Mughal Administration c13.s6.1

c13.s6.1

The *Bait-ul-mal* was the Store Department where, strictly speaking, only the property of persons dying without heïrs should have been kept, but where in actual practice, as we see from Aurangzib’s regulations, the escheated property of noblemen was also deposited. In Islamic theory, this *Bait-ul-mal* belonged to God and its contents could be spent only in works of charity and not on the Emperor’s personal expenses nor on the general needs of the Government. [*Encyclo. Islam*, i. 598.]