38 Translations from the Tdrihh i Firiiz Shahi. [No. 1, 



was an easy matter to clear the outskirts of a jungle, and subject dis- 

 tant nations, but it was difficult to clear a jungle from within and 

 suppress rebellious bazar people. But Sultan 'Alauddin inquired per- 

 sonally so carefully into the sales and purchases of the articles of every 

 bazar as to astonish every one ; and in consequence of his minute 

 examination of the prices, the prices of the bazar — a very difficult 

 matter — did get low.] 



[The third regulation for keeping prices low referred to the appoint- 

 ment of Shihnahs on the part of the Dhvdn i Biydsat. Ya'qiib, the 

 Ndzir and Bais of the town, selected and appointed Shihnahs for each 

 bazar, gave each Shihnah a copy of the price lists which had emanated 

 from the throne, and ordered them, whenever bazar people should sell 

 things, to write down the prices at which they had been sold ; and 

 should they have no opportunity to write down the sales, the Shihnah 

 should always enquire from the purchasers how much they had paid for 

 anything. Should then a marketman be found out to have sold 

 things at a price not sanctioned by the price lists, he should be taken 

 before the Bais, and the responsibility of that bazar which if they 



give less weight (?) the Shihnah (?). The appointment of a 



Shihnah for each bazar was very conducive to keeping prices low.] 



[The fourth regulation calculated to keep prices low, was this, that 

 the Nazir Ya'qiib should illtreat and beat the people of the bazars 

 and cut off pieces of flesh from their cheeks, if they did not give proper 

 weights. Young and old people in the city were unanimous that no 

 Biwan i Biydsat, in any age, could have been harsher than the Nazir 

 Ya'qiib ; for in every bazar he used (daily) ten, twenty times to enquire 

 into the prices at which articles were sold, and at each enquiry he dis- 

 covered deficiencies in weight and lashed the tradespeople mercilessly, 

 and illtreated them in every possible way. But notwithstanding his 

 harshness and his lashes and punishments, the bazar people would not 

 desist from giving short weight ; for though they sold things at the 



wrong, for on p. 323, I. 17, the editors have put Tdtak ; ?. 15, read u£UjJ for 

 i®jl^J as on lines 10 and 18, unless again both are wrong ; I. 17, read ^t.i.ssi 

 for &&+*» j I- 21, read Oo^tiof. P. 321, 1. 1, dele the Hamzah, which is against 

 Persian Grammar ; I. 7, dele j • I. 15, read ^l^Afj for^xS^!) • I. 17, ^^Mj for 

 i^j ; I. 20, ^j for ^j. 



