Mughal Administration
FEATURES
• Mughals
imported certain foreign elements into their administrative system–Perso-Arabic system in the Indian
setting.
• Based on the military system: Mansabs
• Centralized despotism
• Blend of religion and politics existed
• Paper administration: growth of official
records
• Aim: police duties and revenue collection
• System of public corporations
• Administration of justice largely left to
local administration
• Villages and small towns enjoyed
‘parochial’ self-government rather than local autonomy. They had no political
freedom
Personnel Administration
• All civil servants were enrolled in the
army as mansabdars–Although no military obligation was always incumbant
on the mansabdar
• Principle of hierarchy and job classification can be seen
• Recruitment: entirely in king’s hand
• Transfer: king had the final say
• Pay: Each grade had a pay out of which
one had to also maintain a troop. Jagir
system was also prevelant.
• Despite job classification an officer
could be at any time entrusted with a new duty; all offices were
inter-changeable
• Doctrine of escheat: jagir
and mansab
were not hereditary. The property escheated to the crown on the death of the mansabdar/jagirdar.
• Worked on the maxim: ‘career open to
talent’
• Appointment: rested with the emperor
• Qualification: no hard and fast rule
• No rules of promotion
Provincial Administration
• Provincial
admin was a miniature of the central admin
• Divided
the empire into 15 subahs
–Incharge: subedar
–Number of Subahs
increased later
–Subedar
concentrated in his hands the civil and military powers of the province
–Subedar’s
court was the highest court of appeal in the subah
–He was transferred every 3-4 years
• Subedar
and Diwan
had almost similar status in a subah.
–This led to conflicts and violation of
the principle of unity of command
• Sadar,
ulema,
qazi,
fauzdar
etc
• Provincial
Bakshi
was incharge
of the military establishment
• Kotwal
was incharge
of police in big towns
• The
central govt
maintained a regulating chain of communication between itself and the
provincial governments.
Local Administration
• Subah
divided into sarkars. Sarkars
divided into Paraganas. Paraganas
into villages.
• District
governed by a shiqdar or a
faujdar
• Amalguzar:
head of revenue administration (aka Krori)
–Revenue collectors were under orders not
to oppress the cultivators while collecting the state demands
• Other
officers
–Bitikchi:
record keeper of land revenue
–Khazandar:
treasury officer
• Sarkar
divided into paraganas (tehsils)
–Tehsils had
a batch of subordinate officers
–Shiqdar, amil,
fotdar
and qanungo
• Each
tehsil
had about 12 villages
• Villages
were the lowest units of administration
–Mughals gave
legal sanction to the panchayats
–Patwari and Chaukidar
Law and Order Administration
•The king and PM primarily responsible for
maintaining peace
•Provincial level: Faujdar.
Below him kotwal.
•Villages neglected
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