Central Government During Delhi Sultanate
Sultan
He dominated the central government. He was the legal head of the state and acted as the chief executive and the highest court of appeal. He was the chief of the armed forces and made appointments to all the higher civil and military posts. He was assisted by a number of officials, chief among whom were :
Naib Sultan
Appointment to this post was generally made only when a ruler was weak or a minor. But sometimes powerful rulers like Alauddin offered this high office to a nobleman as a mark of special favour. The naib enjoyed practically all the powers of the Sultan on his behalf and exercised general control over the various departments of the government.
Wazir
He was the head of the finance department, called diwan-i-wazarat. He had a number of powerful assistants, three among whom deserve special mention – Naib Wazir, Mushrif-iMumalik and Mustauf-i-Mumalik. The first acted as his chief’s deputy. The second maintained a record of the accounts received from the provinces and other departments of the central government. The third audited these accounts.
Ariz-i-mumalik
He was the head of the military department called diwan-i-arz and was next to the wazir in importance. But he was the minister of war and not the commander-in-chief of the army since the Sultan himself commanded all the armed forces. The special responsibility of the ariz’s department was to recruit, equip and pay the army.
Sadr-us-sudur
He was the head of the public charities and ecclesiastical department known as diwan-i-risalat. It was he who made grants in cash or land for the construction and maintenance of mosques, tombs and madrasas. Again it was he who granted maintenance allowances to the learned, the saintly, the orphaned or the disabled. The funds of the department of charities were utilised for the exclusive good of the Muslims alone. It had usually a separate treasury that received all collections from zakat (a tax collected from rich Muslims only).
Qazi-ul-quzat
He was the head of the judicial department and usually the posts of the chief sadr and the chief qazi were combined in a single person. Qazis were appointed in various provinces of the empire. The qazis dispensed civil law based on Muslim law (Shariat). The Hindus were governed by their own personal laws which were dispensed by panchayats in the villages and by the leaders of the various castes in the cities.
Amir-munshi
He was the head of the records department, known as diwan-i-insha. The farmans of the Sultan were issued from his office, while all high level correspondence also passed through his hands.
Barid-i-mumalik
He was the head of the information and intelligence department ‘y a nobleman who enjoyed the fullest confidence of the ruler was appointed the chief barid, The large number of barids, who were posted in different areas, informed the Sun of what was going on through the chief barid.
There were officers connected with the court and the royal household. Vakil-l-dar looked arter the royal palace and personal attendants of the sovereign. Barbak looked after the royal court by maintaining the dignity of the court and assigning nobles a place according to protocol. Amir-ihajib scrutinised all visitors to the court and presented them before the sovereign according to court etiquette. Amir-i-shikar organised royal hunts and all areas where the Sultan went hunting were under his direct control and authority. Sar-i-jandar was the chief bodyguard of the Sultan.
Provincial Government
The whole kingdom was divided into a number of provinces and tributary states. Little attempt was made to interfere in the internal affairs of the tributary states as long as they did not threaten the safety of the empire. But the provincial administration under – the Sultans was noi well organised.
In the earlier stages, a nobleman was assigned unconquered or semi-conquered territory as IQTA and he was acknowledged the governor of all the land he could subdue by force. But this no longer applied to later times. The ruler himself now undertook the task of conquest and subjugation and he assigned conquered territory to suitable governors.
The governor was called nayim or wali. Below the provincial governor, there was a provincial wazir, a provincial ariz and a provincial qazi. Their functions corresponding to those of similar dignitaries at the centre. Like the Sultan at the centre, the provincial governor combined in his hands the powers of maintaining law and order, control over the local army, the realisation of state dues and provision for justice.
Local Government
The provinces were divided into shiqs and below it into paraganas. The shiq was under the control of the shiqdar. The paragana, comprising a number of villages was headed by the amil. The village remained the basic unit of administration and continued to enjoy a large measure of self-government. The most important official in the village was the headman known as muqaddam or Chaudhari.