History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c11.106

c11.106

create a hierarchy of officials who would depend upon him for their subsistence and who would, without question, carry out his behests. These men on whom Barani pours his cold scorn⁴⁸ failed miserably to grasp the situation and with a servility, which was always shown to men in power in mediæval India, they gave their hearty support to his misconceived plans and projects. Apart from this mistaken policy, the suppression of the hereditary nobility, the success of the Hindus of the South, the distress caused by famine in Northern India, the intrigues and conspiracies of the *amirs sadah* were factors which aggravated the situation. As soon as the Sultan was free from the rebellions of the north, he turned his attention to the affairs of Devagiri which had been neglected for sometime. He had long desired to appoint another governor in place of Qutlugh Khan, whose officers had failed to discharge their duties properly. While at Saragdwāri, he had thought of sending ‘Ain-al-Mulk Multani to govern Devagiri, but the secrecy with which he tried to do things created a misunderstanding between him and the distinguished nobleman, and finally led to one of the most serious revolts with which he had to deal. On his return from Saragdwāri when the Sultan stayed at Dihli for three or four years, he received complaints that the officers and subordinates of Qutlugh Khan had embezzled large sums of money, and the state had been defrauded of *lakhs* and *crores* of *tankahs*.⁴⁹ The country suffered much owing to the oppressions and exactions of these men, and the Sultan determined to set matters right. The whole Maratha country was divided into four *shiqs* (divisions), and the revenue was fixed at sixty-seven *crores*.⁵⁰ Ibn Batūtah writes that the revenue of Daulatabad was once farmed to a Hindu for 17 *crores* (170,000,000) which he could never realise⁵¹ and Firishta, who is more reasonable in his estimate, says that the Sultan after this resettlement of the country expected to realise seven crores (70,000,000) of silver *tankahs*.⁵² To get at the correct figure we shall have to strike a mean between Ibn Batūṭah and Firishta. The court poet Badr-i-Chāch was deputed to Devagiri on the 1st of Sha'ban 745 A.H. (8th December, 1344 A.D.) to recall Qutlugh Khan.⁵³ As Sir Wolseley Haig beautifully puts it, the pill was gilded for the veteran public servant and tutor of the emperor who was sent for to gladden his eyes with a sight of the decree of the Khalifah and Badr-i-Chāch describes at length in poetical language the message which the Sultan wanted him to convey to Qutlugh Khan. The manner in which the aged Khan was recalled is an index to the culture and urbanity of the Sultan who held him in high esteem, notwithstanding the maladministration of his fief. Another reason which led the Sultan to be so courteous was probably the popularity of Qutlugh Khan with the people over whom he ruled. The newly created divisions of the Maratha country were entrusted to four officers—Malik Sardawātdār, Malik Mukhlis-al-Mulk, Yusuf Bughrā and the low-born ‘Aziz Khammār (the vintner⁵⁴). The office of the Wazir of Devagiri was conferred upon ‘Imad-al-Mulk and that of the Diwan-i-Aslub upon Dhārādhar (دهار ادهر) who was entrusted with the agricultural reorganisation of the country and the carrying out of the regulations devised to promote the prosperity of the people. Maulana Nizam-al-Din, brother of Qutlugh Khan, on whom was conferred the title of ‘Alim-al-Mulk was ordered to proceed from Broach to Devagiri to act in his brother’s place pending the appointment of a permanent governor.⁵⁵