Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c6.s3.t1.3

c6.s3.t1.3

To take an instance, Sultan Muhammad Tughluq used to present two robes of honour, one in the cold and the other in the hot season to each of his nobles.¹ The number of these robes, according to the account of *Masalik-ul-absar* (which we have quoted earlier), comes to 200,000. Even a modest estimate of the expense of a dress of honour, in which brocade, velvet, and costly material were used, would come to an enormous sum in this case. Take similarly, some items of the supply of royal stores or *karkhanas*. In the reign of Sultan Firuz Tughluq there were 36 different stores full of choice and rare goods. The superintendents of the stores were instructed to buy every rare and equisitely finished article wherever and at whatever price it was available.² A single pair of royal shoes, for example, once cost the treasury 70,000 Tankas.³ Most of the articles of royal use were worked in gold and silver, costly embroidery, and jewels. Consider again, the annual estimate of expenditure of various departments in the *karkhanas*. The fodder and provisions of the royal stables cost the State from sixty to one hundred thousand Tankas, without including in this sum the pay of the permanent staff or the expenditure incurred over the equipments of the establishment. The replenishing of these provisions from time to time cost a similar amount. The expense incurred on the royal wardrobe came to 600,000 Tankas for the cold weather alone. Similarly, the royal standards and ensigns cost 80,000 Tankas, and the carpeting and furnishings 200,000 Tankas annually. These are only a few and by no means the most burdensome items of permanent expenditure.¹ It is easy to guess what the *haram*, the slaves, the body-guards, the establishment of domestic and skilled workmen, the building of palaces, the costly jewels, and precious stones would have cost the State. We may cite in this enumeration a very negligible but amusing item of domestic provisions, from the records of the last Sur Sultan named Adali. It is reported that His Majesty was very delicate and sensitive to bad smell, so that two or three loads of camphor were daily picked up by scavengers from the royal lavatories.²