History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c12.190

c12.190

During famine the sufferings of the people were unbearable. Thousands perished for want of food. The scarcity of fodder was still more serious and the cattle died in large numbers. Ibn Baṭūṭah’s statement gives some idea of the horrible sufferings caused by these famines. In the year 735-36 A.H., when the Sultan had gone towards Ma‘bar, the condition of Dihli was deplorable. The traveller saw people selling roasted hides in the market and drinking the blood which oozed out from cows at the time of slaughter.⁸¹ Some Khorasani students informed him that in the city of Agrohā where they lodged one night in a house, they saw a man roasting the leg of a dead body for his own consumption.⁸² Cannibalism was rife in the country. When the distress of the people passed beyond the point of endurance, the Sultan ordered that the inhabitants of Dihli of all ranks, freemen as well as slaves, should be given provisions for a period of six months at the rate of one and a half *ritals* per day. The Qazis, Munshis (clerks) and amirs were appointed to go about the city from parish to parish and prepare lists of persons who stood in need of such relief.⁸³ The *Khānqāhs* or charity-houses also rendered valuable assistance. From the *Khānqāh* of Qutb-al-Din food was distributed to the poor. The Sultan's order was that every day twelve *mans* of flour and twelve *mans* of meat should be cooked daily. Besides this, sugar, ghee, and betels were also distributed among the people.⁸⁴