Social welfare state is a state which tries to help people regardless of their class. Since establishment of State to modern era(including medieval era), state's only duties were- Collect tax, keep law and order running and fight back foreign invaders. The idea of state should responsible to educate every kid, state should give every one treatment in free, those did not exist.
So you mean the Mughals educated or tried to educate every kid, free treatment, maintained law & order and fought back invaders?
And the Indian Kings did not do all that?
Where is all this coming from ??
Giving now= During great famine of Gujarat Shahjahan ordered to open Langarkhanas in Burhanpur, Surat, Ahmedabad in these cities. Rs 50,000 were distributed among poor people in Ahmedabad. Total tax collected from Gujarat was reduced to 2 crore 70 rupees. Shahjahan disposed Kashmir's Governor Tarbiot Khan because he was inactive while distributing AID. During 1646 Punjab famine there were 10 Langarkhanas in Punjab, more ever Rahadari, Pandari these taxes were withdrawn.
Seriously, if that is all the Mughal Emperors could do, then it falls short even by the savage standards of medieval era.
Let me give a picture of what happened in the country during famines, which were far more frequent than the one time peanuts Shah Jahan offers.
"The inhabitants of these two countries were reduced to the direst extremity. Life was offered for a loaf, but none would buy; ranks were sold for a cake, but none cared for it; the ever bounteous hands were stretched out to beg for food and the feet which had always trodden the way of contentment walked about only in search of substance for a long time dog's flesh was sold for goat flesh and the pounded bones of dead were mixed in flour and sold. When this was discovered, the seller was brought to the justice. Destitution at length reached such a pitch that menbegun to devour each other and the flesh of a son preferred to his love The numbers of the dying caused obstructions in the roads. Every man whose dire sufferings did not terminate in death and who retained the power to move warned off to the towns and villages of the countries. Those lands which had been famous for fertility and plenty of resources reta in no traces of production". (Abdul Hamid Lahori, 1868:235)
Peter Mundy records (pg 34-35) that :
from the party of 21 British traders who travelled from Surat to Agra and Patna, 17 died of sickness. Meantime the camp of Shah Jahan at Burhanpur was filled with the provisions of a ll kinds of luxurious life indicates the gulf between the life lifestyle of a common man and the king.
Qazinivi states in Badshah Nama that in such a land, Shah Jahan still demanded revenue and said that those who couldn't pay shall be sold as slaves.
Families were separated and destroyed as a result, let alone the loss of honour, material and personal liberty.
Not only that, Shah Jahan had decreed that such slaves should be sold only to Muslim lords.
India suffered famines almost every second year in those decades. Should we exempt Shah Jahan because he setup a few soup kitchens here and there on one occasion?
Shah Jahan is recognized as the owner of the richest Empire of his time. Yet what did he do to improve the lives of his people?
Even when the land was scorched dry and naked like living hell, why was Shah Jahan wasting treasury of 4 crores in winning the disputed region of Kandahar from his Iranian counterpart, instead of taking take of the crisis in his own Kingdom?
Why was he spending hard earnt taxes of our people for constructing buildings of personal use or gratification?
Abdul Hamid Lahori states that people died in such huge scores that roads were obstructed by the corpses. But no, Shah Jahan's coffers and revelry were unmoved, untouched.
When people neede State help with tools, infrastructure to fight the dwindling rains, what Shah Jahan and his State gave them was the farmans of more and more taxes.
Shah Jahan's annual revenue in 1647 was 220 million rupees, of the income of the crown lands was thirty million rupees". (Thomas, 1871:29).
Jadunath Sarkar writes that he had jewelry worth fifty million rupees, one of his rosaries was valued 800,000 million rupees and the aigrette he wore on his turban on the anniversary of his coronation cost 1.24 million rupees. He further reckons that Shah Jahan gave away the gifts of ninety five million rupees in the first twenty years of his reign.
The amount of 6.5 million rupees was spent on the construction of a new city of Shah jahanabad including the cost of fortifying Peacock throne, "it was the richest and most superb throne which has ever been seen in the world.
Contrast Shah Jahan's wasteful expenditures in constructing lofty buildings, with Sher Shah Suri who for example spent State revenue in constructing 5 highways and 700 sarais where each was used as an inn, health & educational centre.
Bernier says : "this country is ruined by the necessity of defraying the numerous charges required to maintain the splendor of courts and to pay a large army maintain for the purpose of keeping people in subjection."
Mughals used Indian made products and they patronized Indian industry, they did not issue one sided tax system on import or export business like British did to promote Manchester industry and ruin Indian industry. During Mughal era India's GDP was 22% of whole world's GDP and when British left it was only 3% of total.
Now that you mention Indian GDP, let me cover that as well.
In Shah Jahan's rule 36.5 % of the entire assessed revenue of Mughal empire was allotted to sixty eight princes and Amirs.
Further 25% to 587 senior officers.
Thus 62% of the wealth of 220 million rupees of Mughal empire was arrogated by 665 elite individuals.
What did the commoners get, other than toiling to generate all that revenue, even to the cost of life, family, honour.
Regards,
Virendra
