Administration in Medieval India

1.
Mughal Administration
2. Maratha Administration
3.Administration of Vijayanagar Empire
Mughal Administration
 The Delhi sultanate remained strong for about 300 years.
 By the early 1500s, its power was weakening as a result it left India
open to invasion.
 The Mughals were descendants of two great lineages of rulers.
 From their mother’s side they were descendants of Genghis Khan

(died 1227), ruler of the Mongol tribes, China and Central Asia.
 From their father’s side they were the successors of Timur (died
1404), the ruler of Iran, Iraq and modern-day Turkey.
Mughal Emperors
1. Babur 1526-1530
2. Humayun 1530-1540,
1555-1556
3. Akbar 1556-1605
4. Jahangir 1605-1627
5. Shah Jahan 1627-1658
6. Aurangzeb 1658-1707
 The Mughal administration was largely the creation of the Akbar and
was followed by his two successors Jahangir and Shah Jahan without
any modifications.
 Aurangzeb made many modifications in the administrative system and

adopted reactionary policies.
 The Mughal system of administration continued till the English East

India Company took over powers in its own hands.
Central Administration
The Emperor:-
 The Mughal Emperor or Badsha enjoyed unlimited powers.
 There was no check on his authority and the king was considered to be
the agent of God on this earth. His command was supreme.
 Anybody who raised a voice against his authority was severely dealt
with.
 Although the king had absolute powers, it cannot be said that it was of
a despotic nature.
Wazir (Diwan)
 There was no regular Council of Ministers to assist Mughal rulers.
 There was only a Wazir or Diwan below the Sultan to assist him in the
administration of the country.
 He also supervised the work of the other officials.
 The Wazir usually held the revenue Department and represented the
king at ceremonial occasions.
 The period during which Bairam Khan (1556–60) was regent of Akbar,
saw the rise of wazir with unlimited powers
 The entire revenue system was under his control.
 He fixed the revenues of the newly acquired territories and granted

necessary remission during the times of scarcity.
 He also made available the necessary funds for the construction of
roads, buildings, parks and other artistic works.
 He also made the necessary arrangement for the transfer of the

treasury from one province to another.
 Thus we find that the Diwan had very extensive powers and was
always consulted by the Emperors on important issues.
Mir Bakshi:
 He was entrusted with the responsibility of keeping accounts of the

mansabdars.
 As the Muslim rulers never appointed one Supreme Commander of

the entire military force and their army worked under various
Mansabdars, the Mir Bakshi was the Chief Adviser of the king on
the military affairs.
Khan i-Saman (also know as Mir Saman):
 The Khan-i-Saman or Lord high steward was the Minister of the

royal family.
 He looked after the royal buildings, roads, parks, karkhanas etc.
 He was also responsible for the provision of the stores for military
and household supplies.
Sadar
 Sadar was the Chief Justice, in-charge of the religious affairs, as well as
the education.
 But when he performed the judicial functions he was more of a Qazi than
the Sadar.
 The Sadar was the Chief Justice, Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs,
Minister for Education, Royal Almoner, all rolled into one. But the Judicial
Department he functioned more as the Chief Qazi than as the Sadar.”
Muhatsib
 Muhatsib combined both secular as well as religious duties.
 As a senior official he looked after the weight and measures and

ensured that the things were available in the market at reasonable
prices.
 He also looked after the cleanliness of the city and the proper
regulation of the markets.
 As regards his religious duties, he ensured that the interests of Islam

were protected and all the tenets of faith carried out by the believers .
Daroga-i-Dak-Chauki
 The Postal Department was under the charge of a Daroga-i-Dak-
Chauki.
 It was his duty to ensure that the News from various parts were
carried without any delay.
 For this purpose horses were kept ready to carry news in all
directions.
 The Daroga-i-Dak-Chauki was assisted by other officials like

assistant and additional Darogas.
Provincial Administration Under the Mughals
 The whole kingdom was divided into provinces.
 However, the number of the provinces differed under different Mughal

rulers.
 For example under Akbar, there were 15 provinces while under

Jahangir and Aurangzeb their number grew to 21.
Subedar
 Each province was under a Governor, also known as Nizam, Naib, or
Subedar. During the times of Akbar the designation Siphasalar was
also used for this official.
Diwan
 Another important office, which was only second to the Subedar was
that of Diwan.
 The Diwan was also appointed by the Sultan and he assisted the
Sipahsalar in running the administration of the provinces.
 The Diwan looked after the income and expenditure part of the
provincial administration and made provisions for its collection.
Sadar
 The Sadar was also appointed by the king and was generally a
scholar and a religious person.
 The land and charity were distributed in accordance with his wishes.
The Qazi and the Mir Adil also worked under him.
Amil
 Amil was in fact a Revenue Collection Officer, although he performed
certain other duties also. He looked after the agricultural land and
made efforts to convert the barren land into cultivable land.
 He also assisted in maintenance of peace within the province, and

supervised the work of Revenue Collectors.
Bakshi
 The office of Bakshi was identical to that of Amil. He kept a record of
the various contracts concluded by the Government.
 He also kept a full record of the cultivatable and barren land as well as
income and expenditure from those lands. He sent statement of
annual income and expenditure to the king.
Potdar
 Potdar was mainly concerned with the collection of revenue from the
peasants or farmers and to deposit the same with the Royal Treasury.
 He was authorised to issue necessary receipt for the revenue

collected and kept a full record of the collections.
 However, he was not authorised to spend the money collected without

the sanction of the Diwan.
Fauzdar
 Fauzdar was in-charge of the provincial army.
 He assisted the Subedar in the administration of the provinces.
 He was responsible for the maintenance of law and order within the
province and took necessary steps to suppress the possible revolts.
Occasionally he arranged demonstration of army with a view to keep
the people under check. He was also responsible for the arrests of the
dacoits.
Kotwal
 The Kotwal was primarily a Police official although he performed certain
judicial functions as well.
 He was responsible for the preservations of law and order within the
state.
District Administration Under Mughals
Each province was divided into number of Sarkars (Districts.)
Fauzdar
 The administrative head of the Sarkar was Fauzdar who performed same
duties as were performed by the Subedar at the provincial level. He was
appointed by the Emperor but was under the Subedar. His main duties
were maintenance of law and order, controlling the revolts of the local
zamindars, to help the Amil in the realisation of revenue and looking after
the roads.
Kotwal
 He was responsible for maintenance of law and order. He also heard the
criminal cases, and took necessary steps to prevent hoarding with a
view to keep a check on the prices of the food grains.
 He also kept an eye on the people who went to see the king. He
ensured that the weights and measures being used in the districts were
in order and punished those who used false weights and measures.
 During the times of Aurangzeb be also collected Jazia and Zakats on
behalf of the non- Muslim population.
Pargana:
 The District was further sub-divided into Parganas. In fact, the
Pargana was the revenue collection unit under the control of
Mukkadam.
 Mukkadam collected the revenue and deposited the same with the
Treasury. The peasants were also permitted to deposit the revenue
directly.
 The other revenue officials at the Pargana level were Amil and
Kanungo, who made a survey of the land revenue and collected the
same.
Village Administration Under Mughals
 The village was the lowest unit of administration.
 It enjoyed great amount of autonomy and most of the cases were
decided by the people without any government interference.
 Each village had the Council or Panchayat.
 The Panchyat was headed by Sarpanch elected by the people who
acted as a link between the village and the government.
 He collected the revenue from the peasants and deposited the same
with the Treasury.
Maratha Administration
 The empire formally existed from 1674 with the coronation of

Chhatrapati Shivaji and ended in 1818 with the defeat of
Peshwa Baji Rao II
 The Marathas became prominent in the seventeenth century under
the leadership of Shivaji who revolted against the Mughal Empire
and carved out a kingdom with Raigad as his capital.
Central Administration
 The king was the supreme head of the state and all authority was concentrated
in his hands. He was assisted by a council of eight ministers known as the
“Ashta Pradhan”.
 The Chief Minister of the Mukya Pradhan was called the Peshwa.
 The other ministers held departmental charges such as finance,
correspondence foreign affairs, the army and so forth.
Provincial Administration
 Shivaji divided his kingdom into prants or provinces.
 There were four provinces at the time of his death.
 Each of these provinces was placed under viceroys who were also members of
the ashtapradhana.
 He was assisted by a staff of eight officers.
 The prants were subdivided into parganas and these into villages.
 The chief of the village was called Deshpande or Patel.
 The head used to run the affairs of the village with the help of the Village
Panchayat. The Patel carried on his duties with the help of the Gram
Panchayat, whose members were elected by the villagers.
 Over a group of villages, there were officers known as deshmukhs and
deshpandes who supervised the village functioning
Administration of Vijayanagar Empire
Three important dynasties ruled Vijayanagar
Empire.
a) Sangama dynasty (1336-1486 C.E.)
b) Saluva dynasty (1486 – 1505 C.E.)
c) Tuluva dynasty (1505 – 1569 C.E.)
 Harihara (1336 – 1356 C.E.), was the first
ruler of the Vijayanagar empire and also the
Sangama dynasty.
 Bukka Rai I (1356 –1377 C.E.) succeeded
Harihara. Their father was Sangama, hence
the name of dynasty.
 Dev Raya I and Dev Raya II in 15th century
were two great rulers of Sangama dynasty.
TULUVA DYNASTY
 Tuluva Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1529) was most
the most famous king of this dynasty
 He was also known as Andhra Bhoj (Bhoj is term
used in South for King)
 He was very good writer and wrote famous books;
Amuktamalyas and Jambavati Kalyanam in
Sanskrit
 Again the provinces were divided into number of districts.
 These districts were each again divided into number of smaller units.
 They were paid by grants of land or a portion of agricultural produce.
 There was also a special officer through whom the central Vijayanagara
government maintained contact with the village.
 He practically supervised the administration of the village.
Provincial Administration System
 The whole of Vijayanagar Empire was divided into six provinces.

 The administration of each province was under a governor.
 They were either a member of the royal family or an influential noble.
 The governor was the key authority for the province and used to exercise civil,
military and judicial powers.
 He used to furnish the account of the income and expenditure of his province to
the Central Government.
Judicial Administration Under Vijayanagar
 The king was at the top of the judiciary.

 He was the fountain head of justice. All cases were judged and decided by
him. There were also regular courts the judges of which were appointed by
the king.
 The laws applied were mainly based on customs and traditions.
 The punishment were very severe.
 Even for crimes like theft, adultery and treason, the culprits were punished
with death or mutilation of limbs.
 Even ordinary crimes were punished with heavy fines.
 In fact, the main purpose of the judicial administration was to ensure that the
people developed a sense of fear and abstained from committing crimes
Revenue Administration
 Under the Vijayanagar kings, the Revenue Administration had reached the
high level of efficiency, who determined the extent of land by the quantity of
seeds sown.
 The vast empire was divided into Mandalams (Provinces), Nadus (districts)
and Sthalas (sub-districts) and gram (village) so that every remote village
could have the benefits of effective administration
 Vijayanagar rulers also collected taxes from various sources and land
revenue was the greatest sources. It was 1/6th of the produce
 Trades, crafts and industries were taxed.
 In case of widow remarriage tax was not imposed implying that widow
remarriage was encouraged by state
 Land revenue from crown lands was the most important source.
 Nayaka System in Vijayanagara Empire were given lands called

Amarams and they discharged civil, military and administrative
functions.
 Tributes and gifts from vassals and feudal chiefs; customs collected at
the ports, and tolls on inland commerce; taxes on various professions,
houses, markets and licences; fines inflicted by courts, etc. were also
important sources of income.

Administration in Medieval India

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Administration in Medieval India

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Administration in Medieval India

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1.

 The Delhi sultanate remained strong for about 300 years.

 The Mughals were descendants of two great lineages of rulers.

 From their mother’s side they were descendants of Genghis Khan

5. Shah Jahan 1627-1658

 Aurangzeb made many modifications in the administrative system and

 The Mughal system of administration continued till the English East

 He also supervised the work of the other officials.

 The entire revenue system was under his control.

 He fixed the revenues of the newly acquired territories and granted

 He also made the necessary arrangement for the transfer of the

 He was entrusted with the responsibility of keeping accounts of the

 As the Muslim rulers never appointed one Supreme Commander of

 The Khan-i-Saman or Lord high steward was the Minister of the

 He looked after the royal buildings, roads, parks, karkhanas etc.

 As a senior official he looked after the weight and measures and

 As regards his religious duties, he ensured that the interests of Islam

 The Daroga-i-Dak-Chauki was assisted by other officials like

 However, the number of the provinces differed under different Mughal

 For example under Akbar, there were 15 provinces while under

 He also assisted in maintenance of peace within the province, and

 He was authorised to issue necessary receipt for the revenue

 However, he was not authorised to spend the money collected without

 He assisted the Subedar in the administration of the provinces.

Each province was divided into number of Sarkars (Districts.)

 The empire formally existed from 1674 with the coronation of

 The whole of Vijayanagar Empire was divided into six provinces.

 The king was at the top of the judiciary.

 Nayaka System in Vijayanagara Empire were given lands called

You might also like