Afghan theory of Kingship

Afghan theory of Kingship

Afghan theory of Kingship

The Turkish rulers adopted the theory of kingship which was similar to the theory of Hindu monarchs. They had faith in divine right theory of kingship and they acted not only as the representative of God on earth but also believed in absolute monarchy. They considered the Sultan most powerful on the earth and being a Naib of God himself he had no kinship with anybody. Every official whether high or low, was his subordinate and he had fullest control over the activities of the kingdom. His officials were merely his servants and they were liable to perform only those duties which were assigned to them by the Sultan. But the theory of kingship of Afghans had no similarity with this.

The Afghans did not regard the Sultan superior to his subjects, rather they considered him first among equals. The theory of divine right of kingship was absolutely discarded by them. The nobles of Afghan rulers equally participated in affairs of the state. Akhund Darweza has remarked in this context, “Afghans had since ancient times never considered it proper to have a king, as their pride and arrogance would not left them bow and prostrate before one of their own birth and kin.” On the basis of the principle of equality maintained by the Afghans we can very well call their reign an oligarchy.

The following were the fundamental characteristics of the theory of kingship of Afghans.

1. The Afghans had no faith in the nomination of the future Sultan. They wished that the Sultan should be elected by the nobility.

2. Every Afghan Amir considered himself the commander of his army and refused to accept his army as a part of the royal forces.

3. The Sultan was not considered a man of privilege by the Afghans. They wished to claim for themselves all those privileges which were being enjoyed by the sultan.

Hence every Afghan Amir and noble maintained as independent army, claimed Jagirs and enjoyed the same privileges as were being enjoyed by the sultan himself.

Bahlol Lodi founded the Afghan Rule in Delhi Sultanate. The Afghan nobles accepted him to be their leader. He strictly acted according to Afghan theory of kingship and always considered himself equal to his nobles. He never sat on the throne in presence of his Afghan nobles and considering himself first among equals always sat on the carpet with his nobles. He often visited his nobles in case they were displeased, sick or having any problem. His food was supplied by the nobles turnwise and someone of them provided a horse to him if he wished to ride. He once said, “It is enough if my name is associated with the kingdom.” He had a few hopes and aspirations, therefore, he successfully acted in accordance with the Afghan theory of kingship.

Thus so long as the rulers of Lodi dynasty acted in accordance with the Afghan theory of kingship, they continued to rule successfully but as soon as they tried to be absolute monarchs and discarded their theory, they were dethroned and the reign of Afghans was abolished by a foreigner who came from a distance land like Kabul. Had Ibrahim acted wisely, he would not have met his doom so early.

Milan Tomic

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