Ziauddin Barani in the context of "Market reforms of Alauddin Khalji"

Khawaja Syed Muhammad b. Ahmad Ali al-Badaoni al-Bukhari, popularly called Nizamuddin Auliya (sometimes spelled Awliya; 1238 – 3 April 1325), also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin (lit. 'Holy Nizamuddin'), Sultan-ul-Mashaikh (lit. 'Lord of the pious') and Mahbub-e-Ilahi (lit. 'Beloved of God'), was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar, Sufi saint of the Chishti Order, and is one of the most famous Sufis from the Indian subcontinent. His predecessors were Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, and Moinuddin Chishti, who were the masters of the Chishti spiritual chain or silsila in the Indian subcontinent.

Nizamuddin Auliya, like his predecessors, stressed love as a means of realising God. For him his love of God implied a love of humanity. His vision of the world was marked by a highly evolved sense of religious pluralism and kindness. It is claimed by the 14th century historiographer Ziauddin Barani that his influence on the Muslims of Delhi was such that a paradigm shift was effected in their outlook towards worldly matters. People began to be inclined towards mysticism and prayers and remaining aloof from the world. It is also believed that Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, the founder of Tughluq dynasty, interacted with Nizamuddin. Initially, they used to share good relationship but soon this got embittered and relation between Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq and Nizamuddin Auliya never been reformed due to opinion disharmony and their antagonism resulted regular disputes between them during that era.

The Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji (r. 1296-1316) implemented a series of major fiscal, land and agrarian reforms in northern India. He re-designated large areas of land as crown territory by confiscating private properties and by annulling land grants. He imposed a 50% kharaj tax on the agricultural produce, and ordered his ministry to collect the revenue directly from the peasants by eliminating the intermediary village chiefs.

Alauddin had faced conspiracies and rebellions by Hindu chiefs in rural areas during his early reign. Besides ensuring sufficient revenues for the royal treasury, the objective of these reforms was to subjugate the powerful chiefs and nobles who could challenge Alauddin's authority. According to chronicler Ziauddin Barani, he also asked his advisers for reforms to subjugate the Hindus whose wealth was a "source of rebellion and disaffection" like the nobility.