In the Mughal provincial administration, the department called 'Diwani' was concerned with:

In the Mughal provincial administration, "Diwani" referred to the revenue and civil (financial) administration of a province (suba), which was headed by the provincial Diwan.

The Mughal provinces:

• The Mughal empire was divided into provinces called subas.
• Under Akbar, there were initially 12 subas, later increased to 15.
• Each suba was divided into sarkars, and each sarkar into parganas.

Officials of the suba:

• "Subadar" (or Nazim): the governor; he was responsible for law and order, military affairs and general administration ("nizamat").
• "Diwan": the head of revenue and finance ("diwani"); he collected the revenue, kept accounts, and supervised civil justice.
• "Bakhshi": the military paymaster.
• "Sadr": the head of religious affairs and charitable grants.
• "Qazi": the judge.
• "Waqia-navis": the news reporter.
• "Kotwal": the head of the police in towns.

Checks and balances:

• NCERT notes that the Diwan was appointed directly by the central government and was independent of the Subadar.
• This division of powers between the Subadar and the Diwan was designed to prevent either from becoming too powerful.
• Each reported separately to the centre.

Diwani in later history:

• The word "Diwani" came to be used for the right to collect revenue.
• After the Battle of Buxar, the Mughal emperor granted the English East India Company the "Diwani" of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, which gave it the right to collect the land revenue of these provinces.
• This established the "dual system" of government in Bengal, in which the Company had the Diwani and the Nawab had the Nizamat.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Military command was the duty of the Subadar and Bakhshi.
• ✗Criminal justice and law and order formed the Nizamat.
• ✗Religious grants were handled by the Sadr.