Page:History of Aurangzib (based on original sources) Vol 1.djvu/219

CHAP. IX.] For the purposes of revenue administration, Mughal Deccan had been divided

into two portions, each with its own diwan or revenue minister. The Pahighat or Lowlands comprised the whole of Khandesh and one-half of Berar, while the other 2½ subahs formed the Balaghat or Highlands. The diwan of Painghat was Multafat Khan, a strong civil administrator and a man of pleasant manners, charming by his easy sociability all who came in contact with him. But he was after all a mere departmental head, with considerable executive capacity no doubt, but devoid of any genius for administrative reform or innovation. Glory of the latter kind belonged to his colleague, Murshid Quli Khan^ the diwan of Balaghat, and one of the many noble gifts of Persia to India.

was a native of Khurasan who had migrated to India in the train of Ali Mardan Khan, the fugitive Persian governor of