Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/299

 CHARACTER OF SHER KHAN 239 ability and wisdom are unquestioned, and in Ms fiscal and other reforms we see the true origin of many of Akbar's most famous measures. " The whole of his brief administration," in the words of Keene, " was based on the principle of union. A devout Moslem, he never oppressed his Hindu subjects. The disputes of his own people he suppressed with all the energy of his nature. He laboured day and night, for he said ' It behooves the great to be always active.' He divided his territory into hundreds, in each of which were local officers whose place it was to mediate between the people and the officers of the crown. Not content with the administrative side of social reform, he went beyond most Moslem rulers and attempted a certain crude legis- lation. The nature of the attempts attributed to him shows that a critical moment was passing in mediaeval India. His ordinances touched on almost all the pri- mary parts of administration, and evinced real care for the people's welfare. All this has an importance beyond the immediate time. After the Moghul restoration Sher Shah's officials passed into Akbar's service; the faults imputed by the shah to what he called Moghul adminis- trationbut which are common to all Turks were pre- vented; and this far-sighted man even after his death and the subversion of his dynasty, remained the origi- nator of all that was done by mediasval Indian rulers for the good of the people." It must not be imagined that all this was accom- plished by mildness. " Sher Shah's authority," says his historian, Abbas Khan, " whether he was absent or