Chapter II. _ | The 13th and. 14th Centuries. 1, THE MOSLEM KINGDOM OF DELHI THE Moslem Kingdom of Delhi dates from the year 1206, when Qutbuddin, the Governor appointed by the King of Ghazni, assumed-the-title of Sultan and ascended the throne, At this time, however, India had already obtained some experience of Moslem rule. Apart from the episode of Arap rule in Sind; Afghan Kings had maintained governors in Hindustan! for more than a century; and, since the col- lection of revenue was an essential part of administration, we must assume that contact between the Hindi and Islamie agrarian systems was established during this period. . Of the details of this contact I have found no record, and the nature of the arrangemerits for collecting revenue can only be guessed. The position of the Moslem governors was at times precarious, and the force at their disposal can scarcely have been sufficient fo: the effective subjugation of the country_nominally in-their charge; the conditions suggest rather centres of authority at Multan, Lahore, and (later) Delhi, and a sphere ot influence round ‘each fortress, varying jn extent with the personality of the Governor and the other circumstances of the time. Reading: back from the facts of the next century, we may infer that the Hindu Chiefs were the dominant factor in the situation, and that the suc: dess of a Governor ‘depended on the relations he could establish with his neighbours, relations which would cepend ” ° ting ‘bat ac ebindastany fa Seco & TELS Soe tea Bier ot “the centre of Moslem , wherever When for instance, ¢ King of Ghazni in 1098 confirmed Sore et Hindostan (I. Nasiri, 22), bis charge yas erly a comer ot North-Wer India; but about 1250 the King of to Hanan} on ia may 12 India; but (ia, 210), Ja the thifteenth axa fourteenth centarics word asu: points to the counnry j Rapes ‘and Central India. : . } a1 :The ‘thi marked peat aid fourteenth’ centuries form. a’ well: of DethP nae tie ‘story of India During it, the Kings Indus to Bihar, wen pomething like continuity from. the ines . rom the Himalayas to the Narbada, South ang mu?, (xtensions of authority further te the aaa and East; but by the end of the fourteenth century s arge kingdom was disintegrating, and it was soon to be Perccaare, Sane . independent States: The. princi yal Gira) acy tuthorities for the period are three. Minhaj-ul raj, who was Chief Qazijof Delhi in the middle of the thirteenth century, recorded the days of Adam down to his own times; nearly a hundred years later Ziya Barni, a retired official, took up the story where Minhaj-ul Siraj had left off, and carried it down to the carly years of Firiz; while Shams Afif, also an, official, writing soon after the year x400, essayed to complete Ziya Barni’s unfinished work. So far as regards the. agrarian system of the period, practically everything which is found in later chronicles can be traced to’one or other of, these writers; a.1d, while I have referred to the condensed accounts given by Badatni, Firishta, and others, [ do not think it necessary to cite them as authorities. Of the three con+ temporary chroniclers, the first was apparently little in- terested in agrarian topics, but the second and the third had personal connections with the Revenue Ministry and furnish - much relevant information. it is given in the official jargon of the period, which was soon to become obsolete, and is consequently at times difficult to- interpret; but it, is un- doubtedly authoritative, and, so far as I can see, is not vitiated byprejuice-or flattery, two characteristics which are in evidence occasionally in the accounts of political or dynastic affairs. Some description of the administrative organisation of: i i i sent - purpose. this large kingdom is necessary for our present -purp From the ‘outset we find it broken up into regions which I shall- describe as Provinces, in charge of Governors; by. 1 The position’ of the Governor at this period is discussed in Appendix B. ~ thg history compendiously from ” ALPHA PHO{8i) 9278041408, sop somes IRIN WLI wt wee THE 13Ta we 14a CENTURIES 7 ess \\ L-\o-- UN eee a primary division of the kingdom, and x an officer who received orders directly from the King or the Ministers at Court. . These provinces varied ae a 7 with the size of the kingdom, and possibly also its devel lopment; but most of them appear in the chronicles with sufficient regularity to be regarded as per- ae though two or more might on occasion be held by gle Governor. Apart from the ordinary provinces two particular regions require separate notice. : t. The Delhi Country? (havdli-i Dehli). This region was bounded on the East by the Jumna, and on the North by the Siwaliks, or rather by the line of forest at their foot. On the South it marched with Mewat, a fluctuating boun- dary, because at times the, turbulent Mewatis threatened Delhi itself, and at others they were penned up iny the Rajputana hills, but they were never really subdued. |’ On ~ the West, it was. bounded by the provinces of Sirhind, Samana, and Hansi (known Jater as Hissar): Its adminis- trative position was exceptional in that it had no Governor, ‘put was directly under the Revenue Ministry. 2. The River Country. This region is described in the chronicles as “between the two rivers,” and translators have usually written of it as “the Doal ” That rendering is, however, misleading, because jn modern usage the Doab wtends-to Allahabad, while the region referred to by the chroniclers was qnuch smaller; it lay between the Ganges and tne Jumna, and on the North it extended’ to the sub- montane forest, but on the South jt did not reach much forther than Aligarh. ‘During the thirteenth century, this region was divided into three provinces, Meerut, Baran (now Bulandsbahr), and Kol (now Aligarh); but Alauddin brought it directly under the Revenue Ministry on the same footing as the Delhi country. In @ later section we shall see how it was desolated under Muhammad Tughlaq. These two regions. formed the heart of the kingdom. ic provinces-which can be identified outsids 58, ime 0 ei 23 2 The word havali occurs occasions an pourhood,”* but in sages it denotes he cministrative inmany Fopoula not BE IdentiGied edeniniet zoe Moget period a= He ai * extensive. : :24. THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM op MOSLEM ry «NDIA as follows. Below the River Count below .that Karra, the tw me Kanay . © toget, : , and now known.as the Doab: but Kant fod ane area Jurisdiction across the Ganges, while 4 ently some bet i Beyond the G i @ extended across ambhal the North, and next to these B, an “ the earlier Period, the next i re > © Province Tecorded ¢, . Fane ce ot (Ajudhiya, or Fyzabag noe at of Sandila etween the two; and 1 to the South-East Was Zafarabad, which been Sah which. was. Sometimes: a Province, but usually a king. dom, Subordinate or independent according to’ circum- stances, ; Crossing the Ganges and returning westwards, we have the Province then known as Bihar, which Was separate from ‘try lying to the West of this Bihar was to the kingdom. _Mewat, theun- administered region ‘South of Delhi to which Teference has already “been ‘madé., West of Delhi, the Provinces were Sirhind, Samana and Hansi (Hissar), and beyond = Lahore, Dipalpur, and Multan. The last three were fron : Provinces; almost throughout the period the Mongols were established on or rear the Indus, and the a rom from their presence was. a determining factor in the pol of the kingdom. ‘ . : a To the Southward, Gu: jarat was a pectetisod eae s there were some provinces in Malwa, but e Soran curiously little about this region,-and Iam not certain mol te number. Of Rajputana‘also, “we hear very ue = ently this part of Rohilchand was at timed administered 2 oe PT take this to be the meaning arr ea oe the aay ond-the-two rivers.” In one passage Ge Seas a aaedaarooee nee Country, mentions 8 ith Mccrot Sraneed Kol, as being under direct administ : : ?THE 131u AND l4tu CENTURIES, 25 sccasionally a reference to Chitor‘as @ Province, but there is Pte .trach "of effective jurisdiction in this Tegion. This enumeration brings us down to the line of the Narbada. Alauddin carried the Moslem flag across this river, and fora time there was a large and important Province-at Deogir or Daulatabad, and others extending as far as the South-East Coast, but this extension was not retained for Jong. There 7 e “the twenty Provinces,” used by Ziya Barni_(p. 50) in recording the resources of the kingdom We have then the Kingdom divided into provinces, while the villages were-grouped in parganas,. and the’ question Raturally arises whether ‘there was any intermediate ad- ministrative unit Corresponding to whether these divisions, if they existed, were norme} or exceptional, or whether the word is not a mere! synonym. My impression is that during. the fourteenth century the word shigg. was coming into ysé a5 a Synonym for the terms which T have rendered “province”; but a full discussion of We have no actual description of a Province at this Penod, but it would, I think, be 4 mistake to Picture an area with strictly defined boundaries, and with, uniform adminis- trative pressure yver all its Parts. At the Provincia] capital was the Governor with the troops maintained by him, ang. 26 x THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA revenue, the: case wa: ii inthis ence was wideaprend ct sect: the King igh lad send, a punitive iti she Blog talent ieee, nearest, expedition’ to put matters right.” It is by gore ‘0 infer that. rebellion was conditioned largely errs or accessibility, that it was comparatively rare ee Provincial capital, and comparatively common near he oundgries; and that there might be areas. where the Chiefs were practically independent, because the Governor. was not in a position to reduce them to submission. Io any case, the relations between a Chief and his peasants would not be affected by the establishment of Moslem rule, except in so far as more money might-have to be raised ia order to pay the revenue; inside the villages the established agrarian system would continue to function. 2. THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY There is no record of any large change in the agratian system of the Delhi kingdom earlier than that which was effected by Alauddin ‘Khalji about the year 1300, and the: question arises whether any inference can be drawn from the ‘silence of the chroniclers regarding thé. thirteenth century. So far as the first half of the century is concerned, J do not consider silence a3 necessarily significant. Minhaj- ul Siraj, the chronicler of this period, was an ecclesiastical jurist,.who for long periods was at the head of the qazis of the kingdom; his chr ghicle shows no trace of interest in economic or social-matters; and I think it is quite possible that he might have ignored changes of importance in the’ agtarian system. He might indeed have noticed discussions as to the legality of the system, if they had. occurred in, his time; for in that case he would, necessarily have'taken part in them; but he was courtier as well as qazi,* and it is easy z f. Balban did not daré to go on distant + For examples, see Barn’ 57 (heeat from the Mongols on he frontier, t owing ‘tO je tt m ‘e $ 38 of com ch of i ne erent anita expeditions. to- Mesh ene Badan, as necessity ores o (a praise wt iting Balban is extravagent Dut he’ does not mention Pree 42), that this ‘King paid 9° attention 10 fetamic law in matters of gover . The topic Was certainy imports t ea man in his position, overt was obviously an inconye! et aTHE 131m AND dra CENTURIES 27 to suppose that he would h: su 1 ave passed in si decisions which were unfavourable S his nates in silence The case is different with Ziya Barni rh administrative stock,? shi oe e stock, and, as his personal n: i was interested in agrarian matters. I Hainer that he would have heard of, and duly recorded pa eee change made by Balban, tie only ruler in the second half the century who is likely to have done anything of the kind; and his silence suggests that there was nothing to be told. However that may be, the only materials available for this century consist of incidental remarks, and one or two anecdotes.. We sce the ‘peasantry supporting the kingdom by: the ‘revenue they. furnished, and we read of rebellious; or defaulting, Chiefs being punished; but we are told nothing of the methods by which the revenue was assessed and collected, nor have I found any details bearing onthe lie of the peasants or their relations with their Chief. St is clear that’ Grants were freely given by the Kings, and that Assignments were coramon, as regards the former we have no. jculars of interest, but something must be said of the{assignment-system, the scope of which was in some respects wider than in some later periods. For practical purposes we must distinguish between small | and large Assignments, poth of which classes were described ‘| as igta, and implied lability to mia ee, By small Assignments I.mean those Ww’ hich were given to indivi dual troopers, who were bound to present themselves, with hprses and arms, whenever they were called up for service or in- spection. Their position can be illustrated. by the story told of the “Shamsi igtadars” (Barni, 60, 61): Early in King Balban’s reign, reports twere made to him regarding Assignments which had:been allotted to about 2000 troopers in the time of Shamsuddin. Most of these men had ecu old or unfit for service, and the rest had come to terms wit 1 Bamni tells us (p- 248) that bis father oe ‘iyi and Khwaja” in the ince of Baran: the dy 2s Sehwaja at this period S72 07h Soe n ais erembr, of the secon’ Bot the word Naib indi hat ‘ ere long enough for, Bis man in Serle Oh ‘ d & position ally knows, Bari (oe eee 7 a is asuai probably he never Toss som feu up what positions be Rimi)! OFT of having je ee very igh: Dut . 504), Ne Ser Muhammad Toghlaq- “at headquat ior more shat 17 YeB!s SPOS 1~) i 28 THE AGRARIAN sysrey op MOSLEM INDIy the clerks of the Amy Minist TY, and to serve; sons had been tacitly austere ate i fathers; the holders lived in their villages as if the ei Proprietors; and a claim was now put forward tet ae holdings were Grants and Not Assignments, The King Nability Wwe must infer that the Peasants accepted the arrangement without much difficulty, ‘e-life of the village doubtless went on as before: the only novelty was the Rew revenue- collector who came t ive in it, with the authority of the. King id him, but obvio i eat force at his own aT. © may guess that in some cases there may have been friction due to the attitude of @ particular as-. signee; but the duration of the Assignments indicates that, in the thirteenth century, as in later times, the peasahts were content. to acquiesce in. arrangements made over their heads, and pay the revenue to anyone who clined it.with authority. 4 Na similar account exists of the larger Assignments, that is to say, those held by men of position. Their existence 13 indicated, but that is all, and we do not know whether: the position. involved merely liability to personal service as officers, as was the case in the fourteenth cencury, or whether it included also the maintenance of a body of troops, as was the rule in other Moslem countries at that time, and in India. during the Mogul period. . Taking a general view of the position, it is clear that Assignments were fairly common in the neighbourhood of Delhi: bit in this region there wasTwa {U9 4 92 THE 13rx AND l4Ta CENTURIES also Reserved (khalisa) land,* that Is to a tered directly by the Revenue Ministry for the treasury... ‘The ‘King thus drew revenue ae a Ae “sources, the receipts aes ee 1 “surplus-income? remitted from ‘the provinces. ing’ Something can be added to this vague outline Pie Hoan back from the reforms of ‘Alauddin to the system ei changed. but " Recerveg ns Petal sense ee : ; se Treasury: while thenesey womeDt, certain 1aknees MS actual OUuld’be* ctw might pass from one to the“ * Barplus income ie denoted by He 25Y © Wor30 7 I 29. THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM, OF MOSLEM INDIA \ NO ie the middle. It lense ia raged to gesri pee eed ane iee that there was nothin ane anges is explained by the fact. century the-ok eases ane that throughout the, the established Chiels; ni fo coun to function under inthe alate qehare, Houten were Un dteo! co eS . M in- direct contact with . eae wee relations between Governor and Chief a 4 ae is the main, matters for negotiation, — earaclihea ns ' een Chief and peasants would be Se ‘ope G Ie he Revenue Minigtry, which would be oe ee ee ing experience in the management of the area ich were neither held by-Chiefs nor assigned to oe It cannot be said that this view-is established a an oe mass of. tecorded facts, but it seems to:me I 1e Most probable .interpretation, of: the few facts which have been preserved. . : : As regards the areas managed by Moslem officials. the only fact which emerges is that the position of the headmen. was recognised. The_passages g1Ven in Appendix. C-show that in the matter offperquisites eadmen were‘on the same footing as Chiefs; an 10% To infer that, in the one case | s in the other, the perquisites were intended as remunera- jon for service to the King, or, in other words, that the : villages which were not under Chiefs were managed through their headmen. There js nothing on record to,show the! extent of the headman’s authority: all that can be said is that his position was rece gnised by the Moslem, adminis- tration. aut Before leaving this century, it may be well to: ask het . was the attitude of the sovereign towards the peasants U! der. his rule. The question can bbe answered only-in the cas¢ of Balban, whose power, exts nded over nearly half the period. advice to his son, ‘thom he placed on the throne 0! (Barni,| 100), on the danger of making ntseven when they were = | eed Tor frm but just vised, 2 justified by prec saministration. With regard to assessment, he advised over-assessment would result in the im- (the dountry, but under-assessmenp ould ubordinate; 4 re esgential poverishment 0 , Ponder the peasants 1a2y and ins| THE 13ra AND 14m CENTURIES 31 -that they eal ee fmough to live on in comfort, but they ‘that Balban had grasped the m inttieoleshumlesmmpnty, ment | i nent affori ee scope for individual advance; he aimed. peered and contented peasantry, raising ample oe ees reasonable revenue; and he saw that this object in ade : luty to direct the administration with 3: ALAUDDIN KHALJI (r296-1316) In the’ year 1296, Alauddin obtained the throne of Delhi by. the murder of his uncle, the reigning King, and con- user position by lavish distribution of the wealth tained by his raid into the Deccan} Just at first, i appears Arle thought that a kingdom so obtained would , of revolts in the opening = months-of hir reign he learn e vigorous ad- Thinistration, and thenceforward he stands out asa stron; and absolutely ruthless ruler, intent only on the security ‘of his throne and the extension of his dominions. The changes made by him in the agrarian: system did not arise from any economic, still less any philanthropic, motive, but.-were_inspi y itical_and_milit: = si ee Personatly he ‘was unpopular, at the outset he had no trustworthy body ‘of nobles or officers on whom to rely, nor could he count on the support of orthodox Moslems; . his subjects were ready to rebel, ‘while the Mongols, massed on'the Indus, constituted a perpetual danger on the frontier. The néed for security, internal as well as external, was thus the-dominant note of his policy, and extension of the kingdom. was deliberately postponed until he judged that he was-safe at home. . ive in the text i ively cai (241.80). WA ve in the text is pased entirely of Barni (2414 woe eben personal rsonledge,-and who condemns some, portions of Risuddin's conduct severely, ile he praises certain oF hte may fairly be regarded 24 impartial, at (as dae ee Ne ea 2 reread preserved COP of k32 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA . ~ Internal security was the first consideration, and, in or near the year 1300, the King took steps to bring his officers under closer control. His Tegulations is dw; this object_were numerous and varied, but the on Tneasure— s_is_the"resumption 0; nearl: ie Sranis, which at his accession We had onfirmed! to 'y that men of sition a ge Gray h his a the holders, the idea being apparent of p should have no income independent- of the King’s con- tinued favour. This measure is importan wing a fact held merely at the King’s pleasure, and were liable to Tesumption at any time; but the area affected by it cannot havc been Jarge telatively. tothe extent of the kingdom, and the outstanding fact is the action which was, taken about the same time to keep the Hindu Chiefs and Tural leaders in subjection. The view taken by Alauddin and his counsellors was that Chiefs ang teaders would be Tebellious so Jong-as they had the Tesources necessary for rebellion; and a Consideration of the actual position suggests that this view was Probably sound, The Chie: had behing thema ‘adition of in, tl + Barni, 248, for Spttmation; and 283, for Iietion. The sestinp i Hon extended to religions cndowments as well ae Personal grants ard the pasted summarily, “with ow stroke of the pen, Pee rendered © Passage. coh aBslation of the eating with: this section; Appeadix C.. Barct peu cP ie tog wi Dut here, and in’ yariost he ie epaseaeis where the Phrase occurs, the:coutaet makes it plain that ole aE, of the upper classes oat of the peasants. Tainp ae ook $ Whole, T would inte? thay he thought of the kingdom aS consisting not Cf ‘two eleinents but at shiee Moslems, Hindus, fod the “herds” or Tn thi the details which follow shee that the question Pegiants, “In this passage x 15a Heat issue was how tse the power of the rura] leaders, the Chiefs ° nag fReReadmen of pargore pend Villages; in: point of fact a Tegulation Was favor ie ro fat as it insisted on the lent ! «Beating their fair shesew the burden—the weak won not to pay for the. x strong. 5 See Bari, 290, for an fetteme instance of this arrogance. | fhe-Qast of Dayana laid it dowd as Islamic law that Hindys must show the wcuost ayeeence to the collector op revenue, so that “if the collector spits into a Htinau's mouth, the Hindy Faust open his mouth to receive it without obiection,-* ony Oey ob : : ’ ! E odye THE 13m AND Idta CENTURIES ' 1.33 strong incentive to rebellion. It is easy then to believe that the Chiefs, or some of them, were in fact ready to throw off the Moslem yoke whenever an opportunity: should occur, and that they employed their surplus income largely ix strengthening themselves in the traditional ways, by main- . talning troops and accumulating weapons; but, however this may be, the view accepted by Alauddin led directly to 2 change in agrarian policy, designed to deprive the Chiefs of ; 8 large part of their resources, @ measures taken were: “~The standard of the reco I. fe. standard of the revenue-Demand! was fixed at one-half of the produce without any allowances or deduc- tions. 2. The Chiefs’ perquisites were abolished, so that ali the land’occupied by them was to be brought under assess- ment at the full rate. 3. Themethod of assessment was to be Measurement, the : charges being calculated on the basis of standard yields. 4. A. grazing-tax was imposed epart from the 2zssess- ment on ' cultivation: |, These.rneasures wore in themselves well suited to achieve the object in view. A Demand of half the produce cannot have left the ordinary peasant with any § ntial surplus, and would thus strike at the private revenue which the Chiefs were suspected of levying; while the assessment of the Chiefs" holdings at full rates would reduce them Practically to; the. economic position of Peasants, and the i would operate _to ir i fot the whole, of the Producer's Surplus of the ¢ the’ treasury: to stereotype the staidard of ‘iyi, rdinary peasants; and to reduce the Standard of jj, The Chiefs, who would not be in a position wey troops, or. accumulate supplies of horses and other» ‘liters requirements) |The only question that arises ict Military : such a policy was, or could be, carried Cut effect; wether ‘On this question we have the definite stat, se chronicler that the regulations were strictly ie reece! the ia oo "ced, ang Tbe word “bemand PP S64 to denote the 1a: istinguished tro 9 aim Fa as eT cee eVenue,“34 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA th , 1 at their object was realised. As the result of some years’ |. continuous effort, the Chiefs, and the headmen of parganas and villages, weie impoverished ard subd sign of gold or silver in the houses of th Chiefs ee unable to obtain: norses or weapons; arid theit ines Saaee driven by poverty to take service in Moslem \ . We may suspect some thetorical exaggeration in ° i ued; there was no ‘ ¢ “Hindus”; the \ the language. of the chronicle; but the succes’ of the King’s policy seems to be after its adoption, his able ctach strong aimies fo Jong-medit Deccan. Nor is there any record of faring the remainder of his:reign; : serious internal revol and we may fairly accept being, the Chi bstablished by. the fact that, six years Kingdom was at, peace and he was t aside, and the Administration the inference that, for the time | iefs were se! \ was brought into direct relations with the peasants through- © | * out a large part of f the kingdom. ‘ The extent of country over which. these regulations operated is not entirely clear. The chronicler gives (p. 288} a long list ot provinces, bul t, as commonly happens with such Jists, some of the names are corrupt; and. in the ‘absence of any. definitive text, there is no certainty that others may not have droppe: Hist as it stands, ¥ g to D fidence, work of copyis - accidentally ; trative achievement on the part of the ai, to whose the cl over this large tan. So summarised, th ‘4 out in the course of copying. Taking the “~X e learn that the reg ations were i applied oe” : ause it covers the centré of the Kingdom and ts, Even, e. The ‘establishment ote area mus efficienc Col 3 ; : omits the outlying provinces; ‘put, as 1 have just said, the ossibility remains that some of the omissions may be the however, if the list has not been tailed, it represents @ Very large adminis- inisteT. irect, relations with the peasants i necessarily have involved'@ rapid : e2 to the troops stationed there, THE 13rH AND l4ty CENTURIES 35 increase in the number of officials; and in the 14th, as in the ‘16th, century stich an increase was apt to result in an or of ‘corruption and éxtortion, That something of the net -occurred on this occasion must be inferred from. the chroni- cler’s description (pp. 288-9) of the mea: . Tp . sures taki Te Deputy-Minister for the audit of the a me measures so drastic as to render the Service unpopular f 1 z a ° on the time being; clerkship was a great disgrace,’ and execu- tive position was accounted.“ worse than fever.” The only point, however, which concerhs-us is that the : that the records of the Yillage-sccomptemts were peed fa the suai) gee oor ot the very rare glimpses we obtain of the interior of a village at this period, with thé accountant recording meticulously every payment, whether lawful or'not, made to each official. ‘We shall see in a later chapter that Aurarigzeb’s Revenue Minister advised his controlling staff to adopt. the same expedient in order to detect tinauthorised levies by their subordinates; and we may fairly.infer that the functions of the village-accountant constitute one of the permanent featurés of the agrarian system. The main changes effected by Alauddin originated in the effort to realise internal security; but one important detail was the result of the pressure of the Mongols on the frontier. Shortly after the adoption of the regulations which have just been described, the King made an expedition into Rajputana. It wes not very successful, and when he returned with his army tired and disorganised, a strong force of Mongols appeared suddenly outside Delhi. For a hort time the kingdom was in imminent danger; and, when - the Mongols eventually withdrew, the King turned his . attention to the prevention of such attacks in fo i were duly re-organised; Dut, in aagheerets ; he decided that it was Lat to maintain a, large and efficient standing army; is scattered over the country in Assignments, oe trated in the neighbourhood of the capital, ag 200 in 7 from the royal treasury. Here, however, nat i bigh;. and it siderations obtmnded themselves. It was flation; prices, and consequently. wages, were ak36 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA! was found that the accumulated treasure would very. soon be éxh; austed if the n maintained. To. meet this difficulty, Alay - on his. famous. Policy-of reduction and con’ that the resources of the kingdom might to be necessary for its security, the expenditure deemed A little. must be said o1 because on the one hand ii n the general aspe of the kingdom lecessary forces. were ddin deéeriined trol of prices, so be able to’ bear cts ot this Policy, economic analysis which would have ‘been needed “for. its invention, The Jong. i i quit inconceivable that invented these essential Bari implies (p, 308) that th © meant famine ip Delhi, but +, fleet, and consequently it ~ | famine” indicate tnar the 3 the city, rather than a defi and we should not be justine, seasons imine in the ordinary sence bees wc yben, without Alauddin’: been’ needed to draw adequate s: -. This summary, it will s Precisely. to ‘the System of Control, a writer like Ziya Barni could have features out of his requires to be discounte Ss eae seasons which would otherwise his language shows that he was straining ‘a. - Other references Word meant for him a scarcity of proviiees iency of din inferring from hi. roduction throughout the country; a i language that th during the period, though there were regulations, a rise-in prices would haye upplies to the capital. :s n, THE 13tk AND 14TH CENTURIES 37 Was, it must be remembered, strong just where moderns , systems are weak foi he could rely on an’ elaborate organi- sation of spies, ana there-was no Sentimestal objection in c the way of effective punishment) esti racticability is,- however, mainly a — matter- of extent. : No attempt was made to keep lows prices thronghout the Higdon; aiast was liniee by Delhi “WHEE standing aray wes case SeT eae _tions extended only to a région sufficiently large to ensure the isélation of the Delhi’ market Isolation wos favoured y the circumstances of the time. To the North ‘lay the submontane forests,.to the South the disturbed: and un~ productive country of Mewat. The city depended for its ordinary ‘supplies. on ‘the River-Country to the East, an on the ‘productive parts of thé’ Punjab to the West: the cost of transport was necessarily, high in the case of bulky produce; the industry, was specialised in the hands of the professional merchants; and, given ‘effective control of these, the isolation of the market could be completely effected. | The point which specially concerns us in these regulations joie ¢ supply of agricultural produce] The whole revenue due from the River Country, and half the revenue due from ge Delhi, was ordered to be paid in kind, and the grain so collected was brought to the city, stored for issue as . required; while peasants and country traders were com- led tos eir Surplus at fixed prices to the controlled = merchants, with hea nalties for holding up stocks, “I : think zt is quite clear that this rule involved a ange in practice, or, in other words, that, in this part of the country, - collections had been ordinarily made in cash,’and not in ' produce, during the thirteenth century. Taking all the 2 There are definite indications that the system was perfected by degrees. At the outset (p. 304), the King wished to avoid severe punish. ments, but the shopkeepers would not abandon their practice of gusts short weight (p. 318), until at last a rule was made that, on detectise 28 ~ “Aeficiency should be cut from the seller's person: and (p. 319) the fea es this punishment proved sufficient to put a stop to fraud. 4 Barni calls the- professional merch: duduiven: they riay safe) bé identified with the benjaras of later'ties. The mere eae ee : ; ere co) led ‘to deposit their wives and childrga.as security for theis en Pra these pledges were settled near Dethi under the control of an even ip. 306)," ae + ete