Administrative and Revenue Terminology of the Delhi Sultanate

Who ran each department, and what did each one do?

The Delhi Sultanate’s central government ran through four main departments. The wazir headed the Diwan-i-Wizarat. He tracked land revenue collection and kept records of state income and expenditure. The Ariz-i-Mumalik headed the Diwan-i-Arz. He recruited soldiers, branded army horses, and kept war provisions ready.

• The Dabir-i-Khas headed the Diwan-i-Insha. This department drafted and sent royal letters, to other rulers and to the Sultanate’s own officials.
• The Sadr-us-Sudur headed the Diwan-i-Rasalat, overseeing religious grants and endowments. This post was often combined with that of the Qazi-ul-Quzat. He was the Sultanate’s chief judicial officer.

Did the central treasury keep all the revenue this system collected?

Not entirely. Land revenue was often assigned to nobles through the Iqta system. Nobles held this land for military service. So revenue did not always reach the central treasury.

What were the three most tested revenue terms?

Kharaj was the general land tax on all cultivated land. Rates varied by ruler and period, sometimes reaching as much as half the produce. Jizya was a specific tax on non-Muslim subjects. In exchange, it bought state protection and exemption from military service. Khams was a fixed one-fifth of war booty. The state claimed this as its own share of any campaign’s spoils.

Are there variant terms worth knowing alongside these?

Two related terms sometimes come up alongside these three. Kharaj-i-Muwazzaf referred to a fixed cash assessment, as opposed to a variable produce-share rate. Kharaj-i-Muqasama referred to the more common produce-sharing arrangement itself.

How did Ushr and Zakat differ from Kharaj?

Ushr was a distinct, lower-rate parallel tax that applied specifically to Muslim landowners. It was one-tenth of produce on naturally irrigated land. On land needing artificial irrigation, it rose to one-fifth. Zakat was a wholly separate religious obligation on Muslims. It was set at 2.5 percent of wealth above a minimum threshold called nisab. Collectors used it for charitable purposes. This was a fixed, standard rate. That made it quite distinct from the variable land-produce rates of Kharaj and Ushr.

What made Khalisa land different, and why did Alauddin Khilji expand it?

Khalisa land was territory under the Sultan’s direct control. Its revenue funded the royal court directly. It did not pass through a noble’s own Iqta grant. Alauddin Khilji deliberately expanded Khalisa land around Delhi. He did this to reduce his own reliance on nearby Iqta assignments. That gave the throne a more secure, independent income base close to home.

What sources describe this system, and what are their limits?

Persian-language histories called tawarikh are a major source for Delhi Sultanate administration, alongside inscriptions and coins. Secretaries, poets, and courtiers wrote these texts. Their authors lived mainly in Delhi and rarely visited villages. They often wrote for a Sultan’s rich rewards. This led them to favour an “ideal” social order based on birthright and gender.

What was the “circle of justice”?

Thirteenth-century writer Fakhr-i Mudabbir described a “circle of justice.” Soldiers need salaries. Salaries need peasant revenue. Peasants pay only when a just king keeps them prosperous. This idea gave tawarikh authors a direct reason to advise rulers toward honest governance. Injustice was framed as a threat to the army’s own pay. It was not just a threat to the peasantry.

What does this four-department design tell us about the Sultanate’s administration?

The four-department structure carefully separated money, soldiers, words, and faith into distinct chains of command. No single official handled everything. That kind of specialisation marks a developed bureaucracy for its era. Revenue terms also split cleanly along religious lines.

• Money: Diwan-i-Wizarat, under the wazir, ran revenue and finance.
• Soldiers: Diwan-i-Arz, under the Ariz-i-Mumalik, ran military affairs.
• Kharaj and Jizya: these applied quite differently to Muslims and non-Muslims.
• Ushr: this applied to Muslim landowners specifically. The tax system itself became a record of the state’s own religious categories.

Did this vocabulary outlive the Delhi Sultanate?

Much of this terminology outlived the Delhi Sultanate itself. Later Indian administrations, including the Mughals, kept using Kharaj, Jizya, and related terms. They adapted an existing revenue vocabulary rather than inventing a new one from scratch. Alauddin Khilji had already added new departments on top of this base structure. These included a Diwan-i-Riyasat to control market prices. Another, the Mustakhraj, recovered unpaid revenue arrears. See The Khilji Dynasty and Alauddin’s Reforms.