THE 1311s AND 1l4tH CENTURIES 53 
he was employed in the Revenue Ministry; but he wrote 
late in life, when his patron was dead, when Delhi had been 
sacked by Timiir, and when the kingdom was rapidly falling 
to pieces. The contrast between the present and the past, 
on which he so often insists, is sufficient by itself to explain 
the warmth of his recurring eulogies of his deceased patron, 
and his language also must be rather heavily discounted; 
but fortunately he was fond of relating anecdotes, and a 
study of the gossipy reminiscences contained in his later 
chapters makes it possible to form a more just idea of the 
quality of the king’s administration than can be obtained 
from the formal portions of the chronicle. Firtiz was a 
devout Moslem, and some of his recorded actions towards 
Hindus may evoke criticism at the present day; but, taken 
as a whole, he may be described as benevolent, but essen- 
tially weak.! His reign was undoubtedly a golden age for 
the bureaucracy at headquarters, the source from which 
our information regarding it is derived; but control over the 
provincial Governors was lax, some very unsuitable appoint- 
ments to these posts are recorded, and there is room for 
doubt as to the extent to which the king's benevolent in- 
tentions were realised in the more distant provinces. The 
heart of the kingdom, however, appears to have been peaceful 
and prosperous for the greater part of the reign. 
On his accession Firiiz found the revenue administration 
in disorder, and one of the first tasks? of his Minister was 
to reorganise it. That there must have been disorder is 
clear from what has been already said: the River Country 
was still depopulated, while the provinces had fallen into 
the hands of speculators, who, it may safely be inferred, 
had been more concerned to make an immediate profit 
than to adhere to any regulations which were in force. The 
proportion of produce now claimed as revenue is not stated 
1 It may perhaps be objected that a really weak king could not have 
held the kingdom together for nearly forty years, but Firdz had from the 
putset the services of a Vazir of exceptional strength and loyalty in 
Khanjahin Maqbil, who was succeeded by his son, another strong and 
{for the most part) loyal Minister; and these two men were clearly the 
backbone of the administration throughout the reign. ~ The collapse 
began when the second Khinjahdn became disloyal. 
2 Barni, 571; Afif, 94. These passages are translated and discussed in 
Appendix C.