The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c12.276.4

c12.276.4

here the broad classification into grades could not be worked in practice without an expert and impartial adjudicator. The monarch often inspected the horses himself and punished the dealers who were found guilty of charging prices which disagreed with the fixed schedule. The general result of all these steps was that the sultan succeeded in reducing prices to the desired level; his treasury sufficed not only to finance defensive measures against the Mongols but also to fit out conquering expeditions to the Deccan which brought more wealth.³ ‘Alā-u’d-dīn’s system ceased under Quṭb-u’d-dīn Mubārak Shāh, not only because the latter was incapable of sustained effort but also because he was not faced with the same problems; yet the *dīwān-i-riyāsat* continued to function.⁴ After the anarchy, when Sikandar Lodī put the government on a sound basis, we find him interested in the question of prices; he read daily market reports submitted from the various parts of his dominions.⁵ His interest in commerce is shown by the fact that he established a new standard of weights and measures which endured long after him. The Sūrs also maintained the *dīwān-i-riyāsat*; Hīmū, who rose to the supreme command of the troops under ‘Adlī, was at one time the superintendent of markets.⁶ The fact that prices were very low and commodities plentiful under the Lodīs and yet the department of ‘adl continued to function shows how deeply rooted the institution was in the sultanate of Dehlī.¹