MUGHUL ADMINISTRATION

Departments of Government and Chief Officers

Though the Mughul Emperors had absolute powers, they appointed a number of officers in the different departments of the Government for the transaction of its multitudinous affairs. The chief departments of the State were: (a) the Imperial Household under the Khan-i-Saman, (b) the Exchequer under the Diwan, (c) the Military Pay and Accounts Office under the Mir Bakhshi, (d) the Judiciary under the Chief Qazi, (e) Religious Endowments and Charities under the Chief Sadr or Sadr-us-Sudur, and (f) the Censorship of Public Morals under the Muhtasib. The Diwan or Wazir was usually the highest officer in the State, being in sole charge of revenues and finance. The Bakhshi discharged a variety of functions. While he was the Paymaster-General of all the officers of the State, who “theoretically belonged to the military department “, he was also responsible for the recruiting of the army, and for maintaining lists of mansabdars and other high officials; and when preparing for a battle he presented a complete muster-roll of the army before the Emperor. The Khan-i-Saman or the Lord High Steward had charge of the whole imperial household “in reference to both great and small things”. The Muhtasibs or Censors of Public Morals looked after the enforcement of the Prophet’s commands and the laws of morality. The other officers, somewhat inferior in status to those mentioned above, were the Mir Atish or Daroga-i-Topkhana (head of the artillery), the Daroga of Dak chowki (head of the correspondence departments, the Daroga of the Mint, the Mir Mal or the Lord Privy Seal, the Mustaufi or the Auditor-General, the Nazir-i-Buyutat or the Superintendment of the Imperial Workshop, the Mushriff or the Revenue Secretary, the Mir Bahri or the Lord of the Admiralty, the Mir Barr or the Superintendent of Forests, the Waqa-i-navis or News – Reporters, the Mir Arz or the officer in charge of petitions presented to the Emperor, the Mir Manzil or the Quartermaster – General, and the Mir Tozak or the Master of Ceremonies.

The Police

So far as the rural areas were concerned, the Mughuls introduced no new arrangements for the prevention and detection of crimes. These remained, as from time immemorial, under the headman of the village and his subordinate watchmen. This system, which afforded a fair degree of security in the local areas with only occasional disturbances in times of disorder, survived till the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the cities and towns, all police duties, including the task of maintaining public order and decency, were entrusted to the Kotwals, whose duties, as enumerated in the Ain-i-Akbari, were multifarious: (i) to detect thieves, (ii) to regulate prices and check weights and measures, iii) to keep watch at night and patrol the city, (iv) to keep up registers of houses, frequented roads, and of citizens, and watch the movements of strangers, (v)  

to employ spies from among the vagabonds, gather information about the affairs of the neighboring villages, and the income and expenditure of the various classes of people, (vi) to prepare an inventory of, and take charge of, the property of deceased or missing persons who left no heirs, (vii) to prevent the slaughter of oxen, buffaloes, horses or camels, and (viii) to prevent the burning of women against their will, and circumcision below the age of twelve. Sir J. N. Sarkar believes that this long list of the Kotwal’s duties in the Ain represents “only the ideal for the Kotwal” and not “the actual state of things”. But Manucci also gives from personal observation an exhaustive account of the Kotwal’s duties. It is, however, certain that the Kotwal’s main business was to preserve peace and public security in the urban areas. In the districts or sarkars, law and order were maintained usually by officers like the Faujdars. “The faujdar, as his name suggests, was only the commander of a military force stationed in the country. He had to put down smaller rebellions, disperse or arrest robber gangs, take cognizance of all violent crimes, and make demonstrations of force to overawe opposition to the revenue authorities, or the criminal judge, or the censor.” The police arrangements were in some respects effective, though “the state of public security varied greatly from place to place and from time to time”.

Law and justice

Nothing like modern legislation, or a written code of laws, existed in the Mughul period. The only notable exceptions to this were the twelve ordinances of Jahangir and the Fatawa-i-‘Alamgiri, a digest of Muslim law prepared under Aurangzeb’s supervision. The judges chiefly followed the Quranic injunction or precepts, the Fatawas or previous interpretations of the Holy law by eminent jurists, and the qanuns or ordinances of the Emperors. They did not ordinarily disregard customary laws and sometimes followed principles of equity. Above all, the Emperor’s interpretations prevailed, provided they did not run counter to the sacred laws.

The Mughul Emperors regarded speedy administration of justice as one of their important duties, and their officers did not enjoy any special protection in this respect under anything like Administrative Law. “If I were guilty of an unjust act,” said Akbar, “I would rise in judgment against myself.” Peruschi writes on the authority of Monserrate that “as to the administration of justice he is most zealous and watchful. The love of justice of the other Emperors, like Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, has been testified to by some contemporary European travellers. Though approach to the Emperor through all kinds of official obstructions was not very easy, at least two Mughul Emperors, Akbar and Jahangir, granted to their subjects the right of direct petitioning (which was only won in England after a hard fight). The latter allowed a chain with bells to be hung outside his palace to enable petitioners to bring their grievances to the notice of the Emperor.

The Qazi-ul-Qazat or the Chief Qazi was the principal judicial officer in the realm. He appointed Qazis in every provincial capital. The Qazis made investigations into, and tried, civil as well as criminal cases of both the Hindus and the Muslims; the Muftis expounded Muslim Law; and the Mir Adls drew up and pronounced judgments. The Qazis were expected to be ” just, honest, impartial, to hold trials in the presence of the parties and at the courthouse and the seat of government, not to accept presents from the people where they served, nor to attend entertainments given by anybody and everybody, and they were asked to know poverty to be their glory”. But in practice they abused their authority and as Sir J.N. Sarkar observes, “the Qazi’s department became a byword and reproach in Mughul times”. There were no primary courts below those of the Qazis, and the villagers and the inhabitants of smaller towns, having no Qazis over them, settled their differences locally “by appeal to the caste courts or panchayets, the arbitration of an impartial umpire (salis), or by a resort to force”. The Sadr-us-sudur or the chief Sadr exercised supervision over the lands granted by the Emperors or princes to pious men, scholars and monks, and tried cases relating to these. Below him there was a local sadr in every province.

Above the urban and provincial courts was the Emperor himself, who, as the “Khalifah of the Age”, was the fountain of justice and the final court of appeal. Sometimes he acted as a court of first instance too. Fines could be imposed and severe punishments, like amputation, mutilation and whipping, could be inflicted by the courts without any reference to the Emperor, but his consent was necessary in inflicting capital punishment. There was no regular jail system, but the prisoners were confined in forts.