Mughal Administration c8.s4: § 4. The faujdar and his functions.
Mughal Administration c8.s4
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§ 4. The faujdar and his functions.
c8.s4.1
In the maintenance of peace and the discharge of executive functions in general, the subahdar's assistants were the FAUJDARS. These officers were placed in charge of suitable subdivisions of the province, provided that they were sufficiently civilized or important on account of the presence of zamindars or large sources of State revenue in them and also if they contained towns.
c8.s4.2
∗ Some of these regulations are given in Aurangzib's farman to Rasik-das, see ch. XI.
c8.s4.3
When a new faujdar was appointed, he was given the following advice as to his policy and conduct:—
c8.s4.4
"A faujdar should be brave and polite in dealing with his soldiers. He should enlist in his contingent of armed retainers only men of known bravery and good family.
c8.s4.5
"As soon as you reach the place of your service, find out the people who knew the past administration of the locality, viz., the qānungoes and others, win their hearts, and learn from them which of the troops quartered in your subdivision are inclined to take advantage of their commander's weakness or the difficulties of the administration and which of them are in secret league with the lawless zamindars.
c8.s4.6
"Learn whether the local zamindars paid the revenue regularly or displayed a defiant spirit in your predecessor's time. In the case of zamindars who are not naturally disposed to be submissive, first treat them well; and if they do not respond by offering obedience, then chastise them. When your own troops are insufficient to crush such a refractory zamindar, set his enemies up against him, make a grant of this zamindar's lands to his rival, and send your own troops to co-operate with those of the rival in order to crush the rebel more easily.
c8.s4.7
"Arrange with a trusty clerk of the imperial Court to receive letters from you, and, on the basis of the information thus supplied, to report on your affairs to the Court [evidently to the High Diwan.]
c8.s4.8
“Conciliate the local *waqāi-navis*, *sawānih-nigār* and *harkārah* (i.e., the official news-reporters and spies), in order that they may always write their reports of occurrences in a manner leading to your advancement.
c8.s4.9
“Keep up your practice in the exercise of all weapons of war, in hunting, and in riding horses, so as to keep yourself in a fit condition and to be able to take the field promptly [when called upon to march to a scene of disturbance.] Do justice to the oppressed.” [Manual, 34-36.]
c8.s4.10
The faujdar's duties are fully enumerated in the following sanad or letter-patent appointing him to his office:—
c8.s4.11
“Destroy the forts of lawless men and rebel chiefs as the [best] means of punishing them. Guard the roads, protect the revenue-payers. Assist and give [armed] support to the agents (*gumāshtahs*) of the *jāgirdārs* [in the case of military fiefs] and the *kroris* [in the case of Crownlands], at the time of collecting the revenue.
c8.s4.12
“Forbid the blacksmiths to manufacture matchlocks. Urge the *thānahdārs* [men in command of the outposts or smaller areas within a faujdari], whom you appoint under yourself, to take complete possession of their charges, to abstain from dispossessing people from their rightful property and from levying any forbidden cess (*abwāb*).
c8.s4.13
“So long as the agent of the jagirdar or the *āmil* of the Crownlands does not give you a written requisition for military aid, do not attack any village in your jurisdiction. After you have received such a requisition [or rather complaint against a defaulting and refractory village], contrive to influence some of the leading men of the village who are the sources of the trouble and try to reform them, so that they may repent of their violence and lawless conduct and incline to the payment of revenue and the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. In case they reform themselves, take a deed of agreement [to such a course] from the amil. If they refuse to reform, then chastise the evil men of the village [i.e., the ringleaders], but do not molest the [ordinary] peasants. Guard the roads, cut the jungles, demolish the [illegal] forts, etc."
c8.s4.14
In short, the faujdar, as his name means, was only the commander of a military force stationed in the country to put down smaller rebellions, disperse or arrest robber-gangs, take cognizance of all violent crimes, and make demonstrations of force to overawe opposition to the revenue authorities or the criminal judge or the censor. [His functions are briefly described in *Ain*, ii. 40—41 and *Storia*, ii. 450—451.]