THE INSTITUTION OF IQṬĀ' AND ITS IMPACT ON MUSLIM RULE IN INDIAAuthor(s): Hussain KhanReviewed work(s):Source: Islamic Studies, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring 1983), pp. 1-9Published by: Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, IslamabadStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20847226 .Accessed: 10/02/2012 04:32

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THE INSTITUTION OF IQjA* AND ITS IMPACT ON MUSLIM RULE IN INDIA

Hussain Khan.

Analysing etymologically the term of iqfa6, Professor Claude Cahen records that in the early Islamic days there was a group of territories which the Muslim community had inheri ted some lands which used to belong to the Roman, Byzantine or Sassanide states, or to churches related to them, some large estates whose landlords ran away or died without heirs who could cultivate them, finally the lands which had never been

claimed either by individuals or by local groups. Apart from

those lands which were taken by the State and often managed by the State, it was generally simpler to grant such lands to individuals or to groups, so that the community could benefit from them. These lands, taken from the public property, had been given a name which etymologically conveyed the idea:

qatct, to which later they preferred the abstract term meaning retrenchment, iqta'j

In the pre-Abbasid period of Islamic history, the Arabs

formed a dominant class and "

probably considered it their

privilege to receive the revenue."2 Under the Abbasids, the Arabs as a dominant class were replaced by the Abbasid

mercenary army which appropriated to itself the right to receive

the revenue. And when the central authority under the

Abbasids grew weak and, as a consequence, failed to discharge its public duties, it surrendered public rights to powerful indi viduals.3 First of all the right to collect the revenue was

surrendered. Secondly, when the central power failed to protect

property, the population sought the patronage of influential

2 HUSSAIN KNHA

personages and thus the former enhanced the prestige of the latter. This development also reinforced the tendency to alienate to assignees (muqta's) the occupancy right to land. The political and social power of the assignees, thus increased, adversely affected the relations between them and the local population. Formerly, their relation was based on mutual free agreement, but henceforth the local population became the tenants of the

muqta\ This appears to have been the situation in the fifth/ eleventh century. This development gave birth to grave politi cal and economic problems. Credit goes to the Buyids, who

solved these problems by regularizing the position of the

muqta' and thereby imparted an order to the iqta' system. Professor Claude Cahen stresses this fact :

" It has often been said that the Seljaks had introduced the feudal system into the Muslim world. In addition to a brief text by Maqrizi (15th Century), they quote Nizam al-Mulk Seljuk vizir of the 11th century, and 'Imad ad-din, a historian of the 12th. Let us quote the latter : (In the old days) they used to collect the taxes, to give them to the troops, and until then nobody had ever had iqta'. But Nizam al-Mulk, seeing that transfer of money to various regions was not very effiecint because of lack of organization... divided these regions between the soldiers as iqta', conferring them on the latter as sources of income and collectorship. This increased

their reason to reclaim the lands, and in a little while

the lands were prosperous again. The Sultan had relatives .. They were under his control .. Thus he could grant a soldier a fixed salary of 1,000 dinars per year, and allot one half from a locality in Rum, the other half from one in Khurasan, and the holder was

satisfied, for any way he was sure to get this money

INSTITUTION OF IQTA 3

without dispute... With his peers he divided very well the kingdom that the sword had put together.

" The interesting point about this text is that it leads

us to the conclusion opposite to the one drawn by the author. The concept of iqta' which is expressed here? the assignment of lands for a fixed value ? and which is

confirmed by several examples, is that of the Buyids. Therefore, the responsibility for this idea, that

' Imad

ad-din assigns to Nizam al-Mulk is either uncalled for

(gratuitous), or the result of a wrong interpretation, or dating of effective facts. The moral justification which he gives for the system strikes one as the opposite of the condemnation worded by the officials of the 10th century. We shall see that it can correspond to a transformation of the iqta' posterior to Nizam al-Mulk; above all, it expresses the change undergone from one

century when the land was still given to the civilians, to the next century when it was given to the army. 'Imad ad-din is writing in the golden age of the military iqta' and he himself states its theory rather than Nizam al

Mulk. "

For what does the latter himself say ? He considers the military iqta' as an institution which did not always exist, but he does not claim to be its author, it does not apply to all the soldiers ; the ordinary ghulams (slaves) have no iqta'. The principle is strictly observed that the holder of an iqfa' has the right to tax but not land or men who are subject to the government, that he cannot claim more without committing an excess which is punished by revocation ; that he must always be controlled and changed every three years. In short, it is the Buyid system, with additional precautions against excesses.

4 HUSSAIN KHAN

" Moreover, should we not say that Nizam al

Mulk has not really done anything new ? According to Rawandi, he had iqta' distributed a little in all the

provinces to the cavalry registered at the diwun, so that the catering of any army should be done wherever

it would be. Here we can find a new element. The

Seljuk army was much more numerous than that of the the Buyids, and Nizam al-Mulk opposed any policy intended to reduce it." So he was led to distribute

many more iqta's than his predecessors had done. On the other hand, as the master of an Empire including lands, outside the Buyid Kingdom, intending to distribute the iqta's everywhere for the reasons given by Rawandi, he was led to introduce the system in many regions

specially Khurasan which had until then escaped it, and where, therefore, it really dates back to him."4

Thus the iqta' system which henceforth prevailed in the Muslim world was the legacy of the Buyids, and not, of the

Seljuks, as Professor Ann K.S. Lambton holds.5

The iqta' was introduced in medieval Hindustan by the Turkish conquerors. The medieval Indian chronicles record two types of iqta's: in the first place the iqta is spoken of as the

provincial unit, for example "the twenty iqta's" into which Balban's Kingdom was divided6. Its governor was designated muqta. In the second category, the revenue of the villages was

granted to soldiers as their mawajib (pay) in return for their

personal services in the army7. Two thousand Shams! iqtadars of Sultan Shams al-din Iltumish were assigned the revenue of the villages as their mawajib in return for their military services: this is an instance in point.8

INSTITUTION OF IQTA 5

Provincial or Administrative Iqta6

The muqta's tenure of service was not permanent, he could be removed or transferred and the territory under his jurisdiction was

liable to be reduced or extended. He did not possess an heredi

tary right in his iqta'. For example, when Masnad-i-'Ah Husain Khan entitled Khan-i-Jahan Lodi died, his son, Ahmad Khan, was not granted his father's iqta' and his title of Khan-i Jahan.*

Sul/an Sikandar Lodf s farman to Zain al-din, the former officer of late Masnad-i 'Ah Husain Khan entitled Khan-i Jahan Lodi, proves that iqta's were not granted as a hereditary right:

"Let Zain al-din himself understand that the assig ments are conferred on him by Hazrat-i ulay (in a per sonal capacity) not on the basas of his relation to the late Masnad-i 'All or his dependents."10

However, there is a reference to an heritable iqta' (maurusi) in Sher Shah Sur's letter which he had deliberately thrown near

Rao Maldev's camp to be picked up later by his enemy. Such

iqta's were the property of Rao Maldev,s umara'11 and would be an exception confined only to Rajput principalities where iqta's were granted in heredity.12 Otherwise, the chronicles of the Dehli Sultanate do not record the grant of hereditary iqta's by Sultans of Dehli to their umara, with the exception of Sultan Firoz Shah Tughluq.1

*

The muqta' was responsible for collecting revenue, and out of it he defrayed the expenses of administration. He was

assigned a fixed share as his salary from the revenue, which was in addition to the customary perquisites of the office.14 The balance of the revenue was remitted to the Diwan -/ wizarat, as he was responsible to it for the accounts of provincial revenue. The muqta's financial records were audited by the Diwan-i wizarat

6 HUSSAIN KHAN

and the muqta's were sometimes severely dealt with when they defaulted in payment* * or when there were discrepancies in their accounts.

The strength ^nd pay of the muqta's troops were fixed by the Sultan, but the troops were recruited, equipped and paid by the muqta'. He was strictly enjoined to make no deductions from the trooper's salaries.16

The muqta' acted as the Sultan's representative in his

iqta'. Regarding the muqta/s authority, the Insha'-i Mahru relates that all the officers high and low as well as the people in general were commanded by the Sultan to obey the muqta s

orders.17

Concerning the bureaucratic organization of administrative

iqta, the 'Gulzar-i Abrar*?refers to diwdn, shanna an d mu

shrif of the administrative iqta' of early 16th century Hindu

tan, which most probably constituted the administrative machi

nery of Lodi and Sur's iqta*. Illustrating these terms, the diwan means dtwan-i wazarat,the central accounts office which was the the chief auditing authority of the revenue receipts of the provin cial iqta'. The shabna performed the functions of an amir who, instead of the muqta? governed the khaliSa areas, comprising cities and districts.19 The mushrif, according to F. Steingass, means a treasury officer who authenticates accounts and writ

ings.20 An earlier source, the Fawazul Fawaid, also refers to

mushrif as an important bureaucrat of tho iqta'.21 The muqta' had a confidential adviser called kadkhuda. The head of his

secretariat was designated ddbir.**

Military Iqta6

During the Sultanate period with the exception of the

Surs, in the matter of military iqta\ the iqta'dar (the holder of

INSTITUTION OF IQTA 7

the military iqta') was not different from a muqfa' except in the size of his land assignment. Because in both cases, a muqta' and an iqtaddr enjoyed autonomy in their respective iqtas, the

former was linked by the tie of his allegiance to the Sultan and

the latter by his fidelity to the muqfa,. Both were to collect the necessary revenue. The nature of provincial or administra tive iqta' underwent a change under Sher Shah Sur, when it was

brought entirely under State control, depriving it of its former

autonomous status; but the nature of the military iqta' remained the same, as the iqta'dar remained autonomous in his military iqta'. The local zammdars living within his land assignment

were placed under his control. For this purpose, certain adminis strative powers, e.g. of controlling mmmdars, necessary for

the fulfilment of the purpose of the salary of soldier-supporting assignment, were delegated by the State to the iqta'dar. In this

respect the military iqta' system was the precursor of the Mughul

jagirdan system. The Mughuls inherited from their Afghan

predecessors, so to speak, an historical forerunner of their

jagirdan system. A notable example of a military itqa' and

the administrative powers of an jqta'dar which can be regarded as an healthly prototype of the Mughul jagirdari system is found in Farid's (later Sher Shah Sur) management of the military iqta' of Saharam and Tanda.

In Fand military iqta' of Sahsaram and Tanda, there was centralisation of power with direct contact between iqta'd&r and the cultivators. The muqaddams, who were local mmindars, were reduced to the position of middlemen and they were compe lled to remain content with their legitimate dues (fixed fees for

measurement and collection of revenue plus fixed rations pay able by the cultivators). The State expected that the iqta'dar should see, as Fand did, that the cultivators produced better

crops with a view to getting more from the land.

8 HUSSAIN KHAN

Fand addresses his solidier> and ummal: 4 .. the ra'iyat, thus relieved of oppression, may con

fidently cultivate the fields and produce better crops. I shall not take anything from the soldiers, whatever

increased return the fields, yield will go the soldiers"2 3

and he talks thus to the rcfyat :

"Whatever you wish to say, come personally to me

and represent (your case): I shall not allow any one

to oppress and torture you." Having admonished

them he dismissed them saying, "Carry on the work

of cultivation and work for the increase of revenue24.

Even as a manager of his father's iqta Fand exercised

supreme authority in the area of his jurisdiction, He contro

lled the affairs of mmmdars, annihilated the recalcitrant ones, and created new obedient mmmdars in their places. He had also the power to grant as well as to resume the soldier's land

assignment and to collect the dues necessary for the government.

Farid's establishment of contingents at Sahsaram and

Tanda denotes that an iqta'dar possessed a regular army whose

numerical strength was determined by the Sultan or the muqta' whoever assigned the land to the iqta'dar.

The salaries of soldiers and 'Ummal appear to have been

determined in accordance with some money measurement

applied to the revenues of certain areas assigned to the officials.

In the economic set-up of a military iqta' there was a

centralisation of economic control. The beneficiaries were the iqta'dar and the cultivators. Zamindars were responsible for depositing the revenue dues in the diwan.

INSTITUTION OF IQTA 9

NOTES

1. DEVOLUTION DE L'lQTA'DU IX. AU XIIISIPCLE, Annales, Contribution a une historie compares des societes mediaevale, mediaevales, 26.

The English translation of the relevant part of the French article on iqfa is due to the efforts of Mr, Jens Envoldsen of Herning, Denmark.

2. Ann K.S. Lambton, Landlord and Peasant in Persia (London, 1953), 54.

3. Ibid.

4. DEVOLUTION DE L'lQTA' DU IX. AU XIII SIECLE, Annales, Contribution a une historie compares des societes mediaevales, 38-39.

5. Landlord and Peasant in Persia, 53.

6. Ziya al-din Barani, Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, ed. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (Bib. Indie.

Calcutta, 1862), pp. 49-50.

7. Ibid., pp. 60-61.

8. Ibid., p. 61.

9. Abd 'Allah Musht*qi alias Rizq Allah Mushtaqi, 'Waq'iat-i Mushtaqi', Bri.t

Mus., MS. Or . 1929, p. 55.

10. Ibid.

11. Mulla Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah, Tarikh-i Firishta (Nawal Kishor, 132 A.H.),

I, p. 227.

12. Lieut. Col. James Todd, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (London, 1950), i, 130.

13. Yayha bin Ahmad bin 'Abd Allah as-Sarhindi, Tarikh-i Mubarak Shah , ed. M.

Hidayat Hosain Bib. Ind. (Calcutta, 1931), p. 134.

14. Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, p. 431.

15. Ibid., pp. 220, 556.

16. Ibid., 431.

17. 'Am al-din 'AIn al-Mulk 'Abd allah bin Mahru Inshk'-i Mahru, ed. S.A. Rashid

(Lahore, 1956), p. 22.

18. Muhammad Ghausi Shattri,'Gulzar-i Abrar', Rylands Persian MS., 185, fo. 1766.

19. A.B.M. IJabibullah, The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India, (Allahabad, 1961), 258.

20. A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary (London, 1947), 1245.

21. Amir Hasan Sijzi, 'Fawazul Fawaid', Brit. Mus., Or. 1806, p. 55.

22. Abu 'Umar Minhaj al-din 'Usman b. Siraj al-din Al-Juzzani Tabqat-i Nasiri, ed.

Nasau Less, Khadimljusain, and' Abd al Hai, Bib. Ind. (Calcutta, 1864), p. 243.

23. 'Abas Khan Sarwani, Tarikh-i Sher Shahi, Persian text edited by S..M. Imam

al-din (Dacca, 1964), p. 22.

24. Ibid., pp. 23-24.