History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c12.229

c12.229

According to the canon law, the share of the state was fixed at one-fifth in the spoils obtained with the help of the army of Islam and the rest, *i.e.*, four-fifths was allowed to the captors. The clericalists had always insisted upon this practice being observed by kings. Weaker men had bowed to the will of the *‘Ulama*, but ‘Ala-al-Din disregarded the command of the law and revised the old rule. Muhammad continued to enforce the revised scale. Out of the booty captured from the ‘infidels’ one-fifth only was allowed to the army and the remaining four-fifths was appropriated by the *Bet-al-Māl* or the Public treasury, which was at the disposal of the Sultan. It was the priest-ridden Firuz who restored the old proportion and fixed the share of the *Bet-al-Māl* at one-fifth.⁹²