List of Mughal grand viziers
{{short description|Grand Wazir of the Mughal Empire}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Grand Vizier
| body = Hindustan
| insignia =
| insigniasize = 150px
| insigniacaption =
| image = Asifportrait2 - Asuf ud Daula.jpg
| imagesize =
| imagecaption = Last to hold office
Asaf-ud-Daula
| style =
| residence =
| appointer = Mughal emperor
| appointer_qualified =
| precursor =
| formation = 21 April 1526
| first = Amir Nizamu-d din Khalifa
| last = Asaf-ud-Daula
| abolished = 21 September 1797
| succession =
| salary =
}}
The Grand Vizier of Hindustan (Hindustani: {{translit|ur|Vazir-ul-Mamlikat-i-Hindustan}}){{cite book|quote=Safdarjung was appointed the Chief Minister of the Mughal Empire. He was given the title of 'Wazir ul-Mamalik-i-Hindustan', though, by then the empire had considerably shrunk to just northern India. His fame and power were, unfortunately, short lived as court politics overtook him and he was dismissed by the new emperor.|first=Ravi|last=Batra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHPoLfMOik4C|title=The Splendour of Lodi Road|date=January 2012 |page=|publisher=The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) |isbn=978-81-7993-446-3 }}{{cite book|quote=Wazir ul-Mamalik-i-Hindustan, Asaf Jah, Jamat ul-Mulk, Shuja ud-Daula, Nawab Abu'l Mansur Khan Bahadur, Safdar Jang, popularly known as Safdarjung was the second Nawab of the Awadh dynasty.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4D44EAAAQBAJ|title=Amazing Uttar Pradesh|page=49| isbn=978-93-90486-72-4 | last1=Experts | first1=Disha | date=July 2020 | publisher=Disha Publications }} was the highest ranking minister in the Mughal Empire and the chief adviser to the emperor himself. The position acted as the de facto head of government of the Mughal Empire and had responsibility for leading the ministers of the Empire. This is the list of grand viziers (vazīr-e azam) of the Mughal Empire.
History
The seniormost official under the Mughals, or the Prime Minister, held different titles such as Vakil, Vakil-us-Sultanat, Wazir, Diwan, Diwan-i-Ala and Diwan Wazir under different Mughal emperors.{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Gauri |title=Prime Ministers Under the Mughals 1526-1707 |date=2006 |publisher=Kanishka, New Delhi |isbn=8173918236}} Under Babur and Humayun, the institution of the wazirat was not fully developed owing to a lack of an entrenched nobility and political upheaval. Nonetheless, individuals under both rulers did rise to positions equivalent to the position of prime minister and under Humayun reforms were first attempted to clarify the roles of Vakil and Wazir.
In the early years of Akbar's reign, the position of prime minister was first officially held by Bairam Khan as Vakil-us-Sultanat, and he exercised considerable influence over the emperor. Over time the power of the Vakil gradually declined, and during the reign of his successor Jahangir the role of Wazir replaced the Vakil as the most important officer in government. Mughal wazirs were specifically appointed from the ahl-i-qalam(men of the pen) as distinct from the ahl-i-saif(men of the sword).{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&dq=Medieval+India:+From+Sultanat+to+the+Mughals+Part+-+II+superintendent+financial&pg=PA137 |title= Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II |author= Satish Chandra |date= 2005 |publisher= Har-Anand Publications |isbn= 978-81-241-1066-9 }} With the abolishment of the post of Wakil, the post was divided into the two offices of Wazir and Mir Bakhshi, where the chief Wazir was the head of the finance department, while the Mir Bakhshi was the head of the military department.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PNgHAAAAMAAJ&q=mir+bakhshi+diwan+divided+wakil |title= Administration Under the Mughuls |date= 1952 |author= Abdul Qadir Husaini (Saiyid.) |publisher= the University of Michigan}} These two offices were made jointly responsible for the administration by a system of signatures and counter-signatures.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nb4lAAAAMAAJ&q=diwan+counter+mir+bakhshi |title= Mughal Polity |page= 132 |author= Jagadish Narayan Sarkar |date= 1984 |publisher= University of Michigan }} Until the death of Aurangzeb, the post of Wazir was never a threat to the monarchy as the Wazir could not act too independently. However, after the death of Aurangzeb, the pre-mughal tradition in India of the Wazir being the premier noble at the court and leading counsellor of the king apart from being the head of the financial administration had been re-established.{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/StatusAndRoleOfPrimeMinistersUnderTheMughals1526To1707/page/n47/mode/2up?q=overriding |page= 60 |author= Gauri Pandit |date= 2004 |title= Status And Role Of Prime Ministers Under The Mughals 1526 To 1707 |publisher= Panjab University, Chandigarh}}
