Akbar is considered not only a great administrator but also a great warrior. Write a detailed note on his administration. (CSS 2009)

Introduction

A simple military victory is like erecting an edifice without a foundation. Such a structure collapses with the first blow. Military forces under Babur’s command did succeed in achieving significant victories, first against the most prominent political power in north India under the Lodis, followed by others. Yet he could find no time for organizing administrative structures or institutions to consolidate the gains. Humayun struggled and failed to hold this structure. However, the Mughal forces regrouped themselves, and with the assistance provided by the Safavid ruler of Persia, they recaptured the Delhi throne in July 1555. Accidental death of Humayun within a few months of this success did not allow him any time for the designing and development of political institutions or administrative structures suitable for resource mobilisation and evolution of a cohesive social structure, if he at all had any such plan. His successor, Akbar was only about fourteen years old when he was entrusted with works for which he was yet not adequately prepared and trained, that too in somewhat an alien land. But within four-five years time he appears to have acquired remarkable maturity. Gradually he not only extracted himself from endless intrigues of his nobility but also initiated steps towards maximisation of resource potential and a standardised distribution mechanism for the officials of the state. Simultaneously, he worked towards securing territorial integrity and organising nobility that was fully under his command and represented cohesiveness amidst heterogeneous social structure. To achieve these multifarious objectives he successfully carried out measures that constituted his administrative system and
institutions. The accidental death of Humayun placed Akbar on quite an insecure throne at a tender age (born in October 1542, accession in February 1556). Around next four years were spent under an over-arching personality of Bairam Khan. This period was witness to contestations between different groups of kinsmen of Turani background for control over greater share of revenue from large contiguous areas, possibly for carving out an independent principality at some future date.

Removal of Bairam Khan

Removal of Bairam Khan, as wakil-us saltanate, and appointment of Munim Khan(September 1560–November 1561) in his place had apparently made no visible improvement in the administration or income of the state. Rather, the situation had worsened. Around November 1561 Akbar revied upon Shamsuddin Atka and entrusted him with certain responsibilities. Soon it was followed by his formal appointment as wakil-us saltanate (November 1561–June 1562). From this time onwards some clarity of thought and approach towards governance comes into view. Such persons who had established their reputation as professional in approach and competent in their work were appointed in the revenue department irrespective of their past association with discredited nobles or officials. The revenue department initiated scrutiny of records to ascertain the value of nobles’ land assignments (jagirs). Apparently some corrective steps were also initiated, leading to resentment.

Execution of Adham Khan
Added to this, the recall of Adham Khan from Malwa at this juncture precipitated the matter. Adham Khan who could not hold himself any longer engineered the assassination of Shamsuddin Atka (June, 1562) while the latter was in his office. Without loss of any time Adham Khan was executed at the express orders of Akbar. Munim Khan and Shihabuddin Ahmed Khan fled from Agra. It clearly demonstrated that Akbar would not hesitate to take severest action against any person, even if that person was considered to be close to the ruler and thereby above law, if he interfered in discharge of duties assigned by the ruler.

New Hierarchical Order/The Mansab Syste
(MANSABDARI SYSTEMM OF MUGHALS)

Mughal mansabdari system was modeled on the Mongol yassa(decrees of Chengiz Khan). The Mongol tribes were led by Khans (chiefs). The Mongol aristocracy was based on heredity and noble birth and the council which elected the chiefs was composed of the direct descendants of Chengiz. These nobles were commanders of men (Ulus-tribal units) and they obtained tribute from the territories for sustenance and were not a permanent landed aristocracy since the assigned territories held by them could be transferred.

Akbar had inherited a system in which there does not appear to be much clarity on the hierarchy of the Mughal nobles and the size and salary at which they maintained armed contingents under their command. Remuneration and expenditure on these two entailed huge financial liability on the State. Right from the time of the establishment of the Sultanate, payments for these two were made through alienation of state revenue from assigned territory to individuals. The Mughals too followed the same practice. Arrangement appears to have been very flexible.
In 1573-4 an innovative scheme was introduced that streamlined the position of the nobles in the state hierarchy. The arrangement was called mansab system. Under the mansab system ranks were expressed in numerical terms. The Ain-i Akbari has listed 66 ranks, though in practice only 33 were utilized. The entire hierarchical ordering of the state officials, irrespective of office and their work, was covered under the scheme, starting with the lowest rank of 10 reaching the highest of 5,000. Above 5,000 and up to 7,000 were reserved for the princes of royal blood. Though reference about numerical ranks from earlier times could be found, nothing was as elaborate and comparable to the Mughal mansab system.

Abul Fazl points out in the Ain

During the Sultanate period ranking was expressed by designations that were separate for the military and civil personnel; lower rank commanders along with their contingents were integral to the contingent of a higher ranked commander. Under the Mughals, each mansabdar (holder of a rank) maintained sanctioned strength of contingent and account for it and each was paid separately in accordance with the schedule of pay. By now the earlier three rates of payment fixed (1566-67) for the contingents were abolished and each member of the contingent, irrespective of his being part of a higher ranked mansabdar or a lower mansabdar, received the same salary, fixed at 8,000 dams per annum (per unit of sawar rank). To strictly ensure that the mansabdars properly maintained the sanctioned size of their contingents they were required to regularly bring their contingents, with the equipage, for inspection. The office of bakshi maintained descriptive rolls (tashih) of individual trooper and separate branding mark (dagh) for the war and transport animals of each mansabdar. Badauni informs us how many masabdars cheated the exchequer by hiring untrained persons at the time of inspection and disbanding them once the inspection was over. Till about the 40th regnal year only one rank was used for the mansab which suggests that rank and size of contingent were the same.

The fraudulent practices noted by Badauni were perhaps also noticed by the Mughal administration. As a remedial step from the 40th regnal year onwards mansabs were expressed in dual terms, zat and sawar. While zat denoted the personal rank of an official, sawar indicated the sizes of contingents maintained by the mansabdars. Depending on the strength of the contingents mansabdars were placed in three categories:
• In the first, zat and sawar ranks were equal;

• in the second sawar rank was lower than the zat but stopped at half, or fifty percent, of the zat rank;

• under the third sawar rank was lower than fifty per cent of the zat rank. Salary for the zat rank varied accordingly.

The schedule of pay for the mansabdars given in the Ain-i Akbari was obviously redrawn after these changes were introduced. The schedule of pay in the Ain also lists size of stables, specifying species and numbers of war and transport animals, to be maintained by the mansabdars. The expenditure on the maintenance of these was borne out by the mansabdars out of their zat salary.Though it cost about twenty five percent of the zat salary, the balance left with the mansabdars was still very substantial by any standard. The overall assignments given to mansabdars, around the year 1600, out of the total revenue of the Mughal empire is estimated at around seventy five per cent.

The obligations of the mansabdars underwent changes during the time of successors of Akbar. Jahangir had introduced a new provision in the sawar rank. According to it a part of sawar rank was termed du-aspa sih-aspa (currently written in its short form as 2-3h) in case of select mansabdars. For this part additional payment at the same rate of 8,000 dams per sawar was sanctioned. Thus, if the sawar rank was 4,000 out of which 1,000 was du-aspa sih-aspa, salary for this rank was calculated as 3,000 x 8,000 + (1,000 x 8,000 x 2) = 40,000,000 dams. Without du-aspa sih-aspa, salary for the same 4,000 sawar would have stood at (4,000 x 8,000) 32,000,000 dams only. The debilitation is more visible during the time of Shahjahan. The numbers of du-aspa sih-aspa awards are on a much larger scale. In addition, a still more serious step taken was, what could be termed as, the Rule of Proportion. The mansabdars were allowed to maintain 1/5, to 1/3 of the sanctioned strength of the sawar rank without any accompanying reduction in their claim on the maintenance amount for the sawar rank. While Aurangzeb continued with all these changes, an additional rank, called mashrut (conditional), was affixed. Apparently due to the Rule of Proportion the size of contingent available with a mansabdar was, at times, not considered adequate. Therefore, on appointment to qila‘dar or faujdar like positions the concerned official was given mashrut rank. It was withdrawn on removal from the office.

Holders of Du-aspa sih-aspa ranks during Jahangir’s reign

Total holders of du-aspa sih-aspa ranks
10th year of the Reign 191 12
20th year of the Reign 219 23
30th year of the Reign 253 25

Mansabdari and Jagirdari systems explain the organisation of the Mughal nobility. Mansabdars receive their pay either in cash or in the forms of Jagirs. However most of them were jagirdars. They raised the revenue from their jagirs and imperial officials were appointed to keep a check over them. It seems that zat rank was generally always higher than the sawar rank In the Mughal system the main distinction was not between civil and military as Athar Ali points out “…. there was no division between civil and military services as such. The main dividing line was between the executive and financial duties i.e Subedar and Diwan, Amil and Faujdar.

REORGANISING ADMINISTRATION

By the year 1582 Akbar had not only developed two major tiers of governance, central, provincial and local, he had also given shape to various administrative offices for ensuring efficient and effective working of the state both at the central as well as provincial levels. In the division of authority proper safeguards were provided to ensure that supreme power would be vested in the ruler.

Central Administration

separation of revenue department from the control of the wakil.
The office of wakil-us Saltanate had become most powerful during the period of Bairam Khan’s regency, enjoining both the important functions of administrative and revenue departments. The arrangements continued for another two years when Munim Khan and Shamsuddin Muhammad Atka were elevated to this position one after the other. However, after the assassination of Shamsuddin Atka, Munim Khan also came under suspicion for the conspiracy, Akbar took advantage of the situation and drastically
curtailed the powers of the wakil. Munim Khan was reappointed as wakil without the revenue department. It was not before long that while the office of the wakil lost all all lustre, the office of diwani (revenue department), successively under the supervision of meritorious professional hands, emerged as one of the most important and powerful departments. However the emperor was the supreme head of the administration and the fountainhead of all powers. All the important appointments were made by the emperor.

Office of the Bakshi
Another important office at the centre was that of bakshi. The bakshi was responsible for keeping strict watch over proper maintenance of the sanctioned size of armed contingents and war equipage by the mansabdars.

restrictions on the authority of a sadr
The office of sadr had become very lucrative during the first twenty-five years of Akbar’s reign. In the eyes of a contemporary, the largess squandered by this office, from about 1556 till around the middle of the 1570s, was far larger than the total value of earlier three hundred years. In a way this office had started to become another power centre. However, the promulgation of mahzar (declaration according to which in case of conflicting views on religion Akbar’s view would prevail) in 1580 ended their domination in
matters of religion. It was followed by severe restrictions on the authority of a sadr for award of revenue-free grants etc.

Provincial and Local Administration

The Mughal empire was divided into twelve subas or provinces by Akbar in 1582. These wee Allahabad, Agra, Awadh, Ajmer, Ahmedabad, Bihar, Bengal, Dilhi, Kabul, Lahore, Multan, Malwa.

Later on three more added after the conquest of Deccan. These were Ahmednagar, Khandesh and Berar. Subedar, diwan, bakhshi, miradl (qazi), sadr, kotwal, mirbahr (incharge of port duties, customs etc.) and waqianavis were the key officials of suba.

Subedar

The subedar(governor or sipahsalar) was the head of the suba administration. The governor was entrusted with wide range of powers relating to provincial administration. In 1586-87 as a part of new experiment two governors were appointed in each suba. According to Abul Fazl in the case of inability of one the other could take his place. But the experiment was abandoned after sometime.

At provincial levels, separation and independence of authority of important officials was strictly enforced. Each province was provided with an administrative head, who was initially called Sipahsalar. Hakim, Nazim and Subedar were other designations. During course of time Subedar became a more common title used for this office. He, however, had no jurisdiction over the revenue department.

Diwan

Next in importance was the diwan. Like the central diwan (diwan-i kul) provincial diwan was in-charge of all matters relating to revenue affairs. The diwan had under him a number of subordinate and local officials, such as amin, qanungo, chaudhari and muqqddam who assisted him in the revenue administration of the parganas and villages. He directly reported to the diwan-i kul (central diwan). This position of diwan in the suba independent of the governor, sometimes created administrative problems. In case the diwan and governor of the suba did not work in harmony, the administration suffered.
However, this separation prevented the governor from becoming very powerful.

Bakshi

Another suba level official was bakshi who carriedout the task assigned by Mir Bakshi, or central bakshi.

Sadr

The representative of the central sadr (Sadr us Sadr) at the provincial level was called sadr. He was responsible for the welfare of those engaged in religious
activities and learning. As he was considered a learned person he was entrusted with the work of judiciary and in that capacity supervised the work of qazis appointed at lower level administrative divisions.

Faujdars

In every suba a number of faujdars were appointed. From the sources it does not appear very clear whether under normal circumstances faujdari jurisdiction corresponded to a sarkar’s territorial jurisdiction. There are instances when a faujdar was appointed to supervise over two adjoining sarkars even if these belonged to two different subas. they were, sometimes, also appointed over areas covering a number of parganas within a sarkar. They were not only responsible to maintain law and order; they also assisted in the timely collection of revenue from their jurisdictions. They were assisted by the amalguzar in performing the task of revenue administration. Faujdari was an administrative division whereas sarkar was a territorial and revenue division. Faujdars were appointed by imperial order.

Amin Kotwals, qanungos, amils, shiqdar

Penetration of the state authority reached to the lowest level of administrative units through various other officials, like the kotwals (incharge of law and order) who were appointed mainly in towns by the imperial government, qanungos, amils (revenue) etc. Even the services of the zamindars were utilized for the maintenance of law and order in their areas as well as in the collection of revenue. The shiqdar was responsible for the maintenance of law and order, administration of criminal justice and general administration of pargana. In Akbar’s period the office of Amin (dealt with religious grants) and sadar were combined. In the 17th century amin was placed under the provincial diwan as revenue assessment officer.

The important officers of the province were appointed by imperial order. These were governor, diwan, sadr, qazi, bakshi and muhtasib. The subordinate officers in the diwani were also appointed by imperial order viz. daroga (superintendent of office), mushrif (head clerk), tahvildar-i-daftarkhana (treasurer of office). The waqianavis were posted in the provinces and kept the emperor informed of the happenings there.

Conclusion

Seen in its totality it comes out very clearly that Akbar undertook the onerous task of building an empire by engaging competent and experienced persons from various areas of specilisation to frame and execute innovative systems of governance. When needed, he did not hesitate to adopt measures initiated by earlier rulers. He, however, fine-tuned them through long surveys and deliberations to make them acceptable, transparent and effective instruments of administration. Thus, without resorting to coercive methods, he maximised the resource potential of the state. These were implemented, through a transparent hierarchical machinery, to organise a distinctly subordinate and cohesive nobility out of heterogeneous social groups to supervise and maintain the territorial integrity of the Mughal state. However, his successors do not seem to have had either his caliber or foresight. They did not to challenge the root cause and instead took recourse to such measures that at best could provide temporary relief to the ailing systems of governance.