Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c6.s3.t1.40

c6.s3.t1.40

Tankas.¹ The pay of the soldier was fixed by Sultan Ala-ud-din at 234 Tankas per year or 19½ Tankas per month with an extra annual allowance of 78 Tankas in the case of a *do-aspa* soldier for the additional horse.² The soldier was always paid in cash, annually or in periodical instalments.³ The *Muqaddim*, the village headman or the revenue agent occupied a semi-official position. He realized the land revenue for the government from his village and was paid a certain percentage of commission on the realized amount. He was also allowed certain other privileges in matters of personal cultivation. The gains of the Muqaddim could not be controlled by the administration. His clandestine and open appropriation of realized revenue in times of trouble, his realization of unjust and excessive taxes and perquisites and his financial gain from every period of administrative disorganization brought him a respectable fortune.⁴ Sultan Ala-ud-din was greatly annoyed because like other big nobles the village headman had also cultivated a fondness for beautiful dresses, for Persian bows and arrows, and for going to the chase riding on a beautiful horse. In the interest of a strong and stable administration, the oppressive and dishonest tendencies of this class had to be curbed with a strong hand. But even when Ala-ud-din Khalji was anything but indulgent and kind towards them, he did not forget to fix the minimum standard of their life at a much higher level than that of the most prosperous among the peasants. He permitted them to retain ‘four bullocks for purposes of cultivation, two buffaloes, two milking cows and twelve goats’.⁵