Mughal Administration c7.s1: § 1. Diwān or Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mughal Administration c7.s1
- Language
- English
§ 1. Diwān or Chancellor of the Exchequer.
c7.s1.1
The Exchequer was presided over by the High Chancellor (*Diwān-i-ala*), who bore the courtesy title of wazir, and had two assistants called the *Diwān-i-tan* (or *Diwān* of Salaries) and the *Diwān-i-khālsa* (or *Diwān* of Crownlands.)
c7.s1.2
The term *diwān* has been derived by orientalists from a hypothetical Iranian word *diwān*, connected with *dabir*, meaning ‘writer’,—(like the Turkish official title *bitikchi* which means ‘writer.’) The first use of the word *diwān* was in the sense of the public register of receipts and expenditure kept in Greek (in Syria and Egypt) and in Pahlavi (in Persia) in the early years of the Arab conquest. The name next passed to the officers of the Treasury and thence extended to the government of the Abbasid Khalifs, and in Saladin’s time to the Khalif himself. (*Encyclopædia of Islam*, i. 979.)
c7.s1.3
We can get a clear general idea of the High Diwan’s position and duties if we bear the following facts in our mind:
c7.s1.4
(a) He was the intermediary between the Emperor and the rest of the official world.
c7.s1.5
(b) Practically all official records (except those of a technical character or containing minute details) had to be sent to his office for his inspection and storage under his control. His was the Public Records Office.
c7.s1.6
(c) Abstracts of all transactions and payments in all departments (except the smallest) had to be inspected and criticised by him.
c7.s1.7
(d) No order for appointment (except that of menials, workmen and privates in the army), promotion or large payment could have effect without his written sanction.
c7.s1.8
(e) He kept in his own hands the threads of the revenue collection and expenditure in all parts of the empire and often in great detail, and the Emperor kept his finger on the pulse of State finance by means of the abstracts which the diwan had to submit to him almost daily, and also by frequently asking him to read the details out.
c7.s1.9
(f) Within certain limits he was given full discretion as to what matters he should report to the Emperor and take his orders on them, and what matters not.
c7.s1.10
(g) He was the embodiment of the Government on the administrative side and had to give formal leave (rukhsat) to all high officers on their appointment, charge them solemnly with their duties, and receive regular reports from them on the state of their provinces.
c7.s1.11
(h) The provincial diwāns were constantly and minutely controlled and guided by him from the imperial Court. Revenue was his own special department, and these diwans and their underlings stood in direct contact with him.
c7.s1.12
(i) His seal and signature were necessary for the validation of most papers (including copies of the Emperor's writings or reports of his verbal orders) and the authentication of the true copies of nearly all official documents.