IT was the time when the 12th century was staggering to a close and human civilization was striding into a new century. But this change was only limited to the calendar and the socio- political scenario was the same.

Same were the kings, the autocrats, feudal warlords and the multitude of human beings trodden under their feet. Kings were representatives of God on earth and had the Divine right to rule, to plunder, to make people slaves. Mahmood of Ghazni plundered this part of earth seventeen times in the name of Islam; Shabhuddin Ghauri attacked many times and was ultimately assassinated somewhere near Jehlum by a Gakhar tribe. Qutubuddin Aibak established the slave dynasty in Dehli. After him, tussle for power started between his two sons-in-law Naziruddin Qabacha and Al-Tatmash. The Mongols had carried out a series of devastating attacks on attacks on Multan and Balochistan.

The spiritual-cultural scenario was that the people were spiritual hostages to Sayyeds, Pirs and Murshids. They were paying ransom to them for their spiritual salvation. Baba Farid of Pak Pattan was giving expression to his mystic experiences and satirizing religious priests for their role in society.


Prayer carpet on their shoulder and rough cloth on Their body,
Dagger in their hand and honey on their tongue,
Moon shines on their faces and pitch darkness reigns in their hearts.
Black are my deeds and black are my clothes
I am full of sins but people take me for a saint.


The seeds of Islamic Tasawuf, sown by Hazrat Data Gunj Bux and his predecessors in the soil of this subcontinent, had sprouted with the arrival of Hazrat Khwaja Monuddin Chishti Ajmeri. Besides these great sufis there were many other sufi saints who had declassed themselves and were working for the restoration of human dignity to the humiliated and dehumanized human beings. Qalandar Shah Baz had not yet come to Sehwan to heal the wounds of the people of this unhappy valley which, in the words of Shelley, had always been a ‘Vale of tears’. Ismaili preachers like Hazrat Nooruddin and Shams Shabzwari had started their preaching in the local religious idiom and composing devotional and didactic poetry in local dialects:


O you fortunate one! What did you brought in this world and what would you take from here.


Your body will dust with dust and worms will eat your flesh. Literary culture was that the poets were callously indifferent to the sufferings of people and were composing encomiums of kings. The scholars were interpreting religions and philosophy to justify the status quo and sanctify the existing social order. History is said to be the track of conscious spiritual evolution but for the historians of the era history was an instrument of pleasing the kings. In their history books kings and warriors transcended their human limitations and became in the image of God-like creature and they, in the words of Wordsworth, did not live like living men:


No pleasant images of trees,
Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields;
But huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men.


Hence we see Ali Bin Hamid Kufi, an Arab scholar translating an Arabic narrative of Arab conquest of Sindh, which later came to be known as Chach Nama, and fictionalizing facts and distorting events to please the ruler Qabacha. In Europe history was taking a new turn. People were leaping forward to emancipate themselves, to snatch from kings their divine right to rule and grant themselves rights which litherto were denied to them. King John was the ruler of England. During his rule Archbishop Becket was assassinated at his behest and the whole of the Europe was jolted. He was the son of King Richard who had fought crusades with Salahuddin Ayubi and was defeated. King John was in Runnymeade Island when people reached there and forced him to sign a document of people’s rights, known as Magna Carta, a milestone in the history of human civilization and progress.

Of the many clauses of the Magna Carta, three are worth mentioning:


* No free man shall be taken, imprisoned disscised, nor we will go upon him, send upon him except by the legal judgment of his peers (i.e. of his equals) or by the law of the land. (Article 29)

* To no one we will sell, deny or delay right or justice. (Article 39)

* All persons are to be free to come and go in time of peace, except out-laws and prisoners. (Article 40)


This document elevated common man from his humble and humiliating status of a citizen of the state and an individual with certain rights and claims. Today people are enjoying rights and demanding more and all this had begun with the signing of the Magna Carta. Modern liberals demand limits on the authority of the state, the church and the employer. In light of the individual’s right such delicate issues are being discussed whether to allow abortion or not as it involves the right of fetus to life and the right of mother to choose.

Western calendar tells us that we have entered into the twenty first century. But our political, social and legal scenarios tell us that we have not yet crossed the twelfth century and have not entered in the age of magna Carta. That is the reason why sometimes we have Martial Law courts and sometimes courts against terrorism, special courts, emergency, state terrorism. Our SHO is more of a terror than King John of England. And we accept all this like a “Men of convention” whose indifference to the happenings around and his fellow man Audin has aptly depicted:


Eight O’clocks train, the customary places
Holding the paper in front of their faces.