Iqta System

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ST TE AND ECONOMYStructure19.0 Objectives19.1 Introduction19.2 Distribution of Revenue Resources19 2 1 Iqta and lrh tlsl

19 2 2 The iqta System in Operation19 2 2 Land Grants19.3 Land Revenue and its Extraction19 3 1 Agrarian Measureso Alauddin Khalii19 3 2 Agrarian Measures o Muhammad Tughluq19.4 Alauddin Khalji s Market Control19.5 Currency System19.6 Slavery and Slave Trade19.7 Let Us Sum Up19.8 Key Words19.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

This Unit discusses how the Ghorian conquest and the establishment of the DelhiSultanate affected the Indian ecoriomy. It also attempts to highlight the changes thatoccurred during the course of the Sultanate.After-going through this Unit you will be able to learn about:

the nature of land revenue system and its extraction,the mechanism of distribution of revenue resources,price control measures of Alauddin Khalji,the use of slaves in urban economy and sources of enslavement, andthk increasing use of money in economy and the currency system.

19 1 INTRODUCTIONThe conquest of,Northern India by the Ghorids and the establishment of the Delhi -Sultanate not only changed tfre existing political structure but also brought, economicchange?. The conquerors came with fairly well-defined concepts and piacticesregarding tax collection and distribution, ahd system of coinage, etc. But the existingsystems could not be changed altogether immediately: in the beginning, these weresuperimposed on the older systems, and modifications and changes were introducedby different Sultans uptb the close of the 15th century.The new rulers wanted luxuries and comforts according to their taste and habits. Theslave labour was thus a great help to provide these.In the opinion of Muhammad Habib, the economic changes that occurred as aconsequence of the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate created an organisationconsiderably superior to the one that had existed before. He felt that the changeswere drastic enough to deserve the designation of Urban Revolution and RuralRevolution . D.D. Kdsarnbi recognised that hidebound customs in the adoptationand transmission of new techniques were broken down by the Islamic raiders , buthe regarded the changes no more than intensifying elements already present in Indian

.feudalism .In this Unit we will study the economic institutions and changes that the DelhiSultanate introduced.

19 2 DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUE RESOURCESDuring the 13th century, large territories rapidly passed into the hands of the Sultans.


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Economy o Delh. ... -_L d rhi-c.c.ve$ And their troops by plundering or by~xt ract ingribute fromthe defeated and subjdgated rural aristocracies. Unlike the previous rulers, thesoldiers were paid their salaries in cash.The regions that refused to pay land-tax or kharaj were known as mawas and wereplundered or forced to pay through military raids. Gradually a mechanism ofsimultaneous revenue rcollection and distribution had tohe introduced.19 2 1 Iqta and KbalisaThe new rulers brought with them the iqta system that combined the two functions ofrevenue collection and distribution without immediately endangering the unity ofpolitical structure. The iqta was a territorial assignment and its holder was called themuqti or the wali. The classical definition of the iqta system has been given byNizam-ul Mulk Tusi, a Seljuq statesinan of the 11th century (see Block 5). ~ c c o r & gto Tusi's definition, the iqta was a revenue assignment that the muqti held at thepleasure of Sultan. m e muqti was entitled to collect in proper manner t& land taxand other taxes due to the Sultan, he had no further claims on the person, women andchildren, land or other possessions of the cultivators. The muqti had certainobligations to the Sultan the chief being the maintenance of troops and furnishingthem at call to the Sultan. The iqta was a transferable charge and the transfers ofiqta s were frequent.Khalisa: The territory whose revenues were directly collected for the Sultan's owntreasury was designat d khaIiba. Its size seems to have expanded quite considerablyunder,Alauddin Khal . But the k h d h did not appear to consist of shifting territoriescattered throughout he country. In all probability, Delhi along with its surroundingdistrict, including parts of Doab remained in khalisa. In Iltutmish's time, Tabarhinda(Bhatinda) too was in khalisa. Under Alauddin Khalji, the. khelisP.cdvered thewhole of middle Doab and parts of Rohilkhand. But during the days of FerozTughluq, the khalisa perhaps had reduced considerably in size.Iltutmish (1210-36) is reported to have assigned in lieu of salaries small iqtas in theDoab to the soldiers bf the Sultan's army hashm qalb).palban (1266-86) made ahalf-hearted attempt tit their resumption without success. It was Alauddin Khalji(1296-1316) who established firmly the practice of payment of salaries in cash to thesoldiers. A practice that was again altered by Feroz Tughluq who began to assignvillages to soldiers in lieu of their salaries. These assignments were called wqjh andthe holders wajhdars, These assignments tended t o be not only permanent buthereditary.

_ _ -= >.19 2 2 The Iqta Spstem inOperation -You have already read about the Iqta system in Block 5 Here, we are adding a fewmore aspects. In the tarly years of the foundation of the Sultanate, neither therevenue income of these assignments was known nor the size of the contingent of theassignee was fixed. However, certain modifications and mild attempts at introducingcentral control to some-extent were made by Balban (1266-86) when he appointed akhwaja (accountant) with each muqti: this may imply that the Sultanate now wastrying to find out the actual income of the iqta and muqti s expenditure.'I'he real interventiorl in the iqta administration came under Alauddin Khalji. Thecentral finace department diwan-i wizarat) perhaps prepared some sort of anestimated revenue inicome from each iqta. The audit was stringent, punishmentssevere, transfers frequent and enhancements taufir) were often made in theestimated revenue i w m e of theiqt on various pretexts.Ghiyasuddin ~ug hl uq1320-25) introduced some moderation. The enhancements inthe estimated revenup income by the central finance ministry wds not to be more than1/10 or 1111th annually. The muqtisv:ere allowed to keep 1110th to 1120th in excess oftheir sanctioned salqies.The auempt at centre1 intervention reached its climax during the timi of Muhw madTughluq (1325-51). everal cases. a walk and an Pmir was appointed to the sametemtory. The wali wbs to collect revenue and, after deducting his pay, to send the restto the treasury. or commander had nothing to do with revenue realization

anrl thn ealnmr n h i e t r n n n e n -sch n r m cm n m g h lv Fmm th


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reign the troops of the iqta holders were paid in cash by the state s treasury. Thispossibility infuriated the commanders and created political problems for MuhammadTughluq. Feroz Tughluq, therefore, decided to make concessions. He enhanced thecash salahes of the nobles and got new estimates of revenue mahsul)prepared whichwas designated jama.I There was no attempt to restore central control by the successors of Feroz. Under theLodis (1451-1526), the administrative charges and revenue assignments werecombined together and these were no more called iqta but were simply called sarkarsand parganas. A system of sub-assignments came in vogue particularly underSikandar Lodi 1489-1517). The main assignees used to sub-assign portions of theirassignment to their subordinates who in turn made sub-assignments to their soldiers.19 2 3 Land GrantsAs you know already, the religious persons and institutions such asdargahs,mosques, ma d r a w and other dependents of the ruling class were maintained bymaking grants of revenue income. These revenue grants were calledmilk idrar, andin am. These grants were not generally resumed or transferred. But the Sultan hadthe right to cancel them. Alauddin Khalji is reputed to have cancelled almost allgrants. Ghiyasuddin Tughluq too cancelled large number of grants. However, FerozTughluq made a departure and not only returned all the previously resumed grantsbut also made new grants as well. In spite of this generosity of the Sultan, accordingto he figures recorded byAfif, the total grants by the Sultan accounted only for aboutone-twentieth of the total jama (estimated revenue income). Nobles, too, maderevenue grants out of their own iqtas. Noticeably, the Sultans made grants not only inthe khalisa but also in the iqtcrs. These grants covered cultivated as well as cultivableareas not yet brought under plough.

CheckYour Progress 11) How will you define iqta?...........................................................................................................

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...........................................................................................................2 p a t hanges were introduced in the iqta system by Muhammad Tughluq? .

Mark d ) gainst the correct and x ) against the wrong statements given below:(a) Alauddin Khalji allowed the muqtis to keep the excess income from their.iqtas.

(b) Ghiyasuddin Tughluq handed over iqtas to revenue-farmers.(c) The jama under Feroz Tughluq meant the estimated revenue income.

19-3 L ND REVENUE AND TS EXTRACTIONf i e slamic land tax with which the new rulers of India were familiar waskharaj. Thekharajwas essentially a share in the produce of the land and not a rent on the land?During the 13th century, the kharaj took by and large the form of tribute. Asmentioned earlier, this tribute was paid, in lump sum, either by the potentates

State and E a m m v.


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Economy of ~elb i ultanate some arrangement. Alternatively, from the recalc~t rant reas (mawas) where sucharrangements were hot possible, the tribute was extorted through plundering raids. I twas thus probably mostly in the form of cattle and slaves. ,The sources of ~ e l d i ultanate do not suggest that before the reign of AlauddinKhalji (12961316) any serious attempt was made to systematise the.assessment andrealization of kharaj.

19 3 1 grarian Measures of lauddin KhaljiYou have already rehd (Block 5 .in some detail about the agra;ian measures ofAlauddin Khalji. ~ i ittempt wa to ncrease the revenue collection by enhancing thedemand, introducing direct collection and cutting down the leakages to theintermediaries.As you know, the demand was thus fixed in kind but realization appears to be mostlyin cash. Barani informs us that the revenue collectors were ordered to demand therevenue with such rigour that the peasants should be forced to sell their produceimmediately at the side of the fields. At another place, Barani says that AlauddinKhalji brought the q oa b into khalisa apd the tax (mahsul) from there was spent onpaying the cash salaqies to the soldiers.Yet there is a rathericontradictory statement by the same author that the Sultanordered that the peakant should pay tax in kind and not in cash. According to ItfanHabib, it seems to hdve reference to only some parts of the khalisa in the Doab. Fromthere the Sultan wanted to obtain supplies for his granaries. Otherwise the realizationwas normally in cash'.Yet these new measures affected the rural intermediaries which we will discuss inUnit 20.The system of taxation introduced by Alauddin seems to have lasted for long thoughGh~yasuddinTughluq (1320-25) modified it to.some extent and exempted the khotsaod muqaddamsfrom paying tax on their cultivation and cattle. But he did not permitthem to impose any cesces on the peasants.

19 3 2 grarian Measures of Muhammad Tughluq~ u h a m m i d ughluq, first extended Alauddin Khalji's system of revenue collectionbased on measurement to Gujarat. Malwa, Deccan, South India and Bengal. At alater,stage, the scale of agrarian taxation wgs enhanced considerably. Barani'sstatement that the increase amounted to 20 or 10 times is undoubtedly a rhetoric butit certainly gives the impression of an enormous increase. Barani suggests thatadditional new imposts (abwab) were levied. Of the other taxes. kharaj, ch ar d andghari were more rigorously collected. According to Yahya, cattle were branded andcottages counted to avoid any concealments. B U ~ore important than thesemeasures was the fact that for assessment of kharaj, wafa-i-farmani (officiallydecreed yields) and drkh-i-farmani (officially decreed prices) were used. Thestatement very clearly implies that the yields and prices used for'calculating revenuewere not actual.One could very well expeCt that the decreed yields and prices were certainly inflated.Use of inflated yields instead of actual and prices much-higher than what wereprevailing, had the obvious result of overstating the value of produce and thus theshare of the state. This tremendous increase in revenue demaqdresulted incontraction of area under plough, flight of peasantry, and, a s wswil l see in Unit 2in a b ~ geaqant revolt in the Doab and around Delhi. This caused failure of grainsupplies to Delhi and a famine that lasted for about seven years, from 1334 5 to 1342.Faced with these problems, Muhammad Tughluq became the first Sultan to attemptto formulate an agrichltural policy for promoting agriculture. He introduced thepractice of giving agrkultural loans named sondliar for increasing the area underplough and foidigging wells f o ~rrigation. Barani says that 70 lakhs tenkas (accordingto Afif 2 krors t a n k 4 were given till 1346 7 in sondhar but perhaps hardly any


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A new ministry designated diwan-i amir-i kohi was established to promo teagriculture. Its two main functions we-re to extend the area under cultivation and toreclaim the land that w ent out o f cultivation and improving the cropping pattern. Itwas recommended that w heat should.be replaced by sugarcane and sugarcane bygrapes and dates.

The Sultan was so determined to introduce his project of agricultural im provementtha t when a theolo gian said tha t giving loan in cash and receiving the interest in grainwas sin, he executed him.Barani, how ever, says that alr these m easures were almost a complete failure. FerozTughluq (1351-88) abandoned these projects but abolished agrarian cesses, forbadelevying of ghari and chard. But he is reported to have imposed a separate tax iziya-distinct from kharaj (land-tax) on th e peasants. H e also introduced an irrigation taxin Haryana where he d u g canals.Th ere is little inform ation forthcoming f or the intervening period but in all probabilitythe land tax co ntinued to be collected in cash by whomsoever be the rulers, till thetime of Ibr ahim L odi (1517-26). Owing to the scarcity of currency and cheap ening ofthe grains, he is reported to have ordered collection of land revenue in kind o r ingrain.

Check Your Progress1) Discuss the land revenue system introduced by Alauddin Khalji.

2) Indicate the c orrect and wrong statemen ts given below hy marking d ) r x) .(a) T he areas which did not pay kharajwithout t he use of force were calledmawas.(b) Ghiyasuddin Tughluq imposed tax on the cultivation and cattle of khots and

muqaddams.(c) Ibrahim Lodi ordered for the collection of revenue in cash.

19.4, ALAWDDIN KHALJI S MARKET CONT ROLAlaudd in Khalji s mea sures did not remain confined to rural economy but extendedto urb an m arket as well. He is credited for issuing a set of seven regulations w hichcame t o be known as market-control measures. Barani,who is ou r main source on thisaspectis the only authority who gives these regulations in detail.Th e Sultan fixed the prices of all commodities from grain to clo th, slaves, cattle , etc.(Regu lation 1). These prices were really to be enforced since the Sultan carefullymade all arrangements for making the m easure success. A con troller of m arketshahna-i mandl), barids (intelligence office rs) and munhiyan (secret spies) wereappointed (Reg. 2). Th e grain merchants were placed under the shahna-i mandi andsureties were taken from them (Reg. 4). T he S ultan himself was to receive dailjlreports separately from these three sources (Reg. 7 . Regrating (ihtikar) wasprohibited (R eg. 5). W hile ensuring strict control in the m arket, t he Sultan did notoverlook th e m ore essential requirem ent, namely th e regular supply of grains and


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Economy ofDelbi Sultanate

1 Rleesofsome commod~tiessmentionedin contemporary .rrountsof thesultanate period

Table of prices is reprodpced from K M shraf, Life od Conditiolloft peopleo Delhi.1970,p. 160. The table copplie d from d ie re n t sources shows that the prices of these commoditieswent u p under Muhammakl Tughluq but dropped under Feroz Tughluq to the price level of Alaudd inKhalji s relgn.1

Obviously, the grain merchants could bring supplies to the market only if they couldget the grains and that, too, at sufficiently low prices. It was apparently for this reasonth at the Sultan decreed such a rigour in realization of land revenue in the Doab thatthe peasants should be forced to sell the grain to the h n i n (the grain merchants)at the side of the field (Reg. 6).The Sultan established granaries in Delhi and in Chhain in Rajasthan. The land taxfrom the khalisa in the Doah was realised in kind. Th e grain went to the stategranaries (Reg. 3). The Multanis who were cloth merchants were given 20 lakhs oftankas as advance loan to purchase and bring cloth to the market.


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heck Your Progress1) Discuss the measure s take n by Alauddin Khalji to introduce price control . tate and conomy

2 ) Explain briefly the reasons for:.(a) Introduction of price control according to Barani.

.(b) Dismantling of price control unde r the successors of Alauddin Khalji.

19 CURRENCY SYSTEMTh e establishment of the De lhi Sultana te was marked by a considerable growth ofmoney economy which accelerated particularly in the first half of the 14th c e n t u j .Since th e growth of money ec onomy in simple words mean s larger use of currency intransactions (monetisation is another term for this pbn om en on ), a large scaleminting of gold, silver an d coppe r coins that follow ed the foundation of the D elhiSultanate was an attenda nt process of the monetization of Indian economy.The period prior to th e foundation of the D elhi Sultanate was marked by the scarcityof coinage particularly of pure silver. Th e early Ghorid con querors foun d mintsuttering coins of copp er with very small silver contents. Ex cept an increase in thenumber of coins stampe d, no changes were introduced in th e beginning. The coinscontinued to b ear the image of goddess Lakshmi or bull-and-horseman, etc. Only thenam e of the new ruler in a corrup t form got inscribed over it in Nagri script. The secoins were called Dehliwal.lltutmish (1210-36) is credited fo r standardizing th e coinage of the Delhi Su ltanate.Th e currency system established by him in its essentials survived the D elhi Sultan ateHe introduced gold and silver tankas and a copper jital that was rec koned at 1/48th ofa tanka in North India a nd 1150th in the Decca n a fter the con quest of Devagiri.A firm ratio of 1:10 betwe en gold and silver appears to hav e been established.Fo r studying the currency system we not only have the testim onyb f th e chronicles butalso the physical evidence a vailable in the form of s un ivi ng coins (this is callednumismatic evidence).Th e Sultanate min ts generally uttere d coins in three m etals: gold, silver and billon(coppe r mixed with very small quan tity of silver). Th e main coins were tanka and jitalbut som e smaller currenc ies were also in circulation. Ba rani me ntions dangs anddirams in use a t the capital De lhi. The equa tion between these currencies in the northhas been worked o ut as:1silver tanka = 48 jital = 192 dangs = 480 diramsTh e gold and silver remitted from Bengal was the main sourc e of coinage during the13th century. Th e seizure of t reasure hoards in nor thern India and later in t b Deccanwas the oth er major source of silver and gold for coinage.The Sultana te mints should not only have coined governm ent money but alsos tamned hli ll ion and fo re i~ n oins hr ow ~h t v the nr ivate m erchant


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The silver currency remained dominant till the reign of Alauddin Khalji. FromGhiyasuddin TughluQ's reign, a decline in silver coinage in relation t ~ ' ~ o l dnd billonset in. Un der M uhamm ad Tughluq gold coinage overshadowed th e silver, and silvercoinage practically disappeared under Feroz Tug hluq. In the 15th cenfury, billonwi na ge dom inated (t he Lodis (1451-1526) uttered no oth er coins).Token Currency of Muham mad TughluqTh e only major innovation in th e currency system established by Iltutmish was madeby Muham mad T ughluq. T he Sultan introduced a coin of copp er and brass alloy andreckoned it at the value of a silver tanka. This wi n for the first time c am ed aninscription in Persian. This new currency w h o ~ eace value was much higher than itsintrinsic value (th at is, value of the m etal it was mad e of) is termed s oken currency.Th e introduction of tdken currency was already attem pted in sister Asian empires. InChina , Qublai Khan (1260-94) had introduc ed a token currency of paper and theexpe rim ent was successful. In Persia, Kaikhatu K han ( 293), too , tried to introduce atoken currency but thre attempt failed.Muham mad T ughluq's ex perimen t, too, m et total failure perhaps owing to the factthat t he new currency could easily be forged. B arani says rhetorically that every'Hindu' household became a mint. H owev er, the Sultan accepted the failure withgrace and exchanged all the token currency brought to th e treasury with purecurrency.Check Your Progress 41) Discuss th e introduction of 'token currency'.

2) Mark y ) gainst th e stateme nt if it is true and X ) if false.(a) Alauddin K halji established the currency system of the Sultanate.(b) On e silver tanha was equal to 48 jitals in North India.(c) Th e main sourae of silver for coinage in the D eccan were the treasure ho ardsof th e local rulers.(d) Silver coins in Feroz Tughluq's reigh outn um bere d gold coins.' t

19 6 SL VERY ND SL VE TR DETh e Gho rians found slavery in existence in India w here it had an ancient history.They certainly had no ethical qualms about it. Slavery was permitted in Islam a nd itwas prevalent in the Islamic world. According to Irfan Ha bib, th e Ghaznavid and th eGhorid invasions of Ndrthern India, like Julius Caeser's invasions of B ritain, werepartly for acquiring slaves. T he success of a campaign was to b e m easured by t henum ber of captives acquired along with gold, silver, cattle and horses. QutbuddinAibak captured 2 thousand slaves in his Guja rat cam paign o f 1195 and 50 th9,usandslaves in raid on Kalinjar in 1202. Even a fter the establishment of the S u lt an at , theenslavement continued through campaigns in yet to be w nqu erred areas. One of themain objects of Balbanls raid of Ranth ambo r an d Malik Kafur's campaigns in theDeccan was to get slaves.Ano ther source of getting captives was th e plunde r raids of rebellious villages(mawas) in the Sultanate that refused to pay th e k h a M or tribute. The number ofslaves received from these sources was tnorm ous. The re were 50,000 slaves inAlauddin K halji's (12991316) establishment. T he num ber increased to 1,80,000under Feroz Tughluq (135.1-88). Besides the S ultans, nobles had their private larg eretinues of slaves indu ding large numb er of concubines. Even the respectabls poorkep t slaves,

i The s lw e s w ere of m e ai use t o t he new rulin class t ha t n ee de d thin s fashioned t o


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their taste. At the beginning, it pight have been somewhat difficult for the traditionalIndian craftsmen and artisans to adjust themselves to the demands of the newaristocracy and to new production technology such as spinning wheel, carding bow,etc. The previously unskilled slpves could be trained in any craft. Feroz Tughlua sslaves included 12,000 artisaas.There was a large slave market. The prices of slaves of the twc sexes arid i sriousages fixed under Alauiidin Khalji are recorded by Barani. The abundance or slavesencouraged continuous export of slaves from India to the Islamic World. But FerozTughluq prohibited the export of slaves.heck Your Progress

1 Indicate the correct statement by marking d ) nd wrong by X).(a) Slaves were maintained only by the Sultan and his nobles.(b) Ghorid campaigns were partly invasions of slave raiders.(c) Feroz Tughluq had a large number of slaveaartisans.(d) Alauddin Khalji prohibited export of slaves from India.

2) What were the main sources of supply of slaves in the Delhi Sultanate?

19 7 LET US SUM UPIn this Unit, you have studied the impact of the Delhi sultanate on Indian economyw e have traced how gradually the previously existing systems of revenue collection-and distribution changed, cash nexus grew, and pure silver currency was introduced.

19 8 KEY WORDSA coper coin; 8jitd = ankaGrain MerchantsLand revenueEstimated revenueRebellious aredvillage where land revenue was extracted by the ,use of forceA Muslim educational institutionRevenue free grantsSee Block 5Iqta-holder/provincial governor

19 9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESSEXERCISES

heck Your Progress 11) See Sub -sec. 19.2. 1


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Econom of Delhi Sultanate Check Your ~ro ~re ss i2 . .1) See Sub -r e c 19.p. I2 a ) b) x c)Check Your Progress 31) See Sec. 19.4 .2) See Sec. 19.4Check Your Progress 41 See Sec. 19.52) a) x b) c)Check Your Progress51) a) x b) c) v d l x.2. See Sec. 19.6

Iqta System

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