Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/149

 ADMINISTRATION AND TAXATION 117 To increase this supply and encourage larger im- portation he gave orders that the crown villages of the Doab and some other parts should pay their taxes in kind, and with these contributions he accumulated vast stores of grain in Delhi, from which in times of scarcity corn was sold at the tariff price to the inhab- itants. The carriers of the kingdom were registered and en- couraged to bring corn from the vil- lages at the fixed price. Any attempts at regrating or hold- ing up corn and sell- ing it at enhanced .prices were sternly put down. Inspec- tors watched the markets, and if the prices rose by so much as a farthing, the overseer received twenty stripes with a stick; the offence seldom recurred. Short weight was checked by the effectual method of carving from the hams of the unjust dealer a piece of flesh equivalent to the deficit in the weight of what he had sold. Everything was set down in the tariff: vegetables, fruits, sugar, oil, horses, slaves, caps, DOAB VILLAGERS.