Introduction
Medieval administration refers to the systems of governance and organizational structures that characterized the medieval period, spanning roughly from the 5th to the 15th century in Europe. This era was marked by the decline of the Roman Empire, the emergence of feudalism, and the dominance of various kingdoms, principalities, and empires. The administrative landscape during the medieval period was diverse and evolved over time, influenced by factors such as feudalism, religion, and changing socio- economic condition
Medieval Administration :
This can be divided into three categories of administration according to the periods of different regimes such as (a) Rajput period administration (b) Sultanate period administration, and (c) Mughal period administration.
Rajput Period Administration :
The main form of government during this period was monarchical and for the assistance of the king there was a council of ministers. The state was divided into smaller units, the biggest of which was prant. In brief, Rajput government was an amalgam of militarism, feudalism and divine- right onarchy. The chief aim of the rulers was acquisitions of military glory rather than promotion of public weal. The rulers, therefore, evoked respect but not affection or gratitude. Civil and military appointments generally went to the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. This made the rest of the people apathetic towards political affairs. By abstaining from interference in local administration, they helped to develop initiative, efficient and self reliance among the local population.
The Rajput rulers, instead of counteracting the danger from the north-west by presenting a united front, continued fighting among themselves and in some cases, perhaps, even welcomed an attack by the Muslims, provided it was directed against some of their rivals. Thus, within a short span of a few years, the greater part of northern India passed into the hands of the Muslims.
Sultanate Period Administration:
The Sultanate period (1206-1525) starts with the defeat of the Rajput king, Prithviraj Chauhan, at the hands of Muhammad of Ghor from Afghanistan or Shaahabuddin Ghori in 1192, and his provincial governor, Qutubuddin Aibek, who occupied the Delhi throne in 1206 as the Sultan. The Sultanate period lasted till the defeat of its last Afghan King, Ibrahim Lodhi, in 1526 in the first battle of Panipat at the hands of the Mughal dynasty founder, king Babar. The important rulers of the Sultanate period were Illtutmish, Balban, Alauddin Khilji and Muhammad Bin Tughlak. They included the Slave (1206-1290); Khilji (1290-1320; Tughlak (1320- 1414); Saiyyad (1414- 1451); and Lodhi (1451-1526) dynasties.
The Sultanate administration was basically military in nature; its rulers obeyed the principles and tenets of Islam and applied those in letter and spirit in thei administration. They tried to adopt themselves as best as possible to Islamic injunctions, theology and law, and none of them divorced religion from administration and politics. The Sultanate, in a broader sense, could be described as a junior member of the Islamic Commonwealth of Nations. The power and position of the sultan was supreme and he was vested with political, legal and military powers.
He was also responsible for judicial administration. He took advice from his advisors but was not bound by it. Below the sultan was the wazir who was the head of the entire administration and had many other officers such as the naib-wazir, the accountant- general (Munshrif- mumalik), the auditor- general (Mustauf- mumalik), nazir (superintendent) waqufi (inspector), and several others to help him. Next to the wazir was the head of the military department and there were two civil dewans. One looked after religious matters, holy institutions and scholars, etc., and the other looked after correspondence. For administrative purposes the state was divided into prants. The head of the prant established various departments for administration.
The prants were divided into shikos, whose head was known as shikdar. The shikos were divided into sarkars, sarkars into parganas and parganas into villages. Pargana was under the shiqqadar who had to look after executive affairs and land revenue. At the pargana level there were other officials such as amil. or the collector of revenue who dealt in central as well as provincial revenue, diwan, fotahdar or the local treasurer, daroga or the superintendent of accounts, amin or the surveyor, kanungo, munshif, thanadar, patwari, etc. The diwan in sarkar was the executive head of the pargana. City administration was run by a centralized bureaucracy, but the villages had some sort of self-rule. The defence of the country was manned by a standing army maintained by the centre, while the contribution of the walis and vassals in men and resources was equally available. Espionage and the postal system, confined to the royal main alone, had developed considerably and wayside stations were set up. In short, this later phase of administration of the Delhi Sultanate was an experiment in administering the vast territory comprising heterogeneous elements that were communal and feudal and always posed danger to the central authority.
Mughal Period Administration :
The Mughal rule in the country was established by Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, after he had won the historical battle of Panipat in 1526. But in December, 1530, only after four years Babar died and his eldest son, Humayun, the heir apparent became the king. Humayun had to face a lot of difficulty in retaining his kingdom initially. He could recover his kingdom after continuous battle, but died soon in 1556 and was succeeded by his young son, Akbar, who ascended the Mughal throne after his victory in the second battle of Panipat in 1556. Akbar was the real founder of the Mughal dynasty. The first four Mughal emperors were good rulers and this dynasty flourished under Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, Aurangzeb died in 1770 and the Mughal Empire disintegrated thereafter. The later Mughal emperors were not very powerful and finally the British East India Company emerged victorious. The last Mughal king, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was dethroned and exiled by the British in 1858.
The Mughal administrative system was a military rule by nature and was centralized by despotism. To the Muslim portion of the population, the sovereign was the head of both the religion and the state, and therefore, he undertook socialist functions for them. But he followed a policy of minimum individualist interference towards his non-Muslim subjects, i.e. he contended himself with discharging only police duties and the collection of revenue. The socialistic activity, in its broadest sense of a modern state, was left to the community, society or caste brotherhood to follow, and the student of Indian administration had to tolerate this in silence. Thus, the aim of the government was extremely limited and materialistic, almost to the point of being sordid.
The Mughal emperor was the head of the administration and had no cabinet but there were secretaries working as ministers. He used to keep his ministers and nobles at a distance and there was no sharing of authority. Moreover, he was not bound to consult his ministers on all matters. The authority of the king was beyond the checks of the ministers and wazirs. Thus, the Mughal rule was monarchical and the whole administration moved around him. He took pains to im0part justice and provided judicial administrative machinery to administer justice.
There were different departments at the centre and the most important were as follows:
1. The exchequer and revenue were under the wazir or the high diwan (diwan-i-ala).
2. The imperial household was under the Khan-i-saman or the high steward.
3. The military pay and accounts office was under the mir-i-batisi.
4. Cannon law, civil and criminal was under the Chief quazi.
5. Religious endowments and charities were under thechief sadar.
6. Censorship of public morals was under the muhtasib.
7. The artillery was under the mir-i-atish or darogha-itopkhana.
8. Information and intelligence were under the daroga-i-dak-chauki.
Besides these, there were other officials, namely, the mirbabri or the revenue secretary, mirbarr or the superintendent of forests, qurbegi or the lord standard bearer, bakt-begi or the superintendent of the royal stud, mushrif or the chief admiral and officer of harbours, nazir-i-buyutad or the superintendent of imperial workshops, mustafi or the auditor- general, awarjab nawis or the superintendent of daily expenditure at our court, Khawan salar or the superintendent of royal kitchen and mir-arz or the officer who presents petitions before the king.
The title of wazir meant the prime minister in the Mughal empire and his office received all revenue papers and returns and despatches from the provinces and the filed armies. He also acted as the representative of the king on ceremonial occasions. He wrote letters by orders in his own person though under the emperor’s directions. Payment, except to the filed army and the workmen of the state factories, was made through his department only. Some of the famous wazirs were also masters of Persian prose and they acted as secretaries in drafting royal letters to foreign rulers on behalf of their masters.
At the provincial level, the upper level administration was an exact replica of the central administration. Provincial and district administrations were based on the suba and sarkar as unit, their heads being respectively called subedars and fauzdars who were assisted by diwans and the amalguzars, respectively. During the declining days of Mughal rule, the sarkar appeared to have been replaced by a larger administrative unit called chakla. Below the sarkar appeared to have been replaced by a larger administrative unit called the chakla. Below the sarkar was the pargana, which was headed by the shiqqadar.
Decentralization was necessary for a big empire
like that of the Mughals who had not disturbed the local set–up under muqaddams and chaudharies. Administration of the border areas was under fauzdars, while that of port areas was under the mutsaddi. The head of the police in the metropolis was known as the kotwal. Judicial administration was handled with the help of the qazis and sardars. Revenue administration and military organization were the main pillars holding up the structure of the state. Assessment and collection of revenue were controlled from the centre and officers had to account the details for all receipts.
The important and Herculean task of imperial administration was carried out largely by the officers in charge of the administrative units at the lower level. In doing so, they had indeed behind them the sanction of the imperial government and the provincial administration. But the safety of the empire and its peaceful and efficient administration, to a greater extent, depended on the ability and vigilance of the lower administrative machinery. The chief officers of the localities like those placed at the heads of province belonged to a corps delite, the mansabdars. The mansab was a commission, which was held by the officers of the emperor. It was a hierarchical system that comprised the mansabdars ranging from those commanding twenty horsemen to those commanding five thousand horsemen. Between these two there were innumerable grades and officers rose from grade to grade, both according to merit and favour. Another feature of the system was the fusion between civil and military functions.
According to J.N. Sarkar, there owned historian on the Mughal period, The Mughal system at one time spread over practically all the civilized and organized arts of India. Now it is dead in our times. Traces of it still survive. But the new has been built upon the old our present has its roots in our past.
Highlights
The medieval period in India was marked by the rule of various dynasties, such as the Cholas, Chalukyas, Pallavas, Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal Empire. Each dynasty contributed to the administrative practices of the time.
The concept of feudalism was present in some regions, where local rulers, known as zamindars or jagirdars, were granted land in exchange for loyalty and military service to the central authority.
The establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century brought about a
significant change in administrative structures. The sultans introduced a centralizedadministrative system with provinces governed by appointed officials.
In the South, the Vijayanagara Empire emerged as a prominent power. The
administrative system of Vijayanagara was characterized by provincial governors, local chieftains, and a hierarchical structure.
The Mughals introduced the jagir system, where military officials were granted
revenue-collecting territories in exchange for military service. The mansabdari system ranked officials based on their military ranks and administrative responsibilities.