National Law Institute University,

Bhopal

PROJECT OF HISTORY– I

On

ADMINISTRATION OF SHER SHAH SURI

Guided by :- Submitted by :-

Dr U.P Singh BAIBHAW GAHLAUT

Roll no. - 2009 B.A. LL.B. 06

Enrollment no. – A- 0868

Trimester 5th

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 DECLARATION

‘The text reported in the project is the out come of my own efforts and no part of
this report has been copied in any unauthorized manner and no part in it has
been incorporated without due acknowledgement’

BAIBHAW GAHLAUT

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Table of Contents
SHER SHAH SURI-....................................................................................................................................4
ADMINISTRATION OF SHER SHAH SURI............................................................................................4
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION-..............................................................................................................6
PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION-........................................................................................................6
VILLAGE ADMINISTRATION-...............................................................................................................7
REVENUE ADMINISTRATION-..............................................................................................................7
ADMINISTRATION OF LAW AND ORDER-.........................................................................................9
MILITARY ADMINISTRATION-...........................................................................................................10
ADMINISTRATION OF CURRENCY-...................................................................................................11
MISCELLANEOUS..................................................................................................................................12

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 SHER SHAH SURI-
Sher Shah Suri was an Afghan ruler who succeeded in building an Afghan empire in northern
India. Sher Shah is one among those great personalities of history who had a humble beginning
but succeeded in establishing powerful empire simply by his own exertions, merit and power of
sword. 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
his career. Whatever he achieved, he achieved simply by his own efforts and capability.

Sher Shah was called Farid when he was a child and was born in 1472 A.D. at the age of twenty
two Sher Shah fled to Jaunpur which was the center of learning at that time, studied there for
three years, acquired knowledge of Arabic and Persian and was able to impress Jalal Khan, the
master of his father by his knowledge and labour. Sher Shah was appointed as the deputy of the
Jagir of his father. He looked after the Jagir of his father for about twenty years (1497-1518
A.D.) and managed its administration very well. After that Sher Shah entered the service of
Bahar Khan, the master of south Bihar. Here he got the title of Sher Khan after killing a tiger
single-handed in a hunting excursion. Bahar than was so much pleased with his services that he
appointed his deputy in the administration

ADMINISTRATION OF SHER SHAH SURI

 A brave warrior and a successful conqueror, Sher Shah was the architect of a brilliant
administrative system. In fact, his qualities as a ruler were more remarkable than his victories on
the battlefields. His brief reign of five years was marked by the introduction of wise and salutary
changes in every conceivable branch of administration. Some of these were by way of revival
and reformation of the traditional features of the old administrative systems of India, Hindu as
well as Muslim, while others were entirely original in character, and form, indeed, a link
between ancient and modern India.
Administration under Sher Shah Suri is regarded as one of the best during the medieval period. It
constituted of an effective working of the central and provincial administration. Sher Shah
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concentrated all administrative powers in his own person. He practiced the Turkish theory of
kingship in his administrative matters because he knew that the Afghan theory of kingship was
not workable in India. Sher Shah’s government was a highly centralized system with real power
concentrated in the hands of the King, but he was not an unbridled autocrat, regardless of the
rights and interests of the people. In the spirit of an enlightened despot, he attempted to found an
empire broadly based upon the people’s will.
He had appointed ministers but these ministers did not make decision themselves. All major
decisions were taken by Sher Shah himself and the ministers and the nobles simply carried them
out. There were departments whose administrate heads enjoyed the position of ministers such as
the Diwan-i-wazirat, the Diwan-i-arz, the Diwan-i-rasalat and the Diwan-i-insha. The main
sources of income of the state were the land-revenue, unclaimed property, trade-tax, mint, salt-
tax, Khams, viz. one fifth of the plunder taken during the time of war, Jizya and presents from
subordinate rulers, governors, nobles, traders etc. The main items of expenditure were the
expenses to maintain the army, salaries of civilian officers and the expenditure of the royal
household and the Sultan. His revenue administration has been regarded as one of the best during
the medieval period.

There was no separate department of police and the duty was performed by the military officers
in their respective areas. The local officials were held responsible for maintaining law and order
and if they failed they were punished. Sher Shah abolished all those duties which were charged
on merchandise at different places within his empire. He ordered for the collection of trade-tax
only at two places, one, when and where the goods entered the territory of his empire and, the
other, where it was sold. This encouraged trade and commerce. Sher Shah stopped the use of all
old coins and issued new coins of gold, silver and copper of all denominations of standard
weights and of good metals. One of the greatest achievements of Sher Shah in administration
was his construction of roads connecting important parts of his empire with his capital. Sher
Shah maintained a highly efficient espionage system. Spies were appointed at all important
places and with all important officers

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 CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION-
In the central administration all the powers were concentrated in Sher Shah`s hand. His ministers
enjoyed even less powers as compared with the ministers of the Mughals. All major decisions
were taken by Sher Shah himself and the ministers and the nobles simply carried them out. There
were departments whose administrate heads enjoyed the position of ministers such as the Diwan-
i-wazirat where the head of this department was the wazir, the finance minister who looked after
the income and expenditure of the state. The Diwan-i-arz department was under the Arz-i-
Mumalii 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. The Diwan-i-rasalat
department was in charge of the foreign minister of the state. He received foreign envoys and
ambassadors and maintained correspondence with the foreign state. The head of the department
Diwan-i-insha was called Dabir-i-Khas who looked after the internal correspondence of the state.

Besides these ministers, there were two other important departments of the state whose heads
were not ministers but enjoyed consideration from the Sultan. The one was the Diwan-i-Qaza
whose head was the chief Qazi. The chief Qazi was the head of the administration of justice only
next to the Sultan. The other was Diwan-i-Barid which was presided over by the head of the
intelligence department. He looked after the news writers and spies of the state who were posted
at important places in the empire.

PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION-
Very little is known about the provincial administration of Sher Shah. There were Subas where
military governors were appointed by Sher Shah. There were provinces called the Iqtas where
military governors or Subedars were appointed. Subedars were appointed in Lahore, Malwa and
Ajmer. The entire Suba was divided into Sarkars (districts), each being looked after by a military
officer called the chief Shiqdar. For administrative convenience, the whole empire was divided
into forty-seven units (Sarkars), each of which was again subdivided into several parganas.
The pargana has one Amin, one Shiqdar, one treasurer, one Hindu writer and one Persian writer
to keep accounts. Over the next higher administrative unit, the sarkar, were placed a Shiqdar-i-

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Shiqdaran and a Munsif-i-Munsifan to supervise the work of the pargana officers. To check
undue influence of the officers in their respective jurisdictions, the King devised a plan of
transferring them every two or three years. Every branch of the administration was subjected to
Sher Shah’s personal supervisions. Above all chief Shiqdars there was appointed a civilian
officer with a small military force to supervise the administration f the province. There was no
military governor in Bengal and there was no other officer commanding a sufficiently large force
so as to be in a position to revolt against the Sultan. Thus, there was no uniformity in the
administration of provinces during the reign of Sher Shah. But all provinces were kept under
strict discipline by Sher Shah and there occurred no revolt by any provincial governor except that
in 1541 A.D. in Bengal which was quickly suppressed by the Sultan.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATION-
Sher Shah left the administration of villages in the hands of their hereditary officers like
Chaukidars, Patwaris etc. The village assembly 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 to
the Sarkars and Parganas every two or three years. Thus during the reign of Sher Shah,
administration was at its best.

REVENUE ADMINISTRATION-
Sher Shah’s land revenue reforms, based on wise and humane principles, have unique
importance in the administrative history ofIndia; for they served as the model for future agrarian
systems. Revenue system during the reign of Sher Shah Suri was quite an efficient one. The main
sources of income of the state were the land-revenue, unclaimed property, trade-tax, mint, salt-
tax, khams, viz. one fifth of the plunder taken during the time of war, Jizya and presents from
subordinate rulers, governors, nobles, traders etc. The main items of expenditure were the
expenses to maintain the army, salaries of civilian officers and the expenditure of the royal
household and the Sultan. The local taxes were levied mostly on production and consumption of
various trade and professions and on transport. The land-revenue, however, constituted the

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primary source of income of the state. Sher Shah believed that the welfare of the state could be
achieved only by looking after the welfare of the peasants. Therefore, he paid personal attention
towards the revenue administration and introduced certain successful measures to improve it. His
revenue administration has been regarded as one of the best during the medieval period.

The system which Sher Shah introduced in most of the places was Ryotwari wherein the state
kept direct relations with the peasants for the assessment and collection of the land revenue.
However, the system could not be introduced in Multan, Malwa and Rajasthan where the
Jagirdari system continued to exist. All cultivable land was divided into three categories on the
basis of production, viz. good, middle and bad. The land was measured according to a uniform
system and it was ascertained that what quality of land was possessed by each cultivator. An
average of the produce was estimated in each case and then the cultivators were asked to pay one
third of their produce to the state. The state preferred to collect revenue in the form of cash and
for that purpose; prices of every variety of cereals were fixed at different places. The revenue on
perishable articles was, however, paid by the peasants in form of cash only.

For actual collection of revenue, the government utilized the services of the officers like
the Amins, the Maqadam, theShiqdars, the Qanungos and the Patwaris. Punctual and full
payment of the revenue was insisted. Sher Shah instructed the revenue officials to show leniency
at the time of assessment and to be strict at the time of collection of revenues. The rights of the
tenants were duly recognized and the liabilities of each were clearly defined in the Kabuliyat 1,
which the State took from him, and the patta2 , which it gave him in return. Remissions of rents
were made, and probably loans were advanced to the tenants in case of damage of crops, caused
by the encampment of soldiers, or the insufficiency of rain. These revenue reforms increased the
resources of the state and at the same time conduced to the interest of the people.

The peasants were given the facility to pay their revenue in installments in a year according to
crop seasons. The peasants were given pattas (title deeds) by the state specifying the revenue
which they had to pay and were asked to sign deeds of agreement signifying their acceptance to
pay the required revenue. The peasants had also to pay two more taxes, named the surveyor`s fee
1
Deed of agreement
2
title-deed
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and the tax-collector`s fee to the state. These constituted two per cent to five per cent of their
produce. Besides these, the peasants had to pay two per cent of their produce in kind to be
returned to them in case of any natural calamity such as flood, famine etc. According to the
orders of the Sultan, the peasants were treated with generosity while fixing the revenue but once
settled they were asked to pay their revenue without any mercy on behalf of the state.

The revenue administration of Sher Shah also suffered from certain defects. 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. The annual settlement of the revenue was inconvenient both to
the peasants and state-officials. There was corruption in the revenue department and Sher Shah
failed to uproot it. That must have affected adversely the welfare of the peasants. Yet, the
measures introduced by Sher Shah had largely succeeded in doing well to the peasants and
increasing the income of the state. The revenue system of Sher Shah, therefore, has been
regarded as fairly good as compared with the system of other rulers of medieval India.

ADMINISTRATION OF LAW AND ORDER-

To secure peace and order, the police system was re-organized, and the principle of local
responsibility for local crimes was enforced. The village headmen were made responsible for the
maintenance of law and order in the rural areas.
Sher Shah has a strong sense of justice and no distinctions were made between the high and the
low. In the paragana / pargana, civil suits were disposed off by the Amin, and other cases mostly
criminal by the Qazi and Mir-i-Adal. In some parganas, civil cases were tried by Munsif-i-
Munsifan. At the capital city there were the chief Qazi, the imperial Sadr, and above all, the
Emperor as the highest authority in judicial as in other matters.
Though a pious Muslim, Sher Shah was not a fierce bigot. His treatment of the Hindus in general
was tolerant and just.

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 MILITARY ADMINISTRATION-
Military administration of Sher Shah Suri was a huge success. He maintained a standing army at
the centre like Ala-ud-din Khilji. His military strength consisted of one lakh and fifty thousand
cavalry, twenty five thousand infantry and five thousand elephants. His artillery, probably, was
the weakest part of his military strength while the cavalry consisted mostly of the Afghans.
However, other Muslims and the Hindus, too, were employed in the army. Sher Shah took
personal interest in the recruitment, training, promotion, discipline, disbursement of salary and
supply of arms, clothes etc. to his soldiers. Sher Shah succeeded in maintaining a large,
disciplined and effective army during his time.

Sher Shah adopted the practices of maintaining the huliya of the soldiers and that of branding of
the horses. Besides the army of the Sultan, provincial governor, nobles and subordinate rulers
were also allowed to maintain their separate armies which were called in for the assistance of the
Sultan when needed. Soldiers were kept in all forts and military cantonments spreading all over
the territory of the empire. The strength of the army which was so spread in different parts of the
empire must also be in large number. Sher Shah`s administration, both civil and military, has
been regarded highly successful. He infused a new spirit in the old institutions and improved it.
Thus during his time Sher Shah succeeded in maintaining a strong and effective army.

He maintained a regular army as such the soldiers were bound to him through their immediate-
commanding officer by the strong tie of personal devotion and discipline. Garrisons were
maintained at different strategic points of the kingdom; each of these called a fauj, was under the
command of a faujdar. Sher Shah enforced strict discipline in the army and took ample
precautions to prevent corruption among the soldiers. Besides, duly supervising the recruitment
of soldiers, he personally fixed their salaries and took their descriptive rolls. He also revived the
practice of branding horse.
From the above account we can conclude that Sher Shah was one of the greatest monarchs that
had ever ruled India. He was truly a great commander as a well as one the greatest administrator
in India.

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 ADMINISTRATION OF CURRENCY-
During the ruling period of Sher Shah Suri, he issued coins in different metals. He issued coins
in silver and copper in his own name from a number of places. After his formal coronation, Sher
Shah Suri issued coins in silver and copper and eliminated the billon from the series of Indian
coins. Though he had issued coins in silver and copper, no coins were found in gold. Perhaps he
did not issue any coin in this metal. In the silver coins of Sher Shah, there was the trace of
`Kalima` and the name of four Khalifas on obverse side of the coin. On the obverse side of the
coin contained his name and a pious wish: `Khald Allah mulk.` The name of the mint and date
along with the king`s name in Nagari letters were inscribed on the reverse side of the coin. The
legends were arranged in diverse ways on various coins.

The coins were issued from different mints like Ujjain, Agra, Punduah, Chunar, Satgaon etc.
Besides these mints, there were some coins which bore the word `Jahapanah` in place of the mint
name and suggest that they were issued from the court or from some camp mint. The practice of
issuing coins from royal camps won great popularity in the Mughal period. Sher Shah had issued
coins from various mints. In addition to these there were a large series of mintless silver and
copper coins formed the currency during the early period of his conquests. In many cases they
were struck after the practice of recording mint names on coins had become established. These
may, thus, had been issued from the mobile camp mints. Most of the copper coins bore on the
obverse `fi ahad al-amir al-hami` and the reverse side of the coin had the name of the Sultan and
their titles.

His coins did conform to the weight of 170 grains of the earlier Sultans of Delhi. The copper
coins were given the name of `paisa` but their weights vary to such an extent that it was difficult
to say about the standard weight of the coins. Such heavy coins were unknown in the earlier
period.

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 MISCELLANEOUS
The tariff reforms of Sher Shah were also calculated to improve the general economic conditions
of his Empire. He reformed the tariff by removing vexatious customs and permitting the
imposition of customs on articles of trade only at the frontiers and in the places of sale.
Trade and commerce was greatly increase by the improvement of communications. For the
purpose of imperial defense, as well as for the convenience of the people, Sher Shah connected
the important places of his kingdom by chain of excellent roads. The longest of these, the Grand
Trunk Road, which still survives, extended for 1500 kos from Sonargaon in Eastern Bengal to
the Indus.
Shade-giving trees were planted on both side of the roads. Sarais or rest houses were built at
different stages and separate arrangements were provided for the Muslims and the Hindus.
These sarais also served as the purpose of post-houses, which facilitated quick exchange of news
and supplied the government with information from different parts of the Empire. The
maintenance of an efficient system of espionage also enabled the ruler to know what happened in
his kingdom.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY-

 Bashan Al, “Cultural History Of India”, Oxford University Press, Calcutta,(1998).

 http://www.indhistory.com/sher-shah-suri.html
 http://www.indianetzone.com/47/sher_shah_suri.htm.

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