Administration Of Sher Shah Suri

The benevolent ruler and the founder of the Sur Dynasty in our country, Shershah Suri is an important name in history. Sher Shah Suri or more commonly known as Sher Khan was born in the year 1486 and was the son of Sasaram in Bihar. Named Farid, he left home when he was 15 and continued living in Jaunpur. He had a very important role to play as an administrator of the country. In this article, we are going to understand the administration of Sher Shah Suri. 

Sher Shah Suri History 

The original name of Sher Shah Suri was Farid. He was skilled in administration and hence was selected by his father for the proper management of his Jagir. However, disinterested in that, he left the Jagir and went on to serve the then Emperor of the Mughal Dynasty Babur. 

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He was also skilled in languages such as Persian and Arabic. It was in the year 1522 when he went into service of Bahar Khan, Bihar’s then-governor. The title of Sher Khan was provided to him by Bahar Khan. This was due to the gallantry and courage shown by Sher Shah Suri during a battle with a tiger that he managed to kill single-handedly. He was appointed as the tutor of Jalal Khan, Bahar Khan’s son as well as the Deputy Governor in the area as well. 

In the later years, Sher Shah Suri served Babur again but he managed to return to Bihar and rule it on behalf of Jalal Khan since he was a minor then. It was in the year 1531 when Sher Khan managed to acquire freedom for Bihar from the then ruler of the Mughal Dynasty Humayun. 

After fighting countless battles with the Mughal ruler, he was successful in capturing Gaur in Bengal and at last fighting the battle of Kannauj in the year 1540 to get the Delhi throne. His attempt to continue expanding the empire went on and in a very limited period of time, he extended the empire from east to west Bengal. He was one of the bravest soldiers and was a genius when it came to military affairs. 

One of the best things about Sher Shah Suri was that he was an able administrator. His rules and reforms are still remembered. He might have been a proper administrator but he was indeed a strict one as well. Under his rule, the empire got divided into different provinces that were known as Sarkars. These provinces were then divided into Parganas and then there were some other smaller units. It is also said that he was the introducer of the customs duty practice. 

Understanding The Administration of Sher Shah Suri 

During the medieval era in India, if there is one ruler known for his administrative skills, it is Sher Shah Suri. He was the one who was responsible for the introduction of many reforms that helped Akbar build a proper structure to the Mughal administration in the best way. 

The way of administration shown by Sher Shah Suri was almost equal to a centralized form of administration. This was just like the sultanate period. Sher Shah Suri was known to be the 1st Muslim leader and ruler of the country who had extraordinary skills for managing a civil government. 

Here, we are going to discuss the administration of Sher Shah Suri. This piece of information is definitely going to help people in understanding the administrative strategies of the ruler. 

Some Facts About the Administration of Sher Shah Suri 

Under the rule of Sher Shah Suri, the entire empire had a few modifications and reforms. We are going to talk about these reforms in order to give you a clear idea of what the administration under the ruler was. 

The empire was divided into 47 parts known as the Sarkars and then there were further subdivisions that were known as Parganas or smaller administrative units. 

There were a total of 4 important departments under the rule of Sher Shah Suri. These departments were the Diwan-i-arz or the Military Department, the Diwan-i-wijarat or the Finance Department, the Diwan-i-Risalat or the department for foreign and religious affairs, and the Diwan-i-insha which was more commonly known as the Royal Secretariat. 

The Diwan-i-ars was managed by the Ariz-i-mamalik. The Diwan-i-insha was managed by the Dabir. The Diwan-i-Kaza was managed by the Qazi. The Shiqdar-i-shiqadaran was the one who maintained law and order. The supervision of the collection of revenue was seen by the Munshife-i-munshifan. 

At the Pargana level, law and order was maintained at Shikdar. For the collection of revenue, the person responsible was Amin. The Munsif was responsible for the judicial matters. 

With regards to the coinage, the introduction of tri-metalism was done by Sher Shah Suri. This method was used to characterize the Mughal system of coinage. The Silver coin was named Rupia. The national currency of our country is Rupee along with a few other countries such as Indonesia, Mauritius, Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Seychelles. 

The ruler was also responsible for the introduction of the copper coins which were known as Dam, quarter Dam, and Half Dam. According to the denomination, these coins would be used by the people in the trade. He was also responsible for the regular postal services. 

The peasants during that time had to pay a certain survey charge which was known as Jaribana. They also had to pay the tax collection charges such as muhasilana. The decided rates for the charges were 2.5% and 5% respectively. He was responsible for the creation of 4 different roads. The Grand Trunk Road that would go from Sonargaon to Peshawar. Also, the road starting from Agra to Multan was created by him. He was also responsible for the creation of roads from Mandu to Agra and Multan to Lahore. These roads would have wells, different rest houses, and trees lining them. 

There were different income sources were land revenue transportation-related taxes as well as taxes on finished products. The confiscation of different unclaimed property, the royal treasure, different forms of tributes from nawabs, rajas, jagirdars, etc. Apart from that, the empire received gifts from different foreign travelers. They had salt taxes, booty or more commonly known as Kham, and the Jizya imposed on Hindus for income as well.

So, these are some of the details that one needs to know about the administrative powers of Sher Shah Suri. These details will help you get a better understanding of the topic in the best way. 

Sher Shah Suri was one of the noblest and benevolent leaders of all time. His work in the field of military and administration is truly commendable. He was the one who besieged the fort in Kalinjar situated in Bundelkhand. This was the place where he died due to an explosion of gunpowder by accident in 1545. He might have ruled the country for 5 years but he was definitely one of the most successful and profitable rulers that the country had. The administrative strategies adopted by Shershah Suri are still practiced a lot in some of the areas in the country. This is some information about Sher Shah Suri history.