SHER SHAH AS A RULER (1540-1545 AD)

Describe the administrative system of Sher Shah

As A Ruler: Sher Shah is considered to be one of the greatest rulers of medieval India.

According to Ershine "He rose to the throne from (on) his own talents and showed himself worthy of the elevation which he attained".

Sher Shah ascended to the throne of Delhi at the ripe age of 67 by overthrowing the Mogul ruler Humayun and thus re-establishing the Afghan power in India.

Early life: His original name was Farid and he was born in 1486 A.D. Sher Shah did not belong to a rich family and in no way was connected with a royal family or with any well-known military commander or religious preacher. Thus, he was a man without any high connections, influence or status and he did not get any support from anybody in this career. Whatever he achieved, he achieved simply by his own efforts and capability. Sher Shah's father Hasan was a small jagidar at Sasaram in Bihar Sher Shah acquired rich administrative experience by handling his father's jagir.

Following the confusion after the death and defeat of Ibrahim Lodi, Sher Shah emerged as one of the most important Afghan Sardars. He got the title "Sher Khan" after killing a tiger.

During his encounters with the Mughuls Sher Shah proved to be a superior general and succeeded in defeating Humayun in the battle of Chalsa (1539) and then the battle of Kanjauj after which he captured Delhi and Agra and snatched the throne from the Mughals.

Extent of his Empire: His empire embraced practically the whole of northern India, except Kashmir, Assam and Gujarat. In the West he conquered Marwar and almost the entire Rajasthan. He defeated Maldeo the powerful ruled of Marwar and then captured Ajmer, Jodhpur and Mewar. In the north it was bounded by the Himalayas and in the South by the Vidhya mountains. The empire includes most of Punjab upto river Indus and Multan and Sindh. In the South it comprised of Rajputana, Malwa and Bundel Khand.

The Administration of Sher Shah. "He was in truth one of the greatest rulers who ever sat on the throne of Delhi. No other ruler from Akbar to Aurangzeb was able to control public business so minutely and effectively as he" commented Sir Woolseley Haig.

"Sher Shah was a good administrator but he was not an innovator" says Dr. Ram Prasad Tripathi.

Sher Shah was one of the best administrators among the rulers of medieval India but he did not invent any novelty in administration. His revenue administration was not entirely novel while his military reforms were based on the reforms introduced by Alauddin Khilji. Sher Shah learnt from the experiences of others. The different measures pursued by his predecessors were so adopted by him that they looked like new innovations. Besides, he practised them with such a masterly hand that all his administrative measures succeeded in bringing out order, peace, strength and prosperity to the state as well as to his subjects. That itself is sufficient to regard him as one of the best administrations among the rulers of medieval India.

Sher Shah was not only a conqueror but also an excellent administrative genius.

M.W. Crookes does justice by saying "That he, Sher Shah introduced such reforms in his short reign of 5 years which is wonderful proof of his executive ability"

According to Keen "No government, even the British has shown so much wisdom as this Pathan."

Prof. Quango describes him as "The greatest administrative and military genius among the Afghans"

The Centralised Administration: The king was the administrative head and exercised all authority. He was a benevolent despot whose aim was to do good to his subjects. His Ministers did not make decisions themselves. All major decisions were taken by Sher Shah himself and the ministers and nobles simply carried them out.

Sher Shah worked hard for sixteen hours a day and looked after the working of every department of the state.

The Ministers: The ministers who assisted him were more like Secretaries. They had no power of initiative or final decision of any policy but they were there simply because of the convenience of the administration. Sher Shah had four ministers after the model of the Sultanate pd. There were departments whose administrative heads enjoyed the position of ministers. They as follows:

1. Diwan-i-wazirat: The head of this department was called the Wazir (Vazir). He was primarily, the finance minister and looked after the income and expenditure of the State though he enjoyed a general supervisory authority over all ministers.

2. Diwan-i-arz: This department was under the Arz-i-Mumalik who was the army minister. He was not the commander-in-chief of the army but looked after the recruitment, organisation, discipline, disbursement of the salaries of the soldiers and officers and all sorts of supplies to the army.

3. Barid- i – Mumalk: looked after the intelligence department. He reported important events and developments to the Sultan. He looked after the news writers and spies of the State who were posted at all important places in the empire. He also arranged news carriers to carry the royal dak.

4. There seems to have been another high official who looked after the royal household and personal safety of the Sultan.

5. Diwan-i-Insha: Ministry which drafter royal proclamations in letters. All official correspondence with the governors and other officials passed through this office.

6. Sadr-us-Sadr: presided over Diwan-i-Rasalat dealt with religious matters, charity, endowments. He also looked into correspondence with other states and received their envoys and dignitaries. He also in the capacity of Qazi-i-Mumalik administered justice.

PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION:

Sher Shah did not make any changes in the administrative division.

1) Sarkars - Sher Shah's empire was divided into 47 units called Sarkars or districts. There were two chief officers in every Sarkar.

i) Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaran or Chief Shiqdar was a military officer. He maintained peace in his Sarkar and helped in the collection of revenue and other taxes.

ii) Munsif-i-Musifan or the Chief Munsif. He was primarily a judicial officers who decided only civil cases and looked after the working of his subordinate judicial officers in the Parghanas.

2) Parghanas: Each Sarkar was divided into smaller units called Parghanas. There was a Shiqdar (military officer), Amin or Munsif (civilian judge) one Fotahdar (treasurer) and two Karkuns (clerks or writers) in each Pargana.

3) Villages: Sher Shah left the administration of villages in the hands of their hereditary officers like Chaukidars, Patwaris etc. The village panchayat also enjoyed a large measure of independence in looking after the welfare of the people. All of them assisted state officials in collecting revenue and maintaining law and order.

Sher Shah introduced the system of transferring the officers of the Sarkars and Parghanas every two or three years.

There were 'thanas' or military outposts when imperial troops wen stationed.

III. FINANCE:

Land Revenue Reforms:

Sher Shah paid special attention to the land revenue system. Having administered his father's jagir for a number of years and then posing as the virtual ruler of Bihar. Sher Shah was well acquainted with the working of the land revenue system at all levels.

Sher Shah believed that the welfare of the State could be achieved only by looking after the welfare of the peasants.

Thus with the help of a capable team of administrators he toned up th entire system.

1)    He first ordered the measurement of land according to a uniform standard.

2)    A record was kept of the settlement made between the government and the cultivator. The peasants were given paras (title deeds) by the state specifying the revenue which they had to pay. The farmer had to sign the Qabuliyat which was kept as a record in the revenue office. The Qabuliyats were in local languages.

3)    The state preferred to collect revenue in the form of cash for that purpose, prices of every variety of cereals were fixed in different places.

4)    He divided the land according to its fertility, into good. middling and bad. The average of these three was taken and thus the produce per bigha was ascertained. The state share was fixed at 1/3rd of the average produce. The state demanded revenue in cash.

Schedule of crop rates called "Rai" was preserved showing method and rates of assessment.

5)    The peasants had also to pay two more taxes, named the ¡aribana (surveyor's fee) and the mahasilana (tax collector's fee) to the state. These constituted 2.1/2 per cent to 5 percent of their produce.

6)    Besides these, the peasants had to pay 2.1/2 percent of their produce in kind to be returned to them in case of any natural calamity such a flood, famine etc.

7)    Sher Shah showed leniency at the time of assessment but was rather strict at the time of collection. People who did not pay were flogged, punished etc.

8)    Every care was taken to protect the crop from destruction during the course of war and it damaged the peasants were compensated by the state.

The officials to collect revenue:

1) At the village level the Muquddam collected revenue and he had a supervisor called Patwari.

2) Pargana level - Shiqdar - collected revenue – Qanungo Supervisor.

3) Amin was the head of the revenue administration in the centre.

The revenue administration suffered from certain defects.

I) The peasants who possessed middle and bad quality of land had to pay more as compared to the owners of good quality land under this system.

2) The taxation under which the peasants had to pay. 1/3 of their product as revenue, the jaribana and the mahasilana and further tax for emergencies was certainly heavy for the peasants.

3) The collection in cash depended on correct information, proper inquiry, prompt report and instruction from the central government. The procedure was dilatory and not quite dependable. It delayed the work of collection thus causing confusion.

4) Having a common schedule for the whole of North India was a major defect as land and production varied from area to area.

5) There was corruption in the revenue department and Sher Shah failed to uproot it.

Evaluation:

1) He inspired some efficiency in the administration because of his vigilance and strictness.

2) Because of prior assessment he freed the farmers from arbitrary collection.

3) Land was surveyed and measurement was undertaken in the entire Empire. There was uniformity in the revenue administration.

Other Sources of Revenue:

1) Khams 1/6 of the plunder taken during the time of war, jaziya - tax levied on the Hindus, Salt tax, Custom duties, mint, sugar tax, sales tax (sale of property) and presents from subordinate rulers, governors, nobles, traders etc.

IV. Trade & Commerce Reforms:

1) Currency:

He brought an improvement in currency. Well executed coins of gold, silver and copper, uniform in value, replaced the old debased ones of mixed metal.

"His silver rupee was so excellent as to be considered a standard coin for centuries after him: - R.P. Tripathi. His silver rupee and copper dam had the halves, quarters, eights and sixteenths. Sher Shah's coins were both square and circular in shape and bore, the name and title of the emperor and the place of mint. Some coins were in Devanagari and bore the name of the four Kalifs.

The stabilization of currency helped in Trade.

V.A. Smith observes "Sher Shah is entitled to the honour of establishing the reformed system of currency, which lasted throughout the Mughul period, was maintained by the East India Company upto 1835 and is the basis of the existing British Currency."

The stabilization of currency helped in trade.

ii) Roads and Sarais:

A serai was a well-fortified lodging.

One of the greatest achievements of Sher Shah in administration was his construction of roads and Sarais, connecting important parts of his empire with his capital. This was another important measure to promote trade and commerce.

Sher Shah repaired many old roads and constructed new ones also.

1) He restored the imperial Grand Trunk Road from the river Indus in the West to Sonargaon in Bengal.

2) He built a road which ran from Agra to Jodhpur and the Fort of Chittor.

3) Another road which ran from Agra to Burhanpur was built.

4) Another road from Lahore to Multan was built.

Trees were planted on both sides of the road. Wells were sunk at intervals.

Sher Shah constructed nearly 700 sarais on both sides of the road. Each Sarai had separate quarters for the Hindus and Muslims, a well and a mosque and was looked after by the Shiqdar.

Every sarai has several watchmen under a Shahana.

Many of these Serais developed into Market Towns, Qasbas was a place where peasants flocked to sell their produce.

Official known as the Daroga i - Dak Chowki was reponsible for the efficient working of this dept, it was not an innovation of Sher Shah but he revived the system.

Other direct reforms to boost trade and commerce:

Sher Shah abolished all these duties which were charged on merchandise at different places within the empire. He ordered for the collection of trade tax only at two places, one when the goods entered the territory of his empire and the other, where it was sold (at the time of sale).

Goods produced in Bengal or imported from outside paid custom duty at the border of Bengal and Bihar at Sikriga and goods coming from the West and Central Asia paid custom duty at Indus.

This encouraged trade and commerce.

Shen Shah made local village headmen (muqaddams) and Zamindars responsible for any loss that the merchants suffered on the roads. The Zamindars had to find the lost goods or else they would be severely punished. Thus in this way Sher Shah protected the prosperity of the traders.

Police System.

Sher Shah reestablished law and order across the length and breadth of his empire. He dealt with zamindars who refused to pay revenue, or disobeyed orders.

There was no separate department of police at that time. The local officers were held responsible for maintaining law and order. Incase the offender was not detected the less was made up by the Iocal officials.

The Shiqar-i-Shiqdaran in the Sarkars (district further divided into Parganas) and the Shiqdaran in the Pargana had to maintain law and order. ln the villages the headman performed this function.

The law and the enforcement were severe but successful.

Elliot has remarked "In the time of Sher Shah, an old woman might place a basket of ornaments on her head and go on a journey"

Judicial System:

Sher Shah had high ideals of justice "Justice" said he is the most excellent or religious rites and it is approved both by the king of the infidels and the faithful" He did not spare oppressors whether they were high nobles, men of his own tribe or near relations.

The sultan was the highest judicial authority in the state. Next to him was the Chief Qazi who was the head of the Diwan-i-Quazat.

The cases concerning the revenue of civil cases were decided by Chief Munsif in Sarkars and by Munsifs /Amin in Parganas. While the criminal cases were decided by the Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaran and Shiqdar in their respective areas.

The criminal law was uniform, severe and offenders were punished by flogging, fines, imprisonments and even amputation of limbs. The punishment depended on the gravity of the crime.

In large towns Kotwals might have been appointed to look after police work.

Sher Shah expresses (also thought) "Justice does not consist in abstaining from oppression but in fair and honest dealing with men".

ARMY: Sher Shah realised the importance of an efficient military establishment. He invited Afghans from all parts of the country as well as from Afghanistan and gave them posts suitable to their status and ability. However, other Muslims and Hindus too were employed in the army. The army had a tribal base. The soldiers were under their immediate tribal chief who indeed owed their allegiance to Sher Shah. Sher Shah maintained a permanent standing army at the centre like Ala-ud-din Khilji. Sher Shah took personal interest in the recruitment, training, promotion, discipline, fixing of salaries and supply of arms, clothes etc. to his soldiers.

In order to reform the army and reduce corruption he revived the practice of Dagh (branding the horses) and Chehra (the descriptive rolls). As a result of these reforms much of the corruption was eliminated and the army became a powerful instrument of force. There was strict discipline in the army. He set up cantonments in different parts of the empire and a strong garrison was posted in each of them. He built a number of forts for the defence of his empire.

Intelligence Department: Sher Shah maintained a highly efficient espionage system. Spies were appointed at all important places and with all important officers. The spies were expected to inform the sultan of all important news immediately. The defaulters were severely punished. Two horses were kept at every sarai so that the news carriers could get fresh horses at short intervals to maintain speed. The success of Sher Shah's administration largely depended on the efficient organisation of his spy-system.

An Estimate of Sher Shah:

According to H.L.O. Garret "Few men have crowded more into the short space of five years than this able and conscientious man" Sher Shah is a remarkable figure in medieval Indian History. He was a brave general and a capable ruler". Sher Shah was something more than the capable leader of a horde of fierce Afghans" says V.A. Smith.

He had an excellent taste in architecture, manifested especially in the noble mausoleum at Sesseram in Bihar which he prepared for himself.

Sher Shah was tolerant towards his Hindu subjects in general and allowed them to perform their religious rites, fairs and festivals. However, he did not abolish Jaziya tax but he encouraged intercaste marriages, appointed Hindus in his services and encouraged Sanskrit literature. He also maintained equal justice for all. Besides, Sher Shah adopted the principle that the duty of a monarch was not simply maintenance of peace and order but to attempt for the welfare of his subjects. He therefore consistently tried to do good to the peasants, traders, soldiers and all his subjects. That is why he could succeed in his administration in a short time.

W. Crooke says "Sher Shah was the first who attempted to found an Indian Empire broadly based upon the people's will...” Akbar also worked on this ideal. Ofcourse, Akbar improved all measures adopted by Sher Shah but it was Sher Shah who prepared the ground for the glorious reign of Akbar.

Dr.R.P. Tripathi writes "Had Sher Shah lived longer he might have don taken the wind out of Akbar's sails. He was undoubtedly one of Lot. the greatest statesmen among the Sultans of Delhi. Indeed, he had paved the way for the highly enlightened policy of Akbar and was the true precursor."