A detailed exploration of Akbar's administrative framework, highlighting the roles of key officials like faujdar, amalguzar, and mir bakhshi, and the division of powers under the Mughal Empire.

Organization of Local Government

Hardly any changes were made by Akbar in the organisation of local government.

• The pargana and the sarkar continued as before.
• The chief officers of the sarkar were the faujdar and the amalguzar.
• The faujdar was in charge of law and order.
• The amalguzar was responsible for the assessment and collection of the land revenue.
• The territories of the empire were divided into jagir, khalisa, and inam.
• Income from khalisa villages went directly to the royal exchequer.
• Inam lands were allotted to learned and religious men.
• Jagirs were allotted to nobles and members of the royal family, including the queens.
• The amalguzar supervised all types of holdings to ensure uniformity in revenue assessment and collection.
• Autonomous rajas were encouraged to follow the imperial revenue system.

Reorganization of Central Government

Akbar paid great attention to the organisation of the central and provincial governments.

• His system of central government was based on the structure that had evolved under the Delhi Sultanat.
• The functions of the various departments were carefully reorganized.
• Meticulous rules and regulations were laid down for the conduct of affairs.
• Akbar gave a new shape to the system and breathed new life into it.

Division of Power and Checks

The Central Asian and Timurid tradition was of having an all-powerful wazir under whom various heads of departments functioned.

• The wazir was the principal link between the ruler and the administration.
• In course of time, a separate department, the military department, had come into being.
• The judiciary had always been separate.
• In practice, the concept of an all-powerful wazir had been given up.
• Bairam Khan, in his capacity as wazir, had exercised the powers of an all-powerful wazir.
• Akbar reorganized the central machinery of administration on the basis of division of power between various departments and checks and balances.
• The post of wazir was not abolished but was stripped of all power and became largely decorative.
• Important nobles were appointed to the post from time to time, but they played little part in administration.
• The head of the revenue department continued to be the wazir.
• Under Akbar, the wazir generally did not hold a high mansab.
• Many nobles held mansabs which were higher than that of the wazir.
• The wazir was no longer the principal adviser to the ruler but an expert in revenue affairs.
• Akbar generally used the title of diwan or diwan-i-ala instead of wazir.
• Sometimes, several persons were asked to discharge the duties of diwan jointly.
• The diwan was responsible for all income and expenditure and held control over khalisa, jagir, and inam lands.

Military and Intelligence

The head of the military department was called the mir bakhshi.

• The mir bakhshi, not the diwan, was considered the head of the nobility.
• Only the leading grandees were appointed to this post.
• Recommendations for mansab appointments or promotions were made to the emperor through the mir bakhshi.
• Once the emperor accepted a recommendation, it was sent to the diwan for confirmation and for assigning a jagir to the appointee.
• The same procedure was followed for promotions.
• The mir bakhshi was also the head of the intelligence and information agencies of the empire.
• Intelligence officers (khands) and news reporters (waqia-navis) were posted to all parts of the empire.
• Their reports were presented to the emperor at the court through the mir bakhshi.
• The diwan and the mir bakhshi were almost on par and supported and checked each other.
• The third important officer was the mir saman.
• He was in charge of the imperial household, including the supply of all provisions and articles for the use of the inmates of the haram or the female apartments.
• Many of these articles were manufactured under supervision in royal workshops called barbhanas.
• Only nobles who enjoyed the complete confidence of the emperor were appointed to this office.
• The maintenance of etiquette at the court and the control of the royal bodyguard were under the overall supervision of this officer.
• The fourth important department was the judicial department headed by the chief qazi.
• Sometimes, this post was combined with that of the chief sadr, responsible for all charitable and religious endowments.
• The post carried considerable power and patronage but fell into disrepute due to the corruption of Akbar’s chief qazi, Abdun Nabi.
• After instituting careful scrutiny of grants held by various persons, Akbar separated inam lands from jagir and khalisa lands.
• The empire was divided into six circles for the grant and administration of inam lands.
• Two features of the inam grants were noteworthy.
• First, Akbar deliberately granted inam lands to all persons irrespective of their religious faith and beliefs.
• Second, he mandated that half of the inam land should consist of cultivable wasteland to encourage extension of cultivation.
• Akbar divided his time to make himself accessible to the people and ministers.
• The day started with the emperor’s appearance at the jharokha of the palace.
• A large number of people assembled daily to have a glimpse of the ruler and to present petitions, which were attended to immediately.
• Petitions were also addressed in the open darbar (diwan-i-am) which followed and lasted till midday.
• The emperor then retired to his apartments for meals and rest.
• Separate time was allotted to the ministers.
• For confidential consultations, ministers were generally called to a chamber situated near Akbar’s bathing apartment (ghusal khana).
• In time, this private consultation chamber came to be called ghusal khana.
• Akbar divided the empire into twelve subas in 1580.
• These were Bengal, Bihar, Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Multan, Kabul, Ajmer, Malwa, and Gujarat.
• A governor (subedar), a diwan, a bakhshi, a sadr, a qazi, and a waqia-navis were appointed to each of the provinces.
• Thus, orderly government based on the principle of checks and balances was extended to the provinces.