Page:The Architecture of Ancient Delhi Especially the Buildings Around the Kutb Minar 1872 by Henry Hardy Cole.djvu/135

 The Kutb Miliar. 91 Timuri.) The Ordinances run as follows: "It ha- been usual in former tunes to apill Muhammadan M I on trivia] occasions and, for Bmall crimes, to mutilate and torture by cutting off tin; hands and feet; by pulverising the bones of the living criminals with mallets ; by burning the body with fire ; by crucifixion and by nailing the hands and feel ; by flaying alive; by the operation of hamstringing and by cutting human beings to pit Hod, in his infinite goodness, having Keen pleased to confer on me the power, lias also inspired me with the disposition to pul an end to these practices. Ir is my resolution, moreover, to restore in the daily prayers offered up for the royal family the names of all those princes, my predecessors, who have reigned over the empire of Delhi, in hopes thai these prayers being acceptable to God may in some measure appease his wrath and ensure his mercy towards them. It is also hereby proclaimed that the small and vexatious taxes, under the denomination of Kotwalli. tv.e.. payable to the public servants of the government as perquisites of office by small trader-: that licenses for the right of pasturage from shepherds, on waste lands belonging to the crown; fees from flower sellers, fishsellers, cotton cleaner-, silk sellers and cook-; and the precarious and fluctuating taxes on shopkeepers and vintners, shall henceforward cease throughout the realm: for it is better to relinquish this portion of the revenue than realise it at the expense of so much distress, occasioned l>y the discretionary power necessarily vested in tax gatherers and officers of authority: nor will any tax hereafter be levied contrary to the written law of the hook. It has been customary to set aside one-fifth of all property taken in war for the troops ; and to reserve four-fifths to the government. It is hereby ordered that in future four-fifths shall he distributed to the troop-, and one-fifth only reserved for the crown. I will on all occasions cause to be banished from the realm persons convicted of the following crimes: — Those who profess atheism, or who maintain schools of vice. All public servants convicted of corruption, a- well a- persons paying bribes. I have myself abstained from wearing gaudy silk apparel and jewels, as an example to my subjects. I have considered it my duty to repair every public edifice of utility constructed by my predecessors, such as caravanserai-, masjids, wells, reservoirs oi water, aqueducts, canals, hospital-, almshouses and schools : and have alienated considerable portions of the revenue for their support. I have also taken pains to discover the surviving relations of all persons who suffered from the wrath of my lord and master. Muhammad N