The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c10.101

c10.101

The system was revived by Mu‘āwiyah; the Abbasids attached great importance to the barīd and an early ruler of that dynasty is reported to have called him ‘a pillar of the state.’¹ The Ghaznavids had the department, from whom it was adopted by the Ghurids.² Quṭb-u’d dīn Aibak possessed his staff of news-writers, so the sultanate of Dehlī had its barīds from the beginning.³ Like some other departments, the system appears to have deteriorated under the Shamsī rulers, but Balban developed it to its utmost capacity, and his success in enforcing obedience and order can be partly attributed to a well-organized news-agency.⁴ ‘Alā-u’d-dīn Khaljī also depended for the success of his reforms on a highly developed system of espionage.⁵ Ibn Baṭṭūṭah pays a high tribute to the efficiency of the news service under Muḥammad bin Tughluq.⁶ The Lodīs and the Sūrs also developed to a high level their means of securing information; indeed Sikandar Lodī was credited with supernatural powers in this respect by some of his subjects.⁷