Explanation: Assertion of authority by Balban led to constant military campaigns against defiant governors and against their local allies.

• Barani mentions Balban’s campaigns in the regions surrounding Delhi and in the doab.
• During these campaigns forests were cleared, new roads and forts constructed, the newly deforested lands given to freshly recruited Afghans and others as rent-free lands (mafruzi) and brought under cultivation.
• New forts were constructed to protect trade routes and village markets.

Source: NCERT