Page 24 - SST Class 07
P. 24

TAJIKISTAN
                                                                                 Besides his campaigns, Ala-ud-din
                                                                                 Khalji paid attention to other aspects
                Herat     Kabul
                                       KASHMIR                                   of administration also. He needed a
               AFGHANISTAN
                              Peshawar
                              Peshawar    H  I I       C H I N A                 large amount of money for his
                                          H
             N    Kandahar   NNGOLS   Lahore   M                                 military campaigns, so he ordered the
                                             M
             A                                 A  L
                                               A
                                                 L
             R            MO  Multan               A      TIBET                  measurement     of   all  land   under
                                                   A
                       Quetta
             I                                      Y                      N N
                                                    Y
                  P A K I S T A N   DELHI             A         U U  N N  T T  A A  I I  cultivation and got it divided into
                                                      A
                                                   N          O O
                                                           M M
                                           Agra     EPAL       BHUTAN            different categories on the basis of
                                                   NEPAL
                                 Ranthambhore
                      Hyderabad   Mewar         Awadh                            fertility, on the basis of which land
                                                                   DESH
                                                                NGLAD
                        SINDH   Chittor           Allahabad    BA GLA ESH        revenue (called kharaj   ) was fixed.
                                                               BAN
             o c
            Tr pi  o f C ncer
                   a
                               MALWA                         BENGAL              This revenue was as high as one-half
                                                             BENGAL
                            GUJARAT   I  Ujjain  Illichpur     A        BURMA    of the total produce in the doab
                                         N
                                             D
                                                 I
                                     Devgiri             A    BAY                region (the fertile region between the
                  ARABIAN                               SS
                                                      ORI      OF                Ganga and Yamuna rivers). However,
                    SEA
                                              Warangal
                                                            BENGAL               he ensured that the nobles did not
                                                                                 collect more tax than he had fixed.
                                                        REFERENCE
                                                        Empire of
                                                        Ala-ud-Din Khalji        Ala-ud-din had to maintain a large
                                                        Conquered but left off
                                     Dwar-Samudra                                army, which he wanted to manage
                                                        Independent
                                                        Capital of State         out of limited resources. So, he fixed
                                           Madurai      Kafur’s Route   (INDIA)   ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS   the  prices  of  all  essential
                                             Rameshwaram
                                                                                 commodities, like grains, sugar, oils
                            (INDIA)
                                                SRI                              and clothes. He appointed officials to
                              LAKSHADEEP
                       MALDIVES                LANKA
                                   I N D I A N       O C E A N                   ensure that the shopkeepers did not
                                                                                 sell anything above the fixed prices.
                          Map of India during Khalji period 1290-1320 AD
                                                                    In fact, he had done this to allow his soldiers to
            In order to realise his dreams, he strengthened and     buy essential commodities with the limited salary
            equipped his army. Then he set out to conquer           he paid them in cash.
            parts of India. He conquered Gujarat and Malwa
                                                                    Ala-ud-din Khalji also undertook reforms of the
            which gave him access to seaports. In Rajasthan,
            he captured the forts of Ranthambore and Chittor        army. He got the battle horses branded so that the
                                                                    nobles could not replace them with the horses of
            from the Rajputs. He assigned the task of
                                                                    inferior quality. Also, the face description of every
            conquering the south to his trusted general, Malik
            Kafur .  Malik   Kafur   defeated    the   Yadavas,     soldier was maintained in the records. He had
                                                                    spies in different parts of his empire to keep him
            Kakatiyas, Hoysalas and Pandyas. He received a
                                                                    informed of the latest developments in different
            large tribute from these rulers in the Deccan.
            Towards the end of his rule, the empire of Ala-ud-      fields.
            din Khalji was as large as that of Ashoka the Great     Ala-ud-din Khalji died in 1316. With it, the war of
            in the ancient period.                                  succession broke out, and the Tughluqs     came to
                                                                    power in 1320 AD.
                                                                        Quiz Time
                                                                     Fill in the blanks :
                                                                     1. When Muhammad Ghori defeated ___________       ,
                                                                        the Delhi Sultanate began.
                                                                     2. Balban came to the throne in ___________  .
                                                                     3. The Slave dynasty is also called the _________ .
                              Ranthambore Fort
                     Contemporary Social Science-7
               24
   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29