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{{Short description|Subah of the Mughal Empire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name =
| area_label = 1601
| area_sq_mi = 49786<ref>{{Cite book |last=Habib |first=Irfan |url= |title=An Atlas of the Mughal Empire: Political and Economic Maps with Detained Notes, Bibliography and Index |date=1986 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-560379-8 |language=en|chapter=Table I: Area and ''ʽJama'' of the Mughal Empire, c. 1601|author-link=Irfan Habib|pp=xii–xiii}}</ref>
| conventional_long_name = Berar Subah
| common_name = Berar
| year_start = 1596
| event_start = Conquered by [[Akbar]]
| year_end = 1724
| event_end = The Nizam of [[Hyderabad state|Hyderabad]] becomes the ''[[de jure]]'' sovereign of Berar
| p1 = Ahmednagar Sultanate
| s1 = Hyderabad State
| flag_s1 = Asafia flag of Hyderabad State.svg
| image_map = Berar_Subah.png
| image_map_caption = Berar Subah depicted in map of Mughal Empire by Robert Wilkinson (1805)
| capital = [[Ellichpur]]
| footnotes = {{EB1911|wstitle=Berar}}
}}
The '''Berar Subah''' ({{langx|fa|{{nq|صوبه برار}}}}) was one of the [[Subah (province)|Subah]]s (provinces) of the [[Mughal Empire]], in Central India from 1596 to 1724. It bordered [[Golconda Subah|Golconda]], [[Ahmadnagar Subah|Ahmadnagar]] (both conquered in 1601), [[Kandesh subah|Kandesh]] and [[Malwa Subah|Malwa]] provinces as well as the independent and tributary kingdoms to the east.

== Origin of name ==
According to the ''Ain-i-Akbari'', the original name of Berar was ''Waradatat'' (the banks of Varada River).<ref>Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). ''Ain-i-Akbari'' Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, p.236</ref>

== History ==
Before the Mughal occupation, Berar was part of the Nizam Shahi sultanate of [[Ahmadnagar Sultanate|Ahmadnagar]]. It was ceded to the emperor [[Akbar]] by [[Chand Bibi]] in 1596, unable to stand against the imperial forces led by prince [[Sultan Murad Mirza|Murad]]. After this initial victory Prince Murad settled in Berar with Balapur as his headquarters. Near Balapur he founded a new city named [[Shahapur, Buldhana|Shahpur]] and constructed a beautiful palace for himself. As his relationship was deteriorating with [[Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan]], the commander of the army, Akbar recalled Khan-i-Khanan and sent his trusted friend [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak|Abul Fazl]] to help him. Murad died in 1598. After his death, Prince Daniel was given the charge as governor of Berar, Ahmadnagar and Khandesh, Khan-i- Khanan was sent along with Daniel. Akbar died in 1605.<ref name="Wardha">{{cite web|url= http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/WARDHA/his_admin.html|title= Wardha district e-gazetteer – administrative history}}</ref>

In 1611, the southern provinces of Ahmadnagar, Berar and Khandesh defied Mughal sovereignty under [[Malik Ambar]]. Jahangir sent [[Man Singh I|Man Singh]] and others to crush the revolt.
Man Singh died a natural death on 6 July 1614 at Ellichpur. During [[Jahangir]]’s rule, [[Malik Ambar]] till his death in 1626 recovered a substantial part of the Deccan from the Mughals including Berar. In 1628, the first year of reign of [[Shah Jahan]], Berar again came under the Mughal sway.

In 1636, the Mughal possessions in ''Dakhin'' (Deccan) were divided into 4 Subahs. Berar was one of them with [[Ellichpur]] as its capital and Gavilgad as its main fort. [[Aurangzeb]] was appointed viceroy of four Deccan Subahs for the first time and he occupied the post for eight years (till 1644). He was again appointed viceroy for the second time in 1653 and he remained in that post till 1657.<ref>Mahajan V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). ''History of Medieval India'', Part II, New Delhi: S. Chand, {{ISBN|81-219-0364-5}}, p.143</ref> During Aurangzeb's reign, Berar was successively overrun by the Maratha rulers [[Shambhaji]] in 1680 and [[Rajaram Chhatrapati|Rajaram]] in 1698. In 1720, Maratha Peshwa [[Balaji Vishwanath]] obtained the grant of the right to collect ''[[chauth]]'' and ''[[sardeshmukhi]]'' from Berar from the Mughal emperor.

In 1724, when Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah declared independence, the existence of Berar as a Mughal Subah came to an end. It became (though nominally) a part of Nizam's state.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V07_375.gif |title=Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 7, p. 369 |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-date=18 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518202651/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V07_375.gif |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Administrative divisions ==
Berar came under Mughal administration in 1596. [[Todar Mal]]'s famous system known as ''[[bandobast]]'' was made applicable to the Berar Subah.

The area of the Berar Subah during Akbar's reign was 72,000 sq. miles. According to ''Ain-i-Akbari'', its northern limit was Handia, the eastern limit was the fort of Vairagad near [[Bastar district|Bastar]], the southern limit was Telangana and the western limit was Mahkarabad. [[Ellichpur]] was the capital of the Subah. The important forts of the Subah were [[Gawilghur|Gawilgad]], [[Narnala]], Pavanar, Khedala, Manikdurg and Mahur. It was divided into 13 ''[[Sarkar (administrative division)|sarkar]]s'' consisting of 242 ''[[pargana]]s''.<ref>Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). ''Ain-i-Akbari'' Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, pp.236-9</ref>

The sarkars and parganas of the Berar Subah (province) were:<ref>Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). ''Ain-i-Akbari'' Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, pp.240-4</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="width:80%; text-align:center" border="1" align="center"
|-
! Sarkar (district) !! No. of Parganas (tehsil)
|-
| [[Gawilgarh|Gavil]]||46; [[Ellichpur]] was the capital of Berar
|-
| Khedala||35
|-
| Pavanar||5
|-
| [[Narnala]]||34
|-
| [[Kalamb, Yavatmal|Kalamb]]||31
|-
| [[Washim]]||8
|-
| [[Mahur, Maharashtra|Mahur]]||20
|-
| Manikdurg||8
|-
| [[Pathri]]||18
|-
| Telangana||19
|-
| Ramgad||5
|-
| [[Mehkar]]||4
|-
| Baitulawadi||9
|}

== Economy ==
The ''jama'' (revenue assessed) from Berar in 1596 was 64,26,03,270 [[Dam (Indian coin)|dam]]s (Delhi).<ref>Habib, Irfan ''The Agrarain System of Mughal India 1556-1707'', Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999 {{ISBN|0-19-565595-8}}, p.462</ref> Land revenue formed the major part of the total income from the Subah. Other sources of income were [[zakat]], customs, salt tax, [[khums]], mint, currency, [[jizya]], [[escheat]]s, presents, [[octroi]], tolls and tributes. The coins current were tanka-i-Barari, dam and Rupee. One tanka-i-Barari was equal to 16 Delhi dams<ref>Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). ''Ain-i-Akbari'' Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, p.239n</ref> (but later raised to 24 dams) or eight Delhi tankas.

== See also ==
* [[Berar Sultanate]] (pre-Mughal)
* [[Berar Province]] (after, British colonial)

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). ''Ain-i-Akbari'' Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society.

{{Berar}}{{Mughal Empire}}
[[Category:Mughal subahs]]
[[Category:Berar]]

Berar Subah - Revision history

Vilianapcm at 07:32, 4 December 2025