The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c18.21

c18.21

No clear evidence has come down to us to show the manner in which the *zakat* was collected; in fact, there is hardly any mention of it in the contemporary writings. Its highly religious character and the forbidding specifications as to its disbursement³, raise a suspicion that at least in the Memeluke State strict application of the law in this matter was probably not made; Firoz Tughluq's reign, at any rate, provides the earliest record of its collection⁴. It may have been collected whenever possible to defray the cost of the religious endowments and pension to the *ulema* and of the ecclesiastical establishments. Early in Muhammud Tughluq's reign, mention is found of a duty collected on the marchandise crossing the frontier at a rate calculated on the basis of *zakat*⁵. It was in effect only a customs duty and most probably credited to the general revenues. That the income from this source was meant to be so treated is evident from the fact that it was levied on non-Muslims also for whom the rate was doubled⁶.