Iqta System

Definition

The administrative and revenue system of the Delhi Sultanate under which the Sultan assigned territories (iqtas) to nobles and officers (iqtadars or muqtis) in lieu of cash salary, in return for maintaining troops and remitting surplus revenue to the state.

Key points

• Introduced in India by Iltutmish (of the Slave or Mamluk dynasty), it became the cornerstone of Sultanate provincial administration.
• The iqtadar (also called muqti or wali) collected land revenue, met the cost of his own salary and the soldiers he maintained, and sent the balance (fawazil) to the centre.
• Iqtas were originally transferable and non-hereditary, which prevented nobles from becoming entrenched landed lords; Firuz Shah Tughlaq later allowed them to become hereditary, weakening central control.
• Alauddin Khalji tightened control by measuring land, fixing revenue, and curbing the powers of iqtadars and intermediaries.
• The system resembled a salary-cum-administration arrangement rather than European feudalism, since land ownership remained with the state.

Why it matters for CAPF

Iltutmish as the introducer, the transferable versus hereditary shift under Firuz Tughlaq, and the iqta as a revenue-assignment (not ownership) are standard Sultanate-administration facts.

Common confusion

The iqta (Delhi Sultanate) is a revenue assignment, distinct from the later Mughal jagir and mansab; making iqtas hereditary under Firuz Tughlaq weakened, not strengthened, the centre.

Parent note

delhi sultanate