Dr.

Ram ManoharLohiya
National Law University, Lucknow


2014-15
Final project
On
MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION

Subject: - HISTORY

Under supervision of :- Submitted by:
Dr. Vandana Singh Anubhav Jaiswal
Assistant Professor 1
st
semester
(HISTORY) Roll No. 34
Section - A
INDEX

INTRODUCTION
POSITION OF THE EMPEROR
THE NOBILITY
DEPARTMENTS
THE POLICE
NATURE OF MUGHAL ADMINISTRATION
THE ARMY
THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
THE REVENUE SYSTEM
THE JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
BIBLIOGRAPHY











INTRODUCTON

The establishment of the Mughal administration is different from those of the ' Sultans of
Delhi ', was mainly the work of the Akbar and also of his two predecessors, Babur and
Humayun, the former had neither time nor opportunity, and the latter neither inclination nor
ability, to elaborate a system of civil government. The Mughal empire was a combination of
Indian and extra-ordinary Indian elements. More accurately it was a ''Perso-Arabic system
in an Indian setting.'' It was also essentially military in nature and every officer of the Mughal
state had to be enrolled in the army list. It was necessarily a centralised autarchy, and the
king's power was unlimited, his word is law and no one can stand against it. He was the
supreme authority in the state, The head of the government, the commander of the state
forces, the fountain of justice, and the chief legislator. He was true khalifah of the God,
required to obey the scriptures and Islamic traditions, but in practice a strong King could act
in defiance of sacred law if he is so liked. There was nothing like a cabinet of ministers in the
modern sense of the term. The ministers could not claim to be consulted as a matter of right;
it was entirely a matter of Emperor's pleasure to accept their advice or not. Much, depended,
indeed, on the personality of the Emperor and his ministers.

POSITION OF THE EMPEROR

The Mughal emperor was the head of the administration. According to the Quranic theory,
the Mughal emperor was the rulers of the Muslims only. He was nominally responsible to the
Muslim public only for his conduct as a king. There was no check of his powers, but in actual
his own autocracy was tempered by the fear of a rebellion.
There was no accepted law of succession among the Mughals. After the death of the king
there was always some trouble. In case of Shah Jahan there was a war of succession between
his four sons.
The Mughal kings worked very hard. They kept longer hours and enjoyed lesser holidays.The
Mughal emperor had to play a double role. He had to govern the people in his dominions as
their King and also act as the missionary, defender and the agent of the creed of a section of
his subjects.


THE NOBILITY ( MANSABDARI SYSTEM )

The Mansabdari System was an important achievement of Mughal Administration System.
Mughal nobility was a heterogeneous body composed of diverse elements like turk, tartar,
persian and indian, muskim, and hindu, and therefore could not therefore organise itself a
powerful baronial class. Some europeans also recieved titles of nobility In theory, nobility is
not heriditary in nature but purely official in character.
During the rule of the Mughals, every activity of the state administration was centred round
the emperor. The Mughals developed nobility (mansabdars) to look after administration, but
took steps to ensure that there was always an element of insecurity in their position, so that
the monarch could control them. The emperor alone could confer, decrease, increase and
resume the mansabs. Mansab was the grant to every official, of the rights to enjoy a jagir. The
term jagir meant revenue assignments (not land itself) for services rendered (instead of a cash
salary). The jagirdari system did not affect the land rights of the cultivators or the hereditary
rights of the middlemen or zamindars. The mansabdar collected rev-enue from his jagir
through zamindars who collected dues from the cultivators. Frequent transfers of jagirs were
made. When a mansabdar died, his entire personal property was taken over by the State and
after deducting what he owed to the State, the balance would be returned to his heirs. There
could be no hereditary claim over the mansabs. Nobles received salaries in cash also. The
nobles had to place their entire time and service at the disposal of the emperor.
. A noble had only a life interest in his jagir, which escheated to the crown on his death and
the titles and emolument are not usually be transmitted from father to son. The effect of the
system is of escheated was ''most harmful'' The nobles led extravagant lives and squandered
away all their money in unproductive luxury during their life-time. It also prevented India
from having one of the strongest safeguards of public liberty and checks on royal autocracy.
Akbar divided the land into two categories - Khalisa and Jagir. Land revenue of Khalisa land
went directly to the royal treasury whereas Jagirs were assigned to the Jagirdars according to
their rank. Those Mansabdars who received cash payment were known as Naqdi. Jagirs were
usually granted to the Mansabdars and the governing class of the empire. Before assigning
Jagirs, the Revenue Department had to maintain a register indicating the assessed income
(jama) of various areas, which was not indicated in rupees but in dams, calculated at the rate
of 40 dams to a rupee. This document was called Jama-Dami or assessed income of an area
based on dams. During the reign of Shah Jahan the Jama-Dami or value of the Jagir increased
in accordance with the price rise during the period.

The Jagirs were transferable and no Jagirdar was allowed to retain the same Jagir for a long
time. This feature of the system not only checked local roots of the Jagirdars but also helped
taking long-term measures for the development of the areas by the Jagirdars.

DEPARTMENTS

There were many departments of the government but some of the most important are
mentioned here :-
1) The exchequer and Revenue under the High Diwan or Diwan-in-Ala.
2) The imperial household under under the Khani Saman or High Steward.
3) The Military pay and accounts office under Imperial Bakhshi.
4) Canon law, both Civil and Criminal under Chief Qazi.
5) Religious endowments and charity under the Chief sardar.
6) Censorship and Public morals under the Muhtasib.
7) The Artillery under the Mir Atish or Darogha-i-Topkhana.
8) Intelligence and posts under the Darogha of Dauk Chauki.
9) Mint under a Darogha.

THE POLICE
As far as the rural areas are concerned, the Mughals introduced no new arrangements for the
prevention and detection of crimes. These remained immemorial, under the headman of the
village and his subordinate watchmen. This system which afforded a fair degree of security in
the local areas with only occasional disturbances in times of disorder, survived till the time of
nineteenth century. In the cities and towns, all police duties, including the task of maintaining
public order and decency, were entrusted to the Kotwals, whose duties, were multifarious:
To detect thieves,
To regulate prices and check weights and measures,
To keep watch at night and patrol the city,
To keep up registers of houses, frequented roads, and of citizens,and watch the
movements of the strangers,
To employ spies from among the vagabonds, gather information about the affairs of
the neighbouring villages, and the income and expenditure of the various classes of
the people,
To prevent the slaughter of oxen, buffaloes, horses or camels.
To prevent the burning of women against their will, and circumstances against the age
of twelve.

NATURE OF MUGHAL ADMINSTRATION
The Mughal administration system was in the nature of military rule and was necessarily a
centralised despotism. As concerned with the Muslims, the king was the head of the state and
the Church, as regards to the non-Muslims; he was only their temporal head. The government
did not interfere very much with the life of the people.
Mughal Administration is dependent upon the following factors:-
The Central Government
The revenue system
Military Organisation
The Judiciary

THE ARMY
No large standing army was maintained by the state , but all the able bodied persons were
potential soldiers of the imperial army. The history of the Mughal army is largely the history
of the the Mansabdari system. The Mansabdars were ranked based on the number of men that
they had raised and the ranking system became known as mansab. However, the ranking
system, which was first introduced by Akbar,[1] did not apply only to the chiefs: every man
employed for state service who was above the rank of common soldier or messenger had a
mansab and in return they provided certain services when called upon.
The army was composed of three branches: cavalry, infantry and artillery. Its central Asian
origins were reflected in the cavalry being the dominant part of the army. However, in the
later years of the empire, and as a result of wars with the European powers in India, the
infantry became more important. Under Shah Jahan, Akbar's grandson, the army numbered
200,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. His son, Aurangzeb, had an army of 300,000 cavalry
and 600,000 infantry.
The rates of pay for officers and men of the cavalry, forming numerically far the most
important part of the army. The rates for Infantry and Artillery was less than the cavalry
soldiers because they have no importance in Mughal Military.
The head of the Mughal administrative apparatus was the emperor. Though the king enjoyed
absolute power, he appointed a number of officers in different departments of the government
for the transactions of the multitudinous affairs.
From 1526 to 1560, i.e., from the time of Babur to the first four years of the reign of Akbar,
the office of Wazir or Wakil enjoyed great power. At the time of Bairam Khans regency
(1556-60), the office enjoyed unlimited power. As Akbar took the financial power of the
Wakil from Bairam Khan, the office lost its importance. The office remained though no one
was appointed to act on behalf of the emperor .
The main departments of the state were usually four. The head of exchequer was the Dewan
who was usually the highest officer in the state, being in sole charge of revenue and finance.
He personally inspected all financial transactions, payments in all departments and
maintained direct contact with the provincial Diwan.
The office of military pay and accounts was entrusted to Mir Bakshi, who discharged various
duties. While he was the Paymaster-General of all the officers of the state, who theoretically
belonged to the military department, he was also responsible for the recruiting soldiers of
the army and for maintaining list of Mansabdars and other high officials. When preparing for
a battle, he presented a complete master-roll of the army before the emperor.
Khan-i-Saman was the officer of the Imperial Household department who had charge in
reference to both great and small things.
The last but not the least important office was held by Sadr-us Sudur who was the head of
religious endowments and charity. He was also the minister of education and royal alms.
Before Shah Jahan, the office of Chief Qazi and Sadr-us Sudur were combined in one person
as the Sadr acted as the Chief Qazi. Aurangzeb separated these two offices and appointed two
different persons to hold these posts.
Secondary in importance were the heads of departments like Mustaufi (Auditor General),
Chief Mufti (Legal Adviser), Chief Muhtasib (Censor of Public Morals) and Daroga-i-Dak
Choki (Officer of Intelligence and Postal Department). The other officials, somewhat inferior
in status to those mentioned above, were the Mir Atish or Daroga-i-Topkhana
(Superintendent of Artillery), Nazir-i- Buyutat (Superintendent of Imperial Workshop), Mir
Barak (Superintendent of Forests), Mir Arz (Officer who presented petitions to the emperor)
and Mir Tazak (Master of Ceremonies).he central and provincial government.





THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
The head of the Mughal administrative apparatus was the emperor. Though the king enjoyed
absolute power, he appointed a number of officers in different departments of the government
for the transactions of the multitudinous affairs.

From 1526 to 1560, i.e., from the time of Babur to the first four years of the reign of Akbar,
the office of Wazir or Wakil enjoyed great power. At the time of Bairam Khans regency
(1556-60), the office enjoyed unlimited power. As Akbar took the financial power of the
Wakil from Bairam Khan, the office lost its importance. The office remained though no one
was appointed to act on behalf of the emperor .

The main departments of the state were usually four. The head of exchequer was the Dewan
who was usually the highest officer in the state, being in sole charge of revenue and finance.
He personally inspected all financial transactions, payments in all departments and
maintained direct contact with the provincial Diwan.

The office of military pay and accounts was entrusted to Mir Bakshi, who discharged various
duties. While he was the Paymaster-General of all the officers of the state, who theoretically
belonged to the military department, he was also responsible for the recruiting soldiers of
the army and for maintaining list of Mansabdars and other high officials. When preparing for
a battle, he presented a complete master-roll of the army before the emperor.

In 1579-80 Akbar divide the kingdom into twelve provinces, the number of which rose to
fifteen towards the close of his reign, to seventeen in the reign of Jahangir and to twenty-two
in the reign of Aurangzeb. The administrative agency in the provinces of the Mughal empire
was an exact miniature of the central government. The governor was the head of the civil as
well as military administration of each subah. He had a staff of subordinate officers under
him like the Diwan, the Bakhshi, the Faujdar, the Kotwal, the Qazi, the Sadr, the Amil, the
Bitikchi, the Potdar, and the Waqa-i-navis. The Diwan or revenue chief of a province often
acted as the rival of the subahdar. Each was enjoined to keep a district watch over the other
so that none of them could become over powerful.


THE REVENUE SYSTEM
The finance department of the Mughals was under diwan-i-Ala. However there were many
other officers to assist him. Mustaufi acted as the Accountant General of the Empire. He
looked into the accounts of all the departments in the state. The revenue system of the state
fluctuated from time to time. That was partly due to the changes in the territorial limits of the
Empire and in changes in the rate of the taxes. Even the nature of the taxes changed from
time to time.
There were many sources of income of the Mughal empire and one amongst is the land
revenue. Akbar was the architect of the Mughal land revenue system. In the beginning, he
adopted Sher Shahs land revenue system in which the cultivated area was measured and a
central schedule was drawn up by fixing the dues of peasants crop wise on the basis of the
productivity of the soil. But gradually Akbar developed a more workable system through
experiments which continued more or less without any modifications by his successors.
To reorganize the revenue system, Akbar first collected complete information about the land.
The cultivable land was measured into Bighas with a standard Gaz (a unit of measurement)
known as Jarib. It was the bamboo Jarib system where the land was measured by means of
bamboos joined together with iron rings. For purpose of assessment, the cultivable land was
classified into four categories: Polaj (land which was constantly under cultivation and never
left fallow), Parauti (land which had to be left fallow for a time to enable it to recover
fertility), Chachar (land which had to be left fallow for three or four years to regain its
productivity) and Banjar (land which remained uncultivated for five years or more). The first
two categories of lands (Polaj and Parauti) were again classified into three grades good,
middle and bad. The produce of the three grades of land was calculated and their average was
taken as the actual produce of the land, on the basis of which the state claimed its share of
revenue.
Another system of revenue collection which existed during the Mughal period was the Nasaq
system. In this system, a rough calculation was made on the basis of the past revenue receipts
of the peasants. It required no actual measurement. The area was assessed on the basis of the
records. This method was widely prevalent in Bengal and in certain parts of Gujarat.

THE JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
The Mughal emperor was the khalifa of the age. As such he was the fountain of all justice.
According to Sarkar he was the highest court of appeal and sometimes acted as first instance
too. The Mir Arzs presented the application of the people before the emperor. The Mughal
rulers possessed a great sense of justice and tried to establish an efficient system of judicial
administration. Initially, they inherited the judicial system based on Islamic law of the
Sultanate period under which the subjects were divided into two classes- Believers and
Zimmis, the latter being not recognized as citizens of the country. It was Akbar who did not
strictly adhere to the Islamic theory of kingship and made some changes in the judicial
system.
At the apex of the judicial administration stood the king, who was considered as the fountain
of justice. He held his court on fixed days of the week and personally decided all the
important cases. The king alone enjoyed the right to award death sentences. Next to the
kings court stood the courts of Sadr-us-Sadur which decide the religious cases and the Qazi-
ul-Qzat which decide all other cases. Both the courts heard appeals against judgement of the
lower courts in their respective spheres.
There was separate judicial machinery at the provincial level. The chief responsibility of
judicial administration rested with the Subedar, the Diwan and the Qazi. The Subedar decided
all the criminal cases and punished thieves, robbers, rebels, etc. The civil cases were decided
by the Diwan. The court of the Qazi also enjoyed wide judicial powers. The Qazi with the
help of officials like Mufti and Miradi discharged both civil and criminal justice on the
Hindus and the Muslims.
At the Sarkar and Pargana level, the Siqdar acted as the chief judicial officer and tried all
criminal cases. The civil cases were tried by the Amil. The Qazi and the Kotwal too enjoyed
the right to try certain types of civil and criminal cases. The lowest unit of judicial
administration was the Panchayat which enjoyed the power to decide all types of cases.
No codified laws existed in the Mughal judicial system. The cases of the Muslims were
decided on the basis of quaranic injunctions, hadis or sayings of the prophet, eatwas or
decrees of the eminent judges, etc. In case of the Hindus the cases were decided in
accordance with their customary and traditional laws. However, in criminal cases some
identical laws existed for the members of the two communities. The political cases were tried
by special courts consisting of civil and military officials.


















BIBLIOGRAPHY
An Advanced History of India R.C. MAJUMDAR
H.C. RAYCHAUDHURI
KALIKINKAR DATTA

HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL INDIA V.D. MAHAJAN