The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c16.14

c16.14

The provincial troops, being maintained out of the public revenues was technically a part of the standing army, but in a decentralised state like that of the Memelukes, authority over them was necessarily limited. In practice, the provincial force was the muqti's own; details of its maintenance was his own concern and the ariz-mamalik could exercise little interference. The latter's jurisdiction over them commenced only when the specified quota was called up from the province; he was then to hold a review of the contingents sent, check their number and equipment by comparing the muster roll of the respective province and to call for explanations for any discrepancy, from the representative of the muqti's army department. The provincial troops were presumably listed in the ariz-i-mamalik's army list, but the period covered by the Memeluke Sultanate affords no instance of the central government's attempt to regulate its number, rate of pay or other incidence of its employment and control. Nor is there any concrete evidence, as in the reign of Sher Shah Sur, of periodical transfer of troops from one province to another.