The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c11.s7.7

c11.s7.7

Transport between rural and urban areas, between cities and within the city was provided by coolies, horses, bullock carts and *dola* or *doli*. In the days of Firoz Tughlaq, hire for a bullock cart was 4 to 6 *jitals*, and 12 *jitals* for a horse. A *dola* which was carried by *kahars* cost half a *tankah*. The *dola* or palanquin was the common conveyance of ladies of high rank. But this sophisticated means of transport was also being brought into more and more use by the old and infirm and the ease loving elite. When Qutbuddin Mubarak Khalji (1316-20) felt miserable without the company of his favourite Khusrau Khan, he sent orders to the latter to return from the Deccan as quickly as possible (about C.E. 1320), and Khusrau Khan was taken in a palanquin post haste from Devagiri to Delhi. And Sikandar Lodis boast, if I order one of my slaves to be seated in a palanquin, the entire body of nobility would carry him on their shoulders at my bidding,¹⁵⁵ clearly indicates that besides ladies, the use of palanquin had also become a fashion with men of means. In the fifteenth century *Ekka* and *Tonga* had also come into vogue,¹⁵⁶ but for long journeys the horse was the common conveyance.¹⁵⁷ A footmans services could be requisitioned for 5 *tankahs* a month,¹⁵⁸ and a man could travel from Delhi to Agra spending only one *Bahloli*, which sufficed for him, his horse and his small escort / retinue during the journey.¹⁵⁹ A large number of people were engaged on this work, and they plied a brisk trade.¹⁶⁰ In the Mughal times comparatively better roads added some sort of sophistication to land travel.