Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s1.4

c17.s1.4

Besides there was no incentive to increased production. The produce sufficed for the then existing population. Tīmūr's invasion wrought a breakdown in the revenue administration. In the early part of the fifteenth century no agrarian measures seem to have been instituted, still less, enforced³. Each iqta'dār or Hindu chief collected the revenue of his little "kingdom ... very much as he chose".⁴ The law and order situation improved in the latter half of the fifteenth century. The kings of Medieval India were ever keen on bringing down the prices of the necessaries of life. It is with a sense of satisfaction, nay even of pride, that Muslim writers like Ziyāuddīn Baranī, Shams Sirāj 'Afīf and 'Abdulla write about the cheapness of prices in their times.⁵ Sikandar Lodī used to keep a constant watch on the price-level in the market.⁶ During his reign, corn duties were abolished, and merchants carried on their business in security. During the reign of Ibrāhīm Lodī, writes 'Abdulla, "Corn, cloth and other things were cheaper than they had been in any other reign, excepting the closing years of 'Alāuddīn's reign. It is said that ten maunds of corn, five *sērs* of *ghī*, and ten yards of cloth could be purchased for a single Bahlolī".⁷ Thus food, the chief necessity of life, was cheap and abundant. There being no urge for increased production, no attempt was made to improve agricultural implements and they remained the same over the centuries.