The Mughal Empire's political system was extremely well organized. When the Mughal Empire came to power, each region was run independently and kept separate from the others. Akbar, the great ruler, established a centralized government. Because Akbar's reforms necessitated a centralized financial system, each provincial governor (subedar, later called nawab) was assigned a civil administrator (diwan) who oversaw revenue collection, prepared accounts, and reported directly to the emperor. He implemented various reforms in all branches of government, whether central, provincial, revenue, military, or judicial. In this article, we will discuss the Organization of Government of Mughal Empire of Akbar which will be helpful for UPSC exam preparation.

Organization of Government - Background

• Akbar made few changes to the local government organisation. The pargana and sarkar went on as usual.
• The faujdar and amalguzar were the sarkar's top officers, with the former in charge of law and order and the latter in charge of land revenue assessment and collection.
• The empire's territories were divided into three sections: jagir, khalisa, and inam. The royal exchequer received all of the income from khalisa villages. The inam lands belonged to learned and religious men.
• Nobles and members of the royal family, including the queens, were given jagirs.
• Only autonomous rajas were permitted to maintain their traditional land revenue system in their respective territories. Even there, Akbar urged them to adhere to the imperial system.

Organization of Government - Features

• Akbar's major administrative units were the Subhah, the Pargana, and the Sarkar.
• Subhah was the highest administrative unit, which was further subdivided into Sarkar.
• Sarkar (equivalent to district) was made up of a number of parganas, and a pargana was the collective administrative unit of a few villages.
• Subedar was the chief officer of Subhah.
• The faujdar and amalguzar were the sarkar's top officers.
• The Amalguzar was tasked with exercising general supervision over all types of lands for the purposes of imperial rules and regulations, as well as the uniform assessment and collection of land revenue.
• Akbar reorganised the central administrative machinery around the division of power among various departments.

Central Administration

• Akbar was in charge of the entire central government. He possessed all of the executive, judicial, and legislative powers of the state. His despotism had no bounds, and his word was law.
• But because Akbar was always concerned with the welfare of his people, he was a benevolent despot.
• He oversaw all aspects of his administration and worked tirelessly to fulfil his numerous responsibilities. He'd hold an open court, listen to his subjects' complaints, and try to appease them.
• However, Akbar was assisted by a number of ministers in the administration.
• Among the most important ministers were the:
  • Vakil, who maintained general control over all central departments and served as the King's chief adviser;
  • Diwan, who was in charge of finance and revenue;
  • Mir Bakshi, who kept records of all the Mansabdars and distributed pay among the high officials; and
  • Sadar-i-Sadur, who served as the king's religious adviser, disbursed royal charity, and performed the duties of the empire's Chief Justice.
• Other lower-ranking ministers included:
  • Khan-i-Saman, who was in charge of the royal household;
  • Muhtasib, who ensured that the people (Muslims) lived morally according to Muslim law; and
  • Daroga-i-Dak Chowki, an officer in charge of the postal and intelligence departments.

Provincial Administration

• Akbar divided his vast empire into fifteen Subas, or provinces. Each suba or province had a Subedar, a Diwan, a Bakshi, a Sadar, a Qazi, a Kotwal, a Mir Bahr, and a Waqa-i-Nawis.
• The Governor, or Subedar, was the head of the provincial administration. He wielded enormous power and was in charge of the provincial military, police, judiciary, and executive.
• The provincial finance was overseen by the (provincial) Diwan, who signed all bills of payment. Bakshi was in charge of the provincial army.
• The Sadar was in charge of the judicial charity department. The Qazi oversaw his province's judicial department. He oversaw the work of Qazis in the districts and towns.
• The Kotwal was the province's supreme administrator, in charge of maintaining law and order in all of the cities.
• Mir Bahr was in charge of the department of customs and taxation. Waqa-i-Nawis was in charge of the provincial secret service.
• The provinces were further subdivided into Sarkars, which were further subdivided into Parganas. Faujdar led the Sarkar and was in charge of maintaining law and order in his area.
• He was aided by a number of other officials who collected revenue, kept accounts, and deposited funds into the state treasury. Shikdar was the Parganas' head, and his duties were similar to those of the Faujdar in a Sarkar.
• Each Pargana was made up of several villages. Each village was overseen by a Muqaddam, a Patwari, and a Chowkidar, who carried out administrative duties with the assistance of the village panchayat.

Military Administration

• Akbar was particularly concerned with the army's organisation, equipment, and discipline. He instituted a new system known as the Mansabdari System to improve military administration.
• The Mansabdars were required to maintain soldiers based on their grade or rank. These Mansabdars were divided into thirty-three grades, with soldiers ranging in size from ten to ten thousand.
• They were paid in cash, and the system of land assignments was discouraged. They were directly under the emperor's command and were promoted, demoted, or dismissed at his discretion.
• He also revived the practise of taking soldiers' descriptive rolls and branding their horses.
• These Mansabdars undoubtedly supplied a large number of troops, but Akbar had his own standing army. Infantry, cavalry, artillery, elephants, and a navy comprised the Mughal army.
• The cavalry was the army's most important wing, and it received special attention in terms of organisation and equipment.

Judicial Administration

• Akbar instituted numerous reforms in the administration of justice. Prior to him, almost all cases were decided in accordance with Islamic law.
• However, for the first time, Hindu law was used to decide cases where the parties were Hindus, while Islamic law was used when the parties were Muslims.
• The king was the highest court of appeal. Only in extreme cases was capital punishment administered, and only by the emperor.

Social Reforms

• Akbar was always concerned about the well-being of his subjects. He had taken several steps to improve his subjects' overall condition.
• The Pilgrim Tax, which was a significant burden on Hindus, was abolished in 1563.
• Jaziya, a tax levied on non-Muslims, was also abolished in 1564.
• Akbar attempted to put an end to Sati practise.
• Female infanticide was prohibited, and child marriage was discouraged. Widow-marriage was promoted.

Organization of Government - Division

• After carefully scrutinising the grants held by various individuals, Akbar separated the inam lands from the jagir and khalisa lands and divided the empire into six circles for the purposes of grant of inam lands and administration.
• Two aspects of the inam grants are noteworthy:
  • First, Akbar made it a deliberate part of his policy to grant inam lands to all people, regardless of their religious faith or beliefs. Akbar's Sanads of grants to various Hindu maths are still preserved.
  • Second, Akbar made it a rule that half of the inam land be cultivable wasteland. As a result, inam holders were encouraged to expand their cultivation.
• Akbar carefully divided his time in order to be accessible to both the people and the ministers. The day began with the emperor's appearance at the palace's jharoka.
• A large crowd gathered every day to catch a glimpse of the ruler and, if necessary, to present petitions to him.
• These petitions were dealt with either immediately or during the open darbar (diwan-i-am) that followed and lasted until midday. After that, the Emperor retired to his apartments for meals and rest.
• The ministers were given their own time slot. For confidential consultations, the ministers were usually summoned to a chamber near Akbar's bathing apartment (ghusal khana).
• This private consultation chamber became known as ghusal khana over time.

Important Nobles

• Wazir
  • Wazir was still in charge of the revenue department. Generally, the wazir did not hold a high mansab under Akbar.
  • Many nobles held mansabs above his. As a result, he was no longer the ruler's primary advisor, but rather a revenue expert.
  • To emphasize this point, Akbar often used the titles diwan or diwan-i-ala instead of wazir. Several people were sometimes asked to share the duties of diwan.
  • The diwan was in charge of all revenue and expenditure, as well as khalisa, jagir, and inam lands.
• Mir Bakshi
  • The head of the military department was known as the mir bakhshi. The mir bakhshi, not the diwan, was considered the head of the nobility.
  • As a result, only the most powerful grandees were appointed to this position. Recommendations for mansabs, promotions, and other positions were made to the emperor through the mir bakhshi.
  • Once the emperor had accepted a recommendation, it was forwarded to the diwan for confirmation and assignment of a jagir to the appointee. Promotions were handled in the same manner.
  • Mir Bakhshi oversaw the empire's intelligence and information agencies. Intelligence officers (barids) and news reporters (waqia-navis) were stationed throughout the empire. Their reports were delivered to the emperor at the court by Mir bakhshi.
  • As a result, the diwan and the mir bakhshi were almost on equal footing, supporting and checking each other.
• Mir Saman
  • Mir Saman was in charge of the imperial household, including the supply of all provisions and articles for the haram or female apartments' inmates.
  • Many of these items were made under royal supervision in royal workshops known as karkhanas.
  • Only nobles who had the emperor's complete trust were appointed to this position.
  • This officer was in charge of maintaining court etiquette, controlling the royal bodyguard, and other responsibilities.
• Chief Qazi
  • The chief qazi oversaw the judicial department.
  • This position was occasionally combined with that of the chief sadr, who was in charge of all charitable and religious endowments.
  • As a result, it was a position of considerable power and patronage. The corruption and venality of Akbar's chief qazi, Abdun Nabi, caused it to stink.

Conclusion

In 1580, Akbar partitioned the empire into twelve subas. These were Bengal, Bihar, Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Multan, Kabul, Ajmer, Malwa, and Gujarat. Each province was given a governor (subedar), a diwan, a bakhshi, a sadr, a qazi, and a waqia-navis. Thus, an orderly government based on the principle of checks and balances was extended to the provinces. He established a strong military system and implemented effective political and social reforms. He was the first Mughal ruler to gain the trust and loyalty of his native subjects by abolishing the sectarian tax on non-Muslims and appointing them to high civil and military posts.