The History of Fīrūz Shāh (ʿAfīf) 71: Thirteenth Mukaddama. — The royal establishments (kdr-khdna) of Firoz Shah.

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Sultan Firoz had thirty-six royal establishments, for which enormous supplies of articles were collected, * * * and the annual outlay on which was very large. Some of them were in receipt of a regular payment (rdyati); others had no fixed income (ghair-rdyati). Thus among the rdyati establishments there were the elephant, horse, and camel stables, the kitchen, the butlery, the candle department, the dog-kennels, the water-cooling department and other similar establishments. These received a regular monthly allowance of one lac and sixty thousand tankas for their expenses, in addition to which there was the cost of their furniture, and the monthly salaries of the accountants and other officers, which also amounted to one lac and sixty thousand silver tankas. In the establishments which received no regular allowance, such as the wardrobe, the 'alam-khdna or insignia, the carpet stores, and the like, new goods were procured every year according to orders given. In the winter season six lacs of tankas were expended on the wardrobe, besides the outlay for the spring and summer. 80,000 tankas were expended on the 'alam-khdna in the purchase of articles, besides the salaries of the accountants and the wages of the work-people. About two lacs of tankas were expended in the carpet department. Each of these establishments was under the charge of a khan or malik of high rank; thus the wardrobe was under the superintendence of Malik 'Ali and Malik Isma'il. * * * Khwaja Abu-l Hasan Khan was charged with the general superintendence of all the kár-khánas, and through him all orders were issued to the respective establishments. There was a separate financial department (díwán-khána) for the kár-khánas, in which the general accounts were kept, but the accounts were rendered to and recorded in the exchequer (díwán-i wizárat). So that the exchequer not only kept an account of the land revenues (iktá'), but also of the expenditure of the kár-khánas. There were many accountants in the various kár-khánas who received monthly pay. * * The royal stables were in five different places, * * * and, beside these, some thousands of horses grazed in the neighbourhood of Dehlí, and were called sih-panj. The camel establishment was distinct, * * * and was in the district of Dublahand, where whole villages were appropriated to them and their keepers. * * * Their numbers increased every year, because the great feudatories, when they came to Court, brought camels of all sorts among their presents to the throne. * * *
In this reign there were audits of the accounts of the fiefs. When the feudatory came up from his fief to Court, he was brought before the exchequer, where an audit of his accounts was held, and the results were reported to the throne. The balance was struck, and the chieftain was questioned, after which he was sent back at once to his fief. The managers (muharrir) of the kár-khánas also had to attend in the exchequer at the end of every year, and present abstracts of their accounts, showing the balance of cash and the stores of goods. * * *