a. What was the status of the Mughal Empire during the first half of the 18th century?
Answers
Answer:
The mughal empire was divided into "Subas" which were further subdivided into "Sarkar","Pargana", and "Gram". There were 15 Subas (provinces) durng Akbar's reigns, which later increased to 20 under the Auranzeb's reign. The Akbar introduced the Mansabdari system. The term "Mansab" indicates the rank of the holder. Mansabdari was both civil and military. During Mughal administration there were 3 methods of revenue collection i.e. Kankut, Rai And Zabti.
Establishing a firm rule in Indian Subcontinent for nearly 200 years, the Mughals built an Empire with not only great political might but also a firm administrative setup that provided strength for a smooth functioning. From the centralization of power to creating conducive conditions for economic and cultural growth, the Mughals looked at administrative matters with great seriousness and precision.
Central Administration
Enjoying the absolute power, the Emperor of the Mughal Empire was always the central administrative authority. A number of officers in the different governmental departments were appointed for the smooth functioning of transactions involving various affairs.
The state had four main departments and the four main officers of the central government were diwan; Mir bakhshi; Mir saman; and sadr.
The diwan (also called the Wazir or chief minister), held the primary position among them and looked after revenue and finance, but kept an overview of all matters of expenditure and related departments recording all imperial orders and assigning duties and expense to district faujdars.
Mir Bakshi handled the military pay and accounts and related duties. He not only was the Paymaster for all officers but also played role in recruitment of soldiers, listing of mansabdars and important officials.
The imperial household was held by Khan-i-Saman. He dealt with matters relating to maintaining record and requirement of the state karkhanas, stores, order, interactions and internal relations.
The Sadr was the head of religious donations and contributions. He also looked after education and imperial alms. Sadr acted as the Chief Qazi before Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb divided these two offices and allotted two separate persons for these posts.
Occasionally a dignitary superior to the wazir and other ministers was also appointed called the vakil. He acted as the deputy of the sultanate (naib).
Provincial Administration
Akbar set the firm base for the provincial administration by fixing the territories of the provincial units and establishing a uniform administrative model subjected to minor amendment to suit local circumstances. Each province had a set of officials representing the branches of state activity, which made control over provinces more effective.
The provincial administrative structure was the replica of that of the central government.
Sipah Salaror Nazim (the governor) well known by the name subahdar was appointed directly by the Emperor and was the main officer looking after civil and administrative responsibility of each Suba.
The Bakshi or the paymaster was the next provincial authority having duties of military establishment, salaries of Mansabdars and occasional duties like news writing for provinces.
In every Suba (province) was established the Dag Choki that conducted the intelligence and postal service. The Waqai Navis and Waqai Nigars supplied direct reports to the King and Sawanih Nigars were the confidential report providers.
Provincial Sadr, Qazi etc performed the same duties within provinces as the central administration officials.
The faujdars (administrative head of district) and the kotwal (performing executive and ministerial duties)
Local Administration
At the village level, the subas were divided into Sarkars which were further subdivided into Parganas.
Faujdar (chief executive head of a Sarkar) was responsible for maintaining law and order in his jurisdiction and the executed the royal decrees and regulations. He also kept the powerful Zamindars under check.
Amalguzar or the revenue collector was the next important officer. Shiqdar maintained the general administration and law and order of Pargana assisted by Amil (revenue collector), Amin (assessor of revenue), Patadar (treasurer), Qanungo (keeper of land record) and Bitikchis (clerks).
Village head or the Muqaddam (sarpanch) dealt with functions locally. The Patwari assisted him by taking care of village revenue records.
In the 18th Century, the governors of major provinces, subadars and great zamindar strengthened their authority in different parts of the sub-continent when the Mughal Emperors declined
Explanation:
The Mughal Empire split in gradually into several independent regional states during the eighteenth century.
These states are divided into 3 overlapping groups:
- States which were "old Mughal provinces" such as "Bengal, Awadh,& Hyderabad". Although they were very powerful & comparatively independent, the rulers had not broken their ties with the Mughal emperor.
- States that had enjoyed "significant independence" under the Mughals as "jagirs & watans". Rajput principalities were an example of this.
- States which were under the control of the Sikhs, Jats, the Marathas, etc. These were varying in size and had long since taken over their "independence from the Mughals".