Diwan-i-Wizarat
Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Diwan-i-Wizarat was the finance and revenue department of the Delhi Sultanate. It was headed by the wazir, the chief minister. It collected taxes, kept accounts and looked after spending. Two officers helped the wazir: the mushrif-i-mamalik (accountant general), who kept the accounts, and the mustaufi-i-mamalik (auditor general), who checked them.
Example
Revenue from the territories, including the land tax that the note says was usually one-fifth of the harvest, was recorded and checked by this department. It also checked the accounts that iqta holders sent to Delhi.
Don't confuse with
- Diwan-i-Arz: this was the military department, headed by the ariz-i-mamalik. It looked after soldiers and horses, not finance.
- Diwan-i-Insha: this was the department of royal letters and orders.