Provincial Administration
The Qutb Shahi Sultans, like all medieval rulers, divided their vast kingdom into a number of Tarafs. Each taraf was ruled by a tarafdar (Governor). The officers in charge of the Sarkars and Paraganas were called fauzdars; they were assisted by hawaldars. During the period of Abdullah-Qutb Shah, there were six Tarafs in the kingdom. Important tarafs included Vinkonda, Kondapalli, Masulipatnam, Eluru, Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, and Bellamkonda. The Sarkars were referred to as Simi.
During the period of the last Golconda Sultan, Abul-Hasan-Tanashah, the entire Golconda kingdom was divided into 37 Sarkars and 517 Parganas. The head of the port-town was known as Shah Bandhar. The right to collect land revenue was granted by the Sultan to the highest bidders through an auction method. Those who obtained such revenue collection rights were known as ‘Mustagirs’. Machilipatnam fetched yearly more than one lakh eighty thousand pagodas.
Local Government
The Qutb Shahi Sultans divided the provinces and Smits into smaller units. Villages stood as the foundational step of the entire administration. In the Farmans of the Qutb Shahis, names such as Deshpande, Deshmukh, Thandedar, and Sthalakami are mentioned. The head of the village was called ‘Muqaddam’. Kullkarni served as the Village Accountant, while Deshpande was the Pargana level Accounts Officer.