Amil was a member of medieval bureaucracy. Its plural form is amla, which is a common word for members of the Civil Service to day. But in medieval times, amils were mid-level or junior members of the state bureaucracy. Amils were more or less hereditary in tenure. Outsiders had limited scope for joining the state bureaucracy. The very top of the amils were called mutsuddis and among the mutsuddis who got admission into the Subahdar's darbar were the amirs and mirs, comprised of high ranking members from the army, navy and landed aristocracy. Though hereditary, amils could be removed if they did not abide by the imperial rules and regulations set for them. Hindu amils had distinctive dresses and headgears and marks of caste on their person. During the Nawabi and early Company periods, we come across amils very frequently because they offered resistance to the formation of the colonial state. This explains partly why the Cornwallis constitution had totally excluded the native amils from the state administration. [Sirajul Islam]