Administration under Mughals

Prof.(Dr.),Mona Sharma
Position of the Emperor in Mughal
Administration
The Mughal Emperors were all powerful in administration.
The Mughal emperors accepted two primary duties for
themselves, Jahanbani (protection of the state) and
Jahangiri (extension of the empire).
Besides, they tried to generate those conditions which were
conducive to economic and cultural progress of their
subjects.
The emperor was the head of the state.
He was the law-maker, the chief executive, the
commander-in-chief of the army and the final dispenser of
justice.
• The Mughal Empire was a centralized
disposition based on military power.
• It rested on two pillars: the absolute
authority of the emperor and the strength of
the army.
• The emperor was the supreme commander of
the armed forces, and all other commanders
were appointed and if necessary removed by
him.
• The Mughal administration presented a
combination of Indian and extra-Indian
elements, or more correctly, it was the “Perso-
Arabic system in Indian setting”.
• The bifurcation of authority in the provinces -
the division of power between the subahdar
and the diwan - was based on the system
prevailing under the Arab rulers in Egypt.
• Akbar enhanced further the powers of the emperor
when he himself took over the power of deciding the
Islamic laws in cases of dispute.
• His ministers and nobles, of course, could advise him
but he was the final arbiter in everything.
• From the time of Akbar, the emperor was regarded as
God`s representative on earth.
• That is why Akbar started practices like Jharokha
Darshan and Tula Dan.
• Even Aurangzeb who was a religious extremist was
fully aware of this duty towards his subjects.
• Though there was no legal limit to the powers of the
emperor, yet, there were certain limitations from the
practical point of view.
• The emperor certainly gave due consideration to the
advice given by his ministers to him and recognised the
influence wielded by his powerful nobles.
• The Sultans of the Delhi Sultanate established their
despotic rule after destroying the power of their
nobles, while the Mughal emperors based their
despotism on the power and loyalty of their nobles.
 Ministers in Mughal Administration
• During the reign of Akbar there were only four
ministers, namely Wakil, Diwan or Wazir, Mir Bakhsi
and Sadr-us-Sadur.
• The posts of Wakil and Wazir were combined together
afterwards and the holder of the post was called Vakil-
i-Mutlaq. Akbar gave the post of the prime minister to
Bairam Khan
• By virtue of this office, he was the protector of the
state and over and above all other ministers with the
right of even appointing and dismissing them. But no
other man was given these powers after the fall of
Bairam Khan.
• The Prime Minister was given the work of the
Diwan and, later on the Diwan was titled as
the Wazir or the prime minister.
• Primarily, the Diwan looked after the income
and expenditure of the state. Besides, he
looked after the administration in the absence
of the emperor from the capital and
commanded the army on occasions.
• Thus, Vakil or Wazir or prime minister was the
person next to the emperor in administration.
• The prime minister supervised the working of
other departments,
• collected news of provinces,
• dispatched orders of the emperor to
governors and
• looked after the correspondence of the
state.
• The Sadr-us-Sadur advised the emperor on
religious matters.
• He looked after the religious education,
distribution of Jagirs to scholars and
observance of the laws of the Islam by the
Muslims.
 Khan-i-Saman
• Khan-i-Saman was not a minister during the
reign of Akbar but was ranked as one of the
ministers after him.
• He looked after the personal necessities of
the emperor and his family and also that of
the palace. Thus, he held an important office.
• The Muhtasib looked after the moral development of the
subjects.
• His particular job was to see to it that the Muslims observed
Islamic laws.
• He also checked the drinking of liquor, gambling and illegal
relations between men and women.
• He also kept control over weights and measures and observed
that articles were sold in the market at proper prices.
• During the reign of Aurangzeb, he was assigned the
responsibility of destroying the schools and temples of the
Hindus.
• He was assisted by provincial Muhtasibs.
• The Mir-i-Atish or Daroga-i-Topkhana was the in
charge of the artillery of the emperor. It was an
important office and was mostly assigned to a Turk or a
Persian.
• The Daroga-i-Dak-Chauki was the head of the spy
department of the state.
• He collected news from various ministers who were
appointed by him in provinces and elsewhere.
• He had to keep the emperor informed about every
important affair within the empire.
• Though the emperor was the highest judicial
authority in the state, yet, he was assisted by
chief Qazi at the capital.
• While the Muftis interpreted Islamic laws, the
chief Qazi declared the judgment.
• He also appointed Qazis in provinces, districts
etc.
 Provincial Administration under
Mughals
•
The Empire was divided into Subas or provinces.
• The most important among these were given to one of the
princes, others to Subadars, or other trusted men,
generally from the army or administration.
• The state lands were divided into Parganas for the purpose
of evaluating taxation; the taxes were collected by Amirs.
• When Jagirs were awarded, initially the Emperor had
retained the right to collect taxes, but later the Jagirdars
were allowed to levy taxes themselves and to keep a
portion to enable them to maintain soldiers and horses.
• In 1580, Akbar divided the empire into twelve
provinces (subahs): Agra, Delhi, Allahabad,
Awadh, Ajmer, Ahmadabad (Gujarat), Bihar,
Bengal, Kabul, Lahore (Punjab), Multan and
Malwa.
• By the end of his reign the number of provinces
had increased to fifteen with the addition of
three newly annexed provinces in the Deccan:
Berar, Khandesh and Ahmadnagar (that part of
the Nizamshahi Sultanate which was brought
under Mughal administration).
• The administrative agency in the province of the
Mughal Empire was an exact miniature of that of
the central government.
• There were the Governor (officially styled Nazim
and popularly the Subadhar), the Diwan, and the
Bakshi, the Qazi, the Sadr, the Buyutat and the
censor.
• These provincial bakhshis were really officers
attached to the contingents that accompanied
the different Subadars rather than officers of the
subhas geographical units.
• Initially each subah had one governor who was
officially called sipah salar (commander of the
forces). Abul Fazl calls him the 'Viceregent of the
emperor.‘
• In later times, the designation was changed to
nazim (regular of the province) but usually
known as subahdar.
• In 1586 Akbar made an important change; the
governing authority in every subah was
bifurcated and the office of provincial diwan was
created.
• The administration was concentrated in the
provincial capital.
• The Mughals were essentially an urban people
in India, so were their courtiers and officials.
• The villages were neglected and village life
was dreaded by them as a punishment.
 Officers in the Provincial
Administration
• The Subadar was officially called the nazim or
regulator of the province.
• His essential duties included the maintenance
of law and order, to help for the smooth and
successful collection of revenue and execution
of royal decrees and regulations to supervise
general administration, to administer
criminal justice
• The subadar was appointed by the Emperor.
He was usually a mansabdar of high rank and
enjoyed a salary depending upon his rank in
the mansabdari system. He was the
commander of the provincial army.
• The subahdars were periodically transferred
from one province to another or given other
assignments in the imperial service.
• Provincial Diwan:
• Provincial Diwan was the second officer in the
locality and was the jealous rival of the
subadhar.
• The provincial Diwan was selected by the
imperial Diwan and acted directly under his
orders and in constant correspondence with
him.
• The diwan was, in a way, the rival of the
subahdar, "the two had to keep a strict and
jealous watch on each other". This division of
provincial administrative authority was a
continuation of the early Arab system of
government in Egypt.
• He was responsible for the, collection of land
revenue and other taxes, for accounting and
auditing, as also for the administration of civil
justice.
• He appointed collectors (kroris and tahsil-
dars). He was directed to "cause the extension
of cultivation and habitation in the villages".
• The Bakshi or Paymaster:
• Every officer of the Mughal government was
enrolled as a commander of so many
horsemen, and this was only a convenient
means of calculating his salary and status.
• When called upon, these trusty lieges would
bring their soldiers and cavalry to fight for the
Emperor, thus alleviating the need for the
ruler to bear the expense of a large standing
army, except that sometimes these faithful
subjects proved not so loyal, and keen to
throw off their tutelage if given the
opportunity.
• The administrative agency of the provinces
was in some respects "an exact miniature of
the central government.
• Apart from the subahdar and the diwan, the
subah had its own high officials- bakhshi, sadr
quzi, buyutat, muhtasib, waqai-navis and mir
bahr- who discharged the same duties in the
province as officers bearing the same titles did
for the whole empire.
• The bakhshi was the paymaster of the provin-
cial army.
• The provincial buyutat was the keeper of
government property and official trustee.
• The muhtasib was the censor of public morals
• The mir bahr looked after bridges required
for military use, port duties, customs, boat
and ferry taxes, etc.
 Sarkars
• The Faujdar:
• In the maintenance of peace and the
discharge of executive functions in general,
the Subadhars' assistants were the Faujdars.

• These officers were placed in charge of

suitable subdivisions of the provincial officers
generally called Sarkars
• The faujdars were placed in charge of those
subdivisions of the province which were
important on account of the presence of
zamindars or provided large revenue or con-
tained towns.
• They were the chief assistants of the subahdar
in the discharge of his executive functions and
in the maintenance of peace.
• The Kotwal:
• The ideal kotwal is described as a man who
follows the regulations in his outward actions
and fears god inwardly.He was the chief of the
city police
• He should attend, when the sovereign or
provincial viceroy holds a court of justice or
grants public audience.
• Apart from enforcing law and order, he had to
discharge many functions of a modern
municipality, control weights and prices and
enforce the Quranic rules of morality.
• The absence of hereditary rights for these fiefs had the
disadvantage of discouraging long-term investment.
• The peasants were pressurized to pay exorbitant taxes in order to
get immediate returns, which usually went to finance the Jagirdar`s
personal expenses, and the fertility of the land and condition of the
peasants would deteriorate.
• However, after the death of Aurangzeb, when his son Shah Alam,
ascended the throne, the jagirdars refused to return their territory.
• This led to the crumbling of the Mughal Empire into a multitude of
minute principalities, which is why it was unable to resist
subsequent Persian, English, and French invasions.
• The army of the Empire attracted adventurers,
disappointed officers from neighbouring principalities,
younger sons of small princely houses like Badakhshan
or Balkh, men from Persia and Afghanistan, and other
freelances.
• Thus in the army there was an assorted mixture of
races, and consequently of languages as well. The best
cannon operators came from Portugal, Holland, Spain,
England, or France, attracted by the fabled wealth of
India.
 Scribes in Mughal Administration
•
A number of scribes were delegated to keep a record of the affairs of the
court and the Empire, to maintain a list of nominated officers, and to keep
a record of their performance. The movements of dignitaries were also
noted.
• Special scribes kept journals of the activities of the Emperor and the royal
family.
• There was a Diwan of Finances to keep an account of all the expenses, and
the magistrates, were responsible for justice and religious affairs, and for
compiling centralized reports from all over the Empire.
• The Emperor was at the centre of this network of agents, functionaries,
and spies, and he collected all the sifted information.
Thus the central administration of the Mughal emperors was quite an
efficient one.
Military Administration of Mughals

The Mir Bakhshi was in charge of the military department.

He could be asked to command an army but that was not
his primary duty.
He managed the recruitment of the soldiers, maintained
their Huliya, looked after the branding of the horses and
the elephants, looked after all sorts of supplies to the army
and training of the soldiers
. He also deputed Mansabdars for the security of the palace
and changed them every day.
Akbar had instituted a Makalb Khana, or centralized
conscription office, to enlist recruits.
 Mansabdari System
• Mansabdari System under the Mughals was an
integral part of the bureaucracy and formed as
Percival Spear put it “an elite within the elite”
• They were appointed in all the government
departments except the judiciary.
• The word mansab means position/rank/status
• P.S. refer to ppt on mansabdari system