Justice

Justice

1988 12 December 7 Justice (313) Ibn Batuta goes on: “I have myself seen that the king, in accordance with the judgement of the court, called the Hindu boy to his Darbar (court) and, giving him a stick said, ‘Beat me just as I beat you.’ The boy then beat the king with the stick 21 times. During the thrashing, the king’s cap even fell from his head.”

Ibn Batuta (1304-1368), the greatest medieval Arab traveller, and author of one of the most famous travel books in history, the Rihlah (Travelogue), covered some 75,000 miles in trips to all the Muslim countries. The year that he began his travels, 1325, was also the year that Muhammad bin Tughlaq (d. 1394) ascended the Delhi throne. That Tughlaq was not only a great intellectual and experienced general, but also a passionate lover of justice, is illustrated by an eye-witness account given by Ibn Batuta of an incident which took place in the court of this great and mighty king.

It seems that a Hindu once lodged a complaint in the courts that the king had beaten his son for no good reason. The Qazi (or Chief Justice) summoned the king to the court as the defendant, and the case was heard according to the normal judicial procedure. Finally the Qazi declared that it had been proved that the king was guilty, and decreed, therefore, that he should be punished. Without raising any objection whatsoever, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq accepted the Qazi’s judgement.

Ibn Batuta goes on: “I have myself seen that the king, in accordance with the judgement of the court, called the Hindu boy to his Darbar (court) and, giving him a stick said, ‘Beat me just as I beat you.’ The boy then beat the king with the stick 21 times. During the thrashing, the king’s cap even fell from his head.” (Ibn Batuta, Travelogue, Vol 2. p. 130)