Akbar is credited with establishing the Mughal administrative paradigm. With minimal modifications, Akbar’s paradigm remained in place. Between different departments, Akbar used the notion of power separation. He created Mughal Persian first. The province’s administrative framework was a simplified version of the central government. According to Ain-i-Akbari, Akbar split the kingdom into 12 subas or regions. He gained three new provinces in his final year, bringing the total to 15 by 1605. The Mughal Empire followed centralised governance based on military might, with efficient separation of power.
During the Mughal Administration, the Subas were classified into Sarkar, Pargana, and Gram in the Mughal empire. Other territorial entities such as Khalisa (royal land), Jagir (independent Rajyas), and Inams existed (gifted lands, mainly wastelands). During the reign of Akbar, there were 15 Subas (provinces), which grew to 20 during the reign of Aurangzeb.
The following type of administration was followed during Mughal’s time:
Provincial administration- Provincial government arose from the national government’s abstraction.
Sarkars administration- For the convenience of administration, the subas were divided into districts and sarkars.
Parganas administration- The sarkars were divided into several parganas.
Administrative units and their Incharge:
- Sipahsalar / Subedar/Nizam had control over the Subas. They were the revenue department’s top executive, Diwan-in-charge.
- The Fauzdars ruled Sarkar (district). He was in charge of administration, while Amal/Amalguzar was in charge of tax collection.
- Siqdar was in command of Pargana (taluka). Amin and Qanungo were the revenue officers, while he was the administrative chief.
- Muqaddam was in charge of the Gram (village). Patwari was the accountant, and they were the head of grams.
Akbar:
Zabti or Bandobast system-
- The Zabti or Bandobast system was Akbar’s land revenue scheme. It was refined further by Raja Todar Mal, who completed the Dahsala system in 1580. The Dahasala Bandobast or Zabti method of collecting was based on crop rates estimated following a 10-year review. Todarmal was the pioneer. Under it, Todar Mal instituted the Uniform System of Land Measurement. The revenue was computed using the ten-year average yield of the land.
- Polaj (annually cultivated), Parauti (every two years), Chachar (every three or four years), and Banjar (every three or four years) were the four classifications of land (once in 5 or more years).
Mansabdari system-
Mansabdari was introduced by Akbar. The term Mansab refers to the holder’s position. The mansab position was not inherited. Mansabdari served in both civil and military capacities. Mansabs are held by almost the whole nobility, bureaucracy, and military. The Mughal mansab had two levels: Zaat (personal rank and pay status) and Sawar (rank and pay status) (number of horsemen to maintain). Every sawar must have to keep at least two horses. Mansabdars, Amirs, and Amir-i-umda were the three types of Mansabdar. They were classified as either Naqdi (cash-only) or Jagirdars (cash-only) (paid through Jagirs). Umara was the highest-ranking nobleman with a Mansabdari of 5000 or more and Royal blooded princes were also given mansabdari of 5000 or more as higher honours. Mansabdari of 10 represented a rank of 10 as the lowest and maintenance of 10 sawar on the part of the Mansabdar.
Jahangir:
Jahangir introduced the Duaspa-Sihaspa system, which allows a person’s sawar rank to be enhanced without affecting his Zaat rank. There were 17 provinces at the time of Jahangir, Bengal was carved out of Orissa during his time.
Shahjahan:
- During his time, the number of Subas or provinces was the highest (total of 22). in which new provinces like Kashmir, Sindh, etc. were added but at the end of his rule, the provinces were decreased to 19.
- During his time there were four provinces in the South. They are- Khandesh, Berar, Telangana, Nanded.
- The Jama-Dami or Mahana Zagir (monthly scale) system was added by Shahjahan.
- It eventually led to Jagirdari and an agrarian crisis, which was a major factor in the Mughals’ demise.
- In actuality, many revenues collecting methods were used, including Kanku (estimate), Rai (yield per unit area), and Zabti (based on the yields of crops). The Jagirdari system assigned land in accordance to the wage of a jagirdar. As a result, if a Mansabdar was not paid in cash, he was entitled to a jagir. Land gifts or favour/religious assignments were known as Madad-i-maash, Sayur ghal, or Inam.
Important documents in the Mughal period:
| Siyaha Huzur | (Routine of Durbar) |
| Qajjul Vasool | (Writ bearing treasurer’s name) |
| Yaddasht | (memorandum) |
| Talika | (brief document) |
| Patta | (Documents relating to rights or property rights) etc. |