Alauddin Khalji2DrShakil Akhtarlect29 Administrative Measures Theory of Kingship Ala ud din like Balban believed in the divine right of king Considering him as the representative of God he ruled the way he liked ID: 1033916
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1. History, Degree Part-2,Paper-3,Unit-2, Topic-Alauddin Khalji-2,Dr.Shakil Akhtar,lect.29
2. Administrative MeasuresTheory of Kingship:Ala-ud-din like Balban believed in the divine right of king. Considering him as the representative of God, he ruled the way he liked.He acted as an absolute monarch with unlimited powers. He believed that the will of the Sultan was law, the Sultan was above all and all powers of the state emanate from him.
3. Ala-ud-din was the first Sultan who neither ruled according to Islamic Principles nor allowed the Ulemaas to interfere in the matters of state.By doing so he wanted to be an absolute ruler.
4. Rebellions and measuresAla-ud-din had to face a number of rebellions in the initial few years of his region. He studied the causes of the rebellions and declared four following ordinance:(i) By first ordinance all grants and pensions were revoked. All lands given to people as gifts, pensions, grants and endowments were confiscated.
5. (ii) By the second ordinance Ala-ud-din re-organised the system of espionage. He appointed a large number of spies and news writers in every department and in every house of nobles and in every town to collect important information and secret plans and treasons. (iii) The third ordinance prohibited the sale and use of wine and other intoxicating drugs.
6. (iv) The fourth ordinance prohibited social gathering and inter-marriages among the nobles without the consent of the Sultan.Military Organisation:Ala-ud-din knew that without a strong army continuance of his despotic rule and his ambition of a vast protected empire could not be achieved. He was bent upon to build a strong permanent standing army at the centre.
7. He appointed an army minister (Ariz-i-mamalik) who directly recruited the soldiers of the sultan’s army. The soldiers were well equipped, trained and paid by the centre. They were supplied with good horses and arms and were paid in cash from the royal treasury. According to Ferishta, the Sultan’s army consisted of 4, 75,000 cavalrymen.
8. He gave utmost emphasis on the discipline and training of the army men.He introduced two reforms such as the practice of recording the descriptive roll (huliya) of individual soldiers in order to detect the absentees in the army camp as well as the branding of horses (the dagh system) in-order-to prevent the substitution of a bad horse for a good one.
9. He also built some new forts and repaired the old forts on the north-western frontiers. Spies and news reporters were appointed in the army by him to get information about their regular activities.
10. Market ControlAla-ud-din had devised a very good market system and fixed the prices of various essential commodities.It is said that Ala- ud-din had had done so in order to maintain a vast army. He had raised a vast army but payment to the army men was not sufficient. That is why, he fixed the prices of essential commodities so that a soldier with a very less salary could get those commodities at a cheap rate and could manage his family smoothly and peacefully.
11. He appointed an officer who acted as controller of grain market and was known as shahana-i- Mandi. The office of Shahana-i-Mandi controlled the grain Market and prepared a chart mentioning the prices of various essential commodities. He fixed the prices of food-grains, cloth and other commodities and under no circumstances he permitted any rise of them. He was assisted by a number of experienced subordinates.
12. Except those authorized merchants, no one was allowed to buy grains from the cultivators.The merchants had to sell all commodities at the fixed rates without any deviation in it. If a merchant was found black-marketing the commodities, he was subjected to severe punishments.
13. Even if a merchant sold a commodity under-weight, the same amount of flesh was cut off from his body. Black- marketing and hoarding of food grains and other articles were seriously viewed and the officers, engaged in the work of supervision were required to furnish guarantee in writing that they would not permit any-one neither to hoard nor to do any sort of black-marketing.
14. ‘Shahana-i-Mandi’, issue permit to purchase costly articles from the market.The other important officers engaged in this work were ‘Diwan-i-riyasat’ and ‘Sarai adl’, who acted as a judge.They performed their duties with strict honesty and regularity and punished everyone who was guilty of violating the regulation. As a result the prices of commodities throughout the reign of Ala-ud-din remained cheap. This was a great achievement of his economic policy.
15. His market control policy was a praiseworthy step .Revenue Policy:Ala-ud-din had given utmost importance to increase the state revenue.In the first measure, he confiscated all lands given as grants and gifts. He compelled the people who have enjoying these lands, to pay tax. The tax collectors were instructed to extract from them as much money as possible.
16. Secondly, the privileged people like Chaudhuris, Muqaddums and Khuts were compelled to pay land tax, house tax grazing tax like the other ordinary People. They were deprived of their previous honour and respect. The non-muslim were compelled to pay Jizya and many other taxes.Thirdly, he fixed the land revenue at fifty percent of the total produce
17. He was the first sultan who introduced the measurement of lands for assessment of revenue.He appointed very competent and honest revenue officers in the task of revenue collection and measurement of lands.
18. He was a great patron of learning. During his reign poets like Amir Kusrau and many other scholars attended his court.Ala-ud-din had a great love for architecture. Alai Darwaza is regarded as the perfect example of early Turkish architecture was constructed by him. He built a number of new forts, mosques and palaces. He had a desire to build a minar which would be twice the size of the Kutab Minar. He started its construction but could not complete it. However Ala-ud-din Khilzi is considered as the greatest king in the history of Sultanate for all these above achievements.
19. Referencehttps://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/domestic-policy-during-the-ruling-period-of-ala-ud-din/3042.Chandra, Satish: Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. 1997.