The Mughal Empire was centralized government, which last from 1526 to 1858.

The empire is famous for territorial expansion, institutional reforms in land revenue (jagir system), inventing a new language, and military organization. It comprised the regions of current day Pakistan, India, Bangladesh. The empire rested on two important pillars 1. The absolute power of the emperor 2. The strength of the army. The emperor was the commander of the armed forces, held executive, judicial and legislative powers of the state. He supervised all the branches of his administration and would hold an open court for public complaints and try to pacify his people. The Emperor was assisted by many ministers in the administration. The four most important ministers were 1. The Vakil, who was in charge of all the central departments and held the position of chief adviser of the King; 2. Diwan, who was in-charge of revenue and finance; 3. Mir Bakshi, who distributed pay amongst the officials; 4. Sadar-i-Sadur, who was in charge of religious affairs, and administered royal charity. Empire was divided into fifteen provinces. In each province there was a government system. The Subedar or Governor was the head of the provincial administration. He relished vast powers and was in-charge of the provincial military, police, judiciary and the executive. The Diwan was in-charge of the provincial finance. The Bakshi looked after the management of the provincial army. The Sadar was in-charge of the judicial charity department. The Qazi was in-charge of the judiciary. The Kotwal was the supreme administrator responsible for maintain law and order in all the cities. The Mir Bahr monitored customs and taxation department. The Waqa-i-Nawis was in-charge of the secret service of the province. The provinces were further divided into Sarkars and Paragana. (Cities and towns) The head of the Sarkar was Faujdar who kept his own small force and maintained law and order in his area. He was assisted by a number of other officials who collected the revenue, maintained the accounts and deposited the money into the state treasury. Land revenue in the form of taxation and cultivation was the primary source of income for the government. The share of state was fixed at 1/3 of the production, but in case of drought, famine or unexpected losses loans and compensations were granted by the government. Diwan was in charge of land revenue collection.

The backbone of the Mughal Empire was its military. Great importance was given to strong military for protection against the external threats. The administrative system of army was based on Mansabdari System. Mansabadir were imperial officials, or aristocrats, who maintained soldiers according to their ranks, ranging from 10 to 10,000. These officials were under direct control of the emperor. Additionally the emperor also maintained a strong army which consisted of infantry, cavalry, artillery, elephants, horses and navy. The major drawbacks of this system were Mansabdars would cheat central government in distribution of payment to soldiers, this led to inefficiencies in units. Secondly soldiers were more loyal to their chiefs than they were to the emperor. The fallout of this could be seen at the fall of Mughal Empire, when British increased their influence in the region with the help of local powerful chiefs, and landlords. Conclusion In short the Mughal Empire was a centralized disposition based on military power. The political and economic institutions were shaped by the central government. The ownership of the land belonged to the state, though land was allotted for cultivation purposes and tax were collected. Central government headed by the king, and run by aristocrats was the key players in shaping up the society in Mughal era. Private business owners, farmers, traders didnt have much influence in economic affairs of the empire. Additionally large amounts of lands were allotted to feudal landlords; they were exempted from taxes, but would have to maintain a small army at the disposal of the emperor (this institutional change and more independence of small states led to crumbling of the Mughal Empire which was unable of defend itself from French and English invaders). With the Mughal Empires disintegration, and feudal system gaining more control; trade became open with Western Europe. The European countries gradually gained more power by increasing trading activities (e.g. East India Company), spreading trading centers on coastal regions, and consequently British colonizing the Indian subcontinent. Sources Caroline Laldinsangi (Sep 2010), Administration of Akbar / Mughuls Administration

Geoff Watson (1992), University of Canterbury, Tradition, Transplantation, Transformation: Central Asia in the Making of the Mughal Empire Shreya Acharya (Oct 2011), History, What Was The Nature Of Mughal Administration In India?