Mughals Administration

Akbar Administration

Council of Ministers:

Akbar had a Council of Ministers to assist him in the discharge of his administrative responsibilities and state of affairs.

The Wazir:

He was like the Prime Minister and advised the king in all matters.
He coordinated the work of all other ministers.
After the reign of Aurangzeb, the Prime Minister, then called ‘Vakil’ became very powerful. Likewise other Ministers became powerful.

Dewan or Finance Minister:

He looked after the revenues of the state.

Mir Bakshi or Paymaster General:

He was the head of the establishment department.
He was also the head of the intelligence agencies of the empire.

Kham-i-Saman:

He looked after the imperial house-hold.
He also looked after the control of the royal body guards and etiquettes in the court.

Chief Qazi:

He was the head of the judicial department.
Other important high officials who assisted the king were Mir Atish who supervised the artillery, Daroga-i-Taksal, supervisor of royal mint and Daroga-i-Daak, supervisor of the mail.

Mansabdari System:

The Mansab is an Arabic word meaning rank or position or status.
Thus Mansabdari was a system in which the rank of a government official was determined.
Every civil and military official was given a mansab and was called a Mansabdar.
There were two methods of making payments to the nobles. One was giving them Jagirs (land) where from they got their salaries. The second was making cash payment.
In the Mansabdari system no Jagirs 👀were granted for the purpose of paying salaries. A mansabdar got his salary from the royal treasury👀.

Land Revenue System:

Todar Mai, the revenue minister of Akbar played an important role in devising and introducing a very effective and efficient land revenue and record system.

There were three systems of land revenue:

(1) The Zabti system

(2) The Ghalla-Bakshi and

(3) Nasaq or Kankat.

The Zabti system of the land revenue:

This system was prevalent in the areas from Lahore to Allahabad and in Malwa and Gujarat.
This covered most of the empire.

Following were some of the chief features of the system.

1. Measurement of land:

Land of each farmer was measured into ‘bighas’.
The land was measured by means of bamboos🙄 joined together with iron rings.
This system was called Bamboo Jarib system.

2. Four categories of land:

The land was divided into four categories according to its produce:

(i) Polaj-regularly cultivated and yielded crops regularly.

(ii) Parauti - left uncultivated after every crop to regain its productivity

(iii) Chachhar- left uncultivated for 3 to 4 years

(iv) Banjar- left uncultivated for more than 4 years.

Three categories of Polaj and Parauti land. These types of lands were divided into three grades, viz., good, average and bad.

4. Dahsala (ten year) assessment:

Under this system, the average produce of different crops as well as the average price prevailing over the last 10 years was calculated and accordingly land reveue was fixed.

5. Land revenue in cash or kind:

The share of the state was one-third of the produce of the land. Farmers were given the option to pay the revenue in cash or kind.

6. Loans:

Farmers could get loans easily from the state which could be paid in easy annual installments.

7. Remission of revenue:

In bad seasons, remissions of revenues were granted to the farmers.

8. Records:

Farmers were issued receipts for all the payments made by them. A record of all the holdings and liabilities of every farmer was maintained.

9. Revenue officials:

For the assessment and collection of revenue, a large number of officers like the Amil, Bitikchi, Qanungo, Muqaddam and Patwari were appointed.
The Zabti system proved very useful both to the state and the farmers. The system was for ten years.
The system on the one hand determined the income of the government and on the other hand enabled the farmers to know clearly how much revenue they had to pay to the government.
Now the farmers had direct link with the government and they were saved from the excesses and tyrannies of the landlords and the jagirdars.
The revenue officials were instructed not to be harsh with the farmers.
The farmers could deposit the land revenue direct to the treasury.

Other systems of the land revenue:

According to the Batai or Ghalla- Bakshi system, the producer of the farmers was divided between the government and the fanners in the ratio settled between them.
This system was in vogue in Thatta and in parts of Kabul and Kandhar.

Provincial Administration:

Akbar divided his empire into fifteen provinces.
These were: Agra, Ahmedabad, Ahmednagar, Ajmer, Allahabad, Awadh, Bengal, Berar, Bihar, Delhi, Kabul, Khandar, Lahore, Malwa and Multan.
Each province was under the charge of Subedar (Governor).
He was assisted by a ‘Diwan’ who looked after the revenue records.
Bakshi looked after the needs of the army.
The Kotwal was entrusted with the maintenance of law and order in the main cities.
Qazi looked after justice.
Provinces were divided into: Sarkars, Sarkars into Parganas and Parganas into villages.
Panchayats looked after the village administration and also dispensed justice.
Normally state officers did not interfere in the village affairs.

Babur adopted👀 Zil-ul-atlah Filarz or🙄 ‘Shadow of God on earth’, Akbar 🙄changed it as👍 Farri-i-Zidi or ‘The height of the God’; Akbar’s concept of sovereignty makes him linked to God directly.

Shershah Administration

Sher Shah took the help and assistance of a group of ministers in discharging his duties.

They were:

(1) Diwan-i-Irishah,

(2) Diwan-i-Wizarat,

(3) Diwan-i-Ariz, and

(4) Diwan-i-Risalkt.

Besides these four ministers, there also existed Diwan-i-Qaza and Diwan-i-Barid.

1. Diwan-i-Wazarat (or Wizarat):

The Wazir was the head of Diwan-i- Wazarat.
Total income and expenditure of the state was controlled by him.
He also exercised general supervision over the rest of the ministers.

2. Diwan-i-Ariz:

Arizi-i-Mamlik was the head of the department. It was he, who recruited, organized and disciplined the army.
Payment of salaries was his duty.

3. Diwan-i-Risalat:

Minister of foreign affairs.
supervise and control the ambassadors, envoys and foreign correspondence.
Besides, he had to look after charity and endowments.

4. Diwan-i-Insha:

Minister of information and correspondence.
It was his duty to draft the royal proclamations, preserve and dispatch them
custodian of government records.
maintained correspondence with the provincial and local administrative set-up.

Diwan-i-Qaza was under the headship of the chief Qazi. He supervised the administrative structure of judiciary.

Diwan-i-Barid was government’s intelligence department. It had a very vast effective network covering the whole of the territory acting as ears and eyes of the rulers. Besides the above known ministers, there also existed a minister controlling the royal household.

Land system are:

(a) Measurement of land was essential,

(b) Fixed cash revenue rates known as Dastur-ul-Amal or Dastur for each crop, and

(c) The entire amount was to be collected in cash.