Mughal Administrative Governance System – GK

The autocratic rule was at the heart of the Mughal administrative System. The king was the all-in-one powerful ruler in these three areas of law, justice and governance. Akbar was the chief shaper of this most effective administration system. The king was at the top of the central administration. All the ministers were responsible to the king and they helped the king by giving their advice.

Central Administrative System

Akbar established a well-organized central administrative system. For this Akbar introduced five primary departments. They were Vakil, Diwan or Wazir, Mir Bakhshi, Pradhan Sadar or Sadar-us-Sadar, and Mir-i-Saman. Each departments were headed by a minister. The ministers were appointed by the King. Aurangzeb increased the number of departments to eight.

Vakil:

1. Under the early Mughal rulers, the prime minister (under the king )was known as Vakil.
2. He was known as Vakil-i-Mulaq sometimes.
3. Before Akbar’s reign, Vakil served as the de facto leader of all central government departments.
4. Vakil had the power to appoint and dismiss other ministers
5. The Vakil was the head of the Council of Ministers during the reigns of Babur, Humayun and Akbar.
6. After the removal of Bairam Khan, the post of Vakil reduced its importance.
7. He was in charge of revenue and military duties.
8. Shah Jahan abolished the post of Vakil.

Diwan or Wazir:

1. The second most important minister was the Diwan.
2. As the Vakil post declined its importance, Diwan or Wazir took the place next to the king.
3. A Wazir could have both civil and military powers.
4. This post was continued from the beginning of the Delhi Sultanate. However, this post was renewed as a fresh under the early Mughals.
5. Over time, Diwan emerged as the most significant minister in the Mughal central administration.
6. The Diwan became the grand Wazir of the prime minister under Shah Jahan’s rule.
7. Diwan had to bear the responsibility of the revenue department.
8. Akbar used to address the Wazir as ‘Dewan-i-Ala‘.
9. Nizamuddin Muhammad Khalifa was Babur’s wazir. He possessed both civil and military power.

Extra Info: Not all Diwans were Wazirs; throughout the Mughal era, there were multiple Hindu Diwans who were not awarded the prestigious title of Wazir.

Extra Info: Under Akbar, the Hindu Todar Mal served as the Mushriff-i-Diwan or Finance Minister.

Mir Bakhshi:

1. Mir Bakhshi was the head of the Mughal military administration and intelligence department.
2. Rather than leading the Mughal army as its chief commander, he served basically as an army minister.
3. Mir Bakhshi kept the register of Mansabdars’ names, ranks, and salaries.
4. He also sanctioned the money to the Mansabdars.
5. Mir Bakhshi was in charge of choosing soldiers for the royal army as well as the Manasabdars’ soldiers and horses.
6. Being head of the intelligence department, Mirbakshi had to recruit Intelligence officers (Barids) and news reporters (waqia-navis).

Extra Info: Mir Bakhshi had to assign spies and news writers to the various regions. One of his primary duties was to collect their reports and submit it to the king.

Pradhan Sadr or Sadr-us-Sudur:

1. Sadr-us-Sudur was the religious advisor of the King.
2. His another important function was to distribute the royal charity.
3. Sadr-us-Sudur performed (according to Islamic law) the duties of the chief judge of religious affairs, religious endowments, and state.
4. He was in charge of implementing Islamic law, or Sharia.
5. He was the head of the Ulemas.
6. He also was the king’s chief adviser on religious matters.

Extra Info: For the various posts of province, district, and qazis, Chief Sadr suggested candidates to the King for appointment.

Mir-i-Saman:

1. Mir-i-Saman was in charge of factories and buildings, roads, and warehouses.
2. It was also called Khan Saman.
3. He dealt with military weapons (artillery, swords, etc.) and other articles ( such as spears, pearls, and precious stones, etc).
4. The king directly employed Mir-i-Saman, but the diwan sanctioned the money for his works.

Extra Info: Mir-i-Saman had direct access to the emperor and other ministers in addition to being in charge of all government properties.

Muhtashib:

1. Muhtashib was responsible for improving the moral character of the people.
2. He also observed whether the religious injunctions were properly followed or not.
3. He served as the inspector of localities, districts and public areas.

Other important Mughal ministers

• Barid: Spy. Head of the department of intelligence and information
• Daroga-e-Dakchowki: Postal Department. Postal Communications officer.
• Mustafi: Auditor or accountant general.
• Waqia-navis: News Writers, Reporters, etc.

Provincial Governance System

• Provincial administrations were miniature versions of central administrations.
• Akbar divided the Mughal Empire into 12 Subas (provinces) in 1580. Later 3 more Subas (of Deccan) were added.
• There were 17 Subas during Jahangir’s time.
• During Shah Jahan’s time, there were 22 Subas.
• And there were 21 Subas during Aurangzeb’s time.
• Suba was divided into many Sarkaras. Faujdar was the chief administrative officer of the Sarkaras.
• Sarkaras were divided into different ‘Parganas‘. Sikdar was the chief administrative officer of these Parganas.
• Parganas were further divided into Gram (villages).
• Amin or Kanungo was a revenue department employee.
• Amil or Amalgujar was responsible for revenue collection and maintenance of roads.
• Kotwal kept the law and order, peace and security of the government. He supervised the income and expenditure of the citizens.
• Various provincial officials included Qazi, Kotwal, and Mir Bahl.

Extra Info: Kotwal: His main duty was to conduct the trial of criminal cases within the city. He inspected the prisoners also. Maintaining law and peace was one of his duties.

Subadars:

• The ruler or governor of a suba or province was called a Subadar, Sipahsalar, or Nazim.
• Subadars administered military and administrative duties.
• He also had to maintain the criminal justice in his Suba.
• He had to maintain the law and regulation in the Suba.
• The collection of efficient tax was one of his primary duties.
• He implemented the laws and orders from the king in his region.

Dewan (Provincial Level):

• The chief officer of the revenue department at the provincial level or Suba.
• He was in charge of settling civil cases.
• He appointed a revenue assessor or Amin.
• He provided a detailed report of the collected tax amount, and cash of his treasury to the central Diwan.

Extra Info: Sadr (or provincial Bakshi) performed the military official duties that Mir Bakshi had delegated to him.

Local Administration

• Sarkar: There were two main posts at the Sarkar level. As the head of administration, Faujdar was in charge of protecting people’s lives and property, while Amalgujar was in charge of collecting taxes.
• Pargana: A pargana level executive officer was Shiqqadar. He had similar duties as Amalgujar.
• Village: In terms of village governance, Muqqaddam was the village chief. Patwari was in charge of maintaining the village’s tax records.

Extra Info: Faujdar served as the local governor (at district level). He was the assistant subedar along with Nazaim and Thanadar. Zamindars were protected by Faujdar.

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