The administrative machinery of the Mughuls, which functioned throughout the Mughul’s rule, was introduced by Akbar and that is why, by ‘Mughul Administration’, we mean Akbar’s Administration. Akbar was not only a brave soldier, a successful leader and a great religious reformer but also a great administrator. He introduced various reforms in all the branches of the administration, whether central, provincial, revenue, military or judicial.
Central Administration: Akbar was the overall in-charge of the central government. All the executive, judicial and legislative powers of the state were combined in him. There were no limitations on his despotism and his word was law. But Akbar had always the welfare of his people in his mind and so his was a benevolent despotism. He himself supervised all the branches of his administration and worked hard to discharge his manifold duties. He would hold an open court, listen to the complaints of his subjects and try to pacify them.
Akbar was, however, assisted by a number of ministers in the administration. Among others, the most important ministers were – the Vakil, who maintained a general control over all the central departments and acted as the chief adviser of the King; Diwan, who was in-charge of finance and revenue; Mir Bakshi, who maintained the records of all the Mansabdars and distributed pay among the high officials; Sadar-i-Sadur, who acted as a religious adviser to the king, disbursed royal charity and discharged the function of the Chief Justice of the empire. Beside these four ministers, there were other ministers of lower rank- Khan-i-Saman, who was in-charge of the royal household; Muhtasib, who saw that the people (Muslims) led a highly moral life according to the Muslim law; and Daroga-i-Dak Chowki, an officer who was in-charge of the postal and intelligence department.
Provincial Administration: Akbar divided his vast empire into fifteen (15) Subas or provinces. In each suba or province there was a Subedar, a Diwan, a Bakshi, a Sadar, a Qazi, a Kotwal, a Mir Bahr and Waqa-i-Nawis.
The Subedar or Governor was the head of the provincial administration. He enjoyed vast powers and was in-charge of the provincial military, police, judiciary and the executive. The (provincial) Diwan was in-charge of the provincial finance and all bills of payments were signed by him. The Bakshi looked after the management of the provincial army. The Sadar was in-charge of the judicial charity department. The Qazi was in-charge of the judicial department of his province. He supervised the work of Qazis in the districts and towns. The Kotwal was the supreme administrator of all the ‘thanas’ of the province and was responsible for the maintenance of law and order in all the cities. The Mir Bahr was in-charge of customs and taxation department. The Waqa-i-Nawis was in-charge of the secret service of the province.
The provinces were further divided into Sarkars and Sarkars into Parganas. The head of the Sarkar was Faujdar who kept his own small force and maintained law and order in his area. He was assisted by a number of other officials who collected the revenue, maintained the accounts and deposited the money into the state treasury. The head of the Parganas was called Shikdar whose functions were the same as those of the Faujdar in a Sarkar. Each Pargana comprised several villages. Each village was under the charge of a Muqaddam, a Patwari and a Chowkidar who carried on the work of administration with the help of the village panchayat.
Military Administration: Akbar paid much attention towards the organization, equipment and discipline of the army. For efficient military administration he introduced a new system known as the Mansabdari System. The Mansabdars had to maintain soldiers according to his grade or rank. There were thirty three grades of these Mansabdars who maintained soldiers ranging from 10 to 10,000. They were paid salaries in cash and the system of assignments of lands was discouraged. They were directly under the charge of the emperor and were promoted, degrade or dismissed at his will. He also revived the practice of taking the descriptive rolls of the soldiers and branding the horses.
A large number of troops were, no doubt, supplied by these Mansabdars but Akbar had maintained a standing army of his own. The Mughul army consisted of infantry, cavalry, artillery, elephants, and navy. The cavalry was the most important wing of the army and special attention was paid towards its organization and equipment.
The military organization of Akbar had no doubt certain defects (e.g., The Mansabdars cheated the government, the soldiers were more loyal to the chiefs than to the emperor, the practice of payment through the Mansabdars was precarious and often led to abuses, efficiency of one unit to unit, etc.) but still under Akbar it worked well because of his uncommon ability as a leader and an administrator, great vigilance and discipline.
Land Revenue Administration: Land Revenue was the chief sources of income of the Government. So, Akbar paid special attention towards the organization of the land revenue administration. With the help of his Diwan (Revenue Minister), Raja Todar Mal, Akbar introduced many reforms in his revenue department. First of all, the land was measured into ‘bighas’, secondly, all the cultivated land was classified into four divisions – Polaj, Parauti, Chachar and Banjar. The Polaj land was always cultivated and was never allowed to fallow; the Parauti land was allowed to fallow for a year or two to recover its strength; the Chachar land had to be left uncultivated for three or four years and Banjar land had to be left fallow for five years or more. Thirdly, the total produce of each land was determined separately. Fourthly, the share of the state was fixed at one-third of the total produce. Land revenue was paid in cash or in kind, but cash payment was preferred. Loans with small interest were advanced to the cultivators. In case of famine, drought or another unexpected calamity, remission was granted and even loans were advanced for purchase of seeds and animals. The revenue collectors were asked to be friendly towards the cultivators and not to oppress them on every account. As a result of these measures the revenue of the state greatly increased, the cultivators became better off and the country became prosperous. The abundance of food also made the life of the common man better and happier than before.
Judicial Administration or Judicial Reforms: Akbar introduced various reforms in the administration of justice. Before him almost all the cases were decided according to the Islamic law. But now, for the first time, Hindu law was administered in deciding the cases where the parties Hindus, but Islamic law continued to function where the parties involved were Muslims. The king was the highest court of appeal. Capital punishment was given only in extreme cases and that too by the emperor alone.
Social Reforms: Akbar had the welfare of his people always in his mind. He had taken several measures to improve the general condition of his subjects. In 1563, the Pilgrim Tax, which was a great burden on the Hindus, was abolished. In 1564, Jaziya, a tax which was imposed on non-Muslims, was also abolished. Akbar tried to stop the practice of Sati. Child marriage was discouraged and female-infanticide was forbidden. Widow-marriage was encouraged.
From the above account it is quite clear that Akbar was a great administrator and the administrative machinery that he set up continued to function throughout the Mughul period.
