Provincial Administration

(i) During the reigns of Delhi Sultanate muqtis or walis were in-charge of the provinces.

(ii) There was a Sahib-i-diwan assisted by mutasarrifs and Karkums to control income and expenditure at the end of the 13th century.

(iii) Shiqiq, later was known as Sarkar, was an administrative division.

(iv) The courts of the Qazi and the Sadr!functioned as the justice courts in the provinces. 

(v) The Mughal empire was divided into fifteen provinces. Kashmir and Qandahar were districts of the province of Kabul and Sindh, then known as Thatta, was a district in the province of Multan. Orissa formed a part of Bengal

(vi) The provinces were not of uniform area or income.

(vii) There were in each province a governor, a dewan (who was a revenue and finance officer), a bakshi (who was a military commander), a sadr (who was a religious administrator), and qazi (judge) and agents who supplied information to the central government.

(viii) In imperial administration, separation of powers among the various officials was a significant operating principle.

(ix) The Mughal provinces were also divided into districts (sarkars). Each district had a faujdar (who was a military officer whose duties roughly corresponded to those of a collector), a qazi, a bitikchi (head clerk), and a khazanedar (treasurer).

(x) Justice was administered by a hierarchy of courts rising from village panchayat to the pargana, sarkar and provincial courts and finally to the chief sadr cum qazi and ultimatley the emperor himself.

(xi) Kotwal was the enforcer of law at the local level in both Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal empire.