History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c13.64

c13.64

As life advanced, the Sultan became more and more severe in his policy, but his punishments were not the result of caprice. The needs of the empire and the disloyalty of his officers compelled him to adopt such an attitude. Like all despots he thought punishment as a most efficacious remedy for putting down revolt and disorder. It was not his intention to inflict wanton misery upon the people, for in 745 A.H., during the Deccan revolt, when the Sultan was at Sultanpur he observed to the historian Zia Barani: " Thou seest how many revolts spring up. I have no pleasure in them, although men will say that they have all been caused by my excessive severity. I will not cease to inflict punishments owing to these rebellions." He enquired of the historian under what circumstances punishments had been inflicted by kings in the past. Barani, who never forgives the Sultan for his punishments, himself opined with the opportunism of a courtier that ' a king cannot carry