Alauddin Khilji – Revenue and Military Reforms

Revenue and military reforms of Alauddin

The Slave (Mamluk) Dynasty established by Qutub-ud-din Aibak in c. 1206 AD, came to an end in in C. 1290 AD. After that power was captured by Khiljis. It was Jalal-ud-din Khilji who established the new dynasty, Khilji Dynasty in c. 1290 AD. They were considered of low origin people during the Slave dynasty because they were Afghans.

Other than Jalal-ud-din Khilji, Alauddin Khilji was most successful Sultan, not only of this dynasty but of entire Delhi Sultanate. He succeeded the throne of Delhi sultanate in c. 1296 AD after killing his uncle Jalal-ud-din Khilji. After ascending the throne of Delhi sultanate, he undertook number of reforms in various different fields of politico-administration, military and economic.

Also Read : Administrative Reforms of Alauddin Khilji

Alauddin Khilji – Theory of Kingship

The Khilji Revolution

Revenue or Taxation Reforms of Alauddin Khilji

These reforms were among the important achievements of Alauddin. These reforms formed part of efforts made by Alauddin to consolidate his authority and to eliminate the all-possible challenges. He introduced these reforms to consolidate the extra wealth lying with intermediaries, peasants and common peoples. The other main reason was to maintain a large army. He initially introduced these reforms in Doab region.

The Doab region (the land between river Ganga and Yamuna) was chosen because it was located close to capital, so he could inspect the implementation of reforms himself. And intermediaries were stronger in Doab region. He introduced a new system of land revenue assessment known as Masahat, was developed. In which, the revenue was assessed through the survey and measurement of land.

The rate of land revenue was increased to 50% from the previous 33% of the produce. New tax known as Ghari (house tax) and Charai (grazing tax) were introduced. The privileges enjoyed by intermediaries were taken away. They were ordered to pay land revenue at normal rate. Extra tax was collected from peasants for their own use. Haqq-i-Khoti and Kismat-i-khoti were abolished.

The rate of Khum was increased to 4/5^th of the war booty. Only 1/5^th was distributed among the soldiers. A new department known as Diwan-i-Mustakharaj was created for collecting arears of revenue from Iqtadars. Alauddin appointed honest senior officials in revenue office and he personally examined the document himself. The dishonest officials were punished severely. According to Barani, the punishment among officials were so intense that no-body wanted to marry his daughter with person working in revenue department.

Military Reforms of Alauddin Khilji

The imperial mindset was the main force behind the military reforms of Alauddin as he wanted to counter the challenge of Mongols as well as wanted to enlarge his territorial extent. So, he undertook various changes in military. The practice of paying soldiers through land grants was stopped and he started to pay them in cash. The salary of a foot soldier was fixed at 78 tankas per annum. The salary of a cavalryman was fixed at 234 tankas per annum.

The soldier who was maintaining an extra horse was paid an addition of 78 tankas per annum. The soldiers were provided weapons from the side of state to ensure the high quality. The soldiers and horses were regularly inspected to eliminate the possibilities of low quality of horses and soldiers in army. The Iqtadars were ordered to regularly bring their soldiers to capital for inspection.

To eliminate the possibilities of using proxies during inspection and battles, the practice of Dag (branding of horses) and Huliya (descriptive record of soldiers were maintained).

These reforms of Alauddin were highly successful because it helped him to maintain a large army and to counter the challenge of Mongols successfully. Revenue reforms also provided backing to military reforms by providing extra revenue, so that a large was maintained.