became a vital part of the economic development of Europe, even as they were effected by that development.