History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c14.42

c14.42

Next to the sultan, the head of the judicial department was Sadr-i-Jahān Qāzīul Quzāt or the Lord Chief Justice of the empire. Under the Qāzīul Quzāt served naib Qāzīs or 'Adls and they were assisted by Muftīs who expounded the law and gave opinion on complicated cases. There was another officer Dādbeg-i-Haẓrat¹⁹ whose office corresponded to the office of Mir 'Adl of the Mughals. He was a judge of the capital (Haẓrat) as distinct from judge of the camp (Qazi-i-Lashkar).²⁰ There was also Mīr Dād whose duty it was to produce before the court any influential person against whom a suit had been filed, but who was too powerful to be controlled by the Qāzī.²¹ A similar system of gradations of judicial officers obtained in the provinces where the governor, the Qāzīs and other junior officers administered justice. In smaller towns and villages, however, the headmen and the *panchayats* used to settle disputes and decide cases.