Subah


A Subah was the term for a province in the Mughal Empire. The word is derived from Arabic and Persian. The governor/ruler of a Subah was known as a subahdar, which later became subedar to refer to an officer in the Indian Army. The subahs were established by badshah Akbar during his administrative reforms of years 1572-1580; initially they numbered to 12, but his conquests expanded the number of subahs to 15 by the end of his reign. Subahs were divided into Sarkars, or districts. Sarkars were further divided into Parganas or Mahals. His successors, most notably Aurangzeb, expanded the number of subahs further through their conquests. As the empire began to dissolve in the early 18th century, many subahs became effectively independent, or were conquered by the Marathas or the British.
In modern context subah is a word used for province in Urdu language.

History

Initially, after the administrative reforms of Akbar, the Mughal empire was divided into 12 subahs : Kabul, Lahore, Multan, Delhi, Agra, Avadh, Illahabad, Bihar, Bangalah, Malwa, Ajmer and Gujarat. After the conquest of Deccan, he created three more subahs there : Berar, Khandesh and Ahmadnagar. At the end of Akbar's reign, the number of subahs was thus 15. It was increased to 17 during the reign of Jahangir. Orissa was created as a separate subah, carved out of Bangalah in 1607. The number of subahs increased to 22 under Shah Jahan. In his 8th regnal year, Shah Jahan separated the sarkar of Telangana from Berar and made it into a separate Subah. In 1657, it was merged with Zafarabad Bidar subah. Agra was renamed Akbarabad 1629 and Delhi became Shahjahanbad in 1648. Kashmir was carved out of Kabul, Thatta out of Multan and Bidar out of Ahmadnagar. For some time Qandahar was a separate subah under the Mughal Empire but it was lost to Persia in 1648. Aurangzeb added Bijapur, Sira and Golkonda as new subahs. There were 22 subahs during his reign. These were Kabul, Kashmir, Lahore, Multan, Delhi, Agra, Avadh, Illahabad, Bihar, Bangalah, Orissa, Malwa, Ajmer, Gujarat, Berar, Khandesh, Aurangabad, Bidar, Thatta, Bijapur, Sira and Haidarabad. During the reign of Bahadur Shah, Arcot became a Mughal subah in 1710.

Current usage

In modern usage in Urdu language, the term is used as a word for province, while the word riyasat is used for state. The terminologies are based on administrative structure of British India which was partially derived from the Mughal administrative structure. In modern times, the term subah is mainly used in Pakistan, where its four provinces are called "Subah" in Urdu language.

List of Subahs of the Mughal Empire

Akbar's original twelve ''subahs''

The twelve subahs created as a result of the administrative reform by Akbar the Great:
#SubahCapital
1Kabul Subah Kabul
2Lahore SubahLahore
3Multan SubahMultan
4Ajmer SubahAjmer
5Gujarat SubahAhmedabad
6Delhi SubahDelhi
7Agra SubahAgra
8Malwa SubahUjjain
9Awadh SubahFaizabad, later Lucknow
10Illahabad SubahIllahabad
11Bihar SubahPatna
12Bengal SubahTanda
Rajmahal
Dhaka
Murshidabad

''Subah''s added after 1595

The subahs which added later were :
#SubahCapitalYear of establishmentEmperor
13Berar SubahEllichpur1596Akbar
14Khandesh SubahBurhanpur1601Akbar
15Ahmadnagar Subah
Ahmadnagar
Daulatabad
Aurangabad		1601
Akbar
16Orissa SubahCuttackShah Jahan
17Kashmir SubahSrinagarShah Jahan
18Thatta SubahThattaShah Jahan
Qandahar SubahQandahar1638 Shah Jahan
Telangana SubahNanded1636 Shah Jahan
Balkh SubahBalkh1646 Shah Jahan
Badakhshan SubahQunduz1646 Shah Jahan
19Bidar SubahBidar1656Shah Jahan
20Bijapur SubahBijapur1684Aurangzeb
21Golkonda Subah Haidarabad1687Aurangzeb
22Sira SubahSira1687Aurangzeb