Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c6.s2.6

c6.s2.6

The Central government was formed on the Persian model As seen above, the Prime Minister was called Wazir and his ministry Diwan-i-Wazarat. All Muslim political thinkers attached great, importance to this office. Abu Daud says that a good wazir is an asset. When Allah wants to destroy some ruler, he gives him a bad wazir.⁷⁰ Fakhr-i-Mudabbir and Ziyauddin Barani who were scholars of Islamic scriptures, say the same thing.⁷¹ The main business of the Wazir who presided over Diwan-i-Wazarat was finance, although he oversaw most of the affairs of the state. "Agriculture, Building, Charitable institutions, Intelligence Department, the Karkhanas and the Mint were all directly or indirectly under the Diwan-i-Wazarat.⁷² Next in importance was the Diwan-i-Arz under the Ariz-i-Mumalik. He was the controller-general of the military department.⁷³ Muslim state introduced two new elements in Indian polity. it brought in a new law - the Shariat law. Secondly, it was based on military force. Formerly, under Hindu kings, state power was subject to numerous customary and constitutional restraints. Muslim state in India found its support solely in military force. Its Chief Commander was the King; its administrative commander was the Ariz-i-Mumalik (Mir Bakshi of the Mughals). As said earlier, the Diwan-i-Insha dealt with the correspondence between the Sultan and the local governments, including all correspondence of a confidential nature. The Diwan-i-Rasalat, as the term indicates,⁷⁴ looked after diplomatic correspondence, and as such this ministry was a counterpart of the present-day foreign office.