The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c15.2

c15.2

Implicit in such circumstances was, therefore, the nature of provincial administration which functioned under the Memlukes. Limited as the state's manpower was, the setting up of a uniform civil administration over all parts of its dominions was out of the question. Familiarity with the details and problems of day-to-day administration could not be expected of the newly-arrived Turks, even were such officers available in their ranks and could be spared from military work. Retention of the existing governmental machinery in the form of vassal states and the employment of non-Muslims for such essential civil work, as the assessment and collection of the land-revenue in villages directly within the military area, were thus unavoidable. Direct annexation of territories requiring large civil and mili-