A History of Agriculture in India v2.c71.s9: Poor Houses
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c71.s9
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- English
Poor Houses
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‘He settled allowances upon the blind and helpless of every place and village and city. Two institutions were kept up during his reign without any interruption; one, the religious establishments (*’imarat khanah*), and the other the houses for the poor; for these two institutions confer a general benefit.’
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Considering the fact that Sher Shah ruled only for five years, his achievement is remarkable. He built *sarais* and wells and laid out roads flanked by avenues of trees. He improved the coinage and his coins are excellent in fineness and execution. Assessing his character and achievements, the authors of *The Cambridge Shorter History of India* observe, ‘He was one of the greatest rulers who ever sat upon the throne of Delhi. No other, from Aibak to Aurangzeb, possessed such intimate knowledge of the details of administration, or was able to examine and control public business so minutely and effectively as he. He restrained the turbulence and quelled the tribal jealousies of the Afghan chiefs, he reformed the land revenue administration, he introduced a system of great trunk-road, furnished with caravanserais, wells and every convenience for the comfort and safety of the traveller, and he maintained throughout his dominions such order that "none dared to turn the eye of dishonesty upon another's goods". Himself a pious Muslim, he suffered none to be persecuted in the name of religion, made no attempt to assume spiritual power, but left each to seek God after his own fashion. Budauni, the orthodox Muslim historian, thanks God that he was born in the reign of so just a king. Of his wise and judicious measures of administration many were adopted or imitated by Akbar without acknowledgement, and he was far more successful than any who followed him in checking corruption, peculation, and frauds on the public treasury. "It behoves the great," he said, "to be always active," and throughout his life he allowed himself no more rest than was necessary for his health and the preservation of his bodily and mental powers. "All this," says Mr Keene, "has an importance beyond the immediate time." After the Mughal restoration, Sher Shah's officials passed into Akbar's service; the faults imputed by Sher Shah to what he called Mughal administration—but which are common to all Turks—were prevented; and this far-sighted man, even after his death and the subversion of his dynasty, remained the originator of all that was done by mediaeval Indian rulers for the good of the people."⁶
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⁶ Allan J., Haig, T. W., and Dodwell, H. H. *The Cambridge Shorter History of India*, pp. 334, 335
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Allan, J., Haig, T.W. and Dodwell, H. H. *The Cambridge Shorter History of India*, Cambridge, 1943 Elliot, Sir H.M. and Dowson, J. *The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians*, Vols IV and V (Indian reprint), Allahabad, 1964 Garratt, G. T. (Ed.) *The Legacy of India*, Oxford, 1938 Ishwari Prasad, *A Short History of Muslim Rule in India*, Allahabad, 1939 Smith, V. A. *The Oxford History of India*, Delhi, 1976