Mughal Mansabdari System

Mansabdari system was a unique feature of the administrative system of the Mughal empire. It was introduced by Akbar with a view to organizing his nobility as well as army. Under the system, all officers of the state were entitled to a mansab. Mansabdari system was, in sum, “the army, the peerage, and the civil administration, all rolled into one.”   

Mansabdar (holder of a rank, or an officer) is a title derived from the word Mansab which is of Arabic origin and means a rank or a position. 

Under the system, each mansabdar held a mansab (rank) and was to maintain a quota of horses, elephants, camels, beasts of burden and carts. They were paid either in cash (naqd) or allotted land (jagir). The mansabdars who received pay in cash were known as naqdi and those paid through assignments of jagirs were called jagirdars.

According to the Ain –Akbari, there were thirty-three grades of mansabdars ranging from the dahbashi (commanders of 10) to the dah hazari (commanders of 10,000). Mansabs above 5,000 were reserved for the royal princes. 

The status of mansabdars was defined by sawar (cavalrymen) and zat (personal). The former indicated number of horsemen which a mansabdar had to maintain while the zat rank showed his personal pay in the pay schedules.

Akbar included all nobles in the Mansabdari system. Persons holding ranks below 500 were called Mansabdar. Those holding from 500 to less than 2500 were called Amir and those holding 2500 and above were known as amir-i-umda or amir-i-azam or omrahs. 

In theory all mansabdars were appointed, promoted, suspended or dismissed by the emperor. Mansabdars holding ranks below 500 zat were called mansabdars, those more than 500 but below 2,500 amirs and those holding ranks of 2,500 and above were called amir-i-umda or amir-i-azam or omrahs.

The post of a mansabdar was not hereditary and it automatically lapsed after his death or dismissal. Children of a mansabdar, if they were granted a mansab, had to start afresh. 

Mansabdari system marked the end of the separation of civil and military departments. Now officers were expected to perform both duties and were liable to be transferred from the civil administration to the military department and vice versa. 

In order to provide rest for the horses during their marches and their replacements in times of war, it was expected of the mansabdars to maintain twenty horses for every ten cavalrymen. A sawar with only one horse was considered as a nim-sawar i.e. half a sawar. 

Mansabdari system introduced by Akbar was continued by his successors with some modifications. 

While during Jahangir’s reign there was a reduction in the average rate of maintenance grant payable to Mansabdar per Sawar, a significant modification introduced by Shah Jahan to the system came in the form of drastic reduction in the number of sawars a noble was expected to maintain.

Some selected mansabdars were allowed by Jahangir to maintain a large quota of soldiers without raising their zat rank. 

During the reign of Aurangzeb the numbers of the Hindu mansabdars was higher than that of the Muslim mansabdars. 

Reference: Mughal Nobility Under Aurangzeb by Ali M. Athar