The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c14.34

c14.34

The military power of the governors was limited by the presence of provincial ‘āriḍs, who were responsible for the recruitment and supervision of the army. They were under the ‘āriḍ-i-mumālik and had to submit regular reports to headquarters.³ ‘Alā-u’d-dīn further tightened the reins by discouraging assignments and introducing dāgh and ḥuliyah. The system of paying soldiers in cash increased the hold of the state on the army.⁴ The Muslim rulers had inherited a large number of recalcitrant chiefs whose authority was embedded in hereditary tradition.⁵ Their power was not easy to break; the Muslims at first lacked the men to deal with them. Only gradually could the sultans reduce these chiefs to peaceful submission and reconcile them to the sultanate. In the earlier days the realization of tribute and revenue was a veiled or an open military affair; hence the revenue authorities had to work in close co-operation with the military governor.¹ Gradually as the native chiefs were reconciled or reduced, the civil officers gained in power and authority. Baranī's description shows that by the time of 'Alā-u'd-dīn, the civil authorities possessed sufficient strength to enforce the sultan's drastic reforms.² The revenue officials, though under the immediate control of the governor, were supervised by the ministry of finance at the centre which received and examined regular and detailed statements regarding income and expenditure in every province.³ If a governor failed to satisfy the wazīr's officers he was harshly treated and handed over to torture till he restored the misappropriated amount.⁴ Muḥammad bin Tughluq, with characteristic thoroughness, established a dīwān-i-mustakhrij for this purpose.⁵ Even the mild Fīrūz Shāh's wazīr showed the utmost strictness in keeping the governors on the path of rectitude in financial affairs.⁶ The governors were "officers posted to their charges by the king, and transferred, removed or punished at his pleasure, administering their charges under his orders, and subjected to the strict financial control of the Revenue Ministry."⁷ Moreland rightly argues that such officers could in no sense be feudal; they were bureaucrats pure and simple.