The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c11.224

c11.224

Ibn Baṭṭūṭah has preserved for us a description of how payments were made by the ministry. When the sultan ordered that a man be paid a sum of money, a document was made out which was called a khaṭṭ-i-khurd. This paper was countersigned by the ḥājib who brought it and three other nobles; in this instance the nobles were Quṭlugh Khān, the kharīṭahdār and the dawātdār. The document was registered in the dīwān-i-wizārat; then it was examined and sealed by the dīwān-i-nazar and the dīwān-i-ishrāf. A parwānah was then made out ordering the treasurer to pay the money. The order was registered; for the treasurer reported every day the payment orders which he had received. When the sultan confirmed these orders, the actual payment was made. Sometimes this did not take place for six months. If the sultan wanted to make an immediate payment, he gave special instructions. The treasury deducted ten per cent. from the face value of the order.¹ Elaborate registers were maintained for keeping accounts.²