The Rashtrakutas and their Times c19.s1.27

c19.s1.27

The Muslim writers, who make this statement, also add that the members of the fighting forces of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas were paid regularly by their employers. It would, therefore, seem that even the maula bala was paid a part of its salary in cash by the Malkhed government. We have seen already how the Rāṣṭrakūṭas used to exercise rigorous administrative control over their viceroys and feudatories, who had to send all their collections to the imperial exchequer. This must have enabled them, unlike many of their contemporaries, to pay their troops directly in cash or kind at the army headquarters. Direct payment must have naturally increased the efficiency of the fighting force. The Rāṣṭrakūṭa administration is thus seen sharing the views of Kāmandaka, a contemporary writer, who points out that a force, which is given its wages without delay, will fight with greater enthusiasm than a force which is not promptly paid. (19)