Discuss the administrative reforms of Sher Shah.

Ans. 

Introduction:

Sher Shah was born in an era when all rulers wanted to be arbitrary and autocratic. Sher Shah was no exception. Despite being autocratic, he took great care of the welfare of his subjects. He centralized all military and civil powers in his hands. Unlike the Mughal emperors, he did not believe in giving too much power to his ministers. He did not fully trust some of his officials. By nature, the Afghan Sher Shah or ruler was not willing to obey anyone's orders other than his own. Dr. Ramprasad Tripathi writes, "Sher Shah had complete faith in his indefatigable energy and ability to work. Undoubtedly with great labor he accomplished deeds as an expert administrator, yet he could not complete the ever-increasing responsibilities and tasks of the newly emerging state."

Thus he appointed the following four ministers for himself:

• 1. Diwan-i-Wizarat
• 2. Diwan-i-Ariz
• 3. Diwan-i-Rasalat
• 4. Diwan-i-Insha
• 5. Diwan-i-Qaza
• 6. Diwan-i-Warid

1. Diwan-i-Wizarat: 

The head of Diwan-i-Wizarat was called Wazir. He was also the finance minister. Therefore, he also had control over the other ministers.

2. Diwan-i-Ariz:

The head of Diwan-i-Ariz was called Ariz-i-Mumalik. Although he was not the army chief, the organization, discipline and recruitment of the army was his responsibility. He interfered in army affairs due to his personal interest in the army. The emperor himself used to be present at the time of new recruitments. He himself used to decide the salaries of the soldiers. Thus, the power of Ariz-i- Mumalik was greatly reduced.

3. Diwan-i-Rasalat:

Diwan-i-Rasalat or Diwan-i-Mustahib was the foreign ministry. It had complete information about the envoys residing in foreign lands. 

4. Diwan-i-Insha: 

The fourth ministry, Diwan-i-Insha, was responsible for preparing royal orders. It had the records of the entire state.

5. Diwan-i-Qaza:

In addition, there was a Diwan-i-Qaza under the headship of the Qazi, whose job was to dispense justice. He also heard appeals against the decisions of provincial Qazis.

6. Diwan-i-Warid:

Under the headship of Wariq-i-Mumalik there was an intelligence department called Diwan-i-Wariq. It had spies who wrote reports and mail runners.

Provincial Administration:

Dr. Kanungo is of the opinion that the provinces were divided into many governments. The concepts of province and provincial governor originated during Akbar’s reign. Dr. Sarkar differs on this. According to Dr. Ashirwad Lal, both these opinions are wrong. In reality, the provinces which existed then were called Iqtas. Both Hindu and Muslim rulers who accepted its overlordship were allowed to retain their kingdoms. He introduced a new system in Bengal. He divided the entire province into small ‘governments’. The chief officer of the ‘government’ was called Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaran. His job was to maintain peace and order in his territory. He had his own separate army. 

The second senior officer was called Munisif-i-Munisifan. He was the chief justice. His job was also to oversee the work of the Amils of the Parganas. In each Pargana, there was one Shiqdar, one Fotedar, one Amin and two Karkuns. Of the two Karkuns, one wrote in Persian and the other in Hindi. Commenting on the administration, Dr. Ramprasad Tripathi writes, "It appears as if Sher Shah had no clear policy regarding provincial administration. The provincial administration is the link between the central administration and the people in a vast empire. Its importance cannot be over-emphasized."  

The village remained the unit of local administration as in ancient times. Its chief officer was called Mukhiya or Mukaddam. It had an important place in the general organisation of the state. As Dr. Tripathi rightly says, "Since it was Sher Shah’s policy to be in direct contact with the peasants." It is possible that Sher Shah curtailed the powers of the Mukhiya in fixing and collecting land revenue. But even without government employees, he maintained peace and order in villages. The position of Patwari and Chowkidar also existed in villages. Minor disputes were resolved through the Panchayat.

Sher Shah’s Military Administration: 

Although Sher Shah began his career as a civilian officer, he never neglected the army. He knew his people and their problems very well. He was also confident that he would be able to solve them fully. Most of the soldiers in his army were Afghans. He believed that the centre should have its own permanent army. The soldiers should be paid regular cash salaries. Recruitment of soldiers, fixing their salaries, giving them promotions, etc. were done by him personally. Like Sultan Alauddin, he also introduced the ‘Brand’ and ‘Chehra’ system. Now each of his soldiers started collecting his salary personally. The army mainly consisted of infantry and cavalry. Although the soldiers were not given proper training nor did they have full knowledge of military discipline, the army was divided into divisions and each division was under an able commander.

Public Works, Roads and Serais:

Among the public, Sher Shah is counted among the great public reformers. He was a great builder of roads. To connect all parts of his kingdom, he constructed roads. In view of Sher Shah’s rule, this most important work was that by cutting jungles and building roads across rivers, he constructed a road network. 

The main roads were: 

• 1. One road from Sonargaon in eastern Bengal passing through Agra, Delhi and Lahore up to the River Indus. This 1,500 kos long road was famous in history as the Sadak-e-Azam or the Grand Trunk Road.
• 2. Second road up to Burhanpur from Agra.
• 3. Third road from Agra to Jodhpur-Chittor.
• 4. Fourth road from Lahore to Multan.⁵⅚

Police:

In Sher Shah’s time, the police was not a separate department. The army commander also had to oversee police work besides his other duties. He had to protect the state from foreign invaders as well as maintain law and order in domestic affairs. For maintaining law and order in districts and Parganas, the responsibility was of the Shiqdars. Their duty was to keep in check thieves, dacoits, robbers and unscrupulous people and punish them. For villages, Sher Shah had introduced the principle of collective responsibility. The Mukaddam was responsible for maintaining law and order in the village. His primary duty was to prevent crimes. If there was any theft or dacoity in a village, it was the Mukaddam’s job to trace the culprit. If he failed to find the culprit, he was arrested and punished. The Sultans had taken this step so that there was never any theft or dacoity in the locality. If it occurred, the Mukhiya or Mukaddam would be involved in it. Although the practice was harsh, brutal and defective, its result was highly impressive. The fear of punishment if theft occurred in his area and the culprit was not traced always haunted the Mukhiya. This practice created a very healthy atmosphere in the state. Supporting this practice Dr. Kanungo says, "For an age like medieval, this practice was quite apt."

Intelligence Department: 

Not only did Sher Shah keep a strict control over villagers, he also had spies to keep a check on his nobles, courtiers and jagirdars. These spies used to provide information to the Sultan about confidential news and atrocities committed by officials. 

Judicial Reforms:

Sher Shah’s view regarding justice was that justice should be delivered to subjects without considering caste or color. People should be protected from administrative injustice. That is why he had assumed the title of ‘Sultan-e-Adil’. He used to say, "Justice is the best form of religion." Thus, he did what was just. On occasion, if his son or relative was also found violating justice, he never forgave them. Sher Shah’s reputation rests on his justice. Every Wednesday, he used to sit in open court to decide cases. The chief Qazi was next responsible for justice and the judicial administration worked under him. In every district, there was a Qazi who decided cases of his region. Amils decided cases in Parganas. Mostly, Qazis dealt with criminal cases while Amils with civil cases. There was another judicial officer called Mir-i-Adil. While deciding cases, customary laws and conventions were also kept in mind. 

Coinage:

Another great work of Sher Shah was in the field of coinage. When he ascended the throne, the system of coinage and manner of minting and circulation was disordered due to the debased nature of current coins and lack of definite ratio between coins of different metals. The other problem was that coins of earlier Sultans were also permitted to circulate. 

To remove these defects he carried out the following reforms:

• 1. He abolished the old mixed metal coins and recoined them after purification. He fixed definite standards of weight and design for gold and silver coins. Both square and round (circular) coins were issued by him.
• 2. He also circulated small denomination coins. He issued half, quarter, one-eighth and one-sixteenth of the silver Rupee and copper Dam. In small coins, those of copper called Dam, which contained 322 grains of pure copper, circulated more.
• 3. His silver coins were called Rupee containing 180 grains of silver. This silver Rupee introduced by Sher Shah continued to be issued during the Mughal period and till 1835 by the East India Company. B.H. Smith says, “The British currency (till 1948) was based on this very coin.” He fixed a permanent ratio of 64 between the copper Dam and silver Rupee.
• 4. Sher Shah’s gold coins were called Ashrafi. It contained 167 grains of pure gold. Coins of various denominations in pure gold were minted. A fixed ratio between gold and silver coins was established.
• 5. Sher Shah’s name was inscribed on his coins in three languages – Arabic, Persian and Devanagari script. The third script was perhaps used to please the Hindus and the word ‘Shri’ was also inscribed before his name. Despite being a staunch Sunni Muslim, he had also inscribed the names of the first four Caliphs of Islam on his coins.

The coinage reforms removed a major difficulty faced by the general public, especially the trading community. It resulted in great benefits. Edward Thomas says about Sher Shah’s reign, “It was an important epoch in the numismatic history of India.”

Land Revenue Administration: 

Sher Shah’s name will shine in India’s history like the sun also because of his land revenue administration which later formed the base of Akbar’s land revenue administration.  

• 1. Sher Shah carried out a proper measurement survey of all cultivable land and used the Gaz-i-Ilahi or Imperial Gaz as the unit of measurement. Measurement was done with the help of ropes.
• 2. All land was divided into units called Bigha and one Bigha was fixed to be of 360 square Gaz.
• 3. The peasants could pay land revenue to the state in cash or kind. One-third or one fourth of the produce was charged from them.
• 4. Land revenue was collected by Amils, Mukaddams, Shiqdars, Karkuns and Patwaris.
• 5. Sher Shah had also ordered the officials to be polite while assessing the land revenue but be strict in collection so that no revenue remained unrealized.
• 6. He secured the rights of the peasants through Kabuliyat or agreements. The Kabuliyat was an agreement between the state and the peasant.
• 7. The peasants also got the right to deposit the land revenue in cash or kind directly in the royal treasury. The greatest benefit of this was that it established direct contact between the administration and the peasants.
• 8. Peasants were exempted from paying land revenue in case of crop failure. They were also given financial help by the Sultan.
• 9. Crops were not destroyed even during enemy attacks. Through these reforms, the condition of the peasants improved. It was a commendable attempt to establish land revenue administration throughout the state. 

Public Works:

Sher Shah also carried out public works. He built several Serais, hospitals which provided free medicine to the poor. He was a great donor and used to provide financial help to scholars. Education made great progress during his reign.

Sher Shah undertook several administrative reforms due to which he is still famous for his administrative arrangements.