The Lieutenant Governor.—At the head of the whole administration is the Lieutenant Governor, who holds office for five years. He has a strong Secretariat to help in the dispatch of business. The experiment of governing the Panjáb by a Board was speedily given up, and for sixty years it has enjoyed the advantage of one man government, the Lieutenant Governor controlling all subordinate authorities and being himself only controlled by the Governor General in Council. The independence of the Courts in the exercise of judicial functions is of course safeguarded.

Official hierarchy.—The following is a list of the official hierarchy in the different branches of the administration:

A.Lieutenant Governor.
B.Five Judges of Chief Court (j).
C.Two Financial Commissioners (r).
D.Five Commissioners, (e) and (r).
E.Sixteen Divisional and Sessions Judges (j).
F.Deputy Commissioners, (e), (r) and (crim).
G.District Judges (civ).
H.Subordinate Judges (civ).
J.Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners, (e), (j) and (r).
K.Tahsíldárs (e), (r) and (crim).
L.Munsifs (civ).
M.Náib-Tahsíldárs, (e) (r) and (j).

The letters in brackets indicate the classes of functions which the official concerned usually exercises. Translated into a diagram we have the following:

Tahsíldárs and Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners.—Thus the chain of executive authority runs down to the tahsíldár's assistant or náib through the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner, the tahsíldár being directly responsible to the latter. The Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners are the Deputy Commissioner's Assistants at headquarters, and as such are invested with powers in all branches. The tahsíldár, a very important functionary, is in charge of a tahsíl. He is linked on to the village estates by a double chain, one official consisting of the kanungos and the patwáris or village accountants whom they supervise, the other non-official consisting of the village headmen and the zaildárs, each of whom is the intermediary between the revenue and police staffs and the villages.

Subdivisional Officers.—In some heavy districts one or more tahsíls are formed into a subdivision and put in charge of a resident Assistant or Extra Assistant Commissioner, exercising such independent authority as the Deputy Commissioner thinks fit to entrust to him.

The Deputy Commissioner and his Assistants.—As the officer responsible for the maintenance of order the Deputy Commissioner is District Magistrate and has large powers both for the prevention and punishment of crime. The District Superintendent is his Assistant in police matters. The Civil Surgeon is also under his control, and he has an Indian District Inspector of Schools to assist him in educational business. The Deputy Commissioner is subject to the control of the Divisional Commissioner.

Financial Commissioners.—In all matters connected with land, excise, and income tax administration the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner are subject to the control of the Financial Commissioners, who are also the final appellate authority in revenue cases. As chief district revenue officer the Deputy Commissioner's proper title is "Collector," a term which indicates his responsibility for the realization of all Government revenues. In districts which are canal irrigated the amount is in some cases very large.