Many new towns sprang up in India during the medieval period. A commercial town, administrative town, manufacturing town, or craft town are all examples of medieval towns. Many towns had characteristics of all of the above types of towns. Towns were indicators of a country's level of development and culture. It has been argued that cities in India lacked a distinct legal character, as do many towns in Europe, and thus lacked civic life. In this article, we will discuss Towns and Town Life in the Medieval Period which will be helpful for UPSC exam preparation.

Towns and Town Life - Features

• Towns and city life are thought to be an indicator of a country's level of development and culture.
• There is no universal agreement on the size of a town, though it is generally agreed that the size of a town is determined by a country's population.
• The presence of a market is the most basic feature of a town.
• The Qasba, a small town, has been defined as a village with a market. In other words, it possessed the characteristics of village life, namely agricultural production and a market.
• A Qasba was also a Pargana headquarters in general.
• From the small Qasba to the district (sarkar) headquarter where the faujdar lived, to provincial and imperial towns like Agra, Delhi, and Lahore, there was a hierarchy of towns.
• According to an estimate, the proportion of urban to total population in the 17th century was as high as 15%, a figure that was not surpassed until the middle of the twentieth century.
• The kotwal, who had his own staff for watch and ward, was in charge of the general administration of the city in India.
• In exceptional circumstances, he could seek assistance from the faujdar.
• Apart from regulating weights and measures, keeping track of prices, prohibiting illegal cesses, and so on, he had a number of civic duties such as appointing people to look after the water courses, prohibiting the sale of slaves, assigning the idle to some handicrafts and organising people in reciprocal assistance in the mohallas, and appointing a guild-master for each guild of artificers.
• In many cities, there were heads of traders (Malik-Ut-Tujjar or Nagar Seths), sometimes based on caste or religion. As a result, there was a structure in place for local consultation and participation.
• The kotwal was also to act as an intelligence agent, keeping track of people's movements, births and deaths, census operations, and so on.

Different Types of Towns

There were four distinct types of Towns during the Medieval Period:

Administrative Towns

• These were cities whose primary function was administrative, with secondary roles such as manufacturing or religion.
• A town that developed as the capital of a kingdom and physically encompassed the ruler's offices and meeting places was known as an administrative town.
• These cities included Agra, Delhi, and Lahore, as well as many provincial capitals.
• Poona, Faizabad, and Hyderabad later emerged as important centres of this type.

Commercial Towns

• These were cities with a primarily commercial character, to which some administrative functions could be attached.
• Cities like Patna and Ahmadabad fit into this category.

Pilgrim Towns

• These were pilgrim centres, which also had some trade and craft activities but a large floating population.
• These centres evolved into townships. Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh and Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu are two such towns.
• Cities in India such as Banaras and Mathura, Kanchi and Tirumalai fall into this category.
• Ajmer had a religious and administrative personality.

Manufacturing Towns

• These were centres that thrived because of a unique manufacturing technique, skill, or local commodity.
• This category included Bayana for indigo, Patan in Gujarat for dyeing, and Khairabad in Awadh for textiles.

Development of Towns During the Delhi Sultanate Period

• The Delhi Sultanate brought with it an urban revolution made possible by political and economic stability, as well as power centralization.
• Trade was a major reason for the development of towns; however, towns stimulated trade by acting as larger markets for merchants.
• There were some cities that rose to prominence as administrative or manufacturing centres.
• Rulers played an important role in establishing and developing towns.
• Feroze Shah Tughlaq built the towns of Ferozabad, Jaunpur, and Hissar, to name a few.

Development of Towns During the Mughal Period

• Towns grew at a faster rate in the 16th and 17th centuries, and this trend continued until the middle of the 18th century.
• A town hierarchy extended from the Qasba to the district headquarters and then to provincial towns such as Agra and Delhi.
• Towns were important centres of manufacturing, banking, and marketing in Mughal India.
• Fatehpur Sikri, built by Akbar, and Shahajanabad, built by Shah Jahan, were two important towns.
• In Akbar's empire, there were 120 major cities and 3200 townships or rural towns (Qasbas). These did not include the towns and townships of South India.
• Agra was the largest city in the 17th century, with an estimated population of 500,000, which grew to 600,000 when the Emperor visited.
• The geographical location of towns was also important in their development.
• Places near rivers or centrally located developed faster due to trade activities that could be easily carried out through rivers and places that were close to other places.
• The first stage of a medieval town was often a walled fortress, with internal roads connecting the marketplace, which was near the castle's gate.
• Cities are thought to have their origins in villages, but they are not simply villages that have been expanded.
• Cities in the past grew along fertile river valleys, which was an entirely different type of setting.
• Over time, the domestication of animals and farming led to the growth of urban centres.
• Some of the major towns during the medieval period included Delhi, Multan, Patan, Kara, and others.

Conclusion

During the medieval period, Indian towns had developed a great deal. The growth of the market led to the economical and industrial development of India. Towns grew at a faster rate in the 16th and 17th centuries. The proportion of urban to total population in the 17th century was as high as 15%. But during the latter half of the 17th century, due to the establishment of the East India Company, the market and urban industries had declined to a high extent.