Term used for a province in the Mughal Empire
A
Subah
was the term for a
province
(state) in the
Mughal Empire
. The term was also used by other polities of the Indian subcontinent. The word is derived from
Arabic
and
Persian
. The governor/ruler of a
Subah
was known as a
subahdar
(sometimes also referred to as a "
Subeh
"
[1]
), which later became
subedar
to refer to an officer in the
Indian Army
and
Pakistan Army
. The
subahs
were established by
badshah
(emperor)
Akbar
during his administrative reforms of the years 1572?1580; initially, they numbered 12, but his conquests expanded the number of
subahs
to 15 by the end of his reign.
Subahs
were divided into
Sarkars
, or districts.
Sarkars
were further divided into
Parganas
or
Mahals
. His successors, most notably
Aurangzeb
, expanded the number of
subahs
further through their conquests. As the empire began to dissolve in the early 18th century, many
subahs
became effectively independent or were conquered by the
Marathas
or the
British
.
In the modern context, subah (
Urdu
:
????
) is a word used for
province
in the
Urdu
language mainly in Pakistan.
History
[
edit
]
Initially, after the administrative reforms of
Akbar
, the
Mughal empire
was divided into 12 subahs: Kabul, Lahore, Multan, Delhi, Agra, Avadh, Illahabad, Bihar, Bangal, Malwa, Ajmer and Gujarat. After the conquest of
Deccan
, he created three more subahs there: Berar, Khandesh (initially renamed Dandesh in 1601) and Ahmadnagar (in 1636 renamed as Daulatabad and subsequently as Aurangabad).
Jahangir
increased the number of subahs to 17 during his reign; Orissa being carved out of Bangal in 1607. The number of subahs increased to 22 under
Shah Jahan
.
[2]
In his 8th regnal year, Shah Jahan separated the
sarkar
of Telangana from Berar and made it into a separate subah. In 1657, it was merged with Zafarabad Bidar subah. Agra was renamed Akbarabad in 1629 and Delhi became Shahjahanbad in 1648.
[3]
Kashmir was carved out of Kabul, Thatta (Sindh) out of Multan, and Bidar out of Ahmadnagar. For some time Qandahar was a separate subah under the Mughal Empire but it was lost to Persia in 1648.
Aurangzeb
added Bijapur (1686),
Sira
(1687)
[4]
and
Golkonda
(1687) as new subahs. There were 22 subahs during his reign.
[2]
These were Kabul, Kashmir, Lahore, Multan, Delhi, Agra, Avadh, Illahabad, Bihar, Bangalah, Orissa, Malwa, Ajmer, Gujarat, Berar, Khandesh, Aurangabad, Bidar, Thatta, Bijapur,
Sira
[4]
and Haidarabad (Golkonda).
[5]
Aurangzeb
made Arcot a Mughal subah in 1692.
The
Sikh Empire
(1799?1849), originating in the
Punjab region
, also used the term
Suba
for the provinces it administered under its territorial delineation, of which there were five.
[6]
Current usage
[
edit
]
In modern usage in
Urdu
language, the term is used as a word for
province
, while the word
riyasat
(
Urdu
:
?????
) ("princely state" in English) is used for
(federated) state
. The terminologies are based on the administrative structure of
British India
which was partially derived from the Mughal administrative structure. In modern times, the term
subah
is mainly used in
Pakistan
, where its four
provinces
are called "Subah" in the
Urdu
language.
List of Subahs of the Mughal Empire
[
edit
]
Akbar's original twelve
subahs
[
edit
]
The twelve subahs created as a result of the administrative reform by Akbar(Mughal Emperor):
Subahs
added after 1593
[
edit
]
The
subahs
which added later were (with dates established):
Gallery
[
edit
]
Subahs of the Mughal Empire
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
George Clifford Whitworth.
Subah.
An Anglo-Indian Dictionary: A Glossary of Indian Terms Used in English, and of Such English Or Other Non-Indian Terms as Have Obtained Special Meanings in India
. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. 1885. p. 301.
- ^
a
b
Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007).
History of Medieval India
, Part II, New Delhi: S. Chand,
ISBN
81-219-0364-5
, p.236n
- ^
Habib, I (2003).
The Agrarian System of Mughal India 1556-1707
, New Delhi: Oxford University Press,
ISBN
0-19-565595-8
, pp.8n, 451
- ^
a
b
Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series 1908
, pp. 175?176
harvnb error: no target: CITEREFImperial_Gazetteer_of_India:_Provincial_Series1908 (
help
)
- ^
Habib, I (2003).
The Agrarian System of Mughal India 1556-1707
, New Delhi: Oxford University Press,
ISBN
0-19-565595-8
, p.4
- ^
Herrli, Hans (1993).
The Coins of the Sikhs
. p. 10.
References
[
edit
]
- Keay, John (2000).
India: a History
. Grove Press, New York.
- Markovits, Claude (ed.) (2004).
A History of Modern India: 1480?1950
. Anthem Press, London.
Further reading
[
edit
]