312 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

whom he has relieved and a corpse which he has slain. Talcs
are spread abroad among the people of his generosity and cou-
rage, as of his bloodshed and vindictiveness towards offenders.
With all this he is the humblest of men and the most eager to
show justice and truth. The rites of religion find full observance
with him, and he is strict in the matter of prayer and in puni-
shing its neglect. But what is pre-eminent in him is his gene-
rosity___when there was such famine in India that a maund

of corn cost six dinars [3 guineas], he ordered six months' food
to be distributed to all the inhabitants of Delhi from the crown
stores. Each person, great or small, free or slave, was to have a
pound and a half Morocco weight (about 2 Ibs.) a day/

The combination of bounty and cruelty indicated here
was more or less typical of the Muslim Sultans. Except in
rare cases, as with Zain-ul-Abideen of Kashmir (1417—
67), the Hindus were invidiously treated. They had to) pay
the jiziya or poll-tax and were not allowed to practise their
religion freely and openly. But the tendency on the whole
was to soften the edge of difference between the conquerors
and the conquered. Culturally, the two communities after
centuries of conflict learnt much from each other. Hindu
converts to Islam inevitably tended to modify its practice,
if not its faith also,- While the appearance of reforming
saints like Nanak (1469—1539) and Kabir (1440—1518)
served to purge Hinduism of its idolatry and exclusiveness.
The spirit of compromise is well reflected in the following
lines from Kabir :—

If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world

belong ?
If Ram be within the image, then who is there to know what

happens without ?
Hari is in the East; Allah is in the West. Look within your

own heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram,
All the men and women of the world are His living forms.
Kabir is the child of Allah and Ram; He is my guru ; He is

my pir.