Berar Subah

Berar Subah was the one of Subahs of Mughal Empire from 1596 to 1724.

History

Berar was earlier a part of the Nizam Shahi sultanate of Ahmadnagar and ceded to Emperor Akbar by Chand Bibi in 1596, unable to stand against the imperial forces led by prince Murad. After this initial victory Prince Murad settled in Berar with Balapur as his headquarters. Near Balapur he founded a new city named Shahpur and constructed a beautiful palace for himself. As his relationship was deteriorating with Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, the commander of the army, Akbar recalled Khan-i-Khanan and sent his trusted friend Abul Fazl to help him. Murad died in 1598. After his death, Prince Daniel was given the charge as governor of Berar, Ahmadnagar and Khandesh, Khan-i- Khanan was sent along with Daniel. Akbar died in 1605cite web|url= http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/WARDHA/his_admin.html|title= Wardha distrct e-gazetteer – administrative history] . In 1611 CE the southern provinces of Ahmadnagar, Berar and Khandesh defied Mughal sovereignty under Malik Ambar. Jahangir sent Raja Man Singh and others to crush the revolt.Man Singh died a natural death on July 6, 1614 at Ellichpur. During Jahangir’s rule, Malik Ambar till his death in 1626 recovered a substantial part of the Deccan from the Mughals including Berar. In 1628, the first year of reign of Shah Jahan, Berar again came under the Mughal sway.

In 1636, the Mughal possessions in "Dakhin" (Deccan) were divided into 4 Subahs. Berar was one of them with Ellichpur as its capital and Gavilgad as its main fort. Aurangzeb was appointed viceroy of four Deccan Subahs for the first time and he occupied the post for eight years (till 1644). He was again appointed viceroy for the second time in 1653 and he remained in that post till 1657 [Mahajan V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). "History of Medieval India", Part II, New Delhi: S. Chand, ISBN 81 219 0364 5, p.143] . During Aurangzeb’s reign, Berar was successively overrun by the Maratha rulers Sambhaji in 1680 and Rajaram in 1698. In 1720, Maratha Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath obtained the grant of the right to collect "chauth" and "sardeshmukhi" from Berar from the Mughal emperor.

In 1724, when Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah declared independence, the existence of Berar as a Mughal Subah came to an end. It became (though nominally) a part of Nizam’s state [ [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V07_375.gifImperial Gazetteer of India, v. 7, p. 369] ] .

The administration and the revenue

Berar came under Mughal administration in 1596. Todar Mal's famous system known as "bandobast" was made applicable to the Berar Subah. In "Ain-i-Akbari", the original name of Berar is mentioned as "Waradatat" (the banks of Varada River) [Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). "Ain-i-Akbari" Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, p.236] .

The area of the Berar Subah during Akbar's reign was 72,000 sq. miles. According to "Ain-i-Akbari", its northern limit was Handia, the eastern limit was the fort of Vairagad near Bastar, the southern limit was Telangana and the western limit was Mahkarabad. Ellichpur was the capital of the Subah. The important forts of the Subah were Gavilgad. Narnala, Pavanar, Khedala, Manikdurg and Mahur. It was divided into 13 "sarkar"s consisting of 242 "pargana"s [Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). "Ain-i-Akbari" Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, pp.236-9] .

The "sarkar"s and "pargana"s of the Berar Subah were [Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). "Ain-i-Akbari" Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, pp.240-4] :

The "jama" (revenue assessed) from Berar in 1596 CE was 64,26,03,270 dams (Delhi) [Habib, Irfan "The Agrarain System of Mughal India 1556-1707", Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999 ISBN 019 565595 8, p.462] . Land revenue formed the major part of the total income of the Subah. Other sources of income were zakat, customs, salt tax, khums, mint, currency, jiziya, escheats, presents, octroi, tolls and tributes. The coins current were tanka-i-Barari, dam and Rupee. One tanka-i-Barari was equal to 16 Delhi dams [Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). "Ain-i-Akbari" Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, p.239n] (but later raised to 24 dams) or eight Delhi tankas.

Notes

References

*Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). "Ain-i-Akbari" Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society.

ee also

*Berar Sultanate (before)
*Berar Province (after)