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.
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