3 Review(s)

Numerous books recount the history of the Mughal empire, their expeditions, their military structure, the land revenue system, the splendour of their courts. However, their administrative structure has been overlooked and this is what Sir Jadunath examines in his book Mughal Administration.The author reveals the way the Mughal administration was managed and functioned. While tracing the roots of the Mughal administration sy­stem, he tells us that its machinery and titles were borrowed by indepen­dent Hindu States as well. Thus, the Mughal system spread practically over all of civilized India. In the initial days of British rule, the old Mughal framework too was retained and changes or additions made only when necessary. The Mughal administrative system itself was taken from the Abbasid Khalifs of Iraq and Fatimid Khalifs of Egypt. While the principles of government and taxation rules, church policy were imported ready-made from outside India, some compromise was made so that existing Indian practices and customary laws prevailed as long as these did not run contrary to Islamic principles. The Indian usage continued in village administration too, while in the Court and higher official circles the ‘foreign model’ was practised. The author discusses the sovereign’s powers; the judiciary; the departmental heads, their powers and duties; provincial administration; taxation of land and its related issues; and the achievements and failures of the Mughal dynasty. He also analyses the decline of aristocracy, disruptive forces in the State and the defects of the oriental monarchies.