Wazir-e-azam of
the Mughal Empire
AppointerMoghul Padisah
Formation1526
First holderAmir Nizamu-d din Khalifa
Final holderAsaf-ud-Daula
Abolished1797

The Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire was the highest ranking minister of the Mughal Emperor’s government and the chief adviser to the emperor himself. The position acted as the de facto head of government of the Mughal Empire and had responsibility for leading the ministers of the Crown. This is the list of grand viziers (vazīr-e azam) of the Mughal Empire.

History

The seniormost official under the Mughals, or the Prime Minister, held different titles such as Vakil, Vakil-us-Sultanat, Wazir, Diwan, Diwan-i-Ala and Diwan Wazir under different Mughal emperors.[1] Under Babur and Humayun, the institution of the wazirat was not fully developed owing to a lack of an entrenched nobility and political upheaval. Nonetheless, individuals under both rulers did rise to positions equivalent to the position of prime minister and under Humayun reforms were first attempted to clarify the roles of Vakil and Wazir.[1]

In the early years of Akbar's reign, the position of prime minister was first officially held by Bairam Khan as Vakil-us-Sultanat, and he exercised considerable influence over the emperor. Over time the power of the Vakil gradually declined, and during the reign of his successor Jahangir the role of Wazir replaced the Vakil as the most important officer in government.[1] Mughal wazirs were specifically appointed from the ahl-i-qalam(men of the pen) as distinct from the ahl-i-saif(men of the sword).[2] With the abolishment of the post of Wakil, the post was divided into the two offices of Wazir and Mir Bakhshi, where the chief Wazir was the head of the finance department, while the Mir Bakhshi was the head of the military department.[3] These two offices were made jointly responsible for the administration by a system of signatures and counter-signatures.[4] Until the death of Aurangzeb, the post of Wazir was never a threat to the monarchy as the Wazir could not act too independently. However, after the death of Aurangzeb, the pre-mughal tradition in India of the Wazir being the premier noble at the court and leading counsellor of the king apart from being the head of the financial administration had been re-established.[5]

List of grand viziers

Portrait Name Term of office Notable events Emperor
Amir Nizamuddin Khalifa 1526 1540 1st Battle of Panipat

Battle of Khanwa

 Babur (1526 – 1530)

& Humayun (1530 – 1540)

Qaracha Khan 1540 ? He was a governor of Qandahar and Humayun appoint him as Grand-Vizier of the Mughal State. Humayun (1530 – 1556)
Bairam Khan[1] 1556 1560 Akbar-i-Azam
اکبر اعظم
(1556-1605)
Munim Khan 1560 1565
Muzaffar Khan Turbati[6] 1575 1579 No Vakil was appointed after his appointment to governorship in Bengal from 1579 until 1589
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak[7] 1579 1602
Sharif Khan[1] 1605 1611 Jahangir
جہانگیر
(1605-1627)
Mirza Ghias Beg[1] 1611 1622
Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan[1] 1622 1630
Afzal Khan Shirazi[1] 1630 1639 Shah Jahan
شاہ جہان
(1628-1658)
Islam Khan Mashadi[1] 1639 1640
Shaikh Ilam-ud-Din Ansari[8] 1640 1642
Sadullah Khan[9] 1642 1656
Mir Jumla[10] 1656 1657 Alamgir I
عالمگیر
(1658-1707)
Jafar Khan[11] 1657 1658
Fazil Khan[12] 1658 1663
Jafar Khan[13] 1663 1670 [14]
Asad Khan[15] 1675 1707
Mun'im Khan Khan-i-Khanan[16] 1707 1711 Bahadur Shah I
بہادر شاہ
(1707-1712)
Hidayatullah Khan Kashmiri[17] 1711 1713 Jahandar Shah
جہاندار شاہ
(1712-1713)
Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung[18] 1712 1713
Mir Rustam Ali Khan[1] 1710 1737 Farrukhsiyar
فرخ سیر
(1713–1719)
Qutb-ul-Mulk Abdullah Khan Barha[19] 1713 1720
  • Mughal throne occupied by a series of puppet rulers under the Syed brothers.[20]
Muhammad Amin Khan Turani[21] 1720 1721 Muhammad Shah
محمد شاہ
(1719-1748)
Mir Qamar-ud-Din Khan Asaf Jah I[22] 1721 1723
Roshan-ud Daula Zafar Khan Roshan-ud-Daulah Zafar Khan[23][24] 1724 1733
Mir Fazil Qamar-ud-Din Khan 1733 1748


Safdar Jang[25] 1748 1753 Ahmad Shah Bahadur
احمد شاہ بہادر
(1748-1754)
Intizam-ud-Daulah[26] 1753 1754
Imad-ul-Mulk Feroze Jung[27] 1754 1760 Alamgir II
عالمگیر دوم
(1754-1759)
(de-facto wazir-i-azam

Shuja ud-Daulah)[28]

(Original shahjada-wazir-i-azam

Mirza Jawan Bakht)

 1760

1760

 1775

1784

 Shah Alam II
شاہ عالم دوم
(1760-1806)
Najaf Quli Khan[29] 1772 1791

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sharma, Gauri (2006). Prime Ministers Under the Mughals 1526-1707. Kanishka, New Delhi. ISBN 8173918236.
  2. ↑ Satish Chandra (2005). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II.
  3. ↑ Abdul Qadir Husaini (Saiyid.) (1952). Administration Under the Mughuls. the University of Michigan.
  4. ↑ Jagadish Narayan Sarkar (1984). Mughal Polity. University of Michigan. p. 132.
  5. ↑ Gauri Pandit (2004). Status And Role Of Prime Ministers Under The Mughals 1526 To 1707. Panjab University, Chandigarh. p. 60.
  6. ↑ Satish Chandra (2005). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II. Har-Anand Publications. p. 136.
  7. ↑ Alfred J. Andrea, James H. Overfield. The Human Record: To 1700. Houghton Mifflin. p. 476. Abul Fazl(1551-1602), the emperor's chief advisor and confidant from 1579 until Abul Fazl's assassination at the instigation of Prince Salim, the future Emperor Jahangir(r. 1605-1627)
  8. ↑ Abraham Richard Fuller (1990). The Shah Jahan Nama of 'Inayat Khan: An Abridged History of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan). University of Michigan. p. 602.
  9. ↑ Adolf Simon Waley (1927). The Shah Jahan Nama of 'Inayat Khan: An Abridged History of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, Compiled by His Royal Librarian : the Nineteenth-century Manuscript Translation of A.R. Fuller (British Library, Add. 30,777). Constable.
  10. ↑ Indian Institute of Public Administration (1976). The Indian Journal of Public Administration: Quarterly Journal of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Volume 22. The Institute.
  11. ↑ Indian History Congress - Proceedings: Volume 42. Indian History Congress. 1981.
  12. ↑ Indian History Congress - Proceedings: Volume 42. Indian History Congress. 1981.
  13. ↑ Indian Institute of Public Administration (1976). The Indian Journal of Public Administration: Quarterly Journal of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Volume 22. The Institute.
  14. ↑ Indian History Congress Proceedings: Volume 42. Indian History Congress. 1981.
  15. ↑ Krieger-Krynicki, Annie (2005). Captive Princess: Zebunissa, Daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb. University of Michigan. ISBN 0195798376.
  16. ↑ Kaicker, Abhishek (3 Feb 2020). The King and the People: Sovereignty and Popular Politics in Mughal Delhi. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190070687.
  17. ↑ William Irvine. Later Mughals. p. 128.
  18. ↑ John F. Richards, The New Cambridge History of India: The Mughal Empire (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 262
  19. ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. (2009). Britannica Guide to India. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. ISBN 978-1593398477.
  20. ↑ C. K. Srinivasan (1962). Baji Rao I, the Great Peshwa. p. 22.
  21. ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. (2009). Britannica Guide to India. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. ISBN 978-1593398477.
  22. ↑ Disha Experts (17 Dec 2018). The History Compendium for IAS Prelims General Studies Paper 1 & State PSC Exams 3rd Edition. Disha Publications. ISBN 978-9388373036.
  23. ↑ Praveen Kumar (2017). Complete Indian History for IAS Exam. Educreation Publishing. p. 267.
  24. ↑ Satish Chandra (1999). Medieval India: Mughal Empire, 1526-1748.
  25. ↑ Disha Experts (17 Dec 2018). The History Compendium for IAS Prelims General Studies Paper 1 & State PSC Exams 3rd Edition. Disha Publications. ISBN 978-9388373036.
  26. ↑ Khwaja, Sehar. "Fosterage and Motherhood in the Mughal Harem: Intimate Relations and the Political System in Eighteenth-Century India." Social Scientist 46, no. 5-6 (2018): 39-60. Accessed August 7, 2020. doi:10.2307/26530803.
  27. ↑ Khwaja, Sehar. "Fosterage and Motherhood in the Mughal Harem: Intimate Relations and the Political System in Eighteenth-Century India." Social Scientist 46, no. 5-6 (2018): 39-60. Accessed August 7, 2020. doi:10.2307/26530803.
  28. ↑ Bhatia, O. P. Singh (1968). History of India, from 1707 to 1856. Surjeet Book Depot.
  29. ↑ Rima Hooja (2006). A History of Rajasthan. the University of Michigan. p. 737.
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