Mughal Administration PDF

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Mughal Administration: 

Certain fundamental changes were brought about by the Mughal emperors in the administrative set up of India. As the Mughal emperors did not accept the Khalifa as their nominal head, so they were free from the nominal authority of any foreign power.

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The Mughal rule was not theoretic. The king was accepted as the arbiter in case of difference of opinion regarding Islamic laws.

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Furthermore, the Mughal rulers also adopted the policy of religious toleration to consolidate the Mughal rule in India. Only Aurangzeb reversed the policy. Akbar had introduced an excellent system of administration to strengthen the nescient Mughal empire for which he has rightly been called as the true founder of Mughal rule in India.

The King: The King or the emperor was the head of the state. He was the chief executive, law-maker, the commander-in-chief and the final dispenser of justice. During the time of Akbar, the emperor was accepted as the final arbiter in case of difference of opinion regarding Islamic laws. The emperor became the highest authority in the state. The Hindu tradition of Divine Right was not forgotten and Akbar himself claimed to be “the shadow of God” or the “God’s representative on Earth”. Hence Akbar started the practice of “Jharokha Darshan” and “Tula-dan”. The Mughal emperors wielded unlimited powers but they were not cruel or selfish. They believed that the prime duty of a king was to look after the welfare of his subjects. Akbar always used to listen personally to the complaints of the people. In the matter of administration, the king was assisted by several ministers. The ministers advised the Emperor collectively as well as individually.

Provincial Administration: For the convenience of administration the Mughal Empire was divided into a number of provinces. These provinces were Allahabad, Agra, Awadh, Ajmer, Bihar, Bengal, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kabul, Lahore, Multan, Malwa, Berar, Khandesh and Ahmednagar. Every prince had its provincial capital. The provinces were known as Suba.

The provincial governor of a Suba was designated as Subedar or Sipah Salar. He was the emperor’s representative in the Suba. He was the highest military officer in the province and commanded the provincial forces. He was the head of the judicial department. He helped the Diwan in the collection of revenue and also adopted measures for public welfare. The other important officers of the province were the Diwan, the Sadr the Amil or revenue collector, the Bitikchi, the Faujdar, the Kotwal and the Waqia Navis. The Provincial administration was an exact replica of Central administration. For the convenience of administration each province was divided into a number of administrative units called Sarkars. The Faujdar was the chief executive and military officer of the Sarkar. His chief duty was to maintain peace and enforce laws and regulations passed by the Emperor in the district. The next important officer was the Amal Guzar or the revenue collector. His duty was to survey the land and to collect the revenue and other taxes. The Bittkchi maintained all necessary records regarding different categories of land with the help of the Quanugo. Khazanadar was the treasurer of the district. Each Sarkar or district was divided into several Parganas. The Pargana was the lowest unit of fiscal and civil administration. The Shiqdar was the military officer and chief executive of Pargana. The Amil was the finance officer of the pargana. His duty was to collect revenue from the cultivators. Fotedar was the treasurer of the pargana. The other important officer of the pargana was Quanugo. His duty was to prepare the papers regarding agriculture and collection of revenue. The Ain-i-Akbari refers to village administration during the reign of Akbar. The village administration was in charge of Village Council or Panchayat. The Panchayats looked after the sanitation, irrigation, education and public works. It also dispensed justice. Muqaddam was the headman of the village. His duty was to keep order in the village and the Patwari kept records of revenue.

Administration of Revenue: Sher Shah was the first Muslim ruler who laid down the principles for the administration of revenue. The state demand was fixed at the one-third of the produce and regulations were adopted for the collection of revenue. But the untimely death of Sher Shah his excellent land revenue system failed.

The system of collection of revenue was highly unsatisfactory during the reign of Babur and Humayun. Akbar was the first Mughal emperor who established a sound revenue system. He made various experiments during the early part of his rule in the field of revenue administration, but he did not achieve much success. But the revenue system was reorganised with the help of Raja Todar Mal. Raja Todar Mal was appointed as Diwan-i-Ashraf in 1582 A.D. The revenue system introduced by Todar Mai was known as Ain-i-Dahshala and Zabti system. This Dahshala system was based on the classification, survey and measurement of lands and fixation of rates. Akbar proposed to assess land revenue by measurement. Accordingly the cultivable land of the empire was surveyed and measured with the help of a jarib mads of bamboo pieces secured with iron rings. The jarib based on the Gaz was equal to thirty three inches in length. The unit of area for fields was the bigha equal to 3600 square yards. The land was divided into four classes on the basis of the continuity of cultivation and fixed rent in proportion to it. Polaj was the first category of land which was cultivated annually for each crop in succession. It yielded revenue from year to year. Parauti was the second category of land. It was occasionally left fallow in order to recover its fertility. Tax was realized at the rate of Polaj from this land when it was cultivated. Chachar was the third category of land and it had been lying fallow for three or four years. Banjar was the fourth category of land and it had not been cultivated for five years or more. The first two categories of land, namely the Polaj and Parauti were divided into three grades good, middle and bad according to their yield. The other two classes of land, namely Chachar and Banjar were dealt with differently. As they were not as fertile as the first two categories, their revenue was to be increased by progressive stages. The average produce of the three categories of land was calculated for assessment of land revenue. The share of the state was fixed at one third of the average produce of all categories of land. The average produce per bigha of land was fixed on the basis of past year’s production. The farmers were asked to pay revenue in cash. For this reason Akbar had divided his empire into Dastars. The price of every cereal was fixed in different dastars on the basis of local prices. Each cultivator was given Patta and Quabuliaat mentioning the area of their land and stating the amount of revenue to be paid by them to the state.

This Dahsula system was introduced in Lahore, Multan, Agra, Allahabad, Awadh, Bihar and part of Ajmer. In some parts of the empire like Thatta, Kabul and in Kashmir the system of crop division was prevalent and it was known as Ghalia Baksha. According to this system the government collected 1/3rd of total crops after harvest. Revenue Officers: The government dealt directly with the farmers. The Amal Guzar or the revenue collector of the district was assisted by subordinate officers like the Bitikchi, the Potdar, the Qanungo, the Patwari and the Muqaddams. The collector was given instruction to collect revenue in an amicable manner and “not to extend the head of demand out of season”. In times of natural calamities advances were made to the peasants and public works were constructed to provide relief to the poor.

Mughal theory of sovereignty: The Mughal rulers of India were not new to the art of governance: they possessed an experience of almost two centuries of dynastic rule in Central Asia. They brought with them a well-tried and established principles of administration. The need to adapt in a new land had made them flexible enough to absorb the tradition of their surroundings. The general administrative structure and the policies of the Mughals in India, therefore, appear to be a conglomeration of Indo-Islamic trends. The rich Central Asian heritage and Turco-Mongol legacy in the form of practices, institutions, loan words and terms do appear occasionally. The remnants of the Chingizi and Timuri polity are often noticed in the Mughal structure in India. Abul Fazl says: “No dignity is higher in the eyes of God than royalty. Royalty is a remedy for the spirit of rebellion ….” Even the meaning of the word Padshah shows this for pad signifies stability and possession and shah means origin, Lord. A king is therefore the “origin of stability and possession”. Abul Fazl adds: “Royalty is a light emanating from God, and a ray from the sun ….” Modern language calls this light farri izidi (the divine light) and the tongue of antiquity called it kiyan khwarah (the sublime halo). It is communicated by God to kings without the intermediate assistance of anyone. Again many excellent qualities flow from the possession of this light, e.g., a paternal love towards the subjects, a large heart, trust in God, prayer and devotion, etc. At

another place, Abul Fazl repeats that “The shamsa of the arch of royalty is a divine light, which God directly transfers to kings, without the assistance of men ….“

The king was therefore deemed to be divinely appointed, divinely guided and divinely protected. The theory of sovereignty propounded by Abul Fazl on behalf of Akbar and reflected in his mahzar and “Ai’n-i rahnamuni” seems to be as close to the Central Asian and Perso-Islamic concepts as to the Chingizi traditions of sovereignty. It is significant that the absolute traditions of sovereignty and conjunction of spiritual and temporal rulership was developed at many courts as a defence mechanism against undue encroachment upon king’s authority by lesser mortals. The philosophy and the spirit of the concepts of farri izidi, kiyan khwarah, etc. were the same, that is, the intention was to guard against any direct or indirect share in king’s authority. Alauddin Khalji had tried to abide by the “law of expediency”. Akbar went ahead of him. By the mahzar (drafted by Shaikh Mubarak and his two sons), the Emperor was certified to be a just ruler (Imam Adil) and was as such assigned the rank of mujtahid, i.e. an “infallible authority”. The position of Imam Adil was declared superior to that of a mujtahid. The “intellect of the just king” thus became the valuable source of legislation.

Abul Fazl elucidates that “when the time of reflection comes, and men shake off the prejudices of their education, the thread of the web of religious blindness break and the eye sees the glory of harmoniousness … although some are enlightened many would observe silence from fear of fanatics who lust for blood, but look like men …. The people will naturally look to their king and expect him to be their spiritual leader as well, for a king possesses, independent of men, the ray of Divine wisdom, which banishes from his heart everything that is conflicting. A king will, therefore, sometimes observe the element of harmony in a multitude of things. … Now this is the case with the monarch of the present age. He now is the spiritual guide of the nation.“...