The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.508.4

v3.c20.508.4

Kajar Shāh’s presumed innocence was publicly recognised by his being carried through the city on one of the royal elephants, and the two informers were banished, but both the investigations and the public justification of the mintmaster were mere sops to public opinion, for Kajar Shāh was shortly afterwards dismissed. The comments of the contemporary historian are even more interesting, as an example of the view which an educated an intelligent man could then take of such an affair, than his simple record of the facts. He can see nothing wrong in the concealment of a crime, in the punishment of the innocent and the vindication of the guilty, or in the deception practised on the simple Fīrūz, but commends Maqbūl Khānjahān for having dexterously averted a public scandal. The same historian, who has nothing but approval for whatever was established or permitted in the reign of Fīrūz, applauds another serious abuse. Of the irregular troops some received their salaries in cash from the treasury but those stationed at a distance from the capital were paid by transferable assignments on the revenue. A class of brokers made it their business to buy these drafts in the capital at one-third of their nominal value and to sell them to the soldiers in the districts at one-half. Shams-i-Sirāj ‘Afīf has no word of condemnation for the fraud perpetrated on the unfortunate soldier, and nothing but commendation for a system which enabled so many knaves to enrich themselves without labour.