Who Was Akbar’s Revenue Minister?

By Balaji

Updated on: March 16th, 2023

Akbar’s Revenue Minister was Raja Todar Mal. He was the finance minister or revenue minister and one of the Navaratnas in Akbar’s court. He used to manage all crop yield and financial matters of Akbar. Raja Todar Mal is credited for bringing the standard weights, measures, and land that were divided into four categories depending upon the continuity of cultivation.

Table of content

1. Revenue Minister of Akbar
2. Facts About Akbar’s Revenue Minister
3. Who was Akbar’s Revenue Minister?

Revenue Minister of Akbar

Akbar was a great admirer of learning and art and had many scholars in his court. He had nine of the most learned men in his court whom he called ‘Navaratnas’. They were Abul Fazal, Faizi, Miyan Tansen, Raja Birbal, Raja Todar Mal, Raja Man Singh, Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, Fakir Aziao-Din, Mirza Aziz Koka.

Raja Todarmal was the revenue or finance minister. Akbar regarded his advice in high esteem. He also introduced ‘zabt’ which is a unique system of revenue and a system of taxation called ‘dahshala’.

Facts About Akbar’s Revenue Minister

Here are some of the significant facts about Raja Todar Mal:

He first worked under Sher Shah Suri and later on under Akbar.
Todar Mal became Akbar’s finance officer or Mushrif-i-Diwan in 1575, and Diwan-i-kul or Chief Finance Minister in 1582.
He is credited for introducing the standard weight of measurement.
He introduced the land survey and settlement system.
He also introduced the ‘Zabti’ system which is also termed ‘Todar Mal Bandobast’.

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