Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/394

 336 AURANGZIB and helpless, and in places where there were no cara- vansarais for the lodging of travellers, they have been built by the emperor. All the mosques in the empire are repaired at the expense of the state, and leaders in public prayer, criers to daily prayers, and readers of the sermons have been appointed at each mosque, so that a large sum of money is laid out in these disbursements. In all the cities and towns of this extensive country, pensions, allowances, and land have been given to learned men and professors, while stipends have been fixed for scholars according to their abilities and qualifications. As it is a great object with this emperor that all Mohammedans should follow the principles of the relig- ion as expounded by the most competent law officers and the followers of the Hanifi persuasion, and as these principles could not be distinctly and clearly learned in consequence of the different opinions of the judges and theologians which have been delivered without any au- thority, and as there was no book which embodied them all, and as no man could satisfy his mind concerning any disputed problem until he had collected many books and had obtained sufficient leisure, means, and knowl- edge of theological subjects, therefore his Majesty, the protector of the Faith, determined that a body of emi- nently learned and able men of Hindustan should take up the voluminous and trustworthy works which were collected in the royal library, and having made a digest of them, should compose a book which might form a standard canon of the law and afford to all an easy and