The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c12.288

c12.288

Since the beginning of the sultanate the sultans had been anxious to maintain security in their dominions.² The routine duties of the police department were performed by the kotwāl; he corresponded roughly to the ṣāḥib-i-shurtah of the Caliphs.³ The kotwāl’s force patrolled the city at night and guarded the thoroughfares. The kotwāl acted in co-operation with the inhabitants; he appointed a leading man as warden in every quarter who was responsible for seeing that no criminals were harboured by the people. The kotwāl maintained a register of the inhabitants of every quarter, kept himself informed of their activities and means of livelihood, and took cognizance of every new arrival and departure.⁴ His jurisdiction also extended to the rural areas.⁵ The kotwāl also acted as a committing magistrate.⁶ He was not a military officer and his force was essentially civil in character; though when the term was applied to the military commandant of a fort, it implied civil as well as military authority.⁷ The criminal code was severe and the punishments were deterrent.⁸ Sometimes, in cases of rebellion or some disgraceful behaviour, the criminal was paraded in the city.⁹ A rebel’s life and property were at the mercy of the sultan : as this was well known, a rebel took the risk with his eyes open.¹ However, it was ‘Alā-u’d-dīn Khaljī who first introduced in Dehlī the pernicious system of punishing a rebel’s family.² The penal code of the *shar‘* was applied to the crimes which came under the jurisdiction of the *qāḍī*. Torture to exact a confession was unknown before ‘Alā-u’d-dīn Khaljī; Fīrūz Shāh stopped it.³ Under the latter sultan, an inquest was held on the death of a stranger and a document was drawn up with the signatures of the leading men of the locality to ensure that there had been no foul play.⁴ As Fīrūz does not claim this as one of his reforms, the system probably existed before him.