Late Middle Ages · South Asia · Politics
1305
Alauddin Khalji's market reforms
1305
Facing constant Mongol raids, the Delhi sultan imposed price controls on grain, cloth, horses, and slaves in his capital. Inspectors patrolled the bazaars; hoarders were executed. Merchants who cheated on weights had flesh cut from their bodies as penalty. The result was a cheap and reliable military cantonment. It was the most elaborate state price regulation the medieval world knew.