MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION
Position of Emperor :The Mughal emperors were powerful in administration.
They accepted two primary duties for themselves, Jahanbani (protection of the state) and Jahangiri (extension of the empire).
Emperor was the head of the state.
He was the law maker, the chief executive, the commander-in-chief of the army and final dispenser of justice.
Akbar abolished the post of all-powerful Waqil. He became the head of the revenue department also known as Diwan-i-risalat. Diwan or Wazir Responsible for all income and expenditure and had control over khalisa and jagir land.
Mir Bakshi Headed military department, nobility, information and intelligence agencies.
Mir Saman Incharge of imperial household and Karkhanas. Diwan-i-Bayutat Maintained roads, government buildings etc and worked under Mir Saman. Sadr-us-Sadur Incharge of charitable and religious funding. Qazi-ul-Quzat Headed the Judiciary Department. Muhtasib Censor of Public Morals. Others Apart from the above, there were many other ministers and officers at the centre, though not as important as the above. They were
Diwan-i-Khalisa (incharge of crown lands)
Diwan-i- Watan (incharge of jagirs)
Mushrif-i-Mumalik (Accountant- general)
Mustauf-i-Mumalik (Auditor-general)
Daroga-i-dak chauki (Postmaster- general)
Mir-i-arz (incharge of petitions)
Mir-i-mal (incharge of privy purse)
Mir-i-tozak (incharge of ceremonies)
Mir Bahri (incharge of ships and boats)
Mir-i-Manzil (incharge of quarters)
Mir Atish or Daroga-i-topkhana (head of artillery).
Besides, certain other officials worked in various parts of the empire under the supervision of their respective heads at the centre. They were
Muqtasib (enforced public morals)
Waqia-navis (news reporters)
Khufia navis (secret letter writers)
Harkaras (spices and special couriers) etc.
Some elite troops, called Ahadis, were maintained directly by the emperors without placing them under the Mansabdark. Their equipment was of high standard and each had to muster five horses. They were placed under a separate Diwan and Bakshi.
PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Mughal Empire was divided into subas, which were further sub-divided into sarkar, parganas and villages. However, the suba also had other territorial units as Khalisa, (royal land), Jagirs (autonomous rajas) and Inams (gifted lands, mainly waste lands). There were 15 territorial units (subas) during Akbar's reign, which later increased to 20 under Aurangzeb's reign.
PROVINCE (SUBA)
Suba was the largest unit equivalent to province. The head was known as Nazim or Subedar. The Subedar was the Governor of the province appointed by the emperor for overall supervision in all matters.A provincial Diwan was appointed to look after revenue and civil justice and supervision of the sadr.Village affairs were looked after by the panchayat.Lambardar was the head of the panchayat. Other officials to help the governor were as follow Sadr incharge of religious interests.Qazi for Judicial matters.Mirbakshi to act as a link between the Centre and the Province in regard to army matters.Kotwal for municipal matters.Mir bahr admiral.Waqia Navis News reporterslwriters.Peshkar Personal Assistant.Munsif clerk.Tavildar treasurer.
DISTRICT (SARAKAR)
The next level of administration was district
(sarakar). Following were the important officials
Fauzdar Administrative Head.
Amal/Amalguzar Revenue collection.
Kotwal Maintenance of law and order, trial of
criminal cases and price regulation.
Shiqdar Administrative head combined in
himself the duties of fauzdar and kotwal.
Amin, Qanungo were revenue officials.
Village Administration Several villages made up
Pargana.
VILLAGE (PARGANA)
The village during the Mughal period was
recognised as a self-governing unit with rights
and responsibilities. It had its council that is the
Panchayat, which settled disputes, performed
relief work and collected revenue.
Important officials at Pargana level
Muqaddam Headman
Patwari Accountant
Chowkidar Watchman
MANSABDARI SYSTEM
Akbar was the architect of the Mansabdari
system, an institution of political and economic
significance, that played a critical role in the
consolidation as well as disintegration of Mughal Empire.
The term mansab (i.e. office position or rank) in
the Mughal Administration indicated the rank of its holder (mansabdar) in the hierarchy.
Mansabdari system had the following features
Mansabdari system was introduced in 1595-96,
showing a noble's civil and military capacity.
Twin ranks Zat and Sawar were allotted. The
former indicated a noble's personal status, while the latter, the number of troops he had to
maintain. The Mansabdars were divided into
3 classes, First, Second and Third. First class meant equal number of zat and Sawar, Second class Zat half or more than half of Sawar and
Third class Zat less than half of Sawar.
It had a three scale gradation as follow
1. Mansabdar (500 Zat and below)
2. Amir (between 500 - 2500 Zat)
3. Amir-i-ham or Amir-i-Umda (2500 Zat and above) During Jahangir's reign, a du-aspa- sih-aspa system was introduced through which, a noble's Sawar rank could be increased without
affecting his Zat.
Under Shah Jahan, new regulations prescribing the size of the contigent under which various Sawar ranks were introduced. The increase of number of Mansabdars during the reign of Aurangzeb led tothe Jagirdari and agrarian crisis.Mansab was not a hereditary system. Mansabdars were paid through revenue assignments (jagirs) and some paid in cash (naqdi). The salary was fixed on month-scale system.
THE JAGlR SYSTEM
Assignment of a piece of land to an individual for the purpose of collection of revenue in bill of cash salary is an old -age practice in India. In the Delhi Sultanate period, such assignments were called Iqtas and the holders as Iqtadars.
The Mughal emperors also implemented this system and the areas assigned were called Jagirs and their holders, Jagirdars. It was
assigned to Mansabdars in bill of salary. The maximum area of the territory was assigned to Mansabdars on the basis of their rank. The
estimated revenue from the territory was called 'Jama or Jamadari'. It was calculated in 'Dam'. There were various types of Jagirs
Jagir Tankha Jagirs which were given in lieu of pay.Mashaut Jagirs Jagirs given to an individual on certain conditions. , .Inam Jagirs Jagirspwith no involvement of obligations of service and
were independent df rank.Watan Jagirs Jagirs assigned to Zamindars in their homelands.
Of these, Tanka Jagirs were transferable for every 3 or 4 years. Watan Jagirs were hereditary and non-transferable. The Jagirdar collected the revenue through his own officials like Karkun and Amin, Amil,Potdar.
LAND REVENUE SYSTEM
The central feature of the agrarian system under the Mughals was the
distance from the peasant of his surplus produce (produce over and above the subsistence level) in the form of land revenue which was the main source of state's income. The process of land revenue collection has two stages
1. Assessment (tashkhis/jama) 2. Actual collection (hasil).Assessment was made to fix the state demand. On the basis of thisdemand, actual collection was done separately for kharif and rabi crops.
METHODS OF LAND REVENUE ASSESSMENT
A few commonly used methods were GHALLA BAKSHI OR BHAOLl OR BATAl
This was a sim~le method of cror, sharing - in which the produce was arranged into heaps and divided into three shares areas it was called bhaoli and bataiThe Ain-i-Akbari notes three types of crop sharing
1. Division of crop at the threshing
floor after the grain was obtained.
This was done in the presence of
both the parties in accordance with
agreement.
2. Khet batai The share was decided
when the crop was still standing in
the fields and a division of the field
was marked.
3. Lang batai The crop was cut
and stacked in heaps without
separating grain and a division of
crop in this form was made.
KANKUT/DAMBANDI
The word kankut is derived from the
words kan and hut. Kan, denotes grain
while hut means to estimate or
appraisal. Similarly, dam means grain
while bandi is furing or determining
anything.
It was a system where the grain yield
(or productivity) was estimated. In
kankut, at first, the field was measured
either by means of a rope or by pacing.
After this, the per bigha productivity
from good, middling and bad lands was
estimated and the revenue demand was
fixed accordingly.
NASAQ
Where past assessment determined the
present, a rough calculation was made
on the basis of past revenue receipts of
the peasants. Todar Ma1 collected the
accounts of the Qanungo and in some
places ascertained their accuracy by
local enquiries.
From these accounts, he prepared the
rent roll of the Suba. The Nasaq system
did not depend upon survey or seasonal
records of produce. It resembled the
Zamindari settlement.
ZABTl
In Mughal India, it was the most
important method of assessment. The
origin of this practice is traced to Sher
Shah. During Akbar's reign, the system
was revised a number of times before it
took the final shape.
Sher Shah had established a rai or per
bigha yield for lands which were under
continuous cultivation (jolaj), or those
land which very rarely allowed to lie
fallow (jarauti). The rai was based on
three rates, representing good,
middling and low yields and one third
of the sum of these was appropriated as
land revenue.
Classification of Land
Land was classifled Into four types
1 Polaj Continuously cultivated and very
2 Parauti Left fallow for a year or two to
recover its productlvlty.
3 Chachhar Left fallow for 3 or 4 years
4 Banjar Uncultivated for 5 years or
more and infertile land
Akbar adopted Sher Shah's rai. Akbar introduced his so-called karori experiment and appointed karoris allo ver North India in 1574-75 AD. The entire jagir was converted into khalisa.On the basis of the information provided by the karoris regarding the actual produce, local prices,productivity etc in 1580 AD.Akbar instituted a new system
arindhaal, where the average produce of different crops as well as the average prices prevailing over the last 10 years were calculated.
One third of the average produce was
the state's minimum share. Under the
karori experiment, measurement of all
provinces took place. Bamboo rods with iron rhgs called tanab were used instead of hempen ropes.
On the basis of productivity and prices
prevailing in different regions, they
were divided for revenue purposes into
dastur circles. The rates of assessment
in cash for each crop in every dastur
was decided and the demand was fixed
accordingly.
FEATURES OF ZABTl SYSTEM
The main features of the Zabti system
as it finally came into operation under
Akbar were
Measurement of land was essential.
Fixed cash revenue rates known as
dastur for each crop.
All the collection was made in cash.
From an administrative point of view,
Zabti system had same merits Measurement could always be rechecked.
Due to fured dasturs, local officials could not use their discretion.With furing the permanent dasturs,the uncertainties and fluctuation in
levying the land revenue demand were greatly reduced.There were some limitations of this
system as well It could not be applied, ifthe quality of the soil was not uniform.
If the yield was uncertain, this method was disadvantageous to peasants because risks were borne by them alone.
This was an expensive method as a
cess of one dam per bigha known as
zabitana, was given to meet the costs
towards the maintenance of the measuring party.
Much fraud could be practiced in recording the measurement.
Zabti system was adopted only in the
core regions of the empire. The main
provinces covered under Zabti were
Delhi, Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, Lahore
and Multan. Even in these provinces,
other methods of assessment were also practiced, depending on the circumstances of the area.
REVENUE FARMING
Ijara system or revenue farming was
another feature of the Revenue system
of that time. Though as a rule, Mughals
disapproved of this practice, in actual
fact certain villages were sometimes
farmed out.
Generally, these villages, when peasant
did not have resources available for
undertaking cultivation or where owing
to some calamity cultivation could not
be done, were farmed out on ijara.
The revenue officials or their relatives
were not supposed to take land on
ijara. It was expected that revenue
farmers would not extract more than
the stipulated land revenue from the
peasants. But, this was hardly the case
in actual practice.
The practice of ijara, it seems, could
not have been very common in the
Zabti provinces, Gujarat and the
Mughal Dakhin. In the khalisa lands
too, this practice was very rare.
However, in the jagir lands, it became a common feature. Revenue assignees Gagirdars) farmed out their assignments
in lieu of a lumpsum payment, generally to the highest bidders. Sometimes,
jagirdars sub-assigned part of their jagirs to his subordinateltroopers. During
the 18th century, Ijara system became a common form of revenue assessment
and collection.
MODE OF PAYMENT
In the Mughal period, the peasant under Zabti system had to pay revenue in
cash. However, under cropsharing and hang out, commutation into cash was
permitted at market prices.
COLLECTION OF LAND REVENLIE
Under Ghalla Bakshi, the state's share was seized directly from the field. In
other systems, the state collected its share at the time of harvesting.
In the kharif season, the harvesting of different crops was done at different
times and the revenue was accordingly to be collected in three stages
depending on the types of crop. The rabi harvest was gathered within a very
short period. Usually, the revenue was deposited in the treasury through the
amil or revenue collector. Akbar encouraged the peasants to pay directly.
Todar Ma1 recommended that the peasants of trusted villages, within the
time limit, could deposit their revenue in the treasury themselves and could
obtain receipt. The village accountant, patwari made endorsement in his
register to establish the amount paid.
LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION
There were three types of officials
1. Officials and agents of jagirdars.
2. Permanent local officials, many of whom were hereditary. They were
generally not affected by the frequent transfers of the jagirdars.
3. Imperial officials to help and control the jagirdars at the rural level.
There were many revenue officials.
Karori In 1574-75 AD, the office of karori was created. He was incharge of
both assessment and collection of the revenue. An important change took
place during. Shah Jahan's reign. Now, amins were appointed in every
mahal and they were given the work of assessment. After this change,
karori (or amil) remained concerned chiefly with collection of revenue,
which amin had assessed.
Arnin The next important revenue official was amin. His main function was
to assess the revenue.
Qanungo He was the local revenue official of the pargana and generally
belonged to one of the accountant castes. It was a hereditary post, but an
imperial order was essential for the nomination of each new person. The
qanungo was paid 1% of the total revenue as remuneration, but Akbar
started paying them salaries.
Chaudhari He was also important revenue official like the qanungo. He was
mainly concerned with the collection.
Shiqqdar Under Sher Shah, he was the incharge of revenue collection and
maintained law and order. In Akbar's later period, he seems to be a
subordinate official under the karori.
Muqaddam and Patwari They were village level officials. The former was
the village headman. In lieu of his services, he was allowed 2.5% of the total
revenue collected by him. The patwari was to maintain records of the
village land, the holdings of the individual cultivators, variety of crops
grown and details about fallow land.
JAGIRDARI CRISIS
In a narrow sense, Jagirdari crisis means
crisis in the Jagir system resulting in the
attempt of the nobles to corner the most
profitable Jagirs for themselves.
But in the broader sense, it means a crisis in
the economic and social relations of medieval
Mughal India, more specially in the agrarian
relations and the administrative
superstructure reared upon these relations.
The following were the causes for this crisis
The nature of medieval Indian society,
limited agricultural growth and whose
delicate balance was liable to be upset on a
number of counts, such as serious struggle
for power at the centre, disaffection in the
nobility etc was the main cause of this
crisis.
The breakdown of the Mughal
administrative system and the weakness of
the later Mughals.
Growth in the size and demands of the
ruling class, viz the nobility and their
dependents, both of whom subsisted on the
revenue resources of the empire. The
number of Mansabdar increased from
around 2000 in 1605 AD to almost 12000 by
1675 AD.
The expansion of the Khalisa lands by both
Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, in order to
meet the growing administrative expenses
as also the cost of the wars which were a
continuous feature of Aurangzeb's reign,
also initiated this crisis.
Finally, opposition and revolts of the
Zamindars and the peasants against the
illegal exactions of the nobles aggravated
this crisis.
CATEGORIES OF
AG RI CU LTU RI STS
The agriculturists in the Mughal period
were grouped into the following three
categories on the basis of availability of land.
Khudkashta, also known as Malik-i-
Jamin, were peasants who cultivated their
own land, also known as Mirasdars (in
Maharashtra) and Gaveti (in Rajasthan),
they were the original settlers of the village.
Muzarian or tenants were the agriculturists
who lived in their own villages, but
cultivated the land taken on Batai (rent)
from the Khudkashta.
Paikasht or Pahikashta peasants lived in other
villages on temporary basis and were given a share
in their produce as remuneration.
The greatest Hindi poet of Akbar's time was Sant
Tulsidas (1532-1623 AD), who wrote the famous
Ramcharitamanas. Surdas. the blind bard of
Agra, has elucidated in very beautiful words of
Brij Bhasa in his book, Sur Sugar, the childhood
of Lord Krishna and the true love of Krishna and
Radha. Keshavdas, was the author of several
books, such as Kavi Priya, Ram Chandrika Rasik
Priya, Alankri, Manjari etc.
During the Shah Jahan period, great poets like
Sunder, Senapati, Bhushan and Behari La1 lived,
who wrote very good books. Sunders works
earned him. Shah the distinctions of Kaviraj and
Maha Kavi by emperor Shah Jahan.
Religious Policies of the Mughals
: Babur followed the generous traditions established by 'j
: his Mongol and Timurid ancestors. Though he declared ' the wars against Rana Sanga and Medini Rai as Jihad 'i , his overall religious policy was quiet liberal. Humayun ;
too adopted his father's policy as far as relations with ? ;! Hindus were concerned, but the credit of establishing a ;j
'. state with secular dimensions in India goes to Akbar 2
+ alone. b
!
;. Akbar's Religious Policies r:
He abolished Jizya and p~lgrlmage tax and forclble ' I conversion of prisoners of war
:! - He built an lbadat Khana at Fatehpor Sikri to discuss
religious matters. He invited many distinguished
; persons at the lbadat Khana.
. To curb the dominance of Ulema, Akbar Introduced
a new Khutba, written by Falz~ and proclaimed
Mahzarnama In 1579, wh~ch made hlm the final ,, Interpreter of lslamlc law (Mujtahid Imam-/-Ad11 ) In
case of any controversies It made hlm
Amir-ul-Momin (leader of the faithful) and Amir-/-Ad11
(a just ruler)
- His religious liberalism is reflected again in the
pronouncement of Tauhid-1-llahi or Dinillahi.
Jahangir's Religious Policies
Jahanglr, of course, continued to follow h~s father's
liberal pollcles and refused to play In the hands of the
Musllm Ulemas He put an end to the practlce of - contracting marriages between Hindu men and
Musllm women, so commonly prevalent In Rajour~ In
Kashmlr However, he adopted a harsh pollcy towards
Gujarat. He was moved by rellglous ends to some = extent In adopt~ng an oppressive pollcy towards Guru
; Arjan Dev
Thus, some of h~s acts certainly show that Jahanglr
was dlsposed to bigotry In a small measure, but he
could not manifest it openly owing to the then
prevalllng atmosphere and the rapid movement of the
tlme Like his father, Shah Jahan pursued a tolerant
rellgious pollcy, although there were aberrations at
tlmes I
ClGSSlFlCATlON OF SOCIETY
THE RULING CLASS
The Medieval Indian society was organised on a feudal basis. The
emperor, as the absolute ruler, was the head of the social system. He
claimed divine status and powers for the crown and declare authentic
rights over the entire land in his capacity as the lord having supreme
power of the country. Members of the royal family, together with the
blood relations, friends and favourites of the king enjoyed a privileged
position in the society, while the imperial harem and the court acted as
the trend-setters in social and cultural affairs.
The Mughal nobility or the ruling elite, collectively styled as umara
(plural of amir), who belonged to the first category of the mansabdari
system and the feudatory chieftains, who owned allegiance to the
Mughal crown, comprised the aristocracy of the land.
MAJOR RELIGIOUS GROUPS
Although there were several other religious communities, such as, the
Parsis in Gujarat and Bombay, Christians on our West coast especially
in Cochin-Travancore, and foreign European trading communities in
the several parts of the country, the sub-continent was mainly peopled
by the indigenous Hindus and Indian and foreign Muslims, who were
found living side by side and working together at the Mughal court, in
the camp and the public offices.
Religion permeated every aspect of the Medieval Indian society. The
country ?as dotted with mosques, temples and other places of worship
erected by the people belonging to various religious denominations: the
whole of India from the Himalayan peaks to Kanyakumari in the
South seemed to be a holy land.
THE MERCANTILE AND PROFESSIONAL CLASSES
Nevertheless, trade and the traders continued to have a low social status. Merchants in India were not without influence in the political
quarters where their own interests were concerned. Thus, each community of merchants has its leader or nagarseth, who could
interrupted with the local officials on their behalf. The trading community in India, especially in the port towns, included some of the richest merchants who are comparable in wealth and power to the merchant prices of Europe. Banjaras were important trader class of Mediaeval era.
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