Revenue and Market Policies of Alauddin Khilji

Alauddin was one of the strongest emperor of Khilji Dynasty and had a large and
powerful army. He had conquered many parts of north Indian and south Indian
kingdoms. He implemented many Revenue and Market reforms. The aim of these
reforms were to:

 Increase the wealth

 To keep a large army – to stop the invasion of Mongols
 To prevent rebellions from inside the country
 To weaken the strength of the Hindu nobles

The main reforms were:

A) Agricultural Reforms

Confiscation of lands: He abolished almost all small iqtas and made these lands
directly under the khalsa. In khalsa, the taxes were collected directly by the state.
There were no middle men. So all tax came directly to the treasury. This step also
resulted in reducing the power of the nobles.

Land Measurement and Tax rates

Alauddin was the first sultan to measure the lands and fixed the taxes. He
measured the agricultural lands and imposed harsh taxes. Before Alauddin, the
land taxes were decided by some nobles etc, and the land revenue were not
considered for fixing the tax. But Alauddin imposed imposed a 50% kharaj or land
tax. That is the farmers had to give 50% of what they produced as tax. Alauddin
made the harshest hike in tax till that time.

Since most of the farmers were Hindus, this step resulted in reducing the strength
of Hindus. According to Barani, the Hindu village chiefs became so poor that their
wifes had to work for Muslim families.
Apart from the kharaj land tax), Alauddin's government also imposed tax on
house (called ghari) and a tax on cattle (called charai). He also imposed jizya tax
on non-Muslim people.

He posted special officer called “Mustakhraj” to collect land revenue from

peasants. He took strong action against officers who collected the taxes illegally
or for doing illegal acts.

B) Market Reforms

He made detailed rules to control the prices of various items, from grains to
horses, cattle and slaves (Zawabit). The prices were fixed by the state. No change
was permitted in the price of the commodities without the state’s permission.

The farmers were not allowed to stock. Only around 40kg of grain was allowed to
store. Rest they had to sell in market.

He established 4 types of markets:

 central grain market,

 market for manufactured goods,
 market for general merchandise and
 market for horses, cattle and slaves.

Each market was put under the charge of a Shuhna or controller of market, and all
merchants were to be registered with the state. The sultan received daily reports
for the markets from the three independent sources – Shuhna, barids
(intelligence officers) and munshis (secret spies).

Very strict punishment was given for cheating and under-weighing. Shehna-i-
mandi (Special Officers) was appointed for vigilance.

To reduce the prices of the costly or imported commodities, the state used to
subsidize their costs.

He also introduced rationing system during famine, drought or scarcity of food

drains.
The economic regulations of Alauddin were the greatest administrative
achievement of the Sultanate period. The prices remained steady. However, Both
his agricultural and market/economic policies came to an end soof after his death.