Faujdar was a military officer (whatever might be the rank) in charge of an army under the command of a chief during the pre-Mughal period. But in the Mughal period, akbar first systematised the rank and position of the faujdar as a provincial officer. He divided the empire into provinces, called subahs, each subah was under the administrative control of a subahdar (also called sipah salar, later nazim). Each province or subah was again divided into sarkars and parganas. The officer posted over the administration of the sarkar was called a faujdar. The system continued till the end of the Mughal period. In the ain-i-akbari the duties and functions of the faujdar have been enumerated. [Abdul Karim]