History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c12.180

c12.180

Barani and Ibn Batūṭah both relate instances in which important provinces were farmed out to men who were mere adventurers. Shihab Sultani, surnamed Nusrat Khan, misappropriated about a crore of *tankahs* out of the imperial revenue within three years during his tenure of office as governor of Bidar. According to Ibn Batūṭah, Daulatabad was farmed out to a Hindu for seventeen crores which he could never pay.⁷⁴ Famine completely dislocated the revenue system of the Sultan, although he took heroic measures to promote agriculture. He advanced loans to the agriculturists to the extent of seventy lakhs, caused wells to be dug, brought waste lands under cultivation and instituted a department of agriculture with an officer especially appointed to look after cultivation.⁷⁵ The subject is so full of interest that a detailed account of the Sultan's measures to afford famine relief will remove many misconceptions that have been formed about him. It will help us to understand the theory of ‘man-hunt’ popularised by later historians, who took their cue from Barani, who indignantly condemns the punishments inflicted on his native district of Baran.