IQTA SYSTEM

1st December, 2021

EVOLUTION OF THE IQTA DURING THE SULTANATE PERIOD

The Iqta system was one of the most important administrative and agrarian measures of Turkish
rulers of Hindustan. The Administration of the early Turkish sultan in India rested on the foundation of
two elements namely the Iqta (assignment of land revenue) and Kharja (land revenue). Theoretical the
term Iqta meant a portion, technically speaking it was the land or the revenue assigned to an individual
(officers, military officials etc.) assigned by the ruler to an individual in leu of his cash salary. They were
loyal to the king and they ruled the land on behalf of the king. This system was influenced by the system
of vassalage in Europe. The Iqta provided an agrarian system to the country and through it the members
of the ruling class obtained their income without any permanent attachment to any territory. The Turkish
invaders Muhammad Ghori was the first to introduce the Iqta system but it was the Delhi Sultan Iltutmish
who gave it an institutional form and soon it became the main stay of administration system. This
institution which was the main pillar of the administrative and agrarian system of the period witnessed
several changes during the sultanate period.

Generally speaking, the holders of big Iqta were called Muktis or Iqtadars. They served as the
Sultan's trust worthy agents throughout his domains. They curbed the influence of rise (local chiefs) and
regularised the collection of land revenue they also had to discharge other functions like maintenance of
law and order, discharge of polis and judicial functions in their own Iqta. They were also required to raise
the army of their own which had to be furnished to the sultan as an when required. So far as revenue
collection was concerned after deducting their own expenses from the revenues collected from the Iqta,
the Iqtadars were expected to send the surplus revenue if any extra revenue to the central revenuer.

The holders of small Iqtas were individual troopers who had no administrative responsibilities.
They appropriated for their use the land revenue collected by them. In return, they were bound to present
themselves, with horses and arms. Whenever called upon by the central government for service por
inspection.

6th December, 2021

AIBAK AND ILTUTMISH

Mohammed Ghori was the first to introduce the Iqta system however, in course of time, this
institution witnessed numerous changes. The reign of Qutub-ud-din Aibak was too short to bring about
any structural change in the Iqta system. It was Qutub-ud-din’s successor Iltutmish who gave the Iqta
system an institutional form and under him, it became the mainstay or the administrative organisation of
the Delhi Sultanate. Iltutmish divides his empire into several large and small tracts of land called Iqtas
and assigned them to his soldiers, officers and nobles as remunerations for services rendered by them.
The collection of land revenue was integrated with the military system as well as with the system of
provincial government through the Iqtas created by Iltutmish. It was through the Iqtadars that Iltutmish
sought to curb the influence of the Indian feudal elements (zamindars, rais, other local chiefs, etc.).
Iltutmish also used the Iqta system to ensure a regular and timely collection of land revenue which was
the principle source of revenue for the State and maintain effective control over the distant and newly
conquered territories (through his loyal Iqtadars). Iltutmish also emphasised the bureaucratic aspect of the
Iqta system and transferred the Iqtadars from one place to another so that they could not develop roots in
the soil and become overly powerful in a particular locality. Iltutmish is also said to have granted Iqtas to
two thousand Turkish soldiers (Shamsi Iqtadars) in the Ganga-Yamuna Doab region and thus, brought
under the control of the Sultanate one of the most fertile regions of the country.

GHIYAS-UD-DIN BALBAN

After the death of Iltutmish, a period of Anarchy and disorder ensued and the tumultuous reign of
Razia was too weak. The Iqta system broke down and local powers became predominant. Many of the
Iqtadars took advantage of the weakness of the central authority to assert their own independence. This
state of affairs came to an end with the coming of Ghiyas-ud-din Balban (1266-86) to the throne of Delhi.
Balban believed in centralised political authority. He was determined to establish the monarchy as the
supreme institution of the State by curbing the power of all local elements and nobles. Balban, on
ascending the throne, conducted an enquiry into the existing Iqta system and found a lot of corruption and
mismanagement among the Iqta holders. In particular, Balban made a review of the Iqtas granted by
Iltutmish to the two thousand Turkish soldiers in the Doan region. Balban found that the Iqtadars or
Muqtis (Iqta holders) who had received Iqta in the Ganga-Yamuna doab in lieu of their salaries no longer
rendered military service either voluntarily or were incapable of service due to old age. Many of the
original assignees were also dead. Technically speaking, there was no Iqta for life. On the death of the
original holder, the Iqta was to go back to the state. Moreover, Iqtas were given only to those who could
render military service. Balban thus, ordered for the resumption of these Iqtas with the payment of some
compensation for the holders. Later on, however, he was forced to withdraw his order at the request of the
Kotwal of Delhi. Balban took another step to supervise the Iqta system. He appointed his sons to
important provinces as governors and created the office of Khwaja. It was a sort of diarchy in a limited
sense created by Balban. Although the muqti was technically in-charge of the Iqta and the Khwaja was
his subordinate, the latter acted as a check on the exercise of unlimited power by the Muqtis and the
assertion of independence by the Muqtis.

ALAUDDIN KHILJI

The Iqta system underwent important changes during the reign of Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316).
Alauddin was the first Delhi Sultan who took a comprehensive view of the agrarian system from the pov
of the central government and gave it a new shape through elaborate regulations. He abolished most of
the small iqtas and such lands were brought under khalisa (crown lands). The revenue of the khalisa land
was collected directly by the state. Alauddin also decided to cripple the village chiefs and the hindu
revenue collectors such as khuts, muqaddams and chaudhuries of their privileges as they were, in his
view, fond of luxurious living, guilty of non-payment of state dues and disobedience. They were forced to
pay the land revenue (which was fixed at ½ the produce) and other taxes at the same rate at which the
peasants were taxed. During the time of Alauddin, the fact that the amils (revenue officers) gave accounts
directly to the central government indicates that the revenues of the Iqtas and the Khalisa lands were
directly controlled by the central government.

TUGHLUQS

The Iqta system went through the next stage of revolution under the Tughluqs (1320-1412).
Ghiyasuddin Tughluq (1320-25) the founder of the dynasty followed a policy of moderation and departed
from Alauddins policy of revenue management. He assessed the revenues of the Iqtas and made the
Iqtadars or Muqtis responsible to the central government for the payment of revenue. The Muqtis realized
the revenues from the cultivators through the agencies of muqaddams and khuts. One of the most
important steps taken by Ghiyasuddin was that he ordered that revenue demand should be fixed on the
basis of actual produce of the land. This implied that he wanted to ensure that the Muqtis did not pass
over their revenue burden to the peasantry.

Ghiyasuddins successor Mohammed bin Tughluq (1325-51) was a whimsical ruler. During his
reign, the old custom of granting Iqtas was continued and muqtis and amils continued to serve the
purpose of revenue collection. Towards the close of his reign, the sultan increased the land revenue in the
doab region. This measure proved to be ill-timed and had a severe impact on the muqtis and peasantry
alike as the doab was then passing through a famine which was followed by a plague. Mohammed also
created a department of agriculture called the Diwan-i-Kohi for the overall management of the Iqta and
the agrarian system of the sultanate.

MBT was succeeded by Feroz Shah Tughluq (1351-88). Feroz adopted a populist approach in
administration and his primary aim was to bring about stability and order. Feroz Shah made the iqta
system hereditary. He assigned thousands of Iqtas on hereditary basis to civil and military officers and
even to ordinary troopers. when the holder of an Iqta died, his office was transferred to his son. If he had
no son, then it was transferred to his son-in-law, and if he had no son in law then to his slaves. By making
the royal posts and Iqtas hereditary, Feroz gave up the basic right of the government to ensure the
efficiency of its military personnel. The Iqtas became pieces of waste paper in the hands of the pensioners
who had lost all military qualities and to whom the penniless central government could pay nothing.
Feroz is also said to have granted Iqtas on a large scale to his slaves and this proved to be a heavy burden
on the royal treasury.

During the reign of Feroz’s incompetent successors, no major changes were recorded in the Iqta
system. Under the Sayyids (1414-51) and the Lodis (1451-1526) the basic structure of the Iqta system
was retained. However, the term ‘Iqta’ gradually came to be replaced by the term ‘Jagir’ under the
Mughals. The basic features of the Iqta system were retained by the Mughals and served as a model for
the Jagirdari system of the Mughal period.

Under powerful sultans like Iltutmish, Balban and Alauddin Khilji, the Iqta system served its
purpose as an instrument for centralization, liquidation of feudal elements, and regular collection of land
revenue. The institution however, underwent several changes depending upon the character and ability of
the ruler at the top. Although towards the end of the Sultanate, the system degenerated and departed from
its original principles, it cannot be denied that the Iqta institution was one of the main pillars of the
administrative and agrarian system of the Sultanate period.