The rise of Sher Shah from the position of a petty leader of troops to being the ruler of one of the

biggest empires which had risen in north India since the death of Muhammad bin Tughlaq in the
mid-14th century is a saga of courage and determination which has, rightfully, aroused a lot of
admiration. However, it has also led to uncritical admiration of an individual rather than focusing on
the political and social processes at work. The rise of Sher Shah to supreme power from the position
of a small noble called attention to the social and political conditions in north India at a time when
bold, unscrupulous men could forge ahead.

ADMINISTRATION/ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES

Under Sher Shah Suri the experiment in the formation of a bureaucracy under a centralized
despotism had taken place.

PARGANAS

It does not seem that Sher Shah made any changes in the system of government in the country. The
lowest administrative unit was the PARGANA which comprised several villages. Each village had a
HEADMAN (MUQADDAM) who looked after law and order and a PATWARI who kept accounts.
Neither of them was government servants but was entitled to a share in the produce. The pargana
was under the charge of a SHIQDAR who looked after law and order and general administration, and
a MUNSIF OR AMIL whose responsibility was to measure the land for land revenue. Both these
officials were responsible for the collection of land revenue. They were assisted by two clerks who
maintained accounts both in Persian and the local language. There was also a khazanadar or poddar
who kept the cash and the money collected. Sher Shah considered the posts of amils to be profitable
ones and changed the amils every two years so that others close to him could also benefit. This
implies that the regulations he had made prohibiting the collection of taxes and charges beyond
those permitted were flouted in practice, and he had no means of stopping it.

SHIQS

Above the pargana was the shiq to which the word sarkar had begun to be used increasingly from
the time of the Lodis. Although we are told that the sarkar was headed by a shiqdar-i-shiqdaran, no
persons with such a title are found anywhere. The word used for the head of the sarkar was the
FAUJDAR or the MUQTA, and he was assisted by a munsif or MUNSIF-I-MUNSIFAN who was
responsible for the assessment of land revenue, and settling the boundary disputes between
Parganas. Both these officials were responsible for the collection of land revenue which sometimes
implied military operations.

Thus, provincial governments evolved only under the Mughals. Sher Shah's contribution was to
stabilize and further consolidate the boundaries and structure of the shiqs or sarkars which remained
the real unit of administration even under the Mughals.

ARMY

Sher Shah had a centralised army. Sher Shah maintained a strong personal army and a well-equipped
standing army. Military strength consisted of 150000 cavalry, 25000 infantry, 5000 elephants and a
fairly substantive part of artillery. The sultan personally supervised the recruitment, training,
promotion, discipline of troops, and disbursement of calvary. Soldiers were paid in cash while the
officers were assigned jagirs. He also revived Alauddin’s practice of Branding System (Dagh): Horses
were branded to prevent fraud, ensuring that only quality animals were used and Descriptive Roll
(Chehra): Soldiers’ physical descriptions were recorded to avoid impersonation.
JUSTICE

Sher Shah laid great emphasis on justice. The sultan was the highest judicial authority in the state
and held his court every Wednesday in the evening to hear cases. Next to the sultan was the Qazi
who was the head of the department of justice. There were subordinate Qazis in every district.
Criminal law was severe and the punishments included flogging, fines, imprisonment and even
cutting of the limbs. He was a just ruler who ‘dispensed justice without any discrimination’. Be it the
poor or the rich, he did not even spare his relatives if they had resorted to any offences.

LAW AND ORDER

Although Sher Shah ruled only for about five years, he is credited for many contributions. Sher Shah's
foremost contribution was the establishment of law and order over the length and breadth of the
empire. Sher Shah laid great emphasis on making the roads safe and took stern action against
robbers and dacoits. He was convinced that the safety of the roads could only be ensured if the
zamindars, some of whom were in league with the robbers, were kept under control. Thus, the
establishment of law and order implied not only making the roads safe, but for bringing to book
zamindars and the raiyat which were negligent in paying land revenue, or in carrying out imperial
orders.

ECONOMY TRADE AND COMMERCE- roads and Sarai

We are told that to ensure safety on the roads and to extend comfort to the travellers, he built
SARAIS on the highway at a distance of two karohs (4 miles). Separate apartments were built for the
Hindus and the Muslim travellers where they could get beds and cooked food, and Muslim and
Brahman cooks were appointed for this purpose. A custodian (shahna) was appointed in each Sarai
to safeguard the goods of the merchants.

We are told that Sher Shah built 1700 such sarais. They were fortified inns and were built strongly
because some of them have survived even today. Sher Shah caused markets to be set up in every
Sarai. Sher Shah also urged the local and other officials not to injure the travellers and the
merchants, and not to lay their hands on the property of the merchants if any one of them should
die by accident and without heirs. Also, officials were to purchase goods from the merchants only at
their market price.

REVENUE REFORMS

It has been said that the most striking contribution of Sher Shah was his reform of the revenue
system. He was well qualified to do so because he was fully acquainted with the prevailing revenue
system as in charge of his father's jagir and as the virtual ruler of Bihar for ten years after 1530.

Sher Shah wanted that the assessment of land revenue should not be based on crop sharing or
estimation. Nor should the village headmen and zamindars be allowed to pass their burden onto the
shoulders of the weaker sections. Hence, as a ruler, he insisted upon the system of measurement
(zabt). Although a system of measurement of the sown area was very old in India and had been
instituted or revived by Alauddin Khalji, the system of measurement introduced by Sher Shah was
different from the traditional system. In the traditional system, the crop yield was estimated based
on sample cuttings in the sown area. Under Sher Shah, lands were divided into three categories —
good, bad and middling, and the average yield computed. One-third of the average yield was the
share of the state.
Sher Shah Suri implemented several innovative land revenue systems to ensure fairness and
efficiency in agricultural taxation. Among these were the methods of Kankut, Ghallabakhsh, and
Zabti, the three measurements for revenue assessment.
Kankut – under this state assessed the land revenue based on what was previously given.
Ghallabakhsh - In this method, the actual agricultural produce was divided between the state and
the cultivator, typically in a predetermined ratio. The share allocated to the state was collected
directly in kind.
Zabti- This system mainly included the cultivated yields and pricing of the individual crops measured
in terms of patta documents.

Sher Shah introduced the Patta (a written document given to the farmer) and Qabuliyat (a deed of
agreement from the farmer). These documents specified: The area of land. The rate and amount of
tax to be paid and the farmer's responsibilities. This system thus ensured transparency and reduced
exploitation by revenue officials.

We are told that he was very concerned about the interests of the peasantry. Horsemen were posted
to prevent the soldiers from entering into the cultivated portions of the farmers' land, and he took
stern action against those soldiers who were found violating this. The Sultan stated that the rise of
the revenue should not be at the expense of the peasants. Also, during famines, peasants who had
paid their revenues in due time were exempted while those who failed were punished. The Sultan
also made sure that the peasants were not bled.

Sher Shah’s revenue system was revolutionary for its time and laid the groundwork for modern
revenue administration in India.