Iqta is an Arabic words denoting a sort of administrative regional unit, it could also be considered equivalent to a province. The Iqta was a territorial assignment given to high ranking military officers known as muqtis/walis/iqtadars. The Iqta system brought the two function of revenue collection and distribution together without endangering the political structure in any way.The Iqta was a revenue assignment that the muqtis held at the pleasure of the sultan. The muqtis was entitled to collect the land taxes and other taxes due to the sultan, but had no further claim on the person, women, children, land or other possessions of the cultivators. The muqtis had certain obligation to the sultan, the chief being that of the maintenance of troops for the benefit of the sultan.
The muqtis were under the supervision of the central government. But at the same time, he enjoyed certain power in the Iqta as the sultan enjoyed in his empire. He maintained orders under his charges and was to protect the life and property of the people. The Iqta was transferable charges and the transfer of Iqta were frequent. The territory from which revenue were directly collected for the sultan's own treasury was called Khalisa. Iqta could not be inherited and it did not give the muqtis a right to ownership. They can be transferred and revoke by the sultan. Jizya ( tax collected from non-Muslims) revenue of Iqta was in yearly basis while the non-Jizya was granted for many years. The muqtis were entitled to collect revenue and using it to maintain the troops of the sultan as well as his own troops. The surplus collected was required to submit to central treasury. The peasant could come to the King's Court and represent their conditions. The muqtis if found unfit was heavily punished by the sultan. The sultan could take away his power so that might warned thereby.
During Balban's reign, attempt was made to enquire into the income of the muqtis. He also converted several Iqta into Khalisa on the groud that the grantees were now too old to serve or had died and had transferred their belongings to the heirs who performed no service to the sultan. Balban also used barids/informers to report on the activities of the Iqtadars.
An important changes took place during the reign of Allauddin Khalji. The sultan troops were now paid in cash. The revenue collected from the Iqta were estimated at particular figure by the finance department. Out of the estimated income of the Iqta a certain amount was allowed for the pay of troops placed at the muqtis. Some amount was also set aside for his own salary and for the expense personal establishment of officials, the excess amount had to be put into the treasury. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq introduced some moderation. The muqtis were allowed to keep the amount ranging one-tenth to one-twentieth in excess of their salaries.
Initially, the early Turks found granting of Iqtas was an easy method to satisfy the greed of their high officers who has assisted them in conquering India. At the same time, this system help to established a rudimentary control over rural areas. But to the extent that the Iqtas became hereditary, there was always the danger of powerful subjects rebelling against the sultan. Allauddin Khalji, therefore cancelled the many Iqtas and paid his officers from his treasury. Muhammad bin Tughlaq was not keen on continuing with this system because to do so he would first have to raise the revenue demand and then convert it into cash. So, he paid the troops in cash, while the commanders (high officers like the Amirs and Khans) were given Iqtas in lieu of salaries. Firuz Shah Tughlaq went back to the old system of granting military Iqtas. Thus Iqtas did remain as a major machinery for revenue extraction, but it could hardly be used uniformly as an apparatus for the centralised system of administration.
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