The “reserved land” intended for future allocation as Jagir (revenue assignment) during the Mughal period was called Paibaqi (or Paybaqi). This land was administered directly by the imperial treasury until it was officially assigned to a Mansabdar, at which point ...
Discussion Forum Latest Questions
The Mughal emperor who finally abolished the Jaziya tax was Muhammad Shah ‘Rangila’ in 1720. Although Akbar abolished it (1564) and Aurangzeb reimposed it (1679), Muhammad Shah’s finance minister, Raja Girdhar Bahadur, finally suspended and abolished the discriminatory poll tax ...
The number of Mughal provinces (subahs) increased from 15 during Akbar’s time to 21 during the height of Aurangzeb’s reign. This increase was due to the incorporation of newly conquered territories, most notably the Deccan sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda, ...
Emperor Akbar established the new, centralized administrative post of ‘Diwan-e-Wizarat-e-Kul’. This office was the head of the entire revenue and finance administration, primarily held by Raja Todar Mal. The creation of this single, powerful post solidified financial control and ensured ...
Abul Fazl, Akbar’s chief intellectual architect and court historian, called him ‘Zill-e-Ilahi’ (Shadow of God) and ‘Farr-e-Izdi’ (Light emanating from God). These titles were central to Abul Fazl’s formulation of the theory of divine light (Farr-i-Izidi), which argued that the ...