The Culture of DALAAL and JUGAAD

Arguably the reigns of Emperor Harshvardhan's in North India, Raja Krishnadev Ray's in South and King Kapilendra Deba in Odisha are regarded as the Golden era in our Indian History. 

There was hardly any hiatus between the rulers and the ruled. The kings mostly fullfilled their RAJA DHARMA (Duty of a King) and their subjects were by and large satisfied. 

Legend goes that many Emperors, notably Harshvardhan and Krishnadev took disguise and mingled incognito with local populace to have a first hand knowledge of their subject's plight. 

Then came the Afghans, Mughals and British. They were aliens from another land who came to India attracted by its wealth. Gradually they became the ruler of the territory they occupied and had least affinity to the natives. Since they were not familiar with the local culture and lingo they succinctly cultivated a class of DALAALs (middlemen-cum-touts) who became the conduit between the rulers and the ruled. 

The Persian concept of MANSABDAARI, the system of appointing serfs who delegated the administration to more serfs further down the hierarchy came into existence. It became the perfect breeding ground for DALAALs who like Dracula became the bloodsucking parasites to the commoners. The modus operandi was boot licking servitude to their masters and oppression of the subject at the same beat. Gradually it gave birth to a culture of CHAMCHAGIRI (obsequiousness) midwifed by the Ruler and the ever compliant ruled.

Even the Mughal emperor Akbar, though a relatively benevolent ruler was not totally immune to this scourge. Later on William Bentinck, the British Governor General credited with curbing evils like SATI (forcible burning of widow in with her husband's pyre), Child marriage and THUGEE (Highway robbers) tried to bridge the gap to some extent. 

But his successors did not follow his foot step. British ruled us using this DALAAL class who readily acted as informers and conduits which make the task of former a whole lot easier. The culture of JUGAAD (arrangement) slowly became well entrenched in the milieu and thrives till date. 

It continued long after we got our independence from the British, long enough for the eminent actor Anupam Kher playing a bad cop in movie HUM deliver this monologue - "We have three classes of people is a society. They are ATYACHAARI (The Oppressor), KRANTIKAARI (The Mutineer) and INKE FAIDA LETE UTHATE HUE HAMARA JAISA VYAPARI (taking advantage of them are the DALAALS like us)". 

The best example are Lutyen's Delhi and of late - Bhubaneswar, the capital city. If Calcutta is called the "City of Joy", Bhubaneswar can be christened as "City of DALAALs). It is said that Mohammad Tughlaq, the eccentric ruler of Delhi left Delhi for Daulatabad after being sick and tired of these DALAALs. It is no better today. The breed like Cockroach can even survive Nuclear holocaust.