DR. NADIA MEHRDIN , DR. MUHAMMAD TAHIR , DR. NASEEM UR REHMAN , DR. AQSA SAJID
DOI: https://doi.org/This research explored the roles, responsibilities, and impact of the Mughal governors on the administration, the economy, and the socio-cultural aspects of the Kashmir region during the 16th to 18th centuries. This research used qualitative methodology of Persian history by analyzing primary Persian documents, Mughal documents, farmān and mansab, and Mughal secondary administrative literature. A descriptive-analytical method was used by the researchers to study the relationships of control and subordination in the case of Mughal control and the governors in the control of the former over the latter’s control of the revenues, troops, and administrative functions. Though the study found that Mughal governors had overwhelming administrative and military powers to the extent that they were sole superiors to the emperor, they were still in charge of the military and administrative hierarchies and they facilitated the economic development of Kashmir by effective control of the revenues, administration, and promoted the construction and inter-culture integration and matrixed economies of the region. Moreover, the governors’ relationships with the region’s socio-religious leaders provided the region with the political order and social cohesion that the region greatly needed. This study concentrated on the Mughal Empire’s provincial governance with special attention to these governors and Kashmiri socio-political and economic history and the functions of these imperial brokers to balance the central power over the locality’s administration in this important border province.
