Mughal Administration c6.s1.4

c6.s1.4

As a matter of practice, when the Emperor held his private consultation or *diwān-i-khās*, the other high officers (*viz.*, the chief Paymaster, the chief Qazi, the High Steward and the Commander-in-chief, if any), usually attended along with the wazir, and were consulted. But many important questions were decided by the Emperor and the wazir alone without the knowledge of the other ministers. It need hardly be said that neither the lower ministers nor even the wazir could serve as a check on the royal will. They could advise but never vote, and the insecurity and dependence of their position made it impossible for them to contradict the king even when he was clearly going on a wrong course. The Mughal government was, therefore, a one man rule, and Aurangzib, like his contemporary Louis XIV, was really his own prime-minister.