Sher Shah Suri

Sher Shah Suri was one of the greatest ruler of the medieval India. He was known for his efficient administration. He founded the Sur empire. He was a Muslim ruler but was tolerant to other rulers. He laid a very strong foundation. It was Sher shah Suroi who started many reforms in India. Because of the strong foundation laid by Sher Shah Suri administration Akbar got a base to build a powerful empire.

 

•    His original name was Farid.

•    He founded the Sur Dynasty.

•    His father was Hasnan Khan. They belonged to a village in Bihar called Sasaram.

•    Witnessing his bravery he was given the title of Sher Khan by the Afghan ruler of Bihar.

•    He was the one who introduced the modern currency of rupee.

•    He took the entire control of the Mughal empire in the year 1504.

•    He fought and conquered Sindh, Malwa, Bundelkhand, Multand and Punjab.

•    He onced ruled over entire north India, except Assam, Nepal, Kashmir and Gujarat.

•    He ruled only for 5 years but showed exceptional administrative set up and working system.

•    During his reign, Malik Muhammad Jayasi wrote the famous Hindi work Padmavat.

 

He divided his empire into 47 ‘Sarkars,' which were further subdivided into smaller administrative units known as ‘Parganas.'

 

Each sarkar was subdivided into Parganas and supervised by different officers.

•    Shiqdar – Military Officer

•    Amin – Land Revenue

•    Fotedar – Treasurer

•    Karkuns – Accountants

 

He established four major central departments: the Diwan-i-wijarat (Finance Department), the Diwan-i-arz (Military Department), the Diwan-i-insha (Royal Secretariat), and the Diwan-i-Rasalat (Royal Secretariat) (Department for religious and foreign affairs).

 

Four important ministers aided the king.

•    In charge of Revenue and Finance is the Diwan –i- Wizarat or Wazir.

•    Diwan-i-Ariz – in charge of Army

•    Diwan-i-Rasalat – Foreign Minister

•    Diwan-i-Insha – Minister for Communications

 

Munsifs were appointed to collect the revenue.

 

The Civil Cases were to be heard by Amir.

 

The criminal cases were to be heard by the Qazi or Mir-i-adal.

 

Muqqadams were supposed to track down and apprehend the criminals, and if they didn't, they'd be punished.

 

Todar mal Khatri was groomed in Sher Shah's administration before becoming a celebrity under Akbar's reign as Raja Todar Mal. It's unclear whether he worked on any finance or revenue-related projects with Sher Shah, but he's thought to have gained a lot of revenue-related experience.

 

The land was measured, and the Sikandari Gaj, which is equivalent to 39 inches, was used. Sikandar Lodi introduced the Sikandari Gaj.

 

Sher Shah introduced the first Rupee (silver coin), which was known as "Rupia" and was used throughout Mughal rule.

 

According to the denomination, he issued copper coins with the names Dam, Half Dam, and Quarter Dam.