Administrative reforms and other achievements of Sher Shah.
Early life and career of Sher Shah: Sher Shah Suri, whose original name was Farid, was born in 1472 in the Pargana of Bajwara. He was grandson of Ibrahim Sur and son of Hasan Khan Sur. Hasan Khan worked under Jamal Khan at Jaunpur and he was much pleased with his devoted service and gave him a Jagir at Sasaram. Farid lived with his father but he was disappointed with his step mother. His father Hasan Khan had four wives who ill-treated him. So Farid left Sasaram and went to Jaunpur where he studied Persian and Arabic. Jamal Khan was very much impressed with the ability of Farid and appointed him the manager of the Jagir at Sasaram but his step mothers again created problem which compelled Farid to take shelter at Bahar Khan Lahani, the ruler of South Bihar. Bahar Khan appointed Farid as tutor of his son Jalal Khan. There Farid got a title Sher Khan because he had killed a tiger single handed. After the death of Bahar Khan he married his widow Dadu Bibi who appointed him as the Governor of South-Bihar. But after the death of Dadu Bibi in 1529
Sher Khan became the ruler of South Bihar. It is also said that Sher Khan sometimes in 1529 worked as soldier in the army of Babar but soon left it. Conquest of Sher Khan : Sher Khan became the virtual ruler of South Bihar but he was not satisfied with this. So he conquered Chunar in 1530 but Humayun compelled him to accept his supremacy. Sher Khan diplomatically accepted the terms of Humayun.
Secondly, Sher Khan invaded Bengal which was ruled by Nusrat Shah in 1532 A.D. Sher Khan achieved success and crushed his opponents. In 1539 Sher Khan defeated Humayun in the Battle of Chausa and established his rule in the whole of North India. Humayun was compelled to leave India and he took shelter in Afghanistan. Thus Sher Khan became the master of Delhi.
After becoming the king of Hindustan he conquered the whole of Bengal, Malwa, Raisin, Sindh, Multan, Rajputana, Mewar and Kalinjar. But unfortunately he was killed at Kalinjar in a bomb explosion during the war. Thus he passed away on 22nd May 1545.
Sher Khan as an administrator
Sher Khan occupied the throne in 1540 A.D. and assumed the title 'Shah'. Thus he came to be known as Sher Shah. Great as a conqueror he was equally great as an administrator. The administration of Sher Shah can be studied under the following heads:
Central Administration : Sher Shah established a strong central rule and concentrated all powers in his hand. Though there were ministers but they could not take any radical decision. Though Sher Shah ruled like a despot but he was benevolent ruler who performed a series of welfare activities for the prosperity of his subjects. He did not listen to the advice of the Ulema but he was tolerant to other religions. The ministers of Sher Shah were merely his servants who could be removed at any time. However there were four important ministers such as Diwan-i-Wizarat, Diwan-i-Aziz, Diwan-i-Rasalat and Diwan-i-Insha. Besides, there were certain other officials who helped in the administration of the state.
Provincial Administration : Sher Shah wanted to provide efficient system of administration. For this purpose he had divided the kingdom into Provinces. Each Provinces were divided into Sarkar and each Sarkar was divided into Parganas. The villages were the smallest unit of administration. There were several officers like Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaran and Munsif i-Munsifan who were responsible for the maintenance of law and order. There were Khazanchi (treasurer) and Karkuns (clerks) who were assisting the high officials in running the administration of the kingdom. Sher Shah was a strict ruler who used to keep the officials under transfer after every two years. There were judicial officers who were responsible to impart justice both in civil and criminal cases to the people of their jurisdiction.
Military Administration : Sher Shah knew very well that without strong standing force the empire cannot be kept under control. So he had set-up an organised army. His military system was mainly on the military pattern of Alauddin Khilji. He had organised his army on the pattern of tribal basis and placed the soldiers of one tribe under their own tribal chief. He had maintained a strong personal army consisting of 1,50,000 cavalry, 25,000 infantry, 5000 elephants and a park of artillery. The Jagirdars and other local chiefs also supplied soldiers to the king during the war. He had instructed the governors to enforce the rules of discipline in the army. He paid personal attention in matters of recruitment of soldiers, fixation of their salaries and promotions. Sher Shah revived the practice of preparing descriptive roles and branding of horses with a view to avoid fraud.
Police and Spy system : In order to maintain law and order there were no separate officers. In fact, the work was done by the military officers. It was the duty of the local officers to maintain law and order in their respective areas. In case of theft in any area, it was the duty of the local officials to get the thief arrested and in case they failed, they would have to make the loss good from their own property. There were severe laws for the criminals and it had created fear among the evil doers.
Besides, the military and police administration, Sher Shah maintained an efficient spy system in his kingdom. The head of the department of spy system was known as Darogha-i-Dak Chauki. He used to appoint the spies who were performing their duties very secretly and very sincerely. The spies were moving from place to place to collect the information which was essential for the security of the kingdom. The spies were strictly instructed to report every event directly to the king. Thus Sher Shah had set-up a network of spy system which created fear among the people who were not even talking in their kitchen against the king.
Revenue Administration : Sher Shah achieved remarkable popularity in the field of revenue administration. His revenue administration can be described as under.
i) Central Revenue : The main sources of the state were the land revenue, unclaimed property, trade-tax, mint, salt-tax, Khams (/5 of the plunder taken during the time of war), Jizya and presents from the subordinate rulers, governors, nobles, traders etc. The main items of expenditure were the investment on maintaining army, salaries of civil officials and maintenance of the royal household and the Sultan.
ii) Local Revenue: The local revenue was collected through manifold taxes which were known of Abwabs. These taxes were mostly imposed on production and consumption and the traders were required to pay the same. Since land revenue was the most important source of income of the state Sher Shah paid due attention towards the development of agriculture and trade. Though he was a despotic ruler but at the same time he was benevolent king who did a series of reforms to improve the economic condition of the people. Royal share was very high but it was spent on the welfare activities for the prosperity of the farmers and common people.
iii) Revenue Reforms : Sher Shah started the system of assessment of land and he ordered the survey of land under the supervision of Ahmad Khan. The entire cultivable land was divided into three categories --Good, middling and bad. According to the production of crops the land tax was fixed and peasants were free to pay the land tax either in kind or in cash. In order to improve the land and production Sher Shah introduced following reforms. The central govt. as well as provincial govt. were instructed to help the peasants during drought, famine and flood. The soldiers were ordered not to harm the crops. If the loss occured it was recovered from royal treasury. Sher Shah collected 1/3 of the total produce as land revenue.
