The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c14.1.2

c14.1.2

Balban after suppressing Tughril’s rebellion could have brought the province under direct control, but he appointed his son Bughrā Khān the new governor with the authority of a semi-independent monarch.¹ 'Alā-u'd-dīn Khaljī, in spite of his strength, contented himself with obtaining a recognition of suzerainty and a considerable tribute from Laddar Deva of Warangal. This was the result of policy; when the sultan sent Malik Kāfūr to the Deccan, he instructed him not to push matters to extremes.² It is true that there is considerable legal difference between a Muslim governor with unlimited powers and a non-Muslim tributary, yet their political status is identical. When Nāṣir-u'd-dīn Maḥmūd of the Qarāwinah dynasty gave Khwājah Jahān the supreme power over the Sharqī provinces, the sultan only acquiesced in what he could not prevent; this was an illustration of an involuntary appointment.³ When 'Alā-u'd-dīn Khaljī was satisfied with formal recognition of his suzerainty by Kaikā'ūs of Bengal, in appointing whom he had had no voice, he was only accepting the legal fiction of governorship by usurpation.⁴ The relations between the central government and the provinces did not depend so much on legal definitions as on political reality; nevertheless legal and political thinkers had provided patterns of behaviour which could be applied to particular needs.