RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES AND MILITARY FEUDALISMmarkets of Delhi, from the land revenue of the area around Delhi and from
the tribute of subjected kings. Land revenue and tribute were not always
paid very regularly. The rural people were still mostly Hindus; the Muslims
lived in the cities and towns where sometimes whole castes of artisans had
embraced Islam so as to overcome the stigma of low caste status. The few
Muslims who lived outside the big cities and towns spent their time in the
small fortified administrative centres (qasba). The countryside and
agricultural production were controlled by the traditional Hindu
authorities, the headmen of the villages. The sultan depended on them as
they were the middlemen through whom he controlled the rural people.
Ala-ud-din considered the haughtiness and the direct or indirect resistance
of these Hindu middlemen to be the main difficulty besetting his rule. In a
dialogue with a scholar, Ala-ud-din vividly described this problem which
was more or less the same in all medieval Indian states, whether they were
ruled by Hindus or Muslims:
I have discovered that the khuts and mukkadims [local tax
collectors and village headmen] ride upon fine horses, wear fine
clothes, shoot with Persian bows, make war upon each other, and
go out for hunting; but of the kharaj [land revenue], jizya [poll
tax], kari [house tax] and chari [pasture tax] they do not pay one
jital. They levy separately the khut’s [landowner’s] share from the
villages, give parties and drink wine, and many of them pay no
revenue at all, either upon demand or without demand. Neither do
they show any respect for my officers. This has excited my anger,
and I have said to myself: ‘Thou hast an ambition to conquer
other lands, but thou hast hundreds of leagues of country under
thy rule where proper obedience is not paid to thy authority. How
then wilt thou make other lands submissive?^2Ala-ud-din was also quite realistic when he mentioned that his order would
be obeyed only up to a distance of about 100 miles from Delhi; beyond
that limit military intervention was required if he wanted to impose his will
on the people. Another problem which all sultans had to face was the
constant babble of conspiracy in the capital and at the court. Ala-ud-din
felt that the many feasts and drinking bouts of his courtiers and officers
were the mainspring of such intrigues.
After some initial conspiracies and revolts at his court and Hindu
rebellions in the rural areas in the early years of his rule, Ala-ud-din
decided to get at the root of this problem by introducing reforms which
were also intended to secure the support of a large standing army and
assure the food supply of his capital. He first of all confiscated all landed
property from his courtiers and officers. Revenue assignments were also
cancelled and the revenue was collected by the central administration.