The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c10.109

c10.109

In no Muslim country did the central government depend only upon the barīd for secret information; the state also employed a large number of actual spies who attached themselves to princely households or wandered about the land as travellers, traders or religious mendicants.⁸ These men mixed with the populace and acquainted themselves with the views of the people on various matters, so discovering secrets which official agencies did not possess. It was particularly important to keep an eye on the doings of powerful chiefs and nobles;