1870.] Translations from the Tdrikh i Firuz Shdhi. 25 



Regulation II. — The Sultan to store a large quantity of grain in gra- 

 naries. 



Regulation III. — To appoint a Shihnah (inspector) of the market (mandi) 

 and trustworthy men with full power and dignity. 



Regulation IV. — The merchants (kdrivdnidn) of all parts of the empire 

 to be registered in a Daftar. They are to be in charge of the Shihnah i 

 Mandi. 



Regulation V. — The revenue of the Duab and the country to a distance 

 of 100 /cos so to be settled, that the subjects cannot even lay by 10 mans of 

 grain, and the subjects to be ground down to such an extent, that they sell 

 the grain on the fields to the merchants. (For ^•*-Lb, 1. 2, p. 305, read 

 <yuJUai !) 



Regulation VI. — To take certificates from the Collectors [hdrkundn]* of 

 the country to shew that the merchants get the grain on the fields. (For 

 o^lj O&fjf read c^j^Ij ij-^j^, as is clear from p. 307). 



Regulation VII. — To appoint a trustworthy travelling agent (barid) 

 who, together with the Shihnah, is to report to the Sultan on the state of 

 the market. 



Regulation VIII. for rendering produce cheap. — In times of drought, 

 no produce, not even for a ddng, uselessly to be sold in the markets. 



In consequence of these eight rules, the price of grain did not rise a ddng, 

 whether there was an excess or a scarcity of rain. (The last regulation is 

 not enumerated separately on p. 308 of the text).] 



The first regulation was of this description — Wheat, 7 J jetals pel" 

 man; barley, 4/.; gram, 5/.; rice, bj. ; mash, 5j. ; and mot'h, 

 3 y.f The above prices held good for years, and as long as Sultan 

 'Alauddin was alive, grain never did rise a ddng above that, either 

 during an excess or a scarcity of rain, and this establishment of a fixed 

 price in the market was considered one of the wonders of the age, 



* We should not forget that Kdrkun was the title of a class of Revenue 

 officials under the 'Amil, or Collector. During the reign of Akbar, the 'A'mil, 

 had two bitikclns or ' writers' under him, whose titles were Kdrkun and Khdc- 

 nawis. Abulfazl specifies their duties in the Akbarnaniah (beginning of the 

 27th year). 



The Bond (pr. ' runner,' from the Latin veredns), in time of Barani had to 

 perform those duties which the Wdqi' ahnatois under the Mughuls had to per- 

 form. Vide my Am translation, p. 258. Abulfazl, indeed, says that the office 

 of the Wiiqi'ahtiawis was an innovation by Akbar ; but from Barani (Ed. Bibl. 

 Ind., p. 40, 1. (! from below) it is quite clear that the office existed as early as 

 in the reign of Balban, though the ' Waqi'ahnawis' was called band. Hence 

 news agent would be perhaps a better term than travelling agent. 



f Professor Cowell, I think, observes very correctly that these price lists 

 would be more interesting, if the coins and their value were better understood. 

 But they may be compared with the price lists in tiie Ain, p. 62. 



