36 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM OF MOSLEM INDIA 
was found that the accumulated treasure of the kingdom 
would very soon be exhausted if the necessary forces were 
maintained. To meet this difficulty, Aliuddin determined 
on his famous policy of reduction and control of prices, so 
that the resources of the kingdom might be able to bear 
the expenditure deemed to be necessary for its security. 
A little must be said on the general aspects of this policy, 
because on the one hand its possibility has been questioned, 
while on the other hand its extent has been exaggerated. 
It seems to me that the chronicler’s account must be 
accepted in substance, to the extent that, in and near 
Delhi, prices were in fact reduced, and were stabilised at 
the lower level for a period of about twelve or thirteen years, 
a period which was not marked by anything like serious 
dearth, though some seasons were unsatisfactory! Ziya 
Barni had no motive for inventing such a story, and, what is 
more significant, he obviously did not possess the power of 
economic analysis which would have been needed for its 
invention. The long and detailed price-regulations 
(Pp. 304 ff.) can be summarised very shortly. Their essence 
was, (1) control of supplies, and (2) control of transport, 
with (3) rationing of consumption when necessary, the whole 
system resting on (4) a highly-organised intelligence, and 
(5) drastic punishment of evasions. This summary, it will 
be seen, applies almost precisely to the system of control 
which was elaborated in England during the years of war, 
and which was proved by experience to be effective. It is 
quite inconceivable that a writer like Ziya Barni could have 
invented these essential features out of his head; but it is 
quite conceivable that, in the economic conditions of the 
time, a King like Alauddin, aided, as he certainly was, by 
competent Ministers, should by degrees have arrived at the 
essentials of the policy he was determined to enforce. He 
Barni implies (p. 308) that there were seasons which would otherwise 
e meant famine in Delhi, but his language shows that he was straining 
effect, and consequently it requires to be discounted. Other references 
o “famine” indicate that the word meant for him a scarcity of provisions 
in the city, rather than a deficiency of production throughout the country; 
and we should not be justified in inferring from his language that there 
was a famine in the ordinary sense during the period, though there were 
seasons when, without Alauddin’s regulations, a rise in prices would have 
been needed to draw adequate supplies to the capital