The Sultán next directed his attention to the means of pre­venting rebellion, and first he took steps for seizing upon pro­perty. He ordered that, wherever there was a village held by proprietary right (milk), in free gift (in'ám), or as a religious en­dowment (wakf), it should by one stroke of the pen be brought back under the exchequer. The people were pressed and amerced, money was exacted from them on every kind of pretence. Many were left without any money, till at length it came to pass that, excepting maliks and amírs, officials, Multánís, and bankers, no one possessed even a trifle in cash. So rigorous was the confisca­tion that, beyond a few thousand tankas, all the pensions, grants of land (in'ám wa mafrúz), and endowments in the country were appropriated. The people were all so absorbed in obtaining the means of living, that the name of rebellion was never mentioned. Secondly, he provided so carefully for the acquisition of intelligence, that no action of good or bad men was concealed from him. No one could stir without his knowledge, and whatever happened in the houses of nobles, great men, and officials, was communi­cated to the Sultán by his reporters. Nor were the reports neglected, for explanations of them were demanded. The system of reporting went to such a length, that nobles dared not speak aloud even in the largest palaces,* and if they had anything to say they communicated by signs. In their own houses, night and day, dread of the reports of the spies made them tremble. No word or action which could provoke censure or punishment was allowed to transpire. The transactions in the bázárs, the buying and selling, and the bargains made, were all reported to the Sultán by his spies, and were kept under control. Thirdly, he prohibited wine-drinking and wine-selling, as also the use of beer and intoxicating drugs. Dicing also was forbidden. Many prohibitions of wine and beer were issued. Vintners and gam­blers and beer-sellers were turned out of the city, and the heavy taxes which had been levied from them were abolished. The Sultán directed that all the china and glass vessels of his banquet­ing room should be broken, and the fragments of them were thrown out before the gate of Badáún, where they formed a heap. Jars and casks of wine were brought out of the royal cellars, and emptied at the Badáún gate in such abundance, that mud and mire was produced as in the rainy season. The Sultán himself entirely gave up wine parties. He directed the maliks to mount elephants and to go to the gates of Dehlí, through the streets and wards, bázárs and saráís, proclaiming the royal command that no one should drink, sell, or have anything to do with wine. Those who had any self-respect immediately gave up drinking; but the shameless, the dissolute, and vile characters used to make and distil wine* in the distilleries, and to drink and sell it clandestinely at a great price. They put it into leather bottles, and conveyed it hidden in loads of hay, fire­wood, and such like. By hundreds of tricks and devices, and by all sorts of collusion, wine was brought into the city. Informers searched diligently, and the city gate-keepers and spies exerted themselves to seize the wine, and apprehend the contrabandists. When seized, the wine was sent to the elephant-stables and given to those animals. The sellers, the importers, and drinkers of wine, were subjected to corporal punishment, and were kept in prison for some days. But their numbers increased so much that holes for the incarceration of offenders were dug outside the Badáún gate, which is a great thoroughfare. Wine-bibbers and wine-sellers were placed in these holes, and the severity of the confinement was such that many of them died. Many others were taken out half dead, and were long before they recovered their health and strength. The terrors of these holes deterred many from drinking. Those who were unable to give up their habit went out to the fords of the Jumna, and to villages ten or twelve kos distant to procure their liquor. In Ghiyáspur, Indarpat, Kílúgharí, and towns four or five kos from Dehlí, wine could not be sold or drunk publicly. Still some desperate men used to keep it, drink it, and even sell it privately. They thus disgraced themselves and got confined in the pits. The prevention of drinking being found to be very difficult, the Sultán gave orders that if the liquor was distilled privately, and drunk privately in people's own houses; if drinking parties were not held, and the liquor not sold, then the informers were not to interfere in any way, and were not to enter the houses or arrest the offenders. After the prohibition of wine and beer in the city, conspiracies diminished, and apprehension of rebellion disappeared.

Fourthly, the Sultán gave commands that noblemen and great men should not visit each other's houses, or give feasts, or hold meetings. They were forbidden to form alliances without con­sent from the throne, and they were also prohibited from allow­ing people to resort to their houses. To such a length was this last prohibition carried that no stranger was admitted into a nobleman's house. Feasting and hospitality fell quite into dis­use. Through fear of the spies, the nobles kept themselves quiet; they gave no parties and had little communication with each other. No man of a seditious, rebellious, or evil reputation was allowed to come near them. If they went to the saráís, they could not lay their heads together, or sit down cosily and tell their troubles. Their communications were brought down to a mere exchange of signs. This interdict prevented any information of conspiracy and rebellion coming to the Sultán, and no disturbance arose.

After the promulgation of these interdicts, the Sultán requested the wise men to supply some rules and regulations for grinding down the Hindus, and for depriving them of that wealth and property which fosters disaffection and rebellion. There was to be one rule for the payment of tribute applicable to all, from the khúta to the baláhar,* and the heaviest tribute was not to fall upon the poorest. The Hindú was to be so reduced as to be left un­able to keep a horse to ride on, to carry arms, to wear fine clothes, or to enjoy any of the luxuries of life. To effect these important objects of government two regulations were made. The first was that all cultivation, whether on a small or large scale, was to be carried on by measurement at a certain rate for every biswa. Half (of the produce) was to be paid without any diminution, and this rule was to apply to khútas and baláhars, without the slightest distinction. The khútas were also to be deprived of all their peculiar privileges. The second related to buffaloes, goats, and other animals from which milk is obtained. A tax for pasturage, at a fixed rate, was to be levied, and was to be de­manded for every inhabited house, so that no animal, however wretched, could escape the tax. Heavier burdens were not to be placed upon the poor, but the rules as to the payment of the tribute were to apply equally to rich and poor. Collectors, clerks, and other officers employed in revenue matters, who took bribes and acted dishonestly, were all dismissed. Sharaf Káí naib wazír-i mamálik, an accomplished scribe and a most honest and intelligent man, who had no rival either in capacity or in­tegrity, exerted himself strenuously for some years in enforcing these regulations in all the villages and towns. * * * They were so strictly carried out that the chaudharís and khúts and mukaddims were not able to ride on horseback, to find weapons, to get fine clothes, or to indulge in betel. The same rules for the collection of the tribute applied to all alike, and the people were brought to such a state of obedience that one revenue officer would string twenty khúts, mukaddims, or chaudharís together by the neck, and enforce payment by blows. No Hindu could hold up his head, and in their houses no sign of gold or silver, tankas or jítals, or of any superfluity was to be seen. These things, which nourish insubordination and rebellion, were no longer to be found. Driven by destitution, the wives of the khúts and mukaddims went and served for hire in the houses of the Musul-máns. Sharaf Káí, náíb-wazír, so rigorously enforced his demands and exactions against the collectors and other revenue officers, and such investigations were made, that every single jítal against their names was ascertained from the books of the patwárís (village accountants). Blows, confinement in the stocks, im­prisonment and chains, were all employed to enforce payment. There was no chance of a single tanka being taken dishonestly, or as bribery, from any Hindu or Musulmán. The revenue col­lectors and officers were so coerced and checked that for five hundred or a thousand tankas they were imprisoned and kept in chains for years. Men looked upon revenue officers as something worse than fever. Clerkship was a great crime, and no man would give his daughter to a clerk. Death was deemed preferable to revenue employment. Ofttimes fiscal officers fell into prison, and had to endure blows and stripes.