The Vakil of the Mughal Empire ( ur, ), officially the Vakil-i-Mutlaq ( ur, , literally: "Representative of Emperor"), was an important office in the

Government of the Mughal Empire The government of the Mughal Empire was a highly centralised bureaucracy, most of which was instituted during the rule of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. The central government was headed by the Mughal emperor; immediately beneath him were f ...

, first in ministerial hierarchy and only next to

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

. Vekil is an Arabic word which means "representative". The Vakil was considered as the Emperor's lieutenant in all matters connected with the realm and household. From the reign of

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...

Emperor Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

, the title of

grand vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

was also given to the Vakil. But afterwards it remained only as dignitary post. The degree of powers of the Vakil's office varied from era to era. However the Vakil required Emperor's approval in each and every decision. During the era of Babur and

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...

, he had the powers of

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

while early in the reign of

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

, Vakil Bairam Khan acted as regent and ruled on the behalf of Emperor. Bairam Khan had his own ''Vakil-i-Mutlaq'', who in this case was a general manager. This position was held by

Pir Muhammad Khan Shirwani Maulana Pir Muhammad Khan Shirwani was a senior official of the Mughal Empire and a commander in the Mughal Army. Background Pir Muhammad was the Vakil-i-Mutlaq (general manager) of the regent of the Mughal Empire, Bairam Khan, who had granted ...

and when he was temporarily dismissed, given to Haji Muhammad Sistani. In 1564, Akbar revived the office of Vakil and didn't give him the responsibilities of finance department. In the reign of

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

, the office of Imperial Diwan gained prominence and ultimately during Shah Jahan's regime, the title of grand vizier was transferred from Vakil's office to Imperial Diwan.

References

{{reflist Government of the Mughal Empire Mughal nobility Titles in India

See also

References