RAS question
The 'Dagh' (branding) and 'Huliya' (descriptive roll) system was introduced by:
Correct answer: (C) Alauddin Khalji.
Alauddin Khalji introduced the Dagh system of branding horses and the huliya system of maintaining descriptive rolls of soldiers.
Explanation
Alauddin Khalji introduced Dagh and huliya as part of tighter military control. The Board of School Education Haryana, History Senior Secondary textbook places these measures under the Diwan-i-Arz, the department responsible for military organisation, recruitment, discipline, inspection of troops and examination of horses. Dagh meant branding horses with an official mark, while huliya meant recording a soldier's descriptive details. Together, these checks reduced false musters and cheating: a listed soldier had to be identifiable, and a registered horse could not easily be replaced with an inferior one. Alauddin Khalji also introduced Dagh, huliya and cash payment to soldiers to strengthen his control over the army.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Iltutmish is wrong because Alauddin Khalji, not the earlier Sultanate ruler Iltutmish, introduced Dagh and huliya.
- (B) Muhammad Tughlaq is wrong because the question asks who introduced the system; he continued it, while the introduction is credited to Alauddin Khalji.
- (D) Sher Shah is wrong because he was a later refiner of the practice, not the ruler who first introduced Dagh and huliya.
Concept
This tests Delhi Sultanate military administration, especially how rulers controlled cavalry, musters and soldiers' service records. It recurs in RAS because Alauddin Khalji's administrative and military reforms are a standard medieval-history theme.