The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c16.32

c16.32

With the exception of the volunteer militia, the soldiers received fixed remuneration either in cash, called *mawajib*, or in assignments, called *iqta*. The standing army of the centre, at least an important section of it, was paid in assignments, as is evidenced by the case of the Shamsi *iqtadars* who had been given villages in the Doab. Captains and even petty officers were also paid in similar assignments of revenue³. The income in such assignments (*iqta*) came from the land revenue realised from the peasant-cultivators. An instance of paying troops even in cultivable lands is furnished by Balban who settled Afghan soldiers as garrison in Gopalgir, Kampil, Patiali, Bhojpur and Jalali⁴. They drew their sustenance from the lands which they were to till and cultivate. From the nature of conditions involved in such form of payment these men were supposedly borne on the army list as hereditary soldiers. The bulk of the regular troops, however, was paid in cash from the *diwan-i-arz*; irregular and mercenery soldiers, it must be supposed, were always paid in cash. It is difficult to ascertain whether individual payment was the rule; the anxiety of Imadul Mulk to see that no deductions were made from the soldier’s pay by his office staff would presuppose that individual cash payment was the normal practice, at least in the case of the central army. But since recruitment does not appear to have been made singly but through the troop-leaders, it is doubtful if direct payment of salary was always practicable or desired. Alauddin Khalji’s branding regulations (*dagh* and *huliyah*), in any case, were designed to diminish the chances of fraud practised by the troop-leaders and even *muqtis* in drawing the soldiers’ pay under false representations. Out of his *marwajib*, the cavalryman was to provide for his own equipment and horse and keep the latter in good trim. Approval of his horse and arm was necessary before his pay could be drawn. Besides his *marwajib*, each trooper received a share of the booty (*ghanimah*) captured in the battle in which he participated; this was probably considered a war-bonus.