Chap. III.) REIGN OF ALA-U-DIN. 83
miraculous intervention of a saint, tlie Moguls were one night seized with a a.d. 1304. panic, and never halted till they had regained their own country.
The extreme danger which he thus so singularly escaped, convinced Ala- Minute nnu u-din of the necessity of greatly increasing his forces, but the expense seemed reguiationa. beyond his means. Large as his treasures and revenues were, he found that he could not support an army on the scale proposed, for more than six years. Retrenchment then became the order of the day, and many curious plans were devised for that purpose. His first resolution was, to lower the pay, but as, according to the custom of that period, the soldiers furnished their own horses, arm.s, and provisions, a reduced pay was impossible, unless these articles also were lowered in price. This, therefore, was the course which Ala-u-din resolved to pursue. By an edict to be strictly enforced throughout the empire, he fixed the price of every article of consumption or use, grain of every kind, horses, asses, camels, oxen and cows, sheep and goats, cloths coarse and fine, ghee or clarified butter, salt, sugar and sugar-candy, onions, and garlic. The treasury *Viven ofjened a loan to furni.sh merchants with ready money, with which they could import manufactured goods from the cheaper markets of adjoining countries. It is said that a court favourite proposed, by way of joke, to fix a price for prostitution. "Very well," said the king, "that shall be fixed also;" and three classes, with fixed prices for each, were actually formed. Such is a sample of Ala-u-din's scheme of finance.
About 1304j, after a new irruption of Moguls had been chastised, Ein-ool- Moolk was sent to make the conquest of Malwah. The rajah met him with 40,000 horse and 100,000 foot; but was defeated, and his capital, Oojein, with other cities, were taken. The news gave so much joy, that the capital was illuminated for seven days. Amid the general rejoicings, there was one poor imprison- lajah who sat solitary in his prison, mourning. This was the Rajah of Chittoor, Rajah of Ray Ruttun Sein, who, ever since the capture of his fort, had been kept in close confinement at Delhi. An insulting otter of liberty had, indeed, been made him. He had a daughter celebrated for her beauty and accomplishments, and Ala-u-din wsis willing to give him his release, provided she would become an inmate of his harem. It is said that he consented ; perhaps he only seemed to consent. Be this as it may, he sent for his daughter, but his family determined sooner to poison her, than subject her to the degradation intendeil. The princess took the matter into her own hands; and adopted a scheme which, happily, proved successful in both saving her ovn honour and procuring her father's freedom.
Every arrangement having been made for the proposed exchange, she wrote nis escape, to say that on a certain day she would arrive at Delhi with her attendants. A royal passport w<is inunediately sent her, and her cavalcade, proceeding by slow marches, reached the capital as the evening closed. By the king's special orders the litters were carried directly into the prison, without being subjected to
