Question

What was the duty of the Muqtis?

Answer 1

Hint: -They were also referred to as “Iqtadars” and were the governors of small land areas or Iqtas
-They were military commanders who had to go along with the king during wars.

Complete answer: The king used to assign the iqtas to these commanders or iqtadars instead of the services provided by them.
They perform several duties such as:
-Leading the military campaigns
-Keeping the law and order in place in their iqtas
-Collecting revenue generated from the iqta
-Paying salaries to the soldiers
-Maintaining the required army
Certain steps were also taken to ensure that the Muqtis perform their duties, which were as following:
-Their office can’t be inherited.
-They were assigned Iqtas only for a short duration of time before being transferred.
-Accountants were appointed to keep a check on the revenue collected by them.
-Care was taken that the Muqtis collected only the taxes directed by the state and also whether they are keeping the essential number of soldiers or not.

Note: -During the rule of Alauddin Khalji, the land revenues were collected directly by the government. Hence, the authority of the local chieftains to gather taxes were terminated, and they too were pressured to pay taxes.
-Three types of taxes were gathered: 'Kharaj', the tax on a cultivation which comprises about 50% of the peasants' produce; tax on cattle; and tax on houses.