Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c6.s3.t1.23

c6.s3.t1.23

B. The bureaucracy and State employees.—With an obvious difference of degree, the State nobles followed the royal traditions. The idea of a family budget or of domestic economy was as foreign to their scheme of life as it was to the monarch's. One of the main reasons for the development of this peculiar outlook, as has been pointed out before, was the fact that all their honours and emoluments were personal. There was thus no incentive for saving or economizing and no room for the development of social virtues which foster it.² The noble, in his turn, played the part of a Sultan (or of a Raja in a Hindu State). He must have as big an establishment as possible. He must have his musicians and poets and he must give them thousands of Tankas and beautiful horses and dresses in reward. The marriage of his children, as of the royal princes and princesses, must be celebrated with conspicuous display and distinction; and he should also provide for his spiritual care in the next world by creating suitable institutions of charity and by appointing a goodly number of Qur'an-reciters during his lifetime. The amount of expenses which the nobles incurred is almost