THE REIGN OF AKBAR (1556-1605) 109 
which was still in process of compilation, and was in fact 
incomplete at the time of his death. This is a mere guess, 
arising out of the facts, but not established by them; my 
only justification for offering it is that the problem must 
present itself to any student of the subject. 
With the completion of the Imperial Commissioner’s 
work, we reach a period of apparent stability in the revenue 
administration, a period which, if we may rely on the 
silence of the authorities, continued to the close of Akbar’s 
reign. The changes made in the 24th year, the intro- 
duction of assessment-rates fixed in money, and the re- 
version to the practice of granting Assignments, con- 
stituted the foundations: but the need still existed for re- 
forming procedure, both in the districts and in the Ministry, 
so far as concerned those portions of the northern provinces 
which were retained under direct administration. The 
district procedure was reformed by Todar Mal, that of the 
Ministry by Fathulla Shirazi, and, in order to complete this 
section, it is necessary only to refer to some changes sub- 
sequently made in the organisation of the Ministry. In 
the 34th year Todar Mal died; two years later, the work of 
the Reserved areas was distributed on a territorial basis 
among four officers working at headquarters under the 
Minister; and in the 4oth year a more important change! 
was carried out, a separate Diwan being posted to each 
province, to work directly under the Revenue Minister's 
orders. I take this to mark the beginning of the adminis- 
trative dyarchy, Diwani and Faujdari, which is so familiar 
a feature of the next two centuries. Henceforward the 
revenue administration in each province was conducted 
under the orders of the Revenue Minister, and independently 
of the officers charged with the general administration. 
Up to this year the provincial Diwan had been an officer 
of the Viceroy’s staff; for the future he was to be an officer 
on the staff of an Imperial department. 
! Akbarnama, iii. 605, 670. I had not come across this latter passage 
when I suggested (J.R.A.S., 1922, p. 22) that the change might date from 
the reign of Jahangir.