Outline the main features of the Mughal administration.
The Mughal empire was set-up by Babar and reached at Climax of development in the reign of Akbar but it began to decline after the death of Aurangzeb. No doubt, Mughal empired produced a series of emperors who significantly contributed in the development of Mughal administration. Followings were the important features of the Mughal administration.
Central Administration : The mughal administration was highly centralised. All powers were centred in the king who claimed the authority from God. There was a council of ministers who assisted the king in performing administrative works. Ministries were appointed by the king who could be asked to resign without any reason. The wazir or Diwan was next to the king. He generally looked after the revenue department. The important ministries of the reign of Akbar were Roja Todarmal, Raja Raghunath, Sadullah Khan and Zafar Khan, Mir Bakshi was another important minister next to the Diwan. In addition to it, there were minister like Khan-i-Saman, Sadr-us-Sudur, Qazi-ul-Quzat, Muhatib, Daroga-i-Dak Chowki, Mir Atish, Mustubi etc.
Provincial Administration : The Mughal empire was divided into a number of provinces. Each Province was under a Governor known by different designations like Nizam, Subedar, Naib or Sipahasalar. The governor had a series of officials under him. These officials were assisting the governor of the provinces. The officials were kept in control and were responsible to the governor of the provinces.
The provinces were divided into a number of districts or sarkars. The Faujdar was the administrative head of the sarkar or district. The another important official was kotwal who was responsible to maintain law and order in the district. The districts were further sub divided into a number of parganas. The lowest unit of administration was village which was under the control of village council or panchayat headed by sarpanch.
The Revenue Administration : The Mughal rules had developed an efficient system of revenue administration. The rulers used to measure the entire land and it was divided into various categories. The land revenue was fixed on the fertility of land. The first category of land was called Polaj, the second category was Prauti and the third category of land was known as chachar. The state's share of revenue was fixed at one-third of the average produce in respect of polaj and prauti land Raja Todar Mal was an important revenue minister of Akbar and he had developed a high system of revenue administration. But there were different type of revenue system in different parts of the Mughal empire. It was known as Ghalla Bakshi in Kabul and Kashmir. The farmers were free to pay the land revenue either in cash or kind. Akbar was a liberal ruler who never force the farmers to pay land revenue during drought, flood or famines. The revenue officials were strictly instructed to collect the revenue in time and it was deposited to the royal treasury.
Judicial Administration : Though the king was the Chief Justice but he had a series of subordinate judicial officers who were responsible to impart justice to the people. Humayun had set-up a special drum of justice called Tabal-i-Adal. The people could beat this drum to draw the attention of the king. The king stood at the apex of the judicial administration and was considered as the fountain of justice. Next to the kings court stood the courts of Sadr-us-Sadr, Qazi-ud-Qzat, court of Qazi etc. The lowest unit of judicial administration was panchayat headed by the sarpanch. Generally the disputes were decided on the basis of Quranic injunctions Hadis or saying of the prophet. The Punishment was severe but capital punishment was inflicted only in serious crimes.
Military Administration : The Mughal rulers had maintained strong force in large number because they had to fight battles at any time. The mughal army consisted of Mansabdars (with horsemen under them), Ahadis (Gentlemen troops), Pradagan (artillery, Barwadi (skilled soldiers), Dakhili and kumaki. The most important part of the Mughal army was the cavalry. During the rule of Akbar horses were grouped into seven categories viz, Arab, Persion, Mujannas, Turki, yabu, Tazi and Jangla. The soldiers were paid in cash. It was Babur who had introduced artillery in Mughal army. The other rulers followed the system developed by Babar. The soldiers were kept under strict discipline. Rulers like Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb strengthened the navy to protect the nation from the external enemy. Elephants played an important role in the battles during the Mughal period.
Mansabdari System : Mansabdari system was the most important feature of the Mughal administration. It was Akbar who had arranged the Mansabdars into various grades and extracted services from them. Zat and sawar all the two terms connected with the mansabdari system. The word Zat indicated the number of the troops which a Mansabdar was expected to maintain white the word "Sawar' indicated the actual number of horses under the command of the Mansabdar.
An estimate of Mughal Administration : The Mughal rulers had developed an efficient system of administration Rulers like Akbar and Shah Jahan were very liberal to their subjects. But Aurangzeb treated his non-muslim subjects in different way. He had imposed many kinds of taxes on the non-muslim subjects. The mughal rulers stressed on maintaining vast army because of internal conflict among the rulers. However, the critics highlight the various drawbacksof the Mughal administration to prove that it was not at all efficient.
