The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c9.107

c9.107

Of the rātibī kārkhānahs, the pāigāh or the horse breeding department was the most extensive. There were five big centres near Dehlī under Fīrūz Shāh ; other sultans also took great care that the army was always kept well supplied with horses. Arab and Turkish horses found a ready market in India; horses were imported even from distant Russia.¹ No gift seems to have been more acceptable in those days than a horse, and Muhammad bin Tughluq is reported to have given away “ten thousand Arab horses of excellent breed” every year.² All this required a vast organization; the akhūrbek, or the superintendent of the royal horses, was one of the most important officials of the household.³ Generally there were two akhūrbeks, one for each wing.⁴ Elephants played such a decisive part in warfare that the monarch took care that no officer or tributary chief had too many of them.⁵ By far the largest number of elephants in the realm was maintained in the royal stables under an important officer called shahnah-i-fil.⁶ Sometimes each wing had a different shahnah-i-fil.⁷ A large number of camels, mules, bullocks and buffaloes also was kept for purposes of transport.⁸