Get complete information on Police Organisation of Mughal Empire

The Mughal Police Organisation can be discussed under three heads: village police, district >lice and urban police. As regards the village police, the Mughal Authorities allowed the old stem coming down from the times of the Hindu rulers to continue. The headman of the village d his subordinate watchmen were allowed to continue with their work of maintaining law and within their jurisdiction.

The villagers were made responsible for any loss incurred within limits or any crime committed within their jurisdiction. They had either to recover the stolen jods or pay for the same. Neither Akbar nor his successors did anything to improve upon the old fisting system.

The Faujdar was responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the district or Sarkar primary duties were the policing of the roads, the suppression of disorder of any kind and the election of the state dues from the rebellious villages with the help of force. Even in the time f Akbar, there were constant outbreaks of disorder and the same must have been the case during le time of his successors; the result was that the Faujdars were fairly busy in their work.

They had to use very often their troops. The punishments inflicted by them were very often cruel. In the is of highway robbery and theft, the Faujdar was required either to recover the property or to impregnate the owner for the loss. Manucci tells us that in the Reign of Shah Jahan the Faujdar had to pay compensation to anyone who was robbed on the road in the daylight.

However, if the robbery occurred at night, the traveler was held to be at fault for not having halted earlier and he received no consideration or compensation at all. It is noteworthy that during the Mughal Period, all travellers were required to stop their journey at sun-set.

The Kotwal was in charge of the urban police. He was required to keep a register of houses and roads. He divided the town into quarters and placed an assistant in direct charge of each quarter. The assistant was required to report daily arrivals and departures. The kotwal kept a small army of spies or detectives. He was required to apprehend thieves and find out the stolen goods.

If he was not able to recover the stolen property, he had to make good the loss. He kept an eye on the currency. He fixed local prices. He checked weights and measures. He was required to maintain an investor of the properties of the persons dying intestate. He set apart wells and ferries for the use of women. He stopped women riding on horse-back. He was required to prevent the slaughter of cattle.

He kept a check on slavery. He expelled dishonest tradesmen from the urban areas. He allotted separate quarters to butchers, sweepers and hunters. He set apart land for burial grounds. As a matter of fact, he was expected to know everything about everybody within his jurisdiction.

A lot has been said regarding the personal liabilities of the Kotwal for the goods stolen within his jurisdiction. Contemporary writers tell us that the Kotwals were always able to find out ways and means of evading and minimizing their responsibility in actual practice. They have not tells us that during his journey in Sural, an Armenian whose goods had been stolen and had not been recovered was threatened with torture by the Kotwal unless he withdrew his complaint. In another case, there was a burglary.

When the Kotwal was not able to find out the thieves, the complainant was beaten mercilessly and ultimately forced to admit that no beggary had taken place in his house. He was ordered by the Kotwal to get into the hole which had been created by the thieves for the purposes of getting into his house and when he failed to do so, he was held to be a liar. Such cases must have been very frequent.

In spite of the above-mentioned police arrangements, public security Varied from place to place and time to time. Professional robbers were always to be found in’ the hills and on the counrtyside where jungles were in plenty. Bands of marauders were frequently encountered in the open plains. No reliance could be placed on the road-watchmen.

Even during the reign of Akbar, thefts and robberies were common on the roads. This is clear from the fact that one of the earliest orders passed by Jahangir after his coming to the throne related to the control of roads with a view to make them safe. Things became very bad after his death. On his joumery from Surat to Agra in 1609, William Finch found the roads full of thieves.

This was particularly so between Burhanpur and Gwalior. Near Panipat, he saw “the heads of some hundred thieves newly taken, their bodies set on stakes a miles in length.” In 1613, Nicholas Withington had a worse experience during his journey from Ahmedabad to Tatta in Sind. William Hawkins (1608-1613) tells us that “The country is so full of outlaws and thieves that almost a man cannot stir out of doors throughout all his (Jahangir’s) dominions without great forces.” Peter Mundy who travelled in India between 1630 and 1633 tells us that “The country swarms with rebels and thieves.”

The outskirts of large cities were frequently marked by Char Minars in which the heads of the criminals were set in plaster. He further tells us that at one place in the Kanpur district, he found as many as 200 such Chor Minars or pillars. When he came back after a few months, 60 more such Chor Minars had been set up. We find from the account of Bemier that the condition of the Upper Provinces was very unsatisfactory towards the close of the reign of Shah Jahan and the earlier years of Aurangzeb’s Rule.

There were many sources of income of the Mughal Emperors. The Zakat was realised only § from the Muslims at the rate of 1/40 of their property. However, the poor among the Muslims were exempted. The payment of Zakat was considered to be an obligation towards God and his people. The revenue derived from this source was utilised for religious and humanitarian purposes for the benefit of the Muslims only. The duty on imports and exports was advalorem or Muslims and 5 per cent for Hindus. In 1667, Aurangzeb exempted the Muslims from this duty.

However, 1 he re-imposed the duty on them when he found that the exemption was being abused by the I Muslims in helping the Hindus. The emperor had monopoly rights over the Salt Range in the Punjab and Sambhar Lake in Rajputana and the revenue from these places went into the coffers of the State.

The State also had monopoly of indigo and got some income from it. The revenue j from mines, treasure-troves and war booty was known as Khums. The mines were given to private individuals for working them and the latter paid a tax amounting to l/5th of the total annual income derived from them. The State owned more than 100 Kirkham’s.

Most of these Karkhanas were at the capital of the Mughal Empire. A few were scattered all over the empire, These Karkhanas produced things like fine clothes, luxury goods, scents, war materials, presentation articles, artistic furniture, etc. The commodities manufactured in these Karkhanas were meant essentially for the court and the royal household and Departments of the Government. However, the surplus supply was put in the market and some income was got from it. Some revenue was derived from mint and currency.

Jizya was another source of income. It was levied by Babur and Humayun but was abolished in 1564 by Akbar. In 1679, it was re-imposed by Aurangzeb. Jahangir was responsible for introducing the law of escheat. All property of the nobles was seized by the State after their death and it must have brought some money although not much as most of the Mansabdars lived extravagant lives. The emperor received valuable presents from his nobles on certain occasions in the year and those were also a source of income. The State realised tolls and ferry taxes from passengers by road or river.

The sales tax was charged on all sales in the market. , In some places, an octopus was also charged. Tributes from vassal chiefs were also other sources of revenue. However, the most fruitful source of income was the land revenue. The rent from Khalsa lands was realised by the salaried officers of the State. Akbar made the tax payable by peasants in the Khalsa and Jagirdari land equally.

The chief heads of the expenditure of the Mughal empire were salaries payable to nobles, I courtiers, Mansabdars, Qazis and the other staff, the court and the royal household, the maintenance of the army, gifts and rewards conferred by the emperor, cost of building and maintenance of royal buildings, forts, mosques, tombs, etc., cost of raw material for the Karkhanas and cost of building and maintenance of roads, bridges, sarais, canals, etc. Mughal Currency and Mints.

From the time of Mohammad Tughlak, the Indian Currency was in a chaotic condition. Nothing was done by Babur and Humayun to regulate it. Sher Shah did his best to reform the irregularities by introducing a rupee of 175-178 grains and the copper Dam. It was left to Akbar to reform the currency. In 1577, he appointed Khwaja Abdul Samad of Shiraz as the master of the Imperial Mint at Delhi. He also put the provincial Mints under important imperial officials.

Raja Todar Mai was appointed the master of the Bengal Mint and 4 other superior officers took charge of the Mints at Lahore, Jaunpur, Ahmedbad and Patna. Abul Fazal tells us that “The permanent staff of the Mint at Delhi consisted of a Daroga, a Sairafi or Assayer, an Amin, a Mushrif or keeper of the day-book, merchant who purchased gold, silver and copper for the mint a treasurer, a weighman, a molter of ore and a plate-maker.”

The coins issued by Akbar were those of gold, silver and copper. Gold coins were of 26 varieties of different weights and value. The Shansah weighed a little more than 10 tolas. The Ilahi was worth Rs. 10. There were other gold coins of smaller value. The coins were struck at 4 Mints only, viz., Delhi, Bengal, Ahmedabad and Kabul.

The gold and silver used for the coinage was imported from outside. Terry tells us that the Mughals welcomed the people of any nation who brought bullion and took away merchandise from this country. It was a crime to take away silver from the country.

The East India Company from the very beginning exported bullion to India. In 1601, the total amount sent to India was valued at about £22,000. In 1616, it was £52,000. Between 1697 and 1702, the annual value of the export of bullion to India was at least £800,000. In 1681, the bullion sent to Bengal alone was worth £320,000. The copper was got from the mines in Rajputana but as that was not sufficient; a lot of it was imported from outside.