BharatNotes What is Iqta System?
The Iqta System was the principal land-revenue and administrative arrangement of the Delhi Sultanate. The Sultan assigned a tract of territory — an iqta — to a noble or military officer, who in return for the revenue collected from it had to pay and maintain a body of troops, run the civil administration of the area, and deposit any surplus with the central treasury. Crucially, the iqta was an assignment of revenue rights, not of land ownership; in principle it was transferable and revocable at the Sultan's will.
The system was not an Indian invention. It was codified under the Buyids, systematised in the Seljuq empire by the Persian statesman Nizam-ul-Mulk (whose Siyasatnama defined the muqti's duties), brought to India by the Ghurids, and institutionalised in the Sultanate by Iltutmish (r. 1211–1236), who granted small iqtas in the Doab to soldiers in lieu of salary.
Key Functionaries and Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Iqta | Territorial unit assigned for revenue collection |
| Muqti / Wali | Holder of an iqta; collected revenue, maintained troops and order |
| Fawazil | Surplus revenue (income minus sanctioned expenses) due to the treasury |
| Khwaja | Accountant appointed to audit the muqti's income and spending |
| Diwan-i-Wizarat | Central finance department that estimated each iqta's revenue |
Evolution Across Reigns
- Iltutmish (r. 1211–1236): institutionalised the system; iqtas were non-hereditary and transferable.
- Balban (r. 1266–1287): tightened control; appointed khwajas to audit accounts and pressed for deposit of fawazil.
- Alauddin Khalji (r. 1296–1316): stressed transfers of iqtadars, expanded bureaucratic oversight, and curbed noble autonomy, effectively making many muqtis salaried officials.
- Muhammad bin Tughlaq (r. 1325–1351): moved to separate revenue collection from military command to centralise authority.
- Firoz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351–1388): reversed the trend by making iqtas hereditary to placate the nobility — winning short-term loyalty but weakening central control in the long run.
Significance and Decline
The iqta linked land revenue, military recruitment and provincial administration in a single device, allowing a cash-poor early state to pay a standing army and govern a vast territory. Its central tension was always centralisation versus noble autonomy — strong Sultans transferred and audited muqtis; weak ones let assignments harden into hereditary holdings.
The hereditary turn under Firoz Shah Tughlaq eroded the Sultan's leverage and contributed to administrative decline. Under the Mughals the function was reorganised into the jagirdari system tied to the mansabdari ranking framework introduced by Akbar — where, once again, the jagir was a transferable, non-hereditary revenue assignment, distinguishing it from the late, hereditary iqta.
UPSC Angle
Remember the chain: West Asian origin → Ghurid introduction → Iltutmish's institutionalisation → tightening under Khalji/Tughlaq → hereditary under Firoz Shah → Mughal jagir/mansab. Be precise that an iqta conferred revenue rights, not landownership, and that it became hereditary only under Firoz Shah Tughlaq — a favourite Prelims trap.
