Market control & Agrarian Policy of Alauddin

 Market Control and Agraruan Policy  of Alauddin

For the contemporaries, Alauddin's measure to control markets was one of the great wonder of the world. In a series of orders after his return from the the Chittor campaign, Alauddin sought to fix the cost of all commodities from foodgrains, ar and cooking-oil to a needle, and from costly imported cloth to horses, cattle, and slave boys and girls. For the purpose, he setup three markets at Delhi-one market for foodgrains the second for costly cloth, and the third for horses, slaves and cattle. Each market was under the control of a high officer called shahna who maintained aW register of the merchants and stricuy controlled the shopkeepers and the prices. Regulation of prices, especially foodgrains , was a constant concern of medieval rulers, because without the supply of cheap foodgrains to the towns, they could not hope to enjoy the support of the citizens, and the army stationed there. But Alauddin had some additional reasons for controlling the market. The Mongol invasions of Delhi had pinpointed the need to raise a large army to check them. But such an army would soon exhaust his treasures unless he could lower the prices, and hence lower their salaries. To realize his obiec- tives, Alauddin proceeded in a characteristically thorough way. In order to ensure a regular supply of cheap foodgrains, he declared that the lande revenue in the doab region, that is, the area ex tending from Meerut near the Yamuna to the border of Kara near Allahabad would be paid directly to the state, i.e., the villages in the area woułd not be assigned in iqta to anyone. Further the land revenue was raised to half of the produce. This was a heavy charge and Alauddin adopted a number of measures, which we shall note later, to cope with the situation. By raising the state demand, and gernerally obliging the peasant to pay it in cash,the peasants were forced to sell their produce at a low p.ice to barjaras who were to carry them to the towns, and to sell them at prices fixed by the state. To ensure that there was no hoarding, all the banjaras were registered, and their agents and their family were held collectively responsible for any violations. As a further check, the state itself set up warehouses and stocked them with foodgrains which were released whenever there was a famine or a threat of shortfall in supply. Alauddin kept himself con- stantly informed of everything and very harsh punishment was given if any shopkeeper charged higher price, or tried to cheat b using false Weights and measures. Barani tells us that prices were not allowed to be increased even by a dam or a paisa even during the time of famine. Thus, wheat sold at 712 jitals a man, barley at 4 jitals, good quality rice at Sjitals, Barani says: "The permanence of prnces in the grain market was a Wonder of the age," Control of the prices of horses was important for the Sultan because without the supply of good horses at reasonable prices to the army, the efficiency of the army could not be maintained. The position of the supply of the horses had improved as a result of the conquest of Gujrat. Good qulity of horses could be sold only to the state. The price of a frist grade horses fixed by Alauddin 100 to 120 tankas while a tattu (pony) not fifit for the army cost 10 to 20 tankas. perfumes, etc., was not vital for the sultan. Howaver, their prices were also fixed, probably be- cause it was felt that high prices in this sector would affect prices in general. Or, it might have been done in order to please the nobility. We are told that large sums of money werc advanced to the Multani traders for bringing fine quality cloth to Delhi from various parts of the country. As a result, Delhi became the biggest market for fine cloth, the price of which was fixed and traders from all places flocked to Delhi in order to buy it and sell it at a higher price elsewhere Realization of land revenue in cash enabled Alauddin to pay his soldiers in cash. He was the firat sultan in the Sultanat to do so. A sawar (cavalryman) in his time was paid 238 tankas a year or about 20 tankas a month. It appears he was expected to maintain himself and his horse and his equipment outof this amount. Even then, this was not a low salary, for during Akbar's time, when prices were far higher, a Mughal cavalryman received a salary of about 20 rupes a month. Actually, a Turkish cavalryman during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was al most a gentléman, and expected a salary which would enable him to live as such. In view of this, the salary fixed by Alauddin was low, and the control of the market was,therefore, necessary The historian Barani thought that a major ob jective of Alauddin's control of markets was his desire to punish the Hindus since most of the traders were Hindus and it was they who resorted to profiteering in foodgrains and other goods. However, most of the overland trade to West and Central Asia was in the hands of Khurasanis who were Muslims, and Multanis, many of whom were also Muslims. Alauddin's measures, there- fore, affected these sections also, a fact which It is not clear, whether the market regulations of Alauddin were applied only to Delhi, or also to other towns in the empire. Barani tells us that the regulation concerning Delhi always tended to be followed in other towns also. In any case, the army was stationed notonly in Delhi but in other Barani does not mention.

towns as well. However, we do not have suffi- cient information to be certain in the matter. It is clear that white the merchants Hindus and s might have complained against the price control, not only the army but all citizens, irrespective of their religious beliefs, bencfited from the cheapness of foodgrains and other articles Apart from the control of the market, Alauddin look important stcps in the field of land revenue administration. He was the first monarch in the Sultanat who insisted that in the doab, land re venue would be assessed on the basis of mcasureasu


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