The Delhi Sultanate administration system

The administration system of Delhi Sultanate were directed and governed by the Quranic
injunctions. The Quranic law was the supreme law of the empire.
The Caliph was the supreme sovereign according to the Islamic theory of sovereignty. All
Muslim kings through the world were his subordinates. During the Sultanate period, the power of
the Caliph was at its zenith. Even if a governor became an independent king, he had to invoke
the sanction of the Caliphs name and called himself his vassal. In fact, the rulers of the Sultanate
period were Muslims and they always tried to maintain a formal relation with the Islamic world.
Sultan Head of the Sultanate Administration
The real head of the administration of Delhi Sultanate was the king or Sultan himself. The
Sultan at his death bed could also nominate his heirs and that was recognized by all other nobles.
There was no hereditary principle of succession. Theoretically the office of the Sultan was open
to all real Muslims, but in practice the Sultanate was restricted to the immigrant Turkes. Later on
it became restricted to a smaller oligarchy and at last to the members of the royal family only.
During the 15th and 16th centuries the Arab and Afghan people also could become the Sultan.
Following the Islamic theory the Sultans of Delhi were considered to be the agent of Allah, i.e.
God and it was his duty to enforce the divine laws expressed by the Holy Quran. He was thus the
chief executive. It was his duty not only to enforce the Quranic laws but also to interpret them.
Judicial Administration of Delhi Sultanate
The Sultan was the highest judicial authority of Delhi Sultanate. He was a perfect autocrat with
wide powers and unfettered authority. His power was based on two pillarsreligion and military.
As long as he was upholding the Quranic law he enjoyed enormous and supreme power. Of
course, the entire matter depended on the personality and military strength of Sultan himself. The
powerful Sultans like Alaud-din-Khilji and Muhammad-Bin-Tughluq often violated the Quranic
laws but nobody dared to challenge them. In fact there were no constitutional devices to remove
a Sultan from the throne peacefully. The only way to remove him was rebellion and civil war.
The Sultans of Delhi were not only the kings, they were also the religious head of the Muslim
people in India.

Military Administration of Delhi Sultanate

The Sultan was also the head of the Military Administration of Delhi Sultanate. He was the
commander-in-chief of the army as well. The Sultan of Delhi was thus a military despot having
all powers of the State concentrated in his hands.
Central Administration of Delhi Sultanate
The Sultanate government was essentially a centralized one though it had the original democratic
nature of an Islamic State. In fact, the circumstances had forced them to become a centralized
one. During this period the Hindu Chiefs were not altogether suppressed and being hostile to the
Muslim rule they were always rebellious. There was the danger of repeated Mongal invasion. In
view of this the Sultans were compelled to keep a large army and a centralized government.
The Sultan in his administration had to keep a good number of ministers the member of which
varied from time to time. During the rule of the slave dynasty there were four ministers
(1) the wazir,
(2) the arizimamalik,
(3) the diwaniinsha and
(4) the diwanirasalat.
Sometimes there was also the post of naib or naibimamalik. He was superior to the wazirand
next only to the Sultan. During the normal period he remained merely a deputy Sultan much
inferior to the Wazir. But when the Sultan himself became weak and inefficient, this naibused to
wield great authority later on, the posts of SadrusSudur and diwani-qaza was raised to the
status of ministers. Thus, there were altogether six ministers during the prime period of Sultanate
administration though sometimes the post of the comptroller of the royal household used to exert
greater power than the other ministers.
The Wazir or the Prime Minister
In fact, the wazir stood midway between the sovereign and the subjects. He had great authority
and often exercised the Sultans power and prerogatives though with some restrictions. All
important officers of the state were appointed by him in the name of the Sultan. He used to hear
complaints against all officials of the administration. During the illness or absence of the Sultan
or when he was a minor, the Wazir acted for the king. He was the adviser of the Sultan in the

affairs of administration and always kept him informed about the sentiments and needs of the
subjects. The Wazir was also the head of the finance department. He used to lay down the rules
and regulations of revenue settlement, fixed the rate of other taxes and controlled the expenditure
of the empire. He was the superintendent of the civil servants and controlled the military
establishment. All the requirements of the army were to be referred to him. The duty of his
subordinates was to keep the accounts and disburse the salary of the military officers and troops.
He was also to look after the stipends and subsistence allowances to learned men and the poor
people. He was to look after every branch of public administration. As he had wide power he
also enjoyed great prestige and was handsomely paid the revenue of a large estate. His office was
called the diwan-i-wazarat. The in-charge of the office was naib wazir. There was also the other
stuffs like the mushrif-i-mamalik (accountant general), mustaufimamalik (auditor general).
It was the duty of the accountant general to enter all accounts received from the provinces and
various departments. The auditor general used to audit them. During Firoz Tughluqs reign there
was, however, a change while the accountant general used to deal with income and the auditor
general with that of expenditure. The accountant general was assisted by a Nazir while the
auditor general too had his assistants. Both the offices had many subordinate clerks.
Diwan-i-ariz or diwan-i-arz or the army master
The post of Diwan-i-ariz was next to the Wazir. He was the controller general of the military
establishment. It was his duty to recruit troops and to maintain the descriptive rolls of men and
horses. He was also to arrange to held review in order to inspect the forces. The Sultan was the
commanderinchief of the army. So the Arizimamalik was not to command the royal
troops generally, but sometimes he had to do it, at least a part of the army. He particularly looked
after the discipline of the army, their equipments and their dispositions on the battle field. It was
a very important department. Sometimes the Sultan himself performed some of its tasks. Alaud
dinKhilji often paid personal attention to it.
Diwan-i-insha or the in-charge of royal correspondence
Diwan-i-insha was the third important minister. He was in charge of the royal correspondence. A
member of Dabir (writers) assisted him. They were all masters of style. This department used to
make all correspondences, even of the confidential matters made between the Sultan and the
rulers of other states or of the important vassals and officials of the kingdom. They drafted the
important royal orders and sent to the Sultan for his sanction. They were then copied, registered
and dispatched. Thus the department performed very confidential nature of work. Naturally the
head of the department was always a very trusted person of the Sultan.

Diwan-i-risalat or the minister for foreign affairs

There is, however, a controversy about the function of this officer. Dr. I.H. Qureshi told us that
the minister used to deal with the religious matters and also look after grant and stipends to
scholars and pious men. Dr. A. B. M. Habibullah, on the other hand, said that he was the minister
for foreign affairs and was the in-charge of diplomatic correspondences and the ambassadors and
envoys sent to and received from the foreign rulers. It seems that Dr. Habibullahas view was
correct. The diwanirasalat was an important officer as all the Sultans of Delhi were always
eager to maintain diplomatic relations with the Central Asian powers and other powers of the
country.
Sadr-us-Sudur or Minister of the department of religions
The Sadr-us-Sudur was the minister of the department of religion, religious endowment and
charity. It was the duty of the chief Sadr (Sadr-us-Sudur) to enforce the Islamic rules and
regulations and to look after that the Muslims strictly follow those regulations in their daily life.
He also disbursed money in charity and rewarded the learned Muslim divines. He also paid the
grants of subsistence allowances to scholars and men of piety.
Diwan-i-Qaza or the Chief Qazi

The chief Qazi was the head of the judicial department. He supervised the administration of
justice in the kingdom. Very often, only one man was appointed to carry on the works of both the
departments of the religious endowment and charity and the department of justice.
All these ministers were not of the same rank or importance. Only the Wazir enjoyed higher
status and privileges. The other ministers were like secretaries to the Sultan and very ordinary in
status. There was no council of ministers. The Sultans often appointed and dismissed the
ministers at his own sweet will. The Sultan had a large number of non-official advisers. This
circle of advisors was known as MajlisiKhalwat. They consisted of the Sultans personal
friends, trusted officials and ulemas. Though the Sultan was not bound to accept their advices yet
often they exerted great influence on him. There were some other departmental heads as well like
baridimamalik (head of the intelligence and posts department) diwaniamir
kohi (department of agriculture), diwanimustakhraj, diwani-khairat (department of
charity), diwaniistihqak (department of pension), Sarijandar(Chief of the royal
bodyguards) and diwan-i-bandagan (chief of the slaves). The latter two chiefs had great
influences on the Sultans.

The Sultanate of Delhi was never divided into homogeneous provinces with uniform
administrative system. The Sultanate of Delhi was a centralized monarchy and no Sultan of Delhi
ever thought of rearranging the provinces on a uniform basis. During the thirteenth century, the
entire Sultanate was consisted of military commands. These were known as the Iqtas. Iqta means
part or share, of a land and land revenue given to a person by the ruler, the Sultan. The system
was introduced by Sultan Iltutmish who had distributed Iqtas in a wide scale among his Turkish
followers. Each Iqta was under a powerful military officer known asMuqti. During the time of
the so-called slave kings of Delhi, the important Iqtas were Mandawar, Amraha, Sambhal,
Badaun, Baran (Bulandshahr), Koli (Aligarh), Awadh, Kara, Manikpur, Bayana, Gwalior,
Nagpur, Hansi, Multan, Uch, Lahore, Samana, Sunam, Kluhram, Bhatinda and Sanhind.
When Alaud-din-Khilji conquered practically the whole of the country including the Deccan, he
had allowed the big and small provinces to remain as they were. Thus during his time there were
two types of provinces that is, the lqtas which he had inherited from his predecessors and the
new areas which he had conquered. Alaud-din retained the old Iqtas. To the newly acquired
provinces he appointed new military governors. As all these provinces had been big and
flourishing states before they were conquered, they were naturally larger in area and income.
The principalities or some vassals were also reduced to the position of governors. Thus from the
time of Sultan Alauddin Khilji there were three kinds of provinces in the Sultanate. The officersin-charge of an lqta continued to be known as the Muqti and those appointed in-charge of the
new
military
provinces
were
called walis or
sometimes
the amirs.These walis or amirs obviously enjoyed higher status and powers than the muqtis.
Thus the muqtis were the governors of their respective jurisdictions and enjoyed great powers.
The size or the administrative system of the Iqtas were never uniform and even the degree of the
political and military power of the muqtis differed from Iqta to lqta.

However, the Muqti was free to carry on his own administration though, of course, he had to
follow the local traditional usages. It was his duty to employ his own officials, to collect the
revenues, to defray the expenditure of his own administration. He was also to pay the surplus
revenue to the central government. Though in theory, he was subjected to the central audit, in
practice he was practically fully independent. His principal duty was to maintain law and order in
his province and to carry out the kings commands. It was also his duty to furnish a contingent of
troops to the Sultan of Delhi whenever the latter asked him to do so. The Muqti enjoyed a high
salary which was charged on the revenue of his province. He had a big army of his own and a big
official establishment as well. He was also required to collect revenues from the Sultans vassals
whose kingdoms were situated within his province. These vassals were required to pay Kharaj or
land revenue and also the Jizyas. Though the muqtis acknowledged the suzerainty of the Sultan

of Delhi they were otherwise independent in their own Iqtas. Both the muqtis and walis were
required to do the same task. They were required to keep powerful military establishments, to
maintain law and order in their jurisdiction and to punish the refractory Zamindars. They were
also required to furnish an account of their income and expenditure and to pay the residue to the
central government. They were advised to protect and enforce the Muslim laws, to protect the
Ulemas, to arrange for the administration of justice, to enforce the decisions of the courts, to
keep the high way free from robbers and to encourage trade and commerce. In each province
there were the staffs to collect the revenues known as Nazirs and Waqufs. There was also a
higher officer known asSohib-i-diwan or Khwaja appointed by the Sultan to keep accounts.
There were also a Quazi and other subordinate officers. The most important provinces during the
Sultanate period were Bengal, Gujrat, Jaunpur, Malwa, Khandish and the Dakhin.

The Economic Reforms of Alauddin Khilji

Alauddin Khilji introduced many economic reforms during his rule. Alauddin had to maintain a
huge army. This had become all the more imperative in view of Mongal raids and internal
revolts. He had, besides, the ambition of conquering the whole of India. However, such an army
could not be permanently maintained without straining the resources of the State. Hence
Alauddin fixed the salaries of his huge army at a very low level. Accordingly the Sultans main
concern was to enable the soldier to live on his pay. To this end he resolved to control the prices
of necessaries.
Alauddin fixed the prices of food grains, cloth and other commodities, and had them enforced
rigorously. Everything was set down in tariff; vegetables, fruits, sugar, old, horses, caps, shoes,
combs, and needles. No one was permitted to purchase grain from the cultivators directly. Only
the authorized traders could do so. All merchants in Delhi were required to register themselves.
To the merchants he gave wealth, and placed before them goods in abundance. In return they
had to sell all commodities at the fixed rates. All types of speculation and black marketing were
stopped.
Alauddins economic measures had also another important aspect and that related to his land
revenue policy. In this the Sultan had twin motives. First, he wanted to establish direct link
between the States and the tillers of the soil. At the same time he wanted to raise the revenue

from the land. The Sultan also put an end to the special privileges of the Chaudhuris (headmen of
the parganas), Khuts (zamindars), and Muquddams (headmen of the villages). They were not
allowed to ride on horseback, to find weapons to get the cloths. Besides the State collected the
revenue in kind from the Khalisa lands. The Sultan introduced two new taxesa horse tax and a
tax on all milk cows.
Alauddin s economic measures and more specifically his market regulations have been regarded
by historians as marvels of medieval statesmanship. But the economic soundness of those
measures is not above dispute. To be sure these measures were restricted to Delhi and its
suburbs. Secondly, it has been said that the Sultan fixed the prices of food grains, cloth, etc. far
below the usual market rate; hence he did not care for the cost of production, his sole motive
being to enable his soldiers to live in comfort even on moderately low salaries.
RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
The exchange of ideas between Hindus and Muslims resulted in the development of two popular
movements.
(i) The Sufi Movement: Mystics, later called Sufis,-had risen in Islam at a very early stage. The
Sufis propounded the idea of union with God through love and not prayer, ritual, and fasts. The
Sufis had 12 orders or silsilahs, generally led by prominent mystics who lived in a khanqah. The
link between the teacher or pir or shaikh and his disciples or murids was a vital part of the Sufi
system. The Sufi orders were divided into two: Ba-shara, or those who followed the Islamic law
such as the Chishti and Suhrawardi; and Be-shara, or those who were not bound by Islamic law.
The Chishti order was established in India by Khwaja Muin-ud-din Chishti. The Chishti order
was popular in and around Delhi and the Doab. The most famous Chishti saints were
Nizamuddin Auliya and Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehlvi. Of the Suhrawardi saints, Shaikh
Shihabuddin Suhrawardi and Hamid-ud-din Nagori are the most famous. Like the Chishtis, the
Suhrawardis did not believe in leading a life of poverty. The Suhrawardis were popular in Sindh.
The Firdausi order was popular in Bihar. The Sufis made themselves popular by adopting
musical recitations called sama. Qawwali was another form of singing at gatherings.
(ii) The Bhakti Movement: Among the Hindus, the Bhakti movement preached religion which
was non-ritualistic and open to all without any distinction of caste or
creed. Its cardinal principle was blzakti or unflinching devotion to a personal God whose Grace
was the only means of attaining salvation. The real development of Bhakti took place in South
India between the seventh and the twelfth centuries. The Saiva nayanarsand Vaishnavite alvars
were its first propagators. Among the Bhakti saints were the Maharashtrians Namadeva and
Ramananda, who were followers of Ramanuja. Ramananda's disciples in

cluded Ravidas, who was a cobbler; Kabir, who was a weaver; Sena, a barber; and Sadhana who
was a butcher. In the period under consideration, the Sufis influenced the Bhakti movement in
ideas of love and brotherhood.
Among those who were most critical of the existing social order and made a strong plea for
Hindu-Muslim unity were Kabir (1440-1518) and Nanak (1469-1539). Kabir emphasised the
unity of God and expressed his ideas in dalzas or couplets. His followers were called
Kabirpanthis. Guru Nanak laid great emphasis on the purity of character and conduct as the first
condition of approaching God and the need of a guru for guidance. He advocated a middle path
in which spiritual life could be combined with the duties of the householder. In course of time,
the ideas of Nanak gave birth to a new creed called Sikhism"There also developed, in North
India, the worship of Rama and Krishna, incarnations of God Vishnu. The greatest apostle of
Krishna was Chaitanya in the east. He popularised musical gatherings or kirtans as a special form
of mystic experience in which the outside world disappeared by dwelling on God's name. He is
regarded as an incarnation of Sri Krishna.
LAW AND ORDER
LAW AND ORDER
The head of the judicial department was the chief qazi, who was styled as qazi-ul-qazat. He was
responsible for the enforcement of Islamic law. He was aided by muftis who expounded the
Quranic law. Every town had a qazi who was appointed by the Central government in
consultation with the qazi-ul-qazat. The task of maintaining peace and order rested with the
official known as the katwal aided by the muhatsib who was a censor of public morals. Amir-idad was responsible for apprehending criminals. However, at village level, the panchayats
- settled disputes and arranged for policing their areas
through local watchmen known as chaukidars.
REVENUE POLICY In their fiscal policy, the sultans were guided by the Hanafi school of Sunni
jurists. The revenue of the state was derived mainly from: (i) the zakat or religious tax levied
upon well-to-do Muslims only; (ii) kharaj or tax on gross produce of lands of the non-Muslims;
(iii) kham or the state's share of one-fifth of the spoils of the war; (iv) the ushraf or tax on gross
produce of lands held by Muslims; and (v) jaziya or poll-tax imposed upon adult non-Muslim
males. There were other taxes also like house tax, grazing tax, and octroi duties on income from
mines, forests, etc.
The land revenue was the most important source of revenue. It was derived from the khalisa or
crown lands and iqtas or territories granted to officers. The rate of assessment was unscientific

and arbitrary. During Ala-ud-din Khalji's time it was fixed at 50 per cent of the gross produce.
The bulk of the revenue was spent on the expenditure of the
army and the royal household.
THE ARMY The Delhi sultans maintained a strong army consisting of cavalry, infantry and
elephants. There were four classes of army in the Sultanate era:
(i) Royal army It was the standing army of the Sultan.
The Royal army was a heterogeneous body consisting of Turks of various types such as the
Tajiks, Persians, Mongols, Afghans, Abyssinians, Indian Muslims and the Hindus. The Royal
army was called hashm-i-qalha, and was appointed by the central government.
(ii) Provincial governments' army The provincial governors and nobles had to maintain their own
army. When needed, the provincial soldiers were handed over to the diwan-i-arij or the central
army department.
,(iii) Holy War army It consisted of Muslim soldiers who joined the army as volunteers to fight
wars against the Hindus. These soldiers did not get any regular pay, but were given a share out of
the booty captured during war.
(iv) War time army It consisted of the soldiers recruited on a temporary 'basis in times of war.
Cavalry was the backbone of the Sultanate's military strength. The army was organised on the
decimal pattern.