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Mughal Nobility Under Akbar

BY-TANMAY KULSHRESTHA (M.A.HISTORY ,DELHI UNIVERSITY)

 The state under an absolute monarchy, like all other forms of  government, requires the aid of several brains. Even the most  gifted men like Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte could not  handle the problems of state single handedly. In northern India,  monarchs like Balban and Alauddin Khalji who believed in  centralizing all power in one hand and controlled the  administrative machinery personally, had to feel the need of  ministers and to show respect to them. Under every form of  despotism, the existence of a body of ministers or a council of  advisers becomes indispensible. This formed the crux of the  Mughal nobility under the rule of Akbar. 

 The nobility along with the Zamindars formed the ruling  class of the Mughal Empire. Mansabdars formed the bulk of the  Mughal nobility along with the Ministers. They were not only  public servants but also the richest class in the empire and a closed  aristocracy. Heredity was the most important factor in the  appointment of the nobles. The khanazadas or sons and  descendants of Mansabdars had the best claim of all, and all  constituted a little less than half of the nobility during the period. 

Then there were nobles and high officers of other states who were  given a place in the Mughal nobility on account of their  experience, status and influence or the contingents they  commanded and the territories they controlled. A very small  portion of the Mughal nobility was recruited from those who had  no claims to high birth but were pure administrators or  accountants. The Mughal nobility during the early years of Akbar  came to consist of certain well-organized racial groups. These were  the Turanis, Iranis, Afghans, Shaikhzadas, the Rajputs etc.

 There, was, therefore, great diversity in the Mughal  nobility and there existed a certain amount of jealousy among  various sections of the nobility. The Mughal nobles received very  high salaries but their expenses were also extravagant and they  lived a life of great pomp and luxury. 

Consequently, spending, not saving was the chief characteristic of  the ruling class. Still there were a large number of nobles who  invested their money on interest and owned a fleet of mercantile  ships and took part in trade and commerce, particularly foreign  trade which was very profitable. But income from land, rather than  trade and commerce, was the chief occupation and concern of the  nobles. 

THE CHIEF DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR HEADS:- 

The imperial government consisted of six well-organized ministers  besides a number of miscellaneous departments. These were  headed by six respected members of senior rank. All of them were  nominees of the emperor. Each one of them was individually  answerable to the monarch for the successful functioning of his  respective charge. 

1. The Exchequer and Revenue (under the High Diwan) 

2. The Imperial Household (under the Khan-i-Saman or High  Steward) 

3. The military Pay and Accounts Office (under the imperial  Bakhshi) 

4. Canon Law, both civil and criminal, (under the Chief Qazi)

5. Religious endowments and charity (under the chief Sadr)  6. Censorship of Public Morals (under the Muhtasib.)

Vakil or Wazier

The term vakil literally means a representative; as such the vakil was the most important man after the emperor in the administrative  hierarchy of the Mughals. He deputized for the emperor in case of  latter’s illness or absence from the capital. 

 The Wazier's office received all revenue, papers and  returns and dispatches from the provinces and the field armies. He  also acted as the king's representative on many ceremonial  occasions. All orders for payment had to be signed by him, and the  payment (except to the field army and the workmen of the State  factories) was made through his department only. All questions  connected with the collection of the revenue were decided by him,  who consulted the Emperor in important cases and frequently  reported to him the state of the Treasury. Some of the famous  wazirs of the Mughal period were also masters of Persian prose  and they acted as secretaries in drafting royal letters to foreign  rulers on behalf of their masters. 

 The chief duties of attached to his office were to  regulate the policy of the state in connection with (a) populating  the country, (b) equipping the army, (c)fixing sources of revenue,  and (d)making the life of the subjects easy.

Secondly, he should consolidate the finances of the state spending  wisely, and keeping sufficient in reserve for emergencies. 

Thirdly, he should be prepared to meet the enemy by  (a) Keeping the roads safe and in good condition, 

(b) Maintaining a well-organized army, 

(c) Making all weapons and instruments of warfare, 

(d) Keeping different groups of people and servants of the state in  their proper places. 

The imperial diwan 

The diwan-i-ala or the finance minister was the second most  important minister of the Mughals up to the time of Jahangir. He  held the charge of the revenues and expenditure of the state. The  imperial diwan formulated the fiscal policy of the state. He was  responsible for the allocation of grants for various departments.  The provincial diwans were appointed by the emperor on his  advice. All payments from the imperial treasury needed his  sanctions and no expenditure could legally be incurred except  under his authority. 

 He thus acted as a link between the emperor and  the important functionaries of the state. All warrants of  appointment, transfer and promotion were issued from his office.  The imperial diwan was assisted by at least half a dozen diwans to  cope with the heavy work. They include the diwan-i-khalsa(the  crown lands) and the diwan-i-jagir or the in charge of land  assignments, granted by the state to the civil and military officials  in lieu of service, or as free gift, called Sayurghals. Similarly, the

diwan-i-bayutut exercised supervision over the state owned  karkhana’s or workshops; sahib-i-tajiuh was in charge of military  accounts while the treasury chief was called the mushrif-i-khazana. 


Mir bakshi or the paymaster general 

 Mir bakshi was the minister in charge of the military  establishment. He occupied the third position at the imperial court,  after the prime minister and the imperial diwan. After the  introduction of the Mansabdari system, most of the government  officers were placed on the payrolls of the army so that the Mir  Bakshi practically became the paymaster general of the empire as  well. He maintained complete service record of the government  officers under the Mansabdari system. All mansabdar’s were  appointed by his office. 

He posted the armies in various parts of the empire, effected  transfers of the mansbadars and detailed them for active duty on  the war fronts. Mir bakshi acted as the most confidential adviser on  military affairs to the king. Like the imperial diwan he too had a  number of bakshi’s, who assisted him in the discharge of his  onerous duties. 

The chief sadr 

 The fourth prominent imperial minster was called  sadr-i-sadur or sadr-i-jahan-the chief sadr. He was in charge of  the ecclesial affairs and religious endowments. In accordance with  the Islamic tradition, the sadr performed three major functions: (a)  he was the chief religious advisor to the king; (b) he exercised control over and disbursed the religious charities; and (c) acted as  the chief justice of the state. 

The sadr acted as the guardian of the Islamic law. He made sure  that the king governed according to the law. He regarded himself  as the chief representative of the ulama and safeguarded their  interests. 

The second major function of the sadr was to control and disburse  the royal charities. It placed immense wealth and resources of the  state at the disposal of the sadr for the propogation of the faith and  welfare of the millat. The sadr arranged for the collection of two  religious taxes, jaziya was collected from the zimmis or the nonMuslims and zakat from the Muslims. 

Khan-i-saman or The High Steward. 

The High Steward was a very important officer of the Mughal  times, as he was the head of the Emperor's household department  and accompanied him during his journeys and campaigns. All the  personal servants of the Emperor were under this officer's control,  and he also supervised the Emperor's daily expenditure, food,  tents, stores, etc. Naturally the Khan-i-saman enjoyed great trust  and influence, and there are examples of wazirs being appointed  from among the Khan-i-samans. 

The Chief Qazi 

The Emperor, as "the Khalif of the Age," was theoretically the  highest judge and used to hold courts of justice and try select cases personally on Wednesdays. But the court held by him was a  tribunal of the highest appeal rather than a court of first instance.  The Qazi was the chief judge in criminal suits, and tried them  according to Muslim law. Assisted by a mufti, who consulted the  old Arabic books on jurisprudence and stated the abstract law  bearing on the case, the Qazi pronounced sentence. The supreme  Qazi of the empire was called the Qazi-ul-quzat and also "the Qazi of the imperial camp," and he always accompanied the Emperor.  Every provincial capital had its local Qazi, who was appointed by  the Chief Qazi.

The Censor of Public Morals 

 According to Muslim law, it is the king's duty to  appoint an Inspector or Censor of Public Morals (Muhtasib) to  regulate the lives of the people in strict accordance with the  scriptural rules. The Censor's functions are to enforce the Prophet's  commands and put down the practices forbidden by him (amr wa  nihi),—such as drinking distilled spirits and fermented beer, bhang  (i.e., hemp or Cannabis sativa) and other liquid intoxicants,  gambling and certain kinds of immorality. He used to go through  the streets with a party of soldiers demolishing and plundering  liquor-shops, distilleries and gambling-dens wherever he found  them, and enforcing the strict observance of religious rites on the  part of the Muhammadan population. 

Mannsabdar 

THE "Mansab" system was what made the Mughal empire tick. It  was an important feature of the Mughal administration that all civil  officers, high and low, were chosen from the holders of themilitary rank, i.e. the mansabdars. The mansab although primarily  a military rank really constituted the terms in which official  hierarchy, and incidentally social status, was expressed. According  to historian Abdul Aziz history of the Mughal army is the history  of the mansabdari system. 

The word mansab has been derived from the Arabic term mansib  which means a post, an office, rank or status; hence mansabdar means the holder of a rank or an officer. What adds to the  difficulty is the fact that the mansabdari is not a stationery  phenomenon, but a living growth. 

In its most highly developed form-for instance in the reign of  emperor Shahjahan- a full mansab is expressed thus: chahar  hazari zat wa hazar suwar, which means 4000 personnel and 300  horse rank. A few peculiarities may be noticed here, firstly, the zat,  i.e., personal rank is always equal to or higher than the suwar, i.e.,  the horse rank. Secondly, the order in the lists follows the zat and  not the suwar rank; the former being presumably more important,  and lastly, there may be a zat rank without any suwar rank, though  it is rare; but there never is a suwar rank without a zat rank. 

This also formed the basis of gradation of mansabdars. Thus a  mansabdar whose zat and suwar rank were equal, was a first class  military commander. The one whose suwar rank was less than the  zat rank but more than half of the latter, belonged to the second  class. While an officer whose was less than half of the zat rank was  a third class mansabdar. This also concludes one point i.e., the  suwar rank can never exceed the zat rank but the latter can be  equal to or exceed the former.

The mansabdars received cash salaries. Each mansabdar received  a fixed rate of pay according to his mansab, out of which he had to  pay the cost of his establishment. Nevertheless, even after meeting  this expenditure, the mansabdar was left with a substantial amount  of money with him to ensure a very dignified and rather luxurious  standard of living for him. 

CONCLUSION 

Akbar did not take long to realize the existing system of  government. Considering carefully the pros and cons of the old  system, he evolved an entirely new system quite in consistence  with the spirit of the age and the sentiments of his subjects. He  built up an empire and a nation not oil the foundation of swords  and military terrorism but on the acquiescent good- will of his  subjects. The nobility under the reign of Akbar signified pomp  grandeur but at the same time it was accountable to the emperor for  its actions. We have traced the path of nobility through the  minsters employed under Akbar, since they find mention in the  works of writers such as Abul fazl and Badauni and also because  they formed the nature and vision of the Mughal empire. It was  they who formed the arms of the emperors as well as the royalty of  the royal empire. The empire being controlled by a vast number of  nobility had one risk, that of revolting against the emperor himself.  However by providing them with special powers and maintaining  that they remain subservient to the emperor they formed the  administrative structure of the Mughal empire until the reign of  Muhi-Ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir. 

REFRENCES:- 

Aziz, Abdul-The Mansabdari System and the Mughal Army;  idarah-I adabiyat-I delhi, Delhi, 2009 

Colonel Malleson, G.B. - Rulers of India-Akbar and the Rise of  The Mughal Empire; Clarendon, U.S.A., 1896 

Hasan, ibn- The Central Structure of the Mughal Empire;  Munshiram Manoharlal publishers pvt. ltd., new delhi, 1980 

Jaffar, S.M. - The Mughal Empire: from Babur to Aurangzeb;  Peshawar,1936 

Mehta, J.L. - Advanced Study in History of Medieval India vol-2,  Sterling Publishers pvt. Ltd., 1995 

Sarkar, Jadunath- Mughal Admistration; Calcutta,1920 

Sharma, S.R. - Mughal Empire in India (1526-1761); Karnatak  Printing Press, Bombay,1934


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