Sher Shah Suri and His Administration PDF

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Sher Shah Suri is rated as one of the greatest rulers of India. He overthrew the Mughal rule in A.D. 1540 and once again revived the Afghan rule. Born in A.D. 1472, in the family of a Jagirdar of Sasaram in Bihar and named as Farid....

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HSM- 1022: HISTORY OF THE MUGHUL EMPIRE, 1526-1556 Topic-II: Sher Shah Suri and His Administration Sher Shah Suri and His Administration Introduction Sher Shah is rated as one of the greatest rulers of India. He overthrew the Mughal rule in A.D. 1540 and once again revived the Afghan rule. Born in A.D. 1472, in the family of a Jagirdar of Sasaram in Bihar and named as Farid. He went to Jaunpur, which was in those days a seat of Islamic learning and acquired knowledge in both Arabic and Persian. Later he returned to Bihar and managed his father’s jagir efficiently. He once killed a tiger and the governor of Bihar (Bahar Khan Lodi) conferred the title of Sher Khan on him. In A.D. 1527, he was forced to leave Bihar and seek his fortune elsewhere. He came to Agra and joined Babur’s Army. Here he got a chance to notice the defects in the Mughal military organization. After some time he came back to Bihar again and was appointed as the guardian of the minor king, Jalal Khan. He soon became the independent ruler of Bihar in A.D. 1529. Sher Khan was very ambitious and wanted to drive the Mughals out of India. He fought with Humayun and defeated him twice at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540). His other conquests included that of Malwa, Multan and Sind, Marwar and Mewar in A.D. 1544. Sher Shah’s last campaign was against the fort of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand where he was victorious but died due to an accidental explosion of gun powder (1545). He built his own mausoleum in Sasaram in Bihar. His empire consisted of the whole of North India except Assam, Nepal, Kashmir, and Gujarat. Administration of Sher Shah Suri For the twenty-one years, (1497 1518 A. D ), he remained in the jagir, and in its management he seems to have been inspired by such broad principles of government as characterize the work of a true administrator. Some main features are: 1.

There could be no state without justice and no justice without punishment.

2.

Consideration for the ryots' welfare and hence fixation of their land-revenue at a

moderate figure but realization in full, i.e. without any arrears. 3.

Officials to be kept in proper control. Recognition of small perquisites for them, e.g. the settlement officer and revenue officers to be allowed fees for measurement and tax collection and food for the day.

4.

The zamindars to be kept well in hand (i) If they were "mere individuals," any disobedience or highway robbery on their part was to be sternly punished and the culprits to be exterminated, (ii) If they formed a group of individuals, knit together by bonds of caste or brotherhood, a more lenient treatment was to be accorded. He would bear down their opposition, and if the rebels repented, restored their property, and treated them with consideration.

Main features of his administration: (a)

He evolved a scientific system of land-assessment by gradually abandoning the

four sharing system that had prevailed so long, viz., (i) khet-batdi, (2) kankut, (3) batdi or bhdoti, (4) lank batai. As every one of them depended on an estimate of the produce and not on an actual measurement, he thought it led to fraud or deception. Instead, he introduced a careful measurement and then on its basis, fixed the assessment. He was not, however, an aggressive reformer, and if some ryots preferred sharing, he allowed it to operate in their case. (b)

He maintained some two hundred horsemen in his service for keeping peace and

order. These were in addition to those that served the king of Delhi at Jaunpur or at the capital. (c)

He was accessible to the humblest of his subj ect and encouraged them to represent

their grievances to him. If on inquiry an official was found guilty, he was severely dealt with. Sher Shah's Revenue System The account of Farid's revenue administration in his father's jagir given by Abbas Khan has led many scholars to express an opinion regarding the agrarian relations existing during the early years of the 16th century. Even though this account cannot be wholly relied upon since it was written more than half a century later, its importance is undeniable.

The interpretation of rd’iyat as peasantry and of muzarian as cultivators has been accepted by most scholars. Quanungos has argued that Farid wanted to protect the peasants against the violence of the soldiers and extortion of the Muqaddams and then goes on to say that he turned to the peasants and told them to make their choice as to whether they should pay rent in cash or kind. Moreland accepts the same theory with minor modification. He states that Farid found the land held partly by peasants and partly by Chiefs. The same view has been accepted by Tripathi who slates that, "The cultivator had the option to choose whichever method he liked and give his acceptance in writing." A careful examination of Abbas Khan's text reveals that the author has used two terms distinct from each other, viz. rd’iyat and rezd-i rd’iyat. The latter term has obviously been used in the sense of cultivators who were to be protected from the oppression of the Muqaddams and the amili. It is therefore reasonable to infer that the term rd’iyat would denote another class of persons. Tarikk-i Daudi, which is an early paraphrase of Abbas Khan, contains significant variations which help clarify the meaning of the term rd’iyat. Where Abbas Khan has written, "certain zamindars who have been behaving contumaciously, who did not attend upon the hakim, who do not pay their full revenue and who harass the villages in their neighborhood" were to be chastised, Tankh-i Daudi has the following statement: '"The muqaddams of Farid decided to chastise the muqaddam of some of the villages who had become contumacious and rebellious and who had not attended upon him". Later, Abbas Khan writes that Farid "called for horses from the rd’iyat." The same statement is given in Tdrikh-i Daudi as "from the muqaddam of each village he called for a horse on loan." Furthermore, Abbas Khan having stated that Farid having called the muqaidams , muzdrian , patwaris and soldiers, goes on to mention the conversation he had with each category of persons called. The actual conversation described is with only two categories: (a) the soldiers and amils; and, (b) the rd’iydt and muqddddms. There is no reference in this context to the muzdridn. The latter, were, therefore, included by Abbas in the category of rd’iyat and muqdddam. .The next problem concerns the mode of assessment. According to the Ain, the prevailing systems of assessment before the reign of Sher Shah were ghalla-bakhshi

and muqtai . More land was unable to explain the significance of muqtai but suggested that it might be 'Farming' or 'Assignment'. The account of Abbas Khan also throws some light on the system of assignment. Apparently the jagir of an amir was assigned on the basis of the number of troopers that he brought for muster at the time of the fixation of his salary. The assignee was then expected to sub-assign one part of his jagir to the troopers and to appoint whomsoever he liked as the hakim and shiqqdar of the remainder. The Local Administration As far as the local administration is concerned, it appears that it was a result of significant improvements in the communication system. The improvements achieved by constructing regular highways on all major routes of the empire. From Sonargaon to Rohtas was constructed the famous GT road. Then there was another between Agra and Burhanpur; another between Agra and Jodhpur; between Lahore and Multan etc. Secondly, a number of sarais were established at regular intervals all along these important routes. These were multi-purpose structures. Abbas Khan informs that in each of these sarais, a space was reserved for official use, known as khana-i padshahi. In another part of the sarai was established the dakchauki, in which a few riders were always available for the relay horses. According to Abbas Khan in all 3400 horses were deployed in these sarais for the purpose of the dak chaukis. This construction of roads, highways and sarais radically improved the communication system in the empire. Thus Abbas Khan testifies that for example, one messenger, Husain shiqdar travelled on one occasion 300 kurohs in one day (one kuroh = 2 V2 miles), i.e., more than 600m in one hour a record achievement! It was this which facilitated Islam Shah’s system of sending weekly instructions to all sarkar HQs These sarais also acted as mini-fortresses and military establishments which further helped in consolidating the administration and places where the central standing army could be placed if needed. According to Abbas Khan the hashm-i qalb stood at 1 lakhs. In addition were 25,000 matchlock men, the infantrymen with guns. One should also remember that under the Mughals

The General Administration The most important aspect of the Sur administration was the building up of an elaborate administrative machinery at the Sarkar level. If we believe Abbas Khan Sarwani, then there existed three levels of administration under Sur Empire: the Central administration, the Sarkar administration and the Pargana level administration. The Sub a (provincial) level administration of the Mughals (between the central & Sarkar level) was missing. Under the Lodis and Syed, in place of Sarkars there used to be a number of designations: shiqs, khittas, wilayats, iqtas etc. Thus at Pargana level, the basic administrative unit, we find mention of shiqdar, amil, munsif, amin. Then at the Sarkar level, Abbas Khan in his concluding section says, the equivalent functionaries were shiqdar-i shiqdaran, munsif-i Munsifan. The functions of the shiqdar at both Pargana and Sarkar level were basically military: ‘If the people from lawlessness or rebellious spirit create disturbance regarding the collection of revenue, they were so to eradicate and destroy them with punishment that there wickedness and rebellion should not spread to others.’ The munsif / amin at the Pargana level was measurement of land and assessment of revenue demand. While the officer at the Sarkar level, though performing similar duties, was actually given the role of a supervisor over the Pargana munsif, as well as the arbiter between the munsifs of different parganas in their jurisdiction.

But then elsewhere in his account, especially in the narrative part of the history of Shisha’s reign, there is a different kind of information: there is no mention of such designations as shiqdar-i shiqdaran or munsif-i munsifan. Different terms are used to designate the heads of Sarkar level administration, viz., shiqdar, faujdar, munsif, muqta. Possibly terms like shiqdar-i shiqdaran was a figurative designation invented by Abbas Khan to give a standard term for the heads of Sarkar level administration indicting their supervisory role over a number of smaller shiqdars. For example in Sarkar Delhi, Sher shah appointed three officers, the shiqdar, faujdar, and munsif. Now what was the need to have a faujdar and a shiqdar for Delhi? There should have been either a faujdar or shiqdar with the designation of shiqdar-i shiqdaran. Perhaps the person being appointed as shiqdar was only for adm & military control of the city, while the person appointed as faujdar was for the rest part of the sarkar apart from the city. CONCLUSION Sher Shah was not only a successful general but also an able administrator. In fact, his qualities as a ruler were more remarkable than his conquests. He introduced original and wise changes in every branch of administration during his brief reign of 5 years. References: 1.

S.K. Baneiji, Humayun Badshah, (London: Oxford University Press,

1938), pp. 179-184 2.

S. Nurul Hasan, “Revenue Administration of the Jagir of Sahsaram by

Farid (Sher Shah)", Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol.26, Part II, 1964, pp. 102-107 3.

Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, “The Sur Administration ”, the Blog of

Aligarh Society of History and Archaeology [ASHA], Posted on April 11, 2021...