Question

Describe Alauddin Khalji's administrative and market reforms

Answer 1

Market reforms of Alauddin Khalji

The Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji (r. 1296-1316) instituted price controls and related reforms in his empire. Alauddin's courtier Amir Khusrau states that Alauddin's objective the welfare of the general public. However, Ziauddin Barani (c. 1357) states that the Sultan's objective was to subjugate the Hindusand to maintain an unprecedentedly large army (the low prices would make low salaries acceptable for the soldiers).
Alauddin fixed the prices for a wide range of goods, including grains, cloth, slaves and animals. He banned hoarding and regrating, appointed supervisors and spies to ensure compliance with the regulations, and severely punished the violators. The reforms were implemented in the capital Delhi, and possibly, other areas of the Sultanate. They were revoked shortly after Alauddin's death, by his son Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah.

BackgroundEdit

The main source of information about Alauddin's reforms is Ziauddin Barani, a Delhi Sultanate chronicler who wrote around half-a-century after Alauddin's death.[1] Barani provides a numbered list of Alauddin's regulations, but his account does not contain the verbatim text of the royal orders. Barani's has reproduced the regulations from his memory, organizing them in a logical sequence.[2]
Barani's account, at least his narration of Alauddin's price control measures, is corroborated by other writers who mention the reforms with lesser detail.[1]Alauddin's courtier Amir Khusrau mentions the price control measures, attributing these to Alauddin's desire for public welfare.[3] The 16th century chronicler Firishta also describes the reforms, and besides Barani, his account seems to be based on Shaikh Ainuddin Bijapuri's now-lost Mulhiqat-i Tabaqat-i Nasiri. While Bijapuri was not a contemporary of Alauddin, he may have had access to other lost works that described these reforms.[4]

ObjectiveEdit

Alauddin's courtier Amir Khusrau, in his Khazainul Futuh (1311), states that Alauddin reduced and fixed prices because of his "great regard for general prosperity and abundance, and for the happiness and comfort of the select as well as the commons."[3] A later anecdote also states that Alauddin implemented his price control measures for the welfare of the citizens. This anecdote was mentioned by the 14th century writer Hamid Qalandar, and is originally said to have been narrated by Malikut Tujjar ("Prince of Merchants") Qazi Hamiduddin to the Sufi saint Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi, during the early reign of Firuz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351-1388). Hamiduddin told Nasiruddin that he once entered Alauddin's chamber, and found him engaged in deep thought. Alauddin told Hamiduddin that he wanted to do something for the benefit of the common people, because the God had made him the leader of these people. Alauddin stated that he considered giving away all his treasures and property, but then realized that the benefits of such a distribution would not reach all the people. He then got the idea of lowering and fixing the price of grains, which would benefit all the people.[5]
Contrary to these accounts, Barani states that Alauddin (who was a Muslim) introduced these reforms to be able z

Answer 2

Allaudin Khilji was a great administrator who possessed skills of planning. To secure his kingdom from external attacks he repaired old forts in the Northwest frontier province. He appointed skilled governors. The responsibilities of protecting the borders were given to the experienced generals like Malik Kafur and Zafar Khan.Alauddin's market reforms ended a few months after his death, when they were revoked by his son Qutbuddin Mubarak sah.This led to an increase in prices, and consequently, wages. Mubarak Shah also released a large number of prisoners that Alauddin's administration had arrested for various reasons.