History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c17.s1.13

c17.s1.13

The control of prices of cloth brought to the forefront the same problems which had cropped up in the case of food grains. The merchants were reluctant to sell their goods in Delhi, since they were not allowed as much profit as they were accustomed to. Moreover, they bought their goods in far off places at prices which surely were not controlled, they incurred expenses in transporting them to Delhi, and then they were expected to sell their articles in the capital at prices fixed by the Sultan. In the case of agricultural produce 'Alāuddīn could compel the cultivators in the *doāb* and other regions to sell grain to the travelling-merchants at regulated rates, but he could not compel manufacturers of far off places like Devagiri and Multan, and places beyond Multan in the north west,²⁴ to sell to merchants goods at fixed rates. Consequently the Sultan provided more facilities to cloth merchants than to those who imported grain into Delhi. So far as the registration was concerned every merchant whether Hindu or Musalman who traded in Delhi²⁵ was ordered to get his name registered with the Dīvān-i-Riyāsat. He was also required to sign an agreement stipulating that he would bring a fixed quantity of goods in the city and sell them at controlled rates. The Sultan advanced money from the state treasury to the Multānī merchants to enable them to purchase commadites elsewhere and to sell them in the Sarai 'Adl at the controlled rates. The money advanced by the sultan amounted to about 2,000,000 *tankahs*. Ziyāuddin does not say if the merchants were expected to return the same to the public exchequer. It would appear that as the money was advanced for buying commodities at higher rates outside, and selling them at cheaper and controlled rates in Delhi, the merchants could not be expected to return it. But the observation of Barani that the king determined the prices of various goods leaving a fair margin of profit to the merchant²⁶ leads one to infer that the government money was returned by the merchant after his goods had been sold out. Ibn Battūtah's statement makes the point clear. He says that the sultan abolished all taxes on merchandise, advanced money to merchants and told them: "with this money buy bullock and sheep, and sell them; the price that they will fetch must be paid to the treasury, and you shall receive allowance for selling them."²⁷ Thus it would appear that the Multānī merchants and other traders who were induced to trade in Delhi were not traders in the true sense of the term, selling goods at profitable rates; but they were virtually agents of the government. They were advanced money to buy goods abroad and sell them in Delhi, and they received remuneration for this service. It may be surmised that such transactions must have caused an immense loss to the state.