The Mughal Empire controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 18th centuries, from the Indus river basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the northern uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India.[1] Founded by Babur in 1526, the Mughal Empire was consolidated during the reign of Akbar (1556-1605) who was largely responsible for establishing a strong administration system through which they ruled India for almost two centuries and which benefited his successors, Jahangir (1605-1627), Shah Jahan (1628-1658), and Aurangzeb (1658-1707).[2]
To establish the Mughal Empire on firm grounding, Akbar reorganized the administrative machinery developed by Sher Shah Suri to bring greater efficiency in his government. His most innovative measure was the creation of the Mansabdari System which formed the backbone of Mughal administration. It was the system developed in keeping the view of the military nature of the Mughal state as it incorporated the institutions of army, nobility and civil service under one administrative order. Mansabdari was basically an administrative system organized on military basis in which officers were assigned civil as well as military duties at the same time.[3] Besides, Akbar introduced efficient revenue systems as well. The empire was administrated at the three levels - central, provisional, and local and hierarchies of officers were assigned to run the administration.
[1] Stein, Burton, A History of India, John Wiley & Sons, United Kingdom, 2010, pp. 159–160.
[2] Satish Chandra, History of Medieval India, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 2008, pp. 292-294.
[3] Meenakshi Jain, Medieval India: A Textbook for Class XI, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, 2002, p. 151.
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