History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c8.44

c8.44

Having resolved to transfer the capital, the Sultan ordered the people of Dihli, men, women and children, servants and maidservants to go to Daulatabad with all their belongings. A regular post was established between Dihli and Daulatabad and at every *kroh* a postal station was built and at every stage a palace and a *Khanqah* were built, where food, drink and betels were given to the way-farers free of cost. Trees were planted on both sides of the road to afford comfort to travellers and some of these were seen by the author of the *Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi* in the 15th century. Every sort of convenience was supplied to the emigrants, and even Barani admits that rewards and gifts were liberally bestowed upon them by the Sultan.¹⁹ All difficulties were disregarded, and the Sultan did not care for the envy of the kings of Iran and Turan and the distance of the frontier. What this transfer must have meant to the people of Dihli can be inferred from the fact that Dihli was a large and populous city spread over a wide area. Barani who knew the city well writes that it had grown prosperous during the last 150 or 160 years, and had begun to rival the glories of Cairo and Baghdad.²⁰ Ibn Batūṭah gives an elaborate description of the city which, according to him, consisted of four cities—old Dihli, Siri, Tughluqabad and Jahānpanāh, the residence of Sultan Muhammad and his statement is corroborated by the authors of the *Malfūzāt-i-Timuri*²¹ and the *Zafarnāmah*. The description of the city given by the *Masālik* evidently refers to a later period, for Ibn Batūṭah’s statement that on his arrival in Dihli he witnessed the vestiges of desolation in certain places is in conflict with it.²² The court and the officials were removed to the new capital, and attracted by the Sultan’s bounty learned and pious men also went to reside there. The Sultan grudged no expenditure in making it the true metropolis of Islam and adorned it with beautiful buildings. The author of the *Masālik* dwells enthusiastically upon the vastness and beauty of the edifices of Devagiri²³ and he is corroborated by Ibn Batutah who visited it in 1343 A.D., when it had ceased to be the capital of the empire. 'Abdul Hamīd Lahori, the author of the *Bādshāh namah* and the European travellers who wrote in the 17th century testify to the solidity and grandeur of the fort of Daulatabad. It appears from Ibn Batūtah's account that the city continued to enjoy royal favour, and attained to a considerable degree of prosperity.