Imagine that you are transported in a time-machine to Alauddin Khilji's reign. You visited a number of markets. Write what you saw about the commodities being sold, the price regulations and punishments meted out to the sellers for cheating the consumers. Do you think that the market regulations at present match up to Alauddin Khilji's reign or are better or need some changes?

When I visited the markets in Alauddin Khilji's reign, I witnessed a vastly different market scene than what we see today. Alauddin Khilji brought a historical market reform. He introduced several measures to regulate the market and protect consumers from fraud.

I saw that there were different markets for different goods — there was one market for food grains, the second for costly cloth and the third for horses, slaves and cattle.

The prices of these commodities sold in the markets were not left to the discretion of the sellers. Instead, Alauddin Khilji had set fixed prices for every commodity, which were to be followed by all sellers in the market. The prices were determined based on the cost of production, transportation, and other factors. Any seller found selling above the fixed price was severely punished. The punishments were severe and humiliating like confiscation of goods, fines and even imprisonment. In some cases, the seller's hands were chopped off as a warning to others not to engage in such fraudulent activities. There were spies and supervisors, who ensured the compliance of regulations.

Market regulations of Alauddin Khilji's reign were designed to protect consumers and prevent fraud, which is a common goal of present market regulations as well. However, present market regulations also take into account other factors, such as competition, innovation, intellectual property and globalization, which were not relevant during Alauddin Khilji's reign. In addition, present market regulations aim to strike a balance between consumer protection and business growth, which may involve trade-offs and compromises. One advantage of present market regulations is that they are often more flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances. For example, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, new regulations were introduced aimed at protecting consumers from price gouging and ensuring the availability of essential goods.

However, there is always room for improvement in any regulatory framework, and present market regulations should be continually reviewed and updated to ensure that they are serving the interests of consumers and businesses in a fair and transparent way.