Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c6.s3.t1.13

c6.s3.t1.13

Besides these occasional gifts, some occasions were particularly marked out for lavish expenditure, the accession of a monarch being one of them. On the accession of Ala-ud-din Khalji, gold and silver were showered for crowds from catapults; gifts of gold were given to nobles by weight and one gift did not debar the recipient from receiving another. As a result, his homicidal crime was completely forgotten and instead of discontent and disapprobation, there was a general spirit of rejoicing throughout the country.³ The gifts of Ala-ud-din Khalji, though somewhat exaggerated in volume, were a rule and not an exception. Sultan Muhammad Tughluq, Sultan Firuz Tughluq, the latter in spite of a depleted treasury, and the Mughal emperors, all made it a point to spend huge sums of money in their own way on coming to the throne.¹