THE EVILS OF JEALOUSY

THE EVILS OF JEALOUSY The Most Harmful Emotion W HEN the Delhi Sultanate suffered a decline in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, many independent Muslim and Hindu chiefs and nobles, declared their independence. Among these kingdoms, the most powerful was the Bahmani Kingdom of the Deccan, which was established in 1347 after a revolt against Sultan Mohammed Bin Tughlaq. The first ruler, Ala-ud-Din Hasan Bahman Shah (Hasan Gangu), traced his ancestry back to the ancient King Bahman of Iran. Hasan established his capital at Gulbarga and set about extending the boundaries of his kingdom. After he died in 1358, he was succeeded by his son Muhammad Shah I, who established the new city of Bidar, to which he shifted his capital. During the 180 years of its existence (1347-1527), the Bahmani Sultanate saw its most successful and prosperous period between 1463 and 1481, when Mahmud Gawan was the minister. Muhammad Shah III ascended the throne when he was only 8 or 9 years old. Mahmud Gawan was appointed vizier (chief minister) to help manage the affairs of the state. Given the power to act for the King, he not only extended the empire but also gave it great stability, through the wisdom of his policies. Duly acknowledging his abilities, the Encyclopaedia Britannica calls him “the most notable personality of the period…, a leading administrator.” (9/372) Though the entire reins of the administration fell into the hands of Mahmud Gawan due to the lazy, comfort-loving temperament of the reigning monarch, Mohammad Shah III, he never misused his powers. Indeed, he lived his life with the utmost simplicity and devotion to duty, eating out of earthen vessels, sleeping on a mat, working with great industry, and never wasting a moment of his time. That his objectives were worthy may be judged by his having donated over three thousand books from his personal library to a school which he had set up in Bidar. The ruins of this school are still in existence. But the nobles of the court, ignoring his uprightness and the progress he had brought to the country, could think of nothing but the position of prestige and authority which he held. Consumed with envy, they resolved to oust him. By devious methods, they obtained possession of his official seal and used it on a forged letter, purportedly from Gawan to Rajah Rainer Singh, the then ruler of Vijayanagara, which they then showed to Muhammad Shah III, to