The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c14.53

c14.53

Of greater importance, from the point of view of administration, was the *wakil-i-dar*, another household officer. The office is first mentioned in the reign of Mahmud when the upstart Rayhan got himself appointed to this post, but obviously, it must have existed earlier. From Minhaj's statement that on getting the post Rayhan "took into his own hands the direction of the affairs within the hall of the pavilion of majesty"³, he would appear to be the administrative head of the king's household establishment, and as such was the successor to the Ghaznawide *sahib-i-diwan-i-wakalat*⁴. Fakhre Mudir, in outlining his duties and privileges, considers him as the functionary whom every member of the royal household and family was bound to show respect¹; the *Siyasat Namah* refers, among others, to his duty of looking after the education of the children of the royal family². The *wakil-i-dar* was thus, in fact, the king's steward, a comptroller of the royal household and so anticipated the Mughal *mir-i-saman*. Like the *amir-i-hajib*, the *wakil* also commanded great potentialities and under weak kings like Mahmud or Kaiqubad, could play the dictator. He had also a *naib*, but no smaller *wakils*³.